Chapter 118

New rain fell yesterday, and the morning mist has yet to disperse.

Xu Qing walks along the damp stone path of Jingxia Street.

In front of the coffin shop at the end of the street, water droplets still occasionally drip from the eaves.

Hu Baosong, who rose early, hadn't even taken a few sips of his hot porridge when he saw the young man turning into the shop entrance.

He saw the other party wearing a brand-new white robe with a blue collar; that flashy appearance was just like a peacock fanning its tail. If one didn't know better, they would think it was some young master out for a spring outing after the rain!

Yizhen, who was sitting by the table slurping porridge in small mouthfuls, raised her eyes to look at Xu Qing, then couldn't help but take another look.

People rely on clothes, and Buddhas rely on gold.

A corpse-carrier who wore black and grey robes all day in the mortuary shop had suddenly transformed into a fair-faced scholar; anyone would be unable to resist taking a few extra looks.

Hu Baosong turned his head to look at his eldest daughter, who had put down her bowl and chopsticks to stand up and serve Xu Qing porridge, and felt quite uneasy inside.

"Young Xu, what's the meaning of you coming over dressed like this on purpose?"

Xu Qing spread his arms and turned around in surprise; his straight-collared, waist-cinched figure and wide, flowing sleeves looked truly dashing and neat.

"Old Hu, I am, after all, a Licentiate by background, which counts as half a scholar. Why can't I wear these clothes?"

Besides, the female ghost had stepped on the loom and threaded the needle, spending great effort to make such a fitting outfit; surely he couldn't be forbidden from wearing it?

"Don't try to fool me. Why haven't I seen you come over in these clothes before?" Watching Xu Qing spin around, looking so gaudy and smug, Hu Baosong felt inexplicably annoyed.

While the two were bickering, Yizhen walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of hot porridge.

"Junior Brother hasn't had breakfast yet, right? It just so happens that I've cooked some fish sauce porridge."

The coffin shop after the rain was filled with the scent of sandalwood mixed with the damp, moldy smell of coffins. At this moment, the arrival of a bowl of fragrant hot porridge instantly dispersed those stale odors.

Unfortunately, Xu Qing had not yet broken through the Wandering Corpse stage and had many taboos regarding food, so he could not enjoy such a delicacy.

Otherwise, he would have to vomit it all up right after swallowing it.

"Oh, it's quite hot. I'll take it back to eat."

Xu Qing held the white porcelain bowl, which contained chunks of pomfret, wild mushrooms, and other side dishes. During the cooking process, adding some white pepper, fish sauce, and a sprinkle of salt made it an incredibly delicious bowl of fish sauce porridge.

This dish was a specialty of the fish-rich areas along the river, but unfortunately, since arriving in Linhe, he had never had the chance to taste a single bite.

Xu Qing sighed at the porridge.

Now, he had one more reason to persist in his cultivation: to be able to eat a steaming bowl of fish sauce porridge as soon as possible.

Carrying the porridge cooked by Senior Sister Yizhen, Xu Qing turned and returned to the mortuary shop.

Porridge cooked with pomfret could just be taken back to feed the cat.

Arriving at his own shop, before Xu Qing even entered, he heard a flurry of fluttering and squawking inside.

Xu Qing, holding the scalding porcelain bowl, stepped over the threshold and took a look.

He saw a yellow weasel with sleek fur being chased by a rooster with a red crown and golden claws. The weasel's bald tail looked like a fat earthworm wriggling on the ground, making the golden rooster's eyes glow green.

Xuanyu, possessing the body of Sun Erzhuang, rested her chin on one hand and leaned against the counter. With her other hand, she was rolling two walnuts, watching with great interest as the golden rooster pecked the yellow weasel, causing it to scurry about squeaking.

Seeing Xu Qing enter, Xuanyu, reacting extremely quickly, immediately stood up and slapped the table. Her look of mild anger was like that of a female teacher who had just caught students fighting in class.

Xu Qing ignored the few small animals making a ruckus; his gaze subconsciously fell on a thin-skinned coffin that had appeared in the shop.

That coffin still had fresh dirt clinging to it, as if it had been dug out of a grave not long ago.

Xu Qing calmly walked around the coffin and then placed the fish sauce porridge on the counter. When Xuanyu smelled the fragrance, her tense, serious expression instantly crumbled.

"So fragrant!"

Black demonic qi surged from Sun Erzhuang's body. When the lingering black mist landed on the counter, Xuanyu's true form appeared.

"It's fish sauce porridge. This is a rare delicacy; Immortal Xuanyu should taste it while it's hot."

"It's a bit hot." Xuanyu took a small taste and stuck out her little pink tongue.

Hearing this, Xu Qing reached out with his icy palm and gently stroked the bowl; the scalding meat porridge cooled to a suitable temperature for consumption.

"Delicious. Has Immortal Xu eaten yet?"

Xu Qing smiled and nodded.

"Cough, this old man was in such a hurry on the road that I haven't eaten yet."

An inappropriate voice sounded, and Xu Qing turned to look at the gluttonous Huang Laoxu.

"Hmm? When did Fellow Daoist Huang arrive? Why didn't you give me a heads-up?"

"..."

Huang Laoxu assumed the other party was dissatisfied with his fight with Jin Luan, so he laughed dryly: "Fellow Daoist Xu is a busy person who forgets things easily. I came by just two days ago. Didn't you want the hunter's corpse? I've been keeping it in mind, so as soon as I rushed back to Xijing Mountain, I dug up the grave overnight and sent the hunter's corpse over."

Finally, Huang Laoxu specifically mentioned: "Is that wolf-hair brush of mine still convenient for Fellow Daoist Xu to use?"

Xu Qing suddenly laughed: "I remember now!"

"Isn't this the matter of the old immortal asking my Cat Immortal Hall to step in? How could I possibly forget this?"

Xu Qing walked to the thin-skinned coffin parked in the shop and subconsciously activated his Qi-Gazing Technique, but found nothing unusual.

Opening the coffin, a strong, smoky, scorched smell erupted from inside, even overpowering the sandalwood scent burning in the mortuary shop.

Xu Qing frowned slightly; the corpse before him hadn't been dressed in burial clothes but was still wearing the clothes from its lifetime.

Looking at the style of the clothing, it should have been sewn from some kind of animal hide.

Xu Qing examined it carefully, following the procedures of an autopsy.

The corpse had no external injuries, only traces of smoke around the eyes.

Prying open the corpse's mouth, Xu Qing discovered something unusual.

He saw that in the hunter's mouth, a seed that had sprouted roots was taking root at the base of his tongue.

Xu Qing tried to remove the seed, but he didn't expect the roots growing underneath to be like a ball of yarn—the more he pulled, the more there were.

"Does Fellow Daoist recognize this?"

Huang Laoxu leaned in to take a look and was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly.

"Take it away! Quickly take it away! Don't let this unlucky thing touch me!"

Xu Qing looked at Huang Laoxu, who was avoiding it like a snake or scorpion, and then looked at the ball of hairy grass in his hand.

He thought to himself, what's so scary about this thing?

"It's Tongue-Pressing Grass. No wonder this hunter could hold on to a breath of life and not die."

"What is Tongue-Pressing Grass?"

Huang Laoxu said with some trepidation: "Tongue-Pressing Grass is a strange species in the mountains and forests. This grass tastes sweet, and eating it can increase strength. But if someone is greedy and accidentally swallows the seed of the Tongue-Pressing Grass, the seed will take root and sprout at the base of the tongue, growing by absorbing the blood of the swallower."

"Whoever swallows the seed, whether human or yellow weasel, cannot perceive the foreign object in their mouth. By the time they notice, they are not far from death. If you don't pull the grass out at this time, you can still live like a normal person for a few more days. If you pull the grass out..."

Xu Qing looked at the large mass of roots already pulled out in his hand and subconsciously asked: "What happens if you pull it out?"

"Pull it out and die instantly!"

"..."

Xu Qing clicked his tongue. This thing might be a taboo for others, but it couldn't threaten him.

He casually picked up a lamp, and as soon as the ball of grass touched the flame, it immediately began to twist and struggle.

Fire overcomes wood, and Tongue-Pressing Grass also fears fire.

At this moment, a large burst of flames flared up, and within a few seconds, the Tongue-Pressing Grass turned into a pile of pitch-black ash.

After dealing with the evil, strange grass, Xu Qing looked again at the hunter lying quietly.

With an outsider present, it wasn't convenient for him to perform the transcendence directly. After thinking for a moment, Xu Qing took three sticks of incense, inserted them in front of the hunter's head, and then grabbed Jin Luan to act as a laborer, singing a set of 'Helper Soldier Spells' in a proper manner.

Huang Laoxu didn't understand but felt it was impressive. After Xu Qing finished the ritual, he asked with an attitude of learning: "May I ask what kind of ritual Fellow Daoist Xu performed?"

Xu Qing replied: "This is the method of 'Walking the Underworld and Passing the Underworld.' With the golden rooster clearing the path and spiritual incense guiding the way, it can illuminate the path to the netherworld for the deceased, so that they do not lose their way and become lonely ghosts in the world of the living."

Seeing Xu Qing's serious demeanor, Huang Laoxu felt a chill in his heart and thought to himself: The Cat Immortal Hall is truly extraordinary, and this Sect Leader Xu is also learned and knows every kind of method.

After the complex ritual was completed, Xu Qing reached out to touch the corpse, and the hunter's 'Revolving Lantern' (life review) appeared.

The hunter was no ordinary hunter, but a 'Mountain-Chaser' in the Yanjing Mountains.

Mountain-Chasers are often familiar with the geography of the mountains and forests. Whether it is deep ravines, steep cliffs, or white mountains and black waters, they can always find paths in the mountains and forests and collect the gifts of the mountains or catch wild game.

And this ability is called the 'Mountain-Chasing Art.'

The hunter had ancestral learning and began learning the art of archery, hunting, and mountain-chasing from a young age.

The Yanjing Mountains were full of game, so the hunter never lacked meat. By the age of eight or nine, his physique was as tall as an adult's, and by ten, he could bend a bow to hunt geese alone.

However, not long after the hunter learned to hunt geese, his father disappeared in the deep mountains and old forests and never returned.

The mountains and forests have countless blessings, but they also harbor countless dangers.

Getting lost in the wilderness and being buried in the mountains and forests is something every Mountain-Chaser might experience. The hunter did not give up mountain-chasing because of his father's disappearance.

With the help of villagers, when the hunter caught game or collected mountain treasures, he would often exchange them with villagers for rice, flour, and daily necessities.

Days passed like this. The hunter grew from a child into a half-grown boy. Later, he married a farmer's daughter and lived a life of a man hunting and a woman weaving.

Until one day, a disaster suddenly arose in the village.

From the head of the village to the end, children from six households disappeared in the night, and the adults who lost their children knew nothing when asked.

Only some villagers with light sleep said that in the middle of the night, they faintly heard the sound of sheep bleating passing through the village.

Men, women, and children in the village inquired everywhere, only to find that neighboring villages and several villages on the other side of the mountain had also lost children, and on the night of the incident, villagers there had also heard the sound of sheep bleating.

Most of these mountain villages worshiped immortal tablets—White, Yellow, Hu, and Liu, all different.

Seeing that this matter was mysterious and reporting to the officials was useless, everyone began to invite the 'Protecting Family Immortals' of each village to step in and assist.

Others didn't know the truth, but only the hunter who knew the Mountain-Chasing Art knew that most of these immortals were just low-level spirits, and some were even empty halls where only a wooden tablet or carving was worshiped.

The hunter had been paying attention to the situation. In villages that worshiped true immortals, as soon as news was released, a dead giant snake would appear at the village entrance that night.

There were also villages that requested the immortals to step in, only for the immortals to move their halls overnight and find other residences.

Only the Yellow Immortal Hall worshiped in the hunter's village remained quiet.

On this day, the hunter walked to the immortal's shrine, stood for a long time, and finally shook his head and returned home.

At this time, the hunter's wife was already pregnant.

The hunter thought of the villagers who were anxious all day after losing their children, and he felt the same way.

After thinking about it all night, the hunter decided not to rely on the villagers and immortals anymore. He picked up his hunting bow and plunged into the mountains and forests.

(End of chapter)