Chapter 588: Chapter 588: A promising start_1
Xuan Chen Zhenren naturally couldn’t admit that he was playing mahjong, and with some curses and complaints, he quickly derailed the topic.
Having such a master, Li Qing didn’t have the slightest temper at all.
Despite being such an extravagant and careless master, his status was extraordinarily high both inside the sect and outside.
Helpless, Li Qing could only succinctly explain the situation with the old apricot tree to Xuan Chen Zhenren.
"Based on what you’re saying, there are generally only two possibilities."
Xuan Chen Zhenren shuffled his mahjong tiles noisily while analyzing the situation for Li Qing, "Either what the tree spirit said is true, and those people hung themselves on the tree simply because they thought it was a good place to do so."
"Or, that old apricot tree is deep and cunning, knowing how to hide. If it spent many years subtly influencing a person’s mind, making them develop the desire to die, and then they hanged themselves on that tree."
"Although everything under the Heavenly Dao cannot be hidden, this kind of situation could very likely deceive the Heavenly Dao."
"Moreover, when you forcefully summon Heavenly Punishment with immortal melodies, it’s like making the Heavenly Dao punch in for work when it might still be groggy from sleep."
Li Qing immediately made a bizarre face, "Master, does the Heavenly Dao also sleep?"
"That’s naturally impossible, I’m just making an analogy, giving you a random example. Anyway, your act of taking over the work of the Heavenly Dao may not be very well-liked by it, so the Heavenly Punishment it brings down is likely to be perfunctory," said Xuan Chen Zhenren mildly.
"But then, how can we mere mortals clearly understand the matters of the heavens, I’m just guessing blindly."
Li Qing, hearing the chaotic sound on the phone, felt his face twitching with frustration.
He could tell that his cheap master was just brushing him off.
The conversation had become disconnected and chaotic, clearly utter nonsense.
"Master, seriously, you really aren’t fulfilling your duties as a master, even Director Dian is more reliable than you," Li Qing said irritably.
"Nonsense!" Xuan Chen Zhenren suddenly shouted angrily, "He needs you to work for him, how could he afford not to be responsible?"
"No, I put it too mildly, he wants you to risk your life for him, do you think he can afford not to be responsible? But what do I, your master, have to gain from you? I’m asking for nothing at all! You little bastard don’t even show respect with a roast chicken."
"As the ancients said well, a teacher should be treated like a father, but where is your filial piety towards me, your benefactor?"
Li Qing was momentarily at a loss for words; the argument seemed strangely reasonable.
But why did it feel so awkward to him, as if something wasn’t quite right?
"Master, I don’t want to hold you up from your mahjong game, so I’ll just ask one last thing," Li Qing said earnestly, "Regarding the old apricot tree, which possibility do you lean towards more?"
"Me? Well, I actually lean towards both since I haven’t seen that apricot tree in person and can’t judge!" Xuan Chen Zhenren’s attitude finally became serious, "If you suspect it, then don’t hesitate, strike it with lightning and kill it."
"Better to kill by mistake than let go. If you think it’s suspicious, then in all likelihood, it may indeed be up to something."
"Master, don’t you think it’s a bit improper to say such things?" Li Qing commented quietly, "Besides, the lightning won’t strike it!"
What’s this ’better to kill by mistake than let go’? Those words didn’t sound like anything positive.
"Then just keep a close eye on it. Such a creature is either truly harmless or an extremely dangerous being," Xuan Chen Zhenren said in a grave tone, "A tree that knows patience and is adept at scheming is definitely no simple creature, so be cautious. If you feel like the situation is getting out of hand, shake a leg and get out of there, understand?"
Li Qing’s heart felt somewhat warmed by these words.
It wasn’t easy, but his cheap master had finally done something humane.
"Understood, Master. Please go on with your business—I overheard that you just lost a round." Li Qing said with a light laugh.
"Nonsense, your master here was in retreat!" Xuan Chen Zhenren still insisted strongly.
Li Qing laughed and ended the call.
He was definitely an old mischief.
What Xuan Chen Zhenren had said made Li Qing instantly take the old apricot tree much more seriously.
He had been somewhat suspicious before and had wanted to confirm his suspicions, but now, he had to treat the matter carefully.
"A supremely dangerous entity" was not just a simple phrase.
And when preceded by the words "unparalleled," it became even more significant.
If it revealed its true form, the many people of Sanhe Village might not be enough for it to kill.
Li Qing went home, took out the work laptop arranged by the ninth bureau, and recorded the coordinates and information of the old apricot tree, making it a case file.
Since he couldn’t get through to Xuan Chen Zhenren’s phone, Li Qing had also asked Dian Chunqiu before.
But Dian Chunqiu’s opinion was that since even the Heavenly Punishment didn’t pursue the matter with the tree spirit, in theory, it was just a harmless plant spirit and could be ignored.
Although his nominal master was highly unreliable, by comparison, Li Qing actually believed Xuan Chen Zhenren’s words more.
Making a file to let the experts at the bureau study it, was also a way to have a backup plan.
Just as he finished dealing with this matter, a car suddenly stopped outside his yard.
Li Qing looked at the all-too-familiar car and was stunned for a few seconds.
It wasn’t until Lü Zong, Gong Ge, and an exceptionally elegant woman got out of the car that Li Qing snapped back to reality.
"Lü Zong, what brings you here all of a sudden?" Li Qing put down his laptop and asked in utter surprise.
This was completely unexpected, like a surprise attack!
"We had a beautiful start, so after discussing with Old Gong, we thought we should pay a visit to our major backer," Lü Zong said, placing the bags and parcels he brought down, and laughed heartily.
Li Qing looked at Lü Zong with a strange expression. How had this guy become so erratic these last few days?
They were doing a business worth millions; surely he hadn’t lost his senses over tens of thousands.
"Lü Zong, maybe you should start with explaining what this ’beautiful start’ is. Why do I feel so uneasy about it!" Li Qing asked with a strange look on his face, "You’ve already ’opened this door’ so quickly?"
"Yes, it’s wide open and shining brightly," Lü Zong chuckled.
He walked over, leaned in close to Li Qing, and whispered, "Didn’t I tell you yesterday that I wanted to take care of my old friends first? Those rich guys tried our liquor and it was like old cats smelling fish—they nearly went mad. The three hundred pounds of liquor I brewed in the past four days were not nearly enough for them to share."
"They’ve already cleared it out, and now the situation is just like with your selling—they are all lining up!"
"Three hundred pounds of liquor, I sold it for eight thousand a liang. You do the math—isn’t that an impressive way to ’open the door’? Red through and through!"
Li Qing: ...
