Chapter 185

Once the Heavenly Fragrance Pill appeared, the whole room was filled with fragrance.

At this time, not to mention the thousand-year-old osmanthus soul, even ten-thousand-year-old sandalwood could not compare to it.

In just an instant, the entire corpse room where Xu Qing was located was filled with a rich and fragrant atmosphere.

Do you ask why there is such an exotic fragrance?

It turns out that this fragrance pill was refined by collecting the essence of a hundred flowers, using rosy light, wind light, moonlight, and dew as a guide.

The fragrance can change with the seasons and hours, there are differences in sunny, rainy, frosty, and snowy weather, and it is different from dawn to dusk.

Xu Qing held the fragrance pill, his hands full of fragrance, and looking at the Fragrant Consort's corpse, the fragrance had faded a lot unconsciously.

The former Fragrant Consort, now Empress Duanrong, was originally just an ordinary young lady. Apart from having some beauty, she didn't seem particularly special among the beauties in the harem.

It wasn't until she obtained the fragrance pill gifted by the green-furred fox that she had the opportunity to stand out.

Looking at the Fragrant Consort's revolving lantern, it seemed that the Fragrant Consort had always been calculating, using the Fox Fairy and the upright ghost to climb to a high position, but after Xu Qing watched it, he found that the one controlling the overall situation from beginning to end was that green-furred fox.

A chance encounter during the spring hunt, the green fox was shot and injured by the Emperor because of a human tribulation, then gifted the fragrance pill to make the Fragrant Consort favored, and finally, it had long ago anticipated the Fragrant Consort's ending.

As a spectator who watched the whole palace drama, Xu Qing didn't think this was a coincidence.

Hu Baosong had once told him about the cultivation of foxes.

Foxes rely on learning from humans to cultivate immortality. In terms of scheming, ordinary people are definitely not as cunning as foxes.

Therefore, in addition to the three disasters and calamities, if a fox wants to attain the Dao, there will be another tribulation, called the human tribulation.

As the name suggests, it is a disaster caused by humans, or the suffering of life and death, or the pressure of desire, or the entanglement of love...

The green-furred fox's human tribulation was clearly related to the Emperor at that time, but the other party cleverly used a carefully refined fragrance pill to avoid the human tribulation, and in the end, it was the Fragrant Consort who died under the human tribulation.

Xu Qing originally thought it was just a coincidence, but when the green-furred fox anticipated that the Fragrant Consort could seek the help of the ghost official Yu Gan from the previous dynasty, he felt that this play was nine times out of ten intentional by the fox.

The degree to which the other party understood the Fragrant Consort was as if it had been laid out in advance, and the Fragrant Consort, who had always wanted to get ahead, was the target it used to block the tribulation.

It's just that the human tribulation is not necessarily fatal. The green-furred fox had intentionally hinted to the Fragrant Consort to take care of herself.

If the Fragrant Consort had lived peacefully as a concubine, not competing to raise a prince, and not thinking about the position of Empress, she would not have lost her life because of it.

All the gifts of fate have already been marked with a price in secret, and the price of the Empress's position is the Fragrant Consort's life.

Xu Qing looked at the Fragrant Consort's corpse. In addition to the Heavenly Fragrance Pill, he also obtained a technique related to suppression.

The so-called suppression is an evil technique that uses various evil and gloomy "suppression objects" to bring disaster to others.

The Book of Lu Ban contains many records of the "technique of suppression."

In addition, folk storytellers often love to tell such stories.

For example, when a wealthy man builds a house, owes money, or insults a craftsman, the craftsman will bury evil "suppression objects" as revenge.

When the new house is completed and the employer moves in, they will encounter various disasters one after another, ranging from family unrest to family ruin and death.

Such suppression objects commonly include miniature coffins, portraits of female ghosts, blood-stained fierce knives, or broken saws, broken tiles, nails, small grass dolls, small paper dolls, evil god statues, etc.

The technique of suppression is a remote technique. Although it is secret and convenient, it also has disadvantages, that is, if the harm to others fails, it will inevitably be backfired by the suppression object. If the person has low cultivation, they may even die on the spot.

The Fragrant Consort destroyed the white-haired turtle and threw it into the water well, causing the Empress to suffer from headaches and be bedridden, which is the reason for this.

Xu Qing has come into contact with many side-door techniques, and the previous fishing witchcraft, the Qingfu Money-Returning Curse, and the Golden Cicada Shell-Shedding Method all have commonalities.

Now Xu Qing draws inferences from one instance to another, and looking at the lifelike Empress before him, he already has the answer in his heart.

This posthumously honored Empress has no traces of a medicine-corpse, but she is still like a living person, and even the joints of her body are no different from a living person.

Originally, Xu Qing thought it was the effect of the Heavenly Fragrance Pill, but he now obtained a fragrance pill with the same effect, but it did not have the effect of preservation.

Combined with the gloomy and obscure aura that appeared and disappeared on the Empress, it is possible that the other party has a suppression object that can keep the body from rotting.

Xu Qing checked Empress Duanrong's corpse again. This time he was more detailed, and finally discovered the problem.

Why does this Empress have plug-ins?

Prying open Empress Duanrong's still pink vermilion lips, Xu Qing found a two-inch-long nail on the other party's tongue.

In addition to the nail, Xu Qing also found some miscellaneous items similar to plant tubers blocking Empress Duanrong's mouth.

Xu Qing stretched out his finger and dug out the miscellaneous items in Empress Duanrong's throat.

Holding the plant tuber, Xu Qing, who is proficient in medical principles and knows a hundred herbs, recognized the origin of the tuber at a glance.

It was a clump of Coptis chinensis rhizome.

Looking at the Coptis, Xu Qing showed a look of sudden realization.

The old saying goes that a mute eats Coptis, having bitterness that cannot be spoken. This is because someone was afraid that Empress Duanrong would cry out for injustice in the underworld, so they came up with such a damaging trick, stuffing a clump of Coptis into Empress Duanrong's mouth.

People say that entering the palace gate is as deep as the sea, and it is also said that palace fighting is like a battlefield, killing without blood. A perfectly good concubine, even after death, cannot be at peace.

Xu Qing took out the suppression object that trapped the tongue and locked the throat, then reached out and patted Empress Duanrong's belly. The next moment, the gloomy and obscure energy trapped in the Empress's throat was all spat out as black smoke.

The resentment dissipated, and Empress Duanrong's corpse rotted rapidly, losing the color of a living person in just an instant.

Pink skull, white bone skin and flesh, nothing more than this.

Xu Qing put away the corpse, and then took the Heavenly Fragrance Pill, excitedly coming to the front shop.

Ask who doesn't like a fragrant cat!

"So fragrant, what is this?"

"This is a good thing I got when I was traveling. After eating it, your body can become fragrant. It is said that a favorite concubine of an Emperor once had this body fragrance..."

Xu Qing induced step by step, but when Xuanyu heard the function of the Heavenly Fragrance Pill, it was even more excited than Xu Qing.

"Can I become fragrant all over after eating it?"

"That's for sure. This pill is refined from the fragrance of a hundred flowers, with the help of the sun, moon, and four seasons, and dew as a guide. Even the most sloppy and sour person, after eating it, can be full of fragrance all over."

Xuanyu's eyes became brighter and brighter. Just when Xu Qing thought the cat was going to take the bait, the next moment he heard Xuanyu say: "Then Immortal Xu, quickly eat this fragrance pill, so that Immortal Xu won't need to use powder to dress himself in the future, and can also become fragrant."

"..."

Seeing Xu Qing standing still, Xuanyu struck while the iron was hot: "Those powders don't smell good at all. I feel my nose itching when I smell them, but this fragrance pill smells very good. If Immortal Xu eats it, I won't be afraid of Immortal Xu hugging me in the future."

Xu Qing was speechless.

He is a zombie. To prevent some cultivators with noses sharper than dogs from smelling the corpse aura, he often uses powder to cover up the smell on his body, and even often carries odor-removing powder when going out.

But he never thought that Xuanyu would dislike the smell of powder.

At this time, hearing Xuanyu's words, Xu Qing suddenly realized.

No wonder this cat never likes to get close to him. Every time he wants to hug the other party, he is avoided.

It turns out that this cat doesn't like the smell of powder.

If it were normal, Xuanyu would not take this fragrance pill, and Xu Qing would only put it into the Mountain and River Map as inventory to eat dust. After all, he is a big man, even if he is a zombie, he is a seven-foot-tall male corpse. How can he be like a daughter, full of floral fragrance?

However, thinking of his reliance on applying powder to cover up the corpse smell all along, Xu Qing felt relieved.

"Eating the Heavenly Fragrance Pill will give me the opportunity to pet the cat. In the future, when I go for a walk in the Bird and Flower Street, I won't need to carry a rooster fatter than a pig to exercise my arm strength."

Xu Qing examined the gains and losses. When he thought about being able to hold the cat while walking and petting it when going out for a stroll, he had no more worries.

Just like that, the zombie who intended to persuade the cat to take the pill swallowed the Heavenly Fragrance Pill into his own belly.

The next moment, the fragrance overflowed. Xu Qing didn't know if it was because he was used to the smell of corpses, but at this time, he felt that the fragrance on his body was even more fragrant than the Fragrant Consort.

The key is that this fragrance is not greasy, but rather an exotic fragrance that is different from ordinary powder.

It is like the fragrance of locust flowers rubbed by dew in the season of Huai Xu, and it is like the pollen shaken off inadvertently after butterflies collect nectar. Everything is so easy-going, without a bit of deliberation.

"So fragrant, Immortal Xu!"

Xuanyu's slightly moist nose twitched, greedily sniffing the scent lingering in the air.

Xu Qing, who had been in seclusion for half a year and had never petted a cat, seemed to have his cat addiction flare up. He squatted down and reached out his hand, happily waiting for the cat before him to pounce on him.

However, when Xuanyu walked to Xu Qing, it bypassed his body and jumped directly onto the counter.

Xu Qing's smile froze. He turned his head and said word by word: "Xuanyu, being an immortal, you must have credibility. You can't trick me into eating the pill."

The cat that jumped onto the counter turned its head and looked at Xu Qing strangely: "Trick you into eating the pill? Why would Immortal Xu say that?"

Xu Qing said very seriously: "You said that if I didn't have the smell of powder on me, you wouldn't be afraid of me hugging you."

Xuanyu blinked and said: "I'm not afraid of you hugging me, but I didn't say I like being hugged."

"..."

Xu Qing sucked his teeth. He didn't expect that he would trick cats all day long, but today he was tricked by a cat.

Xuanyu jumped into the counter, rummaged for a while, then bit a jar in its mouth and ran to Xu Qing again.

Putting down the jar, Xuanyu said excitedly: "Immortal Xu, guess which bug in the insect jar became the insect king."

Seeing the thousand-insect jar, Xu Qing was stunned for a long time.

In the half year he was out, he almost forgot that there was such a jar.

Seeing Xuanyu looking at him expectantly, Xu Qing raised his eyebrows and said: "It wouldn't be that lazy white bug, would it?"

Xuanyu squatted on the ground, raised its two front paws, turned the insect jar over, and shook it down.

Plop! A white bug as fat as a chicken egg fell to the ground.

The moment the fat bug landed, it even bounced its belly.

It gave people a dual visual sense of being both fat and tender, and tough.

The white bug was startled and woke up, making a strange chirping sound.

But after seeing Xu Qing, the white bug was like a chick seeing a hen, wriggling and trying to climb up his boots.

Xu Qing reached out and pinched the back of the fat bug's neck, lifted it up, and wondered: "This little bug that only knows how to doze off actually lived to the end?"

The white and fat worm had two eyes the size of sesame seeds, three pairs of front limbs, and no hind limbs.

At this time, being held by the back of the neck by Xu Qing, it kept arching and twisting in the air, and its three pairs of small claws kept scratching in the air.

Just because its body was too fat, the twisting movement looked like it was doing sit-ups, and it was the kind that stopped at the point.

The more Xu Qing looked, the more incredible he felt.

Can this big white bug that looks stupider than Jin Luan also become an insect king?

Then his thousand-insect jar is probably a fake!

"I remember there were three mutated insects left in the insect jar, and those insects were very fierce. How did it kill those insects and live to the end?"

"Hmm..." Xuanyu heard Xu Qing's question, stammered for a while, and answered the question irrelevantly: "Didn't Immortal Xu say that this white bug would definitely be the last living insect?"

Xu Qing thought carefully, and there was such a thing.

But at that time, he was planning to face the thunder disaster, and Xuanyu asked him if the white bug could live to the end, so he naturally couldn't say unlucky words.

But deep down, he never thought that this lazy white bug, which didn't like to fight and survived by scavenging insect corpses, could live to the end.

Frowning, staring at the white bug that seemed to have a faint connection with him, Xu Qing felt that this matter was not metaphysical no matter how he thought about it!

I have such a big armed color, majestic, can spray poison mist, kill people invisibly, the king of poison insects, is it just this kind of goods?

Xu Qing put down the fat white bug, activated the insect control method, and directed it to use its strongest skill to defeat the enemy.

As a result, the next moment he saw the big white bug stand up the front half of its body, "bared its fangs and brandished its claws" and made a "fierce roar" of chirping.

This unique little thing, Xu Qing felt that let alone fighting the enemy, even if he took it to the Bird and Flower Street as a toy bug, he couldn't afford to lose that person!

The roar was tired, and seeing that Xu Qing ignored it, the little white bug crawled onto Xuanyu's neck, lurked in the cat hair, and started snoring again.

Xu Qing always felt that something was wrong. According to reason, the insect king cultivated by the thousand-insect jar should only be close to him. Why is it still sticking to Xuanyu?

Looking at the cat-bug before him, Xu Qing just wanted to say something, when he saw Xuanyu jump to the shop door, and finally turned his head and greeted him: "I'm going to the back alley to catch some bugs to feed the bugs, and I'll be back in a while."

Xuanyu's "a while" could be a stick of incense, or it could be several days, several months, or even several years.

Xu Qing still remembers that Xuanyu said it went out for a while, and the human it raised died.

And the fact is, Xuanyu traveled for ten years, and the "human it raised" was an old woman over fifty.

In the next few days, the days in the mortuary shop returned to normal.

Xuanyu, who had been managing the shop for half a year instead of Xu Qing and had never left, ran out to play for three days this time. If it weren't for the red rope on his wrist being able to sense its position, Xu Qing would have been looking for the cat all over the street.

This day, Xu Qing calculated the date. Early in the morning, he first went to the Water Gate Bridge courtyard to farm for a while and sowed some seeds.

Even though he had become a corpse, Xu Qing still didn't forget his roots, and he still did the heavy work of farming.

After farming, he listened to the new play taught by the Pear Garden master to the embroiderer, then changed into a new robe that had just been woven, and strolled to the Bird and Flower Street to tease birds and pick up leaks.

After Xu Qing opened his ear and tongue consciousness, his ears heard the sounds of birds, beasts, ghosts, and gods more clearly, and even his tongue could roll out various patterns and blow different bird whistles.

None of the bird vendors who heard it didn't praise it. This ventriloquism is really second to none!

The key is that he doesn't have bad breath, and there is even fragrance when he speaks.

This point is something that even the masters of ventriloquism in the capital cannot compare to.

However, not long after Xu Qing ran to Second Master Feng's house, all the mynas, parrots, and crows on the whole street, anyway, as long as they were birds that could learn to speak, started to chatter.

The parrot hanging at the door of Rongji Pawnshop on the west side of the street spoke in human language: "The integrity poem that Magistrate Wang of Jinmen invited into the mansion to worship is fake, and the horse stepping on the flying swallow in the governor's mansion is also fake!"

Several mynas that had not yet opened their mouths sold in the narrow alley on the east side of the street actually opened their mouths themselves: "In the alley of Badaokou, the treasure basin in Squire Zhang's house is a fake, a big fake! The porcelain of that treasure basin was fired in the Linzhou kiln the year before last, and the palace lady painting of Master Chu was copied this year. The real one is in the Prince Xuanping's mansion..."

Even the crows flying in the sky followed and shouted: "Fake! Fake! All are fake!"

At this time, Second Master Feng and several guests were admiring several antique calligraphy and paintings they had just obtained in the courtyard.

When he heard the crows circling in the sky shouting "fake," Second Master Feng's face turned green.

"Where did these damn birds come from, talking nonsense!"

(End of chapter)