Chapter 219: Come Back Sooner...

Lu Yuan soothed Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an, told the two to take care of Hu Yangyang and Hu Tutu and make sure they finish their meal, then hurry and prepare their gear.

He also reminded Hu Fengfeng and Hu Tutu to eat well at Zhenlong Temple and practice diligently.

After finishing all his instructions, Lu Yuan greeted Shen Shulan and then went straight to the main hall of Zhenlong Temple.

At that moment, Zhou Shouzuo was alone under the dim lamp, organizing the account books.

When he saw Lu Yuan enter, he quickly stood and asked:

"Senior Brother, is everything arranged?"

Lu Yuan sat at the table, spread open the oilcloth ledger, and tapped a region with his fingertip.

"These households that maintain offerings, leave them entirely to you."

"You know how to pick people best, who is steady, who is sharp, who is suitable to take the lead."

Zhou Shouzuo's expression brightened, he nodded solemnly and said:

"Senior Brother, rest assured. I will be extremely cautious."

Lu Yuan paused, then remembered something and lowered his voice to instruct:

"Oh, and those two little girls, Hu Yangyang and Hu Tutu."

"Those kids originally come from the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, they practice the Continuing the Lamp methods."

"We should teach them Zhenlong Temple's Daoist methods too, but don't force them to change their lineage."

"Their roots are ultimately with the Hu family; we cannot sever their inheritance."

Hearing this, Zhou Shouzuo's eyes showed a flash of understanding as he said quietly:

"Senior Brother, your kindness is clear. I understand."

After saying this, Lu Yuan continued going through the oilcloth ledger and explained the characteristics of those yin-gathering pools and households that maintain offerings.

Of course, Lu Yuan had never been to these places nor seen them himself.

All he knew came from what Li Guanqi and Fu Yuanshan had said earlier, and Lu Yuan had a good memory; he repeated everything they said today to Zhou Shouzuo.

He hoped Zhou Shouzuo would gain more understanding of those locations so that when arranging disciples to go, he could be more confident and reduce risk.

By the time Lu Yuan finished arranging everything, it was almost eleven at night.

While explaining the yin-gathering pools and offering households to Zhou Shouzuo, he had eaten a bowl of noodle soup sent by the dining hall, so he was not particularly hungry now.

Lu Yuan went to the backyard on purpose; Hu Yangyang and Hu Tutu were already asleep. Their room was right next to Lu Yuan's.

The two little girls lay side by side, their small hands resting on the quilt, sleeping soundly. Hu Tutu even let out a faint snore, looking truly adorable.

Lu Yuan stood at the doorway and watched quietly for a moment, feeling mixed emotions.

He turned to Zhou Shouzuo, who followed him, and said softly:

"These two children, I leave them to you from now on."

"Teach them skills, protect them. The sins their father committed should not be atoned for by them."

Zhou Shouzuo looked at the two tender children and immediately said in a deep voice:

"Senior Brother, you can rest easy."

Lu Yuan nodded and said no more. He only looked at Zhou Shouzuo and said:

"You came with me, so start arranging things."

Zhou Shouzuo nodded, made a slight salute to Lu Yuan and said:

"Senior Brother, be careful in everything."

Then Zhou Shouzuo turned and left.

Lu Yuan did not return to his own room. He walked straight toward the side hall in Zhenlong Temple's backyard that belonged to Gu Qingwan.

Moonlight like water spilled onto the bluestone path.

The side hall remained quiet; a warm orange light glowed through the window.

Lu Yuan paused at the door for a moment, took a deep breath, and lightly knocked on the door.

Before there was any sound from inside, Lu Yuan gently pushed the door open and walked in.

The furnishings inside were the same as before, with no changes.

As always, they were simple, perhaps even monotonous.

Moonlight streamed through the window, spilling over the cold bluestone floor and outlining a desk and chair, and in the center of the room stood the heavy, solemn blackwood coffin.

That coffin contained Gu Qingwan's true body.

Lu Yuan closed the door behind him, shutting the night out.

With a soft click, as the door closed, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

The next second, a dark red-black figure rose soundlessly from the edge of the coffin lid, gradually solidifying and hovering in midair.

Gu Qingwan did not speak, she simply floated there.

Her eyes, deep as if holding a galaxy, stared at Lu Yuan with a faint, almost imperceptible concern and questioning.

Lu Yuan looked at her and smiled, that smile appearing particularly warm in the dim light.

He then carefully took from his bosom the piece of Dragon-Swallowed Wood wrapped in brocade.

Unwrapping the brocade revealed dead, gray-black wood that nevertheless faintly exuded a dragon aura.

Lu Yuan held up the Dragon-Swallowed Wood between them, his fingertips tracing the cold grain.

"Senior Uncle Shen Jizhou sent this."

"This is a fine piece, Dragon-Swallowed Wood. It carries a trace of true earth-vein dragon qi and has been tempered by thunder and fire, making it sturdy."

"I reckon this is the best material for attaching a limb to you."

As Lu Yuan finished speaking, Gu Qingwan floated slightly closer, extended a slender finger, and lightly tapped above the Dragon-Swallowed Wood.

Her face, always aloof and cool, briefly showed a humanlike softness before returning to its usual composure.

Before Gu Qingwan could say anything, Lu Yuan quickly continued:

"However, this cannot be rushed."

"This wood is excellent, but the dragon qi is violent and the pith has hidden damage. It cannot be used directly."

Saying that, Lu Yuan stepped to the side of the huge coffin and pushed against the lid with his shoulder, forcing it open with a creak.

He moved the coffin lid aside enough to place the Dragon-Swallowed Wood next to Gu Qingwan's true body and said:

"We still have to do as before: let it be bathed day and night in your aura. The dragon qi will be slowly nurtured and tamed, becoming gentle."

Lu Yuan carefully laid the heavy Dragon-Swallowed Wood across the edge of the blackwood coffin.

When the wood touched the coffin, a muffled sound echoed, like an ancient bell waking from a long sleep.

Relying solely on aura immersion would be too slow and might not truly fuse.

The Dragon-Swallowed Wood's nature is fierce as fire; without guidance, a forced connection could scorch Gu Qingwan's foundation.

Well...

By standard reasoning, that would be the case.

But Gu Qingwan was not ordinary, so scorching her foundational core probably wouldn't happen.

Lu Yuan, however, feared that Gu Qingwan's malevolent energy might disrupt the small trace of dragon qi within the wood.

So he had to use Daoist methods to open its 'aperture' and let it recognize its master first.

After placing the Dragon-Swallowed Wood, Lu Yuan took a deep breath. He did not immediately form seals, but took three copper coins from his bosom and held them between his teeth.

Then he took three ready incense sticks, lit them from the oil lamp on the table.

The azure smoke curled up and wound through the dim side hall.

Holding the three incense sticks, Lu Yuan bowed deeply to the blackwood coffin.

He murmured words, his voice low and rhythmic as if communicating with some unknowable presence:

"First I bow to the earth, second I bow to ghosts and gods, third I bow to the Patriarch above..."

After finishing, Lu Yuan placed the three incense sticks steadily in the censer before the coffin lid.

The wavering flame lit his determined profile.

Then Lu Yuan moved.

He stepped his left foot forward onto the "Qian" position, and his right foot followed to the "Kun" position.

This footwork was the basic prototype of Daoist Yu Steps.

But under Lu Yuan's feet, it produced an ancient and profound rhythm.

Each step fell as if on some nodal point in the void, producing a muffled resonance that only he could hear, a deep echo in tune with the earth.

"Heaven round, earth square, laws of nine chapters."

"I now command this order, wood has wood soul..."

As his steps shifted, Lu Yuan began to form hand seals.

His movements flowed like clouds and water, yet were fast enough to dazzle.

First his left thumb hooked his middle finger, the other three fingers straight, forming the Heavenly Thunder Seal.

Then his right index and ring fingers bent with the thumb pressing down, forming the Xun Wind Seal.

With the two seals formed, he suddenly drew his arms apart like drawing a bow at full moon!

"Kan and Li join, wind and thunder clash!"

Lu Yuan shouted softly, not summoning real thunder like Shen Shulan, but guiding a faint trace of zhenran from his fingertips.

It transformed into two nearly invisible bluish-purple arcs of electricity that struck both ends of the Dragon-Swallowed Wood in an instant!

"Zzz—"

A subtle electric hiss sounded. The once-dead Dragon-Swallowed Wood seemed injected with life; the dead gray-black surface trembled slightly.

From within came a low dragon-like rumble. The violent dragon qi was indeed being suppressed and drawn out.

But that was not enough.

Lu Yuan abruptly finished the movement. His hands changed shape; his thumb and index finger interlocked, the other three fingers extended, forming an extremely complex Through the Seclusion Seal.

Then Lu Yuan dipped his index finger in the blood on his tongue.

This was the most primal essence-spirit tincture; he pressed it onto the center of the Dragon-Swallowed Wood.

"With my blood, I beckon your soul!"

At the end of that incantation, the Dragon-Swallowed Wood trembled violently.

The formerly dead gray-black wood lost some of its lifelessness and showed a warm, dark red sheen.

It was no longer a detached piece lying beside the coffin, but faintly linked to Gu Qingwan's true body in the coffin.

Gu Qingwan's soul-body trembled slightly.

She clearly felt the fierce dragon qi inside the wood beginning to be slowly and obediently drawn into her true body along that subtle connection, while at the point of contact it was mitigated and assimilated by a gentle force.

Lu Yuan did not stop. He knew that to make this willful Dragon-Swallowed Wood truly submit, the previous steps were merely an appetizer.

He inhaled the mixed scent of sandalwood incense and dragon wood, his eyes suddenly sharpening.

Lu Yuan planted his feet hard, tension like a drawn bow suddenly released.

He no longer walked the gentle Yu Steps but unleashed an extremely fierce Daoist method, the Gang Steps Combat Strike.

Step by step like constellations, step by step like thunder!

"Qian, Kun, Liáng, Dui, Yi, Zhen, Li, Kan!"

With each low shout, the bluestone floor under Lu Yuan's feet emitted a heavy cracking sound.

Invisible qi exploded under his soles, forming mysterious trigram imprints.

Dust in the side hall rose and hovered as if space itself trembled.

At the same time, Lu Yuan's fingers flew in a frenzy.

What he chanted was no longer the gentle incantation but an obscure edict:

"Radiant sun, rising in the east!"

"I now command: wood soul return to place!"

"Heavenly malevolence return to station, earthly malevolence hide!"

"Five elements in harmony, seven governance lights shine!"

"Use the body as mediator, use blood as lure."

As the incantation deepened, Lu Yuan bit his tongue and let a mouthful of heart-blood mixed with saliva spit viciously onto the Dragon-Swallowed Wood!

"Hum—!"

The Dragon-Swallowed Wood shook violently. The dragon qi that had been suppressed seemed provoked, trying to erupt from the wood.

This surge was locked tight by the Wind and Thunder two seals Lu Yuan had previously set.

"Lock!!"

Lu Yuan shouted, his hands clapped together, then tore hard to the left and right!

"Open! Heaven Gate!"

"Close, Earth Door!"

His left hand formed the Sun Lord Seal, his right the Moon Burst Seal.

His arms spread like a great roc unfurling wings, then suddenly closed toward the blackwood coffin!

"Heaven and earth boundless, let Qian and Kun borrow the method!"

"Command this wood, be an eternal seal in the netherworld!"

Boom!

A muffled reverberation burst in the side hall, not loud but heart-shaking.

The Dragon-Swallowed Wood was as if shoved by an invisible hand and forced into the seam between the coffin lid and the coffin body.

The Dragon-Swallowed Wood pressed tightly against Gu Qingwan's true body.

The once dead gray-black material now showed an eerie dark-red bloodlight.

Veins of bloodlike light, as if alive, spread swiftly along the coffin's grain, welding the Dragon-Swallowed Wood and the blackwood coffin together in an instant.

Gu Qingwan's soul-body fluctuated wildly. Surprise flickered through her galaxy-like eyes.

She could clearly feel a pure and domineering dragon qi streaming along those blood-colored veins into her true body, while at the surface it was wrapped by a gentle force, like laying a foundation at the place of her severed leg.

After completing all this, Lu Yuan's face turned as pale as paper, beads of sweat the size of soybeans trickled down his forehead, and he panted heavily.

"I used a Daoist binding method like a Immortal-Binding Cord to tie it with you."

"The wood now can't run or rebel even if it wanted to."

Gu Qingwan's soul-body slowly floated down and pointed at the Dragon-Swallowed Wood, feeling that force both violent and tamed.

Creak!

Another tooth-grinding scraping sound rose.

The coffin lid was pushed back into place.

Lu Yuan exhaled deeply and looked at Gu Qingwan hovering in midair, who had been watching him intently. He said earnestly:

"When I return this time from outside, it should be ready to use."

Gu Qingwan still did not speak; she simply nodded slightly with her delicate chin.

Lu Yuan pulled an old brass pocket watch from his pocket and glanced at it; it was already half past midnight.

As he put the watch away, he smiled at Gu Qingwan hovering in the air and said:

"Time is getting tight. I still have to check on the old man, and then I must leave quickly."

"Stay here at ease. When I return, the Dragon-Swallowed Wood will have adapted to your body, and the old man will probably be awake."

"At that time, we'll attach new legs for you, and then start preparing to remove the malevolent methods locking your central acupoints."

After saying this, Lu Yuan waved to Gu Qingwan in midair, then turned and left with a flourish.

However, just as Lu Yuan turned and prepared to go, the collar of his coat was hooked by a long slender finger.

For a moment, Lu Yuan nearly had his throat grabbed.

When he came back to his senses and looked back, he saw Gu Qingwan had slipped a jade pendant into his collar.

"Come back earlier....."