I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 85 - 69 Temple Fair_2

Today he’s not here to listen to the storytelling, but as the host, he wants to invite Xu Qing and a few others to join him in watching the Baishui Festival.

The so-called Baishui Festival is the ceremony at the mouth of Baisha River to worship the River God. The Crown Prince chose to hold the Qushui Liushang two days later also for this reason.

Today the Dayong Dynasty is troubled with disasters, half natural and half man-made. The people are ignorant of the truth and mostly lean towards superstitions of ghosts and gods. Emperor Longping, worried about finding a reason to shirk blame, happily embraced this convenient excuse, pinning the years of bad fortune entirely on external forces like ghosts and gods.

Thus, the Imperial Court has spent large sums of money over the past few years to build a Heavenly Sacrifice Platform over a hundred feet tall and promote ceremonial rituals, advocating sacrifices where things go awry.

Now that the Crown Prince has arrived at Jin Sect, naturally he must worship the White Water River God to show the Imperial Court’s concern for the common people.

Zhu Huai’an didn’t have so many thoughts; his interest in the Baishui Festival was purely because there was a temple fair.

How lively a temple fair is! Not only are there food and games, but performers from various backgrounds and strange talents from three religions and nine schools putting on shows. It’s much more fun than staying in the prince’s palace!

When the chubby boy arrived at the teahouse, he just wanted to find Xu Qing and the others to stroll around the temple fair. But then he saw the teahouse staff looking like a bitter, resentful woman, saying, "You’re late! An hour ago, Mr. Guo and our shopkeeper took them to the temple fair for some fun, leaving me here alone to look after the place..."

...

Outside Baishui Temple, Xu Qing and the Wu family brothers had just come out of a tent that looked like a Mongolian yurt.

"What a decline in morals, even the grand Jin Sect temple fair has such vulgar places." Wu Zhiyuan shook his head and sighed.

"Brother is right, it’s simply unsightly." Wu Wencai smacked his lips as if savoring the memory.

Xu Qing glanced at another mobile ’flower house’ beside them, asking, "Is Old Guo still inside?"

Wu Wencai smiled and said, "These girls have traveled far and wide, visited many temple fairs, and are well-informed. Mr. Guo loves to inquire about such anecdotes, so he won’t be out any time soon."

After seeing the most mysterious tent of the temple fair, Xu Qing felt at ease, temporarily bid farewell to the Wu brothers, and wandered alone.

Earlier, when he arrived at the temple fair, he saw many martial artists selling various rare items. Now that he’s at Jin Sect, he naturally wants to take a good look around.

The materials needed to break into the Silver Armored Corpse in the Corpse Nourishing Scripture have been found. If he can find a unique item to nourish a Golden Armored Corpse today, it would have been worth the trip.

Xu Qing wandered leisurely, seeing a monkey trainer using a little monkey to beg for tips from the audience, and a fire performer spitting fire oil to produce a scorching flame several feet high.

After wandering around, he saw many real talents performing unique feats.

For example, a Colorful Performance Master who could pluck a flat peach by climbing Heaven-Reaching Rope; a Galloping Immortal who could retrieve items through space and guess objects in a box; and a Fire Gate Daoist who could lift a thousand-pound stone after taking a Strength Pill.

Xu Qing used Qi Observation Skill, carefully watching the boy who disappeared climbing the Heaven-Reaching Rope, only to see the boy turn into a deflated balloon, instantly becoming a thin paper sheet, drifting away.

He could see why the boy disappeared, as he transformed into a thin paper figurine and drifted past the crowd with the wind.

But he couldn’t figure out how the paper figurine turned into a jumping, climbing boy. This kind of animating technique is not something ordinary performers can achieve.

Xu Qing thought that perhaps only by transcending the Colorful Performance Master could he unveil the hidden mystery.

"Boundless Celestial Venerable, how can I have such thoughts? Bad, bad."

Xu Qing recited a mantra and stopped worrying about the Colorful Performance Master’s abilities, moving to another stall.

This stall had a Galloping Immortal who could summon spirits to possess his body and perform feats like retrieving items through space and guessing objects in a box. freewebnσvel.cøm

Xu Qing repeated his Qi Observation Skill, immediately seeing through the girl with two long braids.

In his eyes, the girl with bright, watery eyes transformed into a sneaky-looking, thin-mouthed mouse-faced creature.

Xu Qing scrutinized and realized that the mouse face was actually a layer of gray mist. His Qi Observation Skill revealed the ’Gray Immortal’ possessing her, hence the mouse-face illusion.

Xu Qing followed the gray Gale Qi and focused on the girl’s grandfather.

At that moment, the hunched, white-haired old man deliberately bent over, concealing something unusual on his chest.

Xu Qing adjusted his angle and finally saw that there was a large gray mouse head peeking from the old man’s collar, staring at the girl.

"Young man, what are you doing?"

The old man’s hunched back straightened slightly, and he looked vigilantly at the young man, who was standing on tiptoes, peering at his collar.

"I’m looking for my cat. Mimi, where did you go?"

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze, pretending to search around.

The gray Immortal retreating into the old man’s clothes disappeared, making the hunched old man look like a pregnant woman!

Ignoring the old man’s hostile gaze, Xu Qing called out a few more times, using the pretext of finding his cat to leave the stall.

The Galloping Immortal indeed possessed real skills. After seeing the girl use the Gray Immortal’s possession to view items through space and perform the Mouse Moving Wealth technique, Xu Qing was intrigued.

He remembered there were still two unknown coffins in his Funeral Shop.

If he could obtain the ability to view items through space, he might be able to see what’s inside, giving him some peace of mind.

What Xu Qing didn’t know was that while he was calling for his cat in front of the Gray Immortal, there was a pair of pale eyes curiously watching him from a towering banyan tree outside Baishui Temple.

Afterwards, Xu Qing strolled around the temple fair for two days. Although he didn’t find all the materials needed for the Golden Armored Corpse, he did acquire several strands of Yin Ghost coins and some Yin Qi-rich burial objects.

All of these items were Yin Gold objects.

These items were thanks to those who explored tombs and mountains—brothers specializing in excavation.

Without their years of tomb digging in remote mountains and forests, finding Yin Gold objects wouldn’t be easy for Xu Qing.

After all, he wasn’t the type to wander around and dig up graves.

Now with these Yin Gold items, Xu Qing gained a bit more confidence in becoming the Golden Armor Corpse King in the future.

His days are long; he can slowly accumulate Yin Gold objects. Even if he can’t gather enough nourishing materials, he can slowly transform by absorbing Moonlight Yin Qi.

...

By Baisha River, as the sun set behind the western mountains.

The sixty-year-old Crown Prince led Jin Sect officials in a grand procession to Baisha River for the River God worship ceremony.

The White Water River God, named Ray Shark, was said to be the deity in charge of Jin Sect’s water affairs. With a body resembling a shark-human, six wings on its back, and a voice like a floodgate opening, akin to thunder.

When the sacrificial animals were offered and the River God worship concluded, Baisha River surged turbulently as if the Ray Shark had responded.

The priest leading the ceremony quickly claimed that the River God appreciated the prince’s sincerity, hence showing its presence. Thus, predicting a year of favorable weather and peace for Dayong, among other similar remarks.

Xu Qing used Qi Observation Skill and saw that although the river was turbulent, there was no sign of the supposed River God.

But everyone around him was bowing and kneeling, forcing him to squat down and patiently wait for the farce to end.

While everyone worshipped the River God, Xu Qing noticed among the kneeling crowd, a group standing upright, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Xu Qing recognized them at a glance.

They were Protector Bai Luo from the Celestial Heart Sect and his followers.

Feeling someone’s gaze, Protector Bai Luo swiftly knelt down with the crowd, and his followers quickly followed suit.

Why does this sect appear everywhere?

Xu Qing frowned. He didn’t believe Celestial Heart Sect came here just to worship the River God.

After the ceremony ended, the Crown Prince led Jin Sect officials in another grand procession to Changting Prince’s Mansion.

The top candidates from the provincial examinations were invited along, and many literati and scholars accompanied them.

Tonight, the Crown Prince will host the Qushui Liushang gathering at Changting Prince’s Mansion. It’s said that the former leader of the national army, the different-surname King, will also attend, sharing the joyous night together.

Xu Qing went along with the Wu brothers, while Prince Zhu was summoned back to the mansion to host.

Upon arriving at Changting Prince’s Mansion, the unsophisticated Wu brothers were thoroughly impressed by the magnificent estate.

It truly lived up to its name. Though they never visited Luojing or seen the Imperial Palace, this mansion was the most grandiose building they’d ever seen.