Chapter 190: Two Against One, the Advantage is Mine

Treasures often conceal their true nature; the Dou Mi Bowl, though merely of Human-Grade Upper Class, can continuously gain faith and vow bonuses by accumulating grain and distributing it to the people, thereby elevating its rank.

Many such treasures emerge from great faith and vows, great merit; legend says the Purple Gold Alms Bowl, which transmitted the Great Vehicle Sutras and ascended to become a Buddha Treasure, was initially nothing more than an ordinary vessel for begging alms.

Furthermore, when King Yu was controlling the floods, he traveled to the Qionglai Mountains, where a venomous snake blocked his path. Enraged, King Yu ordered Yinglong Gengchen to slay the snake, erecting two stone tablets to suppress the snake plague. Before the tablets, King Yu left these words: "If you ever become gods in the future, you must kill snakes in every generation to eliminate harm for the people."

After that, when King Yu succeeded in controlling the floods, those two ordinary stone tablets from back then instantly became treasures awakened by merit.

In the four thousand years since, the two tablets have often used snakes as food to nourish their cultivation; wherever they passed, the vital energy of snake swarms entered the tablets, leaving only snake bones behind. Over time, the divine energy of the two tablets gradually grew powerful.

The Dou Mi Bowl in Xu Qing's hand appears to be only of Human Grade, but it is a treasure born to meet a calamity, possessing infinite potential for growth just like the King Yu Tablets.

The King Yu Tablets nurtured divine energy through merit; the Dou Mi Bowl is the same.

Holding the small broken bowl in his hand, Xu Qing sensed it slightly and discovered it contained exactly enough space for one dou of rice.

"Legend says when the divine energy of the King Yu Tablets reached its peak, a tiger shape appeared on their heads, their light shone like ten thousand torches illuminating the mountain slopes, and simultaneously they could spit forth fire of snake venom, turning all grass and trees to ash wherever they passed."

"When the rice bowl's divine energy becomes full, what kind of supernatural powers will it possess?"

With his back to Shang Shaoyang, Xu Qing fiddled for a moment; the small broken bowl could not only hold rice but also fit the various bottles and jars used for funeral rites.

However, it could only hold a space of one dou.

If one wishes to expand its capacity, one must fill the Dou Mi Bowl with rice or flour and distribute it to the people; for every dou distributed, the Dou Mi Bowl will increase its space by one dou.

When it reaches two dou, the distribution becomes four dou; when it reaches four dou, it transforms into eight dou. As long as there is sufficient grain to continuously distribute and evolve, the space within the bowl will be endless, capable of holding even the waters of the Baijiang River.

Unfortunately, this bowl arrived a bit late; otherwise, the grain distributed back then to relieve the granary in Jinmen alone would have been enough to expand this rice bowl to a capacity of hundreds of thousands of shi of grain.

Looking at the bottles and jars shrunk to the size of a thumb inside the rice bowl, Xu Qing felt a stir in his heart.

With the great calamity year approaching, who knows how much grain will be needed in the future to save lives; judging by the situation in the Great Yong Dynasty, he may well have to go help those with crippled limbs who cannot push open the granary doors to release grain; at that time, this rice bowl will become a divine weapon for saving the world and the people, acquiring massive merit.

However, for now, aside from storage, this thing seems to have no other use.

Thinking thus, Xu Qing was just about to reach out to fish out the bottles and jars from the bowl, when suddenly a white light flashed within the rice bowl; Xu Qing felt his palm scalding, and a searing breath that made the hair on his corpse stand on end suddenly arose.

But it lasted only an instant; that white light quickly withdrew, like a venomous snake poking its head out, only to suddenly realize it had bitten the wrong master, so it loosened its grip, shrank back, and pretended nothing had happened.

Xu Qing hissed, nearly jumping backward and flinging the bowl away.

Behind him, Shang Shaoyang also shuddered; he instinctively grabbed his sword hilt and asked with suspicion, "What caused such alarm?"

Xu Qing waved a hand backward and said, "Nothing, I just had a momentary visual error; I thought a corpse had risen."

"..."

Returning to the coffin again, Xu Qing communicated with the rice bowl once more; this time he discovered even more functions.

Grains and cereals are nurtured and grow by absorbing the Qi of the Sun, making them supremely Yang objects; the Dou Mi Bowl is therefore influenced, possessing a certain ability to suppress Yin and evil.

Ordinary zombies fear glutinous rice precisely because glutinous rice is full of the Qi of the Sun.

Xu Qing roughly understood the attached functions of the Dou Mi Bowl; if this thing is cultivated, it might be used to subdue demons and refine evil spirits.

However, what normal person would take a rice bowl to fight an enemy?

But when Xu Qing thought of the bald monks in the Buddhist sect who love holding alms bowls to beg and also love using alms bowls to perform spells, he felt that fighting with a rice bowl was not such a strange thing after all.

However, although the Dou Mi Bowl has infinite potential, it is after all a supremely Yang object; before he refines his hand bones into Unchanging Bones, using it to fight is somewhat scalding to the hand.

Temporarily setting aside the matter of the Dou Mi Bowl, Xu Qing turned to seal the coffin and inter Yu Qiulan.

Jingcheng, deep within the palace courtyards.

Just as the Grand Director of the Imperial Household Department, Liao Jinzhong, stepped out of the Imperial Study, the newly appointed Director of the Mirror Reflection Bureau, Feng Dehai, hurriedly followed close behind.

"Eunuch Liao, I heard your adopted son Lou Xiaowu was hacked to pieces by an axe in Jinmen, leaving not even a corpse behind."

Liao Jinzhong and Feng Dehai did not get along; although both were men without testicles, whenever they met privately, they always spoke with barbed words, neither sparing the other in their conversation.

Everyone knows roosters are good at fighting, but these two old hens that neither lay eggs nor crow can still fight; isn't that strange?

Today, Liao Jinzhong had just finished his audience with the Emperor and had matters on his mind; now hearing Feng Dehai suddenly start teasing him, he almost instinctively retorted immediately: "Eunuch Feng is no better; I heard that half a year ago your adopted son Long Engui also lost his queue in Jinmen, and that corpse was never recovered either."

"Heh! I also heard people say that after the incident, Eunuch Feng found a half-immortal fortune-teller from the martial world to divine and hunt the culprit at Eunuch Cao's residence, only to be struck squarely by heavenly thunder; Eunuch Feng managed to run away quickly, but it was a pity for Eunuch Feng's adoptive father, an elderly man with poor legs, who turned into a wisp of flying ash."

"You!" Feng Dehai, enraged, raised his orchid fingers, nearly choking to death on a single breath.

"Good, good, good!" Feng Dehai pointed at Liao Jinzhong and laughed in extreme anger: "I originally thought that since we both lost our children for old age, we should find a way to clear their names and avenge them; now it seems I was wishful thinking and misjudged you!"

Hearing this, Liao Jinzhong's mind stirred, and he hurriedly said: "Hey! Don't rush to leave, Eunuch; I was just joking with you. You lost your son, and I lost my son; we share the same sorrow. In my opinion, the true culprit behind the scenes might be the same person; otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that both happened in Jinmen?"

Feng Dehai's expression brightened slightly; he withdrew his orchid fingers pointing at the person and instead stroked a lock of hair by his ear, saying: "That is correct; it seems Eunuch Liao still understands the big picture."

The two eunuchs without sons discussed matters as they walked to the courtyard where Liao Jinzhong resided.

Along the way, Eunuch Liao asked: "Prince Zhu, following the imperial decree, went to the Northern Border but has remained completely silent. Now the vassal towns in the Northern Border are vigorously training troops; Your Majesty, being cautious, established the Mirror Reflection Bureau to dispatch trusted agents to the Northern Border to investigate rebellion, with the authority to execute first and report later. Now that the bureau is newly established, Eunuch Feng must be busy with affairs; how can you find time to intervene in Jinmen matters?"

Your Majesty being cautious? Feng Dehai raised an eyebrow; it was nothing but paranoia. In the end, Your Majesty was still worried that Prince Zhu would gather the former troops of Prince Changting and turn his sword against the world.

However, he was not in a hurry about this matter; the road to the Northern Border is long, with many opportunities along the way, and it is uncertain whether anyone could even capture Prince Zhu; now that he has presumably arrived in the Northern Border, he is like a fish in water, and any attempt to remedy the situation would be too late.

"I came here precisely for this matter. You know I now have the authority to execute first and report later; Jinmen happens to be the fiefdom of Prince Changting. I suspect the matter in Jinmen might be related to the former troops left behind by Prince Changting."

Liao Jinzhong pondered for a moment and said: "This child Xiaowu is clever and intelligent, deeply loved by me; his martial realm is only one step away from Grandmaster. Placed in the martial world, who could kill someone like that? Even if surrounded, escaping would not be difficult."

"Those who could kill him must be Grandmasters. Now that Prince Changting is dead, how many Grandmasters are there in the world besides you and me? Can his former troops really kill Xiaowu?"

Feng Dehai smiled: "Lou Xiaowu is your proud disciple; achieving such accomplishments before the age of fifty. Do you think Prince Changting, as a Grandmaster, would not cultivate one or two adopted sons as close confidants?"

"Prince Zhu never practiced martial arts; it was to avoid suspicion. However, he will certainly cultivate hidden agents as a backup."

"Eunuch must not forget, although Prince Zhu's whereabouts are unknown, the Princess Consort is still alive and well."

Liao Jinzhong frowned: "Are you saying there are Grandmaster guards protecting the Princess Consort?"

But what does that matter? Why would a Grandmaster not guard the Prince but instead stay to protect a woman?

Even if the Prince and Princess Consort were truly in love, that would not mean treating the Prince as an accident, letting him risk his life and drift away to the Northern Border, would it?

"That's not right. Could it be that Prince Zhu did not go to the Northern Border but turned back midway? Otherwise, why has the name of Prince Zhu not been heard among the vassal towns in the Northern Border to this day?"

"This is unclear. Prince Changting was flawless in his calculations while alive; after death, he might still have schemes. Besides, a starved camel is bigger than a horse; anyway, regarding this matter, besides the Wang Fu, I can think of no other candidates. It can't be a real ghost, can it? Could the ghost officers of the Underworld have come to arrest someone?"

"Ghost officers of the Underworld? Does Eunuch Feng still believe in that?" Liao Jinzhong sneered, then turned into the study and retrieved a wooden box.

Opening the wooden box, a completely blackened axe lay quietly inside.

"Eunuch Feng, please look at this object."

Liao Jinzhong wrapped the carbonized axe in a handkerchief, handed it to Feng Dehai, and said:

"My adopted son is good in every way, except he is too greedy. The agents in Wanshou County personally saw ghost messengers from the Underworld carrying a coffin to take someone away, yet I do not believe it."

"If they were truly ghost messengers, why would they use this axe to kill? I received accurate news that the one who killed Xiao Wu was not divine power or demonic magic, but a martial arts expert who had at least stepped into the Grandmaster realm."

"Those paper men and ghost messengers are merely tricks of the Jianghu. As for the bone monster towering over the houses with a bull-hoof demon head, I suppose it was just a distraction; otherwise, why use an axe to kill?"

Feng Dehai grabbed the axe handle, and before he could exert force, the wooden shaft, burned to black charcoal, snapped into several pieces.

Picking up the iron axe head, which was also burned and deformed, Feng Dehai examined it closely and discovered several small characters engraved upon it.

"Axe Gang?"

"What gang is this? Is there such a power in Jinmen?"

Liao Jinzhong said, "The Jinmen Gang was slaughtered by one person. Long Engui died on the spot. At the same time, a Spirit Child from the Celestial Master's Mansion also died. For some reason, Celestial Master Lu of the Celestial Master's Mansion refuses to go to Jinmen to investigate. I went to ask him before, and he said those outside the world do not concern themselves with worldly affairs. Do you find this amusing or not?"

Hearing this, Feng Dehai's heart stirred: "I have long heard that Celestial Master Lu's cultivation is profound and that he is a true enlightened high cultivator. Eunuch, did you not ask him who the culprit behind this is?"

Liao Jinzhong shook his head and said, "Celestial Master Lu is unfathomably profound and refuses to speak plainly. When I opened my mouth to ask, he either nodded or shook his head, but that counts as giving me an answer."

"How did you ask? And how did Celestial Master Lu reply?"

Liao Jinzhong fell into recollection: "I asked if the true culprit behind the scenes was a powerful demon or evil spirit; the Celestial Master smiled and shook his head. I asked if the murderer was a person of the martial arts world; the Celestial Master pondered and nodded. I asked if I myself could drag out the true culprit and kill him to satisfy my heart; the Celestial Master wore a smile and gave no answer."

"Finally, I took a clever approach and asked the Celestial Master, 'Who is stronger, the murderer or me?' The Celestial Master extended one finger and pointed at me." Liao Jinzhong laughed: "There are differences in strength even among Grandmasters. I entered the palace to practice martial arts when I was young. Now, looking across the world, how many people dare to say they can defeat me?"

"As long as you, Eunuch Feng, are willing to spare no effort to find the murderer, when the time comes, if we join hands, are we afraid we cannot eliminate a small snake that only hides in the dark?"

"That makes sense." Feng Dehai verbally agreed, but his heart was as clear as a mirror.

If Liao Jinzhong truly had confidence, how could he be willing to put aside his grievances and cooperate with him?

In the end, it is simply because he has no confidence in his heart.

In Linjiang County, while Xu Qing was escorting Yu Qiulan's funeral procession, he happened to pass by the largest rice and flour shop of the agents.

The Linjiang agents were the only agent merchant that survived to the present day after Xu Qing's screening, simply because Fourth Master Li did not deal in human trafficking, did not interfere with the Salt Gang's affairs, and never exploited people with heavy interest when lending money.

In Xu Qing's eyes, this was truly the conscience of the industry. We do not know if Fourth Master Li's name is actually Donglai, but this person, in a business circle where everyone competes to be the worst, can certainly be called honest.

Xu Qing had already decided that if Fourth Master Li were to kick the bucket one day, he would at least build a double-layered coffin for him.

The hearse stopped at the entrance of the rice and flour shop. Xu Qing called out the Shopkeeper, took out two hundred taels of silver notes, purchased all of them with rice and flour, and asked the Shopkeeper to deliver them to the coroner's shop.

Shang Shaoyang did not understand, so Xu Qing replied, "This is not a funeral for a high-ranking official or a noble. No matter what, there is no need to spend two hundred taels of silver."

"I think if she has a spirit in heaven, she would not wish to spend too much unnecessary money on the funeral. Rather than that, it would be better to use it to buy rice and flour and distribute it to those who cannot eat their fill due to natural disasters and man-made calamities."

Xu Qing was not short of money. Not to mention the distant past, just the gold and jade utensils in the coffin buried with the Fragrant Concubine were worth more than one hundred thousand taels.

Royal funeral standards have always been so extravagant and wasteful. Even if there were countless people in the world who could not eat their fill, it would not affect the treatment of an imperial concubine after her death.

Xu Qing was just worrying about how to openly use silver money to buy rice and flour. Now that he had the two hundred taels of silver money sent by Shang Shaoyang, he naturally had to spend it all.

This money came openly and rightfully. With the endorsement of a noble young master like Shang Shaoyang, he had no fear of anyone asking questions.

"Boss Xu, do you truly intend to exchange all this silver money entirely for grain?"

Facing the grain shop Shopkeeper's inquiry, Xu Qing smiled and said, "Exchange it! This money was given by Young Master Shang, it was not stolen or snatched. Are you afraid someone will hold you responsible afterwards?"

The grain shop Shopkeeper laughed: "That won't happen. Boss Xu is an acquaintance of the agents. Even if you brought one thousand taels of silver, the grain shop would dare to accept it. The reason I asked Boss Xu is that I was afraid I might have misheard or misunderstood. If it turned out to be buying rice and flour for two taels of silver, that would become a joke."

Shang Shaoyang, standing aside, looked at Xu Qing with a strange glint in his eyes; this person was quite interesting.

"Shopkeeper, count all this silver, and send the grain obtained from the exchange to Boss Xu's shop!"

Shang Shaoyang threw the money bag to the Shopkeeper. The silver notes and silver ingots inside added up to no less than five hundred taels.

Xu Qing glanced sideways at Shang Shaoyang. The latter raised an eyebrow and looked back, as if wanting to compete with him to see who was superior.

"Brother Shang's benevolence is admirable!"

Xu Qing praised with his mouth, but his heart was simply delighted.

This rich young man was actually competing with him. However, since he had already distributed hundreds of thousands of shi of grain to the relief granaries, if this rich young man wanted to catch up with him, it would not be easy.

(End of this chapter)