Chapter 81 Blasphemy 30. I'm not going to live.
When Shen Zhuan left Yu County, he never imagined that he would never return.
About twenty days ago, he arrived at Xiling County City at full speed with his old steward and two trusted servants, and presented a visiting card to an old friend who held a high position in the county.
That evening, before any news of the old friend arrived, the old butler delivered a letter, saying it was given to him by the young master before his departure.
Shen Zhuan opened the letter, and before he could even finish reading it, he slammed his hand on the table, both shocked and furious: "Absurd! Nonsense!"
After finishing his rant, he immediately put on his coat, rushed out of the inn, and prepared to ride his horse back to Yu County.
"I chased after the master, intending to dissuade him, but to my surprise, he didn't even have time to mount his horse. He only made it to the inn's stable before collapsing unconscious..."
The Shen family hall was brightly lit. The old steward, wiping away tears, said with a sorrowful expression, "I was startled, thinking that the master was in a fit of rage. I rushed to find a doctor, but when the doctor arrived, he said..."
"The old man hasn't suffered a stroke or anything like that. From what I can see, he's extremely healthy, but his vitality seems to be rapidly declining. Rather than a medical condition, it's more like he's been possessed by some evil spirit. You should go and find a Taoist priest or sorcerer to take a look." The doctor from the county town was knowledgeable and didn't hide anything.
The old steward knew a little about Shen Zhuan's past when he was young, and he was also aware of his master's worries and fears over the years. Upon hearing this, he dared not be careless and hurriedly went to find a famous Taoist priest in the county town.
When they first heard about it, they all thought it was a minor matter, but when they entered the inn and saw what was happening, their expressions all changed drastically.
"This demon is no ordinary being; you should go and plead with the Tongtian Temple..."
Seeing this, the old steward knew things were going badly, but he still refused to give up and took Shen Zhuan to the Tongtian Temple in the county town. However, this time, the Tongtian Goddess did not even ask for human sacrifices and simply refused.
The old steward, having no other choice, went to seek out Shen Zhuan's old friend again.
They were supposedly old acquaintances, but in reality, it was just a relationship formed over a decade ago due to certain events. Shen Zhuan had been holding onto it, hoping to use it on the Shen family or his grandson. But now that Shen Zhuan was about to die, what use was holding onto it anymore?
“Master’s old friend is a big shot in Tongtian Temple,” the old steward said. “He said he didn’t want to see Master. We ordinary people don’t understand. We thought he could have some influence on the selection of disciples by the National Preceptor of Shenzhao Kingdom. But they know that the National Preceptor of Shenzhao Kingdom has no good intentions and will not give him any face. What Master asked for was impossible to obtain. Now that you have changed that condition to saving his life, he might agree to go and see him.”
"only……"
Even the great figures of Tongtian Temple were helpless against this demon.
"It's actually Princess Luzhu!"
The powerful figure set up a simple ritual in the inn's bedroom to investigate the demon's origins in order to deal with it. However, after just one glance, his eyes widened in shock, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "No... I cannot deal with this demon. Only a deity can!"
He said to the old steward, "Princess Luzhu was the daughter of the eldest princess of the Northern Pearl Kingdom many years ago. She was extremely noble and respected by all. Although she was buried in Danyang after her death and never returned to the capital, the Northern Pearl Grand Master performed a ritual on her unborn child and enshrined her in the ancestral temple, where she was worshipped throughout the country."
"Though it has become a demon, it is still a force that even ordinary gods cannot defeat..."
The old steward was taken aback: "But...but she's a demon! Doesn't the Northern Pearl Court know that? Why would they still worship her..."
The important figure curled his lips: "She is the daughter of the royal family. Even if she is a demon, so what? Besides, not many people know that she is a demon. For Shen Zhuan to dare to touch her tomb is truly ignorance and recklessness. He brought this upon himself!"
The old steward was both shocked and terrified, and knelt down before the important man to beg him.
The important figures kept saying there was no way to save them, shaking their heads repeatedly.
Seeing that the old steward was truly loyal and devoted, and worried about the cause and effect between him and Shen Zhuan, he reluctantly said, "How about this, you all move with me to Tongtian Temple first. That way, you'll have some protection, and Princess Luzhu won't dare to come directly to us."
"The Empress has been in seclusion for some time to deal with the delegation led by the Imperial Preceptor of Shenzhao Kingdom. She is not seeing her disciples or responding to believers. I will personally go and plead with the Empress once the matter with the Imperial Preceptor has passed."
Upon hearing this, the old butler almost wept with joy, but then worried, "What if the master doesn't make it..."
"Don't worry," the big man said, "your master probably has some preparations and methods. I see that there seems to be a pure energy in his body guarding his spiritual sea. Even if his physical body decays, as long as his spiritual sea is not destroyed, he has the means to restore it."
After listening to the important man's words, the old steward took Shen Zhuan into Tongtian Temple. To prevent his family from worrying, he also sent a letter to Shen Mingxin, informing him of the situation and asking him to come to the county town as soon as possible.
With Shen Zhuan unconscious, the selection of the Imperial Preceptor's disciples and the matters concerning Shen Chou and Lord Chunshan have become a quagmire with no way out. It is too dangerous for Shen Mingxin to stay in Yu County any longer. It would be better to take Shen Chou's unborn child and bring him to the county town while Shen Chou is still unaware of Shen Zhuan's condition.
The old steward didn't know how Shen Zhuan was calculating, and at that moment he was at a loss, so he could only make arrangements based on his own experience.
"But I...have not received any letters."
Inside the hall, Shen Mingxin's stiff eyes moved slowly.
"It was four or five days later by then, so it's likely that something had already happened to the young master," the old butler said.
With Shen Mingxin in trouble and the Shen family in such chaos, it's perfectly normal for them to send a letter.
"After entering Tongtian Temple, I waited for the young master for a long time, but he did not come. I knew something was wrong, so I sent someone to inquire. Sure enough, I received news that something big had happened in Yu County. When I heard this, I was both worried and happy. If we really have a true goddess like Shen Xiangjun in our family, why do we need to ask the Great Goddess Tongtian?"
"I wanted to bring the master back with me, but who knew that he would suddenly wake up as soon as we left Tongtian Temple..."
"I'm not going to make it."
That was the first thing Shen Zhuan said when he opened his eyes.
The old steward hurriedly advised, "Master, please don't say such discouraging things. Yu County..."
“I know,” Shen Zhuan said, his whole body withered and emaciated, only his cloudy eyes still held a sharp light. “These days, although I have been unconscious, I am aware of what is happening around me. I know what you want to say. But we cannot go back.”
The old steward exclaimed anxiously, "Master, why can't we do this? Let's go back and find Shen Xiangjun..."
"We can't go back, we can't look for her," Shen Zhuan interrupted the old steward, his eyes cold. "Do you know the conditions that the Great Lady Tongtian had for protecting me from Princess Luzhu back then? Forty-nine human sacrifices, and she couldn't even kill Princess Luzhu, she could only protect me for seven years! I didn't agree... I barely managed to survive all these years. Now Princess Luzhu has a powerful background and is becoming more and more powerful, even the Great Lady Tongtian doesn't want to offend her too much."
"Even if Shenxiangjun has a hundred-zhang-tall Dharma form, how can she compare to the Great Goddess Tongtian? If I go back and beg to go up the mountain, Shenxiangjun might save me, but she would only be about the same as the Great Goddess, just letting me live a few more years. But even these few years would exhaust the twenty years of incense offerings between our Shen family and Shenxiangjun."
"This is truly an extremely unprofitable deal!"
Shen Zhuan gasped for breath: "I, Shen Zhuan... have lived to this age and never made a losing deal. Rather than wasting these twenty years of incense offerings on a dying man like me, I would rather leave them to Mingxin and the Shen family."
"To be honest, Shenxiangjun's willingness to save Mingxin was beyond my expectations. If it were just to protect his own offerings, he would not have needed to go to such lengths and offend the national teacher of Shenzhao Kingdom for it."
"He must like Mingxin, his sworn brother, and also care about the continuation of my Shen family line. But saving lives time and time again, no matter how much affection or the continuation of the line is, it will eventually be exhausted. Moreover, the favor of the gods may be a blessing or a calamity."
"I always need to leave Mingxin a backup plan, to use one wolf to devour another..."
"master!"
The old butler was bewildered and only panicked.
Shen Zhuan's withered hand gripped the old steward: "Maolin, you don't need to persuade me anymore. I... I am unwilling, and I never expected that after coming out, I wouldn't be able to go back. I can't rest easy about Mingxin... But, I've been entangled with Princess Luzhu for many years. She is a demon, hateful and despicable, but what happened back then was indeed our fault, leaving her corpse to rot in the wilderness. Over the years, I've been afraid, but I've also regretted it..."
"Now that she's acted without any scruples, I'm not afraid anymore; instead, I feel relieved."
“Mingxin has come of age and grown up. Although the situation in Yu County is chaotic, there is still a glimmer of hope. Even if I go back, I am just an ordinary person, old and frail, and I will only be a burden to Mingxin.”
“Now, I have already agreed on the terms with Magistrate Luzhu. I can live or die, but the value of living is far less than that of dying, so... I should die rather than seek to live.”
"Master, Master! As long as you live, Young Master Mingxin will have someone to rely on. What does it matter if he's a burden or not? You can't..."
The old butler tried his best to persuade him.
Shen Zhuan said nothing more, only instructing him to stop the carriage and go to the inn.
Upon arriving at the inn in the county town, Shen Zhuan suddenly regained his strength, took a bath, changed his clothes, and, in high spirits, drank with the old steward all night.
The old steward could never refuse Shen Zhuan, and drank the wine with tears in his eyes. After he passed out, Shen Zhuan helped him to the next room, took out paper and pen, wrote down the will that had come with the corpse, and then decisively drank a bowl of poison.
"It is my grievance, and I should have paid for it long ago. I only hope that after the county magistrate takes away this pure energy, she will keep the contract, spare my grandson, and... protect him this time."
Shen Zhuan stared intently at the bed curtains, as if he had seen something, and a dazed smile appeared on his face.
“Father, Mother…you’re right, this world…is hard to live in, but no matter how hard it is, you can’t let greed take the opportunity to survive…But that’s the kind of person I am! Now, let me indulge in greed one last time…”
The old butler was drugged and locked out. He woke up in the middle of the night and rushed inside, only to find that Shen Zhuan was dead, bleeding from his seven orifices, with a smile on his lips and a look of relief in his eyes.
"I intended to bring Master back immediately, but right after the funeral rites were completed, chaos erupted in the county town. They said the Heavenly Goddess had died, and the prefect sealed off the city..." the old steward said. "The back-and-forth trouble only lasted a few days before we were finally able to release him. Fortunately, Master's... body had been sealed with a yellow talisman during the funeral rites, so it was still preserved..."
The old butler ended this chaotic recollection with a sob.
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Shen Mingxin was surrounded by darkness, almost blending into a dark shadow.
Chu Shenxiang sighed inwardly, unsure of what to say. She silently sent out a wisp of pure energy to protect Shen Mingxin's heart meridian, lest his grief become too deep and harm himself.
Afterwards, he stepped out of the hall and came to the body that Shen Zhuan had just placed.
He had just read Shen Zhuan's last letter with Shen Mingxin. It still bore Shen Zhuan's scent, proving it wasn't a forgery, and corroborated the old steward's words. However, Chu Shenxiang still felt something was amiss.
He did not deny Shen Zhuan's love and respect for Shen Mingxin, nor did he deny Shen Zhuan's fear and guilt towards Princess Luzhu, but his easy suicide seemed suspicious.
Was he possessed by demons at the time, his evil power flared up, and he was terminally ill, his mind no longer clear, or... was he affected by something else?
Chu Shenxiang closed her eyes and pointed a finger at Shen Zhuan's spiritual sea from a distance, using magic to trace back and see what was going on.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
really.
Shen Zhuan did indeed willingly commit suicide, not wanting to waste the incense offerings or pass on the karmic debt to his descendants. However, this willingness was still somewhat influenced by other karmic forces.
Chu Shenxiang followed the line of cause and effect and saw a deep and solemn face at the other end of the line.
Chu Shenxiang's eyes narrowed.
The distinct, heavy aura indicated that he was still alive, not dead.
But wasn't he caught in the crossfire of his battle with Xu Ming during the Three Gods' War and died at Wangqiu Mountain? I examined their bodies and found nothing amiss. Now you're saying he's still alive?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com