Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 266 A Happy Death

The lovelorn young master of the An family is dead.

Just this morning.

When he died, he was emaciated, with hardly any flesh on his body, but he wore a happy smile.

These days, An Chengping has grown increasingly old and thin, which has alarmed Steward Yu and others. Yesterday, they sent the news back to the An family.

An Chengping's father, the head of the An clan, had been preoccupied with matters concerning the celestial rites these past few days. Upon receiving notification of his second son An Chengping's condition, he immediately arrived at the farm.

He was also taken aback by An Chengping's condition.

Could it be that I've been bewitched by some evil spirit?
After a thorough inspection, no evil spirits were found.

It was just as the doctor at the farm had said: his excessive longing had caused him to suffer from heart failure, which was why he was gradually withering away.

Master An found this claim absurd. An Chengping was a Qi cultivator who was about to establish his foundation, so how could he suddenly suffer from heart failure?
So he killed the doctor, took his heart, and gave it to An Chengping as a tonic.

Then he ordered people to cut out the hearts of five babies and make a soup of five lotus seeds to nourish An Chengping's blood and energy.

It was indeed good at first; An Chengping's complexion became rosier, and even his spirits improved considerably.

Manager Yu was overjoyed, feeling as if the young master had returned to the state he was in before he went to the painter to have his picture done.

And he seems more cheerful than he was back then?
The smile on his lips never stopped!
Since Miss Wan's death, the young master has rarely laughed so happily.

An Zhangjia was naturally pleased to see his son like this, and the father and son chatted warmly in the study until midnight.

After a conversation, the two seemed to feel much more at ease.

In recent years, An Chengping has neglected his spiritual practice. Besides the reason for Wan'er's death, there are actually many other reasons for this, which are his protests against his father.

If his father hadn't forced him to marry the second daughter of his wife's family as his principal wife, Wan'er wouldn't have lost her life.

An Chengping had always suspected that it was his father who had forced Wan'er to her death.

The head of the family, An, would naturally not admit it.

Unable to find any evidence, An Chengping chose to abandon his cultivation and move away from Wangxian City as a form of resistance.

At first, it was because of Wan'er's death, but later An Chengping couldn't figure out what it was all about, and he became even more confused and depressed.

Until I met the artist!
The artist immediately saw his confusion and regret.

At his pleading, the painter finally agreed to help him paint a picture.

He took a piece of his heart's flesh, mashed it into a paste, mixed it with ink, and with just a few strokes, the root of his confused life leaped off the page.

Wan'er seems even more beautiful than I remember.

During the two weeks he spent with Wan'er, An Chengping felt that all his regrets had been made up for.

He could always find the other person’s words and actions to resonate with him. After Wan’er’s comforting words over the past few days, he had developed a lot more empathy for his father, An Zhangjia.

Naturally, the hatred wasn't so intense anymore.

This was all thanks to Wan'er's persuasion. He seemed to be more infatuated with Wan'er than ever before, wishing he could be with her every moment. Even just gazing at her made him feel content.

Later, Wan'er was able to step out of the painting. She said she wanted to raise silkworms, and An Chengping provided her with a silkworm feed.

Wan'er then advised him not to stay in the house all the time, otherwise people would gossip about her.

So even though he was somewhat reluctant, An Chengping still went out of the yard every day to bask in the sun and take a walk.

Today he heard more good news: Wan'er is pregnant with their child.

An Chengping was overjoyed. After Wan'er's death, because of his strong opposition, the Yue family naturally wouldn't wrong their own woman, as if she were worthless. The marriage between the two families was called off, so An Chengping remained childless.

Now that he suddenly has an heir, how could he not be happy?
Moreover, he went to see them, and there were so many of them, each one plump and adorable.

He was so happy he was practically going crazy, and he wanted to tell everyone.

Wan'er slapped him lightly and said angrily:

"Let's give everyone a surprise."

An Chengping naturally had no objections and nodded happily.

Therefore, when he saw his father at this moment, An Chengping could not suppress the joy in his heart.

On the one hand, it was because he considered some issues from his father's perspective; on the other hand, it was because of Wan'er's comfort; and of course, the most important thing was that Wan'er was alive.

He really wanted to share the good news of having a son with his father.

But I decided against it after thinking about it. Wan'er was right; I should give him a surprise.

Her father didn't even know that Wan'er was alive.

With so many grandchildren all of a sudden, the father must be going crazy with joy, right?
The father and son talked until midnight. Then, Master An got up and returned to Wangxian City. Tomorrow was the day the Heavenly God Assessment would end, and he still had many things to take care of.

An Chengping understood this quite well. He saw his father off outside the village and added, "Dad, take good care of yourself. I have some good news for you tomorrow."

Master An smiled and stroked his beard, feeling quite pleased.

He thought this must be a good omen, and that tomorrow's lifting of the heavens would surely bring good news as well.

With a loud laugh, Master An flew back to Wangxian City.

Li Wushou's incarnation as the Bamboo Gentleman left a few white-bone cicadas in the farm.

Having witnessed this scene, I felt that An Chengping's state was somewhat strange.

The happiness the other person exuded sent a chill down my spine.

So these white-boned cicadas searched the farm again, but still found nothing.

The only difference was that there was an extra nest of silkworms in An Chengping's silkworm room.

Under Li Wushou's influence, the White Bone Cicadas examined the brood of silkworms again and again. However, because they did not have Li Wushou's ability to see through things, no matter how they looked at them, these silkworms seemed no different from ordinary silkworms.

It just seemed to be growing rather fast; during the brief exchange between An Chengping and his father, it appeared as if a cocoon was already forming. Then, An Chengping suddenly died in the early hours of the morning.

The maid on night watch heard a long exhale and carefully entered the bedroom to investigate, only to find that An Chengping was dead.

The farm was thrown into chaos immediately afterward.
At this time, Li Wushou's incarnation as the Bamboo Gentleman was still in Wangxian City.

After several days of investigation, he finally found a person who had been painted by the artist in the settlement area on the north bank of the city's 24th district.

The other party seemed to live alone, without children, and was a destitute member of a collateral branch of the clan.

They usually live comfortably off the charity of others.

Just as Zhu Junzi realized that An Chengping was dead, he happened to knock on the door of this house.

At this moment, the other person looked much like An Chengping, emaciated and lying on the bed, no longer breathing, but with a happy smile on his lips.

Zhu Junzi originally wanted to ask his clone for more details about An Chengping's side.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound, and then the connection between Li Wushou and the incarnation of Zhu Junzi was severed.

Li Wushou stood on the flying boat, gazing at the sea of ​​clouds.

Li Wushou wasn't really worried about the situation of the Bamboo Gentleman's incarnation. After all, it was just an incarnation, and the Bamboo Gentleman wasn't of much use to him anyway.

He had long been pondering the question of whether incarnations could be changed.

If Zhu Junzi dies, will I leave one of my incarnation slots vacant, or can I fill another one?

He still has no answer, because the embodiment of the bamboo gentleman is not yet dead.

So the other party's painting was indeed problematic. Everyone knows about the Painters' Conference, where Yan Qiubai painted for many people, but few people remember who he painted for. This in itself is a problem.

Secondly, the lifespan of the person being painted is constantly being lost.

And everyone unanimously built a silkworm rearing room.

What exactly are those silkworms?
Li Wushou, observing from the perspective of the bamboo gentleman, could only see that the other party was growing relatively fast, but could not discern anything else.

Silently sorting through the information he had gathered over the past few days, Li Wushou's mind was racing.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he had a conjecture for some reason!
Immediately afterward, Li Wushou frowned. If what he thought was true, then there was trouble.

But why is the other party doing this?
This doesn't seem to be about lifting up the gods anymore!

The five elders standing behind Li Wushou saw that Li Wushou's brows were furrowed. They wanted to share his worries, but they did not know what Li Wushou was worried about.

Just then, Li Wushou suddenly asked:

"Elder Gongsun, Elder Shen, how much do you on the North Shore know about the painter and the girl beside him?"

Elder Gongsun and Elder Shen were taken aback upon hearing this. After exchanging a glance, Elder Gongsun stepped forward and respectfully replied:
"Reporting to the High Priest, the painter hails from Star Moon City, the twelfth city on the North Shore. He is a naturalized citizen of Star Moon City who helped open up the Land of Calamity."

The other party made outstanding contributions in opening up the land of bewilderment. Ten years ago, he entered Wangxian City and had the Gongsun family use incense to wash away the cloud patterns on his head.

At that time, no one knew of his superb painting skills.

Three years ago, on the birthday of Master Kong, the other party sent back a portrait of the Master to Wangxian City from Xingyue. Master Gongsun was amazed by the painting skills and handed it over to me to present to the Master.

The patriarch was delighted and summoned the other party.

However, these all took place in private settings.

Apart from the Gongsun and Shen families, very few people knew about it, and even if they did, not many cared.

It was from that time that the other party gradually rose to fame on the North Bank. Until this time, when the other party entered Wangxian City before the election of the Heavenly God, the North Bank did not know that the other party was the candidate for the Heavenly God.

Even after the two lineages of the Floating Void announced that there were two candidates, we only learned about this from Master Kong.

As for the girl beside him, I'm not very clear about her. The artist didn't provide much information, only saying that she was his disciple.

However, it should have been collected recently, no more than three or four months ago.

"Are the other party naturalized citizens from the Land of Misfortune?"

Li Wushou listened quietly to Elder Gongsun's reply, and after the other party finished speaking, he murmured in surprise.

Elder Gongsun nodded seriously to confirm:

"Yes, High Priest, it is said that they helped Star Moon City refine a lot of incense that time, and also expanded the boundaries of the Star Moon City God's seal quite a bit. The Dragon King even praised the Star Moon City God for this. However, few people know that it was actually the painter's doing."

Li Wushou nodded slowly, calculating the information in his mind.

After a long time, I went through everything.

Li Wushou finally had a general idea in mind and determined some directions.

The unknown was the root of the panic. With a clearer idea in mind, Li Wushou calmed down again.

A vertical line appeared between Chi Xiu's brows as he walked out of the Three Immortals Pavilion, his figure slowly shrinking until it was the size of a palm.

"Elder Yun, once we arrive at Suspended Mountain, please send Chi Xiu down from Suspended Mountain as soon as possible."

As Li Wushou spoke, Chi Xiu walked up to Elder Yun.

Elder Yun noticed Li Wushou's seriousness, and respectfully agreed, taking the Chi Xiu and placing it in his personal storage treasure.

At the same time, in the Land of Misfortune, an old snail was wandering outside the Valley of the Moth King.

Guided by divine inspiration, they rushed into the Valley of the Moth King.

Having prepared everything, Li Wushou closed his eyes to rest.

After a long while, the golden flying boat trembled and passed through the barrier of the suspended mountain.

A moment later, it slowly came to a stop above the suspended, floating palace.

The raising of the heavenly gods has officially begun!

(End of this chapter)