Chapter 772: Playing Along

"What happened?"

Li Yan frowned, noticing something wrong.

He was the leader of the Twelve Yuan Chen. Although he was recuperating and unconscious, Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei could temporarily take over, but they would definitely discuss with him before taking risks by splitting forces.

Unless, something big happened.

Sure enough, Sha Lifei lowered his voice and said: "Something did happen."

"The chaos three days ago was so loud that it spread to the capital. The imperial court was furious, and the imperial envoy rushed to Jiangnan. A series of officials were dismissed and investigated—the Yangzhou Prefect, the Grain Transport Admiral, the Commandant's Office Battalion Commander, and even the City God Temple abbot were all detained."

"Now the streets and alleys of the city are covered with notices, soldiers are searching for remnants from house to house, and the canal wharf is still blocked."

"Didn't you ask Cheng Yun of the Jin Yanmen to send a letter to Daoist Luo in the capital? That Battalion Commander Tian followed the imperial envoy to Yangzhou. Fatty Lin, for the sake of the overall situation, told the whole truth about Lin Yaozu colluding with the Japanese pirates! As a result, everyone in the Jin Ling Lin family was labeled with the crime of colluding with bandits and were all thrown into death row waiting to be beheaded."

"Fatty Lin was afraid of implicating the innocent members of the Lin family, so he and Kong Shangzhao followed Battalion Commander Tian to Jin Ling first to be tried together, so as to avoid anyone being wronged to death."

Li Yan was thoughtful: "It can be considered abandoning the pawn to save the chariot, preserving the vitality of the Lin family. However, the situation in Jin Ling is complex, and it is dangerous to rely on just the three of them. Why didn't you follow them?"

Sha Lifei shook his head slowly, his face becoming solemn: "You were unconscious for these three days, your breath as thin as a thread. Daoist Wang checked and said that your body needs at least three days of bed rest and cannot move around. Also..."

As he spoke, Sha Lifei leaned closer, looked around, and whispered:

"The Jin Yanmen's secret agents just sent a secret report, 'Nine Tripods'... have appeared!"

"What?!"

Hearing this, Li Yan's pupils shrank to the size of needle points.

He had seen the power of the Nine Tripods. Although the ascension formation from the time of the First Emperor had long been destroyed, as long as this thing appeared, it would be a heaven-shaking disaster.

Thinking of this, Li Yan hurriedly asked: "Is it the Yangzhou Tripod?"

"That's right."

Sha Lifei nodded, took out half a piece of tattered silk from his bosom, and pointed to the blurred ink on it: "The news came strangely. A night watchman found it under a broken stele at the old River God Temple at the Guazhou Ferry. It was painted with all kinds of star maps and water vein maps, and there were a few lines of small characters... look, this one."

He pointed to the twisted characters that looked like tadpoles, "Several old scholars in the Jin Yanmen tore apart the 'Cloud Book Seven Slips' before they could barely recognize a little, saying... it seems to be the whereabouts of the Yangzhou Tripod."

He licked his somewhat dry lips and lowered his voice: "The clue points to a character who only circles in wild history and miscellaneous talks—Zhou Yin Yao. Daoist Wang said that this person is recorded in the Mystic Sect. He once boiled white stones into food by the Qinhuai River in Yangzhou, and later turned into a white crane and rode the clouds away."

"It sounds like some fairy tales that are not grounded. But Daoist Wang and I went to the death row to interrogate several local snakes and water rats mixed in with the Japanese pirates. We didn't use heavy torture, just revealed your name, Li Yanwang, and those soft-boned guys spilled everything."

"They confessed that just a few days ago, someone really cast a wide net with heavy rewards, having them scout for news of an old Daoist priest inside and outside Yangzhou City, both openly and in secret! The description from the portrait provided was strange, saying he was an old man wearing a tattered ramie robe who often wandered in quiet places along the Qinhuai River. The most conspicuous thing was—he had an old gourd tied to his waist, with the character 'Boil' carved on it, and occasionally one could see him using a greenish-blue stone to boil water."

"Those people also gave him a nickname, called 'Old Man Boiling Stones with Green Frost'!"

"Zhou Yin Yao..."

Li Yan frowned tightly, "He can do more than just boil stones."

He had previously entrusted people to collect many stories about the evolution of folk gods in the Mystic Sect. After all, he was a living Yin official, and after seeing the power of Zhao Changsheng and Lu Sheng, he had collected a lot of information about immortals in various places.

Zhou Yin Yao was a legendary immortal in the Mystic Sect. His deeds were scattered in many strange records and local gazetteers of the Tang and Song dynasties, especially the "Taiping Guangji" citing "Immortal Biography Fragments" was the most detailed.

He claimed to be a descendant of the "Four Haos of Mount Shang," and practiced the "Taiyin Refining Form Technique" in Zhenjiang, becoming an immortal through three "fake deaths."

He resurrected six years after his first death, "died" again sixteen years later, and resurrected seven years later.

In the end, although he was nearly eighty years old, he still looked like a young man.

Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Taizong of Tang both summoned him, but he declined.

The "Taiyin Refining Form Technique" is an important method for practicing the Earth Immortal body, and the difficulty can be imagined, but this guy succeeded three times in a row, which is already beyond common sense.

Could it be that he is also a hidden Yin criminal?

And who gave the order to those water bandits to find this person?

Just as Li Yan was pondering, his ears moved imperceptibly.

On the wharf outside, the noise became louder and louder for some reason.

The sound of people like a tide approached from far to near.

"Is Li Immortal's treasure ship this one?"

"Master Yu was cured by Li Shaoxia! What a miracle doctor!"

"My mother has been paralyzed for three years, begging Li Immortal to use immortal methods to save her life——!"

"Let go! Let the ones in front let go! My child is vomiting black blood——!"

"Bang! Bang bang!"

A slight vibration and slapping sound came from the ship's body, obviously many people were slapping the ship's board.

"Clatter-clatter——"

Something knocked over the bamboo baskets piled on the wharf cargo pile.

Women's weeping, old people's begging, children's screams, and the anxious roars of young men sounded at the same time.

"Clang!"

The front cabin door was pushed open violently, and the water mist and river breeze poured in violently.

The first to step into the cabin was Wang Daoxuan.

The Daoist was a bit embarrassed at this moment, his wide Daoist robe hem was full of mud spots, and his forehead was sweating.

Long Yaner, who followed him, was also full of helplessness at this moment.

After Wu Ba entered the door, he used his body to resist the cabin door that kept shaking.

Wang Daoxuan took two steps in three and rushed to the porthole, pushed open the window board, looked at it for a few times, and then smiled helplessly: "Brother Yan, trouble is coming."

Li Yan stood up slowly and went to the window to check.

The scene outside the window made his scalp tingle.

The wide shore base of the wharf was already impassable, and the black-pressed heads were moving like a rushing ant colony, spreading to the depths of the street as far as the eye could see.

Countless men, women, old, and young, in cloth and silk clothes, were mixed together.

Some held high rough cloth banners with "Miracle Doctor Reborn" and "Life-Saving Bodhisattva" written on them;

Some slapped the ship's side hard, and the piercing sound of fingernails scratching the ship's board was mixed in the shouting;

Some held weak children in their arms, and the child's face was cyan-gray, foaming at the mouth;

Some used door panels to carry elderly people who were on the verge of death. The elderly people's limbs were stiff, and there were strange cyan-purple finger marks on the exposed skin...

Faces intertwined with despair and anticipation completely blocked the wharf.

The wave of noise hit the narrow porthole:

"Living Immortal saves the suffering!"

"Li Shaoxia! Beg you to open your grace and see my child!"

"My wife is bumped by guests every night..."

"The news of Master Yu's recovery spread too fast."

Wang Daoxuan smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "Plus the prestige you showed subduing demons and monsters in the fog these past two days... the people of Yangzhou truly regard you as a living immortal who saves the suffering!"

"Hmm..." ===== CHAPTER 773 =====