A Scroll of Infinite Glory

The peacock was grabbed by Daoist Jiuhe, its tail feathers brushing off and almost touching the stone steps. Its beak pointed forward, trying to peck at Daoist Jiuhe's chin little by little.

"Hey, hey, ouch, don't touch it!"

Master Jiuhe turned his head to avoid him, but his expression was very happy.

Guan Luoyang asked curiously, "I've heard that peacocks are proud, so why is this big peacock so affectionate with you, Daoist?"

Qiu Di laughed from the side, "This peacock is no ordinary bird; it's a divine bird famous for miles around."

"Two years ago, Ma Qiang, the eunuch supervising the military in Jiaozhou Prefecture, ordered that a thousand peacock tails be presented to him within Jiaozhi Prefecture. The collection had to be completed within a month, or the peacock catchers would be severely punished. The peacock catchers in the fifteen prefectures were terrified of the news. Some even went to the Tianzun Temple to beg for help, kneeling before the statue of the Great Emperor and weeping uncontrollably."

"Later, Uncle Jiuhe went into the mountains and took this peacock to the military supervisor's mansion. He said that as long as this peacock stayed in the treasure vault for one night, the tails of thousands of peacocks would be collected immediately."

Qiu Di clapped her hands and said, "Do you know what happened next?"

Do we really need to guess about something like this?

Guan Luoyang politely shook his head and asked, "So what happened after that?"

Qiu Di proudly said, "Of course Ma Qiang didn't believe it and even kicked my uncle out of the mansion, but left the peacock behind. The next day, when they opened the treasure vault, they found a thousand peacock tails inside. The peacock gracefully flew out of the vault and landed in my uncle's arms, where it was taken back to the Heavenly Venerable Temple."

From then on, thousands of bird catchers in the fifteen prefectures of Jiaozhi were spared a great calamity and regarded the peacock as a divine bird. Some people even refused to work as bird catchers after visiting the Tianzun Temple.

Guan Luoyang asked, "And then what happened?"

Qiu Di said, "And then? And then this peacock lived in the temple."

Guan Luoyang shook his head: "That's not what I'm asking..."

"After traveling all night, they must be a little hungry."

Suddenly, Daoist Jiuhe spoke up, holding the peacock in his right hand and pressing its head down slightly with his left hand so that it rested on his shoulder, saying, "Qiu Di, young friend Guan, let's go see if there's any breakfast left at the temple."

As soon as the topic of hunger came up, Qiu Di's stomach growled, and she stopped paying attention to the previous conversation and hurried upstairs.

As soon as the three of them entered the temple, several young Taoist boys of about twelve or thirteen years old came up to greet them, calling them "Uncle" and "Grandmaster" in a very friendly manner. However, when asked about breakfast, they all looked around nervously.

The strongest one stepped forward and said, "Recently, all the senior uncles and senior masters have been away, and our grandmaster went out last night. We didn't make breakfast, so we ate the leftover porridge from last night, and that was just enough."

Qiu Di's face hardened: "You're really good at shirking your responsibilities. I'm punishing you to chop wood. Assuming everyone comes back, chop enough wood for lunch and dinner."

The young Taoist disciples scattered in a flurry, and Qiu Di called out, "Wait a minute, let's take a walk after we've eaten, and then we'll chop it up later."

He turned around and said, "Uncle-Master, Brother Guan, I'll go cook now. I'll trouble you to wait a little longer."

"No need. Young friend Guan just arrived today; it would be impolite to make him wait."

Master Jiuhe placed the peacock in the courtyard, stroked it reassuringly a couple of times, straightened up, and said, "Let's go eat noodles."

Qiu Di said happily, "Old Hei's noodles? I haven't had them in a while."

Guan Luoyang readily agreed and followed them down the mountain again. The noodle shop was not far from the Tianzun Temple. It was just a matter of going down the steps from the main gate and walking around the foot of the mountain for twenty or thirty steps to reach it.

This is a small restaurant. A short flag is stuck horizontally on a bamboo pole above the door. The dirty cloth has the words "Lao Hei Ji Noodle Restaurant" written in large, bold characters. It looks much better than the signs and banners of the neighboring restaurants.

Seeing Guan Luoyang looking at those words, Qiu Di whispered, "The words were written by Master after Uncle-Master went to get them. Uncle-Master's own handwriting is terrible."

Master Jiuhe glanced at him and stepped forward to lift the black curtain hanging in front of the door.

The door wasn't big; people could only go in one at a time.

The tables and chairs inside the noodle shop were all old, unpainted yellow wood, and the environment was somewhat dim, with only a little light coming in through the window.

It was past breakfast time, but lunchtime was still far off. There were no customers in the shop, only a thickly dressed old man busy at work on the side of the window where the sunlight couldn't reach.

Master Jiuhe greeted him, "Old Hei."

The old man immediately straightened up, beaming with joy: "Taoist Master, it's you! It's been almost a month since you last visited."

Master Jiuhe smiled and said, "I've been busy lately, but I won't forget that matter."

"Let's not talk about that, let's not talk about that."

The old man was overjoyed. He turned around and pulled out a square block of red cloth folded under the cabinet. It looked heavy and, judging from the sound, seemed to contain some copper coins.

"Master, my daughter is getting married in half a month. Her parents-in-law have been friends with me for many years, and the child is also very honest. This is a wedding gift, you must accept it."

Master Jiuhe declined, laughing, "Well, I'm an outsider after all, how can I give you the wedding money? I'll just come over and invite you to a feast."

The old man wore a faded blue handkerchief on his head and another blue handkerchief around his neck. He forced the money into Daoist Jiuhe's arms, saying, "Daoist, you know that if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to see this day. If you don't accept it today, I... I'll kneel down before you."

Master Jiuhe finally accepted it.

Qiu Di then explained to Guan Luoyang, "Uncle Lao Hei was almost harmed by a demon two years ago, but his master saved him, so they have a very good relationship. To be honest, it's really rare to see someone like Uncle Lao Hei. How many people in the entire Cheng Yin Prefecture haven't had dealings with the Tianzun Temple? If everyone were as enthusiastic as him, we wouldn't dare to go out anymore."

Guan Luoyang nodded slightly, a smile on his face.

Seeing this scene will unconsciously improve one's mood.

That said, Qiu Di seems to have a tendency to be a bit talkative. She kept talking the whole way and always found something to talk about.

For Guan Luoyang, who was new to the area, he was a great guide.

The three of them found a table and sat down, and Lao Hei started preparing noodles.

First, take a few bottles and jars, mix the broth, throw the noodles into the pot, and as soon as they are scooped out, put them into the cooled broth while they are still steaming hot.

The aroma of the broth was immediately released; it seemed to be made from bones, with a hint of Chinese medicine and a touch of spiciness.

A few more slices of meat were sliced ​​and placed on top of the bowl. At first glance, the brown broth and the dark red braised meat were very tempting.

Old Hei brought over three bowls of noodles on a tray and placed them on the table one by one, standing next to Guan Luoyang.

Guan Luoyang, who had been smiling, gradually frowned, turned his gaze, and carefully looked at Lao Hei, his ears twitching slightly.

Master Jiuhe noticed his movement, tapped the table with his chopsticks, and said, "Qiudi, go to the end of the street and buy me some Liu's pickles."

Afraid that the dough would clump together, Qiu Di responded and quickly went out the door.

Old Hei put down three bowls of noodles and returned to the stove. Guan Luoyang's gaze followed him.

Master Jiuhe chuckled softly, "What are you looking at, young friend Guan?"

Guan Luoyang came to his senses, held the chopsticks in his hand, and said in a low voice, "Master Jiuhe didn't find anything strange about it."

"You mean Old Black isn't breathing or having a heartbeat?"

Guan Luoyang's eyes flashed: "Hmm?"

Master Jiuhe said softly, "Nanyang is a place with deep valleys and forests, rich in rare animals and medicinal herbs, making it the best in the world. So it's not so strange that some strange things happen here."

There are many strange things. For example, a Taoist priest once encountered a leopard cat blocking his way, but he arrived too late.

The sorcerer who kidnapped Lao Hei was a sorcerer. The sorcery of Southeast Asia, especially the flying head sorcery, was the most mysterious.

After a sorcerer has cultivated to a certain level, they must change their birth date to align with a special spiritual force in order to continue to improve.

Their method of altering one's birth date is to find someone whose birth date and time are compatible, capture that person, soak them in a medicinal jar, inscribe the character for "insect" on them, attach them to the bones, and finally sever their head, pulling out the spine and internal organs along with it. Then, they transplant their own head, internal organs, and spine into that body, adjust and heal it, thereby greatly increasing their magical power.

When Master Jiuhe arrived, they had already reached the final step. Although Old Hei had not been beheaded, he had already breathed his last, and still had a faint voice pleading. Master Jiuhe could not bear it, so he tried to do something.

"His case is an exception. As long as I perform the procedure on him again every forty-nine days, he can survive without harming anyone, but he will have to endure great pain."

"He just wants to see his daughter have a place to live in her later years."

Master Jiuhe said sincerely, "This technique lasts at most three years, and he doesn't have much time left anyway. Brother Guan, could you please keep this a secret for me?"

Guan Luoyang asked, "Qiu Di and the others don't know?"

"Yes."

"We've only known each other for a short time, and you're already telling me this?"

"Because you figured it out."

Guan Luoyang paused for a moment, then picked up his chopsticks and stirred the noodles. Amidst the rising steam from the bowl, he mumbled, "I didn't see anything."

Master Jiuhe smiled knowingly and began to eat his noodles: "However, it wouldn't hurt to let Qiudi and the others know, but the main thing is that my senior brother Jiuying can't know. He's an old-fashioned man who firmly believes that the living and the dead are separated and each has its own place to go. He would never allow the boss to stay here with such pain."

Guan Luoyang listened quietly, picked up a noodle, and slurped it down to the end in one bite.

Indeed, it has a rich flavor and is full of salty and savory aroma.

After he finished scooping the noodles out of the bowl, he exhaled a long breath of hot air, feeling a warm feeling in his stomach.

The anxiety of suddenly becoming a reincarnator and being led onto a distant and unfamiliar road finally subsided completely.

"Boss, another bowl, please."