Yin Ci's heart sank.
His sect uniform was not stained with blood, and his bloodstained undergarment had been changed. Just in case, he walked around the street a few more times—pedestrians were shoulder to shoulder, and there was no shortage of rotten fish and vegetables on the street corners. The mixed smell filtered through him from head to toe.
But if you say that Shi Jingzhi really dislikes chicken blood, he doesn't believe it.
Yin Ci raised his knife and chopped the chicken on the chopping board, shaking and breaking into several pieces.
Qizhou is full of prostitutes and beauties. Shi Jingzhi is not as eye-catching as a woman with heavy makeup. He can charm Aunt Li, but he can't fool the old ladies in Qizhou - the old ladies have lived in this place for a long time, and have seen all kinds of monsters and ghosts, so they are very wary.
But Shi Jingzhi can still get along with them immediately, and he is very cunning.
Yin Ci cooked ginger chicken and crispy vinegar fish, added two vegetarian dishes and a pot of muddy wine, and the apprenticeship meal was ready. This time, Shi Jingzhi didn't have time to complain, he ate everything, and finally leaned on the bed weakly, obviously very full.
Aunt Zhang's side room was not full, so there was an empty room for sundries. There was only an old bed with a straw mat in the room, which was relatively clean. Shi Jingzhi was lying on the bed, and with the desolate environment, he looked like he was about to die.
"Aci..." Shi Jingzhi spoke weakly, as if he was leaving his last words. "Go and buy some hawthorn for me to help me digest my food..."
Yin Ci took a deep breath, unable to tell whether this person was wise but foolish, or really stupid: "Master, don't you make the medicine yourself?"
Shi Jingzhi: "Good medicine tastes bitter, I don't want to take it."
Yin Ci: “…”
Sensing the disdain in his disciple's eyes, Shi Jingyi jumped up and said, "Master is not a lazy person. It's just that I didn't have a full meal before, so I forgot about it for a while—"
“Why can’t you eat enough?”
Shi Jingzhi didn't lie. When Kushan first saw him, he was indeed not just weak because of hunger. But the money he brought was not much, but definitely not too little either, so he shouldn't be unable to afford food.
Shi Jingzhi: "It tastes terrible. I can't eat it."
Yin Ci: "… I'm going out. Bye."
"Wait a minute." Shi Jingzhi took out his wallet again and put on a fatherly expression. "You just entered the city, go shopping on the way, I'm not in a hurry."
Yin Ci picked up the purse and left without looking back - he had just served as someone else's good grandson and didn't want to seamlessly transition into the role of a filial son.
Shi Jingzhi waited for Yin Ci to leave the courtyard before slowly lighting the powder. Not long after, a fat sparrow jumped at the window.
He glanced at it, reached out and took off the thin silk on its feet. After reading the content, Shi Jingzhi took out a medicine-cutting knife, smeared white striata cinnabar on the handle, and drew fine lines on the back of the silk.
The fat sparrow seemed to understand human nature. It waited obediently for him to tie the thin silk back, and then fluttered away. After doing all this, Shi Jingzhi lay back on the bed, rubbing his belly, and fell into deep thought.
Outside the door, Yin Ci had already walked away. He bought a veiled hat that barely covered his face and stopped outside a lavish courtyard.
"Tell Mr. Sun that the Su family is here to see you."
Qizhou was prosperous, and the area near Yueshui Pavilion was full of dignitaries and it just so happened that an old friend of his lived there.
Sun Huaijin is over 100 years old. When he was young, he was saved by Su Zhi, also known as Yin Ci, and accepted into the Chi Gou Sect. This person is smart and lucky, knows how to advance and retreat, and after making a fortune, he turned to doing legitimate business. Now Sun Huaijin has many children and grandchildren, and is a wealthy man in the area, and has a good relationship with the government.
He was a recipient of Yin Ci's kindness and was raised by him. He had kept his mouth shut for decades, so he was able to get to know a small part of Yin Ci's secrets.
Soon, the doorman led Yin Ci to the secret door and invited him into the yard.
Sun Huaijin sat quietly in the courtyard, his whole body was as dry as a peach pit, wrapped in a thick silk fur coat, and the wrinkles on his eyelids almost covered his eyes. When he saw Yin Ci, two rays of light shone through those wrinkles.
The old man waved his servants away and moved closer to the brazier: "Brother Su."
"Huai Jin." Yin Ci nodded.
"The last time I saw you was five years ago." The old man coughed twice, "I didn't expect that you and I would still be able to meet each other alive."
Yin Ci was never one to be polite: "Well, you are 105 this year, right? You are pretty resilient."
The old man laughed, his laughter was uglier than a crow's: "Yes, I am old. Big brother, why do you come to me for no reason?"
"Ask about someone." Yin Ci said, "Shi Jingzhi, Yidu, medicinal materials business."
Sun Huaijin closed his eyes, his expression changed several times: "There is indeed a Shi family that sells medicine in Yidu, and they had some dealings with this place in the early years. Their business is not big, if big brother wants to find medicinal materials, why not let me..."
Yin Ci shook his head.
Sun Huaijin: "The Shi family is really inconspicuous. I have no impression of their younger generation. Big brother, please have a cup of hot tea first. I will ask someone to investigate carefully."
After that, he knocked hard on the floor with his cane. A deaf servant leaned over and spread out his palm so that Old Man Sun could write something to convey his meaning.
"Huai Jin, are you not interested in ghost tombs?" Yin Ci took a sip of tea and suddenly spoke.
Sun Huaijin's peach-like face trembled twice: "Even if you give me the best sword in the world for free, I can't hold it. I'm old and useless. I can't even swing it with a stick of firewood."
After saying this, he looked up into the air, his eyes showing a bit of sadness: "Back then, I followed my elder brother on horseback and wielded a sword. It was so much fun, so much fun..."
“You don’t want something that can grant you immortality?” Yin Ci responded coldly.
"I've had enough of this. I'll just have to wait and see when God will take me away." Sun Huaijin said with a smile. "Brother, are you trying to use the immortality item to brew poison?"
Sun Huaijin knew very well that "Su Zhi" had been trying to die for many years but was unable to do so.
Regarding the ghost tomb, there is a particularly tempting rumor - the leader of the Ling Cult found the method of immortality, left an empty tomb, and left clues in the tomb. Some insiders even swore to heaven that they had heard the leader mention "finding visible meat".
Eating meat can make you immortal. That thing can make people immortal, and maybe it can make the most poisonous thing in the world.
"I have enough time, so I'll take a look along the way." Yin Ci didn't deny it, "... but I haven't found a single immortal in all these years, so it's hard to say whether that thing is real or not."
Sun Huaijin sighed: "Then the reason why you are immortal—"
Yin Ci said succinctly: "I don't know. There are dead ends everywhere. I'm tired of looking."
Just as he said this, the deaf servant presented a piece of paper and refilled Yin Ci's tea. Sun Huaijin glanced at it and threw the paper into the brazier: "Shi Jingzhi, the fifth son of the Shi family, has a younger brother. He didn't like studying since he was a child, and just wanted to venture into the world. He has never committed a crime and is a good child."
Yin Ci was silent for a long time: "Is the news correct?"
Sun Huaijin laughed again: "Brother, you don't even believe me?"
Yin Ci did not answer: "Forget it. If he doesn't betray me, I won't hurt him."
After leaving Sun's house, Yin Ci bought a bunch of candied haws and went back to appease the "good kid". Shi Jingzhi didn't care about the shape of the hawthorns and ate them happily.
"We will go and establish our sect tonight. Ahem - everyone says that the night view of Qizhou is beautiful, so this is a good opportunity to see it to our heart's content." Before Shi Jingzhi could finish his words, he vomited another mouthful of blood.
Yin Ci: "There's really no need to force it."
"Aci, you don't understand. Time is money." Shi Jingzhi shook his head. "Come here, I'll put the burn ointment on you first. It's been hanging out for a whole day, be careful not to get sick."
Soon, Yin Ci set off with a pungent smell of medicine. The burn ointment smelled so strong that he even tasted it secretly, but he couldn't taste anything that shouldn't be put in it, so he had to give up.
The sky was dark and the lights were bright. There were no fewer people on the street than during the day. The smell of alcohol mixed with the fragrance of cosmetics was particularly intoxicating.
Yueshui Pavilion opened a shop in the center of the city, and its green lanterns were very eye-catching.
After entering the door, there was a piece of snow-white leather hanging in the middle of the lobby. A mechanical waterfall was set up on the leather, and potion was poured down slowly, without stopping for a moment, to keep it moist. Transparent glass panels were set up around the mechanism, and it was obviously not to be touched.
The leather slowly flickered, with the ink characters on it changing from time to time, and occasionally a few portraits would appear. The disciples of Yueshui Pavilion stood in a circle near the leather, each holding a pen, constantly recording the contents.
"Ah Ci, did you see it? That's called 'Zi Yi', it's the skin of a soft fish monster. The Yidu Zongge wrote on the Zi Yi, and all places received the message simultaneously, it's amazing. Only the Yueshui Pavilion in the world knows how to maintain the skin, and it is said that all the Zi Yi in the palace are maintained by his disciples..."
Yin Ci cooperated in being stunned.
"The branch hall's official uniform can also be used to send messages to the main hall. The sect's name is passed on through it." Shi Jingzhi's voice dropped. He reluctantly took out his purse and began to take out silver coins bit by bit. "It costs ten taels of silver to register."
The disciple from Yueshui Pavilion opposite was very helpful and patiently waited for him to pick the silver. Shi Jingzhi picked a little from his wallet and a little from his medicine box, barely scraping together ten taels of silver, which he reluctantly gave away.
"The name of your sect?" After checking the money, the disciple of Yueshui Pavilion finally picked up the pen.
Shi Jingzhi: "In the Kushan Sect, there are two masters and two disciples. I am the Sect Leader Shi Jingzhi, and this is Yin Ci, my last disciple."
Yin Ci turned away, expressionless. He closed the shop right after accepting his first disciple. His motive was really obvious.
The disciple of Yueshui Pavilion suddenly realized: "So that's it, the qualification for the Ghost Tomb."
Shi Jingzhi smiled, but unfortunately he had a Nuo mask on his face, so his smile was not lethal enough.
"Wash your hands first, then sign and put your fingerprints on them." The disciple brought out a small basin of medicinal soup. "Don't worry, this medicine is for washing fingers. It can prevent bad guys from pretending to be good people, or one person from joining multiple sects... Alas, since the ghost tomb was opened, more and more people have taken advantage of it."
Ordinary potions could not wash off the ghost leather jacket, so Yin Ci readily reached out and did as he was told.
"It's done. The Kushan Sect is officially established. Whether you two do business or receive donations in the future, they can all be registered under the name of the Kushan Sect. To retain the sect, you must collect ten taels of silver before New Year's Eve every year and report the list of personnel..."
The disciples of Yueshui Pavilion kept talking and writing quickly.
"Do you two own any houses? If not, the 'sect's residence' can be left empty for now."
Shi Jingzhi grunted for a long time, then turned to Yin Ci and asked, "Where do you live?"
Yin Ci frowned and said, "Just pretend there is no house."
The disciple of Yueshui Pavilion said with a look of "I really think so" and handed over a string of exquisite small pendants: "This is the jade pendant of Yueshui Pavilion. It can be hung on the master's token. Master, please."
After leaving the house, Shi Jingzhi hung the pendant on the "Medicine cures all diseases" flag and started to show off again. Yin Ci didn't bother to care about him, and turned into a human luggage on the spot, following Shi Jingzhi. Master Shi stopped here and there, and walked around until late at night before returning to the house.
After entering the house, he put the jade pendant on his wrist with a satisfied look on his face. Yin Ci spread straw on the ground and prepared to sleep on it.
"Aci, come up and sleep with me." Shi Jingzhi squeezed towards the wall, "Master is not such a particular person."
Yin Ci: "I'm afraid you'll vomit blood all over me in the middle of the night."
Shi Jingzhi: "Don't be shy... Oh, if you say that, I will remember to turn around."
Yin Ci sighed, rolled up his bedding and went to bed, feeling a little tired. Shi Jingzhi, this kid, never did anything to make him feel at ease - whether he was simply lacking in ideas or testing him with ulterior motives, he couldn't see through it for a moment.
Thinking of this, Yin Ci's mind moved: "Master, can I see the jade pendant?"
It's a rare opportunity to be so close, so I can't miss it. Let him feel the pulse again and see what's wrong with this kid.