Strengthening starts from the county magistrate

Chapter 153 How did you become a debtor?

It is dusk.

There was a knock on the gate of the government office.

Cao Zhengxiang was cooking in the kitchen, when he heard the knock on the door, he rushed out with a kitchen knife.

When he pushed the door open, he saw a down and out Taoist priest, his eyes were full of surprises, he turned his head and glanced at the smoke, Lao Cao was a little impatient.

"Who are you? Begging is going to the Yamen?"

Xi Beifeng held his grumbling stomach, with a sad expression on his face: "Oh, it's not begging, it's not begging, your magistrate asked me to come."

Cao Zhengxiang narrowed his eyes, and said with a sneer, "Hmph, what are you talking about, Shaote, where did my lord put it? Why didn't I see it?"

"He has something to do, so let me come back to have a meal first."

"Fuck off, what a fart." Cao Zhengxiang held up a kitchen knife and said angrily, "I've seen you like this a lot. If you want to eat, you want to eat. How can you make up nonsense?"

"..." Qi Beifeng looked at the kitchen knife in Cao Zhengxiang's hand with some trepidation, swallowed, and trembled in his heart: "Don't, let's talk about it, how to use a knife, it's really not made up, your lord The one who asked me to come said that he would take me in."

"Take you in?" Cao Zhengxiang smiled. Hasn't he counted the sloppy behavior of his own lord?Impossible, more people will enjoy more chopsticks, that is equal to losing money, what can my lord do?Unless this kid has other skills.

"impossible."

"Oh, it's true!" Xi Beifeng was so anxious that the Taoist hat was tilted: "Why don't you let me go in and have a meal first, and then wait for your lord to come back?"

Cao Zhengxiang looked him up and down, doubtful.

"But how can I trust you?"

Qi Beifeng scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, thought for a while, and suddenly his eyes lit up!
"Yes! Your lord didn't wear woolen trousers today!"

"Ah, this..." Cao Zhengxiang's eyes became strange, and after pondering for a long time, he sighed: "Come in."

"More masters!" Qi Beifeng was overjoyed.

Fortunately, I touched it when I was playing a rogue and hugged my thigh.

...

...

Shen Mu guessed right.

It was indeed a tobacco shop.

On the counter in front of him, moldy tobacco and some fragments of tea were scattered around.

【Happiness Index: 29%】

"!!!"

Shen Mu glanced at it, feeling a little shocked.

Good guy, this mysterious old man is actually a native of Fengjiang!
There is actually a happiness index!
Although he can't see through the realm and don't know his details, but Shen Mu is sure that he must be a hidden master.

Because if it is an ordinary person, is it possible to have such a rich and bottomless pit of pure vitality?Even vitality is inexhaustible.

Just one question.

This old man's happiness index is a bit pitifully low.

I'm so unhappy, is it because I smoked too much?

Wait a minute, shouldn't you just kill yourself?

Shen Mu trembled.

Old man Zhu swallowed his clouds, looked at Shen Mu standing in front of him, and smiled contemptuously.

"I thought Fengjiang county magistrate was such a powerful person, but now it seems that he is just a stealing chicken."

"..." Shen Mu looked embarrassed, why did he scold people as soon as he came up?He has no quality at all: "Hey, what Senior Zhu taught me is that I'm just a small person, not worth mentioning."

"Hmph." Old man Zhu snorted coldly.

Looking at the humble Shen Mu, he expressed doubts in his heart.

Although he didn't move around very much, what happened these days still couldn't escape his eyes. If he said that the person in front of him was a good stubble, he wouldn't believe it.

"What's your relationship with that Patriarch Huaiyang? Why are you able to make him work hard, and even let him be used by you?"

Hearing the old man's words again, Shen Mu was taken aback, did he mean pagoda tree?
"Eh...Senior Zhu, I'm going to say that there was a mistake, do you believe me?"

"Believe it, why don't you believe it?" Old man Zhu smiled, pointing to the ground: "I call it Patriarch Huaiyang, it is the source of all trees. It was in Fengjiang City for many years, but it was taken away later. The lifeblood almost ruined the source of life, but fortunately, Huai Yang is smart enough to leave a lifeblood behind, and you planted it in the end."

"That's it, it's all luck, luck, hehe." Shen Mu replied awkwardly.

He just knew what old man Zhu said.

But why he told himself, Shen Mu is not very clear.

After all, in the final analysis, this Sophora poplar ancestral tree is actually a reward given to him by the home system. If there is no system, it is impossible for him to have it.

But for any normal person, who would have thought that a tree branch made into a slingshot would have such a heaven-defying ability when planted on the ground.

He guessed that maybe even the mysterious old man in front of him didn't know.

If he really knew that the pagoda tree ancestral tree still had roots, he might have taken it for himself long ago.

In fact it is.

Old man Zhu did know that Huaiyang Patriarch still had a lifeline.

Because Xin Fan played with a slingshot under his nose, not once or twice.

It's just that even if he knew, he didn't try to snatch it.

If it is really just a matter of digging a hole and planting it, and then pouring some water, it can grow back into an ancestor tree, that would be too simple.

Let alone him, it would be the same for anyone else.

Because it's simply not possible.

But the Fengjiang county magistrate in front of him actually did it.

Old man Zhu took a puff of his cigarette and didn't continue to ask. Even if he knew some things, he still couldn't change them.

For example, it is impossible to have a second pagoda tree.

For another example, he is now tied to the pagoda tree, and he cannot untie it by himself.

"You have been sucking my vitality for a while, right?"

"Hungry..." Shen Mu's heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, the one who should come will always come. After finishing the polite words, he was about to start to settle the score: "Ahem, senior, it's really wrong for me to smoke without permission. But in fact, I haven’t smoked it a few times, it’s not my intention, it’s absorbed by the pagoda tree, but please rest assured, I will bear the responsibility, and I will definitely compensate you for the loss!”

"Tch, what you said is pretty beautiful, did you pick yourself up?" Old man Zhu picked up the cigarette bag and knocked on the soles of his feet: "If you really want to be responsible, why did it take you so long to think of coming to me?"

"Hey, wasn't it busy a while ago? You should also know that our border has been too chaotic recently, and it may not be peaceful in the future. As the county magistrate, I must work hard."

Old man Zhu hunched over and stuffed another pinch of tobacco leaves to continue smoking.

But after hearing Shen Mu's words, the movements of his hands stopped.

"Hmph, it's not peaceful? Where is it not peaceful? I think it's quite harmonious."

"How is it possible!" Shen Mu retorted: "You don't know that there are no monks from other places who don't bully others, I am also very embarrassed."

"Embarrassing, you are all killed."

"It's different. The blessed land will open soon. The people who really need to be on guard are people outside the Dali Dynasty. I don't think about eating and drinking now, but I also feel guilty for sucking a little bit of your vitality."

"A little vitality?" Old man Zhu raised his eyebrows: "Indeed, not much, just four to fifty years."

"!!!" Shen Mu was dumbfounded after hearing this.

Four fifty years?Just kidding, is this trying to blackmail yourself?
"Senior Zhu, it's not enough. I only went back and forth three or four times."

"The vitality of this old man has been honed over time. Do you know how many years it will take to achieve that level of purity? The vitality you sucked away, I would say that in four or fifty years, it is less. Hmph, how should I pay for it? Don't you have any points in your heart?"

"Ah, this..."

Shen Muren was dumbfounded.

It must be because I didn't read the almanac when I went out today. It was fine just now, why did it become a debt all of a sudden?

After pondering for a long time: "Senior, I'm afraid I won't be able to afford it, can installments do it?"

Old man Zhu smiled when he heard the words: "Don't be nervous, I know you can't afford it, so why worry, I didn't tell you to pay it back now, let me ask you, can you let me untie the ancestor Huaiyang?"

"No." Shen Mu was straightforward.

Don't talk about untying, I don't know how you two got tied up.

Of course, even if he knew how to untie it, Shen Mu would not untie it.

If he ran away, where would his vitality go?
【Happiness Index: 28%-↓】

Shen Mu: "..."

Hearing this, old man Zhu sighed. "Oh, I knew it, that's all. Shen, if you can promise me a few conditions, not to mention compensation, it is not impossible to continue smoking in the future. How about it, think about it and answer me."

"Please say."

"Don't think about it? My conditions are not simple."

"Oh……"

(End of this chapter)