Chapter 66: Shocking News of the Man-Eating Mountain

  The guests had just received a great shock, and now they heard that there was such "good news", their hearts were filled with mixed emotions. They looked at the fat shopkeeper one by one, knowing that he was usually stingy, so he must have an ulterior motive for saying this.

  Indeed, Boss Pang coughed twice, cleared his throat, and continued: "According to my guess, this immortal is specifically targeting the Qin brothers, so he didn't make things difficult for everyone. However, everyone saw the Qin brothers lose face, and these four brothers are most concerned with saving face, they can't afford to lose. Therefore, today's matter must not be spread out under any circumstances, please ask everyone to accumulate virtue by keeping their mouths shut, don't bring unnecessary trouble to themselves and our store!" After that, he made a circular bow towards the crowd!

  The guests all got up from the ground, heard the fat shopkeeper's soft and hard words, nodded in agreement one by one. Although some people were not optimistic about whether Qin Shi could survive in the hands of the immortal, the four brothers' notorious reputation was far-reaching. If they came back to life, they would definitely want to find a way to save face. The fat shopkeeper's words seemed to make sense, and one by one, they left the wine building with lingering fears.

  The shopkeeper, feeling relieved that the trouble had been shifted to the Qin brothers, secretly gloated in his heart. After everyone left, he scolded the waiter who had brought Water and the others into the wine house, rebuking him for being greedy for Water's money and intentionally serving them a jar of inferior water wine, causing himself to lose dozens of jars of good wine! He declared that if the waiter were not his own nephew, he would make him work in the wine house for ten years without pay.

  The wine keeper was clear in his heart, the reason why Shui Sheng would make trouble in the wine tower was not because of the Qin brothers, but because he had scolded Shui Sheng a few times. He secretly made up his mind that from now on, if there were any beggars watching outside the wine tower door, he would never beat or scold them again!

  Two beggars, however, seemed to have suddenly developed an enormous gap with Shuǐ Shēng, not daring to say a word to him, nor even dare to take another glance at him. The crowd on the street saw that the Qin brothers, who were usually tyrannical in Yín Mǎ Town, had suddenly become as obedient as grandsons, walking down the street with two tattered beggars behind them, and everyone's expression was one of astonishment. Yet, thinking about the brothers' usual tyranny, even though they were full of doubts, no one dared to boldly approach and ask a question.

  Seeing the strange expressions of the people on the street, Shui's heart moved and he instructed the man in blue robes to transmit a few words. The man in blue robes was taken aback at first, but after thinking for a moment, he strode swiftly towards a distant mansion on the south end of the town.

  Looking at the large copper lock on the black lacquered gate, the blue-robed big man suddenly became anxious. A red-robed young man behind him said: "Old Fourth, you quickly go back home to fetch the key!" The red-robed young man responded with a sound, just about to take a step and leave, but Shui Sheng lightly hummed a sound, causing the red-robed young man to be startled and too afraid to move again.

  Shui Sheng gave the four a cold glance, his index finger lightly flicked, and a dark light flashed by. The large copper lock was cut into two pieces with a "clang" sound, falling to the ground!

  A big house, empty and uninhabited.

  The man in blue carefully put down the old beggar on his back, and then said to Shengshui: "Immortal grandfather, this is a separate courtyard of my humble abode, where no one lives normally. If the immortal grandfather doesn't mind, I'll call someone to clean up the yard!"

  The aquatic fairy's gaze swept across the hall, seeing that the tables and chairs were complete inside, although some were old, but not hindering use. Moreover, this place was far from the town, quiet and secluded, satisfying in her heart. However, her mouth coldly said: "You have offended me today, should I let you suffer the pain of a thousand ants piercing your heart for 49 days or..." She paused intentionally at this point, seemingly calculating how to punish the four people.

  The four of them heard this and their faces changed color, they knelt down again, knocking their heads on the ground, and the man in blue robes had cold sweat all over his forehead. He cried out with a sad face: "Immortal grandfather spare our lives! I was blind to your greatness, I deserve to die, I will never dare again, I am willing to personally serve you tea and water for the rest of my life, please raise your noble hand and forgive these three once, they are still young and don't understand things, this time it's all my fault as their older brother!"

  "Oh! Are you willing to suffer for the three of them? Aren't you afraid that I'll add all the suffering that four people should endure onto you?" Shuǐ Shēng asked, his heart moved by this arrogant man's willingness to take on others' burdens.

  The man in blue robes trembled, as if his heart was fiercely battling. He turned to look at the three people behind him who were frightened and at a loss, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "If the immortal grandfather spares my brother's life, I am willing to take responsibility alone, whether it is punishment or penalty, all will be done according to the immortal grandfather's orders!" However, the silver-robed man with red acne on his face said: "Immortal grandfather, I, Qin Bao, am willing to bear the blame together with my big brother. Please spare my two younger brothers!"

  Shuǐ shēng dīng zhe sì rén de miàn róng kàn le yòu kàn, dàn dàn wèn dào: "Nǐ men sì rén shì qīn xiōng dì? Jiào shén me míng zì?"

  Translation:

  Shui Sheng stared at the faces of the four people and asked faintly: "Are you four brothers? What are your names?"

  The man in blue robe nodded repeatedly and said, "I am Qin Hu, they three are my half-brothers, named Qin Bao, Qin Biao, and Qin Xiong." While speaking, he pointed them out to Sheng one by one.

  Shui Sheng nodded slightly, imitating the manner of Wu Mu Dao Ren, and began to pace back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back. He listened intently with one ear and moved his lips slightly, as if conversing with someone. After a while, he turned around and said to the anxious blue-robed man: "This immortal has just made inquiries in town and found that you four brothers have been doing evil and oppressing good people. You should have been killed, but since you can still think of your brother's life, and your conscience is not completely gone, this immortal will spare your lives for now."

  The Qin brothers were overjoyed and kowtowed again. Shui Sheng smiled and looked at Qin Hu, saying: "However, the death penalty can be pardoned, but the living penalty cannot be avoided! The three of them must now sweep every corner of this courtyard clean, without a single speck of dust or spider web, before they can leave this mansion. If there is one place that is not swept clean, I will cut off one of your fingers! If all ten fingers are cut off, then start from the toes!"

  After finishing speaking, he looked at the four of them one by one. The four of them were overjoyed when they heard that Shuǐ Shēng was going to spare their lives. However, upon hearing that if they didn't sweep the house clean, Qin Hu's fingers and toes would be chopped off, they couldn't help but change color again.

  Shuisheng stroked his chin and said to Qin Hu, whose face was alternating between green and red: "As for you, go wash the large wooden bucket in the storage room clean, then boil a big bucket of hot water. I want to take a comfortable bath. If you serve me well and make me happy, maybe I'll spare one or two of your fingers from being chopped off!" After that, he ignored the four men and turned to walk towards the two beggars.

  The Qin brothers came from a wealthy family, their father being the richest man in town, with many businesses. From young to old, they had never done any chores like sweeping houses. Compared to the strange itch they just experienced at the wine tower, sweeping houses was a pleasure! Before Shui Sheng could say anything else, Qin Hu had already given a signal to the other three, and the four of them quickly walked away, hurrying to find the tools for sweeping houses.

  After the four people left, Shui Sheng smiled at the two beggars and said: "Old man, I'm sorry to have frightened you both. I didn't expect that inviting you to a meal would also bring unnecessary trouble!"

  Looking at the radiant smile, the old beggar opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. The little beggar spoke timidly: "Immortal little brother, can you teach me magic? Once I learn the magic, Grandpa and I won't go hungry again!"

  Shui gazed at the little beggar's eyes filled with longing, sighed and said: "Being an immortal also has its troubles. If there weren't many things to do, I'd rather be a little beggar like you!" After speaking, he took out three 10-tael silver ingots and several tael of loose change, handed them over to the old beggar, and continued: "Old man, I'm currently being pursued by evil people, don't want to bring trouble to you two. You two should quickly leave this place and make a living in Longyang City instead. With these silver pieces, you won't have to go hungry again!"

  The old beggar stared blankly at the silver coins in his hand, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He had not expected that simply mistaking Water for a small beggar and kindly giving him a hood would lead to so much trouble, and it was hard to predict whether it would bring good or bad fortune! The old beggar was originally a timid person who wanted to shirk responsibility, but he suddenly remembered that Water was a "divine being", how dare he offend him? Moreover, these mundane silver coins seemed to be of little use to the "divine being" either. He hesitantly opened the dirty package and carefully put away the silver coins.

  After some thought, he took out a small black box the size of his palm from his bag and handed it to Shui Sheng, trembling as he said: "Little... little immortal, old man thanks you for your silver coins, has nothing to repay, can only give this small box to you. No matter where you go in the future, must not go to Food People Mountain, these years, no matter what immortals or monsters, as long as they enter Food People Mountain, there is never anyone who comes out! This box was picked up by old man next to two leopard demons and a dead immortal, don't know what treasure is hidden inside, causing them to fight for their lives!"

  The aquatic god's consciousness swept over the small box that was like gold but not gold, like wood but not wood, and it opened with a pop. He was taken aback and asked casually: "Old man, where is the Mountain of Cannibals?"

  In the old beggar's intermittent narrative, Shuǐshēng only then learned that the Man-Eating Mountain was just over a hundred miles away, and the old beggar's family originally lived in a small mountain village less than fifty miles from the Man-Eating Mountain. Unexpectedly, since the Man-Eating Mountain suddenly appeared thirteen years ago and gave birth to thick white fog a year later, the small mountain village had not had a peaceful day ever since.

  This chapter is over, your support is my greatest motivation!