Chapter 197 Reciprocity

On Longhu Mountain, Zhang Ruosu looked at the sentence that seemed to have flown over, his face full of suspicion.

Then he instinctively made a guess.

Hmm, flown over? Could it be express delivery, directly by air?

Helping with small favors is one thing, but what's with sending gifts?

It's really too polite.

The old Taoist's fingers flew across his phone, opening the app with a look of anticipation, only to find that no courier had been sent to his number at all.

His suspicion deepened.

Soon, Zhang Ruosu knew what was going on.

Initially, it was the young Taoist who was still worried and went to check the situation near Quan City. Then he discovered another strong magical reaction leaving Quan City, which made his heart sink. Taking a closer look, this time it was heading straight for their own mountain, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

He quickly ran to find Zhang Ruosu and told him what had happened.

The old Taoist was stunned at first, and then he realized what that "flown over" meant. The corner of his mouth twitched, almost pulling off his beard, but looking at the somewhat flustered junior, he still had a gentle expression and comforted him, "This is normal, no need to make a fuss."

"It's just a gift from a fellow Taoist."

"Look, isn't it here?"

Accompanied by the whistling of a long wind, an eight-sided Han sword came from afar, surrounded by a large mass of wind energy. The Taoists all noticed this uninvited guest and looked up, but then they heard Zhang Ruosu's understated voice. The old man was only on the mountain peak, but his voice resounded in the ears of every Taoist on Longhu Mountain:

"Disperse, it's just a flying sword, a fellow Taoist is just sending something over, nothing to see here."

"Go cultivate."

So everyone calmed down. Zhang Ruosu was calm and inwardly smug, triumphant. A flying sword as a gift, who had ever seen that? He raised his hand, and the eight-sided Han sword let out a low hum, drawn by the flowing wind, and landed beside Zhang Ruosu. A phone was hanging on the sword, with a navigation voice saying:

"This navigation has ended. The journey was 582 kilometers. You exceeded the speed limit on 310 sections of the road, and were photographed violating traffic laws 1,300 times. Navigation reminds you to drive safely, for yourself and others. Please go to the nearest police station to surrender as soon as possible..."

"The Longhu Mountain police station has been automatically contacted."

Zhang Ruosu: "..."

The young Taoist: "..."

The old Taoist was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but smile, saying magnanimously, "It really keeps up with the times." He took the phone off the sword and handed it to the young disciple beside him, instructing, "Go charge it up for him."

The Taoist took the phone, but he was still curious about what kind of gift this flying sword had delivered.

Zhang Ruosu didn't rush him to leave.

He leisurely opened the courier box and saw a head full of resentment.

The old Taoist's movements paused.

The two young Taoists next to him turned pale with fright.

The old Celestial Master raised his eyebrows slightly, subconsciously thinking that this was the commotion and trouble that the museum director was talking about, but then he denied this possibility.

He pointed with his fingers.

He had already discovered the hidden true spirit and took it out.

With a slight spread of his five fingers, an image evolved.

...

Wei Yuan received a phone call.

The phone call was from Longhu Mountain, from Zhang Ruosu.

Wei Yuan paused when he saw who was calling, then answered the phone. The two were silent for a moment, and then he heard Zhang Ruosu's voice for the first time, old and steady, slowly saying, "Fellow Taoist Wei, we have long been acquainted in spirit."

Wei Yuan had previously guessed Zhang Ruosu's identity.

After all, the matter of changing the course of the Huai River was not something that ordinary disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion could cover up.

Although he was slightly surprised by the oldness of the voice, he could accept it.

He said, "It seems that the Taoist priest has already seen that true spirit."

Zhang Ruosu said slowly, "Naturally."

"This person is the next generation candidate for abbot of a famous temple in Kyoto, Fusang Island, the only son of the current abbot, Motegi Yoshiyuki. This time he personally came to my Divine Province and set his sights on the divinity and spiritual veins of Divine Province, which are the so-called immortal and indestructible objects in his mouth. Thank you, fellow Taoist, for taking him down with thunderous means."

Wei Yuan hummed and asked:

"Did I cause trouble for the Taoist priest by killing him?"

"Heh... of course not."

"How does the Taoist priest plan to deal with this Fusang disciple? Is it to erase the heavenly secrets to prevent him from being found by Fusang?"

This was also what Wei Yuan had thought before, the most likely plan that the government would choose, so that there would be no proof of death.

In the Celestial Master's Mansion, the kind-faced old Taoist replied calmly:

"Erase the heavenly secrets?"

"Of course not. This head should be properly packaged and then sent to the Kyoto temple."

Zhang Ruosu said, "They covet Divine Province and use such despicable means, which is already an offense against my Divine Province."

"In matters of the country, we must not give in an inch and repay them tenfold."

He smiled and said:

"Actually, this is a bit particular."

"After all, we are a land of etiquette, the dignified Huaxia."

"He sent his disciples here, so we will send his disciples back. This is called reciprocity; we can leave them a little face on the surface, which is called the demeanor of a great power, but we don't give in an inch in substance, and that's called the bottom line; if they don't know what's good for them, then we don't need to leave them any face, and that's called first civility, then force."

"Many people in our Divine Province who study always think that we should be refined, gentle, and follow the middle way. That's not right..."

"The middle way is the restraint and restriction of a powerful person on their own power and desires. It means that I can easily do other things, I can act domineeringly, wantonly plunder and suppress the weak, but I restrain myself for good, self-discipline, and follow the rules. That's called the middle way; not that I have no choice but to do so, and I comfort myself by saying that this is the middle way and the ancestral way when people squeeze and bully me, which is a great joke."

"One hand holding books and the other holding swords, a belly full of knowledge with swords and spears hidden beneath, that's right."

Wei Yuan said, "What will they do?"

Zhang Ruosu smiled slightly and replied, "They will pretend that nothing happened, accept the gift politely, and then send superior spiritual materials as a return gift and apology, appearing amiable and humble. Unknowing people will think that they have a good relationship with us."

"They have always been like this."

"Kindness will be regarded as weakness, and generosity will be regarded as being easy to bully. Like jackals, they have small courtesies but no great righteousness. They only recognize swords and pain, and only by defeating them upright and letting them know that they can never offend my Divine Province can they learn to behave."

"Some unimportant face can be left on the surface, giving them a step down."

"But in substance, every inch of my Divine Province is stained with blood, and we will not give in a step."

Wei Yuan said, "Taoist Zhang knows them well."

Zhang Ruosu said with a chuckle, "I don't have much talent, so I can only practice hard. When I was young, I went to war-torn countries to hone my skills, and then sealed my dharma veins. From east to west, I traveled through Japan, Korea, and London, and fought my way back. At the age of thirty, I returned to Longhu Mountain and inherited my master's mantle."

"There are still two broken Japanese swords thrown under my bed."

"In ancient times, Longhu Mountain had to suppress the dharma veins of Divine Province; now that countries all over the earth are connected, Longhu naturally has to suppress the dharma veins of the world in order to be qualified to inherit the mantle."

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then opened his palm, and a seal floated above his palm.

He said, "Taoist Zhang, can I personally deliver this 'gift' in a few days?"

He still remembered the Fusang people's plan to ally with the Taiping Department. This had nothing to do with anything else. As a disciple of the Divine Province Taiping Dao, half of his current cultivation is from the Taiping lineage. He had to go there in person and take the opportunity to inquire about Xu Shi's situation.

Of course, he had to wait until the Yin Shang ancestral vein and the Mountain God Seal were connected.

He had to have his own trump cards and be confident that he could retreat unscathed if he encountered Xu Shi.

Zhang Ruosu was surprised, then nodded and replied, "Of course."

The old Taoist smiled and said, "When the time comes, fellow Taoist, you can come to Longhu Mountain in person to pick up this thing. Although I can't go down the mountain for too long, I can have my junior brother accompany you to Kyoto, Fusang."

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while before ending the call.

Zhang Ruosu stroked his beard and sighed, "Mobile phones are still convenient. Keeping spirit beasts was too slow in the past."

He looked at the head in the courier box again, his white eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he waved his sleeves to have another Taoist hold the box, instructing:

"Freeze it with an ice talisman until he comes to pick it up."

"Yes, Celestial Master."

The young Taoist left holding the box.

After only a few steps, Zhang Ruosu frowned again and called out, "Ah, come back, come back."

"Forget it, what's the point of using an ice talisman? Just find some formalin to soak it in. Why give him such good treatment?"

"This... understood, Grandmaster."

After a few more steps, the young Taoist slowed down his pace, silently counting numbers in his heart. Sure enough, after only a few steps, Zhang Ruosu spoke again:

"Wait a moment."

The old Taoist's white eyebrows were tangled, and finally he said, "Formalin is too cheap for him."

"Go down the mountain, find a construction site, bring back a bucket of lime, and pickle it. Just don't let it get moldy and smelly. The weather is hot, so don't make everything stink. This is the pure and holy land of Longhu Mountain, it's embarrassing if it stinks too much."

The young Taoist responded:

"Okay, Grand Grandmaster!"

He turned around and quickly left.

Zhang Ruosu shook his head, mocking himself for being unable to restrain his temper even at his age. He tapped the eight-sided Han sword three times, and the violent wind edict that had just dissipated after traveling thousands of miles reassembled, densely covering the entire sword.

Then he put the phone on it, threw it casually, and the eight-sided Han sword hummed and flew out of Longhu Mountain in the blink of an eye.

...

That afternoon, Wei Yuan called the action team to inquire about the condition of the Taiping Dao disciple from before.

Zhang Hao was silent, and replied in a low voice, "...We couldn't save him."

"His internal organs were almost completely corroded into black by the poison. It was already a miracle that he could survive. Neither modern medicine nor Taoism could save him. I'm sorry."

Wei Yuan comforted Zhang Hao instead, "It doesn't matter."

"You should have done your best."

After thinking about it, he changed the subject, "By the way, have all the evil objects on the stall been dealt with?"

Zhang Hao replied, "Most of them have been resolved, but there is one thing that is still a bit tricky."

"Those evil objects themselves were tampered with by that old thing. Regardless of whether the spirituality that is born is good or evil, the evil object itself will lead them to do evil. Their own conscience can restrain them for a period of time, but that is the limit. The longer the time, the easier it is to be influenced, and eventually lead to the existence of evil spirits."

"There is one evil object that was sent out fifty years ago, and its spirituality has reached its limit."

"We are worried that there will be problems."

Wei Yuan was stunned for a moment. He thought of the spirit in the painting he had seen some time ago and asked:

"The person related to that evil object."

"Is his name An Xuyang?"

ps: Today's first update... 3,200 words, thank you to Sui Yu Shi Shi for the ten thousand reward, thank you~