The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 101 The Complaining Bird

Zhou Fengchen looked at the man and asked with difficulty, "What the hell, Zhou the Immortal? You didn't happen to... encounter an old immortal, did you?"

"An old immortal? No, there isn't one!"

The man was taken aback. Before Zhou Fengchen could react, he continued, "This morning I went to buy groceries and met a high-ranking monk. He said my forehead was dark and surrounded by bad luck, indicating that someone in my family was definitely suffering from illness. And believe it or not, it's true! My wife fell ill recently, and nothing we did could cure her. She's still in a semi-conscious state, and I don't know how long she'll last. I asked the monk what to do, and he said..."

Zhou Fengchen interrupted him, her face stern, and said, "The high monk said his magical powers are limited and he is powerless to help, but tonight a stranger will pass by your house. This person looks to be in his twenties, about 1.75 meters tall, with somewhat long hair, single eyelids, and surnamed Zhou. He is a deity who guarantees to cure your family's illness! You must stop him, be sincere, and absolutely do not let him leave, right?"

The man froze for a few seconds, then let out a loud shout and knelt down, grabbing Zhou Fengchen's leg. "God! This is amazing! It's almost exactly what the high monk said! Have we offended some unclean spirit? Please save my wife!"

That shout caused a flurry of people to rush out of the courtyard: some knitting sweaters, some carrying bowls of porridge, some eating sunflower seeds, some playing cards...

The group of people stared at each other, their curiosity palpable.

Zhou Fengchen thought to himself, "Fine! That monster has definitely disappeared after all that. Today's efforts have been wasted again!"

He helped the man up and said very bluntly, "I'll save him! I really will! But I need ten thousand yuan, okay? If not, I'm leaving!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" The man quickly got up, pulled Zhou Fengchen into the yard, and said, "We still have ten thousand yuan at home!"

Zhou Fengchen followed the man into the courtyard, turned a corner, and arrived at a house facing east.

A bunch of people followed behind, their eyes wide open, their expressions suggesting they were waiting for something fun to happen so they could brag about it to others tomorrow.

Zhou Fengchen stood with his hands behind his back in front of the man's house. He looked at the roof, then at the surroundings, and finally stared at the black bird in a cage hanging in the corridor outside. He sneered and went inside.

The room was a bit messy. Two children, around seven or eight years old, were doing their homework at the table. They looked a little timid when they saw a stranger come in. In the side room, a pale-faced woman was lying on a large bed, half asleep and groaning. There was a pile of anti-inflammatory medicine on the table next to her.

Zhou Fengchen stared at the woman for a while, then pointed to the anti-inflammatory medicine and asked the man, "Is this for your wife?"

The man nodded and bowed, saying, "Yes, yes, I was thinking that taking some anti-inflammatory medicine might alleviate the symptoms."

Zhou Fengchen waved his hand: "Throw it away!"

"Huh?" The man blinked. "Why?"

"Why take medicine if you're not sick! Throw it away!"

"Uh! Okay, okay!" The man quickly threw the medicine into the trash can.

Zhou Fengchen turned and left the side room. He almost bumped into someone as soon as he got outside. The hall was crowded with all sorts of people, more lively than a movie theater.

The man followed them out, and seeing Zhou Fengchen's unpleasant expression, he quickly shouted, "Uncles, aunts, grandpas, can we stop watching? We're disturbing the deities' ritual!"

"Okay, okay!" The room erupted in laughter, which quickly dissipated.

Zhou Fengchen shook his head, squatted down behind the two children, watched for a while, and asked, "Little friends, how are your grades?"

The little girl wasn't afraid of people and said with a smile, "Uncle, I'm number one in my class."

The little boy was a bit scared and whispered, "I'm thirtieth in my class."

Zhou Fengchen chuckled and asked the little boy, "How many people are in your class?"

The little boy lowered his voice even further, "Thirty."

Zhou Fengchen chuckled.

The man behind him was dumbfounded. Why was this deity playing with his child? He asked stammeringly, "Deity Zhou, what's going on? Is there something wrong with the child?"

"Uh! What problem could there be with the child?" Zhou Fengchen coughed and nodded, indicating that they should go outside to talk.

The two reached a dark corner of the courtyard. Zhou Fengchen pointed to the birdcage hanging in front of the man's door and asked, "Where did you get that black bird from?"

The man was taken aback, a little paranoid, and said, "My friend found it on the road. He didn't know what kind it was, so he gave it to me. I'm just keeping it as a pet. What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this bird?"

Zhou Fengchen thought for a moment, then instead of answering directly, asked, "Tell me the truth: have you killed anyone recently?"

The man's face changed drastically, and he stammered for a long time without saying a word.

Zhou Fengchen's face turned cold. "Tell me the truth!"

The man said timidly, "Yes! But it's not my fault."

Zhou Fengchen frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

The man said, "I have a colleague named Zhang Jie. This guy is a compulsive gambler. A while ago, he lost all his savings at the card table. His wife took the child and went back to her parents' house and didn't want to go back. I owed him 20,000 yuan. He came to me asking for it back, saying he wanted to go to the casino to win back his losses. I was afraid he would lose again, so I didn't give it to him. I secretly had my wife take the money and give it to his wife. As a result, he couldn't think straight and committed suicide by drinking pesticide."

Zhou Fengchen smiled and said, "I know what happened."

The man asked curiously, "What happened?"

"There's a ghost in your house!" Zhou Fengchen said in a low voice.

"Huh?" The man was startled and stammered, "W-where did this ghost come from? God, you can't lie to me."

Zhou Fengchen said, "Why would I lie to you? Your colleague turned into that black bird after he died. He deliberately let your friend find it and then calculated that he would give it to you. After he came to your house, he started to harm your wife. If I'm not mistaken, your wife won't live much longer. Next, he will harm your two children."

The man stood up abruptly, his face ashen. He looked at the birdcage hanging in front of the door, gritting his teeth in hatred, and raised his foot to pounce on it.

Zhou Fengchen quickly pulled him back and said, "This is a lingering evil spirit that has transformed into a vengeful bird. This vengeful bird is full of resentment and is extremely difficult to deal with. It can't be killed or damaged. Even if you kill it, it will come back another day. What are you going to do?"

The man, with a mournful face, said, "Then... then what do you suggest we do?"

Zhou Fengchen whispered the instructions, explaining them in a low voice. The man listened, his eyes widening. "Will this work?"

Zhou Fengchen nodded: "Okay!"

Next, the man went to find someone, while Zhou Fengchen pretended to stroll around casually. When he got to the birdcage, he casually opened the birdcage door.

When they returned to the house, the man had also brought the other two people. They were very close to the man.

The four men carried the child into the inner room, then pulled out a table to play cards, exchanging knowing glances and deliberately raising their voices, "How much are we betting?"

"Fifty? Dare you?"

"What's there to be afraid of? Are you afraid of me?!"

Zhou Fengchen and the other two deliberately let the man win at first. The man quickly amassed a large sum of money, seemingly no less than four or five thousand, and excitedly shouted, "Damn! I won! We're on a winning streak today!"

Just then, the black bird outside emerged from its cage, flapped its wings, and flew in, standing to one side and tilting its head to look.

The man and his two friends broke out in a cold sweat. Zhou Fengchen quickly gave them a look, signaling them to continue.

Next, the man deliberately played the wrong card, and Zhou Fengchen and two other people teamed up to mess with him. In no time, the man lost all the money he had won, even losing over a thousand yuan. With a mournful face, he went to Zhou Fengchen to borrow money, "Dude! Can you lend me two hundred? Just two hundred, I'll pay you back after I win it all!"

Zhou Fengchen glanced at the black bird, then reluctantly handed the man two hundred. "Hey! Remember that! You can't renege on your debt!"

The man nodded. "Got it! I'll make my money back!"

But he kept losing, and soon he had borrowed a huge amount of money from Zhou Fengchen and the other two. He always thought he could get his money back, but he always lost. In the end, he burst into tears in despair.

Zhou Fengchen felt the time was right, so he slammed the cards on the table, pointed at the man, and glared at Blackbird, saying, "There's no such thing as winning forever at the card table, and there's no such thing as getting your money back. Blame yourself for being greedy and getting addicted to gambling, for not living a proper life, for letting down your family, and for having the nerve to resent your friends. What kind of person are you? Bah!"

The black bird was startled, then squawked and retreated, wailing in human language, "Daoist Master, I know I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong, waah waah waah..."