Ghost Immortal

The spirit stone is about the size of a thumb, irregularly shaped, with a rough surface, resembling a semi-transparent crystal.

The spirit stone contained a milky white halo that flowed slowly, like gas.

Holding it in your hand, you can feel a gentle spiritual energy seeping out from the stone, spreading upwards along the meridians in your palm, warm and comfortable.

Ten low-grade spirit stones—that's Zhang Gengtou's savings accumulated over several decades.

Li Feng carefully wrapped the spirit stone again and carefully stored it in the safest hidden bag on his person.

Then he searched the rest of the yard and found usable herbs and a few special minerals.

By the time the looting was finished, the eastern horizon was already turning a pale white.

Li Feng stood in the courtyard, staring at Zhang Gengtou's corpse on the ground, his mind racing.

To gain a foothold in Qingyan City, he needed a legitimate identity.

When the bald old man adopted him, he never provided him with any identification documents.

He was an unregistered resident. He might be able to get by in Huangshi Town, but in a big city like Qingyan City, checking household registration documents was a common occurrence.

The identity of the night watchman can solve his identity problem.

Watchmen were a registered profession under the government, belonging to the lowest of the low, but at least it was a respectable job. They had household registration certificates and identity tokens, and could legally reside in the city.

Moreover, the night watchman had to come out to keep watch every night, which allowed him to legitimately wander around the city after dark, a treasure that was priceless to Li Feng.

He needed to find out the details of Qingyan City and locate the source of the dark aura.

To find out legitimate channels for cultivating immortality, one must take advantage of the convenience of being a night watchman.

As for the cause of Zhang Gengtou's death, he had already prepared his explanation.

After daybreak, Li Feng moved Zhang Gengtou's body to the yard and covered it with a white cloth.

Then he took out a white cloth from Zhang Gengtou's trunk, tore it into strips, and hung it as a white sail at the gate of the courtyard.

They found some bamboo poles and hemp ropes and set up a makeshift mourning hall in the yard.

He changed into a plain white mourning dress and knelt in front of the mourning hall to burn paper money.

Li Feng couldn't help but chuckle to himself, thinking that sending off his enemy to his funeral had a touch of dark humor to it.

Everything was ready, and it was already broad daylight.

Granny Wang was the first to notice something was wrong with her neighbor. She had been Zhang Gengtou's neighbor for decades and usually looked down on this gloomy old man.

The two families are separated by only one wall, but they have exchanged no more than ten sentences in total over the decades.

This morning, when she went out to empty the kitchen swill, she saw the white sail hanging at the gate of the neighbor's yard and froze on the spot.

The white sails fluttered in the wind, with a large character "奠" (meaning "offering sacrifice") written on them in black ink.

"Zhang Gengtou... is dead?" Granny Wang peeked into the courtyard and was even more surprised to see Li Feng kneeling in front of the mourning hall burning paper money.

"Who is this young man? What is he doing in Zhang Gengtou's courtyard?"

She carried the bucket of swill to the courtyard gate and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Hey, young man, which of Old Zhang's men are you?"

Li Feng raised his head, his eyes slightly red, his face filled with sorrow.

He stood up, walked to the courtyard gate, and bowed deeply to Granny Wang.

"My surname is Li, and my given name is Feng. I am Zhang Gengtou's nephew."

"Nephew?" Granny Wang looked Li Feng up and down, her face full of suspicion, clearly not so easily convinced.

"Zhang Gengtou has been a lonely man for decades, and I've never heard of him having any relatives. How come he suddenly has a nephew?"

Li Feng sighed heavily, a bitter expression on his face: "My mother is Zhang Gengtou's distant cousin. She married into Huangshi Town, and the two families haven't been in contact for decades."

"A few days ago, my mother was seriously ill. Before she passed away, she told me that I had a cousin in Qingyan City and that I should come and seek refuge with him. I traveled for five days, walking along mountain roads, and finally found my cousin's house last night. I knocked on the door for a long time but no one answered. When I pushed the door open, I found..."

His voice choked with sobs, and he lowered his head, trembling as he sobbed.

"My cousin was lying in the yard, his body already cold. I don't know how he died. Maybe he was old, and he fell while out working the night watch, and... he just didn't recover..."

As she spoke, she raised her hand to wipe away her tears.

Upon hearing this, Granny Wang's suspicion lessened, and she showed a hint of sympathy.

She glanced into the yard again and saw a dark, murky substance on the ground, which looked like dried blood.

It was mostly covered by a white cloth, so it couldn't be seen clearly.

"Ah, that's true. Zhang Gengtou is already sixty-seven this year. He's practically halfway to the grave."

Granny Wang shook her head sympathetically: "But you young man have had a hard life. You finally found a relative to rely on, but then you were separated from them by death. What a tragedy!"

She put the slop bucket on the ground, leaned closer, and lowered her voice, saying, "Young man, let me tell you the truth, your cousin doesn't have a very good reputation around here."

"He usually likes to act like a ghost, ignoring everyone. When the night watchman strikes, he always mutters about wandering ghosts in the alley, scaring the neighbors half to death. If you're planning to hold a funeral for him, I'm afraid not many people will come to pay their respects."

Li Feng smiled bitterly: "My cousin has been all alone his whole life. Regardless of his reputation, he is still my elder. As his nephew, I can't let him die without anyone to see him off."

Upon hearing this, Granny Wang's face showed a hint of appreciation: "You young man are quite thoughtful, more humane than your uncle."

She thought for a moment and then said, "If you want to hold a funeral, you have to report it to the yamen. Zhang Gengtou is a registered night watchman. If he dies, the yamen will have to cancel his registration."

"By the way, the watchman's job is passed down from generation to generation. Zhang, the head watchman, had no children. Now that he's dead, someone has to take over his job. If you don't have any other means of making a living, you can go to the yamen's household registration office and ask. Maybe you can fill his vacancy."

Li Feng's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm, simply nodding and saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Aunt Wang."

Granny Wang waved her hand and left with the swill bucket.

Before leaving, he looked back at Bai Fan at the gate of the courtyard one last time, muttering something and shaking his head.

The news of the night watchman's death spread faster than Li Feng had anticipated.

In less than an hour, all the neighbors in the alley knew that Zhang Gengtou was dead.

His nephew, whom he hadn't seen for decades, was holding a funeral for him in the courtyard.

Several people peeked into the yard one after another.

But not a single person actually came in to pay their respects.

Just as Granny Wang said, Zhang Gengtou was extremely unpopular in this area.

Not only did no one grieve when he died, but many people secretly enjoyed the spectacle.

Li Feng knelt before the mourning hall, calmly and patiently throwing paper money into the brazier one by one.

His current identity is Zhang Gengtou's nephew, a poor young man who has just lost his uncle, and he has to play the role of grief and bewilderment perfectly.

Around noon, two different people finally arrived at the courtyard gate.

Two yamen runners dressed in black robes, with knives at their waists and booklets and pens in their hands.

The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties with a square face, wide mouth, thick beard, and sharp eyes.

Following behind was a young constable in his early twenties, thin and small, who looked like an apprentice who had just started his career.

"Is this Zhang Gengtou's residence?" The middle-aged constable stood at the gate of the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the mourning hall and scrutinizing Li Feng.

Li Feng stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Indeed, I am Li Feng, the junior, and Zhang Gengtou's cousin. I greet you, sir."

He thought to himself, "Wow, this is impressive! I can't even see through the guard's cultivation level."

That's true. This world is overrun by demons and monsters. If people from all walks of life didn't have cultivation, they would have perished long ago.

The middle-aged constable strode into the courtyard, glanced down at the corpse covered with a white sheet on the ground, and frowned slightly.

He squatted down and lifted a corner of the white cloth, seeing Zhang Gengtou's charred and shriveled corpse. His brows furrowed even more, and he directly questioned Li Feng.

"How did he die?"

"This junior doesn't know either." Li Feng repeated the same words he had said to Granny Wang.

"I only found my cousin's house last night. When I pushed open the door, my cousin was already lying in the yard, lifeless. He probably fell while returning from his night watch. Old people's bones are brittle..."

The middle-aged constable remained silent, staring intently at Zhang Gengtou's corpse.

He stretched out his finger, rubbed it on the corpse's charred skin, and smelled it, his expression changing slightly.

"How could a wrestling match end like this?" He stood up, staring sharply at Li Feng.

"These are clearly marks from being struck by lightning!"

Li Feng felt a pang of anxiety, but he remained calm on the surface.

He looked surprised and frightened: "Struck by lightning? But there was no thunder last night..."

"I didn't say it was lightning from the sky," the middle-aged constable said meaningfully, but did not pursue the matter further.

He turned to the young constable and said, "Make a note of this: Zhang Geng, the watchman in the south of the city, was 67 years old. He died suddenly in his own courtyard. The cause of death is unknown. According to the rules, the body of a person who dies suddenly cannot be left overnight. He must be collected and buried today."

The young constable immediately wrote it down in the register.

The middle-aged constable looked at Li Feng again, his tone softening: "Your name is Li Feng, right? Zhang Gengtou was a registered night watchman in the yamen. According to the yamen's regulations, after a night watchman dies, his duties are inherited by his sons."

"He has no children. As his nephew, although you are not a direct blood relative, you can go to the government office to report for duty and take his place if you wish."

He then added, "Although the job of a night watchman is hard, you get a salary of one or two taels of silver a month, and the yamen also provides you with a room to live in. If you don't have any other way to make a living, it's a pretty good job."

Li Feng feigned excitement, nodding repeatedly, "Of course I'm willing! This is a great thing! Thank you for your guidance, sir!"

The middle-aged constable took out a wooden plaque from his pocket, wrote a few words on it, and handed it to Li Feng.

"This is a temporary waist tag. Take it to the yamen gatehouse at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow to report for duty, and then you will be officially registered."

Li Feng accepted the wooden plaque, cupped his hands in thanks, and expressed his gratitude once again.

The middle-aged constable turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and looked back at Li Feng.

"My name is Zhao Tiezhu, and I'm the head constable of the yamen's gatehouse. From now on, you'll be working under me as a night watchman. There's something I need to tell you in advance: after dark, if you encounter anything unclean, don't meddle. Just knock on your clapper. Got it?"

His tone was calm, but the warning in his words was self-evident.

"I'll remember that."

Li Feng quickly bowed his head and replied.

Zhao Tiezhu nodded slightly and turned to leave with the young constable.