Chapter 254: Hiding One's Strengths and Bide One's Moment, We Are Old Friends
Although there was no government curfew, the fights between the fox demon and the rats last night had already been witnessed by others.
When the people of the county town woke up, they saw no trace of the black-haired rat. Although the fox spirit was effective in driving away rats, the people were still afraid of encountering monsters on the road again, so they hurried home after dark to avoid offending monsters, ghosts and gods.
The business of Anyi Restaurant has been affected a little, but Fatty Kang doesn't rely on this to make money.
When there was no one around, he told Xiao Yier to light the fox lanterns and ghost lights, and the restaurant turned from yang to yin, and began to receive guests from the underworld.
However, there are not as many guests in the underworld as in the world of the living. Only one comes occasionally, and most of the time there is no one.
Fatty Kang and Xiao Yier took a break, and a few people talked in the backyard.
When Gong Mengbi brought Chen Jiayu to see them and introduced Chen Jiayu's background to them, Jialu began to tremble.
Fatty Kang shook his head and said, "What a useless thing."
Chen Jiayu walked up to Jialu, looked him up and down, and said, "You may be a little timid, but it's just the right time to bide your time. This is for you. It's the legacy left to you by the Rat King."
Chen Jiayu handed a colorful gem to Jialu. When Jialu held it in his hand, he felt a sense of closeness.
He stroked the gem and asked, "Is this the legacy he left me?"
Chen Jiayu told Jialu the whole story of Ziyang's possession, omitting the part about stealing the silver from the treasury, and simply said that he was a friend and came to help him get rid of it.
"From now on, you will be the Rat King. This item is the result of Zi Yang's Taoist magic. You can use it to hunt for treasures. The old, weak, and sick people you subdue are the last seeds of the Jinhua Rat."
Jialu suddenly felt a heaviness in his heart, and the gem in his hand also became heavy.
Fatty Kang jokingly said, "Now you've got what you wanted. Although you didn't chop off the Rat King's head, you've taken his place. From now on, you'll be the Rat King's family deer."
The deer blushed and said, "Why are you making fun of me, innkeeper? He may not want to bring trouble to the tribe, but he has become a disaster demon, so how can he not make the gods fear him? As the Rat King, I can only disperse the rats and let them recuperate. How dare I gather them and claim the throne?"
Fatty Kang said in surprise: "You still have some brains."
The deer couldn't stand the humiliation and said, "I have a brain!" Then he ran out of the backyard.
Xiao Yier raised his hand to call him, but Fatty Kang held him down and said, "Let him be alone and think about it."
But there was no peace in the front hall either. Soon, the ghost messengers from the City God's seat came together.
Fatty Kang and Xiao Yier went to receive them and inquire about the news.
It was already midnight when we sent away these evil spirits.
Fatty Kang and Gong Mengbi said, "Yesterday, the City God searched the Rat King's Lair and found many boxes containing treasury silver. However, while the boxes were there, the silver was gone. The City God was furious and ordered a thorough investigation, but the Rat King's Lair was completely empty. They captured and interrogated several rat demons, but found nothing."
Gong Mengbi and Chen Jiayu looked at each other and sighed. Gong Mengbi hadn't hidden anything from Fatty Kang. Although he hadn't said it directly to Jialu, he had revealed everything to Fatty Kang.
Fatty Kang said, "Now that the Rat King has taken the blame for stealing the silver, you two rat handlers are certainly not suspects. With his intelligence, he must have already arranged everything he could, so he won't be able to trace you."
Chen Jiayu said sadly, "I owe Ziyang too much."
He took out the "Disaster God Law" from his arms and said: "I want to find out who is plotting to murder Ziyang and give him this evil book."
Fatty Kang asked curiously, "Why couldn't he have found it himself? When he gave you the Disaster God Technique, didn't he tell you the origin of this book?"
Chen Jiayu said, "I've asked him before, but he was terribly secretive and refused to answer. I know him too well. He might be unwilling to accept the end of his life, but he would never choose to transform into a demon. If he truly wanted to become a demon, he wouldn't have waited until today."
Gong Mengbi agreed with Chen Jiayu's statement, but warned, "If someone plotted to give this method to Ziyang, and Ziyang refuses to tell you, you must be extremely careful. You cannot afford to offend this person. He's afraid you'll lose your life, so he won't tell you. He's just seeking a way to liberation."
Chen Jiayu said, "I understand. I'm alone and weak, but once my friend returns and breaks the curse of the Disaster God, we can begin our investigation."
Fatty Kang sighed, "You two, a cat and a mouse, actually have such a friendship. It's really rare."
Chen Jiayu said, "This is a long story."
In earlier times, Chen Jiayu was still a naive little cat, adopted by an elderly couple. After three years of care, Chen Jiayu suddenly developed spirituality, learning how to inhale and exhale moonlight to cultivate. The elderly couple were old and frail, and the husband passed away first, leaving the wife, unable to work, starving.
Chen Jiayu was raised by them, and now that the old woman had nothing to eat, Chen Jiayu would find food for her, sometimes catching fish from the river, sometimes stealing from other people's homes.
Once when he was stealing, he was caught and was about to be skinned alive, but he was saved by a gust of wind.
This evil spirit is Ziyang. Similar to Chen Jiayu, Ziyang lived with a family in his early years, relying on their food for survival. Later, the family fell into decline, and the elderly woman had to beg for a living. Ziyang resorted to stealing to support the elderly woman, but was caught by a neighbor, who then called in a Taoist priest to exorcise the evil spirit.
The Taoist priest took pity on him because he was grateful and spared his life, teaching him to walk the right path and become an immortal.
Seeing Chen Jiayu now, Ziyang felt like he was seeing his former self. Although they were natural enemies, he still came to her rescue and taught her what the Taoist priest had taught him, and helped Chen Jiayu support his elderly wife.
Zi Yang and Chen Jiayu did not separate until the old woman passed away.
Zi Yang wanted to go to the county town to practice Buddhism, but Chen Jiayu didn't want to go, so he wandered in the mountains. Later, he found that the monks in Zhizhen Temple were kind and generous, and served him with food and drink, so he stayed in Zhizhen Temple to listen to the scriptures.
Although one was studying sutras and practicing in Zhizhen Temple, and the other was practicing as a rat king in the county town, their contact had never been severed, and they had always been close friends.
Gong Mengbi asked, "What about the friend you are waiting for?"
Chen Jiayu hesitated for a moment and said, "Don't spread the word. He is a monk from Zhizhen Temple."
"A monk stole silver from the treasury?" Fatty Kang looked suspicious.
Chen Jiayu sighed and said, "If there was a way, we wouldn't want to steal the treasury. Tangxi was full of refugees, and Zhizhen Temple was generous and charitable, so countless refugees flocked here. Even though the monks themselves could only drink porridge, they didn't drive the refugees away. Later, they were reduced to eating tree bark."
"He couldn't bear to see such a tragic scene, and he didn't want to bring trouble to Zhizhen Temple. So he renounced the monastery and returned to secular life, calling himself a traitor. He no longer used his original Buddhist name and returned to his secular name, Lei Boyang."
"He's the most filial to me in the temple. I couldn't just leave him alone, so I came down the mountain with him."
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