I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 97 - 74 Practice Cooking More

On the fifteenth day of the third lunar month, it is auspicious for traveling and meeting friends; inauspicious for funerals and burials.

Xu Qing specially checked the almanac today and decided it was a good day to return to Linhe before setting off on the journey.

However, there were still a few things he needed to do first.

At the entrance of the tea house, Xu Qing had another conversation with Guo Dongyang, who had stayed awake all night, before boarding the same carriage he came with, gradually moving along the streets of Prefecture City, further and further away.

It’s easy to obtain a treasure, but difficult to find a soulmate.

Guo Dongyang clasped his hands together, squinting as he watched Xu Qing completely disappear from sight before returning to the tea house.

...

Outside Baishui Temple, the temple fair that lasted for seven days was coming to an end.

At this time, the twilight was slightly cold, and the sky hadn’t yet brightened. Xu Qing parked the carriage on the road leading to the fair, and when he saw the two figures, an old man and a young girl, appear on the dirt road in the distance, he smiled broadly.

"Grandpa, we earned quite a bit of silver yesterday, enough to get you a new outfit."

"You little girl, Grandpa doesn’t need new clothes. Save that money for your dowry."

"I don’t want to get married! If I do, no one will take care of Grandpa."

The little girl, with two braids in her hair, sat at the front of the cart, swaying back and forth, looking both obedient and lively.

The grandpa, driving the donkey cart beside her, hunched over with a half-opened wide-collar jacket, had a shiny, oily large gray rat with glossy fur, staring outward with its beady eyes.

The grandpa and granddaughter, along with their little pet, were heading toward the temple fair when they turned a corner and encountered an uninvited guest.

The person was dressed in a paper robe, with oddly-shaped bones, limbs of equal length, and his face covered with a sheet of white paper, on which was drawn a red dot dice, giving off an indescribable eeriness.

In the early morning mist, a voice sounded, resembling the dice-faced man’s words, although it seemed to come from elsewhere.

"Sir, today this young one wishes to ask for your help. Would it be convenient?"

The old man, who had been smiling with his granddaughter, now dropped his face.

"Where has this filthy thing come from, daring to block a deity’s path? If you have any sense, clear the way. If not, I’ll have to open your eyes!"

The person referred to as "filthy thing" didn’t get angry but smiled and said, "Sir, then this young one shall seek your guidance."

As he spoke, the person in the paper robe shook his hands, put on Finger Tigers, and assumed the stance commonly used by martial masters during a challenge.

"Sir, I am a rough person. If I offend you in any way later, please forgive me."

The little girl with double braids jumped off the cart, intending to step forward, but she was stopped by her grandfather.

Seeing her grandpa’s signal, the little girl adjusted the donkey skin waist drum at her belt and began to chant.

"The sun sets on the western hills and darkens the sky, every household closes their doors, magpies and crows rush to big trees, sparrows and turtle doves flock to the eaves, the road shortens and stars brighten, a small house truncates and makes travel hard..."

Controlling the puppet from afar, Xu Qing heard the girl begin to sing the invocative chant, initially with a crisp sound unique to young girls.

But after reciting a couple of lines, the girl suddenly accelerated her pace, and the drum beats sounded like raindrops, making one anxious and disturbed.

"Oh noble deities, I know you are coming, don’t make noise, don’t cause trouble, your presence brings awe and chaos..."

In front of the donkey cart, the fat gray rat in the old man’s arms visibly deflated.

At the same time, the old man being possessed exhibited strange twists, his originally turbid eyes suddenly becoming lively, misty grey irises with small blood-red pupils darting about restlessly.

Additionally, fine grey hairs sprouted from his cheeks, and his missing teeth were replaced by sharp rodent-like teeth.

...

Xu Qing focused intently, maneuvering the puppet to counterattack the nimble old man.

With the Eighteen Legs Springing Skill, Bone-Dislocating Hand, and Eye-poking and Crotch-poking Lime Powder...

After a series of swift moves, the possessing deity shrieked chaotically; who knows what it was saying, but it seemed to be cursing quite nastily.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the little girl’s Assist Soldier Spell was only half recited, yet the gray immortal working for the grandpa and granddaughter refused to continue.

The one before them, with equally long limbs and seemingly steel and iron bones, appeared to lack pain sensitivity; no matter how it bit or scratched, it couldn’t make him frown.

If you wish to fight, keep fighting. This possession is unbearable; if it carries on, I might be fine, but I worry about breaking my galloping immortal disciple.

It’s not easy for the disciple to live this long; it’s time to surrender and retreat.

A gray smoke exited from the disciple’s nostrils, and the shriveled rat hidden under the old man’s jacket inflated again, becoming fat once more.

"Ow, my old back!"

No longer protected by the deity, the elderly man quickly deteriorated, unable to fight the puppet or even walk without difficulty.

"Young man, you sparred like a rogue!"

Xu Qing felt he had gained some understanding of the galloping immortal after testing it out.

Aside from possessing some special magical powers to cure diseases and ward off disasters, it wasn’t very effective in a fight!

"Young man, since you won, speak openly. What do you want me to do? You’re not here to rob, are you..."

"I don’t rob money; I rob people."

The old man widened his eyes and glanced at his dear granddaughter, his heart filled with shock and anger.