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

Chapter 371 The Supernatural Power to Collect Corpses and Protect the Newborn
The Heavenly Gang Method is not easy to learn, nor is it easy to master.

Most of the immortals in the Immortal Hall only obtained one or two supernatural powers, and these were all specially selected by the patriarch based on their unique abilities and with the discerning eye of the master.

Only in this way can the immortals achieve twice the result with half the effort in their cultivation.

For example, Qishan's ability to leap over mountains and seas, his wondrous method of transformation, and his ability to stand upright without a shadow; or the flying and shadowy traces of the chasing horse; Huang Xiaoliu's golden light leaping across the ground, his wondrous method of turning stone into gold; or the size of the Red-tailed Monkey, the guardian deity, with his supernatural powers of subduing dragons and tigers.

Even Xuan Yu learned the supernatural abilities of wandering spirits and controlling qi, seeing through walls, absorbing qi in nine breaths, and turning wind and fire back.
According to Xuan Yu, the ability to see through walls is the most powerful mouse-catching technique in the world.

No matter what kind of rat it is, or where it hides, it can use this method to penetrate all obstacles and see where all the rats are hiding.

If the Grandmaster Hunyuan knew that this cat was using his Heavenly Gang Technique as a mouse-catching magic, I wonder what the Grandmaster would think.
"What kind of supernatural powers does Xu Xianjia practice?"

"Me? Needless to say, it's the ability to collect corpses!"

"Amazing!"

Xuan Yu's true feelings were revealed.

In the cat's eyes, apart from its ability to catch mice and Xu Xian's ability to collect corpses, there seemed to be no other supernatural power in the world more powerful than this!

Jingxia Street, the coroner's shop.

During the few days of the Immortal Hall's team building activities, all the shops on the funeral street were replaced by coffin makers. Now, Xu Qing has returned with a group of immortals, only to find that there are a group of uninvited guests on his own funeral street.

The street, which was originally filled with wreaths and paper horses and various offerings, was now dotted with tall signs that read "Silence" and "Avoidance".

Behind the tall signboard was a full set of ceremonial guards for a first-rank official, including an eight-bearer sedan chair with a silver top and black canopy, as well as flags, umbrellas, fans, luggage carts, horses, servants, maids, and so on.

Xu Qing wondered what was going on this time.
"May I ask if you are the Great Sage Master in person?"

At the entrance of the funeral parlor, Xu Qing was directing Li Tiezhu, Guan Dazhuang, and others to move the ceremonial procession, removing the unsightly palanquins from the funeral street.

Before the work was finished, a clerk-like man, accompanied by three or five servants, came to greet Xu Qing.

A great sage and holy teacher? Who, me?

Xu Qing frowned. Who came up with this name? It's so unlucky!

"You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not some holy master, I'm just a corpse collector. Do you want to arrange a funeral or book a post-funeral service? I'm in a good mood today, so if you place an order, I can throw in a complete set of burial offerings for you!"

"."

The clerk chuckled awkwardly, "Your Majesty is joking. We are ceremonial guards dispatched by the Ministry of Rites, and are hereby ordered to serve Your Majesty."

"Drive them? To where? To carry an eight-bearer sedan chair for my funeral?"

The clerk hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "No, no, we are just lowly servants in the presence of the Holy Master. If the Holy Master needs to go to the capital or travel, he can be summoned and we will arrange the Holy Master's travel arrangements."

"Is this for real? You don't need me to pay your salaries?"

"No need, no need, our salaries are all paid by the Ministry of Rites."

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Well then, I have neither an official position nor a title, so it would be really improper for me to go out with an official badge. How about this, we can change the flag to a funeral couplet, and change the official badge that says 'Silence and Avoidance' to one that says 'Welcoming and Sending Off'. Also, I think it would be better if you changed your red official uniforms to plain white ones. I like this color, it's simple and clean."

"No need for gongs and drums, those things are too loud and disturb the neighbors. I think it would be better to use some loudspeakers instead!"

"."

The clerk's face turned pale and then red upon hearing this.

Can't we just have a proper conversation today?

"What do you mean? You can't exchange it? If you can't exchange it, what are you arguing about here? Go away! Take your weapons and your men, and go back to where you came from! This is a small business, I don't have time to waste with you!"

Li Tiezhu and Guan Dazhuang remained silent, focusing solely on clearing away the miscellaneous ceremonial items outside.

The clerk was caught in a dilemma: should he leave or not?

Seeing this, the accompanying clerk quickly stepped forward and said:

"Holy Master, please do not make a mistake. This ceremonial task was personally assigned to us by His Majesty. Although His Majesty did not say it explicitly, there must be a deeper meaning behind it. I urge you to think it over carefully."

What profound meaning?
It's just that creditors have come to collect debts!

Xu Qing rudely chased those bystanders out of Jingxia Street. How could he not know Zhu Huai'an's plan?
Ever since the incident at Baiyun Cave, Zhu Huai'an felt confident that he could be invited to serve in the government, which is why he sent over the ceremonial regalia that should have belonged to high-ranking officials in advance, all in order to invite him to serve.

Xu Qing shook his head helplessly.

To be honest, he did save Zhu Huai'an's life and helped him more than once. These are enough to offset the national fortune and personal favors of those twenty years.

But Zhu Huai'an didn't think so, or rather, the emperor's thinking was different from that of ordinary people. In Zhu's eyes, the weight of the nation's fate over the past twenty years was greater than the sky.

Moreover, this matter concerns the face of the emperor. The officials who went to participate in the Battle of Baiyun Cave all know that Xu Qing was revered as a sage and immortal master by the emperor. Now that the emperor is showing respect to scholars and has come to invite you, where will the emperor's face be if you don't agree?

This is why Xu Qing doesn't like dealing with Zhu Huai'an now, because the two of them have different perspectives on things, and their interactions are naturally not as casual as before.

"Is Xu Xianjia really going to become an official?"

Xu Qing looked at Xuan Yu, who was pretending to be calm but actually trying to get information out of him, and said with a smile, "What, Xuan Yu, do you also want to be a cat official?"

Throughout history, it has been common for imperial courts to establish cat rooms and assign ranks to cats based on their appearance and the degree of favor they received. The most favored cats would be appointed as cat stewards and even enjoy their own special stipends.

Those cats with license plates were the imperial cats of the capital city. Even palace maids and eunuchs had to bow and give way to them, because no one could be sure whether the imperial cat was an abandoned stray or a favorite of some noble concubine, prince, or princess.

Xuan Yu was silent for a moment, then suddenly jumped off the counter, ran all the way, leaped onto the threshold, and looked back at Xu Qing, saying:
"Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. Even if there are golden dens and silver dens in the palace, they are not as good as my cat's den. If you, Xu Xianjia, cannot forget the glory and wealth of mortals, then go away. It will only be a few decades anyway."

Seeing Xuan Yu walk away without turning his head, Xu Qing asked, "Where is Immortal Xuan Yu going?"

Outside the shop, Xuan Yu's childish voice came:

"Of course I'm going to handle matters at the Immortal Hall, not to go to the palace to help the Emperor." Well, this cat is really at odds with him!
Xu Qing shook his head. Xuan Yu and the two emperors of Dayong had a feud, so naturally he was unwilling to have too much contact with the emperor.

But then again, will Xu Qingzhen just do as Zhu Huai'an wants and be led by the nose?

In the following days, Xu Qing spent his time either convening small meetings with midwives from the eight counties, one prefecture, and one county of Tianjin, or simply staying in his room writing and drawing. Whenever Huang Xiaoliu reported that a delivery was needed, he would rush there without stopping.

In addition to midwives, Xu Qing also posted notices throughout Tianjin, specifically recruiting pediatricians and mute doctors to expand the medical clinic's departments.

As the name suggests, a pediatrician specializes in treating children's illnesses, including malaria, food stagnation, parasitic diseases, and whooping cough.

The term "mute doctor" refers to doctors who treat infants and young children because their mental development is incomplete and they cannot describe their symptoms verbally. Doctors must rely on observation and deduction during diagnosis. In rural areas, the term "mute department" is often used to refer to departments for young children, signifying the unique nature of their diagnosis and treatment.

Xu Qing's prices were very high, and doctors, itinerant doctors, and village doctors lined up from one end of the street to the other. Some of them might have real skills, but most were just charlatans or people who came to try their luck with a couple of folk remedies.

Of course, there were also Gu doctors who had fled from the southern border of Shu and retired old gentlemen from the Imperial Medical Academy. Xu Qing carefully selected them, from their medical skills to their moral character, and after a month or so, he only managed to recruit ten doctors.

During this period, Xu Qing personally led a team of ten doctors to travel around and spread their orthodox Xiaofangmai, also known as Xiaoerfangmai, creating a diagnosis and treatment system independent of children.

To improve diagnostic and treatment efficiency, Xu Qing also used her ingenuity to create a stethoscope; a mercury thermometer; and a nebulizer specifically for treating whooping cough and asthma, allowing medication to reach the lungs directly through respiration.
The fifth year of Yong'an.

Baoshengtang (a type of traditional Chinese medicine clinic) has sprung up in various parts of Tianjin. In addition to mute doctors, which are quite different from the current medical system, it also enshrines the statue of Baosheng Niangniang (Goddess of Life Preservation).

According to Baoshengtang, worshipping gods is a form of mental healing.

Strangely enough, the children who were crying and restless because of the illness became much quieter after seeing the statue of the Goddess of Life Protection. Even when the doctor was giving acupuncture treatment, few of them cried.

On this day, Xu Qing organized the "Preservation Sutra" which covers pregnancy care, childbirth, delivery, and health maintenance. She also compiled the "Nursing Sutra" which covers various illnesses, hygiene issues, and precautions that children may encounter from birth to adulthood. She placed the sutra in the book box.

This was the great gift he gave to Zhu Huai'an as a favor, and also a great gift he gave to the world as a way of fulfilling his duty to the Baosheng Temple.

People don't have generational feuds. Next to the carpenter's shop at the end of the street, the courtyard where the Red-Clothed Cult used to be a stronghold has now been converted into a nursery, or orphanage, specifically for taking in children.

Going back two dynasties, Xie Hongying, the head of the hall who possesses the bloodline of the previous dynasty's royal family, no longer rebels everywhere.

After all, the Great Yong Dynasty had already fallen, so her desire to rebel against Yong and restore the country faded away. For a woman, being a good wife and mother was the proper thing to do.

Xie Hongying, in her forties, had wasted her best years on national and family feuds. Now, like Cheng Caiyun, she had no intention of getting married and starting a family. Instead, she became the head of the orphanage and became the mother of those children.

Whenever Lu Xiu had free time, she would go to the orphanage to provide early education for the children. Over time, the children and the funeral street became very close.

The paper horses with donkey ropes outside the coroner's shop have reopened. The donkey ropes hold the vast grassland in their hearts, and the children riding the paper horses carry the hopes for the future in their hearts.

Xu Qing thought that perhaps after meeting Zhu Huai'an and finishing up his work, he could take some time to make a few more paper horses with phonographs and place them at the door for the children to ride.

Under the watchful eye of the Goddess of Life Preservation, even orphans should have a rich and colorful childhood.
On this day, the Grand Eunuch Sun Mingli came to the coroner's shop again, and judging from his appearance, His Majesty was probably already impatient.

Sun Mingli, acting as a messenger, made it clear to Xu Qing that what His Majesty was sacrificing was at least twenty years of the nation's fortune. If Manager Xu were to default on the debt, even if the Emperor didn't say anything on the surface, he would definitely feel uneasy. Over time, it might grow into a thorn in his side, and it would be difficult to make amends then!

Xu Qing remained calm and composed, saying, "Eunuch Sun, when I returned from Baiyun Cave, I asked Marquis Dingyuan to deliver a message to His Majesty. It's not that I don't want to repay this favor, but rather that I need time."

"Indeed, I can now repay His Majesty's kindness, but I am the kind of person who, if I do something, I will do it well."

"Mr. Xu, His Majesty has waited far too long. Talented people are as plentiful as fish in a river, but perhaps only Mr. Xu can capture His Majesty's attention so deeply. We hope that Mr. Xu will..."

Before Eunuch Sun could finish speaking, he saw Xu Qing suddenly turn his head to look outside the door, and at the same time, a dark figure on the counter darted out of the shop.

Xu Qing abruptly stood up, saying without turning his head, "Eunuch Sun, I have urgent business to attend to, so I won't keep you company any longer. As for when I will repay His Majesty's kindness..."

"Let's wait until another day!"

Before Eunuch Sun could speak, he saw a person and a cat outside the shop transform into streaks of light, soaring into the sky and disappearing into the air towards the Tianjin estuary.

Xu Qing's voice could be heard from the air: "Tiezhu, send word immediately! Lord Gua has arrived at the mouth of the Jingu Sea. We should travel two hundred li to welcome him and give him a feast."

Immediately afterwards, Sun Mingli saw many streaks of light flying towards Tianjin and Haikou in the sky above the street in the well. A nine-foot-tall strong man across the wall was enveloped in innate qi and, with the martial arts mastery of the heaven and man realm, soared through the air and flew straight into the distance.

"."

Sun Mingli, whose cultivation had already reached the level of a martial arts grandmaster, was dumbfounded.

Who exactly did His Majesty invite?

Seeing Xu Qing, who wasn't even acting, Sun Mingli was shocked, but he also thought of many other things.

"Is this some kind of show of force against us, or against His Majesty?"

Sun Mingli stood at the entrance of the coroner's shop. The paper horse beside him brayed as if it wanted to leave with the sect leader, but there was no one in the shop at the moment, so it had to stay and guard the shop, which made it feel very depressed.

Standing next to the paper horse, Sun Mingli was suddenly startled and broke out in a cold sweat. How could the paper horse next to him be making a sound?
At this moment, when Grandpa Sun looked down at the street again, he saw that the street was deserted, and the paper wreaths and paper offerings were rustling. The atmosphere in the air was becoming more and more eerie.

In broad daylight, Grandpa Sun felt as if he were not in Linjiang City, but in a desolate, uninhabited graveyard!
At the mouth of the Jingu River, the beach is full of salty sand and gravel.

Xu Qing was leading a group of immortals, standing on the protruding Eagle Beak Cliff, gazing at the boundless sea in the distance.

At one point, a small black dot appeared above the misty waves. The dot gradually grew larger until it could be vaguely seen as the outline of a crow. Only then did Xu Qing smile.

Twenty years ago, we bid farewell at the riverside wharf. At that time, the Cat Fairy Hall was far less prosperous than it is today, and there were only two or three branches in total.

Now, twenty years later, the Immortal Hall has undergone a complete transformation.

The old horse, though old, still had a strong sense of duty. Finally, it did not disappoint Xu Qing and his descendants, and returned to the homeland that had been waiting for it.

On Eagle Beak Cliff, thousands of crows circled excitedly. Bai Junzi, who was leading the group, watched the familiar black shadow approach, but his eyes were already blurred.

For the past twenty years, the descendants of the Yatang family have been hoping that their ancestor, the crow, could make something of himself and restore the family's reputation. Now that their great-grandfather has finally returned from the sea, their years of waiting as Yatang's descendants have finally paid off.

(End of this chapter)