Healing the Sick and Saving People (Part 1)

A family of three was arguing and clinging to each other. Some people had already gathered around, some seemed indignant and ready to intervene, but their fierce gazes were directed at the young woman. Others seemed to want to step forward, but after looking at the young woman and the little girl, then at their own families, they quietly retreated.

Shi Xuan couldn't stand it. You can believe what you want, and it's your choice if you become crippled or die, but you can't let your wife and daughter starve to death. He stepped forward and lightly struck the back of the yellow-skinned, gaunt middle-aged man's head. The precisely controlled force made him fall unconscious without making a sound. The people around who were preparing to intervene were stunned and stopped in their tracks.

When the yellow-skinned, gaunt man fell, his wife and daughter realized something was wrong. They looked at Shi Xuan with their large and small eyes, red and swollen from crying.

"Help him back... alas." He originally wanted to say that he could only manage for a while, not forever. After he left, if this man insisted on this course of action, what would happen to the mother and daughter? But when Shi Xuan noticed the two figures hiding in the shadows ahead, an idea came to his mind.

The young woman dragged her husband up. Just as she was about to thank the young Daoist priest, she saw the young Daoist priest calmly say to the corner ahead, "Come out. What other good show do you want to watch?" Puzzled, she followed his gaze.

Two men in strange, light red clothes emerged from the corner. They were divine servants from the Divine Lord Temple. One of them, a man with a pockmarked, weather-beaten face, looked at Shi Xuan with an unpleasant expression. "You little Daoist priest, do you know this is disrespect to the Divine Lord!"

The surrounding townspeople also pointed at Shi Xuan, "This little Daoist priest is no good! How dare he disrespect the Divine Lord!"

"Our Wang family's second brother voluntarily offered himself to the Divine Lord, and he dares to stop him!"

There were also hushed voices, "Honey, isn't that Wang family's second brother a bit too foolish?"

"That's called piety. Don't talk nonsense!"

Shi Xuan took two steps forward with the black banner and chuckled, "Oh? This humble Daoist priest would like to see what happens to those who disrespect the Divine Lord."

The faces of the two divine servants immediately darkened. Since becoming divine servants, they had never encountered anyone who scorned them like this. However, seeing the young Daoist priest's calm demeanor, they wondered if he had some backing, and their hearts faltered slightly.

But after looking around, they saw that the surrounding crowd was angered by Shi Xuan's dismissive words about the Divine Lord, including those who had hesitated earlier, as well as the aunts and mothers, young women and girls. Only the children, a little scared but also curious, hid on the side and watched. The two divine servants' hearts settled. The weather-beaten man stepped forward and shouted, "You demonic Daoist, you are so arrogant, you deserve to die! Let's all tie him up and take him to the Divine Temple, so the Divine Lord can descend divine punishment upon him and leave him with no place to be buried!"

Shi Xuan raised the Soul-Bewildering Banner and swept it once. After a black light, both divine servants fainted on the ground. The people around who were preparing to surround him were so frightened by this sight that they took two steps back. Then, looking at the two divine servants on the ground, three or four more people rushed out from the crowd, including men and aunts, and lunged at Shi Xuan. The rest of the people looked at Shi Xuan with terrified eyes and involuntarily retreated to the sides.

Shi Xuan swept the banner again, and the few who rushed forward also lay on the ground. Then he turned and looked around. Those he saw turned pale and retreated, muttering to themselves, "Truly a demonic Daoist, a demonic Daoist." They almost retreated into the ditches on both sides of the street, while the children's eyes, besides fear, held a sparkling excitement. It was fun.

"Everyone, tell me, if the Divine Lord is truly sentient, how should he punish this humble Daoist priest?" Shi Xuan said with a half-smile.

More and more people rushed over. Those who hadn't witnessed the previous scene asked those who had. A few seemingly devout individuals stepped forward, "You, you, this, demonic Daoist, the Divine Lord will definitely manifest, who knows, who knows, you'll get sick and die tonight, haven't you seen what happened to Master Zhang!" By the end, they had gained some confidence.

At this moment, Wang family's second brother was also woken up by others. He looked at Shi Xuan and angrily charged forward, "Demonic Daoist, die!"

Shi Xuan extended his left hand, grabbed Wang family's second brother by the collar, then moved his hand up to his neck, easily subduing him and holding him in the air.

"This humble Daoist priest is going to the Divine Lord Temple to see how the Divine Lord punishes me. Why don't we all go together?" Shi Xuan said, holding the banner in one hand and Wang family's second brother in the other. Without waiting for anyone, he slowly walked towards the Divine Lord Temple as if on a stroll. The little girl, Er Niu, stumbled forward and tugged at Shi Xuan's robe, timidly following him. Her mother walked beside them, her expression very conflicted.

The angry yet fearful crowd followed Shi Xuan towards the Divine Temple in a silent and suppressed manner. Some secretly picked up stones, while others quietly retreated to the back.

Under the escort of hundreds of people, Shi Xuan walked to the Crimson Cloud Divine Lord Temple located at the west end of the street.

The Divine Lord Temple was newly built on the site of an old land temple. Its exterior still had some of the unique shapes of a land temple, similar to those Shi Xuan had seen in other cities. However, the entire Divine Lord Temple was painted a striking crimson red.

The divine servants and divine envoys in the Divine Temple had already been alerted by informants. More than twenty of them were gathered outside the gate, holding iron bars and sabers. Seeing Shi Xuan approach, led by a divine envoy, they charged at Shi Xuan, shouting prayers for the Divine Lord's protection.

Shi Xuan waved the Soul-Bewildering Banner. A black light swept down from above, and more than half of these men, who had only rudimentary martial arts skills, fainted. With another sweep, only one divine envoy, who had rolled away relatively quickly, remained.

As this divine envoy rolled, a burst of fire suddenly erupted from his hand and shot towards Shi Xuan. Shi Xuan had long noticed that this divine envoy had some foundation in Daoist magic and had talismans on him. After all, with the Qi Gazing Technique, beginners who hadn't learned Qi concealment spells had no secrets.

Another black light descended, easily blocking the firelight. At the same time, the divine envoy was also stunned by the first black light. Several people around who were about to cheer for the divine envoy immediately looked dejected when they saw the demonic Daoist's effortless action.

"You, you, you... you, and you, carry them all into the main hall." Shi Xuan pointed at those in the crowd who were more fearful and had them help carry the divine envoys and divine servants into the main hall, not sparing the two who had fainted earlier.

Entering the main hall, a magnificent male statue stood directly in front of them. It was entirely red, sitting solemnly on the altar, its face human-like but with added patterns.

Shi Xuan stood to the side, smiling as he watched the divine envoys and divine servants being placed in the center of the main hall. When most of the townspeople had arrived, he stood beside the statue, sent the children out, and then said to the townspeople, "Since everyone says the Divine Lord is sentient, will he descend divine punishment if I kill his divine servants here?"

With a wave of his hand, a pale white Wind Slash directly severed the neck of a divine servant, the one with the weather-beaten face. A column of blood shot high into the air. Cries of shock, shouts of retreat, and gasps of surprise erupted from the crowd. They hadn't expected this demonic Daoist to kill so readily.

Shi Xuan stood there with a relaxed expression. After a moment, he said again, "See? I've killed his divine servant, and he hasn't reacted. But everyone says the Divine Lord is truly sentient. If I kill them all, shouldn't he be angry?"

The surrounding people were speechless. Shi Xuan opened his hand, and amidst the clanging of metal, a bolt of green lightning struck the center of the main hall. With a boom, all the divine servants and divine envoys were scorched black and blown to pieces. Several townspeople fainted on the spot.

"Tsk, this Divine Lord has a good temper. He hasn't punished me yet, but I can't wait. What do you think we should do?" Shi Xuan himself felt his tone was a bit provocative. He was preparing to get to the main event. "What do you think? If I destroy the Divine Lord's statue, he should finally punish me, right?"

Without waiting for a reply, he threw Wang family's second brother among the corpses in the center of the main hall. He turned and swept the banner, and the black light brushed away the faint divine light on the Divine Lord's statue. Shi Xuan had long seen that this deity had some cultivation, but judging by the Qi Gazing Technique, its strength was not great. Especially in this small town's Divine Temple, there was almost no divine light, and it was basically sustained by the Incense and Fire Prayer Power from the townspeople. That sweep had used foul energy to corrode the Incense and Fire Prayer Power, and the divine light naturally disappeared.

And the area where the Qi Gazing Technique detected the densest divine light was actually not far away. From the directions he had asked for earlier, that was Kaiyang City. However, he couldn't see the main body of the divine light, so he assumed that deity knew Qi concealment techniques. He hadn't planned to go to Kaiyang City originally, but now he had no choice. If he was going to do something, he had to do it thoroughly.

After brushing away the divine light from the statue, Shi Xuan didn't use any spells. He punched the statue repeatedly, shattering it. In the darkness, Shi Xuan felt a wave of angry emotion coming from the statue. Hmph, trying to transmit Spiritual Sense from afar? Cultivate for another few hundred years, and then talk about it when you're beyond the Primordial Spirit stage.

With a crash, the statue completely collapsed. The angry emotion also disappeared. The townspeople stared dumbfounded as Shi Xuan destroyed the statue. Some muttered, "Divine Lord, Divine Lord." Some looked at the statue with doubt. Most had expressions of collapse, like Wang family's second brother, who was shouting in despair, "How is this possible? How is this possible!"

Amidst the commotion, someone shouted, "My silver!" and then madly rushed towards the merit box. Unable to open it immediately, they pushed it to the ground and smashed it to pieces, then squatted down to take the valuables inside.

Many people suddenly realized. Except for a few who were still standing there blankly, they all rushed forward to grab valuables. The clever ones ran directly to the side rooms behind the hall. Those who weren't afraid of being disgusted directly searched the corpses on the ground. However, because Shi Xuan was standing there, no one dared to attack others.

Shi Xuan felt a bit regretful at this moment. He had been too ruthless when attacking the statue earlier and hadn't left anyone alive. Now their souls didn't know where they had drifted off to. How could he interrogate them for information? It seemed he could only ask the townspeople.

Suddenly, Shi Xuan saw a small figure walk in. The figure walked all the way to Shi Xuan's side, tugged at his robe, and looked up, "Uncle Daoist Priest, can you save my mother? Mother is very sick, sob sob sob." It was a little girl about seven or eight years old.

"Okay." Shi Xuan had no reason to refuse this. At the same time, he turned to the townspeople in the main hall and said, "This humble Daoist priest believes that someone will definitely think the Divine Lord will come to punish me, just not now. Why don't I stay in town for a few more days and let you all see if the Divine Lord comes or not."

If the Divine Lord Temple retaliated, staying in town for a few more days could also prevent it. Kaiyang City was only half a day's journey from here.

PS: I was late returning today after going out for lamb on the Winter Solstice. My apologies. Also, I was supposed to mention this at noon, but the recommendation votes have been increasing rapidly these past few days. Thank you all for your support, I am extremely grateful.