Chapter 221: Capital Punishment
These days, the old man felt like he was dreaming. He never thought that there would be a day when he would be able to regain his youth.

Of course, it is an exaggeration to say that he has regained his youth. He is still the old man with white hair and age spots on his face, but his body is much stronger. He cannot be compared with young guys, but he is much better than his peers.

Not to mention the long-term effects, just the disappearance of the back pain he had from fleeing famine made him feel comfortable all over.

He used to think that he didn’t have much time left, but now he feels that he can live another 30 years!
The muddled days suddenly became bright.

Every day when I went to work in the fields, I couldn't help humming opera while walking.

"Looking back at the prosperity, it seems like a dream, and the remaining life is left to the stormy waves. Don't cry or laugh when the willows are dark and the flowers are bright, for the good results in your heart can be proud of you."

The ups and downs of the melody floated from the fields all the way to the village.

"Squeak-"

"Old lady, I'm back!"

The old man pushed open the wooden door, lowered his head to put down the hoe, and subconsciously shouted at the top of his voice.

Unexpectedly, when he looked down, he saw a pair of white cloud shoes appear in front of him.

He looked up in astonishment and saw an official who asked with a fake smile, "Are you Weng San, nicknamed Lao Chouzi?"

The old man was stunned, and his name was unfamiliar to him. After a while, he realized what was going on. He bowed and saluted: "This old man is the old man. May I ask what the official wants to see me about?"

The officer smiled and said, "You will know later. Come with us!"

"Ah? No, sir, what happened? I have a wife at home, can you please let me know?"

"It goes without saying that your wife and mother have to go just like you."

As they were talking, several officers came out of the main hall like wolves and tigers, and they were escorting the old man's wife.

"Wife!"

"Go away, stop being so fussy."

Upon seeing this, the officer pushed the old man out.

The old man, who had been accustomed to being submissive all his life, walked out of the house in a daze with an anxious look on his face.

At this time, a group of villagers who came to watch the fun had unknowingly gathered outside the old man's house, stretching their necks and pointing.

With bewildered looks on their faces, the old man and the old woman were roughly pushed into a prison van, which slowly drove away from the village amid the onlookers of countless villagers.

The wheels rolled past the land temple and gradually moved away under the bright sunshine.

In front of the land temple, Wu Yanshang, the land god of Solo Village, appeared.

He looked at the prisoner car in the distance, called the ghost messenger with a worried look on his face, and quickly ordered: "Check it out, what happened?"

into the night.

There was a rustling sound coming from the old man's house, and two notorious idlers in the village pushed open the wooden door that was not locked, broke into the house, and started rummaging through the drawers and cabinets.

"Damn it, he's actually a poor bastard!"

"Fuck, I have so many points on the Internet, but I can't bear to buy some belongings."

Not long after, several angry complaints were heard.

"Let's go, let's go!"

The two idle men turned and left while complaining.

Unexpectedly, just after leaving the main room, I saw two figures suddenly appear in the bright courtyard under the bright moonlight.

Looking closely, it turned out to be the old man and the old woman.

The two idlers' faces changed. They were about to explain something, but they saw the old man and the other man suddenly took off their heads and asked in a hoarse and resentful voice: "Why did you report me?"

This scene made the idle man's back light up, and a chill ran straight to his head. He ran away in panic while screaming.

"what--"

"Damn it-"

The shrill screams echoed through the village, scaring countless villagers who had guilty consciences and making them unable to sleep all night.

Not long after, the idlers dispersed.

The figures of the old couple whose heads were removed disappeared. Not far away, Wu Yanshang looked at the crazy idler and sighed deeply.

This is all he can do.

……

Compared to the guilty people in Solo Village who had trouble sleeping, the old man who was thrown into prison was tossing and turning even more.

After entering the county town during the day, he was thrown into jail.

Not long after, someone came over and asked him in a friendly manner whether he had logged into the Internet.

The old man realized something and subconsciously denied it, but the news he received in return made him feel like he was falling into an icy cave.

"Your wife has confessed everything. You and your wife ignored the laws of the immortal world and logged onto the Internet without permission, using evil magic. Your crime is unforgivable. Look, there are handprints here!"

Looking at the scarlet handprint on the black and white paper, the old man's spirit was completely crushed.

He hung his head and confessed everything to the officers when they questioned him.

Finally, the official wrote down his signature with satisfaction, then turned around and prepared to leave.

"Sir, what crime have I committed? When can I go home?"

"Go home? Just wait patiently!"

The officer gave a meaningful expression and turned away.

Not long after, he went around to the Eternal Lane where the female prisoners were held and repeated what he had said to the old man.

The old woman's reaction was the same as the old man's. In fear, she spilled the beans and told everything about the worship of the Internet.

At this point, the police officer who had received the video confession and signature left with satisfaction.

Leaving behind the old woman who was also in a state of panic.

The prison cell is dark and I have no idea how many years have passed. I can only count the dim light coming from the window and endure the days.

At first, the old man was still thinking about his family's fields. Whenever the yamen runners brought him food, he couldn't help but ask a few questions, for fear that it would delay the busy farming season.

The yamen runner was not tired of being asked, so he answered directly:
"Don't even think about leaving. Logging onto the Internet without permission is an unforgivable crime. Just wait. Once the government office has completed the formalities, you will be executed at the Meridian Gate."

"What? Old man... Old man didn't steal or rob, why... he's going to be beheaded?"

The old man was completely panicked.

Upon hearing this, the officer was too lazy to say anything more and turned away, leaving behind all kinds of gloating voices and the old man's unwilling shouts in the cell.

From then on, the old man was completely ruined.

Near mental breakdown.

Although he is already very old, he would rather live a miserable life than die. Especially with the treatment of Internet medical care, he is like a dying tree coming back to life and does not want to die even more.

He tried to explain, but no one listened to him.

In other words, in this prison, everyone has a story to tell.

That night, the exhausted old man curled up in the smelly dry grass and fell into a deep sleep.

At some point, he had a dream in which an old man with a white beard told him that he had left behind a network login magic tool, allowing him to log on to the Internet and post a message to ask Gu Zhenzai for help.

The reality of the dream is so vivid that every detail is revealed!

So when the old man with white beard left, the old man couldn't help but chase after him. The chase made him tremble all over and wake up.

He looked at the dark cell blankly, and it took him a while to realize where he was.
Instantly, the despairing fear once again invaded his heart.

"Ugh!"

After a long time, the old man sighed and slowly leaned down in the dry grass. The coldness of the night made him curl up with his hands on his chest.

He was stunned by this hug.

He felt something hard on his chest, and after a closer look, he realized it was a ring hanging around his neck. To be more precise, it was a network login magic weapon.

The old man was confused.

That dream…is more than just a dream?
……

……

The old man is going to be beheaded.

In this age of advanced Internet, the news spread throughout Solo Village almost overnight.

When the villagers received the news, there was surprise and even disbelief.

Not only because the old man wanted to be beheaded;

Moreover, more than ten days ago, someone had seen the ghost of the old man, who scared two idlers crazy.

Now I dare not leave the house.

We hired Taoist priests and monks at home, but it was of no use.

There was a Taoist priest who privately hinted that Internet medical care could cure a wide range of diseases and that it might be worth a try.

I don’t know if these two idle guys will try it?
In any case, as the official news came out from Yong County, the remote village of Solo became a hot topic.

In the early morning of the next day, just after the hour of Chou, when it was still pitch dark, the villagers of Solo Village left their homes in groups of three or five and headed for Yong County.

There was endless discussion along the way.

By daybreak, there were more and more people on the road, and when they asked each other, they found that many of them were going there to be beheaded.

By the time the villagers of Solo Village arrived at the Wumen execution ground in Yong County, the scene was already packed with people. Some even climbed trees and climbed onto beams just to get a glimpse.

Although the Internet is well developed now, everyone has seen various scenes.

But for many people, watching a beheading with their own eyes is still extremely new.

As a result, most of the people watching at the scene were excited, and the Solo villagers were surrounded by people.

As the few insiders, their oral accounts undoubtedly completed the background of the story for bystanders, so that even ordinary rural farmers still listened with great interest.

The villagers of Solo felt very satisfied with the occasional exclamations of surprise.

When the sun was high in the sky, there was a sudden commotion from behind the crowd. Curious onlookers stood on tiptoe to look and saw a prison van slowly approaching.

The moment they saw the prison van, many Solo villagers suddenly realized that the old man was going to be beheaded.

That’s right, before this, they always had a feeling of telling a story in a trance.

It was not until I saw the familiar old man that I suddenly came to my senses. It turned out that the old man was really going to die.

Because…some of them are going to die for reporting.

"Oh my, what a sin! Who has such bad intentions?!"

"What a sin! Although the old man is an outsider in our village, he has become one of ours after such a long time. Who could be so cruel?"

Countless kind-looking old ladies burst into tears.

I heard people around me looking at me with contempt.

Even people from his own village reported him. How vicious!
Amid the discussion among the crowd, the old man in the prison car suddenly burst into laughter: "Old woman, look, Gu Zhenzai is here to save me, Gu Zhenzai is here to save me!"

The excited laughter startled the crowd.

Many people subconsciously looked around, trying to find Gu Zhenzai.

But looking left and right, I saw nothing!
"Poor thing, this is crazy!"

"Bah! You deserved it!"

"It's better to be crazy, so you can suffer less."

The crowd was buzzing.

However, the old man turned a deaf ear to it and continued looking up at the sky, laughing.

Even the old woman next to him looked up at the sky in surprise.

The onlookers were stunned.

Everyone looked up desperately, but could see nothing.

It was not until rumors emerged from nowhere that people suddenly realized the truth, but also became more and more confused.

"It's an Internet illusion. You can see it on the Internet. I'm afraid you have misunderstood."

As the birthplace of the Internet, countless people in the crowd secretly possess tools for logging into the Internet.

Of course, we know that in the past ten days or so, various phantoms of gods have appeared in the skies above major counties.

These phantoms of gods change every day!

Some disappeared, some appeared, and some kept getting bigger.

When he logged on to the Internet, he saw that where the old man was looking was indeed a huge illusion of Gu Zhenzai with his eyes lowered and his head down overlooking the city.

"Damn it! Execute him quickly. I don't know how many people will be reminded by this."

The county magistrate on the execution platform saw this scene and his face changed drastically.

The county magistrate greeted him repeatedly.

"Wait!"

The new president of Yong County Taoist Temple raised his hand and called for a stop.

"Master, what do you want?"

The county magistrate asked hurriedly with a shy smile, his attitude was quite flattering.

By the way, how could he not flatter?
The new dean is an immortal official who has descended to the mortal world. It is said that he knows many gods and immortals. Who knows, he might be able to lead him to disintegrate into a ghost immortal in the future.

Of course, the current situation is to flatter as much as possible!

"Let them go slowly and let this matter be publicized as widely as possible."

"Ah?" The county magistrate was shocked and stammered, "This... Isn't this fulfilling Gu Tianmo's intention... to make it known to the public?"

"Hahaha, it is true that it is widely advertised, but if the people find out that the phantom is just an illusion and cannot save them, then what is the point of creating more huge phantoms?"

The dean replied with a smile, and the county magistrate shuddered when he heard it. He couldn't help but ask, "Then Gu Tianmo... won't come to rob the execution ground, right?"

"No, just do it!"

The dean didn't bother to explain and gave the order directly.

Although Gu Zhenzai managed to resolve the threat of Jingyuan Bodhisattva from Chanyin Temple in Punan City with the lives of all the people in the city, his bottom line was still revealed.

He is so kind-hearted.

In other words, the golden body that he boasted about became a shackle that bound him.

He didn't dare to take action in the city.

In this Internet age, if he dares to take action, the video of millions of corpses will spread around the world in minutes.

By then, his image will completely collapse.

This is the case with Pu'nan City and Yong County as well!
Under the decree of the Taoist dean, the prison car immediately slowed down, and amid the discussion of the crowd, it moved slowly to Xingtai like a snail.

Only then did the police, as ferocious as wolves and tigers, drag the old man and his wife to the execution ground.

An officer, holding a document of life and death, read aloud:
"The imperial edict said:
Since the beginning of the universe, immortals and mortals have been on different paths, with strict rules and laws as heavy as a mountain. Now there is a man named Weng San from Solo Village who does not follow the immortal rules and laws and logs on the Internet without permission. This is a very disrespectful and immoral act.

The Internet is a worldly thing, with a mixture of reality and illusion, which can easily make people develop greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt, which will bring disaster to the world. Weng San's actions have actually cut himself off from the world and brought disaster upon himself. This order is hereby issued: Weng San is to be taken to the Wumen Gate of Yong County and beheaded to set the record straight and serve as a warning to others.

"Now that the decree has been issued, it must be carried out without delay. Those who violate it will be punished equally. I decree this!"

Amid the rhythmic reading, the onlookers were in deathly silence. They looked at the still crazy old man, some sighed, some gloated, some were excited... The poor old man was really badly harmed by the villagers.

As for Gu Zhenzai?
How could a mere mortal like me alarm Gu Zhenzai?
(End of this chapter)