Chapter 40: Judge One She should be dead
Long Zhu had a volunteer certificate hanging around his neck. He was lying bored on the table next to the donation box, watching group after group of people come into the temple to kowtow and eat some of the offerings.
Nan Huai happened to come over and was shocked to see this scene: "Why are you eating the offerings here?"
Long Zhu hid the fruit core with a guilty conscience: "I don't think anyone wants it."
Nan Huai stamped his foot, pulled her over, and whispered stealthily, "We always wait until the tourists leave before eating. Be careful next time."
Long Zhu was silent for a moment, nodded, and reluctantly took out five or six from his pocket and put them back.
Nan Huai: “…”
Just as the offering plate was placed on the table, a child came out from nowhere and mischievously pulled the tablecloth. With a clang, the bowls, plates and cups fell all over the place, and the fruits and flowers were scattered all over the floor.
Fang Xu saw this outside the hall and subconsciously shouted to stop them, but the child wrinkled his nose, had red eyes, and sat on the ground with a pouty mouth, crying.
The two old men, whose faces were filled with doting just now, became anxious. They helped their grandson up out of distress and glared at him, scolding him: "What's wrong with you Taoist priests from Changfeng Temple? Why are you being so mean to a child?"
Nan Huai walked over, bowed, and smiled apologetically, "Please don't be angry, my two good believers. We have a saying in our temple that offending the deity will bring disaster to the family. I, your fellow Taoist, am also worried that it will bring disaster upon you."
The old man felt choked up. "You Taoist priests, all you talk about is disasters and misfortunes. How can you curse people like that? The money my family donates every month is enough for you to eat and drink for a year. Be careful or I'll complain to your temple master!"
The child twisted his body and threw a tantrum: "Grandma! Grandpa! It hurts!"
The old lady was extremely distressed and said, "Dongsheng, let me take a look. Are your eyes hurt?"
The old man instantly gained confidence, his voice becoming even louder. "I think your Changfeng Temple is overrated. You're bullying children in broad daylight! I'm going to expose you on the news!"
Someone nearby advised: "Big brother, please take the child to the clinic first, before he gets hurt."
The old couple then carefully carried the child on their backs. Before leaving, the child bared his teeth at Fang Xu with a gloating look.
Nan Huai's face was filled with gloom. "Every year there are people like this, thinking that if they donate a little money, the gods will turn their junk into gold."
Fang Xu was no longer surprised. He caught a glimpse of a familiar pilgrim and immediately went over to greet him: "Liu Shanxin, are you here to pray?"
The pilgrim's face was radiant. He touched the top of the girl's head and said, "I'm here to fulfill my vow at the Medicine King Temple!"
Fang Xu was a little surprised and looked at the thin and frail girl beside him: "Is your daughter's illness cured?"
"Yes!" The pilgrim smiled from ear to ear. "I'm so lucky! The hospitals in the big city said it couldn't be cured. But when I got home, I heard there's a pediatric expert named Dr. Zhou at the town clinic. He only prescribed medicine for half a month, and I got better!"
She clasped her hands together and sighed, "It must be that my sincere prayers were heard by the Medicine King!"
It took Fang Xu a long time to come back to his senses. He congratulated the other party and watched the mother and daughter leave.
Nan Huai came over and asked, "What's wrong? Isn't that Liu Shanxin? Has her daughter recovered from her illness?"
Fang Xu: "Yeah, but I always feel like something is not quite... not quite right."
Nan Huai: "What's wrong?"
Fang Xu: "I just feel that that girl... well, I can't put my finger on it."
Nan Huai gave him a strange look, then turned to ask Long Zhu, "Do you see anything wrong?"
Long Zhu was secretly eating the offering fruit. When he saw the two people suddenly turned around to look at him, he calmly put the fruit back, and carefully turned the gnawed part inwards.
She was vague: "It's a little wrong."
Nan Huai didn't care about stealing the fruit and asked, "What do you mean?"
Long Zhu recalled the figure of the girl who had just flashed by.
"She should be dead."
…
Recently, Nan Huai Fang Xu had some free time, so he asked Long Zhu to go down the mountain to buy daily necessities.
Although Changfeng Town at the foot of the mountain is not big, it has a well-developed tourism service industry and looks very lively and prosperous. The streets are full of local product malls, local restaurants and Taoist souvenir shops.
Fang Xu said proudly, "We can even get a discount with our Taoist certificates."
Long Zhu was lying beside the shelf at the door of the handicraft shop, looking at a white-feathered long-tailed tit made of wool felt.
She greeted the two curiously, "Look at this, does it look like your master?"
The two of them looked silently at the huge label on the nameplate: Q-version fat chick, 20 yuan each.
Nan Huai was speechless: "Don't say this in front of the master in the future..."
Before he could finish his words, Long Zhu had already taken the bird off and looked at Fang Xu: "Discount."
Fang Xu: “…”
He took out his Taoist certificate reluctantly.
Nan Huai thought, forget it, if she likes it, just buy it, as long as she doesn’t use it to offend the temple master.
Several people were excitedly walking in and out of the shopping street carrying large and small bags. At that time, there was a commotion at the police station opposite.
A noblewoman, holding a puppy, chased a young Taoist priest all over the street. Holding a high-heeled shoe, she screamed, "You charlatan! Just wait and see how I'm going to kill you today!"
The young Taoist priest's sleeves fluttered in the wind as he ran swiftly, circling the streets with the other party. "Madam, this is a legitimate business with a clearly marked price. Would you mind putting down your shoes first?"
The chase was imminent, and the young Taoist's eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly hid behind Long Zhu.
Long Zhu, still in shock, instinctively raised her hand to block the noblewoman's downward blow. She glanced down, and the sudden surge of anger made the puppy in her arms whimper and tremble with its tail between its legs.
Wang Tianfu followed several policemen and happened to meet Long Zhu's eyes. He blinked in surprise.
Long Zhu turned to look at Wang Fengxu, who gave a guilty laugh, patted his sleeves, and stood up: "Haha, Master Long, what a coincidence! Why are you here too?"
Fang Xu and Nan Huai exchanged a glance: "Master?"
Long Zhu cleared his throat and said, "I came to Changfeng Temple to volunteer."
Wang Fengxu looked strange: "You? A volunteer?"
Long Zhu asked, "You too?"
Wang Tianfu quickly answered, "We came to Changfeng Temple with our master for a gathering, but he had to go back early because of something. We took on some work and plan to stay a few more days."
The police checked Wang Fengxu's Taoist certificate and confirmed its authenticity. Then, based on the whole story, they made a compromise and returned the cash. Only then did the lady angrily agree to the settlement.
Nan Huai was shocked and asked Wang Tianfu, "What did your uncle do to make that lady so angry?"
Wang Tianfu was still terrified. "He told the lady that her husband had met a distinguished guest, a young and lovely lady with big eyes and pigtails. Then the lady bought a thousand-yuan cloud bead bracelet from the uncle-in-law to ward off bad luck in love."
Fang Xu was curious: "And then?"
Wang Tianfu remained calm: "And then what you saw happened. My wife called the police."
Wang Fengxu coughed over there.
"So that distinguished guest..." Nan Huai was silent for a moment, thinking of the dog in the lady's arms: "You mean the poodle?"
Isn't this pure fraud!
It seems that being fined and having to return the cash is too light a punishment.
The kids had similar childhoods and quickly became familiar with each other. They even started making plans to go out to eat together.
Fang Xu was quite obsessed with cultivation and asked, "Is it true that everyone in your Qingcheng Temple specializes in the art of the Five Elements?"
Wang Tianfu spoke eloquently, "Not all of them. My master said that someone with a talent like mine only comes across once every fifty years."
Nan Huai's emphasis was different: "It's rumored outside that Taoist Lingsu lived to be 180 years old. Is that true?"
Wang Tianfu touched the back of his head and said, "He must be a hundred years old, but I don't know the exact number. Master doesn't like birthday celebrations."
Fang Xu looked at him with admiration: "If Lingxuan Taoist Meng Bujiu were still alive, they would have definitely wiped out the Three Death Sects long ago if they had joined forces!"
Wang Tianfu sighed with a mature air: "Who said it wasn't true?"
Nan Huai was gossiping: "So, does Master Meng like your master or the Wonderful Infant Wanderer Song Zhen?"
Wang Tianfu: "This... I don't know either. Why don't you ask your abbot?"
Miaoying Sanren Song Zhen married the ancestor of the Bai family and had a daughter and a son. The daughter was the mother of the previous abbot of Changfeng Temple, Bai Heye, who is now deceased.
His son is the former director of the Abnormal Control Bureau and Bai Heng's grandfather, who is still alive.
They chatted about all sorts of things, including the shepherd's purse and tofu buns from Qingcheng Temple and the asparagus, bacon and pea rice from Changfeng Temple.
We chatted all the way and there was a lot of noise ahead.
A group of people gathered at the door of the town clinic to watch the excitement. Nan Huai caught a glimpse of two familiar and difficult faces.
He pulled Fang Xu: "It's the one from yesterday!"
The old man, wearing a white flower on his collar and holding a black and white photo frame in his arms, blocked the door and cried, "Unscrupulous doctor Zhou Qin! Pay for my grandson's life!"
The old lady cried so hard that she was out of breath and almost fainted while being supported by everyone.
Fang Xu and Nan Huai looked at each other in surprise, and felt a chill on their backs: "Dead?"
How could this naughty kid who was still alive and kicking just two days ago suddenly die?
Wang Fengxu stood beside Long Zhu with his arms folded: "Something is wrong."
Wang Tianfu asked, "What's wrong?"
Wang Fengxu touched his chin and said, "The child in the portrait doesn't look like he'll die so young, does he?"
An idea suddenly occurred to him: "Interesting, a new way to scam people?"
Long Zhu thought of the girl who had miraculously recovered that he had seen last time.
It’s really interesting. The short-lived ones live, and the long-lived ones die.
Amid the noisy and jostling crowd, the police took a woman with glasses and bun hair into the police car.
Those watching the excitement whispered, "I don't think it's Doctor Zhou's fault."
Someone immediately agreed: "Yes, Dr. Zhou is a highly skilled doctor with a kind heart. How could he possibly harm someone's child?"
"Hey, it's a scam! I know his kid, he's very naughty. His parents are out of town and they don't care about him. The old couple has spoiled him to death."
"I heard he died suddenly while playing on the slide. I guess he accidentally hit his head."
“…”
"It's not Dr. Zhou, it's the cave. He was eaten by the cave."
Suddenly, a faint discordant sound was heard from the crowd nearby.
Wang Tianfu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of elementary school students in summer camp uniforms passing by. One of them, a boy with glasses, stopped and looked at him absentmindedly.
He was carrying a schoolbag and the badge on his collar read "Nature Summer Camp - Hecheng No. 1 Primary School".
Wang Tianfu followed up with, "What cave?"
The boy with glasses had sweat on his forehead. He seemed not to hear the other party's question and only subconsciously muttered: "...a cave, a cave with an echo."
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