Zhu Xian: Learn from the Great Ying Immortal and rebuild the Trinity School

Chapter 20: Mountain God
How much work can a widow do at home?

Xu Zhiqiu worked hard for a whole morning and finished chopping half a month's worth of firewood.

There was a well in the east of the village. He ran back and forth several times and filled the water tank.

There is an old lychee tree in the Lu family courtyard.

In previous years, the tree grew lush branches and leaves, providing shade and coolness, as well as satisfying food appetite.

But due to the drought in the past two years, the tree is bare and has no buds. It must be dying soon.

He carried more than ten buckets of water in one breath, trying to save the tree.

He was busy and sweating, but he was still in high spirits.

"You've been busy all morning, have a drink of water."

Lu stepped forward and handed him a bowl of water.

Xu Zhiqiu took a sip and glanced around the courtyard.
"Why don't you see your daughter?"

I thought, maybe she was hiding away because she was afraid of his revenge because of what happened last night?
Hey, you're making a fuss about a little kid... He's not that petty.

Lu smiled bitterly:

"Behind the village is Daling Mountain. At the foot of the mountain there is a shallow river beach. The child must have gone to pick Houttuynia again."

Xu raised his eyebrows, "Houttuynia? Eat it or use it as medicine?"

"Used as medicine."

Xu Zhiqiu couldn't help but look at her complexion.
When he was in Trinity, he learned some knowledge of herbal medicine, and also knew a little about medicine.

He looked closely and saw that there seemed to be something abnormal and sick in Lu's expression.

"Mrs. Lu, please excuse me, but do you have any illness?"

Lu stroked her hair and said, "It's just a minor ailment, it's nothing serious."

Seeing that she was deliberately avoiding the question, Xu Zhiqiu tactfully stopped asking.

But I can't help but ask another question:
"I see that the locals are very enthusiastic about praying to the gods. Is the mountain god they worship from this Daling Mountain?"

Before Lu could answer, someone outside the courtyard interrupted and said:

"You are such an ignorant outsider. You should call me Mountain God."

I saw the old man pulling the girl from the Lu family into the yard.
"Thanks to the protection of the mountain god, our village has enjoyed good weather and continued to thrive for nearly a hundred years."

Lu hurriedly went to meet him:
"Mr. Lizheng, why are you here?"

The old man was very happy:
"Your child is very filial and can't bear to see his mother suffer, so he wanted to go out of the village to collect herbs, but I stopped him. I will send the child back to you and visit him while I'm at it..."

When he said this, his eyes darkened and fell on Xu Zhiqiu, looking him up and down.

The latter smiled and bowed.
"I am Xu Zhiqiu, a stranger from the countryside. Nice to meet you, old gentleman."

He has handsome features and looks like a young man. He doesn't look like a bad guy at all.

Lao Li looked at it carefully and couldn't find any problems, so he changed his mind.

"Lu's daughter-in-law, I'm not saying you..."

He seemed to be complaining, and grumbled to Lu:

"Now that the disaster has not gone away, God has not even sent down a single rain. Every household has a limited supply of food, and everyone wants to tighten their belts to survive. Every grain saved is a grain saved. You are so kind that you even take in outsiders."

As he spoke, the old man looked at Xu Zhiqiu with a displeased look.

Xu Zhiqiu rolled his eyes and turned away without looking at him.

But he happened to meet the dark eyes of the girl from the Lu family, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment.

But I heard Lu explain:
"My mother and I have small appetites, so we usually have some leftovers. It doesn't matter if there are more people. Besides..."

The voice suddenly dropped by two points:

"Besides, after the Mountain God Festival, things will get better."

The wrinkles on Lao Lizheng's face trembled, and his voice was a little stiff:

"That's true."

This old village chief clearly has a stern face and is very strict with other villagers.

But for some reason, he was so kind to the mother and daughter of the Lu family that he almost doted on them.

I exchanged a few pleasantries with Lu, mostly asking about the difficulties in life and whether I could provide some help...

……

At last,
"That boy."

He called Xu Zhiqiu to his side, and his tone was even harsher than before:
"You are just a beggar living under someone else's roof. As the head of this village, I have to set some rules for you, a stranger." Xu Zhiqiu shrugged.

Seeing that the old man had an attitude of "If you dare to disobey me, I will pick up my walking stick and beat you out of the village", how could he dare to be foolish and talk back?
"Mr. Li Zheng, please speak."

"First, the daughter-in-law of the Lu family is well-known in this village and has a clean character. I hope you can control your hands and feet. If you dare to cross the line, I will not let you go!"

Xu Zhiqiu laughed when he heard this:
"You don't need to tell me about this. If that time really comes, I will stand still and let you kill me."

Lao Lizheng disagreed with his words and continued:
"You two, don't cause trouble, and don't fight with the people in this village. Otherwise, when the time comes, don't blame me for taking sides and conspiring with the whole village to bully you!"

In this regard, Xu Zhiqiu did not give in.
"You can rest assured, Village Chief. Xu is not a meddlesome person, but he is not a softie who will be bullied by others."

"Humph!"

He hit a snag after being neither soft nor hard, and Lao Li Zheng was not very satisfied with his attitude.

"The third one can't really be called a rule, it's just a piece of advice. Not only you, an outsider, but also the villagers in this village have followed it for generations and dare not violate it in the slightest."

As he spoke, he pointed to the distance, where there was a towering mountain with only its outline visible.

"It is this Daling Mountain!"

His tone suddenly became stern, almost reprimanding:

"You can move around in this village, but Daling Mountain is the private land of the mountain god. I advise you not to set foot here. Otherwise, you will anger the mountain god and lose your life, but you won't be able to seek justice!"

This old man is quite interesting. He threatened him before, but now he starts to give him some advice.

Xu Zhiqiu nodded, indicating that he had taken note of it.

The old village head was willing to let him go, humming to himself.

He let Lu support him and walked out of the courtyard on a crutch.

After sending the old man away, Lu came back, pinching her sleeves, her tone somewhat apologetic:
"The village head looks vicious, but he is actually a kind-hearted person. Don't take it to heart."

Xu Zhiqiu shook his head and continued to water the litchi tree.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Lu. I'm not that thin-skinned. I won't bear a grudge against him just yet. It's just..."

With a bit of embarrassment on his face,

"I am an unrelated person, and I feel bad eating at your house for free every day."

For the past two days, the family of three has only one meal a day.

Each person only has a bowl of thin porridge and a few wild vegetables for each meal, which is just enough to maintain vital signs.

There is still a difference.

It’s really sad to talk about it.

Xu Zhiqiu had a big appetite, so he got a full bowl. The girl was young and growing, so she got more than half a bowl. As for Lu, she only got a small half bowl.

But if this continues, the Lu family’s rice jar will be empty within a month or two.

At that time, Xu Zhiqiu could just walk away, but what about the mother and daughter?

Thinking of this, I felt even more uncomfortable.

He looked towards the mountain behind the village.

It was almost noon, but the mountain was still shrouded in mist and looked very hazy.

It's a severe drought right now.

The sun was scorching and the air was dry, but the thick fog lingered for a long time, which was really magical.

Moreover, the mountains are verdant and the forests are lush, which shows that the spiritual energy is strong and is obviously not affected by the drought.

From this we can see that there should be quite a lot of mountain products.

The village relies on the mountain. It can be seen that the mountain is the foundation of the villagers' livelihood.

But when he thought of the old man's angry look and the harsh rule, Xu Zhiqiu couldn't help but shake his head again.

I've never heard of any mountain god having a private territory.

Nowadays, the drought is severe and the crops have all gone. Who would be willing to live on thin porridge every day?

There was a mountain full of produce right in front of them, but the villagers were not allowed to eat enough.

Isn’t your mountain god too awesome?
Xu Zhiqiu was deeply indignant.

Not allowed to go? Who wants to go?
But the problem is,

"What to eat?"

(End of this chapter)