Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 152 The "Female Corpse" Under the Bridge

After some time, Lin Jiang delivered the small ginseng to the Liang residence.

When Liang Huashan saw Xiaoshan Shen coming over, he was very happy. He prepared candied hawthorns and a rattle drum, as if he were treating his own child.

However, the young ginseng didn't buy it:

"I'm not a child! Don't you have children?!"

“My son is dead. My grandson is dead too. My great-grandson doesn’t live with me, so I probably don’t have any children,” Liang Huashan said with a smile.

The little ginseng fell silent.

I just feel even more sorry for the artist.

Before Liang Huashan and Xiaoshan Shen's teaching could begin, Lin Jiang decided to take his leave.

Upon seeing his actions, Liang Huashan inquired:

"Would the young master not wait a moment at my humble abode?"

"It is enough for Master Liang to take care of Shencao Jun." Lin Jiang said with a smile, "It is rare to have been in the capital for more than a month, and I have not yet been able to appreciate the splendor of the imperial palace."

"Indeed, one should travel extensively. As the capital of all dynasties and under the emperor's nose, there are many things worth seeing."

Liang Huashan wholeheartedly agreed, and then, after a moment's thought, he took out several sheets of Xuan paper from the table:

"Young master, please accept this first."

"what is this?"

“I didn’t like the Xuan paper used outside, so I prepared some myself,” Liang Huashan explained with a smile. “Its main function is to connect letters. After I finish teaching Shencaojun, calligraphy and painting reminders will appear on the paper.”

"Thank you, Master Liang."

Lin Jiang put the Xuan paper into a bag.

Seeing that Lin Jiang was about to leave, Xiao Shanshen was clearly filled with anxiety:
You must come back soon!

"I'll come back as soon as Shencao-jun finishes his painting lessons."

"Make sure you agree on this beforehand, you absolutely can't keep me waiting."

"Of course, how could I bear to leave Shencao-jun alone?"

After smiling and saying these words to Xiaoshan Shen, Lin Jiang bowed to Liang Huashan and took his leave, walking out of the Liang residence through the main gate.

Next came a day trip to Kyoto.

The capital city was enormous, larger than any city Lin Jiang had ever visited before. The Zhuque Avenue, running north to south, could accommodate twelve carriages traveling side by side, and the eight imperial streets surrounding the central palace were all paved with bluestone.

Along the street, towering buildings rise and fall, with the Rose Pavilion and Carpet Shop, run by foreign merchants, standing side by side. The sounds of zithers and lutes from the Imperial Music Bureau often accompany the jingling of copper bells from fortune-telling stalls. The aroma of incense wafts from the stalls along the street, and pleasing tunes are frequently heard by the roadside. Many people in the city enjoy singing, whether they are shopkeepers or young ladies from wealthy families; their songs all sound like singing.

It might be a certain trend.

The city was so big that Lin Jiang estimated it would take him a month or two to see it all if he wandered around at a leisurely pace.

For the past two days he had been heading north, and on this day, as he passed the Tea Horse Road, he suddenly heard the sound of flowing water.

A clear stream, about ten feet wide, flows through the street.

I recall seeing a tributary of the moat flowing through the wall before entering the city. I suppose the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works dug canals to divert water and created these streams.

The stream was still wide, with a few painted boats and light boats drifting along the waves, and the stone arch bridge was crowded with onlookers.

Faintly, Lin Jiang heard some noise:
"Let me tell you all something honest today. When it comes to being a good person, I'm always the best!"

"Wow, you've got a really thick skin!"

Looking up at the bridge, I saw two men in long gowns performing a crosstalk routine.

The two men, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, were both wearing rather inappropriate long gowns, embroidered with pudding.

Lin Jiang looked up and saw two artists, one tall and one short, dressed in plain clothes, sitting on the bridge railing.

Lin Jiang couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

This pair of clowns is quite a sight.

Nowadays, most of the actors in Daxing's opera troupe are still performers, and you can occasionally see a few storytellers.

However, storytellers are not the same as crosstalk performers. The former is like a novelist of this era, while the latter is shorter and more concise, and requires more oral skills.

Lin Jiang stood aside and listened for a while.

Both of them clearly have a very solid foundation in language skills, and every sentence they utter demonstrates their profound linguistic proficiency.

Unfortunately, the joke was rather old-fashioned. It was relevant to life in the capital but not to Lin Jiang. Lin Jiang couldn't understand the humor in many of the jokes and shook his head in disappointment.

Just as they were about to go up the bridge to throw some copper coins to these people, they suddenly heard a scream from below the bridge.

Lin Jiang looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old woman on the bank trembling like a leaf, covering her mouth with a blue handkerchief and pointing at the river.

A woman in plain clothes floated face down, her black hair scattered like water plants on the blue waves.

She was soaked to the bone and lay motionless in the water.

It looks like it's asleep, but it might actually be dead.

As the woman drifted along with the current, her body became stuck halfway down the riverbed, where she remained motionless.

Everyone on the road looked fearful, and no one dared to approach.

Lin Jiang blinked.

While others couldn't see it, he could clearly see that the woman floating in the water had a huge "blue" patch perched on top of her head.

Moreover, the blue color is pointing towards oneself.

Blue represents contemplation, and judging by this amount, the person is still full of energy.

He probably didn't die.

Does this woman want to talk to me?

Lin Jiang was a little puzzled, so he searched around and picked up a tree branch.

They started poking the woman with twigs.

After poking her several times, the woman finally moved.

She struggled to lift her head out of the water and turned to look in Lin Jiang's direction.

"Hello."

"Hello."

The woman glanced at the wooden stick in Lin Jiang's hand: "Did you enjoy poking around?"

"Let me see if you're still alive?" Lin Jiang said. "It seems you are indeed still alive."

"Could you lend me a hand?" the woman said. "I've been in the water for a while, and I don't have much strength in my limbs."

"Okay."

Lin Jiang reached out his hand, and the woman weakly reached out her hand as well, gripping Lin Jiang's hand.

It was very cold, but it felt very strong when you held it, even stronger than a normal adult man.

That's because she was too stiff; when she reached out, she even tried to grab Lin Jiang slightly.

But how could she possibly scratch Lin Jiang's skin?

Lin Jiang didn't even have to use any force, and the woman's fingernail just snapped open.

Half a fingernail spun and sank to the bottom of the stream.

The woman glanced at her fingernails and fell silent.

Lin Jiang ignored her and simply used a little force to pull the woman out of the water.

The woman who was pulled out of the water was lying flat on the stone bricks, her whole body soaked in water.

Those who had been watching the spectacle lost interest upon seeing this scene and dispersed in all directions.

Some went about their own business, while others simply gathered by the bridge to listen to the two performers' crosstalk.

"Thank you." The woman wrung out the dripping water from her clothes, her eyes filled with regret: "But she wasn't quite dead yet."

"Did you jump into the river on purpose?"

"Yes."

"If you really want to die, why don't you try hanging yourself?"

Lin Jiang made a choking motion with his hand at his neck.

“I tried to hang myself yesterday, but I didn’t die. And no one took me down. I was left up there in the night wind for an hour. Today I fell into the water, but I didn’t drown. I’m all wet. I have a feeling I’ll catch a cold when I get back.”

"You're not even afraid of death, yet you're afraid of catching a cold?"

“Death is just a moment, but catching a cold can make you feel unwell for days. I think it's better to die, after all, there won't be any more troubles after death.” The woman sighed sincerely, then forced herself to get up from the ground, fiddling with the hem of her skirt, and made a rather awkward curtsy.
"This humble woman, Liu Fangyue, greets my benefactor."

After hearing these words, Lin Jiang began to think about them sincerely:

"Since you wanted to die, if I pulled you out of the water, wouldn't I be considered a benefactor?"

The woman stood there in a daze for a long time, pondering for a long time, and finally her tone became somewhat hesitant:

“But you did save me, so I can’t treat you as an enemy. Let’s still consider you my benefactor.”

Lin Jiang nodded, thinking that what the woman said made a lot of sense.

"I haven't even asked for your name yet, but you've already saved my life. I must repay you."

"Just call me Zhu Dabian."

“Zhu Da… that’s a concise title.” Liu Fangyue pondered for a moment, “but it’s really hard to think of a way to repay your kindness. If I were to serve you like a slave, I already have a master and can’t be your slave for the time being; if I were to repay you with my body, my body is too weak, and I’m afraid that our beautiful wedding night would turn into a funeral.”

He paused slightly at this point:
"How about this, I know a little about divination, would you mind casting a hexagram for my benefactor?"

"You actually have this skill?"

“That’s for sure.” Liu Fangyue said, pointing to a stall not far away. “It’s better than those fortune tellers who make up stories by touching customers’ palms.”

Lin Jiang looked in that direction and saw a blind old man touching people's palms.

"That's fine."

Lin Jiang had nothing else to do, so he agreed.

The two of them simply found a clean spot nearby and sat on a bridge pier.

"How do I calculate it?"

"You just need to tell me your birth date and time."

Lin Jiang shook his head:

"I don't know my birth date and time."

He genuinely had no idea; the original owner had never dealt with this kind of thing before.

After Lin Jiang finished speaking, he could clearly see that Liu Fangyue's face froze.

It is truly rare to find someone who doesn't know their own birth date and time.

Is it that strange?

Liu Fangyue remained silent for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh:
"Could you please show me your palm so I can read your palm?"

Just as Lin Jiangxia was spreading his hands, he suddenly heard the voice of the tiger robe coming from beside him.

"Young Master, Fang Gutou said that this woman seems to have some ulterior motives."

The tiger-robed man's voice was extremely soft, and only Lin Jiang could hear it.

"What should I do?"

Lin Jiang also asked in a low voice.

"Please wait a moment... Here, please place the Xuan paper that Master Liang gave you in your hand, and we will use some methods to cover it up."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jiang took out a sheet of Xuan paper from his pocket.

A thin layer of light covered his palms, and the lantern emitted a faint glow from inside his sleeves.

All of this was perfectly integrated into the sheet of Xuan paper, and the lines on Lin Jiang's palm also changed at that moment.

Liu Fangyue vaguely seemed to see something, but the change was too fast for her to see clearly.

Although she had some doubts, Liu Fangyue still grasped Lin Jiang's outstretched hands and examined them carefully.

There was nothing unusual; it was just his own palmistry.

only……

Liu Fangyue's expression couldn't help but look a little strange.

A thief's life?

(End of this chapter)