Chapter 135 Become My Master
Following behind Master Zhang, Song Chunxue felt a chill run down her spine as she listened to the hooting of the owl.
"Don't be afraid, I am an old Taoist priest, I am not afraid of ghosts and gods. If you are still afraid of following me, it proves that my cultivation is not up to par."
“If you are really scared, you can hold my sleeve…” Master Zhang raised his arm and then realized that his sleeve was tied up. “You can also hold my hand.”
Song Chunxue glanced at his outstretched arm and raised her hand to grasp his wrist.
"Alright then." The old Taoist priest chuckled and pointed to a rolling fire on the hilltop ahead. "What a coincidence, we've encountered a will-o'-the-wisp."
"..." Song Chunxue's scalp tingled instantly, and she couldn't help but move closer to him.
She now deeply regrets it; she must have been bewitched to dig up a grave.
What if the person buried there is still alive?
"Don't worry, that tomb must be several hundred years old. The person there has long since been reincarnated and entered the cycle of reincarnation." Master Zhang's voice was as gentle as water in the night, inexplicably comforting people's hearts.
"How did you know?" she couldn't help but ask curiously. "Did you notice anything different about me?"
"Are you referring to the time you traveled back in time and started over?"
Song Chunxue froze. He actually knew?
"What's so strange about that? I've even seen people reincarnate, those who didn't drink the Meng Po soup, and the oxen that plowed the fields in their past lives that became their husbands. They're all pitiful people."
Song Chunxue smiled gently.
Indeed, compared to those people, her situation is nothing unusual.
"We're almost there."
Master Zhang quickened his pace and pointed to a hillside on the north side between two deserted hills behind the mountain.
"See that? Doesn't that mountain look like a large seal, and the mountain opposite it looks like a dragon's claw? People live in all the other valleys, but this place is deserted. Do you know why?"
"What is the reason?" Song Chunxue thought to herself, wishing she could read and write.
She admired those who could read effortlessly and chatted with others, which she found incredibly enviable.
"This place is surrounded by mountains, and the mountain range is yin, making it more suitable for the dead to live in."
"..." Song Chunxue gritted her teeth, "You'd better keep quiet."
Master Zhang walked down the slope and saw Song Chunxue almost slip on the grass, so he grabbed her wrist.
"This is downhill, be careful."
Song Chunxue braced her hand holding the shovel against his back, as if afraid that something might suddenly appear out of nowhere.
"Aww~"
Just then, a low howl of wolves came from the mountain not far away.
The moon rises late in the second half of the month, and its light is perfect when the night is deep and quiet.
She suddenly ran to Zhang Daoshi's left side, grabbed his arm tightly, and felt like crying out of fear.
"I'm not going to make this windfall. Let's go back."
Master Zhang laughed heartily, "Coward, I thought your birth chart was quite strong, but I didn't expect you to be such a coward."
"It's just a wolf. If it comes looking for us, do you believe we can still eat wolf meat tomorrow?"
"..." Song Chunxue's heart began to pound, and she deeply regretted having been greedy just now.
"We're here, right here."
They arrived at a cultivated wheat field, and Master Zhang shook her off, saying, "Don't hold me, let's dig together."
"..." She was both angry and scared, and swallowed back the words of refusal that were on the tip of her tongue.
Now that she's come this far, there's no way she can go back alone.
If the two of them dig faster, they can get back sooner.
Song Chunxue dug down with all her might, her movements fast and ruthless.
"What's the rush? Just get back before dawn."
"I want to go back to sleep quickly!"
If she was grateful to Master Zhang before, she now wishes she could strangle him for tricking her into helping him dig a grave.
They're absolutely obsessed with getting rich.
Knowing full well that he wasn't a proper Taoist priest, they still followed him out of greed.
She would never do such a stupid thing again.
"stop."
Suddenly, their shovels struck something hard.
Master Zhang dropped the shovel and knelt on the ground, beginning to dig with his hands.
"There really is something here. It seems that I, the Daoist Master, have mastered the art of needle acupuncture point location quite well."
Song Chunxue was startled, "When did you learn that, Daoist Master?"
"last month."
"..." You learned it last month, and you dare to dig up old posts this month?
"Dig quickly, so we can open the coffin."
Song Chunxue's legs went weak. "Later I..." She couldn't bear to look at the corpses and bones.
Although she died.
She didn't even realize that her voice was filled with fear and a weak sob.
“Alright, then stand back and don’t look.” Master Zhang said earnestly, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t you think you’re no worse than men? But the fact that you came with me tonight shows that you are much better than the men in the village.”
"Don't overthink it. I'm the one digging this grave; it has nothing to do with you." As he spoke, a large wooden plank was revealed in front of them.
“He’s a general, so he must have some good stuff.” With that, Master Zhang threw away his shovel.
It was a large wooden plank; the coffin was inside.
Song Chunxue shrank to one side, her mind blank.
To be honest, hearing the wolf howls in the distance actually made her less afraid.
Master Zhang forcefully lifted the wooden lid, revealing the large stone pit inside.
To the north of the stone pit, there was a large red coffin. You could vaguely see that the painted decoration on it was a python in front and a crane in the back.
Ordinary people are not allowed to use python coffins, but because most of the ancestors of this land were descendants of soldiers, and countless heroes who defended the territory died here, the emperor granted the people here permission to use large red coffins and red chopsticks.
Song Chunxue felt that they shouldn't have come.
If he really was a general, they shouldn't disturb a fallen hero.
"Humph, I never expected that there would be such a large tomb in such a remote and impoverished mountain valley." Master Zhang tapped the bottom of the stone pit. "There are more below, but I don't want to open them."
He went behind the stone coffin and found some gold nuggets, jade bracelets, and silver ingots.
“These things were prepared for us. Considering these few pieces of gold, let’s bury them. That’s enough.” With that, Master Zhang jumped up and covered the large wooden board on top.
"Come and lend a hand."
Song Chunxue got up and together they put the heavy wooden planks back in place.
"Didn't you say they were reincarnated long ago? Why don't you dig them up?" Looking at his suddenly serious expression, Song Chunxue asked him, "Did you have a change of heart?"
"Know when to stop. Since he's a general, and he's even prepared a reward for our hard work, I'll be restless if I keep digging." With that, he stood up and buried the soil back up.
Seeing him like this, Song Chunxue was no longer afraid and picked up a shovel to fill the soil with all her might.
"If it belongs to a wealthy businessman, will the Taoist priest continue digging?"
"Of course, we've come all this way, how can we give up halfway?" The Taoist priest said somewhat disappointedly, "It seems that our patriarch still doesn't want me to walk this path."
Half an incense stick later, they tamped down and leveled the loess. After the sun came out at dawn, it wouldn't be noticeable in a few days.
“We’ll split it in half. This bracelet, this small piece of gold, and two silver ingots are for you. The rest is mine.”
The Taoist priest murmured with some reluctance, "It's rare to find someone I trust who's willing to accompany me to dig graves in the middle of the night. We have a deep friendship, otherwise I wouldn't have given you this gold."
"How about this, you become my disciple. Since you've been given a second chance, you should cultivate something, otherwise wouldn't you have lived in vain?"
"..." For some reason, Song Chunxue suddenly felt enlightened.
"Sworn brotherhood is fine too, you can be my junior brother."
"..."
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