The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 8 Wandering Hermit
The strange tale of the dog demon spread like wildfire, and the prefectural magistrate issued a strict order: the prefectural soldiers, fully armed and in good gear, patrolled the entire prefectural city day and night, not allowing any wild dogs to enter or leave. However, the black dog demon vanished without a trace, and the prefectural magistrate did not have the authority to seal off the prefectural city for an extended period of time...

A black dog spirit as fierce as a tiger or leopard should, in theory, be hard to hide in a bustling city.

"Junior Brother Li, why don't you come with me to find a sorcerer in this city and ask him?"

Before they had been seated for long, the female Taoist priest, who was also wearing a green robe, clapped her hands and stood up, making a suggestion to Li Qing.

The sorcerers were mostly independent practitioners who had entered the profession halfway through their lives, or members of small, unrecognized lineages of cultivation in the Southern Kingdom, who mingled among the various prefectures and states.

It is also a lower level in the hierarchy of spiritual cultivation!
"Oh? A warlock."

Li Qing raised an eyebrow, recalling the six local sorceresses his family had hired at great expense years ago, who had escorted him all the way from Guihua Mansion to Tiannan Temple to become a Taoist priest.

He owes his current success to those old sorcerers back then, and Li Qing has a fairly good impression of them.

The female Taoist priest from the Lü family led the way, and Li Qing followed silently, heading straight for the heart of the prefecture city.

Lu Qingshu moved with light and graceful steps, her socks remaining unstained as she touched the ground with her feet. Yet, her steps seemed to be accompanied by a spiritual light, covering several feet in a single stride, suggesting that she had cultivated some escape techniques!
These Daoist disciples, whose true Qi is almost visible to the naked eye and who are not far from the middle stage of Qi Refining, have begun to refine their various practices.

Upon seeing this, Li Qing's heart sank even further. The Lü family, the prefectural governor, already had a remarkable Daoist disciple, so why would they issue a mid-grade commission? Was the black dog that could fight tigers truly so ferocious, or was there another hidden reason?
As they were silently pondering, the female Taoist priest suddenly stopped, and Li Qing behind her also stopped silently, with a fiery talisman curled in her sleeve, her breath seemingly shrouded in gloom.

As the two Daoist disciples silently gazed at each other, a gentle, unpredictable breeze seemed to stir in this deserted street corner.

"The Lü family is not some local tyrant who disregards human life. This Lanfeng Prefecture is bordered by a chieftain to the south, and the people are known for their fighting spirit, indulgence in wine, women, wealth, and power. The Lü family is a small clan, and when in Rome, do as the Romans do. They are merely following the crowd to make a living!"

"Old man Lü is just a mortal, he probably doesn't know the intricacies of the cultivation world. That black dog that has become a spirit is at most as fierce as a tiger or leopard. A beast is a beast, how could it possibly hide in the city for ten days without leaving a trace?"

"Junior brother and I are from the same school, so I hope you will help me and prevent those unorthodox sorcerers from profiting from our misdeeds."

"At that time, my senior sister will surely reward me handsomely!"

Lu Qingshu came from an official family and rose through the ranks step by step from a Taoist apprentice in Linyuan Mountain. Although this Taoist apprentice from the southern region might be naive, he had an extremely keen sense for strange tales and mysterious cases.

Compared to that Prefect Lü, she saw through the flaws at a glance!
"You mean... the sorcerers in this city did something?"

Li Qing pinched the talisman between two fingers in his sleeve, his pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately understood the key to it.

Unlike Taoist priests from temples and monasteries, those rogue sorcerers have no real background and often practice unorthodox methods such as raising ghost altars, creating animal forms, and swift knife techniques.

Those old dogs that had become spirits and the ghostly spirits that had turned into demons were considered handy "good treasures" to them.

"That's it!"

The female Taoist priest in green raised her head slightly and nodded solemnly, saying:

"There are two groups of sorcerers in this prefecture. One group is a lineage that practices the art of quick swordsmanship. There are about eleven or twelve of them. They serve under the prefect. They each wield a large ghost-headed sword. When they raise their hands, the sword strikes are extremely fierce. The light of the sword is so fast that even if the person who is stabbed is decapitated, he can still talk freely and is completely unaware of the changes on his neck."

"There's also a group of wandering sorcerers from various villages, old shamans from the chieftain's tribe, and unorthodox practitioners who, through a series of coincidences, acquired magical arts..."

"These people must have used some tricks to disappear without a trace? Perhaps someone hid that black dog spirit a long time ago!"

The itinerant sorcerers who served in the prefectures and counties, though officially registered, were often the ones who caused trouble, especially those who worshipped gods and ghosts, who were frequently involved in murder cases.

Although Lü Qingshu often cultivated in Linyuan Mountain, her family held a high position as a prefect, so she could still see the dark side of Lanfeng Prefecture!
Those quick-blade sorcerers, serving under the prefect, were a formidable old swordsman comparable to a high-level Qi Refining cultivator. They were a well-established folk lineage, so if they wanted an old dog, they could simply ask for it directly; there was no need for such a fuss.

However, among the remaining sorcerers, wandering practitioners, shamans, and priests, the situation was quite chaotic. She originally intended to investigate them one by one herself, but at this time, a Taoist disciple in the temple accepted a commission, which provided her with an extra helper.

After recounting the hidden truth, Lü Qingshu looked intently at Li Qing, the ghost-wielder who was particularly skilled at exorcising ghosts, and desperately needed his approval.

"I want that black dog that's become a spirit!"

Li Qing remained noncommittal about the woman's words, pondered for a long time, and left only this one request.

However, this one sentence was enough; with just this one sentence, the two Daoist disciples, both from the Tiannan Shangguan, had no conflict.

Lu Qingshu only wants the dog demon to be brought to justice, so that the sharp blade hanging over the Lu family can fall to the ground smoothly, and Li Qing can also get the black dog spirit blood she wants!

The two briefly reached an agreement in this secluded alley, and then slowly headed towards the sorcerer's mansion...

The Fangshi Mansion was a separate institution from the military and political system of the Southern Kingdom, where various sorcerers served. Because the name "sorcerer" was often disrespected by Taoist priests, it was named the Fangshi Mansion. Those sorcerers who entered the Fangshi Mansion received monthly Taoist coins, spiritual rice, and ginseng and old medicinal herbs, but they were required to report for duty regularly and have their performance evaluated at the end of the year—a kind of restriction on these unpredictable individuals!
After all, itinerant sorcerers who roam the world are the most difficult to guard against. They possess sharp weapons and wield bizarre magic, so they are naturally arrogant and often commit murders.

Such sorcerers, once they take action, will either kill or injure ordinary people. If they were to spend some money and resources to be incorporated into the sorcerer's offices in various prefectures and counties, and if they had some reservations, then there would be far fewer bizarre cases in those prefectures and counties.

The Fangshi Mansion had a total of twenty-seven sorcerers. The twelve who practiced the Quick Knife Technique joined the prefect's army and only held a nominal position in the Fangshi Mansion.

Nine more people were shamans and temple priests from the surrounding villages of Lanfeng; only the last six sorcerers were considered to be in charge of various affairs in the prefecture.

These are the six people currently guarding the Fangshi Mansion!

The Lu family had already informed the Fangshi Mansion that the Taoist disciples of Tiannan Temple wanted to visit the Fangshi Mansion to inquire about the details of the case of the dog demon's hiding place. Naturally, the sorcerers of the state were already waiting by the side, and even the shamans of the villages had to rush back day and night.

In Tiannan Shangguan, there are more than a dozen Taoist priests from the Purple Mansion. The patriarch of the temple has even cultivated a Yin Spirit, which can travel a hundred miles in a single thought. He is a figure who has lived in the world for hundreds of years.

Upon seeing the visitors, the strategists from these states had to take them seriously.

The gates of the Shuanglian Mansion were wide open, and a row of boys and maids sat in a display that made it seem like a grand sect from the Central Plains.

The six Taoist priests went out together, and when they looked up, they saw a male and female Taoist priest in green robes approaching from afar. The female Taoist priest had a beautiful face and a tall and outstanding figure like a bright pearl on Mount Emei, and she walked in front of them. The female Taoist priest in green robes was carrying a lantern with an eerie white candlelight, and followed closely behind.

The former is radiant and dazzling, while the latter is cold and frightening, creating a stark contrast.

However, most of the Taoist priests were from unorthodox and unorthodox sects, and were strange in appearance. They might even be stranger than the handsome Taoist in green. When they saw the two Taoist disciples from the upper temple coming, they did not look at them with any strange eyes and bowed to them.

Unexpectedly, Lü Qingshu was extremely aloof. She nodded lightly, brushed past the sorcerers, and went straight into the sorcerer's mansion. Li Qing behind her also remained silent. When she passed by the sorcerers, two of them, who were skilled in raising ghosts and communicating with spirits, felt a sudden chill inexplicably.

"Who was assigned to oversee that old, psychic dog in the city's arena the other day?"

As soon as Lü Qingshu entered the Fangshi Mansion, she instantly stood above the six sorcerers in front of her, exuding an aura of superiority. Even though she was still two levels below the mid-stage of Qi Refining, those sorcerers, who were comparable to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, were still somewhat apprehensive in the face of her violent true Qi.

Li Qing stood to one side, holding a paper lantern lightly, silently observing the various sorcerers in the prefecture.

Among these six sorcerers, two were burly men with an extremely strong murderous aura, whether from involvement in murder or from their cultivation was unknown.
The old woman in plain clothes seemed to have many spiritual marks engraved on her body, which were somewhat similar to the summoning spirit mark that Li Qing was about to refine.
The gaunt, gloomy Taoist priest always carried a ghost altar at his waist. Only the two youngest among them seemed to be at the mid-stage of Qi Refining? Even Li Qing couldn't discern their true nature.

“Miss Lü! That black dog is under my command.”

"But that old dog doesn't usually go crazy. The day he was running rampant, I happened to be on a serious mission. A womanizer from the south had used animal-making techniques to abduct more than a dozen women to the chieftain's territory in the south. That old dog went crazy at that moment, and I was unable to attend to him!"

Among the two mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, a handsome Taoist in black robes stepped forward, his demeanor resembling that of a righteous and awe-inspiring Confucian scholar. He stroked his beard, showing no fear whatsoever.

Even if it were to happen again, to him, the dozen or so lives taken by the beggar were more important than the old dog in the filthy animal farm!

Besides, he already disapproved of the chaotic and filthy arena.

"you……"

The scholar who was in charge of supervising the black dog spirit was extremely tough. Judge Lü had originally intended to investigate, but he was stopped by this man. At this moment, Lü Qingshu's expression turned cold as he was also choked by the man.

"Since that psychic black dog doesn't usually act crazy, was it behaving strangely before it went berserk? Has anyone been in contact with it recently? Has it been stimulated?"

"If this dog demon, comparable to a tiger or leopard, were to hide in the city, it could cause a major incident that the entire state would find difficult to handle if it went berserk one day!"

Li Qing held the paper lantern in her hand and spoke softly.

The two Taoist disciples from Tiannan Temple, one soft and one hard, exerted pressure on the group no less than that of the state government's ironclad decree.

They also knew that if things really went wrong as the Taoist in blue had said, their Taoist temple would inevitably be implicated. They might even be accused of incompetence and sent to the Western Wilderness Burial Ground to be filled with corpses...

"The guards who were always keeping the black dogs away all died without exception. This may not be a coincidence!"

"And you may be the only one who has made contact."

Lu Qingshu's aura suddenly became sharp, and these words that struck at the heart caused the six sorcerers to have different expressions.

It's no coincidence, could it be?
Is someone in the state going to remove the vice-prefect? ​​Or...?

(End of this chapter)