Chapter 13

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Chapter 13: Preparation for Seeking Immortality

Shi Xuan wasn’t too worried about whether Xu Tianqi could avoid retaliation from Xia family in private. After all, his connection was with Du Bai, not Xu Tianqi. Since others thought that way, Shi Xuan didn’t say more.

The two returned to the house and lit a fire. They made it look like the fire had been burning for a while and then went to unblock the acupoints of the three still lying down. As Shi Xuan was unblocking Mu Jin’s acupoints, he heard Meng Yuqiong’s pleasant voice asking, "Brother Tianqi, where is that white figure?" It seemed that this beautiful lady’s internal energy cultivation was higher than Xu Tianqi’s, as she woke up right after her acupoints were unblocked, unlike Xu Tianqi who took longer even with the additional internal energy input from Shi Xuan.

"Although that white figure looked fierce, it didn’t harm anyone. We persisted until dawn, and it vanished," Xu Tianqi told Meng Yuqiong what he had discussed with Shi Xuan earlier.

"Oh, I see." Meng Yuqiong didn’t ask further. It was uncertain whether she believed it or not. According to Shi Xuan, she probably didn’t believe it since she didn’t inquire about other aspects of the situation.

When Xu Tianqi woke up Xu Jinyi, Mu Jin also regained consciousness. They were both scared and curious about the events of the previous night. Xu Jinyi kept pestering Xu Tianqi with questions about the white figure being a ghost, how they escaped from the evil spirit, what the ghost looked like, and if it could perform magic. Xu Tianqi was overwhelmed by the questions, some of which went beyond their agreed explanation, and he struggled to answer.

Unable to handle Xu Jinyi’s questions, Xu Tianqi discreetly signaled to care for Meng Yuqiong and Xu Jinyi understood, walking over to Shi Xuan.

"Big Brother Shi, I didn’t expect you to be so capable, only you and Fifth Brother stayed up all night." Xu Jinyi smiled at Shi Xuan. Nearby, Mu Jin, though not good with words, also looked at Shi Xuan with great curiosity.

Shi Xuan chuckled with a wry smile, thinking the girl was trying to get information out of him, so he said, "I don’t have any skills, it’s all thanks to Big Brother Xu."

Xu Jinyi was not satisfied, and she pressed on, "Tell me what that ghost looked like, was it featureless, no, did it have a huge mouth dripping with blood? I remember fainting from fear!" She gestured as she spoke.

"Jinyi, it’s not like that, I remember a pale face, high eyebrows dripping with blood," Mu Jin countered based on his own experience.

"Nonsense, what you described isn’t scary at all," Xu Jinyi scorned Mu Jin’s uncreative explanation, then tearfully looked at Shi Xuan, saying, "Big Brother Shi, you have to be fair."

Shi Xuan thought for a moment and replied, "Both of you are right." Seeing Xu Jinyi ready to argue, he gestured for her to listen first, "In fact, ghosts mostly resemble their appearance in life, just paler and more blurry, like the ghost we saw last night. Actually, we later saw his true form."

Xu Jinyi got excited and eagerly asked, "What does he look like, why did I see him that way?" She even made a gesture of a huge mouth with her hand. Mu Jin nodded in agreement.

Just as Shi Xuan was about to answer, he suddenly furrowed his brow, as he keenly felt that even though Meng Yuqiong seemed to be listening attentively to Xu Tianqi talk animatedly about last night, she was actually focusing on him. But Shi Xuan couldn’t do anything about it and continued, "After we lit a fire, the white figure didn’t come close, just howling from a distance. Through the flames, we saw a fierce-looking ghost with scars all over his face, appearing to be in his forties or fifties with long, wild hair. What you saw was likely influenced by his illusions."

"Illusions, that’s impressive, just like in the novels I’ve read." Xu Jinyi’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

"But in books, operas, and stories, it’s always a female ghost in this kind of situation," Mu Jin said regretfully. He couldn’t tell if the boy was shy or just liked reading books, especially those about female ghosts.

Shi Xuan chuckled and said, "Don’t forget that in stories, there are also male monsters like Rat Demon and Five Elements God seducing women. So, male ghosts and male monsters do exist." Even though this reasoning had nothing to do with the process, if they claimed that all stories were made up without thinking, and in case the other two were die-hard fans, it would be better to talk about ghosts like this.

The two people opposite didn’t bother analyzing Shi Xuan’s answer and moved on to another question they were interested in.

"Senior Brother Shi, did the male ghost suddenly stick out a very long tongue towards your forehead?"

"No, it sounds more like a zombie, doesn’t it?"

"Senior Brother Shi, did the ghost use any magic? Like summoning thunder or a swirling black mist?"

"Do you think if there was magic involved, we would survive? Also, if thunder was summoned, do you think it would strike the ghost first or us?"

。。。。。。

Unbeknownst to them, the sky had already brightened, and Xu Tianqi and Meng Yuqiong walked over. Xu Tianqi said, "Since it’s already light out, I don’t think the ghost will reappear. We don’t need to stay near this campfire anymore, it’s time to go back."

At that time, Meng Yuqiong asked, "I wonder how Xia Shi and the two elders from the Xia family are doing?"

Xu Jinyi suddenly realized, "I felt like something was missing, turns out that troublemaker was taken away by ghosts."

Xu Tianqi spoke up, "They probably weren’t taken by ghosts. We only saw a ghost create a strong wind that blew all three of them out of the house. We managed to catch the three of you just in time. Oh, it seems like the ghosts in this house have never harmed anyone. Hopefully, they didn’t harm them either. Good omens, I guess."

Shi Xuan thought to himself, "This seems too fake. Given the relationship between you two, you should be acting gleeful instead of being serious and sorrowful at this time."

Xu pouted and said, "I hope they get taken away by wild dogs."

Since the three people had been blown out of the house, if they were to search for them, they could only do so outside the house. Therefore, after extinguishing the bonfire, the five of them left together.

The morning air was fresh and slightly sweet, coupled with a cool breeze, it made the five of them who had just left the house feel happy and much better in spirits.

When they reached outside and Xu Tianqi hesitated about whether to casually look for Xia Wenhui and the other two, he subconsciously looked towards the exit of the dead alley and saw Xia Wenhui and the others walking out. Upon noticing them, Xia Wenhui’s group glared fiercely, then turned and walked away. Especially the menacing look and expression of the Twin Sword Killers seemed as if they wanted to devour Xu Tianqi whole.

Xu Tianqi clapped his hands and said, "Sister Yuqiong, look, they’re fine and in a hurry to go back now. Let’s go back too."

Meng Yuqiong nodded slightly, then the five of them walked towards the Xu Mansion. On the way, apart from Xu Jinyi’s excited questions and Shi Xuan and Xu Tianqi’s casual replies, everyone was quiet until they arrived at the Xu Mansion.

Shi Xuan politely declined Xu Tianqi’s invitation to have breakfast together and watched them walk towards the small gate. Xu Jinyi walked slowly behind them and just as she stepped onto the first step, she suddenly turned back, took two quick steps, and whispered to Shi Xuan, "Senior Brother Shi, you can’t fool me. I know Fifth Brother better than you! But, hehe, I do enjoy listening to your stories."

Without waiting for Shi Xuan’s reply, she quickly caught up with the other three ahead and entered the small gate together. As they entered, Shi Xuan saw Meng Yuqiong turn back and give him a meaningful smile.

Shi Xuan sadly thought, he didn’t expect the seemingly innocent Xu Jinyi to be so cunning. Was he being tricked by her or tricked at all? And Meng Yuqiong, oh, he must not underestimate women’s intelligence in the future.

Waiting outside, Xu Tianqi sent a steward with a package containing the promised five hundred taels of silver. After having breakfast outside, they returned to the small courtyard for their daily morning exercises, mainly focused on breathing exercises and martial arts training.

Shi Xuan wasn’t worried about Xia Wenhui and his group coming for him. Since the Xia family didn’t dare to retaliate against Xu Tianqi openly, his own retaliation was unlikely. Besides, they couldn’t find him. Xu Tianqi had said he wouldn’t leave until he advanced in his cultivation, not to mention coming to Shi Xuan’s place. Mu Jin and Xu Jinyi would probably be restrained by Xu Tianqi too, while he couldn’t control Meng Yuqiong, who, like the Xia family, didn’t know where he lived.

Of course, Shi Xuan wasn’t worried because even if the Xia family came looking for him, he wasn’t afraid to fight back. He was confident and remained calm.

Indeed, within half a year, Xu Tianqi and the other three hadn’t shown up. Shi Xuan focused on cultivating his Strengthening Soul technique, making rapid progress. He had opened seventy-one of his meridians, with only one left to connect them all and form the Great Body Circle.

Shi Xuan also practiced the new "True Returning Skill" created by Old Taoist Xu, not for its internal strength but for the various moves at the back. He found ingredients like top-quality cinnabar and special yellow paper hard to come by and expensive. After spending over a hundred taels buying materials to make thirty charms, he had less than fifty taels left. So, he had to be frugal and practice these moves to deal with small troubles ahead.

Shi Xuan was full of energy, practicing martial arts techniques at a rapid pace. In less than four months, he perfected the moves in the new "True Returning Skill". Due to the nature of his energy, the attacks were not very strong, but with his advanced internal energy cultivation approaching the level of Great Body Circle, he felt confident that he could handle opponents who had not fully unlocked their own energy channels.