The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 69 Another Taoist Priest

The young Taoist dared not speak his anger, and could only lower his head and say:
"I... wasn't I doing this for your and the True Lord's own good?"

"Good my ass! Do you even look at it now?"

The Taoist priest frantically pounded on the empty water basin, desperately trying to shift all the blame onto others in his shock and anger.

He knew he wasn't cut out for great things; it was all that little brat's fault for instigating him. Now, the magical treasure bestowed upon him by the True Lord is completely useless.

Now, he not only doesn't know how to explain things to the True Lord, he doesn't even know how to deal with the Prince in the future.

After all, his only source of confidence was this water basin that could control ghosts.

Without this, he's a complete charlatan.

No, not only that, he's now a dead man who even dares to fool a prince!
Just then, a voice rang out from outside:
"Taoist Master, the Prince has sent me here for you to take a look!"

This startled both the master and his apprentice, giving them a jolt.

Someone is coming?
When did you come?
Did he hear what we just said?

The Taoist priest hurriedly pushed open the door and scolded:
"Didn't I tell you not to come near my door? You're disturbing my cultivation, can you afford to take responsibility?"

The armored warrior bowed his head and held his sword, saying:
"Please calm down, Daoist Master. I was merely following the Prince's orders."

The Taoist priest, who had intended to continue his rebuke to gain the upper hand and extract some information, looked down and was instantly terrified by the gleaming light of the blade, his legs going weak.

Why, why did they send you a big knife?
Could it be that the prince has seen through my disguise and wants to take my life?!

Fortunately, at that moment, the young Taoist darted forward and blocked the Taoist's lower back.

This allowed the Taoist priest to barely maintain the situation, preventing him from collapsing to the ground in fear at the mere sight of a knife.

"What... what does this mean?"

The armored warrior raised his demon-headed sword even higher and said:
"His Highness sent me to ask what your opinion is on this knife."

"What do you think?"

What is this? A warning or a test?

The Taoist priest, his throat bobbing incessantly, could only grit his teeth and utter one sentence:
"Hmm, good, good knife."

The knife that the prince sent must be a fine knife!
I can't guess anything, so this is all I can say.

As for the shrewdness he used to display when dealing with ordinary people, he had long since lost it along with his trembling legs.

The armored warrior was taken aback and said:

"Is it gone?"

"That's all, go away, don't bother me unless it's important!"

The armored warrior turned and left.

Before long, King Anqing received a reply.

Anqing Wang, who had been facing away from the gate and gazing at the map of the world, twitched at the corner of his eye and then suddenly turned around and said:

"Did that Taoist priest say the knife was good?"

Whether you call it bad or just average.

He could accept all of this; after all, if the Taoist priest said it was bad, it meant that the Taoist priest also knew that this ghost-headed knife was useless.

To say it was ordinary was probably just the Taoist priest being considerate of his reputation.

But one thing you absolutely cannot say is good about a cleaver that is clearly useless and simply cast from pig iron by an ordinary craftsman!

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The armored warrior quickly lowered his head.

Prince Anqing, however, refused to give up and stepped forward to ask further:
"Gone?"

"Gone!"

Sensing the change in the prince's attitude towards the Taoist priest, the armored warrior hesitated for a moment before stepping forward again and saying:
"There are a few things that I feel I need to inform Your Highness."

"Come forward."

As the armored warriors stepped forward and whispered in his ear, King Anqing's eyes stopped twitching, but his expression grew increasingly gloomy.

After a while.

An Qingwang slammed his hand on the table and said:

"Transfer all the archers in the manor to the small courtyard in the middle of the lake, and let Zhang Sandao personally lead the team!"

“Tell him that I will reward him whether he is alive or dead, but if he loses even a single corner of that water basin, I will make sure that Zhang Sandao gets three cuts to the head!”

The armored warrior didn't actually hear anything.

King Anqing respected the Taoist priest very much, even though the priest's performance was not entirely satisfactory.

After all, the ability to control ghosts cannot be faked.

This alone is enough to make one a guest of honor for any powerful or wealthy person at a time when most people have never seen a god or ghost in their lifetime.

So the Taoist priest told him not to let anyone near his house, and King Anqing specially invited him to the small courtyard in the middle of the lake, where he had his most trusted personal guards watch over him day and night.

He also visited to inquire after the Taoist priest every day. However, the noise the Taoist priest made inside the house was really too loud.

In addition, his performance was truly incompetent, completely unlike that of a master.

This aroused the interest of the guard who was delivering the knife. He should have bowed his head to show respect, but he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the Taoist priest was almost paralyzed with fear by the large knife.

We also saw that the Taoist priest was supported by his young apprentice to avoid collapsing.

In addition, he heard a faint scream as he approached the cabin.

All of this combined was enough for King Anqing to realize that he might have been tricked.

The guards immediately accepted the order and prepared to leave to inform Zhang Sandao, the Sima of the Prince's Mansion.

Just as the guards stepped out of the study of Prince Anqing, the chief clerk of the Prince's residence hurried in and, upon seeing the prince, bowed and said:
"Your Highness, a Taoist priest has arrived outside!"

"Another Taoist priest?!"

Anqing Wang nearly spit fire from his eyes, but his rage only lasted a moment before he suppressed it and asked instead:
"Could it be that Taoist priest from Qing County?"

The Han family is looking for Du Yuan, and the Prince's Mansion is also looking for Du Yuan.

But they couldn't find any of them.

Normally, this is very strange. Although Qingzhou is large, it is not very large for them.

But then I thought that the Taoist priest was a true hermit, and it seemed quite normal that a group of ordinary people couldn't find him.

As a result, the Prince's Mansion planned to guard its own Taoist priest first, while Han Shi went to guard the Qian family.

The chief official cupped his hands and said:

"No, Your Highness, it's another Taoist priest."

Prince Anqing waved his hand, signaling the guards who were about to leave to stop, and then asked:
"Tell me more about it."

The chief official recalled carefully and said:

"Your Highness, this Taoist priest immediately claimed that a villain had infiltrated my palace, and that the villain had even stolen his sect's most precious treasure, the Fengdu Binding Basin!"

The official in charge of the Fengdu Julu Basin carefully recalled the name before confirming it. As soon as it reached Anqing King's ears, he couldn't help but think of the water basin in the Taoist's hand.

Could it be that?!

Stolen?

After much deliberation, King Anqing grasped the chief official's hand, stared into his eyes, and asked:

What do you think of that Taoist priest?

After careful consideration, the senior official said:
"Unlike ordinary people, he was born with an unyielding spirit."

Where is he now?

"Right at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion!"

"Come, follow me."

Anqing Wang hurried away.

Upon arriving at the gate of the Prince's Mansion, they saw the white-haired Taoist priest, who remained calm and composed despite being surrounded by numerous armored soldiers, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

In this respect alone, this Taoist priest far surpasses the one in his palace.

What surprised Anqing Wang even more was that the other party reacted immediately upon seeing him.

He immediately stroked his beard and laughed three times. Then, in full view of everyone, he lightly touched the ground with his toes and leaped straight onto the top of the tall vermilion gate of the Prince's mansion like a startled swan!

Such skill is beyond human capability! In an instant, everyone present was horrified.

However, the Taoist priest did not stop there. He raised his hand and grabbed at the void—

A wisp of colorful mist was snatched into his palm out of thin air!

"The Great Void condenses Qi to transform into the Five Elements, which circulate throughout the body and are absorbed into the Yellow Court!"

The profound incantation was then performed as the Taoist used his free hand to form the Five Thunder Seal.

All the colorful energy vanished from his palm.

When the Taoist opened his palms again, a golden pill was floating on them.

The Taoist leaped up as before, landing lightly in front of King Anqing amidst the tense expressions of the many armored soldiers.

Looking at An Qingwang, who was clearly stunned.

The Taoist priest, increasingly satisfied, presented the golden elixir to King Anqing and smiled:
"I have descended the mountain by divine will to assist Your Highness. This elixir was refined by me using the fortune of Qingzhou, and it possesses unique and wondrous properties, capable of rejuvenating the body and restoring youth. Your Highness, please!"

In an instant, not only King Anqing, but even the soldiers around him all focused their attention on this golden pill.

This made the Taoist priest stroke his beard and laugh even more.

He also inexplicably recalled the scoundrel he had encountered at the city gate.

'Hmph, what an ignorant fool! Lacking both skill and ability, how dare he claim to be my comrade?!'

(End of this chapter)