The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#431 - False Alarm

After leaving the palace, Lu Jing didn't go anywhere else, heading straight back to Hengji Coffin Shop, only to realize something was wrong even before he entered.

He saw Old Zombie from afar, sitting on a long bench outside the coffin shop, his face as green as the King of Hell in the underworld.

Seeing this, Lu Jing's heart also jumped, and he blurted out, "Has Hanshan Ke already escaped?!"

Old Zombie heard the footsteps from outside the alley, and one hand had already reached into his chest, but after he saw who it was, he withdrew his hand, frowning and saying, "Weren't you supposed to be in the palace performing a ritual? Why are you back so soon? And who is Hanshan Ke?"

"It's that Zhaozong, Zhu Zhen."

"Zhaozong? Didn't he die more than forty years ago? Why is he in the academy?" Old Zombie was stunned when he heard this, then realized, "Could it be that he went to Mirror Lake Valley to become a paper figure? No wonder, I always felt his death was a bit strange back then."

Lu Jing was also taken aback by Old Zombie's reaction, "What? He didn't escape?"

"Paper figures can't leave the academy," Old Zombie shook his head and said, "Since they chose to stay away from the strife of the mortal world, how could there be no price to pay? With 'Ji Zi 22' in place, they'll never have a chance to come out again in this lifetime."

"But I remember there were paper figures in Mirror Lake Valley that Guo Shaojian wanted to bring into the academy, right? Does that mean they can only stay in the academy forever?" Lu Jing thought of Dongmen Weilan.

"You're talking about that little girl from Wan Poison Valley," Old Zombie said, "Her situation is quite special. Guo Shaojian gave her a choice, and he hasn't carved her name on 'Ji Zi 22' yet."

Hearing Old Zombie's answer, Lu Jing breathed a sigh of relief, then curiously asked, "Then why are you sitting here with a bench, Master Dong?"

"Because someone stole my coffin," Old Zombie said with a livid face.

"… … … …"

Lu Jing was speechless for a moment. The Sitianjian used the [Well] to connect the Nine Provinces. In order to keep a low profile as much as possible and avoid unnecessary trouble, the location of each [Well] was generally set in a very… gloomy place.

Coffin shops and paper figure shops were places that ordinary people wouldn't enter or want to enter. To be honest, if Lu Jing hadn't heard it with his own ears, he wouldn't have believed that anyone would dare to steal from Old Zombie.

"Besides the coffin, is anything else missing?"

"Nothing else," Old Zombie shook his head, "I just checked again and found that two coffins were missing from the shop, including a golden nanmu coffin that I specifically reserved for myself, worth no less than three thousand taels of silver. The most hateful thing is that the thief not only stole the coffin but also left a message, saying that he would come again next time. Heh heh, from today on, I will wait in this coffin shop. I want to see when he will come again."

Lu Jing didn't know what to say. As far as he knew, the Sitianjian had set up formations around the [Well], but the coffin shops and paper figure shops, as disguises, didn't have any extra defensive measures in order to avoid attracting attention.

Lu Jing casually comforted Old Zombie for a few words, then hurried back to the academy and went straight to Mirror Lake Valley. Even after hearing Old Zombie's words, Lu Jing still found it difficult to relax until he saw Hanshan Ke.

Fortunately, when he arrived at Hanshan Ke's residence, he saw that the latter was still there.

Hanshan Ke had already climbed up a tree, preparing to rest.

Seeing Lu Jing, the expression on his face was very surprised, "Although I don't know why you're so anxious for that poison pill, there's no need to run here twice in one day, right?"

Lu Jing hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Zhu… Senior, do you know True Man Dongxuan?"

"True Man Dongxuan?" Zhu Xie thought seriously, then shrugged, "I don't remember. Back then, I visited many cultivators in search of longevity, but unfortunately, they could only prolong life at best, not achieve immortality, which greatly disappointed me. I can't even remember the names of many of them now."

Seeing that Hanshan Ke spoke frankly, Lu Jing's original suspicion of him dissipated a lot.

Indeed, during the banquet tonight, Dongxuan and his disciples had been making a fuss around Hanshan Ke, but there was no evidence to show that they really knew Hanshan Ke, and it couldn't be ruled out that they were just using the events of forty years ago to stab the weak Chen Dynasty in the back.

They could even completely fabricate another Zhu Zhen to raise the banner against Chen, and they didn't necessarily have to bring out the real person… Thinking of this, Lu Jing also felt that he had been a little too worried before.

The main reason was that the poison was too important to him. The closer he got to the end, the more Lu Jing worried that something would go wrong.

Seeing Lu Jing fall into deep thought, Hanshan Ke took the initiative to say, "It seems you already know who I am. What's wrong, did that True Man Dongxuan say he knows me?"

"Oh, no, but one of his disciples mentioned that you had a posthumous child before you died, oh no… I mean, before you feigned death."

Hanshan Ke seemed to find it a bit funny after hearing this, raising his eyebrows, "I have a child? How come I don't know?" After a pause, he continued, "My body has always made it difficult for women to conceive. I never had any children. Moreover, later on, I refined the Suoyang Pill according to ancient recipes, wanting to maintain vitality forever by preventing the loss of yang energy. From then on, it was even more impossible to have any children. That person's words are pure nonsense. But listening to you say this, plus the previous events, it seems that the current Emperor of the Chen Dynasty may also be encountering some trouble."

"How do you know?"

"It's very simple. If his position was stable enough, he wouldn't need to worry about me at all." Hanshan Ke waved his hand, "I'm someone from more than forty years ago. How many people in the court still remember me now? Moreover, their current wealth and glory were given by that person, and they couldn't possibly switch to my side just because they remember a little old friendship. As for the people of the world, they're even less likely to think of me. They don't really care who's sitting in the chair, they only care about the rice bowl in their hands. Whoever provides the rice is their mother."

"Senior sees things clearly," Lu Jing praised.

"No matter what, I've sat in that position before, although it wasn't for long, and I wasn't interested in it, but I still understand the things I should understand." Hanshan Ke smiled, "But these things have nothing to do with me now. Whether the Chen Dynasty prospers or perishes is not my concern. I should still refine my elixirs."

However, as he said this, he seemed to remember something again, and let out a sigh, "You said the world is going to be in chaos? Then I need to stock up on more medicinal materials later, so I don't have trouble finding a place to buy them when the time comes. Hmm, I'll have A'bao send the prescription tomorrow."