CHAPTER 575: CHAPTER 292:

Recalling the incoming thunder tribulation, the peach tree demon felt a deep sorrow, completely unconfident in surviving it, and terribly aggrieved.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing still felt he hadn’t exerted enough force; in his eyes, these demons were like arrogant red-tailed monkeys, so he had to wear them down and make them understand the importance of hierarchy. He wanted them to know he wasn’t a charitable old man running a benevolent hall for free but the boss and Sect Leader managing a large establishment.

However, what Xu Qing never expected was that he hadn’t even started to exert his force before the peach-garbed lady in front of him started to wipe her tears.

She was even using the back of her hand to wipe them, and as tears uncontrollably rolled down, she turned her face aside stubbornly, refusing to let outsiders see her vulnerability.

Xu Qing was stunned for a moment, then blurted:

"I say, we’re at least a few hundred years old as great demons, why are you crying?"

The peach tree demon ignored Xu Qing. After stabilizing her emotions, she said self-deprecatingly: "Of course you don’t cry. You humans have an innate advantage, as long as you grasp the method and focus on cultivation, you can have remarkable progress, even being unafraid of celestial thunder tribulations. Unlike us demons, merely learning human speech and understanding their reasoning takes countless years of effort."

"For demons, overcoming tribulations is more than ten times harder than for humans, and I am the tree demon most afraid of thunder in the demon race..."

"The tree demons’ cultivation is the longest, and the peach tree is a species among trees with a lifespan barely reaching a hundred years. I refuse to do evil, and every century I barely make it past the Ghost Gate. Now, after nearly a thousand years of cultivation, I just barely achieved a five-hundred-year lifespan, yet now I face the thunder tribulation I fear most."

"Thunder strikes the body, how can I survive? Yet, I never imagined I’d be bullied by you, using my body to make that peach wood sword to pay rent..."

"Clearly, I was here first, this is obviously my home."

As she spoke, the peach-garbed lady felt even more aggrieved.

Why does this world choose to torment such a miserable demon like her?

"..."

Xu Qing’s expression turned somewhat unnatural. Why did it sound like he was a villain?

Wrong! He wasn’t even human; he was a zombie. Isn’t a zombie’s tribulation more difficult than that of a tree demon?

Xu Qing suddenly realized what was going on; what did she have to cry about?

"It’s just a thunder tribulation, what’s the big deal!"

"The thunder isn’t striking you, naturally, you don’t think it’s a big deal, only I understand my situation."

As he saw that the peach tree demon was about to get emotional again, Xu Qing said directly: "My Xuan Yu just overcame the thunder tribulation a few years ago, without a scratch."

"The monkeys I raise even went outside on their own and passed the tribulation themselves."

"Overcoming tribulations is merely a basic employee benefit at my Cat Immortal Hall."

The peach-garbed lady looked incredulous: "So you’re saying if I join your hall, you can help me pass the tribulation safely?"

Xu Qing clapped both hands: "Then it’s settled!"

"From today forward, you are an immortal of my Cat Immortal Hall; Boss Liu is your Galloping Immortal Disciple, and coincidentally there are a few sub-halls in my Cat Immortal Hall with vacancies, it’s perfect for you to enter the Sweeping Hall as its Hall Master."

The Sweeping Hall is responsible for clearing out undesirable immortals and outsiders from the hall after the tasks are completed, ensuring the order within the hall. It belongs to the security department of the establishment.

Simply put, it’s security.

The peach tree demon, whose true form is a peach tree, cannot move freely even after overcoming the tribulation. The coffin shop is perfectly located at the head of the funeral street, and the rooted peach tree demon is truly like a gate guard!

Managing the Sweeping Hall is tailor-made for her!

The peach tree demon was somewhat at a loss. When did she agree to become an immortal of the Cat Immortal Hall?

Moreover, the other party even set a Galloping Immortal Disciple for her. Doesn’t this need to be discussed between her, the immortal, and Liu Su’e, as the party involved?

"By the way, may I ask for the immortal’s name?"

The peach tree demon hesitated: "Sanmei."

"Sanmei?" Xu Qing was puzzled.

Tao Sanmei explained: "Many years ago, this place was a peach forest. After about a hundred years, only three peach trees remained."

"The three of us sisters overcame the hundred-year limit together and each developed sentience, so we emulated the practice of brotherhood among humans..."

What was this, a Peach Garden Brotherhood?

"I am the youngest, with the shallowest cultivation, and everyone often calls me the third sister. Over time, the name Sanmei became mine."

Xu Qing looked at the person before him, who should accurately be Tao Sanmei, and asked: "What about your elder and second sister..."

"My elder sister was the tallest of us. Shortly after our brotherhood, she was struck by a drought thunder, barely surviving."

"Later, a wandering Daoist named Ge Hongwen, who claimed to be a disciple of Songyun Temple on Henglu Mountain, came down the mountain to travel as per his master’s command. He discussed with my elder sister about using the thunderstruck wood from her body to cultivate a magic sword but said she must be willing to do so, only then would the sword’s power be greater."

"If cultivated well, maybe my elder sister could become the true spirit within the sword, avoiding complete extinction."

"It was good for my elder sister, but she didn’t immediately agree and instead asked the Daoist for a suitable cultivation method for me and our second sister..."

Perhaps due to the looming thunder tribulation, or maybe because she hadn’t spoken to anyone for a long time, or both, Tao Sanmei started speaking endlessly once she opened the chatterbox.

"What about your second sister?" Xu Qing continued to listen.

"My second sister... About five hundred years ago, someone wanted to build a villa here, and to build the house, they had to cut down me and my second sister. My second sister was upset and secretly used magic to scare those people."

"Who knew that person was a martial master from the Jianghu, who recognized many people from the Daoist circles, and within half a month brought a high-level monk."

"The monk saw at a glance my second sister causing trouble. He set up a magic formation around us to restrict our powers and soon instructed the martial master to find loggers to cut the wood."

"When the loggers were cutting wood, it happened that a noble person from the capital passed by. This person once drank wine and wrote poetry before me and my second sister during the March peach blossom season, saying he had never seen such bright blossoms."

"Recalling the past peach blossom scenery, the noble person pleaded for me and my second sister’s lives, but after learning my second sister caused trouble, he said to let the logger cut my second sister and spare me."

"At the time, my cultivation was the shallowest, and with the noble person’s plea, the monk did a favor and decided to leave me as a scenic feature in the garden."

"..."

Xu Qing finally understood why Tao Sanmei was so afraid of thunder and why she was moved to tears by his words.

Tao Sanmei’s eldest sister died due to a reckless drought thunder, and her second sister died because someone bought the land and built a house here, indirectly leading to her second sister’s death.

And Xu Qing’s words coincidentally jabbed at Tao Sanmei’s sore spot.

Initially indifferent, Xu Qing suddenly felt a sense of profound guilt.

"Sanmei, as an immortal of the Cat Immortal Hall now, things are different than before."

"This coffin shop is your immortal’s abode, and as for the thunder tribulation..."

Xu Qing asked Tao Sanmei to wait a moment, and before long he brought Xuan Yu, Liu Su’e, and some other immortals who happened to be on Underground Street to the coffin shop.

He set up an incense altar, established a new hall plaque for the sub-hall, and Tao Sanmei’s name was elegantly engraved onto the new hall plaque.

"Xu Imortal Family Cat Immortal Hall Sweeping Hall Tao Sanmei’s position."

Xuan Yu looked at the plaque, then turned to Xu Qing, finally unable to resist pulling Xu Qing into a corner and asking:

"How did you manage to bring godmother into the hall?"

Xu Qing outright denied: "This is a consensual affair, how can it be called bringing her? It was Tao Sanmei who willingly joined the hall."

"Xu Immortal Family, how can you directly call godmother by name?"

"I am the Sect Leader, how can I call the hall’s immortals godmother? From now on, godmother is Sanmei, with a lowered rank! Xuan Yu is the General Hall Master, so there’s no godmother anymore..."

"..."

Xuan Yu widened his eyes as if seeing Xu Qing for the first time.

If he could lower godmother’s rank, does that mean he would have to lower his rank too?