Chapter 3 Road Encounters
The name of the town is Zhongjia Town. As the name suggests, the people in the town are mainly named Zhong. Zhongjia Town says it is not big, but it is not small, and there are more than 50,000 people. The wine shop I often go to is next to the cooked food shop. The owners of the two shops are both surnamed Zhong, one is Zhong Da and the other is Zhong San, who are two brothers. The tofu shop next to the wine shop has no boss, only one boss has a daughter in her teens and a son of three or four years old, and is Zhong Er’s wife and children. Zhong Er went there two years ago, and his wife has taken the children to support the tofu shop.
Seeing Zhang Zhexue walking around from afar, Zhong Dateng greeted loudly: "Little Master, why did you come to buy wine and meat again today? Is your master a guest?"
Zhang Zhexue walked to the shop slowly and smiled and said, "Where are the customers coming? It was my master who bought the wine and meat I bought the previous time. Before the wine was full, he sent me to buy some more."
"Why is your master so excited today?"
"Who knows, I'll make more wine this time, and I'll make it all full." Zhang Zhexue handed the wine gourd to Zhong Da, and shouted to the shop next door: "Uncle Zhong San, if you help me weigh three pounds of meat, you'll still want that kind of half-fat and thin."
"Okay, let's come here." Zhong San walked out, threw the meat in his hand on the chopping board, picked up the meat-cutting knife, raised the knife and cut the meat into two pieces, picked the big one and wrapped it with lotus leaves, tied it with hemp rope, and handed it to Zhang Zhexue: "High, take it."
"Uncle Zhong San's skill is amazing, and he will never be able to do it after more than ten years of hard work."
"That's right, I started cutting meat in my teenage years. I've been more than twenty years old. If I can't cut it accurately, what kind of meat will I sell?"
Zhong Da also prepared the wine over there and handed it to Zhang Zhexue: "When you have wine and meat, should you take a few pieces of tofu back? Don't you feel tired of eating meat?"
Zhang Zhexue laughed and said, "Of course I have to take a few pieces of tofu back. The meat is served with wine for the master. I just need two pieces of tofu."
"This child is filial, it's a pity. Follow such an old Taoist who only knows how to eat meat and drink." The woman from Zhong Er family said, "Study, don't talk to your old Taoist master. If you can't come to my aunt's house, be a godson for your aunt. When Ling'er becomes older, you will get married. I dare not say anything else, my aunt promises you won't have to worry about food and clothing."
Zhang Zhexue flushed his face and pretended to be shy and said, "Then...that won't work. If I come to your house, no one will serve my master."
The Zhong brothers and Zhong Er’s wife both smiled: “What a good child, so filial.”
After walking back from the wine shop, as soon as he arrived at the foot of the mountain, he saw seven or eight burly men sitting on the stones on the side of the road to rest. Seeing Zhang Zhexue coming over, a big man with his chest flat stood up and blocked the road. When Zhang Zhexue saw the big man blocking in front, he stopped, looked up at the big man, thinking in his heart: "What do you mean? Robbery?"
"Boy, I'll ask you something." The big man walked up to Zhang Zhexue, reached out and pointed at his shoulder: "Do you know that there is an old bull's nose nearby, what is the name... Lao Liu, what is the name of that bull's nose?"
A big man sitting on the side of the road replied: "It's called Yunshan now. It used to be called Chen He, the master of Dafengling, and the overlord of the Xicheng of Sangji City."
"Yes, call me Old Taoist Yunshan, do you know where he lives? Tell me, otherwise you will suck your tendons." The big man pinched Zhang Zhexue's neck and lifted him up.
Zhang Zhexue held the big man's hands with both hands, his face turned red, and his legs kicked desperately, patted the big man's hands and pointed at his mouth.
"Say it, hurry up and say it, if you don't say anything, I will strangle you to death." The big man shook Zhang Zhexue.
The big man named Lao Liu smiled and said, "Lao San, what do you say when you pinch his neck?"
The third brother scratched his head: "Yes." He said that, and put Zhang Zhexue down.
Zhang Zhexue bent over and coughed loudly, and his mind was spinning quickly. It seemed that he was not familiar with the old Taoist priest, so he must not be here to visit relatives. Is this here to seek revenge? He took a few breaths and looked at the big man with a frightened face.
Seeing that Zhang Zhexue was so scared that he couldn't speak, the man kicked him to the ground and shouted, "Tell me quickly, otherwise I will kill you."
Zhang Zhexue felt so wronged. He thought that he was also a domineering overlord in the world back then. When did he suffer this grievance? If it weren't for his little body now, he would have to go up and fight to the death, but now he can only swallow the pain. The hero does not suffer any loss in front of him, so I endured it. He wiped his tears and cried, "Just... I just saw the old Taoist, and he went to the Niu Yuanwai's house in the east end of the town. I heard from the Zhong family that the old man of Niu Yuanwai's family was gone yesterday, and the old Taoist priest went to do rituals."
The third brother turned around and said, "Boss, the Yunshan bull's nose is at Niu Yuanwai's house with the east end of the town."
A thin man stood up among the group of big men and said, "Okay, go and go to the official's house to find him."
Zhang Zhexue secretly glanced at the boss and was startled. These people were tall and strong, but the boss was taller, and he was more tall than others. He was thinner and he walked like a bamboo pole swaying.
The third brother pointed at Zhang Zhexue and asked, "Boss, what should I do if this little boy?"
The boss took out a few copper plates, threw them around Zhang Zhexue, and whispered: "Get out now." After that, he led the people to the town.
When Zhang Zhexue saw that those people were walking away, they didn't even care about the cooked meat on the ground, he jumped up and ran towards the mountain.
"Old guy, old guy, it's amazing. It seems that your enemy has come to you." In a panic, Zhang Zhexue had already called out the title of the old Taoist Yunshan in his heart.
The old Taoist Yunshan was still lying on the recliner, not caring about Zhang Zhexue's shouting and disrespectful titles at all. He opened his eyes and looked at him, and said slowly, "What's the matter of fuss?"
Zhang Zhexue panted for a long time before saying, "I met a group of guys who came to find you for revenge on the road. They all had big arms and round waists, and they also said that your name was Chen He, Dieyun Hand."
The old Taoist Yunshan closed his eyes and smiled, "Oh? Still people still remember the name of the old Taoist before I became a monk? It's interesting. It's been decades, and it's not easy for someone to remember the old Taoist."
When Zhang Zhexue saw that the old Taoist Yunshan was really called Chen He, he knew that this old guy should have been a famous figure in the world back then. Maybe he was a thief who killed people and robbed people. Otherwise, it would have been decades before, and his enemies could come to seek revenge. How big is this hatred? Maybe this old guy killed the whole family and raped his wife and daughter. He was thinking about it, so he ran to the woodshed and took out a hatchet and ran back.
The old Taoist Yunshan turned his head and looked at Zhang Zhexue, and smiled and said, "What are you doing with a broken hatchet?"
Zhang Zhexue said: "They are coming to the door, can't we surrender? We must have to fight to the death."
"Your broken knife can't even cut off someone's hair."
"That's better than having a bare hands. Master, why are you not in a hurry?"
The old Taoist Yunshan smiled and said indifferently: "What are you anxious about? A few little thieves, your master can blow them away even if you breathe. What is the difference between crushing them to death and crushing a few ants?"
Although Zhang Zhexue knew that the old Taoist Yunshan had some magic, he didn't know what level of the people who came today. At least those people were seven or eight. If they had the same cultivation level as the old Taoist, they would have crushed the old Taoist to death even with the stacked arhats. The old Taoist said that he had the seventh level of Qi Refining, but who knew whether he had bragged about magic snails. If the old Taoist was bragging and living impatiently, then he would be strangled to death with a small handful of his thin arms and legs.
"I hope you old man will blow them to death in one breath." Zhang Zhexue put the hatchet at his feet and sat down on the chair beside Old Taoist Yunshan.
The old Taoist Yunshan asked him: "Where did you trick them?"
"I told them that you were doing rituals at Niu Yuanwai's house in the east end of the town, and they believed it."
The old Taoist Yunshan turned his head to look at Zhang Zhexue. Seeing that there was no paper bag in his hand, only a wine gourd hung around his waist, he reached out to him and said, "Give me the wine, where are the cooked meat you bought?"
Zhang Zhexue picked the gourd and handed it to the old man: "It's still cooked meat, I don't know where it fell. You almost didn't have an apprentice today. If I weren't smart, I would have been strangled to death by someone. Look, my neck is now swollen."
The old Taoist Yunshan patted Zhang Zhexue's head: "Who are you from? You're not a polite." He looked at Zhang Zhexue's neck and saw a black mark in the shape of a slap on his neck. He knew that he was right: "It's okay, just rub it with medicinal wine in a while."
"Then they are coming soon. Alas..., after finally pursuing here for more than ten years, these ghostly guys came to the door again." Old Taoist Yunshan took a sip of wine and said to Zhang Zhexue: "You go and clean up the things. You can live here. When I clean up those guys, we will change the place."
Zhang Zhexue looked at the old Taoist in surprise and said, "Didn't you say that crushing them is like crushing a few ants? Then why should we change places?"
Yunshan said: "If these guys can find this, it means that others know it. If they don't leave, I guess someone will come to you every day in the future. Wouldn't it be annoying to deal with them every day?"
"Okay, I'll pack up now." Zhang Zhexue said, standing up and walking towards the residence.
In fact, there was nothing to clean up, it was just some clothes to change clothes and some pieces of silver, and the rest were bedding and pots and pans. There were few things, so it was quick to pack it up. In just three cups of tea, Zhang Zhexue had already packed up the things, just two packages. He just walked out of the door with the package and glanced at the intersection, and happened to see the big men turning over the intersection.
Chapter completed!