The second nine, the last day of the year.
The funeral industry on Underground Street held a fire prevention and misfortune-clearing drill; apart from the immortals who left early, all the Galloping Immortal disciples and locals cooperated by leaving the street.
Even the fearless members of the Red-clad Sect at the end of the street ran out with them.
The reason was nothing other than suddenly hearing the sound of suonas and flutes in the night, accompanied by mournful cries, the chirping of mice, and a large flock of crows cawing as they flew from the beginning to the end of the street.
When the mute carpenter opened the door of the carpentry shop, he saw a procession of paperman funeral marchers.
Those papermen had heads like cauldrons, over ten feet tall, wearing conical hats made of paper, draped in paper quilts, moving as if walking on wind and fog, landing without a sound.
The mute carpenter was horrified!
He thought that his missing skill had been discovered, and heaven was coming to get him, so he hurriedly closed the door, opened a coffin, and hid inside, praying for the protection of the craftsman ancestral master.
Sect Saintess, Xie Hongying, and others also saw those tall, thin as bamboo papermen, but they didn't see them from outside the door.
The papermen, over ten feet tall, could be seen from over the wall, their funeral banners raised high as they passed.
Xie Hongying, facing a formidable enemy, stayed awake all night, fortunately without incident.
At dawn the next day, Shopkeeper Xu from the funeral shop brought a dignified female priestess and a female divination master, saying that as it was the last day of the year, they had specially invited professional mages to exorcise evil and clear misfortune.
When Xu Qing said this, he appeared calm, not at all feeling that he was the biggest source of evil on Underground Street.
The people from the Red-clad Sect and the mute carpenter thought this was good news, hoping the two mages could help drive away evil, as Underground Street was generally fine but sometimes felt not quite in the mortal world...
Yizhen Daoist and Bai Qiuyu met face to face early this morning, one was a Fox Girl from Qingqiu, the other carried the bloodline of Tushan. When Xu Qing introduced them, they were like two cats who had never met, wanting to get to know each other's scent yet holding back with restraint.
However, Temple Master Jingxu was exceptionally fond of Bai Qiuyu today, contrary to usual.
The legendary Nine-tailed Fox, let alone ordinary people, even she, a Primordial Spirit True Man, had never seen one!
Let alone one that is alive!
Once Underground Street was cleared of people, leaving not a single living soul, the Master Jingxu stepped out of the Wooden Box, landing on Yizhen's shoulder, and asked Xu Qing:
"What kind of ritual are you going to perform?"
Xu Qing suddenly came to his senses, having only told the Cat Immortal Hall immortals about Tao Sanmei's tribulation today, without informing Yizhen Daoist and Bai Qiuyu.
Right now, one wielded a whisk and water jug with three Qing bells hanging at the waist; the other held a divination banner and compass, truly displaying a stance of ghost hunting and evil expelling.
"It's not a ritual; an immortal from my Immortal Hall is facing a bit of a challenge and needs to pass through it. The talk of clearing misfortune was just an excuse to get the neighbors to leave, to prevent collateral damage. At this moment, even we need to leave promptly."
Master Jingxu didn't take it seriously, laughing lightly: "Having practiced for many years, what challenge haven't I encountered, why would I need to retreat?"
"You can tell me, what kind of challenge is it?"
Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, saying leisurely, "It's the peach tree in the coffin shop courtyard facing its five-hundred-year lightning tribulation. Senior, being a Primordial Spirit True Man, naturally wouldn't fear it, but we juniors still need to avoid the sharp point."
"..."
"You mean that Peach Tree Demon needs to face its triple disaster tribulation today?" Master Jingxu's face changed, then complained indignantly: "Why didn't you say so sooner!"
These days, Jingxu had almost been using Tao Sanmei as a servant maid due to a mischievous whim, planning to pass on some cultivation techniques or magical treasures once Master Kuan Dao left one day.
Before leaving, saying some cryptic words, telling Tao Sanmei it was a test from a true man, not deliberately making things difficult.
But now Xu Qing suddenly tells him that peach tree is facing its five-hundred-year disaster tribulation today.
In Jingxu's eyes, Tao Sanmei's cultivation was nowhere near enough to survive the tribulation; the only fate awaiting that peach tree was to become thousand-year thunderstruck wood, especially the rare thunderstruck peach wood.
Master Jingxu felt deeply regretful, if she'd known earlier, how would she have indulged in trifling amusement with that peach tree.
If Tao Sanmei didn't survive the thunder disaster, Master Jingxu thought she'd slap herself awake countless years later when entering meditation at midnight!
Xu Qing puzzledly remarked: "If I had mentioned it earlier, would senior have a way to help Tao Sanmei avoid the tribulation?"
"..."
These words made Jingxu even more uncomfortable.
She didn't have such capability! Calamities can only be faced by oneself, if she had such ability, how could Yizhen's mother have ended in such a result with no remains left...
"I do not have such ability, if you have the skill to help her evade the tribulation, at that time I'll call you a true man!"
Jingxu's heart was filled with annoyance, as the kid's words were poking at her sore spot.
Looking at Master Jingxu who was mad at him, Xu Qing couldn't help but wonder if he had offended all the elderly ladies, as any elderly lady seemed to have a gripe with him.
"I distributed a portion of the incense from the hall to Tao Sanmei yesterday, hoping it will be enough to get through the tribulation..."
Jingxu eyed Xu Qing skeptically, in the Five Filthy Evil Worlds, the true practice is difficult, a single Immortal Hall doing good deeds every day, how much incense could it have?
If incense carrying merit and vows were so easy to earn, the famous sects of the Celestial Master's Mansion would not have fallen from being top in true practice to the current leaders of deceptive practices.
In this world of great tribulation, with yin and yang reversed, it was always the case.