Chapter 4: Where is the immortal path to longevity

"Virtue...

"Five spirits...

"Method of calming the soul..."

Lin Jue's head was dizzy, recalling the events of last night, only feeling as if it were real and illusory, like a dream.

He walked slowly back to the ancestral hall.

It was just the break of dawn, the sky light had not completely brightened, the sky outside was blue, and the east began to turn white, but the ancestral hall was still dim, and the ground was pitch black.

Not knowing what to do, he looked down casually, vaguely distinguishing debris like rubble and bricks, and it seemed there were things left by the man last night. But the ancestral hall was empty, there was nothing that should be taken away, and there was no need to stay long, so he didn't look closely, picked up his quilt and tucked it under his ribs, took the firewood knife, took the oil lamp, and walked out.

His footsteps couldn't help but float.

Out of the ancestral hall, walking along the alley outside, not long after walking out of the alley, suddenly a house opened its door, and a person came out, looking at him in surprise.

"Good lad! Did you really spend the night?"

"..."

Lin Jue turned his head to look at this person, didn't recognize him, thought for a while, and then came to his senses. It should be someone from the Wang family helping to monitor whether they really spent the night in the ancestral hall, so he said:

"More or less..."

"I'll take you to see the Granduncle!"

After saying that, he reached out and took the things from Lin Jue's hand. Lin Jue let him take whatever he wanted, and finally heard him say "Follow me," so he followed behind him.

Every distance he walked, the sky brightened by a point.

Until walking back to the Wang family's old residence courtyard, the morning sun had already come out from the east, and the morning light had also passed the mountain.

Wang Granduncle had already woken up, still sitting on the grand master chair in the hall, drinking morning tea and watching them, listening to the man talk about Lin Jue's matter, mostly confirming that he really spent a night in the ancestral hall.

Wang Granduncle couldn't help but be surprised, holding the cup and looking at Lin Jue.

"Did you really sleep in there for a night?"

"Returning to the old gentleman, I never left."

Lin Jue looked at this old Granduncle and this spacious hall, and finally slowly came back to his senses, detaching himself from that real and illusory state.

It really felt like he was still in a dream.

"That man ran away in the middle of the night, and you didn't run?"

"Didn't run..."

"I really misjudged you!"

"..."

"Why don't you have any spirit? Did you not sleep all night, or were you fascinated by the things in that ancestral hall?" The old gentleman turned his head to look at a woman beside him, "How are you treating guests? Pour a cup of tea for the guest too."

"Neither."

Lin Jue shook his head truthfully.

"Then what's going on?"

"Just feel, like a dream..."

"In that case, did you see that thing last night?" Wang Granduncle couldn't help but put down the teacup.

"Dealt with it..." Lin Jue recalled the small figure he saw this morning, and the figure in the dream last night that was already blurry and had long been forgotten, and shook his head again, "I didn't see its true face."

"Guests are guests, don't stand, sit beside, tell me in detail about last night, tell me how you spent this night."

"..."

Since there are really spirits and ghosts in the world, this old man with high prestige should have seen them in his decades of life, so knowing that spirits and ghosts came to his ancestral hall, he was not too panicked. But three people spent the night in the ancestral hall, one old teacher didn't see spirits and ghosts at all, and with his character, he might have said there were no spirits and ghosts here after leaving. Another one simply slept for a night and it was dawn when he woke up. It is very likely that this Wang Granduncle didn't know what kind of sacred spirit came to his ancestral hall or what it looked like.

The woman served Lin Jue a cup of tea. Lin Jue thanked her, and with one sip, the clear bitterness, chrysanthemum fragrance, and multiple tastes suddenly impacted his taste buds, making him much more awake.

"Old gentleman, don't worry anymore. That one has left this morning. I think your family's ancestral temple will be worry-free from now on."

"Left?"

"Exactly."

"Oh? Why is this? Tell me in detail!"

"Last night we..."

Lin Jue told him everything truthfully.

Gradually, more and more people came into the main hall, mostly descendants with status or favor in the family; they listened with wide-eyed astonishment, and some people also gathered outside the door, all clinging to the door frame, their faces equally full of novelty.

Lin Jue patiently told it slowly.

Only questions, no interruptions.

Forced to be more detailed.

Only held breaths, surprised eyes, and at most some scrutinizing eyes, no questioning to his face.

"Finally I woke up, and it was almost dawn."

Lin Jue said seriously, then sat in place without moving.

Wang Granduncle at the top was a bit silent, still savoring what the monster said to Lin Jue at the end.

"..."

Finally, he didn't say anything, just picked up the teacup and took a sip, then looked at Lin Jue again: "If that thing really left, our Wang family really has to thank you."

"Can't say that." Lin Jue thought again, and said seriously and truthfully, "The reason why that one left today, first there was the old gentleman's reward method, making it unable to be peaceful, then there were the old teacher and the county butcher who were not easy to provoke, making it feel troublesome and difficult to deal with. Until I got here, it was just finally the right time. It's not just the role of my last fire."

"Hehe..."

Wang Granduncle smiled when he heard this, but asked: "How old are you this year?"

"Just reached the age of fifteen."

"Rare, rare..."

Wang Granduncle nodded repeatedly, then pondered:

"Today, let's assume you didn't lie, and that thing didn't lie to you, and it left completely. No matter what, your merit is the greatest.

"Since that spirit and ghost knows to consider your filial piety to your uncle, our Wang family also has a reputation in this place, naturally we cannot be worse than a monster. Not to mention we are neighboring villages, and your family has such difficulties. As long as we have spare power, in terms of reason and emotion, we should help."

"How about this, last night you two spent the night, only you didn't leave halfway, I will give you the other reward together, as a reward. In addition, your uncle's medical treatment will also be borne by our Wang family."

"What do you think?"

After listening to Lin Jue's conversation with the monster in the ancestral hall, I don't know when, Wang Granduncle changed from holding on to his status to attaching much more importance to Lin Jue, and at this moment he actually looked at him sideways for consultation.

"Thank you, old gentleman."

Lin Jue hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Modesty is modesty, honesty is honesty, this matter cannot be pushed away.

Wang Granduncle looked at him, but the more he looked and thought, the more he felt he was extraordinary, so he said: "Change it to twenty taels of silver for him, so it's convenient for him to carry."

"Thank you, old gentleman."

"Don't rush back. Our Wang family also has a table of good dishes to entertain you, you must eat before leaving."

"I'll take your kindness for this. I haven't returned home for a night, my family must be very worried. Not to mention my uncle is lying on the bed, suffering, and my aunt and cousin are serving by the bed, shrinking food and clothing, how dare I eat good food and dishes here at the old gentleman's place?"

Lin Jue immediately declined.

"Very good."

Wang Granduncle still smiled and waved his hand: "Then prepare the ingredients and wine, and send them to your house later."

"Respect is worse than obedience..."

"If you need help in the future, just come to the door."

"Thank you, old gentleman."

Lin Jue had nothing to say, so he had to thank him repeatedly.

After a dizzy night, his bosom had three pieces of honeycomb silver, ten taels each, and the extra one was for him to buy medicine. It was so heavy that it pulled his coarse cloth clothes. Then, illuminated by the bright daylight, Lin Jue, who walked out of the Wang family gate, only felt a sense of possession that was hard to describe.

Floating and walking back to Shu Village, the fantastic feeling generated by last night's experience was not dispersed by the sense of harvest and possession of money, but became more intense with time, feeling more wonderful.

There was also a sense of unreality like a world away.

Entering the village and passing the lower bridge pavilion, at the corner, he saw the village elder and the group of children again.

Perhaps it was because he didn't sleep much last night, perhaps it was because he consumed too much heart and spirit fighting the monster's technique, or perhaps it was because he felt tired after seeing a strange side of this world, Lin Jue couldn't help but stop his steps, leaned against the wall, and stared at that direction.

The village elder was still telling stories of gods and ghosts.

The children were still listening attentively.

The stories also entered Lin Jue's ears, and all the stories he had heard in the past rolled up into his heart.

Foxes, ghosts, good and evil, gods.

Cultivation, techniques, immortals, longevity.

A golden pill ascends to heaven;

An evil deed falls to the ground.

Half true and half false, seemingly real and illusory, only in people's mouths.

The charm of this kind of story is really hard to describe in words. That kind of artistic conception can probably only be felt with the heart. It is not thrilling, not rigorous and rational, but eerie and romantic, with moving imagery.

Lin Jue couldn't help but stand here, listening blankly, but his mind couldn't help but ponder that question—

What kind of world is this?

Since there are monsters in the world, are there ghosts? If there are ghosts, are there immortals and Buddhas, and Daoist cultivation? Are there the three thousand worlds spoken of by Buddhism, and the carefree longevity spoken of by Daoism?

Then how should he look for them?

Where is this immortal path to longevity?

Where should he look for the so-called method of calming the soul?

Not knowing how he returned home, he saw his aunt, and also saw his uncle, briefly told them about last night and the thirty taels of silver, and under his aunt's worried instructions, finally returned to his room.

The room was simple, but it was a place of peace.

Just as he lay down, thinking and wandering, his head dizzy, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Looking back—

Beside him, an ancient book appeared at some point.

No book title.

It was a strange book.

Lin Jue was stunned for a moment, suddenly remembering that when he got up and went out this morning and returned to the ancestral hall, he seemed to have seen something like a book in the darkness, square and upright, but it was dim at that time and he couldn't see clearly, and he thought it was left by the person last night, coupled with his head being dizzy and full of thoughts, so he didn't care much, just took the quilt, firewood knife, and oil lamp and left.

Don't know if it was the same one.

Lin Jue couldn't help but pick it up.

"Whoosh..."

Flipping through it, the book was full of blanks.

Only the first page had words.

It wrote: Spitting out energy

A method commonly used by spirits and ghosts. ===== CHAPTER 5 =====