Chapter 301

Ji You's original intention was to find the Night Watchman and ask clearly about the path of the body refinement lineage, but to his surprise, what he finally found was a death notice from a hundred years ago.

This indeed cleared up many doubts.

For example, since the Night Watchman was originally from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, why did he ask so many people from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, yet they knew nothing at all.

Because a hundred-plus years of time could truly erase many traces.

And there was that half-volume of the immortal book he had picked up; his biggest doubt at the time was how such a thing could be casually discarded in the wilderness.

Now it was clear that if a person were dead, it would not be strange wherever the item was discarded.

But at the same time, this answer also produced more new questions.

For example, if the Night Watchman was truly guarding the four directions, why did the Immortal Sect take action against him?

And as such an important figure, why did the Night Watchman's death not stir up any waves, and why was there only one troupe left in this world that remembered him?

The most critical and chilling part was...

If the Night Watchman's lineage was broken, then what about that night he had guarded for generations?

Ji You did not sleep all night, thinking about these questions, but could not find an answer.

This was, after all, an old affair from over a hundred years ago.

If it were not for the coincidence of meeting a troupe performing a funeral for an immortal, perhaps this old affair would never have been known to him.

The reality of knowing or not knowing did not have much impact; the only thing that could be determined was that the current path of cultivation, which focused on body refinement, would likely require him to explore it all over again by himself.

Listening to the spring rain in the small building all night, dew on the bamboo tips wets the morning crows.

On the morning after the rain cleared, Ji You rose from his bed, washed up, and came into the courtyard.

Since the Night Watchman's affair had reached its conclusion, there was no need to look for it anymore. Next, he had to focus on body refinement and continue to charge forward, so he decided to bid farewell to the troupe.

However, when he arrived in the courtyard, he saw the troupe leader, the little *dan* actress, the martial actor, and the old actor sitting together whispering about something, each of their faces filled with unease.

"Good morning, everyone."

The troupe leader looked up at the sound, seeing Ji You walking toward them, and said: "It is you, sir. Did you sleep well last night?"

Ji You nodded: "Quite well. Spring rain startles spring; it has a unique elegance."

"Fengxian steamed some pumpkin early this morning. Would you like to eat some, sir?"

"No, a cup of morning tea will do. After I finish drinking, I must be on my way."

The troupe leader was somewhat surprised: "You are leaving already, sir?"

Ji You sat on a stool and poured himself a cup of tea: "I have already heard the ending of the story, so there is no need to dwell on certain things anymore. I have other things to do hereafter."

"Then after you finish the tea, we will see you off, sir. The post station in this Pingxi County is in a remote alley and is not that easy to find."

"Many thanks."

Ji You was drinking tea when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the little *dan* actress's expression, which was somewhat uneasy, as were the martial actor and the old actor. After observing for a long while, he could not help but ask: "It is just early morning; why does everyone look so terrified?"

The group looked at each other and could not help but purse their lips.

They felt that since Ji You could hear the final play that was not meant to be shared, it meant the old master felt this person was trustworthy, so they did not hide it.

"You may not know, sir, but after we left Central Province, it seems the Lang family ran into trouble."

Ji You was somewhat surprised after hearing this: "Trouble?"

The troupe leader took the opportunity to continue: "An immortal's funeral needs to last nine days. Didn't our play only perform for eight days? So before leaving, I didn't dare to ask for the payment, only leaving a person named Liuzi in Kangle County to handle miscellaneous tasks, thinking I would ask for the silver after things were over, and then the incident happened."

The little *dan* actress could not help but speak up after hearing this: "Liuzi's message arrived this morning, saying that the Lang family ancestor truly had a corpse-jumping incident and even bit a family member to death."

"What is this about corpse-jumping?"

"We are not clear about what is going on either, but we are just deeply fearful in our hearts."

As the little *dan* actress spoke, she could not help but curl into a ball.

The young martial actor also could not help but turn pale: "Liuzi is afraid he won't be able to come back..."

Eating the immortal's food is like this; although you earn more than others, you truly have to bear the risks of life and death. If you are not careful, you will lose your life.

After pondering for a long while, Ji You raised his head again to look at them: "Truly corpse-jumping? That is to say, you all felt beforehand that there would be corpse-jumping. Why is that?"

Hearing this, the little *dan* actress spoke: "You don't know, sir, but the day the Lang family told us to leave, they specifically asked us if we had performed the play about returning to life and corpse-rising. I felt strange at the time, suspecting if there was corpse-jumping. And Brother Qiu, when performing in the inner hall, also saw a figure in the mourning hall."

The martial actor immediately waved his hand after hearing this: "I only caught a glimpse in a hurry; I didn't see it clearly, so it's hard to say."

Listening to the two of them, Ji You's brows also gradually locked together.

There is no talk of reincarnation in the Qingyun world, and corpse-jumping is just a folk saying. He had not yet heard of such things happening to practitioners.

Rising after death?

Could it be some secret technique for extending life...

Ji You held his teacup, and after pondering for a long time, he set it down.

The Night Watchman's affair had already exhausted his brain; he had no heart to dwell on other matters, only telling everyone that practitioners have myriad secret methods, and perhaps it was just a misunderstanding.

The group did not understand matters of cultivation and could only comfort each other.

After the morning tea, having seen the old master in the twilight of his years once more, he officially bid farewell to everyone, left the courtyard with the troupe leader, and headed toward the post station in the city.

"The mountains are high and the road is long; I wish you a safe journey, sir."

"Many thanks, troupe leader. We shall meet again if fate allows."

"Meet again if fate allows."

Ji You bid farewell to the troupe leader and boarded the post station's carriage.

He had to go to Bai Yang City in Qingzhou first.

Although Pingxi County is located in Yunzhou, the nearest large city is Bai Yang City in the southwest of Qingzhou.

Ji You's spirit stones were used up, and the only place with a spirit stone shop was Bai Yang City.

Additionally, he had already left his location when he was in Kangle City, allowing incoming letters to be forwarded to Bai Yang City for him to sign for.

Besides purchasing spirit stones, he also wanted to take the opportunity to see if there were any messages sent to him.

In the morning, the carriage moved slowly, and Ji You had already closed his eyes, entering meditation to nourish his spirit.

The journey from Pingxi County to the Yunzhou official road was about an hour, all on bumpy dirt roads.

By the time they reached the official road, the sun had already begun to shine away the mist and was slowly rising.

However, just as the sun rose to its zenith, Ji You suddenly felt a deviation, so he interrupted his meditation, opened his eyes, and discovered that the carriage he was riding in had already veered to the left.

"Move aside, move aside!"

"The Immortal Sect is traveling; bystanders keep away!"

A whistling sound approached from far to near, and the magical artifact mounted on the carriage quickly kicked up a strong wind.

Ji You lifted the curtain to look outside and discovered it was a motorcade from the Xuanyuan Immortal Mansion passing by, the high-hanging Immortal Sect flags fluttering in the wind.

It was not until long after this motorcade had passed that the carriage driver dared to steer his carriage back to the correct direction.

Ji You did not pay much attention to this, but when they crossed the border of Yunzhou and reached the direction of Qingzhou, the carriage veered again.

The roads in Yunzhou were roads for spirit stone transport, so the road surface was repaired to be quite wide, but Qingzhou was different.

The official road in this place was narrow to begin with, and a slight deviation pulled the carriage directly down the slope of the road.

The driver was still talking boastfully in the front, saying his driving skills were excellent.

Ji You did not reply, but watched the motorcade bearing the Chen family's immortal clan flags drive past, his brows slightly furrowed.

Immortal Sect members usually sit in deep mountains for years and generally do not travel with such fanfare unless something has happened.

Moreover, practitioners can use spiritual energy to fly; they would not choose travel tools for short distances. Only for long distances, fearing the exhaustion of spiritual energy, would they choose carriages or immortal ships.

Now it was the Xuanyuan Immortal Mansion, and then the Chen family's immortal clan, and the direction they were traveling seemed to be the same. Could it be that something else had happened?

While pondering, the carriage slowly drove into Bai Yang City in Qingzhou.

As soon as they entered the city gate, Ji You saw those carriages that had passed by earlier resting.

The post station attendant fed the horses fodder on the street, and then those Immortal Sect disciples did not linger, boarding their carriages one after another to head south.

Ji You jumped off the carriage, paid the driver in silver, and continued to stare at the departing carriages.

They were not ordinary sect disciples walking outside; some of them had quite high cultivation bases.

After watching for a long time, until those carriages disappeared on the long street, Ji You turned and went to the spirit stone shop in the city, spending a large sum of hard-earned money.

Body refinement is a pit.

Ji You counted the silver notes, somewhat cursing.