Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 264 The Peach Blossom Village, a World Unto Itself

This……

Jiang Wanli wanted to say, "Why don't you introduce us to your father?" but he knew that the person in front of him was his savior, and he had no reason to push his luck. So he remained silent.

After a moment of silence, Shi Yizhi asked, "Will the Peach Blossom Goddess get involved in this matter?"

Miss Hu rolled her eyes and started walking back on her own, saying, "Peach Blossom Goddess only protects the safety of Peach Blossom Village. Once you leave the village, she won't care anymore! Besides, didn't you come here to find some 'key to passage'? You can't just stay in Peach Blossom Village looking for it, can you? I've never heard of any 'key to passage' in Peach Blossom Village!"

Jiang Wanli quickly took two steps to catch up with Miss Hu and suggested, "Uh, Miss Hu, Senior Brother, I think this Mountain Lord isn't entirely unreasonable. Why don't we send him something to apologize properly? That should... that should resolve the matter?"

"I don't recommend that you come to this mountain forest again. The mountain king is called the mountain king because he is the mountain god of this mountain... Of course, he has not yet fully become a mountain god, but he will soon."

As Miss Hu walked, she said, "He already has six 'Chang Gui' (a type of evil spirit), and if you do anything else, there will probably be a seventh or eighth one!"

Jiang Wanli scratched his head in distress: "Then what should we do?"

"How should I know? It's not like I offended the mountain king!"

Miss Hu snorted irritably, acting as if it were none of her business, a far cry from the righteous way she had stood in front of the two of them in the mountains.

The three walked in silence for a while. When they saw the Tangquan Villa in the distance, Miss Hu finally spoke up: "If all else fails, you should leave Taoyuan Village three days from now! There are two villages to the north, Xiaoyang Village and Dayang Village. Dayang Village is also called Dayang Town. There is a local city god in the town. As long as you are under the city god's rule, even a mountain lord wouldn't dare to do anything to you!"

After saying that, she looked up at the sky and added, "But it's too late today. If you want to leave, you can set off early tomorrow morning and reach Xiaoyang Village before dark. Then, you can travel another day and reach Dayang Town."

Jiang Wanli hesitated, "Judging from Miss Hu's words... we can't travel tonight?"

Miss Hu grew increasingly impatient and said, "Nonsense! I've already told you that you can't wander around outside after midnight and before dawn! Isn't it even worse to be on the road?"

As they spoke, the three of them stopped in front of the gate of the Hot Spring Villa. Shi Yizhi was the first to cup his hands and say, "We are very grateful to Miss Hu for her righteous help today!"

"Forget it! You've caused such a mess in just half a day, who knows what other trouble you might get into! In short, don't go out if you have nothing to do. If you really want to earn money, go fishing or chopping wood..."

At this point, Miss Hu paused as if she suddenly remembered something, and then said, "Oh right, my wedding is in a couple of days, and the kitchen is probably short-staffed. You can ask around at the inn. Some of the more complicated dishes seem to need to be prepared in advance, and the innkeeper should be hiring!"

Shi Yizhi and Jiang Wanli quickly clasped their hands in thanks: "Thank you for telling us, Miss Hu."

Miss Hu seemed to dislike the two of them, waving her hand and disappearing in a flash.

At this moment, Jiang Wanli looked at Shi Yizhi with a wry smile: "It's all my fault for running around everywhere and getting you into this mess, Senior Brother!"

Shi Yizhi shook his head and said, "Brother Jiang, you are exaggerating. I shot that arrow. Besides, when hunting in the mountains, one inevitably has to wander around. If I had encountered that mountain lord, I'm afraid the situation would have been even worse."

“But you shot the arrow to save me after all. If it really doesn’t work…” Jiang Wanli said through gritted teeth, “If it really doesn’t work, then we can just let him take my arm. Senior brother, you still have the Shi family to revitalize. There can’t be any mishaps!”

"What are you two talking about? What arm? What mishap?"

As the two were talking, Zhu Ye used her light-footed skills to leap over in a few steps and asked curiously.

Martial artists have much better hearing than ordinary people, and Zhu Ye, being a fourth-rank martial artist, was even more perceptive. He saw the two people talking with worried expressions from afar, but he couldn't quite hear the cause and effect, and he was somewhat confused by the seemingly random words they were saying.

Jiang Wanli hurriedly explained, "Alas, it's all my fault. Just now, when my senior brother and I went into the mountains to hunt and sell the spoils, I accidentally provoked the Mountain Lord. To save me, my senior brother shot an arrow into the Mountain Lord's eye. Now the Mountain Lord is furious and insists that my senior brother pay him back with an arm! Even Miss Hu's intercession won't work!"

"Mountain Lord? Who is that?"

Although Jiang Wanli explained the events very clearly, the names mentioned made Zhu Ye's heart flutter, and she couldn't help but speculate in a somewhat absurd direction.

Jiang Wanli replied, "It is exactly what Brother Zhu is thinking of. It is the mountain king of the mountains, a huge tiger. Miss Hu said that the mountain king is almost becoming the mountain god of this place, and his magical power is extremely high!"

"It really is a tiger!"

Zhu Ye, fanning herself with a folding fan, sighed softly, "I just heard that there's a family in this village who used to have a son. Later, some outsiders took him to the mountains to find some treasure, but he was eaten by a tiger and turned into a vengeful spirit. As long as the tiger doesn't release him, that family's son can't be reincarnated; he's trapped by that tiger for eternity!" Jiang Wanli, upon hearing this, was shocked and his face turned pale: "This…"

Shi Yizhi, who was standing nearby, quickly grasped the key point: "What is reincarnation?"

"So-called reincarnation is the rule of this place being a world of its own."

Zhu Ye waved his folding fan and gestured, "Why don't you two sit down in the courtyard and let me explain slowly?"

The three of them were eager to exchange information, so they returned to the courtyard, sat down at the stone table, and listened to Zhu Ye slowly recount what he had done over the past few hours.

Zhu Ye said that he did nothing else but volunteered to tell stories at the village's tea shop. Although he only earned thirty-odd coins, he learned a lot from the tea drinkers who listened to his stories.

For example, Taoyuan Village was established to avoid disaster. Together with Xiaoyang Village and Dayang Village, it was isolated from the world and formed its own world.

Before it was called a village, Dayang Village was actually a town called Dayang Town. There was a City God in the town, surnamed Bao, who had under him Ox-Head and Horse-Face, as well as Black and White Impermanence, who jointly governed the underworld affairs of this place.

Moreover, the reason why Taoyuan Village, Xiaoyang Village, and Dayang Village can form their own separate world is because of the magic performed by the City God Bao, which is why this place is able to be so blessed.

As for the so-called "reincarnation"...

"This concept of 'reincarnation' is a saying found in the 'underworld' of this place."

“Outside of us, it’s always said that when a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a ghost; and when a ghost dies, they become a ghost. Although there are indeed some places that talk about ‘reincarnation,’ it is ultimately limited to local legends. In reality, most people believe that after a person dies, they become a ghost and live in the underworld until their death.”

"But this place is different. According to the local people, although people become ghosts after they die, there is no concept of a lifespan in the underworld. Instead, they are interrogated again in the underworld to assess their merits and demerits in life. Based on the final judgment, they are either released to wait for reincarnation or sent to hell to serve their punishment."

"If one is innocent, one can live freely in the underworld until one is in line to be reincarnated. One must then drink Meng Po soup, which can make one forget one's past life, before one can be reincarnated in the cycle of reincarnation."

"However, this reincarnation is not about being reborn as a human again, but as a flower, plant, or animal. It is said that it depends on how many good deeds one did in one's previous life. If one has done too many evil deeds, one will be reborn as an animal and suffer the pain of being skinned and slaughtered."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanli exclaimed, "This is indeed an interesting way of thinking; it's a theory that guides people toward goodness!"

Zhu Ye added, "Not only that, it is said that there is also an emperor in the underworld, called Yama, who is in charge of all matters in the underworld. However, the one in charge of this place is the City God of Dayang Village."

Jiang Wanli asked, "Then what is this 'Changgui' that Brother Zhu just mentioned? Since it's called a 'ghost,' shouldn't it also be under the jurisdiction of the City God?"

Zhu Ye sighed, “Logically speaking, all ghosts in the world are indeed under the jurisdiction of the underworld, and the ghosts here are naturally under the jurisdiction of the City God of Dayang Village. However, this chang ghost is different. It has a karmic connection with the tiger in the mountain and has been tainted with demonic energy. It is a being that has signed a contract with that tiger, and even the City God has no jurisdiction over it. That is why it is said that it can only be trapped by that tiger forever.”

Shi Yizhi was also amazed and exclaimed, "This place is truly wondrous. Whether it's the mortal realm or the underworld, it's different from the outside world... Speaking of which, I think that even the 'outside world' they're talking about might not be the same as our 'outside world'?"

"Definitely not. It is said that this place was sealed off because demons and monsters roamed freely outside, causing great suffering to the people. The cultivators did nothing, and the city god could not bear to see this, so he set up an array to isolate this place from the outside world..."

Zhu Ye snapped his folding fan shut and shook his head, saying, "Whether it's Xiao or Chu, apart from the Zhou Kingdom where we heard about the demonic chaos once, we haven't heard of any major events related to demons, let alone the suffering of the people. So the 'outside world' that this place talks about is definitely not our outside world!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanli's face fell completely. He said, "So even the City God can't do anything to this Mountain Lord? Aren't we doomed?"

"Actually, the family whose son turned into a changgui was the son of the old fisherman in the village."

Zhu Ye suddenly said, "Moreover, the old fisherman said that although he didn't know what 'key to passage' we were looking for, he knew that a treasure brought in by an outsider might be the 'key to passage.' If I can help him rescue his son and allow him to be reincarnated normally, he will tell me where the treasure is..."

Upon hearing this, Shi Yizhi's eyes lit up: "Really!?"

“This matter is extremely difficult, and I have no reason to lie to you.” Zhu Ye sighed again. “There are many gods and ghosts in this place. In just this afternoon, including the Peach Blossom Goddess and the City God’s group, I have heard about more than a dozen gods. Even the Peach Blossom River over there has a river god named Zhang Yongzhen. It is said that he was a brave general who led the charge during the Northern Expedition of the previous dynasty. After his death, he was appointed river god by the emperor of the previous dynasty.”

"But so many gods are indifferent to this matter of 'Chang Gui' (a type of ghost), either they have their own reasons, or it is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

(End of this chapter)