Chapter 290: Persuading You to Be Cheerful

"Are you there?"

"I am here."

White smoke emerged from the wood carving, transforming into a big-headed ghost.

The Silver-Eating Ghost looked at Lin Jue expectantly, rubbing its belly, feeling hungry. But after looking left and right, it couldn't help but feel a bit bewildered.

"I didn't come to treat you to a meal today. For the past while, I've been forging weapons in the mountains and haven't returned to the capital to earn money. The ten liang you ate before was already my last ten liang." Lin Jue said to the Silver-Eating Ghost, "However, I asked you to come out today because I want to ask for your help to earn this meal money."

"Me? Help? What help can I provide?"

"There is something I would like to ask you."

"Master, please ask!"

"What can a woman's vital essence and blood be used for in alchemy?" Lin Jue asked directly.

The Silver-Eating Ghost also answered directly: "If it's a person's vital essence and blood, there are many uses. If it's just a woman's vital essence and blood, there aren't many uses. It's nothing more than taking yin to supplement yang, or using yin to supplement yin."

It was about the same as what the "Third Shixiong" had said.

"What if it's in the capital?"

"The capital?" The fox on the side poked it with its claw again. The Silver-Eating Ghost shrank its neck, dodging while answering, "Whether it's taking yin to supplement yang or using yin to supplement yin, in a bustling place like the capital, isn't that exactly where it has the greatest use? If it's taking yin to supplement yang, at the very least, it can make a man's body strong and his golden spear unyielding. If it's using yin to supplement yin, it can make oneself beautiful and keep one's youth lasting."

Lin Jue frowned suddenly upon hearing this.

It seemed as if he had vaguely grasped something.

Lin Jue thought for a moment and continued to ask: "What if it has something to do with you?"

"Ah? Something to do with me?" The Silver-Eating Ghost was shocked.

"I once asked a Jixian about this matter, and the Jixian gave a Jixian poem. Besides mentioning the capital, mountains and rivers, and alchemy, this poem is the original poem given by another Jixian when we asked the Corpse Tiger King on Fuchi Peak about hoarding silver." Lin Jue said, "There must be a deep meaning in it."

"Master, Master, you aren't joking, are you? I have always stayed in this wood carving, how could it have anything to do with me!"

"That's not what I meant. It means there's a connection."

"That's also unlikely! Master, you don't know, even the most powerful Jixian don't have everything they say be accurate. The biggest reason they write Jixian poems is because they aren't accurate themselves. When others question them later, they can just say the person asking the Jixian misunderstood."

The Silver-Eating Ghost breathed a sigh of relief and even laughed: "I am not a Gold-Swallowing Ghost, how could I be connected to any woman or a woman's vital essence and blood? Hahahaha... haha... ha... ha..."

Lin Jue suddenly looked straight at it, lost in thought.

The Silver-Eating Ghost's smile gradually stiffened, its laughter gradually slowed, and then stopped completely.

Seeing it widen its eyes, it straightened up, avoided the fox's claws, stood on the table, and bowed solemnly to Lin Jue:

"What I know is that the Gold-Swallowing Ghost swallows ten liang of gold every day and spits out spiritual pills. The world often calls them Beauty-Preserving Pills, but these spiritual pills actually don't just have the effect of preserving beauty."

"If a woman eats them, and if she is a virgin, her youth will be preserved and her appearance will not fade, but she must keep eating them. If she is not a virgin, she must take them with other elixirs to preserve her beauty; otherwise, the effect is that it can help give birth to a baby boy."

"If a man eats them, and if he is a virgin, eating them can make him immensely strong and indestructible. If he is not, it can make his golden spear unyielding, and he will also give birth to a baby boy."

"They also have to keep eating them."

After the Silver-Eating Ghost finished speaking, it looked at him.

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue muttered to himself.

Just now, when the Silver-Eating Ghost mentioned "using yin to supplement yin to make people beautiful and keep youth lasting," he thought of the legendary Gold-Swallowing Ghost.

If this is the case, the intention of the "Third Shixiong" using this Jixian poem was to remind them that the source of the chaos in the capital is the same as the Silver-Eating Ghost from back then—both are one of the three ghosts of the elixir path.

"In that case, does the matter lie with the elixir taken with the Beauty-Preserving Pill?"

"Not so." The Silver-Eating Ghost said, "I once told the Master the formula for the Beauty-Preserving Pill. Just like the Spiritual Origin Pill, besides being spat out by us, the Beauty-Preserving Pill also has its own formula and can be refined. And there is an important medicinal ingredient in it, which is the 'Yin Essence of the Human World.' It must be harvested in the bustling places of the human world during the Yin month and Yin day of every year, and one must have profound harvesting skills. If one doesn't, it's hard to obtain. However, it can be extracted from a woman's vital essence and blood."

"Does that mean there is no Gold-Swallowing Ghost in the capital?"

"I don't know..."

When saying this, this usually timid little ghost also showed some emotion about the passage of time and worldly affairs.

"Thank you."

"Master is too polite."

The Silver-Eating Ghost returned to the wood carving.

Lin Jue sat there, showing a look of contemplation.

In the past, when his second senior brother talked about the Silver-Eating Ghost, he mentioned the Gold-Swallowing Ghost and told such an interesting anecdote—

Twenty years ago, the former emperor favored an Imperial Consort and was addicted to female beauty, unable to extricate himself. At that time, he had sent eccentric experts from the Ju Xian Fu to the four seas to find the Gold-Swallowing Ghost.

Later, after the current emperor ascended the throne, he was also addicted to female beauty. At that time, that Imperial Consort was no longer young, but he occupied her, which became a scandal of the dynasty, despised by civil and military officials. Even now, with chaos in the world, many rebels in the north use this matter to attack the current emperor and find legitimacy for their rebellion.

At that time, they were on Fuchi Peak, very far from the capital, so naturally, they couldn't figure out the truth of this matter. But now that Lin Jue is in the capital, isn't it easy to know if this is true or false?

If it were true...

It might be that they didn't find the Gold-Swallowing Ghost at that time, but they did find the formula for the Beauty-Preserving Pill.

Lin Jue thought for a while, then gave up.

He then took out the ancient book and opened it.

"Whoosh..."

Persuading You to Be Cheerful, one of the Four Methods of Beichen.

The so-called Four Methods of Beichen: Persuading You to Frown, Persuading You to Be Cheerful, Rambling Hu Yan, and also Reciting Poems and Singing Songs, and Abdominal Cramps and Diarrhea. They were created by Master Beichen in his spare time. Originally used to tease disciples, he didn't take them seriously, but unexpectedly, after they spread, they became popular for a time and were often used by Daoists to tease ordinary people and show off their own magical powers.

The first three all have the effect of blocking incantations.

This is Persuading You to Be Cheerful.

Persuading You to Frown, Persuading You to Be Cheerful, and one that is called both Rambling Hu Yan and Reciting Poems and Singing Songs, as well as Abdominal Cramps and Diarrhea...

I don't know why that "Rambling Hu Yan" technique is also called "Reciting Poems and Singing Songs." Is it because people these days are under a spell and will recite poems when rambling, or does Master Beichen look down on these literati, feeling that their reciting poems and singing songs is no different from rambling nonsense?

"I've actually obtained two of the Four Methods of Beichen. It seems I have a connection with Master Beichen."

Lin Jue smiled suddenly, thinking in his heart.

However, it seems the two he obtained are the gentlest ones.

He then pinched the paper and listened carefully.

These two techniques are actually much the same, with most of their mysterious aspects being similar; the only difference is that touch of emotion.

This touch of emotion is also the most important thing.

Actually, Lin Jue quite likes this Persuading You to Frown technique. It has unexpected effects at critical moments, and it can also be used to tease people in daily life.

I don't know if it's because of the influence of his seventh senior brother or the influence of "Blooming in an Instant," but Lin Jue is increasingly fond of such techniques that can be used for performance, pleasing oneself and others, and also for combat.

However, if one wants to fight, learning one technique is enough.

It's just that learning this kind of technique is also about perceiving an emotion and grasping that touch of mystery. It doesn't necessarily help much with cultivation or power, but there are gains nonetheless.

And after learning this technique, if he encounters others trying to persuade him to be cheerful in the future, he will naturally be able to resist.

Of course, he can also pretend to listen to the persuasion.

Before he knew it, the night was already half over.

When Lin Jue loosened the paper and opened his eyes, he felt carefully and realized it was almost dawn.

He was leaning comfortably against the head of the bed, with two pillows behind his back and a bear-skin blanket covering him. His own fox was also lying on the bear-skin blanket, curled into a circle, and it hadn't slept either, but was staring straight at him with a pair of eyes.

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Lin Jue asked, "Didn't I light the night-watch lamp?"

"Story!"

The fox stared straight at him.

"You waited all night just to hear a story?"

"Story!"

"Alright, I'll tell you."

Lin Jue happened to have been thinking, and felt his brain was surprisingly clear, without a hint of sleepiness, so he leaned against the head of the bed and said to it leisurely:

"Legend has it that there is a kind of immortal in heaven called the Weaver Girl, also known as the Zhiji Girl. People in the human world need to wear clothes, and immortals in heaven also need to wear clothes. The clothes worn by immortals in heaven are so comfortable, perhaps even more comfortable than the fur you have on your body. They are woven from clouds."

"Foxes in the human world don't wear clothes!"

"Because foxes have fur," Lin Jue said patiently, "This fur is already very comfortable, so there's no need to wear clothes."

"Cats don't wear them either!"

"Cats also have fur."

"Foxes give you clouds! Make clothes!"

"Then you still lack some cultivation."

"Fox! Fur will fall out! You make clothes!"

"That's not necessary."

"Cat fur!"

"Also not necessary."

"..." The fox thought for a moment, "Story!"

"Then don't interrupt me." Lin Jue said, "This kind of cloth woven from clouds is called Cloud Brocade, and the clothes made from it are called Cloud Brocade Heavenly Garments..."

Before he knew it, it was dawn.

A few days later, at a street stall.

A plate of cherry pilaf, a few mutton steamed buns, a few plates of seasonal snacks and desserts, and sweet white wine with milk in bamboo tubes. The brother and sister and Master Fan Tian sat in a corner.

People around were discussing the recent cases of women being harmed in the capital, and the matter had already caused panic. Although everyone said these women were harmed after going to the mountains outside the city to worship an evil god, it still scared many timid women so much that they didn't dare to get up at night alone.

It is said that Master Lin, who had easily subdued two stone horses on the street, and the famous Master Fan Tian had also been alarmed by this matter.

In order to restore peace to the capital and put the people at ease, Master Lin and Master Fan Tian decided to examine the corpses of those women tomorrow, saying that they could find the yaoguai that killed them through the corpses.

As for how to find them, it was naturally the ability of an immortal.

Master Lin is definitely not an ordinary person, and Master Fan Tian is also an immortal. Immortals naturally have the abilities of immortals.

Is there anything in this world that immortals cannot do?

The people of the capital had been terrified for a long time, and now they could finally be at ease. This matter naturally spread very quickly and widely.

And the legendary Master Lin and Master Fan Tian were sitting together at this time, one drinking sweet white wine with milk, the other lightly biting into a cherry pilaf. Only the junior sister was stuffing desserts into her mouth, holding a steamed bun in her left hand and a cup of sweet white wine with milk in her right, eating and drinking heartily.

"It's true..."

Master Fan Tian said helplessly: "That Imperial Consort's surname is Wen. She is now over fifty years old, but she is skilled in preserving her youth and still remains at her most beautiful age, even more charming than when she was young."

His voice was not deliberately lowered, but it was not loud either, maintaining a suitable volume so that not many people would hear it, and others wouldn't think that the dignified Master Fan Tian was actually whispering.

"In recent years, the Emperor has always focused his mind on Imperial Consort Wen, to the point that, like the former emperor, he rarely even holds court." Fan said, "However, people are flesh and blood, and they eat grains. No matter how skilled one is at preserving youth, how can one withstand the wind and frost of time? I don't know how Imperial Consort Wen has been recently. In any case, the Emperor held a grand selection of beauties last year, selected many beauties to enter the palace, and conferred titles on several other Imperial Consorts."

"How old is the Emperor now?"

"Over seventy."

"Can his body take it?"

"I'm afraid only the eunuchs on night watch know that." Master Fan Tian looked at him, "If the Daoist friend wants to satisfy his curiosity, I can also find someone to ask."

"Master Fan Tian really has wide connections!" Lin Jue sighed genuinely.

"The Daoist friend is mocking me..."

"I'm afraid this kind of thing will also be recorded in the history books."

"That's for sure." Master Fan Tian shook his head and said, "It's just that I don't know if future generations will read it as a bizarre story or as official history."

"It might also be read as a myth and monster story."

"Myth and monster story?" Master Fan Tian was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "That's true. Being over fifty and still like a young woman is indeed extraordinary. The Emperor has raised so many alchemists, so future generations will likely really think it's the effect of the elixir."

"Does Imperial Consort Wen have any offspring?"

"She has no children with the former emperor, but she has two princesses with the current emperor. There have never been any princes."

"Princesses are also quite good..."

Lin Jue fed the steamed bun to the fox, his expression indifferent, his eyes lost in thought.

He had walked a long way along the way, but it wasn't until he came to the capital, until this moment, that he personally came into contact with these imperial affairs that might directly affect the replacement of the dynasty. It sounded strange, and it sounded like he had heard many similar things. It felt like it shouldn't be right, and it felt like it had never been strange. Thinking about it carefully, the feeling of walking into history came rushing towards him.