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

Chapter 157 The Disease of Feigned Death
Feigning death is also known as faking death. There is also a technique for feigning death in the unorthodox arts of the martial arts world. It is said that during the previous dynasty, the emperor ordered that the Taoist priest Ge Hongwen of Songyun Temple on Henglu Mountain be invited to the court to take up the position of national teacher. The Taoist priest could not refuse openly, so he pretended to die in front of his own temple.

At that time, it was the height of summer, and Ge Hongwen's body quickly became rotten and infested with flies. The emperor's envoy, seeing this, believed it to be true and stopped bothering Ge Hongwen.

However, Ge Hongwen was later seen in Linzhou. When the new emperor heard about this, he felt that this man was indeed talented and learned. So he followed the example of the previous emperor and invited him to court again. This time, Ge Hongwen repeated his old trick and died again.

From then on, the previous dynasty collapsed, and Ge Hongwen's name disappeared from the world, with no one knowing whether he was still alive.

Only Xu Qing, who had been a disciple of Ge Hongwen, knew that this person was still alive and had extremely profound cultivation.

Looking at Miss Zhang, who was not breathing and whose pulse was not beating, Xu Qing did not believe that she could also feign death.

There are many strange things in the world. Some people die and their bodies are cold, but when it comes time for burial and funeral, knocking sounds come from inside the coffin. These are either cases of a corpse coming back to life or 'feigning death'.

Apparent death is similar to shock. The human body may have triggered some kind of dormancy, and if someone opens the coffin at this time, the person will come back to life.

However, some people, out of fear, refused to lift the coffin and buried the person anyway; and there were also those who, after being buried, feigned death but later awoke.

Such incidents are not uncommon throughout history. Some people only discover scratches and dried bloodstains all over the coffin lid when they move the body or change the coffin.

When such a thing happens, not only do the deceased suffer, but the living also find it hard to find peace of mind.

According to funeral customs, it is reasonable to keep the body for seven days when it is cold and in hot weather, but not for more than two or three days until the body changes slightly before burying it.

But the real danger is that if the rules aren't followed, the body isn't even left for a day before it's buried or burned.

Even more tragically, some victims were burned alive during the cremation process, but woke up midway through. In such cases, it was impossible to save them, and they would only suffer in vain.

Xu Qing was supposed to be moving someone's body for a funeral today, but he never expected to encounter such a rare occurrence.

He'd been running a funeral parlor for so long, and this was the first time he'd ever encountered something like this.

Beside the grave, the foster mother and husband watched as Xu Qing's brows furrowed and relaxed, not knowing what was wrong.

Xu Qing looked at the Zhang family's 'corpse' and began to ponder.

In cases of apparent death or shock, emergency measures such as artificial respiration should be taken.

But people at that time wouldn't know how to do that. Even if he asked the wet nurse next to him to come down and help, could she do the movements correctly?

It's even more impossible for Xu Qing to personally take the field; what kind of breathing technique could a zombie possibly use?

If a breath of yin energy were to be transferred down, even a lively person would likely become a corpse on the spot.

He might even be treated as a mentally disturbed lecher by his foster mother and husband, and taken to the authorities for trial.

Fortunately, Xu Qing knew a lot of things. When he performed a ritual to help Ge Hongwen's disciple, Li Siye's cheap "godfather," the old doctor Yang Chunfu, he obtained a medical acupuncture technique of the "Human" grade, called "Jia Yi Xing Zhen Fa," as well as three Panaceas for emergencies.

The A-B acupuncture method is a wonderful medical technique for treating and saving lives. This set of acupuncture methods includes stimulation therapy for shock and apparent death.

Even if the acupuncture treatment is ineffective, Xu Qing still has the Panacea as a backup plan.

The Panacea can cure all diseases and detoxify all poisons. If fed to a person who is about to die or is nearing the end of their life, it can give them a second chance to make their final arrangements or cure a serious illness!

It was quite a coincidence that a master who knew how to feign death taught an apprentice who could cure feigned death.

Saving lives is urgent, and after confirming the treatment plan, Xu Qing no longer hesitated. He flipped his wrist and took out three silver needles from the landscape painting.

Xu Qing performed acupuncture on three acupoints: the chest, the philtrum, and the sole of the foot. He applied the needles through clothing, while for the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot, he removed his white-soled shoes and applied the needles through his long socks.

The Zhang family's wet nurse and cook watched Xu Qing perform acupuncture on the corpse, their hearts filled with great doubt. They exchanged bewildered glances, and the cook asked a question, but Xu Qing only frowned and shook his head, as if a physician in a clinic had encountered a difficult ailment. After about three to five breaths, Xu Qing suddenly relaxed his brow and smiled.

The foster mother and husband were puzzled until the woman in the coffin, dressed in her burial clothes, suddenly gasped for breath and sat up, panting heavily. Only then did they come to their senses.

My God! The lady has come back to life!
The cook was so frightened his legs went weak, and the foster mother's lips trembled with fear. The two held each other's wrists. If they hadn't watched Zhang Wan grow up since she was a child, they probably would have collapsed to the ground by now.

Xu Qing asked the wet nurse to come and help Zhang Wan, but the woman was terrified when she saw the dead body rise from the dead, and she refused to take a step forward.

Xu Qing then said to her, "You are half her mother, and she is half your daughter. Would she ever harm you?"

Finally, Xu Qing added, "Miss Zhang suffered from a condition called 'apparent death.' She had simply fallen asleep and has now woken up. With proper care, she will recover completely."

Inside the coffin, Miss Zhang looked at the pale-faced young man beside her and her foster mother standing at the edge of the grave, feeling quite puzzled.

Wasn't she trying to kill herself by hitting her head against a wall? What kind of place is this?
When the foster mother heard Xu Qing's explanation and saw the scabs on Zhang Wan's forehead and her weak, pale face, her pity overcame her fear. The two, who had always been close as mother and daughter, hadn't even had a chance to talk to each other before they hugged each other and burst into tears.

Xu Qing frowned. Miss Zhang had just gone through a life-or-death ordeal and was still weak. She couldn't withstand great joy or sorrow.

After much effort, the cook persuaded the two to leave the grave. Xu Qing then asked his foster mother to borrow the gravedigger's stove to cook a soup for Zhang Wan to drink.

When the old man who was looking after the grave returned, he was startled to see Zhang Wan sitting on his kang (a heated brick bed).

Having watched over graves for so many years, he had seen all sorts of things, but this was truly the first time he had ever witnessed a dead person come back to life.

This life has truly been worth living!

Seeing that Zhang Wan had truly come back to life, the cook of the Zhang family prepared to return to the Zhang residence to report the news.

Zhang Wan stopped him when she heard this.

People say that the world is full of hardships, and only the warmth of home can provide shelter and comfort. But I find the words of my family to be more hurtful than swords. If I were to go back, I fear I could not live a single moment longer.

The foster mother and the cook exchanged glances, but Xu Qing looked at them and said, "Zhiyuan is a very filial and righteous man. The reason he has been missing these days is that he went to the capital to seek justice for his father. Zhiyuan should have told Miss Zhang about this, but I don't know whose slander the Zhang family listened to. They said that Zhiyuan frequents gambling dens and is a gambler, and that Magistrate Zhang has taken in a spendthrift son-in-law."

"Others may not know what kind of person Zhiyuan is, but Miss Zhang married him and shared his bed. She should know Zhiyuan's character better than others."

“Slander is like a knife. If Miss Zhang goes back to the Zhang residence now, she may be slandered by those with ill intentions. Rather than that, it would be better to clear her name for now, recuperate, and make plans after Zhiyuan returns.”

Hearing Xu Qing's words, Zhang Wan was filled with gratitude and tears welled up in her eyes again.

For many days, her family only listened to her sister and brother-in-law, and no one was willing to listen to her. Unexpectedly, her husband's friend turned out to be a reasonable person.

Beside her, Zhang Wan's foster mother said indignantly, "Who else in the mansion could be spreading these rumors besides the eldest son-in-law and the eldest daughter? I only regret that I didn't see their true colors sooner, and instead you have suffered so much injustice."

The foster mother's husband, the cook of the Zhang family, hesitated and said, "If Miss doesn't return to the Zhang family, she'll need a place to stay. She can't stay in this cemetery."

Zhang Wan forced a smile and said, "These are nothing. I'll just find a temple or monastery to live in. I can eat vegetarian food and chant scriptures on weekdays to pray for my husband and ward off disasters."

Upon hearing the words "temple" and "nunnery," Xu Qing instantly thought of those immoral nuns at the Temple of Fertility.

“Miss Zhang, temples and monasteries are not your own homes. If you don’t have someone to ask for help, things might not be very safe. If you’re not afraid of hardship, you can go to Zhiyuan’s house. It just so happens that Zhiyuan’s mother is there too. You two can rely on each other.”

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(End of this chapter)