Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 198 Before Entering the Capital
The journey back to Beijing took three days.

The journey was peaceful and uneventful; everyone traveled and stopped as needed, and their meals remained the same.

If it weren't for Liu Shuwen, who was escorting them from behind, constantly reminding everyone of their responsibilities, this trip would have been no different from an ordinary spring outing.

Every night, before going to sleep, Lin Jiang would set aside some time to transmit his Qi directly through the coffin, attempting to control the stone man.

Liu Fangyue's previous magical arrangement was quite elaborate, specially activating the three senses of eyes, mouth, and nose for the stone figure, allowing Lin Jiang to perceive the outside world through the stone figure and preventing Lin Jiang from being trapped in the stone body.

As Lin Jiang had predicted, he was indeed able to transmit his Qi almost unharmed through the coffin.

This experience is truly magical; every night feels like controlling an extremely difficult game character, performing all sorts of challenging actions.

On the first day of controlling it, Lin Jiang felt a chill run down his spine. Although the stone golem could move, it crawled along the ground like an earthworm. After trying it for a while, he quickly lost interest.

The next day, he mustered his energy and studied diligently, spending half the night until he finally made the stone man take a step. However, although the legs could walk, the waist twisted backward in a strange way, and the upper body swayed stiffly like a suspended iron pipe.

By the third night, the stone man had finally straightened his back, which was no easy feat.

At this rate, Lin Jiang didn't know when he could get it back to normal, but he unexpectedly found a bit of pleasure in controlling it.

It's like completing a very difficult game, and you can even gradually become addicted.

On the third day, Lin Jiang was so engrossed in manipulating the stone golem that he was somewhat absent-minded while walking.

When the group stopped at a roadside teahouse to rest, he still looked thoughtful.

"What's wrong with Young Master Zhu?"

Han Wangzhi stared at him for a long time, then couldn't help but lower his voice and ask those around him.

Seeing his apprentice being so meddlesome again, Li Fang raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head:

Why do you talk so much?

Han Wangzhi covered his head, on the verge of tears.

Li Fang sighed softly, then pulled Han Wangzhi over and whispered:

"Those who cultivate the Great Dao can often glimpse the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. The insights they gain are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, and their actions are naturally different from those of ordinary people."

"So that's it!"

Han Wangzhi was greatly alarmed.

"That's the way it is."

Han Wangzhi clearly began to ponder: "Should we also..."

When Li Fang arrived, his face immediately darkened.
"You brat, what are you thinking! He's powerful because he's seen things that you and I can't understand, that's why he's become like this, not because he's crazy."

"Oh."

Li Fang sighed.

For a moment, he didn't know whether going out for a walk was good or bad for his son.

As they were talking, the waiter brought over several cups of tea and served them to the group at the table with a smile.

Then the waiter lowered his voice and pointed outside the door:
"Gentlemen, are you from an official family?"

Liu Shuwen sat huddled motionlessly on the cart shaft, his wrists cuffed with pickaxe chains and his ankles bound with iron chains. Yellow talismans were pasted all around the cart frame, rustling in the wind.

It looked like they were escorting prisoners, or like they were transporting evil spirits.

Li Fang snapped out of his daze and glanced at the waiter:
"Exactly."

The teahouse where everyone was now was nothing more than a roadside inn in the wilderness, the easiest place to hide filth and scum. These kinds of inns are used to inflating prices and forcing customers to buy food and drinks, and doing shady business, but they have somehow developed a sharper eye than legitimate shopkeepers.

Having traveled the world, Li Fang had naturally heard about the rules of these shady inns.

It means "We will not rob barbarians, the rich and powerful, or officials."

People who carry weapons and look like they're skilled fighters are likely to end up losing more than they gain if they try to rob someone; those who appear wealthy and daring to go it alone may seem like they have a lucrative job, but they usually have some real skills.

As for the officials...

Ordinary black shops wouldn't even dare to touch government officials, let alone rob them.

The procession of officials escorting the prisoners was impressive and made a point of openly revealing their identities, thus saving themselves from the covetous eyes of those lurking in the shadows.

"This gentleman has committed a serious offense, hasn't he?" The waiter was still craning his neck to examine the cart, and Li Fang's face instantly darkened.

"Don't pry into things you shouldn't be asking about!"

The other person immediately smiled apologetically, took two steps back, and slunk away to another table.

At this moment, Lin Jiang came to his senses and subconsciously looked in the direction of the waiter, his gaze finally landing on the top of his head.

Lin Jiang blinked, then suddenly stood up and walked straight toward the waiter.

He reached out and patted the waiter on the shoulder.

"Sir?"

The waiter turned around and stared at Lin Jiang, somewhat stunned.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I wanted to ask if there's anything I can help you with?"

Lin Jiang stared intently at the top of the waiter's head:

Do you know this person on the cart?

The waiter's bright red hostility was sharply directed outside the teahouse, directly at Liu Shuwen.

After hearing Lin Jiang's words, the waiter still maintained a puzzled expression:
"Sir? What are you talking about?"

"I said……"

Lin Jiang had just finished speaking when he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from afar.

An arrow shot out from the distant mountains and forests of the teahouse, heading straight for Liu Shuwen on the carriage!

Lin Jiang suddenly realized what was happening. He immediately released the waiter and rushed towards the direction from which the arrow had come.

However, as he passed the swiftly flying arrow, he did not stop it, brushing past it and rushing straight into the forest. Just as the arrowhead fell, the talismans around Liu Shuwen suddenly lit up, and in an instant, the raging flames engulfed the arrow, burning it to ashes.

Gongxuan had already set up defenses to guard against this surprise attack.

The people in the shop also realized what was happening. Jiang Jinyue chased after Lin Jiang.

Li Fang and the square-faced woman flanked the waiter.

Chaos erupted inside the shop! Several villagers and wandering swordsmen were stunned into silence.

In the chaos, three more people suddenly rushed out, brandishing steel knives and heading straight for Liu Shuwen.

In the distance, before Jiang Jinyue could venture deep into the forest, she was stopped by several barbarians clad in animal skins.

Jiang Jinyue even saw a barbarian lying on the ground in the forest, his body covered in blood and gore, as if he had been hit by something.

It must have been when Lin Jiang rushed in that this brute tried to stop him, but Lin Jiang just ran him over and killed him.

Jiang Jinyue weighed her options briefly, then stopped in her tracks, stretched, and cracked her bones.

"I haven't really done anything along the way, just played around with you guys."

Inside the teahouse, Gong Xuan glanced sideways at the knife-wielding assailant, but before he could make a move, an excited "Aha!" burst out from the air!
A tiny figure suddenly leaped off the table and kicked the leader of the thugs squarely in the cheek.

Before the thug could even react, he was kicked backward, spun in the air, and finally crashed face down to the ground.

He struggled for a long time before finally raising his head, only to find that a mouthful of teeth had been knocked out.

Only then did I realize that what I was looking at was a small wild ginseng, no bigger than the palm of my hand!
The young ginseng rolled up his sleeves, beaming with joy:

"Bandits! Bandits! We've finally encountered bandits again! We can go back to our chivalrous ways once more!"

Gong Xuan casually tossed out a talisman and stuck it on another fierce man who lunged at him.

The latter froze like a stone sculpture, unable to move.

Seeing his accomplices fall, the last remaining thug panicked. Before he could react, Han Wangzhi stepped forward and punched him hard in the chest.

The last person was also unable to defend himself and fell to the ground.

He vomited several mouthfuls of blood.

Xiaoshan stomped his feet angrily, his face puffed up with rage, realizing he hadn't been able to make the first move.

“These might not necessarily be bandits.” Gong Xuan glanced at the group of people in front of him.

The still sulking ginseng root came to its senses:

"If they weren't bandits, why did they attack us?"

"There must be someone who doesn't want Liu Shuwen to return to the capital."

Gong Xuan glanced at Liu Shuwen.

The latter remained seated blankly on the cart, staring blankly into the distance.

……

Lin Jiang rushed towards the direction from which the arrow had come.

The sound of wind cutting past my ears, and the leaves in front of me were parted one by one.

Clouds surged beneath our feet, and we were already swiftly traversing through the forest.

Having already mastered the technique far beyond what he had learned before, Lin Jiang now uses it with even greater skill, as if he were flying, without the slightest hindrance.

However, he felt something appear in front of him just now, but he was rushing too fast when he started and didn't see it clearly, so he figured it probably wasn't important.

As they were hurrying along, they suddenly saw a man in the distance holding an exaggeratedly large bow, fleeing into the distance.

He accelerated and arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Upon closer inspection, he was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.

He simply reached out and grabbed at the man.

When the middle-aged man saw Lin Jiang's outstretched hand, he immediately drew his knife from his waist, intending to confront Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang, however, did not give him a chance. He grabbed the blade directly and exerted a little force.

The middle-aged man's long sword immediately broke.

Staggering back two steps, the man stared blankly at the long knife in his hand, then looked up at Lin Jiang:
"Good hand, this is a precious treasure."

When he said this, his tone was noticeably strange, as if he wasn't very good at speaking Daxing Mandarin.

"I have a lot of valuables on me," Lin Jiang said with a smile. "What? Do you need me to compensate you?"

The man didn't respond, but reached for his waist and pulled out a strangely shaped curved sickle.

The blade is curved, resembling something used for beheading rather than for slicing wheat.

He swung the curved knife forcefully, and the whole knife, like a boomerang, slashed directly towards Lin Jiang's neck.

With a mighty swing, the curved sickle shot straight at Lin Jiang's neck like a boomerang.

Lin Jiang saw this and found the technique interesting, so he went to meet it.

The blade was pressed directly against Lin Jiang's neck, and Lin Jiang shook his neck twice, as if he were spinning a hula hoop.

As the blade swung twice around Lin Jiang's neck, the man's expression clearly began to falter.

It was like seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

After swinging the knife around his neck twice more, Lin Jiang chuckled and used the strength of his neck to fling it back towards the man.

The blade, accelerated by Lin Jiang's neck, was even faster than the man's throw. It was also easier to hit than a head axe. The man didn't have time to dodge to the side before he felt a chill on his left wrist.

Looking down again, I saw that my left forearm had been severed and was lying on the ground, with blood gushing out from the cut.

The man's face visibly stiffened.

That's some really weird kung fu!

(End of this chapter)