“Wow, a strong body with a powerful伤官 configuration; no wonder you’re so bold,” Bai Feng looked at Huo Xiang, murmured a few words to herself, then coldly said, “I’m a ghost. You simply want to discover why he changed his appearance. Fine, I’ll grant your wish and show you. After watching, leave immediately. If you dare to loiter around here again, don’t blame me for being ruthless towards you and your daughter!”
As soon as Bai Feng finished speaking, Shui Miao transformed into the appearance of Zhang Ling.
Shui Miao was still contemplating the concept of a strong body paired with strong伤官when he was suddenly engulfed by a surge of earth elemental energy. According to the principles of destiny, that which overcomes the day master is classified as either正官or偏官. Among these, the one sharing the same five elements as the day master is called偏官, commonly referred to as七杀. Compared to正官,七杀exerts a stronger restraining force. A person with a strong constitution capable of withstanding七杀typically acts authoritatively, decisively, and boldly, often leaving an impression of firmness and daring.
Seeing Shui Miao revert to Zhang Ling’s appearance, Huo Yuanliang no longer had any doubts. He hurriedly took out the 50,000 yuan he had on him and offered it to Shui Miao. Shui Miao only took 10,000 yuan and suggested the rest be given to Huo Xiang for her schooling. After thanking him a few times, Huo Yuanliang quickly took his daughter Huo Xiang and left. However, after Huo Xiang had walked only a few steps, she broke free from her father’s hand and ran back, directly confronting Bai Feng and asking, “Where are you taking him? He helped me, and I can’t just abandon him. Tell me, what do you want?”
“I want your life…”
Bai Feng suddenly waved her hand toward Huo Xiang, who immediately felt darkness before her eyes and fainted on the spot.
“Great immortal, spare her life, spare her life! My daughter doesn’t know any better, she just said something foolish…”
Huo Yuanliang had just come over to support Huo Xiang. His face was filled with terror and fear.
Shui Miao frowned deeply and glared at Bai Feng, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Bai Feng ignored Shui Miao and calmly said to Huo Yuanliang, “She’s fine. Take her home and have her drink some ginger soup. Also, leave the town as soon as possible. Don’t let me see you here again.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll move away tomorrow, tomorrow.”
Huo Yuanliang nodded repeatedly, gave Shui Miao a grateful look, and hurriedly carried his daughter down the mountain.
※※※
“What exactly do you want to do?”
Shui Miao came in front of Bai Feng and stared into her eyes.
Bai Feng had just been scaring Huo Yuanliang and his daughter. Seeing Huo Yuanliang leave, Bai Feng transformed into the appearance of an ordinary person and irritably shouted at Shui Miao, “You should ask yourself what you want to do? Do you think I really want to protect you? If it weren’t for Master telling me to protect you, I wouldn’t even bother with you!”
“Please remove your earth elemental energy. Don’t ever try to entangle me with Zhang family matters again. I’m not your puppet. You have no right to control my freedom.” Shui Miao had already seen through their intentions. The reason they transformed him into Zhang Ling’s appearance was to entangle him and trap him here forever.
Shui Miao didn’t want to be emotionally bound, which was exactly why he hadn’t acted on his feelings for the young bride.
“Entangle you?” Bai Feng angrily rolled her eyes, excitedly waving her hand, “You’re really hard to please! I really don’t understand why my Master wants me to protect you when you’re such a clueless idiot…”
“You can go back and ask my Master yourself.” Shui Miao interrupted Bai Feng, “Also, please tell your Master that I don’t appreciate her protection. I control my own destiny. She knows in her heart her true purpose for sealing me. Saying she’s protecting me, do you take me for a fool? A thousand-year-old female ghost, I thought she was some great sage, but she’s just someone who wants to steal my faith power and offerings, a fraud who deceives the world. And you, little female ghost, are really stupid too. Believing everything your Master says, you’re the one who’s clueless and foolish.”
Shui Miao didn’t want to get entangled in so many things anymore. He just wanted to go out and explore on his own terms, never again being manipulated by others carelessly.
“Dare!”
“How dare you insult my Master’s reputation! You’re asking for death!”
Bai Feng was somewhat furious. In her heart, Lady Bai was a sage-like figure, and she would never allow anyone to defile her even slightly.
“Short-sighted woman!”
Shui Miao didn’t want to deal with Bai Feng anymore and directly waved his hand and went down the mountain.
“…”
Bai Feng, in her past life, was a refined lady from a distinguished family, never spoken to like this before. In her eyes, being called short-sighted was an ultimate disgrace.
“Fine! Since you’re so disrespectful, I won’t hold back anymore. I’ll make you pay with blood!”
Bai Feng, furious, immediately summoned a gust of cold wind to wrap around Shui Miao, trying to push him down the hill. Although this hill wasn’t as dangerous as a cliff, it was still dozens of meters high. Falling down wouldn’t necessarily kill him, but it would at least leave him crippled. Shui Miao felt darkness before his eyes, blown off balance by the cold energy, continuously retreating toward the edge of the hill. Just as one foot was about to slip off, Shui Miao was pushed back by a surge of demonic energy coming from below the hill. Bai Feng was startled and saw the black snake demon appear beside Shui Miao.
“Damn it! Smelly snake demon, how dare you oppose me!” Bai Feng was furious, her hand forming a seal, and suddenly conjured a sword out of thin air, ready to fight the black snake demon to the death.
“Run quickly, go wait for me by the river where you first arrived.” The black snake demon pushed Shui Miao with urgency, then opened its mouth and spat out a black, curved sword, “Haha, beautiful Bai Feng, do you think you’re the only one with weapons? This Yin Snake Sword was just awarded to me by the Yin God. You can’t defeat me, even if you try. I suggest you save your energy and go to the underworld for reincarnation. You clueless, stupid ghost, living is just wasting spiritual power!”
“Ah, I’m so angry…”
Bai Feng had always been teased by the black snake demon, and today she was again called a clueless, stupid ghost. Her anger boiled over, and she rushed forward to fight the black snake demon.
Shui Miao ran down the mountain…
Once he had decided to be firm and follow his own path, Shui Miao would not regret it.
However, when he reached the foot of the mountain, Shui Miao started to ponder again. Why did the black snake demon tell him to go to the river? Was he just jumping from the frying pan into the fire? But intuitively, the black snake demon didn’t seem that bad. Just based on the fact that it had saved him once, he should listen to it this time. Forget it! Don’t think too much, just go to the river first.
Shui Miao ran quickly, and after ten or so minutes, he saw the young bride on the road. When the young bride saw Shui Miao, she hurriedly ran over and grabbed his hand, refusing to let go, “Zhang Ling, where did you run off to? I’ve been looking for you since morning, you’ve made me so worried!”
“I’m not Zhang Ling, I’m Shui Miao. Your Zhang Ling is already dead. I’m not a fool, please don’t keep mistaking me for Zhang Ling anymore. Have you ever seen a fool who speaks so clearly?” Shui Miao broke free from the young bride’s hand, took out the ten thousand yuan, and gave most of it to her, “You’re still young, don’t let conservative thoughts bind you to death. Take this money and go to Zhonghai City. Use the phone number I gave you to find Chen Bing and find some work in his restaurant first. If Chen Bing doesn’t take care of you, use this money to rent a house, find a job, start a new life, buy a mobile phone, and give your number to Chen Bing. I can find you when I go back…”
“Zhang Ling, please come to your senses, okay?” The young bride pushed the money back to Shui Miao and excitedly hugged him, crying, “Zhang Ling, stop playing around. The family is just us few now. What will happen to Grandpa and Grandma if you leave?”
“Enough!” Shui Miao was really fed up with this endless entanglement. He pushed the young bride away and shouted loudly, “It’s not me who needs to come to my senses, it’s you. I’ve said it many times, why don’t you believe me? I’m not him. I can’t stay here for his sake. I have my own path to walk. Please be strong. Will you die without a man? Can’t you have some backbone and be independent? Even if Grandpa and Grandma are old, they can give the house to someone else to take care of them. Why can’t you face the world and give yourself a fresh start?”
“But, but Mabo said you’re mentally disturbed, mistaking others for yourself,” the young bride finally began to doubt whether the man in front of her was really Zhang Ling.
Shui Miao sneered, “Mabo is merely a puppet, possessed by a female ghost pretending to be a powerful immortal called Bai Feng. Bai Feng is the disciple of that thousand-year-old female specter, Bai Niang, who conspired against me. They forced me to impersonate your husband, intending to involve me in the张家’s mundane affairs and trap me here forever. Right now, Bai Feng is battling that black snake demon you revere as the Black Dragon God. If you don’t believe me, I can take you there. Alternatively, you can also find some black dog’s blood and pour it over my head, and I shall immediately revert to my original form.”
“Okay! You come with me to the town. There’s a dog meat hotpot restaurant there, they must have dog blood.”
The young bride grabbed Shui Miao and walked away.
Shui Miao helplessly thought that fate and karma were indeed annoying. The matter with the young bride would eventually have to be resolved, so he might as well settle it all at once today.
So, the two came to the town.
One of the waiters at the dog meat hotpot restaurant was from the village. The young bride brought Shui Miao to the back door of the kitchen, found the young waiter, and explained their purpose. Shui Miao gave them each a hundred yuan. The two waiters, who were about seventeen or eighteen years old, immediately slaughtered a black dog and brought the black dog blood to Shui Miao. Shui Miao directly lifted the basin filled with black dog blood over his head and poured it down. In an instant, he transformed back into his original appearance.
“Changed… changed…”
The two waiters were shocked, looking at each other with disbelief.
“Ahh!”
The young bride raised her hand in astonishment, covering her mouth in shock.
Shui Miao, covered in dog blood, sighed miserably and asked the young bride, “Now you must believe me, right?”
“You… you really aren’t Zhang Ling. Then… that night… you pervert!” The young bride suddenly slapped Shui Miao on the face and ran away crying.
Shui Miao touched his face and felt a sense of relief in his heart. Finally, it was clarified. What a good slap that was!
The two waiters looked at Shui Miao like a monster.
Shui Miao turned around and walked to the river, just preparing to jump in to wash himself clean when he suddenly felt a comfortable sensation in his head. That familiar feeling returned!
“Wait!”
“Could it be that the black dog blood broke the seal on my realm!?”
Shui Miao was excited and quickly sat down on the spot, calming his mind. In an instant, he entered his realm. Finally, he saw that long-missed heavenly gate once again. However, this heavenly gate within his realm had two black talismans pasted on it, blocking the immortal energy.
“Great! I didn’t expect black dog blood to break the seal. How come I didn’t think of it before?”
Shui Miao hurriedly retreated from his inner world, opened his eyes, turned around, and headed toward the back door of the dog meat hotpot restaurant. The two waiters had just witnessed with their own eyes how Shui Miao changed his appearance. Knowing he was a strange and mysterious figure, they were so frightened that they quickly shut the door. Seeing this, Shui Miao charged forward with a headlong rush, scaring the young men into fleeing in panic. In order to break the seal on his dantian, Shui Miao drank the remaining black dog blood left in the basin, then crouched on the ground and began licking more of the black dog blood. Unfortunately, all the black dog blood had already flowed away. Shui Miao looked around and just happened to spot another black dog inside a dog cage. He immediately picked up the iron clamp used for catching dogs and approached to grab the animal. At that moment, the two waiters called over the fat owner and two chefs wielding knives. A group of people rushed in and saw a blood-covered man biting the neck of a dog on the ground, sucking its blood!
It looked exactly like a zombie sucking blood…
This scene left everyone speechless.
Just as the boss was about to get angry, Shui Miao threw the ten thousand yuan at him.
Seeing the money, the boss’s face immediately brightened. He sternly told the waiters, “You fools, what are you talking about? How could he be a madman? He paid so much money. Not only can he buy one dog, he can even buy ten dogs. Hurry up and put down the sticks, this is our customer. Drinking dog blood is very nourishing, you just don’t understand.”
“But, but boss, before he poured the dog blood over his head, he still looked exactly like Zhang Ling from the western village of Shuilong寨…”
The young waiter hadn’t mentioned this when he ran out to tell the boss in a hurry.
“Oh, then this guest must have been possessed by an evil spirit. Now he used our black dog blood to return to his original appearance. Haven’t you seen the sitting posture of this guest? That’s the posture of a cultivator meditating.” The boss, having received ten thousand yuan from Shui Miao, was determined to speak for him, leaving everyone else stunned.
“Everyone shut up and be quiet.”
Shui Miao finished drinking the black dog blood and immediately began meditating on the spot. He could feel the warm black dog blood slowly flowing into his dantian, creating a particularly comfortable sensation. After four or five minutes, a stirring emerged in his lower abdomen; a stream of energy rapidly surged downward, and suddenly his anus relaxed, releasing a long and loud fart!
“…”
Everyone was startled when they saw that the fart Shui Miao released was black, and they all retreated outside.
“Unlocked!”
There was only a little spiritual energy left in Shui Miao’s dantian. After circulating the spiritual energy once, he felt refreshed, but within his realm, there were still two black talismans sealing the heavenly gate, preventing the spiritual energy from descending.
Cursed! Without divine power pouring down, the energy in my dantian will eventually be exhausted.
Shui Miao stopped meditating and opened his eyes.
He knew he had already drunk a lot of black dog blood. Now that the seal couldn’t be removed, drinking more black dog blood would be of no use. He also knew that this seal could be lifted, which was inseparable from the previous sealing and elimination of the water ghost. The seal had gradually weakened due to those ghosts and was finally broken by the black dog blood.
“Now that the seal is removed, I must leave here as soon as possible to avoid being found by that female ghost Bai Feng again. Right! I must leave here quickly while the black snake demon is fighting Bai Feng.”
Shui Miao’s thoughts turned, and he immediately got up and went to Huo Yuanliang’s house. Huo Yuanliang’s daughter Huo Xiang had already recovered. The whole family was having dinner when Shui Miao, covered in blood, suddenly arrived, scaring Huo Yuanliang’s wife. However, Huo Yuanliang and Huo Xiang were delighted. Shui Miao pulled Huo Yuanliang aside and explained his intentions. Huo Yuanliang immediately had his daughter prepare clothes while he went to find a motorcycle driver in the town. Huo Xiang quickly prepared a large bucket of warm water. Shui Miao took a bath, changed into clean clothes, took another ten thousand yuan from Huo Yuanliang, and left first on the motorcycle.
As soon as Shui Miao left, the minivan Huo Yuanliang had called for arrived. Huo Yuanliang’s family of three loaded all their valuable belongings onto the car and left the town half an hour later.
They agreed to meet in the county town.
It had only been a dozen or so minutes since Shui Miao rode the motorcycle when the sky suddenly turned gloomy.
Shui Miao looked at the sky, feeling somewhat puzzled. But thinking back, how could that female ghost Bai Feng possibly summon wind and rain? She didn’t have that much ability.
“I can’t go on anymore, it’s going to rain. I need to go back to harvest the rice. There’s a temple a bit ahead; you can go there to stay overnight. I’m cousins with Old Huo, so I won’t charge you. If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I’ll come to the county and take you with me when I go.” The man driving the motorcycle pointed the way to Shui Miao. Indeed, there was a temple about two hundred meters away.
Shui Miao thought he might as well wait at the temple gate first. When Huo Yuanliang and the others arrived, they could leave together by car.
So, Shui Miao arrived outside the temple.
As soon as Shui Miao reached the big tree outside the temple gate, it started to rain heavily.
At this moment, an eighteen or nineteen-year-old monk opened the temple gate and waved at Shui Miao, “Master is asking you to come in for shelter from the rain.”
“My master is calling me?”
Shui Miao pointed at his own nose in astonishment, “How does your master know I’m outside?”
“What’s so strange about that? My master is a highly cultivated monk. When he saw the sudden change in the weather and the strange rain, he knew something was wrong.” Seeing that Shui Miao wasn’t entering the temple, the young monk ran out into the rain to the tree and smiled mysteriously at Shui Miao, “My master also said that you are in danger now and want to get out of it safely. Without his help, it’s impossible. Also…” The young monk leaned close to Shui Miao’s ear and whispered, “This rain was sent by the Yin God. You killed his water ghost general, and he won’t let you go easily. Don’t say anything else, come into the temple with me quickly.”
“But I’m waiting for someone. I’m afraid they might be in danger…”
If it was the Yin God causing trouble, Shui Miao couldn’t help but worry about Huo Yuanliang’s family.
“No problem, I’ll wait here for you. Go ahead, and by the way, help me close the door so the rain doesn’t come in…”
The young monk pushed Shui Miao a bit, and Shui Miao took the opportunity to run into the temple.
When Shui Miao closed the temple door, the young monk smiled and shook his head, suddenly transforming into a white-robed young scholar holding a folding fan.
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