I become a god in another world

Chapter 508: Originally from Xuzhou
Chapter 508
The person who spoke was Zhang Chuanshi.

"no?"

Zhu Guangling was stunned.

His pair of gray-brown eyeballs moved with great effort, and two lines of turbid tears flowed down the corners of his eyes. He looked at Zhang Chuanshi expressionlessly:

"You mean—"

As Zhu Guangling finished speaking, everyone's eyes fell on Zhang Chuanshi.

He was a little anxious and felt very conflicted: he wanted to look into Zhao Fusheng's eyes, but he was afraid of seeing resentment and disgust in her eyes.

With a conflicted mentality, he mustered up the courage to look in the direction of Zhao Fusheng, only to see that Zhao Fusheng was indeed looking at him, but his eyes were calm, neither angry nor understanding. He was just waiting for his next words as usual - exactly the same as when everyone discussed a ghost case on weekdays.

Zhang Chuanshi couldn't tell whether he was relieved or felt more nervous.

He calmed down and shook his head:
"What I mean is that Zang Xiongshan's ancestral home is not in the Imperial Capital."

Zhu Guangling was a little surprised.

He is a ghost rider from Shangyang County. He has been frightened by a human-skin ghost for nearly two years and has been investigating Zang Xiongshan's past.

In Zhu Guangling's opinion, among this group of people, he is probably the one who knows Zang Xiongshan the best.

But at this time Zhang Chuanshi interrupted him and said that Zang Xiongshan was not from the imperial capital.

However, Zhu Guangling was very well-mannered. Although he was affected by the ghost-controlling experience, it is difficult to change human nature. The temper and character developed over many years of study cannot be changed overnight. He did not refute, but waited for Zhang Chuanshi to continue.

Zhang Chuanshi mustered up the courage to speak, but when the time came and he saw everyone staring at him, he began to hesitate again.

"Sir..." He looked at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng said:

"Think it over carefully. If you want to say something, say it. If you don't want to say it, you don't have to say it."

There was so much information revealed in her words.

Zhang Chuanshi realized that his performance might have been noticed by her.

Perhaps this gentleman already knew many of the secrets that he tried so hard to hide, but he just never pointed them out.

"This is about Shangyang County, and it also concerns everyone's life and death," Zhang Chuanshi gritted his teeth.

"There's nothing I can't say, I just hope that you—"

He wanted to say "don't blame me", but when the words came to his lips, he felt timid and worried that he was not qualified to ask for forgiveness.

In this complex and contradictory state of mind, he shifted his gaze elsewhere and said:

"Has your Excellency guessed it already?"

"You mean your original surname is Zang, not the Zhang family?"

Zhang Chuanshi felt relieved when he heard this.

He guessed well.

The secret he tried so hard to hide in his heart might have been seen through by others long ago, but he was hiding it in various ways like a fool.

"It seems that my performance was not good." He laughed at himself.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said:
"You mean, you want to put on a good show, and now you want to make a splash?"

"Puff." Liu Yizhen laughed.

Zhang Chuanshi was originally full of sorrow, but he couldn't help but grin after hearing her words.

Those heavy burdens and thoughts in my heart seemed insignificant in the face of her few words and jokes.

He immediately felt much more relaxed.

"Your Excellency is right. My original surname was Zang, not Zhang. My father changed my surname to Zhang sixty years ago."

As soon as Zhang Chuanshi finished speaking, Zhao Fusheng immediately thought of the conversation he had with Qian Fa about clan concepts on the way from Huangma Town to Wenxing County.

At that time, Qian Fa mentioned that Qian Zhongying's lineage was indignant about betraying the clan, but Zhang Chuanshi held the opposite attitude. Only now did he find the reason.

Liu Yizhen and Wu Shaochun also thought of this. They turned their heads and looked at each other, with a look of understanding on their faces.

Meng Po just stood there in a daze.

Her fists clenched.

"If your ancestral surname is Zang, then Paper Man Zhang is your relative, and he is also——"

"he--"

Zhang Chuanshi lowered his head.

He didn't say the rest, but from his posture, the answer was self-evident.

"It is very likely that my Yishu was abducted by Zang Xiongwu and eventually died at the hands of Zang Xiongshan in Shangyang County. What evil did my daughter do to deserve her death at the hands of your Zang family?"

The more Meng Po spoke, the angrier she became, and her eyes turned blood red in an instant.

Zhang Chuanshi lowered his head in guilt, not daring to look her in the eyes, and tacitly agreed to her accusation.

When Meng Po saw him like this, she felt resentful and disappointed, as well as a faint sense of anger after being betrayed.

But she was still rational, and subconsciously turned her head to look at Zhao Fusheng:

"My Lord, what do you think I should do?"

Zhao Fusheng sighed silently.

If Meng Po didn't ask, she wouldn't have been able to interrupt. Since Meng Po asked, she said softly:
"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. If you ask me, then Zang Xiongwu is the one who harmed others, so we should find a way to find him and kill him to avoid any more trouble!"

She spoke so forcefully that Zhang Chuanshi's body trembled.

"But I can't say whether Lao Zhang is wrong to you."

Zhao Fusheng said:

"I see that between the two of you, one is willing to fight, and the other is willing to be beaten. If you want to seek revenge on Zang, and he doesn't resist, even if you beat him to death, he would be willing to do it--"

"Do not……"

Zhang Chuanshi heard this and said weakly:

"I don't want to be beaten to death, sir—"

"..."Meng Po's face turned pale and blue.

She looked at Zhang Chuanshi and asked him, "Have you known about my daughter's affairs for a long time?"

Zhang Chuanshi was silent for a long time, then said bitterly:
"Know a thing or two."

"No wonder—" Meng Po murmured, and the red light in her eyes faded, replaced by a look of loss and hurt:
"I was wondering why you were better behaved than others. In the Demon Suppression Division, you argued with Xiaofan and Yizhen, and occasionally annoyed Shaochun, but you were always respectful to the old lady." She recalled the past:

"When others ask you questions, you always refute them or avoid answering them. When I ask you questions, you are always honest."

Besides, "others don't drink the soup I make, but every time I serve it to you, you drink it no matter how reluctant you are."

After the Shilipo incident, Zhang Chuanshi nearly lost his life after drinking Meng Po's ghost soup. The situation is still very strange, but he still drinks it honestly while complaining.

Recalling the past, Meng Po felt uncomfortable and painful.

Zhang Chuanshi's "kindness" to her at this time meant a mentality of atonement.

She knew that what Zhao Fusheng said was right. Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. What Paper Man Zhang did could not be blamed on Zhang Chuanshi. But as time went by, they became colleagues. The more she liked Zhang Chuanshi in the past, the more painful it was for Meng Po to face the truth.

At first, Zhang Chuanshi had a nonchalant smile on his face, but when he saw the pain in Meng Po's eyes, his face slowly turned pale.

Seeing this, Zhao Fusheng knew the embarrassment and pain in the hearts of the two men, and he sighed:
"Okay, these are our own private affairs. Let's not start a quarrel now. The ghost disaster in Shangyang County is the most urgent matter. We can talk about our own affairs after we get home."

Zhang Chuanshi and Meng Po were originally in a dilemma, with complicated feelings in their hearts, but when they heard this, they actually breathed a sigh of relief and responded with "yes" at the same time.

Liu Yizhen and Wu Shaochun were originally worried that the situation would be difficult to handle, but after seeing Zhao Fusheng's words, both sides decided to let bygones be bygones for the time being, and they couldn't help but feel relieved.

Zhao Fusheng said:

"Old Zhang, stop talking nonsense. The matter of Shangyang County is of great importance. Just pick out what you can say. The more we know about Zang Xiongshan, the safer our next action will be."

"it is good."

Zhang Chuanshi nodded.

After this interruption, Zhang Chuanshi adjusted his mentality. When he mentioned Zang Xiongshan again, he was no longer as complicated as before, but became much calmer:
"Sir, Zang Xiongshan is actually my——"

He paused, then whispered:
"It's my uncle."

When Mr. Xie heard this, he played with a small teacup in his hand and lowered his eyes to hide the look in his eyes.

"Our ancestral home is Guanjiang County, Xuzhou—" Zhang Chuansheng said.

"Guanjiang County? It belongs to Guangling County." Since Zhao Fusheng was reborn, in addition to looking through the files of the Wan'an County Demon Suppression Office and seeing some of the methods used by predecessors to suppress ghosts, he also learned about the customs and practices of the Han Dynasty and some local customs in his spare time.

I also have a certain understanding of the three major counties under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou, as well as the county towns under the jurisdiction of the counties.

Zhang Chuanshi was a little surprised when he heard this, and glanced at Zhao Fusheng with his eyes slanted:
"Your Excellency also understands this?"

While he was asking the question, Mr. Xie also turned to look at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said:
"I don't know anything else you mentioned, but I did remember something about Guangling County."

Zhang Chuanshi's eyes widened with a look of confusion.

Zhao Fusheng also turned to look at Mr. Xie. Mr. Xie was staring at her. Their eyes met. Mr. Xie was stunned for a moment and forgot to turn his head away.

"This Guangling County is where a ghost rider named Xie stayed more than 40 years ago."

After that, he asked:
"Thank you, right?"

In response to her, Mr. Xie's eye sockets suddenly widened, and an eyeball popped out of the socket with a 'plop' and bounced onto the table, bouncing twice like a soft elastic ball.

Mr. Xie reached out to grab it, but he only had one eye left, so his movements were much slower.

Zhao Fusheng was prepared. He was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He reached out and grabbed the eyeball in his palm.

As soon as the eyeball fell into her hand, the smile on Mr. Xie's face froze.

A chilly feeling came over me.

Zhu Guangling was soaked through, and he couldn't help shivering when the cold air seeped into him.

Zhao Fusheng laughed again, thrust his eyes in front of Mr. Xie, and asked with a smile:
"I didn't expect that Mr. Xie not only lost his teeth, but also his eyeballs. Do you want me to put them back into your eye sockets?"

"..." Mr. Xie's tightly pursed lips trembled, and then he smiled again:

"No, I can do it myself."

After he finished speaking, he ordered Zhang Chuanshi to:
"Xiao Zhang, get me some water to wash."

Liu Yizhen had bad intentions:

"There are too many people on the table, so it's not very clean. Master Zhang, please use some hot water to scald it."

Mr. Xie immediately said:
"It can't be washed--" He was halfway through his words when he saw the mischievous smile on Liu Yizhen's face and rolled his eyes:
"You are full of bad intentions."

Liu Yizhen patted his belly with one hand:
"I am fine, but it's hard to say whether Mr. Xie's stomach is still full of intestines or not."

Zhang Chuanshi felt proud after hearing this.

He had suffered at the hands of Liu Yizhen and knew very well that this guy was good at speaking.

Seeing him arguing with Mr. Xie at this time, and hearing that he was standing up for himself, he couldn't help but feel comfortable, but he couldn't say it out loud.

Zhang Chuanshi didn't dare to really use hot water to scald Mr. Xie's eyes, so he took some cold water, poured it over twice, and then handed it to Mr. Xie.

After the joke, Wu Shaochun said:
"Sir, the ghost rider surnamed Xie from more than 40 years ago that you mentioned is Xie Jingsheng, right?"

Mr. Xie paused in pressing his eyeballs.

Zhu Guangling's expression also changed. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zhao Fusheng nod:

"That's him. I've seen some clues about the Red Shoes Ghost Case 43 years ago. He was originally a ghost handler under Guangling County. When the Red Shoes Ghost Case was rampant, he was ordered to come to Wan'an County to investigate the case."

While he was speaking, Mr. Xie had already put his eyeballs back into their sockets. When he heard this, he raised his head. Perhaps because his eyeballs had just been put back and were not flexible, Zhao Fusheng always felt that there was a hint of regret in his eyes.

"Forget it, let's not go on about this. Lao Zhang continues."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head and motioned Zhang Chuanshi to continue.

Zhang Chuanshi shook his wet hands:
"Our Zang family was originally a large clan. In fact, our ancestors were also ghost riders."

After these two laughs, he calmed down a lot. When he talked about these past events, he was no longer as hesitant as before:
"It is precisely because our ancestors were ghost riders that our branch moved to the imperial capital many years ago."

Wu Shaochun said unexpectedly:

"Master Zhang, I didn't expect that your ancestors had such powerful backers."

Zhang Chuanshi sneered:
"What kind of backing do they have? The Great Han Dynasty Demon Suppression Department has clear regulations that the descendants and families of ghost controllers will be treated preferentially, and will be allocated houses, servants, and salaries. In the first few years, they can live a rich life, but after a long time, who will take care of the orphans and widows?"

His words just happened to hit the nail on the head for Zhu Guangling's inner worries. After hearing this, Zhu Guangling felt sympathetic and nodded.

"My father back then..." Zhang Chuanshi said smoothly. At this point, he couldn't help but glance at Zhao Fusheng. Coincidentally, Zhao Fusheng was also looking at him. His eyes flashed and he said:
"When I was young, my father told me that our ancestors, the Zang family, were of great ancestry and had a very high status among ghost riders—"

"Alas——" he sighed:

"But time passes, who cares about these things? Anyway, when I was young, my family had already fallen on hard times. The house left in the family was passed down after several generations, and it was already very small, dilapidated and old."

He realized that he had been dwelling on the topic of his family for too long, and hurriedly said:

"Zang Xiongshan is actually my cousin."

"Uncle?" Zhao Fusheng paused, and Zhang Chuanshi nodded:
"My grandmother, who is my clan grandmother, gave birth to nine children, five boys and four girls. He is the third one, and the family tree happens to have the character 'Xiong' in the generation name, so he should be named Xiongsan. But my clan grandfather thought that the name was not elegant, so he consulted the local master and changed his name to Zang Xiongshan."

Zhu Guangling never expected that he would learn about Zang Xiongshan's past, whom he had been unable to find, from Zhao Fusheng and his group.

"Do you know about his ghost-controlling past?"

Zhu Guangling asked impatiently.

Zhang Chuanshi's body shook violently.

His face turned pale in an instant, his lips lost their color, his lips trembled, and a look of pain flashed in his eyes - judging from Zhang Chuanshi's expression, he should know some inside information.

"know."

After a while, Zhang Chuanshi seemed to have adjusted his mood. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"Actually, I don't have much contact with my uncle."

He frowned, as if he had adjusted his emotions deep in his heart, and then he continued:

"My father said that my third uncle had a miserable life. He was adopted and brought back to Guanjiang County to live. He was also adopted by a clan member. After his family died and he had no children, he begged to be taken back. But the clan master had a bad temper and often beat and scolded him. After he grew up, he followed a master in Guanjiang County to learn bamboo weaving to make a living."