Longevity Begins With The Birth Of A Daughter At An Old Age

Chapter 25: The Appearance of Evil Worshipers

"Fellow Daoist Jia, what do you mean by that?" Xu Mu's expression couldn't help but turn ugly.

Others don't pay spirit stones!

I pay!

Not only do you not give me any discounts, you even raise the price!!

"Fellow Daoist Xu, please don't misunderstand. This price was not set by me, but by the higher-ups. All alchemists, talisman masters, and other cultivators must pay double! Of course, if Fellow Daoist Xu doesn't want to pay, it's fine! Look, no one else has paid either!" Jia An's tone seemed to even encourage Xu Mu not to pay.

Xu Mu frowned slightly and took out a low-grade spirit stone, handing it over.

"I'll pay!"

"..."

Jia An's smile froze on his face.

In the next moment, he laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist Xu is indeed generous! After we return, I will definitely speak to the higher-ups and ask them to take care of Fellow Daoist Xu's residence during patrols!"

"Thank you then!" Xu Mu clasped his hands.

He didn't need their care, as long as they didn't come looking for trouble in the future.

Two low-grade spirit stones a month were insignificant to him now.

Jia An put away the spirit stone and walked towards Lan Shijin's residence. At this moment, Xu Mu suddenly remembered that Lan Shijin was still a guest in their house. There should only be Leng Yue Ning at home now, so he hurriedly stopped Jia An and the others.

"I'll help pay for Fellow Daoist Lan as well!"

As he spoke, he took out two spirit stones and handed them over.

"Fellow Daoist Xu is truly..." Jia An's mouth curled up, gritting his teeth and saying, "generous!"

Then he took the spirit stones and walked towards the next house, passing by Lan Shijin's residence.

Xu Mu didn't immediately enter the house, but stood at the door, watching the other person collect the spirit stones.

Just as Jia An had said, no one actually paid the spirit stones.

Either they pretended no one was home, or they said they didn't have any. Those with a bad temper would directly say they didn't need their protection, and even mock and ridicule them.

Jia An wasn't angry either. After asking with a smile, he left.

Xu Mu watched as the other person walked out of their alley before turning around and knocking on his own door.

After entering the house, he told Lan Shijin about what he had learned and the matter of paying the spirit stones.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Xu!" Lan Shijin immediately took out two spirit stones, wanting to return them to him.

But Xu Mu refused.

On one hand, he asked the other person to take care of his wife, and on the other hand, he wanted to collect their spirit stones. It didn't seem fair.

Seeing that Xu Mu didn't accept, Lan Shijin couldn't help but feel a bit more favorable towards him.

Time passed quickly.

Three days later, in the middle of the night, a sudden and piercing scream came from a nearby household, breaking the silence of the night.

Xu Mu abruptly got up, activated the defensive formation, held the crimson gold sword, and guarded his wife and daughter.

Xiao Ling'er was also awakened, her round and pitch-black eyes rolling around, not crying or making a fuss like an ordinary baby after being awakened.

"Husband, what's happening?" Ye Yingying rubbed her eyes, sat up drowsily, and asked.

"I don't know what's going on! But it's better to be careful!" In the past, he had encountered strange evil worshippers at night and knew that the nights here were never peaceful.

"Oh!" Ye Yingying responded, then found some clothes, quickly wrapped herself up, and picked up Xiao Ling'er to prevent her from making any noise.

Looking at Xu Mu, who was nervously holding a long sword, Xiao Ling'er suddenly giggled.

Xu Mu was speechless.

This little cotton-padded jacket was really carefree!

Fortunately, Ye Yingying quickly gave her something to eat and blocked her mouth.

The two of them sat like this until dawn.

The next day, after breakfast, Xu Mu walked out of the house to check when he heard voices outside.

By now, the alley was already crowded with people, all of them watching one particular household from a distance.

Xu Mu vaguely remembered that it was the family that had been the most aggressive when Jia An collected the spirit stones last time.

Lan Shijin also came out.

The two nodded at each other.

"Master Xu Dan!"

An old cultivator with a goatee greeted Xu Mu when he came out.

Xu Mu had some impression of him. He knew his surname was Zhang and that he also lived in this alley. He was probably around eighty or ninety years old, making a living by making talismans. His wife, son, and daughter-in-law had all passed away in accidents a few years ago, leaving only a seven-year-old grandson. The two relied on each other for survival.

"Master Zhang, do you know what happened?" Xu Mu asked.

"It should be an encounter with an evil cult! It's just strange because evil cults usually don't enter houses!" Master Zhang said in confusion.

Just then, Jia An walked out of the house with several people carrying two bodies, the couple.

When Xu Mu saw the bodies, his pupils slightly contracted.

The bodies of the two were extremely strange, dry and withered, as if they had been dead for a long time.

But Xu Mu clearly remembered that the two were arguing with someone in the alley three days ago. Even if they had died after returning home that day, they couldn't have turned into this state.

"After inspecting, we believe that it was an evil cult that likes to absorb spiritual energy. Everyone should be careful at night and try to close their doors and windows!" Jia An reminded everyone with a cupped hand.

"Jia... Captain Jia, do you think it would be better to patrol our alley more at night since we are all neighbors?" someone suddenly spoke up.

Although they didn't know the strength of this evil cult, no one dared to risk their lives. If Jia An and the others patrolled here, not only would it increase their safety, but they could also seek help immediately in case of danger.

And with Jia An and the others patrolling, even if there were evil cults, they would attack them first.

It was like having a scapegoat.

"Yes, yes! Neighbors, you should take care of each other!" everyone also spoke up.

"Well..." Jia An showed a helpless smile and was about to speak, but Ma Rui interrupted.

"If you don't even pay us spiritual stones, how can we protect you? You can't expect us to risk our lives for nothing, right?"

"Cough, cough!" Jia An hurriedly interrupted Ma Rui and said to everyone, "Don't listen to Old Ma's nonsense. Even if you don't pay spiritual stones, I will do my best to protect everyone. After all, we have been neighbors for many years! But the patrol is not up to me, our alley..."

"Darling, darling, let's not do it anymore! It's one thing to work for nothing every day, but now our lives are in danger!" Jia An's wife, Li Moqing, ran out of the house crying and begged Jia An to quit the patrol.

But Jia An firmly refused.

"Although I, Jia An, am not a big shot, I'm not a coward who hides when danger comes! Even if I want to quit, I will wait until the evil cult is dealt with!" he said resolutely.

This statement made those who knew him feel a little strange.

But no one said anything.

A dead Fellow Daoist is no good, but a living Jia An is.

With Jia An leading the patrol, they could sleep peacefully.

However, among the three people, the mention of spiritual stones, intentionally or unintentionally, was ignored by everyone.

After comforting his wife, Jia An didn't say much and left the alley with his subordinates carrying the two bodies.

The matter did not end there. In the following days, more people in the shantytown had accidents.

And the manner of death was almost identical!

Whether intentional or not, a piece of news began to spread in the shantytown.

The alleys where the evil cults appeared were the places where the patrol team rarely patrolled.

It was said that an evil cult appeared in one of the alleys, but because the patrol team arrived in time, they were spared.

Smart people had already vaguely realized what was going on.

Some people quietly started sending spiritual stones to the patrol team, hoping that they would pay more attention to their alleys during patrols.

And the patrol team was quick to act when they received money. The intensity of their patrols increased in the alleys where they received spiritual stones that day.

Seeing this situation, everyone started actively sending spiritual stones to the patrol team.

And those who stubbornly refused to pay were inevitably attacked by the evil cults again.

After several people died, no one dared to take risks anymore.

"I wonder who came up with this idea. They are truly talented!" Xu Mu had a vague sense of it since the first appearance of the evil cult.

The opponent's strategy was not particularly clever, but it was very effective.

Xu Mu was sure that he was not the only one who guessed the strategy, but no one stood up to speak. One reason was the lack of evidence, the second was the opponent's power, and the third was that it was not worth it.

He finally understood why Jia An didn't care about not collecting spiritual stones. Because in the end, everyone would voluntarily hand them over.

The situation had become clear, but Xu Mu's worries did not diminish much.

He was worried whether these spiritual stones would really satisfy the other party's appetite.

(End of this chapter)