Starting My Cultivation With Immortality

Chapter 19: Strange Illness

Just past seven, the kids finished their exams and came out.

Wang Xuanwu and Wang Xuancang were full of smiles and hopeful gazes as they searched for Yun Su.

Yun Su and He Buyu were already waiting at the side. They smiled and walked over together.

“Brother Yun, I got in.”

“Brother Yun, I got in too.”

The three little fellows rushed to tell Yun Su the good news. Only Wang Xuanji pouted at the side with an ugly expression.

“This is Teacher Ho from the Academy.”

“Greetings, Teacher.”

The three of them imitated the scene they had seen in the academy and bowed together.

“Go back and have a good day. School starts tomorrow.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

“Thank you for your gift today. When you’re free in the future, you can come to Qingfeng Small Building as a guest.”

“You’re too kind, sir. I’ll definitely visit.”

Yun Su handed Wang Xuanyu to Wang Xuanji, bade farewell to He Buyu, and went straight home.

…

“You look like you’re about to cry. Tell me why you deliberately failed to get elected.”

Yun Su called Wang Xuanji into the central room alone. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw Wang Xuanji tiptoeing around the subject in front of him.

“How do you know, Big Brother Yun?”

“It’s written all over your face.”

Wang Xuanji hesitated slightly, bit her lip, looked down and said:

“After thinking about it, I still don’t want to go to the academy. I know how to conduct myself. I also know a little about zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. It’s just a hobby. After my master and senior brothers died, I often couldn’t sleep at night. Thinking about it carefully, I don’t love the riches of the world. I don’t want to compete in the martial world either. I just want to live a stable and ordinary life with everyone. I just want the family to be happy.”

“Fine. Since you’ve thought it through, it’s up to you.”

Yun Su thought about many things in an instant. For example, people would grow up eventually and their thoughts would change. If he had a family and a career, it would be a long life. However, he did not say a word. This girl was young but she was indeed sensible. She had her own thoughts, so let her be.

“Thank you, Brother Yun.”

“Just do whatever you want. Don’t keep thinking about taking care of us. People still have to live for themselves.”

Yun Su was not afraid of trouble. He just felt that Wang Xuanyu was too small after all. If the opportunity was right and he had money, he still had to find a servant who could be used conveniently. Wang Xuanji refused to say a lot of what she thought just now. Perhaps she liked the arts. It would be good to give her more time to study them.

“Yes, I understand.”

Wang Xuanji happily returned to his room to rest. Yun Su activated the illusion in the room and took out the book “Nine Calculations of the Common Man” to read.

There were about 30,000 words in total, which was thicker than ordinary ancient books. After reading the beginning, he felt that what the book said was right.

“All mortals have a destiny. As a human, they are born with an indomitable spirit and are illuminated by the stars in the sky. That is the Star Life Palace…”

The book said that a person’s Providence was divided into three types: Heaven, Earth, and Man.

People were born with a general appearance. Their providence could be deduced by combining the birth characters, mountains, rivers, the sun, moon, stars, wind, water, and geography. They were mainly divided into heaven and earth. Whether it was fortune-telling or divination, one had to rely on fate to deduce carefully.

A person’s life is not constant. It changes because of the outside world. It only applied to personality.

At the same time, the person who wrote the book emphasized the idea that “appearance is born from the heart”. He believed that the Dao of physiognomy was mainly about appearance.

As for the divination part, it mentioned a total of nine methods. The first eight were very detailed, such as fortune-telling, divination, astrology, and so on.

After reading the entire book, he realized that it was mainly for fortune-telling. Yun Su benefitted little from it. With his pair of Dharma Eyes and his comprehension of the Dao and the rules of heaven and earth, he had already grasped some of the true meaning. He was just waiting to try it in the future.

The next day—

Together, Yun Su and Wang Xuanji sent the three little ones to the academy.

Wang Xuanwu got his wish and entered the Martial Arts Hall but he still had to study literature. Wang Xuanwen and Wang Xuanzang, on the other hand, became students in the same class. They were to receive education from a young age and then be promoted to the adult school of the academy.

Yun Su did not say much to encourage them. He only told them to study in peace and save their monthly school offerings for them. The three little fellows were naturally happy.

The three of them did not realize how long the journey of learning was about to begin. As for the holidays, they could only take one day off a month while they were at the academy, with the exception of festivities.

…

“Brother Zhang, give me two bowls of wontons, one large and one small. I want wantons with both vegetable and meat filling.”

“Oh, Mr. Su is here. Please sit down. I’ll be right there.”

The owner of the stall was called Zhang Zishan. He counted two servings of wanton and added two more. The noodles rolled in the soup. In just three or four minutes, he scooped up the contents and poured fragrant pork bone soup over it with a large ladle. He sprinkled it with salt and finely chopped shallots, wild ginger, garlic paste, and two bowls of wanton. When it was served, it was sparkling and translucent. The heat was just right.

At noon, all five tables were filled with people eating wontons.

“Hey, did you guys see that bounty notice at the city gate?”

“What notice?”

“The young master of Minister Liu’s family in the east of the city has recently contracted a strange illness. All the doctors in the county city have seen him but there’s nothing they can do. Helpless, Minister Liu posted a notice at the city gate. He’s offering a reward of 500 taels of silver to recruit capable people and miracle doctors.”

“Five hundred taels? That much?”

“Your eyeballs are about to fall out. You wouldn’t look good even if I gave you a thousand taels.”

“Hehe, could this Young Master Liu have been possessed and provoked something dirty?”

“That’s possible. I heard that the divine doctors of the Yangming Prefecture have all come to take a look but there’s nothing they can do. When I returned to the city just now, I saw a sage-like Daoist priest returning with the Liu family.”

Yun Su remained silent. After he finished eating, he paid and sent Wang Xuanji back to the small building. He said that he would go to the city to look for some work. The little girl said that she wouldn’t run around and would close the door from the inside.

After leaving the small building, he took his time. He strolled down the street and headed east.

It was easy to find Minister Liu’s house in the east of the city. Yun Su asked a vendor by the roadside and came to a vermillion courtyard. He cast a concealment spell and landed lightly in the courtyard.

The layout of the Liu residence was a large courtyard with a large garden in the middle. The overall layout was similar to the Wang family in the west of the city.

This was not surprising. In the same city, the families of the rich more or less competed with each other. The price of land in the county city was not as high as in the main city of the state. Yuyang City was also a trading city, so the people were relatively rich. Otherwise, they would not be able to afford the famous Yuyang Academy.

Along the way, the servants of the Liu residence lowered their eyes and were very careful. Occasionally, someone would serve tea in a hurry.

In the entire Liu residence, a wave of bad luck was brewing. In the past, Yun Su would at most find it a little annoying and would not take it to heart. In front of a Soul Formation cultivator who mortals looked up to as an immortal, it was insignificant.

However, after obtaining the “Nine Calculations of the Common Man”, he had a better understanding of fate.

He crossed the garden and saw that the door to the east wing was wide open. Someone was lying on the bed inside.

There were also many people outside the house. At the outermost perimeter were four servants dressed in black and four armed guards. They were extremely vigilant and no one in the residence dared to approach.

In the courtyard in front of the house, a Dharma altar had been set up. A yellow-robed Daoist was holding a peach-wood sword upside down in one hand and a yellow talisman in the other. He was chanting.

A servant killed the cockerel and carried it, pouring the blood into the sacrificial bowl on the table.

Ten steps away from the altar stood a ministerial couple in their forties. The woman was crying but did not dare to make a sound. She only knew how to wipe her tears. The ministerial master was restless and stared intently at the Daoist.

“As ordered…”

The yellow-robed Daoist began to cast a spell. Yun Su only took a glance and understood. He was not a swindler. He had some martial arts skills and walked the path of the martial world. The blood of the cockerel, cinnabar, glutinous rice, peach wood sword, Soul Suppressing Bell, Eight Trigrams Mirror, and copper coin sword were set up on the table. Other than the yellow talisman that had a slight talisman power, the rest were just ordinary items to ward off evil.

The Mystic Sutra also mentioned some cleansing methods. At the mortal level, these things were more or less useful against ordinary ghosts and evil spirits.

However, Young Master Liu in the east wing was in a different situation.

Yun Su focused his gaze. The person lying on the bed did not have any external injuries and did not seem to be possessed by any illness. His vitality was still there and his lifespan had not ended. Even his aura had not stopped.

Except the soul was gone.