I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 123: The rich will always be the rich, and you will always be the wooden

Fortunately, there was honey prepared by Zhang Chen in the cave. Zhang Chen did not need it now, so he took it out and fed it to the bumblebees, which attracted the bumblebees over. Tens of thousands of bumblebees surrounded the honey jar and feasted on it.

"Wow~"

When the falcon saw Zhang Chen, it suddenly let out a cry of grievance, flapped its wings but did not fly, and fell directly to the ground, landing crookedly at Zhang Chen's feet.

Zhang Chen hurriedly drew water vapor, dissolved the honey, and poured it into the falcon's body to replenish some energy for it to prevent it from starving to death.

Then he activated his beast taming skill and discovered a nest of snakes underground. Zhang Chen directly controlled the snakes to crawl out and fed the falcon.

Because there is a water source here, some rats, rabbits and snakes still survive underground.

The falcon came over and swallowed the snake cleanly in a few bites like eating spicy noodles, and the snake went directly into the falcon's stomach.

After Zhang Chen calmed the falcon and the bumblebee, he transformed into a bat again and disappeared into the sky, flying towards his own village.

His house and the thatched cottage next door had been reduced to ruins, and there was nothing to see, but he was still thinking about the page of the golden book, but still had no results.

At this time, the village was dead silent. The people had already begun to flee. The village was deserted, with only smoke rising from three or five houses.

"Eh~" Zhang Chen looked towards the village chief's house and saw that there were still figures moving around. The Feng Shui master was sitting in the yard with a compass in his hand, calculating something.

The village chief was no longer respectful and humble as before. He kicked the Feng Shui master and said, "Old man, you have been eating and drinking here for a month. Have you found the water vein? If you can't find the water vein, don't blame us for being ruthless."

The Feng Shui master was now covered in dust and had a bruised face and nose, and it was obvious that he had suffered a lot.

After being kicked to the ground, he did not dare to resist and could only beg for mercy helplessly: "Don't be anxious, give me a little more time! Give me a little more time!"

Zhang Chen just took a look and ignored it. Instead, he turned into a bat and landed under the eaves of Wang Wu's house. He saw that Wang Wu's house was full of dust, the door was wide open, and no one had been there for a long time.

"Uncle Wang hasn't come back for some time. Could it be that he was implicated because of my influence?" The thirty-six bats transformed by Zhang Chen landed in the corners of the house and the yard respectively, only to find that all the daily necessities in the house were gone, and the whole house was in tatters as if it had been ransacked.

After scanning the house, Zhang Chen felt a little worried. The next moment, he turned into a vampire bat and came to his stepmother's house. However, he saw that there was no one in his stepmother's house either. It was obviously abandoned for a long time.

"Could it be that the big leader took action? It must be!"

However, thirty-six vampire bats gathered in the house. Zhang Chen showed his tracks in the house. Looking at the dilapidated house covered with dust, there was a hint of thought in his eyes.

According to the leader's methods, it is not difficult to investigate the relationship between himself and Wang Wu, and do him a favor at the same time, which the other party is very happy to do.

With a guess in mind, Zhang Chen felt relieved and did not go looking for it. He then summoned the fox spirit: "Where is your page of the scripture?"

He was still thinking about the fragments of the Xisheng Sutra. His own light of righteousness was gained from the fragments of the Xisheng Sutra. Before, he let the sutra fall into the hands of the fox spirit because he was afraid of her methods. Now that he controlled the life and death of the fox spirit, of course he had to take the fragments of the Xisheng Sutra.

"Last time you went to visit Mr. Wuliu to learn how to read and write, didn't you hear from Zhang Qingyan that Mr. Wuliu was away on a business trip? In fact, it was Zhang Xiaohua who got the scriptures and went to ask Mr. Wuliu for advice. Mr. Wuliu recognized the extraordinary nature of the scriptures, so he took the scriptures with him and went out." said the fox fairy Nannan.

Hearing what the fox fairy Nannan said, Zhang Chen was stunned: "Who is Zhang Qingyan?"

"In the Prince of Pingbian's Palace, there is Zhang Xiaohua's substitute, the woman who bought your swan meat." said the vixen.

Zhang Chen frowned when he heard that. He didn't expect that after all the twists and turns, he would have to deal with Mr. Wuliu again.

He had two goals when he came back this time. The first goal was to see if Mr. Wuliu had returned. Now he had another goal, which was to see if there was a chance to steal the gold page back.

"Where did you get that golden book?" Zhang Chen asked the vixen.

"Of course it was dug out from the tomb." The fox spirit said, "This scripture was accidentally found in the earthquake cracks by my fox ancestor when he discovered the True Dragon Tomb. I found it a few days ago, but it's a useless scripture."

Zhang Chen couldn't help but feel secretly proud when he heard this. Thanks to your abandoned scriptures, otherwise I would not be able to turn the tables.

But it feels really good to have a vixen as your slave.

Zhang Chen took a look at the vixen and transformed it into a rune, then turned into a bat and flapped its wings to fly away. When he reappeared, he had arrived at the thatched hut built by Mr. Wuliu in the past.

Everything outside the thatched hut remained the same as before, with no changes except that the wild grass in the mountains had turned yellow.

A dozen strong and vigorous men with swords on their waists were patrolling in the mountains. Bats were flashing in the jungle, and Zhang Chen's figure appeared behind a big tree.

He used his magical powers to summon the fox spirit: "Go and see if Mr. Wuliu is at home."

The vixen went away, but returned in a moment: "You are lucky that Mr. Wuliu actually came back. I guess he must have heard about the changes in the Pingbian Palace, so he had to come back in a hurry."

"Please prepare some gifts and some clothes for me. I'm going to visit Mr. Wuliu." Zhang Chen said.

The fox fairy Nannan glanced at Zhang Chen with resentment: "You are now treating me as your follower and slave. I have become your errand boy."

Having said that, the fox fairy Nannan still left. In less than half an hour, she brought silk and satin clothes and a box full of silver and placed them in front of Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen stretched out his arms and the vixen changed Zhang Chen's clothes with a look of reluctance. She was a very proud person whose status in the fox clan was second only to the emperor. But now she had fallen to such a state. It really showed how morals were going downhill.

The clothes didn't fit him very well, they were a little too big. Zhang Chen looked himself up and down, and suddenly felt that he looked very noble, like a rich kid. He was very satisfied. The vixen beside him looked Zhang Chen up and down, and frowned. Zhang Chen noticed the vixen's frown and asked, "But what's wrong?"

"I don't know why, but when I see you wearing this silk and satin, I always feel that it is so tacky." said the vixen.

Zhang Chen smiled upon hearing this, but did not take it seriously: "What should I pay attention to when becoming your disciple?"

"I'm not a human, how can I know the rules of you humans?" said the fox fairy. Zhang Chen thought it made sense, so he happily carried the food box and walked towards Mr. Wuliu's thatched cottage.

"Stop, who are you?" Just when Zhang Chen reached halfway up the mountain, a guard noticed Zhang Chen's whereabouts, and hurriedly stepped forward to scold him, then stood in front of Zhang Chen. However, looking at Zhang Chen's luxurious silk dress, he did not dare to offend him.

"I want to see Mr. Wuliu." Zhang Chen said slowly.

The guard hesitated for a moment after hearing that. At this moment, he saw the door open and a girl in white slowly walked out of the house. As soon as the girl appeared, the whole mountain lost its color.

It was Zhang Qingyan, the girl who bought Zhang Chen’s swan meat last time.

The girl was startled when she saw Zhang Chen, then looked at his silk and satin clothes, her eyes full of surprise: "It seems that you have made a fortune after not seeing you for a while."

"Hello, young lady." Zhang Chen raised his hand and saluted.

The girl waved her hand to dismiss the guards, came to Zhang Chen's side, and then looked at Zhang Chen's attire, and couldn't help but sighed: "This is not the place for you to come!"

"I want to meet Mr. Wuliu." Zhang Chen said sincerely.

Zhang Qingyan frowned when she heard this, and remembered the purpose of Zhang Chen's visit last time. Now she already knew what the young man in front of her was thinking.

"I advise you to go back. You will definitely return disappointed!" Zhang Qingyan advised.

"Now that I'm here, I have to give it a try." Zhang Chen said sincerely, "I hope the young lady will be kind enough to give me a chance to meet you."

"What's the reason?" Zhang Qingyan asked.

"If a person wants to change his destiny in life, he must try again and again and seize every possible opportunity. Meeting Mr. Wuliu in front of me is an opportunity for me," said Zhang Chen.

Zhang Qingyan sighed when she heard this: "Since you are so sincere, I can ask for you to have a chance to meet the gentleman."

Zhang Qingyan asked Zhang Chen to wait in the mountains, then turned and walked into the house. After a while, she waved to Zhang Chen, and Zhang Chen hurried forward.

"Sir, for my sake, he has agreed to meet you. Whether you can seize the opportunity depends on you." Zhang Qingyan said.

As he made way, Zhang Chen walked into the house, and then he was stunned because there were two people in the house.

One of them was an older man, about fifty years old, with fine and well-maintained skin, obviously having lived a life of luxury for many years. At this moment, he was sitting at a desk copying a book.

The other person looked to be about twenty years old, and was wearing the clothes of a Huangli Temple disciple. He was kneeling on the ground with a gloomy face.

Although it was a thatched cottage, the furnishings inside the house were not simple. The incense burner in the house emitted purple smoke, which was obviously not an ordinary incense.

The front is a red gold-money python backrest, and on both sides are a pair of plum-shaped lacquered small tables. On the left table is a Wenwang tripod, spoon, chopsticks and incense box; on the right table is a Ruyao beauty vase with fresh flowers inserted in it, as well as tea bowls and spittoons. On the west side of the floor are four chairs, all with silver-red flower-sprinkled chair covers and four footrests underneath. On both sides of the chairs, there is also a pair of high tables, on which are tea bowls, vases and flowers.

Not to mention the other valuable furnishings in the house, even in this dry season, the fact that there were fresh flowers in the house clearly showed its extravagance.

There is a bookshelf in the room, which is filled with densely packed books.

Zhang Chen didn't recognize any of the countless decorations left in the thatched cottage.

"This is Mr. Wuliu." Zhang Qingyan introduced him.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen immediately bowed and said, "Disciple Chen Qingdu, nice to meet you, sir."

"I heard from Qingyan that you wanted to see me?" Mr. Wuliu looked at Zhang Chen with a condescending gaze.

"I have heard of your great name, and I would like to study under you. Please give me some guidance."

Then he quickly opened the box, and inside was five hundred taels of silver, as well as various jewels and other items neatly arranged.

Mr. Wuliu looked Zhang Chen up and down, then took a sip of the tea slowly, then put down the teacup and said, "The world has really changed nowadays. Everyone is interested in studying."

Zhang Chen's face changed when he heard that, but he heard Mr. Wuliu say, "Do you think you can come here to learn knowledge with just a little scrap of copper and iron? It's just a foolish dream. A rich family will always be a rich family, and a wooden door will always be a wooden door. You are just the son of a merchant, are you worthy of meeting me?"

"Go, throw the thing out to me and beat this guy out." Mr. Wuliu's voice was full of disdain.

The Huang Li Guan disciple who was kneeling on the ground immediately became alert upon hearing this. He immediately kicked Zhang Chen's jewelry box to the ground, and then punched and kicked Zhang Chen:

"Boy, don't you know how much you are capable of? Are you worthy enough to learn writing? Writing is something that only nobles can master. How can a peasant like you covet it? Do you really think that you can buy knowledge with a little money? You really don't know your place."

The disciple of Huang Liguan had obviously practiced martial arts and his punches and kicks were nimble. Zhang Chen was kicked three times and was kicked out of the door in a daze. He didn't even know what was going on. Why did Mr. Wuliu suddenly turn against him?

"Stop hitting me! It's my fault! There's no need to blame him." Seeing that the young man was still chasing Zhang Chen and beating him, Zhang Qingyan quickly spoke up to stop him.

After hearing what Zhang Qingyan said, the disciple stopped and taunted Zhang Chen, "Boy, a pheasant can't fly up to a tree and become a phoenix. Knowledge is never something that a bunch of mud legs like you can obtain. You'd better give up this idea."

After saying that, he turned and walked into the house.

Zhang Qingyan walked slowly to Zhang Chen and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I told you that this is not the place you should come to. If I don't tell you to try, you will never give up. You will blame me in the future, thinking that I am the one who secretly did bad things and blocked your way to study and progress."

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this, but he heard Zhang Qingyan say, "Don't you know the unspoken rules of the rich? Knowledge can only be spread among the nobles, and will never be spread to ordinary wealthy families or ordinary people. Ordinary wealthy families may be able to become wealthy by doing business with their own brains, but it is impossible to cross the class. The son of a scholar-official will always be a scholar-official, and the son of a farmer will always be a farmer. Reading and literacy are the rights of the scholar-officials. You are being presumptuous this time."

Hearing Zhang Qingyan's words, Zhang Chen was completely confused. He knew that it was difficult to acquire knowledge, but he never expected that it would be so difficult.

No wonder there isn’t even a private school in this world!
(End of this chapter)