Chapter 161 The Allure of Money

The old Daoist patted the mud off his Daoist robe. Finding there was too much, he gave up trying to clean it and simply squatted next to Zhang Yanfeng, taking out a cigarette and offering one to him.

Zhang Yanfeng took the cigarette and slowly squatted down as well.

Zhang Yanfeng wasn't young, and the old Daoist was even older.

The two of them looked like old farmers squatting on the edge of a field, watching a rural shegu (village drum) opera.

"Huuu…"

Zhang Yanfeng was still finding it hard to accept.

"Don't panic. The most frightening thing is a twisted worldview.

Shattering it isn't so bad. Rebuilding it can actually be easier."

The old Daoist reached out and patted Officer Zhang on the shoulder, continuing to mutter,

"It's this Land Deity who's truly pitiful. Why did he have to act so tough? He's only got a few episodes left to live."

He, on the other hand, was awesome. He kept testing the limits and still managed to stay alive.

Having been with Boss Zhou for over a year, the old Daoist actually felt that Boss Zhou was usually a very reasonable person and didn't seem to have any visible enemies, which spoke volumes about his popularity.

Because anyone who became his enemy basically died, so he had no enemies anymore.

In the old Daoist's view, Boss Zhou was like Emperor Kangxi in "Kangxi's Private Visits," always pretending to be a beggar and trying to provoke people. And there were always unlucky fools who came along, wanting to step on him.

Then, the yellow robe would be put on, his true identity revealed, and he'd flip the people who stepped on him over and crush them.

He was used to it.

Numb to it.

Experienced.

The old Daoist blew out a smoke ring and spat a thick wad of phlegm onto the ground.

"Ying Gou, Han Ba, Jiang Chen, Hou Qing… which one was Boss in his past life, I wonder?"

The old Daoist counted on his fingers. He was uneducated and knew a lot of backwoods gossip, but he knew very little about the things recorded in ancient books, so he couldn't distinguish which ones were actually recorded in ancient books and which ones were later fictional creations of the internet.

But it should be one of these four, right?

Anyway, he was damn awesome.

"That's a jiangshi, right?" Zhang Yanfeng asked.

"Yeah, a jiangshi."

"So, he's a jiangshi?"

"Yeah, a jiangshi."

"Meaning, he's not a person, he's a jiangshi?"

The old Daoist sighed and looked at Zhang Yanfeng with pity. "Old Brother, take my advice and take some time off tomorrow to rest."

Zhang Yanfeng nodded.

He really did need to rest.

The two walking corpses continued to dig tirelessly, with great speed, already digging past the roof beam.

Immediately afterward,

There was a series of "crack" sounds, the ground began to sink, and the two walking corpses fell down, impaled on a row of wooden stakes that appeared below.

Their heads, hands, and feet were pierced through; it was a ghastly sight.

But they weren't dead, and they continued to struggle. Though they couldn't break free, the pain they endured was still very real.

The half-collapsed statue of a small Land Deity temple appeared below. Most of the paint had peeled off the remaining half of its body, which showed just how miserably this Land Deity was doing.

However,

It was impossible to make him surrender so easily because Zhou Ze simply didn't have any demands for negotiation. His goal was simple, as he had said before:

"Land Deity… delicious…"

This directly blocked any option for the Land Deity other than fighting for his life.

The temple was here, though dilapidated. But "a golden kennel is not as good as one's own straw kennel," and once the temple was completely destroyed, his centuries of cultivation and the little bit of merit he had accumulated, which had still been very difficult to accumulate, would be completely lost.

At the same time,

He would become a wandering spirit, a mountain demon, and be relegated back to the ranks of the dregs. If he was unlucky, he might encounter some chuuni (middle school syndrome) Longhu Mountain Heavenly Master coming down the mountain, who might directly shout "Acting on behalf of Heaven" and stab him with a peach wood sword.

The qualification for this temple, this plot of land, was something he had fought for from hundreds of mountain demons and wild spirits back then. How could he give it up like this now?

"Mountains are not high, but with immortals, they are famous;

Waters are not deep, but with dragons, they are mystical!"

From below,

A chant came.

Immediately afterward,

The trees and vines in the surrounding area began to grow wildly. Vines like ropes wrapped around Zhou Ze's limbs with lightning speed.

Zhou Ze was bound and lifted into the air, his feet dangling.

Some small vines with thorns tried to pierce Zhou Ze's skin and enter his body, but they were completely blocked by Zhou Ze's shriveled and greenish-glowing skin.

He didn't move, didn't struggle.

But the disdain in his eyes

Was like watching someone's last performance before death.

Then,

The lush green vines around him began to wither rapidly, turning a gray color. The vines wrapped around Zhou Ze also turned into ashes and scattered.

According to legend,

When Han Ba appears, the land turns red for a thousand li!

Jiangshi,

Are inherently filled with baleful aura, inherently filled with curses, standing opposite to all life. Only "barren mountains and badlands" in the feng shui sense can produce jiangshi. They are, inherently, extreme beings born from those extreme regions.

Zhou Ze fell back to the ground.

He bent down,

Lowered his head,

And looked down below.

"Clunk… clunk…"

The incomplete statue below began to shake, as if something was gathering momentum.

"I,

Land Deity,

Even if my merits are all gone,

Even if my temple collapses,

I will never bow my head to you!"

"Bang!"

The incomplete statue shot out of the ground, a bit like a "two-kick firecracker" that people liked to set off during rural funerals.

However,

Zhou Ze simply reached out and pressed down.

Five long fingernails drew a beautiful arc,

And the statue, which had just been rushing up aggressively, cracked and finally turned into fragments and collapsed directly. For a time, dust filled the cave below.

His most relied-upon move had been defused just like that, without even scratching the other party's skin.

"What use… do I have… for your merits… and your temple?"

A smile appeared on the corner of Zhou Ze's mouth.

Yes,

He didn't care

About anything else.

He only cared about the Land Deity's spirit soul,

Let's call it the "spirit soul" for now.

What he needed was nourishment, what he needed was to nourish his incomplete state. He didn't care about the rest, and he wouldn't care about it.

Taking a step forward, Zhou Ze fell down, supporting himself with one hand, landing firmly. The surrounding space was a bit cramped and narrow. It really didn't look like a Land Deity's temple, but rather like a thief's treasure cave.

Moreover,

The ground all around was covered in gold and silver.

He finally understood why this Land Deity was getting more and more miserable until he had actually reached this point. As a local Land Deity, he was still fascinated by worldly gold and silver. If such a Land Deity could cultivate great merit, then that would be a real ghost story.

A ball of green light floated in front of Zhou Ze,

Clearly panicked.

He had no more tricks. To be precise, he only had these abilities, and these abilities were of no use against this fiend in front of him.

In the end,

A final plea for mercy came from the green light:

"All the wealth here is yours, just spare my life!"

"Heh."

The smile on the corner of Zhou Ze's mouth deepened.

Reaching out, he picked up a silver coin, preparing to throw it away casually;

Did he lack money?

Trying to bribe me with money?

Ridiculous.

However,

Just as he was about to throw the silver coin in his hand away,

Suddenly,

He couldn't let go of his hand.

He gripped the silver coin tightly.

This…

The green aura, which had almost given up hope, was overjoyed at the sight.

Hahahaha,

Looks like there's hope!

Zhou Ze used his left hand to grab his right hand, forcing his right hand to open and throw away the silver coins, but his right hand continued to clench the silver coin tightly, without loosening.

The smile on Zhou Ze's mouth disappeared,

Replaced by

Shame,

Anger,

Dissatisfaction,

And,

Indignation at his own lack of resolve!

"You're… that short of money?"

Zhou Ze asked.

His right hand was still clutching the silver coin tightly.

"What good is… money?"

His right hand continued to clutch the silver coin tightly, unmoved.

"What's the use… of money?"

His right hand: "I'm not listening, I'm not listening to the monk chanting sutras!"

"Don't… embarrass… me… like this…"

His right hand gripped even tighter.

Zhou Ze's breathing began to quicken.

He remembered the feeling he had in the mirror at the villa a while ago.

At this moment,

He really had an impulse

To smash his own head open with a punch,

Too ashamed to live!

"Not just here, I have others. As long as you let me go, I'll tell you the location of the other two places where I've hidden gold and silver.

As the saying goes,

'A clean magistrate for three years, a hundred thousand taels of silver';

Another saying goes, 'Going a thousand li to become an official is only for wealth.' Although I'm just a small local Land Deity, I still have a bit of savings. All this money, I'll give it to you, it won't be like casting pearls before swine."

Upon hearing that there were two more places where he had hidden gold and silver,

Zhou Ze's right hand

Trembled even more violently.

"Roar!"

Zhou Ze let out a low roar,

Then,

He directly slammed his right fist into the ground. For a time, the rock walls cracked, but when he pulled his hand back, he found that even though the silver coins had been deformed under the heavy pressure, turning into silver cakes, his right hand was still clenching it tightly, without letting go!

The Land Deity prepared to strike while the iron was hot, continuing:

"Not only my gold and silver, but even my identity as a Land Deity can be given to you.

A local Land Deity is like the parents of that area!

Land is worth so much now,

Selling for so much,

That's why housing prices are so high!"

Zhou Ze snorted disdainfully.

Let me be a Land Deity?

"Back then,

When the Yellow Emperor asked me to guard the Yellow Springs Nether Sea, I wasn't willing,

This small plot of land,

How could I…"

Just then,

Zhou Ze was shocked to discover

That he actually couldn't speak,

Even his body actually had an impulse to nod in agreement!

"…" Zhou Ze.

Above him,

The old Daoist and Zhang Yanfeng were craning their necks, looking down.

"Tsk tsk."

The old Daoist smacked his lips and sighed,

"Old Brother, I've traveled north and south in my life and seen a lot of difficult and complicated diseases;

But there's only one disease that's incurable."

"What disease?"

"Poverty."