Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 160 Key
After exiting the inner palace, Lin Jiang immediately began searching the room.

Before long, they found a map of the area surrounding the capital.

These are items I brought along when buying daily necessities, with detailed markings of the distribution of towns around the capital.

The fingertip slides along the map, eventually stopping outside the towering city wall.

The entire northern region has only one town, Yumai Town.

The key that Liu Fangyue mentioned is hidden in this town.

Lin Jiang's expression shifted slightly as he recalled the stone Buddha.

Lin Jiang still clearly remembers what happened in the Yu Mai at that time.

Could it be that the stone Buddha appeared that day in search of the key?

Upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that this group of people came prepared.

The stone Buddha went over there to get the key, and then casually tapped the Ministry of Justice.

The capital city is indeed full of intrigue and scheming.

Upon closer reflection, Lin Jiang still felt a slight sense of unease.

First of all, if Sun Zhongzhen was on the same side as the General, why would he leave the key in Yumai Town?
Can it really be kept for this long?

Or perhaps the stone Buddha was simply there to protect the key from being stolen?

Why did the Stone Buddha insist on killing a few people to lure the Ministry of Justice there?

Whether he was looking for the key or guarding it, no one realized that that place was the safest.

Although he didn't give himself away at the time, Lin Jiang still felt that this action was a bit unnecessary.

After thinking about it carefully for a long time, I still couldn't figure it out, so I simply put the matter out of my mind for the time being.

Let's think about what to do next.

If I were to rush over there rashly, it might arouse the suspicion of those people.

If they want to find the key in the remaining veins, they will probably have to do some disguise.

After a moment's thought, Lin Jiang went to the courtyard.

He found Gongxuan, who was drawing talismans with a brush.

Upon hearing Lin Jiang's footsteps, Gong Xuan turned his head to look.

"Young Master Lin? Would you like to tour the capital again? Or perhaps play a couple of rounds of leaf cards?"

"Could it be that I only seek out the Taoist priest for amusement each time?"

Lin Jiang chuckled to himself.

Gong Xuan thought about his recent time in the capital and nodded very solemnly:

"I thought you wanted to learn my methods of pleasure."

"No, not at all." Lin Jiang shook his head, then chuckled.
"I've come to see you, Master, because I have a favor to ask of you."

……

Has Lin Jiang made any unusual moves recently?

"As usual, he just wanders around the capital every day." Gongyang Wei flipped through the daily secret reports from his undercover agents. "But he did meet Sun Zhong a few days ago."

"Sun Zhong? An old friend of Lin Shengfeng?"

"That's right. Lin Jiang had dinner at the Sun residence the night before last, and that's how we met."

"Lin Shengfeng has a box, and the general said there's a key in that box. The key should be with Sun Zhong." The scholar recalled his initial mission in Baishan, which was to assist Zhu Mingyuan in investigating Lin Shengfeng's box: "Sun Zhong didn't give him the key?"

“There’s no way Sun Zhong would give him the key.” Gongyang Wei sneered. “The key isn’t even in his possession.”

"What do you mean?"

“Besides us, the civil officials have also long coveted that miraculous method of ascending to immortality, but their method is different from ours; they've made it much more convoluted.”

"I know about this, but what does it have to do with the key?" the scholar asked, puzzled.

Gongyang Wei, naturally thinking of the faces of those civil officials in the court, couldn't help but let out a cold snort:
"When Sun Zhong returned to the capital seriously injured, he feared that the civil officials would take the opportunity to seize the key, so he hid in Yumai Town using secret techniques. He thought he had done this perfectly, but one of the people accompanying him was a member of the Ministry of War, who paid attention to Sun Zhong's movements and discovered his little trick."

After saying this, he let out a long sigh:
"Unfortunately, what Sun Zhong was after all plotting was the secret technique of ascending to immortality hidden in the box. Although the generals of the Ministry of War knew the key to it, they were unable to find it anywhere."

"So, Zhou Canjun went to Yumai Town back then to find this key?"

The scholar immediately realized what was happening, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Exactly. Giving the Ministry of Justice a warning was just a side effect."

"Is anyone still searching?"

“Of course we have them.” Gongyang Wei nodded. “The box and the key are both essential.”

"Couldn't you just take the box and force it open?"

"I don't know, perhaps it's impossible." Gongyang Wei shrugged. "Since the General says it's impossible, he must have his reasons. After all, only the General has seen the box."

At this point, Gongyang Wei paused, glancing around at the table.
"Speaking of that female Taoist priest, she seems to have been out of the public eye for quite some time now?"

"I truly do not know. Her whereabouts have always been elusive."

"It's better not to waste our energy on these江湖客 (jianghu ke, meaning wandering martial arts practitioners)." Gongyang Wei curled his lip: "These profit-driven people are neither obedient nor easy to find, so they really can't be relied on."

The scholar wanted to retort, but the image of the woman's bright smile flashed through his mind, and he swallowed his words.

like……

It does make some sense.

As the two were talking, a minor official in black robes suddenly walked in from outside.

The junior official respectfully handed a piece of paper to Gongyang Wei. Gongyang Wei took it, glanced at it, and then smiled:

“This young master Lin is indeed staying out of it. Look, he's strolling around the city again today. What a good loafer.”

……

Outside the north gate of the capital, a man with a cold, hard face and a menacing air was stopped by city guards holding halberds. "Who are you?"

"The butcher in the city."

"Where?"

"Yumai Town, slaughter a pig for the masters."

The guards sized up the burly man, who exuded a fierce aura, and then let him pass after sheathing his halberd.

After leaving the city, the man walked a distance ahead before taking out a lantern from his sleeve.

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

The illusionary magic of this lantern, combined with the deceptive art of words, is indeed very effective.

The thing covering his face at this moment was the first cougar made from Tiger Robe, which was the "bandit hybrid" formed by mixing the souls of many mountain bandits.

This hybrid's appearance was completely fabricated out of thin air; he was a burly, middle-aged man with a menacing look in his eyes, the kind of person you'd be hard to mess with in the martial arts world.

This combination of a human and a lantern became Lin Jiang's best mask.

A normal person would never be able to tell that Lin Jiang's face is hidden under that outer layer.

Lin Jiang certainly wouldn't need to be so careful when handling other matters, but since he was going to Yumai Town to find the key, he naturally had to be extra cautious.

During the daytime, he entrusted Gongxuan to use a talisman to disguise Chen Dajiang as himself, and then had Chen Dajiang take a stroll in the city, while he took the opportunity to secretly leave the city.

Lin Jiang rented an old horse at a post station on the outskirts of the city, and the journey took him two hours while he was disguised.

By the time they entered Yumai Town, it was already getting a little dark.

Lin Jiang simply stopped his horse at the post station corresponding to Yumai Town, ate and drank some simple food there, booked a private room, and went in to rest.

After entering the room, he closed his eyes and focused his mind, stepping into the inner palace once again.

At this moment, Liu Fangyue neither assisted the little golden figure with its work nor hung it from the roof beam. She was simply sitting quietly in the hall in a daze. She only got up to greet him when he arrived.

"We've arrived in town. Please check the exact location for me."

Liu Fangyue nodded in agreement. The altar that hadn't been dismantled yesterday was ready to be used, so she resumed her spell. However, she frowned as the ritual concluded.

"How?"

"The key should be in the northern mountains, but the exact location is unclear. I really can't calculate the exact location for my employer."

The mountains in the north...

Lin Jiang had a very deep impression of that mountain peak.

At that time, the mine was located in the north.

Just thinking about that cave made Lin Jiang's mouth water.

Lin Jiang said that the food cooked by the cook at home was delicious, but the best thing he had ever eaten was the large "Dharma Gate" dressed as a stone Buddha.

Each piece of ore was incredibly fresh to the core.

Unfortunately, the stone Buddha was driven away.

I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again. If we do, Lin Jiang will definitely find a way to get him into his palace.

The technique in the Stone Buddha's hand might be a deadly move for others, but for Lin Jiang, it was a rare and valuable technique!

Having gathered their thoughts, and having ascertained the approximate location, they could no longer afford to wait idly here.

Judging that it was already late at night, he blew out the candle, climbed out of the window, and stealthily made his way to the mine.

Upon arriving at the mine, Lin Jiang found it unattended. Several wooden fences stood across the entrance, the vermilion seals on the fences still glowing faintly.

It was obvious that the registrar of Yumai Town was terrified by what happened a few days ago, and probably hadn't dared to send anyone into the mine for some time.

Lin Jiang squatted down and looked at the seal, noticing that it was emitting a faint glow.

Common methods used by government offices to prevent theft.

Similar to the bell that Gong Xuan tied to the courtyard with a red rope when Gong Xuan and Lin Jiang were still in Baishan Town, if someone rushed in without regard for the consequences, it would trigger a sharp whistle, alerting the people in the government office.

If it were before, Lin Jiang really wouldn't know how to deal with this method. He could only think of a way to dig a hole from the side to get out. But since Liu Fangyue entered his body, he has learned some "special" methods.

Lin Jiang squatted down in front of the seal:

"I need to discuss something with you. I'll just go in and take a look, and I'll be back in a short time. Could you please make an exception for me?"

The seal remained silent, as if it were dead.

Then, Lin Jiang took out a heavy silver ingot from his pocket and placed it directly in front of the seal.

After doing all that, he went inside along the seal.

The seal made no sound, so it was definitely not alive.

One of the methods of punishment is bribery.

Everything has a spirit. Not only people can accept bribes, but objects can too. When it comes to treasures, it's called taking valuables; when it comes to ordinary objects, it's called accepting bribes. Unless an object is specially trained to resist bribes, it will generally be ineffective in the face of "bribes".

In this way, Lin Jiang successfully entered the cave and followed his memory all the way deeper into the cave.

He soon arrived at the fork in the mine shafts again.

"Can you determine which direction it is?" Lin Jiang asked Liu Fangyue.

"I'm sorry, Master, it's like a thick fog has descended on the mountains. All my methods are useless against it, and I can't figure out what's going on."

Lin Jiang did not continue to beg Liu Fangyue.

He planned to randomly choose a path and try walking in.

However, before Lin Jiang could even move, a chilling wind blew from the depths of the cave.

There seemed to be some whispers carried on the wind.

Lin Jiang's brows twitched slightly.

There are people inside the cave?!
(End of this chapter)