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

Chapter 176 Saying Goodbye to the Old Year

The dragon hides in the reeds in the moonlight, and the year is celebrated in the twelfth lunar month.

November has just passed, and December is just around the corner.

In the freezing cold, Mr. Cheng, the owner of the incense and candle shop across the street, was wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat, with a blouse over it. When Xu Qing came to pick up the incense and candles, the proprietress asked in surprise:

"It's getting colder every day. Aren't you afraid of the cold if you go out wearing only this robe?"

"I'm young and full of energy, why would I be afraid of the cold! Besides, I'm wearing a cotton robe, which is thick enough. Unlike Boss Cheng, who is so delicate and has to be wrapped in a quilt to go out!"

After winter set in, Xu Qing, in order to blend into the world, specially had an embroiderer weave a cotton robe, just to prevent outsiders from noticing anything amiss.

In addition, he also had the embroiderer weave a scarf that was just big enough to cover his lips.

This is because zombies don't generate heat; even in the coldest weather, they can't exhale any white vapor when they talk to people.

Xu Qing always paid attention to these details, but she never expected to meet someone like Cheng Caiyun who was born afraid of the cold.

If it weren't for the fact that people wearing cotton robes often walk by on the street, he would have thought that he hadn't paid attention to the details and had given himself away!

"Take it easy, I heard quite a few people have frozen to death this year."

“I know about this,” Xu Qing sighed. “I’ve touched those frozen corpses quite a few times these days. If you don’t believe me, touch them. My hands are still ice cold now, probably because they’ve caught the chill.”

When Cheng Caiyun saw Xu Qing extend his hand, her face turned green.

This filthy thing, let whoever wants to touch it touch it!

Seeing Cheng Caiyun avoiding him like the plague god, Xu Qing chuckled.

After leaving the incense and candle shop, Xu Qing went to the paper offering shop and got some paper offerings.

After learning the magic of making paper lifelike, his paper-making skills reached a new level.

However, in order to take care of the businesses of his neighbors, Xu Qing did not take this opportunity to monopolize the business of the entire street.

Although the coffin shop and funeral clothing shop have now become his businesses for various reasons, he still cherishes the days when he and everyone else ran this funeral street together.

"I'll go back to the coffin shop and find a reliable and hardworking employee to run it. A younger one would be more reliable."

People say that once the Laba Festival is over, it's almost Chinese New Year. In Xu Qing's eyes, as long as there are corpses to be exorcised every day, that's Chinese New Year.

Seeing other shops bustling with activity as they tried to boost their sales, Xu Qing looked at her own shop, which was deserted and lacked any festive atmosphere whatsoever.

This won't do. Holidays should have a festive atmosphere. What kind of talk is this, with everything so lifeless?

So, not long after the funeral parlor's autumn sales promotion ended, Xu Qing immediately launched a special Spring Festival promotion.

No sooner had the Laba Festival arrived than Manager Xu got up early and posted a new notice at the door, saying—'Though the weather is freezing, people's hearts are warm; in this joyous twelfth lunar month, there is no need to worry about anything.'

On the left side of the vertically formatted articles, there is also a detailed introduction to the event.

The general idea is to welcome the Spring Festival and receive the Five Blessings. Anyone who enters the store during the twelfth lunar month or the first lunar month will receive a Five Blessings gift pack.

The gift package includes paper gold ingots, finely cut money for the deceased, an ever-burning lamp for keeping vigil, a mourning cloth for showing filial piety, and a special service where a newly appointed scholar personally writes elegiac couplets.

In the past, every December, Xuan Yu would just squat to the side and quietly watch humans busy themselves. As for why humans did those complicated things in December, it couldn't understand.

However, this December, Xu Xianjia conscripted all the cats and rats that were idle in the immortal hall into laborers.

Although there were no living people in the small shop, it was very lively.

"Xuanyu, can you help me check if this couplet is correct?"

The burly man in yellow carried Xu Qing on his back, while Xu Qing rode on the man's shoulders, holding a newly written couplet and pasting it on the door.

The little girl in the black jacket and skirt carefully pointed out the correct positions of the couplets to Xu Qing.

In the past, Xuan Yu would have been reluctant to use incense to maintain her human form due to the need to save incense. However, now that the Xuan Nu Temple has provided relief to disaster victims, the incense offerings at the Cat Fairy Hall have exceeded one million, so she no longer needs the incense for her transformation.

Xu Qing even went out of his way to persuade her, saying that during the New Year, people would change their appearance and wear new clothes, and Xuan Yu was no exception.

After that, Xu Qing awkwardly made Xuan Yu reveal its true form, and then took it to the embroiderer to have a dress made.

On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the coroner's shop closed for the first time ever, for a whole day.

On this day, the immortals of the Cat Immortal Hall gathered at the Water Gate Bridge Villa. Besides celebrating the New Year together, there was something else that mattered most.

That would be like the Immortal Hall holding an annual meeting, doing a year-end summary together, and incidentally distributing some incense as a year-end bonus.

When Gu Zixu joined the Cat Immortal Hall, all 20,000 strands of incense he had accumulated were donated to the hall. Now, Xu Qing has given Gu Zixu 50,000 strands of incense, including interest. Other immortals have also received no less than 10,000 strands of incense.

When Xu Qing estimated that there were still a million incense offerings left, he said, "The incense offerings are a bit few, please don't mind. Let's make do and get through this year. Next year, when we manage the temple well, I will make it up to everyone properly."

Guan Dazhuang stared in disbelief, while Gu Zixu's hands trembled, and he remained silent for a long time.

Only Huang Xiaoliu remained calm, because the not-so-skilled weasel had already fainted when 20,000 incense sticks fell on its head.

Judging from his appearance, he won't wake up for at least two or three hours.

At this moment, all the immortals felt their mouths were dry. Other temples might not be able to accumulate ten thousand strands of incense in a year, but the sect leader seemed to think that the offering was too little.

Gu Zixu bowed deeply, his voice trembling with excitement:

"I will never forget the great kindness shown to me by the Sect Leader. Please rest assured, Sect Leader, I will do my utmost whenever the Immortal Hall needs my assistance."

Gu Zixu was once slandered by the grain official of the granary, which led to the destruction of the Huixian Hall by believers. At that time, Xu Qing stood up for him and helped him vent his anger. Now, Xu Qing has given him the opportunity to cultivate again with the help of incense. How could he not be grateful?
The same applies to Guan Dazhuang and Huang Xiaoliu.

It can be said that all the immortals present were without exception, and each of them had received favors from Xu Qing, and these favors were not small ones.

In the immortal circle, which values ​​gratitude and loyalty, it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to sell themselves to Xu Qing.

In the end, the sect leader distributed so much incense to everyone. Such a sacred shrine is hard to find even with a lantern.

In contrast, other branches, including Huang Xiaoliu, who was once in Huangxian Hall and highly valued by Huang Laoxu, never received such high welfare benefits.

Xu Qing remained silent as the immortals bowed to him.

After all the immortals had taken their seats again, Xu Qing slowly spoke:

"Once the year is over, I may have to go on a long journey, and my return date is uncertain. During this time, Cat Fairy Hall will still need everyone's hard work in managing it."

"During my absence, the Cat Fairy Hall must keep a low profile and not be greedy for incense offerings. When you need to make contact with others, let Erzhuang handle it."

After saying this, Xu Qing added, "Erzhuang, if the Cat Fairy Hall encounters difficulties from ordinary people and you can't resolve them, you can go to Flower and Bird Street to find Master Feng. He owes me some favors and might be able to help."

"If he's not here, you can go to Constable Zhao at the yamen. Although he's not very likable, he's a decent person. Most importantly, he owes me some favors." "Aside from worldly matters, if you encounter demons or highly skilled cultivators that you can't defeat, don't force it. Avoid their sharp edge for now and wait for me to return."

Xuan Yu listened to Xu Qing's arrangements, feeling extremely uneasy.

After the banquet ended, Xu Qing and Xuan Yu walked back to the coroner's shop.

Xuan Yu followed behind with her head down, nearly bumping into Xu Qing several times.

"Why don't you watch where you're going? If you get tired, I wouldn't mind carrying you for a while."

Xuan Yu finally spoke, "When do you plan to undergo your tribulation?"

Xu Qing blinked, then suddenly laughed, "That's not up to me, it depends on when God is in a bad mood!"

Seeing that Xuan Yu remained silent, Xu Qing suppressed his smile and pondered, "It's probably within these last few days that my cultivation has far surpassed five hundred years. If I continue to suppress it, even if the heavens are blind, they will eventually be unable to hide it."

"When will Xu Xianjia be able to return?"

Xu Qing remained silent.

He didn't speak until they reached Jingxia Street:

“Xuan Yu and I are different from ordinary people. Ordinary people live for a maximum of a hundred years, but Xuan Yu and I take the year as the sky and the month as the hour. My time traveling is destined to be short.”

"I have already made arrangements for the Cat Fairy Hall. In the meantime, Xuan Yu can just focus on his cultivation."

The little girl lowered her head and counted the days, taking a year as her measure of time; one year was more than three hundred years.

"I'll wait for you for two months at most. If you don't come back, I'll come looking for you."

Two months is a cycle of sixty years.

Xu Qing burst out laughing.

The cat's way of calculating time was indeed different from what he had expected.

After the New Year, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Qing's shop was unusually visited by several people who came to wish him a Happy New Year.

It wasn't surprising that the careless Zhao Zhonghe and the coroner Wang Lingyuan from the yamen came to Xu Qing. What he didn't expect was that Guo Dongyang from Tianjin would brave the wind and snow, bring cured meat to his shop, and wish him a Happy New Year.

What I'm saying is, although Tianjin is not far from here, it's not close either. With all this rain and snow, and considering your age, if something were to happen to you along the way, then you wouldn't be here to pay New Year's respects, but rather to support the business of the mortuary.

Guo Dongyang didn't take it seriously, thinking that he had been traveling around the world for many years and had some skills to rely on. He wouldn't get sick just because of some wind and snow.

However, before that very night, the old man caught a cold.

In his dazed state, Guo Dongyang muttered, "This is really strange. There's charcoal burning in this room, and it's not that cold. So why do I feel so cold all over, like I'm about to pass out?"

That goes without saying. Even the most energetic young man would feel a chill run down his spine if a zombie held his wrist and took his pulse.

"If you're sick, just say less!"

Xu Qing felt helpless. He didn't know what the old man was thinking. He had a cold but didn't ask the innkeeper to find a doctor to treat him. Instead, he sent the innkeeper to the coroner's shop to ask him to come over.

He's a funeral director who handles burials and funeral arrangements, yet he's here to save lives and heal the wounded. Isn't that just ridiculous?

We're saying that even having a ruthless bandit help an old lady walk would be more reliable than this!
Prepare a bowl of talisman water, add a herbal pill, and before nightfall, the old man is already jumping out of bed, full of energy.

"What medicine did you give me? How come it's so effective?"

Xu Qing said irritably, "I got this cold-dispelling soup from a pharmacist. He said it would work quickly, and if it didn't work, it would at least make me mourn quickly, but the mourning I'm referring to is the mourning of wearing mourning clothes."

Guo Dongyang was skeptical, but seeing Xu Qing's serious demeanor, he had no choice but to believe him.

Is there really such a miraculous remedy in this world? If it is true, it must be recorded in the Travelogue of Dongyang.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Guo Dongyang came to Xu Qing's coroner's shop and said, "Brother Xu, I plan to stay in Linhe County for a while. If you have time, you can come to Fuji Teahouse to find me."

"I'll definitely go when I have time," Xu Qing replied, but didn't really take it to heart.

Once the New Year is over, he will leave the coroner's shop to face the unknown calamities ahead.

Before that, he had many things to deal with, so how could he have the leisure to go to a teahouse for tea?
After leaving the coroner's shop, Guo Dongyang stood for a while, looking at the couplet at the entrance.

"Don't worry about what happens after you die; run a business to help people in the world."

Although it was a couplet from a funeral shop, he found it pleasing to the eye.

"The mist and dew condense, yet remain intermittent; the spirit is penetrating, refreshing and vibrant—truly a beautiful piece of calligraphy!"

After leaving a comment, Guo Dongyang turned and left.

Inside the coroner's shop, a black cat sat upright on the counter, watching the insects fighting in the jar.

Xu Qing looked at the black cat and asked with some surprise, "Why didn't Xuan Yu transform into human form today?"

Xuan Yu raised his head upon hearing this and said earnestly, "Master Xu said that one needs to transform into human form during the New Year. Now that the New Year has passed, it is natural to revert to one's original appearance."

"."

A limited-edition trial card for Chinese New Year?
How did he end up dead on his way? Just as Xu Qing was thinking about how to change this restriction, he suddenly heard Xuan Yu ask, "Didn't Immortal Xu say before that the least likely thing in the Gu jar to become the Insect King is that lazy bug?"

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, moved closer to Xuan Yu, and both of them, one stiff and the other cat, looked at the Thousand Insect Gu Jar at the same time.

After months of fighting, only a few of the thousand Gu worms remained.

Xu Qing glanced around and saw that, apart from the white worm still sleeping soundly in the corner, there were only three worms left in the jar, standing in a tripod formation, seemingly having achieved some kind of balance.

"Why does this lazybones seem to have gotten fatter again?"

Beside him, Xuan Yu said with bright eyes, "I know. This insect goes to pick up corpses to eat at night, and then sleeps. Until now, it has not fought with any other insects."

"."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing clicked his tongue. Why did this corpse-collecting bug have a strangely familiar feeling?
Looking at the plump, tender white worm that looked almost exactly like the grubs in the rotten tree stump, Xu Qing couldn't see anything special about it.

"Does Xu Xianjia think it will be the last surviving insect?"

"Yes, I will." Xu Qing smiled slightly and gave an affirmative answer.

On the counter, Xuan Yu looked at the Gu jar, his eyes flashing.

(End of this chapter)