Cultivating Immortality Through a Hundred Lifetimes: I Possess the Heavenly Book of Merit

Time flies, and soon it was time for the dinner.

A soft knock came from outside the window, followed by a respectful voice:

"Senior Yu, Young Master Lin invites you to a banquet."

Yu Yan glanced at the straw figure in his hand, took a deep breath, bit his fingertip, and dripped a drop of blood onto it.

The moment the blood seeped into the straw, the straw figure trembled violently.

Immediately afterwards, a strange power surged from the straw, spreading from his arm to his entire body.

Yu Yan felt a slight lightness in his body, and the scene before him suddenly changed—

He saw himself.

No, to be precise, he saw another version of himself standing in front of him.

A person who looks exactly like him.

The same face, the same figure, the same clothes. Even their eyes carried a similar serenity.

His eyes were empty and lifeless.

puppet.

Yu Yan was secretly amazed.

This puppetry technique is truly amazing.

He tried taking a step forward, but the puppet didn't move. He tried raising his hand, but the puppet still didn't move.

It seems that it needs to be infused with spiritual energy to truly "come alive".

Yu Yan placed his palm on the puppet's back and slowly infused it with spiritual power.

The puppet's eyes gradually brightened.

Those empty eyes slowly regained their sparkle. Although they still couldn't compare to the real person, from a distance, it was already difficult to tell them apart.

Yu Yan withdrew his hand, and the puppet turned its head to look at him.

His gaze was calm and emotionless, as if he were waiting for instructions.

Yu Yan walked to the prayer mat and sat down cross-legged. The puppet followed and sat down opposite him.

With a thought, Yu Yan made the puppet close its eyes and pretend to be cultivating.

perfect.

Yu Yan nodded in satisfaction, stood up, walked to the window, and looked outside.

Several guards remained standing not far away, their eyes occasionally glancing in this direction.

Yu Yan withdrew his gaze, walked to the door, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

Outside the door, a servant in blue was waiting. When he saw him come out, he quickly bowed and greeted him.

"Senior Yu, please follow me."

Yu Yan nodded and followed him outside.

As they approached Zhou Yan's room, Zhou Yan came out just in time. The two exchanged a glance and nodded knowingly to each other.

Then, the two followed the servant through the bamboo forest, across the pond, and arrived at the brightly lit pavilion.

Two maids stood in front of the building. When they saw the two approaching, they bowed in unison.

"Distinguished guests, the young master is waiting inside."

Zhou Yan nodded and strode into the pavilion.

Yu Yan followed behind him and stepped over the threshold.

The building remained opulent, still laden with fine wines and delicacies. Lin Shi sat in the main seat, his face still bearing that perfectly appropriate smile.

Seeing the two enter, he stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Fellow Daoists, please have a seat."

Zhou Yan smiled and returned the greeting with a cupped hand, then sat down in the chair.

Yu Yan also sat down in another chair.

Lin Shi clapped his hands, and the maids came forward to pour wine.

The wine was still the same century-old spirit fruit wine, with a rich and mellow aroma. The dishes were still a dazzling array of spirit vegetables, spirit fruits, spirit meat, and spirit fish.

Everything looks the same as last time.

He picked up his glass and took a small sip.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the courtyard in the woods—

Two dark figures slipped out of the room without a sound.

It was Yu Yan and Zhou Yan themselves.

Taking advantage of the guards' attention being drawn to "themselves," they climbed out of the back window, followed a pre-observed route, passed through the bamboo forest, bypassed the pond, and quickly disappeared into the night.

The wall surrounding the courtyard in the woods was not high; it was easy for a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage to climb over it.

The two climbed over the wall and landed on the street outside.

The streets were deserted, without a single pedestrian. Moonlight shone on the bluestone pavement, giving it a faint silvery glow.

Zhou Yan looked around and lowered his voice, "Old Yu, which way do we go?"

Yu Yan took out a map from his pocket.

This was passed on to them by Lin Jiu through a talisman, which indicated the addresses of Lin Rong and Lin Sheng.

Lin Rong lived on the east side, near the fourth floor of the market. Lin Sheng lived on the west side, near the direction of the city lord's mansion.

Yu Yan looked at the map, pondered for a moment, and slowly said, "Let's go to Lin Rong's house first."

Zhou Yan nodded.

The two walked eastward along the street.

After walking a short distance, Zhou Yan suddenly stopped.

Yu Yan looked at him: "What's wrong?"

Zhou Yan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Old Yu, what do you think... should we just leave?"

Yu Yan looked at him.

Zhou Yan continued, "I mean, we've slipped out now, and Lin Shi's men haven't noticed. If we run straight down three floors, we might be able to escape."

"Even though we won't get those ten thousand spirit stones, it's still better than waiting to die here. Don't you think?"

Yu Yan remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Brother Zhou, do you think we can escape?"

Zhou Yan was taken aback.

Yu Yan continued, "Think about it, where are we now? The fourth floor. How do we get down? Either through the main entrance, or by spirit boat."

"To use the main gate, you need a purple-gold token. Our token was given to us by Lin Shi, so he definitely has a way to track us down."

"A token is required to ride the spirit boat. Moreover, the helmsmen of the spirit boats are all from the Lin family. They will know as soon as we show our faces."

Zhou Yan's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

Yu Yan continued, "Even if we're lucky enough to dodge all of that and successfully reach the lower three levels, then what?"

"What will Lin Shi do if he finds out we've run away?"

"He'll send people after us. Does the Lin family have people in the lower three levels? They definitely do. As long as we're still in Yunmeng Immortal City, we can't escape the Lin family's grasp."

Zhou Yan opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he couldn't.

Yu Yan continued, "Let's talk about the straw puppet. Elder Lin said it can only last for three days at most. After three days, the puppet will become ineffective, and Lin Shi will find out we've escaped."

"Can we escape Yunmeng Immortal City in three days?"

Zhou Yan shook his head.

Yunmeng Immortal City is enormous. Just traveling by spirit boat from the upper three levels to the lower three levels takes half a day. Getting from the lower three levels to the city gate takes another half a day. Beyond the city gate lies a vast wilderness, with no supplies, no direction, and making it even harder to travel far.

Three days is simply not enough.

Yu Yan looked at him and slowly said, "And Brother Zhou, have you thought about this? Even if we really do escape from Yunmeng Immortal City, then what?"

"Will the Lin family let us go?"

"Lin Shi is the kind of person who holds grudges. We know his secret, how could he possibly let us leave alive? Even if we chase him to the ends of the earth, he'll send people to kill us."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan's face turned deathly pale.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"Then... what do we do?"

Yu Yan looked at him and said, word by word, "The only way is to cooperate with Lin Jiu."

"Find evidence that Lin Shi murdered his clansmen and rescue Lin Jiu from the dungeon."

"Only Lin Jiu can stand up to Lin Shi. Only if Lin Jiu wins can we leave alive."

Zhou Yan remained silent for a long time, then nodded emphatically.

"good!"

"Old Yu, whatever you say, I'll do it!"

Yu Yan nodded, turned around, and continued walking forward.

Zhou Yan followed behind him, and the two of them, one in front and one behind, soon disappeared into the night.