An entrusted task

Whoosh!

All that could be heard was a dense cacophony of whooshing sounds through the air.

The small seal characters flew into the wine gourd.

Once the last small seal character flew into the wine gourd, Fang Zelin immediately plugged the gourd's opening.

Brother Fang!

Zhang Weichu strode over, holding a sun umbrella in his hand.

The person hadn't even arrived yet, but the sound could be heard from afar.

He had known Fang Zelin for some time, and now he addressed him differently.

Fang Zelin shook the gourd. "What, does that Judge Wen want another drink?"

Fang Zelin smiled when he saw Zhang Weichu arrive.

Ever since he sent the other party a small bottle, Judge Wen had been unable to forget Clear as Empty.

Fang Zelin wasn't stingy; he gave him another small bottle afterwards.

Zhang Weichu couldn't help but smile upon hearing this, "Your Excellency the Judge is indeed greedy, but you also know that such demands shouldn't be repeated again and again."

"Oh? What brings you here today, Brother Zhang?"

Fang Zelin was somewhat surprised to hear this.

If he remembered correctly, Zhang Weichu wasn't supposed to have a day off today.

"I've come today because I truly have something I'd like to ask of Brother Fang."

At this point, Zhang Weichu's expression immediately became much more serious.

Fang Zelin picked up a wooden basin and walked towards the rice paddy, saying, "Brother Zhang, please just tell me what you need. I will certainly do my best to help."

Zhang Weichu this, and then quickly recounted the whole story.

Fang Zelin listened attentively as he collected the spirit rice.

The spirit rice has reached its second harvest this year, and the plump grains of spirit rice fall automatically.

"Twenty li south of Anzi County lies a village called Zhang Family Village, which is also my hometown. Now that I have become a Yin official, separated from the living, it is naturally inappropriate for me to concern myself with matters of the living world."

"Unfortunately, a fellow villager fled here yesterday. He was unable to speak and appeared mentally impaired. After careful observation, it was discovered that he had lost one of his souls and a part of his spirit, and that he carried a trace of Yao Qi."

"I suspect a demon has appeared in my hometown, and the villagers may all be targeted by it. I would like to ask Brother Fang for your help."

After Zhang Weichu finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Fang Zelin.

He was too far from Zhang Family Village, and as a ghost official, he could not abandon his post.

Therefore, there is nothing that can be done about this matter.

After much deliberation, the only option left was to ask Fang Zelin for help.

If there are no demons in the village, that's fine. But if there are, in this day and age, many people would probably be dead.

Since the beginning of summer this year, strange and supernatural phenomena have been frequently appearing around Anzi County, keeping the Underworld Bureau officials busy.

I've heard that things aren't peaceful in other places either.

Merchants traveled in groups, fearing they might encounter demons on the road.

"Is there a demon at work?"

Fang Zelin had already put away the spirit rice, and his eyes narrowed as soon as he put it down.

"This is just my guess; I can't be sure yet. Perhaps this person encountered demons on the road."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Weichu quickly offered an explanation.

He was still not certain that demons had come to Zhang Family Village.

At this point, the only option is to ask Fang Zelin to go and take a look.

"Brother Zhang, rest assured, if demons wreak havoc on the people, I, Fang, will certainly not stand idly by."

Fang Zelin nodded emphatically to Zhang Weichu and then put his things away.

He picked up the wine gourd beside him and hung it at his waist. Then he waved to Bearing the Heavens. After Bearing the Heavens flew over, Fang Zelin clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhang Weichu.

"Fang will be back soon."

"Thank you for your help, Brother Fang!"

Upon hearing Zhang Weichu immediately bowed and paid his respects.

The white deer was extremely clever; upon seeing this, it immediately got up and wanted to become Fang Zelin's mount.

However, this time the giant tiger was much smarter; it had seen the white deer carry Fang Zelin several times before.

"This little demon is willing to give you a ride!"

The giant tiger leaped out and spoke in an extremely solicitous manner.

Bai Lu was stunned for a moment upon seeing this, then became extremely angry.

This guy's even learned to argue!

Upon hearing this, Fang Zelin glanced at the giant tiger, which was covered in stripes and had a head as big as two adult heads.

His burly body exuded an extremely strong sense of oppression just by standing there.

"With your size, the common people will probably be frightened when they see you. Let Bai Lu handle it."

Fang Zelin did want to try riding the giant tiger, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea.

This trip involves entering the village; it wouldn't be good if it frightened the villagers.

The giant tiger panicked upon hearing this, "Immortal Master, this little demon can wait outside the village; I won't come inside!"

Bai Lu was initially pleased with Fang Zelin's words, but was stunned by what Ju Hu said.

When did this guy's brain start working so fast?

Fang Zelin hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but seeing how eager the giant tiger was, he couldn't very well refuse.

"Alright."

After responding, Fang Zelin sat on the broad back of the tiger.

From this angle, you can also see the giant tiger's Xiao Xiao, oval ears, which look rather furry.

Seeing Fang Zelin sit down, the giant tiger glanced triumphantly at the deer demon, then clapped its paw and ran off towards the front.

It's about 20 li south of Anzi County, so it won't take long.

The wind blew past my ears, and the surrounding scenery began to recede into the distance.

Through the trees, Fang Zelin glanced at the road to the side and felt a sense of desolation, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

Once they could see a village in the distance, the giant tiger slowed down and lowered its body. "Immortal Master, is this the village ahead?"

Fang Zelin looked closely and saw that many houses in the village ahead were already dilapidated.

In the fields nearby, there were still quite a few crops planted, but they looked somewhat like the lean season was coming to an end.

"Hide yourself, don't let anyone see you. I'm going in to check."

After Fang Zelin finished speaking, he walked onto the main road leading to the village and carefully looked around, but he didn't see anything unusual.

After walking forward for a while, Fang Zelin saw an elderly man.

"Old man!"

Upon seeing the old man, Fang Zelin immediately stepped forward and called out to him.

Hearing the sound, the old man, leaning on his cane, turned around shakily in this direction.

Upon seeing this, Fang Zelin quickly stepped forward to help the elderly man.

"Baby, where did you come from?"

The old man looked Fang Zelin up and down with his cloudy eyes before asking a question.

"From Anzi County."

Fang Zelin replied softly, then looked around and noticed that there were many more weeds in the field, so he asked curiously.

"Old man, these fields are all overgrown with weeds. Aren't the villagers coming out to weed them?"

Normally, you can see people in the fields, especially now that the fields are full of weeds.

The old man shook his head upon hearing this. "Young man," he said, "Take my advice and leave before it gets dark."

After saying that, he patted Fang Zelin's hand and turned to continue walking towards the village.