Chapter 162

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Zhang Shitong frowned. "There's a banquet later; it's just the right time to introduce you to some people..."

"Thank you for your kindness, Feng Feng Shixiong Zhang." Li Yan shook his head. "I have to go out of the city tonight, so I have to go back and prepare quickly."

This year-end grand assembly lasted for a full two hours.

At the beginning, Li Yan was still interested, mainly because of those Dan Realm experts. He used his supernatural power to investigate, and sure enough, it was just as he had guessed.

The Dan Realm experts had their aura restrained. If these people changed their clothes and took a bath or something, their scent would probably be very faint.

And experts of this level were definitely deeply connected to the Mystic Sect. If they had a body-protection magic artifact like Xiong Baodong's, ordinary sorcerers would probably have to run upon seeing them.

Of course, these people were only showing their faces.

The Shanzhou Divine Fist Society leader expressed his gratitude, and after exchanging some polite words, these people left one after another, clearly having other plans.

The remaining time was for reports from various places.

Li Yan found it increasingly boring, sitting restlessly.

After finally waiting for it to end, he immediately wanted to leave.

Zhang Shitong tried to persuade him for a while, but seeing that he wouldn't listen to reason, he also got a bit angry. "The old man said that you've caused so many things since you came to Chang'an; you're probably destined for an early death. Let me find a way to help you settle down."

"Are you truly ignorant, or are you playing dumb?"

Li Yan raised an eyebrow. "Must be playing dumb, right?"

"You?!"

Zhang Shitong was instantly anxious.

"Feng Feng Shixiong Zhang, don't be angry."

Li Yan gave a dumbfounded laugh, cupped his hands solemnly, and said, "Thank the old man for me, but I'm just not a person who can settle down."

"I like my current life very much."

He could naturally see what Zhang Shitong meant.

But to tell the truth, he had never even thought about the path the other party had arranged.

"Forget it, forget it."

Zhang Shitong waved his hand. "The Jianghu winds and waves are great, and life is precarious. Mixing in the Jianghu is nothing more than for a mouthful of food. You'll regret it sooner or later."

"Hahaha, I'll talk about regret when I regret it."

Li Yan laughed, waved his hand, cupped his hands, and turned to leave.

Watching his figure leave quickly, Zhang Shitong shook his head and sighed, then turned and walked toward the main hall.

"Feng Feng Shixiong Liu, you must drink more later."

"Feng Feng Shixiong Wu, I heard you took another concubine..."

…………

Unknowingly, snow began to drift from the sky again.

"A timely snow promises a good harvest; a good omen!"

Wang Daoxuan stood in the courtyard, looking at the flying snow, feeling happy. He smiled, "The high Daoists of the Doumu Palace said there will be a drought next year. Looking at this, it doesn't look like it at all."

"Exactly."

Sha Lifei also laughed. "This year the snow water is plentiful, next year the wheat will be good. The old people's sayings have never been wrong; maybe the Daoists calculated it wrong."

With a creak, the door opened.

Li Yan was already packed, carrying large and small bags on his back. Looking at the flying snow, he frowned and said, "The snow is so heavy, the night will definitely be hard to endure. I'll go alone; why must you follow and suffer?"

He had started preparing since returning from the Divine Fist Society, wanting to go to the mass grave south of the city tonight to try practicing.

Who would have thought that Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei would also say they wanted to go.

Hearing this, Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and smiled. "These days, I've been dealing with those old men all day; I've been stifled too. Traveling far on a snowy night is also a unique experience."

Sha Lifei curled his lips and said, "With such heavy snow, running to the mass grave alone, we wouldn't be able to sleep at home either."

Hearing this, a warm current rose in Li Yan's heart.

Although the Jianghu has many winds and rains, having friends who have shared life and death, a cup of old wine, and laughing together—how is that not happiness?

"Alright then, let's go, let's go. Is there enough wine?"

"Just rest assured, in the long cold night, there is wine and meat!"

Since it was decided, the three of them didn't delay any longer. They locked the door, left, put on their coir raincoats and bamboo hats, and rushed into the wind and snow.

Just as they left the street, "gods and ghosts" walked toward them head-on.

He saw a group of people beating gongs and drums, wandering along the street.

At the front, someone was wearing a ghost mask, his whole body covered in hemp clothes in shreds, holding a mourning stick and jumping around in the snow.

Behind him followed the "Fangxiang" clan, also wearing Nuo masks, their hands beating gongs and drums with a clanging sound, as if driving away evil, chasing the "ghosts and monsters" back and forth.

This group of people had chaotic gongs and drums, their mouths screeching. Every time they arrived in front of someone's shop, the shopkeeper would always have a look of disgust and throw out copper coins.

That "Fangxiang" didn't care either; he picked up the copper coins, stuffed them into his pocket, and drove the ghosts toward another house.

"Almost forgot, today is the day of 'Beating the Night Fox'."

Sha Lifei touched his full beard and laughed. "This thing is called driving away ghosts. Whoever's door it comes to, they have to send them away, lest they attract bad luck."

"This journey is going to be lively."

Just as Sha Lifei said, the journey was very noisy.

In the streets and alleys, wherever merchants gathered, there were teams "Beating the Night Fox," wandering around disguised as various ghosts, monsters, and gods.

Many of them were beggars, down-and-out people, and various ruffians on the street, and their methods were all different.

Some were fine; they performed at the door, making it lively. The merchants were happy, not only giving money but also giving some food. Some guys, however, had nasty methods.

For example, there were those disguised as the God of Wealth, holding a statue of the God of Wealth in their hands, very rough, and I don't know what kind of junk they had dug up. They beat gongs and drums and sent it into the shopkeeper's hands.

This is called "Sending the God of Wealth."

Well, if you don't accept it, you are driving the God of Wealth away.

But if you accept it, it's not something a few copper coins can send away.

There were those who were tough and cursed "Get lost," and as a result, that "God of Wealth" didn't talk nonsense and directly smashed the statue of the God of Wealth in front of the shop.

That was truly bad luck!

The same methods also included "Sending the Plague God," "Sending the Fortune God," and "Sending the Picture of Descendants Filling the Hall"—it just depends on whether you accept it or not.

After all, it was the year-end festival. Most people, for the sake of a good omen, would pinch their noses and accept it, then take out some money to send them away.

But there were also those who couldn't hold back their anger.

After being visited several times in a row, some merchants directly got a few basins of sewage, extremely foul-smelling, and splashed it on anyone who dared to come to the door...

There were also merchants with explosive tempers who directly fought with the "God of Wealth," "Fortune God," and "God of Longevity," rolling around in the snow, drawing constant cheers from the side...

!.

In short, Chang'an City was exceptionally lively today.

The streets were frequently blocked. By the time Li Yan and the three others arrived at the south city gate, the sky was already dim.

At this time, the city gate was about to close. They didn't delay either. After leaving the city gate, they headed toward the wilderness snowfield in the south...

…………

Clatter!

The wind and snow whistled, and the corners of the three people's clothes fluttered wildly.

Everything around was pitch black, and the north wind blew tightly. Even if they lit torches, the visibility was extremely low, almost useless.

After several hours of trekking, they arrived at a mass grave. The wind and snow at night were even heavier, blowing until the three people's brains were numb.

Sha Lifei was somewhat dazed and suddenly looked to the left, muttering, "Feng Feng Shixiong Yan, how come I see a woman in white under the tree over there? Is it that I've also opened the eye supernatural power..."

Following Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan, he could be considered well-informed and was no longer afraid of any Yin objects, only suspecting that he had gained supernatural powers.

"Don't talk nonsense, I think you're frozen silly..."

Li Yan teased, but even so, he still held the Divine Tiger Order, stepped on the steps, and chanted: "Noga, open the great-grandson Wang Jia alone, Six-Jia Green Dragon, Six-Yi Meeting Star... hurry, hurry, like a law!"

"Awoo!"

As soon as the Northern Emperor Dengshan Technique came out, a tiger roar sounded in the ears of the three.

Li Yan had obtained a more authentic Northern Emperor Dengshan Technique, and with his Daoist practice becoming increasingly profound, the power of the Divine Tiger Order naturally also improved.

Sha Lifei clearly felt that the Yin wind around them had weakened a bit.

"This is..."

"The Yin energy on the ridge is heavy, and quite a few of those things have gathered, wanting to freeze us to death. Let's go, there's a place to shelter from the wind ahead!"

Li Yan greeted them while pressing down on his bamboo hat, and the three of them turned to the left of the mountain road against the wind and snow.

Creak~

The rotten main gate was pushed open, and the wind and snow poured in instantly.

Sha Lifei turned around in a hurry, closed the main gate tightly, and used a wooden stake to prop it up, only then blocking the violent wind and snow outside.

This was an abandoned mountain god temple, hidden in a mountain col on the left side of the mountain road. With the wind and snow blocking the road and the dim visibility, if it weren't for Li Yan's supernatural power, they wouldn't have discovered this place at all.

Sha Lifei relit the torch, and the rotten coffins in the ruined temple instantly came into view.

"Bad luck!"

His face looked ugly, and he looked at Li Yan to the side.

"It's fine, they're all empty coffins." Wang Daoxuan shook the snow off his coir raincoat and smiled. "These are all ordinary 'dog-bumping-heads' (a slang for poor people's coffins), not worth much. I guess they were thrown here by the beggars in the city who 'pick up road-falls' to make their work convenient."

"Road-falls" were people who died suddenly on the road.

Some were poor families suffering from serious illness and having no one to rely on, some were drunk and frozen to death on the street, and some were beaten to death in street fights...

Generally speaking, these "road-falls" were handled by the Beggar Sect in the city. After the yamen issued a notice, if no one claimed them, they would be carried directly to the mass grave to be buried.

Hearing that they were empty coffins, Sha Lifei instantly became bold. He went up to open them one by one, and sure enough, there was no one inside, so he was instantly happy. "Well, you scared me."

Although they were worthless coffins, they might eventually be the dwelling place of some unlucky ghost, so destroying them would be immoral. Therefore, the three of them ran outside the temple again, picked up some dry firewood, and lit a bonfire.

They heated two pots of wine and roasted the dry flour cakes and braised meat. After a bout of wolfing down, the three of them finally recovered their souls.

"Feng Feng Shixiong Yan, what's the plan for tonight?"

Sha Lifei asked while wiping his mouth.

Li Yan looked outside and shook his head. "No rush. Wait until the wind and snow are smaller. When we find a place of Yin evil, the Daoist will accompany me to set up the altar. Once the Yin evil energy is drawn, you two stay far away, lest you be hit by Yin objects."

"If this matter succeeds tonight, my Daoist practice will definitely improve faster."

"Good!"

Hearing that his Daoist practice could improve, Sha Lifei was instantly happy.

After waiting for a while, the wind and snow finally became smaller. Wang Daoxuan immediately picked up the compass and led Li Yan and the two others out.

A place of Yin evil was not hard to find. Before long, they found a cave, which should have been a grave hole that was half-dug, but after discovering something was wrong, it was immediately abandoned.

At this moment, the cave was covered with thick frost.

The evil energy gathered, just right for Li Yan's practice.

The three of them immediately began to set up. Sha Lifei brought a few large logs to block the wind and snow to avoid blowing out the candle flames, while Wang Daoxuan accompanied Li Yan to set up the Dharma altar.

After completion, the two nodded and left quickly.

In a moment, evil energy would gather here. If they weren't careful, they would be hit.

And Li Yan took out the soul-guiding incense from the package, his expression solemn, and lit it.

This thing cost quite a bit of silver, just because it was made of rhinoceros horn...

(End of chapter)