A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

If a roadside stall appears in the desert, it means the owner is not human.

Even desert bandits wouldn't set up a stall in the desert, unless their brains were stolen during the robbery.

Zhang Zhengdao walked in that direction because he saw an acquaintance.

Zixia Fairy's green gauze dress still stands out quite a bit against the yellow sand.

Zhang Zhengdao watched from afar.

Even from a great distance, he could see and hear.

Zixia Fairy cursed, "I knew you guys were up to no good. You're just a bunch of hypocritical immortals in disguise, trying to take me back to Heaven?"

Those people immediately revealed their true colors.

Leading the group was Erlang Shen, the True Lord of Qingyuan Miaodao at Guanjiangkou, who held a three-pointed double-edged sword and pointed it at Fairy Zixia, cursing, "You witch, you carry that Purple and Green Sword around all day, looking for men to pull it out, regardless of whether they are human or demon. You even say that you will marry him as long as he pulls it out. You have truly disgraced us immortals."

Fairy Zixia said, "Is this shameful?"

Erlang Shen: "You're supposed to be a god, yet if a demon were to draw your sword and marry you, wouldn't that be shameful? How can a god and a demon engage in such an affair..."

From afar, Zhang Zhengdao stared in disbelief: Why does this sound so familiar...?

Fairy Zixia sneered: "Have you immortals done enough shameful things? Back when the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong, wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, you couldn't defeat him. Wasn't that shameful?"

Fairy Zixia, you've reopened old wounds again!

Erlang Shen's face turned bright red, veins bulging on his forehead, as he pointed at Fairy Zixia and shouted, "Spreading heresy! Who's the one who's lost face? Who couldn't win?"

Fairy Zixia: "Just because we never fought doesn't mean we can't admit it."

Erlang Shen: "You've willingly fallen so low, yet you still dare to expose others' shortcomings. Today I will certainly not let you off the hook. Where is Xiaotian Dog...?"

With a whoosh, a dark shadow leaped up from beside Erlang Shen, transforming into a gigantic black dog resembling a fierce tiger while still in mid-air.

When its mouth opened, Fairy Zixia could even see the gleam of its sharp teeth, and the tongue sticking out halfway, with saliva glistening in the air.

"You beast, you're asking for death—"

With a whoosh, Fairy Zixia's purple and green sword was drawn and used to kill the dog.

The Celestial Hound is, after all, the Celestial Hound. Fairy Zixia's sword was fast, but the Celestial Hound was even faster. In mid-air, it simply twisted its body and dodged Fairy Zixia's sharp thrust of the Purple and Green Sword.

Missing her attack, Fairy Zixia sensed something was wrong. As she turned to swing her sword, she saw that the black dog, after dodging her sword, couldn't stop its momentum and crashed headfirst into the earthen wall next to the stall.

"boom--"

The earthen wall collapsed, burying the big black dog inside.

"You're beating a dog to bully its owner! I'll kill you!"

Erlang Shen charged forward wielding his three-pointed double-edged spear, and the Six Sages of Meishan, who had come with him, were not to be outdone, all rushing toward Fairy Zixia.

"How shameless! Bullying the weak with numbers."

Zixia Fairy cursed and charged forward with her sword.

Suddenly, yellow sand flew up, and the sky and earth changed color. This fight between many men and one woman seemed to have stirred up the wind and clouds in this place, and the bright white sky suddenly turned gloomy.

A longsword gleaming coldly, its green shadows and frosty hue flashing, accompanied by the shouts and curses of men.

During the battle, Erlang Shen's third eye on his forehead suddenly opened, and a beam of golden light shot out. His three-pointed, double-edged sword left a winding trail on the sand, and the black iron chains of the Six Sages of Meishan instantly wove into a net that stretched from heaven to earth.

"Fairy, you'd better obediently come with us to the Heavenly Court for trial," Erlang Shen said smugly, having gained the upper hand.

Zixia Fairy's toes touched the edge of the quicksand, half of the sleeve of her gauze dress had been torn off by Meishan Lao Si's piercing arrow, and the golden bell on her wrist jingled with her rapid breathing.

Six dark figures suddenly rose from beneath the sand dunes, and the Meishan brothers' demon-subduing pestles simultaneously struck at Fairy Zixia.

She spun around to avoid it, only to see Erlang Shen's three-pointed, double-edged sword transform into a nine-headed dragon, blocking her retreat. As the blade grazed her ear, Fairy Zixia suddenly swung her wrist.

"Ding--"

The first ring of the bell caused the vajra pestle to veer off course by three-tenths of an inch, and when the pestle head struck the sand, it stirred up clouds of yellow sand.

The second ringing of the bell pierced Zhang Boshi's breastplate, and a mouthful of blood "poof"ed out, turning into a rain of blood that filled the sky.

As the seventh bell rang out amidst the howling wind of the desert, Erlang Shen's Heavenly Eye suddenly dimmed. Cracks appeared in the Meishan brothers' formation, and the Heavenly Net that had been meant to bind Fairy Zixia vanished instantly, like clouds blown away by the wind.

"go!"

Erlang Shen and the Six Sages of Meishan suffered a silent loss and decisively left.

As Zixia Fairy watched them leave, she felt a sense of relief. Then, she spat out a mouthful of blood, several drops landing on her green gauze dress like peach blossoms.

She looked up into the distance, as if she felt someone was watching her.

But she saw nothing.

After regulating my breathing for a while and calming down, I lightly touched the ground with my toes and slowly rose up, disappearing into the edge of the yellow sand like a floating cloud.

After Erlang Shen and the Six Sages of Meishan had run for a while, they suddenly remembered something.

Erlang Shen: "Is something missing?"

The Six Sages of Meishan nodded in unison: "The Celestial Hound didn't come along. Could it have been killed by that Fairy Zixia?"

Erlang Shen shook his head: "Definitely not. But... why didn't it come with us? Could it be that it misses the mortal realm and wants to wander around there?"

The Six Sages of Meishan: "Why don't we go look for them?"

Erlang Shen: "Has that woman left?"

The Six Sages of Meishan looked around and said, "Let's go, there's no one there."

So Erlang Shen and the Six Sages of Meishan turned back, descended from the clouds, and went to the collapsed earthen wall. With a wave of their hands, the earthen wall was lifted up, only to find that there was nothing inside.

"That damned beast must have missed life in the mortal world and wanted to stay, so it ran away quietly."

Erlang Shen felt that this dog was being somewhat rebellious.

I told you long ago not to descend to the mortal realm without permission, but you didn't listen at all.

“Let’s go first. It will come back when it wants to,” the Six Sages of Meishan advised Erlang Shen. “Let’s go back and heal our injuries first.”

So he rode away on a cloud.

Seeing that they had indeed left, Zhang Zhengdao breathed a sigh of relief. He emerged from under the yellow sand slope, carrying a large black dog by its hind leg, and hurriedly headed towards Shazhou City.

Although Shazhou City is a city, the population flow within it is not large.

There weren't many locals; most stayed in the city to do business with passing travelers and merchants. There were also some officials from the government offices in Shazhou City and troops stationed within the city.

"Boss, do you do any processing here?"

Zhang Zhengdao asked the old manager of a hotel.

When the shopkeeper saw the big black dog that Zhang Zhengdao was carrying, he thought to himself that it was no ordinary person. It was huge, almost like a small calf, and the Taoist priest was carrying it with ease.

But with so many people coming and going here, what kind of people haven't I seen? So I said, "That's fine. But the processing fee will be... two taels of silver."

This is absolutely outrageous.

However, he has the confidence to ask for a price.

Because in this Shazhou city, his craftsmanship is the best.

"make a deal!"

Zhang Zhengdao readily took out two taels of silver and slapped it on the counter.

Seeing the two taels of silver, the innkeeper's face lit up with a smile. He quickly led Zhang Zhengdao to a private seat by the window and said, "Sir, would you like some more wine? We have Mantangchun wine, which is imported from the capital, as well as Huodao Shao... Dog meat with wine, the more you drink, the better..."

He's a savvy businessman.

The processing fee was originally only two taels, but with this arrangement, Zhang Zhengdao will have to pay at least ten taels of silver.

The wine recommended by the shopkeeper comes from the capital, and it's very expensive.

However, Zhang Zhengdao had fifty taels of silver on him, so he wasn't worried about not being able to afford the drinks.

"One jar of each, please!"

Zhang Zhengdao placed a ten-tael silver ingot on the table. The shopkeeper took the silver and walked out, so happy that he was almost floating on air; this was a big deal.

Travelers and merchants in the past are usually not very generous.

Because they don't want to waste money on food and drinks on the way, they don't spend much at the shops. A meal costing ten or twenty taels isn't uncommon, but it's rare.

A pot of meat was served shortly afterward.

The aroma filled the air, whetting Zhang Zhengdao's appetite and taste buds.

The wine was also brought out.

Just as he took out the wine bowl and was about to pour, he heard a woman's voice at the hotel entrance.

"Master, what's the point of drinking alone? Let me have a few drinks with you!"

A woman in a green dress walked in.

The hotel patrons were immediately stunned, staring blankly at the woman in the green dress, their eyes unfocused, as if they had lost their souls.

She's so beautiful! Faced with such a beauty taking the initiative to come and drink with them, they'd be willing to give up ten years of their lives. If they could just catch a glimpse of her, it would be worth sacrificing twenty years of their lives.

"no!"

The Taoist priest actually uttered such cold, unapproachable, and unromantic words, completely ruining the mood. Immediately, the other drinkers became indignant, standing up for the beautiful woman.

A burly man with his shirt open slammed his wine bowl down with a "smack," stood up, and said to Zhang Zhengdao, "You ungrateful wretch! What a piece of trash! Beautiful fairy... I have some good wine here, I'll give it all to you..."

Zixia Fairy didn't even glance at him, walking straight past them to Zhang Zhengdao with a beaming smile.

"Look, I'm the one who beat the dog, but you got a free lunch. I get a bite of meat and a bowl of your wine in return. Isn't that fair?"

Zhang Zhengdao nodded: "Not excessive."

Fairy Zixia said again, "A beautiful woman is drinking and eating with you, and even the people around you are jealous. So, it's not too much to ask that you give me a room to stay in, is it?"

Zhang Zhengdao sighed: "However... I still have to advise you. Your injuries are quite serious. If you drink again, I'm afraid you won't survive the night."

Fairy Zixia laughed and said, "Isn't it just death? Do you want it or not...?"

Zhang Zhengdao: "No, I don't want to. You're about to die, what's the point..."

Fairy Zixia: ...