I am a wandering immortal in the mortal realm.

The man was running quite fast and acting suspiciously. Shen Yuan assumed that there were many people today and the estate owner had attracted a thief, so he subconsciously took a step to the left, intending to stop him.

Given the large number of relatives and friends present in the mourning hall, it's unlikely they would stand idly by.

Just as the man was about to reach the door, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Startled, he immediately shouted, "Get out of the way!"

Shen Yuan, of course, would not yield, and remained standing quietly with a calm gaze.

In the blink of an eye, the man had already rushed in front of Shen Yuan, raised his fist, and cursed, "You fucking asking for death!"

Enraged, he decided to take action!

"don't want!"

Seeing the Taoist priest exposed to the opponent's fist, Zheng Baozhu screamed in fright.

Her shout brought several men in the mourning hall back to their senses, and they immediately stepped forward to stop her.

"stop!"

"stop!"

With several deep shouts, the man showed no sign of stopping, his fist still slamming down hard.

Even the expression on his face became extremely ferocious and terrifying due to excessive tension and excitement!

"You asked for this!"

Many vicious thoughts flashed through his mind, as if only in this way could he conceal the panic in his heart.

But instead of the soft sensation of a fist striking flesh, a sudden feeling of weightlessness came over me first.

Then, his body felt light, and his vision changed rapidly, as if the world was spinning and the stars were shifting.

With a loud "bang," the Taoist executed a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw, sending the man sprawling face-down to the ground.

The blow must have been too hard, because it took the man quite a while to recover.

"what!"

Hearing a dull thud, Zheng Baozhu thought the Taoist priest had been beaten. She covered her eyes and dared not look, two lines of tears streaming down her cheeks.

After waiting for a while, but hearing no other sounds from inside the mourning hall, she slowly removed her hands from her face.

Her tear-filled eyelashes fluttered, adding even more liveliness and charm to her already beautiful and delicate doe eyes.

The scene of the Taoist priest collapsing in pain, as imagined, did not occur; the Taoist priest remained calm and composed.

On the contrary, the guy who was about to hit someone was lying on the ground looking completely bewildered.

"Oh my, Jun-ge! What are you doing here?" A shout came from the crowd, and Zhuang Ping's aunt rushed out, went to the person on the ground, and knelt down to ask, "Why did you come out of your sister's yard?"

Upon hearing the name Jun-ge'er, everyone immediately understood his identity.

It was Chen Jun, the son of Zhuang Ping's wife Chen Cui'er's uncle, who was also Zhuang Ping's cousin.

Someone in the crowd curled their lip, their gaze towards Chen Jun filled with disdain and disgust.

Every place has its share of unpopular guys, and in Linquan Town, Chen Jun is the prime example.

This person is lazy, greedy, and cunning. He steals chickens and dogs and does all sorts of evil deeds. He is shameless and will pretend to be injured and sleep at people's doorsteps if they want revenge.

They can't be driven away or chased away, often leaving the victim helpless.

When Chen Jun's father was still alive, he was still somewhat restrained, but since his father died a few years ago, he has become increasingly lawless.

Moreover, this person is extremely clever, only targeting ordinary people to extort money. Such people are used to protecting themselves and would never actually kill someone for a little money.

He drifted through life like that until a few months ago, when he heard that he had offended Liu, the big boss of the gambling den, and then he disappeared without a trace.

The fact that everyone's first thought when a living person hasn't shown up for months is to applaud and cheer shows just how annoying this person is.

A murmur began to ripple through the crowd. Someone whispered, "Wasn't it said that Chen Jun was kidnapped by the gambling den and sold to another city to do hard labor to pay off his debts? Why is he back today?"

"Who knows if it's true or not? Maybe he couldn't make it in town, so he went to another place to swindle people?"

"Then why is he here today? Wasn't that Ping-ge'er who was cursing earlier? Do you think they bumped into each other?"

"Didn't you hear them call her a 'stupid woman'? Maybe Cui'er was secretly giving Chen Jun money, and Ping-ge'er found out something?"

"Cui'er is really something. Chen Jun is no good either. What's the point of giving him any extra money? The more you spoil him, the worse he gets. A scoundrel like him deserves to die out there!"

"..."

The crowd chimed in, and the Taoist pieced together some details of the situation, leaving him utterly speechless.

All he wants is to chant scriptures and earn some wages, why is it so difficult?

After all, it's the host's family matter. If they intervened once, they could say the other party started it. But at this moment, it's not wise to meddle any more.

So the Taoist priest silently took a step back and stood quietly at the sidelines.

"Hey, Taoist priest!"

A soft sound suddenly came from beside my ear, carrying the fragrance of grass and trees, making my ear feel tingly and numb.

The scent was so familiar that Shen Yuan didn't even need to turn his head to know who was behind him.

He asked without looking at him directly, "Young Master Zheng, what is it?"

"Are you...are you alright?"

Shen Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Didn't you see, layman? The person lying on the ground is not this humble Taoist!"

Zheng Baozhu pursed her lips, noticing his natural demeanor and perfectly wrinkle-free clothes, indicating he was unharmed. After a moment, she asked curiously, "Daoist Master, have you practiced martial arts?"

Shen Yuan shook his head: "I wouldn't call myself a martial artist, I'm just stronger than most people!"

"Master, you are truly amazing!" Zheng Baozhu praised sincerely.

Shen Yuan chuckled and shook his head, about to say something, when the crowd gasped again.

Turning around, I saw that it was Chen Jun, who had been stunned by the fall earlier. He had taken advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention and pushed his aunt down. He then ran outside like a madman and disappeared in no time.

"Ouch, that damned scoundrel!" Auntie was helped up, clutching her back and groaning in pain. "Why didn't he just die out there? Why did he have to come back and cause trouble? My old back..."

"Waaaaah..."

She was wailing in pain here, but then another series of cries came from the backyard. Someone rushed out and ran quickly towards the door.

It was Zhuang Ping, the owner of this place.

"Brother Ping..." Zheng Baozhu was stunned and murmured.

Realizing what was happening, Zheng's father hurriedly chased after him to the door, shouting, "Ping-ge'er! Ping-ge'er!"

But Zhuang Ping ignored him and disappeared at the intersection in a few steps.

Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Why is Ping-ge running off in such a hurry? His own father is still lying in bed at home, and he's already abandoning him?"

Shen Yuan frowned in deep thought. He wondered if it was necessary to continue the ritual, which was only halfway done.

What if things end up being a flop? Will the wages still be paid?

However, considering that he was invited by the Zheng family, he believed that someone should be able to cover for him.

He had previously dreamed of becoming famous overnight and having a booming business, but now that dream has vanished, it's understandably disappointing.

"Alas, bad luck!" Shen Yuan sighed silently to himself.

On the other side, Zheng's father turned back, his face showing a hint of barely perceptible fatigue.

It makes sense; anyone would be exhausted if they had such a troublesome host family.

Fortunately, he lived up to his title of "supervisor" and had high prestige. He quickly stabilized the chaotic situation and allowed the ritual to continue.

……

At this time, in the back of the Zhuang family's residence.

Chen Cuier was crying while hugging her aunt, and Qingge'er next to her was also sobbing.

Her aunt grimaced and clutched her back, still trying to comfort her: "Alright, what couple doesn't argue sometimes? Now that your father-in-law has just passed away, even though Uncle Zheng is helping out, Ping-ge is useless. You have to handle everything at home. Making such a scene, aren't you just making a fool of yourself in front of outsiders?"

"He's already divorcing me, so what do I care about being laughed at?"

Aunt's expression suddenly changed, and she said in a serious tone, "What did you say? He wants to divorce you? Did he say that himself?"

Chen Cuier nodded slightly, as if touched on a painful spot, and tears streamed down her face again.

Ignoring her aching back, Auntie stood up angrily and yelled, "What does Zhuang Ping mean? You've borne him children, served his parents, and devoted yourself to him. How dare he divorce you? That heartless beast!"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she asked, "Cui'er, tell your aunt the truth, is this matter related to Jun-ge'er?"

Chen Cuier paused in wiping away her tears, her eyes flickered, and she looked conflicted, but she said nothing.

Her aunt slapped her angrily, saying with a hint of disappointment, "You! You're about to be divorced, what are you still hiding? Let's talk this over while I'm here. Once I'm gone, you'll be all alone!"

Chen Cuier was already terrified, and upon hearing this, she dared not hide anything any longer and began to explain the whole story.

"Because there were so many people today, Qingge'er's diapers hadn't been aired out, so I went to look for them in the cupboard. Unexpectedly, I found a big rat. I followed the rat to my father-in-law's old room, but discovered that several bricks near the bed were loose..."

At first, Auntie didn't think anything of it, but as Chen Cuier continued her story, her expression gradually became serious.

"...I thought it was a mouse nest, but when I lifted the brick, I found a square wooden box hidden inside."

"What's in the box?" Auntie asked anxiously.

Chen Cuier swallowed hard before stammering, "Silver... a full two hundred taels."

"What?" Auntie was also shocked and hurriedly said, "How come there's so much silver? Could it be your father-in-law's secret stash?"

Chen Cuier sighed, "My father-in-law is just an honest carpenter. How could he have saved up such a large sum of money? Moreover, the silver was all official silver, ten taels per ingot, unlike what ordinary people use."

"Hiss..." Aunt gasped.

Chen Cuier's tears fell again: "I was startled and rushed to find the master, but he suddenly changed his expression and flew into a rage. Jun-ge'er also sneaked over at some point, saw the situation in the room, and immediately snatched the money, saying he wanted to 'borrow' twenty taels to spend... The master said I was wasteful and wanted to divorce me!"

My aunt was furious, muttering repeatedly, "That beast, that beast..."

Chen Cuier, however, looked worried: "Aunt, whether we divorce or not, I don't really care anymore. I'm just afraid that the money is ill-gotten and will bring trouble to the family, after all, Qingge is still so young..."

Auntie also realized this was the problem, her face turned pale, and she stood up, pacing back and forth, wringing her hands: "What should we do?"

The two were pacing anxiously in the room, unaware that a figure was crouching in the corner outside the door, quietly listening to what was happening inside.

……

After the ritual was completed, it was getting dark, and it was time to set up the evening feast.

There were only a few relatives and friends left at home, and two tables were enough to seat them.

Just as Zheng's father had invited everyone to sit down, Zhuang Ping returned, grumbling and cursing.

Everyone looked at him, and Shen Yuan couldn't tell if it was just his imagination, but he saw a faint trace of black energy on his face.

He frowned and asked Zheng Baozhu, who was serving him food, "Young Zheng, have you noticed anything different about Layman Zhuang compared to usual?"

Without looking up, Zheng Baozhu said, "He looks even uglier now, doesn't he? That's just how Brother Ping is; you'll get used to it!"

Shen Yuan: "..."

"puff!"

Zheng Baozhu glared at Zheng Baojuan across from her and said irritably, "What are you laughing at?"

"It's okay! It's okay! Let's eat!"

Shen Yuan glanced at him and also felt that Zheng Baojuan was acting strangely cheerful today.

Sigh, it's so hard to just get by. Can't we all be normal people?

The Taoist priest was exhausted and just wanted to finish the ritual and return to the mountain as soon as possible!