Tianshou Daoist Monastery?
I hesitated for a moment. It was broad daylight, and I hadn't let Old Gong out. How could he associate it with the Tianshou Daoist Monastery?
Jiaoying also shrank her eyes and flashed a moment of surprise.
This matter is not small. It was previously discovered by Lu You of Guikan, which is because I used ghosts and also used Daoist arts. It was misunderstood by Fan Yu on a sunny day, which means that others may also misunderstand me.
If I really encountered a Daoist, it would be something hard to explain.
Just like the two Daoists of Liu Ziyu, they classified me as someone from the Ghost Cabin without distinguishing between right and wrong and were about to make a move to kill me.
Facing Lu You, I easily eliminated them by borrowing the skin of Tianshou Daoist Monastery by accident.
In front of me, Fan Yu said a lot of things in reality again. This indeed made it much easier for me, but the hidden danger was even greater.
"How did you figure it out?" Jiaoying clearly thought of the same point as me, her tone full of questioning.
Fan Yu's body stiffened slightly, and he explained awkwardly, "The Daoist's wrist has more than one under-the-table reach. The item tied to his waist……it should be a carrier. Most importantly, as a collector of corpses, I can always smell a faint stench of corpses. Although it's very weak, it can't be dispersed."
I suddenly understood.
This was not a single definitive factor, but rather a combination of several aspects. A normal Daoist wouldn't act like me, and coupled with his sensitivity to the smell of decay, that's how he made his judgment.
"Don't tell anyone that we've been looking for you. Otherwise, you'll know the consequences." I opened my mouth again.
Sweat beads flowed from Fan Yu's forehead down his cheek. He nodded repeatedly, daring not to show any previous emotions.
I left Fan Yu's house with Jiaoying. After we walked a bit, I said that we needed to find another bag, and from then on, Old Gong's chamber pot couldn't appear in the eyes of ordinary people.
Jiaoying nodded.
I remained silent for a moment and then said, "The stench of corpses is indeed hard to solve. It has been too long because the lower-level Daoist arts have always been in contact with corpses."
"It can be soaked in herbal baths for a long time, and the herbal scent will enter the skin texture, which should be much better. I can research it. It's still this Fan Yu who does the job of collecting corpses. He is too sensitive to the smell of decay. Others haven't smelled it."
Jiaoying comforted me.
I nodded and whispered, "Careful driving leads to a thousand years of boat travel."
After that, we only stopped to catch a ride. We first went to a shopping mall and bought a bag that was about the same size as the chamber pot. After putting it inside, we entrusted it to Jiaoying to carry.
In this way, it was completely unobtrusive.
I silently warned myself to use the lower-level arts less, after all, the Taoist orthodox sect is fundamentally different from the lower nine levels. Moreover, I don't have an auspicious fate; when it comes to real fighting, the lower-level arts are just empty talk.
It was just an impulsive idea in the moment to deal with Fan Yu before.
After we returned to our place, Jiaoying asked me when I planned to go to the Panyue region.
I then told Jiaoying about my previous decision. For a considerable period, I wouldn't leave Jianghuang City.
Upon hearing this, Jiaoying nodded and there was a slight release of tension in her eyes.
After that, there wasn't much else to do.
We were like in the small town outside of Cihai Village. I was normally studying the Four Regions of Heavenly Heart and the Four Regions of True Law, while Jiaoying delved into Dizu.
Before we knew it, more than a month had passed.
Liang Yu had not contacted Jiaoying, and everything seemed to have entered a period of calm.
Of course, I am constantly paying attention to Jiaoying's matters.
We reminded Jiaoying that her family had relocated and were now led by Fan Jie. Up to this point, they had not encountered any unexpected incidents.
I had learned several more Daoist techniques, and even practiced some fist techniques through the Four Regions of Heavenly Heart.
However, without repeated practice in actual combat, they were still just like showy techniques.
After another month, I felt that I had reached a bottleneck in my understanding of Daoist techniques and formulae. If I continued to learn, I would feel like a book that was constantly copying the Four Regulations of Heavenly Heart without having my own unique logic or usage method.
This is a cramming style of learning, and I've absorbed too much in a short period of time, without fully integrating and mastering it.
Therefore, I discussed with Jiaoying and decided to go to the Jianghuang City Funeral Parlor and find something to do. We wanted to test and practice Daoist techniques, and also try the effects of the copper mallet.
...
That night, I and Jiaoying left our place and came to a vintage goods market in the city center.
The Jianghuang City Funeral Parlor is in this area.
The token to enter the funeral parlor is still that black jade from Jin Yang.
The funeral parlor, specifically, is a vast underground market. Although the final forces in each district may be different, they are basically connected.
Of course, the underground construction is quite different.
Jin Yang's funeral parlor is circular, with numerous entrance streets that lead straight inward.
The Jianghuang City funeral parlor is more like a spider web, with numerous entrances scattered everywhere, and the streets are even more intricate and complex.
If not for the overall atmosphere being too gloomy, and the items being too bizarre for sale, it would be more like an underground mall.
Jiaoying told me that it was similar to the Yuyangju place, where no single force dominates but rather a collection of forces. It is like the Guǐshì and Guǐjie in Daoxiang, where everyone can go to a place and post their needs, providing corresponding remuneration.
Once the matter is completed, the intermediate forces take a portion of the benefits, and the remainder is traded between the two parties. Of course, the intermediate forces play a role in maintaining fairness and impartiality.
I nodded thoughtfully, understanding everything Jiaoying had said.
Walking around the spider web-like funeral parlor, sometimes needing to ask for directions, it took us about an hour to reach a special building.
It was a long wooden house that looked like an open coffin lying on the road.
Of course, this "coffin" was quite large, about fifty to sixty meters long and more than thirty meters wide.
The door was on the smaller end at the bottom.
The entire building had no windows, only that one door in and out.
Above that door was a small wooden plaque inscribed with "Guan Shi Di".
It was clearly the name of the force that Jiaoying had mentioned.
We two entered the wooden door, and what we saw was similar to the Yeyangju. On both sides, there were owner's counters.
There were only a few pedestrians scattered here and there, either walking towards a counter or deeper into the place.
The difference was that the notices and announcements in Yeyangju were posted on the doors, while here, they were behind each counter.
Jiaoying and I approached the first counter, where there stood a thin, monkey-like middle-aged man with an extremely sharp eye. He glanced at us.
I looked at the notice on the wall behind him, skimmed through the content, shook my head, and walked in.
I walked past four counters and didn't see a satisfying notice. The most sinister thing was that an old village had suffered from plague, and there were many active corpses with plague toxin. A reward of three large yellow fish was offered for capturing any one of them.
Jiaoying's family is wealthy, so I don't need to worry about expenses. Perhaps that task could practice Daoist techniques, but it would definitely not test the effect of the copper mallet.
When I reached the seventh counter, the owner was an elderly man with a square head and eyes. He squinted at me.
When I scanned through the notice behind him, my pupil contracted.
The content of the notice was that there was a Jihuai ghost in a village near the city suburbs of Jianghuang. A reward of one hundred and fifty Jin mi and one hundred years of lightning strike Dazao wood was offered for capturing it in its entirety.
I'm not sure about the Chongsi rice, but thunder-struck wood, especially a hundred-year-old jujube wood, is definitely a rare treasure.
Of course, the value of the thing is not important. The Wuyu Ju should be one level lower than the Twenty-Eight Imprisoned, and I wonder if I can subdue it.
