Chapter 295

It is rumored that there is a Azure Dragon in the world, its body like a long snake, with a qilin head, carp tail; it has long whiskers on its face, antlers like a deer, five claws, and its whole body is covered in azure scales.

This Azure Dragon is the head of the Four Symbols Divine Lords, its five elements are wood, its color is azure; it appears at the spring equinox and hides at the autumn equinox, controlling wind and thunder, and giving birth to all things.

And the characteristics of the Separation-Union Wind that Xu Qing has refined happen to coincide with the Azure Dragon.

The Huainanzi says: Among the noble heavenly gods, none is more noble than the Azure Dragon!

The dragon is the head of all scaled creatures, and the Azure Dragon is the most respected.

Its form is extraordinary, azure scales shining in the sky, eyes containing stars.

Its dignity is majestic; when happy, rain arrives; when angry, thunder moves.

Its nature is noble and pure, loving benevolence and righteousness while upholding justice, hating filth and avoiding evil.

Its power is boundless, suppressing the eastern pole and controlling the Eight Wilds, presiding over spring wood and managing growth.

When Xu Qing went to the Great Yong Imperial Mausoleum to deal with the thunder disaster in his early years, it was widely rumored in Jinmen that a Azure Dragon was seen falling above the Baisha River.

At that time, Xu Qing only took it as a rumor; how vast are the magic powers and divine abilities of the legendary Azure Dragon? How could it fall into the mortal world?

It was not until later, when Xu Qing happened to find six or seven azure gold scales by chance, that he began to waver.

"It is rumored that the Azure Dragon loves cleanliness and hates turbidity and darkness; it manifests in prosperous times to stabilize the country's fate, and hides in the vast sea in chaotic times to avoid being polluted."

"Now it is precisely the era of the Five Turbid Evils, with yin and yang out of balance, which is even worse than chaotic times. Can a holy beast like the Azure Dragon, hiding in the depths of rivers, lakes, and seas, really avoid the fate of being polluted?"

Xu Qing falls into thought.

Speaking of which, he has twice encountered golden carp facing a 'human tribulation'.

Once, Xu Qing obtained a drop of dragon blood; the other time was the azure scale in Chen Liuer's hand.

These two encounters, instead, remind Xu Qing of a folk legend that has long circulated in Jinmen.

It is passed down by the elders of Jinmen that if a living carp is captured three times and luckily released each time, it can accumulate immortal fate and luck, gaining the opportunity to leap over the dragon gate.

But if it is not rescued and released even once during the process, it means this carp has no destiny to become a dragon and can only end up as food on a plate.

This is also the reason why dragons hate chaotic times and disaster years, and prefer peaceful and prosperous times.

In years of war, people are panicked, starving people are everywhere, and people can barely take care of themselves; who would be willing to show kindness and save a carp?

Not swallowing the fish bones is already considered a kind heart!

Only in peaceful and prosperous times, when blessings are full and people have 'surplus', will the carp in the river have more opportunities.

The saying of releasing carp does not know when it started; people only know that a thousand years ago, or even earlier, there was a custom in Jinmen.

That is, every New Year's Day, there must be people who choose living carp to release, just to pray for a blessing.

However, the saying of saving carp to pray for blessings is not something that can be achieved overnight.

Only a living carp that has experienced three captures and releases and possesses extremely strong luck can bring blessings to the person who releases it.

Later people wanted to record it, so they thought of a method, which was to tie a small red string to the dorsal fin of the fish as a mark.

What they hoped for was nothing more than that if a fisherman or idler accidentally caught this fish another day, they would see the red string and know that this fish is a spiritual creature with fate, and then release it to help it continue its immortal fate.

However, time passes like a shuttle, and a hundred generations have passed.

The people of Jinmen through the ages, looking at the water, searching everywhere in rivers and wild marshes, see all kinds of swimming scales and floating water weeds, but no one has ever seen a spiritual carp with a red string leap out of the water.

Xu Qing faintly feels that this custom may not be without foundation; if the rumors are true, have those two golden carp children already passed three human tribulations?

"The path to heaven is broken, and in an era of chaos, they dare to cross the tribulation; they are truly bold!"

Xu Qing calculates; if the rumors are true, plus the two times he and Chen Liuer rescued them, that pair of 'golden boy and jade girl' is still one tribulation away from the standard of leaping over the dragon gate.

But if there really is one last tribulation, can they pass it?

At that time, Xu Qing was blinded by the two golden carp who were generous and open-handed.

Of course, it was more because he was kind-hearted and loved to be a good person and a good corpse, so he passed down a new hall rule in the Cat Immortal Hall: if you encounter a golden carp, release it if you can.

"That drop of dragon blood helped me refine a hand bone. The azure scale in Chen Liuer's hand is also not an ordinary object..."

When Xu Qing possessed the Baosheng Mother through the Blood Lake Dharma Realm, he once saw Chen Liuer holding the azure scale and showing it off in front of little Shiyue.

The magic power contained in that azure scale is far more powerful than the scales he picked up in the Baisha River!

"This brat is flaunting the scale in public; I'm afraid it's not very safe. As the deity of the Baosheng Temple, I must help this child solve the safety hazard!"

Xu Qing stands in the guest hall of the County Magistrate's mansion, listening to the movements deep in the residence, his mind already made up.

At dusk, Chen Guangrui, who was working in the government office, finally returns after finishing his work.

As soon as the County Magistrate Chen enters the front hall, he sees Xu Qing who has come to visit.

The two greet each other, and Chen Guangrui asks curiously, "Shopkeeper Xu, is there any important matter for you to come and find me?"

Xu Qing smiles and says, "It's not really an important matter. A few years ago, Sister Liu—oh, that is the midwife Liu who delivered the county magistrate's young son."

"Sister Liu borrowed a childcare manual from me back then and gave it to the county magistrate to make rubbings, hoping to pass it on to the world."

"That booklet was written by a friend of mine, and now it is time to return it, so I have to thicken my face and come to find you, my lord, to retrieve it."

Chen Guangrui laughs upon hearing this: "Since that booklet was written by a friend of Mr. Xu, I should naturally bring it back to you."

"Mr. Xu, you don't need to feel embarrassed. Speaking of which, the one who should feel guilty is me. I once spoke boastfully, promising Mr. Xu that I would spread that booklet throughout the world so that all the people of Great Yong would know about safe childbirth and child-rearing, but who knew..."

Chen Guangrui shakes his head with a bitter smile, his words full of helplessness.

Xu Qing understands the situation; the childcare manual involves the struggle for incense, and the Celestial Master's Mansion would never sit idly by and watch the manual fall onto the imperial desk. Even if it did reach the imperial desk, given the Emperor Jingxing's temperament, he might not necessarily value this matter.

Great Yong has too many livelihood problems; Emperor Jingxing is covered in lice, and even if the childcare manual were spread, it could not turn into silver taels to make up for the treasury's deficit.

Furthermore, the Emperor, who is rarely seen at seventy, has developed an unspeakable illness and has been throwing tantrums in the palace frequently over the past two years.

The imperial physicians spoke implicitly and refused to speak clearly, until Emperor Jingxing lost patience and wanted to kill someone to warn others, only then did someone speak plainly, saying that the Emperor's illness was not wind, not cold, not deficiency, and not fatigue, but actually caused by excessive consumption of side-door left-path cinnabar and mercury evil arts, which depleted his innate kidney essence, like the stem of a brittle grass that had already been crushed.

And the bent root is truly difficult to straighten.

Emperor Jingxing did not like to hear these things; he only asked if it could be cured.

The old imperial physician knew that answering or not answering would be difficult to end well, so he simply acted as a fearless imperial censor and spoke directly, saying that the Emperor's illness was due to excessive indulgence in the bedroom and severe depletion of vital essence. Now it is already incurable, and no gold, stone, herbs, or decoctions can reach it; even if a divine physician came, it would be difficult to cure a monarch who is excessively indulgent.

Emperor Jingxing could not listen to this, and he killed all the imperial physicians in the bedroom who heard these words at that time.

Since then, no one has dared to mention the matter of 'childbirth', let alone present the childcare manual to the desk.

Chen Guangrui's words have implications, and Xu Qing roughly understands what the other party means.

That is, only after Emperor Jingxing passes away will it be possible for the childcare manual to spread throughout the world.

Xu Qing calculates the Blood Lake incense in his hands; as long as Emperor Jingxing does not pass away, his divine avatar will be delayed in its cultivation for another day.