Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 270 The Strange Village
After Fang Yi wrote down the address and handed it to Shang Lu, the accompanying thieves, having collected their equipment and led their official horses, waited quietly in the courtyard of the Thieves' Office for Shang Lu's orders.

They also gave Shang Lu a set of armor and weapons.

"Take your brothers out of the city through the west gate and wait for me outside the city."

Shang Lu walked out of the office, glanced at the group of thieves, nodded slightly, and turned to Shen Tu to give instructions.

"Yes."

Shen Tu bowed and accepted the order, then immediately led the group of thieves out of the city.

With the help of several minor officials, Shang Lu put on the armor and put on a large overcoat to protect himself from the heat and wind.

After getting dressed, Shang Lu thanked the minor officials and then returned to Mingyue Lane.

He pushed open the door and entered the courtyard, then called to Third Sister and Black Cloud to set off.

Third Sister responded with a "yes," and together with the oil-paper umbrella, floated to Shang Lu's side.

Shanglu took the umbrella and tied it tightly to his body.

Third Sister's figure flickered, and she floated into the umbrella.

In fact, Third Sister was no longer afraid of the sun. Even without an umbrella, she could follow Shang Lu everywhere.

She was just used to carrying this umbrella.

The pokeweed had gotten used to it and hadn't thought anything was wrong.

Hei Yun stood up from the corner, shook himself, and came to Shang Lu's side. He snorted loudly and glanced at him sideways.

This idiot is still angry about what happened before.

Shang Lu had a way to deal with it, and with a smile, he pulled out a wine gourd from under his overcoat: "Here, the wine I bought for you."

Upon hearing that there was wine, Black Cloud immediately forgot its anger and happily neighed.

Without the pokeweed lifting a finger, it stretched out its head, opened its mouth, bit open the stopper, picked up the gourd, and gulped down the wine inside in one go.

Shang Lu shook his head and chuckled, thinking to himself that it was fortunate that there were no drunk driving checks in this world, otherwise Hei Yun would probably be arrested and locked up in jail every now and then.

"Uncle Huai, I'm entrusting the family to you."

Shang Lu called out to the old locust tree in the yard, then pulled Hei Yun, who was still somewhat unsatisfied after finishing his drink, and strode out the door.

Outside the West Gate, Shang Lu saw Shen Tu waiting by the roadside with Qiu Dao.

When these people saw Shang Lu arrive, they hurriedly led their horses forward to greet him, bowing and saying, "My lord!"

Shang Lu nodded slightly in return.

He then mounted the black cloud and called out to everyone, "Let's go!"

Shen Tu and the bandits responded in unison, mounted their horses, and followed Shang Lu toward Xipinggou in Yunhe Town.

It was the next day in a blink of an eye.

Around noon, Shang Lu and his group arrived at Xipinggou.

This village is nestled in a narrow ravine between two mountains, no wonder it has such a name.

The two sides of Xipinggou are flanked by steep, straight mountains, forming a natural barrier.

Between the two mountains, a stone wall was built, which was about the height of a person.

Behind the stone wall, there was a wooden fence and several watchtowers.

On the watchtower, a hunter with a bow looked down and surveyed the surroundings.

The entire Xipinggou area has been transformed into what resembles a fortified village.

Seeing this from afar, Shang Lu asked Shen Tu, "Is there a bandit problem near Xipinggou?"

Shentu shook his head: "I haven't heard of it. Maybe it's to protect against wild animals?"

As the two were talking, the hunter on the watchtower spotted them, hurriedly pulled out a whistle from his waist, put it in his mouth, and blew it.

The sharp whistle instantly echoed throughout the entire Xipinggou Valley.

It was nearing noon, and while no one was working outside the ditch, people from the villages inside immediately poured out.

Through the wooden gate, Shang Lu and his group saw a group of villagers wielding hoes, hunting forks, and machetes appearing behind the gate and stone wall.

He sized up Shang Lu and the others who approached with a cold, hostile gaze.

Without Shang Lu's command, a thief spurred his horse forward, reined in his horse just before the hunters could shoot, pulled out his waist token, and shouted:
"We are officers from the Bureau of Corruption, not criminals!"

Shang Lu had excellent eyesight and keenly noticed that when they heard that they were government officials, the expressions of several people behind the gate became even more panicked, and they all turned their heads to look at an old man.

The old man remained calm.

He called someone out of the line and whispered a few instructions.

The man then became his mouthpiece, loudly asking, "What brings officials from the Bureau of Bandits to our Xipinggou?"

"Hey."

Upon hearing this, Shen Tu's face darkened immediately, and he shouted:

"Do we, the bandit corps, need to report to you where we go and what we do? You won't let us into the stronghold, but what have you done that you're afraid to let us know?" Shang Lu noticed that after hearing Shen Tu's words, the people behind the stronghold gate became increasingly flustered.

The old man, on the contrary, relaxed and whispered a few words to the people around him.

The group of people then calmed down.

Although there was still a hint of panic in her eyes, she was no longer as flustered as before.

Immediately afterwards, the old man ordered his men to open the village gate, and led several people out of the village to greet them:

“Your Excellency misunderstands. We are merely curious what could possibly trouble you, sir, to come all this way to our remote and impoverished village. If there is anything we can do to help, we would like to make arrangements accordingly.”

As they were talking, the old man gave a wink, and someone immediately handed the money bag they were holding to Shang Lu.

Shang Lu didn't accept it. He dismounted, cupped his hands in greeting to the old man who had come out to greet them, and to the villagers watching them from afar in the village behind them, and began to speak eloquently:
"Old folks, fellow villagers, don't panic. We're not here to force you to donate, nor are we here to freeload. We're just here to deliver a letter on someone's behalf, and we'll leave as soon as we get there."

Hearing Shang Lu's words, the people of Xipinggou all breathed a sigh of relief.

In particular, Shen Tu added a perfectly timed compliment:
"We are from the county's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and our job is to apprehend bandits and handle cases. The task of forcing people to pay taxes is none of our business."

As for begging for money, haha, if I were to do that, I wouldn't come to your poor, remote place; you couldn't even scrape off a couple of ounces of oil there.

Although they were mocked, the people of Xipinggou were not angry. Instead, they smiled and agreed repeatedly.

But the old man and his group did not lead Shang Lu and his companions into the village. Instead, they asked, "Gentlemen, who are you here to deliver a message to?"

"Liang Jihu, is he in the village?"

When Shang Lu said this, he seemed to be looking towards the village, but he was actually watching the old man and the others out of the corner of his eye.

Upon hearing Liang Jihu's name, these people indeed showed a hint of panic.

One of the hunter-like men blurted out, "Ah... he's not here."

"Where did you go?" Shang Lu asked.

"He went into the mountains to gather herbs for his mother," the hunter said hurriedly.

"Is that so?" Shang Lu turned his head and stared at the hunter, his eyes gleaming.

The hunter felt that Shang Lu's gaze was more terrifying than that of a vicious wolf or tiger, and he instantly broke out in a cold sweat, stammering, "Yes...yes."

"What a coincidence," Shang Lu said, seemingly believing the hunter's words.

The hunter immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly put on a smiling face, saying:
"Yes, that's unfortunate. Gentlemen, why don't you give me the letter? I'll pass it on to Liang Jihu when he returns."

Shang Lu shook his head and said, "There's no need for you to pass it on. Since we're all here, we should naturally go to Liang Jihu's house to visit his sick mother. I can just leave this letter at his house."

"No..."

Upon hearing that Shang Lu and his group were going to Liang Jihu's house, the hunters' expressions changed drastically, and even the old man was somewhat alarmed.

Shang Lu channeled his blood energy, transforming it into an aura and pressure that enveloped the group, demanding:
"Why not? Do we need your permission to visit our colleague's mother? Or are you hiding something in your village that you're afraid we'll see?"

The hunters were so suppressed that they couldn't speak.

The old man, however, smiled ingratiatingly and said:
“What treasures could we possibly have hidden in this poor, remote place? We are worried that the officials, with their armor and swords, exude a menacing aura that might offend the patient and worsen her condition.”

Shang Lu laughed heartily: "Don't worry, we specialize in catching thieves and robbers. When we see a patient, not only can we not bother her, but we can also scare away her illness."

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, the old man had no choice but to agree to let Shang Lu and his group enter the village.

Someone saw this scene from behind the distant village gate, immediately turned around, and ran into the village.

Shentu led his horse and walked beside Shanglu.

He gave a signal, and immediately a thief led his horse to separate the villagers.

Shen Tu then lowered his voice and reminded him, "Sir, there's something strange about the people in this place."

Shang Lu nodded in satisfaction. These people from the Thieves Bureau did have some discernment.

He whispered, "Let's wake everyone up and see what tricks they're playing."

Shen Tu accepted the order and immediately used coded hand gestures to transmit the command to several thieves.

Shang Lu continued to use his silver tongue, asking with a hint of seduction, "What are you guarding against with all these stone walls and watchtowers here?"

One of the men next to the old man instinctively chimed in, "May I let the official know that these are all for defense against bandits and wild animals?"

Shang Lu continued to use his silver tongue: "Are there bandits here? Why haven't you reported it to the authorities?"

Under the influence of his silver tongue, the man sneered:
"Why wasn't it reported? The town's thieves came by, demanded a lot of bribes, but didn't dare touch the bandits, saying they were going to ask the county for help..."

Fortunately, thanks to the great immortal's protection, the band of thieves was subdued. I heard that some thieves in town even shamelessly claimed the immortal's credit; how despicable!

"Great Immortal?"

A glint of light flashed in Shang Lu's eyes.

How come this plot is so similar to the case Fang Yi described?
It's just that the mountain god has become a great immortal.

Shang Lu immediately pressed, "What great immortal? Which great immortal?"

(End of this chapter)