By the time Zhou Muzhi reached Youhe Street by carriage, the sun stood directly overhead, glaring brightly and driving pedestrians on both sides into the shade with its heat.
Dressed in thin white robes, his hair hanging loose, Zhou Muzhi stepped over the scorching flagstones and arrived outside Half-Immortal Xu's home.
This little lane lay right beneath the sun. Looking into the fenced courtyard, he saw three hens huddled in their coop, clucking, clearly suffering badly from the heat as well.
The tiled house's front door was open, and Half-Immortal Xu could be seen sitting inside drinking tea.
Turning his gaze just then, Half-Immortal Xu spotted Zhou Muzhi carrying his things. He rose, braved the blazing sun, and let Zhou Muzhi in.
The two talked as they walked.
"I didn't expect you to be so resourceful. You gathered all the materials this quickly."
Zhou Muzhi was a little surprised. He hadn't mentioned it yet, so how did the man know?
Half-Immortal Xu pointed at the tied oilpaper bags. "The smell of those ingredients has already wafted into this old Daoist's nose. Your talent might be astonishing, but I have a few special tricks of my own."
So that was it.
Zhou Muzhi stepped inside, set the things on the table, and walked over to the statue without needing to be asked, reaching out to absorb Deduction Points.
Half-Immortal Xu said nothing more for the moment either. He untied the bags and took out the ingredients one by one, speaking as he did.
"All top-quality stuff. Fine ingredients. And with this main ingredient, freshness matters most."
After saying that, Half-Immortal Xu got busy again.
He brought out assorted bottles and jars from a corner, along with specially made tools. All sorts of strange odors spread out, dispersing much of the sandalwood fragrance in the room.
Last came an exceptionally strong, cloyingly sweet smell.
This smell.
It was the smell Half-Immortal Xu had carried before. Looking over, Zhou Muzhi saw that its source was a fist-sized bead.
The bead had an uneven surface and was pure black. He couldn't tell what material it was made from.
"Do you need my help?"
Zhou Muzhi asked anyway.
Half-Immortal Xu's hands kept moving briskly as he answered, "No rush. Just stay there for now. There'll be work for you later."
Zhou Muzhi said no more.
Half-Immortal Xu had begun working out the proportions as soon as he obtained the method for making Evil-Repelling Incense. What needed processing now were these three new ingredients.
He thoroughly crushed the redwood root, put it in a basin, and mixed in a specially prepared liquid. Then he added the required ingredients in sequence, including a strange, bluish-white fleshy wood, as well as yin-aspected medicinal ingredients that could draw souls, much like purple lingzhi threaded roots.
More important still was the powder scraped from the black bead, which Half-Immortal Xu treated with great care.
After a long period of tinkering, a pool of half-congealed red liquid was finally ready.
Half-Immortal Xu fetched an old wooden board and covered it. Humming a special incantation, he closed his eyes and swayed his head slightly. He chanted for a full seven and a half minutes before finally stopping and opening his eyes.
A sheen of sweat had visibly broken out on his forehead.
"Done. Once it's rested, we can make the Evil-Repelling Incense!"
A rare look of happiness appeared in Half-Immortal Xu's eyes.
Beside the statue, Zhou Muzhi could no longer feel the slightest trace of energy through his palm. His Deduction Points had stopped moving entirely, and he checked their number.
[Deduction Points: 6]
Although he had known it was almost exhausted, Zhou Muzhi still felt a sense of regret when the moment actually came.
This was a rare old object from which he could keep absorbing points.
He touched it again, trying to see whether anything remained to be gleaned, only to find that the panel showed no response whatsoever.
Half-Immortal Xu went over and sat in a chair, panting. He wiped his sweat with his sleeve and looked at Zhou Muzhi, his voice rising and falling.
"I've studied this incense-making method many times. I think some changes could make its effects better suited to you."
"Oh?"
Zhou Muzhi gestured for him to continue, all ears.
After catching his breath, Half-Immortal Xu spoke again. "The purpose of your incense is to make vengeful souls avoid you. Its effect will be stronger. As long as you burn enough, a vengeful soul will realize you're not to be trifled with and leave on its own."
He took another breath, then continued.
"But that depends on the circumstances. You know your own situation. This thing is hounding you to death, so it's clearly coming specifically for you. This incense might not work either."
Zhou Muzhi fell silent. There was nothing wrong with that assessment.
The vengeful soul seemed determined not to stop until one of them was dead. This certainly wouldn't end so easily.
He was only making this incense as a backup measure. He had also just gained a basic grasp of the craft, and it would be a shame not to put that skill to use.
Besides, if the incense drove the vengeful soul away, he would lose nothing.
"Then what would you suggest, Uncle Xu?"
Zhou Muzhi offered the appropriate prompt.
Half-Immortal Xu smiled smugly. "I've spent half my life honing my approach to incense-making.
"If you can find an intimate possession of the vengeful soul haunting you, burn it to ash, then mix it in together with a little blood from the middle finger of the person he hates.
"This incense will definitely have some restraining effect on him!"
Zhou Muzhi's gaze shifted.
A restraining effect?
That was far too important!
He had already undergone Gate Knocking, so he wasn't afraid of having his qi and blood drained. If he could weaken the vengeful soul too, the enemy would weaken while he grew stronger. Then this battle could be won.
At that thought, he immediately prepared to act.
"I'll get on it right away!"
Half-Immortal Xu rolled his eyes. He hadn't even finished speaking. What was the rush?
"Wait!"
Zhou Muzhi was called back.
He looked at Half-Immortal Xu, who gestured for him to sit.
Although he didn't understand, he still sat down on a stool.
"Don't rush. I'm only halfway through."
"Do you know what achievement incense makers take the greatest pride in?"
Zhou Muzhi shook his head. He had entered the craft halfway through, so naturally he didn't know.
Half-Immortal Xu gave a strange chuckle. "My late master reached the pinnacle of Our Sect, and that was-Ghost Sealing!"
What!
Zhou Muzhi's gaze changed at once.
Driving ghosts away and sealing them were two different realms. He had never expected incense makers to reach such heights.
After saying that, Half-Immortal Xu sank back into his memories. "When my master was alive, who didn't praise her abilities? Even accomplished martial arts masters respectfully addressed her as a high adept.
"But that traitor, after achieving success in martial arts, tried to seize my master's sealed ghost by force. He even slaughtered every one of our fellow disciples!"
Zhou Muzhi precisely caught the important detail within those words and asked, "This enemy of yours carries a ghost with him?"
Half-Immortal Xu laughed.
"Should I call you cautious or timid? Don't worry. In the end, he didn't get the ghost either. Otherwise, I wouldn't have survived until now."
Good.
Without anything supernatural involved, with only martial cultivation to contend with, he believed he could soon fulfill his promise to the man.
Half-Immortal Xu returned to the subject.
"But I believe there's an even greater achievement beyond that: completely controlling a ghost!"
Hearing this, Zhou Muzhi couldn't help admiring the fellow. He certainly dared to dream.
But on closer thought, the man really did have a foundation for it. After all, his lineage had produced an example of Ghost Sealing. Going one step further was no problem either.
As he listened, Zhou Muzhi noticed that the man was looking at him.
Then a sentence struck him hard in the heart.
"You're the greatest genius I've ever seen. This old Daoist certainly can't accomplish something like that, but you can!"
Zhou Muzhi didn't immediately argue, because he was actually tempted.
A vengeful soul capable of silently killing anyone below Gate Knocking in an instant-if he could control it, it would be an even greater right-hand man than Lao Xu.
"That senior brother of mine took precisely this path, using a martial artist's qi and blood together with our sect's methods. He came within a hair of succeeding. But the wretch had a wolf's ambition. It was plain to see he followed an evil path. If it really fell into his hands, he would be a threat to everyone."
Zhou Muzhi replied, "If it's such a good thing, why don't you do it?"
"Look at this old Daoist's qi and blood. How much longer could I live? I'd better settle down and enjoy my old age. Training you would also fulfill my wish from back then."
That was indeed no lie. Half-Immortal Xu wasn't qualified to control a vengeful soul.
After some thought, Zhou Muzhi took the initiative to ask, "Tell me the theory. Then we'll work out how to set things up."
Half-Immortal Xu burst into delighted laughter.
"Boy, I was right about you. You've got guts!"
The two continued talking, mostly with Half-Immortal Xu speaking and Zhou Muzhi listening.
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