Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

“It used to be even more,” the old Taoist priest said.

Indeed, after walking around the area, Zhuang Xing heard news of several people passing away.

The old Taoist priest still walks with great speed, but many of his old friends need someone to help them walk, and some have even passed away.

Zhuang Xing remained silent, simply following closely behind the old Taoist priest as they headed towards the North Market.

Yidu implemented a market system, with most trade taking place within the four markets located in the east, west, south, and north.

Zhuang Xing followed the old Taoist priest to the North Market. The North Market was surrounded by walls, and there were streets along the walls. After entering the North Market, Zhuang Xing saw many vendors selling their goods along a grid-like layout.

The closest shops to me are a fruit shop and a grain shop. The fruit shop only sells dried grapes and dates, while the grain shop sells millet, rice, glutinous rice, and dried beans such as red beans and mung beans.

Further ahead is the vegetable market. Since it was afternoon, most of the fresh vegetables had been sold out, but next to the vegetable market was the butcher shop, where fresh river fish, hanging mutton and pork, and chickens and ducks that hadn't been slaughtered could still be seen.

On ordinary days, not many people buy meat, but with the Lunar New Year approaching, those with spare money at home still want to buy some meat to make cured meat and sausages to celebrate. Therefore, the butcher shop was quite busy today.

Besides these, there were also pottery shops and general goods shops, selling daily necessities, silk fabrics, horses, mules, and other livestock...

All sorts of things, so many to see, I didn't even have time to look at them all.

The house was fully equipped with most of the utensils, including cooking equipment. The old Taoist priest did not stop at these shops, but continued forward until he found an old shop selling paper.

Zhuang Xing understood that Daoist Qingxuzi wanted to buy some paper to draw talismans.

The shop had many types of paper, but Zhuang Xing recognized only white hemp paper, yellow hemp paper, and white rattan paper. He could smell the herbs and knew that these papers were the same as those from Xuanqing Temple, having been soaked in insect repellent.

He ran his hand over the paper and felt its strength and thickness; as long as it didn't get wet, it would surely last a long time.

The paper seller was an old acquaintance of the Taoist priest; he was a very old grandfather.

The shopkeeper poured tea for the two of them, and the old Taoist simply sat down and chatted with the shopkeeper.

"I knew you were coming." The old man was still in good health, and his voice was full of energy. "I specially reserved a batch of gold-embroidered five-colored silk paper for you. Originally, the government was going to buy it to compile household registers. You can't buy such good paper anywhere else except here."

"You've already saved some paper for me, why don't you just give it to me?" the old Taoist priest joked. "Consider it an act of charity."

"Then forget it, I won't sell it. I'll keep it to burn for myself," the old man said with a smile.

There wasn't much formality between them; they must have been old friends for many years.

"Why did you bring a young Taoist priest with you? Is this child your grandson?" The old man looked at Zhuang Xing.

“He is a disciple accepted by the temple. I brought him out to broaden his horizons,” the old Taoist priest said.

"Greetings, sir." Zhuang Xing bowed to the old man.

"The little guy is quite handsome. How about I marry my granddaughter to you? My precious granddaughter is so well-behaved and beautiful."

"..."

"Hey, you can't talk nonsense in front of your juniors."

"What are you doing interrupting? This isn't your grandson, what business is it of yours?"

"This is my apprentice. Haven't you heard the saying 'A teacher for a day is a father for life'?"

"Tch, an old bachelor saying all this? If you ask me, you should have gone with that Miss Liu back then..."

...

After spending the afternoon in the paper shop, the old man invited Zhuang Xing and the Taoist priest to his home for dinner.

Before leaving Taipei, the old man bought a pot of wine and carried fish and chicken.

The house was indeed very lively, with a large family of children and grandchildren. There were five mischievous boys and three little girls with braids running around in the yard, laughing and talking. The old man's three sons lived with him. Their house was very big, and there were still unfinished sheets of paper inside. The whole family sold and made paper.

The three daughters-in-law were very virtuous and prepared a delicious and comfortable meal. The only regret was that the old man's wife was nowhere to be seen.

"Thanks to the medicine you sent a few years ago, her rheumatism hasn't flared up again. She passed away without any illness or injury. She just got up one morning, cooked me a bowl of red bean soup, lay down in a chair and fell asleep, and never woke up again. If you had come a year earlier, you could have seen her one more time."

"We should have come sooner."

"Next time you come, you might not see this old man again." The old man reclined in his rocking chair, taking a puff of his pipe. "I have no regrets. It's good that I'm going down to keep her company. What about you? Is there anything else you want to do?"

"You've been cultivating Taoism on the mountain for decades, and you still haven't found a wife. Don't you find that boring?"

"I don't find it boring, but there are definitely some things I want to do."

"Whatever you want." The old man put down his pipe, picked up his granddaughter, and asked, "What do you think of this older brother?"

The little granddaughter was only five or six years old. She blinked and looked at Zhuang Xing, but then buried her head in her grandfather's arms shyly.

The old man laughed twice and put his granddaughter down.

"Eldest son, pour me another glass of wine!"

That night, the old Taoist priest and Zhuang Xing stayed at the old man's house until dark.

Even after nightfall, red lanterns hang on the streets of Yidu, and the lights of thousands of homes sway in the wind and snow.

The boatman, singing an old boat ballad, steered the small boat toward the end of the ditch amidst the creaking of the wood.

When I returned to the house, it was completely quiet outside.

"Rest well, I'll take you to exorcise the demon tomorrow," the old Taoist priest said.

After giving Zhuang Xing his instructions, the old Taoist priest went to his study alone. Through the window lattice, he could see the glow of an oil lamp.

Zhuang Xing knew that drawing talismans required a quiet environment, so he dared not make any loud noises. He went to the woodshed to boil water, washed up, and then went back to his room to lie down.

This was his first night in Yidu, and he had already met many people.

I've been to many places today and am quite tired.

With Master Qingxuzi present, he calmed down and quickly fell asleep.

The old Taoist priest held a pen in his study, writing stroke by stroke on the paper until late at night before finally emerging.

He laid the talismans out to dry on the table and blew out the oil lamp.

When he arrived at the woodshed, the charcoal fire was still burning, casting a faint red glow, and hot water was left in the pot for him.

"Good." The old Taoist smiled slightly, and that night, he didn't feel so cold anymore.

...

The next day, Zhuang Xing put on his sword and went to the courtyard.

A thin layer of frost had formed in the pool beneath the artificial hill, like a blurry mirror reflecting the sunlight.

As was his custom, he performed a warm-up incantation, circulating his vital energy to warm up his body.

Master Qingxuzi walked in from outside. He had bought breakfast, which consisted of boiled glutinous rice, red bean, and jujube dumplings, plus two boiled eggs.

"A group of water ghosts have arrived at the river crossing outside the city." The old Taoist handed over Zhuang Xing's copy. "We'll go out of the city to take a look later."

Water ghosts, also known as water monkeys or drowned ghosts, are not actually demons that turn into ghosts after people drown, but rather a group of monsters that like to ambush people underwater.

They mimic the cries of children for help. If you are fooled into jumping into the water, they will grab your hands and feet in groups and drown you at the bottom of the river.

Sometimes, while walking along the riverbank, if you're not careful, a water ghost might grab your ankle and pull you into the water.

"You've already learned about water ghosts in school, haven't you?"

"Xi has passed away."

"I can probably handle it myself."

"can."

"Then this matter will be left to you to handle."

"The disciple understands."

After the meal, the two headed out of the city.

It seems that the old Taoist priest went out to find government officials while buying breakfast, and some officials led the way for them.

This official turned out to be an acquaintance.

Back then, it was this leading official who took away the villagers from that small mountain village. Senior Brother Linghui called him Officer Yu. Zhuang Li still remembers all of this clearly.

However, he seemed to have forgotten himself, and only kept explaining the situation to the old Taoist. It was understandable, after all, it was two years ago, and Zhuang Xing had changed a lot since then.

"That water ghost came here in the last half month."

"There are about ten missing people. At first, they didn't dare to be too rampant, but three days ago, they actually capsized a small boat in front of us. No one on board survived, and their bodies were never found."

"We can handle ordinary water ghosts. We can lure them out with meat and then shoot them with arrows."

"But among those water ghosts, there was one who knew magic. Every time we lured him out and shot an arrow, waves would rise up to block the arrow."

"There was no other way but to post the notice on the city wall, but no one could get rid of or drive away these water ghosts."

"I had planned to entrust the matter of the water ghost to Xuanqing Temple today, but I didn't expect you to come, Daoist Master."

Officer Yu led the two men to the outskirts of the city. After walking westward from the city gate for quite some time, they arrived at a ferry crossing that had been blocked off by government officials.

The water ghosts had blue faces and fangs, and their bodies were completely bald without any hair. Like fish, their bodies were covered in slippery mucus. Three of them even surfaced in broad daylight, acting extremely arrogantly.

One of the water ghosts was waving around a bubbly human head, with maggots crawling out of its swollen eyeballs and a piece of scalp torn off. The person could not rest in peace even in death.

"Damn water ghost!" Constable Yu gripped the knife at his waist. "Come ashore if you dare! I'll chop your head off and use it as a football!"

The water ghost let out a mocking cry, then tossed the head out like a ball and caught it again. People around were shooting arrows, but as soon as it saw someone draw a bow, it would hide. Once the arrows were all shot, it would come out and swim around, which annoyed everyone watching.

The old Taoist priest, holding his whisk, asked, "Have you discerned anything?"

At this moment, Zhuang Xing was gathering his Qi in his eyes and looking down into the water.

The few provocative water ghosts on the surface seemed arrogant, but in the murky water, he sensed several lurking shadows.

“These water ghosts on the water are just bait, meant to lure people to the water’s edge,” Zhuang Xing said. “It must be because things have gotten out of hand these past few days, and the officials have sealed off the ferry crossing. There are no people to be seen along the riverbanks around here, so they can’t find anyone to hunt, hence this tactic.”

"Do you have a solution?" the old Taoist priest asked again.

“Ordinary water ghosts would never have such intelligence,” Zhuang Xing said. “It is only because there is a leader in the group that they can form this order. We just need to behead the water ghost that can use magic to gain intelligence, and then the officers can take the opportunity to shoot arrows. The remaining water ghosts will be wiped out in one fell swoop.”

The old Taoist said, "Judging from this plan, the leader's intelligence is no different from that of a human, and perhaps even better than that of an ordinary person. If it sees that it is no match for the enemy, it will surely lead its tribe to flee and go elsewhere to find food. If it is not eliminated, it will surely become a disaster in time. How do you plan to capture that leader?"

“The leader is clever, but the other water ghosts aren’t so clever,” Zhuang Xing pondered. “I think we can start with these guys.”

The leader of the water ghosts was very clever and seemed to know some water magic, but the other water ghosts he led might not be so.

Based on what he had learned, water ghosts were not as orderly as white-tailed jackals. They were usually very undisciplined and often fought amongst themselves, even fighting with their own kind.

The saying "It's not the formidable opponent you should fear, but the incompetent teammate" is quite true.