Chapter 139

Wanting to establish a complete Immortal hall is not difficult to say, but it's not easy either.

Snakes, insects, rats, ants, chickens, dogs, foxes, and ghosts—there are many with cultivation, but most of these things lack upbringing, and the quality is uneven.

Xu Qing has always adhered to the principle of valuing quality over quantity, so he is not in a hurry to improve the hall's structure. The Cat Immortal Hall still has a long way to go. In the long years, he will always meet some Immortals with excellent character. If fate arrives, perhaps he can form a bond with them and establish an incense connection.

These are not things that can be achieved overnight. Xu Qing is still more willing to be a hands-off manager, helping his own Cat Immortal manage the hall when he is free, slowly consolidating the hall's strength. Only in this way will the incense obtained be purer and more suitable for resisting cultivation disasters.

Besides resisting disasters, incense also represents the accumulation of Yin virtue. Xu Qing feels that this thing is about the same as reputation; accumulating more Yang-world reputation is never a bad thing.

After the branch hall opening ribbon-cutting ceremony ended, Xu Qing bid farewell to everyone and went to Jiugou Village with the crows from Luan Shi Mountain and the yellow weasels from Huangtiao Mountain.

Earlier, when the Cat Immortal Hall accepted the shepherd's order, they had received a hunter's corpse. The hunter had been a mountain-chaser in the mountains, but he had died an unnatural death in the process of chasing the shepherd.

Xu Qing had once promised a word: wait until those abducted children returned home, then handle the hunter's funeral to let him go on his way peacefully.

Now the shepherd was dead, the Son-Sending Temple had turned to ashes, the hunter's wish was fulfilled, and it was time to send him off.

Four-season banners and flowers stand before the grave, incense, candles, and paper horses send off the dead.

At the hunter's burial place, black crows circled in the air, making low, hoarse noises.

Huang Xiaoliu squatted in front of the grave, put its two little claws together, and bowed to pay respects to the hunter.

It was a coincidence. Just as Xu Qing finished the ritual, on a small path not far from the grave, a woman with a slightly bulging abdomen, carrying a basket woven from brambles, walked to the front of the grave.

Huang Xiaoliu smelled the scent of a living person and zipped into the "Hundred Grass Mountain."

"Hundred Grass Mountain" is an Immortal term, meaning places like haystacks or grass piles.

"Who are you?" The woman looked suspiciously at the young man in front of the grave.

Xu Qing bowed and said: "I am a traveler passing by. Hearing that this is the burial place of a righteous person, I came specially to pay my respects."

The fact that the hunter died chasing human traffickers was not a secret, and there had been no lack of people coming to pay respects in the past few days, so the woman didn't find it strange.

It's just that the woman didn't know that the previous grave was just an empty hole.

The woman, four or five months pregnant, thanked Xu Qing, then took incense, candles, paper money, and some offerings like steamed buns and eggs from the basket and placed them in front of the grave to pay respects.

Xu Qing remained silent. After the woman lit the incense and candles, he reached out and took out two peace talismans, handed them to the other party, and said: "It is fate to meet the wife and child of a righteous person today. These are peace-protecting talismans I requested from the Immortal Temple in Guanmen Village. I will give them to you, sister-in-law, hoping they can bless you and your nephew with peace and smoothness."

After giving the talismans, Xu Qing left the grave. Not long after walking, Huang Xiaoliu, who didn't know where it had run off to, suddenly drilled out from the grass on the side.

"Sir, that 'four-eyed, half-life' woman wearing mourning clothes is really pitiful. Since I started cultivating, I haven't seen such a pitiful person."

Xu Qing shook his head helplessly upon hearing this.

"Four-eyed," "half-life," these are all Immortal jargon. A "half-life person" refers to a woman whose husband died after marriage; a "four-eyed person" refers to a pregnant woman; a "hot mourning person" refers to someone whose parents, spouse, or children have died within a hundred days.

These Immortal jargons are rarely known to the world and are generally only circulated among incense-children and horse-riders.

Xu Qing only understood these Immortal terms after founding the Cat Immortal Hall.

"Xiaoliu, you are an Immortal of my Cat Immortal Hall's Transmitting Hall. The exchange of news between halls cannot be done without you. I know you are smart and clever, but if you want to do the Transmitting Hall well, there is one most important point, and that is to be studious and diligent."

"As long as you don't fall behind in your cultivation studies, in a year or a year and a half, I will find you a young master or a young lady of upright character to be a horse-riding disciple, help you formally establish the hall, and let you be the head of the Transmitting Hall..."

In Immortal jargon, "young master" refers to an unmarried male over three years old, and "young lady" refers to an unmarried female over three years old.

Throughout history, why are most of the horse-riding disciples who look at things for people very old and unmarried?

This matter is simple to say. Unmarried people have not leaked their original Yin and original Yang, so when inviting Immortals, the establishment of spiritual inspiration with the Immortals is often more compatible, and the cultivation and magic power displayed are also deeper.

This is also the reason why people like Granny Guanhu are always alone and do not get married or have children.

Once they get married, the Immortals will leave.

Here, Xu Qing was drawing a big cake for Huang Xiaoliu, but in the distance, the sound of chanting the "Helping Soldiers Incantation" suddenly rang out.

In the wilderness of the mountains, if someone shouts, it can be heard from three or four miles away.

Now, the commotion caused by beating drums and singing incantations in Jiugou Village was no less than those performing big plays. Xu Qing stood on a high ridge in the distance and could hear the lyrics of the horse-riding disciple.

"Grandpa Earth looks smiling, standing in the Kirin Cave, the master has a great gate. I have the Immortal here, bow three times, only then can I cross the Hu, Huang, Bai, and Liu barriers..."

Overhead, the old crow flew over a distance of three or five miles, went to scout, and then flew back.

"It is a disciple from Yuehua Mountain inviting an Immortal. Perhaps they met someone carrying a disaster and need to invite a Willow Immortal to heal them."

Those who come to find Immortals to look at things or are sick are called "people carrying disasters." Healing the person and recovering is "exiting the disaster."

As long as the disaster is exited and the illness is cured, the horse-riding disciple and the Immortal have completed the task.

Xu Qing's heart moved when he heard Yuehua Mountain.

He remembered that the Immortal Hall Master of Yuehua Mountain was a white python with deep cultivation, named White Immortal Aunt. When he solved the matter of the shepherd and the red-clothed female ghost, the other party had invited him to be a guest at the Hundred Grass Cave of Yuehua Mountain.

White Immortal Aunt's hall was best at healing illnesses and driving away disasters, and the horse-riding disciples were mostly bell-doctors.

What is a bell-doctor? Traveling doctors, wandering doctors, village doctors—these are them.

Bell-doctors wander in the countryside, have no fixed place to practice medicine, and often use shaking bells or hanging gourds, carrying medicine bags as signs to attract patients.

These bell-doctors have many folk remedies, but their medical skills are uneven. Low ones might only know one prescription, such as treating children's coughs, or only knowing how to look at some gynecological diseases.

But the upper limit is also very high. Some practitioners who are not born in the world also like to shake bells and hang gourd medicine banners when traveling, looking at illnesses for people everywhere. The medical skills of such people are even more superb than those of the imperial physicians.

Xu Qing had never seen an Immortal horse-riding to heal people. Now that he had nothing to do, he simply took Huang Xiaoliu, carried his hands behind his back, and swayed toward the home of the person carrying the disaster.

Arriving at the place where the incident happened, there were already many villagers surrounding the door, some watching the fun, some anxious to see if they could lend a hand and help.

Xu Qing walked to the front, and a woman in her forties was chewing her tongue there.

"If inviting Immortals were useful, I would have been a mother long ago! Back then, I went to the Son-Sending Temple in Huangpi Village to worship the Bodhisattva. It was not easy to have a child, but in the end, it didn't survive when it landed?"

An old man with high prestige at the door said: "The Son-Sending Temple is a lewd shrine and lewd sacrifice. How can it be the same as a home-protecting Immortal?"

The middle-aged woman seemed to have been poked in the painful spot in her heart, her face turning red and white.

The old man tapped his cane on the ground and continued: "In these years, which child of those who worshipped the Son-Sending Temple landed safely? Now, Mrs. Li is the first to give birth after the Son-Sending Temple was pushed down. As long as her family can have mother and child safety this time, then what the home-protecting Immortal said is all true."

Xu Qing didn't expect that he could eat a melon and eat it on himself.

Now looking at this situation, there was mostly a woman giving birth inside, needing a midwife. But why invite an Immortal to give birth?

Xu Qing came to the old man with questions.

The old man had a gentle temperament. Hearing Xu Qing's inquiry, he said unhurriedly: "The one giving birth is Midwife Liu. In the ten miles and eight villages, she is the most capable. If Mrs. Li Shan had invited Sister Liu back then, perhaps she would have had a child long ago."

The middle-aged woman next to her was Mrs. Li Shan. Hearing the old man mention this, her face looked even worse.

After glaring fiercely at Xu Qing and the old man, the woman returned to her own home without saying a word.

Xu Qing watched the woman open the neighbor's courtyard door, and only then did he see that the other party was the neighbor of this family.

The old man shook his head upon seeing this: "This Mrs. Li Shan just has too much temper, probably still because of the child."

Sighing, the old man continued: "Where did I just say? Oh right, you asked why Sister Liu needs to invite a home-protecting Immortal to help people give birth. Speaking of this, I really don't know much..."

Xu Qing was stunned. He understood the old man's meaning: Sister Liu inviting a home-protecting Immortal meant that the midwife giving birth was herself a horse-rider.

"Sister Liu is very capable. Usually, she doesn't invite Immortals to help people give birth. Only when she looks at things and treats illnesses for people does she sing this tune."

The old man said with some worry: "This girl must have encountered something that Sister Liu also felt was troublesome when giving birth, otherwise she wouldn't sing this tune and invite a home-protecting Immortal to ride."

After hearing this, Xu Qing's eyelids jumped.

The Son-Sending Temple had only been pushed down not long ago. Listening to the old man, this family happened to be the first pregnant woman about to give birth at this juncture.

If something happened to this woman and the fetus in her belly, and it spread in the future, the Cat Immortal Hall's achievement of pushing down the Son-Sending Temple would have to be cut by at least a section.

People who like to watch the fun will definitely discuss it, saying that when the Son-Sending Temple didn't fall, the child couldn't be kept, and now that the Son-Sending Temple has fallen, isn't it still not kept?

If it were more intense, perhaps there would be some people who didn't know the truth and would overturn the case for the Son-Sending Temple, instead attacking the Cat Immortal Hall.

Watching the fun and seeing it on himself, Xu Qing's mood was no longer happy.

Walking into the courtyard, someone came to block the way. Xu Qing took out the Immortal-driving whip and King Wen drum like a magic trick, saying he was a shaman and also here to help.

The man in charge of the Li family didn't think much and invited him into the courtyard.

Xu Qing listened to the movement in the bedroom, and his brows wrinkled.

The black crow and Huang Xiaoliu stood side by side on the roof ridge, also looking at the place where the woman was giving birth.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a woman covered in blood suddenly rushed out of the delivery room where the painful cries were getting smaller and smaller.

"Sister Liu, how is it?"

The woman said with an ugly face: "Your wife is pregnant with twins, it's not easy to give birth. The home-protecting Immortal has already protected that breath for her, but if it drags on, the fetus won't be able to smell the air outside, and it's hard to say."

A fetus dying in the womb due to difficult labor is the usual rhetoric of the nuns of the Son-Sending Temple.

If the result is really as Midwife Liu said, it is definitely not a good thing for the Cat Immortal Hall.

In the courtyard, Xu Qing bared his teeth.

Since he was already here, whether for the reputation of the Cat Immortal Hall or for the human life in front of him, he had to find a way to solve this matter.

Before, when transcending those nuns, he had obtained the skill of midwifery and childbirth assistance, but he had never used it.

Coming to Midwife Liu, Xu Qing stated his intention briefly.

Midwife Liu initially had respect when she heard that Xu Qing was the Grand Master of the Cat Immortal Hall.

But hearing that Xu Qing wanted to assist in childbirth, Midwife Liu immediately frowned and said: "A woman giving birth, having a man assist in childbirth, what kind of talk is that? Don't say I can't agree to this matter, the husband wouldn't agree either."

Beside, Li Mugen, who had been in deep water, said without hesitation: "As long as I can keep the lives of my wife and children, I can agree to anything!"

Midwife Liu's breath stagnated upon hearing this. She said this just as an excuse; in fact, she didn't believe from the bottom of her heart that a man could assist in childbirth.

But the man in charge had already said this, what else could she say?

"Fine! Then you follow me in!"

Xu Qing stood still and didn't move. He raised his hand to his mouth and whistled. The next moment, the black crow on the roof ridge flew over.

"The midwife is right, men and women are indeed different..."

Seeing Midwife Liu cast a suspicious look, Xu Qing explained: "I have a way to not go in, but still be able to assist Sister Liu in childbirth."

While speaking, Xu Qing took out a Bird-Eye Talisman and stuck it on his forehead, then he pinched the incantation and pointed a Mountain-Driving Secret Technique at the black crow.

"This is an Immortal from Luan Shi Mountain. Sister Liu can take it in. At that time, I will be outside the tent and answer Sister Liu."

The black crow landed on Midwife Liu's shoulder, and the latter walked into the delivery room suspiciously.

Xu Qing stood outside the tent with his hands down. Li Mugen brought a stool and wanted him to sit down, but he stopped him with a raised hand.

With his eyes closed, the Bird-Eye Talisman on Xu Qing's forehead emitted a faint white light. The next moment, his vision shifted from the outer room of the delivery room to the inside.

He saw Mrs. Li lying on the couch, covered in sweat, her cheeks bloodless.

In front of the couch, there was a white python coiled on one side. It raised its eyes to look at the black crow, and the latter subconsciously looked sideways to meet its gaze, but was called awake by Xu Qing outside the house.

"Don't be distracted, Lord Crow."

The black crow heard the reminder, hurriedly collected its mind, and looked at the woman in labor on the couch.

Midwife Liu followed Xu Qing's guidance and began to perform the delivery step by step.

Sterilizing scissors and delivery tools with boiling water, perineal incision, fetal repositioning...

The two of them, one experienced in actual combat and the other familiar with various childbirth matters, cooperated surprisingly smoothly.

It was just that when Mrs. Li needed to exert force, Midwife Liu said anxiously: "Mrs. Li has no strength left, what should we do?"

The white python beside her spat out a green breath upon hearing this and passed it into Mrs. Li's mouth. It was just that the green breath was only effective for injuries and illnesses, but could not increase the strength of a person who was exhausted.

Outside the house, Xu Qing's brows jumped, and he decisively took out a Strength-Boosting Pill and threw it to Huang Xiaoliu.

"Xiaoliu, send this pill in and let Mrs. Li take it!"

Inside the house, after Mrs. Li took the Strength-Boosting Pill, she immediately had endless strength all over her body!

Before Midwife Liu could come to her senses, the fetus's left and right shoulders were delivered one after another, followed by the fetus's body and lower limbs.

But the matter here was far from over, because Mrs. Li was pregnant with twins.

The umbilical cord was cut, the fetus landed, and there were maids helping to clean and wipe. Only after the second baby landed steadily did Midwife Liu breathe half a sigh of relief.

Outside the delivery room, Xu Qing opened his eyes with a smile. Just as he was about to congratulate Li Mugen, a figure suddenly broke in outside the door.

Li Mugen was stunned and asked: "Mrs. Li Shan, what are you doing here?"

Li Shan was Li Mugen's neighbor, and Xu Qing had also met this person. It was the woman who was chewing her tongue outside the door earlier.

At this time, the squint-eyed woman said with a smile: "I heard the baby crying, so I specially came to bring a bowl of hot soup for Mrs. Li."

Li Mugen thought this was a good thing upon hearing it, so he hurriedly raised his hand to lift the curtain and was about to invite the other party in.

Xu Qing looked at the woman. When the other party walked to the front, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, ignoring the spilled soup, and shouted: "What a poisonous woman! In broad daylight, you dare to harm people!"

"Sir, this is..." Li Mugen didn't understand.

Xu Qing sneered: "The baby has just been born, the placenta has not yet fallen, and it is empty in the abdomen. At this time, not even half a bowl of soup can be eaten."

"Once stimulated by soup, it will be a narrow escape from death!"

(End of chapter)