Chapter 88 (The Eighty-Eighth Chapter) - Throwing the Voodoo Doll
What favors could a skinny old man, who lives with an old donkey and has only clothes to barely cover his body, possibly bring to a young lady?
ridiculous!
"Alright," came the child's voice from the back of the carriage, and a silk slipper stepped out. The driver's words were abruptly cut off, and he respectfully stepped back behind the girl who was approaching: "Miss."
The disheveled old man who had been arguing with the driver earlier greeted her, "Little girl, long time no see."
Ping Yu took in his disheveled appearance and said slowly, "Senior, I recognize you."
This was the very person who had told her about Nezha's whereabouts in the woods by the Chen Tang Pass river. Ping Yu had read the Investiture of the Gods text several times, and after returning home that day, no matter how hard she racked her brains to recall, she simply couldn't remember who this person was. However, the Investiture of the Gods world contained many capable individuals hidden in the mortal realm, and many immortal cultivators were not mentioned. Ping Yu was always cautious about the unknown, especially since this person had appeared before her three times.
As fate would have it, the other party appeared right before her death. Even though the other party was acquainted with Taiyi Zhenren, many suspicious points made Ping Yu wary. Seeing that the other party had no intention of speaking, Ping Yu had no choice but to ask again, "Why did you stop my carriage?"
The girl's attitude was respectful, befitting an elder. However, her demeanor was superficial, her eyes betraying a deep distrust. This was the first time the Taoist had truly sized up Ping Yu one-on-one; his future little disciple resembled both a rabbit and a cat. Thinking this, the Taoist stroked his long beard and joked, "Hitch a ride, is that not allowed?"
He flicked his long beard twice with his fingers, the fingertips touching, and his lips trembled slightly as if he were casting a divination.
The divination revealed that the palace had been burned down, and the immortal Taiyi Zhenren had extinguished the fire when he arrived.
The Taoist clicked his tongue twice and added, "I'm going to Nezha's palace, but this donkey is too old to carry me."
The donkey he was talking about was toothless and hairless, lazily nibbling at the grass on the ground. This donkey was quite intelligent; upon hearing this, it immediately lay down on the ground, as if someone had kicked it over and made it look pitiful. Ping Yu's eyebrows twitched as he heard the Taoist reveal his purpose: "This old man is also old and weak, and doesn't want to walk up this mountain path anymore. I just happened to meet you, little kid, so I thought I'd take advantage of the situation and hitch a ride."
She clearly didn't reveal her name when they met, so how was this person able to pinpoint her car so precisely? It wasn't just a "chance encounter," it was a "catch"!
Due to time constraints, Ping Yu couldn't find any loopholes in their words. Regardless of the other person's abilities, they were far beyond the reach of these two mortals. Since the other party had gone this far, Ping Yu had no choice but to step aside and say, "Please, senior."
The driver cried out anxiously, "Miss!"
How could they allow their precious young lady to live with this stinking beggar?
Pingyu shook his head and raised his hand to instruct, "Take good care of the old donkey, senior."
The Taoist priest, without any hesitation, lifted the carriage curtain and sat inside. Pingyu followed closely behind, but paused for a moment as she sat down, noticing something amiss. Pingyu suffered from motion sickness and was therefore extremely sensitive to smells in the carriage. Since the Taoist priest was covered in filth, he should have reeked of sourness. However, Pingyu only smelled the pungent smell of grass and wood in the carriage, without detecting any other unpleasant odors.
She thought: No wonder I couldn't recognize him; this appearance must be a magical transformation.
The girl's thoughts were irrelevant to the Taoist priest. He glanced at the carriage filled with fruits and snacks, then poured himself a cup of tea. He was preoccupied with eating and drinking, occasionally tossing out fruit peels and rinds, like a beggar seeking a bargain. Ping Yu, however, was in no hurry, his eyes never leaving the window. Apart from them, the mountain path was deserted. As the carriage moved forward, Ping Yu's heart clenched tighter.
Just as she was worrying, a fruit suddenly appeared before her.
It's a peach.
These were not the fruits in her carriage; Pingyu vaguely remembered that this type of fruit was the offering reported by the woman in green.
Offerings of fruit to Nezha.
Turning his head, the Taoist priest, his face covered in grime, let out a burp and said, "You're so young yet so composed. You have nothing better to do than ask me questions when I'm full of flaws?"
Ping Yu took the fruit and readily asked, "Senior, what happened at Nezha's palace?"
Seeing the peaches, a series of memories related to the palace suddenly flooded her mind. The slave in charge of managing the palace had initially sent word that a beggar was refusing to leave. She had been too busy with her pastry business to think much of it, simply assuming that temples attracted vagrants who would steal offerings. After Pingyu ordered the slaves to take better care of the beggar, she had forgotten about it. Now, thinking back, the so-called beggar was probably this very person before her.
He had been living in the palace for half a year before Nezha left.
This person came out of Nezha's palace and then caught her at the foot of the mountain. Could it be that he was commissioned by Nezha?
Pingyu's thoughts were in turmoil, wandering into all sorts of ideas. At this moment, the Taoist replied, "Nothing happened. It's just that something urgent came up and he went elsewhere to perform miracles and help people exorcise demons, so he sent me to pick you up. Also, your driver needs to turn around."
"Huh?" Pingyu asked, puzzled. After hearing him spit out the grape seeds, he said, "Nezha has recently manifested in another temple, not the one in your house."
The two temples were quite far apart, and they were located at opposite ends of a fork in the road. Pingyu was still skeptical, so he ordered the driver to change course and head towards the Nezha Palace built by Lady Yin.
Seeing that the girl listened to his advice, the Taoist priest labeled her as "obedient" in his heart.
After giving his instructions, the Taoist priest stood on tiptoe and looked outside intently.
Ping Yu had just turned around when he saw the Taoist throw out a peeled banana peel.
He ate and drank along the way, leaving behind a lot of trash. Other things aside, banana peels could be deadly!
Ping hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to remind the other person not to litter. She said it quite tactfully: "There are trash cans inside the carriage, so you don't need to bother throwing them out."
The Taoist shook his head: "By throwing it, I'm letting the fruit go back and forth between the soil and the earth. Life flows and cycles, endlessly."
Why make littering sound so noble?
Ping Yu hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Others might slip and fall if they step on a banana peel, but what if an elderly person who is too weak to get a ride on a car steps on it?"
Someone retorted, "Hey, that's not right. The fruit peel I threw didn't hurt an old man."
Pingyu asked, "Who is that person?"
In a better mood, he said mysteriously, "It's a villain."
.
As soon as the carriage carrying Pingyu disappeared off the mountain road, the banana peel that had been thrown on the ground slowly rose up. It gradually swept away the tracks left by the wheels, becoming covered in dust and blending into the ground.
Soon, a fine horse caught up with them.
The man above stood at the crossroads, holding the reins tightly, hesitating between the two paths.
Two horses followed closely behind it. If the pilgrims were present, they would recognize that these three were none other than Li Jing and his party who had just caused a ruckus at the palace.
The two officers dismounted and inspected the area, then returned to the residence and reported, "Sir, there are no signs of carriages or horses on either of these roads."
Li Jing, burdened with a criminal past, was acutely aware of even the slightest disturbance. While in the carriage, he overheard the accompanying soldiers on either side mentioning the sighting of an extremely luxurious carriage. Chen Tang Pass offered little for trade, and few wealthy merchants or nobles would make a special trip there. The local respectable families were few and far between, and Cui Ping Mountain wasn't far from Chen Tang Pass; Li Jing almost instantly identified the culprit. Because of his close relationship with the Lin family, and to maintain that connection, Madam Yin constantly reminded him of the families' birthdays. Over time, Li Jing memorized those dates.
Knowing that Pingyu would face certain death the next day, and considering that the Lin family had also built a palace for Nezha, Li Jing was not surprised that the Lin family would send Pingyu here to seek protection.
As he pondered, the accompanying official beside him said, "Sir, time is of the essence. If we are to investigate, we can only investigate one place."
Since all members of the Lin family are to be used in the sacrifice, then no member of the family can be missing.
Regardless of whether he had fully recovered or not, Li Jing wanted to go and check on him again.
He hesitated for a moment, then took half a step forward: "Then investigate..."
Lord Li is very resilient in the sense of ligaments.
Li Jing was so dizzy from the fall that he figured out what had caused him and his mount to fall.
The clod of earth felt slippery in my hand; it turned out to be a banana peel!
Li Jing was so angry that his veins bulged, and he threw the fruit peel in one direction: "Investigate there!"
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