The wind was howling and the birds were sobbing and wailing.
The Taoist temple was in ruins, with dead branches and leaves scattered all over the ground, along with the broken fragments of the statues.
When Shopkeeper Ma was halfway up his horse, he suddenly heard some movement behind him. He fell off the horse with a thud and rushed into the Taoist temple.
"Dongjia, Dong..."
The dead wood broke with a creaking sound under Shopkeeper Ma's feet. He was stunned, staring with wide eyes at the old Taoist who was taken out of the statue.
When I met the old Taoist before, he still had gray hair on his temples and was wearing a fluttering blue-gray robe. He seemed to know everything from astronomy to geography.
Today's meeting -
The old Taoist's robe was covered in dirt and straw, and the calm and composed look on his face was long gone.
Wei Ziyuan's sword was across his throat, and bloodstains were faintly visible.
The old Taoist wept bitterly, and knelt on the ground, crying: "Please spare my life, my hero, please spare my life!"
The old Taoist clasped his hands together and bowed repeatedly.
Shopkeeper Ma stepped forward boldly, looked at him several times, and nodded to Wei Ziyuan: "Boss, he is here to stay."
The old Taoist's eyes were full of wrinkles, and tears fell like rain: "Knight, I will return all your silver to you, please spare my life!"
After he finished speaking, he tremblingly took out a few taels of silver from his sleeve and poured them all on the ground.
Shopkeeper Ma lowered his eyes and glanced at him, a hint of sarcasm flashing across his eyes: "What a joke, our boss needs these few taels of silver from you?"
The old Taoist's cry for mercy suddenly stopped, and his eyes rolled around: "Why did that knight come here today?"
Shopkeeper Ma patted the Taoist priest on the face and said, "Taoist priest, don't play dumb with me. Last time I came..."
Shopkeeper Ma held a dead tree in his hand and wrote the three words "Breath-Blocking Pills" on the ground: "Why, did you remember?"
The old Taoist opened his eyes wide for a moment, then nodded hesitantly: "I remember, I remember!"
Shopkeeper Ma was relieved: "I'm glad you remembered it. Last time you told me about three lives..."
The old Taoist knelt down again with a thud, and kowtowed repeatedly: "Knight, that was just a casual remark from me. Where in the world can you find a breath-retaining pill? I just, just..."
He slapped himself hard several times, regretting his actions. "I was just drunk and made up a story. Last time you came, I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, so I lied."
The smile on Shopkeeper Ma's face instantly disappeared. He stared blankly at Wei Ziyuan above him: "Boss, this..."
Shopkeeper Ma had never expected that the news he had bought at a huge price turned out to be the drunken nonsense of the old Taoist priest.
He was so angry that he wanted to punch him, but he also felt guilty towards Wei Ziyuan, "Boss, I was careless this time, next time I will definitely..."
Wei Ziyuan's eyes swept across the old Taoist's face calmly: "... Yeah."
The old Taoist knelt on the ground, tears in his eyes: "Knight, I really don't know what the Breath-Resting Pill is. I am just a liar who deceives people. I just tell fortunes for people. I don't have any special skills."
Wei Ziyuan had a blank expression on his face and remained silent.
Like a default.
The old Taoist priest heaved a sigh of relief, and gently pushed away the sharp sword that was across his neck: "So I can go now..."
The long sword once again blocked the old Taoist's eyes, and the bright white light and shadow frightened the shopkeeper Ma so much that he took two or three steps back.