Chapter 327

It is said that many years ago, a Western Regions mission paid tribute to the Central Plains dynasty and treated Swallow Egg Incense as a supreme treasure. Could it be that the Swallow Egg Incense from that year still exists somewhere in the capital?

Lin Jue thought about it left and right, but still couldn't think of it.

His time in the capital was still too short. Excluding the time for cultivation and eliminating demons, it was even less. Coupled with the fact that he had gone to the scripture pavilion for two months of seclusion recently, he was not clear about the recent events in the capital.

Lin Jue looked at Lord Luo.

"I seem to have some impression of this thing, but I can't remember it," Lord Luo said steadily. "What do you want this thing for?"

"Refining elixirs."

Lin Jue had nothing to hide from Lord Luo.

"Go and ask Master Fan."

"Hmm."

This was also what Lin Jue thought.

He didn't understand the capital, but a person who understood the capital very well lived next door.

Lin Jue took back the iron pen, wiped the divination poem flat, and walked out of the courtyard.

Outside was a small garden.

By the small lake, the willows were swaying. A middle-aged Daoist with the demeanor of an immortal was facing the lake, with his back to all living beings, as if fishing, but without a fishing rod. In short, his demeanor was elegant.

"Fellow Daoist Fan."

"What is the matter, fellow Daoist?"

"There is one thing I would like to ask you for advice, fellow Daoist," Lin Jue bowed.

"Oh!" Master Fan immediately became solemn and bowed back even lower, his immortal demeanor disappearing completely. "If you have anything to say, fellow Daoist, just ask."

"You are in the capital, fellow Daoist, and I heard that you are the person who goes to the scripture pavilion to read books most often, and you are well-informed and knowledgeable, so I would like to ask you, fellow Daoist, if you have heard of something called 'Swallow Egg Incense'?"

"Swallow Egg Incense?"

"Swallow's swallow, egg's egg, incense's incense, also known as Western Regions Wood Essence," Lin Jue added.

"……"

Master Fan attached great importance to it and immediately pondered. Soon he had a result, and he said without any wordiness: "I have heard of this thing at least three times."

"Three times?" Lin Jue was surprised. "Please give me your advice."

"I dare not, I dare not."

Master Fan put his posture very low:

"The first time I saw it was in unofficial history. It is said that in the early years of the Dayou, Emperor Taizong was powerful and covered the world. After pacifying the world, he once led a large army to expedition to the Western Regions. In order not to be destroyed, a small country offered many beautiful women, precious horses, and precious treasures to Emperor Taizong. The most precious of them was a piece of wood incense, shaped like a swallow's egg. It is said that this thing has the effect of dispelling plagues and prolonging life.

"However, the emperors of Dayou have always been arrogant, and even the most arrogant among them did not respect the gods of the nine heavens. This style came from Emperor Taizong.

"It is said that Emperor Taizong felt that he was perfect, and his literary and military achievements were the first, unprecedented and never to be repeated. He felt that his only shortcoming was that mortals were short-lived. But he was too arrogant. He felt that after he died, he would definitely be able to go to heaven to be the Heavenly Lord, and he felt that while he was alive, he must not seek longevity. Otherwise, such a perfect and powerful emperor as him, once he obtained longevity, even heaven would be jealous. Therefore, he didn't care about any treasures or elixirs that were rumored to prolong life.

"Legend has it that a few years later, there was a great plague in the army. He really lit this Swallow Egg Incense. As a result, the incense smoke filled the air that day and became a great fog and clouds, and the plague really disappeared without a trace."

Master Fan paused for a moment:

"At first, I thought it was just unofficial history, and there was no such strange thing in the world. But since you are looking for this Swallow Egg Incense, fellow Daoist, I think it is true."

After Lin Jue finished listening, he thought for a while. Western Regions Wood Essence and the expedition to the Western Regions, coupled with the fact that the senior who refuted him had also said that it had the effect of retreating plagues, this rumor was likely true.

However, Emperor Taizong of Dayou did not become the Heavenly Lord after his death.

"What about the second time?"

"The second time was in the scripture pavilion. In the previous dynasty, a small country in the Western Regions accidentally obtained this thing and came to pay tribute to the Central Plains dynasty. The emperor and empress of the previous dynasty at that time treated it as a treasure, and every day they would scrape a little bit off, sometimes burning incense, sometimes refining elixirs, and sometimes swallowing it, wanting to prolong their lives. However, both of them were short-lived. Hmm, they looked like they were poisoned when they died."

"Heh……"

"The third time is now."

"Hmm? Now?"

Lin Jue immediately became interested.

"You have been cultivating in the courtyard for a long time and haven't heard, fellow Daoist. In a few days, it will be the birthday of the current Emperor. Many countries in the Western Regions and the north have sent missions to come. The capital has been very lively recently," Master Fan said to Lin Jue. "And I heard that the small country from back then has come again. This time they didn't bring any other tributes or birthday gifts, only one piece of incense, which is the legendary Swallow Egg Incense."

"So that's how it is……"

Lin Jue immediately opened his eyes wide.

So it was such a "near before the eyes"……

Previously, he had thought that this thing might be in the capital, so the "senior who refuted him" would write a poem to remind him that it was near before the eyes, but he didn't expect that this "near" was so near, and he actually said it so accurately.

Master Fan's news was indeed well-informed, but the one who was even better informed was the "senior who refuted him" far in the depths of Mount Yishan.

Then how should he seek it?

Lin Jue frowned and pondered.

Three people must have my teacher. Taking more suggestions will never be a bad thing, so he naturally and sincerely asked for advice from the person in front of him: "I want to obtain this thing, but I don't know the method. Do you have any suggestions, fellow Daoist?"

"There must be a way, but it may not be a good way," Master Fan thought for a while and said, "It is still some time before the Emperor's birthday. As long as you are in the capital, fellow Daoist, if there is a good way, I think it will automatically appear before you, fellow Daoist."

"Reasonable……"

Lin Jue was thoughtful, and then thanked Master Fan: "Many thanks, fellow Daoist."

"You don't have to thank me, fellow Daoist. If you have any needs, just come to me."

"Definitely!" Lin Jue said solemnly, looked at Master Fan, and the small lake and the swaying willows. "I have disturbed you, please continue, fellow Daoist."

Only then did he bow, turn around, and walk back.

A fox only the size of a finger joint was running wildly on the tree next to it, trying hard and hard to keep up with him.

"How can I obtain this thing?"

Lin Jue was still pondering while walking—

Should he go to the national treasury to steal it?

Or should he rob the Western Regions mission?

Or should he take the Leopard King's head and exchange it with the Emperor? Would the Emperor agree? Or the Queen Mother of the West's head? Could he take it?

"Difficult……"

Master Fan was right about one thing. There is indeed a way, but not all of them are good ways.

>

The bad part is that either it is not the right path, or it is not necessarily certain to succeed, or it is not easy enough.

Fortunately, he already knew where it was.

So he would take one step at a time.

Lin Jue returned to the courtyard, returned to the quiet room, thought about it again, and had no results for the time being, so he put his mind aside for the time being.

"Sigh……"

Lin Jue spread a piece of paper on the table and took a pen from the pen holder.

A fox the size of a finger joint stood by and watched, and ran around on the table. Lin Jue simply turned the pen holder upside down and covered it inside.

He picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, and first wrote four big characters:

"Great Yin-Yang Method."

It is a supreme and mysterious cultivation method. Since he wanted to write it, there was mystery in his heart when he wrote it, and his mind moved with the pen, and as the pen fell on the paper, the characters on this paper seemed to carry some wonderful rhyme.

"Knock knock……"

The shrunken fox bumped into the bamboo pen holder and made a sound, and carried the pen holder to move around on the table, as if it couldn't find the direction.

Faintly heard a tiny voice, shouting "let me out," but it refused to become larger and come out.

Lin Jue naturally ignored it and focused on writing.

More mysterious characters appeared on the paper.

……

The capital was indeed getting more and more lively.

Not only the original commoners of the capital, not only the Western Regions and Northern missions who came to celebrate the birthday, but also many scholars from Qinzhou and even further places, traveling merchants and rich people, or eccentric experts in the rivers and lakes, all came to the capital to join in the fun.

It was like attending a temple fair.

But it was also like a temple fair—

Not only do people like excitement, but demons, ghosts, and gods also like excitement. Not only do people want to join in the fun, but they also want to.

Coupled with the fact that there were many people in the capital, and there were many demons and ghosts, there were some strange things during this period.

Someone went out to enjoy the autumn, the autumn was high and the air was crisp, and he was slightly drunk. He made a bet with a friend and invited the god in the small temple on the mountain to drink. Unexpectedly, when he returned to the city that night, before he reached home, he felt a shadow following him from far away, and faintly heard that person repeating what he said during the day:

"Please have a drink too."

This person sought help from the Ministry of Rites. The Ministry of Rites handed it over to Wu Lingshi, and Wu Lingshi went straight to find Fuyao in Lin Jue's home.

The fox went, and before it showed its true body, just hearing the people around it say that the Fox Immortal under Master Lin had been invited, the evil god behaved himself.

There was also a pig raised in a temple outside the city that became a spirit. Whenever the monks in the temple chanted, it would sit cross-legged and listen carefully, sometimes clapping and kowtowing. At night, it would knock open the temple's kitchen and eat all the grain, oil, and salt inside.

Those monks had no way, so they reported it to the Ministry of Rites.

There was also a fox demon pestering the daughter of a wealthy family. As long as it was night, no matter how well the doors and windows were closed, the fox demon would appear from nowhere, molest the woman, and leave at dawn. The wealthy family found several folk experts to drive away evil, and monks and Daoists to perform rituals, but none of them worked. They even privately found eccentric experts from the Gathering Immortals Mansion to eliminate demons, but they didn't know if they found the right one, anyway, none of them worked.

These all became Fuyao's achievements and turned into food for the Silver Ghost.

It is good to be in the capital.

The silver saved before hadn't been eaten at all. Just the money Fuyao earned was enough to feed it.

The capital gradually reached winter.

One day, Lin Jue was fishing by the lake with Lord Pan, listening to him talk about his fight with the Wei woman in the Wei River, when Wu Lingshi of the Ministry of Rites suddenly came, followed by several eunuchs.

"Master Lin, Lord Pan, it is good that you are both here. The eunuchs in the palace are looking for you."

Wu Lingshi said to them, and after speaking, he retreated.

"I have seen Master Lin, I have seen Lord Pan," a eunuch also bowed to them. "In three days, it will be His Majesty's birthday. His Majesty will hold a grand banquet for civil and military officials, and there will also be many Western Regions envoys present. The most noble people in the capital have been invited. His Majesty knows the achievements of several people for the imperial court and the common people of the world, so he specifically instructed me to send an invitation, hoping to invite Master Lin, Lord Pan, and Master Fan to go together."

(End of chapter)