I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 144 - 94: Golden Chicken, Jade Ring_2

"Calamity? You were fine staying at the old tailor’s house, where’s the calamity coming from?"

Xu Qing frowned slightly. If he hadn’t changed his mind in the middle and chosen to draw talismans instead, this female ghost might have encountered him and considered him an evil guest.

But right now, he hadn’t gone to the old tailor’s house. Could it be that someone else had gotten there first...

The embroidery girl felt even more so that she had met a master when Xu Qing spoke of her origins with a single word.

"I am the tailor’s daughter. Since childhood, I’ve been doing embroidery at home and have never held a grudge against anyone. Later, my father passed away, and my relatives took the opportunity to seize our house and wanted to sell me off as a wife to another family."

"I may not have the courage of a man, but I wouldn’t let anyone manipulate me. So, I swallowed arsenic and died at home..."

Arsenic is arsenic. Listening to the embroidery girl weep, Xu Qing thought of Wang Liang from Wanshou Village.

In terms of age, Wang Liang was even younger than the embroidery girl. If he hadn’t been taught martial arts back then, Wang Liang’s current situation wouldn’t be much better than the embroidery girl’s.

"After my death, my resentment lingered, and my mind was muddled. Fortunately, a passing Taoist priest performed a ritual to dissipate my resentment and guided me to practice the Ghost Dao."

"I had a vendetta and didn’t want to leave immediately, so I broke my promise and secretly returned home..."

"Now that Taoist priest has brought an evil creature to punish me. I had no choice but to come here and try to possess the evil guest who had intruded into my house the other day to escape calamity..."

Listening to the female ghost’s cries, Xu Qing frowned and said, "People say that ghosts are full of lies. How do I know if what you’re saying is true or false?"

"I can swear by the light!"

"..."

Why do they always swear by the light?

The lights in this area must be very busy.

Xu Qing let go of the female ghost. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a rooster crow outside the shop again. This time, he also heard the dull sound of wings flapping.

"Benefactor, the evil creature has come again! Please be careful. I’ll hide for now."

After saying this, the female ghost flickered to the coffin where corpses were stored. Xu Qing then saw her decisively jump into the coffin and close the lid.

The series of actions were swift and without hesitation.

"..."

Xu Qing retracted his gaze and turned to look at the shop door.

At this moment, the rooster’s crow sounded again.

But this time, it wasn’t at the door but in the backyard of the funeral shop.

For some reason, Xu Qing felt a sense of unease rising in his heart.

Just an ordinary rooster’s crow, but it gave him an instinctive fear, like facing a tiger or a leopard roaring.

"That evil creature the female ghost spoke of, could it be this rooster crowing at midnight and running around?" Xu Qing drew his Silver Snake Sword, grabbed the Plum Blossom Needle hidden in his sleeve, and walked towards the backyard.

The hen that he had previously moved to Wu Yaohua’s house had been returned to the backyard for rearing after he went into seclusion.

Hearing the rooster’s loud crowing, the hens in the backyard made unusual noises, as if widows in Widow Village had met a nice young man.

Reaching the backyard, Xu Qing glanced around and saw the hens in the coop were all squatting on the ground, wings spread open, posing as if seeking mating.

"..."

What a strange phenomenon!

Xu Qing opened the coop door, intending to go in and catch the rogue disturbing his hens. But before he could take a step inside, a vile gust of wind rushed at him from behind!

On reflex, Xu Qing’s Two-Faced Dagger poised the Silver Snake Sword behind him.

He heard two clangs. A rooster as tall as half a human, covered in golden-red feathers, lunged at his long sword.

The rooster had spurs on the back of its legs, called chicken spurs, which grow longer with age. The rooster attacking Xu Qing had spurs over three inches long.

In the moonlight, the spurs gleamed like hooks, sparking as they struck the sword’s blade.

Xu Qing retreated to the courtyard and, using the Sinan Sword Technique, began to fight the rooster.

The rooster possessed a mystical nature. Each flap of its wings generated gusts of wind.

Unsure of where the sense of danger came from, Xu Qing’s zombie instincts told him not to let the rooster touch him.

The Sinan Sword Technique found its mark, and several sword shadows made feathers scatter in the courtyard.

The rooster, protective of its feathers, went completely mad seeing its feathers damaged.

Seeing the rooster’s neck feathers fan out, ready for battle, Xu Qing glanced at his long sword.

The poisoned Silver Snake Sword now had two nicks.

"This rooster is not normal!"

Since when could a rooster peck at iron as easily as at corncobs?

Seeing the rooster’s gleaming golden beak, Xu Qing finally understood his unease.

A peck from this could leave even a Silver Armored Corpse bruised and battered.

Seeing the rooster get serious, Xu Qing decided to stop messing around.

It had already bitten his Silver Snake Sword twice. No matter how tough, the rooster would keel over soon.

Xu Qing leaped out of the courtyard and headed to Underground Street.

The rooster pursued relentlessly.

Xu Qing used the Wall-Climbing Skill, Light Body Technique, and Winding Snake Step to dodge, moving as gracefully as a teenager chased by a goose.

Xuan Yu, returning from a walk, sat on a wall, watching the young man being chased by a golden rooster, eyes full of curiosity.

At the coffin shop, Hu Baosong heard the commotion and slowly came out. Seeing Xu Qing running towards him, his disabled legs suddenly moved faster than Xu Qing.

"Why are you causing trouble in the middle of the night?" Hu Baosong took out a Confusion Talisman and stuck it on the coffin shop door.

Xu Qing followed Hu Baosong inside, not feeling embarrassed at all, and quickly recounted his encounter with the female ghost.

"I thought it was a rooster used to call souls, who knew it was such a creature!"

"But don’t worry, Old Hu, the rooster got poisoned. It won’t last long."

Listening to the golden rooster circling outside, Hu Baosong frowned, "That golden rooster is unusual. Its keeper is likely not an ordinary person either. Don’t get into trouble over this..."

Xu Qing, annoyed, said, "Even a dog should be leashed, and yet this rooster runs into my shop at midnight, causing chaos. Is that reasonable?"

As the two gossiped, the street outside suddenly echoed with a ’cooing’ sound, calling the rooster.

Hu Baosong and Xu Qing exchanged glances and fell silent.

Outside, a female Taoist priest in a cyan robe stood before the golden rooster.

The once imposing rooster now seemed weak. Looking at its blackened comb, the priest frowned.

Standing on the street, she scanned the surroundings. Apart from a black cat on a distant roof, there was no other movement.

After a moment of silence, the priest took a milky-white elixir pill from her sleeve and fed it to the rooster. She then approached the coffin shop, made a salute, and softly said:

"I am Yizhen from Five Elders Temple. This golden rooster is a spiritual bird kept by the temple. If it has offended you, I apologize."

"I hope you can be lenient and provide the antidote. I would be deeply grateful."

Inside the shop, separated by only a door, Xu Qing pretended not to hear.

First, the female ghost begged for his help, now the female Taoist priest was seeking medicine.

One would think this wasn’t a funeral shop, but an Enlightenment Hall!

Compared to Xu Qing’s calmness, Hu Baosong, usually steady as a rock, couldn’t sit still.

"Hey, Old Hu, what are you doing?"

Ignoring Xu Qing, Hu Baosong opened the door and told him, "Xu Qing, light the lamp!"

Click, the lamp lit up.

They could finally see the female Taoist priest’s face outside.

She was a stately woman in her thirties or forties, with a refined appearance and endless charm in her brows.

"Are you from Five Elders Temple?"

"Yes."

"Do you know Zichen?"

"Zichen is my master’s title."

Hu Baosong couldn’t hide his excitement, "Is she well now?"

"My master passed away fifteen years ago."

"What about the jade ring you carry?"

"The Heart Moon Ring was passed down from my master, but only half of it."

Listening to their questioning, Xu Qing sensed there was more to this.

Old Hu wasn’t as simple as he seemed.