I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 172 - 107: Blending Fake with Real, Stone to Gold_2

Chapter 172: Chapter 107: Blending Fake with Real, Stone to Gold_2

Yuan Hu felt a bit relieved upon hearing the helmsman’s comforting words.

The two undressed Zheng Deli, leaving him in his inner lining pants.

Zheng Deli had already regained consciousness but did not dare make a sound.

"What should we do with this corpse?" the helmsman asked.

"What else can we do? The usual, throw it into the river!" Yuan Hu kicked the ’corpse’ in frustration.

Zheng Deli remained silent.

The helmsman frowned, "This time it’s different. Many people saw us bringing him on the boat. If they find his body, we might not be able to explain ourselves."

Yuan Hu sneered, "What’s the big deal? When the boat docks, we’ll inform the Corpse Recovery Team ahead of time. Just say this guy got drunk and accidentally fell into the rapids."

"Don’t forget, I’m always a passenger on the boat, you’re the helmsman. With my testimony, there’s no risk."

The helmsman’s dark face showed a smile, "Brother Yuan always thinks things through."

The two immediately acted, dragging Zheng Deli and throwing him into the river.

Zheng Deli dared not struggle, he held his breath, letting his body float. When he could no longer hold, he began swimming to the surface.

"Huff, huff—"

Zheng Deli surfaced, gasping for breath.

Once he could breathe evenly, he looked up only to see the river flowing fiercely, the boat that ferried him gone.

Like a floating leaf, he drifted up and down in the raging river.

Despair filled him, but then, a piece of floating wood suddenly drifted toward him.

Delighted, he seized the opportunity and embraced the floating wood.

"Surviving this disaster must lead to fortune; it’s not easy to kill Lord Zheng!"

Climbing on the wood, it seemed like it was destined to repay a debt, guiding him past rocks and currents, eventually entering a reed marsh...

Xu Qing, observing till here, could already predict what Zheng Deli would encounter.

Sure enough, just as Zheng Deli felt joy, a child’s head suddenly appeared at the front of the wood!

The child held a piece of water grass, the other end tied to the wood under Zheng Deli.

Survived disaster only to face another attack.

Before Zheng Deli could enjoy the hardship of survival, the water grass wrapped around his neck.

Using a human as bait, the corpse plunged down, Zheng Deli was truly dead this time!

What is destiny? No matter the struggle, mortals cannot escape fate; this is called destiny.

Afterwards, the Sutra of Salvation rewarded with a Xuanmen technique that could turn stone into gold.

Xu Qing sat cross-legged in the cabin, meditated for a moment, and gained insight.

"Transform earth into gold, transform all things into gold."

He picked some smooth stones from the reed marsh, recited a curse, then combined his fingers and pointed at the stone, it suddenly gleamed and turned into gold!

Xu Qing marveled at the sight.

Though others couldn’t discern the gold’s authenticity, he knew well.

These seemingly real gold coins were in fact illusions, and after a while, they’d revert to stones.

"Turn stone into gold... If only it wasn’t just an illusion, it might truly turn stone into gold."

Xu Qing did not doubt such techniques existed, as the five elements were intrinsically intertwined; to lack such techniques would be odd.

Perhaps one day he could truly master the stone to gold technique.

However, such techniques seemed of little use to him.

"If only there was a technique to turn stones into corpses instead..."

...

At the edge of the reed marsh, five swift boats quietly arrived.

Lu Ping, experienced in sailing, though last to set off, arrived first at the marsh.

Seeing the surrounding boats, Lu Ping frowned, "A twelve-person fleet, why are only five of us left? Have others gone deep into the reeds?"

A corpse collector nervously replied, "No one entered the reeds, it’s eerie. Brothers have tried retrieving inverted corpses from here, but they never returned."

"Nonsense, no one entered the reeds, others can’t just vanish!"

As Lu Ping spoke, the nervous corpse collector suddenly pointed at the reeds, "Someone! There’s someone inside!"

...

Lu Ping jumped at the abrupt shout, looking back saw a boat emerging.

The man steering it was unfamiliar, appeared to be the young man who joined the team today.

The young man steered the boat, smiling, said, "Busy, brothers? I just retrieved a corpse, it should be the man the helmsman mentioned fell into the water."

Xu Qing did not opt to keep Zheng Deli’s corpse; it was murdered, showing struggle marks. Sending it to the Patrol Office for Wang Lingyuan to inspect could bring justice to the riverbank’s ruthless pirates.

Rescue the dead easily, rescue the living is hard; such possible actions, Xu Qing always willing to do.

This way, Senior Brother Wang could gain inspection achievements, and riverbank residents could live safer...

And he would have done a good deed.

The world is patched up like a zombie, patched and sewn...though it seemed someone intended to stop him.

"You’re new, don’t you know corpse collector’s rules? The deceased’s belongings should go to their family. You stripped him, taking his silver coins, is that appropriate?"

Xu Qing looked at the boats blocking his path, amused, "The corpse was already like this when I retrieved it, I took nothing."

Pointing at Zheng Deli’s body in the boat, continued, "See for yourselves, there’s no other clothing here."

Lu Ping squinted, "You hid the loot in the reeds, who’d know?"

"Kid, I’ve heard this merchant carried heavy silver, almost a bagful. If you’re smart, take us to where you hid it."

"If not..."

Lu Ping drew his waist knife, showing malice.

Xu Qing laughed.

"My boat has more than just the merchant’s corpse. You ignore other bodies, just care about the merchant."

"So, corpses without money don’t count as corpses? Is this how you normally treat bodies?"

Xu Qing held no regard for these unethical corpse collectors.

Seeing Xu Qing respond defiantly, Lu Ping grew angry.

"It’s not your place to comment on my methods, calling me out requires skill!"

With that, Lu Ping signaled a corpse collector.

The man understood instantly.

He coughed, "In this trade, skill dictates. We challenge you to compete with Boss Lu. Win, and no one will meddle with your retrievals. Lose..."

"His belongings go to Boss Lu, future finds must be inspected by Boss Lu first, then he’ll share what’s yours."

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, intrigued, "Compete how?"

Lu Ping fiddled his blade, smirked, "Three ways: underwater combat, breath-holding, boat speed. Choose one, win and I’ll call you boss, your corpses untouched."

...

Xu Qing remained silent, Lu Ping grew impatient, "Have you chosen? If you won’t compete, lead us to the loot!"

Xu Qing clicked his tongue, indifferent, "Choose yourself. But if I win, future finds will be checked by me first, agreed?"

"Agreed!" Lu Ping smirked, "I won’t bully you; we’ll compete in breath-holding. Whoever lasts longer underwater wins!"

...

Xu Qing looked at Lu Ping oddly, thinking his choice restricted his path.

They formed a circle with the boats, Lu Ping jumped into the water first.

Seeing him genuinely competing, Xu Qing chuckled and followed into the water.