Divine & Bizarre: Increasing Points to Invincibility-Chapter 422 - 158: The Bride with the Head of a Rat and Body of a Human! There’s More Than One Rat Immortal! (Ten Thousand Word - , Subscription Requested)_1
It is unclear how exactly Zheng Sanshi was able to escape from the Zheng Family. Furthermore, no one knows why, after running for so long, he has not yet collapsed from exhaustion.
Perhaps this is a testament to his exceptional physical constitution, far surpassing that of an ordinary person?
In any case, with a normal walking pace,
Fan Wu and his companions finally arrived at the Zheng Family in the evening.
The Zheng Family is located in a county town within the central region, which is evidently very prosperous. With a population no less than two hundred thousand, such a town would already be considered quite large in Nanjun.
However, from Zheng Sanshi’s own account, this county town is merely a mid-tier one within the central region.
It is said that the larger county towns in the central region can have populations of five to six hundred thousand!
A county town with five to six hundred thousand residents.
It is comparable to the cities of Yinghe Prefecture.
Worth mentioning is that almost every household within this county town, named Zhengjian County, hangs two paper lanterns on the eaves of their front doors, one on each side.
The paper lanterns are adorned with talismanic characters similar to those of talismans, and as evening approaches, many families have already lit the two lanterns, with the candles inside illuminating the red talismanic characters.
This creates a rather mysterious aura.
Zheng Sanshi enthusiastically explained, "Our Zheng Family is quite renowned within Zhengjian County because we are a spiritual practice family that does not distance ourselves from the common people. Many of our family members who practice spiritual disciplines draw these lantern talismans and sell them to the commoners at a not-so-expensive price."
"Any family with some spare money will come to our Zheng Family to buy these things, because these days, vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts appear frequently, and everyone needs something for protection. These lantern talismans are quite effective for repelling evil."
"Of course..." Zheng Sanshi scratched his head awkwardly, "for some excessively powerful evil beings, these items are no longer effective."
The excessively powerful evil beings he mentioned include the Great Rat Immortal he is currently facing.
"Most of these lantern talismans are the handiwork of our family’s neophyte spiritual practitioners. Such beginner works are not quite up to the task of exterminating ghosts or suppressing demons, but discarding them would seem too wasteful."
"Thus... such a use was conceived. After all, even the practice works of those new to spiritual practice have some effect in expelling evil." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
"It is for this reason that nearly every family in Zhengjian County has these objects to ward off evil."
"As a result, there are quite a few people in Zhengjian County who dare to venture out at night in the first half of the night," Zheng Sanshi remarked with a sigh. "These items for expelling evil can indeed provide a great sense of security."
"Tsk... A county town with a population of two or three hundred thousand, where nearly every household buys your family’s evil-repelling talismans," Yun Jiuqing said teasingly. "No wonder when you asked for the assistance of Taoist Priest Xing Fengzi, you casually mentioned hundreds, even thousands, or tens of thousands of silver... Turns out your family is extremely wealthy!"
"Ahem! Not really... not really..." Zheng Sanshi chuckled sheepishly, "Just a small business, a small business."
Of course, no one believed his modesty; what small business could it be? Only a fool would believe that.
Even if only twenty thousand households in Zhengjian County purchased the evil-repelling items from the Zheng Family.
Considering the people in the central region are generally wealthier than those in Nanjun,
a household spending ten silver to ensure the safety of their family,
should be manageable, even if it requires some financial stretching.
That would be two hundred thousand silver!
Furthermore... talismans are definitely subject to wear and tear. Yun Jiuqing figured that these so-called lantern talismans probably needed to be replaced every year or two. If they are not replaced after a year or two, they would lose their power to repel evil and become nothing more than ordinary talisman paper, useless.
It amounts to the Zheng Family’s "small business" alone consistently netting an annual income of at least several hundred thousand silver.
Oh my...
Yun Jiuqing could even envision the Zheng Family’s vaults filled to the brim with mountains of gold and silver.
Wealth beyond measure.
"Here we are!" At that moment, Zheng Sanshi led everyone to the front of a large residence within Zhengjian County. This mansion was not ordinarily large. Just the main gate alone would likely require the push of five to six people to open, it was presumed.
Above the gate hung a massive plaque with two prominent characters—Zheng Mansion.
The walls of the mansion were adorned with Sutra Banners, each inscribed with texts from both the Daoist and Buddhist sects.
At the same time, talismans covered the mansion’s main entrance, surrounding two paintings of door deities.
These paintings of door deities didn’t seem to be the work of ordinary people either, as a faint flow of mana could be discerned within them.
Fan Wu didn’t recognize these two door deities.
He guessed they were probably two generals with illustrious military achievements from the time when the Great Zhou Dynasty was first established.
There were also people stationed in front of the mansion gate.
However, those stationed here were not mere house servants, but rather members of the Zheng Family dressed in luxurious clothes.
After all...
With the Zheng Family facing such an eerie situation, assigning ordinary house servants without spiritual power to guard the Zheng Mansion’s main gate... wouldn’t that be like asking someone powerless and unarmed to guard a crucial granary?
