Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 12: Qin Shanzhang

To be honest, Gong Tianwu suffered a lot last night, so he had thought carefully that as soon as his body recovered, he would definitely cause trouble for the Xu family. But he never thought of taking her life. But why did she die as soon as she woke up?

Tian Yun said in a panic and confusion:
"After the He brothers died, the He family was unwilling to let it go, so they went to the village that night to seek justice from the three elders, but they were soon driven back in disgrace. They must have been turned down by the officials."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu's desire to climb up became stronger, which shows how humble the people at the bottom of society are.

The He brothers still belong to the stronger class among the common people, but if Zhao Zi killed them there would be no trouble at all. However, no matter what Zhao Zi said, they were not even martial arts scholars.

At this time, Tian Yun continued:

"The He family realized at this point that something was wrong. After asking around, they went to find the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xu family and accused her of spreading rumors and making irresponsible remarks that led to the deaths of the two brothers. They then carried the bodies directly to the doorstep of the Xu family to demand an explanation."

"The key point is that Xu Qun was indeed talking nonsense about stealing sheep, so the Xu family was in the wrong. The two sides then started arguing and fighting. The Xu family suffered a great loss. The men were beaten and had blood on their heads. The sheep in the family were taken away, and most of the food was taken away."

"It was a sudden disaster. The whole family cursed Xu Qun, saying that she was mean and evil. Her husband also beat her up. Half an hour later, Xu Qun jumped into the river and has not been fished out yet."

Hearing this, Gong Tianwu felt confused, and there was an indescribable emotion running and colliding in his chest with nowhere to vent, making him feel uncomfortable.

Before, he wanted to catch Xu Qun, the gossipy woman, and slap her a few times, but now he just felt that this person was pitiful and hateful, and even more pathetic!

After two minutes, Gong Tianwu quickly regained his sanity. After all, he was still a human for three lifetimes. Having experienced life and death many times, his psychological endurance was much stronger than Tian Yun. He sighed and said:
"Come on, come on. In this world, it's good enough to protect yourself. Who cares about other people's lives?"

After he finished speaking, he turned around and took out a large piece of braised meat from the door, and handed it to Tian Yun:
"There are many people who are eyeing my shabby house. If I leave the meat here, it might be stolen at any time."

Tian Yun was surprised and said:

"You give it to me? What about you?"

Gong Tianwu waved his hand and said:
"I have something to do in the county town. You prepare the meat first. I will come back to have a drink with my brother-in-law."

Then Gong Tianwu went straight to the county town.

As the saying goes, once you enter the world, you have no choice.

Gong Tianwu enjoyed the benefits of the underworld last night, but it also means that he has to face the turmoil of the underworld. The lives of the He brothers and the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xu family are the price of being accidentally involved in the affairs of the underworld!

Gong Tianwu was of course afraid of this, but could he turn back? He could only bite the bullet and move on!
***
The process of going to the county town did not encounter any twists and turns. After Gong Tianwu arrived at the county town smoothly, he went straight to Mizhen Temple.

In today's world, Mizhen Temple is no longer the name of a single Taoist temple, but a functional building similar to a school or hospital.

Its purpose is simple and straightforward: every once in a while (usually three to five years), the newborn children under the jurisdiction will be guided to the immortal sect, and those who are qualified to practice Taoism will be found out, and then introduced to the Taoism sect that governs the area.

Not only that, fairy seedlings are also a common trading resource in many cases. For example, if a child with a natural Buddha nature is discovered by Emei, he can be exchanged with Buddhist allies for magic weapons, skills, elixirs, etc.

You know, the lack of successors is actually a very common and serious disaster for a sect of cultivation.

A foundation-building cultivator can support a family of cultivators for five generations, allowing the entire family to last for two hundred years. However, if there is no successor, then the family will decline in an instant, so the resources exchanged for a suitable immortal seedling are quite abundant.

Each Mizhen Temple has one or two monks guarding it and serving as the temple master. However, they are usually busy with cultivation and will only take action when the locals encounter unsolvable troubles.

At this time, Gong Tianwu was standing at the gate of Mizhen Temple, looking at the vermilion building inside with envy on his face.

It is called Zhuge, and has a total of seven floors. The top floor is usually the residence of the "real person". When the immortal gate is opened, this is the core area for screening immortal seedlings. It is also a holy place that affects the hearts of men, women, and children across the county. After all, once a child in a family is selected, it can be said to be a step to heaven.

At present, Gong Tianwu only knows that the first level of Zhuge is to test one's physique, and the second level is to test one's affinity with the five elements. It is said that there are other miraculous uses, but that is beyond his knowledge.

However, Gong Tianwu only stood here for a while before he saw the burly man guarding the gate opposite walking towards him aggressively, holding a thick black and red stick in his hand.

This stick is called a stick, also known as a legal stick. It is used by government officials to maintain order. It can easily cause people to bleed when hit. More importantly, it represents righteousness and the status of an official.

No matter how great a hero or a powerful person you are, you have to bow your head before this stick, and you can only consider yourself unlucky if you are hit.

When encountering this situation in the past, Gong Tianwu’s only reaction was to turn around and run away, the faster the better. After all, even if he was hit by a stick, his bones might be broken.

But this time he stood there calmly, letting the burly man walk up to him, and then handed over the token in his hand and said:

"I want to find Mr. Xie San."

After seeing the iron sign, the strong man guarding the door changed his expression, and his straight waist also bent down:

"So you're here to see the Third Master. Come this way, please."

If the feeling he had last night was not deep enough, then at this moment, in broad daylight and in full view of everyone, Gong Tianwu suddenly felt deeply the benefits of class leap. The feeling of seeing the people he used to look up to now bowing down in front of him was truly intoxicating.

A few minutes after entering Mizhen Temple, Gong Tianwu discovered that there was a different world inside. It turned out that Zhuge was actually located on an island in the lake, and there were special guards.

Gong Tianwu saw from afar that there was a piece of Taihu stone at the entrance of Zhuge, on which were engraved the nine characters "Xian Qingshan has grace, Baihe forgets the plan". Reading it made people feel relaxed and happy, and it seemed to be a fairy who presided over this place. As for the high-end martial arts in his mind, it was located in the northwest of Mizhen Temple.

In a wealthy family or an official residence, this location is usually a corner of a utility room, servants' room, stable, etc., and the strong man took him around the road, deliberately avoiding the central red pavilion.

It can be seen that the status of martial arts in the entire Mizhen Temple is obviously very low.

But even so, the exquisiteness of the buildings and the completeness of the equipment in the martial arts school were unprecedented in Gong Tianwu's experience. He looked at all this greedily, and the ambition and desire in his heart began to grow gradually.

Suddenly, a man with a sinister face came forward. He had a goatee on his chin, and wore a wide robe with big sleeves. He walked with an arrogant and unrestrained manner. The most eye-catching thing was the pearl hanging around his neck, which looked very gentle and definitely not an ordinary thing.

What’s even more peculiar is that Gong Tianwu instinctively felt that this thing seemed somewhat important to him.

There were three or four people surrounding this man, and he was protected like the moon surrounded by stars. It was obvious that his identity was quite extraordinary.

The man with Gong Tianwu was immediately startled, stretched out his hand to pull Gong Tianwu out of the way, and bowed and said:

"grown ups!"

These people simply ignored them and strode over, treating the two men as air.

After this group of people left, Gong Tianwu couldn't help but whispered:
"These people are so arrogant, where do they come from?"

The strong man guarding the gate suddenly changed his expression, and it seemed that he wanted to reach out and cover Gong Tianwu's mouth. Finally, he whispered:

"That's Principal Qin Shan, you can also call him Qin Jiaoyu. He handles all matters concerning martial arts."

At this point, the gatekeeper whispered at a very fast speed:
"The Third Master Xie you are looking for is Master Luo's man. There have been rumors since last year that Master Qin is leaving and Master Luo is going to take over."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu immediately understood the intricate human relations involved and said sincerely:

"Thank you very much."

Soon, Gong Tianwu was brought to Xie San, whom he had met yesterday.

At this moment, Xie San was no longer the humble and submissive man he was yesterday. Instead, he looked smart and capable, but also revealed a hint of sinisterness. He was busy handling things in his own room.

Gong Tianwu could only wait in line obediently by the side. He found that there was an endless stream of people coming to do business. They either called him Third Master or Master Qing.

When Xie San saw Gong Tianwu, he didn't say anything and just said:

"Your name is Tian Dachun? Are you suffering from heart disease?"

Gong Tianwu did not expect that the other party would reveal his secret in one breath, but then he thought that such things could be known with a little investigation, so he could only smile and nod.

Xie San said casually:

"Master Luo saw that you have broad shoulders and a thin waist, and your arms are close to your knees. You have an innate advantage in practicing archery, so he gave you an opportunity."

"But if you have the heart paralysis problem, you won't be able to pass even the most basic level of strengthening your bones and muscles. If you come to learn martial arts, it won't help you, but will harm your life. Hand over the badge and leave."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu smiled bitterly and said:

"Third Master, can you give me some time? My illness is not incurable. It is said that there is a magical elixir called Zixue Powder that can cure my illness."

After hearing this, Xie San did not comment. He just stood up and grabbed his wrist.

In an instant, Gong Tianwu felt a warm feeling rushing into his pulse, then quickly rushing along his upper arm directly to his left chest. Suddenly he felt as if his chest was being warmed by fire, which could be said to be very comfortable.

After feeling comfortable, Gong Tianwu felt an itch in his throat, followed by a sharp pain in his chest, and he vomited blood with a "wow".

The blood was purple-black in color and emitted an indescribable stench. There were also scattered blood clots and fragmented tissues in it.

After vomiting blood, Gong Tianwu half-knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. Instead, he felt particularly relieved in his heart and hurriedly said with gratitude:

"Thank you, Third Master!"

Xie San handed him a pill and motioned for him to take it before saying:
"Your heart disease is already incurable, and you are addicted to women and have damaged your essence, which makes it even more difficult to deal with. I thought that after helping you with this, I could extend your life by ten years, but now it seems that even five years is difficult."

After hearing what Xie San said, Gong Tianwu's heart immediately moved, and the mysterious red font appeared before his eyes again:
Causal Points: 2 points (extreme exhaustion)/11
Zhenlong: 0 points

剩余寿命：0年3月29日18小时4分9秒。

Seeing this prompt, Gong Tianwu was slightly surprised. His life span had only increased by about one month, which seemed a bit far from the five years that Xie San mentioned. However, the lightness and relaxation he felt in his body were real, so he thanked him again with all his heart.

(End of this chapter)