Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

In theory, Shuangxiu didn't know Ma Jiepu's friends. Today was their first meeting, and by any measure, it was their first day meeting Ma Jiepu. They had no idea who his friends were.

However, Liu Qingyuan had met Ma Jiepu a long time before that. Although they had only met a few times, she knew his basic information.

Moreover, at that time, Ma Jiepu was traveling with his friends, the Yang brothers, Yang Wanshi and Yang Wanzhong. Ma Jiepu was visiting the Yang brothers' hometown again and thought he would take the opportunity to pay them a visit.

Ma Jiepu befriended the Yang brothers because he valued their character and considered them upright gentlemen. Today, after learning about the White Lotus Sect's many unusual behaviors, he understood that they were about to make a big move and began to worry about the Yang brothers.

Putting everything else aside, just take today's incident with the water hyacinth. A tiny bit of water hyacinth can poison a person to death. The White Lotus Sect has people collecting so much of it. If it is used for poisoning in the future, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Ma Jiepu was right. The White Lotus Sect did indeed use water hyacinth in their poisoning techniques, but under Shou Wanjie's instructions, the victims were not ordinary people, but giant turtles.

The White Lotus Sect fed most of the water monster poison they collected to the giant turtle. The pain caused by the poison forced the giant turtle to the surface, where it was then killed by Shou Wanjie's single strike.

In a sense, Shou Wanjie used the White Lotus Sect and illegal transmigrators to destroy a large amount of Water Grass, making it difficult for the local Water Grass demons to find substitutes and deceive people.

Unfortunately, Ma Jiepu was unaware of these things. The Water Demons here only saw a group of people suddenly and purposefully collecting Water Demon Grass, but they didn't know exactly what they were doing.

Judging others by their own standards, as members of the Water Demons, their first thought was naturally to use the Water Demon Grass to poison people. Given the precedents of Third Sister and the old woman, Ma Jiepu also assumed that the White Lotus Sect was collecting Water Demon Grass to poison people.

This thing looks similar to a lentil, and not many people know of its existence. If the White Lotus Sect takes it to other places, even fewer people will recognize it. Some people might actually mistake it for a lentil and eat it. Wouldn't that make it an easy target for poison?

"Judging from the timeline, it has been quite a while since the White Lotus Sect came to collect the water grass. During this period, I have not heard of anyone being poisoned to death for offending the White Lotus Sect. Perhaps they have not yet used it."

Yuan Wuxiang comforted Ma Jiepu, saying that any White Lotus sect member who had committed murder would be wanted and pursued to some extent. Those who were able to escape would use magic to flee, thus causing a stir in the local area and letting the local people know that there was a White Lotus sect sorcerer who knew evil magic.

If someone is unable to escape, then there's no follow-up. The victim's family senses something is wrong and reports it to the authorities. The officers and soldiers arrest the person, interrogate them, convict and punish them, and that's it.

The fact that there was no major trouble or strange rumors surrounding this place indicates that the White Lotus Sect hasn't caused much disturbance in the vicinity. Furthermore, the departure of the scholars suggests that the Waterweed Grass hasn't spread widely beyond the villages.

In conclusion, the current situation is not too bad. Even if the area where the Yang brothers live has a larger population and a more complex demographic, as long as it is not near the stronghold of the cult, they will not run into any trouble caused by the White Lotus Sect in the short term, and they are safe.

Wait a minute, with the White Lotus Sect so fragmented, does it really have a central headquarters?

"By the way, I still don't know what kind of sect the White Lotus Sect is here..."

Jian Feidao wrote to them hoping they would pay more attention to the White Lotus Sect's movements in the south. Now is a good opportunity. Following up on the Water Grass incident, they can see what factions are active in the surrounding area, and thus judge the influence of the title "Asura King".

Ma Jiepu had never heard of these things because he was not interested in the many rumors circulating among the people and spent most of his time wandering around.

Moreover, a fox spirit of his level rarely encounters troublemakers or fools who would dare to fight him. The White Lotus Sect specializes in attacking ordinary people, which is somewhat different from Ma Jiepu's situation.

Yuan Wuxiang's thoughts drifted further and further away, while Juan Shoutian came over to talk to Ma Jiepu again.

"You are knowledgeable in pharmacology?"

When the scholars were still around, Ma Jiepu explained to them that he could see through the secrets of tea seeds, saying that he learned from a hermit master, one in magic and the other in medicine.

"Over the years, I've traveled all over the country and learned all sorts of folk remedies."

In reality, Ma Jiepu's expertise cannot be called "medical skills." As a fox spirit, he could use magic to solve the common ailments that ordinary people experience. Ordinary medical skills were of little help to a fox spirit. He learned more of some "folk remedies." As for preparing and making medicine, it should be called alchemy.

His luggage contained many strange and unusual folk remedies, including those that boost courage, induce hallucinations, or force one to tell the truth—basically, things that are not used in daily life and only work in specific situations.

"Are there any home remedies for seasickness?"

Juan Shoutian remembered that the two of them came here because Yuan Wuxiang was seasick and wanted to find some medicine to relieve seasickness while they were on shore getting some fresh air.

Medicines for ordinary people might not be effective against their constitution, but Ma Jiepu in front of them is a fox spirit, and according to the setting, he does have many medicines with special effects, which might be able to cure Yuan Wuxiang's seasickness.

"...Senior, are you seasick?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Jiepu couldn't help but glance at Juan Shoutian. The other party seemed to be able to fly through the clouds, and it was hard to imagine that he would get seasick like an ordinary person.

"No, it's my friend who's seasick."

Driven by the belief that the more you know, the better you can treat a problem, Juan Shoutian began to recount Yuan Wuxiang's experience with seasickness.

"We originally planned to sail south, but the humidity on the water was too high, which affected my friend's blood circulation in the brain. The blood flow slowed down, and he lacked energy, which caused him to feel unwell and seasick."

After hearing the explanation, Ma Jiepu: ...

Is this why people get seasick? I feel like something's not right, but I can't quite put my finger on it. So, seasickness is ultimately caused by too much humidity... Wait a minute, does that mean I'd get seasick even standing on the shore?

The principle of seasickness described by Juan Shoutian is quite different from the reason why ordinary people get seasick. However, Ma Jiepu himself is not human and has never been seasick. He has only seen others get seasick. Even if he feels something is wrong, he cannot refute it no matter how much he thinks about it.

According to the theory of Juan Shou Tian, ​​Yuan Wuxiang's seasickness might not be due to the boat, but rather the dampness. If that's the case, then he could get seasickness wherever he goes.

Ma Jiepu: Isn't this wrong?

Juan Shou Tian: The constitution of people born with this constitution is quite diverse (serious).

"If it's caused by dampness, I have some dehumidifying incense here, which should help."

Ultimately, the sense of unease in his heart was attributed to the difference in physical constitution caused by the different worlds they lived in. Since Juan Shoutian said so, Ma Jiepu believed it. The other party didn't seem like the type to play tricks on people, and there was no need to lie about his friend getting seasick.

According to the principles described by Juan Shoutian, Ma Jiepu does indeed have something that can effectively treat the symptoms of dehumidification and promoting blood circulation. However, it is just some incense, which is perfectly fine for ordinary people, but he is not sure about Yuan Wuxiang.

He explained this directly to the two of them, saying that here, anyone who has made some progress in their cultivation will not only have their lifespan extended, but will also be free from most minor illnesses.

Among the spiritual practitioners Ma Jiepu had encountered before, he had never seen anyone who got seasick; Yuan Wuxiang was the first such case.

Since everything is fine here, there's no need to keep this tea stall set up by the Water Demon. There's no tea here, only processed Water Demon grass. To prevent people from accidentally entering or being used by malicious individuals, it's better to destroy it along with the tea stall.

The Yang brothers' home was downstream, a little far from the villages where water hyacinth grew, but that distance was nothing to Ma Jiepu, who rode his donkey there quickly.

However, what concerned him was what the two men said to him when they parted. After learning that this was his first visit to the Yang brothers, they told Ma Jiepu that if he saw an old man at the Yang family's door, he should remember to ask him a few more questions.

He spoke in a rambling manner, without telling the two men about his friends. He only said that they were two brothers surnamed Yang whom he had known before, and that he thought they were both of good character, so he became sworn brothers with them.

The other party probably didn't know his two sworn brothers, but he seemed to be very familiar with the Yang family. Given that people with high cultivation levels usually have some divination abilities, and some can even know the future directly, Ma Jiepu made a note of what he said.

When he found the Yang family's house, he indeed saw an old man sitting at the entrance. The old man looked quite old, dressed in rags, like a beggar.

Although he was called a beggar, he was somewhat different from other beggars. There was nothing he was begging for; he was just sitting at the entrance of the Yang family's house. Ma Jiepu initially thought he was a servant of the Yang family and was about to ask the old man to go in and announce his arrival when he remembered what he had said earlier. He changed his mind and asked the old man about his identity.

It was this question that made Ma Jiepu's jaw drop. The old man was neither a beggar nor a servant, but the biological father of the Yang brothers.

When he first heard about this, he was somewhat incredulous. He asked around and received confirmation. Moreover, judging from the expressions of others, they were clearly used to it and had nothing to be surprised about it.

The Yang family was a wealthy and powerful family, and their mansion was very beautiful. The Yang brothers were also dressed in fine clothes. With the Yang family's wealth, they could easily support an old man. So why were the sons dressed in luxury while their father was dressed in rags like a beggar?

Back then, Ma Jiepu admired the Yang brothers for their character, considering them rare gentlemen, which is why he swore brotherhood with them. But today, after visiting the Yang family, he finds their situation quite different from his previous impression.

Upon hearing that Ma Jiepu had arrived, the Yang brothers were overjoyed and immediately prepared a banquet to properly entertain their sworn brother. However, because of what they had seen and heard at the gate, Ma Jiepu, who was being entertained, did not give them a friendly look. He felt that the upright gentleman they admired was a scoundrel who abused his own father, so he could not possibly put on a good face.

Seeing that Ma Jiepu's expression was off, Yang Wanzhong glanced in the direction of the mansion gate and guessed why he was angry.

"Brother Ma, regarding my father... it is truly a misfortune for our family."

Yang Wanzhong didn't want them to be seen as unfilial by their sworn brothers, so he took the initiative to explain the reason.

The reason why the two brothers' father became like this was all due to the wife of the elder brother, Yang Wanshi. Yang Wanshi was gentle by nature, but his wife, Yin, was fierce and domineering. Anyone in the family who did not obey her would be whipped by Yin, causing chaos in the Yang family.

The reason why Mr. Yang was like this was because Ms. Yin disliked him and made things difficult for him in every aspect of his life, forbidding others from helping him and forcing Mr. Yang to live like a beggar.

After hearing this, Ma Jiepu's expression softened somewhat, but he remained serious. He looked at Yang Wanzhong and asked him a few questions.

"...How does your sister-in-law's family background compare to Brother Yang's?"

"Marry someone of equal social standing".

The Yang and Yin families were of similar means, and in terms of social standing, Yang Wanshi and Yin were indeed a good match. The only drawback was that Yin had no children, and Yang Wanshi had a concubine to continue the Yang family line.

"Didn't Brother Yang say anything about what he did?"

Since the two families are evenly matched, there is no need to worry about retaliation from the Yin family even if one offends the Yin family. The whole family is being treated like this. As the head of the family, is Yang Wanshi really going to do nothing?

"...No, my brother is very afraid of my sister-in-law."

Yang Wanzhong understood Ma Jiepu's meaning. He honestly shook his head. He also had some complaints about Madam Yin, but as the elder brother, he didn't say anything. As the younger brother, he couldn't overstep his bounds either. If he acted impulsively, it might backfire.

Upon hearing this, Ma Jiepu took a deep breath and finally sighed. He knew that Yang Wanshi was rather mild-mannered when he first met the Yang brothers. At the time, he only thought that Yang Wanshi was humble, polite, and gentle.

Unexpectedly, this personality trait resulted in such extreme fear of one's wife at home.

"I've traveled here and have nothing else to do. I'd like to stay a few more days. Is that alright?"

"Of course, no problem."

Under the warm welcome of the Yang brothers, Ma Jiepu settled in the Yang family home. On his first day there, he pulled the elderly Yang father, who was sitting at the gate, into the house and invited him to stay in his room, where he ate and slept with him.

The Yang family dared not disobey the Yin family, but Ma Jiepu was not afraid. Although they had become sworn brothers, he was still an outsider. He had only helped the old man because he saw that he was pitiful and lonely. What did that have to do with the Yang family's dispute? Anyway, he felt it had nothing to do with it.

After providing food and lodging for Mr. Yang, Ma Jiepu went to the market to buy him a nice set of clothes, gave him a good bath, and changed out of the tattered clothes he was wearing.

The Yang brothers had not seen their father dressed neatly for a long time. Ever since Madam Yin married into the family, the Yang household had been in chaos. Seeing their father like this, the two brothers burst into tears.

It wasn't that they didn't care about their father, but they dared not disobey Madam Yin. If they resisted, not only would they suffer, but she would also inflict even more harm on their father.

Seeing the three men, father and sons, in tears, Ma Jiepu was very satisfied with his work. He planned to take good care of the Yang family's affairs in the next few days.

The Yang brothers were both good people, and he didn't want his sworn brothers, whom he trusted, to be branded as unfilial sons because of these things.

Now, the three Yangs were happy, as was Ma Jiepu, but Yin was not.

Originally, it was just a visit from her husband's friend, which Yin Shi had no interest in. However, Ma Jiepu ended up bringing his disliked old father, Mr. Yang, with him. Seeing that Mr. Yang had plenty of food and clothing, Yin Shi was furious.

"How is this going?!"

A sharp roar shattered the tender moment between the father and his two sons.