Deng Chanju could find the old man to write a document who had expelled these former subjects, but Mr. Fu Xihu also needs face, and writing this document seems to admit that he made a mistake at that time. It's not proper!
One can only say that these exiled subjects were lucky, or perhaps it's due to a certain alignment between the human fate and the underworld's fate that allowed Deng Chanyu to encounter this matter. If it had been another ten years later, after the conferment of deities ended, there might have been no more human kings in the mortal world! Deng Chanyu would not sacrifice her favor with the Three Emperors for the efficiency of affairs in the underworld.
She said, "I will go to make this document of forgiveness. What about you?"
Jiazi said, "I'll go back to the underworld and move ten thousand people, including the elderly and children, which will require many hands. We several people can't do this."
"All right, then let Xiao Qingluan accompany you, and I'll take Nezha to Luoyi."
Deng Chanju's solution is still to find Fe Zhong, and this matter can be done with some money.
And she and Nezha arrived in Luoyi. Since she had perfected the Xuan Xian realm, she paid little attention to the affairs of ordinary mortals. It was not because of the arrogance of immortals, but rather that frequent involvement in the mortal world would easily attract unnecessary karma.
Ordinary people fear the consequences, while bodhisattvas fear the causes.
Even high-level immortals can have such dilemmas, and they would rather avoid them.
This time, she came to find Fe Zhong. Deng Chanju transformed into the appearance of Deng Ai. Twenty years had passed, and the old retainer from her past life had long become an old man. She slightly bent over, and her temperament also carried a hint of twilight, looking quite aged.
The cause and effect belong to Deng Ai as well. Hmm, the Nine and Eighteen Skills are super awesome.
Nezha also transformed into the appearance of Mu Zha.
Deng Chanju:
You two are truly amicable brothers, well done.
The teacher and disciples walked towards the city gate. The closer they got, the more abnormal Deng Chanju noticed something. Luoyi gave her a strange feeling, as if there was some indescribable thing hidden beneath the surface of things. If this thing were to explode, it would shake the entire Huo Huan.
Upon entering the city, seeing the Buddhist pagodas and temples in sight, and seeing that the clothes of passersby were seemingly Taoist robes but also had a strong foreign flavor, she was rendered speechless.
"May I ask, valiant sir, is there a name for the clothes you are wearing?"
"This is the most popular robe in Luoyi. Foreigners, aren't you stunned?"
"Yes, yes, yes."
"May I ask, elder, where does this long staff in your hand come from?"
"This thing is called a shengzhi! Only the wealthy can afford one! What are you asking for? Are you a spy from Zhou? Come and take him away, there is a spy here!"
The old man shouted with a torn heart, and Deng Chanju and the others ran away with their legs.
After shedding the pursuers, Deng Chanju was at a loss. She had thought that going to Mount Tai and gathering the essence of the Emperor of Ziwu's light would be enough to be ahead of the times. Little did she know that back in King Zhou's realm, the version had been updated to this extent already!
Nezha was full of excitement, "Teacher, there are obviously problems here. We have to go in and investigate?"
Deng Chanju slapped him on the forehead: "Keep pretending to be Mu Zha. Learn from your brother and stay calm, keep your lips pursed, and keep your eyes fixed on the front."
The two changed their appearance again. Now, the human fortune in Luoyi was much worse than that in the initial days of the Shang Dynasty. They could use the Nine and Eighteen Skills without any hindrance. They adapted to local customs, wearing those unclassical "robes" and "staffs," walking boldly into the market, even occasionally hawking a few items.
Deng Chanju casually made up a price: "The robe is 5000 taels of silver, and the staff is 2000 taels of silver."
The surrounding passersby scoffed, "You two are wearing rags yourselves. Selling a robe and staff for such high prices? Have you gone mad from poverty?"
The two did not mind at all. It was just a disguise, not for selling anything, let alone selling to these ordinary people.
Deng Chanju and Nezha heard that Fe Zhong's household lived in the Western City. As they crossed the Eastern Market, they saw a group of people gathered together in the distance, with layers of people watching something.
Nezha, by nature, was impulsive and wanted to go in and take a look. Deng Chanju was indifferent, such a small matter, let's just go and have a look.
The teacher and apprentice went inside, as if breaking through the waves with a reef, the crowd automatically parted, and no one found it unusual.
As they got closer, they saw a plump man dressed in silk and brocade kneeling on the grass, praying to "the teacher" to accept his offerings and help build a Buddhist pagoda for his family, so that he could be born again in his next life as a wealthy person.
The wealthy merchant offered his family's land to the "master," who shook his head and said it wasn't enough.
Offering his ancestral home, the "master" still shook his head, claiming it wasn't sufficiently sincere.
The "master" nodded slowly after the wealthy merchant offered his own wife and daughter. In the wealthy merchant's delighted expression, several of the master's servants took away his property and wife and daughter.
Nezha was so angry that he could not control his anger, so angry that his hair stood on end. Such a fraud, with no trace of spiritual power, how could the "master" be? He'd better not be!
Deng Chanju grabbed him, warning that Luoyi was best not to resort to violence; it wasn't worth it.
"Let the big army handle these insects in the future. They all need to be fried in oil, and now we are just passing through. Let's go," she forcefully pulled away Nezha.
They walked around Luoyi, and Deng Chanju found that the Buddhism here was clearly different from the Buddhism of later times. Here, luxury, cruelty, and the pursuit of illusory afterlife were all rampant. To put it bluntly, it was somewhat similar to Zuo Rong in Xuzhou during the later Eastern Han Dynasty, who didn't care about the lives of ordinary people and used force to appropriate wealth within his territory for the construction of temples and large bronze Buddha statues.
It seems very sincere, but in reality, such actions have already entered the path of madness.
It's not suitable to stay here for long, so let's finish the matter quickly and leave.
Deng Chanju threw the robe and staff aside and jumped over the wall into Fe Zhong's mansion.
"Old Brother Deng? You've lost weight, is there something wrong with your health?"
At this time, Fe Zhong's situation wasn't much better. Although Zhou continued to console himself with wine and the promise of an afterlife, the territory of the Yin Dynasty was gradually shrinking, and its military strength was dwindling. This was a fact that could not be denied.
His temperament was already irritable, and now that the external environment was not good, his mood swings became even more frequent. Fe Zhong had to serve him with constant fear and anxiety, often receiving beatings. His life had become difficult.
Deng Chanju spoke a few words with the appearance of Deng Ai, and found that this fellow actually had the intention to defect to Han.
"Do not worry, your excellency, I will definitely report your loyalty to the king upon my return."
"Thank you for your kind words, and thank you! To victory!"
Deng Chanju said with a smile, since Fe Zhong wanted to defect to Han, they could take advantage of him for a while. After all, the promise was made to Deng Ai, and it had nothing to do with me, Deng Chanju.
Even if this guy really defects to Han, we can send him to a remote area afterward. There are plenty of places for Han to occupy. If you want to arrange it, you can do it in any way. If you want to engage in corruption? Go and do it with the barbarians. They won't be able to kill you.
Fei Zhong still had some means to deal with King Zhou. Two days later, a handwritten apology letter from Fei Zhong to the people was delivered to Deng Chanju's hands.
Drunken King Zhou didn't know who the letter was for, and Fei Zhong probably didn't either. But the procedures were absolutely fine. This was the king's pardon for the people, and from today onwards, those who had fled would be considered innocent.
