I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 125: Burning the Thatched Cottage!

Zhang Chen hid the pig's head and sent Cheng Yu upstairs to sleep. The next moment, he turned into a vampire bat and flew away.

Zhang Chen never suffers any loss, and he always files a complaint on the same day if he has any grudges!
Mr. Wuliu actually dared to humiliate me like this, it was simply hateful! The most important thing was that he actually embezzled all my money. Did Zhang Chen's money come from the wind? Did his money come so easily?
With the help of moonlight at night, Zhang Chen's speed was even faster. As the moonlight was absorbed, he seemed to have no sense of tiredness at all. In just one hour, he had turned back and landed in the forest.

Zhang Chen stood in the moonlight and looked at the thatched cottage in the mountains, with murderous intent in his eyes. "What a pity! There are almost no wild animals left in the mountains. There are many snakes near the tomb of the imperial daughter, but these people are martial arts masters and have weapons. It is almost impossible to kill them with snakes. Let's save their lives for now and move all their things away first."

Zhang Chen directly summoned the fox spirit, and then saw the fox spirit walked out swaggeringly. At the same time, a mysterious wave spread out from the fox spirit's body, and the illusion had begun to take effect.

Soon, the fox spirit came to Zhang Chen carrying jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and various valuable items as if offering treasures: "I have brought all the things in the old man's thatched cottage that I can move."

Zhang Chen looked at the treasures on the ground, which had piled up into a small hill, as high as his knees. It was probably worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

"It's not easy to sell antiques and calligraphy and paintings. Once they are sold, it will be bad if someone finds out the trace. Although I have some tricks, I can't stop the siege of martial arts masters. But those jewels, gold and silver can be used as a gift for becoming a disciple." Zhang Chen said to himself.

He is not short of money now!

Ever since he possessed the vixen, he no longer lacked money.

However, it would be a pity to throw away these calligraphy and paintings and antiques. When I go south in the future, I can find a pawnshop in another city to exchange them for some gold and silver, which can make up for the loss.

But with so much money, he had no place to hide it.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to hide underwater in the deep cave. Then Zhang Chen looked at the thatched cottage, holding a fire starter in his hand, and looked at the vixen: "Go, set that house on fire, so that I can vent my anger."

The vixen took a deep breath when she heard this, and stared at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes. A thought popped into her mind: "Is this guy a devil?"

"We are here for wealth and not to kill people. Isn't it too much to burn people to death?" The vixen resisted.

"They are living people, not dead animals. Can a thatched hut trap them?" Zhang Chen said.

Of course he knew that he couldn't burn the old guy to death, but it was good to be able to vent his anger.

The vixen had no choice but to do as she was told. Soon, a huge fire started in the darkness, engulfing the hut in the blink of an eye. Then, a commotion was heard from the mountain, and Mr. Wu Liu was seen standing outside the hut, his voice filled with heart-wrenching pain: "Ah! My "Paper Color Illustrations"! My Wu Xiaozi's "Calligraphy Copybook"."

Mr. Wuliu's shrill voice echoed in the mountains, and Zhang Chen looked surprised when he heard it: "Could it be that this calligraphy and painting have some origin?"

But it doesn’t matter anymore!
Zhang Chen took one look at the burning thatched cottage, then turned into a bat and disappeared into the night.

The next morning

It was another morning class, and a group of disciples gathered in the martial arts field. This time Zhang Chen and Xiao Douding were not late, and they stood obediently in the square.

At this time, the law enforcement elder stood on the high platform with a gloomy face. He swept his eyes over the disciples below the stage and was furious.

"Some of you are so bold. How long has it been since I last admonished you? Some of you actually attacked the kitchen again!" The law enforcement elder stood on the high platform and admonished with a gloomy face: "You can steal thousands of times, but I only need to catch you once, and you will be ruined!"

Then there was another long-winded speech.

Zhang Chen and Xiao Douding looked at each other in the audience, and listened to the scolding on the stage, with the corners of their mouths slightly raised.

After the martial arts performance, Zhang Chen felt that his blood and energy began to flow, and he seemed to have a slight sense of the direction of the tendons between his arms.

"It seems that we are not far from entering the realm of Ming Jin." Zhang Chen and Xiao Douding followed the other disciples to the main hall and began to recite the Huangting Sutra with everyone else.

Unfortunately, no skills were learned. Zhang Chen suspected that it was because there was no original golden book, or there was something wrong with the disciples' recitation process.

Zhang Chen recited the ten thousand-word Huangting Sutra for a month, but he could only memorize a few hundred words. He only knew the pronunciation but not the meaning.

Breakfast Canteen
The law enforcement elder stared at the disciples who were getting their meals with a pair of eyes like a hawk, and said to the law enforcement disciples beside him: "Keep an eye on them. If anyone doesn't look hungry, it means he had a full stomach last night. He is a strong suspect. Go search the house later to see who left the steamed buns behind. Keep a close eye on him."

Upon hearing this, the disciple quickly agreed.

"Did you buy the hunting dog I asked you to buy?" the law enforcement elder asked again.

"There are some clues." said the disciple.

"That's good! After I buy the hunting dog, I'll see who stole the meat! These disciples are so bold, we must suppress this evil spirit." said the law enforcement elder.

Zhang Chen and Xiao Douding were carrying rice porridge and steamed buns. They looked at each other as they walked along, and both of them had no appetite.

"What should I do if I can't eat?" Little Douding asked Zhang Chen quietly.

Zhang Chen narrowed his eyes. "We have to eat even if we can't. If we don't show that we are hungry, it will be a big problem. The elders are not fools and will definitely see the clues."

Xiao Douding also had a helpless look on his face. He and Zhang Chen came into the house, eating steamed buns and drinking porridge one by one. However, this time he no longer felt the same enjoyment as before. Instead, his face was filled with pain.

Fortunately, both of them were martial artists, so even though they were full, they were able to digest the food through martial arts practice.

"Eat less meat next time." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Sure enough, when the two were halfway through their meal, the law enforcement elder came to conduct a surprise inspection. Seeing that the two had only eaten half of their steamed buns, no trouble arose.

In the morning, the temple was cleaned as usual, and then everyone went back to practice martial arts. Zhang Chen found an opportunity to transform into a bat and fly away. However, within an hour, his figure appeared in the county town.

She first bought a bamboo hat and put it on, then she carried the gift box and followed the fox spirit's instructions to walk towards Chen San's two families.

Zhang Chen, as a bat, could not carry too much weight, no more than thirty kilograms at most, but it was enough to carry the weight of the gift box.

Zhang Chen was very generous and directly brought 20 gold cakes. As for the antiques, calligraphy and paintings he collected last night, he was afraid of causing trouble and delaying his studies, so he did not take them out to show off as gifts.

However, Chen Sanliang's downfall was beyond Zhang Chen's expectations.

In a shabby alley, there was a pungent smell on both sides, which made him retch.

He even wondered if he had come to an African refugee camp. It felt like he had come to an African urban village.

"In Wangjia Lane, the eighth household." The fox spirit cast an illusion and followed Zhang Chen, showing him the way. Zhang Chen held a paper box in his hand, carefully counting the gates, and then came to a dilapidated gate.

The door was very broken, with holes left by insects, and it looked quite old.

However, before Zhang Chen could knock on the door, a woman's angry curse suddenly came from the yard: "Chen Sanliang, if you dare to read those useless books again, I will burn your books and go back to my parents' home immediately. Do you believe it?"

"Madam, you can't be unreasonable. Studying is my life's work... Hey... Hey... Hey, just say what you want to say. Why do you have to use force?"

A gentle middle-aged man's voice came from the yard, but this time it sounded a little anxious: "Hey, I'm warning you, don't touch my book!"

"We have no rice to cook, we are almost starving to death, and you are still reading here. Will you be happy if you starve me to death? You are no longer the same person you used to be. Your books have become useless. Why can't you get out and live a down-to-earth life?" The woman's voice was full of sharpness. As she spoke, the sound of furniture being pushed over came from the yard.

"Crack~"

Suddenly at some point, a slapping sound was heard in the yard, and then the air seemed to stagnate.

After seven or eight breaths, the man's panicked apology was heard: "Madam, I didn't mean to hit you! I was wrong, I apologize!"

"Chen Sanliang, have you become more capable?" The woman's voice became sharper and she began to roar.

"Hey, don't scratch my face! Don't scratch my face!" The man's panicked voice rang out in the yard.

"Am I coming at the wrong time?" Zhang Chen's hand that was knocking on the door was suspended in mid-air, his eyes looking at the wooden door, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

The vixen was also speechless.

The two men stood outside the door waiting until a quarter of an hour later, when the quarrel in the yard calmed down. Zhang Chen then gritted his teeth and knocked on the wooden door, and the sound of "tap, tap, tap" spread into the yard.

"Who is it?" A gentle female voice came from the yard, and then the door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman wearing coarse linen clothes and full of nobleness walked out.

Although the woman was wearing coarse cloth, which was even patched again and again, and had countless patches on it, her skin was slightly dark and rough, but it was still difficult to conceal her innate nobility.

People's temperament is amazing, some people really have temperament.

It's just that the woman's hair was a little messy, and there was a red mark on her left cheek, which looked like four fingers, adding a hint of worldly flavor to her noble lady's temperament.

The woman's eyes fell on Zhang Chen's gift box, and then looked at Zhang Chen's delicate skin and the satin dress on his body, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "Who are you?"

"My name is Zhang Chen. I heard that there is a learned and literate nobleman living in Wangjia Lane, so I came to visit him with a small gift. I want to learn how to read and write. I wonder if you can help me?"

As he spoke, Zhang Chen opened the gift box, revealing a box full of gold cakes, as well as countless pearls and jades.

It stands to reason that he was not a person who did not know etiquette, and it was impossible for him to open the gift box directly at the door. However, special circumstances require special treatment. Since he knew that the other party's family was so poor that the couple were on the verge of quarreling, of course he knew how to do it in the most touching way.

And the most important thing is that he thinks that all scholars are sick. What if they act noble and don't give him the chance to open the gift box? Wouldn't that be the end of him? The lady in front of him is a good opportunity for him to take action!

The woman's eyes fell on the gift box and she couldn't take her eyes away.

To be honest, she was a daughter of a rich family, and although there was a lot of gold and silver, it might not be of much interest to her. But the poor life she had lived in for decades had taught her to face the reality that being noble and seeking fame could not fill her stomach.

"Oh, you want to learn to read and write? Then you have come to the right place. Come in and talk first." As he said this, he took the gift box, closed the lid, opened the door and called Zhang Chen in.

Zhang Chen walked into the yard and found it was very small, less than 50 square meters. In the yard sat a gentleman wearing simple clothes that were full of patches but washed cleanly.

The gentleman looked to be in his fifties, but he was too thin and looked malnourished, especially the several scratches on his face, which looked very strange.

Zhang Chen felt very puzzled. The two sides were clearly fighting in the yard, so how did they put their clothes in order so quickly?

"This is the gentleman you are looking for." The woman's voice was very gentle, without any of the fierce tone he had heard outside the door before. If Zhang Chen had not heard it with his own ears, he would never have dared to associate the words "shrew" and "lady" with the same person.

"Master, I am the disciple Zhang Chen. I am thirsty for knowledge and I hope you will teach me the great way of writing." Zhang Chen was not pretentious and just knelt down on the ground.

If you ask for help, you must have a begging attitude.

Learning characters is so hard!
The man stared at Zhang Chen, looking him up and down in silence, until he heard the woman cough impatiently. Then Chen Sanliang asked:
"Are you a civilian?"

"That's right." Zhang Chen said.

He didn't want to hide it because there were many rules and etiquette that he couldn't hide.

Then the yard fell into silence, and the gentleman stood there, lost in confusion.

"Cough cough~"

The woman next to her started coughing again while holding the gift box.

Chen Sanliang was driven helpless by the coughing. He sighed and said through gritted teeth: "I can't accept you as my disciple. Go away! Take the gift back with you."

"I only want to learn to read. I don't ask you to accept me as your disciple. I hope you will show me mercy." Zhang Chen was startled when he heard this and quickly lowered his request.

Chen Sanliang seemed to have made up his mind this time. He waved his hand to drive the man away and turned around: "I can't break the rules of this world. Take your things and go!"

"Chen Sanliang!!!" The woman's eyes suddenly turned red, her voice stretched out and her tone rose, her anger was not concealed at all.

Chen Sanliang said nothing.

Seeing this, the woman looked at Zhang Chen who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "If you just want to learn to read and write, I can teach you."

"Suzhen, you...you...you cannot break the rules of the nobility!" Chen Sanliang became anxious when he heard this.

"Damn the rules! I don't want to starve to death with a idiot like you!" The woman pointed at Chen Sanliang's nose and cursed.

(End of this chapter)