I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 293 The Oath of the Peach Garden

In the backyard of the coffin shop, Xu Qing was circling around the large peach tree in front of him, examining it closely.

He looked at it and commented on it, as if he was plotting something.

"Tsk, this big peach tree is worth growing. Look at its slender waist, it's almost as thick as a water vat. If it were used to make peach wood swords, even if we couldn't make ten thousand, we could make a thousand."

"If it's lightning-struck wood, that would be even more incredible!"

Xu Qing acted like a thug with ADHD, sometimes reaching out to measure the circumference of the peach tree, sometimes patting it like a watermelon, and listening to the sounds from the tree, as if the peach tree could give birth to a baby peach tree after ten months of pregnancy.

"Lightning-struck wood is rare and hard to come by, but lightning-struck peach wood is even more precious. Even with low profit margins and high sales volume, a lightning-struck peach wood sword can fetch ten taels of silver, and a thousand swords would be worth ten thousand taels of silver."

"We're rich now! We've struck it rich!"

Xu Qing clapped his hands and laughed. The peach tree in the yard, which never showed itself on its own, finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"What do you want to do? I'm your godmother, this is outrageous!"

As the voice faded, a crimson light leaped out from the peach tree. Xu Qing turned his head and saw a woman dressed in a pink dress with a face like a peach blossom standing in front of the stone table under the tree.

The woman's pretty face was contorted with rage as she said angrily, "I don't have much time left anyway. I was hoping that after I wither away, I could return to dust and ashes. If I'm lucky enough to sprout new buds one day, maybe I can continue my life."

"But I never expected to run into my nemesis!"

Xu Qing looked at the peach tree spirit in front of him with great interest.

He had sensed the presence of a tree spirit in the coffin shop while Hu Baosong was still alive.

Hu Baosong's mother was a fox spirit, and his father was a mortal. In his early years, Hu Baosong was playful and wandered the world for decades without returning home. When he finally returned, his mortal father was already on his last breath.

Xu Qing initially thought that the old man might not have seen his son one last time, so he held on until Hu Baosong returned.

But now it seems that the tone was mostly related to the peach demon in front of them.

Guided by the fox spirit of Qingqiu, Hu Baosong hurried home to see his father. After handling the funeral arrangements, Hu Baosong fell ill with grief and spent his days drowning his sorrows in alcohol, feeling that he was a selfish, disloyal, and unfilial bastard!

How could he be so attached to worldly affairs and forget that his father was just an ordinary person?

Later, when Hu Baosong was drunk and lying in the backyard, he had a dream in which a woman dressed in a peach-red dress gave him some advice.

The woman said, "Your mother cultivated for hundreds of years without ever taking a single day off. Only when calamity was imminent did she leave the mountain and marry your father. Although your father's lifespan was short, he never wasted it. If they have spirits in heaven, how could they bear to see you waste your life like this?"

After hearing these words, Hu Baosong suddenly realized what was happening and began to experience a second spring in his life.

During this time, the old fox did not fail to suspect that the peach tree in the coffin shop was the benefactor who appeared to him in a dream.

However, no matter how much incense he burned and kowtowed, the woman never appeared again.

On the contrary, Xu Qing didn't even burn an incense stick; he simply moved his lips and invited the other party out.

The difference between the two is obvious.

Seeing that the woman in pink had broken down her guard, Xu Qing chuckled and said, "Don't be hasty, let me explain things to you properly. You should think of it this way: since you say you are the godmother of me and Xuan Yu, then when you get old, shouldn't you share your inheritance with me and Xuan Yu?"

The woman frowned slightly; what the other person said seemed to make some sense.

“Since the inheritance belongs to me and Xuanyu, then this peach tree in the courtyard should naturally be considered part of the inheritance. When my godmother fails to escape the lightning tribulation and passes away in a few days, there will be a peach tree in the courtyard that has been struck by lightning.”

"When the time comes, Xuan Yu and I will leave the roots for our godmother to sprout, and as for the tree stump, we will make it into a peach wood sword and exchange it for some silver to supplement the family income. This can be considered as our godmother's blessing on us and accumulating good fortune for us."

"Doesn't that make sense, Godmother?"

"."

What kind of twisted logic and heresy is this?
The peach tree spirit, regaining her senses, glared indignantly at Xu Qing and spat out, "Who's your godmother! You've called me your godmother, but I never agreed to that!"

"Really?" Xu Qing nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, why are you in my house?"

Xu Qing took out the land deed for the coffin shop from the landscape painting and said logically, "This shop was transferred to me by Hu Baosong. My name is on the deed, and it has the official seal of the government, so this is my home."

At this point, Xu Qing's expression suddenly turned fierce: "Speak! How did you sneak into my house? Do you know that this is trespassing, a serious crime of either adultery or theft!"

"You and I"

"What do you mean, 'you'? You haven't paid rent and have lived in my house for so many years without any reason. How should this be settled? Everything should be based on reason. Even if this matter goes to the authorities, you're still in the wrong!"

The woman under the peach tree stared wide-eyed at Xu Qing in disbelief.

She has lived here for almost a thousand years, and now the other party is asking her for rent. What kind of logic is that?
"I've lived here for many years, back when there weren't any houses here."

"I have a land deed issued by the government!"

"Even Hu Baosong's mother treated me with courtesy."

"I have a land deed issued by the government!"

"I owe Hu Baosong a debt of gratitude; I saved his father from his last breath."

"I have government connections."

Before Xu Qing could finish speaking, the woman in front of him broke down and said, "You have a land deed issued by the government!"

Tsk, this tree spirit has even learned to answer questions first!
Seeing that Xu Qing was doing nothing but bullying innocent women, one can imagine the frustration the peach tree demon felt.

She had never seen such a shameless person before. The worst part was that the other party was standing on the side of law and morality, spouting righteous words. Wasn't this bullying an honest demon?

Thinking of the tribulation of lightning that would soon befall her, the peach tree demon, who had no confidence in overcoming it, was filled with sorrow and felt extremely aggrieved.

Xu Qing still felt that the effort was not enough. In this great calamity, Peach Sister needed the help of incense to get through the lightning disaster, but this peach tree was very secluded and stayed in the coffin shop all day long. Where would it get incense?
If you were to throw out hundreds of thousands of incense offerings at a peach tree that lives so cautiously, it would actually feel uneasy. After all, who would offer so many incense offerings when hiring a deity?

Even the Red-tailed Monkey and Gu Zixu had never received so much incense offering at once, let alone a peach tree demon who had never seen the world!
But so much incense is needed to transcend the tribulation.
After pondering for a long time, Xu Qing finally had to resort to a rougher method to ease the concerns about the peach tree.

However, to Xu Qing's utter surprise, before he could even exert his strength, the woman in the peach-colored dress in front of him began to wipe away tears.

Moreover, she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. When she couldn't control the tears from rolling down her cheeks, the woman in the peach-colored dress turned her face to the side, stubbornly refusing to let outsiders see her vulnerable side.

Xu Qing paused for a moment, then blurted out:
"Hey! You're a great demon who's been around for hundreds of years, why are you crying? Aren't you ashamed?"

The peach tree demon ignored Xu Qing. After calming herself down, she said with some resentment, "Of course you don't cry. You humans are blessed by nature. As long as you find the right method and focus on cultivation, you can achieve remarkable cultivation and even be unafraid of heavenly tribulations. Unlike us demons, we have to spend countless years of hard work just to learn human speech and understand principles."

"The tribulations of demons are more than ten times more difficult than those of you humans, and I am the tree demon who is most afraid of thunder among the demon race."

"Tree demons have the longest cultivation period, and peach trees are among the few trees whose lifespan is no more than a hundred years. I refuse to do evil, so every hundred years I have to grit my teeth and face death. Now, after nearly a thousand years of cultivation, I've only managed five hundred years of power, yet I'm about to face the most dreaded tribulation of heavenly lightning." "How can I survive being burned by lightning and fire? And yet, I'm being bullied by you, who wants to use my body to make that peach wood sword to pay off the rent."

"I was here first, and this is clearly my home."

As she spoke, the woman in the peach-colored dress felt even more aggrieved.

Why does the world always seem to pick on such a pitiful monster like her?

"."

Xu Qing fell silent for a moment. How could this make him sound like a heinous criminal?
No! He's not human at all, he's a zombie. A zombie's tribulation is no more difficult than yours, a tree spirit's.
Xu Qing immediately realized what she had to cry about.

"It's just a tribulation of lightning, no big deal!"

"If lightning doesn't strike you, you naturally won't care; only I know the true extent of my suffering."

Seeing that the peach tree demon was about to act up again, Xu Qing said directly, "My Xuan Yu just survived a tribulation a few years ago and was completely unharmed."

"My pet monkey even ran outside on its own and survived the lightning tribulation by its own abilities."

"Although you are a wood spirit, as long as you are in the Cat Fairy Hall, you will not be afraid of lightning disasters."

The woman in peach-colored clothes looked on with disbelief: "So, if I join your guild, you can make sure I get through this calamity safely?"

Xu Qing clapped his hands: "Then it's settled!"

"From this day forward, you are a spirit of my Cat Immortal Hall, and Boss Liu will be your disciple. It just so happens that my Cat Immortal Hall has a few branch halls that are vacant, so I think you should join the Sweeping Hall and become its head."

Sweeping the hall involves removing any unlucky spirits or spirits left behind after a ritual, thus maintaining order within the hall. This is part of the hall's security and protection department.

To put it simply, they are security guards.

The peach tree demon's true form is a peach tree. Even after surviving the tribulation of lightning, its true form cannot move freely. Since the coffin shop is located at the end of a funeral street, the peach tree demon rooted there is just like a gatekeeper!

Sweeping the hall and managing it for her is like a dream come true!
The peach tree spirit was a little confused. When did she agree to become a fairy in the Cat Fairy Hall?

Moreover, the other party had even arranged a shamanic disciple for her. Shouldn't this matter be decided after discussion between her, the spirit, and the shamanic disciple involved?
"By the way, I haven't yet asked about the name of the Peach Fairy?"

The peach tree spirit murmured, "Third Sister."

"Third sister?" Xu Qing asked, puzzled.

Tao Sanmei patiently explained, "Many years ago, this place was a peach orchard. About a hundred years later, only three peach trees remain."

"The three of us sisters crossed the century-long cycle together, each giving birth to a spirit. We decided to follow the example of humans and become sworn sisters."

What is this? The Oath of the Peach Garden?
"I am the youngest and least skilled in the arts, so everyone usually calls me Third Sister. Over time, Third Sister became my name."

Xu Qing looked at Zhang Fei, or more accurately, Tao Sanmei, and asked, "What about your eldest and second eldest sisters?"

"The eldest sister was the tallest. Not long after they became sworn sisters, she was struck by a bolt of lightning and was left on the verge of death."

"Later, there was a wandering Taoist priest named Ge Hongwen. He claimed to be a disciple of Songyun Temple on Henglu Mountain and had come down the mountain to travel on his master's orders. The Taoist priest discussed with the eldest sister that he wanted to use the lightning-struck wood on her body to forge a magic sword, but the eldest sister had to be willing for the magic sword to be more powerful."

"If it is refined properly, my eldest sister might even become the true spirit within the sword, thus avoiding complete annihilation."

"This would be a good thing for my eldest sister, but she didn't agree immediately. Instead, she asked the Taoist priest for a cultivation method suitable for my second sister and me."

Whether it was because of the impending tribulation or because she hadn't spoken to anyone for a long time, or perhaps both, once Tao Sanmei started talking, she wouldn't stop.

"And what about Second Sister?" Xu Qing continued to listen.

“Second sister, about five hundred years ago, someone wanted to build a villa here. But if they wanted to build the house, they had to cut down my and my house. Second sister was indignant, so she secretly used magic to stop those people.”

"Who knew that the leader was a martial arts master who knew many people in the martial arts world. In less than half a month, he brought a highly skilled monk."

"The monk immediately recognized that it was my second sister who was causing trouble. He set up a magic array around my second sister and me to disable our magic, and then sent a martial arts master to find a woodcutter to cut down trees."

"When the woodcutter was cutting down trees, a nobleman from the capital happened to pass by. That man had drunk wine and composed poems in front of my second sister and me in March, and said that he had never seen such bright and beautiful peach blossoms."

“The nobleman, remembering the beautiful scene of the peach blossoms in full bloom in the past, pleaded for my sister and me. When he learned that my second sister was causing trouble, he said to let the woodcutter cut down my second sister and spare my life.”

“At that time, my cultivation was the least advanced, and a noble person pleaded for me, so the monk did me a favor and treated me as just another scene in the temple, and then stopped paying attention to me.”

"."

Xu Qing finally understood why Tao Sanmei was so afraid of heavenly lightning, and also understood why she was so angry that she cried when she heard his words.

Tao Sanmei's eldest sister died from a careless bolt of lightning, while her second sister's death was indirectly caused by someone buying the land and building houses there.

As luck would have it, Xu Qing's words struck Tao Sanmei right in the heart.

Xu Qing, who hadn't taken it seriously at first, suddenly felt deeply guilty.

“Third sister, now that you are a celestial being of the Cat Fairy Hall, things are no longer the same as before.”

"This coffin shop is your immortal abode; you don't need to pay rent. As for the tribulation lightning..."

Xu Qing asked Tao Sanmei to wait a moment, and soon he arrived at the coffin shop with Xuan Yu, Liu Su'e, and some immortals who happened to be on Jingxia Street.

An incense table was set up, and a new ancestral hall list was established. Peach Third Sister's name was thus cleverly placed on the new ancestral hall list.

"The position of Tao San Niang, the sweeper of the Cat Fairy Hall in the Xu Family Mansion."

Xuan Yu looked at the memorial tablet, then turned to look at Xu Qing, and finally couldn't help but pull Xu Qing into a corner and ask:
"How did you manage to bring your godmother into the brothel?"

Xu Qing vehemently denied it, saying, "It was a matter of mutual consent, how can you call it abduction? It was Tao Sanmei who willingly joined the gang."

"Xu Xianjia, how dare you address your godmother by her given name?"

"I am the sect leader, how can I ask the immortals below to call me godmother? From now on, godmother will be third sister, which is a step down! Xuan Yu is the head of the main hall, so he will no longer have a godmother."

"."

Xuan Yu stared wide-eyed, as if she were seeing Xu Qing for the first time.

If godmothers can be demoted in rank, will they also be demoted in rank in the future?

(End of this chapter)