Chapter 186 Six-Winged Summer Cicada
"My dear niece, why did you bring out the vegetable jars from the breakfast hall?" Chongxuzi asked curiously.
"..."
"The food in the canteen here is pretty good, senior. The pickled radishes are delicious." Xie Lingjiang nodded, looked away, and said, "I'll take some back with me."
“I thought my niece would be more interested in elixirs.” Chongxuzi shook his head. “But if you like to eat, then bring more. There’s nothing else on Gezao Mountain, but there’s plenty of food. Those little kids are spoiled by their senior brother, living in luxury.”
The old Taoist priest from Nanhua Guan muttered something to himself, then thought for a moment and turned to say:
"There are some other local specialties. I'll have someone pack some up later so my dear niece can take them back with her. I received a letter from your father saying that you're currently training with your fellow disciples in Longcheng, Jiangzhou. Are you feeling cooped up in that small place? You've finally come all this way to Gezao Mountain, so make sure you have a good time."
"When I last saw you, was your niece eight or ten years old? She was hiding by your father's legs, quiet and well-behaved, and would even get angry if teased... No wonder she is a lady from the Xie family, a family of scholars."
"So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. Speaking of which, it has been a long time since I last met Fellow Daoist Xie. We have only kept in touch through letters. I never expected that my niece would grow so tall. She is truly a graceful and elegant lady."
"Haha, I just didn't expect that her personality is a bit too rigid and dull, but a bit too greedy. That's good, very good. I told Fellow Daoist Xie a long time ago that a daughter shouldn't be buried in books every day and become a bookworm. It's better to let her do some things that a young lady should do. Being lively and mischievous is what makes her cute."
The old Taoist priest from Nanhua Guan laughed heartily and clapped his hands.
When her elders brought up embarrassing childhood stories, Xie Lingjiang blushed slightly and turned her head to defend herself:
"I'm not greedy. I brought it for someone else. Senior, you misunderstood. I won't eat this stuff."
"oh?"
Chongxuzi raised an eyebrow, twirled his whisk, and looked up and down at the woman in red holding a vegetable jar beside him, her pretty face showing a hint of reproach. He suddenly asked:
"Does the person you like like this pickled radish?"
Xie Lingjiang's expression changed slightly, but she quickly regained her composure and said in a normal tone, "What are you saying, senior? Couldn't it be something for my father?"
"A young woman your age should be doing well enough if she doesn't forget her father at home, let alone go out and bring him back delicious food? Where in the world can you find such a sensible daughter? If you do, you'd only be filial to him after you're married..."
Chongxuzi nodded.
He seems to be very experienced.
"..." Xie Lingjiang choked for a moment, then couldn't help but say, "What kind of twisted logic is this, senior?"
"Have I said something wrong?"
Chongxuzi walked ahead, chin held high, hands behind his back, and continued with a smile:
"So it turns out my niece's senior brother likes pickled radishes so much. Take some back with you when you go back later, and bring a jar back for me too. Hmm, I must commend him for his good fortune in winning the favor of the Xie family's noble lady."
Xie Lingjiang put on a stern face, "What nonsense are you talking about, senior? I don't understand."
Chongxuzi ignored him and sighed to himself:
"These past two days, my niece has been staying on the mountain waiting for Dan. At night, some bold young men from the temple often come to inquire about her, asking around in a roundabout way. Fortunately, I didn't give them a good look and chased them away. My niece already has someone she loves. What red thread is there to tie? Those kids really have no sense."
The old Taoist priest nodded, a smile playing on his lips as he glanced sideways at the blushing, embarrassed woman in red:
"Although there are a few outstanding young talents in the temple, the senior brother who has won my niece's heart must be an even more exceptional person."
Xie Lingjiang, being thin-skinned, feigned a frown, holding the porcelain jar, and waved her sleeve:
"Senior, can we talk about something serious? What are you talking about? This junior doesn't quite understand..."
Chongxuzi smiled:
"Don't you understand? These past few days, my dear niece has been gazing at the sky and the water, lost in thought. This can't be hidden from discerning people. Don't tell me that you're missing your father."
"Those children are still young and don't quite understand this state of mind for women. I am not a child. I may not have eaten pork, but I have seen pigs run. If this is not lovesickness, then what is it?"
He shook his head, interrupting Xie Lingjiang who was about to speak, and asked directly with concern:
"Speaking of which, when I was refining pills at Yuqing Palace, those kids shouldn't have been so blind as to bother or offend you, right? If they were, just say so, and I'll clean up their mess."
Chongxuzi snorted softly, seemingly already dissatisfied with some of the restless young people jumping around in the sect.
"No, I didn't pay much attention. Thank you for your concern, senior." Xie Lingjiang shook her head, not minding it.
She paused, then noticed out of the corner of her eye that Chongxuzi was glancing at the porcelain jar containing pickled radishes. Her expression quickly turned serious, and she returned to the main topic:
"Senior, how's the antidote for the Lovebirds that I asked you to refine coming along?"
Chongxuzi's smile faded, and he raised his hand, flicked his sleeve, and a blue-and-white porcelain octagonal elixir bottle slipped from his hand and was tossed out.
Xie Lingjiang caught the elixir bottle, bent down to open it, and reached out to catch it.
Two round, blood-red balls lay quietly in her fair palm.
It has a faint, fishy smell.
Xie Lingjiang sniffed and frowned curiously.
"Take two Blood Pills, one at a time, with water. After three days, you should also use your internal energy to expel the poison each day. There is a way to save those who are poisoned."
Chongxuzi said calmly.
Xie Lingjiang was suddenly delighted, stood up straight, bowed and said sincerely, "Thank you very much, senior."
Chongxuzi shook his head:
"It's nothing, just something I did on the spur of the moment. I happened to be refining a batch of Golden Pills for Longhu Mountain recently, so I borrowed the top-grade Purple Gold Pill Furnace from Yuqing Palace to refine two antidote pills for you."
He paused for a moment, then continued with great interest:
"I have heard a little about the poison of the lovebirds. Even if we were to concoct an antidote out of thin air and ask the most skilled doctor in the temple to help, it would still be quite difficult. Unless we use the 'Nine Revolutions Elixir' technique from the 'Golden Elixir Scripture' to refine an antidote pill, but that would consume a precious platinum talisman, which would be too wasteful..."
The old Taoist priest from Nanhua Guan shook his head. Why are Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing known as the Three Schools of Talismans, and why do they all belong to the Three Mountains Blood-Dripping Character School?
This is because the three sects are from the same lineage to some extent. The unique skills of the three sects all require a special and precious talisman to be used. This applies to the Yuqing Sect, which is good at Huangqi external alchemy, the Shangqing Sect, which is good at invoking gods and writing spirits, and the Taiqing Sect, which is good at thunder magic.
"So, my dear niece, how did you obtain the blood of someone who had taken the antidote, and who was poisoned and seeking the medicine?"
Xie Lingjiang shook his head slightly, "It's a long story... By the way, senior, when you were in seclusion refining pills just now, the pill mist above Yuqing Palace was really thick. What kind of pill was you refining that had such a powerful effect?"
She changed the subject and asked casually.
Chongxuzi's expression gradually turned serious. He shook his head slightly but did not speak immediately.
Xie Lingjiang's eyes grew increasingly curious, but she didn't urge him on.
Chongxuzi led Xie Lingjiang a while further on, past several palaces, and turned into a relatively secluded garden before squinting and whispering:
"It's fine to tell my niece about it, just don't spread it around. There are a few Zhang-surname Celestial Masters on Longhu Mountain who recently had a strange encounter while traveling. They accidentally entered an ancient tomb hidden in a deep pool, which is said to be the place where a high-level Qi cultivator from the Eastern Jin Dynasty sat in meditation and passed away."
"However, if it's just these things, it's not surprising. The Taiqing Sect has the deepest foundation among the Three Mountains Blood-Dripping Sects. They have their own superior inheritance. As for external Qi refining techniques, they can at most collect them for reference. Their spiritual treasures and pills are also old and unusable. But what they found was a living creature by chance..."
"What kind of living creature?" Xie Lingjiang leaned forward, asking curiously, "There are living creatures in ancient tombs?"
"Six-winged cicada".
Chongxuzi uttered four words softly, and Xie Lingjiang's expression froze.
Chongxuzi glanced at his niece's expression, not surprised at all, and asked in a low voice:
"My dear niece, you've heard of them too? Those five extraordinary insects?"
Xie Lingjiang looked around at the deserted garden and nodded slightly. However, what Chong Xuzi didn't see was that her delicate hand under her sleeve was silently clenching into a fist.
The old Taoist priest continued his casual conversation, seemingly reciting an ancient text:
"The Six-Winged Summer Cicada, one of the five ancient wondrous insects, after hatching, the young cicadas burrow underground and lie dormant for 360 years. When summer arrives, they emerge from the soil, emerge as adults, and lay eggs... Legend has it that a man from Qi accidentally ate one, and his entire body was transformed, like a cicada shedding its skin. His body, which was originally leaky, was mended and became perfect. The man from Qi then practiced fasting and internal energy cultivation, and his cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. He could ride the wind and travel to the North Sea in the morning..."
Chongxuzi turned around and said to Xie Lingjiang, who was frowning:
"The descriptions in the classics may be exaggerated, but it is generally acknowledged that these five ancient strange insects each have unique effects. Among them, the six-winged cicada is said to be able to transform ordinary people who have lost their vitality, just like a cicada in summer, and turn them into top-level cultivation seeds. So, the luck of the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain is truly amazing."
"However, I have some doubts. It's not that I accidentally stumbled into an ancient tomb and caught a six-winged cicada that had been unearthed 360 years ago. It's just the old folks' story."
"Perhaps some predecessor from Longhu Mountain had already marked this place, and the descendants of the Celestial Master's Mansion were just following the map. But we can't really envy that; that's what you call the foundation of a sect."
"Unlike our Jade Purity Sect, which only knows how to associate with all sorts of shady powerful figures all day long, tainted with the stench of money. A hundred years from now, these powerful figures will have long since passed away. How many families will still be left? Not everyone is one of the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families, nor can everyone be like the Louguan Daoist Sect in the north, who has rendered meritorious service in supporting the emperor and benefited the entire dynasty..."
Chongxuzi muttered a few words, seemingly expressing some resentment towards certain approaches taken by the Yuqing Sect in recent years.
Xie Lingjiang suddenly turned her head and interrupted:
"Senior, how could the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain trust such a divine object, which can defy fate and change the destiny of ordinary people, to use for alchemy?"
Chongxuzi turned around and nodded, saying:
"The adult six-winged cicada can only live for one summer. If you want to preserve its miraculous transformation effect for a long time, it is best to refine it into a pill. Moreover, eating it raw is not as efficient as taking the pill into the body..."
"Moreover, there happens to be an old celestial master from Longhu Mountain who has a good personal relationship with me. He asked me to use the sect's ultimate technique, the Nine-Turn Elixir, and they provided the platinum talismans needed to ensure the success rate of the elixir. In the end, we successfully completed a batch and obtained three elixirs."
"A six-winged cicada transforms into three golden pills? What kind of miraculous effect does that have on its transformation from mortal to immortality?"
Xie Lingjiang frowned and pressed for an answer.
Chongxuzi shook his three fingers, their nails gleaming red from years of contact with cinnabar, and chuckled:
"Naturally, it is also divided into three, but it is enough to transform mortals who cannot cultivate Qi into cultivation seeds suitable for cultivating Qi. Although it may not be considered top-notch, in my opinion, it is a prudent approach suitable for the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain."
"It is a Zhang family lineage, and our ancestors' reputation is already quite illustrious. We don't ask for a peerless genius to go further, but we just hope that he can at least practice Qi normally, inherit the mantle of the Celestial Master's Mansion, and maintain the family business."
Chongxuzi's praise, which was neither a genuine admiration nor a sarcastic remark, was hard to discern.
Xie Lingjiang listened silently, then, holding the porcelain jar of pickled radishes she had brought for her senior brother, lowered her eyes and muttered to herself, "Three Transcendent Golden Pills? Just one will suffice..."
The woman's gaze unconsciously fell on the sleeve of Chongxuzi's Taoist robe, where he had just shaken off the blue-and-white Bagua elixir bottle.
Chongxuzi was taken aback, then chuckled and shook his head:
“My dear niece, what are you muttering about? Just now, when I was refining the elixir, that very senior Celestial Master was waiting in the alchemy room next door. As soon as the golden elixir rolled out of the furnace, I sealed it in a box with wax and handed it over immediately… He has long since flown far away into the sky. How could he be on my person?”
"Why is my dear niece so interested? Judging from your complexion, you have already reached the seventh rank. Unless you are preparing to disperse your energy, take a golden pill, and start cultivating spiritual energy again."
Chongxuzi muttered to himself, then shook his head in denial:
"However, if you only consume one golden pill, it won't be of much use to your current talent, unless you can take three in a row, in which case you can try to cultivate Qi again..."
Xie Lingjiang looked up at Chongxuzi, smiled faintly, shook her head, and remained silent.
Chongxuzi looked at her for a while, then suddenly said, "My dear niece seems to be genuinely interested."
Xie Lingjiang sighed softly, without denying it.
Chongxuzi shook his head: "Let alone three golden pills, even if we only ask for one, the Taiqing Taoists of Longhu Mountain will not give it to us. It would be useless for your father to go. This kind of life-extending substance for the sect is not something that can be given away even with the face of the Xie family of Chenjun."
Xie Lingjiang narrowed her long, narrow eyes slightly and said slowly:
"What if it's about the face of the Li imperial family? As the head of the Three Pure Ones Daoist sects, hasn't the Taiqing Sect of Longhu Mountain always envied the Louguan Daoist sect of Zhongnan Mountain for their assistance to the Li family's ancestor and Emperor Taizong in their rise to power?"
Chongxuzi's expression froze for a moment.
As if he had vaguely remembered something, the old Taoist priest fell silent and frequently glanced at the calm and silent Xie Lingjiang.
After a short while, the two chatted about other topics. When they reached the end of the garden, Xie Lingjiang glanced at the sky:
"Thank you for your help, senior. I have urgent business to attend to, so I will return now and visit you again to express my gratitude next time."
"My dear niece, you're too kind. Please take care on your journey and give my regards to Fellow Daoist Xie."
Xie Lingjiang nodded and turned around.
Chongxuzi waved his hand again and casually said, "By the way, when you go to the breakfast hall, bring back some more pickled radishes for your senior brother in Longcheng County."
Xie Lingjiang's back stiffened, and she turned around, her expression flushed with embarrassment and anger, saying, "You...how did you know it was him?"
"Oh, really? I was just guessing. I've been trying to get information out of you. My dear niece, you're so flustered that you confess so easily." Chong Xuzi winked, shook his sleeves, and said with a smile, "Let me guess again. This senior brother in Longcheng County probably can't cultivate Qi, he has a leaky mortal body, so my dear niece is particularly interested in that Transcendent Golden Pill."
"..." Xie Lingjiang.
Watching the hurried figure of a man in red fleeing with a porcelain jar in his arms, the old Taoist priest from Nanhua Guan burst into laughter.
After a short while, once the figure had disappeared into the distance, the old Taoist priest, who hadn't laughed so happily in a long time, composed himself and muttered to himself:
"Hey, does Fellow Daoist Xie know about this? His daughter has been kidnapped, and it was his own disciple who did it. Why don't we send him a letter to make him laugh? Hahaha, that would be interesting."
...
(End of this chapter)
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