After finishing his lunch, Yuan Qi drew a communication talisman and threw it out.
In the evening, two yellow immortals arrived. The reason they arrived so quickly was because they were stationed in the capital.
The short, elderly man who arrived was named Huang Zhong. He had a pointed mouth, monkey-like cheeks, and a thick beard. He wore a brown brocade robe with dark patterns and had the air of a businessman.
Huang Zhong bowed respectfully to Yuan Qi: "What business does the Celestial Master have with me?"
Yuan Qi politely returned the greeting: "Do you still have any Red Spirit Fruit? I'd like some."
Huang Zhong was a minor leader in the Huang Xian clan, though his official rank wasn't high; he was only in charge of trade in the capital. Huang Xian, disguised as a mortal, opened a shop in the capital, selling strange and unusual items and doing business with ghosts and monsters. He earned quite a bit of money throughout the year and sometimes even did business with higher-ups, so he had a wide network of connections.
Huang Zhong stroked his beard, thought for a moment, and said, "I do have some, but they're not in the capital. It would probably take ten days to half a month to transport them here. Can the Celestial Master wait that long?"
“Sure, no problem. I’d also like some other things, please bring them along as well.” Yuan Qi took out a list he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Huang Zhong.
Huang Zhong glanced at it and saw the names of more than a dozen herbs, none of which existed in the mortal world. Some of these herbs were used to repair the soul, while others were used to make the Great Rejuvenation Pill, and there were also some demon beast hides.
“No problem, I’ll send them over together.” Huang Zhong quoted the price, and Yuan Qi didn’t haggle, simply counting out the gold notes and handing them to Huang Zhong.
Huang Zhong said, "The Celestial Master is straightforward, unlike the Northern Ghost Emperor who is so indecisive and stingy, he even shortchanged me by two taels of gold."
Yuan Qi asked curiously, "What did he buy from you?"
Huang Zhong directly betrayed the Northern Ghost Emperor: "It's not anything rare, just some extraterrestrial black meteorites used to forge soul swords."
After chatting for a few minutes, Huang Zhong left.
Wen Zhujun walked over and sighed, "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that there were Weasels in Kyoto. They like to transform into human form and do business with people. I also didn't know that the people I see every day are not actually human."
Yuan Qi hummed in agreement: "I ordered some demon beast skin from Huang Xian. Once the demon beast skin arrives, I'll make you a new body that's more flexible than paper, won't be afraid of sun or rain, and is also fireproof."
Wen Zhujun thanked her.
The next day, Yuan Qi went to set up his stall under the big locust tree again. As soon as he set up his equipment, business started coming in.
A man in his thirties hurriedly rode over, and before he even reached her, he jumped off his horse. When he saw Yuan Qi, he clasped his hands in a salute and said, "Daoist Master, please save me!"
The man was of average appearance and build, dressed in a green official robe, with an air of righteousness between his brows. Although he was anxious, he did not step forward to pull him away.
Yuan Qi looked at his face and saw that his property palace was shrouded in a dark aura, indicating that he was about to lose his son.
"Don't rush, speak slowly." Yuan Qi came out from behind the table, and Wen Zhujun followed.
"I am Song Yan, a minor official in the Ministry of Rites. My wife gave birth to a son this morning. When he was born, he cried loudly, and the midwife said he was a healthy child. But within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the child's breath grew weaker and weaker, and the doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong. My colleague's child was the same; he suddenly died, and I've heard of several similar cases. I feel this is not normal, so I've come to ask you, Taoist priest, to come and investigate."
"Okay, lead the way."
The visitor then realized that he had come out in a hurry and had only ridden a horse. Bringing people along wouldn't have been a problem, but since the Taoist priest was a woman, it was not very convenient.
"This... Daoist priest, may I ride with you on this horse?"
Yuan Qi was in no hurry: "No need, you just lead the way, the two of us can keep up."
Song Yan hurriedly mounted his horse, while Yuan Qi, holding Wen Zhujun's hand, followed at a leisurely pace.
Zhang Liu saw that Yuan Qi's pace was neither fast nor slow, but each step he took covered a great distance, leaving only a fleeting shadow on the street.
"A true master!"
Before long, Song Yan led Yuan Qi to the entrance of an alley: "My home is inside."
In fact, Yuan Qi had seen the dark aura shrouding the place from afar.
Song Yan's courtyard was a two-courtyard house, decorated quite elegantly, with some flowers and plants planted in the courtyard, and not many servants.
"Come with me into the backyard. My wife and my youngest son are in the back."
Song Yan led her directly into the house. Madam Song sat on the bed, holding her newborn child in her arms, looking very worried, with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"The Taoist priest has arrived."
Yuan Qi walked over and found that the child was shrouded in a cloud of black mist, but the Song family members could not see it.
At this moment, the baby's soul was being forcibly pulled out by this cloud of black mist.
Yuan Qi shouted in a low voice, "How dare you! Let go now!"
She formed a hand seal with one hand, and a golden light shot out, instantly dissipating the black mist.
"Wah—" The baby, who was almost out of breath, started crying loudly.
To dare to steal someone's soul in broad daylight, you've got some nerve!
Kyoto has been free of evil spirits for a long time, and Yuan Qi frowned slightly. Could it be that Xuan Qing is up to something? However, such a low-level method, and that black mist is not very powerful, doesn't seem like Xuan Qing's work.
The black mist dissipated, and the mastermind behind it all could no longer be found.
Song Yan could not see the black mist, but he could see the golden light emanating from Yuan Qi. He was stunned and couldn't help but exclaim, "The Daoist is indeed as rumored, with superb magic! My son is saved."
However, the baby's spirit was unstable and its body was somewhat damaged, so it cried twice and then stopped.
Song Yan leaned closer and saw that his son had opened his eyes, but only slightly. He glanced around and then closed them again.
His earlier joy vanished instantly, and he asked worriedly, "Master, is my son better or not?"
Yuan Qi explained, "Don't panic. Your son's soul was almost taken away by an evil spirit. I have killed the evil spirit now, but your son's soul is unstable. Place a soul-stabilizing talisman on him, and his soul will stabilize in three to five days. Then place a peace talisman on him, and no evil spirit will dare to approach."
Yuan Qi took two talismans out of the cloth bag and placed them into the baby's swaddling clothes.
When Song Yan saw the two talismans, his heart finally settled down. He took the child from Yuan Qi and held him to his wife, saying, "Look, our son is alright now."
Overjoyed, Madam Song wept, holding her son and crying.
"Ten taels of silver."
Song Yan gave two quick "ohs" and immediately had someone bring silver to Yuan Qi.
Yuan Qi took the silver and put it into his cloth bag, then pulled Song Yan into the main room to talk.
"You just said that several families had newborn babies who died shortly after birth?"
Song Yan hummed in agreement, his expression grave: "That's right. It's quite common for babies to die young, but I've heard that these babies all cried loudly at birth, only to die shortly afterward. I was worried that Madam might encounter the same situation during childbirth, so I asked those doctors beforehand, and they said the babies were all healthy. I thought that I absolutely couldn't let anything happen to my child, so I thought of you."
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