Chapter 267 Scallop and Chicken Porridge
The supervisor's usually beautiful almond-shaped eyes were half drooped with a listless look, and seeing that the emperor was really worried about him, he forced himself to stand up and slowly drank a few mouthfuls of the porridge the emperor fed him.
After three or four mouthfuls, the supervisor's face suddenly turned paler. He pushed the porcelain bowl away and burst into a violent cough. As his body swayed, the cough became louder and muffled. Finally, he closed his mouth tightly but a trace of blood still seeped from the corner of his lips, which was particularly glaring on his pale face.
The eunuch beside him hurriedly handed over an empty teacup. The eunuch took it and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The chief eunuch sent someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau to summon the imperial physician, while the other eunuchs stood by with mouthwash tea, spittoons, towels and other items for the supervisor to use.
The supervisor's thin chest rose and fell violently for a long time, and gradually calmed down under the emperor's guilt-filled and sorrowful comfort. He looked at the emperor with a serious expression: "I don't blame you. The current situation is my own choice. I wanted to stay with you for a few more days, but I didn't expect my body to be so useless and weak."
His eyes fell on the small booklet titled "Records of Corpse Transmigration" beside his pillow, and he said, "After I die, my collection of books does not have to be buried with me. They can be stored in a library for future sorcerers to study."
"But the corpse transformation record I wrote is different. This technique is extremely cruel and is best kept by the most respected sorcerer families in the world. If it is not for the most helpless, I think no one will use it easily."
The so-called "Record of Corpse Transmigration" was the response made by the Supervisor to resolve the chaos caused by corpse shock. This method originated from the theory that immortals can be learned, which was put forward by Ge Hong during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. He believed that there were three kinds of immortals, namely, celestial immortals, earthly immortals, and corpse-reincarnated immortals. After attaining enlightenment, a Taoist priest can abandon his physical body and ascend to heaven, or he can leave no body behind and only entrust an object (such as clothes, a staff, or a sword) to the world. This process is called corpse transformation. The immortals who become immortals in this way are called corpse-reincarnation immortals. ①
Based on this single theory, the Supervisor made a specific and executable process. He originally wanted to transform his body into a corpse and become a corpse-transmigrating immortal to resolve the chaos caused by the corpses.
But this method is risky after all. For thousands of years, there has been no news of a sorcerer becoming an immortal. It is also said that immortals are emotionless and have no obsessions. Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" says that heaven and earth have no benevolence and treat all things as straw dogs. This does not mean that heaven and earth treat all things as straw dogs, but it means that heaven and earth treat all things equally without bias, and treat the development of things in accordance with the natural principle. ②
If after becoming an immortal, he thought that this corpse-shocking chaos was insignificant, wouldn't it be a futile effort?
The supervisor was hesitating whether to use the method in the "Record of Corpse Transmigration". While he was hesitating, a piece of news hit his mind like a thunderbolt.
He discovered that his dining companion, the emperor, actually admired him.
If you think about it carefully, this matter makes sense. After all, the emperor often invites him to the palace for banquets, either to say that the chef in the imperial kitchen has developed new dishes or that a certain foreign country has presented new exotic fruits and vegetables as tribute.
The frequency of this incident was even comparable to the number of times the Supervisor went out to exorcise ghosts and exterminate evil spirits.
And each time, the emperor only invited him to a banquet.
The supervisor asked the emperor why, and the emperor simply said that he had traveled far and wide and tasted many kinds of food, so he must have studied a lot.
What really revealed the young emperor's true feelings was that one day, after eating and drinking, the eunuch took a nap on a recliner in the imperial garden. When the emperor returned from a meeting with his ministers, he saw the eunuch lying very flat and thought he was fast asleep. He dismissed his attendants and gave the eunuch a soft and silent kiss on the forehead.
The supervisor was just resting his eyes after eating too much, too lazy to move, but he was kissed without any reason. He opened his eyes in shock and saw the handsome face of the emperor.
The supervisor's eyes were wide open, and if he was not too lazy to move, he would have jumped up from the recliner.
In fact, the Supervisor did not quite understand why the Emperor liked him. He just came here when the imperial city was haunted and people were in panic. A few talismans solved the problem. However, when he saw that the young emperor who ascended the throne at a young age looked depressed, he invited the souls of the previous emperor and empress who had not yet been reincarnated from the underworld to spend a short time with him.
How could the emperor fall in love with him?
But... the emperor was very handsome, so being kissed by him didn't seem like a disadvantage. As the supervisor thought about this, his cheeks and neck turned slightly red.
It seemed possible to agree to the emperor's request, if... the supervisor did not know that his life span was short - he suddenly remembered that although he had told the emperor how to solve the problem of the shocked corpse, he did not tell him that he would also die.
No matter whether he used the "Record of Corpse Transmutation" or exhausted all his life's cultivation to set up a seal, he would eventually die. After all, when he was writing the last stroke of the "Record of Corpse Transmutation", he heard thunder outside the house. A sorcerer who had cultivated to his level could sense the heaven and earth, and he sensed that the thunder contained a warning from heaven about his going against heaven.
Heaven will not tolerate this, and the supervisor knew that his death was only a matter of time.
It was precisely because of this thunder that the supervisor knew for sure that "The Record of Corpse Transmigration" was truly feasible, otherwise he would not have received a warning from Heaven.
While thinking about such important matters, the supervisor's thoughts suddenly turned to the emperor. He thought that the emperor lost his parents in childhood, and although he had the diligent support of regents, he had never felt the warmth of family love. If his loved ones also left him when he reached adulthood, it would be really miserable.
Never mind, I'll just stay with him for a few more days.
A few months, or maybe a year or two.
The Supervisor didn’t know how long he could live after exhausting his cultivation, but no matter how long, he would stay with the Emperor.
He put the book "Record of Corpse Transmigration" under his pillow and stopped reading it. Instead, he began to study the sealing formation and the construction of underwater tombs.
Drawing the sealing formation that would exhaust all one's cultivation required the right time, right place, and right people. It was impossible to wait until the underwater tomb was completely completed before starting. The supervisor learned the right time through divination five days later.
He drew the sealing formation at the highest point of the imperial city. When the formation was completed, the sky and the earth changed color, and the sun and the moon lost their light. He hid it in a purple gold gourd that he had found by chance, and gave it to the emperor for safekeeping. He also told him the specific usage and how to release the formation to cover the tomb after the underwater tomb was built.
The emperor finally realized something was wrong and asked perceptively, "You are leaving the imperial city? Where are you going?"
"You didn't even come back for something as important as setting up the sealing formation?" There was a look of aggrievedness on his handsome face.
"No, I want to stay in the palace and eat the chicken porridge made by Your Majesty several more times. The chicken porridge made by Your Majesty tastes very different from that made by the royal chef." The corner of the supervisor's mouth just curled up into a smile, but it suddenly turned down. He bent down and spit out a mouthful of blood.
The emperor's cooking skills were very poor. After following the imperial chef's lead many times, only this chicken porridge was edible.
The taste was countless times worse than that made by the imperial chef, but the supervisor would miss that taste occasionally.
In the last second before his consciousness collapsed, the supervisor thought sadly that he could not hide the fact that he was about to die from the emperor.
There are many suffering people in the world, and many more miserable than the emperor, but the supervisor has him in his heart and feels that he is suffering even more.
*
“But the corpse-reincarnation record I wrote is different. The technique is brutal and is best kept by the most respected sorcerer families in the world. No one would use it easily unless they have no other choice.” said the Supervisor.
The emperor looked flustered. He subconsciously tightened his grip on the supervisor's hand, but soon relaxed it again, fearing that he might hurt him. "...What do you mean by saying this all of a sudden?"
Last words?
"I was just afraid that I would forget. Now that I think of it, I will tell Your Majesty about it." The Supervisor said in a calm tone.
"I, I suddenly want to drink the chicken porridge you made. The taste of your chicken porridge is very different from that made by the imperial chef." said the supervisor.
"Want to eat? That's great, I'll make it right now, just wait for me." The emperor carefully helped the eunuch to sit on the soft pillow, and without caring about etiquette, he ran to the imperial kitchen holding his dragon robe.
He didn't know why he ran so quickly, or whether he had sensed something different from the subtle change in the supervisor's tone.
When the emperor returned to his bedroom with the chicken porridge, the eunuchs and maids were kneeling on the ground. He rushed into the inner hall in three or two steps, still holding the porridge in his hand. He spilled most of the hot porridge in the bowl and burned his hands, but he was indifferent.
The supervisor lay quietly on the pillow, his eyes closed and his expression peaceful. I don’t know if it was because he was looking forward to the bowl of chicken porridge in his sleep, but the corners of his lips were slightly raised.
He really seemed to have just fallen asleep.
In the 13th year of the Joseon Dynasty, Emperor Qianyuan was seriously ill and stopped attending court for more than three months. In the same year, the then director of the Imperial Observatory died young.
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