I run a Taoist temple in a bizarre world.

Chapter 52 The Appearance of Bald-Headed Zhang

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Stop following us. With so many people, you're disturbing the abbot's meditation. Can you take responsibility for that?"

At the entrance of Changxi Village, Zhao Zhu called out to the group of people who had come to see him off.

"Go back home, everyone. Don't you want to do any more work in the fields?"

"You're not feeding the livestock at home anymore?"

"And you guys, you've stopped weaving cloth at home? The gathering in Heliu Town is coming up soon. If you don't have any cloth to sell, see how fierce your husbands are."

Zhao Zhu's words successfully persuaded the villagers who still wanted to see them off.

But one old man, instead of stopping, stepped forward and stood straight in front of Zhao Zhu with a displeased look on his face.

Upon seeing the man's face, Zhao Zhu felt somewhat helpless, but he still obediently bent down, tilted his head, and spoke softly.

"Father, why aren't you home? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, so now you don't call me Uncle Zhao anymore, but acknowledge me as your father?"

Hearing his father's words, Zhao Zhu was at his wit's end.

"No, Dad, the road up the mountain is difficult to walk. You're so old, don't bother!"

"Back when I went up the mountain to the temple to offer incense and worship the gods, you weren't even born yet!"

"...I know, Father, I know. You can go back now. When I get to the temple, I'll offer you a couple more sticks of incense!"

Hearing this, Zhao Zhu's father nodded.

"That's more like it. But, has the abbot now agreed to let us enter the temple to offer incense?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Hao stepped forward and patted his chest.

"After the previous temple keeper disappeared, the abbot seemed to have tacitly agreed that we could go to the Taoist temple to offer incense."

"At least I go to the temple to burn incense every day, and the abbot has never stopped us."

Chen Hao had already informed the villagers about the temple keeper's disappearance a few days earlier.

Many people in Changxi Village have gone up the mountain to verify this, and indeed, the former temple keeper can no longer be found.

The villagers were quite panicked at the time, after all, the temple keeper was gone.

That's equivalent to running out of lamp oil.

As for the eerie fog at night, Changxi Village had no other means to deal with it.

This is no different from directly declaring Changxi Village a dead end.

Fortunately, Chen Hao brought new information.

Chen Cheng will be the next temple keeper of Qingshan Temple.

The villagers were finally relieved.

Zhao Zhu's father tugged at his beard.

"That's strange. The previous temple keeper didn't allow us to go up the mountain to offer incense whenever we wanted. We were only allowed to come to the Taoist temple when we collected lamp oil each month."

"Why... has the abbot changed his mind now?"

Zhao Zhu came out, turned his father around, pushed him back into the crowd, and said.

"Who can fathom the thoughts of these deities? It's good enough to go up the mountain to burn incense and pray for blessings."

"Yeah, remember to offer me a couple more incense sticks, the big ones, the long ones!"

"……OK!"

Hearing his father's request, Zhao Zhu couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Fortunately, the farce has finally come to an end.

After saying goodbye to the villagers at the village entrance.

Simplifying the process, the team, consisting of only seven people including Chen Hao and his sister, set off towards Qingshan Temple.

On the way, Zhao Zhu asked Chen Hao.

"Haozi, does Qingshan Temple really let you in to burn incense so easily these days?"

Chen Hao adjusted the carrying pole on his shoulder and said.

"Yes, I've been going to Qingshan Temple to offer incense every morning these past few days, and I've seen the abbot several times."

Zhao Zhu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

"That's good, otherwise I wouldn't know how to meet my old man's demands."

Meanwhile, another man who was helping carry the luggage chimed in.

"Haozi, is the Abbot easy to get along with?"

"I can't really describe it, but compared to those high and mighty gods in Heliu Town, the abbot is the most down-to-earth person I've ever met."

"It's like... it's like the gods in Heliu Town didn't treat us like human beings, but the abbot treated me like one."

Recalling Chi Le's actions, Chen Hao said with a firm expression.

"oh……"

The man nodded thoughtfully.

At this moment, Zhao Zhu interjected.

"By the way, Haozi, which temple keeper did your Xiaocheng become? What about the previous one?"

"I don't know about the previous ones. When I went there last time, I didn't see the former temple keeper. I only saw the abbot alone in the Qingshan Temple."

Chen Hao thought for a moment before speaking.

Another man helping with the luggage joked.

"Perhaps Chen Cheng has grown up and has to become the temple keeper, and the previous temple keeper left on his own..."

"Ha ha……"

"It's not impossible. Our Chen Cheng is a perfectly healthy, unmarried woman, and she's quite beautiful!"

The group laughed.

Chen Cheng's face turned slightly red, and she shrank closer to Chen Hao.

Chatting and laughing along the way, the group soon officially entered the mountain forest where Qingshan Temple is located.

There was no trace of Changxi Village behind them.

"I haven't walked this road for a while, but it's still not difficult to walk."

Zhao Zhu walked at the front carrying a pile of items, his face flushed and his breathing becoming a little rapid.

The mountain road is not steep, and the slope is not great.

For a group of people who regularly go into the mountains to cut firewood, it wasn't considered difficult.

But since I was carrying quite a lot of things, it still took some effort to walk.

"Xiao Cheng, you don't go out often, are you alright?"

Zhao Zhu asked with concern.

"It's nothing, Brother Zhao, I'm perfectly fine."

Chen Cheng, whose face was neither red nor out of breath, replied easily as she looked at the scenery along the way with great interest.

Ever since she met the abbot of Qingshan Temple, she has felt that her physical fitness has improved considerably.

The tightness in my chest that I used to feel after walking just a few steps has completely disappeared.

Along the mountain road, she felt as light as a swallow.

"Being young is great."

Zhao Zhu sighed.

They had a lot of stuff, and the mountain path was exhausting, so the group took a short break at a bend in the path.

"Almost there, we're not far from Qingshan Temple. Let's rest at the temple then."

Chen Haozhan stood up and made the suggestion.

None of them objected, and they all stood up.

But Zhao Zhu, who occasionally went into the mountains to hunt wild rabbits and chicks and developed sharp eyesight, noticed something was wrong.

"Wait……"

After stopping everyone's movements, Zhao Zhu spoke loudly.

"Hey buddy, what are you trying to do, hiding like that?"

The group first turned to look at Zhao Zhu, and then followed Zhao Zhu's gaze to look at the thick tree to their left, their faces filled with surprise and uncertainty.

After waiting for a while, there was still that same thick tree in front of me, and nothing happened.

At most, the mountain wind blows, causing the leaves to rustle and sway.

The group asked in confusion.

"Brother Zhao, who are you talking about?"

"Brother Zhao, what is it?"

"Rabbits, pheasants, or something like that, Brother Zhao, are you sure you didn't misread it?"

Zhao Zhu didn't reply, his gaze still fixed on the thick tree.

clap clap...

After a while.

Bald-headed Zhang clapped his hands and walked out from behind the tree with a gloomy face.

"Why do you have such sharp eyes?"

"Honestly take your rotten vegetables and eggs up the mountain."

"Why didn't you just kill him when he passed by? Why did you have to make a sound!"

"Bald Zhang, what do you want to do!"

The man next to Chen Hao shouted.

"What do I want to do?"

"We're from the same village, so I won't make things difficult for you. Hand over Chen Cheng to me, and I'll let you go."

"That's what Bald-Headed Zhang said."

"You still don't know?"

"Chen Cheng is now the temple keeper appointed by the abbot of Qingshan Temple. Do you dare to snatch him away from the abbot?"

A man asked in confusion.

"cut……"

Seemingly amused by the words "Master," Bald-headed Zhang continued.

"What abbot? Since the Qingshan Temple appeared, have you ever seen any so-called abbot?"

"Go back and ask your parents if they've ever met the abbot of Qingshan Temple."

"Master, you believe everything that good-for-nothing Chen Hao says? Who are you trying to make laugh out of?"

"As for the temple keeper, do you know how the last temple keeper died?"

"It was my family member who killed him!"

"Without the temple keeper, Qingshan Temple won't be able to provide enough lamp oil for all the households in our Changxi Village next month."

"Without lamp oil, how will you get through the night?"

"Won't the thing in the eerie fog tear you to pieces?"

"If you ask me, you'd be better off working for me!"

"I guarantee my family will protect you!"

Having said so much in one breath, Bald-Headed Zhang was also a little tired. He took a breath and said finally.

"I will have my family protect our Changxi Village."

"Hand Chen Cheng over to me."

"This is for the good of Changxi Village."