Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 43 - 41 Human-Faced Peach Immortal Skill

Chapter 43: Chapter 41 Human-Faced Peach Immortal Skill

The second day.

Not until the sun was high in the sky, a procession surrounded by attendants both in front and behind, did slowly depart from Peony Garden and make its way back to Luoyang City.

The serving staff only knew that the bed in Erqiao Courtyard shook for half the night, yet no one had discovered that their master had already been covertly replaced.

Wang Yuan sat in the spacious and luxurious carriage, his gaze through the small window falling upon Zheng Yong, the Mystic Armor Guard riding his horse beside him.

This Daoist Soldier was also the greatest variable in the entire plan.

As long as he could disappear smoothly from under his watch, the mission would be a resounding success.

Inside the carriage, sitting next to "Zhou Jingyao," was only "Gu Yanfei," who had changed into a light and thin goose yellow palace dress.

She unwillingly nestled in the arms of the third prince, her stunning face still appeared tear-stained and plaintive, as if she truly had suffered great indignity and humiliation the night before.

And in the moments of acting in front of others, Wang Yuan felt his body honestly undergoing changes.

Taking a deep breath, he stuck his head out and waved at the followers, shouting in Zhou Jingyao’s brutally harsh tone,

"Get lost, all of you, stay far away from me."

Everyone thought their unrestrained master was getting in the mood again.

Sighing at the strong and robust bodies of the imperial clan’s offspring, they did not dare to disobey, including the Mystic Armor Guard, Zheng Yong, who all slowed down and followed at a distance.

Only the servant who had initially bewitched Zhou Jingyao was in charge of driving the carriage.

Wang Yuan quickly took this opportunity to let go of the demoness in his embrace.

He found that the longer he spent with Lady Peach Fairy, the weaker his resistance became.

Despite knowing she was a man-eating demoness, he couldn’t help but feel affectionate and sympathetic towards her.

His mind was a battlefield of reason against instinct, and Wang Yuan felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, continuously comparing her to his perfect cousin to withstand the temptation.

He made conversation just for the sake of talking:

"Peach Fairy, from the standpoint of the Old Man Sect, we have now maximized the avoidance of being pursued.

As long as we can eliminate the magicians’ divination, no one can track us down."

Upon hearing this, Lady Peach Fairy wiped away the tear stains on her face, and smiled faintly,

"Brother Cui, rest assured, the Dragon Qi Prohibition is often a protective charm for the powerful, but sometimes, it’s also their death warrant..."

At the founding of the dynasty, the Dragon Qi Prohibition burned fiercely like oil on fire, imposing and unrivaled in its dominance.

Even a group of old farmers wielding hoes could defeat countless demons and ghosts with their bare hands.

As the Dynasty stabilized, the Dragon Qi Prohibition secured the region and pacified the citizens, deterring all evil.

Under its protection, the laws did not favor the nobles, no Tao could enter the Capital, and even corpse dissection immortals who had achieved the Immortality Dao Fruit could not directly scheme against the imperial nobility using magic.

Even as the Great Yan Dynasty showed signs of chaos, the legitimate heirs of a vassal king were not targets for casual spellcasting.

Even if Zhou Jingyao was the least favored illegitimate son, a man of no talent, the title of little prince was both his strongest protective shield and his shackle.

Otherwise, the Strategist Bei, Lang Qi’s "Three Lives Bird Calculation Book," would have predicted all his moves, and simply lying in wait would have sufficed.

No need for today’s elaborate ruse of snake baiting.

Now, since Lang Qi could not calculate his whereabouts, neither could anyone else.

"So it is, with Dharma Prohibition binding them, I fear even members of the illustrious families must have a hard time pursuing their cultivation."

Wang Yuan agreed with her opinion, and seeing her casual demeanor, he speculated she must have killed numerous imperial descendants in the past.

On reflection, it was not a shock.

Over the two hundred years since the founding of the Great Yan, nearly a million descendants carrying the Ancestor’s blood have been produced, all of whom are supported by the Court.

Although the lowest rank still claims a yearly salary of 200 bushels for the Captain of Serving Country, many have fallen into destitution following the decline of the government and the emptiness of the national treasury.

Killing a few is indeed no big deal.

As they gradually neared the raging Luoshui River, Lady Peach Fairy’s face relaxed progressively, her meticulous plotting making this most difficult task unexpectedly smooth.

Looking at Wang Yuan’s face—which originally belonged to Zhou Jingyao—she continued,

"Of course, for us magicians, if we’re willing to find a way, the Dragon Qi Prohibition can still be bypassed.

For instance, what the Dragon Qi Prohibition can shield the noble from is only Curse Overcoming Skill.

If one were to use the Moving Mountain Skill to smash a mountain down, even the Emperor himself would have to die.

Similarly, by using the Human-Faced Peach Immortal Skill to stimulate the Human-Faced Peach clothing, it is the same as skinning the young prince’s face.

Unfortunately, without being refined by another Dharma Sect method—the Human Face Painting Skill—the clothing of the Human-Faced Peach can only perform its basic function.

Its duration can last at most twelve hours."

Lady Peach Fairy’s cultivation of the Human-Faced Peach Immortal Skill and the Wild Dog Taoist’s cultivation of the Painted Skin Skill shared significant lineage.

The Painted Skin Skill required the clothing of a Human-Faced Peach, and the Peach Fairy Technique required a carefully selected peach fruit born from the "Human-Faced Peach" Spirit Root.

With his own blood, he continuously inscribed talismanic spells on the surface of the peach, praying for the "West Queen Holy Mother’s" mana to bless it.

For consecutive forty-nine days.

If during this time the peach rotted, it indicated that one’s heart was not sincere and one must start over from the beginning.

Not until the casting was finished and the peach remained as tender and fresh as when it was first picked, could it be considered a superior quality treasure.

Stacking yellow earth into four Dharma Altars, sitting atop one to consume the peach.

Slitting open his abdomen, he implanted the peach pit, which had grown in the shape of talismans, while ceaselessly reciting the "West Queen Holy Mother Divine Transformation Scripture."

The peach pit would then gradually take root and sprout inside the person’s stomach, slowly sapping the magician’s blood, essence qi, and divine soul, until an exceptionally enchanting Human-Faced Peach Tree grew out of it.

After a year or three, depending on the case, once a single peach appeared on the tree, the magician could break through the peach and be reborn.

After rebirth, not only could one directly "receive the talisman" and achieve enlightenment, but one could also completely change one’s human bloodline, becoming the legendary Peach Fairy that served the West Queen Holy Mother.

Concentrating the essence of peach wood, getting closer to peach trees, stimulating their growth, and using peach wood for concealment; naturally restraining ghosts; adept in illusion techniques, whimsically inciting and teasing the seven emotions and six desires of living beings.

With short cultivation times, comprehensive abilities, and a knack for survival, it had its advantages.

However, the limitations that it was only for women to practice and the exceedingly high mortality rate deterred many disciples of the "Peach God Tao."

Moreover, even after successfully cultivating the skill, the "Precepts and Taboos" one had to follow were extremely strict, and one could easily violate them if not careful.

[First, dietary taboos. No alcohol, no meat, onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives, and ginger shall not be consumed.]

[Second, being non-human in nature, one has to feed on human essence qi to maintain an incomparably beautiful and eternally youthful appearance.

Every solar term during the twenty-four solar terms, one must consume one person. One must first arouse the other’s desires, making them infatuated with oneself for it to be effective.]

[Third, the Human-Faced Peach Tree is the true form; if the tree dies, the person perishes, making it extremely susceptible to control by others.]

Wang Yuan naturally was unaware of the strict precepts and taboos of the Peach Fairy technique; teasing men and storing food had already become an instinct.

Touching his own face, he praised:

"The Peach God Taoist Skill is indeed magical!"

The carriage continued forward, but the area north of the Luo River was still within the Earth Realm of Beimang Mountain, but to the south, Wang Yuan could absolutely not go before the great sacrifice.

As Wang Yuan saw that he was about to leave the vicinity of Beimang Mountain, he spoke:

"Peach Fairy, let’s stop here. It’s quite suitable to make this the final resting place for ’Zhou Jingyao.’"

No sooner had he spoken.

The horses pulling the carriage, as if frightened, suddenly neighed and dashed towards the nearby Luo River with all their might.

No matter how the servant driving the carriage yelled, it had no effect whatsoever.

"Disaster strikes, hurry and chase!"

Zheng Yong, the leader of the "Mystic Armor Guards" and the guardian of the third prince, yanked at the beast tendon that tethered his iron armor, discarding the armor and his sword, and leaped directly from the back of his horse.

Power flowed through his body, and a hot Qi Blood Elixir seemed to explode at his dantian. This "Daoist Soldier" took off running, wind billowing from under his sleeves, moving even faster than a galloping horse.

However, under the guidance of the Peach Fairy’s "Human-Faced Peach Immortal Skill," the galloping pair of horses had already dragged the carriage, rushing ahead into the turbulent currents of the muddy Luo River.

Splash!

Because this year the summer brought unceasing rains, the Luo River had already overflowed several times and the wide river, mixed with various debris, resembled a lake.

Upon falling into it, the carriage bobbed up and down a couple times before being completely swallowed by the dirty waves.

Wang Yuan and the Peach Fairy, who had both taken a deep breath ahead of time, gave each other a signal before swimming out of the carriage windows like fishes.

Having undergone continuous transformation, his lungs were long capable of staying underwater for half an hour without issues.

He first drowned the servant by pulling on his feet, and then followed the river downstream with the current.

Gathering the experiences of "Master Xingming" Yu Sanliang and "Thief Cat" Cui Tong from the Old Man Sect with the stratagem set by "Strategist Bei" Lang Qi after divination.

As long as they created the illusion of an accident and a case of "alive not seen, dead not found."

Normally, no one would suspect an assassination attempt on the prince, assuming it was merely an accident.

Even in modern times, the investigative efforts between a murder case and a missing person case are entirely different.

Even if someone found the situation to be fishy, under the watchful eyes of others, the scene of the crime had already been moved from the Peony Garden to the Luo River above.

The water was thoroughly stirred up, and by another twenty days, it wouldn’t matter whether a body was found or not.

Zheng Yong, coming up with nothing, emerged from the water and quickly issued commands:

"Quick, take swift horses to the downstream bend in the river."

"You, go to the nearby Xin’an County Government to summon help!"

"You, go find a ferryboat..."

As chaos ensued on the bank due to the prince’s unexpected fall into the water,

Wang Yuan was no longer concerned.