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

Chapter 315 The Ageless General, The Golden Rooster Crows Three Times
Revenge? And you plan to die in the Yin River?
Upon hearing Zuo Zixiong's words, Xu Qing, who had been chatting and laughing just moments before, immediately changed his expression!

I saved your life, and now you're asking how you're going to die?
"General Zuo, this is not up to you!"

Xu Qing said in a deep voice, "A promise is a promise. I have already promised the Eight Banners Marshal to persuade you to go back. You can't go back on your word."

Zuo Zixiong said dismissively, "I will always remember Brother Xu's kindness in saving me, and I will repay him if I have the chance. However, I cannot disobey the imperial decree and leave the Yin River!"

"Imperial decree? Isn't that just an order to send you and your brothers to your deaths? Now that your brothers are almost all dead or wounded, if nothing unexpected happens, you will also be buried in this desolate place."

"At this point, do you still intend to obey the emperor's orders?"

Xu Qing stood up and said, "From the moment General Zuo stepped into the Yin River, General Zuo ceased to exist in this world. Don't you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Zixiong's expression changed drastically, and he said, "Stop talking nonsense!"

"I was able to come to Yinhe because of His Majesty's trust, which is why he entrusted me with such an important task. Although Manager Xu has been kind to me, he cannot slander His Majesty's judgment!"

Xu Qing, who was about to drag the corpse back to the Zhenjun Temple, suddenly stopped. He turned around and said in a calm yet thunderous tone:

"When General Zuo was ordered to protect Crown Prince Zhao You's safety, the Crown Prince disguised himself as a groom and wanted to give the general a fine horse. This was a great favor to the general. It's just a pity that the general did not live to see the Crown Prince return to the capital, and the Crown Prince never saw the general again."

Zuo Zixiong asked in astonishment, "How did you know about this?"

Xu Qing laughed and said, "Zhang Jun, who is beside the Crown Prince, is from my hometown. I am naturally just repeating what I've heard."

Seeing Zuo Zixiong's dazed expression, Xu Qing's expression shifted slightly, and he continued, "Aside from the affection for his mentor, does General know that Zhao You was murdered by the current Emperor? Besides Zhao You, General Zuo must have known about the Second Prince's amnesia and the Fifth Prince's sudden death, right?"

"."

Zuo Zixiong suddenly stood up, his expression changing drastically, and said, "Such rumors must have been spread by the rebels of the Heavenly Heart Sect. How could Manager Xu believe them just because he heard them from others?"

"If it weren't for the fact that Manager Xu had done me a favor, these treasonous words alone would warrant being treated as those of a rebel!"

Rebels? Who, me?

You've really judged people right this time.
Xu Qing couldn't help but laugh at what the dark-faced man in front of him said.

"Alright, alright, I won't argue with you. But I have something to tell General Zuo, which can also be considered as giving the general a chance."

"What's the matter?"

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "I know someone who has a long-standing feud with Emperor Jingxing. Once he leaves the Yin River, he will surely go straight to the capital to take the emperor's blood to satisfy his desires. If you want to protect the emperor, General, you only have two choices."

"First, leave the Yin River as soon as possible; you might still have a chance to meet the dragon slayer."

"As for the second one, if you can defeat me today, I will tell you about this man."

Zuo Zixiong's expression changed, but he finally said with certainty, "Brother Xu is just making up a completely fictitious excuse to trick me into leaving Yinhe. Such tricks cannot fool me."

"."

Xu Qing stared at the black-faced general in front of him, who was as tall as an iron tower, and for a moment he was at a loss as to what to do with him.

"Does General Zuo consider himself to have a keen eye for people?"

Zuo Zixiong glanced at Xu Qing, whose words were loaded with meaning, and said in a deep voice, "I dare not say that I am very good at judging people, but at least I understand the principles of morality and law. Just like this Yin River, do you think I can't tell who is a living person and who is a demon?"

Xu Qing blinked, then suddenly asked, "Then let me ask you, General, are the Eight Banners Marshals human or demons?"

"."

Zuo Zixiong remained silent for a moment before retorting, "The Marshal was a human being in life, unlike demons. The difference here is like that between humans and animals."

Zuo Zixiong paused for a moment, then continued:

"When I was in the capital, I heard of a hunter named Zhao who was skilled at raising tigers. The Emperor was very surprised and ordered me to bring the hunter and the tigers to the capital."

"The hunter was in the same cage as the tiger in front of the palace, and deliberately stuck his head into the tiger's mouth to rub against it. The tiger's face was covered in saliva, but he was not hurt at all."

"His Majesty was amazed that the animal could understand human nature, so he rewarded it with a thousand pieces of gold."

Zuo Zixiong's eyes flickered, and he said in a mysterious tone, "Your Majesty is busy with countless affairs of state, yet you are unaware that the hunter has been making a living in the capital by 'playing with tigers' for more than two years."

One day, the hunter playfully stuck his head into the tiger's mouth at the gate, but unexpectedly, the ferocious tiger suddenly unleashed its power and bit off the hunter's neck in one bite.

Zuo Zixiong agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "This shows that birds, beasts, and demons can never be associated with. Therefore, in the Yin River, I don't need to be discerning in judging people; I only need to be able to distinguish between humans and demons."

However, Xu Qing felt as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world after hearing it.

Why is Brother Xu laughing?

"I laugh at you for being so rigid, unable to distinguish between humans, ghosts, demons, or right and wrong, good and evil."

Xu Qing said in the same way, "If you want to hear it, I will tell you about the Shadow Taoist and the sorceress of Guanmen Village's tiger-raising experiences."

During their conversation, Xu Qing dragged Sun Faping's body into the Zhenjun Temple built of bones, while Zuo Zixiong followed closely behind, also bringing back Qiu Yunlong's body.

The Bone Temple had been restored to its former cleanliness, and the corpses that had been lying haphazardly had been properly placed by the paper figures of the straw spirits.

Inside the Bone Temple, Xu Qing lit several incense sticks and candles, bowed to the True Lord, and then sat cross-legged, recounting his past experiences to Zuo Zixiong.

"That Li family boy, because he didn't get to eat the baked buns and candies, implicated his own mother in a fit of pique, causing her death. That's why he had two shadows, which led the sorcerer to take him into his household."

"And then there's that young master of the Gao family, who inexplicably murdered his entire family, leaving only his twin brother, whom he then turned into a walking corpse to protect him from disaster."

"That foolish boy is his own brother, so what grudge could he possibly have against him?"

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "If these things still don't prove anything, then why are the two tigers adopted by Granny Guan in Guanmen Village one extremely benevolent and the other extremely malevolent?"

Zuo Zixiong frowned. He felt that the young master of the Gao family that Xu Qing had mentioned was somewhat similar to the Five Shadows Daoist who had led him into the Yinhe Ancient Road.

Beside the Five Shadows Taoist was a strange Taoist who looked exactly like him, but who was like a walking corpse.

"Is everything you're saying true?"

Xu Qing nodded: "I saw and heard it all with my own eyes, and none of it is false."

Seeing Zuo Zixiong frowning in deep thought, Xu Qing smiled and said, "General Zuo, there is no need to be too troubled. This is nothing more than the change of nature of humans and animals. Just as flowers bloom against the season and water flows uphill, it is truly the impermanence of the world, which cannot be predicted by the laws and norms."

"."

Zuo Zixiong was speechless.

So all that talk was just to refute this one sentence he said!

The principles of social order and law
For the first time, Zuo Zixiong showed a bewildered expression.

The things His Majesty does are known even to the common people on the streets. How could a general of the Divine Machine Battalion, who is frequently exposed to palace secrets, not have heard about them?
After a while, Zuo Zixiong said, "Brother Xu's words remind me of an old story. Years ago, my elder brother and I both served in the Beijing Garrison."

My elder brother was far more capable than I, yet he died young, leaving my sister-in-law alone at home as a widow. "My sister-in-law was of noble character; she remained chaste for twenty years without a single rumor, but in her fifties, she suddenly had an affair and ultimately died in childbirth."

"This unusual behavior is no different from that of livestock."

Hearing Zuo Zixiong change his mind, Xu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "It's good that General Zuo understands. In that case, you should leave Yinhe as soon as possible, find a good woman, and leave an heir for the Zuo family. It's better than being used by others in the court where people and animals have changed their ways."

However, just when Xu Qing thought things were turning around, Zuo Zixiong's eyes became even more determined than before.

“Brother Xu is right, and I understand! But the grudges in the court are beyond the reach of a mere military man like me. They are usually a matter of right and wrong, and the truth is often unclear. I am just following orders.”

"And this is the duty of a general!"

"."

Xu Qing clenched his fists and then clenched them again. He had never wanted to punch someone as much as he did today.

Even Zhao Zhonghe, who took away his dream love stick, had never angered him so much.

So all that talk he did was just a waste of time!

Xu Qing tried to restrain himself, but when he thought of the alluring physique of the Eight Banners Marshal, he finally couldn't resist anymore.

I don’t care about you!
I saved your life, why should I listen to your reasoning?
Xu Qing grinned, stood up, walked over to Zuo Zixiong, patted him on the shoulder, and said:
"General Zuo must be tired from traveling back and forth along the Yin River these past few days."

"Fighting for the Great Yong Dynasty, how can I complain of being weary? I am happy to do it!"

"No! I said you're tired, and you are tired!"

Xu Qing tightened his grip, uttering his last words just before Zuo Zixiong realized something was wrong—

"General, get a good night's sleep. When you wake up, you will no longer have to worry about the Great Yong."

Zuo Zixiong felt a weight on his shoulder, and a cold, deathly aura rushed through his meridians and straight to his head!
The next moment, Zuo Zixiong's vision went black, and he lost consciousness completely.

"Indeed, I'm more suited to violence than reasoning."

Xu Qing shook his head and sighed softly, then took out a coffin covered with longevity patterns from the landscape painting.

That was an immortal coffin he obtained when he performed a ritual to help Hu Baosong pass on to the afterlife.

This coffin can preserve the appearance of the living. When the coffin is opened, the person sleeping there will look exactly as they did in life, and their lifespan will remain the same.

Xu Qing placed Zuo Zixiong into the coffin of immortality, his face revealing a wicked smile that suggested he had just done something bad and was looking forward to the seeds of evil sprouting and bearing fruit.

Inside the incense hall, Jinluan watched as Xu Qing, who had been chatting and laughing with someone one moment and then threw that person into a coffin the next, became even more certain of her decision to follow Xu Qing's lead.

"Stupid chicken, what are you doing?"

After placing the coffin of immortality vertically into the paper sedan chair, Xu Qing turned to perform a ritual to release the corpses of the Shenji Camp soldiers. However, just as he was busy, a cool breeze suddenly came from the side.

He turned his head and saw the golden phoenix rhythmically flapping one of its wings, fanning him to cool him down.

Xu Qing's eyebrows twitched.

The Yinhe Ancient Road is perpetually shrouded in darkness, with no sun or moon in sight, and winter prevails all year round. Why would it need this foolish chicken to come and fawn over it?

Feeling dejected after being snubbed, Jinluan walked back to the paper sedan chair and sat down next to the coffin containing Zuo Zixiong's remains, pecking at the rice in the cloth bag.

The candlelight flickered in the incense hall, and as time passed, the revolving lanterns of corpses played out scenes of love, hate, and grudges in this small temple.

On the altar, the Demon Exorcist Lord's appearance—a blue-faced, fanged, and furiously glaring figure—was particularly terrifying.

At one moment, Jinluan, who was dozing beside the paper sedan chair, suddenly looked up alertly. She saw that in the center of the incense hall, the head of the Exorcist True Lord had turned to Xu Qing at some point, and a flash of blue-black light appeared in his fierce eyes.

The golden rooster, possessing spiritual insight and able to discern right from wrong, immediately flapped its wings upon seeing the situation, and a crowing that pierced the clouds and split rocks suddenly resounded throughout the temple.

At the Dry Bone Inn, as the golden rooster crowed three times, all the ghosts lingering outside seemed to have heard something extremely horrifying. In an instant, ghostly figures darted about in the ghost market, and soon the streets were deserted.

Meanwhile, inside the Bone Temple.

The statue of the Exorcist Lord has returned to normal. Although the statue's eyes still have a fierce look, it no longer has the same strange appearance as before.

When all the strange events subsided, the golden phoenix returned to its paper sedan chair for a rest, as if nothing had happened.

In the open space of the temple, Xu Qing looked at the golden phoenix that had cried out for no reason, and then looked up at the True Lord statue that had returned to normal.

"The Exorcist Lord?"

The dark glint in Xu Qing's eyes also vanished in an instant.

He noticed something strange about the bone temple, but apart from the moment he was being stared at, he didn't sense any obvious hostility.

Shaking his head, Xu Qing resumed his work.

After performing the rituals to release all the corpses, Xu Qing tallied his gains. In addition to some rewards of the Human Rank, he also found a low-grade Earth Rank Great Formless Skill and a claw skill called Crimson Cloud Hand.

At first, Xu Qing thought that the Great Formless Skill required good innate conditions, such as having a large stomach. However, after actually coming into contact with this skill, he discovered that it was actually a superior martial arts technique that used the opponent's force against them, similar to receiving, neutralizing, and releasing force.

Furthermore, many of the martial arts principles within are intricately connected to the Tai Chi Bagua in Xu Qing's memory.

Before Xu Qing performed the ritual to help Sun Faping pass on to the afterlife, he felt that this technique was somewhat related to Taoism. Now, after seeing the other party's revolving lantern, he was even more certain of his guess.

The eminent monk from the Western Regions who created this Great Formless Skill was invited by the imperial family to open an altar and transmit the teachings. Later, that foreign monk even stayed at the Celestial Master's Mansion for several years to cultivate.

The doctrines and practices that the Celestial Master's Mansion took for granted were treasures in the eyes of the Hu monks.

Not long after returning to the Western Regions, the Hu monks, relying on the theory of Tai Chi and Bagua, created the Great Formless Skill and listed it as a superior self-cultivation method in the Western Regions.

Xu Qing pondered that this technique could be passed on to Tie Zhu.

Zombies are already made of steel and iron, let alone zombies with indestructible bones.

The Great Formless Skill, a low-grade Earth-level technique, was of little use to him. On the contrary, the Crimson Cloud Hand, which was also a low-grade Earth-level technique, suited Xu Qing's taste better.

The most primitive weapon of zombies is their claws. Xu Qing has never had a suitable claw technique to practice, and the Crimson Cloud Hand just fills this gap for him.

The Crimson Cloud Hand primarily employs techniques such as grabbing, tearing, hooking, stabbing, and cutting, aiming for a fatal blow while simultaneously controlling the opponent's weapon.

In summary, this is an extremely insidious claw technique, and the name "Red Cloud" is not as elegant as it appears on the surface.

The term "red cloud" refers to the way the claws tear flesh to the bone, leaving behind a trail of blood and gore that is as ruthless as the red cloud itself.
Xu Qingchu was overjoyed to have obtained a divine skill that matched his own abilities, but just as he was about to find a victim to test the power of his claw technique, he suddenly realized something.

In this ancient Yinhe Road, there are mostly skeletons with only bones and no flesh and blood. His Crimson Cloud Hand can only dismantle the skeletons and cannot exert its full effect.

"It's a pity that we've waited so long, but the Holy Master of the Heavenly Heart Sect still hasn't arrived. Otherwise, we could have used him as a practice subject."

(End of this chapter)