Chapter 120

Eating someone's food makes your mouth soft; taking someone's hand makes you short.

Since the Yellow Immortal Hall had eaten people's offerings, they had to do their best to handle things for people.

But doing their best is one thing; it doesn't mean every job the Yellow Immortal Hall takes on must be completed.

After all, even the most spiritual immortals have times when they are not effective.

Huang Laoxu originally thought so too, but when the chattering crows of Luan-Shi Mountain spread the news that the Yellow Immortal Hall had stepped in for the hunter, and even made the entire immortal circle know about it, the nature of the matter had completely changed.

The problem now is that no matter if it's the Sorrow Immortal, the Willow Immortal, or any other kind of immortal, as long as they see Huang Laoxu, they all give him a thumbs up, saying he is a good one, worthy of being the head of the Yellow Immortal Hall—when there's a matter, he really steps up!

Huang Laoxu's old teeth were broken, but he could only swallow them.

Could he not handle this matter?

Handle it! It must be handled, and it must be handled brilliantly!

If he retreated halfway, how could his Yellow Immortal Hall mix in the immortal circle in the future, and where would he put his old face?

Besides the immortals, in the past few days, villagers from ten miles and eight villages, every village and stockade, had also been offering sacrifices to his hall from time to time.

It looked like offerings, but in Huang Laoxu's eyes, that wasn't offerings at all; it was clearly roasting him on a fire. The key was that he couldn't refuse.

More than a dozen villages took turns offering sacrifices. The 'Crooked-Neck Little Phoenix' of the Yellow Immortal Hall ate until it was full, drank the 'Red-Beam Fine Water' until it vomited, and the 'Phoenix Egg Snowflake' was never lacking. The children and grandchildren of his Yellow Immortal Hall had actually had a fat year ahead of schedule.

But the more grace he received, the more uneasy Huang Laoxu felt. If the matter wasn't completed, let alone how the immortal friends would discuss him behind his back, just the believers in each village could dismantle his hall.

People these days are like this: when worshiping gods, they must worship gods who respond to requests. What's the use of keeping a useless god?

"Fellow Daoist Xu, Immortal Xuanyu, this old man is truly at a dead end. If we drag it out any longer, once that sheep-herder leaves the territory of Jinmen, there will really be no way!"

Huang Laoxu was spinning around in a hurry, as if his butt were on fire.

Unfortunately, Xu Qing was focused on the corpse in front of him and had no time to pay attention to him.

Seeing that he couldn't get through to Xu Qing, Huang Laoxu ran to Xuanyu, wanting to let the cat immortal in front of him blow some pillow talk.

"Immortal Xuanyu, this old man pays his respects..."

They say that cats and mice are enemies, but today, the Great Yellow Immortal was bowing three times and kowtowing nine times to ask for the cat's favor.

After Xuanyu finished the fish sauce porridge, the whole cat became lazy. She watched Huang Laoxu, who wouldn't stop talking, and couldn't help but yawn.

Huang Laoxu's straight body suddenly slumped. He got down on all fours, drooping his head and sighing.

Xuanyu didn't know what the other party was thinking. She thought for a moment and said: "Fellow Daoist Huang, don't worry. When Immortal Xu finishes the things at hand, he will naturally tell you the result."

The Cat Immortal Hall has always been led by the Great Sect Leader externally and the Cat Immortal internally. In the end, this matter still had to be listened to by Xu Qing.

On this side, after Xu Qing finished the transcendence of the corpse, he began to tidy up the hunter's remains.

This was a treatment only available to VIPs of the mortuary shop. If ordinary corpses wanted this kind of funeral service, it would depend on whether he was in the mood.

Huang Laoxu watched Xu Qing, who was unhurriedly applying powder and makeup to the hunter, and was so anxious that he was scratching his ears and cheeks.

After tidying up the makeup, Xu Qing went to the shroud shop on the same street to get a wide shroud and put it on him.

In addition, he followed the funeral process and placed some conventional burial items in the hunter's coffin.

Such as brick-stone bows and arrows, back-cushion money, paper-crafted Five-Road Wealth Gods' gold ingots, as well as grains, dried grass, Shenqu, realgar, red dates, and other items.

Brick-stone bows and arrows can guard against the 'Heavenly Dog' and have the effect of avoiding bad luck and seeking good fortune.

Back-cushion money is seven copper coins arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, implying that after the deceased enters the netherworld and enters another world, they will still have money to spend.

Grains imply a bumper harvest, and dried grass implies endless life.

In addition, Shenqu, realgar, and seven red dates symbolize escaping from trouble early and transcending suffering.

When Xu Qing was placing the grains and red dates, Jin Luan in the shop thought it was time to feed, flapped its wings, and ran to the front.

Xu Qing's ears moved slightly; his 'Ta-Wai-Yin' heard the subtext of this chicken.

"This master is hungry! This master wants to eat those sweet dates!"

"Eat, eat, eat, eat your grandfather!" Xu Qing raised his hand and slapped it, but still not satisfied, he picked up the animal-skin boots the hunter had changed out of and threw them at the stupid chicken.

"Your grandfather!" Jin Luan squawked.

Beside them, Huang Laoxu, who had just sneaked over to speak, silently retreated again.

This Fellow Daoist Xu seemed quite moody and not an easy person to get along with.

Chasing away the big rooster that had no sense of the situation, Xu Qing used scissors to cut 'Yin-Yang Paper' and placed it in the coffin.

The so-called Yin-Yang Paper is actually yellow and white paper strips. This thing has two functions: one is to be pasted on the forehead of the deceased. If the deceased is faking death and resumes breathing, one can treat the person faking death based on the shaking of the Yin-Yang Paper.

The other function is to suppress evil, preventing other evil things from borrowing the corpse to return to life.

After finishing the work at hand, the rest was to lift the coffin and move the remains.

However, there are also requirements for lifting the coffin, which is to prepare two kinds of fruits and two kinds of snacks, four of each, implying that the journey will be smooth and steady without bumps.

Huang Laoxu watched Xu Qing wave his sleeves and take away the coffin, and his heart suddenly tightened.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, this old man still has to send the corpse back. If the hunter's corpse is lost and discovered by that group of difficult black crows, I'm afraid it won't be easy to end."

Xu Qing turned his head and said unhappily: "Look at what you're saying. I've heard of people who love fame and wealth, but I've never heard of anyone who loves corpses. Do you think I would embezzle this corpse?"

"Then what is Fellow Daoist Xu doing?"

"Moving the remains back to their hometown. For a person of such loyalty and righteousness, naturally, he must be buried in peace."

"Then where will he be buried?"

Xu Qing glanced at Huang Laoxu and said unhappily: "You dug the corpse, but you're asking me instead!"

"Of course, bury it back where it was dug."

Huang Laoxu said in surprise: "Is Fellow Daoist Xu planning to step in and go to Xijing Mountain?"

Xu Qing called Xuanyu and said while walking: "My mortuary shop's funeral business is the main job; stepping in to invite immortals is just a side job. This trip to Xijing Mountain is naturally still mainly for the funeral."

"Stepping in is just a side trip."

Huang Laoxu probed: "Then that sheep-herder and those lost children..."

Xu Qing said lightly: "The children will be sent back by the immortals of the hall. As for the sheep-herder, didn't I say it? I'm going to hold a funeral for him."

Huang Laoxu was dumbfounded: "Not a funeral for the hunter?"

"The hunter hasn't seen the abducted children return home yet; how could he be at peace on the road?"

"It won't be too late to handle his funeral after the children are found."

Adding glutinous rice to Jin Luan's feeding bowl and throwing in a few red dates, Xu Qing closed the shop door and went outside the city with Xuanyu.

Huang Laoxu had already gone to Xijing Mountain to look for traces of the sheep-herder. Seeing that there was no one around, Xu Qing released the 'Five-Colored Horse' from the Box Garden.

Xuanyu saw this tall horse for the first time and opened her eyes in surprise.

"Xu Qing, what kind of horse is this? Why is it so... so..." The horse was spirited, but the cat was at a loss for words.

"This is a horse made from the fat and cream of the people. It looks like gold and jade on the outside, but on the inside, it's just white bones and clay."

Xu Qing took out his top-grade wolf-hair brush, drew a few 'Armor-Horse Talismans' on the spot, and pasted them on the four legs of the Five-Colored Horse.

Even the worst Armor-Horse Talisman can increase foot strength by two hundred miles, and four of them would be eight hundred miles.

The Mountain-Chasing Art Xu Qing learned was top-grade, so the Armor-Horse Talismans he carved were also extraordinary.

Pasting four Armor-Horse Talismans with the words 'White Clouds Rising' on the horse's legs, Xu Qing drew two more flying talismans, stepped on the two characters 'Kui-Gang,' pinched the seal with his left hand, made the gesture with his right, took a mouthful of Yin Qi, and recited the 'Crane Feather Riding Cloud Spell' seven times. The flying talismans in his hand rose without wind and turned into a group of green clouds, supporting the horse's hooves.

After doing this, Xu Qing looked around. Seeing no one, he put on the 'Phoenix Crown and Rosy Cape' he had always treasured.

The hunter's cause of death was his internal organs being burned by fierce fire. In the other party's 'Revolving Lantern,' Xu Qing also saw the scene of the shepherd blowing the pipe bowl and blowing up a fierce fire and smoke wind.

And the Phoenix Crown and Rosy Cape happened to be a treasure garment that was impervious to water and fire and could avoid swords and guns. Since he had accepted an external job and needed to go deep into the mountains and forests to deal with people of the Yin Gate who were good at fire methods, he had to make thorough preparations in advance.

In addition to wearing the wedding dress obtained from the Ghost King's Tomb, Xu Qing also took out two hundred 'Fire-Avoidance Talismans' he had made in the past, wrapped them all in the wide red sleeves, and kept them close to his body.

Xuanyu watched Xu Qing take off his blue-collared white shirt and put on the bright red wedding dress, and was stunned for a moment.

"Such a beautiful Immortal Xu."

"..."

Xu Qing was expressionless, his face as usual. If it weren't for the fact that he was a zombie, his face would probably be red to the roots of his ears!

After all, what decent male zombie would wear a red wedding dress that only female ghosts wear?

Xu Qing ignored Xuanyu's praise. He flipped onto the horse and then beckoned to the cat who was infatuated on the ground.

The black cat lowered its front paws, its raised hindquarters swaying slightly. After building up enough strength, it made a leap and landed accurately on the horse's back.

"Sit tight!"

After putting on the wedding dress, Xu Qing's expression was significantly more serious and cold than usual.

He pulled the reins, and the next moment, the five-colored horse under him stepped on the clouds, its four hooves leaving the ground by three feet, and galloped away.

Although the land in the mountains and forests after the rain was relatively wet and soft, there was not a single hoof print on the path the Five-Colored Horse took.

The scenery around him retreated rapidly. A thousand-mile treasure horse paired with Armor-Horse Talismans—the daily distance was more than just a few thousand miles?

The bright red rosy cape embroidered with clouds, flowers, birds, dragons, and phoenixes danced in the howling wind. Xu Qing's phoenix crown tassels jingled and swayed. Xuanyu on the horse's back was extremely excited; she just wanted the horse's speed to be faster, even faster!

Fifty miles away from Linhe, Huang Laoxu, who was on his way, suddenly heard the sound of thunder and wind breaking not far away. He subconsciously looked sideways and saw a five-colored light shadow passing by at extreme speed.

It was like a bolt of lightning.

Huang Laoxu rubbed his mung-bean-sized eyes. When he opened them again, the mountain paths returned to silence, as if the scene he had seen in that fleeting glance was just an illusion.

The Five-Colored Horse passed through the mountain paths that Liu Youdao often walked when carrying corpses, and took a shortcut to the territory of Xijing Mountain.

Xu Qing looked at Xuanyu, who hadn't blinked the whole way, and was thoughtful.

Xuanyu had told him before that she didn't like the outside world because it was too dangerous...

But when he saw Xuanyu's happy appearance at this moment, he understood that Xuanyu didn't dislike the outside world.

"Xuanyu must cultivate hard. When the day comes, maybe without others accompanying, Xuanyu can also travel to the North Sea in the morning and Cangwu in the evening alone."

"North Sea?"

"It's a very far and beautiful place."

"Is Cangwu beautiful too?"

Xu Qing shook his head: "I don't know, because I haven't really been there either. It's just that books say it's a place like a fairyland."

"Hmm..." The black cat, whose fur was like coal, had bright, shining light in its eyes at this moment. "Then Immortal Xu must also cultivate hard, so that we can travel together to the fairyland."

Xu Qing smiled slightly and did not answer.

The horse under him flew rapidly through the familiar wild forest and then rushed up the high mountain.

On Luan-Shi Mountain, Xu Qing put his fingers to his lips and whistled towards the mountain mist in the distance.

Before long, seven or eight black crows dispersed the clouds and mist and flew from afar.

Seeing the leading old crow, Xu Qing couldn't help but smile.

It seemed his luck was quite good; these crows that had gained spiritual nature happened to be in their nests and hadn't flown far.

The old crow looked at the person in front of it in surprise.

The phoenix crown and rosy cape were dignified and luxurious, but the person wearing the clothes didn't look like a woman.

The Five-Colored Horse had five colors and was very spirited.

Looking at the horse's back, there was also a beautiful cat whose fur was even blacker than their crows.

What kind of combination was this?

The old crow was surprised and didn't dare to get too close. It hovered in the air, flapping its black crow feathers, and asked:

"Who are you, and why do you know the bird language to call us?"

The mountain wind blew, and Xu Qing's sleeves fluttered.

He smiled and bowed: "I am the Sect Leader of the Cat Immortal Hall in Linhe Square, and this is the Cat Immortal of the Cat Immortal Hall. As for how I know the method of calling crows..."

Xu Qing claimed to be a friend of the hunter during his lifetime and was now entrusted by Huang Laoxu to come and handle the matter of the villagers' lost children.

The old crow said strangely: "Cat Immortal Hall? This is the first time I've heard of it..."

Pausing, the old crow kindly reminded: "That sheep-herder is very powerful. Even a person as capable as Mountain Boy couldn't fight him. Do you really have the confidence to defeat him?"

"Since the Cat Immortal Hall has accepted this job, Immortal Xu and I will definitely do our best to achieve it." As Xuanyu spoke, she jumped off the horse's back, trotted a few steps, then slowed down and came to Xu Qing's side unhurriedly.

Sitting casually on the bare mountain rock, the tip of Xuanyu's tail naturally wrapped around to the front, covering her ink-plum-like cat paws.

Xu Qing nodded and smiled, echoing: "Immortal Xuanyu is absolutely right. It's just that I still have to trouble Fellow Daoist Crow to find the traces of the shepherd and the flock of sheep."

Although Xu Qing could calculate the whereabouts of others through the 'Purple Star Astrology,' he could only calculate a general direction, such as water-marsh areas in the southeast or high places in the north. In addition, the 'Throwing Shoes to Ask the Way' method also had the function of finding people.

It's just that these two methods are ultimately more troublesome.

After all, the sheep-herder was always wandering in the mountains and forests. If he really waited to find the other party using this method, who knew how many more people would have turned into lambs.

Hearing Xu Qing's words, the old crow didn't hesitate at all.

"Two Fellow Daoists, please follow me."

Accompanied by a burst of cawing, a group of crows flew towards the northeast.

Xu Qing flipped onto the horse, and Xuanyu followed closely behind.

After about two sticks of incense, Xu Qing, who had crossed several high mountains, heard the sound of gurgling water from a mountain stream.

In the sound of the water, there was also the sound of sheep bleating.

Xu Qing's heart moved. The old sheep-herder was good at using fire methods, while he was good at water-controlling methods. Now the flock of sheep happened to be drinking water by the stream.

With the right time, place, and people, if he didn't strike now, when would he?

Putting the Five-Colored Horse into the Box Garden, Xu Qing walked on the wet and soft grass by the stream.

There were no traces of the grass being eaten by sheep, and apart from the messy sheep hoof prints, there wasn't a single sheep dropping.

Xuanyu followed Xu Qing cautiously, deliberately avoiding the wet and soft muddy grass, pausing for a moment on the ground with every step.

Not far away, the old man sitting on a mountain rock by the stream and smoking dry tobacco suddenly looked over.

When he saw the fair-faced young man in a phoenix crown and rosy cape walking towards him with a black cat, the old man was obviously stunned.

(End of chapter)