"Yanyan, once we're done with this busy stretch, let's find some time to stay here for a while and look for inspiration. I really like it here too."
Annoying as He Jingyi was, he wasn't wrong! Incense Valley Town really was beautiful! Its ancient, rustic atmosphere shed the bustle and restlessness of the city, possessing both the gentleness and tranquility of a woman from Jiangnan and the mysterious chill unique to the mountains. It was a place that stirred longing.
A faint smile also lingered on Ji Nanshu's lips. "Yuanjia and Yanyan really could stay for a while. This is a treasure of a place."
The feng shui was excellent, and both their birth charts were highly compatible with this place.
"Hey!! Is someone making incense over there?" Jian Yuanjia suddenly shouted, pointing ahead.
The others looked in the direction Jian Yuanjia was pointing. A cool, aloof woman in a qipao was making incense outside her home.
The woman was extraordinarily beautiful, her expression focused and reverent.
[Holy shit, this woman is way too gorgeous!!! She's on Ji Nanshu's level!!]
[I don't care! She's my new wife!! Wifey, mwah mwah mwah mwah!!]
[Even a remote little town like this has women this hot? Those tits, that ass, she must feel amazing to f*ck!!]
[What kind of disgusting freak is the person above? Is your dick growing out of your brain?]
[Reported. You're welcome!]
"Heh..." Ji Nanshu chuckled. Interesting. Such a small ancient town, yet it harbored crouching tigers and hidden dragons.
The cameraman had already followed Jian Yuanjia and the other two over to the woman's incense-making table.
Chu Mo turned his head and asked him, "What is it?"
Ji Nanshu smiled. "I saw something... that shouldn't exist."
As he approached, Ji Nanshu heard Jian Yuanjia chattering like a sparrow. "What kind of incense is this? It smells so good... Can we buy some?"
Ji Nanshu glanced at the ingredients and said, "Xuanhe Inner Court Jiangzhen Incense. Take thirty taels of imported jiangzhen aromatic wood and cut it into small pieces. Grind half a tael of cured tea into powder, add boiling water, and soak them together for one day, with the liquid roughly one finger above the wood. Remove it the following morning and air-dry it. Then place half a bowl of good wine, four taels of honey, and fifty Qingzhou dates in a porcelain vessel and cook them together with the wood until dry. Remove it, store it in a nonporous porcelain box, and seal tightly..."
A faint smile appeared on the woman's face. Her hands kept working as she spoke in a clear, cool voice. "You do know a little about incense-making... What a shame so many people no longer like these things."
"Only a little."
Only then did the woman raise her head and introduce herself. "My name is Fu Yu."
"Ji Nanshu," Ji Nanshu replied in kind. "Miss Fu Yu, have you heard of God-Inviting Incense?"
Fu Yu's gaze flickered, and her incense-making movements paused almost imperceptibly. "I've heard a little about it, but I don't know how to make God-Inviting Incense. Besides... there probably aren't more than a couple of people who can make it nowadays."
Even among celestial masters, hardly anyone had been heard of who could make God-Inviting Incense.
What was more... given her identity, she didn't meet the requirements for making God-Inviting Incense at all. This man had asked her about it as soon as he arrived. Had he seen through her identity, or did he have some other purpose?
He Jingyi stood to Ji Nanshu's right, close enough to see his pores clearly. His breath caught, and he slowly asked, "What kind of incense is this God-Inviting Incense?"
It was an outright assault of beauty.
"Is it that hard to understand? God-Inviting Incense naturally invites gods," Ji Nanshu leisurely shot back at He Jingyi.
Fu Yu chuckled. "Yes. Naturally, it invites gods. Would you all like to come inside and sit for a while? My tea has just finished brewing. Have some tea and hear about incense and Incense Valley Town."
"Yes, yes, yes!!!" That was an excited Jian Yuanjia.
There happened to be eight stools set out in the courtyard.
Fu Yu gestured toward them. "Please sit. I'll pour everyone some tea."
Cen Yan had taken quite a liking to Fu Yu, and her voice softened without her realizing it. "Sister Fu Yu, could you tell us about Incense Valley Town?"
Fu Yu nodded, her movements unhurried. As she poured the tea, she slowly began her account. "Incense Valley Town wasn't originally called Incense Valley Town. It didn't make incense, and it wasn't even a town. It was just a nameless village. Later, a woman fleeing disaster arrived in the village. The villagers were very kind and saved her."
"She settled here, married, and had children. The woman was an incense maker. When she went up the mountain to gather medicinal herbs, she discovered many, many ingredients suitable for making incense. Grateful to the villagers for saving her life, she taught them how to make it."
"Later, every household learned to make incense, and they prospered because of it. The villagers were equally grateful to this woman, so they named the village Incense Valley Town."
Like an elementary school student, Jian Yuanjia raised his hand. "I know, I know! That woman's name was Xianggu, right?"
"Yes, her name was Xianggu." A trace of nostalgia and warmth filled Fu Yu's eyes. "She was a... beautiful, gentle, and kind woman."
Cen Yan said, "You must all be very fond of her, right?"
"Let me tell you about incense now." Fu Yu did not answer the question directly, instead beginning to talk about incense. "Hua Country's earliest incense culture was: 'Shennong tasted the hundred herbs and distinguished their hundred fragrances; our ancestors drove away insects and pestilence, sending fragrant smoke billowing time and again.' The history of incense can be traced back to ancient times, when it was used as an offering to the gods to dispel impurity and cleanse... Gradually, its uses developed fairly comprehensive and detailed classifications: halls had hall censers and offering censers for burning incense; bedrooms had bedroom censers and incense balls; studies had study censers and zither censers... Buddhists had Buddhist incense, and Daoists had Daoist incense..."
"Our country's four famous aromatics are agarwood, musk, sandalwood, and ambergris. Agarwood ranks first among the four and is used most often by Buddhists and Daoists. It can calm the mind and refresh the spirit... Musk can invigorate the mind, promote blood circulation, and regulate menstruation... Sandalwood has calming and soothing effects and aids sleep..."
Fu Yu spoke for a full hour. Aside from Ji Nanshu and Chu Mo, the other three listened with exceptional attentiveness, and Jian Yuanjia and Cen Yan asked questions from time to time.
Fu Yu lifted her tea, took a sip, and asked, "Mr. Ji, you mentioned God-Inviting Incense. Do you know how to make it?"
"It sounds as though you don't know how, Miss Fu Yu. Is it very difficult?" Ji Nanshu, who had been lost in thought and was suddenly called on, put down his teacup, looking somewhat puzzled.
A spirit creature naturally couldn't make God-Inviting Incense.
When he had visited the feng shui street before, even the Si Clan, which had the most comprehensive stock, hadn't had any.
A bold guess arose in his mind. Could it be that not a single person in this era knows how to make God-Inviting Incense?!
Just how far have this era's occult practitioners-oh, no, they should be called celestial masters-declined!
Fu Yu shook her head. "I don't." Nor could she.
"I've only heard of this kind of incense."
It looks like it's most likely been lost. The celestial masters of this era really are utterly terrible!!
Ji Nanshu thought to himself.
He Jingyi interjected then. "If even Miss Fu Yu doesn't know how, doesn't that mean nobody does? Besides, can God-Inviting Incense really invite gods?"
Everything about incense came from Baidu.
Baidu, you're worth it (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)