strictlysupreme #266 - Poison God? Is that what you mean?
#266 - Poison God? Is that what you mean?
"You're making trouble with my family because of that evil old Qi? That's just blatant lying!" Master Zhang was full, his face flushed and his voice loud as he shouted.
Ever since seeing Xu Chengxian summon the Daoist guardian, he had made up his mind to cling to this powerful benefactor.
How could he allow these bastards from Songjia Village to slander him?
"We just can't stand that old Qi!" Someone from Songjia Village immediately chimed in upon hearing that old Qi was dead.
"You can't stand him?" Master Zhang roared, then, feeling a bit alone, he gave the steward a look.
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"Let me see who's talking nonsense!" The steward immediately stood up, pointing at the man. "Isn't that you, Song Donkey? Is that you?"
"You can't stand him? And what about you lot! If you couldn't stand old Qi, why did so many families come to me earlier, asking if their sons and daughters could follow him to cultivate?"
"At that time, we didn't know old Qi had problems," Song Donkey mumbled, a woman speaking up for him from behind.
"You didn't know? Ha!" The steward retorted angrily, "Old Qi was already buying human blood, how could you not know that old Daoist was evil?"
It was all just an inability to suppress their greedy hearts!
"If you want to slander our master, you should at least have a clear conscience!"
"Bah! Now you just see that Immortal Xu is an upright person, so you want to disassociate yourselves from old Qi! But you shouldn't try to step on our master in the process!" Don't let the steward's thin frame fool you, he was quite formidable when arguing.
With his targeted rebuttals, he single-handedly held off the people from Songjia Village, not losing any ground.
Master Zhang was pleased, squinting his eyes and grinning.
Even though they were still dressed in ragged, thin clothes and had dark, rough skin, they had a bit more vitality.
How should I put it?
Much more pleasing to the eye.
Even those guys with dull and muddy eyes had become much more spirited after eating their fill.
Especially the Song family.
They were the main family in Songjia Village and also a family that cooperated with the Zhang family.
It was clear that they were a prosperous family with a decent reputation, so the relationships between family members were very close. With their mutual support, although limited by their knowledge and talent, they were at a disadvantage in the argument with the steward, but with their numbers, they were barely holding their own.
In particular, two of the women, though they didn't speak much, were able to firmly grasp the fact that old Qi was being worshiped by the Zhang family, making the steward anxious.
"Not bad, at least there are a few useful ones," Xu Chengxian then observed the situation of these female relatives.
He found that the women of Songjia Village were also quite healthy.
This showed that they had not been treated too harshly.
Being able to do this, besides not being poor to that extent, showed that the people in this village were of good character.
However, he didn't see any unmarried young girls, which was a bit strange.
Releasing his spiritual sense to sense them, he found that they were all gathered in Song Dayou's house?
They had even eaten porridge and cured meat.
"Tsk, this is really interesting." Someone was secretly scheming under his nose, and he hadn't noticed because he hadn't paid much attention.
Seeing that Xu Chengxian was listening quietly, not stopping them or asking questions, the two sides gradually stopped arguing.
The quarrel, which had gradually turned from reasoning to scolding, slowly came to an end.
"Immortal Master, forgive us!"
Song Dayou gave a look, and a strong man stepped forward, stopping the people from Songjia Village. He took a step forward and cupped his fist towards Xu Chengxian, saying, "Immortal Master, please understand, old Qi is only one of the reasons why we distanced ourselves from the Zhang family."
"Mm," Xu Chengxian nodded. "Then what is the other reason?"
"It's food," Master Zhang interjected, "They want my family's food."
No matter what, he couldn't let the people from Songjia Village gain an advantage in front of the Immortal Master!
"That's right," Song Dayou nodded in agreement, "We want food."
"Immortal Master, he admitted it!"
"But we're not trying to rob it!" Old woman Zhang Yun'er said, "We're asking to borrow it!"
Wanting food, but saying they'd borrow it, meant they would repay it.
As long as they had any sense of shame, they would definitely repay it if they said they would.
"Borrow? That sounds nice!" Master Zhang shouted, "How much do you want to borrow?"
"Borrow a hundred dan."
"A hundred dan? Hmph, with four or five hundred people, even if you save it, it won't last two months," Master Zhang said, "If you borrow it and finish it, you'll still be out of food, are you thinking of continuing to borrow?"
"What if you can't repay it after borrowing too much?"
The people of Songjia Village were silent.
"Hmph, I'll say it for you!" Master Zhang's voice became even louder, "If you can't repay it, and you still want food, why not just kill my whole family? Then not only will you not have to repay the borrowed food, but my family's food and property will also belong to you!"
That's why he knew the people of Songjia Village wanted food, but he dragged his feet and refused to give it to them.
People's hearts are greedy, where is the end?
"That won't happen!" Song Jue couldn't help but say anxiously when he saw that the villagers around him weren't speaking, "We can go to Lingzhou to buy food, and we can also find ways to grow vegetables and grain."
The child's tender and high-pitched voice seemed a bit jarring in the silence.
No one in Songjia Village spoke.
Song Dayou stroked his grandson's hair.
"Buy food from Lingzhou? Do you know how much a dou of grain costs in Lingzhou now?" Master Zhang sneered, "Grow it? How do you grow it? If the Poison God doesn't leave, who would dare to eat the grain that's grown!"
The adults were silent because they knew that they couldn't buy food in Lingzhou.
They also couldn't grow food, just like Master Zhang said.
"If there were other ways, would you bother to clash with me like this?" Master Zhang became even more aggressive, but then immediately began to complain bitterly, saying, "The Song and Zhang families have been together for decades, my Zhang family has been kind to you, right?"
"Are you repaying kindness with hatred like this? Is that right?" He looked at the old woman in front, "Zhang Yun'er, you used to be a maid in my Zhang family, my family provided the dowry when you got married. Now you actually want the life of my Zhang family?"
"Master Zhang, I can't watch my children and grandchildren starve to death," Zhang Yun'er said faintly, "Moreover, we never thought of taking the lives of the Zhang family."
At least, as long as she was alive, she wouldn't let such a thing happen.
"If it really comes to that, this old woman will be buried with the Zhang family."
"...Alas!" Master Zhang stomped his feet and shouted, "What's the use of saying this! You have grandsons, and I have them too!"
Hearing this, both sides couldn't help but look at Xu Chengxian again.
Immortal Master, say something!
Don't just watch!
"Alright, I understand," Xu Chengxian smiled, "One side has no rice to cook and needs food to eat. The other side is afraid that lending out food will cause trouble. Right?"
"Yes."
"That's right."
"What the Immortal Master said is correct."
"Then this is easy to handle," Xu Chengxian waved his horsetail whisk, "While I'm here, Master Zhang can lend out his grain with peace of mind. As for you."
He looked at the people of Songjia Village, "You can also rest assured."
"You don't have to worry about not being able to repay the borrowed grain, because you don't have to repay it."
Before the people of Songjia Village could respond, he added, "Of course, you have to do something for me. But we'll talk about that later."
"What I'm wondering is, seeing that we don't have droughts, floods, or locusts, how can we not grow grain?"
"Immortal Master, you don't know, we have a poison plague here."
"A Poison God has passed through and brought disaster!"
"Poison God? Bringing disaster?" Xu Chengxian smiled and said, "Why can't I see it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone exclaimed.
"Oh no! If the Immortal Master can't see the poison plague, I'm afraid there's no way to cure it!"