Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 282 - 271: I Grant You Half a Day of Peace

Chapter 282: Chapter 271: I Grant You Half a Day of Peace

This moment, the silence in the carriage was deafening.

"Benefactor Wen, the largest mansion in Wenzhou City, that isn’t yours, is it?"

Wen Baohua nodded his head in grief.

"Taoist priest, to tell you the truth, that is indeed my mansion!"

At this moment, Wen Baohua felt like he was going to cry.

Good news: He had encountered a high being on the roadside, a messenger of the Mountain God, no less.

Bad news: That messenger was set to burn down his house!

"Taoist priest, is there any way you could not burn down my house?"

Zhang San shook his head, his expression grave as he said, "The command of the Mountain God, how can I defy it? Moreover, if I truly defied it, I fear the punishment the Mountain God sends next would only be more severe."

Hearing this, Wen Baohua’s face twisted into a bitter expression.

Zhang San pondered for a moment, looking at the agony on Wen Baohua’s face, and felt that his emotions should be about stirred enough by now.

"Although the command of the Mountain God cannot be violated, our meeting must also be fated. You have shown me kindness by giving me a ride, and I naturally want to repay you. Let’s do this: I’ll get out of the carriage now, and you, hurry back to your family estate, and put all the valuables in your house onto the boats on the river in Wenzhou City."

Wen Baohua listened intently, although he didn’t understand why he should place his treasures on the boats.

"And the boats must have no one on them, especially your household. Your family members carry the aura of your house, and if later the Mountain God calculates and finds your kinsmen on the boats, he will regard the boats as part of your property. If the boats remain unburnt, then it will be seen as a failure of my task, and not only will I be punished, but your house will also suffer punishment again."

Hearing this, Wen Baohua nodded repeatedly.

"The command of the Mountain God is to burn down the Wen Family mansion today, so you must, before sunset, place all things you deem important onto the boats, remember, only things. Since water and fire are incompatible, the boats on the water will shield the auras of those treasures. And Benefactor Wen, you must take all your family members to stand at the front gate of your estate, and no one should leave."

"Only in this way, where the people are, where the qi gathers, will it be certain that that place is indeed your mansion."

The more Wen Baohua heard, the more he believed in Zhang San’s method.

So, he quickly took out a small box from the carriage.

"Taoist envoy, I have here a small chest of jewels, just some trinkets, not worth much. I offer them to you as a token of our meeting."

Zhang San immediately shook his head and waved his hands, refusing firmly, "These things are yours, and they carry your aura. Should I accept them, the Mountain God would know. Therefore, I cannot accept. Besides, I am also grateful for you giving me a lift halfway. Now, I can only get off and slowly walk to Wenzhou City."

As he spoke, Zhang San leaped up in a flash.

Wen Baohua only saw the curtain at the front of the carriage fluttering.

When he lifted the curtain on the carriage window, he found that the handsome Little Taoist was already standing outside the carriage.

"Before sunset, be mindful, be mindful."

Wen Baohua originally harbored some doubts. How he had just so happened to encounter this miraculous Little Taoist, who just so happened to be going to burn down his house—could it be that some martial artist or even some cultivator was deliberately tricking him?

But he had just offered a box of gold and jewels, and the other party did not want them, even vehemently refusing.

This proved that the other party didn’t want his possessions and wasn’t trying to take advantage of him.

Wen Baohua had heard that in some places the locals had their own beliefs, enshrining either some deceased notable individuals or some demons of the All Things Path as their City God, seeking their protection for the local populace.

Though he had also personally witnessed some local City Gods manifesting their power and protecting the people,

he had never imagined he would encounter a messenger of the Mountain God himself one day.

It must be because he had not failed to perform good deeds.

Right, perhaps it was due to his recent trip, where he had just redeemed a few unfortunate women, saving them from a life of misery.

Heaven must have appreciated his kind act, thus allowing him to meet the messenger of the Mountain God.

As for why the Mountain God wanted to burn his house, could it be that the deeds he had done over the years were known to the Mountain God?

The Mountain God should have sent emissaries to kill me!

But upon reflection, it’s possible the Mountain God is merciful. Perhaps this house burning was just a warning to me.

The Mountain God is truly kind!

Wen Baohua immediately had the coachman whip the horses into a faster pace, rushing back to Wenzhou City.

As soon as he returned home, Wen Baohua had all his family members move all the valuables in the house to the dock.

At the same time, he sent someone to the dock to rent a big boat. It didn’t need to have anyone on it, just the big boat would do.

However, Wen Baohua quickly discovered a problem.

That was, his family had too many possessions, and it seemed that one big boat might not be enough.

Therefore, Wen Baohua had to send people out again to arrange for two more big boats.

The requirements were the same, there didn’t need to be anyone on them, just the boats were needed.

Then, after a busy afternoon, Wen Baohua had almost moved all his household’s possessions onto the three big boats.

And the Wen Family’s servants found this exceedingly strange. What was going on with their Governor?

Had he been promoted? So he was moving?

But if it was a move, although the solid wood tables and chairs were expensive, it wasn’t necessary to take them!

They could be sold. Why did he insist on moving them?

Everyone was puzzled, while Wen Baohua believed that some secrets should not be disclosed, so he did not share his encounter with anyone around him. He just wanted them to follow his orders.

As evening approached, Wen Baohua sat in the only remaining large chair, looking at the entrance to his own home.

He ordered all family members and servants to stand at the front gate, not allowing anyone to leave at will.

Watching the setting sun in the west, Wen Baohua noticed that the fire had not started yet.

So coming up with an idea, he immediately had someone prepare torches and firewood.

Soon, his servants borrowed a large amount of firewood from the neighbors, and then Wen Baohua ordered them to stack the firewood in several locations around his residence and set them on fire.

The servants did not know what had gotten into their master today; all his requests throughout the afternoon had been very strange.

But the master’s command had to be followed.

As the sun began to sink behind the western mountains, the Wen Family’s residence started to catch fire in various places.

Wen Baohua chuckled delightfully, thinking that by helping the Mountain God’s emissary to set fire, he would owe him another favor.

If I run into other issues in the future, that emissary will help me.

Ha ha ha ha...

I, Wen Baohua, am truly too clever!

But just as the crackling of the surrounding flames grew louder, Wen Baohua seemed to hear someone running towards him, shouting that the boats were missing.

I don’t have any boats. How is it my concern if the boats are missing?

Wait a minute...

The boats are missing!?

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[Note 83] Reference explanation

The story in these two Chapters is borrowed from Gan Bao’s "In Search of the Supernatural: The Meeting of Mi Zhu and a Heavenly Messenger." In the original story, the character whose house is burned, Mi Zhu, is not a bad person, but personally, I prefer the idea that evil is repaid with evil, even though the retribution might be man-made.