The Unruly Immortals

No matter what had happened before, as people die and their bodies fade away, the entire incident came to a close with Li Zhi's death.

Although there had been danger, the gains were substantial.

First and foremost, Li Huowang realized the ominous intentions of the monks from Zhengde Temple,

"Xinsu is that which, from the Great Beginning, changes and takes form, has form but not yet substance, and before it becomes a body, it is called Xinsu. Xinsu is the initial quality before it forms a body."

These were the words Li Zhi had said to him before dying, revealing that in the eyes of the people in this world, he was a very rare Xinsu.

Li Huowang didn't understand ancient texts well, but with his vague school memories, he managed to grasp the general meaning.

According to that explanation, the Great Beginning is some kind of substance that forms all matter, and Xinsu is something that existed before the birth of the Great Beginning.

He managed to translate it, but the content made Li Huowang even more confused.

"I am clearly a human, an ordinary person with flesh and blood; how could I possibly be what's called 'the initial quality before forming a body'? This just doesn't make sense."

This supremely mystical stuff didn't seem at all related to living beings.

An object that hadn't even formed matter yet, how could it still be a living thing, capable of thinking and moving?

Facing this question, Li Huowang was at a complete loss.

But no matter what he thought, the actions of Master Danyang, Abbot Xinhui, and Li Zhi told Li Huowang how the Taoist cultivators of this world thought.

"Forget about what Xinsu is exactly, I'm now like the coveted flesh of Tang Sanzang; everyone wants to take a bite," Li Huowang jokingly said to himself as he walked down the road.

Now, Li Huowang had completely lost trust in the people of this world, anything anyone said could be a lie, they all could be trying to deceive him.

It cast doubt over every person he encountered in this world as having an ulterior motive.

However, life still had to go on, and troubles had to be eaten one bite at a time.

At least what Li Zhi had said, should be true, right? After all, the words of a dying person tend to be good.

The other party had even hoped for him to burn paper offerings for him on Qingming Festival. Tricking him in such a place would have been of no benefit to him.

And besides, he had no other choice.

"Hey! Wait up!!"

Hearing someone shouting, Li Huowang and the group turned around, only to see a simple-looking man with something in his hand, chasing after them from behind.

"Where are you guys going? What about my fellow villager who does the spirit-jumping? The couple that was with you?" the breathless man asked.

Li Huowang naturally couldn't say that he had killed the man, "He had something urgent to attend to, so he left first with his wife."

The man didn't suspect Li Huowang but instead thrust a weighty parcel into his arms.

"Oh, then take this package from his house. He forgot to bring it when he left. Please deliver it for me, thanks."

Li Huowang still remembered the package by its color; it was the same one Li Zhi had with him when they first met.

Before Li Huowang could say anything more, the man who delivered the package turned around and left after delivering it.

Back on the uneven dirt road, Li Huowang looked at the parcel in his arms with a complex expression.

He certainly couldn't return the package to Li Zhi; he was already dead.

At that moment, a sudden thought burst into Li Huowang's mind.

"Could I find something valuable inside Li Zhi's package?"

With that thought, Li Huowang got to work and directly unwrapped the cloth package.

There was nothing immediately eye-catching inside; the contents were very old.

First was a white, hazy drum skin that seemed to be a spare for spirit-possession rituals.

Li Huowang grabbed it and threw it towards the side of the road, as spirit-possession rituals had left him with a very poor impression, and seeing this thing made him feel ill-omened.

"Hey, don't throw it away, it's such good leather, it might be useful for something in the future." Bai Lingmiao cradled it in her hands.

"Useful for what? To patch things up?" Li Huowang found that Bai Lingmiao was far more frugal than he was when it came to certain things.

"We're completely out of money now, saving a little is saving a little."

Seeing her carefully place it on the donkey cart, Li Huowang shook his head and continued going through the bundle.

Next, he picked up a half-string of copper coins, their luster varied between new and old, Li Zhi must have saved them up over a long time.

Holding them in his hand and giving them a shake, Li Huowang sighed softly.

He had no idea what Li Zhi had been saving up for, but one thing was certain, he had put in a lot of effort for it.

"Take it to buy food." Li Huowang tossed the coins into Bai Lingmiao's arms.

Bai Lingmiao, who had been worrying about finances, immediately smiled broadly at the sight of the copper coins.

But then her concern returned. "Elder brother, we've got to have some way to make money. These copper coins won't last us very long."

"A way to make money? What do you plan to do? Perform in operas like Top Scholar Lv and the others?" Li Huowang said while rummaging through the bundle.

Bai Lingmiao immediately shook her head like a rattle drum. "If my dad knew I was performing in operas, he would kill me. I'm talking about some other legitimate business."

Li Huowang reached in and pulled out a round jade pendant threaded on a string, placing it in her hands.

"Don't worry about money, find a wealthy place to sell this, and we'll have everything."

"I have more, I have more." Gouwa dug out a stack of red envelopes from his bosom and handed them over.

Li Huowang looked at him in surprise. "These are the red envelopes that Master Danyang gave to those departed disciples, right? When did you steal them?"

"I took them when I left the Qingfeng Taoist Temple. Since no one was taking them, hehe, I just took them with me." Gouwa's voice was sly and proud.

Just then, Li Huowang's hand paused; he felt something round and bulging in the bundle.

He pulled it out and to his surprise, it was a gourd about the size of two palms.

"It looks like a gourd for holding elixirs. Do spirit-possession rituals involve alchemy too?" Li Huowang wondered to himself, looking at the object.

He tipped the gourd over a couple of times, but nothing came out.

As Li Huowang was closing one eye and bringing his face close to the mouth of the gourd, trying to see what was inside, the upper half of the gourd suddenly split open.

The small gourd mouth instantly split open a row of reverse-hooked white teeth and viciously snapped at Li Huowang's face.

With a "clink", fortunately, Li Huowang pulled back quickly. If he had been slower, half of his face would have been torn off.

Li Huowang looked at the gourd that had returned to its original state in his hand, still unsettled.

This thing turned out to be a living creature, Li Zhi had actually used it to store things, so the contents inside must be extremely precious. What exactly was inside?

As if responding, the bell at Li Huowang's waist trembled slightly.

"Wait here for a moment." Moved by a thought, Li Huowang spoke out and turned to walk into the forest.

In the dense woods, the sound of the bell resonated, and soon enough, Master You was summoned.

"What is inside this?" Li Huowang asked, raising the gourd in his hand towards Master You standing before him.

"Yangshou."

Li Huowang watched the gourd in his hand incredulously. "What? Are you really sure what's inside here is Yangshou?"