Pursuing Immortality

“Thank you! I wouldn’t know what to do without you two!”

In the cafe on the ground floor of a hotel, the man thanked them again wholeheartedly. “My name is Tao Yu and I’m from Ruili ¹ . It’s quite pretty over there. If you’re not busy at the moment, you’re welcome to go back with me so that I can show you around and express my gratitude.”

“The gratitude can wait. There’s a little favor I’d like to ask you now,” said Gu Yu.

“Please. I’ll do anything within my power.”

“May I have a look at that talisman of yours?”

“Well…”

The man hesitated a little, then realized that, with their capability, they could simply take it by force if they wanted and did not have to waste the time asking. He hence took the talisman out of his chest pocket and handed it carefully to Gu Yu.

Gu Yu took it and looked at it closely: made out of the traditional paper, with the head, the main part, the end, and everything. There was a faint energy coming out of it—the talisman was a genuine thing.

Well, that made things very interesting indeed. Regardless of Quanzhen or Zhengyi, this talisman could not have been drawn by anyone but a member of the Taoist community. Then how did it get into the auction?

Was it possible that someone inside the Taoist community had colluded with them for the financial gain?

He pursed his lips, not really caring about other people’s crap. He then handed the talisman back and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you buying this talisman for?”

“Um…” The man pondered for a moment before answering, “I can tell that you’re both remarkable people and there is no point in hiding my purpose. Our Tao Family has been doing business in Ruili for generations, specializing in the processing and sales of jade. We’re not among the richest, but you could say we’re affluent enough.

We run a family business and the shareholders are all members of the big clan; I am also one of them. Everything was normal until half a month ago, when my uncle fell ill and became bedridden. We thought it was some sort of disease, but no doctors we’ve seen could make him better. We later came to know that it was Tao Ran’s—oh, he was the man trying to rob me—doing. He has sought out some black magic just to take control of the business…

I’ve asked around and heard about this auction in Spring City, so I thought I could try my luck here. I never thought Tao Ran would have followed me here. Had it not been for your help…”

‘Tsk!’

Xiaojin lost interest right away. She had hoped for something new, but it turned out to be nothing but the same old family drama. Gu Yu, on the other hand, gave the man a look and said, “With due respect, Mr. Tao, this talisman won’t help you much even if you bring it back.”

“What? How come?” Tao Yu was greatly agitated. “That man has demonstrated. Those snakes and rats couldn’t have stayed far away enough…”

“Repelling snakes and rats does not guarantee dispelling the Tame Head. This is nothing but an ordinary House Protecting Talisman—something one can stick to the beam to keep the house peaceful and quiet.”

“That’s impossible! I paid eight million for it! No! It can’t be!”

Because of his family background, Tao Yu knew next to nothing about the secrets of the cultivation world—which was common knowledge to the middle and upper ranks of the society. He held onto the talisman like a drowning man with his passing straw and would not hear of such denial.

This emotion was so strong that he even resented Gu Yu a little. “Thank you for saving my life, but you can’t just say such things. This talisman will work. It must!”

“Gosh! All this whining! Gimme that!”

Xiaojin was weary of all this. With a snap of her fingers, that talisman somehow appeared in her hand.

“My talisman!”

Tao Yu bolted up, stretching out his arm to grab at it.

“Shut up and sit down!” Xiaojin waved her hand and Tao Yu felt a force hammering down from above, shoving him back into his chair. The girl then said, “You’re from Ruili, right? We just happen to be heading for the border. You take care of our food, accommodation, and transportation, and we’ll solve your problem—won’t even cost you eight million. Pretty sweet deal, don’t you think?”

“You, I, I…”

Staring in bewilderment, Tao Yu felt his heart thumping against his chest and could not make out a full sentence.

***

Ruili was the border city between this country and Myan, which was located along the southern stretching branch of the Gaoligong Mountains. 73% of the city was mountainous area. 200 km to the north of Ruili was the city of Baoshan, 400 km to the northwest from where lay the Kachin Hills of Myan.

The Kachin Hills were where Hollow Stone was found.

Tao Yu completely bought Little Soap’s idea and deemed the two some unmatched masters of this human world. How could anyone say no to such a sweet deal! He would do it even if he had to sell everything he got to pay another eight million, let alone if he was just to provide them with food, rooms, and transportation.

The following morning.

Faint sunlight shone on a big soft and spotless white bed through the half-open screen window. The readers might be disappointed to learn that they wouldn’t find a Mary-Sue-style scene here, such as a certain person rolling around in her sheets like a giant sushi and resisting getting up.

It had been a while since she got up and sat by the bay window, entering the state of looking into her own mind and letting her mind and breathing synchronize. The sunlight covered one side of her body, giving one the illusion of seeing a goddess.

“Ha…”

A little while later, she exhaled a long breath and slowly opened her eyes. A streak of golden-purple lightning flickered in her eyes.

Thanks to the amazing Body-refining and Mind-enhancing Dan, the family of four of Phoenix Mountain had advanced in leaps and bounds in their cultivation. Xiaozhai had reached the passionless state in Water Thunder and Xiaojin had achieved her Metal Thunder state—all she needed was some more time to strengthen it. Xiao Qiu’s cultivation level was right after Gu Yu and it would be three or four years before she could also try to break into the Human Immortal state.

In simple terms: the privileged!

After her morning exercise, Xiaojin hopped down from the bay window and stood there watching the rising sun with her hands behind her back, her pale green silk dressing gown swaying a little in the morning breeze. She suddenly let out a soft sigh.

“Sigh, the biggest no-no for a person of martial arts is acting ostentatiously. This humble master had flaunted too much yesterday—she was woken up by dreams and could not sleep. So what if I will obtain the martial prowess that is unparalleled in this world? Also unparalleled is the accompanying loneliness…”

Shaking her head, she scuffed into the bathroom with a desolate look on her face. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, put on some clothes, and brushed her hair in front of the mirror.

After reaching the innate state, cultivators would reach a perfected state physically. Flaws like hair loss, dandruff, irregular menses, frequent micturition, urgent urination, etc., were pretty much eliminated.

Xiaojin suddenly tugged a little too hard and a couple of strands were pulled down by the comb. She blinked, removed them, and stuck the hair onto the wash stand.

After much grooming, she finally finished and walked out.

A room-cleaner just happened to walk past her door with a cart and asked in passing, “Hello, are you checking out today?”

“Not yet. You can go in now.”

She ran happily into the elevator after the reply.

The cleaner saw her leave with an indescribable look on her face. She entered the room with the cart, then instead of changing sheets or other work, she checked the bed first before going into the bathroom, where she examined the basin and the floor carefully.

“There!”

Her face lit up after a while as she picked up two hairs from the wash stand. She then carefully wrapped them in a piece of paper and gave the room door a knock. A colleague of hers appeared immediately and took the wrapped paper.

Only after that did she return to the room and begin the cleaning as if nothing had happened.

***

Spring City, certain villa area.

Inside the living room, Thant Tun sat barefoot and cross-legged on the sofa with his eyes closed. Gao Ling sat on the opposite side and darted the master a despising look—such an uncivilized monkey!

Despite the small fortune Gao Ling paid for the master’s help, deep down, he detested the latter. He had no other choice, though. The Taoist community was so advanced in terms of its political entwinement that if they tried to make any unauthorized contact and got found out, the entire clan would be doomed.

The Gao Family was a major clan in Diannan that no one dared to take lightly. He was so used to having things his way that he had never expected such blatant face-slapping in the auction. He simply had to get even.

“Beep, beep!”

“Screech!”

The two waited a while until the noise of a stopping car came from outside. After that, a man walked quickly in. “Boss, we have it!”

“Oh? Show me!”

Gao Ling immediately grew excited. He unfolded the paper and picked up the two hairs. “Are you sure these are that bi*ch’s?”

“Absolutely!”

“Haha! Great!” He laughed and turned to Thant Tun. “Master, we got the hair. When can you start your work?”

“$%^&*#$%^!”

The interpreter explained to Gao Ling after talking to Thant Tun, “Master said he can start now. He needs a private room; no one is to disturb him.”

“We’ve got plenty of rooms. Now, I can’t wait!”

Gao Ling was greatly intrigued by this skill. He led Thant Tun to the basement himself and was about to make some more chitchat when Thant Tun slammed the door on his face without hesitation.

“F**k! This cheeky monkey!”

He cursed under his breath and half of his good mood was gone. He then returned angrily to the living room.

The so-called “Tame Head” was actually a result of the practice of the Undead Insect and Maoshan Skills of this country ² introduced to the Southeast Asia, where they combined with the local witchcraft and evolved into this new form. The locals usually referred to it as the “Black Magic”.

“Tame” referred to the skill, medicine, or undead insect involved, whereas “Head” referred to the individual the magic worked on. Certain connection or control was involved in the practice, such as the eight characters of the birthday, the name, personal possessions, hair, nail, etc.

Right now in this sealed room, no light was on apart from a circle of white candles. Thant Tun himself sat in the center of that circle.

He took off his top, revealing his swarthy skin. His shoulders, chest, and ribs were tattooed with strange spell patterns. He opened up his luggage and took out a red cloth pouch.

The pouch clunked with his movement. In it were a dozen wild walnuts that looked decades-old and were so shriveled that they had turned black.

After that, he took out a blue pouch and a black pouch.

A clay bowl was in the blue pouch, while the black one contained a pair of figurines that seemed to be made of clay. They were about 15 cm tall, naked, and with abstract facial features, yet the look on their faces was very strange.

The male had his member, the female had breasts and the lady’s part—the sex characteristics were very distinguishable.

One could not tell how long ago they had been made. The color of the clay was a little mottled and red marks had also tainted the figurines, reminding one of some burial objects found in ancient graves deep in the mountain.

After that, Thant Tun took out a ball of thread and tied it around the figurines. He then fetched the hairs of Gao Ling and Xiaojin, tying them to the respective figurines.

With all those done, he picked up half a dozen walnuts into the bowl and began to chant a spell.

“Whoosh!”

All of a sudden, flame erupted out of the bowl and the walnuts were on fire. Seeing this, Thant Tun immediately cut his arm and dribbled in a few drops of his spiritual blood.

The blood fueled the fire and flame grew as tall as half a meter. Meanwhile, an indistinct black air emerged in the flame and circled in the air above. The figurines quivered with it.

“#$%^&*)(#[email protected]%^%^^*&*(*!”

Thant Tun kept on chanting and tossed in a few more walnuts. Before long, the black air grew all the more visible and finally turned into two streaks of dark light, which attached themselves to the figurines.

Hm?

He frowned suddenly, for the moment the dark light was attached to the figurines, he faintly detected a second of obstruction. When he tried to feel it again, the feeling was gone. A faint layer of black air was now wrapping around the figurines, which was the sign of a successful Erotic Tame Head.

“…”

Thant Tun checked repeatedly and could not find anything wrong. He concluded that he was just being oversensitive.

About twenty minutes later, he walked out of the sealed room. Gao Ling—who had been waiting impatiently—went up to him and asked, “Master, how did it go?”

“The Erotic Tame Head is set. From now on, she’s your slave!”