My enemies became my companions

Chapter 465: Punishment! (Two in One)

The inn was still bustling with activity. After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, it was very lively. The chopsticks were moving as densely as rain curtains, and pieces of tender human meat with fat cream went into the mouth.

Chen Yi's fingertips gently moved the soup bowl, and the clear vegetarian soup reflected the various creatures in the inn, including a black dog, a sheep monster, and a huge bull head with narrow and strange eyes, which was spying on them from above.

As luck would have it, he and Lu Ying were walking all the way from Mount Taihua when they ran into the Bull Demon celebrating his birthday.

Ordinary people eat beef, but the cow master stews human meat here.

Looking from the bowl again, hey, Master Niu's eyes drifted towards the group of scholars from time to time. These dozen or so scholars were either monsters or human beings.

They were completely unaware of what was happening at the table, and they were toasting each other, eating and drinking happily.

When Master Niu saw that Chen Yi and the other man did not move, he calmed down his expression. He fiddled with the gold bracelet on his wrist, guessing whether the two were dragons crossing the river or human lambs. Then he took another look at the Taoist woman's robe, which seemed to be of the Yinjian Mountain style and had quite a history. In the end, it was better for them to keep out of each other's way.

not to mention…

That's enough meat.

Master Niu glanced at the dozen or so scholars at the table and smacked his lips. The taste of these tender human lambs, who knew nothing about grains, was definitely not that of ordinary people. Who knows, there might even be a rich scent of books wafting from the meat, just like the best roast beef must have a fruity aroma.

At this time, all the scholars at the table were drunk. Many of them were leaning against the tables and chairs, resting with their eyes half-drunk and their faces flushed. Only three or four were left who were only half-drunk. Among them, the handsome man particularly liked fish sashimi. When he saw that the fish sashimi was finished, he shouted to the waiter to bring more.

Soon, another dish of fresh fish sashimi was served on the table.

Fish is white meat, and beef is red meat. The combination of red and white makes the table look particularly festive. The handsome man was about to start eating when an older scholar beside him tugged at his sleeve and scolded him, "The host hasn't even started yet, and you, the guest, have started first!"

This scholar was the leader of this group of scholars, and he was highly respected. As soon as he opened his mouth, the handsome man dared not pick up his chopsticks. Master Niu quickly held the table, pushed out a glass of wine and said, "Mr. Deshan, you are joking. In our old land, there is no distinction between host and guest. It is more important to have fun!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhao Deshan also loosened his hold. The handsome man hurriedly picked up his chopsticks and ate a piece of sashimi, which was very fresh and sweet without any fishy smell. He dipped another piece in ginger and soy sauce, which made the fish sweeter. He added some rice wine, and he felt so happy that he couldn't stop tapping the bowl with his chopsticks.

Seeing this scene, Master Niu sighed: "This Master Li really likes sashimi."

The handsome man wiped his mouth and said quickly, "It's not that I like to eat it, it's just that this fish is fresh and sweet."

"How sweet is it?"

"Lao Zhuangzi once said that there are fish in the North Sea, and he also said that it is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes than to help each other in the face of adversity. It can be seen that fish are born to be free and easy, and their memories are only a moment. Their bodies are like mayflies, and the lakes and seas are vast. They are naturally carefree. How can they not be fresh and sweet?!"

The handsome man was indeed a scholar, with a good mouth and flushed cheeks. He was quoting from classics and making meaningful remarks in a few moments. Mr. Niu, who was sitting on the main seat, stroked his beard and smiled, praising him repeatedly.

When the host and guests were enjoying themselves, suddenly, a discordant sound was heard.

The man who had just entered the room picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and said slowly, "It is illegal to privately slaughter a working ox."

The sound was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to echo throughout the entire front hall, and then there was a sudden silence.

A token of a thousand households was placed on the table, and then a little bit of knife light appeared from the waist. Hu San's legs trembled and went weak when he saw it. He never expected that the person in front of him was actually a government official!

"Sir, you are joking. This is not a private slaughter..."

"If it's not slaughtered privately, how come the meat is so fresh?" Chen Yi slowly spread the beef out under the sunlight, and every texture was covered with a layer of light.

He glanced at the scholars at the table, then slowly turned his gaze to Master Niu and said slowly, "You are the owner of this inn. Why don't you have a good discussion with us?"

Master Niu raised his white eyebrows slightly.

This time, we are in trouble.

There was a vicious look in his eyes. He, Niu Chonggao, had been rampant in Yaojin Mountain for more than ten years and had seen all kinds of people. He made extra arrangements just because he didn't want to cause any trouble. Did they really think he was a soft persimmon? And seeing that the female Taoist from Yinjian Mountain was traveling with the man, who knew she might be a person who was using a tiger's skin as a coat.

Master Niu slowly spoke: "This is the first time I've heard that it's a sin to have meat that's too fresh."

"If you slaughter a working ox without reporting to the government, the punishment is thirty lashes at the lightest and tattooing and exile at the worst. This is clearly written in the laws of this dynasty." Chen Yi said leisurely, with an extortionate attitude, "Please stay away, all outsiders."

The inn was in deep silence. All the demons and ghosts hiding in human form turned their heads to look, and an eerie atmosphere filled the air.

A resounding voice suddenly broke the silence.

"When the government offices, big or small, enforce the law and arrest people, they need a warrant. Since you are an official, may I take out the warrant and see it?"

The speaker was the scholar Zhao Deshan.

They have traveled all the way here, living on wind and dew and holding on to wrinkled wallets to get by, and Master Niu not only treats them to good food and drink, but is also prepared to fund their subsequent travel expenses. If they don't say anything now, how can they do things?

Under the gazes of the crowd, Chen Yi slowly said, "There is no letter of permission, but it happened right under my nose, and I can't just watch it in vain."

Zhao Deshan sneered and said, "You dare to arrest people and enforce the law without a warrant. Is there no crime of bending the law for personal gain in the laws of this dynasty?"

Chen Yi raised his eyebrows slightly.

The room was full of demons and ghosts that ate human flesh. He could have started killing them long ago, but when he saw this group of scholars here, he wanted to rescue them first to prevent them from being kidnapped by the demons and ghosts.

Zhao Deshan said with a stern face: "I, Zhao Deshan, read the books of sages every day, and I have also read the laws of Dayu. If you bend the law for personal gain, you will be demoted at the least, or sentenced to death."

He paused, glanced at the Qianhu sign, and sneered, "If you are pretending to be an official, I'm afraid your crime will be even more serious."

Chen Yi glanced at the group of indignant scholars behind him and said indifferently, "Do you want to disobey the official order?"

"We scholars are not disobeying official orders," Zhao Deshan said righteously, "We just can't stand people who bully others by taking advantage of their power!"

The laws of Dayu were inherited from the laws of past dynasties. The rules and regulations were complicated and dense. Even the officials of the Dali Temple might not be able to recite them by heart. Moreover, even if there were laws, it was an unwritten rule that the officials would not investigate unless the people reported them. For example, if there were people living along the coast who had not bought and sold private salt, according to the law, they should be beaten with dozens of boards and detained for several months. This was a natural way to intimidate the local people into buying the expensive official salt. However, who would dare to do this? If they were really investigated, they would arouse public anger and be completely unscrupulous.

The same is true for the private slaughter of oxen today. You can control it, but you should handle it with care. If you use it to blackmail people, will you give them a chance to live? Although Zhao Deshan has read many books of sages, he is not a pedantic person. He is more flexible and knows how to adapt.

The man at the table lowered his head in silence for a while, then slowly stood up.
He was not angry, and his expression was calm. He just said, "Okay, don't regret it."

He immediately left the inn with the nun by his side, and his figure disappeared on the distant mountain road.

There was thunderous applause in the seats in the front hall. The guests were so excited that their faces flushed. For a moment they were cheering, but when they looked at the human meat in the bowl, they were too embarrassed to eat it.

Zhao Deshan bowed to everyone and then waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite.

He glanced again at the direction where the two unknown people had left, pinched with his fingertips to confirm that the two people had gone far away.

Finally saved the lives of these two fools...

Zhao Deshan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the handsome man beside him.

The faces of these scholars were rosy and their eyes were bright. The fragrance of peach wood was lingering deep in the air near the book boxes along the wall.

today,

Just to eliminate demons and defend the way! …………

On a long and winding mountain road, a man and a woman walked one after the other.

After walking up the hill and reaching the top, the mountain scenery pours down like lightning.

There were traces of tire tracks and hoof prints on the road. There were many peddlers coming and going on this road, and even the weeds in the road were trampled down by half. The forests were covered with shade from the trees, and when the wind blew, the sea of ​​trees swayed gently, like the rippling water on a lake.

A gust of mountain breeze suddenly passed through the gap.

The man tilted his eyes slightly and glanced at the woman who was oblivious to everything around him.

He sighed softly and said, "Senior Sister, you don't want to watch someone die without helping."

The woman still said nothing.

The sword behind him slowly unsheathed.

He raised his sword finger slightly, slid it across the sword, and drew a line.
Just one word:
"punish."

There was no cold light on the sword's edge, as if the sword case had been closed for a long time and was covered with dust. The man let go of the sword, and the long sword hung quietly in the air, motionless.

Just another wind blowing by,
Then he disappeared without a trace.

…………

Zhao Deshan often taught his disciples a saying, which is also the motto of their Wanshou Palace: Good words cannot persuade a person who wants to die, but ruthless actions can save him from committing suicide.

As the saying goes, good medicine tastes bitter. People often don't listen to good advice, mistakenly thinking that others are just jealous. They are afraid that they will get rich and become blessed, and they won't turn back until they hit the wall. Only when they hit the wall and die do they realize the sincerity of others' advice.

His Wanshou Palace Shenxiao Sect would never be so merciful.

Since good words are hard to persuade, then don't persuade, but use ruthless means to save him. It's useless if the Bodhisattva lowers his brows, and so will the Vajra glare. Only by forcibly scraping off the rotten bones and dead flesh, will people know what it means to be seemingly thriving but actually terminally ill!

The two men just now, one official and one deputy, are clearly such fools, bending the law for personal gain, so what's the harm in letting them die? But if we allow these two men to act recklessly and ruin their plans, it would be bad. We should be prepared for the worst.

At Tongfu Inn, the birthday banquet gradually came to an end, the smell of alcohol was everywhere, and many of the monsters present at the banquet had already fallen to the ground, with their skin hanging to the ground. The scholars were also flushed and almost unconscious from being drunk.

Crackling, crackling…

The sound of boiling hot soup can still be heard in my ears.

Looking up again, I saw that at some point a pot had been moved from the back kitchen to the front hall. The firewood was burning blazingly, making the bottom of the pot red. The cook stood on a small stool and poured in all the ingredients including star anise, bay leaves, chopped green onions, shredded ginger, thirteen spices, etc. An appetizing aroma spread out, and the pot was cooked until it was thick and red, which looked like a sauce.

Hu San brought an extremely large chopping board and placed it on the empty table. Another chef was sharpening a knife, and the cold light flashed.

Zhao Deshan's eyes were slightly blurred, and he raised his hand and said, "I'm full, I'm full."

Master Niu had an inscrutable smile on his face and said, "Mr. Deshan is full, but my belly is only half full."

Zhao Deshan's eyelids drooped. How could he not know that these demons could not wait any longer? He pretended to be polite and said, "I think there is a climax?"

Master Niu did not answer, but looked at the handsome man who was enjoying the fish sashimi, and said slowly: "Mr. Li said that fish is free and easy, so it is fresh and sweet, but he does not know what the taste of life is like?"

Mr. Li wiped his face, unable to handle the alcohol, and said with all his strength:

"Fish is so sweet, life is so bitter."

"What's the meaning of this statement?"

"Fish sashimi is nothing more than scallion and ginger sauce, in the end it is salty and sweet, but life is like firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty, and all the flavors combined are naturally bitter."

"I don't think so."

"How could it not be? As the sage once said, time flies like an arrow, never ceasing day or night. Mister Niu can just ask anyone and he will know that life is short and bitter." Master Li shook his head and spoke very convincingly.

"But I'm waiting..."

Master Niu grinned, his thick fangs seemed to be dripping with blood.

"I've eaten life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Master Niu's head suddenly grew several feet larger, and his bloody mouth opened wide, as if he wanted to swallow the two heads in one gulp.

Zhao Deshan, who had been prepared, suddenly moved his sword finger. A golden light spread out like an ink bead falling into water, and a golden light curtain shaped like a bronze bell covered the two of them.

The thick fangs bit the golden curtain into pieces. Zhao Deshan's eyes were filled with horror and he uttered the words "wind rises". He and Master Li retreated several feet away with their chairs in an instant.

Master Niu's lips suddenly closed, his head returned to its previous size, and he stroked his beard, obviously not satisfied with not being able to swallow the two heads in one bite.

Zhao Deshan made some hand gestures, and circles of spiritual energy rippled out. The smell of alcohol on the scholars' faces disappeared, and they were no longer drunk. A few of them kicked the bookcase, and dozens of peach wood swords for slaying demons and monsters suddenly appeared!
"Monster, I knew that you would cause trouble in this area, so I came here today to slay you and eliminate the evil!" Zhao Deshan's eyes flashed with a gleam of light.

Master Li beside him pulled up his robe, revealing the Taoist robe underneath. He held a sword across his face and followed his uncle Zhao Deshan, feeling a sense of passion and enthusiasm.

Her real name is Li Huiyue, the daughter of the head of Wanshou Palace. This time she disguised herself as a scholar and worked with her uncle Zhao Deshan to paralyze these monsters. Finally, when the monsters were drunk, Li Huiyue's heart was pounding, and she clenched the sword tightly in her hand, wishing she could chop off all these heads with the sword.

Thunderous methods and a heart of a bodhisattva, what is a sword immortal? This is a sword immortal!

Li Huiyue said in a loud voice: "You evil monster, you are talking nonsense about life, do you think we don't know that there is human flesh all over the ground?!"

A group of Taoist priests from the Shenxiao Sect of Wanshou Palace disguised as scholars had been waiting for a long time, with their gold and silver swords and peach wood swords all sharp.

However, unexpectedly,

The old man Niu did not flee in panic as the Taoists thought. Instead, he stood still and smiled sinisterly.

"So you are all a bunch of stinky cow noses. I was afraid that you would notice something was wrong, so I fed you real beef."

Seeing that he was not panicked, Zhao Deshan looked suspicious.

suddenly,

The clothes of Master Niu exploded, and his human skin was shattered like a blooming lotus, revealing his true body. His muscles were knotted like blood, and he looked like a towering behemoth like an iron tower. But under the bull's head with a green face and red eyes were terrifying dragon scales!

He laughed hoarsely, "If humans can eat cows, then isn't it natural for monsters to eat humans?"

Zhao Deshan's expression suddenly changed, and he said in a frightened voice: "Bullfighting!"

There is a fighting bull in the West Inner Lake, which is a kind of dragon and chi. When it rains, it turns into clouds and fog, and often winds along the road and above the Golden Turtle Jade Pavilion!
(End of this chapter)