My daily mountain driving, I met a fox at the beginning and got married

Zhang Hao couldn't help but sneer when he heard Lord Zhang's sophistry.

In his opinion, Mr. Zhang insisted on staying here because he was greedy for the power in the officialdom and didn't want to be reincarnated. After being an official for a long time, he suddenly died inexplicably. How many people would be willing to face the afterlife?

"I advise you to stop hiding and come out to fight me head-on. Why are you always hiding behind the fog?"

As soon as Zhang Hao finished speaking, a man slowly walked out from the fog. He looked to be about 40 or 50 years old, with a kind face and gentle eyes. However, when Zhang Hao looked closely, he found that he had no legs at all. His entire upper body was floating in the air, and his lower body was empty, as if it did not exist.

"Your death is strange. How did you die?"

"I was on the street and was run over by a carriage. I died on the spot. In fact, in my opinion, people like you are just passers-by of this era and will leave sooner or later. Why do you and I have to fight to the death? Isn't it good to maintain the status quo?"

Mr. Zhang obviously couldn't figure out Zhang Hao's strength, and he also knew that Zhang Hao was not easy to deal with, so he subconsciously wanted to keep his distance from Zhang Hao. But if Zhang Hao insisted on fighting him, he could only do his best to deal with him.

After all, he had finally established himself in this town and won the love of the people. Although he no longer had a physical body and could no longer appear in front of everyone, as long as the identity of "Mr. Zhang" remained and he could continue to protect the people, he would be satisfied and had no complaints.

Zhang Hao looked at Lord Zhang, who had no remorse on his face, snorted coldly, slowly drew out his sword from behind, and held it horizontally in front of him.

"Since you are so stubborn, I can only teach you a lesson. You may not know my origins, but I have always had a habit of taking care of things I don't like."

Before this, Zhang Hao had already climbed to the top of the tower and became the new master of this world. Therefore, he always had a sense of responsibility in his heart and felt that this responsibility could not be easily forgotten.

Lord Zhang had already prepared for a battle with Zhang Hao, but when it came to this critical moment, he began to back off.

"I have been an official all my life, benefiting the people. I was an official when I was alive, and I will be an official after I die. When I was alive, I protected the people and kept them from suffering from war. Even when there was a rebellion in the palace, I tried my best to prevent the war from spreading here. Now that I am dead, there are demons and ghosts running rampant in this town, and I can still control them and keep the people from trouble. I am dedicated to serving the people, so why can't I continue to take on this responsibility of protection?"

"Don't all these ghosts come from your house? Don't you think it's ridiculous to say these things from your own perspective? Don't you feel a little guilty?"

Zhang Hao no longer had the heart to listen to Mr. Zhang's explanation.

At this moment, the door behind him slowly opened, and the scene in the room changed instantly. The fog dissipated, and this place was just an ordinary place. And the Lord Zhang in front of him also returned to his ordinary appearance, and his lower body actually "grew" out of thin air. Zhang Hao knew at a glance that this must be a magic illusion created by him, and it was not real.

Xiao Qiao had been watching the noises in the house from outside, and after hearing their conversation, she rushed in. Perhaps Lord Zhang had deliberately let her hear these conversations. Xiao Qiao felt a little reluctant when she heard this.

"Master, since the people in this town haven't said anything, there's no need for us to meddle in other people's business. Lord Zhang hasn't shown up for a long time, and every time the carriage passes by, everyone keeps silent. I think they seem to have noticed something during the day, but they all kept it to themselves and didn't say it out loud. Perhaps to them, Lord Zhang is just a signal, a signal that lets them know that the city is still peaceful. As for whether Lord Zhang is a human or a ghost, they may not care at all."

What Xiao Qiao said was true, and those people might really not care about it. But to be honest... all of this was absurd. How could a ghost control so many living people?

Under Xiao Qiao's painstaking persuasion, Zhang Hao's heart was obviously agitated and he had some conflicts. But in Zhang Hao's cognition, ghosts could never rule over so many humans.

At least in his opinion, ghosts are inherently far more powerful than humans, and humans are like puppets that are powerless in front of them.

If the ghosts had any evil intentions, this town would never be as prosperous as it is today, but would become a living hell.

How could Zhang Hao bear to watch the land he lived on turn into such a horrible scene?

Although he has not officially opened an inn here yet, this place carries many of his precious memories.

Even if he went back eight hundred years later, every time he saw every corner of the inn, he would involuntarily recall every little thing that happened in this town eight hundred years ago. This was the most unforgivable thing.

In the end, Zhang Hao couldn't convince himself to compromise.

"Ghosts are rampant here, why don't you drive them away? And these ghosts all come from your Zhang family. It's hard for me not to suspect that you want to use these ghosts to control the people in the town and make them believe that you are the patron saint who can protect them, so as to satisfy your own selfish desires. This is not impossible, isn't it?"

Lord Zhang was questioned by Zhang Hao for no reason, and his face was full of grievance.

Zhang Hao looked at it and actually found it somewhat funny that a ghost could look so aggrieved.

But no matter what, he couldn't let Lord Zhang stay here any longer.

Xiao Qiao looked at Zhang Hao's resolute expression and knew that a fight was inevitable, so she quietly retreated and found a corner where she would be less likely to be accidentally injured.

Lord Zhang also knew that this battle was unavoidable, so he slowly took out the red gem.

This gem is the culmination of his entire life's energy and took countless efforts to refine.

Zhang Hao looked at it carefully and did not detect any resentment in the red gem, only goodwill that was dedicated to the people.

However, even so, it was difficult to change Mr. Zhang's mind.

If someone comes to him with the same reason in the future, Lord Zhang will probably be trapped in an inescapable dilemma.

Therefore, Zhang Hao could not just watch this happen.

Zhang Hao was very strong, and he struck with a sharp sword. Lord Zhang had no power to resist, and fell to the ground in an instant. His legs disappeared, replaced by empty lower limbs; and his upper body did not bleed, as if the vitality was drained out of his body, and it shrank quickly, from a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties to a skinny old man in his seventies or eighties.

Zhang Hao remembered that Lord Zhang had said before that he had been an official here for decades.

If we count from the age of 20, after several decades, he should be at least 60 or 70 years old.

In other words, the appearance of being in his forties or fifties was barely maintained by Lord Zhang with the help of his magic power.

In order to maintain his appearance, he was consuming extra mana. Zhang Hao felt that Lord Zhang was a person who cared a lot about his reputation. People who cared a lot about their reputation would often put their own feelings first.

For example, he was obviously run over by a carriage, so he should be afraid of carriages. But when he went out on the street, he was still surrounded by a large group of soldiers, and the carriage was moving in the street. The carriage would naturally make noise, but why was Mr. Zhang able to control it freely?
In the final analysis, whatever Lord Zhang wants to do can be done easily, while if others want to do something, they have to get his approval. It's like in this town, if someone wants to do something, they will be warned by the guards.

Xiao Qiao recalled that when she sneezed on the street, the guard only warned her and did not punish her in any other way. Perhaps it was because the guard saw that she and Zhang Hao were not locals, so he let them off.

Xiao Qiao felt from the bottom of her heart that Lord Zhang was not actually a bad person, but she could not go against her master's wishes, so she could only stand aside and feel extremely conflicted.

At this time, it was already midnight, and more ghosts were floating outside the mansion. They looked like ordinary people, and there were even farmers carrying shoulder poles, walking happily on the street with a cheerful look, without any horror at all, as if they were just in the form of souls, enjoying a different life at night.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Qiao seemed to suddenly understand something, and rushed to Zhang Hao, stopping him from attacking Lord Zhang again.

Zhang Hao had already gathered his strength and was about to thrust his sword when Xiao Qiao suddenly rushed over. He almost couldn't stop himself in time, so he quickly threw the sword aside and glared at Xiao Qiao fiercely.

"Do you know what you are doing? I almost hurt you just now!"

"I know, but I really can't just stand by and watch, Master. They don't really look like bad people! Maybe these ghosts are simply enjoying the right to live as souls at night. Besides, outsiders can't get in to this town, and people inside can't get out, right!"

"Could it be that you are the ghost king of this place?"

As soon as he said this, Zhang Hao felt suddenly enlightened. If he thought about it from this perspective, everything seemed to make sense.

"This place looks like an ordinary city on the surface, but in my opinion, it is rotten to the core. The living people here are accustomed to ghosts. Although they try to avoid them, I can't hear much fear in their words."

However, it was this familiarity that made Zhang Hao feel even more horrified.

We are all living people, so why is the boundary between us and death so blurred?
Obviously, the people living in this town are more worthy of sympathy, but Lord Zhang tries every means to act pitiful and act like a compassionate official, which in itself goes against common sense.

After realizing this, Zhang Hao was furious. He no longer wanted to listen to Xiao Qiao's advice and directly took action to subdue Lord Zhang.

Just when Lord Zhang's soul was about to be put into the brocade bag by Zhang Hao, a tear fell.

You know, ghosts don't shed tears. Once they shed tears, it means that their inner pain has reached the point where words cannot express it.

"Go with peace of mind. I will protect the people in this town for you. No matter what... you can no longer stay here. If you stay, you will only disrupt the order of the Yin and Yang worlds, which is not good for anyone."

Zhang Hao turned around and found that there was a hint of apology in Xiao Qiao's eyes when she looked at him, and she seemed a little afraid to get closer.

"Do you think that what I did is too cruel?"

"I don't think you are cruel, but I witnessed all this with my own eyes and it is really hard to understand. In my opinion, Lord Zhang is a good official. At least he allows the people here to live a peaceful and happy life. Maybe you can't understand Lord Zhang's actions now, but I can understand..."

There are frequent wars in this world, the emperor is incompetent in ruling, and it is common for people to suffer from hunger. Everyone thinks this is the most normal thing, but for Xiao Qiao, this is undoubtedly a sign of the end of the world.

Even though this town is full of weirdness, it has become Xiao Qiao's final destination since she came here. Although there are few outsiders here, at least she was not rejected when she arrived. Everyone thinks that the common enemy is ghosts, and they can live with ghosts.

If someone wants to find a place to stay here, they won't be deliberately made difficult. In fact, the jade pendant that Xiao Qiao gave away before was not a rare item at all. The prices in this town are quite high, and the jade pendant is only enough for one night at most, but the waiter still let Xiao Qiao stay for three nights.

Another time, the waiter was about to take away the leftover steamed buns from other people's tables. Xiao Qiao was so hungry that she couldn't stand it anymore, so she went up to ask for some. For the safety of the guests, most shops would refuse such requests and throw away the leftovers directly. After all, if the guest got sick after eating, it was unclear whether the inn would be responsible or the guest at the previous table would be responsible. But the waiter saw that Xiao Qiao was so thin and pitifully thin, and he couldn't help much, so he gave the steamed bun to Xiao Qiao. This was the third steamed bun the waiter had given to Xiao Qiao.

Although they were just three steamed buns, which were not worth mentioning on normal days, to Xiao Qiao at that time, they were undoubtedly like the warm sun in winter and could save lives.

"Perhaps the place where you live is very different from where we live. In this war-torn era, it is already very rare to have someone who can provide us with three meals a day without being disturbed by war... Master, let's go back. Now that Master Zhang is gone, these ghosts should not come again, right?"

"These ghosts saw that Lord Zhang was still alive after his death, so they followed his example. Once Lord Zhang is gone, they will naturally not stay any longer and will go to where they should go. There will be no more ghosts in this town, but there will no longer be a fatherly official named Lord Zhang."

Everything in this world has two sides. It may seem beautiful on the surface, but there may be hidden worries behind it. Some changes may be hard to accept at first glance, but time will heal everything. Time will give the answer to whether this matter is right or wrong.

As the morning sun shone, Zhang Hao and Xiao Qiao returned to the inn.

The waiter walked to the door with stiff steps, slowly reached behind his back, and pulled out a nail from the back of his head. (End of this chapter)