"Am I... dead?"
Upon seeing the scene before him, Xie An's soul trembled, clearly greatly shocked. When his soul regained consciousness, all his memories returned.
Especially since, not far from him, he saw a corpse lying on the ground, its color changed, but its face still incredibly familiar. Although it was unfamiliar, he could recognize it at a glance as his own body; the scars on it were all too familiar to him.
"I guess you could say that!"
Feng Bingwen looked at the bewildered, unwilling, and panicked soul before him, and without trying to frighten it, he spoke directly.
"But don't panic. You've only stepped one foot into the underworld; you're not quite dead yet."
"My body is in this state, and I'm still not completely dead?"
Although he was filled with mixed feelings and even found it hard to accept reality, the words of the young man in front of him really caught his attention. Xie An looked at his own corpse not far away in disbelief; it looked completely cold.
"It's nothing."
Feng Bingwen casually flicked his wrist again, and a wisp of azure wood energy fell into the corpse, dissolving the cold, deathly aura within and restoring the vitality to the blood that was about to congeal.
"It's not difficult to bring you back to life!"
Just kidding. His immortal energy accidentally dissipated, even imbuing the blue bricks and stones with spirituality and giving birth to consciousness. It was just a corpse that had only been in the water for half a day. It wouldn't be difficult to restore its spirituality.
"Thank you for your mercy, immortal!"
Xie An was not a fool. Upon hearing this, he was so moved that he immediately knelt down.
"There's no need for that!"
Feng Bingwen reached out his hand in a gesture of support, immediately stopping the man in his tracks and making him stand up straight.
“You don’t need to thank me. You have accumulated good deeds and merits in your daily life, and they protect you. Although you are facing a calamity today, I will avert it for you. You deserve this.”
"Accumulate virtue and do good deeds!"
Xie An was taken aback, but immediately realized what was going on. He had been taught by his family since childhood to be kind to others. Even when he was making a living in the water, he never forgot to pay attention to his surroundings and had helped many people.
He suffered some hidden losses as a result, and his wife complained a lot. But he never expected that today, when he was about to die, he would be saved from a desperate situation and be granted the chance to return to life by the mercy of the immortals.
"After I, Xie An, return to the world of the living, I will certainly keep in mind the immortal's teachings, do good deeds and accumulate virtue, and pass this down to my family!"
"good!"
Feng Bingwen waved his hand and immediately shoved the man's soul into the body that had recovered most of its vitality. At this moment, the purplish-brown color on the body had disappeared. Although it was still somewhat dark, it was no longer as terrifying as before.
However, while they were talking, Xie An's body had already been placed in a wooden coffin. The changes in his body were unknown to anyone except the ghosts and gods nearby.
Feng Bingwen concealed himself and followed the wailing procession into Xie An's house. He saw Xie An's wife and daughters, along with his gray-haired parents, weeping bitterly in the coffin. Relatives and friends who had heard the news, as well as many passersby, were busy setting up the mourning hall, which was immediately covered in white mourning clothes.
As dusk fell and night descended, the heartbreaking wailing gradually subsided. In the mourning hall, only the hushed conversations and discussions of the night watchmen could be heard. However, as the night deepened and the candlelight flickered, an irresistible drowsiness swept over them.
Instantly, almost everyone who knew Xie An near his residence, whether asleep or awake, was dragged into the same dream, where they saw the same scene.
Although the sky was dark, Xie Family Village was bright and magnificent. The sound of bells and drums came from afar, gradually approaching and waking almost everyone. Then, their minds cleared, they got out of bed, and unconsciously walked to their doorsteps, where they immediately saw a procession entering Xie Family Village.
Upon seeing the appearance of this group, the villagers were startled, because its appearance was strikingly similar to many sculptures in the county's City God Temple, as if the statues of gods had stepped down from the altar, only more majestic and solemn, inspiring awe in people.
However, among the many ghostly messengers and demons, there was a short man who stood out from the crowd. Those who knew him looked closely and exclaimed, "Wow, isn't this Xie An who drowned earlier?" But now he was dignified and spirited, showing no signs of death whatsoever.
loubiqu.
"Xie An did good deeds throughout his life, saving three out of ten people. He was harmed by a water ghost. Considering his great merits, he was specially allowed to return to the world of the living!"
Amidst the radiant divine light, a deity dressed in official robes, holding a vermilion brush and an iron scroll, emerged from the crowd. After proclaiming the decree in a loud voice, Xie An bowed to the City God, who was seated in a large sedan chair, and then turned and strode towards his own mansion.
When Xie An entered his home, he saw the procession of ghosts and gods slowly disappear, and the dream shattered, and everyone fell into a deep sleep again.
Woohoo!
At the crack of dawn, someone awoke from their sleep, feeling refreshed, but then recalled the vivid yet bizarre dream they had the night before. Strangely, they couldn't help but tell their wife, who had also woken up beside them, about it.
"Oh, you had the same dream as me?"
"What? You also dreamed of Xie An returning to life?"
After some questioning, the man discovered that his own child had also had the same dream. He immediately abandoned his chores, went outside, knocked on his neighbor's door, and found out that everyone had the same dream.
Immediately, the villagers disregarded everything else and entered Xie An's house, which was decorated entirely in white. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, they saw the coffin placed on the altar and suddenly heard a knocking sound. Upon closer listening, they could indeed hear someone knocking on the coffin lid, just like a normal person knocking on a door.
Although some people were quite frightened, the two elderly people guarding the coffin and Xie An's wife were overjoyed. They quickly pushed open the coffin lid and immediately saw a man with a ruddy complexion, exactly like the person they had seen in their dream the night before. Bathed in the morning sun, he sat up from the coffin, and there was no trace of death on his body.
"Ah, Xie An has come back to life!"
Someone who witnessed this screamed, turned pale, and took several steps back, but soon, a slap landed on him without mercy.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Look closely, it's still under the sun!"
"The City God has appeared!"
Some were afraid, some were delighted, and some were anxious, but after the initial commotion, everyone was certain that Xie An had indeed come back to life, just as they had in their dreams.
Because hundreds of people simultaneously dreamed of the City God granting them permission to return to life, Xie An quickly cleared himself of suspicion of being a ghost or a corpse resurrected. He soon immersed himself in the joyful scene.
Instantly, all the white decorations in the courtyard were torn down, and the village, which had been filled with mournful music, was suddenly filled with festive tunes.
Upon seeing this scene, a great god, radiating golden light, smiled and looked at the young man beside him from above the village.
He could already foresee that this extraordinary event would spread at an extremely fast pace, and that his incense offerings would surely rise accordingly.
"Many thanks to the City God!"
Feng Bingwen was very satisfied to see this. Although the Heavenly Book did not award him any merit for this matter, in the long run, Xie An's life had been saved. Now that Xie An was in his prime, he would surely accumulate merit and good deeds in the future.
"Mr. Feng is too kind. It should be me who thanks you, as I have benefited greatly from your kindness."
As he spoke, the divine light emanating from the City God subtly increased. Xie An's feat of bringing him back to life was attributed to him, and it was difficult for mortals who witnessed the process not to feel awe towards this City God.
"Since the City God says so, then I won't give you any reward."
"If Mr. Feng won't give it, I will prepare a gift for him."
"Ha ha!"
Feng Bingwen smiled nonchalantly, accepted the gift from the City God, and then transformed into a ray of light, disappearing underground to search for other benevolent people, following the guidance of destiny.
While he was touring and wandering in Yunze Prefecture, he accumulated a lot of merit, but he used it all to make wishes in the Heavenly Book, in order to find those who had karmic ties with him and who had accumulated good deeds.
Although Feng Bingwen seemed to gain no real benefit from this situation and even wasted tens of thousands of merits, his state of mind changed as a result. With a relaxed state of mind, his cultivation improved considerably.
However, although Feng Bingwen possesses considerable supernatural powers, he is generally able to repay those kind-hearted people with whom he has karmic ties, either by helping them avert disasters or by granting them longevity.
However, given the sheer number of people involved, Feng Bingwen eventually encountered a thorny issue!
Yongcheng, the capital of a prefecture, was bustling with activity. Amidst the noise and clamor, a young man dressed in a silk blue robe, seemingly wealthy but actually a servant, posted a notice on the notice wall at the city gate and then began to shout loudly.
"My eldest son of the Li family is afflicted with an illness. We have sought medical help and medicine, but to no avail. Therefore, my master has issued a reward. If anyone can cure my son's illness, I am willing to offer a thousand gold coins as a reward!"
Although it was the capital city of a prefecture and the most prosperous place, the huge reward of a thousand gold coins still attracted the attention of many passersby, and the place was immediately surrounded by crowds. However, the locals who knew about this matter were too lazy to even take a look and simply turned around and left.
"Hey, Brother Qian, with such a high reward, aren't you going to take a look?"
"What's so interesting? I don't know what kind of evil spirit that young master of the Li family has offended. His ailment has lasted for more than a year. At first, a reward of a hundred gold coins was offered, and now a reward of a thousand gold coins has been offered, but it still hasn't been resolved. I don't know how many monks, Taoists, and so-called masters have been invited, but so far no one has been able to solve his problem."
As they spoke, the well-informed local leaned closer to his friend who had come from out of town, lowering his voice.
"I've heard that some truly skilled masters have even been killed by being cursed!"
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