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

Chapter 253 Soul Transference, County Magistrate's Corpse

When kids play house, they usually play the whole family, maybe with the neighbor, Old Wang. But this county magistrate of Ning County, at his advanced age, is playing the role of a tyrannical ruler and Daji.

The key point is that this Daji is actually a man!

Xu Qing had no idea what was going on with the county magistrate; the issues involved seemed far more complicated than he had imagined.

It should be noted that the county magistrate who delivered the map to Daoist Baiyun was a figure from decades ago. Xu Qing came to Ning County only to confirm whether that county magistrate was still alive.

If someone dies, find out where they are buried, dig them up with a shovel, have an interrogation in the underworld, uncover the truth of everything that happened back then, and that will be the end of the matter.

However, the appearance of the fox demon from Miaoying Pavilion conveyed a message to Xu Qing: the current county magistrate seemed to be the same one who used to give away maps of Baiyun Cave everywhere.

The reason the other party was able to live so long was because of the 'longevity elixir' that they sought out from all over the world.

A sixty-year-old crown prince is not unusual, but a county magistrate who is nearly a hundred years old is not just unusual, but should we consider inviting a master to exorcise demons and monsters!

But this centenarian county magistrate was not only ignored by the imperial court, but the people of Ning County didn't seem to find it strange at all, which was very illogical.

"Xu Xianjia".

"Ok?"

"We could actually avoid killing the emperor."

Seeing that Xu Qing remained silent, Xuan Yu paused and added, "Killing the emperor is very dangerous. If you get caught, you'll definitely be beheaded!"

Xu Qing suddenly stopped, and the little girl behind him was caught off guard, her head hitting him directly in the lower back.

Xuan Yu felt as if he had bumped into a metal plate.

Do I look like someone who's afraid of being beheaded?

Having learned the art of surviving decapitation, Xu Qing spoke with a tough attitude. He turned to look at Xuan Yu and said, "When the dog emperor asked for the elixir of immortality, he didn't say he wouldn't cut off your head."

"Xuanyu, you must remember, we don't easily provoke others, but if someone does, we must find a way to crush them to dust. If they are powerful, we will leave them on credit, and no matter how many years have passed, we will find them to settle the debt as soon as we have the opportunity!"

In chaotic times, even humans cannot be too naive, let alone monsters.

Xu Qing doesn't consider himself a human being. He knows perfectly well that he is a demon. He can choose to do good deeds, but he will never choose to be a good person!
What makes a good person? If others think you're easy to bully and that they can easily take advantage of you, then you're a good person!

The last monster raised by humans who chose to be a 'good person' now has only eight lives left out of its nine.

Xu Qing didn't say who it was, but it should know for itself.

As they spoke, the county magistrate's mansion came into view.

"This is the county magistrate's residence. What business do you have here?"

Xu Qing, still using his familiar words, said with a smile to the gatekeeper, "Please inform him that the philanthropist Xu from Yunmeng Mountain has come to pay a visit to Lord Yang."

"Lord Yang? My magistrate's surname is Xiao, where did this Lord Yang come from?"

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and said, "Surname Xiao? Isn't your county magistrate Yang Mingchun?"

“Yang Mingchun, that name sounds familiar.” The gatekeeper thought for a moment and then remembered: “You’re quite interesting. Yang Mingchun was a county magistrate during the Qianyuan era. Who knows how many years have passed since then, and who knows how many magistrates have come and gone in between. How could you possibly find him?”

Xu Qing said calmly, "Then please inform Lord Xiao that we are old friends from Yunmeng Mountain who have come to pay a visit."

Before long, a servant from the county magistrate’s mansion hurriedly replied. The gatekeeper, upon hearing that the master had invited him, was still wondering to himself whether this person who was talking nonsense was actually an old friend of the county magistrate.

As Xuan Yu entered the county magistrate's mansion, he was on edge the whole way. Killing the emperor was a big deal. The national fortune dragon protected the palace from external evils. Normally, these monsters and evil spirits wouldn't even dare to approach the palace, let alone assassinate the emperor. But if the emperor ran into Qianzhou, he might actually have a chance!
But when Xuan Yu saw the county magistrate dressed in the official robes of a seventh-rank official, he was filled with questions.

The little girl looked around, wondering: Where is the emperor? Where did such a big emperor hide?
Xu Qing ignored Xuan Yu's little tricks and focused his gaze directly on Magistrate Xiao in front of him.

The Qi Observation Technique was activated, and it was seen that Magistrate Xiao's shoulders and head were completely empty, with no life flame burning.

It should be known that a living person has three fires: the Xuan Sha fire on the head, which signifies longevity and is also called the fire of the living.

Besides the top of the head, there is a fire on each shoulder. The fire on the left shoulder is called the "Ning Sha Fire," which signifies annihilation and non-birth. It is also called the "Turning Back Fire." It is often said in folk tradition that the fire that might be extinguished when one turns their head sharply is this fire.

The right shoulder corresponds to the "Fire of Swiftness," also known as the "Nameless Fire," which governs the harmony of Yin and Yang.

The three fires represent the body's yang energy; when it is abundant, evil spirits cannot invade.

If the three fires are weak, it is most taboo to turn around suddenly, or to be patted on the shoulder or touched on the top of the head by others.

However, the magistrate Xiao in front of them had not a single spark of yang fire on his head or shoulders.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. There was only one possibility for this situation: Magistrate Xiao was dead, and what he was seeing now was a body possessed by a ghost, not a real living person.

"Should I address you as Magistrate Xiao or Magistrate Yang?"

Magistrate Xiao frowned. Instead of answering, he asked, "Since you come from Yunmeng Mountain, you must have come on the orders of Abbot Ruyi Temple. Does he have some important business to discuss with you?"

Xu Qing shook his head: "You mean Daoist Baiyun? He can't order me around now."

"That was sent by Abbot Dingguang."

Magistrate Xiao smiled slightly, as if he had a sure thing.

Xu Qing grinned and said in a mysterious tone, "I came here not on anyone's orders, but simply to see who the emperor and the imperial advisor of Ning County really are."

As he spoke, Xu Qing glanced at the clerk next to Magistrate Xiao. There was nothing to see in the clerk; he was just a scruffy fox with a skull on his head!
"Who exactly are you?" Magistrate Xiao frowned. He had never revealed to outsiders that he concealed his imperial robes and referred to himself as the emperor in private, except to the Imperial Advisor and his beloved concubine.

How did the other party find out?

"I can tell you who I am, but you have to answer one question for me first."

Xu Qing looked the county magistrate up and down and asked, "Is Magistrate Xiao still alive?"

"I am Magistrate Xiao. If you continue to make trouble, be careful that I will punish you!"

"I'll give you one more chance to organize your thoughts." Xu Qing appeared in front of Magistrate Xiao in the blink of an eye, and at the same time, he placed a hand on the other's shoulder.

The indestructible hand, soaked in malevolent energy, instantly imprisoned the soul hidden within Magistrate Xiao's body!

Seeing the situation was bad, the county clerk was about to run away when a spinning sword pellet suddenly hovered half a foot in front of his head. The clerk turned his head and saw the little girl next to Xu Qing making a sword gesture. If he dared to take a step, the sword pellet above his head would spit out a sword beam and kill him on the spot!

"Wait! I am an official appointed by the imperial court, a Jinshi of the Bingwu year, and the magistrate of the county appointed by the late emperor. Magistrate Xiao is merely a substitute for me in this world. Even His Majesty does not concern himself with this matter, so why are you making things difficult for me?"

"A priest?" Xu Qing had never heard of such an official position before.

"He is a high-ranking official who seeks the secret to immortality for His Majesty and tests the elixir of immortality."

Xu Qing frowned, and suddenly asked, "Has the current emperor ever used your method of finding a substitute?"

"No, Your Majesty is blessed with the nation's fortune. If you use a substitute and change into a new body, you will not only lose your imperial bloodline but also the nation's fortune. The officials in the court will inevitably support the new emperor to ascend the throne."

Between immortality and the throne, Zhao Rong clearly chose the latter.

If the former option is chosen, and the new emperor ascends the throne, even if Zhao Rong possesses the means to prolong his life, he will likely not escape death. Xu Qing understood this, and he asked again, "Is Magistrate Xiao still alive?"

The moment Xu Qing touched Magistrate Xiao's body, he sensed the vitality contained within it, but no additional soul remained.

"His body was almost completely exhausted, and his soul had long since departed."

Yang Mingchun felt Xu Qing loosen his grip and couldn't help but ask, "You still haven't told me who you are?"

"I?"

"The assassin who killed the emperor and beheaded the imperial advisor!"

Having said that, Xu Qing raised his knife and brought it down.

After retracting the razor-sharp claws, the body Yang Mingchun was attached to had been decapitated and was lifeless.

Beside him, the scruffy fox, disregarding its status as a clerk, immediately threw off the skull cap on its head, transformed into its original form, and prepared to escape.

However, the cat reacted faster. Before the fox could take a step, Xuan Yu's sword technique had already struck first, and the foul-smelling fox blood splattered, thus ending the life of the 'National Preceptor'.

"These are the emperor and the imperial advisor you were talking about?"

Xuan Yu questioned Xu Qing.

“One is a self-proclaimed local tyrant, and the other is a national advisor appointed by the local tyrant. I never lie.”

"You lied to the cat!"

"Just tell me, aren't they the emperor and the imperial advisor?"

"."

Having conducted an assassination drill for the emperor, Xuan Yu felt inexplicably anxious. If only the real emperor were so easy to kill.

Xu Qing picked up Magistrate Xiao's head and put it back together with his body.

At the same time, the pages of the "Scripture of Salvation" began to turn.

Xu Qing had expected to see Magistrate Xiao's life story, but unexpectedly, after a cutscene of the underworld, Yang Mingchun's life story appeared instead.

Yang Mingchun passed the imperial examination in the Bingwu year and ranked among the top three in the palace examination. It is said that Yang Mingchun was able to enter the top three because he wrote a lot of his views on the art of longevity when he answered the questions.

When it comes to policy questions, who among the respectable would dare to deviate from the exam topic and write impractical essays on topics like alchemy, consuming women's breast milk, or balancing yin and yang?
This has nothing to do with policy questions, does it?
However, the emperor at that time was in poor health, and judging from the average age of emperors throughout history, he would soon have to follow the previous emperor in death.

Although Yang Mingchun's writing was off-topic, it suited the old emperor's wishes perfectly; otherwise, he wouldn't have received the title of Tan Hua Lang (third-ranked scholar) personally appointed by His Majesty.

A few days later, the emperor summoned Yang Mingchun to an audience. The two spent the entire night in the imperial study, discussing the art of immortality without regard for state affairs.

The following day, Yang Mingchun was appointed as the magistrate of Ning County in Qianzhou and immediately took up his post.

It is worth mentioning that Quyang County in Qianzhou happens to be Yang Mingchun's hometown.

According to the law, county magistrates are not allowed to serve in their hometowns and must take up their posts in other places. Since Yang Mingchun could not take up his post in Quyang, he had no choice but to settle for Ning County, which was the closest county to Quyang, as his post.

Yang Mingchun had only been in Ning County for three days when someone suddenly came to visit him outside the county magistrate's mansion.

The two people, a man and a woman, the man calling himself Hu Xian'er and the woman calling herself Hu Bao'er, were originally brothers from the Hu family.

Yang Mingchun was overjoyed to hear of the two men's visit. He immediately set up a banquet, dismissed the maids and servants, and personally entertained the Hu brothers.

During the meal, Yang Mingchun raised his glass in gratitude: "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Hu and Sister Bao'er. Without your advice, I would never have achieved what I have today."

Hu Xian'er smiled and said, "Brother Yang is the descendant of my godmother's old friend. We are truly family. A little bit of fame and fortune is nothing. As long as you are willing to help me in the future, I will definitely not treat you unfairly."

"At that time, let alone a county magistrate, it wouldn't be difficult for you, my brother, to become a king or ancestor."

Yang Mingchun believed it to be true, and from then on, apart from helping the Holy Maiden of Baiyun Cave find suitable disciples, he lived as his own local tyrant in Ning County.

Hu Bao'er, dressed as a woman, is alluring and charming. How can Yang Mingchun, an ordinary man, bear the loneliness?
He teased her with his words several times, and later even took physical contact with her. Hu Bao'er was a seductive woman by nature, and she couldn't resist being seduced by others.

With a push and a shove, the man and the fox finally broke through the barrier and made things work.

Yang Mingchun was unaware that humans and demons are different beings. As time went on, he was only in his forties, but he looked like a seventy or eighty-year-old decrepit man.

At that time, the immortal medicine of the White Cloud Taoist was first refined. Although Yang Mingchun's lifespan was prolonged after taking it, it could not cure the foundation damaged by his excessive indulgence.

What use is power and influence to a man who has lost the ability to enjoy human relationships?

Seeing that Yang Mingchun was drinking and wasting his days and no longer focused on serving his godmother, Hu Bao'er went to Baiyun Cave and learned a method of possession from her godmother, the Holy Maiden.

Yang Mingchun was overjoyed and faked his death to escape.

When the imperial court dispatched a new county magistrate, the two fox demons used evil magic to help Yang Mingchun usurp the position and continue as county magistrate.

For decades, Yang Mingchun did not think about spiritual practice and indulged himself day and night. Whenever his body was exhausted, he would resort to the same old trick, get a new body, and continue to be his local tyrant.

When Emperor Longping died and Emperor Jingxing ascended the throne, Yang Mingchun was still 'alive'.

However, Yang Mingchun was no longer satisfied with being a county magistrate; he wanted to don the imperial robe and become king.

Unfortunately, he ran into Xu Qing.

After reading Yang Mingchun's revolving lantern, Xu Qing felt somewhat disdainful.

How could such a foolish man, who couldn't even tell whether his 'beloved concubine' was male or female, on his deathbed, still dream of ruling the world?
Xu Qing looked at the reward of the Salvation Scripture, a low-grade Earth-level Soul Transfer Technique.

This technique is different from the traditional concept of possession. Soul transfer involves the mutual transfer of the souls of two living people. It is more like exchanging bodies than possession.

However, after exchanging bodies, lifespan is greatly reduced. After Yang Mingchun exchanged bodies with the previous county magistrates, the latter could not survive for long because Yang Mingchun's body was too weak.

Even if one or two lucky individuals still have a lifespan, they will be silenced on the spot by the fox demons protecting the Dharma.

Unfortunately, the zombie's soul had already become one with its body, so the spell was useless against Xu Qing.

"If the Soul Transference Technique is simply a matter of exchanging bodies, then wouldn't Magistrate Xiao's revolving lantern be on the corpse of the previous magistrate?"

Xu Qing's eyes lit up, and he immediately spoke:

"Xuanyu, come with me to the backyard."

Following Yang Mingchun's memory, Xu Qing avoided the servants in the mansion and went straight to a well that was sealed with stone slabs.

Lifting the stone seal, Xu Qing peered inside and saw a chilling aura beneath, where seven or eight gruesome male corpses lay submerged.

Without exception, all of these corpses belonged to former county magistrates of Ning County!

(End of this chapter)