Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 276: Betrothal
"This young man's condition requires [Dieda San],"

Huang, the temple keeper, stroked his beard and spoke slowly at first, then pointed at Jiang Wanli's spilled internal organs: "Put them back in first, this bloody mess looks unlucky!"

Then, he took out a white jade-like porcelain bottle from his sleeve, handed it over, and said, "I'm not skilled in medicine, but this stuff is very useful. Just put his internal organs back in, and then sprinkle this [Trauma Powder] on him..."

"This, this could be a 'miracle drug'!?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Yizhi's eyes lit up, and he quickly took the [Trauma Powder].

Legend has it that the Baishi Immortal Sect has a kind of "miracle medicine" called something like "Die Da San" or "Ge Gen Tang". Although the names are unremarkable, the effects are amazing. It is said that even if the internal organs are shattered, as long as there is still a breath left, it can still be saved!

Judging from Huang Miaozhu's posture, it was as if Jiang Wanli's serious injury was nothing...

It probably really is that legendary "elixir of immortality"!
"What 'miracle medicine'? It's just the lowest grade medicine refined by a friend of mine who's a pill cultivator..." Huang Miaozhu looked at the startled Shi Yizhi with disdain and added, "Three strings of cash a serving. Remember to pay me back later. If you don't have money, go earn it. Or you can work for me for free!"

With human life at stake, Shi Yizhi didn't care about the three or two strings of cash at this moment. He hurriedly followed Huang Miaozhu's instructions and sprinkled all the [Dieda San] on Jiang Wanli's abdomen.

“His injury isn’t just an external wound. See that place where the black mist is coming out? That’s caused by the erosion of ghost energy. If he wants to fully recover, we need to go to the underworld to get some ghost grass, boil it into a soup, and give it to him to drink. He’ll be fine immediately…” Huang Miaozhu paused, then suddenly waved his hand and said, “Actually, it’s okay if he doesn’t drink it. He’ll just be uncomfortable for a year or two at most. He’ll be fine once the ghost energy dissipates!”

Shi Yizhi grasped Jiang Wanli's hand and said in a deep voice, "Brother Jiang, rest assured, I will definitely help you get some ghost grass!"

After using the [Dieda San], Jiang Wanli's abdomen stopped bleeding, and the wound was even healing slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye, which stunned Lu Mao'er who was standing next to him.

"This medicine is so potent, yet it only costs three strings of cash?"

Lu Mao'er looked at Huang Miaozhu with bright eyes and asked.

"This isn't cheap, is it? The village doctor Liu has some less effective treatments that only cost 500 coins..."

Huang Miaozhu was stunned by Lu Mao'er's words, but he quickly added, "I'm not asking for an exorbitant amount! My 'Trauma Powder' is much better than Liu Langzhong's 'Trauma Wine'! If he used his 'Trauma Wine,' he would probably be bedridden for another ten days or half a month!"

Lu Mao'er asked curiously, "Then how long will it take to heal with yours?"

The temple keeper shrugged, gestured with his chin toward Shi Yizhi and Jiang Wanli, and said, "That's it!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Mao'er's eyes widened, and she really did look like a cat!
She turned sharply to look at Jiang Wanli, and sure enough, the man who had been breathing heavily and barely breathing just moments before was now breathing steadily, and apart from his still pale face, the bloody scene of his disembowelment had disappeared—

In just a few words, the wound on Jiang Wanli's stomach was almost completely gone!

Lu Mao'er couldn't help but reach out and touch Jiang Wanli's white belly—there really were no wounds left!
She quickly turned her head again, looking at Huang Miaozhu with longing in her eyes: "Can I buy a bottle of this powerful 'elixir' too?"

The temple keeper looked at Lu Mao'er as if she were a fool: "Do you have money?"

"I……"

Lu Mao'er awkwardly searched through all his pockets and only found thirty-one copper coins.

Huang, the temple keeper, rolled his eyes even more, shook his finger, and emphasized, "Three strings of cash, not a single penny less!"

Lu Mao'er was unwilling to give up and tried to bargain: "Then, how about I work for you for a few days in exchange for one bottle? I'm really good with dual swords!"

Seeing that Lu Mao'er was sticking to him, Huang Miaozhu said with some helplessness, "Fine, do it for two months, and I'll give you a new bottle!"

"Oh no! That won't do, I still need to find the 'pass key'!"

Lu Mao'er said dejectedly, then suddenly asked curiously about what she had just seen: "By the way, Master Huang, that thing was so fierce, why did it suddenly stop moving and get dragged away? Could there be something even more ferocious than that thing?"

"It was only because the underworld officials arrived in time that they were able to capture that ghost; otherwise, you would all have been skinned alive!"

The temple priest, Huang, shook his head and explained, "She was actually an outsider. After she died, she refused to be taken away, so she bewitched a few people in the village. Later, in order to increase her cultivation, she used yang energy to replenish yin energy, which killed many people. It was only after the Peach Blossom Goddess intervened and subdued her that she was imprisoned at the bottom of the Peach Blossom River. This time, I don't know what happened, but she actually escaped. Even the Peach Blossom Goddess didn't know about this. It's really strange!"

Lu Mao'er hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Then why did she die? And it didn't seem like she died a natural death..."

"At the time, she had taken a fancy to a young man in Peach Blossom Village. Although the two weren't exactly a perfect match, they were alright. But on their wedding night, another outsider who had come to Peach Blossom Village with her went on a killing spree, murdering the newlyweds. That's how she died..."

"Oh dear, that's all old news. If you ask me, a person should know their own limitations. That young man, though he was young and strong, was illiterate and knew nothing but farming. The girl, on the other hand, was incredibly beautiful and a Qi Refining cultivator. How could a mortal be a match for a cultivator..."

Huang, the temple keeper, kept rambling on and on, and soon he had explained the story of the owner of the red embroidered shoes.

It turns out that although the three villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Bao Chenghuang were not connected to the outside world, people did occasionally come in.

Aside from ordinary mortals like the current group who claim to have participated in some "Celestial Fate Conference" or "Trial Array," the majority of those who came in were actually cultivators.

Like the Peach Blossom Goddess, she was a cultivator from elsewhere who stayed to protect Peach Blossom Village because she loved this place, and was thus revered as a local deity.

The owner of the embroidered shoes was a visiting cultivator. Many other cultivators had come, claiming they were looking for some kind of treasure.

"I've lived in Taoyuan Village for almost a hundred years! What treasures could I possibly have there!"

Huang Miaozhu's tone was rather indignant.

Among them, the owner of the embroidered shoes was the most handsome of all the outside cultivators, but she always had disputes with the others in her group. In the end, she simply declared that she had taken a fancy to a young man from Peach Blossom Village and wanted to marry him!
"The villagers tried to persuade him, but as the old saying goes, he should take a good look at himself. That woman is so beautiful and a Qi Refining cultivator, how could she possibly be interested in him? But he's just stubborn and determined! His parents had no choice but to help with the arrangements. Everything was peaceful for about half a month, but on the wedding day, something terrible happened!"

Huang, the temple keeper, sighed, “Qi is too big to be paired with, Qi is too big to be paired with! Yet he just doesn’t understand this principle!”

According to Huang, the temple keeper, later on, an outsider cultivator killed the couple and fled in haste, but was caught up by the Peach Blossom Goddess...

"There are several reasons why we love and respect Lady Peach Blossom so much. For example, that time, Lady Peach Blossom personally captured those murderers and executed them all. She even ignored the City God's offer to send their souls away, which made everyone feel relieved!"

"If the murderer is dead, why did she become a vengeful ghost?"

This time, it was Jiang Wanli who asked the question.

Jiang Wanli's injuries had greatly improved after taking the medicine, but he was so weak that he slumped down on the straw mat and rested with Shi Yizhi by leaning on him. He was also engrossed in listening to Huang Miaozhu tell stories.

The temple priest said, "I find it strange too! Logically speaking, all the cultivators who killed her are dead, not even their souls remain. Even if they harbored great resentment, it should have dissipated by now. Why do they still hate Peach Blossom Village so much and always want to cause trouble..."

Lu Mao'er said, "Doesn't the Peach Blossom Goddess care? Since she has killed so many people, shouldn't she be punished?"

The temple priest replied, "We had scattered them once before, but somehow she managed to regroup. The Peach Blossom Goddess was afraid that she wouldn't be able to kill them all, so she simply suppressed them. But she escaped again, and you just happened to catch up with her!"

As he spoke, he reassured everyone, "But you can rest assured this time. This time it was taken away by the underworld officials, and they will probably take it directly to the underworld. At that time, the City God will probably send it out, and our Peach Blossom Village will be peaceful again!"

Lu Mao'er asked doubtfully, "Send her out? Send her where? Won't sending her out harm the people outside?"

“Hehehe,” Huang Miaozhu was amused by Lu Mao’er’s barrage of questions and replied, “Don’t worry, she’s being sent to the underworld. Because her Book of Life and Death is not under the jurisdiction of Bao Chenghuang, he can’t see her past life or interrogate her. That’s why she’s being sent out to be dealt with by the city god and judges outside. She will find her own place in the underworld and won’t be left to fend for herself.”

Hearing this, Lu Mao'er breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, otherwise this female ghost would be too fierce!"

"Master Huang, now that the vengeful ghost has been captured, we should be much safer now, right?"

Seeing that Lu Mao'er's curiosity had been satisfied and she stopped asking questions, Shi Yizhi bowed to Huang Miaozhu and said, "Now that I'm walking in the underworld, I shouldn't encounter any more accidents, right?"

"Don't worry, vengeful ghosts aren't so easy to encounter. There's only one in this Peach Blossom Village, and it escaped by accident. If you're worried, I'll stay here and watch over the incense for you. I guarantee nothing will happen!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Yizhi was overjoyed, but before he could express his gratitude, the temple priest Huang said, "Ten coins per hour, no bargaining."

Shi Yizhi: "?"

Lu Mao'er chuckled and proactively cupped his hands, saying, "Brother, I'm staying here tonight anyway. If you trust me, I'll keep watch for you for a while and make sure that old bastard doesn't make that dirty money!" Shi Yizhi hesitated for a moment: "This..."

Although everyone in the courtyard had fled because of the ghost incident, only Lu Mao'er remained. She had just done her best to protect Jiang Wanli, which proved that she was a trustworthy person.

But to Shi Yizhi, she was, after all, a nodding acquaintance with whom he had never even exchanged names, and it was difficult to entrust her with his life.

Jiang Wanli said at the right moment, "Senior brother, don't worry about going. As long as the evil spirits are gone, keeping an eye on the incense won't be a problem. I can manage!"

Shi Yizhi shook his head and said, "You've just been seriously injured, how could you—"

"Where are you seriously injured!?"

Jiang Wanli patted his bare belly and laughed, "It is a bit cold, but the wounds here have long since healed, as you can see! The 'immortal medicine' in Huang Miaozhu's hand is probably the same kind of 'immortal medicine' from the White Stone Immortal Sect, it's very powerful, so don't worry!"

"Very well! Then I'll leave it to you two!"

Thinking about how he still needed to find a way to get Jiang Wanli some "ghost grass," Shi Yizhi gritted his teeth and said, "I'm going right now!"

The food eaten in the cemetery will be effective for three days. As long as you strictly follow the procedure within these three days, you can successfully pass through the underworld.

So, not long after, Shi Yizhi shakily got up from his body again and hurriedly headed for the gates of hell.

"Oh, you're here again!"

The ghostly gatekeeper saw Shi Yizhi from afar and greeted him happily, even saying:

“The three of them went in to escort that vengeful ghost! According to the rules, any vengeful ghost that has been subjected to the Soul-Fixing Shackles and Soul-Binding Ropes must be escorted by at least three people. Since we really didn’t have enough manpower, we had your friend fill in!”

Shi Yizhi cupped his hands and asked, "How long will it take to deliver this?"

The ghost official replied, "It won't take long! Send it directly to our lord; it won't even take half an incense stick to burn!"

Sure enough, after waiting for a short while, Zhu Ye, Li Si, and Zhao San emerged from the brink of death.

Shi Yi gave a perfunctory greeting and then hurriedly recounted the events at the Peach Blossom Goddess Temple to Zhu Ye in a few words.

Zhu Ye quickly grasped the key point: "So, we need to help get the 'Ghost Grass' first?"

"Ghost grass? That stuff is hard to get!"

Unexpectedly, Li Si interrupted after hearing the two talking, saying, "Ghost grass is also called forget-me-not grass. It's everywhere in the Gate of Hell. If you had come a few years earlier, it would be everywhere on the road to the Yellow Springs!"
"Later, my lord complained that there were too many weeds on the road to the underworld, so he specially took the time to lead all the ghost messengers and officials to clear the weeds off the road to the underworld. Now it's hard to find them even if you want to!"

Zhu Ye suddenly realized, "They're everywhere in the Gates of Hell... Could it be that the blue-leaved yellow flower is the Ghost Grass?"

Li Si nodded: "That's it!"

Zhu Ye asked in confusion, "Then why can't I just go and pick a few? Why is it so difficult?"

Li Si said, "Hmph, that thing is called 'ghost grass,' not only because it grows in the underworld, but also because we ghosts and spirits can't pick it up! If you don't believe me, go and try it; it's prickly to the touch!"

These words left Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi looking at each other in bewilderment.

"What should we do?"

"It's not difficult. Considering that you two helped us catch a vengeful ghost today, if you can come in your physical form, I'll take you inside to gather some. It's nothing, these things are just weeds. But..."

As Li Si spoke, he stroked his chin and said, "You two are just ordinary mortals, unaware of the magic and supernatural powers of immortals. Your physical bodies are not qualified to enter this Yellow Springs Road!"

"That……"

Not only Shi Yizhi, but even Zhu Ye was dumbfounded.

To think that he, a dignified fourth-grade Acquired Venerable, was so rudely called a mere mortal made him feel quite uneasy.

It seems that the world is indeed about to change drastically because of the rise of the immortal path!

"Well then, wasn't it supposed to be that if you two helped us for two days, we would help introduce you to the Lord of the Underworld? But today, thanks to you, we were able to capture that vengeful ghost. If it were attributed to us, it would be an incredible achievement! We are grateful for your kindness. When you come here again tomorrow after sunset, I will take you to see my Lord of the Underworld. As for doing anything else, there's no need for that."

As Li Si spoke, he gave the two a suggestion: "Then, during the day, you shouldn't be idle. Either invite the temple keeper Huang, or the Hu family, or even befriend the local earth god of Taoyuan Village. They are all cultivators who can travel in the underworld. Just have one of them come and collect some ghost herbs for you. It won't be troublesome!"

These words showed that they were extremely considerate of the two of them, and Zhu Ye and Shi Yi were extremely grateful and thanked them profusely.

After agreeing on the two matters, in the latter half of the night, the four of them repeated the division of labor from the first half of the night. Li Si led Zhu Ye, and Zhao San led Shi Yizhi. They were busy for more than an hour, catching three ghosts, before they dispersed, yawning, as dawn broke.

The Gates of Hell are closed during the day, and there are no ghostly officials guarding them.

Just as living people work during the day and sleep at night, ghost cultivators work at night and rest during the day.

Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi followed the Yellow Springs Road back to Peach Blossom Village. Before taking one last look at the tightly closed gates of the Gate of Hell, they dragged their weary bodies... or rather, their "weary souls," back into their respective physical bodies in a daze.

Fortunately, nothing else went wrong in the latter half of the night. However, Jiang Wanli, after learning how difficult it was to obtain the ghost grass, said somewhat embarrassedly, "If it really doesn't work, then forget it. Didn't the temple keeper Huang say that even without the ghost grass, I can recover slowly?"

Shi Yi was furious: "How can this be! You risked your life to protect our bodies, which already makes me feel ashamed. This is just a little troublesome, not a difficult problem. If I don't do it, wouldn't I be worse than a pig or a dog?"

"Hahaha, no, no!"

Jiang Wanli chuckled and remarked, "I've traveled all over the country for many years, and I've never met anyone as compatible as you two brothers! This 'Trial Array' is quite different from what I expected; it seems rather dangerous. If you two don't mind, why don't we become sworn brothers? That would be enough..."

At this point, Jiang Wanli paused for a moment before continuing, "It can't be considered a regret!"

Shi Yizhi was the youngest and at the age when he was very quick-witted. He also had his own ideas about the so-called "sworn brotherhood". He immediately said, "I have lost five older brothers and one younger brother. I thought I would be all alone in this life. I didn't expect that I could gain two brothers by breaking through the trial formation. Why not?"

When it was Zhu Ye's turn, he looked at the two of them with some helplessness, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, but he really couldn't say a word of refusal.

Actually, he really wanted to refuse.

He was already over thirty years old, while these two were almost ten years younger than him. The young man from the Shi family was more than old enough to be his son. It was really a bit... embarrassing for him to play the "sworn brotherhood" game with two "kids".

but……

Jiang Wanli deliberately said, "Brother Zhu, why are you so silent? Are you perhaps looking down on the two of us?"

Having said all that, Zhu Ye couldn't refuse any longer and could only say, "I was thinking, if we were to become sworn brothers, who would be the best person to witness it..."

Jiang Wanli nodded in satisfaction and said, "Brother Zhu is right! How can a sworn brotherhood be taken lightly? Why don't we ask the village head of Taoyuan Village to preside over it?"

Shi Yizhi then suggested, "How about we invite Master Hu? I've heard that Master Hu possesses profound magical powers, and even the mountain spirit is afraid of him!"

Zhu Ye knew he couldn't refuse, but he still felt it was a bit embarrassing to let someone else preside over the sworn brotherhood ceremony. If the martial arts practitioners who were also participating in the "Immortal Destiny Conference" saw this, he would be even more embarrassed!
So he tried to stall, saying, "Since we're going to become sworn brothers, there's no rush. Why don't you two wait until tonight? Maybe that City God Bao will be easy to talk to and willing to be our witness. Wouldn't that be better?"

This statement only made the two of them more excited.

Come to think of it, since ancient times, when sworn brothers are formed, it is considered formal to have a respected elder as a witness. But I have never heard of having the City God of the underworld as a witness—that would be a great honor!
Unlike Zhu Ye, who felt ashamed, Shi Yizhi and Jiang Wanli thought that "swearing brotherhood" was incredibly prestigious! Especially if the witnesses to the oath were deities (even ghost deities are considered immortals), then it would truly be...

Wonderful!

(End of this chapter)