Journey to the West: Deer Power Immortal, Starting from Becoming a Disciple of the Supreme Lord Tais

"It actually survived!"

"This Taoist priest is a living deity!"

Some of the onlookers were shocked, their gazes toward Lu Qingxuan filled with astonishment.

They had seen Zhou Mingyuan's body before; it was already dead. But now this Taoist priest had brought him back to life.

What else could this be but a deity?

The white-haired old woman could no longer hold back. Leaning on her cane, she stumbled to the coffin. Looking at the rising and falling chest, tears streamed down her face. She knelt down before Lu Qingxuan, crying out in gratitude, "Daoist Master! You are truly a living deity! My son... my son is really alive!"

Madam Zhou knelt down, holding her two children, and wept uncontrollably.

The dead coming back to life—how could they not be excited?

Lu Qingxuan quickly helped the two up and was about to speak when a muffled cough came from the coffin.

Ignoring Lu Qingxuan's imposing manner, everyone rushed over. They saw Zhou Mingyuan with his brows furrowed, his eyelids trembling a few times, before he slowly opened his eyes.

For a moment, his eyes were filled with confusion, as if he didn't understand why he was lying in such a cramped place.

As his vision gradually cleared, he saw his tearful mother and wife beside the coffin. He immediately trembled violently, his lips quivering as he tried to speak, but no sound came out.

Upon seeing this scene, both the young woman and the old woman were somewhat surprised and looked at Lu Qingxuan with a blank expression.

"Don't panic. It's just that your soul has been separated from your body for too long and hasn't adapted yet. Take this pill and you'll recover in a few days." Lu Qingxuan took out the Soul-Returning Pill and handed it to the two of them.

"Thank you, Daoist Master!" The young woman accepted the pill and thanked him repeatedly.

The young woman then brought a bowl of water and fed it to Zhou Mingyuan along with the pills.

After taking the pill, Zhou Mingyuan felt his limbs gradually regain strength. Although he was still weak, he was able to barely support half of his body.

Zhou's wife rushed to help, and together with her mother-in-law, they helped Zhou Mingyuan out of the coffin.

Zhou Mingyuan stood up and was about to bow to Lu Qingxuan when Lu Qingxuan stopped him.

Lu Qingxuan said solemnly, "Now that your soul has just entered your body, you must not overexert yourself and need to rest well."

Zhou Mingyuan nodded, not daring to be negligent.

Just as the Zhou family was overjoyed, they suddenly heard a commotion outside the door.

It seems that more people have arrived, and there are quite a few of them.

Immediately afterwards, a strange voice rang out from outside the courtyard: "The Zhou family, I heard you hired a Taoist priest to play tricks? I advise you to be sensible and not refuse a toast only to suffer the consequences."

Madam Zhou's expression changed, and she whispered, "It's those people again! They must have gone to find reinforcements."

Lu Qingxuan snorted coldly and strode towards the courtyard gate. He wanted to see just how capable this so-called River God really was.

He stepped out of the courtyard and saw a dense crowd of thirty or forty people standing in the alley, more than double the number from before.

The leader was no longer the short, fat man, but a burly man with a full beard.

The burly man was shirtless, with a long-fanged, five-clawed blue dragon tattooed on his chest. He held a gleaming axe in his hand, looking fierce and menacing.

The short, stout man followed behind this person, gesturing wildly as he walked towards them. Upon seeing Lu Qingxuan emerge, he immediately shouted, "Brother Long, it's this Taoist priest! He ruined the River God's plans!"

The burly man called Brother Long sized up Lu Qingxuan, and seeing that he was just a thin young Taoist, he immediately dismissed him.

He slung the axe over his shoulder, grinned, and said, "Little Taoist, which mountain or temple are you from? This is none of your business in the affairs of East Street in this county. While I'm in a good mood today, get lost, lest this axe has no eyes!"

Lu Qingxuan's expression remained unchanged. He was unwilling to attack mortals, but these people were too foul-mouthed, so he said calmly, "What if this humble Taoist doesn't leave?"

"Not leaving?"

Brother Long laughed loudly, and the group behind him joined in the laughter, their voices full of contempt: "Then we'll chop you up and throw you into the river to feed the turtles!"

Before the laughter subsided, Brother Long seemed to have seen something; his lips twitched, and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes.

Behind Lu Qingxuan, Zhou Mingyuan and his family also came out.

Those who had been laughing and joking moments before stared wide-eyed at Zhou Mingyuan as if they had seen a ghost.

"You...you're dead, aren't you?" the short, fat man stammered, his face deathly pale.

After Lu Qingxuan entered the courtyard, he left to call for someone, so he naturally didn't know what happened next.

Brother Long was, after all, a leader. He did not back down when he saw this, but his hand holding the axe was trembling slightly.

He stared intently at Zhou Mingyuan, and when he saw that Zhou Mingyuan was indeed standing there, he was even more horrified.

The dead cannot be brought back to life; this is the law of nature. Now that the dead have come back to life, doesn't that mean the River God's words were false?

Brother Long immediately looked at the short, fat man, wanting to know what was going on. He hadn't said that Zhou Mingyuan was alive when he came.

But the short, fat man only had a vague understanding and didn't know the answer, shaking his head in response to Brother Long's gaze.

Seeing this, Lu Qingxuan flicked his finger, sending a burst of magical power into Zhou Mingyuan's body to help him speak.

Sensing the change in his body, Zhou Mingyuan knew it was Lu Qingxuan's doing. He immediately cupped his hands to the neighbors in the alley and said, "I am Zhou Mingyuan. I encountered evil spirits a few days ago, but fortunately I was saved by the Taoist priest. It has nothing to do with the so-called river god. Please do not be fooled by this villain."

Hearing what Zhou Mingyuan said, the neighbors who were still wavering suddenly understood. In fact, they had never seen the so-called River God with their own eyes. Everything they had heard was from the people around them. Now that Zhou Mingyuan had come back to life, his words were far more credible than those of Brother Long and his group.

Immediately, everyone turned to look at Brother Long and his group with hostile gazes.

Feeling the gazes of the crowd, Brother Long's Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and he uttered a sentence, his voice trembling with fear: "You...you wait, the River God won't let you get away with this!"

After saying that, he kicked the short, fat man and slunk away.

The alley fell silent again. Some neighbors gathered around and asked, "Taoist priest, is that river god really a fake?"

Although Zhou Mingyuan's words made them somewhat suspicious, there had indeed been some supernatural or supernatural occurrences in the county town before.

"Yes and no," Lu Qingxuan said.

Everyone frowned. "What do you mean by that, Daoist Master?"

"That River God is indeed a fake," Lu Qingxuan said.

Hearing Lu Qingxuan's words, everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but Lu Qingxuan's next words made their hearts jump again.

"However, everyone, don't be too happy yet. I only said that the River God is fake, but I didn't say that he doesn't exist. If I'm not mistaken, the so-called River God should be some kind of evil spirit that demands young boys and girls for its own cultivation."

"What?! That river god is actually a demon?!"

"Yes, if it were truly the River God, why would he ask us to offer up young boys and girls..."

"My poor child, fallen into the clutches of evil spirits..."

"Please, Taoist priest, save us and rid us of that evil spirit!"