I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality
Chapter 184 - 112: With Three Evils Gone, Corpses Come from a Thousand Miles_2

Chapter 184: Chapter 112: With Three Evils Gone, Corpses Come from a Thousand Miles_2

"I don’t have the ability to preach to the world, but if you ask what I have seen, I do have some clues."

By now, a cup of tea’s time had passed, and the rain outside had reached its peak, showing no signs of subsiding.

Hu Baosong said quietly, "This year was supposed to be a troublesome year with the rise of dragons and snakes, and I calculated that Linhe would suffer three perils, causing unrest.

Just a few days ago, while Yizhen and I were wandering outside, we saw a snake and a mad dog blocking the middle of the road.

Do you know what happened next?"

Hu Baosong chuckled, "A drunken madman driving a horse cart ran over the mad dog, killing it by the roadside, and the cart wheel crushed the snake’s head to pieces...

The madman was startled awake and stopped driving."

"Seeing this, I took out some divination coins and performed a divination, finding that the three perils had been eliminated and the world was at peace."

"I originally thought that Linhe would be troubled in the future. Now it seems that I was overthinking."

Xu Qing’s heart moved slightly, and he asked, "Did you divine what the dog, snake, and man respectively symbolize?"

Hu Baosong’s gaze fell on him, pondering, "A monster in the water, a person in the temple, and a creature neither human nor ghost with unknown origins."

"..."

Xu Qing carefully considered, the water monster could be a Water Tiger or a Water Monkey; the person in the temple could be a Water Daoist from Celestial Wu Temple; as for the creature...

Xu Qing thought, this creature couldn’t be referring to him, could it?

It certainly couldn’t!

Living people accumulate good deeds and hidden virtue, which can only be replenished after death; but for a daily do-gooding zombie like him, half-dead and half-alive, he could use this virtue immediately. With so much virtue, these three perils couldn’t possibly target him...

But Xu Qing reconsidered, thinking of Zhou Chu who eliminated three perils, with the last peril being himself!

Now even he began to doubt himself, could a zombie turning good be considered eliminating a peril for the people?

"You seem to get more perceptive the longer you live. Just a minor incident on the road, and you can deduce so much." Xu Qing clicked his tongue in amazement.

"You’re still young and don’t understand the underlying methods." Hu Baosong took the pear that Yizhen had peeled for him and said, "When a person is about to die, they are closest to heaven, often seeing mysteries unseen by others, but these mysteries are like fleeting moments and cannot be held for long."

"Why do you think those divination masters with physical disabilities are so accurate?"

Hu Baosong pointed up with his finger and said, "Heaven is watching from above!"

Xu Qing went to the door and looked up at the sky, feeling inexplicable.

It was just the time for two cups of tea to pass, and there were more pedestrians on the street as the rain had stopped and the wind had cleared.

Xu Qing looked up at the sky, trying to sense that trace of energy.

If dying people are closest to heaven,

Then wouldn’t he be able to touch heaven with a stretch of his hand?

Xu Qing stretched out a hand, and instead of touching heaven’s energy, he ended up with a peeled pear in his hand.

He turned his head and saw Yizhen standing beside him, also looking up at the sky.

A breeze passed, stirring a strand of her hair by her temples.

Xu Qing blinked, but before he could say thanks, Old Hu’s angry voice came from behind.

"Xu boy, weren’t you going to borrow a cart to go to the wharf for business? The weather is clear now. Hurry up and go, or don’t blame me for not reminding you. In half an hour, the weather will change again!"

...

At Linhe Wharf, when Xu Qing arrived again, he happened to see Steward Cai registering new corpse collectors.

"Remember what I said, the waters near Baisha Ferry are forbidden grounds. Water ghosts haunt there, and you mustn’t go near. If any of you ignore the warnings and run into trouble, not only will you not be rescued, but no one will even retrieve your bodies."

The newly recruited corpse collectors and several older workers from other places nodded in agreement.

"Old Cai, busy now?"

A familiar voice sounded, and Steward Cai turned his head, seeing Xu Qing’s cheerful smile as the first sight.

"!"

"Don’t come near!" Steward Cai reacted quickly, instinctively grabbing the Water Scythe used for cutting water grass while stumbling backward.

"Old Cai, what’s with you? I’m here for business."

"Don’t come near! First, tell me clearly, are you human or ghost."

"Nonsense, look at my shadow on the ground, do ghosts have shadows?"

Seeing the shadow on the ground, Old Cai hesitantly moved closer to Xu Qing.

But he was still uncertain, so he leaned forward like a firecracker, extending his finger to test Xu Qing’s breath.

"Snap!"

Xu Qing slapped the overly inquisitive hand away without much patience.

A zombie could smell living human breath and exhale cold, deathly air, but couldn’t exhale the warmth of a living human.

However, if he exhaled a breath of cold air, Steward Cai’s arm would be paralyzed on the spot, and no matter how many words he spoke, he wouldn’t be able to explain it.

"Stop with these pointless tests. Of course, I know whether I’m alive or not! Now hurry and take me to where the corpse collectors store the bodies. I have urgent business."

Upon hearing this, Steward Cai finally believed the ’fact’ that Xu Qing was still alive. While leading the way, he couldn’t resist asking.

"Brother Xu, how did you survive a Water Ghost attack?"

"Ah, that’s something you don’t understand. I know some secret methods. Ghostly creatures fear filthy things the most. After the Water Ghost dragged me under, I got nervous and released gas from my back end, the stench drove it away, and it let go..."

Xu Qing spoke nonsense with a serious face.

But he wasn’t entirely lying, filthy substances do indeed restrain some low-level ghosts. Even some powerful talismans lose their effectiveness or are greatly weakened when contaminated by Celestial Mallow Water or Human Yellow.

Steward Cai didn’t doubt him, instead, he memorized what Xu Qing said.

Besides registering duties in the Corpse Recovery Team, Cai also procured the necessary equipment for corpse collectors.

Items like Pig’s Bladder, Water Scythes, corpse nets, and ropes were essential for corpse collectors when diving underwater.

Now, he contemplated a new procurement approach, getting some filthy substances for corpse collectors as a precaution.

Passing through several fish pens and water plank pathways, they finally stopped in front of a tower ship.

"Is this where the bodies are stored?"

Steward Cai nodded and said, "This tower ship has been here for years, originally built for training the naval forces under Lord Changting. Later, the Imperial Court stopped building naval warships due to financial constraints, leaving this ship abandoned."

Xu Qing followed Steward Cai onto the tower ship, where the recovered corpses lay on the deck, covered with straw mats for identification.

On the deck, a wooden sunshade provided cover, and being close to the river, the occasional river breeze prevented the bodies from decaying for a day or two.

However, if no one claimed them within the allotted time, the bodies would be sent to the charitable burial ground.

Looking at the corpses here, Xu Qing started making calculations.

He had already arranged a long-term cooperation with Li Si from the broker agency, and ownerless corpses were one of his main sources of supply.

These corpses were supposed to be sent to the Funeral Shop, but unfortunately, Li Si couldn’t compete with the Jin Sect, who occupied the wharf.

With the Jin Sect meddling, the corpses were ultimately sent to the charitable burial ground outside the city, without even one being collected by him.

"The Jin Sect..."

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and then said, "Steward Cai, you’re busy with your official duties. I’ll handle Zheng Deli’s corpse by myself. Don’t trouble yourself."

They exchanged some pleasantries before Steward Cai turned and left the ship.

Looking at the corpses, Xu Qing cheerfully began offering spiritual relief.

These were ordinary bodies; fishermen, boat passengers, and people who accidentally drowned while playing or swimming.

After offering relief and receiving some insignificant rewards, he found the corpse of a brave Rong warrior who had traveled thousands of miles from the Western Cliffs Quanqiu Tribe.

More bizarrely, this corpse had only been dead for five days.

Excluding the time spent in storage, it meant this body took just two to three days to float thousands of miles.

Examining the corpse, it still looked lifelike without any smell of decay, emitting a faint exotic fragrance instead.

The saying goes, ’Events have reasons when the drum sounds on the mountain.’

Having seen the deceased’s memories, Xu Qing wasn’t surprised. As for how the Rong warrior’s body remained uncorrupted and floated for so long without being eaten by river fish, the specific reasons dated back to five days ago...

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