Ita Era

Chapter 182 Old Friend
Ding Shi said, "To be honest, Daoist, I have no interest in the divine tree. We just want to get some water from the divine spring."

Cui's father nodded: "I see." He pointed to the edge of the table, indicating that the two could pass by the altar.

Huang Youyou said softly, "Senior Brother!" Her voice was melodious, taking nine turns. It started with a mournful tone, then became overly affectionate, supported by adoration... and finally ended with a coquettish tone.

As soon as Huang You finished speaking, a flash of red light appeared in Cui's father's eyes, and his face was full of anger: "Leave immediately, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

What the hell? They change their minds faster than turning the pages of a book.

Ding Shi explained, "No, Daoist, we were having a good talk, and we were going to the Divine Water Spring."

"You're courting death! Five Thunderbolts Orthodox Method!" With that, Cui's father spread his hands to form a hand seal, creating an afterimage.

A bolt of lightning shot out from the Bagua diagram on the yellow cloth. Fortunately, there was a handprint as a prelude, so Ding Shi still had time to use his left hand to grab the dagger and block it in front of him.

Foolish Thug's face instantly turned black, and then his face really turned black, his hair stood on end, and smoke was billowing from his head.

Sha Bi gritted his teeth and glared at Ding Shi, who stood upright and rebuked Cui's father: "You heretics dare to indiscriminately kill innocent people."

Cui's father was stunned: "This, I didn't mean to." Under the influence of others, Cui's father believed that killing Ding Shi was right, and accidentally injuring Sha Bi was wrong.

"Senior brother."

Cui's father's pupils flashed red again, his hands formed a seal, and he slapped the Bagua mirror, shouting, "Borrow the power of heaven and earth, and be punished by heaven and earth!" The Bagua mirror flipped and flew up, and Cui's father held it in his hand, shining it on Sha Bi and Ding Shi.

Ding Shi turned and ran, the sound of thunder echoing incessantly. A bolt of lightning nearly struck Ding Shi's heel, and the flying pebbles stung his leg. Ding Shi dared not linger; his primal energy exploded beneath his feet, propelling him three meters with each step.

As they ran around the corner, lightning bolts struck the paddy field in rapid succession, each strike causing an explosion that created a crater.

Damn! They're not even in the same league, what's the point of fighting?

Ding Shi's mind raced for a moment before Sha Bi finally ran back. Ding Shi asked suspiciously, "Are you a spy? Why are you so intact?"

Foolish Bike said, "You're the spy, yes, you're the spy." You traitor.

Why is Sha Bi alright?
Ding Shi turned and ran away. Knowing he couldn't outrun Ding Shi, Sha Bi immediately knelt and kowtowed to Cui's father. Cui's father gave him a disgusted look, flicked his sleeve, and said, "Get lost." So Sha Bi left.

Sha Bi would never tell someone something so shameful.

Huang You's silvery laughter came from afar. Sha Bi and Ding Shi exchanged a glance and saw despair in each other's eyes.

Suddenly, a bright light shone into Ding Shi's eyes. Following the light, Ding Shi saw that it was sunlight reflecting off the second floor of Feng Qiniang's house. When Feng Qiniang saw that Ding Shi had seen her, she twirled her hand in the air, gesturing for Ding Shi to come around from the small hill to the east.

Ding Shi glanced at her briefly before looking away, then secretly glanced at Sha Bi. Sha Bi caught a glimpse of her and his inner alarm bells went off: "You..."

Ding feigned ignorance: "I..."

Foolish Dagger: "There's a problem."

Ding Shi: "You're the one with the problem. Let's go."

Sha Bi didn't believe it, but seeing that Ding Shi really left, he realized that he was not capable of exploring on his own and could only follow Ding Shi.

As they walked out of the village, Ding Shiyi clutched his stomach and said, "My stomach hurts. You go back first."

The idiot, with one hand on his hip, asked, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Ding Shi thought for a while and said, "It seems to be painless now. Let's go."

"Hmph!" Let's see how you make up this story.

Ding Shi reminded him, "My stomach may hurt or it may not hurt, but you'll regret it."

Sha Bi was taken aback. What did that mean? Was he playing tricks?
The two walked 1.5 li back to the temporary camp. Ding Shi waved his hand, and Sha Bi followed. Ding Shi went straight to the village chief, patted the village chief on the shoulder, and said, "Listen to me, your name is Cao Ying."

Silly Bike was puzzled and confused. Didn't you say his name was Cao Ying yesterday? That's right, I guessed it was Cao Ying too.

Suddenly, specks of white light appeared around the village chief, combining to form a person—none other than Cao Ying. The village chief and villagers ignored it all, failing to notice the extra person beside them. The village chief, too, changed his habits from Cao Ying, reverting to his original self, seamlessly embracing his new identity.

Cao Ying was lost in thought and memories before looking at Ding Shi in front of her. She said with a sense of relief, "You understand me best and can recognize me. Thank you."

Silly Bone: I know you well, okay? But what's going on? Yesterday, Ding Shi called Cao Ying's name, and Cao Ying didn't react at all. Why is she okay today?

Ding Shi smiled and said to Sha Bi, "V me 50, and I'll answer your questions."

Sha Bi gritted his teeth, turned around and gave away 50 stabs. Ding Shi took the money and replied, "I already used it yesterday. Listen to me, you are XX's chance."

The idiot immediately banged his head against a pillar. Is there any justice in this world? Is there any geography in this world? Is there any chemistry in this world? He clearly recognized the person, clearly…

Cao Ying stared at Duan Bi in disbelief: "You're Duan Pi? The mistress of that assassin family?"

Sha Bi glared at Cao Ying, who was unsure and asked Ding Shi, "Really?"

Ding Shi replied, "Whether it is or not depends on whether you can beat him."

Cao Ying whispered in Ding Shi's ear, "My skills have been wiped clean." Her resurrection mission failed, but at the cost of resetting all her professions and items, she gained an additional 3S-level difficulty resurrection mission. In this mission, she had no agency; her fate was entirely in the hands of others.

After successfully resurrecting, all her friends were wiped, the facilities in her valley villa were wiped, she left the tribe, and everything had to start from scratch.

Ding Shi asked, "You have nothing left?"

Cao Ying said, "I originally thought I had nothing, but I didn't expect you to still have some genuine feelings for me."

Ding Shi asked, "Do you, who have nothing, deserve someone like me, the chosen one?"

Cao Ying was speechless: "Hey, Mr. Ding, don't speak so rudely."

Ding Shi said, "You've misunderstood. It was Sha Bi who recognized you, but he forgot your name. If there's any real affection, it's Sha Bi who has real affection for you."

Sha Bi hurriedly said, "Don't talk nonsense."

Cao Ying, unable to bear it any longer, retorted: "What do you mean? What's wrong with me? My face, my figure, my brains, what's wrong with me?"

Ding Shi said, "It's precisely because you're so outstanding that I need to stay away from you."

Cao Ying asked, puzzled, "Then..."

Ding Shi said, "I'm afraid I'll fall in love with you, which will slow down my sword-drawing speed. Beauty is a curse, Amitabha! This humble Taoist has already entered the Buddhist order and is known as Eunuch Ding." Pshaw, don't think I don't know you want to borrow money.

Cao Ying rolled her eyes and looked at Sha Bi. Sha Bi clearly didn't have Ding Shi's level of awareness and said disdainfully, "You're his woman, stay away from me."

Cao Ying was furious: "How am I his woman? We slept together once because of a misunderstanding. We're both in the same boat, aren't you going a bit too far by saying that?"

Sha Bi still had some manners. After thinking for a moment, he apologized: "I'm sorry. I just hate all creatures related to Ding Shi equally, including the cockroaches in his house."

Cao Ying watched as Ding Shi walked to the side and chatted with the villagers, then leaned closer and said, "Do you know why I slept with him?"

Sha Bi said, "I've heard some things. You're going to steal the accounting books of Yixia Company."

Cao Ying said, "But I stole a fake ledger. He not only took my body, but also used the fake ledger to frame me and use me against Wang Meng. If I could, I would want to kill him even more than you do."

Silly Bite encouraged, "Then let's go!"

Cao Ying: "Isn't it because we can't win?"

Foolish Dagger: "Then there's nothing to say. You're just a useless person now."

Cao Ying: "No destruction, no construction; it is actually a good thing."

Foolish Dagger: "Oh?"

Cao Ying: "My villa in the valley has a hidden professional dungeon, but it costs two hundred dollars to open it each time. Who has two hundred dollars when we're assigning professions? Right now, it's perfect." Sha Bi asked: "You have two hundred dollars right now?"

Cao Ying: "No. But you do."

Foolish Bone exclaimed in surprise, "Why?"

Cao Ying: "I know what he likes. I can seduce him, get him into the same instance, and then kill him."

Sha Bi stared intently at Cao Ying, who gave Ding Shi's retreating figure the middle finger and nodded seriously to Sha Bi: "I'm going to kill him. Only a dead man can absolve me of responsibility for my chastity."

Sha Bi believed him to some extent and said, "I'll only make one hundred and forty cuts."

Cao Ying: "Okay, I'll ask him for the remaining sixty cuts."

Foolish Dagger: "What do you want?"

Cao Ying: "Use secrets to blackmail him."

The fool became interested: "What secret?"

Cao Ying: "I can't say that. This secret is my ATM."

Sha Bi rolled his eyes and swiped the money: "Okay."

Cao Ying accepted the money, her eyes showing more sincerity, and said, "I can only tell you that this is a very secret secret, known only to women who have been intimate with him."

Sha Bi was taken aback: "Impossible, he likes women."

Cao Ying smiled wickedly: "But does that mean he's a man?"

Silly Bike was stunned and quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

Cao Ying said, "This is the secret. Don't believe me? Just watch."

Cao Ying ran to Ding Shi's side and whispered, "Give me 100 first, and I'll give you 120 back later, otherwise I'll only have you as my man for the rest of my life."

Ding Shi was shocked: "Such a vicious oath?"

Cao Ying: "Give me the money quickly."

Ding Shi readily swiped the money, and Cao Ying returned to Sha Bi's side, swiped out 240 bills, and said, "He promised to pay me 100 dollars a week as hush money."

The idiot's CPU started running like crazy, whispering, "What if I want to buy out this secret?" A secret that Ding Shi could release for $100 a week to keep quiet must be a very embarrassing secret.

Cao Ying: "Ten thousand cuts."

Foolish Dagger glanced at Cao Ying with disdain: "Two thousand. I'll find a way to add you as a friend after we get out, and I'll gather two thousand dollars within two weeks."

Cao Ying countered: "Three thousand."

Foolish Dagger: "Two thousand five hundred, that's all I have."

Cao Ying pondered for a moment, then said, "Well... let's talk about it later. Let's talk about it when you have two thousand five hundred." She seemed reluctant to sell.

The foolish man, thinking he had seen through everything, advised, "Give up, he won't be interested in you."

Cao Ying scoffed, "I don't care. Do you think it's a good thing to be noticed by him? Do you think I ran away after sleeping with him? Do you think he changes girlfriends so often?"

Silly Bike's eyes lit up, and Cao Ying covered her mouth as if she had misspoke, saying, "I'm going to the restroom." She then fled in a panic.

Sha Bi looked at Ding Shi... Where was Ding Shi? Where did such a big Ding Shi go?
Sha Bi ran up to the villager who had been chatting with Ding Shi earlier and asked, "Have you seen Ding Shi?"

The villager, clutching five bundles of banknotes, said, "He...I don't know."

Sha Bi understood and swiped five knives for the villager. The villager said, "I really don't know where he went, but he asked about a place."

Foolish Bone pressed on, "Where?"

The villagers said, "He asked where Liu Niang's husband Zhang Dahe's grave was."

Sha Bi's eyes lit up again. That's right, Zhang Dahe was buried after his death; he has a grave. Could it be that Ding Shi intends to use this lead to track down Liu Niang, and then use Liu Niang to deal with Huang You, Liu Niang's former ally?
Sha Bi patted the villager on the shoulder to express his gratitude and ran towards Sanlifen. He knew Ding Shi's pace and knew he had to race against time.

Ding Shi did not go to Sanli Tomb. Instead, he crossed the stream, climbed over the hill, and crawled through the bamboo forest. He looked at the yellow cloth curtain a hundred meters away and quietly arrived at the back wall of Feng Qiniang's house.

"Seventh Sister," Ding Shi called out softly.

Feng Qiniang was already waiting here on this side of the wall, and said, "They are looking for the divine tree."

Ding Shi: "You've been found?"

Feng Qiniang: "Not yet, but that Taoist priest is very skilled and will be able to calculate the location of the divine tree sooner or later."

Ding Shi: "Didn't they notice you?"

Feng Qiniang: "No, they tried to enter my house this morning, fought with my parents-in-law, and then left temporarily."

Ding Shi said, "No matter how skilled he is, he is no match for your parents-in-law."

Feng Qiniang: "Yes, but my in-laws are restricted in their actions. They just haven't located the sacred tree yet. Once they've searched the entire village, they'll definitely come looking for my family."

Feng Qiniang said, "Tomorrow night is the only chance to transplant the divine tree. Once I leave home, it will cause fluctuations in the yin energy, and they will discover my presence. There are only two ways now. The first way is to kill them."

Ding Shi said, "Are you kidding me?"

Feng Qiniang said, "No, although they obtained bodies and used them to be reborn, they also gave up their immortality. I know they are very strong, but they are still just human beings now, which is different from evil spirits."

Ding Shi asked, "What's the second method?"

Feng Qiniang said, "The moon rises at 8 o'clock tomorrow night and will last until 3 a.m. The divine tree can only be dug up and planted on the night of the full moon."

Feng Qiniang said, "If I have nothing else to do, come here to wait for me at eight o'clock tomorrow night, and you will go and plant the divine tree."

Ding Shi said, "Don't you want to? This is dangerous."

Feng Qiniang: "Shut up and listen to me. After you get the Divine Tree, you must first soak it in the Divine Water Spring until a leaf grows. Then, find a place near the Divine Water Spring where the moonlight can shine directly on it for at least 5 minutes, and plant the Divine Tree there. After the Divine Tree grows a second leaf, all the demons and monsters will disappear, and Tianmen Village will return to the feng shui it had 20 years ago."

Feng Qiniang said, "After you have completed these tasks, you may take away a leaf from the divine tree."

Feng Qiniang asked, "Did you understand?"

Why aren't there two pieces? Why isn't it one tree? How do I take it out? I don't have any item slots.

Feng Qiniang asked urgently, "Did you understand?"

Ding Shi replied, "I understand."

Feng Qiniang said, "If possible, we should cause some trouble for the evil sects if it is safe to do so."

Huang You and Cui's father are no match for the evil in-laws, but the evil in-laws are bound by the rules of killing. Huang You and Cui's father are highly skilled and have a certain ability to protect themselves, so they have the cost of trial and error.

Once they confirm that the sacred tree is at Seven Sisters' house, they will test the evil spirit parents-in-law to find out their rules for killing. Once they find out the rules for killing, both Seven Sisters and the sacred tree will belong to them.

That's why Feng Qiniang suggested harassing them when it was safe to do so.

When it comes to harassment, the first weapon of choice is undoubtedly the bow and arrow. It seems that archery lessons should be arranged.

(End of this chapter)