Longevity Candle

Chapter 122 Treating the entire mortal world as an illusion

Jiang Zhu led Zhang Ming to the home of a wealthy man.

He also cautioned, "There are limitations to magic. You must not attack officials, as they are tainted with the dragon energy of the nation's fortune, which will suppress your power and break your magic."

"Teacher, really, really?" Zhang Ming asked, his face conflicted.

From a young age, he studied books and learned that one should be upright and not do petty theft.

That's how he taught his students.

But now, his own teacher is leading him to steal.

“You can watch your students starve to death.” Jiang Zhu tapped him on the head. “Don’t be so dense. Just steal from the wicked, isn’t that enough?”

Zhang Ming lowered his head, behaving very obediently, letting him scold him without daring to talk back.

He respects his teachers and values ​​their teachings, and he has learned very well.

Looking at the courtyard wall in front of them, Jiang Zhu led Zhang Ming and slowly merged into it, not rushing to pass through: "We must scout ahead before passing through the wall. If there are people, don't rush through. Just leave your eyes exposed and observe the situation..."

Zhang Ming was very nervous and felt guilty, but he still listened attentively.

After confirming that no one was around, Jiang Zhu led him through the wall and quickly arrived at a room, where they once again blended into the wall to observe.

This is the servants' room, and it smells terrible.

Jiang Zhu led him through several rooms until they finally found the wealthy man's room, which contained jewelry, land deeds, and loose silver.

“Someone’s coming…” Zhang Ming grabbed Jiang Zhu’s left arm nervously, his legs going weak: “Master, run!”

Jiang Zhu chuckled and led him into the room.

Unexpectedly, the man pushed open the door and entered. Jiang Zhu had anticipated this and led him to the back of the room.

Zhang Ming was terrified, but thankfully he wasn't discovered.

Soon, soft, seductive music filled the room.

"It is offensive to public morals, it is offensive to public morals."

Zhang Ming covered his face, his skin turning red.

“Hey, you’re acting like a little girl. You adulterers, don’t you know any shame? You’ve finally realized it,” Jiang Zhu said.

"Adulterous couple?" Zhang Ming was taken aback.

“Take a closer look. That man isn’t a wealthy man at all; he’s clearly a guard and the wealthy man’s wife,” Jiang Zhu said.

Zhang Ming's eyes widened, and he wanted to exclaim, but he quickly covered his mouth.

Jiang Zhu smiled slightly and led him to another room.

"Master, these adulterers should be drowned in a pig cage. Are we just going to leave like this?" Zhang Ming said through gritted teeth.

"What's it to you?" Jiang Zhu glanced at him. "Don't forget the purpose of this trip."

“But didn’t we just see the silver?” Zhang Ming said.

"The money is your problem; I'll help you borrow some grain."

Jiang Zhu led him to the wealthy man's granary. These large households all had their own granaries.

Especially in these chaotic times, storing up food is of utmost importance.

Looking at the overflowing granaries, Zhang Ming's eyes turned red. How many people had starved to death in the city?
But here, the granary is full!

“There’s a cellar here, and even more grain down there,” Jiang Zhu said calmly.

Zhang Ming fell silent, feeling a dryness in his throat, unable to speak.

Jiang Zhu said softly, "What's wrong? Do you feel that the world is very unfair?"

"Teacher," he opened his mouth, but finally, his eyes bloodshot, he asked, "Could we move everything?"

Jiang Zhu was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Haha..."

"Stop laughing, stop laughing! If someone hears us, we'll be in big trouble!" Zhang Ming said urgently, quickly covering his mouth.

"Don't worry, I can't hear you." Jiang Zhu took his hand away: "Just take everything. You have nowhere to hide it, so just leave it here. Come and get it if you want it."

“That’s true.” Zhang Ming nodded.

“I’ll teach you something else,” Jiang Zhu said thoughtfully. “You can also use magic to collect the grain. Normally, only servants come here to collect the grain. They don’t know much about such things. But if you show up outside, even if someone suspects you, you can prove that you didn’t do it yourself.”

Zhang Ming was dumbfounded. Was his immortal master really that experienced?

Jiang Zhu took two bags of rice and a jar of wine before leaving with him.

Zhang Ming also carried two bags of rice and left the manor together.

Back at the school, Zhang Ming packed the grain into a rice bin and burned all the bags to leave no trace.

After doing all this, his whole body was trembling slightly. It was the first time he had done something like this, and he was terrified.

Jiang Zhu sat on the roof, drinking the liquor he had brought along; it was quite strong, pure grain liquor.

Zhang Ming sat down next to him: "Teacher, you are a celestial being, why would you bring me to do such a thing?"

“Who said I’m a celestial being?” Jiang Zhu glanced at him and pointed to the sky: “There’s nothing in the sky, and certainly no celestial beings.”

"Teacher, you're not an immortal, how do you know there's nothing in the sky?" Zhang Ming asked.

"Although I am not an immortal, I have been to heaven." Jiang Zhu smiled.

"Is the teacher a Qi cultivator?" Zhang Ming asked.

"I suppose so," Jiang Zhu said. "You want to become a Qi Refiner?"

"Of course I want to," Zhang Ming said seriously. "Qi cultivators live on dew and wind, and do not eat grains. That way I can give up my food rations."

“You are now,” Jiang Zhu said.

Zhang Ming said, "But I can't summon wind and rain, I can only perform magic tricks, and I still need to eat ordinary food."

"If you cultivate diligently, you will naturally become a Qi cultivator. The method I will pass on to you is the authentic Taiping Dao method, which cultivates essence, qi, and spirit, and refines essence into qi to enter the path of immortality."

Jiang Zhu said, "It's just that the focus is different. What you've learned is illusion magic, and you're not good at fighting."

"Can illusionists engage in magical combat?" Zhang Ming asked.

"You want to fight someone?" Jiang Zhu looked at him in surprise.

“The world is about to descend into chaos; everyone needs some means of self-preservation,” Zhang Ming said in a low voice.

Jiang Zhu pondered for a moment and said, "You can incorporate the Taiping Sword Technique into it and practice it into a phantom sword, but it is still not as good as a Qi Refining Master who is good at fighting."

Zhang Ming opened his mouth, seemingly somewhat disappointed.

"What, you don't want to learn magic tricks anymore?" Jiang Zhu asked.

Zhang Ming shook his head and said, "No, it's just that I feel a little disappointed, not disappointed, as I can't compare to those Qi Refiners."

"People always want to learn the most powerful techniques, but there is no such thing as an invincible magic in this world."

Jiang Zhu shook his head: "The truly powerful ones are those who study immortal arts. There was once a very powerful illusionist who was no match for even mountain and sea spirits, immortal masters, and Qi cultivators."

"Even a Qi Refining cultivator is no match for them?" Zhang Ming exclaimed in shock.

He knew nothing about the spirits of mountains and seas and the immortal masters and Taoists; he had only heard people mention them, but they could not explain them clearly.

In his knowledge, Qi cultivators were legendary figures, capable of summoning wind and rain, like immortals.

“His name is Fusheng. Life is but a dream, the mortal world is all illusion, but he is the only one who is real. He turned the entire mortal world into an illusion to hone his illusionary arts,” Jiang Zhu said.

Passing down illusion magic and creating magicians can be seen as a way to commemorate this fleeting life.

"To regard the entire mortal world as an illusion?" Zhang Ming was stunned. What kind of powerful illusionist was that?
Even a Qi cultivator cannot regard the entire mortal world as an illusion.

"Then how do you know whether I, your teacher, am real or an illusion?" Jiang Zhu looked at him with a smile and stretched out his left hand: "If I lend you another ray of light, you will wake up from your dream. Do you believe me?"

"Am I dreaming?" Zhang Ming's eyes widened, and he pinched himself hard, feeling the pain. "Impossible, I'm not dreaming."

"Then I'll borrow a ray of moonlight."

A sliver of moonlight appeared at Jiang Zhu's fingertip, and the surrounding void, like shattered porcelain, developed a crack, which then rapidly spread.

To Zhang Ming's astonishment, he appeared in the school, teaching the students how to plant peaches and distributing them peaches.

The thin boy stepped forward and asked, "Master, when can we learn to grow peaches?"

Familiar words!
Zhang Ming froze, looking outside but Jiang Zhu was nowhere to be seen. He looked at the roof, but there was no sign of her there either.

He hurriedly ran back into the house and looked at the rice jar; the rice was still inside.

"Is this not a dream? Or am I still dreaming?" Zhang Ming muttered to himself.

"Master, what's wrong?" The children looked at him with concern, wondering what had happened to Zhang Ming.

"Why is there rice in this rice jar?" Zhang Ming asked.

"Master, what's wrong? Didn't you conjure this up with magic last night?" The children looked at him in confusion.

"last night?"

Zhang Ming fell silent. He had slept inside the house last night and hadn't gone out.

So this is what a magician is.

Life is but a dream, the mortal world is but an illusion, for he alone reigns supreme!

Zhang Ming suddenly burst into wild laughter: "Hahaha, it's all fake, it's all fake..."

"Master, what's wrong with you?" The children looked at him in alarm, wondering why he was acting this way.

“Master is alright, Master is fine.” Zhang Ming’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

For a moment, he felt that Jiang Zhu, this celestial being, was something he had imagined.

Magic tricks are also just my own imagination.

Everything felt so real, but who says that illusion isn't real?
The rice in the rice jar is the real proof!
Jiang Zhu simply wanted him to understand that the power of an illusionist is such that they can even steal a person's time, or even their entire life!
"Master Zhang".

A clear, crisp voice called out, and a pretty young girl stood outside carrying a basket of peaches.

"Yunmeng." Zhang Ming hurriedly came out of the house and said, "Why are you here?"

"I've brought you some peaches. Business isn't good right now, so we don't need this many." Jiang Yunmeng lifted a basket of peaches; she was incredibly strong.

"Thank you, but we really can't teach you magic tricks," Zhang Ming said with a helpless tone.

Jiang Yunmeng wanted to learn magic tricks more than once. It wasn't that he was hiding it from her, but when he tried to teach her, he found that Jiang Yunmeng was completely unaffected by illusions.

Every time she starts teaching, Jiang Yunmeng sees through her mistakes. How can she teach like that?
Even if it's an illusion, it can't fool him at all, making him look like a clown.

“He can definitely teach me. Tell me where he is, and I’ll go find him to learn,” Jiang Yunmeng said.

“I don’t know where my master is either,” Zhang Ming sighed.

"An old man?" Jiang Yunmeng was taken aback.

"Master is a celestial being who has lived for countless years. We respectfully address him as 'Old Man'."

Zhang Ming bowed respectfully to the sky and said, "I can tell you that my master's name is Jiang Zhu, and his pen name is Fusheng."

"Floating Life?" A hint of confusion flashed in Jiang Yunmeng's eyes, as if it were somewhat familiar. She unconsciously murmured, "Floating Life, Floating Life."

“Master said that life is like a dream, the mortal world is all illusion, only magic is real. If you want to learn magic tricks, only Master can teach you.”

Zhang Mingdao.

Jiang Zhu's magic tricks fooled Jiang Yunmeng back then, but he couldn't do it when it was Jiang Yunmeng's turn.

"Life is but a dream, the mortal world is all illusion, only he is real."

Jiang Yunmeng muttered to herself, as if she had lost her soul, then turned and left, ignoring Zhang Ming's calls.

Zhang Ming was worried, so he followed her until she returned to the tavern. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and return to the school.

Jiang Zhu sat on the roof of the tavern, drinking strong liquor, but did not go to see Jiang Yunmeng.

However, the Yunmeng Sword within her body seemed to be affected, releasing sword energy that nourished her body.

As if sensing something, Jiang Yunmeng looked up and saw the figure in white, blurting out, "Fusheng..."

"Pfft."

Jiang Zhu spat out the wine in his mouth and stared at her in astonishment: "Little girl, what did you call me?"

“Fusheng.” Jiang Yunmeng looked up, lightly touched the ground with her toes, and leaped onto the roof: “Master Zhang said that your name is Jiang Zhu, and your pen name is Fusheng.”

"Don't listen to his nonsense. There is another person in this world, a magician who died a long time ago." Jiang Zhu said, "My name is Jiang Zhu."

"If you are not Fusheng, then why do you know magic tricks?" Jiang Yunmeng asked curiously.

“Because I remembered him, I performed a magic trick,” Jiang Zhu said.

"Can you teach me magic tricks?" Jiang Yunmeng looked at him expectantly.

Jiang Zhu asked, "Why do you want to learn magic tricks?"

"Because it's fun," Jiang Yunmeng replied without hesitation. "I want to make Father happy. I also like watching magic shows, but Master Zhang's magic shows are too crude and boring to watch."

"What kind of magic tricks do you want to learn?" Jiang Zhu asked with a smile, then lay down on the roof.

Jiang Yunmeng said, "I don't know anything about magic tricks. I only know about planting peaches and the Immortal's Rope."

Jiang Zhu pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll perform another magic trick for you."

"Great!" Jiang Yunmeng clapped her hands excitedly. "I want to see a new magic trick!"

"Lie down," Jiang Zhu said. "Look at the sky; the sun is setting now."

Do you want to become the sunset?

“The sunset is boring, let me turn it into a sky full of stars for you,” Jiang Zhu said.

"How is that possible? No one can change the weather... Wow, stars, moon, it's...it's real!"

Jiang Yunmeng stared wide-eyed at the sky with excitement.

What should have been a beautiful sunset is now replaced by a sky full of stars and a bright moon, dazzling and splendid.

That endless galaxy seemed so close, almost within reach.

"Is this magic trick good?" Jiang Zhu asked.

"Okay, Jiang Zhu, I want to go to the moon and see it. Is it possible to go up?" Jiang Yunmeng stared at the bright moon with fascination. She knew it was fake, but she couldn't tell that it was fake.

"The moon isn't anything special, it's terribly desolate, so let's not go see it." Jiang Zhu smiled faintly, the starry sky disappeared, and the sun was still setting.

"Okay." Jiang Yunmeng took a long time to come to her senses: "You're amazing. How can I learn magic tricks?"

"Once you master the magic trick, you might not like it anymore, just like Zhang Ming, who knew it was all fake."

Jiang Yunmeng fell silent.

“You have a lot of little bugs on you. It’s not suitable for a young girl to raise bugs,” Jiang Zhu suddenly said.

Jiang Yunmeng looked at him and said, "But I feel that they are very close, like family."

As she spoke, a golden centipede crawled out of her sleeve, and a small silver snake climbed onto her shoulder, curiously watching Jiang Zhu...

(End of this chapter)