She is devoted to cultivating immortality

Chapter 16 The Grievous Tree Demon

"It's not that I'm trying to bully you, sir. You are different from the others. If I were a corrupt scholar, he would definitely regard my words as heresy."

Xie Lian smiled.

Zhuang Mochen laughed for a while, then said seriously.

"Starting tomorrow, I will come here to read every day, hoping that it will be of educational use."

"But Mr. Xie should also be careful and not put his entire safety on the gods."

"There are so many gods in the world. If they could all be trusted, there wouldn't be so many disasters."

Xie Lian listened to these words thoughtfully.

This is indeed the truth.

Previously, when she heard that the gods of the underworld were protecting the town, she immediately felt safe, but now that she thought about it carefully, she felt that something was not right.

If the City God is really that reliable, how could he allow evil spirits to cause trouble?

The waters of this world are very deep. We cannot rely on conjecture, much less on experience from past lives. We really have to be careful.

Xie Lian turned around, looked towards the old locust tree, and said.

"There must be some fate between you and me. I'm sure you know this, so I protected you in front of Mr. Zhuang. But this doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. If one day you really cause trouble, I will definitely get rid of you. I hope that day will never come!"

These words are a warning.

Xie Lian didn't know how much use it had, but she felt that even if it was just bluffing, she had to say it.

It would be great if it could make the tree demon feel a little more fearful.

But she didn't know that her worries were all groundless.

It was she who gave the tree demon its intelligence. On the night when its intelligence was generated, she was sleeping on the locust tree. So the moment the tree demon opened its eyes, it saw her.

Just like a baby bird will mistake the first creature it sees for its mother.

In the eyes of the tree demon, Xie Lian is exactly such a character.

So it is impossible for it to go against Xie Lian's wishes.

After being threatened by Zhuang Mochen and warned by Xie Lian, it actually felt a little aggrieved in its heart, but it still remembered the words of the two deeply.

Zhuang Mochen left Xie Lian's yard and returned to his newly bought house.

The new house occupies a similar area as the old house, but it is obviously much more exquisite and luxurious.

The original owner of the house was a wealthy businessman in this county. Because he admired Zhuang Mochen's reputation, he sold the yard at a low price and even kept the furniture in it.

But Zhuang Mochen felt that it was too luxurious, so he returned most of the furniture.

"Master, I have already found someone to cut down the tree. He will be here this afternoon."

Youfu came forward and said.

As early as when Zhuang Mochen went to find Xie Lian, he actually had the intention of chopping down the tree, but he did not expect that there would be an unexpected turn of events later.

"No need. I have already promised to sell the old house to Mr. Xie. The old locust tree already belongs to her, and she has no intention of cutting it down. So you can go and apologize to them and give them some copper coins, and they won't have to make the trip."

Zhuang Mochen washed his hands in the basin, dried them with a towel, and spoke slowly.

"The old house was sold to Mr. Xie? She actually wants a haunted house? Yes, she has been living in the old house these days... It's really strange. The old tree is ominous, why doesn't she want to cut it down?"

Youfu scratched his head, unable to figure it out. This matter seemed very strange to him.

The locust tree is an ominous tree. With wood on the left and ghosts on the right, it is naturally close to ghosts and has a heavy yin energy. Many people suspect that the reason why evil ghosts live in old locust trees is because the trees themselves are not clean.

"Master, this Mr. Xie seems a bit weird to me. We should stay away from him."

Youfu couldn't help but say.

"You shouldn't say that. It's my business what kind of friends I make. Do you think I'm not as good at judging people as you are?"

Zhuang Mochen shook his head. Although his voice was not harsh, it still made Youfu sweat profusely. Before he could say anything, Zhuang Mochen spoke again.

"I can see what you can see. Ms. Xie has indeed hidden many things from me. Many of her statements seem to be self-consistent, but in fact they are full of loopholes. I just don't want to point them out... Do you know why?"

Youfu shook his head like a rattle.

"There are two reasons. The first is that no matter how strange her words and deeds are, she has no intention of harming anyone. When she interacts with me, she is generally quite sincere. It's just that there are some things that she may really not be able to say. A gentleman will not casually inquire about other people's unspeakable secrets. Of course, I will not ask too much. I believe that when the time is right, she will know what she should know."

"As for the second, it's feeling."

"The so-called feeling is actually very mysterious and even sounds a bit absurd, but for some reason, I feel a faint sense of joy when I get to know Ms. Xie, as if it is my blessing to be friends with her."

Zhuang Mochen looked towards the courtyard opposite and murmured.

…starting from the next day.

As she said, Zhuang Mochen came to read under the old locust tree every morning.

Starting from the most basic enlightenment, it is all about educating children to be good.

The old locust tree was a little afraid of Zhuang Mochen, but it was not averse to knowledge. Its leaves swayed gently, as if it was listening with great interest.

At the beginning, Zhuang Mochen could read for three hours in one go.

Even forgot to eat breakfast.

Reading has always been a happy thing for him.

But after a few days, he could only read for one hour.

Because the school in Xiaoning County has opened.

Zhuang Mochen resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown with the intention of teaching and educating people. He was well-known and was a genuine Jinshi, so naturally he wanted to run a school, and dozens of children of school age enrolled in the school, which made him very busy.

After a few days, Zhuang Mochen's school expanded its enrollment. It turned out that some children who had already enrolled in the school "transferred" here after hearing that he was running a school.

This made Zhuang Mochen even busier, as he not only had to teach the introductory classes, but also had to teach students who already had a foundation in reading.

In this way, the morning reading hour can only be reduced to half an hour.

Until yesterday, Zhuang Mochen simply stopped coming and sent Zhuang Yan instead.

Zhuang Yan naturally didn't have to go to school, not because he was being treated specially, but because his study progress far exceeded the level of the school. After all, he was given special treatment at home, so such progress was not surprising.

But the child is naughty by nature and would easily neglect his studies if left at home. Due to his busy career and lack of time to discipline his child, Zhuang Mochen simply entrusted his son to Xie Lian.

He had Xie Lian watch over him while he reviewed his lessons every day.

As for Zhuang Yan, he was told to study under the old locust tree.

Xie Lian understood that this meant that Zhuang Yan was to take his place in enlightening the old locust tree.

There are two main reasons why Zhuang Mochen made such arrangements. First, the old locust tree is indeed harmless. During these days of getting along with it, it actually seems docile and studious, and is much more sensible than ordinary children. Although it cannot speak, it often uses branches and leaves to express its ideas.

Secondly, for some unknown reason, the old locust tree seemed to be growing in intelligence very quickly. It knew that Zhuang Mochen was afraid of the cold, so it gathered the leaked energy, so that although the old house was still cold, it was not unbearable.

Therefore, Zhuang Mochen was willing to let Zhuang Yan take his place to enlighten the old locust tree, which could be considered a kind of training.

Zhuang Yan didn't know the details. He read under the old tree with a sad face every day, not noticing that the treetops were like people, moving little by little while he was reading...

Xie Lian was responsible for looking after Zhuang Yan, but he didn't really keep an eye on him.

Zhuang Yan is actually quite sensible. Zhuang Mochen thinks he is naughty because he has high demands. In Xie Lian's opinion, Zhuang Yan is already a very obedient child.

Even if he is unwilling in his heart, he will study meticulously and does not need to be supervised too strictly.

Apart from this reason, Xie Lian was still busy with his own affairs.

Make money!

Yes, she wanted to get some money.

She dreams of becoming an immortal, and the first thing she has to solve is the problem of living under someone else's roof.

All her food expenses these days were supported by the banker. Although the banker and his son didn't think there was anything wrong, she still felt a little embarrassed.

And the house payment hasn’t been paid yet!

You can't keep getting away with it for free.

But how difficult is it to make money?
Even if you are a time traveler, it is not easy to get a "huge sum of money" in a short period of time.

Early that morning, Zhuang Yan was reading under a tree. Xie Lian was about to go out to look for a way to make money, but as soon as he walked out of the room, he saw a figure standing at the gate of the courtyard.

wrong!

Not a human figure...

There was a cold and gloomy air lingering around, and he was dressed in a black robe, looking very murderous, and only she could see it.

"No way?"

Xie Lian’s heart skipped a beat.

Once bitten, twice shy.

The evil ghost was just killed, is there a second one coming?
But she was obviously overthinking it, as the man in black robe bowed respectfully to Xie Lian, and every word he spoke was filled with caution.

"The new judge of Xiaoning County City God's Mansion pays his respects to Mr. Xie. In compliance with the order of the City God, Fairy Xie is invited to attend the banquet!"

(End of this chapter)