I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 152 The Preacher, Heavenly Gang Law

After leaving Flower and Bird Street, Xu Qing followed the镖行 (bodyguards) to the shop, feeling as if he had forgotten something along the way.

But I can't remember it for a while.

What is going on?
Xu Qing remembered Xie Yunyan's injured arm.

That's right! He hasn't even touched the little hand of Hong Baoya, the top dog of the Tianjin gang.

However, it seems there's something more important that I haven't thought of.

It wasn't until the convoy passed Caishikou that Xu Qing saw the breakfast stalls steaming on both sides of the street and remembered that he hadn't had time to buy the fried small fish he promised Xuan Yu!

Xu Qing suddenly slapped his forehead. It was all because he had played with paper figures too much the night before; his brain wasn't working properly anymore.

Remotely controlling paper figures is extremely mentally taxing. Controlling one or two is manageable, but the other day, Xu Qing manipulated a full thirty-two paper figures at once, carrying a heavy coffin from the south to the north of the city. He had a great time, but for the next day or two, his body felt completely drained, as if the female zombie had hollowed him out. No wonder he always wanted to lie in the coffin and sleep for three to five days.
Xu Qing bought some fried small fish and tea eggs. On the way, he wanted to treat the镖师 (bodyguards) of the镖局 (escort agency) to a bowl of mutton soup, but the镖师 refused.

It wasn't that they weren't hungry; none of them had eaten breakfast yet. It was simply that so many people had perished on this mission, and now that they finally had to get rid of these 'bad luck' things, they didn't want to waste even a moment.

Escorts, who spend their lives escorting goods, have always held a deep reverence for supernatural and mysterious things.

These burial coins, to put it bluntly, are money for the dead. Like funerary objects, they are considered unlucky. None of the镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) who escorted these goods survived; they all died during the journey.

No wonder the bodyguard kept a tense expression.

Upon arriving at Jingxia Street, the town's bodyguard, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Is this street all about funeral parlors?"

Xu Qing nodded: "The funeral industry in Linhe, except for the coffin room, is almost entirely located here."

The town's bodyguard didn't answer, but the most skilled bodyguard next to him, the one with gold plating, muttered, "I thought escorting money from the dead was unlucky enough, but I never imagined the place we're delivering to would be even more unlucky."

"Hongwu, shut up!" Although the Zhenxing镖师 (bodyguard) was old, he had the highest prestige. Although the Guajin镖师 (bodyguard) was the most capable fighter in the caravan, he dared not disobey the Zhenxing镖师.

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "These are all prejudices of worldly people. We people on this street live here every day, and we're doing just fine, aren't we?"

As he spoke, Xu Qing, like a tour guide, began to introduce his neighbors to the masters in the escort team.

"Look at that old man Hu who runs the coffin shop on the street. Although he doesn't have a wife, he has a big daughter, and he's living a more comfortable life than anyone else."

The gold-plated bodyguard grinned and said, "Only daughters? Doesn't that mean the family line will end?"

"..." Xu Qing glanced at the other person sideways, and after passing the second shop, he continued, "Manager Yao of the funeral clothing shop has been in the funeral business for several years, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Then why does his sign outside say 'For Rent/Sale'?"

"."

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, and his gaze toward the gold-plated bodyguard had changed.

This conversation is impossible!

When the caravan arrived near the paper offering shop, the gold-plated bodyguards had already learned to ask and answer questions quickly.

"Could the paper offering shop and incense shop also be short of staff?"

"."

Seeing that Xu Qing remained silent, not only the high-ranking镖师 (bodyguards) but even the local镖师 (bodyguards) began to waver.

Is this really not a problem with the feng shui?

Fortunately, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the lifelike Sun Erniang walk out of the coroner's shop.

It seems that not all people in the funeral business are so unlucky. At least in this coroner's shop, there are two living people, a man and a woman. Surely they can't be faked, right?

After everyone placed the goods in the shop, Xu Qing took out a silver note to settle the subsequent escort fees, but was told by the porter that all the expenses for the escort had been covered by Master Feng.

Xu Qing put away the money, thinking that he would go to see Master Feng again in a couple of days to settle the debt.

"You bodyguards have worked hard. Let me see you off."

"Wait! We wouldn't dare trouble Mr. Xu to see us off; we'll leave on our own."

Seeing how the group avoided him like the plague, Xu Qing thought to himself, "This isn't a funeral for you, why are you so afraid?"

After seeing off the polite bodyguards, Xu Qing returned to his own coroner's shop.

The shop wasn't big, but it made him feel the warmth of home.

Feed the cats and listen to Huang Xiaoliu report on all sorts of gossip from the streets and alleys.

Such as which family's father-in-law committed incest, which family was investigated and sealed off by the government, and nobles from the capital searching for people in Linhe, saying that anyone with information would be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver, and anyone who could find the person would be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver.

When Xu Qing asked, he found that the person the other party had contacted sounded quite familiar; his name was Long Engui.

In addition, the government invited monks from Baishui Temple to hold Buddhist ceremonies at the riverside wharf, including the Mengshan food offering and the preaching of Buddhist teachings.

The purpose is to benefit the wandering souls by offering food, preaching, and taking refuge in the Buddha, helping those who drowned in previous years, as well as the water ghosts in the river, to escape their suffering.

That's what the officials said, but Xu Qing knew in his heart that the Buddhist gathering was mostly because of the Tianjin gang being wiped out a couple of days ago.

In the following days, Xu Qing went to the yamen to inspect the mortuary, where Hong Baoya's body was kept in the coffin room.

The man had no children and no one to claim his body. When Xu Qing arrived, the yamen runners were just about to bring the body to him.

Xu Qing was secretly pleased; the corpse had come all this way and ended up in his hands.

Xu Qing had the constables take the body to the coroner's shop, while he invited Wang Lingyuan to the Pear Garden Opera House. The two brothers chatted and listened to the opera, enjoying themselves quite comfortably.

"Junior brother, where did you sell all those corpses you collected?"

Upon hearing Wang Lingyuan's question, Xu Qing calmly replied, "Of the corpses in the yamen, few were innocent in life; most were wicked. I don't care how much money I make. If I sell them, I'll sell them to mines or mills. Perhaps the tofu you ate or the coal you burned today bears the shadow of these corpses."

"."

Wang Lingyuan silently put down his chopsticks, realizing he would probably never be able to eat tofu again.

Later that evening, Xu Qinggang returned to the coroner's shop and couldn't wait to go into the side room, where a corpse was lying there waiting for him.

Looking at Xu Qing's impatient appearance, Huang Xiaoliu asked with some doubt, "The sect leader seems to really like corpses."

Xuan Yu was already used to it: "This is a funeral parlor, isn't it normal to like corpses?"

In the side room, Xu Qing looked at the rewards for the salvation of Hong Baoya: a mountain-splitting axe and two Dragon-Tiger Pills.

The mountain-splitting axe is a black iron axe weighing about three hundred catties. Apart from being somewhat heavy, it has no other mysterious features.

The Dragon-Tiger Pill has a simple effect: after taking it, it can temporarily stimulate potential and grant the user the power of a dragon and a tiger.

It's like an enhanced version of a miracle drug.

This thing is only at the "human" grade, not even close to the "earth" grade, so Xu Qing wasn't very interested. However, he was quite interested in Hong Baoya's revolving lantern.

In his early years, Hong Baoya once chased after a man who fled into a cave in a panic. The cave walls were covered with tadpole-shaped runes and some martial arts murals with corresponding runes.

According to the storybook, the young man who was being chased and fled in panic should have had a chance to learn these martial arts techniques and skills, and eventually successfully resist his enemies and become famous in the martial arts world.

But is this really the case?

Hong Baoya searched for three days and finally found the boy who had just learned an unknown martial arts technique in a cave. At that time, Hong Baoya only knew the common martial arts techniques found in martial arts schools, while the boy had learned the most advanced techniques in the cave.

The boy's confidence soared, but he forgot that Hong Baoya was now a martial artist at the Meridian Opening Realm, while he had previously only been an external martial artist.

Despite possessing martial arts skills comparable to those of a celestial being, he was still just a three-year-old child wielding a sharp blade. In a single exchange, the boy was killed by Hong Baoya.

Hong Baoya was a rough man who couldn't even recognize a few ordinary characters, so how could he possibly understand the tadpole-shaped runes on the cave walls?

Although he knew that the treasure was right in front of him, Hong Baoya scratched his head, unable to figure it out at all.

Since he doesn't recognize these characters, he can just memorize them by rote. Later, he can find someone who recognizes these characters, learn from them, and then kill them. Wouldn't that be just as effective in learning these skills?

Hong Baoya acted immediately, his eyes wide as he stared intently at the murals and tadpole-shaped runes on the wall.

After about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, the sound of snoring could be heard from inside the cave.

However, the story didn't end there. Xu Qing watched the revolving lantern, and after a day and a night, Hong Baoya in the cave suddenly turned over and stood up.

He waved his fist, overjoyed, and exclaimed, "I understand! I understand!"

However, less than half a cup of tea's time later, Hong Baoya grabbed his hair again, his face filled with anxiety, and said, "It's over! It's over! How come I only remember the first five moves, but I can't remember a single move of the rest?"

In the coroner's shop, Xu Qing fought off sleep and continued reading.

After learning the incomplete martial arts and the five techniques, Hong Baoya became the second most important person in Tianjin Prefecture within two years.

Number one is the Prince of Changting.

When will I become the number one in Tianjin?

Hong Baoya often lamented that until a few months ago, when the Prince of Changting committed suicide at the river mouth, Hong Baoya became the number one person below the Grandmaster of Martial Arts.

In Tianjin, at least in the public eye, he became the number one figure in the underworld.

Once people have power, they are prone to becoming dissatisfied.

Hong Baoya considered himself the best in Tianjin, so he began to collude with powerful figures in the capital, and got on the coattails of the chief eunuch Feng Dehai and Grand Secretary Pan Song.

Then, he took control of the Tianjin salt gang and slaughtered the entire family of Cao Xiuying, a salt smuggler who belonged to Grand Marshal He in the capital.

There are a total of sixteen salt gangs along the Huai River, with six of them originating from Tianjin. Cao Xiuying alone controls four of them, while the Tianjin gang controls two.

Now that the old hag Cao is gone, the private salt business in Tianjin has fallen entirely into the hands of Hong Baoya.

Perhaps due to their overwhelming momentum, the Tianjin gang became increasingly unscrupulous, seizing ports, interfering in the riverside brokerage business, and openly engaging in banditry by taking advantage of water transport.
In the end, they managed to snatch it from Xu Qing.

Hong Baoya died without understanding what had happened. He had never even seen Xu Qing's face, yet his body had been transferred all the way and finally sent to the coroner's shop.

After watching Hong Baoya's revolving lantern show, Xu Qingqiang fell asleep as soon as he finished reading.

The reason was simple: while Hong Baoya was memorizing those tadpole-shaped runes in the cave, Xu Qing was also memorizing them simultaneously.

The runes themselves are not important; the key is the dream triggered by the runes.

As Xu Qing lay in the coffin, half-asleep, he saw a young man in white robes practicing martial arts with a mountain-splitting axe amidst the mountain mists.

At first, the young man swung his axe slowly, but every move he made was enough to cut through the clouds and mist between the mountains.

After five moves, the white-robed youth suddenly began to increase his speed, and in a dramatic, rapid increase. If the first five moves were like an old lady climbing a hill, then the later moves were like a young general riding a horse and drawing his bow in a martial arts arena.

The speed at which the young man in white practiced his techniques was like the speed at which the young general shot an arrow.

Xu Qing finally understood why Hong Baoya only remembered the first five moves.

Because this thing is not meant for normal people to learn!

The first five moves are techniques, but the later ones clearly show traces of the Dao.

Amidst the billowing clouds and mist of the mountains, the white-robed youth practiced his moves at a speed that even Xu Qing found strenuous.

Inside the coffin, Xu Qing, fast asleep, twitched his eyelids and mumbled in his sleep, "Slow down, it's too fast."

Hong Baoya had also talked in his sleep like this when he entered a dream, but the preacher in the dream did not pay attention to him.

Xu Qing spoke subconsciously, but the white-robed youth in the dream actually slowed down.

"Slow down, slow down even more."

The white-robed youth paused, seemingly struggling to breathe, but he still obeyed Xu Qing's words and slowed down to an unprecedented level.

"I didn't understand that move just now, could you demonstrate it again?"

"."

The young man in white robes put away his axe and practiced the previous move several more times.

Outside the coroner's shop, the sun sets and the moon rises.

After Xu Qing mastered the thirty-five moves, the white-robed youth stood still, his gaze fixed on the horizon as if some great terror lay there.

"May I ask your esteemed title, senior? And what are the names of these thirty-five techniques?"

Xu Qing had some guesses about the young man's identity, but felt that it was too vague and unreliable.

The young man in the white robe remained silent upon hearing this.

Just when Xu Qing thought the other party was merely a repetitive preaching machine, the white-robed youth suddenly spoke:

"This set of techniques is called the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Techniques. The axe is the weapon of all weapons, and only it can bring martial arts to its ultimate level."

"Now I will pass on to you the final axe blow, a blow named—the Creation of Heaven!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the white-robed youth's aura suddenly surged, and his usually calm eyes instantly sharpened.

Before the majestic mountains, a young man in a white robe fluttered like a flag, the veins on his arms bulging like dragons.

Xu Qing saw the mountain-splitting axe swell in the wind, its length and width unknown, with howling winds gathering on its head.

The next moment, the young man brought down his giant axe, and a white streak swept across the mountain peak where the two were, until a thunderous roar was heard, at which point the young man put away his axe.

The mountain mists and fog dissipated like fleeting clouds, and Xu Qing looked around and saw that the towering mountains in the distance had been cut in two.

At the break, the green rock was scorching hot like lava, and the dragon energy of the earth veins dormant in the mountains cried out and dissipated.

Xu Qing stared at the axe blow, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

Is this some kind of martial arts?
Xu Qing turned his head, his lips dry, and said, "Senior, could you demonstrate it again?"

"."

This time, the young man in white robes didn't indulge Xu Qing. He raised the axe that had been restored to its original state and then threw it at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was woken up by the pressure.

He opened his eyes and saw a black cat sitting on his chest, staring at him intently.

(End of this chapter)