I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 157 - 100: Autumn Execution, Old Friend_2

Xu Qing looked at the sky, it was already night.

Shaking off irrelevant thoughts, Xu Qing informed Xuan Yu and left the Funeral Shop, heading toward Shuimen Bridge.

With the arson case resolved, it was time for him to visit the female ghost kept at the villa.

...

Shuimen Bridge Villa.

Xu Qing stepped on the courtyard wall, walking as if on flat ground.

This was a technique he had acquired when he exorcised Fang Qianyan and Bai Richuang, two thieves, from the villa, called the Gecko Wall-Crawling Technique.

Familiar with the surroundings, he avoided the traps and mechanisms by the wall. Before he even entered the villa deeply, he heard the sound of a loom operating from the western wing.

The creak of the loom’s shuttle was particularly harsh in the deep of night.

Xu Qing frowned and silently approached the wing room.

Inside the half-open door, a woman in a thin gauze dress was sitting at the loom, working with her back to the door, her small waist slim enough to grasp.

Xu Qing approached closer, yet the woman remained unaware, focused only on pulling the shuttle strings and moving the loom, the fabric extending with the tread of her feet.

"Where did you get this loom?"

In the room, where there were only the female ghost and the sound of weaving, suddenly a male voice echoed.

"Ah!"

The embroidery girl, startled, exclaimed and turned around, only to see Xu Qing standing beside her, staring at her.

"How can you walk without making any sound? You scared me to death!"

"You are already dead."

Xu Qing’s tone was eerie.

The embroidery girl spat lightly and said angrily, "You still shouldn’t scare people like that."

"I’m not scaring people, at most, I’m scaring ghosts."

Xu Qing turned, leaned against the loom, and said, "You haven’t answered my question yet, where did you get this loom?"

"Don’t sit on it, you’ll mess up the threads..."

Seeing Xu Qing’s eyes narrow slightly, the embroidery girl felt uneasy and her voice grew softer.

She said gently, "You left me here alone and unattended, so I brought my loom from home to weave some cloth when I have nothing else to do..."

"With the cloth, I can make you some clothes."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing remembered that the embroidery girl’s family owned a tailor shop.

"With that bit of silk, how much cloth can you weave? It might not even be enough for an undergarment."

"Tomorrow, if I have time, I’ll get some high-quality Shu Silk and buy some colored threads for you."

The embroidery girl was delighted to hear this and added, "Besides the thread, I also need measuring tapes, scissors, scrapers, dyes, and sewing needles of various sizes..."

"Stop!"

Xu Qing’s eyelid twitched as he asked, "Your house didn’t have those things?"

The embroidery girl’s face fell, her expression dimming like a flower struck by frost.

"In the few days I was away, everything in my house was ransacked, even the small tree my father planted in the yard was cut down..."

Xu Qing was left speechless.

He suspected that those who plundered the embroidery girl’s home were not her relatives, but Government Officials.

With no one left in her family, her relatives either dead or imprisoned, there was no one to inherit the family assets.

The belongings must have been greedily divided among the Government Officials, and even her house would be seized and sold by brokers.

Fortunately, the old tailor’s loom remained.

Xu Qing shook his head in exasperation.

"These are minor issues, just some needles and scissors. We can buy a new set when we have time."

"More importantly, there’s something I need to tell you."

At the door, the moonlight filtered through the gap, spilling into the room.

Xu Qing informed the embroidery girl that the arson case had been solved.

The embroidery girl stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly squatted down and began to wail, hugging her knees.

But when she had calmed slightly and looked up, Xu Qing saw no tears on her face, only ominous black mist exuding from her eyes, filled with deadly resentment.

Xu Qing’s heart stirred as he noticed that the sinister black lines previously etched on her face and neck had disappeared, leaving her ghostly form more ethereal and her aura of gloom significantly purer.

...

After the dusk fell, the night grew silent.

At the second hour of Hai Shi, it was the time for silence.

In the distance, the Night Watchman struck his copper gong, just as the gong sounded twice and the clapper struck twice.

Zhu Huai’an, informed by his subordinates, already knew of Xu Qing’s return.

Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, he decided to make a night visit.

Outside the Funeral Shop, Zhu Huai’an vaguely heard a crackling noise from the backyard. After knocking on the door for a while with no response, he heard a woman’s voice nearby.

"It’s you again, fatty. What are you doing banging on my door in the middle of the night instead of sleeping at home?"

Zhu Huai’an and his guard turned to see a cold-tempered woman in a red dress standing outside the Funeral Shop, questioning them.

In her hand, she seemed to be holding a brightly colored pheasant feather.

"So it’s you, Erniang. I heard Brother Xu returned today and couldn’t resist coming to visit. If I have offended, please forgive me."

Xuan Yu blinked and said, "You’re too late. He stayed for just half an hour before leaving again."

Zhu Huai’an, skeptical, glanced at Xuan Yu, but her expression seemed genuine.

He still couldn’t believe his luck was that bad.

Zhu Huai’an stepped back, faced the Funeral Shop, and in his usual manner, started shouting.

"Brother Xu! Brother Xu! It’s me, Huai’an!"

For the first time, the quiet Underground Street echoed with such a loud voice at night.

The owner of the Incense and Candle Shop opposite, who had been sleeping soundly, sat up abruptly, her ample chest heaving. She thought a thief was coming to steal something.

"Who is it! Wailing like someone died in the middle of the night!"

Cheng Caiyun, now fully awake, grabbed a pair of scissors hidden under her pillow with one hand and a pouch with a Peace Talisman with the other, full of suspicion.

"Brother Xu, are you deliberately avoiding me?"

Seeing no response from the Funeral Shop, Zhu Huai’an turned to Sun Erniang.

He happened to see her agile silhouette flipping over the roof of the Funeral Shop.

Her clear, light voice followed.

"I told you he’s not here. Come back tomorrow, and stop barking like a dog!"

"..."

Zhu Huai’an didn’t know that for Xuan Yu to use the term "barking dog," he must have genuinely angered her.

Usually, the Cat Immortal at the Cat Immortal Hall never spoke such words.

"Your Highness, maybe we should come back tomorrow?"

The guard beside Zhu Huai’an felt parched and sweaty.

He, a Martial Master, hadn’t noticed anything odd about the woman in red.

This could only mean two things: either she was on par with him in martial arts, or her ability to conceal her presence was far superior.

Reluctantly, Zhu Huai’an turned to leave but paused after a few steps.

"We’re not leaving! We’ll stay here tonight. I refuse to believe I can’t wait for Brother Xu!"

"..."

The guards exchanged bewildered glances.

...

The next morning, Xu Qing left the villa feeling refreshed.

Last night, it had been a full moon, an excellent time for practicing dark arts and absorbing the lunar essence.

During his cultivation, dark smoke rose from his head, black mist swirled around his nose, like a serpent exhaling venomous miasma in the mountains.

Seeing his appearance, the embroidery girl thought he had gone mad and dared not move until dawn, realizing he was merely practicing.

Xu Qing still remembered the embroidery girl’s question as he left the villa.

"Are you also a ghost?"

Xu Qing had never encountered such a silly female ghost. He pointed to his faint shadow cast by the morning light.

"Oh, so you are not a ghost. Could you be a demon? I heard demons who cultivate long enough can take human form..."

Xu Qing chose not to explain further and instead gave her a knock on the head with his knuckle.

Besides her cry of pain, the world became much quieter.

Leaving Shuimen Bridge, Xu Qing wandered through the bustling morning market, buying some odds and ends at the Vegetable Market.

Once the sky brightened completely, he lazily sipped duck blood soup from a vendor as he strolled back to Underground Street.

At the street’s entrance, the Coffin Shop’s door was tightly shut. Ever since Hu Baosong’s seven-day lecture, he hadn’t been seen, immersed in who knows what.

Only Xu Qing knew old Hu was preparing for Senior Sister Yizhen’s new lessons. Xu Qing was merely an audit student, and the old man wouldn’t go to such lengths just for him.

Halfway down the street, as he neared the Funeral Shop, Xu Qing noticed four or five unusual visitors squatting near his door like farmers, squatting in a line...