Zhu Yuanshan hurriedly rushed to the countryside and found Zhou Jinhai's manor in the countryside. The gate of the manor is heavily guarded. When it was dark, Zhu Yuanshan climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard of the Zhou family, and after some observation, he saw that there was a house where servants came and went from time to time.

In the dead of night, Zhu Yuanshan touched the front of the house and climbed in through the window. When I came to the bed, by the candlelight in front of the bed, I lifted the mosquito net and saw that it was Zhou Jinhai who was sleeping inside.

At this time, Zhou Jinhai had been awakened, he saw Zhu Yuanshan standing in front of the bed with a sword in his hand, and he was immediately frightened, trembling and taking out a bag of things from under the pillow, handing it to Zhu Yuanshan, and saying in a tone of voice: "Don't kill..... Kill me..... Strong..... Scholar..... Please ..... Next to this. ”

Zhu Yuanshan opened the package, and there was a bag of gold inside! Just as he was about to push it back, he saw Zhou Jinhai with a pleading expression, and his body trembled like chaff. Zhu Yuanshan thought to himself, it is better to accept the gold in exchange for his peace of mind, besides, after such a long time, his entanglement has been exhausted!

Zhu Yuanshan accepted the package and said, "I have come to return your sword all this time, this can be regarded as your payment! I will give you this sword, and you have taken it." Farewell!" he strode out of the door and went straight back to his hometown.

After Zhu Yuanshan left, Zhou Jinhai couldn't sleep anymore. He looked at the cold and shining sword at the head of the bed, and remembered that ten years ago, he went to Beijing to take the exam, lost his name to Sun Shan, ran out of entanglements, and was trapped in a small shop. At this time, he met Xu Guilin, who also came to take the exam. The two hit it off at first sight and became confidants.

Xu Guilin settled the accommodation expenses for him, and gave him dozens of taels of silver. On a moonlit night, the two went out to admire the moon and walked to the edge of a forest, Zhou Jinhai took advantage of Xu Guilin's unpreparedness, inserted a sword into Xu Guilin's back, took the silver ticket from Xu Guilin, and fled back to Suzhou overnight.

After that, he put pen to paper and engaged in business, using this silver as capital, and made a fortune. Unexpectedly, ten years later, Xu Guilin actually asked someone to send this sword. This is a sword, this is Xu Guilin to ask for his life!

Zhou Jinhai tore a piece of cloth, wrapped the sword, carried a shovel, and quietly walked out of the manor. The moonlight outside was like water, just like that night ten years ago. He stumbled forward, only to be followed by a man. The faster he walked, the faster the man followed.

Zhou Jinhai didn't dare to turn back, and ran wildly all the way, not stopping until he couldn't run anymore. He swung his shovel, dug a deep pit with all his might, untied the cloth bag, and was about to throw his sword into the pit, but he didn't want to slip under his feet, so he plunged into it.....

The next day, the Zhou family found Zhou Jinhai in the pit. I saw him lean down, and a sword pierced his back diagonally!

Later, Zhou Jinhai's ghost came to report to the Netherworld. Because he did evil deeds in his life, he will go to the eighteen hells to be punished!

The judge of the "oil pot hell" who was in charge of the punishment also looked through the "book of life and death" when asking about the cause of his death. It was found that the sword that killed Zhou Jinhai was not an ordinary ghost! It was the northern "Black Chi Gon Horn Broken Demon Male Sword" of the Zhenwu Emperor.....

It turned out that after Xu Guilin died that year, he happened to meet the Zhenwu Emperor who was passing through here. Zhenwu was very angry after learning the truth from Xu Guilin's ghost, but Heavenly Court also has the rules of Heavenly Court, and immortals can't kill mortals casually.....

So Zhenwu let Xu Guilin's ghost attach himself to his northern "Black Chi Gon Horn Broken Demon Sword", waiting for an opportunity to take revenge! That's why the previous situation happened. After that, the sword automatically returned to Zhenwu's hands!

Xie Bi'an continued: This Black Chi Gon Horn Demon Breaking Sword is indeed a good sword, but it is a pity to recognize the master! Why, is the immortal worried about this sword of the real martial arts?

Yang Zhuochao was also noncommittal, he pointed to a hill in the city and said: Lord Impermanence, I think that the terrain is relatively high. Why don't we go up there and have a look?

Xie Bi'an said: Since Shangxian has this interest, Xia Guan is willing to accompany him.

So Yang Zhuochao didn't ask anyone to follow, and the two of them walked leisurely towards the hill!

When you can go to the top of the mountain, because the mountain depends on the terrain, although it is only a small hill, as far as the eye can see, even the tower of the dead city can be seen!

Yang Zhuochao pointed to some strange trees in the distance and asked, "Lord Impermanence, what kind of tree is that, and how did it grow like this?"

Xie Bi'an replied, "That's called the Soul Eater Tree!" This Soul Eater Tree is very common in the Netherworld. But if it is in the earthly world, it is difficult to see! Because this Soul Eater Tree grows mostly in the pile of dead people, and feeds on the flesh and blood of the dead! It is really a dead man's tree, and it is also a kind of "ominous tree" that the mortal world calls it.

Legend has it that there was a man named Meng Liang, whose mother had been sick in bed for more than three years, and Meng Liang had been taking care of her with all her heart and soul for three years, hoping that her mother would get better as soon as possible.

But my mother's illness did not show the slightest sign of improvement, a few days ago my mother occasionally felt cold, more and more weak, and now it has been three days without a drop of water, I am afraid that it is not far from the limit!

Meng Liang sighed, sad, he lost his father at a young age, and he relied on his mother to raise him with hard work, and now his mother is terminally ill and cannot be treated, Meng Liang was depressed in his heart, he really couldn't bear to watch his mother leave him, "Or, let's go to the broken temple in the mountains tomorrow," Meng Liang thought.

There is a ruined temple on the hill near Meng Liang's village, and the temple was built at some point, and the incense has long been cut off, and the surrounding area is overgrown with weeds, and it is dilapidated, and there is a big tree growing in the courtyard of the temple, with a towering crown, and I don't know how many years it has grown!

The tree is also known as the resurrection tree, the tree bears a kind of fruit like a small lantern, the fruit is very magical, it can make people come back from the dead, so it is called the resurrection fruit, at the beginning people learned that the fruit has this miraculous effect, they have enshrined it as a treasure, each fruit is not changed.

Then people found that there was something wrong with the person who used the Soul Rejuvenation Fruit to resurrect, not only did he not remember who his previous name was, but he also behaved strangely, crazy, day and night, afraid of the sun, not at all like the person before death!

Over time, it was rumored that the tree grew from the Yellow Springs Hell, and although it could resurrect people, it would bring the resurrected people and their families back to the Yellow Springs Hell within a year.

Gradually, no one dared to use the Soul Rejuvenation Fruit to resurrect their dead relatives! The ruined temple had become a terrifying place, and no one dared to go there anymore.

Meng Liang wanted to save his mother, so he made up his mind to go to the temple to see, the next day just after dawn, Meng Liang got up and went up the mountain, and came to the broken temple, the temple door was broken, and it was full of dust.

Meng Liang pushed open the temple door, and suddenly felt a gust of wind blowing in his face, Meng Liang couldn't help but shiver, he looked into the courtyard, and sure enough, he saw a towering tree, which was full of scarlet fruits like small lanterns.

"This must be the soul tree!" Meng Liang said, he walked towards the tree, and when he came to the tree, he smelled a rotten and fishy smell, and the wind under the tree was gusting, blowing on Meng Liang's body, which actually made Meng Liang feel a little cold.

The leaves on the Soul Restoration Tree rattled, and the branches and leaves swayed, like a group of demons dancing wildly, which made Meng Liang fearful, but Meng Liang thought of his mother, and made up his mind again, struggled to climb the Soul Restoration Tree, picked a Soul Restoration Fruit, and then ran away!

On the way home, Meng Liang took the Soul Restoration Fruit in his hand, and observed it carefully, the Soul Restoration Fruit was the size of an apricot kernel, scarlet, and there was a faint viscous liquid like blood in it.

Meng Liang returned home, came to his mother's bed, and called his mother twice, but found that his mother did not respond, and put his hand in front of his mother's nose to test it, only to know that his mother had died!

Meng Liang was sad in his heart, and while crying, he put the soul rejuvenation fruit into his mother's mouth, praying that his mother would wake up, but his mother never responded, Meng Liang was disappointed, knelt down in front of his mother's bed and cried bitterly, crying for a long time, and when he was tired of crying, he fell asleep on the edge of the bed.

After sleeping for a long time, Meng Liang woke up, opened his eyes, but found that his mother's body was gone, Meng Liang was shocked, hurriedly searched, and finally found his mother in the firewood room, which made Meng Liang overjoyed that his mother had been resurrected!

But the resurrected mother's behavior was a little strange, Meng Liang found his mother in the firewood room when his mother was eating a raw chicken, and her mouth was full of blood.

When his mother was resurrected, Meng Liang was very happy in his heart, but when he saw his mother eating chicken raw, Meng Liang's heart was clouded.

Meng Liang stepped forward and shouted a mother, but Meng Liang's mother was indifferent, glanced at Meng Liang indifferently, and continued to lower her head to nibble on the chicken, Meng Liang's mother no longer recognized Meng Liang, and the rumors about the soul fruit were indeed true.

Meng Liang carried his mother into the room, and then took care of it carefully, hoping that his mother would one day remember himself, and not long after living with his resurrected mother, Meng Liang found that there were many strange or strange things about his mother, such as the resurrected mother could not be exposed to sunlight.

On that day, Meng Liang opened the window, he wanted his mother to breathe the air, but he didn't want the sun to shine on his mother, his mother fell to the ground and wailed in pain, Meng Liang hurriedly closed the window and helped his mother up.

The mother's eyes were full of hatred and stared at Meng Liang, Meng Liang felt that his mother's eyes were full of murderous intent, and his mother wanted to let himself die.

And after a while, Meng Liang actually found that some black spots had grown on his mother's body, and when he asked Ichiro, he learned that it was not an ordinary spot, but a dead man's spot, only the dead person grow, and his mother was still alive, why did he grow it? Meng Liang was puzzled, he felt more and more strange to his mother, and even a little afraid.

As time passed, not only did the mother not get normal, but what she did became more and more incomprehensible, and that day, the mother actually wanted to kill herself!

Late that night, Meng Liang faintly heard a sound in the room in his sleep, opened his eyes, but saw a person standing next to his bed, holding a knife in his hand, slashing towards him, Meng Liang turned over and dodged, and only by the moonlight did he see that the person was his mother!

Meng Liang snatched the knife and did not blame his mother, but after that, his mother often attacked herself, and almost killed herself a few times.

Meng Liang no longer dared to live with his mother, he locked his mother in the room, and went to live in the firewood room by himself, his mother was locked in the room and couldn't get out, irritable, often banged on the door, the strength was so great, not like a twilight old man at all, although Meng Liang couldn't bear to lock his mother in the room, but there was nothing he could do, sighing every day.

But one day, Meng Liang was about to help his mother open the window to let his mother breathe, but he heard a knock on the door outside, Meng Liang opened the door and saw that it was a person, passing by here, asking Meng Liang for saliva to drink, Meng Liang invited the person into the house and handed over tea.

The Taoist hurriedly thanked Meng Liang, but at this moment, he heard the sound of his mother banging on the door, and the Taoist asked, Meng Liang resurrected his mother after eating the soul rejuvenation fruit and had to lock him in the room after the resurrection, and the Taoist listened with a solemn face and said, "Can you let me take a look at Lingtang?"

Meng Liang saw the look of the Taoist, as if he knew something, so he hurriedly brought it to his mother's room, the Taoist looked at Meng Liang's mother through the crack in the door, after a while, the Taoist turned his head and said to Meng Liang: "I can't hide it, Lingtang is dead, and now what is in Lingtang's body is just a ghost." ”

"Ghost?" Meng Liang was puzzled when he heard what the Taoist said!

The Taoist said: "According to what you said before, that tree is not a soul tree at all, but a soul devouring tree, the soul devouring tree mostly grows in the pile of dead people, and uses the flesh and blood of the dead as nourishment, if someone dies near the soul devouring tree, the tree will bind the human soul in the tree and become a ghost.

If you feed the fruit to the deceased, the ghost will possess the deceased, and then take all the people around you to the Soul Eater tree to kill, and the flesh will turn into nourishment, and the soul will become a ghost. ”

After hearing this, Meng Liang was terrified, only to know that it was not his mother who wanted his life, but the ghost in his mother's body who wanted to hurt him, and when he couldn't resist, take it to the Soul Eater Tree!

Meng Liang learned the truth of the matter, he was very sad, his mother had not been resurrected at all, and the Taoist saw Meng Liang's sad face, and said: "Life and death are the great road of the world, among all living beings, who can live forever, and in the end, they will all inevitably die, why should you be too sad." ”

Meng Liang wiped away his tears, nodded yes, and then asked the Taoist to transform the ghost in his mother's body, let his mother enter the earth, and then summoned the people in the village to tell the truth about the soul restoration tree in detail.

The Taoist said to everyone: "This Soul Eater Tree has caused countless harms, and it is a disaster to keep it after all, it is best to get rid of it," everyone agreed, and everyone took the Taoist to the Soul Eater Tree and smelled a fishy smell!

The Taoist turned over the soil under the tree, and found that there were countless dead bodies, most of them had become a white bone, I don't know how many years had been dead, the Taoist recited a mantra, and all the ghosts in the tree were transformed, and then everyone worked together to cut down the soul devouring tree, and then the Taoist said goodbye to everyone and left.

Afterwards, Meng Liang had a question, it is said that the Soul Eater Tree only grows in the pile of dead people, but why does it grow one in the ruined temple?

Meng Liang was curious, and inquired about the county chronicles to learn that the temple was originally full of incense and many monks, but five hundred years ago, the Son of Heaven respected the Tao and destroyed the Buddha, and ordered the slaughter of the temple, and the temple was killed and injured countless times, and the corpses were all over the field, probably the tree grew at that time!

Yang Zhuochao sighed and said: Birth, old age, sickness, and death have been the normal feelings of people since ancient times.....!

Xie Bi'an said: This is the harm of the ghosts of the Soul Eater Tree, and all the ghosts in this tree in the Netherworld have been eliminated! But has the Immortal ever heard of that kind of thing that he has been dead for a long time, and he still doesn't know it, thinking that he is still alive?

Seeing Yang Zhuochao shaking his head, Xie Bi'an continued: There is a scholar named Wu Liang, Wu Liang likes to read since he was a child, he is only eight buckets high, he is rich in five cars, and he is already a talent before he is a weak crown!

But such a talented person is a road idiot, and he usually gets lost, but this time he went to Beijing to catch the exam, but he went in the wrong direction and strayed into the mountains.

Wu Liang remembered that the name of this mountain was Yanhui Mountain, and walked along the path in front of the mountain for three or four hours, and after this mountain, it was not far from the capital, but for some reason he walked into the deep mountains, Wu Liang went around in the deep mountains, but he couldn't go out!

Seeing that the sky was getting darker and darker, Wu Liang was anxious, but the more anxious he was, the more he couldn't recognize the direction, and he couldn't even find the way he came, so he walked indiscriminately for half an hour, and the sky finally got dark.

Wu conscience said forget it, let's get together for a night in the mountains and forests, and then make plans at dawn tomorrow, I was looking for an old tree to rest, but I saw a bright light in front of me, as if someone lived, how could someone live here in this deep mountain and old forest?

Although Wu Liang was a little suspicious, he still walked towards the man's house, and when he came to the front, he saw that it was a small courtyard.

Wu Liang walked to the door, buckled the door, after a while, the door squeaked open, and an old woman walked out of it, seeing the old woman for the first time, Wu Liang was a little surprised, the old woman was actually wearing the clothes of the previous dynasty!

However, I was relieved to think that this family probably had the clothes of the previous dynasty, and in this deep mountain and old forest, it didn't matter what clothes to wear.

Wu Liang saluted the old woman and told her that he was a scholar, but he got lost and strayed here when he went to Beijing to take the exam, hoping that he could take him in for a day.

The old woman was very enthusiastic, and hurriedly invited Wu Liang into the house, and after sitting down, she made tea for Wu Liang, and learned that the old woman's family had moved to the mountains to escape the war, and that she had a son, daughter-in-law, and a little grandson.

When Wu Liang asked why he didn't see the old woman's family, the old woman said that they all went to the mountains to collect medicine for themselves.

I had suffered from a cold recently, and I kept coughing, so the old woman coughed, and the cough was out of breath, so Wu Liang hurriedly helped the old woman to the chair and sat down.

What the old woman said made Wu Liang a little suspicious, in the past hundred years, the four seas have been peaceful, and there has never been a war, what kind of war is this old woman hiding from? Besides, in the middle of the night, how can the old woman's family go up the mountain to collect medicine?

But Wu Liang was inconvenient to get to the bottom of it, so he had to bury his doubts in his heart, chatted for a while, and the old woman got up and said to Feng Liang: "You have been tired all the way, you must be hungry, I'll go and make you something to eat." ”

Wu Liang refused at first, but he was helpless and grunted with hunger, quite embarrassed, and the old woman smiled: "You scholars, you are just twisting, what is there to be embarrassed about, just treat this place as your own home, wait, I will do it for you." ”

Wu Liang smiled awkwardly and said, "Then there will be work." ”

After a while, the old woman brought a bowl of steaming noodles, Wu Liang stretched out his hand and knotted it, accidentally touched the old woman's hand when he received the noodles, and felt cold, at this time there was a clicking sound in his chest, Wu Liang put the noodles on the table, took out the jade on his chest and saw that it was cracked!