Chapter 70

Although Tian Shegong was not very capable, he was a blessed person.

Xu Qing powdered his face, combed his hair, and changed him into new clothes. When he had tidied him up to look lifelike, he opened the door and notified the Tian family relatives to come and see him.

The Tian family was quite afraid at first, hesitating at the door, not daring to come forward at all.

In the end, it was the Tian grandson, whose cheeks were swollen like buns, who had the most courage.

When he arrived in the room, crying and calling for his great-grandfather, the other family members also felt sorrow from within, and their feelings for their relative overcame their fear, one by one rushing to his side and crying into a mess.

Xu Qing watched this scene, feeling deeply moved.

It can only be said that different people have different fates; if that Squire Liu had had such a group of filial children and grandchildren, he wouldn't have left so miserably.

Seeing that Tian Shegong was no longer acting like a monster, the teahouse shopkeeper, a local of Jinmen, no longer spoke of reporting it to the authorities.

To help out, he specifically went to the coffin shop and requested a good coffin for Old Master Tian's encoffining.

After the Tian children and grandchildren finished mourning and took one last look at Tian Shegong, Xu Qing began to seal the coffin for him.

When nailing the coffin, he chose seven nails as coffin nails. These nails are called "descendant nails," and this number also has the meaning of the Big Dipper, implying that the descendants will be prosperous.

If nine coffin nails were used, they would be "wealth nails," which have the meaning of reaching down to the Nine Underworlds and being reborn into wealth.

Ever since he entered the funeral business, Xu Qing had never been slack. Whether it was makeup, encoffining, or requiem rituals, he studied humbly, researched day and night, and constantly enhanced his professional ability.

Earlier, when he was performing a requiem for Squire Liu at the Liu mansion, he used nine coffin nails when sealing the coffin. The reason was that Squire Liu had no bloodline left; the only child he raised was born from an affair between the housekeeper and his wife. In the end, that foster son even watched the housekeeper kill his foster father, yet he felt no hesitation or shame in his heart.

For such a "great filial son," Xu Qing naturally didn't want to use seven nails to seal the coffin; it would violate his professional ethics.

Now, with Tian Shegong having wise grandsons and filial children, he naturally had to follow the regular path and seal the coffin with seven descendant nails.

This would also allow this old master to contribute to his descendants after death and protect the peace of his descendants' home.

As for whether it works, that's none of Xu Qing's business. After all, the business of the dead has always been a one-off deal; once the coffin is sealed, there is absolutely no such thing as after-sales service.

This time, Tian Shegong died of old age, which can be called a "happy funeral."

Coupled with his status as a government-stipended student and his great-grandson also passing the prefecture exam this time, it was even more joy upon joy.

The teahouse shopkeeper paid out of his own pocket to buy a string of firecrackers, and when the funeral procession started, he had the waiter light them to send him off.

According to the rituals here in Jinmen, a happy funeral cannot be without funeral gifts. Guo Dongyang and the Wu brothers carried fruit baskets and distributed towels, handkerchiefs, funeral candies, pastries, and other small items to those who came to help or see him off.

The children running around at the street corner didn't know how to be afraid either. When the firecrackers started popping, a group of children covered their ears and jumped around, just like it was the New Year!

Many candidates who passed the exam at the same time came spontaneously to see this old gentleman off.

The Prefect heard about it and specifically rushed over, personally writing and gifting eight characters to the Tian family descendants.

It was said that "Heaven rewards diligence, and ambition leads to success."

This move was firstly to encourage students all over the world, and secondly to express respect for Tian Shegong.

It was precisely because of these eight characters that a wave of studying for the imperial exam set off in Jinmen in the following years.

Many old child students over fifty picked up their books again, just to imitate Tian Shegong and have a second spring.

The old shopkeeper of the teahouse where Guo Dongyang worked was among them. Later, the old shopkeeper achieved success and fame, and because of this, he also gained a good marriage between an old husband and a young wife.

Of course, these are stories for later and will not be detailed here.

Let's say outside the teahouse, Xu Qing gave the Tian family some instructions on moving the funeral procession, and then watched the Tian descendants support the coffin as they returned to their hometown.

Seeing the large number of people coming to see him off on the street, most of whom were scholars and literati, the Jinmen Prefect took this opportunity to announce something to everyone in advance.

He said that two days later, the Crown Prince would be sacrificing to the River God on the banks of the Baishui River, and on the same night, a "winding stream and floating wine cups" banquet would be held at the Changting Prince's Mansion, at which time scholars from all previous sessions and literati from all sides would be widely invited to attend.

Before leaving, the Prefect also talked with the Wu brothers for a while, hoping that the two who had passed in the top three of the prefecture exam could attend on time.

At this time, Xu Qing, who ranked fourth in the prefecture exam, was right beside the Wu brothers, but he did not receive a single greeting from this Prefect.

When Xu Qing returned to the teahouse entrance, he heard Guo Dongyang sigh: "The world only knows the beauty of the flowers on the branch; who will appreciate the green leaves beneath the flowers?"

Xu Qing looked up in surprise, thinking he was talking about him.

But unexpectedly, the next moment Guo Dongyang took a big turn and said: "Prefect Yu and I passed the exam at the same time back then. At that time, I was the top of the list, and he was the green leaf."

"Now, I am just a storyteller, while he is the chief official of a prefecture."

"The things of the world are truly wonderful!"

Saying this, the self-amused Guo Dongyang picked up his teacup and took a happy sip; those who didn't know would think he was drinking aged fine wine.

Xu Qing came to his side and also stopped to look at the bustle outside, his state of mind as calm as usual.

He felt that what Guo Dongyang said made sense, but there was still a subtle difference from what he thought in his heart.

In his eyes, although flowers are beautiful, their blooming period is short. Green leaves are ordinary, but they can remain green for months.

Xu Qing didn't consider himself a flower on a branch, nor a green leaf reflecting the flower, because these would eventually wither.

At night, the little fatty from the Changting Prince's Mansion brought a group of guards following behind him and came to the teahouse.

Today he wasn't here to listen to stories, but as a host, he wanted to invite Xu Qing and the others to go and watch the Baishui Sacrifice.

The so-called Baishui Sacrifice is the ritual of sacrificing to the River God at the mouth of the Baisha River. The Crown Prince choosing to hold the "winding stream and floating wine cups" two days later also had this reason.

Nowadays, the Great Yong Dynasty is plagued by disasters, half natural and half man-made. The people don't know the truth and mostly tend to believe in gods and ghosts. Emperor Longping was worried about not finding a reason to shirk responsibility, and now that there was such a ready-made explanation, he was happy to go along with it, so he attributed the reasons for the country's poor fortune over the years entirely to gods, ghosts, and external objects.

Because of this, the imperial court has often spent large amounts of silver in recent years to supervise the construction of sacrificial altars over a hundred feet high, while promoting sacrificial rituals, advocating that wherever things are not going well, they should be sacrificed to.

Now that the Crown Prince has arrived in Jinmen, he naturally has to sacrifice to the Baishui River God so that it appears the imperial court cares about the common people of the world.

Zhu Huaian didn't have so many thoughts; he went to see the Baishui Sacrifice purely because there was a temple fair held there.

How lively the temple fair is! Not only is there food and fun, but there are also all kinds of strange people and performers from all walks of life. This is much more interesting than staying in the Prince's Mansion!

When the little fatty arrived at the teahouse and just wanted to find Xu Qing and the others to go to the temple fair, he saw the teahouse waiter acting like a resentful woman from a deep boudoir, saying: "You're late. An hour ago, Mr. Guo and my shopkeeper took them to the temple fair to play, leaving only me here to look after things..."

Outside the Baishui Temple, Xu Qing and the Wu brothers had just come out of a tent that looked like a yurt.

"It's truly a decline in public morals; in a dignified Jinmen temple fair, there is actually such a vulgar place." Wu Zhiyuan shook his head and sighed.

"Brother is absolutely right; it's simply unbearable to look at." Wu Wencai smacked his lips, as if reminiscing.

Xu Qing looked back at another mobile "flower building" nearby and asked: "Old Guo hasn't come out yet?"

Wu Wencai smiled and said: "These girls have come from afar and have been to many temple fairs, so they are well-informed. Mr. Guo likes to inquire about those interesting anecdotes the most, so I imagine he won't be coming out for a short while."

After Xu Qing had seen the most mysterious tent at the temple fair, he had no more concerns in his heart, so he temporarily bid farewell to the Wu brothers and wandered around alone.

Earlier, when he came to the temple fair, he had seen many people from the Jianghu selling all kinds of rare items. Now that he had finally come to Jinmen, he naturally had to take a good look.

At the moment, he had already gathered all the materials for breaking through to the Silver Armored Corpse in the Corpse-Raising Scripture. If he could find a rare item for refining the Golden Armored Corpse here today, he wouldn't have made the trip in vain.

Xu Qing wandered around. By the roadside, there were monkey performers driving little monkeys to beg for money from the audience, and there were fire-breathing Jianghu performers holding fire oil in their mouths, spraying scorching flames a foot high.

Tossing and turning, he also saw many strange people with real skills along the way.

For example, the color-play performer who could climb a rope to the sky to pick flat peaches; the "Walking Immortal" who could take objects from a distance and guess objects in boxes; and the Fire Gate Daoist who could lift a thousand-pound stone after eating a strength pill.

Xu Qing used the Qi-Gazing Technique to carefully watch the little boy who climbed up the rope to the sky and disappeared, but he saw that the boy was like a deflated ball, instantly turning into a thin piece of paper, floating away without a trace.

He could see why the boy disappeared, because the other party turned into a thin paper person, rode the wind, crossed the crowd, and floated away.

But he couldn't see how this paper person turned into a little boy who could jump and climb. This kind of spiritual transformation method is definitely not something an ordinary strange person could do.

Xu Qing thought to himself, I'm afraid only by performing a requiem for that color-play performer could I know the mystery inside.

"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, how could I have such a thought? Not good, not good."

Xu Qing chanted a dharma name, stopped worrying about the color-play performer's skills, and turned to another stall.

The one in front of him was a "Walking Immortal" who could invite spirits to possess his body and use this technique to take objects from a distance and guess objects in boxes.

Xu Qing used the same trick again. Under the observation of the Qi-Gazing Technique, the little girl with two long braids was immediately seen through by him.

In his eyes, this little girl with big, watery eyes had already turned into a rat-headed alien with shifty eyes and a thin, long mouth.

Xu Qing looked carefully and realized that the rat face was a layer of gray mist. It was only because the Qi-Gazing Technique saw the "Gray Immortal" possessing her that he saw the rat-face illusion.

Xu Qing followed that gray aura and finally fixed his gaze on the little girl's grandfather.

At this time, the old man with white hair and beard and a hunched back was deliberately bending over, covering up the abnormality on his chest.

Xu Qing found a tricky angle and saw a large gray rat head at his collar, staring at the little girl.

"Young man, what are you doing?"

The old man's hunched back straightened slightly, and he looked vigilantly at the young man who was standing on tiptoe and "stealing a glance" straight at his collar.

"I'm looking for my cat. Mimi, where did you run off to?"

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze, pretended nothing had happened, and looked around.

The Gray Immortal, with half its head showing at the old man's collar, slid into the old man's arms.

Now, the hunched old man immediately became a big-bellied woman!

Xu Qing ignored the old man's unkind gaze, called out a few times, and used the excuse of looking for his cat to leave the stall.

The "Walking Immortal" indeed had real skills. Xu Qing kept it in mind after seeing the girl use the Gray Immortal's possession to see things from a distance and perform the strange art of "rat moving wealth."

He still remembered that in his own mortuary shop, there were two coffins of unknown origin just sitting there.

If he had the ability to see things from a distance, he might be able to see what was hidden inside, so he could have a bottom line in his heart in advance.

However, what Xu Qing didn't know was that just as he was calling for his cat in front of the Gray Immortal, outside the Baishui Temple not far away, a pair of deep, dark eyes were curiously staring at him from a towering banyan tree.

Afterwards, Xu Qing wandered the temple fair for two days. Although he didn't find all the materials for refining the Golden Armored Corpse, he managed to get several strings of Yin ghost money and some burial objects rich in Yin Qi.

Those items were, without exception, Yin metal objects.

This was all thanks to those tomb-robbing, mountain-moving, and ridge-leveling earth-wood brothers.

If it weren't for them wandering in the wilderness and digging up ancient tombs all year round, it wouldn't have been easy for Xu Qing to find Yin metal objects.

After all, he is not someone who likes to run around and dig up people's graves.

Now that he had this Yin metal, Xu Qing had a little more confidence in becoming a Golden Armored Corpse King in the future.

His days are still long, and Yin metal objects can be accumulated slowly. Even if he can't gather the refining materials by then, he can slowly transform by absorbing the Yin Qi of the moon.

On the banks of the Baishui River, when the sun was setting in the west.

The sixty-year-old Crown Prince led the Jinmen officials, and the group went to the Baishui River in a grand manner to perform the sacrificial ritual to the River God.

The Baishui River God is named Yao Jiao, said to be the deity in charge of Jinmen's water affairs. His body is like a merman, with six wings on his back, and his voice is like the opening of a sea gate, like running thunder.

After sacrificing the three animals to the River God, the Baishui River surface suddenly surged, as if Yao Jiao had really opened his mouth to respond to the sacrifice.

The priest presiding over the ceremony saw this and immediately said that the River God felt the Crown Prince's sincerity, so he manifested to respond to the omen, and in the coming year, Great Yong would surely have favorable weather, national peace, and people's security, and so on.

Xu Qing opened his Qi-Gazing Technique to take a look; although the river surface was surging, there was no sign of the so-called River God.

Instead, everyone around him was prostrating and kneeling, so he had to squat on the ground and wait quietly for this farce to end.

However, when everyone was kneeling and worshipping the River God, Xu Qing, who was squatting on the ground and looking around, discovered that among the crowd kneeling in a dense mass, a group of people was standing straight, like a crane in a flock of chickens.

Xu Qing looked over and immediately recognized the identity of that group.

It was precisely the Heavenly Heart Sect Protector Bai Luo and his group of followers.

Seeming to feel someone watching, Protector Bai Luo reacted quickly and immediately knelt down with the crowd, and the surrounding followers followed suit.

How come I can run into this group of people everywhere?

Xu Qing frowned. The Heavenly Heart Sect coming here at this time, he didn't think the other party was also here to worship the River God.

After the sacrificial ritual ended, the Crown Prince led the Jinmen officials and moved to the Changting Prince's Mansion in a grand manner again.

The candidates who passed the prefecture exam were invited to go, and many literati and scholars also followed.

Tonight, the Crown Prince was going to hold a "winding stream and floating wine cups" elegant banquet at the Changting Prince's Mansion. It was said that the different-surname Prince who held the rank of Three Excellencies and had once commanded the world's troops would also attend to spend the beautiful evening together.

Xu Qing went with the Wu brothers, while the Heir Zhu had long been summoned back by the mansion and forced to work.

When they arrived at the Changting Prince's Mansion, the Wu brothers, who had never seen the world, were completely conquered by the extremely magnificent mansion before them.

It is worthy of being the Changting Prince's Mansion. Even though they hadn't been to Luojing and had never seen what the imperial palace looked like, the mansion before them was the most magnificent building they had ever seen in their lives.

(End of chapter)