Chapter 31: Immortal Grants Scales
Chapter 31: Immortal Grants Scales (Thanks for the extra update)
"I heard that the appearance of a blue carp is a sign of good fortune and longevity, so I want to obtain it to add icing on the cake for the hall master's sixtieth birthday."
"For the past month, I have lived in a straw hut on the Xingxing Beach without taking shelter from the wind and snow."
"But after diving into the cold pond a hundred times, I still gained nothing."
"Until last night, I dreamed of a blue-robed immortal who came to the world and said: I am Ao Hao, the seventh prince of the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea. I know your sincerity and want to bless Mr. Tong from Pingding City."
"But Lanli is a descendant of the Dragon Blood King, and also my brother. His life and death are determined, so you can't kill him easily."
"Therefore, I grant you sixty-six pieces of fairy scales. Each piece can extend Mr. Tong's life by one year."
"After the blue-robed immortal finished speaking, he peeled off sixty-six fish scales from his body and threw them to his subordinates."
"When I woke up, I felt that this dream was too bizarre. I thought that I would dream about what I thought about during the day, but I saw that there were indeed sixty-six fish scales around me."
"I don't know the truth, but since the blue-robed immortal in the dream said, 'I will bless Mr. Tong from Pingdingcheng. A piece of fish scale will add one year to his life.' I think the hall master is very blessed, and the immortal is using me to bless you."
Zhang Yu finished speaking in one breath and opened the wooden box. Inside were indeed extremely rare blue fish scales.
The guests in the hall were talking in low voices.
It has been a tradition since ancient times to say auspicious words and offer good luck on festive occasions.
But this story does sound... too mysterious.
Tong Baixiong smiled and said, "You are so sincere. I will accept it."
Zhang Yu heaved a sigh of relief. He admitted that he was also gambling. But Lan Lin was real, and the immortal was made up by himself. How could others know? On such a festive day, no one would care about the truth.
"Wait a minute!" a voice sounded at this time.
………………
In the outer courtyard, a handsome young man stood up and poked his head to look inside.
"Interesting, interesting. The last one was about a filial son offering scriptures, and this one was about an immortal bestowing scales. There are so many stories. Old Shi, do you want us to join in the fun and think of a story?"
The young man had little experience in the martial arts world, but he was well-read and intelligent. He saw the three sons behind Tong Baixiong from afar, with unhappy looks on their faces, and he felt that he had seen through their thoughts and could not help showing off.
"Even if the immortals are going to bless us, they should have sent it to the brothers of the Tong family in their dreams. How could he, an outsider, be more sincere than the brothers' own sons? This is really going to backfire."
The man sitting next to him quickly pulled him back and said, "Young Master, be careful with your words."
The young man sat down and said unhappily, "Old Shi, why are you always so cautious? His Sun Moon Sect is very powerful in the North Country, and my escort agency is not bad in the South."
The man surnamed Shi smiled bitterly and said, "This... is still different."
"What's the difference? He has twelve branches, and we have ten sub-branches."
"He has elders and hall masters, and we have eighty-four escort leaders."
"He has magical skills. Daddy's 72 moves of the "Evil-Repelling Sword Technique" have won him great fame and prestige throughout the martial arts world."
"Tell me, what is wrong with the Fuwei Escort Agency compared to the Sun Moon Sect?"
The man surnamed Shi sighed and looked around. Fortunately, there were no people from the Sun and Moon Sect around. Instead, there were disciples from smaller sects who were either playing finger-guessing games and drinking, or concentrating on the situation in the inner hall. They didn't pay much attention to the mumbling of a young boy who had barely even grown all his hair.
He couldn't bear to break the young man's beautiful fantasy, and whispered: "Young Escort Captain, even if our escort agency is as powerful as the Sun Moon Divine Sect, we still have to keep a low profile. The Chief Escort Captain has repeatedly warned us that the most important thing for an escort agency is to make more friends and fewer enemies, and to have good fortune and power. Good fortune comes first, power comes second. Being high-profile will only make people jealous, so making a fortune quietly is the right way."
The young man thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Old Shi, what you said makes sense. Isn't this what we call pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger?"
In the hall.
Tong Baixiong looked at the man who shouted "Wait a minute" and asked doubtfully, "What do you want to say?"
Tong Yukang walked to the hall, glanced at Zhang Yu, and chuckled, "Dad, if this blue carp scale is really a gift from an immortal, it will naturally increase my fortune and longevity. If it's just a dead fish scale I bought, wouldn't it be unlucky to accept it?"
Tong Baixiong had not thought deeply about it at first. The story of immortals bestowing scales was difficult to verify, and he did not want to delve into it. However, since his son had pointed it out, he felt that Zhang Yu was too bold and that he had probably sold dead fish scales and made up a story to deceive him.
If this gets out to the world, it will be a huge loss of face.
He stared at the young man kneeling on one knee in the hall and said in a deep voice, "Zhang Yu, do you know what crime it is to deceive an old man?"
Zhang Yu looked determined, and said, "Master, please understand, Third Young Master, I am sincere and I am not lying!"
Qi Queqiao stepped out and said, "My godfather, for the past month, Zhang Yu has been living in a hut at the cold pond downstream of Xingxing Beach. This is true. Although I have not seen him go down to the pond with my own eyes, I guess he is sincere."
Everyone on the field immediately believed it. Especially the people of the Sun Moon Sect, they all knew that when the Gorilla Beach was frozen, the chance of catching blue-scaled carp from the cold pond downstream was indeed the highest. Tong Baixiong did not want to investigate further and ruin the festive atmosphere, but when Qi Queqiao came out to testify, he smiled again: "I see, it's really hard for you. Then..."
Tong Yukang rushed to say, "Blue-scaled carp are rare, but a total of 26 have been seen in the past hundred years, and two were caught five years ago. If you are willing, you can spend some money to buy old fish scales to make up the number, and then make up a story. It is not difficult."
Zhang Yu glanced at him. He had no grudge against Tong Yukang and he even just learned of this man's identity from Qi Queqiao today. Why was he so aggressive, as if he had a deep hatred for him?
He said bluntly, "Third Master, you are so sure that I lied to the world. Do you have any evidence?"
Tong Yukang saw that everyone in the hall was looking at him, and he couldn't help but be a little proud, and smiled confidently: "Do you really think that you can please father and seek undeserved favor by making up a story? Do you really think there is no one with discerning eyes in the Tong family?"
Tong Baixiong's brows furrowed slightly when he heard this.
Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "I am sincere, and the heaven and earth can bear witness to that. If the Third Young Master says this about me, what else can I say?"
Tong Yukang sneered, "What a clever talker! I think you won't cry until you see the coffin."
The guests in the hall were talking about it. They usually only knew that Tong Baixiong had two sons, but they had never heard of this third son, and it seemed that he did not hold a position in the church.
Looking at his expression, it seemed that he had solid evidence and was about to expose Zhang Yu's lies in public, which made me even more curious.
At this moment, all eyes at the birthday party were focused here.
Jia Bu and Tong Baixiong had a mediocre relationship, so he was also happy to see the joke, and said seriously, "Nephew, do you have any evidence?"
"Uncle Jia, the evidence will be there soon."
"Great! I've heard that your nephew has outstanding literary talent and extraordinary intelligence. Today I will be greatly enlightened." The Yellow-faced Venerable smiled, and his old face looked more like an orange peel.
Tong Yukang became even more proud, but he didn't notice that Taoist Tong Baixiong's face was becoming increasingly gloomy.
He walked up to Zhang Yu and looked down at him.
"You mean the Seventh Prince of the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea shed his blue scales in your dream last night?"
Zhang Yu said calmly, "That's right."
Tong Yukang seemed to have grasped the handle, and his face was full of smiles. He said: "You know, there is a difference between the five-year-old scales and the scales that were peeled off last night."
“Even though they are made with special techniques and look similar, experts who are familiar with fish can still accurately distinguish them.”
Zhang Yu sighed and stopped talking.
The guests in the hall, seeing the reversal of situation, thought to themselves that the play on the stage should be changed from "Magu Presents Longevity" to "Detective Dee".
Tong Baixiong looked at Sima Da, the owner of Changjing Island, and Huang Boliu, the leader of Tianhe Gang, with an unpleasant expression, and asked, "Is it so?"
Sima Da hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "Third Young Master is very knowledgeable, indeed! The scales were originally attached to the fish body, nourished by the blood and marrow, so they are shining. If they are out of the body for more than three days, the tiny blood vessels will dry up. If you look carefully, you can tell."
"I only know that this is true for marine fish, but I cannot say for sure whether it is also true for blue-scaled carp."
Tong Yukang smiled and said, "He said that the blue-scaled carp came from the East China Sea, so it is naturally considered a sea fish."
Huang Boliu, leader of the Tianhe Gang, also said: "Just as Sima Island Master said. In fact, whether it is river fish or sea fish, the same principle applies."
Tong Baixiong was silent for a moment, then said to the two of them, "Then you guys check it out."
The two men walked up to Zhang Yu, each picked up a piece of fish scale and examined it carefully.
Sima Da looked at it for a moment, put down Lan Lin, and said with a folded hand: "Elder Tong, I understand now."
Huang Boliu nodded and said, "I understand it too."
Tong Yukang quickly asked: "What's the result?"
I would like to thank my brothers Yuan Weisay, Nanbeichao2 and others for their Qidian coins, monthly tickets and recommendation tickets. I am on the road and it is not easy to list all the names of my brothers. Sorry, I will send a separate chapter to thank them later. I read every monthly ticket, every recommendation ticket and every good comment carefully, which is very valuable to newcomers.
Because I've been really busy these days, I hadn't been able to update more, but just now a brother sent me a red envelope for recommendation votes (I was shocked at first, thinking it was a fake vote), and after asking others I found out it was a red envelope for recommendation votes.
But I can't see who sent it, but I can only thank them here.
Actually, for new authors, I think the most valuable thing is the comments from brothers. I hope everyone will comment more. As long as it is not a malicious negative review, I will read it.
Thanks again!
(End of this chapter)