The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 10 Struggling Financially
After Jiang Yuan was resurrected in another body, he had no memory of Guan Xiao Gongzi at all. This person was indeed completely dead, and his soul had been taken away by the underworld officials.

The Guan family patriarch and his wife naturally assumed that their son had come back to life. They embraced each other and wept bitterly, and spent half the night making a fuss.

Even a true immortal would be powerless in this situation; since they had taken over someone else's body, they still had to acknowledge their parents.

Young Master Guan only said that he was very tired and had forgotten many things, but he remembered that it was Lady Qinghe who saved him from the hands of Ox-Head and Horse-Face with a peach wood hairpin.

Then, in front of more than a hundred family members, he took Qinghe's hand and said again, "Thank you so much for saving my life, my wife!"

Her parents-in-law almost knelt down and kowtowed to Qinghe. From then on, Qinghe held a very high position in the Guan family.

The Guan family's funeral turned into a celebration, and after three days of commotion, things finally calmed down.

With only Young Master Guan and Qinghe left in the room, Jiang Yuan hastily made up a story to appease Qinghe before explaining further later.

When Qinghe was eight years old, her family suffered a terrible tragedy. She had experienced a lot and had long since learned to read people's expressions and keep quiet.

Jiang Yuan didn't intend to deceive Qinghe. Their marriage was already sealed, their names engraved on the Three Lives Stone, and there was no way to break it. Besides, they had already bowed to heaven and earth and shared a bed; he would take her with him no matter what.

The Guan family bought a maid for a ghost marriage. After the wedding ceremony, the young master, who had been dead for three days, actually came back to life. Such a strange story could not be kept from the villagers, and all sorts of rumors spread like wildfire.

Upon hearing this, the broker, fearing an investigation by the authorities, fled overnight, and from then on, few people knew Qinghe's origins.

Most people who have seen Qinghe once do not know the cause and effect, but simply add their own embellishments and quickly distort the truth.

Someone who had received favors from the Guan family even claimed that Qinghe was a deity descended to earth, using a peach wood hairpin as a magical artifact to save the young master of the Guan family, making it sound incredibly mystical.

Qinghe, however, dared not take credit for it and always found it unbelievable.

Everything began with finding a peach wood hairpin in a stream in the suburbs. Night after night, she experienced a series of dreams, and during the day, she witnessed great ups and downs, life and death. The young man before her was no ordinary person.

She said nothing, was extremely respectful to her parents-in-law, and kind to the servants, displaying the demeanor of a well-bred lady, which made the whole family feel that this woman must be extraordinary.

Jiang Yuan spent a day figuring out his current identity.

The Guan family was not a particularly prominent family in Wuling County; they were just an ordinary wealthy family with a small but large population.

Guan Xiaogongzi's real name was Guan Canghai, which sounded rather old-fashioned and didn't seem like the courtesy name of a young man, but it also didn't mean he would die young.

I heard that two of my older brothers died young, and this youngest one has suffered another misfortune. There must be something strange about it.

It wasn't that Jiang Yuan was suspicious; those who cultivate immortality are quite sensitive to fate. If he wanted to walk in the world as Guan Canghai, he had to eliminate all potential dangers.

Guan Canghai drowned in an old well in his own yard. The well had been sealed off and covered with a large rock. No one knows how Guan Canghai managed to open it and fall in.

Lord Guan did not report it to the authorities, and when he did, he hesitated and stammered, clearly still fearful of the old well.

Guan Canghai's body was still a mortal, even worse than Jiang Yuan's body in Peach Blossom Paradise. He couldn't sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so he couldn't recover his magic power. Without magic power, he couldn't perform divination.

Jiang Yuan was a powerful being who ascended to immortality in his previous life, capable of turning the world upside down with a mere gesture. Now, however, he is struggling to make ends meet and is constrained at every turn.

He had recovered some of his soul power after being nourished by Qinghe's essence and blood. He seized the opportunity to use the Dream Guidance Technique to guide Qinghe to help him return to life through a body. Now, what method can he come up with?
After pondering for a long time, Jiang Yuan finally came up with an idea: since Lord Guan wouldn't cooperate, he could only ask Guan Canghai himself.

In two days it will be the seventh day after his death, the night when Guan Canghai's spirit returns to visit his family. The Guan family does not know this, so they will not set out offerings to welcome him.

Jiang Yuan must seize this opportunity. On the seventh day after death, the spirit should still remember what happened in his past life. If it is truly a vengeful ghost seeking revenge, he will make sure Guan Canghai dies knowing why, so that he can vent his hatred. However, if he sets up an altar with offerings in his room, he will definitely not hide it from Qinghe, and there is no need to hide it from her any longer.

After observing her for the past few days, Jiang Yuan discovered that Qinghe was quite shrewd and had an extraordinary capacity for endurance. He thought she might actually have the opportunity to seek immortality and attain enlightenment in the future.

Jiang Yuan then revealed another secret.

Hearing that Jiang Yuan had been resurrected in another's body, Qinghe was only slightly frightened and instead questioned Jiang Yuan about who he really was.

Jiang Yuan claimed to be a deity descended to earth to undergo tribulation, which Qinghe found somewhat skeptical.

Then she learned that she had accidentally formed a bond with a fairy spirit while cleaning the peach wood hairpin. Qinghe was both excited and scared, her little face flushed.

When Jiang Yuan told her that he would set up offerings in the room to interrogate Guan Canghai's soul, Qinghe was terrified and trembled with fear.

Jiang Yuan then gave the peach wood hairpin to Qinghe, saying it was a magical artifact used by immortals to subdue ghosts and spirits. He also instructed Qinghe not to wear it on her head, otherwise Guan Canghai's spirit would not dare to enter. He told her to hide it in her sleeve so she would not be harmed by ghosts.

That peach wood hairpin was made by the Peach Mother of the World. If Guan Canghai's weak soul were captured by it, it would surely be scattered. The red thread would also be useless, as it would prevent him from speaking.

The only way is to use talismans to imprison the soul; once it enters, close the doors and windows to prevent it from escaping.

Ordinary Taoist talismans require the infusion of magical power to be effective. Jiang Yuan currently has no magical power at all, so he has to resort to drawing some low-level talismans that do not require the infusion of magical power and only create a slight intimidation through words and pictures.

Guan Canghai was originally a spoiled young master who had not yet come to his senses and had never liked reading or writing. However, after only two days of being alive, he actually spread out the Four Treasures of the Study in his room, which greatly surprised the servants.

Qinghe also cooperated very well; while Jiang Yuan was drawing talismans, she was writing words beside him.

Madam Guan peeked out from outside the door for a while, and the way the husband and wife acted in harmony and treated each other with respect made the old lady feel very gratified.

Jiang Yuan prepared thirty to fifty talismans and covered the key areas of the room with them, then covered them with curtains and strips of cloth.

On the seventh day after his death, Jiang Yuan said he wanted to drink wine with his wife in their room. He asked the servants to prepare some food, and when it was late at night, he set up the offerings and incense table.

Jiang Yuan and Qing He both covered their mouths and noses with strips of cloth to avoid disturbing the ghost with their living breath, and both squatted under the window pretending to be asleep.

At midnight, Guan Canghai's spirit indeed floated in through the window, and Jiang Yuan immediately closed the window and pasted a talisman.

Guan Canghai was shocked and tried to slip away through the crack in the door, but Jiang Yuan had already lifted the curtain, revealing the talismans that faintly formed an array.

In reality, it had no magical power at all, but it was enough to scare Guan Canghai.

Jiang Yuan then spoke, "Don't be afraid. I know you died unjustly. I'm impersonating you only to rid the people of this scourge."

With nowhere to escape and seeing that Jiang Yuan had no intention of harming him, Guan Canghai gradually calmed down.

Jiang Yuan wasn't in a hurry to press him for answers. Instead, he let Guan Canghai enjoy the offerings first, as he knew he would suffer in the underworld later.

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(End of this chapter)