Chapter 122: The Old Mother Saving the Infant, The Method of Smoldering Yin

Chen Mancang was in high spirits, feeling a profound clarity as if the clouds had parted to reveal the moon.

No wonder the old man always controlled the sheep's water intake whenever the flock drank; now he understood the reason!

Who could have imagined this? Had he not, by sheer chance, climbed into the vat today, he would have remained in the dark for his entire life.

Meanwhile, while Chen Mancang was foolishly laughing to himself, he failed to notice that the cooks and retainers in the kitchen had already surrounded him, brandishing knives and clubs.

The Prince's act of eating people was a private matter; even the servants of the Wang Fu knew nothing of it. They only saw that the sheep in the kitchen were gone, yet a person had appeared in the water vat.

Everyone instinctively took Chen Mancang for a sheep thief.

Seeing the sheepskin on the ground, the thief's caliber seemed to have risen another level.

Even a butcher slaughtering an ox couldn't work that fast!

Chen Mancang had not regained his human form for a long time; suddenly reverting to human shape, he was not yet accustomed to it. He walked as if an elderly woman with bound feet were wearing insoles stitched from hedgehog skin, and by the end, he managed to walk with the youthful awkwardness of a girl just coming of age.

The kitchen retainers cared for none of that; while Chen Mancang had not yet reacted, a group rushed forward, pinning him to the ground.

Beside them, boiling water steamed on the stove, smoke rising straight up, while the cook stood nearby holding a knife, watching him with predatory intent.

Chen Mancang did not know they mistook him for a thief; he thought they intended to chop him up as an ingredient.

"Don't eat me! I am human; humans cannot eat humans! That act damages one's yin virtue!"

What a shameless man! Back then, it was he who committed cannibalism and ate sheep day after day; now it was he who claimed eating sheep damaged yin virtue. It seemed he had claimed all the good words and all the bad words for himself.

The Wang Fu retainers ignored this madman. Someone reached into the water vat and fished around, exclaiming, "Truly uncanny! Where did the mutton go? Could it be that this man ate it?"

The kitchen was in an uproar; the sheep the Prince had bought at great expense were missing, so there had to be an explanation, didn't there?

After a quick discussion, everyone decided to bind Chen Mancang and take him to see the Commandery Prince.

Hearing the cause and effect, the Commandery Prince immediately understood what had happened.

Looking down at the fat-laden Chen Mancang, the Commandery Prince could not help but swallow his saliva.

He ordered the sheepskin brought forward, then commanded everyone to withdraw.

When only Chen Mancang remained in the room, the Commandery Prince smiled, spread open the sheepskin, and walked toward Chen Mancang.

Chen Mancang, thinking quickly, shouted loudly, "If the Prince spares my life, only then can the Prince continue to have sheep to eat!"

The hand of the Commandery Prince, which had been reaching for the sheepskin, paused. With some impatience, he said, "If this Prince eats you, new sheep will surely be delivered by the shepherd. Why must my life be spared to have sheep to eat?"

Chen Mancang crawled and wriggled forward, his face full of flattery: "The old shepherd is past fifty, his fate nearing its end; how many more years can he shepherd? When the old man dies one day, will the Prince not have no sheep to eat?"

"Continue speaking!" The Commandery Prince frowned, pondered in his heart, and realized this was indeed the case.

"The old shepherd uses a secret method to transform living humans into livestock. Among them, the lambs formed from innocent children possess the most tender and juicy flesh, a hundred times superior to my rough meat."

Speaking thus, Chen Mancang wriggled his plump body and smiled flatteringly: "I have followed the old man for many years and am well-versed in the secret art of creating livestock. If I take charge of the flock, I guarantee you will receive fresh, tender lambs every month."

The Commandery Prince said with interest, "Why should this Prince believe you?"

Chen Mancang smiled on his face: "If this humble man breaks his word, the Prince merely loses one sheep. But if the old man's flock scatters, the Prince's kitchen will face a supply cut-off."

"You are indeed a sensible person." The Commandery Prince discarded the sheepskin and said coldly, "Your life shall be spared for now. If the lambs do not arrive—"

"I shall naturally peel my skin and cut out my heart to offer to the Prince for enjoyment!"

Chen Mancang left the Wang Fu alive, but he did not flee to a distant land. Instead, following the paths the old shepherd had previously used to graze the sheep, he found the flock.

Holding his own sheepskin in his hand, when he saw the old shepherd, he did not utter a word but dropped to his knees with a thud.

The old man was both shocked and furious, thinking Chen Mancang had escaped privately from the Commandery Prince's residence and brought trouble upon him.

The old man picked up the whip used for driving sheep and lashed it down upon Chen Mancang.

He whipped while cursing; only when the old man was tired of scolding did Chen Mancang begin to complain of his hardships.

"It is my fault. You, old master, beat me, and I endure it without a single complaint. I merely have one word to speak to you."

Chen Mancang now changed his story. He repeatedly claimed the Commandery Prince knew the method to create livestock and remove the skin. He also said that when he transformed back into a human and was about to be flayed alive by the Prince, he could not hold back his tears.

The Prince, hearing his tearful complaint, felt moved by his filial piety and righteousness, and thus released him to return.

The old man, puzzled, asked Chen Mancang what he had cried out about.

Chen Mancang kowtowed and said, "My life was given by the old master. Without the old master, I would likely have starved to death long ago. I wept because the master is old, and I have not yet repaid him. If I were gone, who would care for you in your old age?"

The old man was half-believing and half-doubting. He had no sons or daughters under his knee; this was the first time anyone had spoken to him this way.

"Do you truly think so?"

"Words can be false, but silver notes cannot. If the master does not disdain it, from now on Mancang will call you 'Godfather'."

Chen Mancang took several silver notes from his bosom, revealing a foolish smile: "When the Prince let me go, he gave me the duty of purchasing for the Wang Fu. This is two hundred taels of deposit as a tribute to Godfather."

To say Chen Mancang eagerly served the shepherd was not because he truly wished to honor him.

It was because Chen Mancang coveted the old man's art of creating livestock. What he had told the Prince about knowing the secret method to create sheep was purely a deception.

The old man had never taught him; how could he know such a craft?

Only by becoming a disciple, acknowledging kinship, and drawing the two relationships closer would he have the opportunity to learn the other's skills.

Thus, two more years passed, and the old man, whose legs were no longer steady, finally transmitted all his skills to Chen Mancang.

That night, Chen Mancang respectfully filled the old man's cup with wine. When the old man's eyes grew hazy with drunkenness, Chen Mancang made an excuse to go out to relieve himself. When he returned, a sheepskin was in his hand.

The old man asked him, "What are you doing with that sheepskin?"

Chen Mancang smiled and replied, "Did we not agree at the start that I would care for Godfather until the end? Am I not fulfilling my promise by coming to see you off?"

Once the sheepskin, prepared by secret methods, touched a human body, it began to contract violently.

The old man struggled and screamed beneath the sheepskin. He reached out to grab his tobacco pipe, but no matter what, he could not find it.

Chen Mancang held the old man tightly, giving him no chance to break free.

Only when the sound of an aged sheep bleating rose from his embrace did he loosen his grip.

In the tent, the lamp flickered dimly and brightly. Chen Mancang took out the tobacco pipe, lit the bowl, and stood before the sheep-oil lamp, taking two puffs.

"Godfather is indeed old; the earth tobacco he smokes is not as strong as before."

In Juncheng, Chen Mancang drove the flock to the market.

He whipped an old sheep that stumbled with every step, going from person to person trying to sell it.

But everyone found the sheep too old and the price too high; no one was willing to take the old sheep home.

Chen Mancang was not in a hurry; he led the old sheep, muttering words incessantly.

"Back when you sold me, you got so much silver; now that I am selling you, I can't even get a single tael."

The old sheep had long lost all spark in its eyes; it silently followed Chen Mancang to the mutton shop, staring at the sheep being skinned inside.

"Shepherd, how many times have I told you? Your sheep is too old; who would be willing to pay a high price for such an old sheep?"

"You know that wealthy masters even take concubines in their eighteenth year; have you ever seen anyone spend money to marry an ancient old woman?"

"I'll sell it cheap!"

"Cheap? Then will you sell it for ten copper coins?"

Chen Mancang took ten copper coins and left the mutton shop without looking back.

Behind him, the hoarse bleating of the aged sheep rang out only a few times before falling completely silent.

In the days that followed, Chen Mancang completely took over the role of the shepherd; the sheep he usually herded were either sold to people with special fetishes or to practitioners of dark arts.

When the number of sheep was low, he would go to suitable villages and towns to 'Da Xuba', abducting those of unsound mind and using the secret method of Zao Chu to turn them into goats.

On this day, Chen Mancang, who was over fifty years old, arrived in Jinmen; it was in this very place that he met his new patron—the Old Mother Who Saves Infants.

That Old Mother Who Saves Infants was originally a 'Venerable Deity' enshrined in the Temple of Granting Sons.

This deity was incredibly efficacious; any woman who came to make a vow and offer incense would surely conceive a fetus.

A deity with such divine powers should, by any logic, never go to a shepherd to buy those little lambs.

Chen Mancang could not understand the matter, but he did not need to understand it.

Since the temple priest in the Temple of Granting Sons was willing to look after his business, he would not ask too many questions, nor would he meddle.

Thus, Chen Mancang arrived at West Jingshan and began abducting children from the villages.

If you ask why he ran to such a remote place as West Jingshan instead of bustling towns and villages?

This was related to the laws of the Great Yong Dynasty; in fact, not just the Yong Dynasty, but counting back several dynasties, the law was the same: if the government caught anyone practicing Caisheng Zhege or using the evil method of Zao Chu, regardless of the reason, they would be beheaded immediately!

No matter how skilled Chen Mancang was, he did not dare to commit crimes in the face of the law.

Yet, no matter how he thought, he never imagined that West Jingshan would become his grave.

As the saying goes, good and evil will eventually be rewarded; now that this shepherd has met Xu Qing, his end has truly come.

The Scripture of Delivering People stopped turning pages, and the sinful life of the shepherd came to an end.

Xu Qing came to his senses and received two rewards.

One was a technique of Yean Mei; practicing it allows one to comprehend the transformation between humans and beasts and grasp the method of Zao Chu.

Besides Zao Chu, the Yean Mei technique also contained some witchcraft for pretending to be a spirit and deceiving people.

For example, using food as bait to lure others into eating it; once eaten, that person would lose their sanity and follow the caster involuntarily.

This Yean Mei technique is rare in the Jiangbei area and is most common south of the Jiang River.

This technique also has a name; the common name is 'Da Xuba', while south of the Jiang and Hu rivers, it is also called 'Che Xu'.

It is considered an evil technique paired with the secret art of Zao Chu; both are unorthodox methods that cannot be shown on a proper stage.

After Xu Qing learned it, he tossed it aside; this thing was of little use to him, at most usable when dealing with enemies.

But if there were truly enemies, he would mostly choose to bury them in the courtyard of Shuimen Bridge rather than idly turning them into cattle and sheep.

After all, if buried in the courtyard, he could refine them into Chang Jiang to work for him; turning them into cattle and sheep offered no such benefit.

Besides the largely useless secret art of Zao Chu, there was another reward of Earth Character grade, named 'Yin Ran Fa'.

Yin Ran Fa can be cultivated with a single breath of Yin Qi; as long as this Yin Fire is spat onto any combustible material, such as tobacco, talisman paper, or oil, it will trigger the Yin Burning Fire.

Yin Burning Fire can scorch the soul and burn the internal organs; at the same time, it is a fire method relatively compatible with the constitution of evil spirits, suitable for nurturing them.

After Xu Qing obtained Yin Ran Fa, his expression became somewhat strange.

Earlier, when he chose the Zombie evolution path, there was only the Black Jiang path available; yet in just a few short days, he not only obtained the secret art of Gan Shan suitable for Mao Hou cultivation, but now he has also obtained this Yin Ran method extremely suitable for Huo Ba cultivation.

However, the Key Corpse Theory has never recorded a case of a zombie simultaneously cultivating Mao Jiang, Black Jiang, and Fire Jiang.

Xu Qing mobilized the Yin Burning Fire seed in his body, currently only the size of a little fingernail, and tentatively began to activate it.

Combining a breath of Yin Qi with the fire seed to ignite, Xu Qing blew at the old sheep corpse on the ground; the sheepskin covering the corpse began to melt and burn rapidly, just like the yellow paper burning in a temple.

In no time, the old sheep, whose skin had burned to ash, returned to human form.

Seeing this, Xu Qing laughed; so the art of Zao Chu could not only be broken by the water-filling method but could also be violently removed using Yin Ran Fa.

It is just that this method is not very suitable for use on living creatures.

After testing Yin Ran Fa, Xu Qing felt a stir in his heart and took the Water Lu bowl to try casting the Chi Shui method.

The Yin Burning Fire seed within his body was not affected in the slightest; even though the Water Yuan Qi inside and outside his body was now dense, no mutual repulsion appeared.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and immediately gained understanding.

Yin Burning Fire is not Yang Fire; when cast, it still relies on the Yin Qi within his body, just as some cultivators can cast Water Arts while simultaneously releasing Thunder Arts and Fire Arts.

Essentially, it is not determined by the external manifestation of the technique, but by the source magic power influencing the casting of the art.

That is to say, as long as he does not come into contact with techniques that contradict his own constitution, he can achieve simultaneous cultivation of multiple arts.

However, people who cultivate multiple arts simultaneously are destined to be a minority.

After all, human lifespan is limited; the energy of a lifetime is more or less fixed; if one cultivates multiple methods simultaneously, the final result will inevitably be broad but shallow, and even these external arts could affect one's own cultivation progress, thereby affecting one's lifespan.

"So, as long as one lives long enough, one can master all arts?"

Xu Qing grinned, thinking to himself, how could such a good thing exist?

Zombies have no lifespan limit; he might not have infinite time, but his half-dead state can continue indefinitely.

The shepherd is dead; Xu Qing has once again recognized the meaning brought by the Three Transformations of the Lying Corpse; the gains of this journey were far more abundant than he imagined.

Perhaps this is what living people often call good deeds bring good rewards.

Xu Qing was in high spirits; he rose and stored the shepherd's corpse into the miniature world.

Not far away, Xuan Yu sat atop a high stone, watching over the ownerless flock for him.

Beside Xuan Yu, Huang Laoxu, who had appeared at some unknown time, was asking questions incessantly.

The black crow that had been circling in the sky earlier also landed nearby.

It had previously seen only a scorched, apocalyptic scene among the stream and woods; once the smoke cleared, the shepherd was already helpless and waiting to be captured.

It was even more eager than Huang Laoxu to know the details within this.

This was the crow's natural instinct for gossip; it was no exception.

After Xu Qing exchanged greetings with Huang Laoxu and the black crow, he turned his gaze to Xuan Yu.

"Immortal Xuan Yu, do you wish to learn the art of turning these sheep into humans?"

Xuan Yu's eyes lit up at these words: "Does Immortal Xu know the art of transforming humans?"

Xu Qing smiled mysteriously and gestured for Xuan Yu to lean in close.

A cool, thin yin qi brushed against the cat ears; Xuan Yu could not help but twitch the tips of his ears.

After hearing the method Xu Qing described, Xuan Yu opened his eyes wide and said incredulously:

"So simple?"

"Just that simple!"

(End of this chapter)