Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 12: Summoning, Thousand-Year Warning
The Meng family's front yard is divided into two sides, separated by a stone path. Flowers are planted on the left and trees are planted on the right.

Meng Lianfa likes to have dinner on the stone table under the osmanthus tree with a lamp on it when the weather is good.

He had thick, white hair and bright eyes. Unlike his son, he was not greedy and looked a little thin. He wore a jacket with his sleeves rolled up. His dinner was also simple, usually just two or three side dishes.

Today, because his son and grandson went out to eat, his daughter-in-law was full after drinking a bowl of sweet porridge, and Meng Lianfa was too lazy to make more.

It's a plate of pickled vegetables, bacon and fried bait, and a pot of fragrant tea.

My son just came back and passed by here. He drank half a bowl of tea and complained that it was not the high-quality Pu'er tea from the study.

Hey, what's so good about Pu'er? Among the local teas produced in Yizhou, the Wuding Jinxianxiang tea is the best. After brewing, every piece of tea leaves looks like it is made of gold.

Pu'er tea is used to entertain those old people who have no appetite but care about face. Only with those who are really close to him will Meng Lianfa be willing to share the golden thread fragrant tea he buys every year.

Meng Lianfa was holding a cup of hot tea and sipping it when he saw two men guarding the sentry tower in the backyard running along the outer wall and jumping into the yard with strange expressions on their faces.

"Boss, Shopkeeper Ma is looking for you at the back door."

Meng Lianfa stood up in surprise: "Master Ma, why are you coming from the back door?"

As he spoke, he strode across the main room.

After passing the central patio and going through the side corridor through the large houses at the back, you will reach the backyard.

Many security guards were already standing in the backyard. When they saw him coming, they called out "Master" and dispersed a little.

Shopkeeper Ma and Chu Tianshu had already entered the house. There was a rotten straw mat on the ground in the backyard, and on it lay a corpse in black clothes. The wound on the neck was charred and the body reeked of blood.

When Meng Lianfa saw this, he knew why Manager Ma came from the back door and why the guard looked so strange.

"Brother Ma, Doctor Chu."

Meng Lianfa had met Chu Tianshu twice before, and he got straight to the point after clasping his fists. "What's going on?"

Shopkeeper Ma said bluntly, "This is a spy from the bandits, a sorcerer from Jiaozhi. His appearance in the town means that a group of Jiaozhi bandits have been spying outside the town."

"I've notified the militia to be on guard, and I'd like to borrow your favor again to invite a few wealthy people in town to come over for a gathering."

Meng Lianfa's face changed slightly, and he said to the guards, "Go and invite the mayor and the masters of the Zhu and Tan families over. Tell them that I have an urgent matter and hope you will come to my house to see me."

The guards looked at each other, turned around and left, each choosing a direction.

Chu Tianshu saw that they were quite agile and didn't know if they had finally mastered the art or how good their skills were, but their ability to climb over walls and run was no less than that of some parkour masters he had seen in videos.

Comparing the physical fitness of the militiamen, they seem to be inferior to these security guards.

Come to think of it, those people in the militia are just local young and strong men who were selected and trained a little.

The guards hired by these wealthy families are mostly people who have been trained hard in the escort business since childhood, have licked blood on the edge of a knife, and are hired for a large sum of money.

"Those people must have come from the front yard and brought the body to the front yard so that they could have a look at it too."

Meng Lianfa gestured to invite them and led the way. "Master Ma, you used to be reluctant to show your true abilities to others, even hiding them from Doctor Chu, a fellow resident of your restaurant. Now it seems that the two of you have reached an understanding?"

Shopkeeper Ma said, "I'm just afraid of being bothered, not ashamed. Since the situation is like this, it doesn't matter if I'm exposed."

Chu Tianshu asked curiously, "Director Meng has such great trust in Shopkeeper Ma. Your friendship must be incredibly deep, right?"

"It's not friendship, but a favor."

Meng Lianfa said seriously, "Back then, I was not good at judging people and married a vicious woman as my concubine. I almost ruined my entire family. Thanks to Master Ma's help, I still can't repay his kindness."

Shopkeeper Ma shook his head and said, "If you were deceived by someone because of your lust for beauty, it has nothing to do with me. But as someone who has mastered magic, she can find a foothold wherever she goes. She has a special skill, but she insists on using magic to harm others and make ill-gotten gains."

"Since I have the power to control such things, how can I just stand by and watch?"

Shopkeeper Ma is usually very friendly and has a smiling face.

But when he talked about the part about the law-amendments that harmed innocent people, his eyebrows raised, and every eyebrow seemed to be raised upwards, and his thick eyebrows were like a swallow's tail.

Only his eyebrows changed, but the feeling given by his entire face was immediately very different.

Such a strong temperament can be expressed in such a round face. It is obvious that he hates those who use evil magic to harm others.

As they were talking, everyone had already arrived at the front lobby.

The old housekeeper brought some cups of fragrant tea, and Meng Lianfa invited the two to sit down and taste it.

Chu Tianshu took a sip of hot tea, and before he could say how the tea tasted, his stomach growled and his face felt a little hot.

He ate snake meat in casserole, but still thought it was too little compared to his usual dinner portion.

Although the battle with the man in black was short, it was extremely exhausting and my body was steaming. Afterwards, I didn't have the chance to go back to the restaurant to make up for dinner.

"This bandit was killed by Doctor Chu, and it cost a lot."

Shopkeeper Ma remained calm and said, "Old Meng, if you have any fish, meat, or anything else in your kitchen, please bring some over."

Meng Lianfa said, "Yes, yes, I'll have someone get it right away."

Chu Tianshu's expression became generous and natural, and he bowed to express his gratitude.

There were screens on the left and right sides of the lobby, and behind the left screen was an octagonal table.

Chu Tianshu went behind the screen to eat. Two plates of pastries were served first. It was hard to tell what the fillings were, but they were sweet and fragrant in the mouth and not too choking.

Next came the braised beef and braised mutton, both sliced ​​and served on a plate. Chu Tianshu was eating when he heard the sound of carriages and horses outside the door, followed by the exclamations of several old men. "What's going on? Why is there a dead person here?"

"Brother Meng, what do you mean by showing this to us?"

Chu Tianshu glanced back through the screen and vaguely saw three old men coming in, each accompanied by followers.

Meng Lianfa asked them to sit down and told them the origin of the body, saying that there were robbers spying outside the town.

Meng Lianfa spoke in a serious tone, but Chu Tianshu heard someone breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's it?"

An old man said, "Brother Meng, you've seen it before. Bandits and robbers always cause trouble every year, but they can only rob small villages."

"If they dare to come to our town, they won't be able to rob more than a few households before the militia arrives and scare them away with a barrage of gunfire."

Meng Lianfa said: "The mayor..."

Another old man interrupted him: "Brother Meng, you're not going to say it's extremely urgent and ask us to rush over overnight just for this matter, are you?"

"And they put a dead body in front of us. It's really unlucky and rude."

The mayor was a little suspicious: "Brother Meng, tell me honestly, are you trying to find another excuse to get us to pay for the militia?"

According to what was mentioned in the newspaper, the militia set up within the territory of the Han Military Government was originally a reserve force for regular soldiers, and their salaries were paid by the government, which was slightly lower than that of regular soldiers.

But let alone the change of governor now, even when the previous governor was in office, the military budget was not enough to take care of all the militia teams.

Therefore, if a town's militia wants to be truly powerful, the money for rewards during training and the cost of purchasing equipment are basically supplied by the wealthy people in the town who come together to make an agreement and jointly supply them.

In this small town, among the wealthy families of Meng, Lu, Zhu and Tan, the Lu family is the mayor, but the Meng family is the most generous in giving money.

A few years ago, there was a Master Zhong who came from another place. He was very good at boxing and kicking, and he showed off his skills on the street.

At that time, Meng Lianfa met with several people and hired Master Zhong to help train the militia.

Master Zhong said that the new muskets would be useless if they were not practiced enough.

The Meng family took the lead again and asked several wealthy families to buy a batch of ammunition for training the town’s militia.

Although the batch of ammunition was in the hands of the militia for a short time, some of it was taken back by each family.

But the militia knew what was right and wrong, so they naturally sided with the Meng family.

"It's not impossible if you have to pay."

The mayor then picked up the teacup, took a sip, and said slowly, "However, as the saying goes, a teacher has a legitimate reason. After all, I am the mayor."

"This time we have to pay for the militia, so when they go on stage to speak, it should be considered that my Lu family is the one taking the lead. That's only reasonable."

Shopkeeper Ma said, "Gentlemen, you must understand clearly that these people are not the villagers who have become bandits with axes and pitchforks. They are bandits who came from Jiaozhi."

"The militia consists of over thirty people, with less than ten new-style muskets. Their purpose is to frighten people more than to kill them, but can they scare off the bandits who are roaming across the border?"

"Besides, Old Zhong went back to his hometown to visit his ancestors' graves a few days ago. Without him leading the charge, the militia's dispatching capabilities will be further reduced."

"Do you think that if those people really broke into the town, they would be satisfied with just robbing some ordinary families and let your family go?"

The mayor placed the teacup on the table, and there was a clang. "Old Ma, that's a bit harsh. Even though you own a restaurant, you're just an outsider..."

Meng Lianfa slammed the table and said, "Old Man Lu, please be respectful. It was Master Ma who solved the problem that happened to my family back then."

The living room suddenly became quiet, and there was a subtle silence for a while.

The mayor coughed lightly and said, "It turns out that Shopkeeper Ma is a wizard. You see, this is really like a leaf blocking the view of the mountain."

An old man tried to smooth things over: "Shopkeeper Ma is a great hermit, a master, a true master, he must be very knowledgeable. In that case, just tell me the rules."

Shopkeeper Ma said, "I want you to allocate half of your security personnel to work with the militia to patrol the town."

"If something happens, we can look after each other and rush to help immediately. This is the only way to save our town."

The mayor pondered and said, "What you said, Shopkeeper Ma, is very good. However, if this gang of robbers is really that vicious, why don't you ask Brother Meng to send someone to the city for help?"

Shopkeeper Ma couldn't suppress a sneer in his throat.

"We can send someone, but it may not be in time."

Shopkeeper Ma said, "Besides, once the person we send enters the city, he'll need to bring a lot of money with him so that he can see the officer in charge as soon as possible."

"We need to get them to put down what they're doing and come over to support us. Who can predict how many twists and turns there will be, or how long it will take?"

If asking for help from a big city is so easy, why do we need militias and spend a lot of money to hire security guards?

Several wealthy people served tea, some humming and some grunting, but none of them spoke for the time being.

Chu Tianshu was annoyed by their nonsense, so he swallowed the beef in his mouth and made a sound.

"You think that even if those bandits are more ferocious than others, they can be eliminated by the militia first, and then rob the town again."

"When they come to your house, you can still make them retreat by relying on your high walls and thick tiles and defending your house. At worst, you can even show them the way and tell them which house has the weakest defenses."

"Oh, this is safer than sending out guards, right?"

The warning that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold has lasted forever because, even after a thousand years, there are still a lot of people who take the wrong path!
(End of this chapter)