Yikes~
Where does that even come from?
Looking at Zhao Qiao'er's anxious face before him, Lu Yuan couldn't help but grin and say, "What kind of talk is that? I have hands and feet. Why would I let Auntie support me for life?"
Zhao Qiao'er grew anxious, her tone becoming even more coquettish, "What's wrong with that? Auntie has plenty of money. Come back to Fengtian City with me. Auntie will buy you a big mansion. From now on, you can eat delicious food and drink fine wine every day!"
Hearing Zhao Qiao'er's words, Lu Yuan grinned and shook his head.
He definitely couldn't go.
It sounded pretty great, but Lu Yuan still had ambitions.
With the [Subdue Demons and Eliminate Evil] system, becoming a Grand Celestial Master was only a matter of time for Lu Yuan.
How could he give up becoming a Grand Celestial Master in the future for such immediate gains?
Moreover, to put it bluntly, if Lu Yuan really wanted to become that kind of person...
Would he even need Zhao Qiao'er!
Auntie Meiqin had long been looking forward to him coming to stay.
Seeing Lu Yuan shake his head in disagreement, Zhao Qiao'er anxiously set down the chicken soup in her hands, hugged one of Lu Yuan's arms with both hands, and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "What's wrong with going to Fengtian City? Why resist? Why must you do this life-threatening work!"
Lu Yuan could only shake his head and start lecturing about values.
Saying things like how the old man had saved him, how as his disciple he shouldered the responsibility of bringing glory to the sect, and so on...
Basically, however he had explained things to Auntie Meiqin before, he now explained the same way to Zhao Qiao'er.
This left Zhao Qiao'er speechless.
After finishing with Zhao Qiao'er, Lu Yuan turned to look at Xu Erxiao beside him and immediately said, "Where's the next job?"
At this moment, Xu Erxiao also set down his chicken soup, pulled out a small notebook, flipped through a few pages to check, then looked at Lu Yuan and said, "Brother Lu, the next job is in Donglin Village, thirty li from here.
The village chief's little grandson in Donglin Village has been struck by evil and has had a persistent fever."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan calculated.
Thirty li wasn't far, just three or four hours away.
Leave in the afternoon, and they could arrive before eight in the evening.
Also, dealing with evil possession was easy to handle. Lu Yuan's body now had no major problems. He just needed to sunbathe at noon each day.
Lu Yuan immediately nodded, "Pack up. After we eat and rest a bit, we'll leave."
However, before leaving, Lu Yuan planned to ask the town chief of Ningyuan Town about that lone grave on the mountain.
Just as Lu Yuan finished speaking, Zhao Qiao'er tightly hugged Lu Yuan's arm, extremely anxious, "Leave for what!"
"Even if you must do this work, you need to heal your injuries first!"
"Look at your condition now. How can you go!"
"Don't go yet. First come back to Fengtian City with Auntie. When we get back, Auntie will find you the best physician. Let's heal your illness first!"
To these words, Lu Yuan shook his head, extremely serious, "That won't work. It's almost New Year's now. The disciples from the temple have all gone out. If I go back now to recuperate, there's no one to take over.
Besides, the employers are all eagerly waiting for us to come save lives.
If we just throw down our tools and quit, isn't that gambling with other people's lives?
Actually, I'm fine. Just three days of sunbathing and I'll be good."
Lu Yuan said this very sincerely, and truly thought so in his heart.
A Daoist's work here was equivalent to being a doctor, equivalent to being a firefighter.
Employers only went to Daoist temples to beg for help when they encountered difficult, life-threatening matters.
Having a Daoist come to your home cost dozens of yuan. If it wasn't a life-threatening matter, which farming family could afford it?
At times like these, if you don't go, they can't find someone else in time. They're just anxiously waiting for you to save lives.
Everyone's heart is made of flesh. If you can go, naturally you should go.
If you really need to rest, you should complete this entire round of jobs, then rest when you return to the temple.
When you've rested enough, then take on more jobs.
You can't just quit halfway through a round, abandoning the remaining jobs and going back to the temple to rest. Nobody does things that way.
Of course, Lu Yuan wasn't a saint either. If his body didn't allow it, Lu Yuan naturally wouldn't push himself but right now, Lu Yuan really didn't have any major issues.
Although the battle with the Two-Legged Sheep had been brutal, strangely enough, upon careful examination, Lu Yuan really had no major problems.
Now he just needed to sunbathe for an hour or two at noon each day.
Of course, if it was cloudy and he couldn't get sun, then he'd feel extremely cold the next day, but that wasn't a big deal either.
Also, dealing with evil possession was easy to resolve.
This wasn't a dangerous job like Old Master Xu turning into a jiangshi.
He'd go see what the situation was, pour down a bowl of talisman ash water, and that would be about it. Very simple.
So if he could go, he definitely should go. Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda...
Zhao Qiao'er stared blankly at Lu Yuan, parted her red lips wanting to say something, but couldn't...
Zhao Qiao'er knew her dear nephew was kind-hearted. If not, how could he have risked his life to save her...
The more Lu Yuan was like this, the more Zhao Qiao'er's heart ached unbearably.
Looking at Zhao Qiao'er's heartbroken face before him, Lu Yuan grinned and said, "Auntie, don't worry. I definitely won't gamble with my own life. I guarantee there's no problem."
"When New Year's comes, I still need to go to Fengtian City to pay New Year's respects to you and Auntie Meiqin~"
Zhao Qiao'er picked up the chicken soup again, scooping it for Lu Yuan while saying with heartache and a bit of angry coquettishness, "Really such a stubborn little thing!"
"Eat quickly!"
Lu Yuan grinned and peacefully ate his meal.
Two large bowls of chicken soup plus two soft, freshly steamed white buns left Lu Yuan so full he kept burping.
Originally one bun would have filled him up, but Zhao Qiao'er forcibly fed Lu Yuan another one. If he didn't eat it, she wouldn't be happy.
After Lu Yuan finished eating, the Xu family returned.
They were supposed to have buried Old Master Xu last night, but wasn't there that incident with Zhao Qiao'er? So the Xu family only went up the mountain this morning.
Now they had finished the work and just come down from the mountain.
"Daoist Master, may you be merciful."
As soon as the Xu family patriarch entered the courtyard, he quickly stepped forward and cupped his hands toward Lu Yuan in greeting.
Lu Yuan, lying on the lounge chair, smiled and slightly returned the gesture, "Infinite Blessings of the Celestial Venerable..."
"All finished?"
The Xu family patriarch nodded repeatedly, "Thanks to the Daoist's blessings, everything on the mountain is done."
"Daoist Master, you..."
Lu Yuan smiled and waved his hand, "I'm fine. Just need to get some sun."
Before the Xu family patriarch could ask anything, Lu Yuan immediately said, "Old sir, do you know anything about that lone grave?"
Lone grave?
The Xu family patriarch was startled then Lu Yuan described the location of Gu Qingwan's grave.
The Xu family patriarch thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "You mean that one? I know, I know."
"That woman was from my grandmother's generation..."
Hearing the Xu family patriarch say he knew, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. With Zhao Qiao'er's help, he sat up straight and quickly said, "Then please tell me, what was her situation?"
What situation??
What does that mean?
The Xu family patriarch looked at Lu Yuan somewhat strangely.
Lu Yuan quickly said, "I mean... how did she die, do you know?"
Evil spirits were similar to Daoists.
For Daoists to become Celestial Masters or Grand Celestial Masters.
You not only needed to cultivate diligently yourself, but more importantly, you needed natural talent.
There's a saying, whether a person can succeed depends seventy percent on talent and thirty percent on effort.
Without sufficient talent, no matter how hard you cultivate, it's useless.
The same was true for evil spirits.
That Gu Qingwan's danger star level was twenty stars.
This meant that when she first died, her malevolent qi must have been extremely, extremely strong.
With such strong malevolent qi, her cultivation would naturally increase quickly.
Lu Yuan wanted to know how this Gu Qingwan had died back then, how... how her malevolent qi could be so strong.
To see if there was any way to help dispel her malevolent qi and let her reincarnate and be reborn.
As Lu Yuan finished speaking, the Xu family patriarch couldn't help but sigh.
At the same time, the Xu family brought a chair for the patriarch. After the patriarch sat down, he sighed and shook his head, "She... was pitiful...
Back when the Qing dynasty was still around, the county magistrate's little grandson was catching fish in the river when water grass tangled his feet. He thrashed about shouting for help.
Gu Qingwan was washing clothes on the shore. She threw down her washing stick and jumped in. She pushed the person up, but she herself was swept away by an undertow at the river bottom.
Her body floated up the next morning, caught by the stone bridge pier downstream."
Hearing the patriarch's words, Lu Yuan frowned slightly.
Although this sounded like a wrongful death, it wasn't enough to turn someone into a malevolent ghost.
The patriarch continued eerily, "There was an old rule in town. Unmarried girls who died wrongful deaths couldn't enter the family home, for fear of bringing inauspicious qi.
Her father silently smoked a pipe, then pulled out a worn hemp sack, wanting to wrap his daughter but the town's clan elder said that drowning victims carried evil. She had to be hung at the village entrance for three days, to let the sun dry her and the wild wind blow on her, to disperse the evil qi before burial.
Her younger brother didn't want his sister to suffer like that. He argued with the townspeople. Someone pushed him, his head hit a rock, and he died too."
Lu Yuan: "..."
This...
The patriarch shook his head and sighed, "In the end, they still hung her on that old locust tree at the town entrance for three whole days."
"Her parents couldn't bear it. In two days' time, both their son and daughter were gone. In the end, the father went mad with grief, and the mother went insane."
"Eventually the villagers couldn't bear it and buried her, but because it was a wrongful death, the clan elder wouldn't let her be buried in the village ancestral graves."
"So they buried her all alone off to the side..."
Lu Yuan listened with discomfort, his heart feeling blocked. He couldn't help but say, "Didn't she save the county magistrate's little grandson? Didn't the magistrate come out to say a word?"
Hearing this, the Xu family patriarch snorted coldly, "That magistrate was from the Qing dynasty. He didn't consider us human. He didn't even acknowledge it, and was afraid that after her wrongful death, she might become a malevolent ghost and cause him trouble."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan couldn't help but curl his lip.
Indeed, not everyone was like Auntie Qiao'er and Auntie Meiqin, who knew how to repay kindness.
Lu Yuan pondered. This Gu Qingwan was truly pitiful. If this didn't make someone become a malevolent ghost, then there truly would be no malevolent ghosts in the world.
However... if this was the only reason she became a twenty-star super-dangerous entity...
Lu Yuan always felt it wasn't quite enough, something was missing...
Moreover... Lu Yuan remembered that Gu Qingwan was dressed as a bride in red...
As Lu Yuan pondered, the Xu family patriarch was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said mysteriously, "The most pitiful part is..."
"Two or three years later, her grave was dug up and her coffin opened. She was given a ghost marriage."
"Do you know who the groom was?"
"It was that county magistrate family's little grandson!"