Leaden clouds pressed low over the land. Flocks of storks abruptly migrated across the horizon, while egrets spread their wings and flew low, their clear cries rising and falling.
Inside the carriage.
Zhou Muzhi lifted the curtain half an inch and looked at the dark clouds. Purple lightning seemed to churn within them.
"It's going to rain."
He murmured, feeling the unpleasant dampness and stuffiness in the air.
Beside him, Lao Xu pulled two plain wooden umbrellas from the umbrella compartment and nodded in agreement.
"Rain is a nuisance. Good thing we have umbrellas."
As they spoke.
They arrived at Youhe Street again.
The two stepped out of the carriage. Almost everyone nearby had gone home, leaving no one wandering outside.
The scene before them was dim, with barely enough light to follow the bluestone road ahead.
A short while later.
They reached Half-Immortal Xu's tiled-roof house, thick with the smell of incense.
Lao Xu went up to call at the gate. Half-Immortal Xu did nothing unusual this time and came over to open the fence gate.
All three crossed the fenced courtyard and entered the tiled-roof house.
They had barely been inside for ten breaths when muffled thunder sounded outside, immediately followed by rain pouring down in sheets.
Moisture scattered through the air, soaking into the oppressive heat and bringing a refreshing coolness.
Half-Immortal Xu went over to shut the door, closed the house's only window, then walked to the wooden table and lit the candle on its stand.
The room immediately brightened.
His aged voice followed. "With the weather like this, you still came running to this old Daoist's place. Something urgent?"
Zhou Muzhi had, of course, come to check in. His hand was already touching the statue as he spoke casually.
"There is something, actually. Uncle Xu, I finished studying the booklet you gave me yesterday and formed a few opinions of my own. I came specifically to discuss them with you and see how they hold up."
Half-Immortal Xu nearly laughed aloud at those shamelessly boastful words.
He had spent half his life studying incense and would not dare say such a thing himself.
Even the booklet in your hands came from me. You're taking my own material to discuss with me-shouldn't that be called asking for guidance?
"You reckless young fool, have you always been this headstrong?"
After saying that, his gaze shifted to Lao Xu, who stood like a statue off to the side.
Lao Xu did not dare speak. He only felt wronged.
Why does everyone start by talking about the fourth young master, then end up looking at me?
Zhou Muzhi shook his head and changed tack. "You can't put it that way. What if I happen to be that kind of genius?"
Half-Immortal Xu laughed aloud all the harder.
"This old Daoist has lived half a lifetime, but this is truly my first time meeting a youngster as shameless as you."
Zhou Muzhi was not annoyed. He simply kept his hand against the statue, absorbing Deduction Points.
Perhaps because the boy had fallen silent, and because he remembered that his own hopes rested on him, Half-Immortal Xu finally moderated his tone and spoke.
"If you want to discuss your ideas, that's fine. Let me ask you a few questions first."
"Please do!" Zhou Muzhi replied.
"If an anomalous phenomenon occurs while you're making incense, should you stop the process?"
"No. Making incense is like shooting an arrow: once the string is drawn taut, you must let fly. If you stop halfway through, something more terrifying than the anomaly will occur."
"If you want to improve the quality of incense, what methods are there besides finding rarer materials?"
"Proportions, compatibility of properties, and a little mystical intuition. Of course..." Zhou Muzhi paused, then continued, "Your own cultivation realm is also a key factor affecting quality."
Half-Immortal Xu nodded. This showed that the young man had indeed taken in the booklet he had given him, but this was not the final verdict. He still needed to ask more.
"Suppose you encounter someone pale-faced and frail. His family says he suddenly collapsed three days ago for no apparent reason, and once cried out, 'Don't come looking for me for revenge.' If you were asked to use incense, how would you proceed?"
This was a practical question. The booklet would not teach such things.
But the knowledge Zhou Muzhi had deduced using Deduction Points went beyond a literal understanding of the text.
"First, look. Second, listen. Third, invoke the incense."
"Look for unclean things within his body, such as an evil soul calamity. Listen for any intent to lie in the family's words. Invoking the incense is the most important step: light Spirit-Testing Incense to establish the situation conclusively. The faster it burns, the more dangerous it is."
Spirit-Testing Incense was not among the three main incenses. Its sole purpose was to confirm the situation when someone lacked the experience to make a judgment.
Without waiting for Half-Immortal Xu to speak, Zhou Muzhi began taking control of the discussion.
"After racking my brains last night, I improved the three main incenses and named them Spirit-Cleansing Incense, Evil-Repelling Incense, and Demon-Subduing Incense!"
Half-Immortal Xu had been fairly satisfied. Zhou Muzhi did indeed show some signs of genius, but now, hearing such extravagant claims-
His face darkened, and he shouted.
"Ignorant..."
Zhou Muzhi gave him no chance, shouting even louder than him.
He explained the crucial points of the Evil-Repelling Incense.
An expert could tell at a listen whether there was any trickery involved.
Half-Immortal Xu froze completely. His expression shifted repeatedly before he finally lowered his head in thought, then raised it to stare straight at Zhou Muzhi.
"Tell me more about the latter two."
Zhou Muzhi smiled. This was also why he had come.
The things he deduced were indeed excellent, but he lacked the ability to innovate further himself.
Although the panel classified the old incense maker before him as a lowly incense maker, the man's foundations ran far deeper than his own. All he lacked were advanced techniques.
And those were precisely what Zhou Muzhi had.
Thus, Half-Immortal Xu went from initial disdain to astonishment, as though beholding a celestial being. By the end, even his words carried a trace of caution.
Once he confirmed that these truly were the results of a single night's thought, he seemed to age several years.
What did he mean, just one night?
One night's thought had instantly crushed half a lifetime of accumulation by an old man like him.
Being struck by a supergenius was just that plain and unadorned.
Just as Half-Immortal Xu, who did not practice martial arts, could not feel the shock Lao Xu and Li Jingfei had experienced when faced with someone reaching introductory body condensation in a single day.
But now, he felt it.
A long while later, Half-Immortal Xu sat down on a stool, his back hunched, and sighed. "You're better than me. You've walked farther down the path of incense making than I have."
Zhou Muzhi shook his head and replied, "You taught me all my incense-making skills, Uncle Xu. My foundations are still very weak. But I do have a request."
Half-Immortal Xu nodded at that. "Go ahead. This visit of yours has brought even this old Daoist enlightenment. I really ought to bring out something good."
"Please make Evil-Repelling Incense, Uncle Xu!"
Half-Immortal Xu's eyes brightened a little at those words. Having obtained a better incense-making method, he also wanted to try it. He looked at Zhou Muzhi again and found him much more pleasing to the eye this time.
"All right. Do you still want my Evil-Repelling Incense, then?"
Zhou Muzhi smiled and nodded. "Naturally. The more, the better."
"The more, the better? In your dreams, boy!"
Half-Immortal Xu returned to his old self, chiding him with a laugh before turning to retrieve a white candle from the corner and handing it to Zhou Muzhi.
Zhou Muzhi took his hand off the statue. The time he had spent here had earned him three Deduction Points in total. This had been quite a fruitful visit.
Absorbing points took longer and longer as he went. He felt that a few more visits would let him absorb all the Deduction Points in this statue.
After accepting the white candle with his freed hand, he did not rush to use Deduction Points to deduce anything this time.
Instead, he first looked at Half-Immortal Xu and asked what was on his mind. "About how long will it take to make this new incense?"
"The incense is easy to make, but the ingredients are hard to find. With my skills, once all the materials are gathered, it'll take just one day!"
Such was the confidence of a veteran craftsman.
Zhou Muzhi nodded, then asked which materials were missing. He could help gather them too.
Thinking of the Zhou Family's resources, Half-Immortal Xu nodded in agreement, and the two began discussing the materials for the Evil-Repelling Incense.
In the end, they found that one main ingredient and three supplementary ingredients were missing.
As this concerned his life, Zhou Muzhi naturally gave it priority. He would tell his second brother once he returned.
With matters here settled, he had no intention of staying longer. After saying his farewells, he left.
Before you continue