This is how immortals are cultivated

"how come..."

I saw that the grain price in Huiquan County remained at last year's level. Not only did it not increase, but it actually dropped slightly.

Zhang Jue hurriedly took his disciples to several other grain shops, but found that the prices of grain were the same.

"Could it be that Huiquan County has a lot of grain reserves?"

That's not right. Even if there were enough grain, in this year of famine, grain merchants would only hoard it and make a fortune. They would take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.

Maintaining affordable or even low food prices during a year of famine can be considered charity.

Zhang Jue couldn't help but ask the clerk in the grain store why this happened, but the clerk was very secretive about it and refused to tell him.

However, Zhang Jue did not ask too many questions. It was true that Huiquan County was not normal now. The guy was unwilling to tell him what had happened, but there were always people who knew the details.

"Excuse me, how should the Tang family go..."

Zhang Jue stopped a passerby to ask, and after knowing the specific location, he and his disciples went directly to the Tang family.

When they arrived at the gate of the Tang family mansion, they found it was tightly closed. Zhang Jue subconsciously looked around and saw that the Tang family mansion was filled with a bloody aura, as if a disaster was about to happen.

While Zhang Jue was in shock, his disciple had already knocked on the door.

Soon, the door was pushed open a crack.

The doorman was watching the person knocking on the door through the crack, as if he was afraid that a monster would come to the door.

The doorman seemed to have seen a corner of the Taoist robe on Zhang Jue's disciple, and immediately let out a terrified scream and was about to run away.

But Zhang Jue's disciple was quick and agile. After pushing the door open, he grabbed the arm of the doorman who turned to escape.

"Hercules, do not be disrespectful."

Zhang Jue gave his disciples instructions, then spoke to the gatekeeper:

"I have no ill intentions. I met your master, Lord Tang, once in the capital seven years ago."

Zhang Jue pulled out a visiting card from his sleeve and handed it to the doorman: "Please give this to your master. Your master will naturally know who is visiting."

At this time, the gatekeeper also saw the appearance of Zhang Jue and his disciple Zhang Lishi clearly, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer tried to escape. Instead, he accepted the visiting card and went straight to the house.

Standing outside the door waiting, Zhang Lishi couldn't help but ask his master:

"Teacher, do you think we can borrow some food this time?"

The teacher founded the "Shang Yi Dao" Taoist tradition and traveled the world, praying for the people and providing medical treatment. However, human power is limited. Although the teacher taught many fellow disciples of Shang Yi Dao, it was still a drop in the bucket to relieve the suffering of the world.

For example, during this famine, Zhang Jue was only a mortal. Although he possessed the ability to see through the air and possessed superb medical skills, he could not conjure food out of thin air. He could only swallow his pride and beg the powerful for help.

If he could get food by being shameless, Zhang Jue would be willing to do it even if he had to kneel down and beg.

But this is not the case. For the powerful gentry, giving out their own food for the untouchables is like cutting their own flesh, which is even more painful than cutting their own flesh.

This was the case in Binzhou. Zhang Jue asked for food several times. Perhaps because he had been summoned by the emperor and given the title of "Shangyi Taoist", he was given some food, but at most it could only provide food for one or two hundred people for a few days. It was of no help to the countless refugees who were suffering from the famine.

Zhang Jue answered his disciples' questions with silence.

Just when the two were silent, there was a noise coming from the house.

I saw an old man in a brocade robe walking out in a hurry.

Seeing the old man like this, Zhang Jue couldn't help but show a look of surprise on his face.

When he was in the capital, he did meet Lord Tang a few times, who was not yet an official at that time, but it was only a few encounters.

But I didn't expect that Lord Tang would come out to greet me directly.

What surprised Zhang Jue even more was that when Lord Tang came to him, he grabbed his hands and half-knelt down, then burst into tears and said:

"Please, Taoist priest, save the entire Huiquan County."

Chapter 170 What did you see?

Zhang Jue was stunned by Lord Tang's appearance, but he was knowledgeable and well-maintained, so he quickly regained his composure and helped the doctor, who had served as a 1,000-stone official in the court, up.

"Mr. Tang, please tell me what happened in detail. I will do my best to help you."

Upon hearing Zhang Jue's words, Lord Tang burst into tears.

"Master Shangyi, you may not know that a month ago, an evil spirit possessed a citizen and committed a great deal of murder in Huiquan County."

"Dozens of our county's diligent officials were slaughtered by him, and even the Huang, Li, and Liu families, among other virtuous families, were completely wiped out by him."

"Finally, the garrison commander was called in, but his entire army was annihilated. Even the county magistrate was brutally murdered by the evil demon. Now, everyone in Huiquan County is in a state of panic... The Wang family fled, their bodies lying in the wilderness the next day. Only the servants escaped."

"A request for assistance has been sent to the provincial capital, but we don't know how long it will take for the provincial capital to send a large army. Perhaps before then, this county will have been destroyed by that evil demon."

"And now, only you, a true cultivator, can subdue the evil demon. I believe you have come here for this reason..."

Lord Tang looked at Zhang Jue with hope on his face.

It is said that this Taoist Shang Yi has the ability to call the wind and rain, and travels around the world to defeat demons.

Ever since the evil demon "Fang Xi", who called himself Fang Suichu and the Taoist of Taiping, massacred the garrison troops, no one considered him to be a "human being" anymore.

That could only be the legendary demon.

Professional matters can only be done by professionals.

Zhang Jue didn't know what he was thinking, but his brain was stunned by the words that contained a huge amount of information.

A rebellion broke out in Huiquan County. Some people rose up, killed local tyrants, killed the county magistrate, and even defeated the army of the garrison. If that were the case, it would be understandable.

But if it is paired with a 'one person' unit, it would be a bit far-fetched.

Zhang Jue did not believe in the existence of evil spirits. Although he had traveled around the world for a long time as a Taoist priest, he had never seen a real evil spirit.

As for the stories about him exorcising evil spirits, they were actually fabricated by word of mouth after he destroyed several lewd temple priests who were pretending to be gods.

But judging from the appearance of Lord Tang and the strange situation in Huiquan County, this seems to be true.

There really was a person, or rather an evil demon, who did such a thing.

"That's not what I came here for."

After a while, Zhang Jue uttered these words.

Lord Tang's expression changed instantly. With all physical means failing, the powerful people in Huiquan County could only rely on the power of metaphysics.

There are monks and Taoists in Huiquan County. Many powerful people want to spend a lot of money to hire these Taoist monks to take action, but the next day after paying the reward, these Taoist monks ran away.

"There are nearly a thousand refugees from Binzhou fleeing to Yongzhou. I came here to borrow food."

"This is easy to say!" Lord Tang said immediately without waiting for Zhang Jue to continue.

"As long as the Taoist priest can defeat that evil demon, everyone in Huiquan County is willing to provide three thousand dan of grain!"

---

Half an hour later, Zhang Jue and his disciples appeared on the official road outside Huiquan County.

"Master, you may have some concerns. Huiquan County is indeed extremely weird. If it really doesn't work, we will leave here and go to the next county to borrow food." Zhang Lishi looked at his silent master and spoke in a deep voice.

Sitting on the donkey, Zhang Jue raised his head and sighed:

"No, we still have time, but those people in distress don't. If we waste a quarter of an hour here, someone might fall."

"Furthermore, if an evil demon that threatens to harm the people really appears here, I can't just sit back and watch."

Having said that, Zhang Jue paused again.

Although he is a Taoist priest and has learned talismans, he doesn't know whether they will work if he really encounters a demon.

"Lu Shi, can you take on an army of two hundred men?"

Zhang Jue asked his disciples.

This disciple of his is extremely talented and was rescued by him by chance. Although he does not know martial arts, he is born with supernatural powers. If he were on the battlefield, he would definitely be a fierce general.

The world is in chaos nowadays and there are many bandits in the mountains. It was this disciple who protected us all the way here, and any ordinary bandits could be easily dealt with.

"If I had a good horse, heavy armor, and good weapons, and if I wasn't surrounded, I might be able to do it while fighting and moving."

"If we fight on foot, it will be very difficult. The disciples can only hold out for a while, causing some casualties, and then they will be captured."

After listening to Zhang Lishi's words, Zhang Jue fell silent again.

"However, Master, rest assured. If that is truly an evil demon, and I am defeated, I will protect you even at the cost of my life."

Before they knew it, the two had left the official road and were on the country road. After walking a few miles, they saw the stone tablet of Fangjia Village and arrived in front of the village.

Zhang Jue was just about to take a look when he felt the glare was unbearable and couldn't help but shed tears.

Although he couldn't see the air, his heart started beating, as if something was touched. He couldn't tell whether it was good or bad, but he instinctively wanted to touch it.

He had never encountered such a situation before.

As the two entered the village, they immediately attracted the attention of the villagers. When they saw the Taoist robes on the two, they seemed to have thought of something and wanted to step forward to stop them.

But in the end, he was afraid of Zhang Lishi, a burly man beside him, and did not dare to step forward.

The two did not speak.

The villagers here may have seen the Taoist robes and knew what they were doing here.

Although they were clearly trying to exorcise the evil spirits and benefit the locals, they did not feel any welcome from the villagers. Instead, they felt resistance and hostility.

"teacher..."

In this situation, Zhang Lishi couldn't help but speak.

This evil thing must be different from what the powerful gentleman surnamed Tang said.

If it was a true evil demon, Huiquan County would definitely not be what it is today.

Zhang Jue shook his head and signaled Zhang Lishi not to speak for the time being.

But he followed the feeling in his heart and came to the end of Fangjia Village.

There is a family at the end of the village.

The earthen wall was newly built and the yard covers a large area.

When I walked into the yard, I found that there were many miscellaneous items here, including many gold, silver, jewelry and precious objects placed randomly in the yard.

A young Taoist was lying on a Huanghuali recliner, reading a book in his hands.

The Taoist's long black hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, and he looked very peaceful.

After entering the yard and seeing the Taoist priest, Zhang Lishi immediately stood in front of Zhang Jue.

His body was tense to the extreme, as if he had encountered something extremely dangerous and terrifying.

This is an instinct, engraved in the bones, the instinct of fear of being crushed by the powerful.

Zhang Lishi's senses are naturally more acute than those of ordinary people. He has accompanied his master on his journeys around the world and has experienced many battles, which is why he has such a premonition.

"Teacher, please run away quickly... run away without looking back."

"Demon or not... he's not human."

It was at this time that the young man in Taoist robes put down the scriptures in his hands and looked at the two of them.

His gaze passed directly past Zhang Lishi, who was terrified to the extreme and was "baring his teeth" and bluffing, and looked at Zhang Jue.

"You're quite interesting... In this world, under such 'divine will', are there still people like you?"

The young man smiled and said softly:

"Tell me, what did you see?"

Chapter 171 The Thief

There are no magical powers in this world.

Even if it is talisman water used to cure diseases, the talisman is just an inducement, and the real cure is the herbs put in the water.

But there is indeed a magical skill, which is to look at the qi.

The way of heaven is constant. Observe its movement and examine its constant.

The destiny of heaven cannot be reversed, and the destiny of heaven cannot be violated. We can observe the will of heaven and earth by observing the qi.