Chapter 178: 185. Six-Winged Summer Cicada

185. Six-Winged Summer Cicada

"Dear niece, why have you brought out the vegetable jar from the breakfast hall?" Chongxu asked curiously.

"..."

"The food in the old senior's canteen is quite good; the pickled radishes are delicious." Xie Lingjiang nodded, looking away, and said, "I'm taking some back."

"This poor Daoist thought you would be more interested in elixirs." Chongxu shook his head. "But if you like them, take more. Gezao Mountain has nothing else, but plenty of food. Those little brats live in luxury and have been spoiled by my senior brother."

The old Daoist with the Nanhua crown muttered a sentence, thought for a moment, and turned his head:

"There are some other local specialties. I'll have someone pack some up for you later, dear niece, so you can take them back together. I received a letter from your father earlier saying you are currently training with your fellow sect disciples in Longcheng, Jiangzhou. Have you been stifled staying in that small place? Since you've finally made a trip to Gezao Mountain, you should have a good time."

"The last time I saw you, dear niece, were you eight or ten? Hiding by your father's leg, quiet and gentle, proper and polite, and even pouting in anger when teased... truly a lady of the Xie clan from a scholarly family."

"In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed. Come to think of it, this poor Daoist and your father haven't met for a long time, only corresponding through letters. I didn't expect you to have grown so tall, truly a graceful and slender lady."

"Hahaha, but I didn't expect your personality to be less stiff and sullen, and more gluttonous. That's quite good, quite good. I told your father long ago that a daughter shouldn't be buried in a sea of books every day, turning into a bookworm. It's much cuter to do some appropriate young lady things and be lively and mischievous."

The old Daoist with the Nanhua crown laughed heartily and clapped his hands.

Having her childhood embarrassing moments brought up by an elder, Xie Lingjiang couldn't help but blush slightly, turning her head to argue:

"I'm not gluttonous; I'm bringing them for someone else. Old senior, you've misunderstood; I don't eat this stuff."

"Oh?"

Chongxu raised an eyebrow, flicking his horsetail whisk, and looked up and down at the red-clad figure beside him holding the vegetable jar and her pretty, annoyed face. He suddenly asked:

"Does the person you fancy like to eat these pickled radishes?"

Xie Lingjiang's expression changed for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. Her tone remained as usual: "What are you saying, old senior? Can't it be for my father?"

"At your age, it's good enough if you don't forget your father at home. Bringing him delicious food while out playing? Where in this world would there be such a sensible daughter? If there is, she'd only be filial after marriage..."

Chongxu nodded.

He seemed to have a lot of experience.

"..." Xie Lingjiang choked and couldn't help but say: "Old senior, what kind of twisted logic is this?"

"Could this poor Daoist be wrong?"

Chongxu walked in front, chin held high, hands behind his back, and continued with a smile:

"So your senior brother likes pickled radishes so much. When you go back later, take more. Bring a jar for me too. Hmm, praise him for his good fortune in gaining the favor of a noble lady of the Xie clan."

Xie Lingjiang stiffened her face. "Old senior, what nonsense are you spouting? I don't understand."

Chongxu turned a deaf ear and sighed to himself:

"These past two days, while you were waiting on the mountain for the elixirs, some bold young men in the temple often came to ask me about you, beating around the bush. It was quite annoying. Fortunately, I didn't give them a good look and chased them all out. You already have someone in your heart, so what red thread is there to tie? Those brats really have no eyes."

The old Daoist nodded, smiling and squinting at the blushing, annoyed red-clad lady:

"Although there are a few decent young talents in the temple, that senior brother who has captured your heart must be a dragon among men."

Xie Lingjiang had thin skin; she feigned a frown, hugged the porcelain jar, and flicked her sleeves:

"Old senior, can we talk about something serious? What are you saying? This junior doesn't quite understand..."

Chongxu smiled:

"Don't quite understand? These past few days, you've been looking at the sky, looking at the water, and daydreaming. This can't be hidden from discerning eyes. Don't tell me you're pining for your old father."

"Those brats are still young and don't understand this state of a woman, but this poor Daoist is not a brat. I haven't eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run. If this isn't lovesickness, what is it?"

He shook his head, interrupting Xie Lingjiang, who wanted to speak but stopped, and asked directly with concern:

"By the way, when I was refining elixirs in the Yuqing Palace, those brats shouldn't have been blind enough to disturb or offend you, right? If they did, just tell me, and see if I don't clean up the sect properly."

Chongxu snorted lightly, seemingly dissatisfied with some restless, impetuous young people in the sect.

"No, I didn't pay much attention. Thank you for your concern, old senior." Xie Lingjiang shook her head, not caring.

After a pause, she saw Chongxu glancing at the porcelain jar containing the pickled radishes again. Her expression quickly turned serious, and she returned to the main topic:

"Old senior, how is the antidote for the lovebird poison you helped refine?"

Chongxu's smile faded. He raised his hand and shook his sleeve. A blue-and-white Eight Trigrams elixir bottle slid into his hand and he tossed it out.

Xie Lingjiang caught the elixir bottle, lowered her head to open it, and reached out to catch the contents.

Two round, blood-red little pills lay quietly in her fair, tender palm.

They faintly emitted a faint fishy smell.

Xie Lingjiang sniffed and frowned curiously.

"Two blood pills. One at a time, take with water, three days apart. You then cooperate daily with Qi circulation to drive out the poison. For the poisoned person, there is a way to save them."

Chongxu said lightly.

Xie Lingjiang was suddenly overjoyed. She stood gracefully and bowed: "Thank you, old senior." Her tone was sincere.

Chongxu shook his head:

"It's nothing, just a small favor. I happened to be refining a furnace of Jin Dan for Long Hushan, so I borrowed the top-grade Purple Gold Elixir Furnace of the Yuqing Palace to help you refine two detox pills."

After a pause, he added with interest:

"I have heard a little about this lovebird poison. If you were to concoct an antidote from scratch, it would be difficult even for the most skilled Daoist brother in the temple to handle, unless you used the 'Nine-Turn Elixir Completion' from the *Golden Liquid Divine Elixir Scripture* to refine a detoxifying Jin Dan. But that would require consuming a precious platinum talisman, which is too wasteful..."

The old Daoist with the Nanhua crown shook his head. Why are the Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing sects called the three talisman sects, and why do they all belong to the Sanshan Blood-Dropping Sect?

It is because the three sects are, to some extent, from the same lineage. The unique skills of the three sects all require the consumption of a special and precious type of talisman, whether it is the Yuqing sect, which excels in external elixirs, the Shangqing sect, which excels in spirit-inviting and planchette writing, or the Taiqing sect, which excels in thunder techniques.

"So, dear niece, how did you get the blood of someone who has already taken the antidote, and who is the poisoned person seeking medicine?"

Xie Lingjiang shook her head slightly. "It's a long story... By the way, old senior, when you were in seclusion refining elixirs earlier, the elixir mist above the Yuqing Palace was truly thick. What elixir were you refining to have such momentum?"

She changed the subject and asked casually.

Chongxu's expression gradually turned serious. He shook his head gently and did not speak immediately. Xie Lingjiang's eyes became more curious, but she did not urge him.

Chongxu took Xie Lingjiang forward for another stretch of road, bypassed several palaces, and turned into a relatively quiet garden before squinting and whispering:

"It's fine to tell you, dear niece, just don't spread it. There are several Celestial Masters surnamed Zhang at Long Hushan who recently had a chance encounter while out and accidentally entered an ancient tomb hidden under a deep pool. It is said that it might be the place where a top-grade Qi refiner from the Eastern Jin Dynasty sat and ascended."

"However, if it were just this, it wouldn't be strange. The foundation of their Taiqing sect is the deepest among our Sanshan Blood-Dropping Sects, and they have their own superior heritage. External Qi refining techniques and the like are at most collected for reference, and spiritual treasures and elixirs are all old and scrapped. However, they accidentally found a living creature..."

"What living creature?" Xie Lingjiang leaned forward and asked curiously: "There are living creatures in an ancient tomb?"

"Six-Winged Summer Cicada."

Chongxu spat out the four words lightly, and Xie Lingjiang's expression froze.

Chongxu looked at the expression of this dear niece, which was not unexpected. He whispered:

"Have you heard of it too? The Five Great Strange Insects?"

Xie Lingjiang looked left and right at the empty garden and nodded gently, but what Chongxu didn't see was that her fair hands under her sleeves were silently clenched into fists.

The old Daoist continued to chat to himself, as if reciting some ancient book:

"The Six-Winged Summer Cicada is one of the Five Great Strange Insects of ancient times. After hatching, the young cicada burrows into the ground, lurking for three hundred and sixty years. When it encounters midsummer, it digs out of the soil, molts, and lays eggs... Legend has it that a Qi person in ancient times accidentally ate it, and his whole body was like a cicada molting, reborn. His innate leaking body was perfectly mended. The Qi person practiced fasting and Qi refining, his cultivation base improved by leaps and bounds, he rode the wind, and traveled to the North Sea in the morning..."

Chongxu turned his head and said to the frowning Xie Lingjiang:

"The classics may be exaggerated, but it is recognized that the Five Great Strange Insects of ancient times each have miraculous effects. Among them, the Six-Winged Summer Cicada is said to be able to make a leaking mortal molt like a summer cicada, reborn as a top-level cultivation seed. So, this luck of the Long Hushan Celestial Master's Mansion, tsk tsk."

"However, I am a little suspicious. It wasn't an accidental entry into an ancient tomb, accidentally catching a Six-Winged Summer Cicada that emerged and laid eggs after three hundred and sixty years. That's just the rhetoric of those old guys."

"It's possible that some predecessor of Long Hushan had marked this place long ago, and the descendants of the Celestial Master's Mansion just followed the map. But it's enviable. This is called sect foundation."

"Unlike our Yuqing sect, which only knows how to associate with all sorts of messy dignitaries all day long, full of the smell of copper. After a hundred years, these dignitaries will have long been buried. How many families will be left? It's not like everyone is one of the Five Clans and Seven Surnames, and not everyone can be like the Louguan Daoist sect in the north, which had the merit of supporting the dragon and benefited a dynasty..."

Chongxu muttered a few times, seemingly having some complaints about certain routes of the Yuqing sect in recent years.

Xie Lingjiang suddenly turned her head and interrupted:

"Old senior, how could the Long Hushan Celestial Master's Mansion rest assured to use such a divine object that can change the fate of a leaking mortal against heaven to refine elixirs?"

Chongxu turned his head and nodded:

"The adult Six-Winged Summer Cicada can only live for one midsummer. If you want to retain the miraculous effect of molting and rebirth for a long time, it is naturally best to refine it into an elixir. And eating it raw naturally doesn't make the best use of it like an elixir entering the body..."

"And it just so happens that an old Celestial Master at Long Hushan has a good personal friendship with me, so he entrusted me to use the sect's unique skill, Nine-Turn Elixir Completion. They provided the platinum talismans required to consume, ensuring the probability of elixir formation. Finally, one furnace was completed, and three pills were obtained."

"One Six-Winged Summer Cicada turned into three Golden Dans? What about the miraculous effect of molting and rebirth?"

Xie Lingjiang frowned and asked.

Chongxu shook his three fingers with red nails, because of years of contact with cinnabar. He smiled and said:

"Naturally, it is also divided into three, but it is enough to make a mortal who cannot practice Qi molt into a cultivation seed suitable for practicing Qi. Although it may not be top-notch, in my opinion, it is a steady approach, suitable for the Long Hushan Celestial Master's Mansion."

"It is the inheritance of the Zhang surname, and the ancestor's reputation is already loud enough. They don't seek a peerless genius to go further, but only seek to at least be able to practice Qi normally, inherit the mantle of the Celestial Master's Mansion, and guard the family business."

Chongxu praised with a smile, not knowing whether it was sincere admiration or teasing sarcasm.

Xie Lingjiang listened silently, holding the porcelain jar of pickled radishes for her senior brother, lowered her eyes, and muttered to herself: "Three molting Golden Dans? Just setting aside one is enough..."

The woman's eyes unconsciously fell on the Daoist robe sleeve where Chongxu had just shaken off the blue-and-white Eight Trigrams elixir bottle.

Chongxu was startled, then laughed and shook his head:

"Dear niece, what are you muttering about? Just now when I was refining elixirs, that old Celestial Master with very high seniority was waiting in the elixir room next door. The Jin Dan had just rolled out of the furnace, was wax-sealed into a box, and handed over immediately... He has long since flown away in the air. How could it be on me?"

"Why is dear niece so interested? Looking at your complexion, you have long since entered the seventh grade, unless you are prepared to disperse your Qi yourself, take the Jin Dan, and practice spiritual energy again."

Chongxu muttered, then shook his head and denied:

"However, in this way, if you only eat one Jin Dan, it will be of no use to your existing talent. Unless you can take three Golden Dans in a row, you can try practicing Qi again..."

Xie Lingjiang looked up at Chongxu, smiled and shook her head, and did not speak.

Chongxu looked at her for a while and suddenly said: "Dear niece seems to be really interested."

Xie Lingjiang sighed softly and did not deny it.

Chongxu shook his head: "Don't talk about three Golden Dans, even if you only ask for one, the Taiqing Daoists of Long Hushan won't give it. Even if your father went, it would be useless. This kind of life-extending object for the sect, even the face of the Chen Jun Xie clan won't work."

Xie Lingjiang's long, narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and she said slowly:

"What if... what if it's the face of the Li clan royal family? As the head of the Three Pure Daoist sects, hasn't the Long Hushan Taiqing sect always envied the deeds of the Louguan Daoist sect of Mount Zhongnan in assisting the Gao Zu and Taizong of the Li clan in supporting the dragon..."

Chongxu's expression froze.

Seemingly remembering something vaguely, the old Daoist fell silent immediately, frequently sizing up Xie Lingjiang, who was calm and silent.

After a while, the two chatted about other topics. When they reached the end of the garden, Xie Lingjiang looked at the sky:

"Thank you, old senior, for your help. I have urgent business, so I will return first and come to visit and thank you again next time."

"Dear niece is too polite. Take care on the road and give my regards to Daoist friend Xie for me."

Xie Lingjiang nodded and turned around.

Chongxu waved his hand again and said casually: "By the way, before you go, go to the breakfast hall and take more pickled radishes for that senior brother of yours in Longcheng County."

Xie Lingjiang's back stiffened. She turned her head and said with an annoyed expression: "You... how did you know it was him?"

"Eh, it really is? I guessed. I've been trying to get it out of you. Dear niece, your heart is in chaos. You confessed as soon as I hit you." Chongxu blinked, shook his sleeve, and said with a smile: "Let me guess again. This senior brother in Longcheng County should be unable to practice Qi, right? He is a leaking mortal body, so you are particularly concerned about that molting Jin Dan."

"..." Xie Lingjiang.

Watching the hurried back of the red-clad figure holding the porcelain jar and fleeing in a panic, the old Daoist with the Nanhua crown laughed loudly.

After a while, when the figure was far away, the old Daoist, who hadn't laughed so happily for a long time, restrained his expression and muttered to himself:

"Eh, come to think of it, does Daoist friend Xie know about this? His daughter has been abducted, and it was his own disciple who did it. Should I send a letter to laugh at him? Hahaha, it's interesting."

...... ===== CHAPTER 179 =====