Heavenly Dao Formula

"What did you see?" Li asked.

"...a cat." Xia Fan hesitated for a few seconds before answering. It was really difficult for him to connect the animal in front of him with the evil spirit that harmed people. "Is it the culprit that keeps the Tian family awake at night?"

"Hmm..." Li showed a thoughtful look, "It's the reason, but not necessarily the culprit. The biggest difference between a demon and a charm is that it has no obvious hostility towards living beings. Habits in life." Speaking of which, she looked at Xia Fan, "Go and ask that old man to see if her family has ever raised a raccoon cat."

Xia Fan turned and went out of the house, and soon turned back, "Mrs. Tian said that her family did have a cat before, but it died suddenly half a month ago, and the daughter-in-law cried for a long time about it. What do you mean? , the cat—”

"It's the cat from the Tian family." Li squatted down and held the cat in his hands, "but it is no longer a living being, but a phantom, an illusion made of Qi."

Xia Fan hesitated, and reached out to touch the cat's head. Not only could he feel the furry touch, but also the warm residual heat; the latter even closed his eyes comfortably, and it looked no different from a real living thing.

"Is this a resurrection from the dead? Since Tian's wife likes this cat, maybe we can—"

"No!" Li pricked up his ears and shouted loudly, "Wake up, death is death, dead things cannot come back to life, don't confuse the two!"

Xia Fan was slightly taken aback, it was the first time he had seen such a sharp expression on the fox demon's face.

"There is no way to bring the dead back to life! Once dead, the consciousness will no longer exist. Even if the breath remains, it is just an empty shell. Just like this cihua cat, its course of action is just repeating its life, Even the sense of touch and response is the same, as long as you and I close our eyes, it will return to the blurred state again."

"Even if that woman likes this cat, can she stare at it without sleep all day? What's more, there is more or less qi in the human body, and if you live with a monster made of qi for a long time, your own qi will also become disordered. The result is getting weaker and lifespan is greatly shortened." Li shook his head, "I think her state is so sluggish, half of it is due to her own weakness, and the other half is probably caused by this phantom. You send it to her, The essence is no different from murder!"

"Uh... I'm just assuming," Xia Fan coughed twice, "You don't have to be so angry, do you?"

"It's not okay to assume, it at least proves that you have this idea, and confusing the boundary between life and death is an absolute forbidden area for alchemists!" Fox Demon said in an unquestionable tone, "My master has mentioned many similar things-some alchemists In the process of mastering qi, I mistakenly thought that I could reverse life and death, and finally went astray, and no one ended up well, including Yuyi of the Privy Council. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous that you don’t care about it when you’re alive, and you regret it when you’re dead And, even if you don't hesitate to offend the way of heaven. I just don't want to see you turn into such a ridiculous appearance!"

Is she... worried about herself?

"Okay, okay, I know I'm wrong." Xia Fan retreated based on the principle of correcting if there is a mistake, "Then what should we do with this cat——no, this phantom?"

"It's the projection of Qi. With stronger Qi, its shape can be broken and it can return to the space between heaven and earth." Li lifted the cat in front of him.

"I understand." Xia Fan nodded and picked up the wooden sword again.

...

"The matter is settled." Walking out of the house, Xia Fan said to the expectant Mrs. Tian outside the door.

"Xiao Daoist... what you said is true?" The latter revealed a look of surprise.

"Yes, you can stay at ease, I promise the voice will not come back."

"That..." The young woman who had been half-hiding behind the old lady poked her head out timidly, "Master Daoist, I want to ask you, is there really a ghost in our house?"

"It's not a ghost, but a cat raised by you. It probably doesn't want to part with you, so it stays here after death." Xia Fan slowly said the words he had prepared in advance, "Although it still misses you Master, but life and death are different, I have communicated with it and let it go on the road with peace of mind. Don't worry, it should enter reincarnation soon."

Of course this is not the case. According to Li, the aura of dead objects no longer has consciousness, let alone feelings of reluctance and nostalgia, but he thinks it is easier for ordinary people to accept it.

In addition, the moment he stabbed the sword into the body of the raccoon cat, he deeply felt the difference between the dead and the living. The wooden sword pierced through the void without any resistance, while the latter did not see pain, and still maintained a coquettish appearance until It turned into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated into the invisible.

"It's Ah Hua!" After hearing Xia Fan's story, Tian's wife covered her mouth immediately, tears streaming down her face. "It, it was a stray cat that my husband and I adopted together. It was fine, but suddenly died of illness for some reason... Woohoo... Do you think it is reluctant to part with its owner... So it didn't blame me, it's great..."

As the woman whimpered, her previously pale complexion faintly returned to a rosy complexion.

"No wonder the little Daoist asked me about raising cats." Mrs. Tian also felt relieved, and let out a big sigh of relief, "As expected of a famous teacher who gave rise to a great apprentice, Little Daoist, you saved the lives of our family!"

She knelt down again while talking, making Xia Fan flustered again.

"The Tian family will never forget your great kindness and virtue!"

"Thank you, Master Daoist, I owe you my life..."

"No, no, it's just a matter of raising your hands. And the money for the dress and the window paper—"

"Then how can you ask the trail to grow? If it spreads out, it will make the neighbors laugh! If you insist, I won't get up on my knees!"

Faced with such a situation, Xia Fan had no choice but to give up.

He could see that although the Tian family's words were not expressive, or they were pretending to be solemn, their gratitude came from the bottom of their hearts, without any falsehood.

Even before leaving, the old lady did not forget to forcefully stuff a basket of eggs into his arms, and sent them to the door of the inn without giving him a chance to refuse.

When they were about to part, Xia Fan asked a question that had puzzled him for a long time.

"Why don't you go to the Privy Council?"

That's right, although Fenghua County is not a big county, there are still county offices and post stations, and these government agencies can report evil news to the Privy Council in Dacheng or prefectures. For such unconventional anomalies, the local Privy Council should have the responsibility to deal with them.

"The Taoist priest was joking," the old lady covered her mouth and said, "It costs money to invite the officials to come. If they don't move, it's tens of taels of silver. How can we afford it!"

"Dozens of taels?" Xia Fan asked in surprise, "No matter how harmful the evil is?"

"That's the reserve price. If it's dangerous, you'll have to add it." The old lady had a rare and strange expression, "If you can't get the money together, you'll be in trouble. The government doesn't care what your situation is, just rush into the house and search for everything. Oh, what am I talking about... Anyway, thanks to people with bodhisattva hearts like Daoist Zhao and Daoist Xiao, we can live in peace."