Chapter 131

: Old Friend
 
The servant had an agonized look but he dared not disobey. The contract of these servants were in Master Shuo’s hands and if they offended Master Shuo, there were ways for Master Shuo to torture them to a living death experience, and the local authorities would have no way of looking into it. The servant carefully approached the loquat tree. Once he was within ten, twenty feet away, nothing happened. He then walked directly to the tree and stood beneath it. The servant got bolder when he realized nothing happened and he touched the tree trunk of the loquat tree.

Ouch!

Master Shuo looked at Shen Lian suspiciously, as though saying whether he had worked it out or not.
Then, he heard the servant said,
Master, I’m fine. It was just a prick.

He saw no thorns on the tree trunk, why would he get pricked? The servant really could not understand.
Shen Lian almost heard the loquat tree that was lodged on the wooden sword humped, as though saying,
Idiot, that is the remaining lightning from the Divine Thunder.

Shen Lian gazed on the body of the loquat tree, thinking,
You should be made into the statue of a deity, this Tianlei wood.
Tianlei wood did not mean a type of tree but it is referred to the wood that was not burnt after being struck by Divine Thunder. It was an excellent spiritual being.
Master Shuo saw that the servant was fine and could not help but be elated, he said,
You’re really capable, Daoist priest. How should I address you?
Shen Lian and Daoist Sanguang’s reactions were worlds apart. Master Shuo was rather understanding of the state of affair and knew that Shen Lian was not lying. Both of them were truly not master and apprentice.
Towards people with special powers, he had always been very hospitable to them and would not wish to neglect them.
Shen Lian chuckled and said,
Dear Mister Shuo, you truly have great wits but a bad memory. Do you still remember that you were there when I opened that inn that time?
He did not mention the incident that happened at the government office of the state capital of Qing and only mentioned this matter because naturally, this could jog up Master Shuo’s memory of who he was.
Because Shen Lian clearly stated his identity, he could avoid a lot of nonsense and unnecessary tricks.
Shuo Zhizhou, who get this reminder from Shen Lian, suddenly came to his senses and he took a good look at Shen Lian. His facial expression changed and he then said,
So it’s you. It’s been so many years and you did not change at all.

He later waved his hands, telling his servants to back off. After all, he had been in the officer position for so long, even if he was abdicated, he was still dignified. Even though the servants did not understand, they still felt that the master had secrets to tell the young Daoist priest.
Once the servants left, he still looked around.
Shen Lian saw, and thought it was funny, he said,
Dear Mister Shuo, you’re still afraid of other people listening to our conversation with me around? Honestly, it is not that much of a big deal. Her Majesty knows that I am Shen Lian. We have even met twice but she did nothing to me.
Shuo Zhizhou was exactly worried about this. The entire Shen family had attached themselves with the usurper, the Duke of Qinghe. If other people knew that he had a private meeting with the dregs of the Shen family, let alone keeping his immense wealth and his seven beautiful chambers and concubines, even keeping his head on top of his neck would be a problem.
There were two kinds of people who were afraid of dying in this word.
The first one were those who were in power. Power was like an intoxicating wine, the longer it was, the harder it was to give it up. Naturally, they would not wish to die and forsake their position of power.
The second one were those with money. Even though money was not that all powerful but it was the closest thing to being that all powerful. With billions in the family wealth, they were able to be as happy as the celestial beings. Who would be able to give up this wealth?
Master Shuo replied,
Well, caution is the parent of safety. It indeed is.
He was already an old officer who had stepped down so he can be resilient. He would still bend one’s knees when dealing with dangerous people like Shen Lian.
Shen Lian did not even bother with Master Shuo’s countenance. Back then, Shuo Zhizhou still had some mettle but now, with his immense wealth and groups of concubines, plus the fact that he was old, there was not any aspiration left. Ultimately, those who fought like the snakes in the wilderness such as Master Shen were in the minority. Majority of the folks are content with the commonplace within their entire lives, even though once in a while they would rouse themselves up, they still preferred to enjoy their normal lives.
Shen Lian said,
It does not matter whether you recognized me or you pretend to not know me. I do not want your one thousand sterling silver. I heard that Daoist Sanguang’s ancestral properties and Daoist temple, which had been handed down for generations, were sold to you. You just have to give me the Daoist temple and the title deed for the land.
To purchase a Daoist temple, in addition to the fertile farmland around it with one thousand sterling silver, it was said to be neither expensive nor cheap. Who would want to sell these real estates which could be passed down to the next generation unless there was no choice at all?
When the situation truly calls for such desperate measures, there was also no ground for negotiation.
Just now, when Daoist Sanguang was being discussed by the others, Shen Lian was able to obtain the information he needed from this, knowing that Daoist Sanguang had sold his ancestral Daoist temple to Master Shuo.
Even when the price was truly fair, neither party got the better end.
Master Shuo was stunned, he asked,
What Daoist temple?

Shen Lian answered lightly,
You would need to ask your Chamberlain about it. Once you’ve gotten a clear picture, send over the items.

What followed was that Shen Lian walked to the front of the body of the loquat tree and followed,
Send the title deed for the land and building directly to the Daoist temple.
After that, with a swirl of his body and a brutal stormwind, the burnt loquat tree was pulled out from the ground with its roots intact, ascended high up to the sky and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Watching this measure taken by Shen Lian, it was even more impossible for Master Shuo to repudiate this debt. Furthermore, he really did not know about buying some kind of Daoist temple. Shuo Zhizhou had someone summoned the chamberlain of the manor. This person had been his trusted subordinate for many years, it was also the same Chamberlain who brought Shen Lian to the prison in the government office of the state capital of Qing.
Even though the chamberlain was old, but his memory was superb. Once Shen Zhizhou mentioned it, he immediately recalled. Initially, Shuo Zhizhou had assigned him to purchase lands and properties. Naturally, the chamberlain did as he was told and Qi Sanguang was in desperate need of money. The Chamberlain simply took this opportunity and bought the fertile farmlands and a Daoist temple with an extremely low and cheap price. The Daoist temple had been around for hundreds of years and he had personally surveyed the building. The materials used were of good quality. There was hardly any damage or spots that required patching up. The location was the best and the view was pleasant.
The chamberlain told Master Shuo everything he knew, together with Qi Sanguang’s background. Shuo Zhizhou then understood. Even though he was unclear as to what relationship Qi Sanguang had with Shen Lian, he still did not have the means to repudiate this debt. He still remembered clearly until this day the methods Shen Lian used when he was ten over years old. This was the strange part of the human memory, sometimes one cannot recall anything but when one does, all kinds of details pop to mind.
The Chamberlain searched for the title deeds, as per Shuo Zhizhou’s order, and personally delivered it to the Daoist temple. So it was that with Shen Lian, these kinds of details could not be overlooked.
_ _ _ _
Sanguang Daoist previously fell for the illusion by the loquat tree’s Yin spirit. He thought he had met his deceased father who came to settle scores with him. He escaped with panic once he got walloped. Once he was on the streets, he suddenly came to his senses when the illusion disappeared.
With what happened just now, he dared not go back to the Shuo manor anymore. With no money on him, he did not even know where to go. When he passed by the gambling tents, he could not resist the urge and really wanted to enter for a game. But the people from the gambling house already recognized him from earlier on, plus the fact that he owed a huge debt, he got vehemently beat up and was dumped at the corner of the street.