You have mastered the art of thunder and you tell me that it is in a strange world?

Chapter 115 Gambling Village
This time, Zuo Chen did not fly to Dongshui City, but simply used the method of shrinking the distance to an inch to drive the donkey cart forward, spending a whole day on the road.

During this period, Zuo Chen persuaded Caiyi to cooperate with him to try to overcome her fear of heights.

He used his spiritual energy to form a small cloud, and when he lifted Caiyi to three meters, Caiyi was not very scared. When he lifted Caiyi to five meters, she became restless. When he lifted Caiyi to ten meters, she began to cry and call for the Taoist priest.

When he reached 20 meters, he changed from calling "Master" to "Mom".

When Zuo Chen let Caiyi down, Caiyi cried and said she never wanted to fly again.

Zuo Chen felt it was a pity.

I guess we won’t hear Caiyi screaming for a while.

At noon on the second day, the donkey cart finally brought Zuo Chen and Cai Yi to Dongshui City.

This time I entered through the main entrance.

Dongshui City is obviously much more lively during the day. The main road is bustling with people, vendors selling all kinds of goods are shouting their wares, and the shops on both sides of the road are open to welcome customers.

There are mainly various snack restaurants around.

Wuwei Shanren had told him before that Dongshui City was mostly populated by gourmets, and now he saw that the reputation was indeed well-deserved.

Occasionally, there are stalls with awnings on both sides of the road, with a few small tables and chairs inside for people who want to stop by to sit for a while.

Occasionally, three or two people would get together, pay a few coins, drink some cheap tea, and talk about interesting things happening in the streets and alleys.

"Did you know about the thunder in the city yesterday?"

"How could I not know? My wife was embroidering clothes for me in the house at the time. She was startled by the thunder and her finger was pierced. The good fabric was almost ruined. I don't know what the devil God has done."

"You may not know this. I heard that this thunderbolt directly killed a poor man!"

"what?"

There was a lot of chatter on the street, most of which revolved around the thunder that struck yesterday.

A bolt of lightning struck a person dead in the sky. In Dongshui City, this was a major event that was worthy of being blown away for at least seven days.

Some people said that the man who was struck to death had done too many bad things and his retribution was too severe. He wanted to run away with the money last night, but he suffered retribution and was struck to death by a bolt of lightning.

Some people also said that someone used the prescription to harm people, and deliberately opened a ritual to cause a thunderbolt to fall, but it didn't hit the person, but a beggar on the roadside.

There was a lot of idle chatter here, and Caiyi, who was sitting on the donkey cart, also heard the rumors. She was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zuo Chen with some confusion.

Seeing that the Taoist priest was calm and composed, I finally understood.

This is in line with the Taoist's temperament.

Zuo Chen first walked around the road twice, looked at the style of Dongshui City, and then asked for directions to Sima Mansion.

When we arrived outside Sima's residence, we could see two soldiers standing on either side of the entrance, looking very majestic.

As a high-ranking official in the city, Sima Liang had to maintain the proper posture.

When Zuo Chen appeared at the door, the two soldiers looked at each other first, and then immediately took out a small note from their arms.

The two soldiers first lowered their heads to look at the note, then looked up at Zuo Chen and Cai Yi who were sitting on the donkey cart. They looked back and forth three times in total, and finally put on a kind smile.

"Master Zuo! You are finally here! Please come in quickly, Master Sima is waiting for you!"

The speed at which his expression changes is faster than turning the pages of a book.

Zuo Chen didn't say much, and followed Caiyi directly into Sima's mansion, and asked the soldiers to prepare more carrots to feed Donkey Master.

When Donkey Master heard that there were carrots, he immediately smiled like a human, which even stunned the two soldiers. They felt that he was worthy of being a Taoist priest and the donkeys he raised were extraordinary.

After entering the Sima Courtyard and looking around, I felt that this place was indeed luxurious. There were rockery, fake water, and specially made gardens. There was a unique portrait between every two vermilion pillars in the corridor.

Overall, although the level of luxury here is far from that of Prince Kang’s mansion, the exquisiteness and ingenuity are much higher than that of Prince Kang’s place.

After all, the Kang Wang family has not only beauties but also treasures. Compared with the literati style in the yard, they have more of the aura of a nouveau riche.

When they arrived at the main hall, Sima Liang had already been prepared.

"Master, you are finally here."

Sima Liang immediately stepped forward and warmly greeted Zuo Chen. After the two entered the house, Sima Liang immediately called out to the servants:
"Hurry and prepare the feast!"

Zuo Chen wanted to refuse, but when he saw Caiyi drooling beside him, his own greed was aroused.

Ok……

Just think of it as giving Caiyi a taste of something new.

That’s right, I gave it to Caiyi to taste, I don’t want to eat it.

Sima Liang immediately led the two men to a large table. After they sat down, a servant served them tea, and then a maid brought up dishes one by one.

It was a luncheon, and all the dishes prepared were main dishes. In addition to chicken, duck, fish, goose, there was also beef.

Looking at the table full of delicious food, Caiyi's eyes widened:
"Golden milk pastry, light high noodles, smallpox steamed buns, five-ingredient plate, and Xunxun sauce, sheepskin shreds... Oh my god, I wouldn't dare to eat like this even in my dreams."

"Miss Caiyi has a good eye." Sima Liang also introduced her with a bit of boasting:

"My chef is a retired official from the Imperial Household Department. He once cooked soup for the late emperor and his skills are first-rate. I spent a lot of effort to get him from the governor. I hope he will suit your tastes."

According to Daliang law, livestock cannot be killed at will, but since it was Sima who was treating, there must have been some means to cause the cattle and sheep to "die accidentally."

Sima Liang had said so, so Zuo Chen didn't hesitate to pick up a piece of soup meat with chopsticks. It tasted great.

……

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the table was cleared by the servants.

The banquet was large, so people would be almost full after tasting three or five bites of each dish. The remaining food would not be loose, so it would probably be taken to the kitchen and distributed by the servants.

When all the food was cleared away and there was no one else in the room, it was time to talk about some serious business.

"Mr. Sima, what exactly is the situation with the gambling village you mentioned earlier?"

Hearing Zuo Chen's question, Sima Liang sighed and explained:
“That can be considered as a disaster for Daliang now.

"The gambling village is located in a dense forest, which stretches from Changsheng Sea in the north to Xuzhou in the south. It covers a huge area and is full of evil spirits, savage monsters, and extremely dangerous. If you are not very familiar with the terrain, it is very difficult to pass through this forest.

"Some thieves took advantage of the characteristics of this dense forest and made a lot of dirty business out of it, including several gambling bosses.

"They can't compete with the Big Red Lantern in Kyoto, and they are easily beheaded by local officials if they do something too evil in other places. Some of them ran to the Great Forest because they couldn't make a living in Xuzhou. It was just such a group of people who suddenly decided to set up a gambling village and let many beggar gangs roam around. They used the Five Magics and Three Daoist Magics to trick good people into gambling. It's a huge cancer!"

When Sima Liang said this, he was already filled with indignation, but he immediately sighed helplessly:

"I once told the governor about this matter, hoping to personally lead a troop of soldiers to wipe out that place. However, the governor said that there must be places where filth and dirt are hidden in this world. If I really deal with that place, the scoundrels who escaped from it would only make the surrounding towns more unstable. But I know that it is clear that the governor is unwilling to wipe it out because that place has to pay tribute every year.

"There's nothing I can do about it."

After hearing this, Zuo Chen finally understood.

"Sima wants me to go to the gambling village and level that place?"

"It can't be said to be a peace." Sima Liang shook his head: "How can you say that the Taoist's work of exorcising demons is a peace?"

Zuo Chen pondered for a few seconds and looked at Sima Liang's face again.

Sima Liang touched his face.

I feel like there should be nothing on my face.

"Taoist priest?"

"It's okay to promise you this, but won't this make you an enemy of the governor of your city?"

"What's the harm?" Sima Liang was filled with righteous indignation: "As long as I can get rid of the harm left behind by the common people, I don't mind even if I don't have this official hat!"

He smiled awkwardly again: "It is precisely because the governor is not in the city now that I dare to do this. If he comes back, I am afraid I will not have the chance to meet you."

“…I can try.”

Sima Liang was overjoyed when he heard Zuo Chen's agreement.

"I knew that the Taoist priest would not want to see evil and chaos in the world! Thank you, Taoist priest."

After Sima Liang stood up, he bowed deeply towards Zuo Chen with a look of sincerity.

……

It was getting late, so Zuo Chen and Cai Yi decided to stay in Sima Mansion for the day.

The Sima Mansion was large enough, so a separate courtyard was prepared for the two of them, with two guest rooms and a living room for them to use as they pleased.

Sima Liang originally planned to let servants come in to serve the two of them, but Zuo Chen asked the servants to leave the courtyard, saying that he "didn't like being disturbed by outsiders."

After there was no one around, Zuo Chen used branches to build a hidden door at the door.

Seeing Zuo Chen’s arrangement, Caiyi also discovered that something was wrong.

"Master, do you think there is something wrong with Mr. Sima?"

Caiyi thought for a long time and felt that there seemed to be nothing wrong with what Mr. Sima said.

"I just felt there were a few inconsistencies in his words and behavior."

Zuo Chen explained one by one:

"First of all, if he hated gambling houses so much, why did he first meet us in a gambling house?"

"Ah?" Caiyi was stunned and found that this seemed to be a problem indeed.

"Secondly, since the governor has received news about me and informed his subordinates, and there is more than one Shangzuo in the city, why did he come to me alone?"

After hearing what Zuo Chen said, Caiyi also felt that there was indeed a problem.

Sima is speaking ill of Situ and the governor here. If Situ knew Zuo Chen was here, how could he not send someone to meet him?
Let Sima grope in the dark?

Unrealistic.

"Then why did you agree to him, Taoist priest?" Caiyi asked puzzledly.

Zuo Chen laughed when he heard this.

"It's very difficult to find the nests of cockroaches. I found one before, but it must have already laid a whole nest.

“But this thing can’t sit still and always likes to dance in front of people.

"Look, isn't this coming?"

(End of this chapter)