Chapter 48: Accident

Chen Ci kept a wooden face, performing facial management for a long while before he managed to keep the tea in his hand from shaking out.

"I was just saying, why Brother Lin had been outside for so long without coming in; I thought you were observing the stars at night, haha, so I called out a few more times."

Chen Ci set down his teacup and laughed nonchalantly, as if nothing had just happened.

As long as he wasn't embarrassed.

Then he truly wasn't embarrassed.

"Ahem, Brother Chen, actually I was here since the Hour of the Dog..."

"Stop, stop."

Chen Ci looked pained: "Daoist Lin, if you go on like this, it won't be fun."

The Hour of the Dog, he hadn't even started calling out during the Hour of the Dog.

Lin Banshan also felt he might have gone a bit too far, and with a hint of apology, he smiled: "I spend my days rushing about, the path of cultivation is difficult, and it is rare to have some fun, but I have been a bit presumptuous in front of Brother Chen."

But after saying this, the two actually relaxed as if they were good friends, and the slight wariness that had existed faded quite a bit.

"I came this time because of the matter at Qingquan Village; I didn't expect that in just these few short months, Village Master Miao would give me such a small shock."

Lin Banshan shook his head, his face showing helplessness.

Cultivation is inherently difficult; he claimed to be a Deacon of the Wenxiang Sect, but he was just a low-to-mid-level person laboring over the sect's business, and earning some cultivation resources was already not easy; it was hard enough to invest a little, only for it to go down the drain.

"I came this time to ask Brother Chen for a favor—"

"Easy, easy."

A strange light flashed in Chen Ci's eyes; helping out, how could one not help? He immediately took out a stack of Soul Fixing Talismans and placed them on the table: "I will definitely help out with this matter. How about this Soul Fixing Talisman?"

"Soul Fixing Talisman?"

Lin Banshan curiously picked it up to examine it for a moment, then praised: "I thought Brother Chen was obsessed with alchemy, I didn't expect you to have such deep attainments in talisman techniques. Just looking at the aura of this talisman, it should have the effects of calming the spirit and warding off evil, right? It has the same effect as the evil-warding incense in my sect."

"Yes, yes, yes, this is one of the secret techniques of my He Mountain Sect, it has miraculous effects against evil spirits and ghosts. As for the price..."

Chen Ci suddenly paused and couldn't help but ask: "What incense?"

"Evil-warding incense."

Lin Banshan took a sandalwood stick the thickness of a candle from his bosom, light gray in color, and it had a unique spicy scent when smelled. He became interested and said: "This is a medicinal incense refined from the secret techniques of my sect. In the East Sea region, it is a standard item for low-level cultivators for home use, travel, and treasure hunting. It has a long shelf life and is easy to carry. Once lit, it can not only drive away evil qi and has a certain amount of damage to evil spirits and ghosts, but it can also break low-level illusions. If one encounters a powerful ghost, the burning speed of this evil-warding incense will accelerate, serving as a warning."

"One stick is priced at only one Spirit Pearl and can be used for two quarter-hours. Brother Chen, why not take one to see the effect? Stones from other hills can also polish jade, after all."

Chen Ci: "..." It seems the price-performance ratio is quite high.

Chen Ci looked at the evil-warding incense in his hand, as well as the two missing Soul Fixing Talismans, and pondered for a moment.

What was he about to do just now?

Chen Ci twisted the sandalwood in his hand and suddenly asked: "Daoist Lin, is this evil-warding incense also made using alchemy?"

"Yes."

Lin Banshan nodded and replied: "Alchemy is profound; not all alchemical formulas result in pills for oral consumption. Although there are differences, it is not far off."

Chen Ci nodded slightly. Sometimes when chatting with fellow Daoists, little bits of knowledge about the cultivation world are learned this way. Although they might not be very important, if no one mentions them, he might have to walk a longer path to realize them himself.

This evil-warding incense is actually a type of alchemical incense.

The Wenxiang Sect is likely skilled in alchemical incense techniques; no wonder they would get involved with the Huang Family and Qingquan Village.

The two chatted for a few more sentences before returning to the main topic.

Chen Ci rubbed his fingers, thinking to himself, without this, it would be very hard for him to handle things for him.

"Five Qi Peiyuan Mushroom?"

Chen Ci blinked; what kind of thing was this again?

"This is a batch of Spirit Material I entrusted Qingquan Village to grow. It is an auxiliary ingredient for a secret incense and is quite useful."

Lin Banshan said: "This Peiyuan Mushroom needs to be cultivated with a Spirit Spring and five types of Qi. The five types of Qi refer to the five internal organs; I won't explain further."

Chen Ci understood; it was probably along the same lines as the Corpse Ganoderma.

It seems that apart from himself, none of them are good people.

Chen Ci felt a bit emotional.

"I don't know what the situation in the village is now. If the cultivators from Longhu Mountain don't like it, Brother Chen, please help destroy the mushroom shed, so as to avoid the Huang Family living in fear every day."

Heh.

Chen Ci picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip.

"If it's convenient for Brother Chen, if you can harvest these Peiyuan Mushrooms, I am willing to buy them back at a price of one hundred taels of gold per catty. According to my requirements, Qingquan Village should have grown thirty catties, but it's hard to say how much can be harvested now."

Chen Ci: "..."

I actually have always disdained associating with bad people.

But unfortunately, he is paying way too much.

However, why doesn't this Lin fellow go himself? Is the money too hot to handle?

"Daoist Lin, you aren't hiding anything from me, are you?"

Chen Ci looked suspicious: "The matter of Qingquan Village, does it really have nothing to do with your Wenxiang Sect?"

Brothers are heart-to-heart with you, don't play tricks on your brother.

Lin Banshan laughed dumbly: "According to the Huang Family's description, those human-skin blood flocs do look a bit like the methods of the Spirit Sect, but the Liang Kingdom is not within the Spirit Sect's sphere of influence. I guess some unlucky fellow obtained some inheritance and practiced it wrong. It's just some Peiyuan Mushrooms; I don't want to go up against a Spirit Sect cultivator."

After a pause, Lin Banshan explained: "If it really is a minor Spirit Sect cultivator, the Thunder Technique of Longhu Mountain is especially effective against Spirit Sect spells. Brother Chen, you don't even need to use much effort; just follow along for a stroll and it will be done. If there is an opportunity to pick the Peiyuan Mushrooms, that's fine; if not, then so be it."

Chen Ci: "..." No, who are you being sarcastic about?

Am I the kind of person who just drifts along?

As long as it's not some weird thing that can't be explained or understood, a mere Spirit Sect cultivator is fine.

So-called Spirit Sect cultivators are not a specific sect, but a term similar to sword cultivators or talisman cultivators. For Orthodox cultivators, their artifacts and spell cultivation mostly do not depart from the changes in primordial qi such as clear and turbid, Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, River Map, and star patterns. For example, the He Mountain Sect: the Three Yin True Qi that Chen Ci practices is water-attributed and leans towards yin, while the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag is earth-attributed and leans towards turbid.

And the spells practiced by Spirit Sect cultivators lean towards the seven emotions and six desires, blood and flesh curse techniques, and they are good at raising evil spirits and demons—the more sinister, the better.

However, it has never been heard that the Liang Kingdom has a Spirit Sect heritage; this thing is even less welcome than the He Mountain Sect.

Ahem, except for those charming enchantresses who cultivate the Dao of Desire; some cultivators who aren't afraid of death just happen to have a taste for that.

Chen Ci nodded slightly, considering it accepted; if it was convenient, he would do it, and if it wasn't, then so be it.

If he could gather three or five catties of Five Qi Peiyuan Mushroom, it could also count as an extra profit.

Once the talk was finished, Lin Banshan stood up to take his leave, and as he was leaving, he suddenly coughed lightly and reminded him: "Although the Evil-Warding Incense can ward off evil and provide warnings, whether keeping it lit all the time will provoke powerful vengeful spirits or ghosts is another matter entirely. Brother Chen, you still need to be flexible when using it; that is all."

Chen Ci: "."

Damn it, how is one supposed to be flexible with this? Light it and have someone else hold it?

Huh, that actually seems like a train of thought, too.

Chen Ci pressed his temples, feeling quite speechless inside.

Did he help?

As if he helped.

Did the money come?

As if it came.

He had originally wanted to earn a sum relying on his craft of making Soul Fixing Talismans, but in the end, he still had to do it himself, performing that spirit herb gathering which required no technical skill but was mentally and physically exhausting, just to earn a few tens of thousands of taels of broken silver.

Meaningless, truly meaningless.

"I forgot to ask what the Five Qi Peiyuan Mushroom looks like, but since it is a Spirit Material, it should be quite easy to identify."

The Wenxiang Sect has already rushed over; if the people from Longhu Mountain don't come soon, it would be impolite.

If he settles this matter early, Chen Ci can cultivate in peace in Changping County; once his cultivation is high, whoever dares to come to his territory and act wildly, he will just go up and give them two punches, ha.

Two days later.

"What, the Daoists from Longhu Mountain have already arrived?"

"There have been evil spirits harming people in the county these past few days, so why am I unaware of it?"

Chen Ci frowned slightly, looking at the letter in his hand, thinking about something in his heart.

(End of this chapter)