Chapter 70 Leaving the Village
Upon hearing these words, the old man was stunned, and even Fu Qinghuai glanced at Xie Xun with slight surprise.
"As for this,"
Xie Xun took a brocade pouch from the old man's waist, found a jade pendant engraved with the character "Liu" inside, and broke it in two. "I'll take it. Have the person in charge of your family bring the other half to me."
After putting the jade pendant away, he nodded to Fu Qinghuai and said, "Let him go."
Fu Qinghuai loosened the black mist binding his hands and feet, and the old man, who had been slumped on the ground, scrambled away and fled.
"Xunxun is so kind-hearted,"
Fu Qinghuai raised an eyebrow, and the black mist gently enveloped Xie Xun. He spoke with great interest, "Is this a negotiation with them?"
"What's there to talk about? What's there to talk about?"
Xie Xun watched the old man tumble and crawl away, disappearing in the direction he had gone, and smirked, "I just wanted to see what tricks they were up to."
At this moment, Li Nong, who had been huddled to the side, noticed that the human and ghost were not paying attention to him, so he quietly moved back, trying to sneak into the nearby woods.
Where do you want to go?
Fu Qinghuai didn't even turn his head. As if he had eyes in the back of the head, he simply reached out and grabbed Li Nong. It was as if an invisible hand had grabbed the back of Li Nong's neck, lifting him back into the air. His feet left the ground and he thrashed about, looking like a chick being lifted up.
"I...I just wanted to go to the bathroom..." Li Nong was so frightened that his face turned pale.
Fu Qinghuai tossed him to the ground, leaned lazily against Xie Xun, and chuckled wickedly, "Hold it in."
"Let's go back to the village first,"
Xie Xun didn't even glance at Li Nong, and said to Fu Qinghuai, "Keep an eye on him."
"Okay, whatever you say~"
Fu Qinghuai flicked his finger, and a few wisps of black energy wrapped around Li Nong's wrist like ropes. "Let's go, lead the way."
Li Nong looked at the wisp of black energy on his wrist, which seemed to have a physical presence. He wanted to escape but couldn't, so he could only obediently lead the way.
When they returned to the village, the director was pacing around anxiously like an ant on a hot pan, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Upon seeing Xie Xun, he was like seeing a savior, almost rushing towards him.
"Master Xie! You're finally back!"
As the director spoke, he nervously glanced at the distance. The old village chief, along with dozens of villagers, stood outside, their faces ashen, while several hot-blooded young men clutched machetes.
The staff all huddled inside the guesthouse, too scared to make a sound.
"The villagers say we've attracted a jinx and set up an evil spell, and they want an explanation! I... I can't hold back anymore!"
The director's voice trembled with tears, "And Wen Xubai and Lu Haowen... they suddenly started crying and laughing, talking nonsense, it was terrifying! We had no choice but to call an ambulance to take them to the city's mental hospital..."
As he said this, he suddenly grabbed Xie Xun's arm, lowered his voice, and almost pleaded:
"Master Xie, did I do the right thing? Their condition is definitely not an ordinary illness. I... I didn't wait for you to come back and make the decision, and I sent them directly to a mental hospital. Will... will there be any negative consequences? For example... will it worsen? Or... will it cause trouble for something else?"
He feared not only the villagers and legal responsibility, but also the possibility that if he handled things improperly, he might become tainted by something inexplicable or suffer retribution for rashly moving the possessed person.
That would be even more aggrieved than Dou E.
"It's alright, don't worry, sending them away was the right thing to do."
Xie Xun looked at the chaotic scene before him with no expression on his face, and simply continued, "It's more dangerous for them to stay here."
His words relieved the director slightly, but he was still worried.
At this moment, the old village chief stepped forward with his cane and first solemnly bowed to Xie Xun in the style of a villager's thanks.
"Master Xie, thank you for breaking the evil formation under the banyan tree on the east side."
He pointed to the distant mountains and explained, “This morning before dawn, all the guard dogs in the village were barking wildly toward the banyan tree. When our people arrived, they saw that the black stones buried around the tree had all crumbled. Those were specially used to absorb the earth's life force. I saw this technique once when I was young with my grandfather, and I would never mistake it.”
As he spoke, the old chieftain looked at Li Nong behind Xie Xun with a pained expression, and slammed his cane heavily on the ground. "It's our fault for not disciplining him properly. We produced this traitor Li Nong, who let the wolf into our house!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Xun nodded slightly and then turned to look at Fu Qinghuai.
The latter immediately understood and, with a grin, pushed the ashen-faced Li Nong into the crowd.
"The person is yours."
Xie Xun spoke calmly, showing no intention of interfering. Li Nong looked at him in fear, seemingly wanting to beg for mercy, but Xie Xun had already looked away and said to Fu Qinghuai, "We should go."
His attitude was quite clear.
Li Nong is a member of the village. Since he broke the village rules, the village should naturally take care of him.
He, Xie Xun, was just an outsider who was temporarily helping out. He would leave once the task was completed, and what happened afterward was none of his business.
Seeing this, the old chieftain didn't linger. He solemnly bowed to Xie Xun and then took out a pre-prepared package from his bosom. It was bulging and looked like it was filled with local specialties.
"Master Xie, we have saved our Miao village from peril. We can never repay this kindness. This is a small token of our gratitude from everyone in the village. It's not much, but please accept it!"
The package looked heavy, clearly indicating that it had been prepared in advance.
The chieftain spoke sincerely, saying that the money was not payment for his services, but rather a token of his heartfelt gratitude.
This was quite by accident. This time, Xie Xun didn't refuse and readily accepted the package. It felt heavy in his hand, its weight unclear.
He felt a little more at ease as he felt the weight of the package; at least the trip hadn't been in vain.
"Take care." He nodded to the old village chief and prepared to go upstairs to get his luggage.
The director stared wide-eyed as the chieftain presented the thick package, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily.
He did want to say something, even if it was just to keep quiet.
But he had only taken half a step forward when he heard angry roars from the villagers not far away.
"They're the ones who brought this trouble upon themselves!"
"We can't let them go!"
The director was startled and quickly stepped back.
He's barely able to take care of himself right now, let alone the reward; it's hard to say whether his meager assets are even enough to cover the breach of contract penalty.
So he could only watch helplessly as Xie Xun accepted the gift, his lips moving, but he managed to squeeze out, "Master Xie... I really owe you a lot this time... Once I've finished dealing with these matters, I will definitely, definitely come to thank you in person..."
He spoke with a lack of confidence, and even he himself didn't know when "later" would come, so his voice naturally grew softer and softer.
Xie Xun looked at him in such a flustered state and didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Ultimately, the director was also an unlucky fellow who was implicated.
"No need to force yourself."
Xie Xun stopped for the first time, raised his hand and patted the director on the shoulder, and said in a calm tone, "If you feel that your luck is not good later, or if you want to change your luck, you can come to the paper offering shop to find me."
He wrote an address on a piece of yellow paper, handed it to him, and then added, "As for payment, I have never asked for anything."
These words, spoken casually, caused Fu Qinghuai, who was standing to the side, to raise an eyebrow slightly, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.
Xunxun from his family has started fishing again.
It's not that I don't want it, it's that I can't accept it; I can only wait for the other party to give it to me willingly afterwards.
Upon hearing this, the director seemed to have grasped a lifeline, taking the yellow paper with both hands and nodding repeatedly, his eyes even turning a little red.
"I understand! I understand! Thank you so much, Master!"
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