Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 171 Starry Night Accompanying
When Liang Huashan offered to accompany him, Lin Jiang paused almost imperceptibly.

The thought of "This isn't quite right" rolled around on his tongue a few times before he finally swallowed it back down.

There doesn't seem to be anything inappropriate about it; it's just going out together.

only……

Is it really appropriate to have someone like Dianxing following you around so openly on this mission to find someone?

Seemingly sensing Lin Jiang's thoughts, Liang Huashan chuckled and took out a painting.

With a gentle touch of the fingertips, a lifelike self-portrait leaps onto the paper.

As he flicked the canvas with his finger, the figure in the painting seemed to come alive, its eyes sparkling.

“The spirit within the painting is profound, and the ink brings life to life.” Liang Huashan laughed, “If I go in person, my old friends in the capital will probably come running, which would be troublesome. It would be better to let the spirit within the painting go with me.”

After Lin Jiang took the scroll, he realized that the figures in the painting were in sync with Liang Huashan in front of him.

Liang Huashan stroked the outline of the figure in the painting and explained:

"Since this is not the real body, we can't expect it to fight, but it's more than enough to teach Koyama ginseng painting techniques."

How is it arranged on a regular basis?

Should I roll it up and put it in my sleeve? Or put it in storage space? It doesn't feel right to just leave it anywhere.

"Just place it anywhere; this magical treasure isn't so weak that it'll break."

Not knowing what to say, he took the scroll and bid farewell to Liang Huashan.

Little Ginseng followed Lin Jiang's clothes and climbed skillfully to its favorite spot—Lin Jiang's sleeve.

She always liked this place, and she always liked it whenever she was with Lin Jiang.

Hearing the soft rustling from his sleeve, Lin Jiang suddenly had a thought: Once Xiao Shanshen's cultivation improves, he might create his own grotto in his sleeve.

The ginseng sprouted half its body from Lin Jiang's sleeve, its whiskers gently swaying towards Liang Huashan:
"Goodbye."

Liang Huashan responded with a smile and a wave.

As Lin Jiang turned to leave, a corner of the scroll in his sleeve suddenly slipped out. The eyebrows and eyes of the person in the painting emerged from the silk, meeting Xiao Shancan's gaze:

"meet again."

Little Ginseng blinked its bean-like eyes, then exclaimed:
"Wow! I forgot you were coming!"

"You can't fall behind on your lessons today."

"Oh……"

The ginseng was still a little wilted.

It's like a student who was sent to tutoring classes when they were young, and suddenly, because of some reason, they can skip the class. They are happy, but then they remember that the teacher also has to come along.

Moreover, this teacher also had to supervise her drawing.

Upon arriving outside the mansion, Jiang Jinyue noticed the small ginseng in Lin Jiang's sleeve. The ginseng tugged at Lin Jiang's finger, and Lin Jiang, understanding, held out his hands, and the ginseng bowed to Jiang Jinyue.
"Master Jiang!"

"Little Ginseng, you're here too." Jiang Jinyue smiled as she looked at the little head peeking out from Lin Jiang's sleeve.

She also had a good impression of Xiaoshanshen and liked this little guy who always called himself a hero.

"Yes! I also want to go and punish evil and promote good."

Jiang Jin stretched out his index finger and touched the head of the small ginseng in Lin Jiang's sleeve.

This trip to Qingniwa is just to find someone; there may not be any opportunity to punish evil and promote good.

However, Jiang Jinyue didn't want to upset Xiaoshan Shen, so she simply didn't say anything more.

As her gaze swept over the scroll in Lin Jiang's hand, she raised an eyebrow slightly: "Young master, you actually managed to acquire Liang Huashan's calligraphy?"

"Um, I guess so?"

Lin Jiang gave a vague reply, recalling that Tiepizi had also come to ask for paintings before. Clearly, Liang Huashan's paintings, besides being elegant, also had the miraculous effect of warding off evil and protecting the wearer. So he went along with it and said:
"Because of our old friendship, I specially asked Master Liang to paint a picture of peace."

"Besides Liang Huashan, the only other skilled person in the capital willing to help others is Manager Guo," Jiang Jinyue said. "However, Manager Guo charges money."

Fairness in buying and selling is also a virtue.

While chatting, they arrived at the East Gate, where they met up with Li Fang and the other person, and together they headed northeast towards Qingniwa.

Qingniwa is about a ten-day horse journey from the capital.

On the way, Lin Jiang asked Jiang Jinyue a few more questions:
"I've heard of Qingniwa before, but I don't know exactly what this place is for. Could you tell me about it?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jinyue also recalled for a moment:

"Qingniwa in the north is a large coastal city. It has the famous northern port of Qingni Port in the whole of Daxing. It can be directly connected to the south by sea and also trade with the eastern sea countries."

Upon hearing the name "Eastern Country," Lin Jiang subconsciously recalled the map inside the palace.

The Great Xing Kingdom is located to the east on the map, but there is a slightly larger landmass in the northeastern sea. This landmass is not like a certain island nation in his previous life's memories, but rather resembles a continent infested with kangaroo spiders.

"What is the Eastern Sea Kingdom like?"

"Some have cheeks on their necks, some have horns on their heads, and some are covered in hard armor. It is said that the most noble one has horns and is good at controlling water veins."

Lin Jiang: "?"

This description…

Why do these people from the Eastern Kingdom look like the Four Dragon Kings?

"Is there anything else besides that?"

"Anything else? I don't know about that." Jiang Jinyue was shaking her head when Li Fang suddenly chimed in, "A few days ago, the Casting Division sent people to search for treasure, but they lost some of their best men. I heard that some of them almost didn't make it back."

They must be referring to the group with the tinplate.

I wonder what's happened to Tinker lately; he hasn't contacted me in a long time.

After finishing his business at Qingniwa, if there was still time, Lin Jiang planned to find Tiepizi to ask about the tomb and then explore it himself.

This is a good opportunity to open a teleportation point.

After a half-day's journey, the horses arrived at a town on the eastern outskirts of the capital at dusk.

This small town is a pastoral town in the capital. Many of the fresh meats in the capital are supplied by this town. It is surrounded by a large plain where sheep are the most common livestock, followed by cattle and pigs.

Nowadays, the most suitable techniques for farming in this great region are cultivation techniques and wooden frame systems. The former can produce more seeds, while the latter can create large wooden oxen and horses for large tracts of land to be cultivated.

However, spiritual practice is too expensive, and ordinary people can't afford it. But if they pool their money, they can buy an old ox.

The prices of pork and mutton differ in the outskirts of the capital. Outside the capital area, where there are many pig farmers, pork is cheap. However, once inside the capital, the price of mutton is reversed because nobles prefer mutton.

Dinner was chosen in Guandaoyi Town, which was close to the capital and had no prohibition against slaughtering. Furthermore, since the officials from the Dali Temple could reimburse expenses, everyone chose to order the most expensive dishes.

They ordered a dish of boiled mutton and a dish of mutton head skewers.

The former is a clear stewed mutton with walnuts, which is said to be highly praised by the literati and scholars of the capital. Lin Jiang sipped the mutton soup and found the broth to be exceptionally delicious. Although it had a slight gamey smell, it was exactly the essence of the flavor. If the gamey smell were completely removed, how would one know that it was mutton?

The mutton head skewers resembled the beginnings of meat spring rolls, with thin pancakes wrapping mutton and fish paste, deep-fried until golden and crispy. Lin Jiang, however, found the taste mediocre: the mutton was too fatty, and the combination with the fish paste resulted in a bland texture. He thought that if it were made into a fish and mutton soup, or if the mutton skewers were grilled alone, it would taste much better.

After the banquet, they stayed at an inn. Once settled, Liang Huashan instructed Lin Jiang to place the two figures on his desk and to paint a few more strokes before going to sleep.

Xiao Shancan wanted to browse through the comic book, but was quite displeased upon seeing this. Liang Huashan gently persuaded her, promising that she could draw her own books after she finished learning, which barely calmed her down.

Even so, Xiaoshan Shen kept muttering to himself while drawing, giving the impression that he had assigned extra homework.

Lin Jiang leaned against the bed and watched this scene, then chuckled.

The little ginseng looks quite interesting.

Suddenly, his thoughts drifted to the dark red bloodstain in front of the house.

He couldn't help but think of the bloodstains at the entrance of the house.

We don't know who did this.

……

When the group arrived at Zhou Canjiang's town, the old woman's face had become even more ashen.

The pent-up summer heat within him lingered, leaving him feeling as if he were enveloped in a cloud of mist, and his mind was clouded and sluggish.

After settling the old woman down to rest, the miner and the centipede sought out a doctor for a consultation and obtained several doses of herbal medicine to relieve the summer heat.

After feeding it to the old woman when we got back, the effect was indeed not very good.

The old woman lying on the bed had already fallen into a coma, and the two of them had no other choice but to go out and find General Zhou's location according to the address.

"Will General Zhou be willing to see us?" The miners were very uncertain.

"Probably, after all, they are all retainers of the general." Centipede wasn't very confident either.

There are also differences among the general's retainers; the adjutant general is quite different from outsiders like them.

Upon reaching the destination, one finds deep alleyways paved with blue bricks. Mist clings to the walls, and a sweet, cloying scent mingles with the wind, making one's throat itch.

The miner was about to go inside when he suddenly felt as if he had tripped over something.

Just as the miner was about to take a step, the tip of his boot suddenly kicked a soft object. It turned out to be several men lying on the ground, their faces flushed and their lips still bearing silly smiles.

He seemed drunk, yet also infatuated.

The tunnel was long and seemingly endless, and the miners strained their necks to push their way in.

The deeper you go, the stronger the aroma becomes. The fragrance of food, the rich scent of flowers, and the mellow richness of milk all intertwine to form a dense web, drawing you deeper into its allure.

The centipede and the miner who entered felt their thoughts being gradually dissolved, and even the idea of ​​what they came here for began to slowly disappear.

The centipede was somewhat better, but sensing something was wrong, it knew that things might get serious if this continued. So, forcing itself to stay alert, it shouted:
"General Zhou! We are from the General's Mansion!"

After these words were shouted, they actually had a real effect.

But the sweet mist receded immediately, revealing an ordinary house at the bottom of the alley.

The house looked completely normal; it was just an ordinary household in the alleyway.

Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the door hinges, and half of a powdered and rouge-covered face peeked out through the crack.

The person appeared to be a man, but his face was covered in heavy makeup. He had his hair styled in a long, elaborate bun, and he was wearing a loose robe.

When the miners saw General Zhou in person, they almost couldn't help but shout out.

For an old miner like him who always works underground, such a physique is really a bit too much.

He suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind and put on a simple, honest smile:

"Are you Lieutenant General Zhou?"

"Who are you two...?"

The man spoke in a woman's voice, but the last syllable was slightly hoarse.

He stared at the two people in front of him.

in silence.

(End of this chapter)