Chapter 76: The Litter

After enhancing the saber manual, a gleam of satisfaction appeared in Li Yanchu’s eyes. “So this is basically like adding elemental damage to physical attacks?”

He pondered for a moment, then enhanced two doses of century-old divine medicine for martial cultivation. He had long since gotten used to using such rare elixirs to assist in his training.

Next, he carefully used the herbs he had previously bought to refine a new batch of Qi-Booster Pills.

“Looks like I’ll have to make another trip to the apothecary and ask them to restock the ingredients,” Li Yanchu thought.

The last batch of herbs was now fully consumed after this furnace of pills.

“Decree of Bestowal!”

He enhanced this batch of Qi-Booster Pills into cultivation-grade alchemy pills. Instantly, a rich and mellow fragrance of herbs and wood filled the entire room.

Over in the next room, Bai Hongtu, who was refining his Flying Sword Technique, suddenly turned to look toward Li Yanchu’s chamber.

“A Daoist spirit pill?”

Surprise flickered in his eyes. But then, recalling that Li Yanchu even had orthodox Daoist talismans, he quickly found it not all that strange. After all, friends each had their own secrets.

Bai Hongtu was the type of person who knew his boundaries. He had no interest in prying or snooping. He simply resumed refining his Flying Sword Technique.

He walks the path of the Sword Immortal, one that centers on lethal combat. He was cultivating a life-bound Flying Sword Technique which, once fully mastered, could take a person's head from a thousand li away.

At least, that was what his master told him. Whether it was true or not, he had no idea. But,

who cares?

As long as it looked cool, that was all that mattered.

That night, Li Yanchu didn’t return to the Daoist temple. Instead, he spent the night at the Taiping Inn.

The phrase

“mutton-fat jade”

[1] couldn’t have described the innkeeper more perfectly.

Li Yanchu fully resonated with the iconic line from Ding Xiu of

Brotherhood of Blades

, “very smooth.”[2]

He felt that in his soul.

Not only that, he felt that the lingering negative emotions in the depths of his heart had also quietly dissipated, leaving him feeling calm and peaceful.

***

In the days that followed, there were no further cases of blood money claiming lives in Wei City. Even when Li Yanchu projected his primordial spirit and wandered through gambling dens and other key locations, he saw no trace of blood money draining souls. It was as if a disaster that could have devastated tens of thousands had simply... vanished.

In addition, Chief Constable Wang quietly passed along an encouraging piece of news to Li Yanchu. After Magistrate Xu reported the situation in Wei City, then up through the proper channels, the imperial court had decided to dispatch a Daoist master to oversee the city.

This expert came from the Celestial Master’s Office in the capital, a genuine Daoist immortal with real cultivation skills. The Celestial Master’s Office was officially recognized and sealed by the imperial court of the Kingdom of Qian, and those within held prestigious status.

With such a capable and high-ranking Daoist coming to Wei City, it naturally brought great reassurance. But strangely, the authorities hadn’t made this news public; instead, they kept it quiet.

As for Li Yanchu, he had consumed 2,400 merit points to enhance his martial arts manuals, 1,000 for enhancing the Jiaoslayer, and another 400 for enhancing the century-old divine medicine and the Qi-Booster Pills. That left him with 4,920 merit points.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He chose not to further enhance the Five-Lightning Talisman or the Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman for now, deciding instead to focus on cultivation and improve his strength. Enhancement could come later, when his foundation was stronger.

The Yellow Court Classic

was vast and profound. It was difficult to train in the early stages, with only a limited number of usable spells. Progress was slow and effort-heavy, like plowing a field uphill. So for now, Li Yanchu still relied heavily on martial arts for practical combat strength.

The days finally quieted down for a bit. That night, he didn’t stay over at the Taiping Inn. The innkeeper had grown even more radiant and beautiful lately, her complexion glowing, enough to draw the attention of Fang Qinglan. So Qinglan proposed staying with her elder sister, and the two of them planned to have a deep, late-night talk.

Meanwhile, in his room, Li Yanchu took a Qi-Booster Pill and began cultivating using the

The Yellow Court Classic

.

This orthodox Daoist cultivation method progressed extremely slowly. And Li Yanchu’s natural aptitude for cultivation wasn’t particularly good. Without the Qi-Booster Pills, even reaching the intermediate Qi Cultivation Realm might have taken seven or eight years, or even longer.

Fortunately, now that he had enhanced Qi-Booster Pills, his cultivation speed had increased significantly. After completing one full Great Circulation[3], the wisp of spirit qi in his

dantian

grew slightly stronger.

And so, Li Yanchu continued sitting in meditation, cycling his breath deep into the night.

***

Suddenly, a strange sound reached his ears.

It wasn’t the regular call of the night watchman, it was the sound of a

suona

[4]! And not just the sound of

suona

, there were sounds of drumming and clanging, as if a wedding procession was taking place.

Li Yanchu’s eyes opened as he exited his cultivation state.

“...Who's out holding a wedding in the dead of night?”

This time, however, he didn’t fall into any eerie black-and-white spirit world. He simply got up and pushed the door open.

Elsewhere in the Daoist temple, Bai Hongtu also stepped out of his room.

“Did you hear that? There’s

suona

music coming from the street.” Bai Hongtu frowned.

At this time, Li Yanchu focused his hearing. It wasn’t the sound of an ordinary suona, but something that seemed to resonate directly with the soul.

“Come on, let’s see which poor bride is getting married this late at night.” Li Yanchu headed toward the temple gate.

Bai Hongtu raised an eyebrow before he went back into his room and grabbed his longsword, then strapped it to his waist.

“Wait for me!” he called out.

Removing the door bolt, the two pushed open the Daoist temple’s main gates and stepped outside.

However, the street was completely deserted. Faint moonlight spilled across the ground, casting everything in a soft, hazy glow. There wasn’t a single soul in sight, but the sound of the suona continued to echo eerily.

Bai Hongtu paused, pulled a small vial from his robe, popped off the wooden stopper, and applied a shimmering substance to his eyes.

Then he let out a soft noise of surprise, “Hm?”

Up ahead, the street was indeed completely empty, but a bright red litter, carried by eight men, was slowly making its way toward them.

At first glance, it looked festive and grand. But on a deserted street in the dead of night, such a scene wasn’t festive, it was terrifying.

If a regular person, especially someone with weak yang qi or ill luck, were to witness this, they might be scared to death on the spot. Such people were especially prone to seeing unclean things.

Li Yanchu activated his Qi Sight, and his expression shifted slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Hongtu asked.

Li Yanchu said slowly, “Their aura is completely normal... it’s as if they’re all living people.”

“What?!” Bai Hongtu was shocked.

He knew Li Yanchu excelled at Qi Sight, so his words carried serious weight.

Focusing his gaze, Bai Hongtu observed the scene carefully. The eight litter bearers and the four musicians all had lively expressions, their faces full of joy. They didn’t resemble the eerie, lifeless litter bearers described in folk tales and supernatural records: the ones with pale faces, creepy smiles, and heavy deathly air.

But that was precisely what made this even more disturbing. If they were alive, why couldn’t the naked eye see them? If they were ghosts or spirits, how could they carry the aura of the living?

Even Bai Hongtu found himself at a loss, his mouth slightly open.

“This doesn’t look like a normal ghost wedding, or a ghost bride procession,” he muttered, frowning deeply.

Then he added, “I wonder who they’re here for.”

“Surely not for

us

, right?” Li Yanchu said with a light chuckle.

Hearing this, Bai Hongtu snorted. “You’re cracking jokes

now

?”

Li Yanchu replied calmly, “It’s just... this method seems a little familiar to me.”

1. Mutton-fat jade is a trade name for a top-quality white nephrite jade, particularly prized for its smooth, plump appearance and greasy shine. It's named for its resemblance to the fatty texture of mutton, and is highly valued in Chinese culture. Mutton-fat jade is often used in jewelry, carvings, and decorative objects. ☜

2. In the

Brotherhood of Blades

movie, Ding Xiu delivers the memorable line “很润” (“very smooth”), which became iconic among viewers. ☜

3. The Great Zhou Tian (大周天) is the second stage in traditional Chinese Qigong and internal alchemy (Neidan) practices, representing the process of refining qi into spirit (shen) ☜

4. Sunoa is a traditional Chinese horn. ☜