Chapter 88: The County Town is in Trouble

Chapter 88: The County Town is in Trouble

Chapter 88: The County Town is in Trouble

Chen Shi only felt that Uncle Hu and Uncle Qingyang were a little strange today, but he had no time to ask, so he quickly asked Granny Sha, "Granny, did you go down and find my grandfather?"

He was inexplicably excited and looked at Grandma Sha with anticipation.

Granny Sha glanced at the five ghost kings, and they were startled: "Good intentions led to the wrong thing? But, obviously, Gouzi has done a good deed. If Gouzi has done a good deed, then we have done a good deed. We should be able to keep our jobs, right?"

They are uneasy.

Fortunately, Granny Sha didn't say anything. She smiled and said, "I met your grandfather. He is very nice and asked us if you have grown taller and gained weight."

Chen Shi was very happy: "I will eat two more bowls of rice tonight! What else did grandpa say? Did he receive the paper money I burned for him? Is it enough to spend? If not, I will burn more. I also burned a paper house, a big sedan chair, and eight paper figures. Did he receive them? Does he need a companion? Otherwise, should I burn a few more paper old ladies for him? By the way, I think old lady Wuzhu doesn't seem to have many years to live. Let grandpa wait for two more years, and she will pass away without any need to burn more..."

Granny Sha smiled and waited for him to talk for a while before saying, "Okay, all is well. Your grandfather has received it. This time we are going to his Yuanchen Palace. The palace is luxurious and magnificent, and all the things you burnt for him are there. When he goes out, he rides in a sedan chair carried by eight men, and when he enters the palace, he is served by maids and boys. He is very comfortable."

Legend has it that Yuanchen Palace is the place where people's souls reside, hidden in the underworld. After a person dies, his soul enters the underworld and lives in Yuanchen Palace.

Chen Shi had also heard of this rumor, but had never seen it.

He had only seen many ghosts of people who had died unjustly. They were not living in the Yuanchen Palace, but were walking lost in the fog.

There were many loopholes in what Grandma Sha said, but he was concerned about his grandfather and didn't think about it too much.

Chen Shi then asked about Grandpa's diet and daily life. After all, Granny Sha had been a fortune teller for many years, so she answered fluently. Chen Shi did not doubt it, and was relieved. He smiled and said, "Grandpa is doing well, so I am relieved. By the way, Granny, what do you want to do with Grandpa?"

Granny Sha glanced at the green goat and found that the goat was still covered by the bearded man's mouth. She felt relieved and said with a smile: "We are old friends with your grandfather. We missed him this time and went to the underworld to visit him. Unexpectedly, the underworld is too dangerous and we almost couldn't come back. Fortunately, Xiao Shi and Gou Zi rescued us, otherwise the three of us would be miserable. It's getting dark, Xiao Shi, we have to go back too."

She mobilized the five ghosts, moved the altar away, winked at Qingyang and the bearded man, and left in a hurry.

"Black pot, I always feel like Granny Sha hasn't told me something." Chen Shi muttered as he watched them leave.

Gouzi nodded solemnly to show his agreement.

"But Hei Guo, you saved Granny Sha and the others, and did a great thing! I'll buy you something delicious as a reward tomorrow!" Chen Shi said with a smile.

The dog was very excited and barked twice.

Granny Sha heard the barking of dogs from afar and breathed a sigh of relief.

The bearded man let go of Qingyang, and after calming down, he praised: "It's good that Grandma reacted quickly, otherwise Qingyang would have made a big fuss. If their true identities were revealed, Chen Shi and Gou Zi might have had a fit on the spot and revealed their true colors."

He recalled the scene in which Hei Guo rushed into the underworld and killed people in the fog in order to rescue them, and he was still frightened.

The evil spirits besieging them were numerous and powerful, otherwise they would not have been injured, but none of them could withstand the attacks of Black Pot. Even the woman in white was almost bitten to death by Black Pot!

Qingyang asked, "Do you remember when Old Chen picked up this dog?"

Granny Sha thought for a moment and said, "Three years ago? I remember Old Chen said he would try again and go into the underworld to save Chen Shi. That was his ninth time to save Chen Shi, but he failed. I heard he was injured, and his injury was very serious. He lay in bed for three months. When I met him again, he had a little black dog by his side."

Qingyang and the bearded man looked at each other.

"Could it be that he brought this little black dog out from the underworld?"

The bearded man asked, "I heard that ghosts and gods can transform into other creatures. Grandma is knowledgeable and familiar with the underworld. Can you tell what it is?"

Granny Sha shook her head and said, "I can't tell. It's no different from a normal dog."

The three of them stared at each other.

Granny Sha sighed and said, "Old Chen went to the underworld to enjoy himself, but he left us with this mess. You two, go and rest and heal your wounds first, because you will have a lot of hard work in the future!"

Qingyang muttered, "It's so hard, I might as well just be Xiaoshi's godmother."

Granny Sha and the bearded man looked pale and shook their heads, saying, "If you don't become a godmother, you still have a way to live. If you become a godmother, you have no hope at all!"

The three of them dispersed.

He would take part in the county examination in four days. During these four days, Chen Shi did not dare to neglect it. He went to listen to Zhu Xiucai's lectures every morning. Zhu Xiucai also taught him very seriously.

"Xiao Shi, you don't have to worry. You have already received my true teachings, and you will definitely pass the exam!"

Zhu Xiucai saw that he was a little nervous, so he comforted him, "Your and my talents will surely shock Xinzhou, Xiniu, and become new stars in the literary world!"

Chen Shi was relieved a little, and said, "I don't dare to hope for the top prize, I just hope to pass the imperial examination and bring honor to the family."

"Hit the bag, hit the bag!"

Chen Shi went to the Shanjun Temple several more times. The front hall was still under renovation, and the image of the god in the shrine in the main hall was becoming clearer and clearer. He looked at it carefully and it seemed to have a bull's head but a human body. What was strange was that there was a tiger lying at the feet of the god.

The formation of the divine image was extremely slow, and he could not sense any fluctuations in the divine image's thoughts, which was very strange.

Generally speaking, the reason for the formation of a divine appearance is that the spirit being worshipped has self-awareness and feels what it should look like, and the divine appearance will become that appearance.

For example, the godmother of Huangyang Village is a bronze statue of a god or demon. After being worshipped by the villagers for a long time, she developed self-awareness and believed that she should be a fat person. Therefore, the god’s appearance was a fat person who ate a lot.

The godmother of Huangpo Village is an ancient tree. She believes that she should be a young girl of 28 years old, so her appearance is that of a dignified and beautiful girl.

"The deity must be conscious, but the deity in the Tiger Temple is not conscious, which means... the Tiger is still alive!"

Chen Shi took a deep look at the image of the god in the shrine and thought, "The mountain king should be in the ancestral land, the Chinese Continent. Therefore, his image was formed without any awareness. But why is the mountain king of Qianyang Mountain not in Xiniu New Continent, but in the ancestral land?"

He suddenly realized: "When the eunuch Sanbao led the Ming soldiers to this strange continent, they saw that this place was full of evil spirits. The first thing they did was definitely not to create gods, but to worship the Chinese gods they brought on their ship, so that the Chinese gods could descend through the statues and clones! In other words, Qianyang Shanjun should be the mountain god of a mountain in the Chinese Divine Continent!"

He was confused again.

In the past, this place must have been very popular, but why did it decline and even the statues of the gods disappeared?
“When the mountain king’s divine form is formed, we will know the whole story.”

He left the Shanjun Temple and went to the county town, and came to Wencai Academy. In the past few days of preparing for the exam, Chen Shi was not worried about his literary test, but was a little worried about the martial arts test, so he planned to ask his classmates for advice.

There were only a few students in the academy, and many people did not come to school. Chen Shi was surprised to see that those few students were still gathered together, whispering to each other, and he didn't know what they were discussing.

Hu Feifei was also among them. When she saw him coming, she waved her hand quickly: "Brother Chen, come quickly, come quickly!"

Chen Shi came closer. There were three boys and two girls among the students. They looked about the same age as him. The oldest one was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and the youngest was about ten years old. They were all neatly dressed and wore black hats.

"There are no classes today?" Chen Shi asked.

"No classes have started. Something happened in the city, and Mr. Fu asked us to go back to our homes and not come to the academy for the next two days."

Hu Feifei said mysteriously, "The day before yesterday and yesterday, more than a dozen students disappeared in the city, and the government couldn't find them. They said that an evil spirit had entered the city and captured and ate them. That's why Mr. Fu didn't dare to teach. We don't believe that an evil spirit had entered the city! If an evil spirit entered the city, why did it specifically capture the students and not other people?"

Several students nodded repeatedly.

One of the students said, "So we plan to catch this evil spirit!"

Chen Shi looked at the young face in surprise. Catching evil spirits?
Are all the students in the city so brave?
"Have you achieved divine fetus?" Chen Shi asked. The student looked childish and shook his head.

Chen Shi looked at the others and asked, "Who among you has achieved divine fetus?"

Everyone shook their heads, except Hu Feifei, who smiled and neither shook her head nor nodded.

The ten-year-old student said, "Chen Shi, you are from the countryside. We city students learn different things from you country students. Although we have only cultivated a shrine and do not have a divine fetus, we can use the energy of the shrine to activate magic! We are very powerful!"

A girl said, "Yes! Shen Yusheng is the best! He can condense sword energy every time, but I can't do it!"

Chen Shi looked at Shen Yusheng, also a childish boy, no more than eleven or twelve years old.

"Didn't you cultivate the golden elixir?" Chen Shi asked.

"Golden elixir? The golden elixir can only be cultivated by a scholar!"

Shen Yusheng said with a serious expression, "You must first pass the examination to become a scholar, and then receive the divine gift from the true god during the great sacrifice, so that you can possess the divine fetus and enter the divine fetus realm. Then you can cultivate the divine fetus, and with the help of the divine fetus, you can enter the stage of transformation and refine the golden elixir."

Several students nodded.

Chen Shi thought about it and realized that he was indeed different from them. He had cultivated the golden elixir without the divine fetus. However, if he passed the county exam and the true god descended and gave him the divine fetus, then he would make up for this realm. Wouldn't he be able to keep pace with other scholars?

"I suspect that the person disguised as an evil spirit is Mr. Fu from our private school."

Hu Feifei whispered, "It's almost the county exam, and he's been acting sneaky lately. I think he's already picked out good candidates from among us, and when the grand ceremony comes, he'll dig out the divine fetuses of those students and sell them for a good price."

"How can I doubt you, sir?"

"Sir, you are definitely not that kind of person!"

The students refuted her words one after another. Hu Feifei sneered and said, "You don't believe it? We just need to monitor Mr. Fu and we can find clues!"

Shen Yusheng looked at Chen Shi: "Chen Shi, are you going?"

Chen Shi hesitated, and the students said, "With Shen Yusheng here, what are you afraid of?"

Chen Shi was also worried that his new classmates would die, so he agreed and asked, "Do you have any way to find this evil spirit?"

"Use me as bait!" The youngest student stood up and said righteously.

Chen Shi asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Gu Qingmeng! What's wrong?" the student asked.

"nothing."

Chen Shi thought to himself, "Now I know what name should be engraved on the tombstone."

Hu Feifei said, "The master went to the East Market today, so let's go to the East Market to find him. Qingmeng will go and talk to him later, and we will observe in secret. If he really attacks Qingmeng, we will jump out to rescue Qingmeng, capture the old thief, and escort him to the county government office."

Everyone said yes and immediately walked out of the academy.

Chen Shi called the pot, wondering: "Fei Fei must not be talking nonsense, could it really be Mr. Fu who did it? Why did he arrest so many students?"

Dongshi is the market in the east of the city, located in the woods outside the city. There are no fixed shops. Vendors will set up stalls during the day to sell daily necessities. There are also some peddlers selling things that children like, so many students will stroll there after school.

Now that the moon is out during the day, there are rumors that evil spirits are lurking outside the city, and the East Market has become much quieter.

They arrived at the East Market and indeed there were few vendors in the woods.

Gu Qingmeng said, "Someone was beheaded the day before yesterday. It was the county magistrate who was beheaded. There were so many people killed. Could it be that the county magistrate's ghost is still lingering and has turned into an evil spirit?"

"My father went to check and was told that the county magistrate's body had been burned, so it couldn't become a ghost. My father also brought back red steamed buns for my brother to eat, but I didn't get to eat any of them." Another female student lamented.

Hu Feifei said excitedly: "Mr. Fu is just ahead. Qingmeng, I leave it to you!"

When everyone looked, they saw Fu Leisheng squatting in front of a stall and talking to the stall owner.

The stall was selling geese, with more than a dozen large white geese in cages. The stall owner was an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a cloth shirt that was washed white, with kind eyes and a gentle look, and was easy to talk to.

Everyone hid behind the trees. Gu Qingmeng bravely walked forward, bowed to Fu Leisheng, and said something.

Fu Leisheng stood up, seemed very angry, and asked Gu Qingmeng to go back to the city.

Gu Qingmeng started crying. Fu Leisheng was helpless, so he apologized to the stall owner, took his hand and walked towards the city, saying, "It's dangerous outside the city. You're running out alone. Be careful that you get lost too!"

Everyone waited until Fu Leisheng and Gu Qingmeng walked away, then walked out from behind the tree. Shen Yusheng's eyes flashed and said, "Mr. Fu has taken the bait. Let's follow him!"

They hurried out from behind the tree, only to see the old man selling geese also stand up and stretch.

Chen Shi looked at the old man selling geese, and saw that when the old man exhaled, his breath was extremely long, and he actually exhaled for a very long time!

"Why are his internal organs so strong?"

Chen Shi was inexplicably surprised. "He's almost catching up with me! His strength is only one or two points less than mine!"

Just as he thought of this, the old man selling the goose suddenly jumped up like a flea, at a speed so fast that it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. He landed beside them with a thud, opened a pocket in the wind, and put Hu Feifei into the pocket in a flash!

He jumped repeatedly at an extremely fast speed, and in an instant he put Shen Yusheng and four others into his pocket!
Chen Shi hesitated for a moment and resisted the urge to take action.

"Boom!"

An old man like a big flea fell from the sky and landed in front of Chen Shi and Hei Guo. He grinned and put him and Gou Zi into his pocket.

Chen Shi and the black pot fell into the pocket, and they saw that the inside of the pocket was dark and they didn't know how big it was. There was no one in the pocket, only five big white geese shivering.

"It turns out that this old man is the one behind this!"

Chen Shi opened his mouth to speak, but unexpectedly he heard the cry of a goose. He looked down and saw that his body was covered in snow-white. He had actually turned into a big white goose!

He looked at the black pot beside him, only to see that the dog was still the same dog, sitting there with its tongue sticking out.

"Sell the goose, sell the goose!"

The voice of the goose seller came from outside, shouting, "Big white geese from the countryside, big white geese from boys, stewed in a big iron pot, delicious, and can prolong your life! County Master, do you want geese? Fresh big white geese from boys!"

A slightly dignified voice said, "This goose is fresh. My wife likes to eat goose stewed in an iron pot. Send it to the county government for me."

"okay!"

(End of this chapter)