Chapter 1 The Lingering Sound

The lingering sound hadn't yet dissipated when An Qisheng had already descended the mountain.

The assembled City Gods looked at each other, but didn't dare to obstruct him.

However, the yellow dog lying prostrate at the foot of the mountain seemed to sense something. It leaped up, shook off the small red fox on its back, and darted out to follow him.

'Squeak, squeak, squeak!'

The little red fox stamped its feet anxiously, but couldn't keep up with the yellow dog's pace.

It chased for more than ten *li* without seeing any trace, and then dejectedly left.

Outside the mountain forest, An Qisheng didn't seem to have any intention of soaring through the clouds. He carried the yellow dog, which had shrunk to the size of a fist, and strolled forward, shaking his head slightly:

"I told you before to go down the mountain with Yan Xiake, but you weren't willing. You spend all day playing with this fox, and you reek of fox stench. People would believe you're a fox spirit."

"Master, I'm a kind dog. She insisted on coming, and I couldn't bite her to death, could I?"

The yellow dog's childish voice came.

For more than a year, this yellow dog had followed An Qisheng every day and had also gained good fortune. Its bloodline had been tempered several times, not inferior to the great demons in the mountains. Speaking in human language was naturally not difficult.

"Your fate with this little fox isn't shallow, but what can a dog and a fox talk about? Your master isn't even thinking about finding a Dao companion, and you're thinking about finding a fox spirit?"

An Qisheng joked.

"I'm just a simple dog..."

The yellow dog cried out in protest.

An Qisheng smiled dumbly. Compared to Sa Wuling, this yellow dog had been with him the longest and had been deeply influenced by him.

After all, if the master is kind and benevolent, how can the dog be vicious and ugly?

"Master, you're going to Qingdu, why aren't you flying there?"

The yellow dog was a little curious and drooled a little:

"Did that big bearded man go to Qingdu too? I haven't seen him in a year, and I miss him a lot..."

"If you fly for too long, you'll forget how to walk. Sometimes you still need to walk."

An Qisheng said casually.

Having said that, his way of walking was different from ordinary people.

With many City Gods spreading his Qi seed for him, his cultivation had improved a lot, and his physique had been tempered to be even more extraordinary. Although it wasn't obvious on the outside, earth-shattering changes had already taken place inside.

With the formation of the Three Flowers, his horizontal training *gongfa* had long since undergone a transformation.

Modifying the physical body from the cellular level was by no means comparable to ordinary body refining *gongfa*.

He seemed to be sitting quietly on the mountain peak, not practicing *gongfu*, but in fact, every instant, the frequency of his body's operation was measured in the hundreds of billions, and the training effect was naturally powerful.

It far exceeded the horizontal training methods he practiced in the Jiu Fu world.

With one step, he covered a hundred *zhang*, as easily and freely as if the earth was carrying him along.

"Don't understand."

The yellow dog licked its teeth. Compared to this, it still missed the big bearded man who had gone down the mountain before.

That bone, that figure, was much more fun than the little fox.

.......

The Daqing region was extremely vast, much larger than the Jiu Fu world.

In Liang province, there was a county town every three hundred *li*, a prefectural city every thousand *li*, and more than two hundred cities in one province. The land was sparsely populated.

Because there were many incidents of ghosts and monsters hurting people in the mountains and rivers, there were very few merchants. Even if there were any, they traveled in groups, so there were few bandits and robbers on the roads.

An Qisheng walked all the way out of Liang province. There were corpses buried in the wilderness and vagrants lying by the roadside, but he didn't encounter any bandits or robbers.

It must be said that the deterrence of ghosts and monsters was much stronger than that of the imperial court.

And with the spread of his Qi seed, within the Nine Provinces, including Liang province, the City Gods served as mountain gods, relying on the earth's veins, and instead isolated the contact between the monsters and ghosts in the deep mountains and human society.

Therefore, there were gradually more merchants in Liang province and other places.

"Ahead is Shining Prefecture. Although Dan province is the wealthiest of the prefectures, when it comes to prosperity, it's still our Shining Prefecture!"

In a caravan, An Qisheng was lying on a cart, pondering slightly, as a tall man introduced the area.

This caravan came from Shining Prefecture, buying and selling goods in nearby counties. There were as many as a thousand people traveling together. Seeing An Qisheng walking alone, they invited him to join them.

Of course, in this era, Taoists were always awe-inspiring and convincing.

Especially after An Qisheng casually eradicated the sequelae of ghost injuries for several people along the way, he naturally became even more awe-inspiring.

An Qisheng raised his eyebrows and looked over. At the end of the official road, he could already see a large city.

The population of the Huangtian world almost all gathered in the cities. A county town was comparable to a prefectural city in the Jiu Fu world, and a prefectural city was comparable to a provincial capital, but he had traveled through several major prefectures and was seeing such a large city for the first time.

Stretching across the wilderness, extending for unknown *li* from east to west, the height of the city walls exceeded thirty *zhang*, almost comparable to the capital of Dafeng in the Jiu Fu world.

A large river flowed outside the city, with boats and horse teams coming and going in an endless stream. It was indeed quite prosperous.

"Daoist An, if you don't have a place to live after entering the city, why not stay at my house for a few days?"

Not far away, a middle-aged man covered in dust walked over.

This middle-aged man was named Zhao Zhijing, and he was the organizer of this caravan. He also had some prestige in this Shining Prefecture. It was said that he had a vast fortune, three wives and four concubines, and could be considered a local big merchant.

If this caravan hadn't been so important, he wouldn't have come out.

He was also the one who saw An Qisheng's special qualities at a glance and strongly invited him to join the caravan.

"No, I won't be staying for long after entering the city."

An Qisheng waved his hand and refused.

Zhao Zhijing was a little regretful, but he didn't force it. He took out a gold ingot and handed it over: "Seeing that Daoist is quite poor, the expenses in Shining Prefecture are not small. Please accept this gold ingot as a treat from me for Daoist to have a drink."

"You are quite generous."

An Qisheng took the gold and looked at Zhao Zhijing deeply:

"You gave me a gold ingot, I should return the courtesy..."

He stretched out his hand, pulled a dog hair from the yellow dog, and with a flick of his hand, the curved hair became straight, like a golden needle, shining brightly in the sunlight.

Zhao Zhijing was stunned, but still nodded and took the 'golden needle.'

After saying that, someone in the distance shouted to enter the city.

An Qisheng didn't say much. He got off the cart and walked towards Shining Prefecture.

On his shoulder, the little yellow dog looked back at Zhao Zhijing, baring its teeth.

"Brother Zhao, what's wrong?"

Seeing Zhao Zhijing stunned and silent, a guard walked over: "Did that Taoist say something to you? Don't believe it. These Taoists and monks are the most superstitious people these days."

"The Daoist is a capable person."

In this era, weren't those who could walk alone in the wilderness experts?

Zhao Zhijing took a deep breath, suppressed his thoughts, and kept the 'golden needle' close to his body.

Then he said:

"Tell the brothers to speed up a bit. Let's finish early and go home early!"

This trip had lasted more than a year, and he missed everything at home quite a bit.

Entering the city was quite trivial, but Zhao Zhijing was a well-known merchant after all. Before it got dark, everything had been taken care of.

After that, he hosted a banquet for the principals of this caravan.

After the toasting and exchanging of courtesies, the night had already darkened. With things on his mind, he declined the invitations of his friends to eat and drink at the brothels.

Accompanied by his servants, he swayed back home.

The Zhao family's residence was quite large, with two courtyards in and two courtyards out, covering a large area. There were rockeries and ponds, but as soon as he entered the house, he noticed something was wrong.

Although the house wasn't brightly lit at night on normal days, it wouldn't be as dark as it was today.

"Where are the people?"

He frowned, and the accompanying servant had already stepped forward and knocked on the door: "The master is back, where have all the people gone to die?"

Squeak~

The door opened a crack, and the doorman peeked out, looking outside. Seeing Zhao Zhijing, he was overjoyed: "Master, you're finally back!"

"Has something happened at home?"

Zhao Zhijing's heart suddenly sank, and he stepped forward and pushed open the door:

"Where are the mistresses?"

"The mistresses, the mistresses..."

The doorman hesitated, and a deep fear appeared on his face:

"The mistresses, the mistresses are all waiting in the backyard, waiting..."

"Get out of the way!"

Zhao Zhijing pushed the doorman away and hurried towards the backyard.

Whoosh, whoosh~

The night breeze blew, and the courtyard was filled with coldness.

Zhao Zhijing hadn't even reached the backyard, and the alcohol had already worn off. He felt increasingly uneasy.

He strode towards the backyard.

Weeping~

As soon as he entered the backyard, he heard a low weeping sound coming from the room with the candlelight.

"Ling'zi!"

Hearing the weeping, Zhao Zhijing was shocked and couldn't help but grit his teeth and pull out the long sword from his waist, shouting loudly and rushing into the room.

Bang!

The night wind poured into the room.

Zhao Zhijing glanced around and saw a woman crying in front of the mirror behind the curtains.

Hearing the sound, the woman trembled first, and seeing Zhao Zhijing, she cried even louder:

"Husband, you, you're finally back!"

The woman threw herself into Zhao Zhijing's arms, her delicate face covered in tears, crying extremely sadly.

"Ling'zi, what's wrong with you?"

Zhao Zhijing felt a pain in his heart and helped the woman up. He was observant and saw at a glance that the woman was bruised and purple, and there were marks on her neck where she had been strangled by a rope.

"Husband, you, you've made me suffer... made several sisters suffer."

The woman just cried, gasping for breath.

Zhao Zhijing felt shocked and angry:

"What exactly happened?!"

The woman cried for a long time before sobbing and saying: "Husband, do you, do you remember the God of Wealth you invited?"

Zhao Zhijing's heart 'thumped.'

How could he not remember?

Years ago, his family had declined, his servants had scattered, and everything he did went wrong. He had almost squandered his family fortune. Later, after listening to the introduction of a former friend, he had invited a 'God of Wealth.'

He worshiped and burned incense every day.

After a few years, things really improved, and he made several large sums of money. Although it was still slightly inferior to his original family, it was much better than when he had declined.

Therefore, he became even more grateful to this 'God of Wealth,' and he almost bowed and burned incense three times a day, and he bowed every time he went out on a long trip.

"That day, when the master went out, went out... At night, the God of Wealth appeared, scared away the maids and servants, and raped, raped the concubine... Wuwu~"

Saying that, the woman fell on the table, crying as if she was about to suffocate:

"Several sisters, several sisters, were all raped by him..."

Zhao Zhijing was struck by lightning. His body twitched, and his eyes suddenly turned red as if they were about to bleed.

Then, an unbearable roar burst out from his chest:

"How dare an evil god deceive me like this?!"