Chapter 169

The Yuzhen Temple occupies a vast area, taking up about a quarter of the entire ward. Within the temple, pavilions, towers, halls, and water-side gazebos are all present. Chang'an has numerous water systems; not to mention the eight major systems outside the city—the Jing, Wei, Hao, Feng, Chan, Ju, Ba, and Lao—within Chang'an city itself, there are eight channels built for water supply. To the west of Ban Zheng Ward, the Yong'an Canal flows from south to north.

Therefore, an artificial pond was excavated within the temple. Willows and cypresses were planted by the pond, and the pavilions and towers are connected by covered walkways. The palace maids in the temple are all dressed as Daoist nuns, yet their movements remain those of the imperial court, lacking the ethereal grace of Daoists.

Yan Shu led Qian Chen into a small pavilion. Hearing their footsteps, Si Qingguo in the pavilion hurriedly waved for her attendants to withdraw.

Qian Chen always felt the maids' gazes were strange when they left, as if they were whispering to themselves: "The Princess is getting more and more playful!"

"Qian Yan Shixiong, you've finally come... Playing another person always feels strange, and the karma of this Princess Yuzhen is so tragic! Her biological mother went missing after being summoned to the Jiayu Hall by the Empress, and she must have been executed! Even when her brother became Emperor, he searched everywhere for alchemists and sorcerers but could not find her. Her lifelong wish and karma are actually to recover the remains of her mother."

Si Qingguo played the role of the Princess quite convincingly. That demeanor etched into her bones, combined with the willful and unrestrained spirit she was indulged in by her father, truly made her look more like a Tang Dynasty princess than the princesses of the Jin era.

If someone else had played the role, such as Ning Ning Shimei Ning, even if they weren't exposed, they would certainly have been awkward at every turn.

No one is as unrestrained and at ease as Si Qingguo; she is incredibly adaptable.

"I might have a way regarding the remains of Empress Zhaocheng!" Qian Chen pondered for a moment and said, "But this matter is not the most urgent. The top priority is to find clues about the demon general who might wreak havoc in Chang'an."

"Also, the Princess calls me Taibai; you must not call me Qian Yan Shixiong again! Miaokong must be hiding very deeply now. Before we find him, we must be extremely cautious. Otherwise, with the enemy in the light and us in the dark, and him plotting in the shadows, don't forget the cautionary tales of True Person Yiye of Kunlun and Master Bai Yun."

"If you, Yan Yan Shixiong Taibai, are confident... I will introduce you to the Emperor, acting under the name of searching for the remains of Empress Zhaocheng."

Si Qingguo replied, following the flow of the situation.

Qian Chen nodded slightly: "That can be considered, but this identity is still too conspicuous. Appearing with an image based on Daoist arts will inevitably alert Miaokong."

At this moment, the Big Huang Ji walked out from the side hall with a swaggering gait. Its appearance had changed greatly; it was dyed with feathers of many colors, no longer entirely yellow, and stood proudly like a fighting cock. Seeing Qian Chen, it flew over as if it had recognized its father, burying its head in Qian Chen's embrace. With Ning Qingchen not around, Qian Chen didn't need to worry about her face, and he immediately sprinkled a handful of spirit pills.

The Big Huang Ji became even more affectionate, as if it wished to recognize Qian Chen as its master.

Qian Chen asked in surprise: "Why is it here, and not following Ning Ning Shimei Ning?"

"Yan Shixiong Sister Ning said Miaokong has seen it, and it's too conspicuous to follow her. So she dressed it up, and it appears as my beloved pet, a sturdy fighting cock. It caused the Emperor to ask yesterday why I had suddenly taken a liking to fighting cocks!" Si Qingguo looked at the Big Huang Ji's appearance and also found it amusing, resting her chin on her hand as she spoke.

Princess Yuzhen suffered such a tragedy in her childhood. After the Xuan Emperor ascended the throne, she would rather become a nun to live a quiet life, valuing health and life, than get involved in power struggles again. It is indeed very strange that she would suddenly like fighting cocks.

Fortunately, while Si Qingguo's brain doesn't work well at other times, she has an extraordinary talent for such things.

She smiled and said: "I told him that I saw fighting cocks battling and couldn't bear it, so I protected it. As a result, he rewarded me with many things... I think if I asked for an artifact close to a magic treasure, it wouldn't be impossible!"

The Xuan Emperor is indeed quite good to his family... Qian Chen nodded slightly upon hearing this. If not for his various acts of incompetence later, this person could indeed be called a wise ruler in his early years, but he fell into depravity too quickly!

Thinking of this, Qian Chen stood up and said: "Has General Pei been to the West Market? When it comes to a mix of all kinds of people, who can surpass that place? Let's go there to inquire if there has been anything unusual in Chang'an recently!" Si Qingguo immediately jumped for joy: "This Chang'an city is so prosperous, the spirit is truly something I have never seen before; it's much more fun than Jiankang! I haven't had a good look around yet!"

Qian Chen's next sentence dealt her a heavy blow: "You need to prepare to introduce us to the upper echelons of Chang'an tonight, and your target is too conspicuous, so... you cannot go!"

Si Qingguo instantly became dejected.

The Big Huang Ji wanted to stick to Qian Chen, but Qian Chen only let it accompany Si Qingguo, and he went out with Yan Shu. Si Qingguo handed them two identity tokens representing the Princess's mansion, allowing them to use her identity when necessary.

After leaving the Princess's mansion, the maids outside were still a bit surprised; why were they out so early?

Qian Chen glanced at her and sneered in his heart. What are the maids around this Li Tang princess thinking about?

When leaving the ward gate, Qian Chen saw Cen Can looking at the floating clouds in the sky cut open by sword Qi, chanting in a daze: "Do you not see, the waters of the Yellow River come from the sky..." He was so lost in thought that he was almost obsessed. On a whim, he called out to him: "Brother Cen, I have just arrived in Chang'an and want to experience the excitement nearby. Is there anything interesting to see recently?"

Cen Can turned his head and saw Qian Chen and Yan Shu standing side by side, and said unpleasantly: "The day before yesterday, someone was performing a beheading trick in the West Market. It is said that they can reattach a severed head. It is quite novel and has attracted many people to watch."

Qian Chen smiled: "If it's just that, it's nothing but ordinary sorcery; what is so strange about it?"

Cen Can shook his head: "This kind of sorcery is not strange, but to dare to perform it in Chang'an, they must have some guts. With this kind of guts, their skills shouldn't be bad..."

"Why is that?"

"There are many idlers in Chang'an, and many experts and heterodox practitioners as well. If this kind of illusion that bewitches the common people provokes other capable people to interfere, the outcome will truly be miserable," Cen Can said gloomily.

After saying this, he ignored Qian Chen and went back to his Longxing Temple.

Qian Chen and Yan Shu arrived at the West Market and saw a father and son selling their skills at the street corner. The old father held a machete; he was much smarter than the big man Qian Chen had rescued, knowing to bring his own props, so the probability of something going wrong was much smaller. Before he went on stage, he first begged the crowd: "There are many experts in the capital, and we are too poor to have any other way, so we dare to come here to sell our skills. This little trick is just to make a living. When the Qianqiu Festival arrives, we will leave the capital immediately. I ask the experts to show mercy!"

After saying this, he let his child lie on the ground and swung the knife to cut off his head.

The idlers watching were startled, and shouts immediately arose.

Fortunately, an idler who had watched the performance yesterday said: "It's fine, it's fine, look, there isn't even any blood! It will definitely be fine; as long as he recites a spell, he can reattach the head!"

At this time, the father recited the spell and performed the hand seals, but the child's head just wouldn't fly back.

Qian Chen knew that this was the illusion being broken. In manipulating illusions, the greatest taboo is to make the fake real. Someone had used a spell to see through this technique and then used their own meditative state to fix the illusion. In this way, if it dragged on for a while longer, the illusion would not be able to be broken, and the fake would become real.

The man on the stage also realized that someone was interfering.

He immediately bowed and begged incessantly: "Experts and seniors, we have been disrespectful in coming to the capital to show off our magic. I ask you to show mercy and spare us a way out. If the expert is willing to let this child go this once, we will surely worship the expert for life and take you as our master."

At this time, Yan Shu could no longer help but want to roll up his sleeves and take action.

Qian Chen hurriedly held him back and said: "I will use magic to maintain the child's vitality. This matter is not necessarily that simple; let's watch on."

The man's words were very sincere and pitiful, but the idlers in the West Market looked at each other. A foreign merchant who couldn't bear to watch secretly performed magic, wanting to break the meditative state. But most people only had a little bit of magic power, and the man recited the spell three more times, but the child still lay on the ground motionless. The idlers began to whisper, and a commotion arose. At this time, the Martial Guard post next to the West Market had already been alarmed.

A Bad Constable arrived at the street corner with several Bad Constables, saw the father and son selling their skills, and said: "Performing magic like this, and having someone die, is also a crime of murder. Sigh! Chang'an is not that easy to get by in, and I have no other way... Come with us for a trip!"

The man begged: "Official, if I leave, my child will die. Now I have one more way; I ask the official to forgive us for a little more time."

The Bad Constable looked at him and felt he was very pitiful, so he agreed.

The man drew a talisman on his own head, endured the severe pain to cut open his shoulder next to his neck, and buried a melon seed.

He called the child a few more times, but the child still didn't move. The melon seed on the man's shoulder instantly grew vines, then bloomed with small yellow flowers, and immediately the yellow flowers fell. A small melon grew from small to large, quickly maturing to the size of the man's head. The man shed tears and said: "I ask the expert to let go! I am willing to never step into the capital for the rest of my life, as long as you spare my son's life."

He recited the spell again and called the child.

It was still motionless. At this time, Yan Shu had already seen the trick, so he stopped speaking.

The man said: "I didn't want to kill anyone, but since you have forced me to this point, I can only be ruthless!"

After saying this, he raised his hand and brought down the knife, cutting off his own head. Everyone was shocked... A foreign monk in the crowd suddenly fell down, his head rolling far away.

Qian Chen sighed: "He is a ruthless man!"

This person knew that the monk could break the illusion, so he pretended to swap the monk's head with this melon, making the monk think he could control his magic. Then, he actually used the most dangerous blood sacrifice technique among the nightmare-victory techniques to link the monk's head and his own head's Qi together, and then cut them off together, thus ending the monk's life.

As for the man's own head, it was swapped with the melon next to him through illusion. At this time, he deceived his body into thinking this melon was his head, thus continuing his life through illusion.

Next, he only needed to recite the spell using ventriloquism to reattach his head and win this battle of magic.

But at this moment, a black Qi rose from the monk's corpse, sealing the man's navel...

It was the monk's soul, unwilling to give up, taking advantage of the remaining Yin Qi to close the man's ventriloquism.

The man wept silently. It didn't matter if he died, but if he couldn't recite the spell, his son would also die. At this time, Qian Chen took action, summoning a yellow bird flying in the sky to peck at the melon on the man's shoulder. The first peck opened a mouth, and the second and third pecks opened two eyes.

The man wept and said: "Thank you for your help, expert, thank you for your help!"

He recited the spell, and his own head flew up and reattached to his neck. The man shouted at his son again, and the child rose in response, safe and sound.

At this time, the cheers like mountains erupted from below. The citizens of Chang'an were greatly satisfied by this twisty plot.

Copper coins flew onto the stage like rain, but the man didn't dare to take them. He only put his son in a cloth bag and carried him on his back. He carefully hid the melon on his neck behind his back and worshipped it. He pulled his son to thank the expert before hurrying away. A group of idlers rushed up to pick up the copper coins, only to find that they had all turned into paper money pasted on the ground.

Yan Shu said in surprise: "Qian Shidi has such brilliant transportation magic."

Qian Chen smiled: "Since it is for a living that they take such strange risks, it is worth fulfilling them a little."

Yan Shu smiled: "When he breaks open this melon, he should see gold."

Qian Chen nodded slightly: "Yan Yan Shixiong's eyesight is not wrong... It is exactly my intention. The money on the ground is earned by labor, so it should naturally belong to him. Qian Shidi has always been so clear."

The two laughed heartily, and after watching this excitement, they turned into the West Market!