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

Chapter 379 My sword is not at a disadvantage!
On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, new talismans illuminate the old courtyard.

After finishing the annual meeting at the hospital, Master Xu stopped by Master Feng's house on the way. Old Feng was still alive and well, but he had lost a lot of weight and looked like a skinny monkey.

Those who didn't know better would think that Xu Qing had come not to the Feng family mansion, but to the monkey mountain of the red-tailed monkeys.

Inside the courtyard, Feng Xiaosheng still addressed Xu as "Uncle Xu" repeatedly, his words dripping with sweetness! Xu Qing looked at this family, and his mood seemed to calm down as well.

It is said that mortals do not know how good immortals are, but immortals may not be able to understand the joys of mortals.

Before leaving, Xu Qing gave Master Feng something.

"This little gadget is quite unique, what's it used for?"

Master Feng looked at the lumpy, square-like but not quite square thing in his hand with considerable curiosity.

Xu Qing smiled and said, "This is a Luban lock, which is a toy for children to improve their intelligence. Second Master can play with it like a walnut whenever he has nothing to do. It can help prevent Alzheimer's disease."

"."

thank you!

Master Feng has a bad temper, and I'm not stupid. Do you think I'm a fool and you're just playing with me?
After Xu Qingren walked away, Feng Erye, who had been playing with the Luban lock for a while, suddenly began to question the meaning of life.

Why is this little lock so hard to put together?
Could it be that the man has really developed dementia?
Little did Master Feng know that the lock was no ordinary Luban lock, but a genuine Luban lock, crafted with the true skills of a master craftsman. Even a scholar would have to put in considerable effort to solve it, let alone an ordinary person.

"No, this young Xu is definitely making fun of this old man."

Master Feng had been in business all his life and was a very shrewd man. He turned around and called out to his son, Feng Xiaosheng.

"This is an educational toy that your Uncle Xu gave me. It's for young children to develop their intelligence. Give it a try."

While Feng Xiaosheng was studying the mortise and tenon structure of the lock, Second Master Feng started nagging again:

"Speaking of which, you're not getting any younger. Manager Sun's child just turned fifteen this year and already has a baby. You should take it seriously. Stop running around to the foreign firms all the time. Do you have wives or grandchildren there?"

At first, Feng Xiaosheng wasn't too focused on assembling the lock and was quite unhurried, but as soon as he heard Old Man Feng urging him to get married, Feng Xiaosheng's mind and hands started working at lightning speed.

Before Master Feng could finish speaking, the assembled Luban lock had already been stuffed into his son's arms.

"Dad, the lock is fixed! Don't bother me with this kid's toy anymore. I have things to do, so I won't keep you from resting!"

Looking at the assembled Luban lock in his hand, Master Feng was completely dumbfounded.

How did he suddenly become demented?

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, the newly pasted couplets on Jingxia Street brought an unusually lively atmosphere.

Even the new members of the coroner's shop, a pair of half-grown chicks with their heads buried in their shells, were wearing red scarves.

These two ugly chicks, with hardly any feathers on their necks, have completely taken the golden phoenix as their mother. No matter where the golden phoenix goes, these two little guys always stumble and follow.

If the golden phoenix is ​​not seen for even a short time during the day, these two birds will squawk incessantly.

Xuan Yu prefers quiet. As soon as the two birds chirped, it would instruct Chuantang to launch a massive search, determined to find the heartless rooster that had abandoned its offspring.

Jinluan was in great distress. It was only greedy for the incense offerings. If Xu Qing hadn't promised to give it 10,000 incense offerings for hatching a bird that buried its head in the ground, how could it have done such a thing that went against its ancestors?
Xu Qing didn't tell it that after the birds hatched, it would also be responsible for taking care of the chicks.

The problem is, this isn't even its own child!
It's a proud and majestic golden rooster; it's impossible for it to produce two strange birds. If people saw that, how embarrassing would it be!
Xu Qing had just returned to Jingxia Street when he saw two-and-a-half-foot-tall chicks searching for their mother.

While eating some new-style popcorn, Cheng Caiyun, the widow who ran the incense and candle shop, asked, "Where did you catch these two geese? They're so filthy!"

Xu Qing looked at the two ostrich chicks circling around him and specially corrected them: "You have no sense of propriety. These are foreign things. Boss Cheng, have you ever heard of cranes? These are foreign cranes, not the native cranes of our Great Yan. People say that they ride cranes to the west. In the future, my shop will rely on these two little guys to send people off to their funerals!"

"Pah! You're just spouting bad luck during a holiday."

Despite her complaints, Cheng Caiyun couldn't resist the novelty of the food, so she grabbed some popped rice and threw it on the ground. The two little ones eagerly pecked at it.

What names did you give them?

"Boss Cheng asked."

"Welcoming and seeing off".

"."

Boss Cheng spat again, "What kind of filthy names are these?"

Two cranes—no, two birds with their heads down—are like mothers to those who have food. With their "mother" Jinluan absent, they've been clinging to Cheng Caiyun for food. For several days in a row, whenever the incense and candle shop opened, you could always see the two ugly birds rushing over to beg for food.

But when the golden phoenix returned with the insects, the two birds scrambled back to the coroner's shop.

Jingxia Street, which is usually quiet every year, has become much more lively this year because of these two foreign gadgets.

Just after the first month of the lunar calendar, before the weather had even thawed, the zombies at the coroner's shop were fully armed again, preparing to go out hunting.

Xu Qing's family is very wealthy. They keep almost every kind of animal in Tianjin, except for seafood.

With so many mouths to feed, he and Xuan Yu, the two heads of the household, had to endure a lot of hard work.

One is a zombie, the other a cat; one is in charge of external affairs, the other is in charge of internal affairs.

After instructing Xuan Yu to take good care of the Immortal Hall shop, Xu Qing opened the Twin Coffins again and arrived at the Yinhe Ancient Road, which was teeming with evil spirits.

Compared to the mana-intensive Divine Travel Book, Xu Qing prefers to use the Twin Coffins, a low-mana, environmentally friendly mode of transportation.

Deep within the underground tomb, Xu Qing glanced at a burial chamber not far from the twin coffins, where an immortal coffin lay quietly.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

Currently, the outside world still belongs to the Great Yan Dynasty, but the general inside the coffin is a former official of the previous dynasty. If he were to open the coffin now and awaken him...
It's likely that the first thing they'll do is find the descendants of the Dayong royal family and carry out their scheme to overthrow the Yan dynasty and restore the Yong dynasty!

Well, at least he only promised that Marshal Yinhe to spare the other party's life, but he didn't say when he would set the other party free.

Alright! You can sleep in there for now!
We'll talk about this when the world changes again and we're in a new place.

The boundary marker between Yin and Yang, the site of the True Lord's Bone Temple.

Xu Qing, carrying a jar of monkey wine and a sack of popcorn, found the Exorcist Lord.

"Didn't you say that it wasn't the right time for that? Why are you here again?"

The exorcist lord, who was alone in the empty temple, was somewhat pleased. For the past thousand years, no one had sought him out for drinks and conversation. In the last twenty years, only Xu Qing would occasionally come by.

“True Lord, you’ve lost track of time in your cultivation. The mortal world has just celebrated the New Year, and I’ve come to wish you a Happy New Year!” The Demon Exorcist True Lord raised an eyebrow, tilted his head back and gulped down a bowl of fine wine, saying, “You never come to the Three Treasures Hall without a reason. Every time you come, you have something to say. Very well, tell me what you have to say. If it’s within my power, I certainly won’t refuse.”

Xu Qing chuckled as he poured more wine for the burly man in red robes, whose looks were no less striking than a bird burying its head in its shell, and said, "It's nothing serious, we're just chatting casually."

The two drank and chatted idly. At one point, Xu Qing suddenly asked, "A few nights ago I dreamt of a temple, located within this Yin River region. The temple was dedicated to a wild god who called himself the Heavenly General."

"A mere corpse demon, what kind of Heavenly Emperor is he?"

The Demon Exorcist Lord sneered, "You must be referring to the eighth seat of the Twelve Sect Leaders, the puppet who used the Dao of the Movement Sect to cultivate himself into a corpse demon."

Xu Qing's heart stirred: "What is the Way of the Movement Gate, and what does the Corpse Demon have to say about it?"

"The so-called 'Way of Movement' is nothing more than absorbing yin to replenish yang, climbing bows and stepping on crossbows, mixing elixirs and refining mercury, making talismans and crafting weapons. Or it may involve burning thatch and building cauldrons, using talismans and medicines to help the world, taking red lead, and consuming women's milk. These are not true methods!"

The burly man in red robes said with disdain, "That corpse demon failed to achieve his great ambition in his lifetime, so he had his subordinates follow his instructions and use the evil arts of burning thatch and breaking cauldrons to open the path to the underworld, borrow the power of the corpse, and forcibly transform himself into a corpse demon that is neither human nor ghost."

"The corpse demon is similar to a zombie, but there are also differences between the two."

The Exorcist Master explained, “Zombies have no inherent self or consciousness, while corpse demons have attachments from their previous lives. If the former encounters a great opportunity, they can cultivate and attain enlightenment, becoming a Kuiba. However, this is a matter of slim hope. At least in my lifetime, I have not yet seen any Kuiba other than the female Kuiba.”

“Corpse demons are different. These things, which are like demons and ghosts, are born evil and corrupt. They cannot distinguish between good and evil, nor do they know right from wrong. They will stop at nothing to fulfill what they were obsessed with in their previous life!”

The Exorcist True Lord said with some apprehension, "I had a connection with General Tiangong. After the Path to Heaven was severed, he claimed that Heaven was dead and wanted me to follow him to create a new Heaven."

“I refused outright, and he said that any wise minister he could not have would eventually become his enemy. It was because of this that I fought with him for ten years.”

"Ten years?" Xu Qing asked in confusion. Based on his assessment of the Demon Exorcist Lord, the other party's magical power was far from being able to circulate for ten years without running dry, let alone fighting against a sect leader-level demon in a place like the Yin River.

After stammering for a long time, the Exorcist Lord finally said with a flushed face, "I have been scheming against the Ghost Law for a thousand years, but the Heavenly General is far inferior to the Ghost Law. If I want to fight, I want to fight the most powerful demon. The Heavenly General and I have only met on a narrow path. Would I delay my grand plan to eliminate the Ghost Law because of him?"

"So...so the True Lord avoided his sharp edge, fled for ten years, and hid in this temple, not daring to show his face?"

"."

"What nonsense!" The Exorcist Lord was extremely embarrassed and angry, his already dark red face turning even redder, turning a deep liver color.

His breath reeked of alcohol, and veins bulged on his forehead as he argued, "How can an expedient measure be called escaping... a detour, yes, a detour! I'm not even afraid of death, so why would I escape?"

Then came a series of incomprehensible words to Xu Qing, such as "A true man can bend and stretch" and "Consider the big picture and only play high-level games," which were quite baffling.

Xu Qing held back his laughter, because he could tell that this True Lord truly regarded this matter as a disgrace.

"Brother Exorcist, do you know where the Corpse Demon General's dojo is located?"

Exorcist Brother? What's the meaning of that title? Are you mocking me?
The burly man in the red robe slammed his hand on the table, about to argue with Xu Qing, but then frowned and said, "Why are you asking this?"

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "Don't worry about that. Mortals burn incense and make offerings to gods to buy peace of mind. I made offerings to Brother Exorcist, so naturally Brother Exorcist should give me peace of mind as well."

The Exorcist Lord looked Xu Qing up and down, his face full of suspicion.

Whoever this kid is asking about is bound to have bad news!

Back then, Xu Qing inquired about the Ghost King Duo'e, but the Ghost King's tomb was soon gone. Later, Xu Qing inquired about the Yin Shi Dharma King and the Eight Banners Marshal. Can these two ghost marshals still be seen in the Yin River now?
One last time, Xu Qing asked him about the Yin Corpse Sect.
If the Exorcist Lord hadn't known who was involved in these matters, he would have thought this kid had a jinxed mouth, bringing bad luck to whoever he mentioned!

"Are you familiar with the legend of the Five Immortals?" The burly man in red robes abruptly changed the subject.

Xu Qing nodded: "Heaven, Earth, Man, Gods, and Ghosts—among them are the Five Immortals. Most of the immortals and gods of the Three Realms and Six Paths are not exempt from this category; I have heard of it before."

The burly man in red robes said solemnly, "Besides the Five Immortals, the Five Demons can also emerge from Heaven, Earth, Man, Gods, and Ghosts. Let me tell you, General Tian Gong is a human-demon!"

"And he is a demon with great resentment, great obsession, and great vision!"

"He carries the burden of the demons of nearly a million people on his shoulders; the karmic weight he bears is unlike anything I have ever seen before."

Xu Qing nodded, at the corpse burdened with millions of demonic deeds.

"Don't take this lightly. He also has two puppet generals under his command, one Earthly General and one Human General. These two puppets are not ordinary either."

Xu Qing nodded again. Buy one, get two free. You get two more to pray for after praying for one corpse. This is a good deal.

“What do you mean by nodding? He still has hundreds of thousands of corpse soldiers. Those are the rebels who were brutally slaughtered during the Taiping Dao uprising. If the entire army of corpse demons were to rush out at once, even I would have to temporarily avoid their sharp edge.”

Xu Qing didn't nod again, but got up and started to walk out.

Buy one get two free, plus a free 100,000 "human corpses"—this business can't afford to be delayed for a moment!

"."

The Exorcist Lord, filled with suspicion and uncertainty, chased after him: "What do you mean by this? Did you even listen to what I said?"

Xu Qing took off his shoes and threw them out of the temple. Then, without turning his head, he said, "Even if I listened, the True Lord might not tell me where the Corpse Demon is. Since that's the case, I might as well find it myself."

"Why are you looking for him? Do you think life is bad enough?"

Xu Qing picked up the shoe, turned around, smiled at the burly man in red, and said:
“A true man has things he will do and things he will not do. The Demon Exorcist Lord endures humiliation and hardship for the greater good, vowing to eliminate the Ghost Law. Although I am not talented, I am willing to test the edge of that demon's sword and see if it is really that sharp.”

The exorcist was so angry he almost twisted his nose. He had personally inspected the goods; how could he not know whether they were pure or authentic?

"That demon's sword can cut through hair with a single blow; it is truly incredibly sharp! If we want to eliminate him, it is different from the Ghost Law. We must find a high-ranking Taoist priest and three hundred and sixty-five Taoist priests and monks to go to the ancient battlefield where the Taiping Righteous Army was massacred to hold a Water and Land Ritual to perform a ritual to deliver the deceased and dispel the resentment!"

"As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. Since our expertise is different, it would be futile for us to seek him out, and it would only delay our grand plan!"

Upon hearing the words of the Exorcist True Lord, Xu Qing immediately burst into laughter:

"The True Lord only said that his sword was sharp, but he did not know that my sword was just as sharp! Besides, I started out in the funeral business, and my specialty is performing rituals. I am a high-ranking Taoist priest, so why do I need to search for more?"

"Even so, you are only one person. Where did you find the other three hundred and sixty-five?"

Xu Qing laughed and said, "Besides my funeral skills, I also have the Ghost-Slaying Sword given to me by the True Lord. This one sword is enough to be worth three hundred and sixty-five people!"

The Exorcist Lord was utterly speechless.

Before Xu Qing left, he finally relented and took the initiative to tell Xu Qing the location of General Tiangong's Taoist temple.

"Go and gather information first. Over the past thousand years, I still have many connections that I can use to help you. Once you find a master who is skilled in performing rituals for the deceased, it won't be too late for you to take action!"

Xu Qing bowed in thanks, not caring about the so-called helpers, and turned to leave the Bone Temple using the power of shrinking the earth.

Since it's a perfect match for our expertise, we should act swiftly and decisively to break open a corner of those twelve gates that seem as solid as iron!
　Asking for a monthly ticket~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)