Gold cicada casts off its shell, borrowing falsehood to return to life.
Xu Qing looked at the golden cicada molt in his hand, thinking to himself that this thing was great. He currently had three life-saving techniques: one was the Piling Technique, which allowed one to cast a curse technique that tethered a person's body to another object. After employing the Piling Technique, the proxy object would bear all damage, allowing the person's body to withstand slashes and strikes without feeling pain.
Another technique was a military formation flag, which could split into four illusory clones. Although the four clones had no substance, the flag bearer could move seamlessly between them.
If used skillfully, it was equivalent to having four lives.
The final life-saving technique was the golden cicada molt in front of him.
The child molt was a sacrificial molt, to be kept close, while the mother molt was a detachment molt that needed to be stored in a safe place.
After considering for a moment, Xu Qing already had a plan.
He temporarily stored the mother molt and then looked at the body that had been hollowed out by insects.
The Gu Master's line had a low barrier to entry; any Tom, Dick, or Harry could learn, but most were damaging to the body. Take for example this Gu Master—he hadn't much cultivation, and whatever he did gain was fed to the insects.
With the Returning to Origin Technique, Xu Qing hadn't gained much cultivation. Even if one foot was in the cultivation world, in true comparison he was no different from those martial artists of the Jinmen Gang.
After clearing the traces in the courtyard, Xu Qing turned his head and saw the Golden Simurgh napping beside the Fierce General, who was helping him as a protector.
"Wake up, time to go back!"
He nudged the big fat chicken with his foot, but got no response.
Xu Qing frowned, bent down to pry open the Simurgh's eyelids, and found that the chicken's pupils were uncanny.
Could it have eaten too many venomous insects and poisoned itself? Xu Qing was startled; if he squandered this chicken, where would he find another to return to Daoist Yizhen?
He patted the Golden Simurgh's cheeks, and its head fell, snoring onto Xu Qing's foot.
Opening his Qi Observation Skill, Xu Qing saw the Golden Chicken's energy and blood surging like a dragon, with no signs of post-poison lethargy.
Turns out it was just overeating and getting drowsy, digesting its food!
Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief; he had almost thought he'd need to gather cinnamon, star anise, and bay leaves to prepare a funeral for the chicken.
Luckily, it was just a false alarm.
Stuffing the sleeping Simurgh into a large birdcage, Xu Qing shoved the fat chicken inside with a kick to its rear when it got stuck at the cage door.
Carrying the cage weighing nearly sixty or seventy pounds, Xu Qing acted nonchalantly. Other masters, even if they managed to care for it, probably wouldn't be able to take it for a walk.
A chicken weighing almost seventy pounds, even a martial artist who hadn't trained for three years couldn't lift it as lightly as Xu Qing could.
Here, Xu Qing carried the chicken cage in one hand and played with walnuts in the other, as if merely taking his pet for a stroll. Meandering along, he soon returned to Master Feng's mansion.
"Yo, what are you up to, Master Feng?"
As Xu Qing entered, he saw Master Feng with nothing on but underpants, squatting on the floor letting his elder pick insects off of him.
The elder stared for a long time, squinting cross-eyed, but saw no bugs.
"Brother Xu! Finally you're back, you scared me to death. How are you? Not hurt, right? How about taking off your clothes too, let the elder check for you..."
What kind of person is worth befriending? When you help someone settle a vendetta, and after returning they don't ask about your enemies but make sure you're not injured —that's a true friend.
Xu Qing rarely showed a smile: "It's nothing much, just a petty nobody who can't see the light of day. From now on, Master Feng, you can live worry-free. Who knows, maybe you'll find a partner and get a little fortune."
"What are you saying? I'm already so old, but you, brother, with such skills haven't started a family..."
Before Xu Qing could reply, Master Feng proactively began worrying like an elder.
The two chatted casually for a while, until Master Feng, after a pause, couldn't help but inquire about the vendetta.
Xu Qing, after a moment's consideration, recounted in detail certain events to Master Feng.
He remembered the monk who rode backward on a donkey; he had seen him just a few days ago. Now, forty years later, besides being a bit fatter, the monk was the same as before.
This incident made Xu Qing more cautious. Luckily he hadn't confronted the monk back then, or his cart full of evil spirits might not have stood a chance.
Upon hearing this, Master Feng suddenly recalled: "There was indeed such a thing. I remember the old steward, while alive, said that monk helped our family, sending the one who hexed us to the Demon Hunting Bureau, though I heard he was already executed by the officials."
"That demon was executed, but he had an apprentice..."
Xu Qing gradually unveiled the story, and Master Feng listened in silence for a long time.
"In retrospect, this was caused by the cat-eyed charlatan. If not for his fraud with found insects, none of this would have happened."
The Feng Family, all ten-plus members, dead because of one bug—how innocent they were.
Surprised by Xu Qing's words, Master Feng recounted an old tale.
Back then, his father had promised that charlatan to send any good items to the mansion, assuring the Fengs wouldn't treat him poorly.
Later, within a month, the cat-eyed charlatan indeed returned to visit.
The patriarch of the Feng family was outraged; the charlatan who almost doomed his family with a hex still dared to come back a second time. If he let him escape again, he wouldn't be able to stay in the Capital City.