The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 30 Descending the Mountain to Find a Way

The county of Shanyang was plagued by a ghostly affliction that no one could control.

For both public and private reasons, Li Qing would make the trip. Besides, Ma Yuan had given him a scroll of cinnabar when he entrusted him with the task.

As her thoughts wandered, Li Qing was preparing to descend the mountain.

With a flick of his right hand, Li Qing took out the ghost-slaying whip that had been with him for nearly three years.

This was during Li Qing's first year in the mountains. He carried a medicine basket down to Lin Yuan Mountain and dug up wild ginseng all over Tian'an Prefecture, just to sell it to his senior brothers from the previous year in exchange for a few Dao coins to earn some meager provisions.

It was during this line of work that he accidentally solved a case involving a ghost in a well, and the local wealthy man gifted him the fire willow he had collected for many years...

A three-hundred-year-old fire willow is an absolute nemesis to ordinary spirits, but it is still not quite good enough to be used as a usable magic tool.

Rather than constantly adding animal sinews and leather, and spending a lot of effort to refine it, only to find it still remains a low-grade magical artifact, it would be better to simply seal it away and discard it.

It's just about decluttering!

After putting the demon-slaying whip away in its sheath, Li Qing turned his head to look at the large creature that had been cooped up in this small mansion all winter.

However, "Candle" did not find the mansion cramped at all. Having grown up in the mausoleum since childhood, it was already quite happy with the fresh, ethereal, and colorful courtyard outside.

"Let's go down the mountain."

With a flick of her finger, Li Qing lifted the life-extending lamp from the table, then called to the large dragon frolicking with a paper flower hanging from its six-crowned phoenix horns, and led it outside.

They locked the courtyard gate, activated the restriction, and the man and the dragon began their next round of searching.

Spring was in full bloom in Lin Yuan Mountain, and there were many Taoist practitioners coming and going. Li Qing's high-profile travel outfit naturally attracted a lot of attention!
Although the Chifa Temple of Tiannan Temple also mainly focuses on summoning soldiers and demons, such a large creature as "Candle" is extremely rare.

Ignoring the commotion inside the mountain gate, Li Qing and "Candle" quickly descended from the Lin Yuan Mountain gate and headed towards the Yuan River ferry.

However, fate had other plans.

They had just left the mountain gate when the man and the dragon encountered an ancient war chariot!
On one side of the river, eight or nine mountain demons with blue faces and green fur, and their heels turned backward, were carrying reins and pulling the ancient bronze chariot. A dozen or so fox spirits and wolf monsters were also there, carrying spears and lances, guarding the side. They were making their way towards the mountain gate, kicking up clouds of dust.

The ancient chariot, cast in bronze, has ferocious beast reliefs forming its ramming horns, and a magnificent canopy above it, shimmering with light. This canopy alone is a remarkable magical artifact.

Unlike Li Qing's eerie paper-decorated sedan chair, this ancient war chariot was clearly a heavy weapon designed for warfare and killing!

As the saying goes, enemies are destined to meet.

On one side, an old demon pulls a chariot, surrounded by spirits and monsters, with the Lin brothers sitting on it, and three or four Taoist disciples in green robes waving flags and surrounding them; on the other side, a ghostly man rides in a paper sedan chair, gloomy and dark, with faceless evil spirits swaying faintly, and a red-faced dragon peeking out to look around.

Upon seeing each other, the expressions on both sides froze for a moment!
Lin Jiao was in a difficult situation in the past, but all four of his old demons were killed. Li Qing vented his anger at the time and also beat Lin Ruhu, breaking his bones and splitting his arm.

Upon meeting, they were immediately confronted by eight or nine mountain demons pulling a cart. These were the mountain demon soldiers, four of whom Li Qing had slain. How could Lin Jiao possibly argue his way out of this? And how could Li Qing possibly bow down to an old friend?
Two palanquins and chariots faced each other from a distance of a hundred feet, each engaging in an invisible battle beyond the curtains.

"War chariots and Taoist soldiers guarding the ramparts... it seems this Lin Jiao is no ordinary high-grade cultivator; perhaps he has already cultivated innate qi..."

"Blue Robe of the Southern Heaven, Dragon Seed Returns to the Heart? Tsk tsk tsk, Ghost Prince - Li Qing, only been in the Dao for a few years? Truly remarkable..."

Li Qing and the tall young man on the ancient chariot looked at each other across the distance. However, Li Qing could not see the face of the chariot's master hidden under the canopy, and Lin Jiao could not see through the hazy shadow of the paper sedan chair.

The two groups sized each other up, but the standoff lasted only a moment.

The next moment, the Taoist soldiers surrounded the fortress, and the Taoist disciples on the ancient war chariots simply returned to the mountain gate as if it were the right thing to do. With the dragon as their companion, the Paper Taoist Prince also walked openly and legitimately across the southern land.

The palanquin and the chariot passed each other as if their masters had never met!
The ghost king rode in a chariot, and evil spirits traversed the vast and fertile Yuan River, while dragons rode the wind, swimming and passing through the low sky.

In the end, the people on the ancient chariot could not hold back any longer and stopped the chariot in front of the mountain gate, looking back at the receding figures on the river.

"Little Tiger, it's time for you to grow up!"

Lin Jiao stood there for a long time, then shook his head helplessly.

Before it could escalate, it dissipated into an invisible grudge, ultimately turning into only a long, lingering sigh...

The little incident at the mountain gate was nothing to worry about.

Li Qing and Zhu traveled eastward along the banks of the Na Yuan River.

Shanyang County is located in the southeastern corner of Tiannan Prefecture, bordering Qingping Prefecture on the side.

According to the map of Tiannan Prefecture, Li Qing had to travel downstream, traversing six counties, and then travel two hundred li northeast from Shanyin County to reach Shanyang.

Li Qing and Zhu had already traveled this road once, so heading east along the desolate and uninhabited banks of the Yuan River was a familiar route for them...

The life-extending lamp hung gently in a corner of the sedan chair. Behind the constantly swaying bells and copper coin curtains, Li Qing was holding the scroll of the life-extending scripture and reading it. He first read the meaning of the scripture and then read the detailed annotations. Each time he read it, he gained new insights.

The candle has become increasingly bold, attracting bees with floral patterns and butterflies with coiled branches. It always manages to find something interesting along the way, which somewhat alleviates its fatigue.

Until the third Yin morning, faceless men carried a paper sedan chair, the cold white lamplight dim and dim, and the red dragon wandered in the darkness, yet it made its way into Shanyin County.

Here stands a magnificent Tianshan Mountain, from which the two counties of Shanyin and Shanyang derive their names. Shanyin County is located in the southwest of this mountain range, while Shanyang County lies in the northeast.

Li Qing had never liked to display his divine abilities in front of others. He only wanted to take advantage of the darkness and use the road between the two counties to cross the mountain as soon as possible. But what he didn't expect was that someone was strangely kneeling by the roadside at that time?
Under the dim, cold light, a ghostly paper sedan chair could be seen swaying along the road through the misty morning fog. Beyond the candlelight, terrifying shadows could be vaguely seen moving by, enough to send chills down the spine of any living person.

A woman dressed as a married woman, holding an infant in her arms, knelt tremblingly by the roadside. Did she see the ghost sedan chair? Perhaps she did, perhaps she didn't.

As the paper sedan chair swayed gently, Li Qing heard a faint sobbing sound coming from the other side:
"Heavenly Emperor, Earthly Emperor, my family has a child who cries at night. Gentlemen passing by, recite this once, and he will sleep soundly until dawn!"

"Heavenly Emperor, Earthly Emperor..."

The paper bridge came to an abrupt halt. Li Qing closed the jade slip, glanced around at the condensed dew on the surrounding grass, and frowned. He then lit a paper lantern and, holding it by candlelight, walked step by step to the woman.

As Li Qing got closer, she could see clearly that there was a ceramic bowl in front of the woman, half-filled with water, and a chopstick lying horizontally on it.

Is this a ritual to summon a spirit?
When Li Qing saw the thick swaddling clothes wrapped around the baby in the woman's arms, he immediately understood what was going on.

"What's wrong with the child?"

This soft question seemed to break down the woman's last line of defense. As if grasping at a lifeline, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes extremely red and swollen.

"Please, please, save my son!"

She was desperate, so she stood on the main road at dawn, summoning the spirit of her beloved. She didn't care if it was a passing ghost or a wandering spirit; as long as it could save her lover's life, she was willing to die…

"Well, let me see."

Li Qing approached closer and was about to reach out to touch the swaddling clothes when she suddenly froze in mid-air.

Firstly, the woman seemed extremely unwilling for Li Qing to have direct contact with her child. She begged Li Qing for help, but was also afraid that Li Qing was some kind of wandering ghost who wanted to take away her child.

Secondly, Li Qing suddenly realized something. His body was filled with extremely heavy Yin energy. If an infant were to touch it, they would probably fall seriously ill immediately.

Li Qing had no choice but to gather her true qi, surround it around her eyes, and look at the swaddling clothes again.

It's not too late; there are still intermittent breaths in the swaddling clothes.

"Alas... I will first give you a talisman to ward off evil."

With a soft sigh, Li Qing selected the page of the exorcism book from the newly acquired elixir book. With a flick of her finger, she performed a paper-folding trick, folding it into a triangular talisman and handing it to the woman.

At this moment, the woman, who had been crying so hard that she could barely open her eyes, finally raised her head and saw clearly the cold-looking young man dressed as a Taoist priest.

After taking the amulet and placing it in the swaddling clothes, the woman kowtowed repeatedly, her voice trembling with sobs.

"Thank you... thank you, Taoist priest."

The land is rife with demons and ghosts, evil spirits and plagues. Especially for these still fragile infants, when children fall ill, medicine is ineffective, and what can be done afterward? The village shaman only gave her a chance to summon back the soul.

Seeing that the child's breath was still weak and the talisman had no effect, Li Qing knew that the child was not possessed.

"Your son's aura is faint, but he is not possessed. Calling for his soul might... be useless."

Have you seen a doctor?

The woman nodded hoarsely. The doctor had examined him many times and said that her son was just infected by evil spirits, but no matter what medicine he took, it was all useless. As of yesterday, he was almost out of breath.

Upon hearing the reason, Li Qing immediately drew out a wisp of innate true qi and probed into the child's body from a distance. With his ability to discern the six qi, Li Qing instantly discovered the crux of the child's problem.

This baby is born with deficiencies and an imbalance of vital energy. It is likely that the cold air of winter penetrated into his bones and damaged his fundamental health.

Unfortunately, although he studied the theory of primordial energy, he was not skilled in medicine...

"Alright then, I will regulate the internal and external Qi of this young man and give him a wisp of primordial Qi to sustain his internal circulation. He is not possessed by any evil spirit; he is simply deficient in his constitution."

"Take this everlasting lamp, find a piece of yellow paper in your house, write your child's birth date and time on it, and place it under the lamp..."

"Do not let the paper candles inside the lamp go out within seven days."

With a flick of his sleeve, Li Qing took out some spirit paper, folded it, and in an instant, it turned into a paper lamp. He was quite generous, capturing a wisp of the child's aura, using the spirit blood of Yangzhi Mountain Lord as fuel, and then lit a long-burning paper candle with the spirit paper.

These methods immediately calmed the baby's breathing, and the baby's complexion seemed to have improved considerably.

Whether the Southern Dipper can cure the root cause is hard to say, but it is indeed remarkably effective in treating the symptoms and prolonging life.

"Don't listen to those stupid methods of village shamans! Kneeling in the middle of the night to summon souls will only attract lonely ghosts or wandering spirits. If you're not careful, you and your child will both die."

"My methods may not be able to fully cure him. You must ask a doctor to administer the medicine to your child again within seven days. At that time, he should be cured."

Li Qing picked up the life-extending lamp, grumbled slightly at the woman, and turned to walk towards the paper sedan chair in the distance.

"It's chilly in early spring, so take the children home early, and make sure you keep warm yourself too..."

The woman nodded repeatedly upon hearing the gentle complaint. She had been plunged into boundless despair when she suddenly received such a miracle. Tears welled up in her eyes and she wiped them away before looking up again.

The sky was already beginning to lighten.

The paper sedan chair, glowing with a faint, cold light, began its journey, swaying with each step. The large dragon that accompanied it followed leisurely, but the dragon's head, adorned with a wind crown, suddenly turned around, staring at the person with a bewildered expression.

With its current knowledge, the candle cannot comprehend what just happened.

This glance finally brought the frantic woman to her senses, and she immediately knelt down with a thud. She knew she had encountered a deity!
Soon, a commotion arose in the distance; it was her husband, unable to find his wife and children, had begged the neighbors in Zhoufang to search for them...

"You foolish woman, you stupid woman, you've said it all: don't believe that sorceress! My son, we've done our best; it's his fate."

"But you can't let anything else happen to you!"

The man in the distance, wearing only a thin shirt, hurriedly chased after her. As soon as he saw the woman, he began to complain.

But the woman paid no heed, wrapping the paper lantern and the swaddling clothes around herself, and said mysteriously to her husband:
"My lord, I've met a deity!"

However, looking further down the road, there was no longer any paper sedan chair for the dead, no longer any phoenix crown or red dragon...

(End of this chapter)