I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 430 Major Upheaval, Pig Butchering Scam
Regardless of the myriad aspects of human life, or gods, ghosts, demons, and monsters, nothing in this world is particularly special.

The head of the Yinhe Gate is basically just a gatekeeper, while the immortal disciples of the Cat Immortal Hall are like wandering knights who walk between the righteous and the wicked, and love to help those in need.

Baosheng Temple was a place where midwives and matchmakers helped people give birth, while the Da Luo Sect was a righteous army that rose up in times of chaos, attempting to restore order—in other words, rebels.

Of course, Xu Qing never thought that way. His Great Luo Sect was united and friendly internally, and acted with integrity externally. It was a righteous army and a moral benchmark.

How could a sect like this be a rebel group?
After inspecting the thriving religious sect, Xu Qing returned to Jingxia Street.

Inside the coroner's shop, driven by curiosity, Xuan Yu kept asking Xu Qing about his experiences outside.

It mainly concerns the Red Phoenix Goddess at Baosheng Temple!

Xu Qing didn't like to bring this up, but Xuan Yu kept asking him about it.

When pressed, someone took out a red embroidered ball, revealed a sinister smile, and said that he would tie a good red thread for Lady Qingqing of the Cat Fairy Hall.

Xu was just joking, teasing the cat, but after hearing it, Xuan Yu's eyes widened in disbelief, and she said:
"I understand! The red string on my body is the thread tied by Xu Xian!"

What have you figured out?

Xu Qing looked at the red string hanging around Xuan Yu's neck. Wasn't that the red string he obtained after performing a ritual to help the ill-fated couple from the Wang family pass on?

The red rope, like the crane bone flute he gave to the Wu brothers years ago, only served to create some mutual attraction and connection between them. What does that have to do with the red thread?
However, Xuan Yu did not think so.

No wonder Xu Xian always sat by the door, longing for someone's return, whenever she went on a long trip. It turns out she was cursed and set up!
"Xu Qing, you are a human I raised! How could you do such a disrespectful thing to our feline master!"

"."

What did I do?

Xu Qing's face darkened as he looked at the girl, who was full of wariness and suspicion.

"When I gave you the red string, I hadn't yet become a disciple of the goddess, nor did I hold the power over marriage. If you don't want it, give it to me, and I'll give it to someone else."

Seeing that Xu Qing wanted to remove her red string, Xuan Yu instantly revealed her true form and darted to the side.

Xu Qing looked up and saw a black cat staring at him from the top of the twin coffins, leisurely licking its paws.

This cat is getting more and more disobedient!
In the coroner's shop, Xu Qing sat at the counter, flipping through the business ledger. Over the years, the Cat Fairy Hall had recruited many more spirits of good character, and the business of the funeral services was thriving.

Xu Qing even saw many foreign names on the list of members of the funeral procession.

"Have quite a few foreigners come to Tianjin lately?"

Beside her, Xuan Yu, who had transformed back into the form of a black-clad girl, said disdainfully:

"Those people are disgusting. Both men and women love to wear makeup, just like Xu Xian's family back then."

"."

Xu Qing was speechless.

In his early years, he applied powder to cover up the corpse smell on his body. However, as his cultivation level improved, he no longer needed to rely on common methods to conceal his body odor.

Cats dislike strong odors and the smell of cosmetics.

To a cat, a woman's makeup is no different from a zombie's smelly feet.

Seeing that Xu Qing didn't speak, Xuan Yu reached into the Huguang Cup and took out a small paper box.

"I recently learned a new method of igniting fire from the foreigners. Would you like to learn it, Master Xu?"

Xu Qing glanced to the side and saw Xuan Yu take a red-tipped wooden stick out of a small cardboard box, casually rub it against the side of the box, and a flame immediately ignited.

When the orange flames reflected on Xuan Yu's rosy cheeks and shone into Xu Qing's eyes, he was momentarily dazed.

"Does Master Xu want to learn?"

"How much is a box of matches?"

Hearing that Xu Qing recognized the foreigners' minor fire magic techniques, Xuan Yu felt somewhat regretful. This was the only downside of the Xu family; they knew everything and were knowledgeable about everything, which made her, as the head of the family, feel somewhat frustrated.

"Three taels of silver per box."

"How many?!"

Xu Qing was shocked. He thought a box of these broken matches was too expensive at five coins, but they were selling for three taels of silver.

He doesn't even make this much money for a single funeral!

A small cardboard box, yet it costs more than a coffin!
“Hmm,” Xuan Yu didn’t understand why Xu Qing was reacting so strongly. She tilted her head and said, “These matches were sent by the Feng family boy. They are said to be treasures of foreigners. The Feng family boy from Flower and Bird Street mortgaged his ancestral property and spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy all the matches and pocket watches from the foreigners. He said that these are all treasures and that after storing them for a while, they might be able to sell them for a high price.”

"."

Xu Qing's eyelids twitched as she listened. No wonder people say that the most extravagant way to squander money is to start a business.

Even with immense wealth, it couldn't stop his descendants from starting their own businesses!

"Is the young man from the Feng family that Immortal Xuanyu mentioned Feng Xiaosheng or Feng Zhengnan?"

Xuan Yu blinked and said, "He is Second Master Feng's own son."

"Him? He's an old man with most of his body buried in the ground. Why did he have to start a business out of nowhere!"

Feng Xiaosheng is over eighty years old. At such an advanced age, why can't he stay at home and enjoy his retirement? Why does he insist on being ambitious?
Xuan Yu was unaware of what ordinary people were thinking. She told Xu Qing about how Feng Xiaosheng, after obtaining the foreign treasure, sent many foreign local specialties such as matches and pocket watches to the shopkeepers of various shops on Jingxia Street.

After hearing this, Xu Qing felt the matchbox in his hand getting hot. Others might not know what this thing was, but he knew it inside and out!

Every single one of these foreign goods was something that could be mass-produced, and Western industry was currently experiencing a period of rapid development.

He didn't even need to think to know that Feng Xiaosheng had been fooled by foreigners!

"It's really worrying."

Now that Xu Qing had learned of this, he couldn't ignore it. He immediately put on the pocket watch that Feng Xiaosheng had given him, tucked the matchbox into his pocket, and headed straight for the Feng family.

On Flower and Bird Street, before Xu Qing even reached the Feng family's house, he caught sight of a foreigner wearing a Western-style watch performing a cigarette-lighting 'skill'.

It's called a special skill, but it's really just standing on the side of the street, striking a match to light the pipe bowl, and then deliberately flicking the match out after the pipe is lit.

The bearded foreigner didn't say a word, just stood there wearing a top hat, puffing away. Beside him, two local thugs who looked like brokers were chanting slogans and boasting about the power of the matches.

After describing the matches as a unique treasure, a foreigner then conveniently opened the pocket watch in front of everyone and pretended to examine it. Next, the charlatan picked up the sandalwood box and showed the everyone the brand-new pocket watch, saying that it was a marvel of astronomy, geography, and the seasons, a divine creation, and that there were only a handful in the entire Great Yan Dynasty—you couldn't buy it even if you had money!

But today, I won't give you a thousand or five hundred taels, just two hundred taels. If it weren't for the fact that the 'foreign master' is short of travel expenses, this treasure definitely wouldn't be sold!
Xu Qing glanced at it and saw that it wasn't a gold or silver watch, but just an ordinary brass pocket watch.

Two hundred taels of silver—he could have just robbed them outright, but he gave them a watch instead. Putting everything else aside, this robber was actually quite polite!

The Flower and Bird Street is no shortage of wealthy playboys. A watch cost two hundred taels of silver, and seven or eight people kept bidding against each other, eventually bringing the price down to four hundred taels!
Xu Qing frowned as he watched.

In just a few years, Flower and Bird Street has become like this.

Xu Qing didn't bother with these thugs' deception; it was all a matter of mutual consent. Even if he stood up and told the truth, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Upon arriving at the Feng residence, the person who opened the door was the great-grandson of the former steward, Cai, who is now the new steward of the Feng residence. He comes from a family with a long tradition of learning and a well-ordered lineage.

When Xu Qing asked about Feng Xiaosheng's business venture, Butler Cai sighed, "Master is getting old, and the young master is obsessed with martial arts. The martial arts school spends a lot of money every year. Even if he has enough to eat and wear in this life, his descendants might not have enough to spend if he gets married in the future. Master is worried about his son and wants to earn some money for his descendants before he dies."

In this year of great change, the son practices martial arts and the father starts a business—the future is truly promising!
As soon as Xu Qing stepped through the second gate, he saw Feng Zhengnan, who was over fifty years old, exercising vigorously in the courtyard.

"A Qi Condensation Martial Master?"

Xu Qing was somewhat surprised, because he had not taught Feng Zhengnan martial arts or cultivation earlier due to Feng Zhengnan's special identity.

Such deities who have returned to the void will find their former physical bodies becoming empty shells once they return to their original positions. No matter how high Feng Zhengnan's martial arts cultivation is, it cannot surpass the prison that binds him.

This is like a deity who has cultivated for a thousand years. Even if he reincarnates and cultivates for a hundred years, how could he possibly compare to the accumulation of a thousand years in his original form?

The difference between immortals and mortals is not so easy to overcome.

Upon seeing Xu Qing, Feng Zhengnan addressed him as "Uncle Xu" repeatedly, displaying remarkable enthusiasm!
Xu Qing had no choice but to accept the matter of being demoted.

Who told him to be Xu Xuan now?
“Zheng Nan, you’ve been different from other people since you were little. Remember to spend more time talking to your father in the future. Don’t be too obsessed with martial arts. Some things really don’t need to be worried about. Heaven will feed you in the future.”

Feng Zhengnan was completely confused, assuming that elders often spoke like that, and paid no attention.

"Don't worry about it. Otherwise, I'll find a good matchmaker to introduce you to a marriage. There's a temple on Ziyun Mountain that can help you pray for marriage. I've heard it's very effective, and it might just solve your life's most important matter."

Upon hearing this, Feng Zhengnan felt a chill run down his spine!
Those immortals and gods from the upper realm who descend to the mortal world are often people with weak ties to their families and few opportunities for marriage. Even if they fall into the mortal world, they will subconsciously be drawn by the karma from their past lives, feeling that there are great things left to be done and that they need to resolve.

Feng Zhengnan's current obsession with martial arts is somewhat influenced by him.

Xu Qing has a way to make Feng Zhengnan return to his original position like Zhao Zhonghe, but that would inevitably leave Feng Xiaosheng an old man living alone.

Therefore, Xu Qing had arranged everything for the Feng family from the very beginning, so that Feng Xiaosheng could live out his life comfortably and enjoy the decades of having children around him and being cared for in his old age.

Seeing that Feng Zhengnan was easily amused, Xu Qing went to see Feng Xiaosheng instead.

The old man was now as thin as Master Feng had been back then, and when Xu Qing got closer, he could smell the unique scent of matches.

At this moment, Feng Xiaosheng was wearing a gold watch around his neck. He was all smiles when he saw Xu Qing, and he looked quite energetic.

"Xiaosheng, I've come to see you for no other reason than to hear that you mortgaged your ancestral property, spent a fortune hoarding goods, and bought some foreign items."

Xu Qing cut to the chase, explaining the pros and cons to Feng Xiaosheng, and said bluntly, "If you sell those foreign goods now, you might be able to get your principal back. But if you wait another month or two, you might lose even this house!"

Feng Xiaosheng might not listen to what others say, but he never doubts anything said by the Xu family member from Jingxia Street.

"I must be getting senile. Why would that capable person from the capital give me the opportunity instead of making money? It turns out they're setting a trap for us old folks!"

Feng Xiaosheng muttered to himself, implying that many people in Tianjin had been fooled by foreigners.

It wasn't even the foreigners who were being scammed, but rather the local bullies and merchants in Beijing who came up with this unethical idea—a whole scheme to rip off foreigners.

Within about two days, Feng Xiaosheng had Steward Cai sell off all the foreign goods. Although they didn't make much money, at least they preserved the money that Master Feng had left them for food and clothing.

As long as Feng Xiaosheng and his son don't squander their money, it will be enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Within ten days, a large group of foreign merchants suddenly arrived at the port of Tianjin. The ferries carrying these foreigners were packed full of all kinds of foreign goods.

Xu Qing thought the Feng family's pig-slaughtering scam was over, but unexpectedly, his cursed business continued to thrive for more than half a month because of the foreign goods scandal.

During this period, people were jumping into the river at the port like dumplings being dropped into boiling water. Every few days, you could hear rumors of someone who had stockpiled foreign goods and was heavily in debt, and then hanged themselves or drank poison.

"In this turbid and evil world, demons and monsters are truly running rampant."

Even though Xu Qing possessed divine power to destroy the leader of the Yinhe Sect, the demons in the hearts of ordinary people could not be eradicated by divine power.

After dealing with the Feng family's affairs, Xu Qing made a special trip to the imperial mausoleum in the capital to perform a special Buddhist ritual for the short-lived emperor Zhu Yi.

After retrieving the imperial purple aura, Xu Qing was about to enter the palace to find the current emperor, Zhu, when, by sheer coincidence, he bumped into him on the street.

"Hey, brother, your bird is well-trained; it can even do math!"

At the flower and bird market, a young rascal who looked remarkably like a member of the Zhu family was chatting and gossiping with someone.

The playboy carried a birdcage in one hand and twirled walnuts in the other, followed by a white-faced, beardless old man in his fifties.

Judging by his demeanor, he's definitely a spoiled brat and a spendthrift!
Xu Qing recognized the man; it was none other than Zhu Qian.
Only the old eunuch beside Zhu Qian looked unfamiliar.

Over the years, almost all the eunuchs who followed Zhu Huai'an and Zhu Chengsi have changed. Now, in the entire Da Yan court, Xu Qing probably only knows Wang Liang, who is nearly a hundred years old.

The Duke of Zhenguo, who lived through the reigns of three emperors, is truly a unique case of "scorpion dropping its poop"!
Xu Qing watched Zhu Qian from afar for a while. This new emperor had no talent, but he was quite good at having fun and was also quite carefree.

Looking at his lifespan, he was considerably longer than his father, Zhu Yi.

This truly shows that wise rulers don't live long, while mediocre rulers live forever.

There has never been another emperor in history who lived to be over a hundred years old.

However, Zhu Qian's fate was somewhat special. According to the theory of destiny, this long-lived emperor was cursed with the "Hua Gai" star, and he would become a monk or Taoist priest before the age of fifty.

At that time, Zhu Qian will inevitably abdicate the throne to his descendants, but what will happen to them is unknown.

Xu Qing shook his head.

The current emperor has no interest in governing the country and has no need for the imperial purple aura. Now, this purple aura has come full circle and returned to his hands.

Fortunately, he had the Golden Gourd bestowed upon him by the goddess. This gourd contained boundless space, so even if he threw away a lot of imperial purple energy, it wouldn't take up much space.

(End of this chapter)