Chapter 27: Strange People and Strange Things

  He slept soundly until the rooster crowed, and Xuan Zhen lay on his side all night. Even though he was a master of Taoist magic, when he woke up, he couldn't avoid feeling shoulder pain and stiffness in his neck. At that time, Wen Heng was still lying quietly in bed, only his long breathing could be heard, as if he was sleeping very soundly. Xuan Zhen gazed at the slender neck and black hair that spilled out of the thin quilt, and his mind was slightly dazed, feeling that this scene was somewhat... indescribable. He quickly withdrew his gaze and walked away, but didn't notice that his footsteps were slightly awkward, losing their usual steadiness.

  After lifting the curtain, Xuān Zhèn was stunned again. It turned out that there were already three people sitting in the outer room, holding a pipe and puffing out thick smoke from their mouths and noses - it was Xiàng Sān, and the other two were unfamiliar faces, unknown to him.

  "Immortal, you're much better?" Xiang San heard the door curtain rustling, turned his head to look and immediately jumped up from the stool, grabbing the pipe gun and rushing forward. "Ah, you slept for a whole day and night, my wife and I thought you were going to shut yourself in for a year... Ah, no, what was it?"

  "Seal the door!" The lady of the Xiang family carried a wine jar from outside and said in an ill-tempered tone, "The immortal's magical powers are vast, how could two trivial demons make him seal the door for a year? I never said that."

  Xuan Zhen smiled lightly and shook his head, saying: "I'm just a cultivator from Kunlun Mountain, how can I be called 'Immortal'? Let's just consider it a joke between us brothers. Don't follow along and tease me, madam." He also said, "I must thank Third Brother and madam for letting me have the main room. Now that the poison has been forced out, all that remains is an external injury."

  "That's very good, very good." Before Sanhe and the lady of the Zhao family could speak, another person sitting at the table stroked his beard and smiled. The man had a kind face, and as soon as Xuan Zhen approached, he caught a whiff of herbal fragrance. Looking again at the medicine box beside him, it wasn't hard to guess that this was a doctor.

  Xiang San smiled and said, "Immortal, this is our town's Sun Langzhong. His medical skills are truly remarkable, and he's a kind-hearted person with no flaws. I heard that you eliminated the great evil for Qinglong Town, and he has been coming over every day, saying that when you come out of your closed cultivation, he wants to take a look at your injuries!"

  Xuan Zhen hastily cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, Sun Lang, for your kind intentions. Just apply some golden wound medicine and there will be no major issues. I don't dare to trouble you further."

  Sun Langzhong returned the courtesy, saying: "Master Dao doesn't have to be so polite. You are a great benefactor to all the people in our town. Even if we had to work as oxen or horses, everyone would still be willing with all their heart. What's more, it's just a matter of taking your pulse and prescribing some medicine - small things indeed! Since Master Dao only needs Golden Wound Medicine, I happen to have some here. Let me find it." He then opened his medicine box and began rummaging through the bottles and jars with his head bowed down.

  A slightly younger middle-aged man sitting beside him also smiled and said, "Sun Lang has always regarded healing as his own duty, Dao Chang, you just follow his wishes."

  Xuan Zhen had no choice but to sit down beside Sun Lang, and then pointed at the middle-aged man with his cigarette holder: "Immortal, this is the head of Qinglong Town. If it wasn't for him gathering everyone to pool their money and contributing a large sum himself, I wouldn't have made it to Kunlun Mountain, let alone met you."

  Qinglong Town Mayor shook his head and said, "What's the point of money? As long as we can restore peace to our town, losing everything is nothing. Xiang San, I came this time to thank Daozhang, why did you bring up those trivial matters again?"

  Xuan Zhen was about to say some modest words, but suddenly remembered something and hastily said: "Town Master, I think you are quite familiar with the affairs of Qinglong Town. I have a question for you, has anyone in your town ever offended a young man with scars on his face?" As he spoke, he carefully described the appearance of that ugly youth.

  The town mayor furrowed his brow, thinking for a long time before saying: "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, but there's no one in Qinglong Town with scars on their face. The townspeople have always been harmonious, although there may be some friction, nothing major has ever happened because of it. Why did you ask this question?"

  That ugly boy's mind is vicious, although Xuan Zhen has eliminated the demon beast he raised with one hand, he was unable to capture him. He always feels uneasy in his heart, worried that the boy will come back one day, but if this doubt is spoken out, it's likely that these people in the town will live in fear every day. Xuan Zhen hesitated for a long time and vaguely said: "I once saw that boy outside the town, I just have some doubts in my heart."

  The town mayor nodded slightly, seemingly unbothered.

  Beside him, Sun Lang suddenly raised his head and said: "Are you referring to that crazy little kid?"

  Xuan Zhen's long eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he looked up at him. Sun Lang continued, "More than a year ago, a strange young man did indeed come to the town. He looked ordinary, but who knew he was actually a madman."

  "Madman?" Xuan Zhen asked in doubt.

  "Yes, I've heard about this too." Xiang San puffed out a mouthful of smoke and interjected, "That kid is really strange, claiming to be Mrs. Pei's son, and he even somehow knew the names of the neighbors on Mrs. Pei's street, saying he wanted to move into Mrs. Pei's ancestral home."

  "It's true. Old Mrs. Pei just happens to live on our street, and we all know her son. He was clearly a robust man in his thirties," Sun Langzhong shook his head and sighed, "Moreover... Moreover, Mrs. Pei's son Qingsheng had been buried at sea several years ago. How could a dead person come back to life, with an entirely different face, transformed into a young boy?"

  "You're saying that young man claims to be a dead person?" Xuan Zhen furrowed his brow and asked in surprise.

  Sun Lang nodded: "Yes. Who can believe such a crazy story? Even if he acted as if he was very familiar with us, that face was extremely strange to him. The more he put on the appearance of a pianist and talked about past events with us, the more it made people's hair stand on end. But then something else happened, which not only shocked people but also made them especially angry..."

  "What happened?" asked Xuán Zhèn.

  "Alas, it's truly a tragic fate... Ever since Qins birth went out to sea and never came back, Old Lady Pei lost her only son and was deeply grieved. Her husband had passed away a few years ago, leaving her alone in the house. We neighbors would only visit her occasionally during our free time, who knew she would take her own life... Although it's been over a year since then, Sun Langzhong still sighs and laments when speaking of it. Afterwards, we buried her in the forest east of town, and even collected money to repair her grave during the rainy season. When that young man arrived at Qinglong Town, Old Lady Pei had already passed away for two years. He seemed shocked upon learning of this, and seeing how we didn't want to bother with him, he also didn't dwell on it and soon left the town."

  "We thought it was all over, but who knew that so many unexpected things would happen afterwards... About seven or eight days after the young man left, a continuous rain suddenly started, and as soon as the weather cleared up, we went to repair the tombs outside the town again. We also checked on Mrs. Pei's tomb along the way, but unexpectedly, just by taking a look, we discovered that something big had happened - Mrs. Pei's grave had been dug open, the coffin was soaked in water, and the lid of the coffin had even been opened and thrown aside, while the corpse inside... was nowhere to be found!"

  At this point, Sun Lang's face was already hidden with anger. Xuan Zhen asked: "Could it be that the young man stole the corpse of Mrs. Pei?"

  "Not bad." Sun Lang nodded heavily, "If he had only stolen the corpse, that would have been fine. But he also burned Granny Pei into a pile of ashes!"

  "What?! This little brat is really hateful!" Hearing this, San Yi suddenly slammed his pipe on the table and shouted angrily.

  "What are you calling, let Sun Langzhong continue to speak." Xiang's wife was holding a wine jar and standing on the ground, listening with rapt attention. At this moment, she slapped her husband forcefully and quickly turned around to fetch three wine bowls. "Right, I had forgotten about these wines. Sun Langzhong, you've been speaking for so long, first moisten your throat." As she spoke, she quickly poured the wine into the bowls and handed them out to everyone.

  Sun Lang took a sip of wine and put down the bowl: "At first, we all scolded the person who dug up the grave, thinking it was an evil thief who desecrated the corpse to steal some burial goods. Later, after a few more days passed, that young man came back, holding a jar in his hand, and told us with great satisfaction that inside was Mrs. Pei. To this day, I still remember the look on his face when he said those words, clearly smiling, but it only made people feel chilled to the bone. He said: 'Since you don't welcome me here, I can only take my mother away from here. Unfortunately, her body has been in the ground for so long and has already rotted beyond recognition. I had no choice but to burn her and put her in this jar. Isn't it convenient?' He stroked the jar with a smile on his face, looking satisfied and joyful, without any guilt or remorse for disturbing the spirit of the dead!"

  At that moment, several young men shouted and rushed forward to grab the urn, but the young man was unremarkable in appearance yet had some formidable kung fu skills. The urn was grabbed back and forth, still remaining in his hands. Those young men were also furious at this time, one of whom suddenly took out a watermelon knife from the house and slashed it down on the young man's head with a loud "whooshing" sound. We all stood frozen in shock, and the young man was in extreme agony, but what pained him wasn't that his face had been heavily slashed by a knife, rather it was that the urn containing Old Lady Pei's ashes had been smashed to pieces on the ground!

  "Then wouldn't Old Lady Pei's ashes be......" Xuan's eyebrows furrowed even tighter.

  "Yes... the urn on the ground was shattered into pieces, and those ashes were scattered all over the place. Poor Mrs. Pei couldn't rest in peace even after death, not even her ashes could be preserved." Sun Lang sighed, "That young man's face was half-covered with blood, looking truly terrifying. He just stared blankly at the ashes, his eyes revealing boundless sorrow and despair. We hated him for what he did, but we couldn't help feeling a little sympathetic towards him. But before long, we heard a burst of laughter coming from that young man's mouth. He laughed loudly, scanning us one by one with his empty eyes, devoid of any emotions. I felt a chill in my heart when I saw it. Then he said, 'Since it's been desecrated, I don't want it anymore. But you people from Qinglong Town shouldn't think you'll have an easy time either. Yes, my mother suffered the pain of losing her child before she died, so why not let you people experience it too?' After that, he turned and left, without even giving a second glance at the broken urn and ashes on the ground."

  "Hey, why didn't you stop that bastard?" Zhang San shouted in a rage.

  "Alas, it's embarrassing to say. The young man at that time was so intimidating that everyone didn't dare move, and I don't know where a thin and small child like him got such momentum? Later, we had to collect the ashes of Mrs. Pei, re-select a place and bury them in the ground. That young man never came to dig up the grave again, nor did he appear again."

  Sun Langzhong finally finished telling the story, sighed and picked up his wine cup to slowly drink it all. The room was quiet except for Xiang San's angry knocking on the table with his pipe, leaving only a peaceful silence.

  P.S. The new cover is up, it's a hand-painted Xuan Zhen, and some grass is looking at him and can't bear to turn off the code O(∩_∩)O. Originally, it was a personal setting picture, after making it into a cover, some parts were covered, so here's another complete one~~ The details are also very consistent with the content of the text~

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