Chapter 63: Weighing Several Thousand Catties, Around High Noon

  "Lao Shu, you seem quite unwilling to go to Liu Zhuangzhu's place?"

  Ning Feng walked with his hands behind his back and asked without looking back.

  Over time, the two have developed a tacit understanding. Ning Feng knew that without looking back, Shu Bailin, that old scoundrel, would pop out from somewhere at the next blink of an eye.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, no sooner had he spoken than Shu Bailin's head appeared in his line of sight, still scratching his head, with snowflake-like dandruff flying everywhere.

  "It's not that I don't want to, it's just..."

  Shu Bailin sighed and said: "A group of filial sons and grandsons, not crying or wailing, but with gloomy and dismal faces, making it hard for people to stay."

  Ning Feng didn't expect such an answer, and he fell silent for a moment before nodding slowly. "We cultivators subdue demons and evil spirits, not just because we don't want to be ordinary people," he said, "but also because we want the world's people to no longer worry about gloomy weather, and for the sky to clear up within a thousand miles."

  "It's good to take a look around."

  Shu Bailin nodded silently, and they walked without a word until they approached the Liu Zhuang main residence where the master was recuperating.

  Still a hundred feet away, Ning Feng saw a large group of Liu family members gathered there, looking at each other in silence. The kind of gloom and oppression made people want to run as far away as possible.

  Liu's family servants and guards naturally didn't dare disturb the conversation between the two "Immortal Gate disciples" all along the way, escorting them to this place after a long time.

  He took a deep breath and went ahead of Ning Feng to report.

  Ning Feng deliberately waited for a moment before leading Shu Baili in step by step.

  Liu Laozhuang's master was recuperating in a separate courtyard, and upon hearing that the Xianmen disciples had arrived, he hastily arranged them on both sides, bowing his head to show respect while sneaking glances at them.

  Ning Feng ignored them and looked around, his eyebrows furrowing involuntarily.

  He hadn't spoken yet, when Shu Baili called out: "Old Master Zhuang, has your illness improved? Can we see you?"

  There was some ambiguity in Shu Bailings words, and the Liu family immediately understood that they were being blamed for not bringing out Liu Da Zhu to greet them. The courtyard suddenly fell into another commotion, with some people apologizing and others rushing into the house.

  Ning Feng's eyebrows furrowed even tighter.

  He had frowned before because there was a faint, indescribable smell in the yard, but now he felt that Shu Baili was making a big deal out of nothing.

  Just as Ning Feng was about to speak, there was a loud "boom" and a door collapsed with a crash. Immediately after, the sound of panting and grunting came from inside, clearly several big men exerting themselves.

  Swallowing his words, Ning Feng shook his head and chose not to speak anymore. Since they had already dismantled the door, what else could he say?

  The next moment, he and Shu Baili made the same action - covering their noses.

  "This taste..."

  Ning Feng's expression turned serious.

  "Ah, the stench is suffocating!" Shu Bailin said in a muffled tone, as if suddenly remembering something. "Ning Gongzi, heaven and earth are witness, when I came to see this old man before, there was no such smell."

  "It's the old mulberry tree trunk that didn't run."

  This time, he kept a distance from Lao Sang Shu, but Shu Bailin's voice was not small at all. Everyone around him turned their faces sideways, and their expressions changed one by one.

  Can't it remain unchanged? The children of our family are playing under the tree every day, if the old mulberry tree becomes a spirit, wouldn't it be wandering around the tiger's mouth every day? Many people have had their hearts stopped with fear.

  "Huh?"

  Ning Feng slightly nodded, neither affirming nor denying, and looked towards the person who walked out from the house with the door removed, suddenly letting out a surprised cry.

  Shu Bailin also sensed something was off and remained silent.

  No wonder they had to remove the door to get out, it's not that the hospital bed is too big, but rather there are too many people carrying it.

  Eight sturdy men, each panting like an ox, their faces red as a monkey's buttocks, struggled to carry the stretcher out of the doorway.

  On the sickbed, an emaciated old man lay in a state of impending death, his eyes dull and open as if he had just awakened.

  "Is it that heavy?"

  Shu Bailin muttered to herself, "Looks like we've got a thousand catties now?"

  He whispered in Ning Feng's ear: "Young master, it seems that this old Liu won't live for many more days."

  "What does this mean?"

  Ning Feng also felt that this scene was strange, no matter what a dying old man shouldn't be so difficult to lift by several strong men, but didn't know how it was connected to life and death.

  "When a person has just passed away, there is a gap between life and death, his soul flies away while his spirit leaves, his energy will disperse but hasn't yet."

  "It is called gathering, its divisions scatter in all directions through the hundred orifices, revolving at the Gate of Life, dwelling at the Gate of Death, weighing a thousand catties."

  "It is called dispersal, its constraint within the body, never having dispersed and escaped back to heaven and earth."

  Shu Bailin shook his head and said, "Ning Gongzi, this Liu Tou is clearly in a state where he's no different from a dead man."

  Ning Feng understood.

  Shu Bailings meaning is that the state of being weighed down by a thousand catties, actually only exists in the dead, especially in those who have just died, for a brief moment, because the breath disperses through the orifices and there is no soul to guide it.

  For the deceased, that period of time is extremely short, ordinary people can't feel it at all, only in special cases such as a wrongly killed person's resentment not dispersing, will there be a relatively long time, the most typical characteristic is that the corpse weighs a thousand catties and cannot be moved.

  Liu Laozhuang's master was still hanging on with a thread of life, but he had the appearance of a dead man, so Shu Bailian was certain that he wouldn't live much longer.

  "Really?"

  Ning Feng watched as several strong men carried Liu Laozhuang's master, along with his sickbed, to his front, and hastily explained that since yesterday, their elderly family member had become like this, and they were unable to welcome him, apologizing for the discourtesy.

  Ning Fengquan didn't mind, said it was nothing and checked briefly, only to find that Liu Laozhuang's eyes could move, with a pleading gaze amidst the dullness, seemingly seeking help, but his entire body couldn't move an inch.

  Nothing was gained, Ning Feng signaled that he would send Lao Zhuang back, and together with Shu Bailin, the two of them turned around and headed towards the outside of the mansion.

  It's not clear where the Liu family is from, but Ning Feng's identity is far above Shu Bailin, obviously a "Xianmen" big shot, an existence like a lifesaving straw, they rushed up in a hurry, surrounded him on both sides, and made all sorts of pleas.

  The gentle breeze responded, and he walked all the way to the gate of the mansion, again facing the old mulberry tree.

  "Cut it off?"

  Shu Bailin suggested in a low voice.

  Those previous conversations were heard by the Liu family, and now they have spread far and wide. The Liu family is furious, and if not for Ning Feng's inscrutable face, they would have taken out their axes and saws long ago.

  "Cut it off!"

  "Cut it off!"

  "Chop!"

  In the crowd, a seven or eight year old child shouted loudly, it was Liu Jia's eldest grandson, who was called Liu Gou Dan.

  At this moment, he completely forgot what he had said earlier about growing up to be the Son of Heaven. He was shouting loudly with the crowd, his face covered in tears and snot, a complete mess.

  As the crowd shouted, the old mulberry tree, which was originally swaying in the wind, making a "rustling" sound, suddenly became still, and no matter how hard the wind blew, it couldn't budge an inch, as if frozen in place.

  Even an ordinary person can see that something is wrong.

  The Liu family's voices gradually faded away, and Liu Dog Egg slipped behind Lü Tuo's back with a rustling sound.

  What matched his general movements was Shu Beiling, but what differed was that he extremely skillfully retreated behind Ning Feng's back.

  The wind is howling, people hold their breath, the old tree lets it be east, south, west, north wind, silently unmoving.

  The cloud is low, as if rain is approaching, and the atmosphere suddenly becomes oppressive.

  "Tomorrow..."

  Ning Feng suddenly spoke up.

  As he spoke, he walked slowly forward and sat down on a mat he took out from behind him, more than ten zhang away from the old mulberry tree.

  "Calm down for now and wait till tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow at noon, everyone in Jizhuang will gather here and watch me exorcise the demon."