231: Chapter 227: Follow-up 231: Chapter 227: Follow-up Hou Donggui was utterly despondent at this moment.
The legacy he possessed focused solely on techniques, not on laws; it was never the correct way to begin with.
He had already cultivated the Five Ghosts Transportation Technique to a state of Divine Transformation.
It was precisely because of this technique that he had gained his current status.
But now, with the Five Ghosts Transportation Technique completely nullified, he was like a millionaire who suddenly became penniless.
How he felt at this moment was something everyone could easily guess.
After hearing Hou Donggui’s words, Chen Hai was momentarily stunned, and then fell silent.
The gaze of the Black Water Leech Emperor crossed the boundless void and projected over.
Half of Chen Hai’s attention was on the giant spider; the other half was on the information he had received from that gaze.
Hou Donggui’s Five Ghosts, affected by that gaze, had been annihilated; if Hou Donggui hadn’t mentioned it, Chen would have remained unaware.
However, even if Chen Hai had noticed, he couldn’t have stopped it.
After all, what that gaze from the Black Water Leech Emperor intended to do was completely out of his control.
He did want to comfort Hou Donggui, but momentarily he didn’t know how to start.
After all, the gaze that had completely ruined Hou Donggui’s Five Ghosts Transportation Technique had been summoned by him.
Some things are understood better implicitly than explicitly.
The cultivation that Chen Hai practiced himself was something he couldn’t even teach to Hou Donggui.
The existence of True Cultivators from ancient times, rarely seen even once in hundreds of years, was mainly because their path of cultivation couldn’t be replicated.
The reason Hou Donggui could sense that gaze, which crossed the boundless void, was primarily because his Five Ghosts were annihilated under the aftermath of that gaze.
Thinking he could visualize the Black Water Leech Emperor like Chen Hai?
The odds were incredibly slim, and even if Hou Donggui chewed betel nuts every day, developing oral cancer, he probably still couldn’t succeed in visualization.
And Chen Hai couldn’t help him with this matter.
His own success in visualizing the Black Water Leech Emperor was like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat; it was sheer luck within luck.
“Brother Hou, from now on, your matters are my matters.
As long as I have something to eat, I won’t let you starve…”
After a long silence, Chen Hai sighed deeply and made his promise solemnly.
“Chen Hai, we are brothers; to say such things really seems unnecessary.”
“The nullification of the Five Ghosts Transportation Technique is just my own bad luck.”
“You had already refused to help remove the curse for Brother Zhu, and only because I begged you did you become involved.”
“It’s all predestined by heaven that for every action, there is an effect; perhaps, today’s disaster is mere retribution for meddling too much in others’ fates!”
…
With a bitter expression, Hou Donggui forced a smile and sighed deeply.
He, a man who had barely been educated, could barely recognize a few large characters and had joined the Chinese opera troupe in Liuyuan County with his father at the age of eleven or twelve.
After his father died, he begged around and eventually ended up at the foot of Emei Mountain, where he met his master and was given the opportunity to become a disciple of Lu Ban.
He didn’t understand much about the bigger principles, but he firmly believed in ghosts and gods, and in karma.
Therefore, using the Five Ghosts Transportation Technique, after he truly made a name and fortune, he always acted kindly towards others, donating almost all of his money, apart from what was needed for his basic needs, to charity.
Although his line of teachings under Lu Ban had its risks, his extensive charity work was surely intended to accumulate virtues for his later years.
“Now many people already call me Hou Donggui, a swindler; without the Five Ghosts Transportation Technique, I might really prove them right.”
“It seems I can only withdraw from public sight and spend my later years in peace by tending to my garden and planting vegetables in my house in Xiangjiang.”
Filled with melancholy and unwillingness, Hou Donggui sighed deeply again.
Crouching beside him, Chen Hai, after a while of silence, stood up and walked over to Buck Teeth Zhu, who was still sitting on the ground.
Buck Teeth Zhu was still on the ground, not yet standing up.
Although falling from several meters high and landing on his buttocks wasn’t life-threatening, it still significantly injured him, and he wouldn’t be able to stand up for a while.
“Brother Zhu, to help you, Brother Hou risked his life, and you see what condition he’s in now!”
“The curse, I have already successfully removed it for you, and I don’t want any payment.”
“However, I hope you can allocate a portion of the earnings from your businesses each month to Brother Hou, ensuring he has an untroubled old age.”
“What do you think of my suggestion?”
With an intense gaze like a knife, Chen Hai, expressionless, slowly spoke.
Hou Donggui had a great favor to repay to him.
Because of the gaze of the Black Water Leech Emperor that he had summoned, now that Hou was in this condition, Chen Hai couldn’t just ignore it.
However, he was in the Capital City, while Hou Donggui was in Xiangjiang.
Between them, a distance of thousands of miles was not the only factor.
Additionally, Xiangjiang was still not under the jurisdiction of Yanhuang Country, and this constant traveling back and forth was rather inconvenient.
To ensure Hou Donggui’s life could be better secured, after much thought, Chen Hai could only make such a suggestion to Buck Teeth Zhu.
After all, travel between Hao River and Xiangjiang was very convenient.
Having Buck Teeth Zhu agree to look after Hou Donggui was naturally much more convenient than him running back and forth between the two places himself.
“Young Master Chen, rest assured.
Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d definitely have given Master Hou a satisfactory arrangement.”
“Indeed, if he hadn’t desperately intercepted it, I would have already been swallowed bones and all by that giant spider.”
“I, Buck Teeth Zhu, may not be well-educated, being in this line of work, but I understand the principle of ‘a drop of water should be returned with a spring.'”
“I will have a lawyer draft a contract, all businesses under my name will automatically grant Master Hou a ten percent share of the profits…” Buck Teeth Zhu clapped his chest and promised immediately.
To Hou Donggui, he felt heartfelt gratitude.
On this point, he truly had no falsehoods.
“Hope you can do as you say.
I really detest people who do not keep their word!” Buck Teeth Zhu, showing such understanding, didn’t prompt Chen Hai to say much; he simply nodded and gave him a warning.
Not long ago, because of the guy nicknamed Mountain Dog was swallowed alive by the giant spider, Buck Teeth Zhu’s subordinates, who were scared off, hadn’t actually gone far but lingered outside the villa.
After a while, seeing that things inside the villa seemed to have calmed down.
These guys, feeling timid, reappeared at the villa’s entrance.
The ferocity of Buck Teeth Zhu had long been deeply rooted in his subordinates’ hearts.
If he was safe and still alive, and these men just deserted him without a word, they would inevitably face strict family discipline.
These men, also keeping these concerns in mind, dared not stray far despite their intense fear, only observing from near the villa.
“Haodong, Nan, what are you doing?”
“Hurry and come in here.
Didn’t you see that your boss has broken several bones and can’t stand?”
“Each of you acting dumb—help me up.
Call an ambulance, and send us to the hospital first…”
Seeing the heads peeking and sneaking around at the villa entrance, Buck Teeth Zhu’s anger surged uncontrollably.
He raised his voice and fiercely shouted at his subordinates.
“Boss, you’re alright?
That’s great!”
“Did you, uh, fall from the sky and get hurt?”
“This sort of injury, you can’t move carelessly; professionals need to handle it.”
“Just bear with it a bit longer, we’re about to call an ambulance for you…”
With Buck Teeth Zhu’s yell, his subordinates immediately snapped to action.
Dropping what they held, they, fearing they’d be left behind, sprinted forward and swirled around Buck Teeth Zhu, trying to outdo each other in showing their eagerness to help.
Inwardly furious, Buck Teeth Zhu never really thought to take his anger out on these underlings.
After all, them deserting him, though lacking righteousness, was still within reason and somewhat understandable.
The existence of a creature like the giant spider, was altogether too mysterious and eerie.
Its strength was something ordinary people couldn’t comprehend or contend with.
Had his own men not run, but instead stayed in place, waving their weapons around, smashing and slashing all about.
Not only would it be utterly useless, it might even result in more unfortunate souls following in Mountain Dog’s footsteps, swallowed in a few bites by the giant spider.
“Brother Zhu, Brother Hou, you guys go to the hospital and rest for a few days; I won’t need to go!”
“Just lend me a car; I’ll head back to the hotel myself!”
With his men watching over him, Chen Hai went to check on Hou Donggui’s condition.
After making sure he had used a Danghui Talisman to cleanse the yin and foul qi from his body and ensuring there was no longer any danger to his life.
Chen Hai stood up and called out to Buck Teeth Zhu.
He knew the extent of his own injuries.
His steps might seem unsteady, struggling to even walk, but such injuries, he knew, could recover with some self-care and time!
Go lie down in a hospital?
If those doctors saw how astonishingly fast he healed, it might just lead to unnecessary complications.
Moreover, Bai Xiaohang and Tian Mingjian were both waiting for him to help them make a fortune.
Under such circumstances, Chen Hai naturally had no interest in recuperating in a hospital!
“Young Master Chen, you want to drive yourself back?
Or should I have someone escort you?” Buck Teeth Zhu kindly offered.
“That won’t be necessary; I can make it back on my own,” Chen Hai politely declined.
Compared to his first few days learning to drive, he had made significant progress by now.
Crashing into trees or poles was no longer a concern, and driving at speeds from tens to hundreds of kilometers per hour posed no problem for him at all.