Guiding Immortals into the Body

The sky was faintly bright.

Tucked into the corner between two high bluestone walls, the dilapidated Firewood Courtyard looked rather conspicuous.

The old gatekeeper from next door crept out, carrying a wooden bucket, and arrived at the entrance of the Firewood Courtyard.

He rubbed his lower abdomen, grimacing in pain, clearly still suffering. Muttering curses under his breath, he reached out, intending to splash the filth in the bucket all over the door.

"I'll show you for cheating! And daring to hit me!"

Such neighborhood retaliation wouldn't cost a life, but it was guaranteed to be disgusting.

Especially for a widow with no men in the house to stand up for her; if he did this a few times a day, she wouldn't be able to stay on this street for long.

Splash!

Just as the old man raised his hand, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck like a little chick.

The bucket of excrement and urine didn't splash onto the door; instead, it spilled all over him.

"Let go of me!"

His beard, stained with yellow, trembled violently. He whipped his head around to look.

What met his eyes was a fair, smiling, handsome face.

His pupils constricted as if he had seen a demon; his hands shook so hard he nearly dropped the bucket.

Just looking at this familiar face made the gatekeeper's abdomen ache all over again.

"L-Lord Fox... I was possessed! Please, spare me!"

This time, he didn't dare to curse aloud. Instead, his legs went weak, and as Lin Shu let go, he collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Word had spread through the neighborhood that the adulterer playing with the young widow was a member of the Blackwater Gang, a man who had killed three people and hadn't even been arrested.

The courtyard door creaked open.

Hearing the commotion outside, Yun Niang came to check.

She saw at a glance what kind of mischief the old gatekeeper had intended, but she didn't get angry. Instead, she looked at the young man with pleasant surprise, clearly not expecting him to return so soon.

"Thank you, Master Lin. Please, come in."

Having been tired all day, Lin Shu had no interest in scaring the old man any further.

He brushed off his sleeves and stepped into the courtyard.

Compared to "Lord Fox," Lin Shu preferred the widow's address of "Master."

It sounded as if he had washed his hands of his past.

"I've already cleaned this cloak; I was just waiting for you to come back and get it." Yun Niang took a neatly folded white fur cloak out from the room.

"Wash the one I'm wearing now, too, and prepare a clean set for me."

Lin Shu stretched, walking straight into the side room.

He gave his orders as he walked, as if this were his own home.

Yun Niang followed behind with small steps, nodding obediently, "Alright."

She seemed to never care about the gossip outside.

Thus, the atmosphere between the two formed a strange, harmonious quality.

One was unceremonious, the other didn't object; they didn't look like people who had just met at all.

"Right, prepare some good meat, too. I'll eat when I wake up."

Lin Shu took off his outer garment and tossed a piece of broken silver onto the table.

With money in his pocket, his words carried weight.

Yun Niang held the clothes in her arms, looking at the dried bloodstains on them, then glanced at the silver.

A trace of sorrow welled up in her eyes.

The city beneath their feet was just like the "Blackwater" in its name—surging and rapidly tainting everyone within it.

"Sigh."

Yun Niang sighed to herself. Although she had expected it, she still hadn't thought... her benefactor would adapt to his identity in the Blackwater Gang so quickly.

In just one night, he had integrated into the pack of foxes.

"Please rest, I'll go prepare it."

"Go ahead."

After the widow exited the room, Lin Shu lay lazily on the bed.

Perhaps the more one found themselves in the mud, the more they craved cleanliness.

He had always kept his work and life strictly separated.

Although the Firewood Courtyard was a bit dilapidated and the bed planks were somewhat uncomfortable, lying in a place like this gave Lin Shu a sense of stability.

He closed his eyes, intending to run through the immortal techniques in his mind once more before sleep.

After all, this was his only means of self-defense when facing those cultivators and martial artists.

Lin Shu's breathing gradually steadied.

The image of a lone wolf's back slowly gathered in his mind.

It was robust, with smooth, silvery-white fur, standing atop a solitary peak.

The next moment, a full moon that blotted out the sky rose from beneath the mountain, dark and emitting a low, rumbling roar, until it framed the White Wolf perfectly in its center.

"What is going on?"

Lin Shu could already feel the sharpness of the moon wheel, yet it lacked the smooth, natural flow of a technique coming to fruition.

A discordant aura was consistently interfering with the operation of the immortal technique.

At that moment, the White Wolf suddenly turned its head, its nose twitching slightly.

Lin Shu instinctively mimicked the same movement.

With the aid of the mist permeating his body, he finally captured that disruptive aura!

"What is this?!"

The dark moon and the White Wolf collapsed entirely.

Lin Shu lunged forward, refusing to let the aura slip away.

Two wisps of cyan energy landed in his palm.

[Half-Life Immortal. Immortal body not yet condensed.]

Lin Shu stared blankly at the prompt before him, quickly realizing what had happened.

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

The immortal relic he had just been discussing with Old Yang had actually appeared out of nowhere?

However, the spiritual light he had captured was not enough to make the immortal entity manifest fully.

"Not this... and not this either."

Lin Shu grabbed at the items beside him, from his pillow to his quilt, and even peered under the bed.

The young widow's place was practically bare; there were so few things that he could see everything at a glance, and none of them held the aura he had just sensed.

He sat back down on the bed, closing his eyes to try and track it again.

He did not know how much time had passed.

Beads of sweat seeped from Lin Shu's forehead. He opened his palm, and a third wisp of cyan energy had joined the others.

He looked silently out the window.

Those auras drifted aimlessly throughout the entire courtyard, with no central point to track.

Simply put, if there really was an immortal relic, it could only be this dilapidated Firewood Courtyard itself.

Lin Shu withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and slowly took out two jade coins.

Who said that if it didn't have a mouth, it couldn't be fed?

He decisively pressed the jade coins into the three wisps of cyan energy.

[Consumed two Virtue Coins, immortal body not yet formed.]

The cyan energy intertwined, and two of the wisps gradually unfurled, transforming into a pair of blurry wings before the change ceased.

Chicken wings becoming immortal?

Lin Shu suddenly felt a bit hungry.

Although he hadn't been able to fully manifest this immortal entity, at least his Virtue Coins had found a use.

He didn't have to pin all his hopes on that little dog anymore.

Feeding two immortal entities at once would surely increase the probability of them spitting out internal techniques.

Besides, this Firewood Courtyard wasn't going anywhere, so there was no need to be too anxious.

"Have you bought the food back?"

Lin Shu walked out of the room and looked up at the sky; it was already afternoon.

"I've placed it all on the table for you."

Yun Niang was squatting on the ground, scrubbing clothes in a basin with great effort.

This posture outlined the even fuller curves of her already voluptuous figure.

Seeing Lin Shu come out, the young widow smoothed her hair and said respectfully, "There are also clean clothes on the stool beside you."

"Not bad."

Lin Shu walked over to the small table in the courtyard and sat down, where a plate of warm braised meat and a small pot of yellow wine awaited him.

A stack of copper coins lay to the side, pinning down a slip of paper that detailed the prices of the wine and meat.

He glanced at the elegant handwriting, picked up his chopsticks, and began to feast.

Lin Shu chewed the braised meat and took a swig of wine, then asked as if in passing, "Are you looking to sell this courtyard?"

"Hmm?"

Yun Niang seemed not to grasp the probing nature of his question; she looked up, then offered a shy smile. "I don't have the right to sell this place, but since Master Lin saved us, you are welcome to stay as long as you like."

"..."

Lin Shu's expression remained calm, though a strange glint flickered in his eyes.

Ever since the night Liu San died, he had felt that this young widow's behavior was peculiar, and when combined with the aura of an immortal lingering in the courtyard, it was hard not to let his imagination run wild.

Forget it. As long as it didn't interfere with him obtaining that cyan mist, the rest was none of his business.

"Fine, consider the remaining money as rent."

After polishing off the food and drink in a few quick bites, Lin Shu set down his chopsticks and stood up.

He threw on his clean set of clothes and strode out the courtyard gate.

Capturing the immortal aura had consumed too much time, and it was already getting quite late.

A night had passed.

Good Fortune Martial Hall should be making their move soon.