Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 460, page 459: Sailing
"What are you planning?"

Wa Ye raised his voice: "Of course, it's to restore Jiang Liu Temple's reputation!"

"Don't be fooled by the fact that we are separated by a great river. If foreigners dared to cause trouble with the temples in Mingshui County over building a bridge, how can we, the temples across the river, pretend not to see it?"

"If word gets out, people will think that our temple is less courageous than a shrine, wouldn't that make us a laughing stock?"

Feng Xiuhu picked up the bowl of noodles and slurped down a couple of bites, then asked, "So, in the end, this was actually instigated by the temple to be done by you?"

Wa Ye hesitated for a moment, which was keenly noticed by Feng Xiuhu.

Waye waved his hand and said, "Regardless of whether the monks in the temple speak or not, we are all common people protected by Jiang Liugong. Can we just stand by and watch foreigners trample on Jiang Liugong's head?"

Feng Xiuhu raised an eyelid and asked again, "Is this something that only you, a tax official, are doing, or is it something that all tax officials are doing?"

Although Jindi City is not as large as Fan City and Qianyu City, it is still a "city". Therefore, there must be more than one tax official under the temple. Just like the scale-scraping knife and Yuan Laoda in the past, in order to collect taxes in time, the temple usually sets up tax officials according to the division of the area.

This question seemed to have hit the nail on the head. Wa Ye immediately became alert and stared at Feng Xiuhu without saying a word.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Feng Xiuhu picked up Old Zheng, who was standing next to him, and said, "You tell me."

Old Zheng didn't understand why there was anything to hide about this. Even if he didn't say anything, he could just grab any passerby on the street and ask them. So he honestly replied, "Reporting to you, sir, in any district where the Jiangliu Temple tax official is located, all the people have been told to go to the docks to make a show of things."

Feng Xiuhu nodded silently—the ability to command all the tax officials at once could only be due to the temple's authorization.

Wa glared at him: "Don't ask too many questions about the temple, or you'll lose your head!"

Feng Xiuhu didn't care and waved his hand to tell Wa Ye to get lost: "Your face is covered in blood, don't disgust me here."

Wa Ye quickly got up and told his brothers to leave.

Watching them run off into the distance, Shunzi worriedly asked, "What if they cause trouble later?"

Feng Xiuhu said calmly, "Do you think that if we chop them into mincemeat, no one will come looking for trouble?"

After clarifying the situation, Feng Xiuhu had no intention of doing anything to Wa Ye and his gang. To be frank, it was a matter of mutual consent, and there was no point in arguing about it. If they beat them up and then took their lives, Feng Xiuhu and his group would be the ones in the wrong.

After a satisfying bowl of soup noodles, the three of them were full.

Shunzi took out his money, but Old Zheng refused to accept it. Feng Xiuhu asked, "What's wrong? You're not going to pay your taxes?"

Old Zheng then tucked the copper beads into his apron.

Just as he was about to leave, Old Zheng suddenly spoke up: "Sir, the spring flood season is approaching, so don't go to the docks these next few days."

Feng Xiuhu's suspicious nature kicked in again, and he immediately turned to look at him: "What do you mean?"

Old Zheng didn't want to say anything more, so he lowered his head and focused on tidying up the table.

Feng Xiuhu persisted, grabbing Old Zheng's arm: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Old Zheng couldn't break free—he thought to himself that the script shouldn't be like this. It should have been left at that point, but why did he have to run into someone so stubborn? He should have known better than to say anything more.

Left with no other choice, Old Zheng looked around, dipped his hand in the noodle soup, and wrote two words on the table.

The boat is moving.

Once Feng Xiuhu saw it clearly, Old Zheng immediately wiped it off with a rag.

This time, he refused to reveal anything at all.

Having failed to persuade him, Feng Xiuhu had no choice but to leave.

On the way back, the three of them talked about it.

Shunzi didn't think much of it and said casually, "Maybe it's just a kind reminder that the river will rise when the flood season arrives, so it's telling us to stay away from the water."

Fang Youliu felt it couldn't be that simple: "But what does 'take a boat' mean? Does it mean we should take a boat?"

Only when he said it aloud did Feng Xiuhu realize how familiar it sounded: "...A gang of boatmen?" Fang Youliu seemed puzzled—he was still asleep when he was watching the excitement on the south bank that morning, so he didn't know about Feng Xiuhu's experiences.

Feng Xiuhu recounted the rumors he had heard from others that day: "...It is said that Dumb Jin was once the second-in-command of the boat gang, but the boat gang has now been destroyed."

With the clues unclear, Shunzi became increasingly puzzled: "What could a vanished gang possibly have to do with Chunxun?"

Not to mention him, Feng Xiuhu and Fang Youliu also couldn't understand it.

If you can't figure it out, then don't think about it anymore. Fang Youliu said, "It's none of our business anyway. Since they kindly reminded us, let's stay away from the dock and leave first thing tomorrow morning."

……

As evening approached, the three went out to find food again. The innkeeper recommended a restaurant on the next street that was famous for its goose meat, so the three headed straight there.

We sat down at the restaurant, and just as the dishes were served, someone arrived uninvited.

Shunzi was sitting directly opposite the door, so he was the first to notice. He put down his chopsticks and reached straight into his coat to grab the gun handle.

"Big brother."

He reminded him in a deep voice.

Feng Xiuhu and Fang Youliu turned their heads to look – the three people who came in were all wearing long black robes with blue patterns. After entering the shop, they looked around and their eyes were immediately fixed on Feng Xiuhu's table.

He was a monk from Jiangliu Temple.

Feng Xiuhu also put down his chopsticks and watched the three approach.

Unexpectedly, the three approached and respectfully clasped their hands in greeting: "Greetings, Master. May your rivers and lakes be forever peaceful."

This left Feng Xiuhu completely bewildered: "What kind of approach is this?"

The leading monk said, "My master invites you to the temple for a talk to clear up today's misunderstanding."

Feng Xiuhu and Fang Youliu exchanged a glance, and Shunzi spoke first: "What real or fake people? We're not going! Who knows what you're up to?"

The leading monk smiled wryly: "Please don't misunderstand. Besides my family's high priest, the high priest of the Wind and Rain Temple has also been waiting for a long time."

Feng Xiuhu suddenly realized—it seemed that Jiangliu Temple had discovered something, which was why they had invited the people from Fengyu Temple as well.

He finally nodded, summoned the waiter to pack up all the food, and then the three of them carried the food boxes and went out with the cultivator.

They walked in silence until they arrived at Jiangliu Temple, where they saw two men in high-ranking official robes already waiting at the entrance.

The one wearing a white and blue long robe was the high priest of the Fengyu Temple. He was the first to come forward and said, "May the immortal be above, and may the wind and rain be peaceful."

He did not refer to it as "worldly inspection tour," seemingly because there were outsiders present.

The high priest of Jiangliu Temple also stepped forward and bowed, saying, "It's truly a case of the flood washing away Jiangliu Temple. Please come into the hall for tea, Master."

Feng Xiuhu and the other two were invited into the temple. The master of ceremonies came up to serve tea, while Shunzi filled the table with the packed food.

As Feng Xiuhu ate, he chatted: "Let me introduce you."

The two high priests exchanged a glance, and the one from the Wind and Rain Temple spoke first: "I am Han Chanqi, a high priest of the Temple of Jindi City. I greet the True Man."

The high priest of Jiangliu Temple then replied, "I am Wu Bianluo, and I greet the True Man."

Feng Xiuhu nodded: "So, how did you know about me?"

Wu Bianlu smiled warmly: "When the True Man crossed the river from the south bank today, he called out the name 'Ma Er'. The temple in Mingshui County checked the name and found out that it was the True Man in person. The temple's chief priest was afraid that there would be a misunderstanding, so he quickly sent someone to inform the temple."

"I learned that the Master had a past relationship with the Fengyu Temple, which is why I asked Master Han to mediate."

(End of this chapter)