Chapter 265

Unknowingly, the yellow-robed monk was already sweating profusely.

However, he did not dare to blame Fan Tian Shi in his heart. After all, the Crown Prince had asked, so I am afraid that even Fan Tian Shi would find it difficult not to answer, right?

And he would certainly not refuse to answer for his own sake.

That Fan Tian Shi could point it out implicitly without directly exposing it was already taking care of him.

One can only say, as expected of Fan Tian Shi!

He thought his stagecraft had reached perfection, and even the details of the branches, leaves, and flowers had become the same as real ones, so I am afraid even immortals would find it hard to distinguish true from false. The combination of illusion and summoning techniques was also clever enough, but it was fine to tease the common people and dignitaries in the small places in the north. Before Fan Tian Shi, it was not enough.

He did not blame himself either—

When he stood out, he had not seen Fan Tian Shi, and before he came here today, he had also asked the people of Ju Xian Fu, and they all said that Fan Tian Shi would not come to join in such fun.

"Fan Tian Shi truly has eyes like torches. This poor monk was showing off before an expert." The monk simply stood out and said, paying respects to the Crown Prince again, "But being able to bring a smile to the Crown Prince is enough."

The Crown Prince did not argue with him and turned his head with a smile:

"This Master's magical art is profound and extremely wonderful, which has opened my eyes. Reward him with fifty taels of silver and a bolt of good cloth."

An official beside him immediately nodded in agreement.

Only then did Lin Jue realize what Luo Gong had said—

Once in Ju Xian Fu, anyone with skills does not live on the two taels of silver as a stipend, and here, making money is very simple.

Just like this, it was fifty taels. How many yaoguai that eat common people would it take to be worth this reward?

I just don't know what this silver tastes like.

"Many thanks to the Crown Prince, many thanks to Fan Tian Shi." Only then did the yellow-robed monk breathe a sigh of relief and smile again.

"It was all earned by the Master's own skills. Next time foreign guests visit, I would like to invite the Master to perform this wonderful technique. How about it?"

"I would be honored."

The yellow-robed monk agreed and put his hands together toward Fan Tian Shi: "Fan Tian Shi truly has great skills. I, oh, this poor monk admires you."

"What skills does this poor Daoist have? If I say skills, they are not even one ten-thousandth of this fellow Daoist Lin beside me! And today, I just happened to remember that this is a wintersweet tree." Fan Tian Shi laughed and said truthfully, "However, the Master's skill is truly supernatural. I am afraid even if an immortal came, he would feel inferior."

How could the world believe his words?

They only felt that Fan Tian Shi was being humble and lifting others up.

Even the yellow-robed monk was extremely grateful.

Everyone looked at Lin Jue again because of this.

Only Fan Tian Shi himself knew that this was the truth.

Just now, he was also sweating in his heart.

Fortunately, when he came here last year in the twelfth lunar month, the wintersweet in this courtyard happened to be in bloom, and he remembered them all. Otherwise, with it being bare, who could recognize whether it was wintersweet, a plum tree, or a peach, pear, apricot, or plum tree?

"Fan Tian Shi..."

The Crown Prince called him again, inviting him to go together.

After hearing this, Fan Tian Shi glanced at Lin Jue with his peripheral vision. Seeing that Lin Jue's expression was calm and he was not looking at the Crown Prince, he immediately smiled and politely declined:

"There are too many people in Your Highness's entourage, and this poor Daoist really cannot stay. Besides, I have to accompany this fellow Daoist beside me, so I will not go with Your Highness. We will follow behind Your Highness."

"Sigh, as the Tian Shi wishes."

The Crown Prince had to walk forward again.

Fan Tian Shi and Lin Jue followed far behind. Luo Seng wore a bamboo hat and stood aside holding his sword, playing the role of a protector, but in fact, he was also looking at the fun.

"Does fellow Daoist Lin think this person can be considered an eccentric person?" Fan Tian Shi asked Lin Jue calmly.

"This person's illusion and summoning techniques are perfect, so naturally, he can be considered an eccentric person. Being able to combine the two means is also extremely rare." Lin Jue accepted his company and explanation, so he answered truthfully. However, when he said this, he frowned, "But..."

Listening to this, Fan Tian Shi only had two thoughts in his heart—

First, he sighed that this true Tian Shi beside him was indeed worthy of the name, as he could see through the truth and falsehood of the magical art at a glance. Moreover, he truly saw it and could also see the foundation, unlike himself who relied on other means.

Then he secretly noted down the words "illusion" and "summoning technique," thinking in his heart that if he met the yellow-robed monk again, or if he came to thank him, he would use such words to deal with him.

But hearing Lin Jue's "but," he felt anxious and could not help but ask:

"But what?"

Lin Jue frowned, unable to speak for a moment.

However, although these yaoguai could go to the Long Wang's cave to feast, most of them were not actually that formidable. Most of those feasting outside were similar to that rabbit demon, and likely similar to the yellow dog Lin Jue encountered when he first left Shu Village. Those feasting in the cave were not necessarily any more powerful; it was even possible that they had simply offered sufficiently precious treasures.

In his view, stagecraft is stagecraft.

There is no need to impersonate other magical arts.

The magical arts in the world each have their own wonders, and it is not necessary to be able to subdue yaoguai and demons or be earth-shattering to be considered a good magical art.

The difficulty of practicing stagecraft is no lower than other magical arts, and even most stagecraft is harder to practice than other magical arts, and it is not easy to use well. This yellow-robed monk has already learned stagecraft very well, and in Lin Jue's view, he is also an incredible eccentric person. But the mistake he made today was that although he was performing stagecraft, he had to say it was "more profound" Buddhist dharma.

Perhaps he wanted to cheat more money.

Perhaps he looked down on stagecraft in his own heart.

If it was the former, it was a problem with his character. If it was the latter, it was actually unnecessary.

His own Seventh Third Third Shixiong is also good at stagecraft.

And Seventh Third Third Shixiong does not think so, but instead likes it very much, and because of this, he lives very freely.

If he also looks down on it, how can he earn people's respect?

This yellow-robed monk is probably from a jianghu eccentric background and accidentally obtained this magical art, but did not get the true transmission of Daoist dharma.

Lin Jue thought for a moment, but did not elaborate, only shook his head and said: "It is better to honestly say that what you are performing is stagecraft. Perhaps if an immortal came in person, he would also admire it."

Fan Tian Shi was stunned as soon as he heard this.

His eyes widened, and his steps were chaotic for a moment.

Then a bitter smile appeared in his heart:

As expected, I am still a fake Tian Shi...

Like these words, I will never be able to say them.

I am afraid that ordinary people would feel it is ordinary when they hear it, but if that yellow-robed monk heard it, I don't know if it would stir ripples in his heart. Anyway, I feel it is exquisite and have secretly noted it down.

Walking forward again.

Most people were respectful to Fan Tian Shi.

Someone could chant spells to command insects, making them line up at one moment and arranging them into a military formation at another, and could also command frogs to jump into the water one by one. I don't know if it was useful, but everyone found it very strange.

The Crown Prince was amused, so there was a reward.

Someone performed the Green Fu technique.

Throwing a string of copper coins into a well, after chanting a spell, the copper coins lined up and jumped out of the well, falling into his tray.

The Crown Prince also had a reward.

Someone could make an empty cup full of wine and offer it to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was excited and did not care about safety, raising the cup to drink. Just after drinking it, he looked down, and it was a full cup again.

The Crown Prince drank three cups in a row, smiled and gave a reward, and shared this wine with other eccentric people around him to drink together.

Luo Gong once said he was a glutton.

Lin Jue knew that people have a thousand faces, and he also knew that which side a person shows is related to when and where he is and who he is facing. Anyway, today, this Crown Prince facing many eccentric people in Ju Xian Fu was still a cheerful, generous, and quite charming image.

Walking and walking, Lin Jue heard someone whispering:

"Is that person the legendary Fan Tian Shi?"

"That's him."

"What skills does this Fan Tian Shi have? Why doesn't he show them? It would be good for us to broaden our horizons."

"You are so bold! What is Fan Tian Shi's status? Can he be the same as us? The Crown Prince cannot let him perform magical arts casually! Besides, what Fan Tian Shi knows are not these small magical arts and small skills. What he knows are great magical arts that can invite heavenly soldiers to descend to kill great yaoguai and even yaoguai kings. Can he demonstrate them to people casually?"

"Really?"

Although the two discussed in a low voice, they were heard by Lin Jue.

Perhaps they felt it was chaotic around and did not speak ill of Fan Tian Shi, so they discussed it to their heart's content.

"Now, how great Fan Tian Shi's skills are, I am afraid only God knows. I only know that more than twenty years ago, Fan Tian Shi was still very young. He was drinking with people in a restaurant when he suddenly said there was an earthquake in the south, and then said the earthquake caused a mountain fire. Immediately, he took a mouthful of water and spat it out..."

"And then?"

"There were many people in the restaurant at that time who didn't know Fan Tian Shi's skills and probably thought the Tian Shi was drunk. Not long after, news came of an earthquake thousands of miles away in the south. The earthquake really caused a mountain fire, but the mountain fire had only just burned for dozens of miles in the mountains when it was extinguished by a heavy rain that fell from the sky. At that time, people knew that Fan Tian Shi had heaven-reaching skills."

"Hiss..."

Hearing them speak, Lin Jue wanted to hear more, so he could not help but slow down his steps.

Fan Tian Shi followed him and slowed down, so he heard it too.

Lin Jue turned his head and glanced at Fan Tian Shi.

He saw that the middle-aged Daoist was stunned, and a complex emotion flashed across his face in an instant. It was not humility, not the usual indifference, and certainly not pride, but a touch of nostalgia and emotion.

Lin Jue thought for a moment and knew—

This might be the beginning of "Fan Tian Shi."

If so, he should feel as if it were yesterday, and should be moved by the fate and coincidences.

The voice behind him came again:

"Then who is the one beside him..."

"Didn't you hear just now? This one is also a newcomer to Ju Xian Fu, and now he lives in the same courtyard as Fan Tian Shi."

"A newcomer to Ju Xian Fu? What skills does he have? Why are we also newcomers to Ju Xian Fu, but we can only live in the small rooms of the government office, which is about the same as the guest hall of a Daoist temple, while he can live in the big courtyard outside, and also live in the same courtyard as Fan Tian Shi."

"I don't know about that..."

Suddenly, another voice came from the side:

"It is said that this one is the immortal high-level person who killed that Long Wang by the Wei Shui River half a year ago! Didn't you see the white fox following him?"

"Eh?"

"This..."

People around were surprised, and some had strange expressions.

The reason for the strangeness was simple—

It is true that in the past half year, whether inside or outside Ju Xian Fu, many people have been encountered who claimed that the matter of killing the Long Wang by the Wei Shui River had something to do with them.

There were even people present who had advertised this.

Immediately, some people were silent.

Some people did not believe it.

"Didn't they say that the two immortals were a man and a woman, and they brought a white fox? Why is there only one left?"

"Yes! Didn't they say they were immortals from heaven? Why didn't they return to heaven, but instead came to Ju Xian Fu? And why didn't they come earlier? It's been half a year, and they only appeared now?"

"That white fox does look unusual."

"It wouldn't be another fake, would it?"

"Fan Tian Shi is accompanying him, so it should be real, right?"

"In my opinion, those few in the government office before were just too unlike, and their courage was too small. If they also bought a white fox on the street, maybe those officials in the Ministry of Rites would have believed it..."

Just after this person finished speaking, he saw the white fox following the two Daoists in front suddenly turn its head and stare at him with its head raised.

The fox's eyes were clear, its expression serious, and for some reason, it looked a bit like a human.

And it clearly heard that he was talking about it!

"This..."

This person did not dare to make a sound for a moment.

Instead, the person beside him smiled and continued:

"White foxes are not easy to find, and besides, you have to find one that looks a bit strange. Even if you find one, I'm afraid it will cost some money to buy it... Why don't we go and test this person? Ask him to show his magical arts. If we can expose him, maybe we can also be valued, live in a big courtyard, and live with Fan Tian Shi. If he is truly that immortal, I think he won't blame us, and it can be considered helping His Highness broaden his horizons. Maybe the Crown Prince also wants to know who this Daoist is and what skills he has."

After finishing, he did not hear a response.

"What's wrong?"

Two young men, one staring ahead without speaking, the other curiously looking in the direction of his gaze.

He saw that the fox in front really seemed to know they were talking about it. It had already turned from looking back at them to turning around and staring at them, stretching its neck and raising its head, its expression serious.

"..."

The two looked at each other, feeling that something was wrong.

However, soon, the fox turned around and followed the Daoist again.

"Phew..."

The two breathed a sigh of relief.

But after walking two steps, glancing, they suddenly saw that there were only Fan Tian Shi, that Daoist, and that protector in the crowd in front, but the white fox beside them was gone.

Then, turning their gaze—

They saw a white fox about the size of a cat standing on the rockery beside them, already very close to them, which gave them a big fright.

Before they could shout or dodge, they saw the fox open its mouth and spit out a small puff of yellow smoke, which flew straight toward their faces.

"Cough cough..."

The two were immediately choked, coughing incessantly.

Their vision blurred, and the fox was gone again.