"Tsk," the landlord made a sound, looking at Gu Yan with his usual half-smiling expression, waving his finger and saying, "Although I am a spirit, I don't stay in the mountains all day. In fact, since taking human form, I have spent more time in the human world. Over 1,700 years, I've seen quite a few dynasties. I have some impression of the more famous people throughout history. Some in the court, some in the jianghu. Loyal officials, treacherous parties, chivalrous heroes, demonic leaders...

"It would take days and nights to list them all. Among those people, some had good endings, some died unjustly, some got their just deserts, and some lived carefree lives. But you left a rather deep impression on me."

"Why?" Gu Yan heard words like unjust death and good ending, probably thinking of what he had suffered before, his face darkening slightly.

The landlord glanced at him, lightly tapping his temple with his index finger, and continued, "Because when you were executed by lingchi*, it happened to be when I had taken Shi An's soul to Lingshan."

*T/N: Death by a thousand cuts

Hearing the word lingchi, Gu Yan's brows furrowed tightly.

The landlord looked at him and continued, "I remember before I went up the mountain, I hadn't heard any rumors. After staying in the mountains for a month, settling everything for Shi An, when I came down again, the outside world was in an uproar, saying that the valiant and loyal General Gu had been framed as a traitor, his family exterminated, and he was executed by lingchi in public."

The others on the side, like Granny Camphor Tree who didn't know Gu Yan's background, were all dumbfounded, staring at Gu Yan with shocked expressions, unable to say a word. After a long while, Gu Yan seemed to sigh.

Su Kun's hand under the table moved, grasping Gu Yan's slightly cool palm beside him. He never knew how to comfort others, just turning his head to look at Gu Yan.

Perhaps sensing his concern, Gu Yan's expression softened a bit, then he squeezed Su Kun's hand and said, "I'm fine."

"You don't know what happened after..." the landlord continued. "The people secretly took your and your family's bodies back at night, helped with the funeral arrangements, and a few who knew some feng shui picked a place that happened to be at the spirit mountain. When you were buried, it was early autumn, but it snowed the entire night.

"So rumors started among the people, probably saying that the new emperor had unjustly killed a loyal official within just a few years of ascending the throne, even the heavens couldn't bear to see it. But that emperor was a rare fool, probably his mind had turned into a dead end and couldn't turn back. After you, he actually pulled out another small group of people one after another, killing some, flaying others, in any case, doing a fine job of it."

The landlord recalled the events of that time, snorting with a hint of mockery, "Those he killed were the ones who could guard the country for him. After killing them, his dragon throne was shaky, so with a light push, the country changed hands."

"Changed hands?" Gu Yan was a bit surprised.

"Mm, don't worry, not to foreigners. Just a change in surname. Not only was there deep resentment among the people, even those in the jianghu couldn't bear it and interfered. So that emperor didn't have a good end either. After he died, his body was dragged out and whipped a few times, and where he was buried was tampered with, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation or be reborn."

The landlord shrugged, "I returned to the mountains to continue my secluded cultivation at that time, so I'm not too clear on the specifics."

Hearing the landlord say all this, the others at most felt surprise and lamented, but it was different for Gu Yan. After all, that was the era he had truly lived in, those people were all by his side, those who died unjustly were his comrades, the one whose corpse was whipped was the former supreme ruler on the dragon throne. What the landlord summed up in a few sentences, to him, that was his previous life...

But since over 500 years had passed and dynasties had changed who knows how many times, those things had truly become history.

"You never saw that foolish emperor's soul again?" Gu Yan thought for a moment and asked.

The landlord glanced at him and said, "I did."

"Huh?!" Su Kun didn't understand, "Didn't you say he couldn't enter reincarnation or be reborn?"

"Even if suppressed, he could still escape."

Su Kun looked regretful, "Couldn't he be suppressed more tightly?!"

"You think he's rice paper?" The landlord looked at him in amusement, then pointed to the Master and said, "But that foolish emperor didn't succeed in becoming a demon before he was captured by him."

Su Kun immediately looked at the monk with admiration, planning to correct his unreliable image in his heart. But he wasn't sure if it was his misconception, hearing the landlord's words, the Master, who by his personality should have proudly accepted the admiring gaze, not only didn't gloat, but seemed to have an imperceptible hint of embarrassment in his calmness.

"Right--" mentioning the Master, the landlord suddenly seemed to remember something and asked him, "Did you tell them when you went back about what your whatever junior brother found?"

"It's former junior brother, with emphasis on former." The monk stressed, then raised his head, snorted, and said, "By the time you remembered to remind me, the preserved vegetables were already cold. This old one told my Master and the others as soon as he found out."

Disciple Little Stone, who was trying hard to down his third cup of milk tea, looked at him expressionlessly for a long time with the straw in his mouth, finally spitting out the straw and solemnly said, "Ma-Master, I went back to the mountain and to-told Grand Ma-Master."

"Bah, this old monk was just letting you train and gain experience." The monk said, stroking his beard and glaring.

Little Stone still looked serious, "The day I fi-finished training and came back, in less than five minutes after landing, you se-sent me away a-again."

"I was just saying, Little Stone should have been back a few days ago according to reason, how come we haven't seen him," the old lady interjected. "So you sent him on errands again."

Mo Bao thought for a moment and said, "Why not use a paper crane to transmit a message?"

Hearing this, Su Kun thought of the row of paper talismans folded into cranes that the master had released with a wave of his sleeve before. That group of paper cranes didn't fall down after being scattered in the air, but flapped their wings as if they were alive, even glowing a bit, flying a few steps before disappearing.

So that thing could be used like a phone?!

"He- he sent me back to help him wa-wash the socks piled up in his room," the little disciple explained to the old Granny Camphor Tree and Comrade Mo Bao with the straw in his mouth.

The monk's hand stroking his beard stiffened, and he stamped his foot, "Nonsense! This old monk clearly told you to pass a message that Qing Yuan had come to Lixi, and to hurry over to clean up. If the paper crane gets caught in the rain halfway and disintegrates, what then? Naturally, oral transmission is more reliable."

The little disciple nodded and said, "Mm, the main thing was to wash socks, and by the way, pass on a message."

Master: "...You little brat, I sent you to practice your talisman skills, not to practice your mouth!! Be careful or I'll have Pomegranate peck your butt!"

"P-Pomegranate prefers to peck your butt, Master." The young disciple said, rubbing his belly and continuing to sip his milk tea through the straw. The serving size at this shop was a bit too large, making him want to run to the bathroom.

Master: "..." I must have had my brain eaten by Pomegranate back then to have picked up such a troublesome disciple.

Listening on the side, Su Kun finally found an opportunity to interject. He looked at the master curiously and said, "I thought cleaning out the sect was just a plot in TV shows and novels. I didn't expect it to actually happen in reality."

"Yes." The master put away his previously somewhat frivolous demeanor and rarely showed a serious face, saying, "The array set up in Zhang Fuquan's house earlier was done by Qing Yuan. If I hadn't gone upstairs to clean up that room, who knows when he would have come back."

"What?! It was him!" Su Kun thought of the strange man who had eaten with Zhang Fuquan the last time they met at the restaurant. That must have been the "Qing Yuan" the master was talking about. "But what do you mean by coming back? Were the people from your sect not together before this?"

The master shook his head and said, "He was kicked out more than twenty years ago. Master told him to reflect for a few years and come back when he had figured things out. Who knew that after he left, there was no news of him. And when he came back, he pulled this stunt."

Su Kun twitched the corner of his mouth, "So he's a repeat offender."

"Not exactly..." The master paused, looked away from Su Kun, and said somewhat vaguely, "Back then, his intentions weren't bad, but his methods were wrong and he broke the principles. You know, sometimes ordinary people can occasionally disregard principles and mess around a bit, and the trouble they cause may not be too big.

"But for people with certain special skills, they need to adhere to principles more than ordinary people. Because if they abuse the skills they know, the impact will be very bad and often irreversible."

Su Kun nodded, "Understandable. The greater one's abilities, the greater the responsibility they bear, and the more they need self-discipline."

The master grunted in agreement and didn't speak further. He lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking. After a while, Su Kun seemed to hear him sigh very softly and mutter, "Hopefully this time he only did this one stupid thing."

Su Kun: "..." Every time he saw similar lines in TV shows and novels, he had a bad feeling =_= Because those people often did more than just one thing...

As they were chatting, the owner of the bone soup spicy hot pot shop next door finally sauntered over from the residential area in front. He had probably been worn down by the dismal business and lost all his enthusiasm. All the shops in this row had opened before 8 o'clock, but only he had dragged on until almost 9 o'clock before coming over.

"This shop is really unlucky." The old lady looked and said sympathetically. "Just happened to run into Zhang Fuquan."

"Huh?" Su Kun had never understood why this shop's business had always been so dismal. Hearing the old lady say this, it seemed to have something to do with Zhang Fuquan?

Gu Yan, who had helped deal with Zhang Fuquan's house, turned his head and said to Su Kun, "The array in Zhang Fuquan's room not only reversed his wife's fate, but also absorbed fortune and wealth, just in a despicable way. This shop happens to be within the circle of his array, so all the fortune and wealth were absorbed to Zhang Fuquan's side."

"So that's how it is..." Su Kun thought for a moment and said, "Then what about the shop to the right--" Before he could finish, he saw that the current milk tea shop, which used to be a red bean paste shop, and the other shop to the right were not tightly connected. There was a stairwell door the width of a shop between them. Su Kun had previously followed Zhang Fuquan up these stairs to his home on the second floor.

However, Su Kun was still a bit puzzled, "Now that Zhang Fuquan's room has been cleaned up by you, why hasn't this shop's business recovered?"

"Ah, although the source has been cut off, this shop's fortune has already been affected for three years. It can't recover in a short time." The master looked up and thought, "It will probably take about half a year to recover."

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Author's note:

Second update delivered~~~

So sleepy~~~ I'm going to get some rest first~~ I'll reply to comments tomorrow~ ╭(╯3╰)╮