Who said I practiced the exercises incorrectly?

Chapter 79 Tomb of Close Friend Lao Hai
A raging flame rose up, and Duan Canghai, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had a neat face, soon turned into ashes.

When the ashes cooled down, several Taoist priests with great merit and well-dressed clothes filled exquisite earthenware jars with the ashes and handed them to Ning Yan. Then, they led the funeral procession out of the city to the sound of mournful music, chanting prayers for the deceased to rest in peace.

Finally, they came to a huge tomb that had been recently excavated. Ning Yan carefully buried the earthenware jar in it, placed nine-star coins around the jar, placed a stone tripod stove, and sprinkled some blessed soil on it. Only then did a group of strong men around him shovel and fill the tomb again.

When the cemetery was completed, the Taoist priests performed rituals on the newly built altar, sprinkled cinnabar, chanted scriptures, and drove away evil spirits.

During the whole period, Ning Yan stood silently nearby. Only after the whole ceremony was completed did he thank the Taoist priest and his party and pay the remaining ritual fee.

Ning Yan spent a total of forty taels of gold on this funeral.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to spend more money, but this is the price for the top funeral ceremony in Qingcang County.

Of course, if possible, some precious ritual objects can be buried with the deceased, then there is absolutely no upper limit.

However, in order to prevent tomb robbery, Ning Yan decisively refused this approach.

Looking at the newly completed tomb, Ning Yan's gaze lingered on the tombstone of [Tomb of Close Friend Lao Hai] for a long time before he turned back with heavy steps.

As he walked, his body shape changed rapidly.

Soon, he changed from a middle-aged warrior with a strong physique and a face full of flesh to an elderly man with a skinny and frail figure. Even his hair turned gray, and his face had many gray spots and wrinkles.

This is "A Thousand Faces and Incarnations".

"Thousands of Faces and Incarnations" is a miscellaneous technique with a very unique effect. After mastering it, one can change one's body shape and evolve into different appearances. The greater the difference between the evolved and original body, the richer the details, and the more vitality it consumes.

Theoretically speaking, even with the strength at the peak of Qi Gathering, one could only maintain a quarter of an hour at most in a posture that was completely different from the original one.

Furthermore, this technique cannot change the voice, simulate the inside of the body, or conceal the fluctuations of one's own vital energy.

This seemed quite troublesome to Ning Yan.

So after he mastered it, he made further deductions on this technique.

The new version after deduction can not only conceal the fluctuations of its own vital energy, but also modify the internal body, and can create different voices by shaping the vocal cords.

And the most crucial thing is that he stretched the acting time from a quarter of an hour to six hours.

If his strength is further improved, this time can be even longer.

In this way, "Thousand Faces and Ten Thousand Incarnations" becomes extremely practical and can be performed anytime and anywhere. It is no longer just a useless technique that can only be used at critical moments.

Walking all the way into the city, Ning Yan soon arrived at the intersection of Jiawu Street and found Wei Xiucai, who had been teaching him to read.

Now that he has changed into a new face, Wei Xiucai cannot get in touch with his original self, but after seeing him, he still showed a very bright smile and greeted him on the spot:
"I have already finished the painting you wanted. Please take a look."

As he spoke, he pushed a thick stack of portraits on the table over.

Ning Yan flipped it open casually. He had to admit that it was only through Wei Xiu's talent that he could put up a painting and calligraphy gallery here. His painting skills were quite good. The appearance of Duan Canghai was painted vividly, almost like a real person.

"Yes, it's a good painting."

"Next time there's a big job, I'll come find you again."

I paid a high price of ten taels of gold to purchase the painting, which was considered as a side help to my former literacy teacher.

Ning Yan took hundreds of portraits and went straight to the city and posted them everywhere.

There are two lines of words written on each portrait:

I have a close friend who has unfortunately passed away, and I want to ask his family to give him some of his belongings.

Below is an address near Yiliu Street and the corresponding time limit.

Lao Hai unfortunately died in the battle, and Ning Yan felt that he was responsible.

However, he had spent too little time with Lao Hai and didn't know any family members he had, or even where he lived.

While collecting for Lao Hai, he obtained two secret books including "Kun Yun Sui Lu" as well as medicines, silver and other items.

These were all Lao Hai's relics, so he naturally couldn't take them all for himself like he did to the old man with the high hat.

In addition to copying the two secret books including "Kun Yun Sui Lu", he was ready to return the original secret books and other items to the other party's family.

That's why he went to find Wei Xiucai and asked him to help draw hundreds of portraits and post them for searching.

If I could find the other person's family, it would be a wish fulfilled.

At the same time, he also had to guard against Lao Hai's enemies coming to him after seeing the portrait. If he could defeat them, he would help deal with them, thus eliminating Lao Hai's enemies.

If he cannot win, the meeting place he set up is not far from Xiaoyuanmen. He can then pull all the disciples over. Even if they encounter a violent attack, they will have enough confidence to deal with it.

This is the last contribution he can make.

Ning Yan sighed deeply, took the portrait and continued to go to the next place to post it.

Among the onlookers, a young warrior's face suddenly changed when he saw the content of the portrait.

……

"What? You said the second in command is dead?!"

"I dare not deceive the chief. Someone is posting portraits all over the city."

After taking the portrait presented by the spy, Wei Zhongdao's expression changed instantly.

Isn't the person painted in this portrait their boss, Duan Canghai, the second in command of Qingyun Village?

Considering that Duan Canghai went to the city to find warriors to test their skills, could there be any accident in the process?
Wei Zhongdao was filled with doubts.

He grabbed the portrait and hurried into the inner hall.

As soon as I walked into the courtyard, I immediately ran into Niu Guangyun, Sha Tingxiang and Zhuo Jun who were walking from other directions.

The four of them looked at each other, all of them were stunned.

The four of them, together with Pang Jialiang who was on business outside, were the leaders under the second in command, the core force of the village, and the best among those at the peak of Qi Gathering. They were usually responsible for handling all matters of the village, big or small.

If something really happens to the second-in-command, the new second-in-command will only be chosen from among them.

Wei Zhongdao glanced at the portraits in the hands of the other bosses and said in a deep voice:

"It seems that everyone has received the news, so let's go in and take a look first."

The other three nodded without saying anything more.

The four of them entered the inner hall together, came to a landscape painting, and opened a small incense burner under the painting.

A thumb-sized red insect was sleeping in the stove, lying on its belly, dead.

This is a pacifier. There are two of them. One is placed on the second in command, and the other is placed here.

The breath bugs feed on human breath or incense. If one of them dies, the other will also die.

Seeing the dead Xi Chong, even though they had prepared themselves mentally beforehand, everyone's faces still changed drastically.

After a long silence, the beautiful Sha Tingxiang asked tentatively:

"Should we report this news to the first and third bosses?"

"I don't know what's going on right now. What can I report?"

Zhuo Jun snorted coldly:
"Besides, the big boss left the village a long time ago, and no one knows where he went. The third boss is at a critical juncture of sprinting and bursting into anger. What's the point of you reporting it? In the end, it will only make us look incompetent."

"Brother Zhuo is right."

The oldest Niu Guangyun said in a deep voice:
"It's best to wait until we have resolved this matter before reporting the results to all the strongholds. The death of the boss should have been handled by our own people, and this way, we can also prevent outsiders from getting their hands on our stronghold."

"Then let's follow the rules we set before. Whoever can find out the truth and deal with the enemy who killed the boss will inherit the position of the second in command and become our new boss?"

Wei Zhongdao looked at everyone.

"No objection."

"No objection."

"No objection."

Seeing that no one had any objections, Wei Zhongdao nodded:

"Then it's settled. When Lao Pang comes back, we'll set off."

(End of this chapter)