Chapter 88: 91, 92 Peace in the Northern Lands, Ghosts Laugh in the Night (Big Chapter, Seeking Subscriptions)

Even though the An Mansion was as busy as a beehive, the departure of Lady Zhushan and the series of consequences it brought ultimately left the An Mansion feeling much emptier.

Nowadays, the An Mansion is divided into three areas: the Waiyuan, the Neizhai, and the Jiazhuzhai.

The Waiyuan consists of guards, stewards, and the like; the Neizhai was originally for members of the An clan, but now, as the An family has grown, many clansmen have been assigned various tasks.

These clansmen who were assigned tasks moved out, settled near the An Mansion, and then returned periodically to report to Young Miss An, or to cautiously say, "I hope to do more work."

The Jiazhuzhai is, of course, a restricted area of the An family and the core of the An family. The permanent residents here are Song Cheng, An Chenyu, Tong Jia, Ying'er, and Ling'er.

Because Lady Zhushan was partners with Song Cheng and taught Tong Niangzi knowledge, she naturally lived here too. Now that she has left, the room has also become vacant.

Not only that, the chain reaction was that Tong Niangzi also became as frantically busy as Young Miss An used to be.

Song Cheng had only just managed to drag one wife who was "working overtime and pulling all-nighters" back to a normal schedule, and now another one had popped up. Are there many things to do at Zhushan Temple?

Before Tong Jia became the acting Temple Master, she thought there weren't many.

But after she took the position, she finally knew why she had that feeling before.

Because there were too many matters that Lady Zhushan hadn't handled. Lady Zhushan was obsessed with researching medicine and refining Pills, and many of those matters had been backlogged for a long time.

It was typical of "if I'm happy to do it, I'll do it; if I'm not, I'll leave it for now."

However, these backlogged matters were not actually considered urgent.

But the timing of Lady Zhushan's departure was too good; it was after the great battle, when everything was stable, that she left.

And the result? Three of the four counties controlled by Zhushan Temple were frantically coming to ask for help.

Why three counties?

Because the other one was Xiegu County, which had been slaughtered by the barbarians.

Although it is said that Xiegu County was slaughtered, there were still survivors. These survivors formed refugees, fleeing in all directions, and are now stumbling and wandering everywhere.

Places where the dead are buried and people eat their own children—there were few who paid attention to these things in the dust.

But Tong Niangzi had walked out of a village herself, so how could she not pay attention?

Handling various temple affairs, providing relief to disaster victims, refining Pills, studying, practicing martial arts, treating difficult and miscellaneous diseases, carefully studying the books left by Lady Zhushan, plus the time on the road and the time for meals—Tong Niangzi often looked up and it was Daytime, and before she could react, it was dark. Then she looked and saw there were still many things left to handle, thinking that if she could handle one more, perhaps more people could live, so she buried her head and continued working. By the time she came to her senses, it was already past midnight. And since it took time to rush back to the An Mansion at this hour, Tong Niangzi simply collapsed and fell asleep at the Zhushan Temple office.

She also wanted to completely delegate the work to the people below.

But no one would agree, because the temple rules stated that decisions must be made by the Temple Master.

Song Cheng remained leisurely.

He walked around, and when he had time, he would carry gifts to Huahaifang and White Camel Manor to pay a visit.

The disciples of White Camel Manor were also familiar with this Song the Second. Whenever Song the Second came, he could enter after a brief announcement.

The "Second" in "Song the Second" corresponded to the "Big" in "Big Hall Master."

Imperceptibly, people had already accepted Song Cheng's status.

Because Song Cheng did not suddenly drop from the sky; although his rise was extremely rapid, it was also very smooth. He had appeared in many people's line of sight when the barbarians besieged the city and the Ghost servants launched a sneak attack. Coupled with the things the An family had accumulated, such as treating the son of the External Affairs Envoy and setting up porridge stalls, it made it so that the three words "Song the Second" would not be envied by anyone, but would instead give a feeling of being one of their own as a matter of course.

And the entrances to the Prefecture City were all equipped with "Manifestation Water" provided by Zhushan Temple.

Ordinary people could drink it without issue.

But if a Ghost servant drank it, their flesh and blood would peel away, revealing their original evil Ghost state.

After these Ghost servants were discovered, most were killed by the stationed Martial Artists and the army.

But there were still a small number that were not killed immediately; they were tied up, shackled, and used for research.

This was the instruction of Song the Second.

The people below naturally followed it.

On this day, the martial arts hall reported that they had captured a few alive.

Song Cheng told them to keep an eye on them first, and he would go take a look.

However, Song Cheng was worried that if he researched them alone, he might not be able to find anything.

Therefore, he specifically pulled Tong Niangzi along.

Tong Niangzi didn't know much before either.

But now, she had already carefully read the meditation techniques and the books recording ghosts and monsters left by Lady Zhushan several times, and her knowledge had already grown.

So she agreed immediately, and then brought a trusted Zhai Master from Zhushan Temple to meet up with Song Cheng.

This type of Soul-refining force in Zhushan Temple is different from the External and Internal Affairs Envoys of normal Jianghu forces; there are three Zhais inside.

The first Zhai, the Medicine Zhai.

Responsible for planting medicine, refining medicine, and trading.

The second Zhai, the Gathering Zhai.

Responsible for gathering medicine, and this kind of gathering is not just going up the mountain to pick herbs; there is also "gathering medicine" from Ghost servants, "gathering medicine" from magical beasts, and going out to search for suitable targets willing to be medicine-men.

The third Zhai, the Medicine-man Zhai.

Responsible for cultivating medicine-men, enabling them to break through steadily, and maximizing their strength. After all, a medicine-man takes a step further beyond their own limits through medicine; where this step can go depends on their performance at the time.

Among these three Zhais, the most arduous, most powerful, and most promising is naturally the "Gathering Zhai," because the "Gathering Zhai" needs to go out to handle affairs. Cultivation resources naturally need to be poured into them.

This also makes every person in Zhushan Temple who wants to get ahead want to join the Gathering Zhai.

Just like the previous "clerk Hua Wen of the second floor of Qianzhen Ge," he was originally from the "Medicine Zhai," but after recommending Song Cheng and making a contribution, he was transferred to the "Gathering Zhai," which is why Song Cheng would later see Hua Wen collecting the corpses of Ghost servants, and would see Hua Wen waving at him in a friendly and happy way.

Among the masters of these three Zhais, the only one who can be at leisure is actually the master of the Medicine-man Zhai.

This Zhai Master is named Chen Ji.

This is a fat woman who likes to wear a red-bottomed jacket with small white floral patterns.

This fat woman is also a Soul-refining practitioner, followed by two "Form Realm" medicine-men.

Outside, this Medicine-man Zhai Master usually has a fierce and cold expression, making people feel she is not easy to approach, but strangely... she is very enthusiastic and friendly toward Tong Jia, seemingly without the slightest jealousy of this "acting Temple Master who can almost be said to have dropped from the sky." Her attitude is almost consistent with that of Lady Zhushan.

And after Song Cheng saw Chen Ji with his own eyes, and saw that her favorability toward him was as high as 90, he knew... this attitude was not faked.

The three of them walked into the cold prison corridor, and after walking for a short while, they arrived in front of the special cage where the Ghost servants were imprisoned.

Among them, the cage walls were thickened, and the shackles were all specially made from extraordinary iron.

"Sister Chen, I will stay with my husband for a while," Tong Jia said.

"Yes, Master of the Temple," Chen Ji replied respectfully, then led the two medicine-men away.

Immediately, the couple looked at the prison cage in front of them, and through the thick iron bars, looked at the Ghost servants inside.

Song Cheng said: "Temple Master Tong, you haven't been home for two nights."

Tong Niangzi sighed softly and said: "I will return tonight."

Song Cheng raised his hand, pointing at the Ghost servants in the distance one by one.

"Two ordinary Ghost servants, two Jin Realm Ghost servants, no Form Realm ones.

Ghost servants are quite special; once one becomes a Ghost servant, the lowest level is Force Realm.

Therefore, an ordinary Ghost servant is a Force Realm Ghost servant."

Tong Niangzi said: "Madam has actually studied this long ago.

Just from the appearance, one cannot distinguish a Ghost servant.

Even their bodies are warm.

Unless you can cut open their bodies, only then would you discover the supernatural elements hidden within—human skin, grave soil, wax, and so on.

They inherit the memories and characteristics of the living.

Even some intelligence... although it is a bit dull and not as good as when they were alive, it is still very terrifying.

As for the transformation, I am not sure either."

Song Cheng clapped his hands.

Before long, a death-row prisoner wearing prison clothes was escorted over.

The death-row prisoner's mouth was stuffed with cotton cloth, and he was struggling vigorously, his eyes flashing with a light of fear.

Tong Jia revealed a slight look of unbearable pity.

Song Cheng said: "This man was once a village head of a village. A young girl was defiled at night and went to seek justice from him. This village head incited the villagers, saying that if it weren't for the young girl being unchaste and dressing beautifully, how could she have been defiled? However, there were still quite a few people in the village who supported the girl.

The village head had no choice but to say he would investigate the culprit.

This matter was left unsettled, and afterwards, a famine soon arrived.

That young girl's family had nothing to eat, and after she and her mother had been hungry for several days, they went to find the village head, but the village head only said it would take a few more days before it was their family's turn.

At this time, someone else brought fatty meat to his door.

Watching her mother about to starve to death, the girl traded her body for meat.

After that, the girl's reputation was completely ruined; no matter where she went, she was pointed at, and the people cursing her used the most vicious words in the world, which were particularly nasty.

The girl's mother could not bear the humiliation and hanged herself, and the girl also committed suicide.

And the one who defiled this girl... was this village head's son.

The one controlling the distribution of relief grain was precisely this village head.

Of course, this matter alone was not enough to expose him and have him caught.

It was mainly because he had done many other evil deeds, was caught by the patrolling disciples of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall, and only then did an investigation reveal all these things.

Master, do you still think he is pitiful?"

Song Cheng grabbed the death-row prisoner, opened the cell door, shoved him in, and then clapped his hands.

A "chi-chi" sound of chains stretching came from the cage.

The four Ghost servants shackled tightly to the wall were suddenly able to move a greater distance.

But the four Ghost servants did not move.

Song Cheng took Tong Jia and turned to leave, hiding in a secluded place to watch secretly.

After a long while, the four Ghost servants suddenly moved, one by one pouncing on the village head who had already been scared into wetting his pants.

The village head was quickly dismembered, and then Song Cheng saw one of the Ghost servants vomit foul-smelling mud water from its mouth, and then slap this mud water onto the dismembered corpse bit by bit.

Immediately, the dismembered body seemed to possess magnetism, "pa-pa-pa" sticking back together, and the wounds also recovered perfectly.

Then, this unfettered Ghost servant village head pounced on the locked Ghost servants, wanting to use the strange strength it had gained to tear apart the chains.

In Song Cheng's eyes.

The strength of that Ghost servant spitting foul mud water was initially "25~25", but after consuming the mud water and turning the village head into a Ghost servant, its strength became "10~10".

If a Ghost servant wants to transform a Ghost servant, it will weaken itself and regress by one grade.

And the reason the Ghost servants did this was because they were all locked by specially made shackles.

But the village head was not.

If the village head became a Ghost servant, perhaps he could tear open the shackles, smash the iron cage, and let them out.

Thus, he stepped forward, casually subdued the Ghost servant village head, then put shackles on this new Ghost servant and locked it separately in a new cage.

Then he clapped his hands again, called in a second death-row prisoner, and threw him into the cage where the new Ghost servant was located.

But this time, the village head Ghost servant did not take action; it just kept inciting the death-row prisoner, asking him to find a way to take him along and escape together.

Song Cheng was thoughtful, then continued the experiment... After a long time, he reached an answer: for a Ghost servant to want to transform a Ghost servant, the weakest one must be of the "Jin Realm".

And after the transformation, the "Jin Realm" Ghost servant would fall to a "Force Realm Ghost servant", so unless necessary, they would not transform.

This conclusion made Song Cheng feel slightly relieved.

Otherwise, if Ghost servants could transform without limit, that would be too terrifying.

He glanced to the side and saw that Tong Niangzi's eyes were filled with astonishment.

Song Cheng said: "Temple Master Tong, did you discover something?"

Tong Jia said softly: "Let's talk about it tonight."

Song Cheng nodded.

Night fell.

The three of them lay together for the first time in a long while.

Tong Niangzi was exceptionally tired, however; after just a few hasty movements with Song Cheng, she drifted off into a hazy sleep.

In order to ensure the child could be successfully conceived, An Daxiaojie continued to repeat the previous steps with her husband, letting the "spring water from the Zimu He" flow "gurgle, gurgle" into the Xiannv Dong, remaining there for a long time without flowing out.

After a long while, Tong Niangzi woke up a little.

Song Cheng massaged her meridians and blood to help her improve her cultivation with external force.

Only then did Tong Niangzi say, "I'm exhausted."

Song Cheng said, "Grand Temple Master Tong manages a myriad of affairs; little Song admires you."

Tong Niangzi spat, saying, "Blade King of the North Land, Song the Second, stop mocking me."

The two of them couldn't help but laugh.

Immediately after, Song Cheng said, "What was it you wanted to say during the Daytime?"

Tong Niangzi said, "I looked at the method of smearing the body with foul-smelling mud and water to create a Ghost servant. I discovered it seems similar to manufacturing a medicine-man."

She fell silent for a moment.

An Daxiaojie said, "I—I'll go sleep in the next room."

Tong Niangzi said, "An Jie is one of our own, there is nothing that cannot be said. I was just thinking that among the many medicines used to create a medicine-man, there is one ingredient that is used up every time it is used, which is why the medicine-men of my Zhushan Temple cannot be produced without limit.

That medicine which is used up every time is white hair."

"White hair?"

Song Cheng was very puzzled.

Tong Niangzi said, "Ahem, it is just a type of white hair.

Soft, cold, like ice crystals that will not melt."

Song Cheng said, "When I was partnered with Lady Zhushan, I actually saw the thing that manifested behind her; it was a huge, dark fox.

When Lady Zhushan would shed her heavy outer garments, kick off her shoes, and dance gracefully, she would completely turn into another person, very charming, and I fear there is no man in this world who could remain unmoved by the dance she performed. That was her illusion."

The three husband and wives could freely bring up even the most secret matters here.

Tong Niangzi said, "My teacher left me a visualization technique, but she said this power is an ominous power and must never be practiced.

But if someone is cursed, they could try practicing it.

That visualization technique, I—I flipped through it.

I saw a fox.

However, that page seemed to have been deliberately damaged, to the point where the fox's appearance was somewhat blurry, as if it had been soaked in the paper. Now, I know, that fox should be white, dark, and charming..."

Song Cheng said, "So, the source of all power in Zhushan Temple is actually this fox.

And the hair of this fox also possesses the power to partially transform Ghost servants..."

The three of them fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said in unison, "Fox Ghost."

Song Cheng gathered his thoughts and said, "Lady Zhushan was cursed by an evil Ghost, and then unintentionally visualized the Fox Ghost, mastering a portion of the Fox Ghost's power.

Niangzi, how do the other Soul-cultivators in your Zhushan Temple practice?"

Tong Niangzi said, "They... visualize Lady Zhushan."

The greatest secret of Zhushan Temple was thrown out directly. Lady Zhushan visualizes the Youhu.

Zhushan Temple disciples visualize the Lady... but even more suspense arose.

The howling wind outside the window made the night seem like a rumbling, angry tide, wanting to bury everything in the world.

After a long time, An Daxiaojie suddenly said, "Lady Zhushan can see Ghost servants because she is closest to the Fox Ghost. And those disciples who visualize her are separated from the Ghost Fox by her, so their power is greatly reduced, and they can only perform Soul-out-of-body.

But... but husband, why... why can you see Ghost servants?"

Originally, An Daxiaojie was not an "insider" and thought that "seeing through Ghost servants" was not difficult, so she wasn't that surprised when she learned in the county town that Song Cheng could see through Ghost servants.

But now... after knowing that Lady Zhushan was the only person in the entire Prefecture City who could see through Ghost servants, and knowing why Lady Zhushan could see through them, she was truly terrified.

After preparing to become a mother, her ambition was slowly fading.

Her feelings for Song Cheng became more about worry.

Tong Niangzi blinked as she looked at her man, thought for a moment, and said, "An Jie, it's not like you don't know about that matter with our husband. Yun E is special, and our husband is also special."

An Daxiaojie immediately remembered that matter, nodded, and then said, "I wonder how the excavation over at the Yunhe is going."

Song Cheng said, "No matter what, as long as the Yunhe connects to the Tanghe.

As for the Sky Ship, Gao Lin will use money to pave the way, then dig an opening to let the Tanghe connect into the Yunhe.

I was worried that using the Skull Double Fish Pendant to communicate temporarily would lead to accidents, so I gave them the order directly. They will let me know once they finish digging.

Right now, what I want to know most is how much of a gap there still is between me and the evil Ghost."

Barbarian Land.

Dark snow was falling from the firmament.

Quietly, bit by bit, it landed on the ground.

Lady Zhushan arrived holding her credentials.

The Barbarian King hosted her.

Subsequently, Lady Zhushan took out the medicine and only said, "Those who drink this, if they are Ghost servants, they shall reveal their true form."

The Barbarian King was half-believing and half-doubting, but still picked some people to try it, and then asked about the method of Soul-cultivation.

Lady Zhushan only shook her head and said nothing.

Just at this moment, a Barbarian carrying a large bone of a magical beast seasoned with pepper and salt came from outside, getting closer and closer, when Lady Zhushan suddenly pointed and said, "He is a Ghost servant."

Before the words had even finished, the trigger of the crossbow hidden in the Barbarian's hand was pulled.

A crossbow bolt shot out with a "whoosh."

The arrow was fast, but the Barbarian King was faster; he raised his hand and struck out with a fierce slap.

Boom! A phantom image of a sharp claw seemed to manifest in the air.

The barbarian who intended to assassinate Lady Zhushan was hit as if by an air cannon; his chest caved in, flesh and blood splattered, and he flew backward until he hit the ground, only then transforming into a shattered ghost servant.

The Great Barbarian King looked at Lady Zhushan, both shocked and delighted, and said, "Could it be that a Soul practitioner can tell who is a ghost servant?"

The matter of "identifying ghost servants" had troubled the Great Barbarian King for a very, very long time.

Now that there was someone who could identify them at a glance, how could he not be ecstatic? Lady Zhushan said, "Only I can tell."

The Barbarian King said excitedly, "Then, Madam, why not stay in my camp? This King..."

Suddenly, he thought of his children held hostage in the Prefecture City, and added, "It is not to force you to stay, Madam, but we Northern Barbarians truly need you."

Lady Zhushan thought for a long time, and the air in the entire camp tent went quiet in an instant.

After a long while, Lady Zhushan said, "If you want me to stay, then in matters concerning evil ghosts, you must listen to me."

The Barbarian King said joyfully, "Naturally!"

Lady Zhushan said, "I do not know who gave you such a wicked scheme to sow discord, but since the Great King wishes to keep me, you should know that our enemy is the evil ghost, not the Great Shang.

The scheme of sowing discord only serves to make us humans slaughter each other.

Therefore, I will state four things first.

One, distribute some grain to the Six Towns."

Barbarian King:??? He just wanted to jump up and say "Impossible," but he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine!"

"Two, since the Great Shang has promised to station here and will send people to help you grow grain, then settle down here with peace of mind."

The Barbarian King said, "Done."

"Three, as for the person behind that wicked scheme of sowing discord, I do not know who it is, but may I see them? If they harbor evil intentions, they should be executed immediately!"

The Barbarian King breathed a sigh of relief, then slowly recounted the matter of Ding Sigu.

As Lady Zhushan listened, she was initially normal, but when she suddenly heard that this "Ding Sigu" had come from the same village as "Song Cheng and Tong Jia," she couldn't help but be stunned, her heart filled with immense emotion.

"What about the fourth point?" the Barbarian King asked again.

Lady Zhushan said, "All corpses currently subject to sky burial must be changed to cremation.

If a Ghost Tide strikes, I worry that all those given sky burials will revive and turn into ghost servants.

But if the corpses are lost to cremation, then such disasters will not arise."

The Barbarian King was stunned, then flew into a rage.

Sky burial had been a tradition all along; how could they burn them? This was simply... He took a few deep breaths and let out a muffled snort: "Does Madam want the entire Northern Barbarian tribe to rise up against me?"

Lady Zhushan sighed and said, "If not, disaster will surely arise."

The Great Barbarian King said, "Even if there are some ghost servants, my Barbarian tribe can handle them."

Lady Zhushan said, "During the Ghost Tide Period, those who die anew will also turn into ghost servants. Even if you can handle them, how many people will need to be sacrificed?"

The Great Barbarian King gritted his teeth, and after a long time, he made a decision and roared, "Someone come!"

Immediately, he gave instructions and had people rush off to handle it.

The two chatted for a good while longer and set various rules.

In order to maintain the relationship between the "Great Shang and the Northern Barbarians" and prevent war from breaking out within the human race, Lady Zhushan was willing to live in the Barbarian lands for a long time to promote exchanges between the two tribes.

She also personally wrote a letter and ordered the disciples of the Mountain and River Martial Hall who had accompanied her to take it back, to prove her intentions and let Hanping Prefecture understand her purpose.

Time passed rapidly... In a blink, more than a month had gone by.

The merchant caravan heading to the Six Towns returned successfully.

The commoners in some of the remaining villages headed to the nearest county seat to "avoid the winter."

And "Manifestation Water" was also sent from the Prefecture City to various county seats.

The strongest in these county seats were originally "Jin Realm Martial Artists," but now, the three major forces of Hanping Prefecture had sent out their elders, Internal Affairs Envoys, and External Affairs Envoys; every place had experts stationed to defend against the Ghost Tide that might exist this year.

"Before the Ghost Tide completely arrives, clear out any ghost servants that might exist in the county seats" became a task that every county seat was executing in a rush.

However, the problem arose: "Manifestation Water" could not be diluted indefinitely.

Therefore... the supply could not meet the demand.

The officials of the Prefecture Office waited almost every day outside Zhushan Temple for new "Manifestation Water" to be produced.

Once it was ready, it was immediately transported to all sides.

Tong Niangzi was exceptionally irritable from being busy... This matter was something only she could handle.

Because the formula for "Manifestation Water" was in her hands, and Lady Zhushan had also instructed that this formula must not be leaked.

At first, Tong Niangzi felt that her teacher was a bit unreasonable; after all, if more people mastered this method, wouldn't more people be able to produce "Manifestation Water"?

However, when she truly saw the formula and began to produce it, she realized, "It wasn't that Teacher was unwilling to give it, but that giving it would not only be of no help, but might also leak the core secrets of Zhushan Temple."

Why?

Because the most core item in this formula was—white hair.

Teacher had left her a small box of cotton-like white hair; this was the core resource for making "medicine people" and "Manifestation Water."

But once this white hair was used up, it was completely finished.

According to Teacher, this box was enough to last for a very, very long time.

She would also estimate the time and go get some more before this box was consumed.

How to get it? Teacher did not say.

To make this "Manifestation Water," besides "white hair," one also needed "rootless water from Tired-Day Grass."

Tired-Day Grass was a rare species that bloomed at dusk and withered at dawn; there was quite a lot of it planted in the deepest part of Zhushan Temple.

The daily yield of "rootless water from Tired-Day Grass" was limited.

The total stock of "white hair" was limited.

Tong Jia could only suppress all her energy, working non-stop every day.

And once a bottle of "Manifestation Water" was produced, it could be diluted over a thousand times, providing enough for thousands of people to use for testing.

Yet even so, demand still exceeded supply.

Song Cheng wanted to come and help, but was also refused.

As the acting temple master, Tong Niangzi also had to follow the rules, especially knowing that her teacher had actually stayed behind in the barbarian lands for the sake of "peace for the Great Northern Barbarian Merchants," Tong Niangzi felt she had to follow these rules even more.

In her heart, she wanted to do these things together with her husband, but if she did that, she always felt she would be letting her teacher down.

So, that was that.

Song Cheng was also helpless.

But he could not force Tong Niangzi to stop either.

He could understand why Tong Niangzi slept in the main hall of Zhushan Temple seven nights out of seven.

Even if he didn't understand, every day when he went to Zhushan Temple and saw the anxious expressions of those officials waiting in line outside for "Manifestation Water," he understood it all.

In the middle of winter, there were even county officials who had traveled from afar just to snatch a bottle of Manifestation Water, setting up beds on the stone steps outside the temple.

This showed just how terrible the situation in their home counties had become.

How could Song Cheng stop her? This was the first time he had been separated from Tong Niangzi like this.

And what was "worse" was that An Daxiaojie was pregnant; the doctor had detected the pulse of pregnancy a few days ago.

This was a great joy, and Song Cheng was ecstatic.

But because of this, when he slept with An Daxiaojie at night, he could no longer engage in marital relations, and could only foolishly press against her belly, trying to hear the fetal movement.

An Daxiaojie looked at him tenderly and said with a smile, "How could it be that fast."

Song Cheng also smiled.

An Daxiaojie said, "My husband likes children so much, when Jia Er sister rests, let her have one too."

Song Cheng nodded.

But for the time being, he reckoned that wouldn't be possible.

At this moment, there was actually another reason why he was anxious to have children.

That was "reproductive isolation."

He worried that as he became stronger, giving birth to offspring would become difficult, because the "Qi Realm" had actually already broken the hundred-year shackle on a mortal's lifespan.

To him, this increase in lifespan was unfelt, but every Martial Artist was tirelessly pursuing this realm.

Entering the "Qi Realm" increases lifespan by sixty years.

"Qi Realm" Great Accomplishment increases it by another sixty years.

Upon reaching Completion, it increases by another sixty years.

Three sixty-year cycles, totaling one hundred and eighty years.

This was already a long-lived immortal.

Then what about after the "Qi Realm"?

In Song Cheng's view, the Qi Realm was actually just the peak of the "Yellow Grade."

What about the "Mysterious Grade" after that? If he entered the "Mysterious Grade," would he still be able to conceive offspring with An Daxiaojie, who was at the bottom of the "Yellow Grade"?

He was not sure.

To avoid this risk, he had to produce offspring as soon as possible.

Otherwise, after living for a thousand, ten thousand, or ten million years, if there were no descendants of his in this world, that would be extremely lonely to think about.

At this moment, a warm and soft sensation came from his ear; Song Cheng came back to his senses, gently hugged his wife, and said, "An Jie, let's sleep."

An Daxiaojie responded softly.

She turned slightly to one side to let her body stretch comfortably.

Song Cheng hugged her from behind.

In the middle of the night, An Daxiaojie felt something unusual in the gap between her buttocks behind her, and she woke up with a sudden start.

Upon a slight realization, she knew what it was.

So she turned her body over, leaned close to her man's ear, and said, "Little Song, other places are fine too..."

Song Cheng smiled, rubbed her hair, and said, "An Jie, what are you thinking? Sleep."

An Daxiaojie turned to her side again, biting her lip, blinking her eyes, lost in thought.

Zhushan Temple.

Tong Niangzi woke up before dawn.

Soon it would be time to collect the "rootless water of the weary-day grass."

The weary-day grass would wither as soon as the sun rose.

Once it withered, the rootless water would disappear.

Therefore, the time left for her to collect it was at most two sticks of incense long.

She had to get up early.

But tonight, perhaps because she had risen early, she wanted to lie down but couldn't sleep, so she lit a lamp and flipped through the books her teacher had left behind.

Flipping through them one by one, she flipped to that book on visualization.

On the illustration page, a fox was drawn.

As if the paper had been soaked in water, the entire fox appeared extremely blurry.

However, some information she had learned from chatting with her husband a few days ago flashed naturally through her mind.

"Giant Youhu," "charming," "dancing," "illusion," "white Youhu"... In her mind, the appearance of this fox became increasingly clear and complete.

Suddenly, her eyes brightened sharply.

It was as if a black and white world had been slashed open, as if a blurry layer of water had been pierced through; she saw a fox.

A white fox, in a world of rotting white bones, was stretching its tails, sleeping with its eyes closed.

And the "white fur" on the white fox seemed to be the same white fur she used to make "medicine people" and "Manifestation Water".

The very instant she saw the fox, the fox seemed to sense it too; its pair of foxy, charming eyes snapped open, and it met Tong Jia's gaze with a beaming smile.

A silver-bell-like, ethereal, and drifting laughter suddenly rang out.

(End of chapter)