Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 42: Calamity

"Senior Sister Xu!"

Li An was very surprised and a look of joy appeared in his eyes. He said, "Please come in quickly--"

Immediately, he welcomed Xu Qiuhui into the shop and shouted inside, "Qingxue, come out quickly, Senior Sister Xu is here--"

...

Not long after.

The three of them gathered in the small hall of the Lingfu Shop, and Tan Qingxue personally prepared a table of good food and wine.

After more than ten years of not seeing each other, Tan Qingxue seemed very excited and kept talking to Xu Qiuhui. Li An, on the other hand, silently listened by the side, occasionally smiling and answering a few sentences.

Back when Li An had just entered the Symbol Hall, Xu Qiuhui and Tan Qingxue were considered evenly matched. Their appearances were both outstanding, and even at that time, Tan Qingxue was a bit younger and more youthful than Xu Qiuhui.

But after more than ten years, Tan Qingxue's cultivation had barely reached the seventh level of Qi Refining through dual cultivation with Li An. However, progress had been slow, and the passage of time had left faint traces on her face. Although she was still beautiful, she exuded the charm and maturity of a married woman, no longer as pure and ethereal as Xu Qiuhui.

Now, it seemed that the roles had reversed. Tan Qingxue appeared more mature, while Xu Qiuhui seemed to have become younger.

After all, Xu Qiuhui had successfully built her Foundation, greatly increasing her lifespan, making her no longer comparable to Tan Qingxue.

"When I introduced Fellow Daoist Li to you back then, I never thought it would lead to such a good relationship."

Xu Qiuhui smiled slightly and jokingly said, "Speaking of which, I can be considered your matchmaker."

Li An and Tan Qingxue both smiled.

"Fellow Daoist Li An, you and Qingxue are already over forty, don't you plan on having children?"

Xu Qiuhui said leisurely.

Obviously, Tan Qingxue might have mentioned this matter in their correspondence, which was why she asked.

Li An sighed and said, "The world is not peaceful now, and I am being targeted by a powerful cultivator from the demonic path. It's hard to say what will happen tomorrow, so how can I dare to have children?"

Xu Qiuhui was taken aback for a moment. Was this the reason?

But her eyes quickly calmed down. Obviously, she didn't believe it. However, if Li An didn't want it, even if she was a cultivator at the Foundation Building stage, she couldn't force anything on Tan Qingxue.

"Fellow Daoist Li, don't worry. In recent years, the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon has been causing a lot of trouble. This time, our sect sent us out to hunt him down!"

Xu Qiuhui continued, revealing a piece of information--

Since the calamity in Qingyang District more than ten years ago, the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon had committed numerous major crimes. Two cultivation families affiliated with the Xuan Yang Sect were wiped out, and five years ago, he even killed a Foundation Building female cultivator from the Xuan Yang Sect who was traveling outside.

He was truly wicked.

Only recently did the Xuan Yang Sect discover some clues about him, so they sent out their elite disciples, and even a pseudo-Dan-level elder was secretly leading the operation to exterminate the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon.

For this reason, the Xuan Yang Sect also issued a bounty. Whoever could kill the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon would receive a Foundation Building Pill and a high-grade Yellow-rank cultivation technique.

It was clear that this time, the Xuan Yang Sect was determined to kill the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon.

"That's great... As long as that demon is killed, Li Lang won't have to worry and be afraid every day. Sister, you don't know, in these past ten years, Li Lang has never dared to step out of the district. I'm almost suffocating."

Tan Qingxue spoke up.

Xu Qiuhui couldn't help but smile. The black-hearted symbol master had offended the demonic sect and had been hiding in the district for more than ten years without stepping out. She had heard about it.

In fact, she knew some other inside information. Many years ago, the demonic sect had arranged for people to secretly guard outside the district, ready to hunt down Li An. But Li An hadn't stepped out for thirteen years, and the people from the demonic sect had become desperate and eventually gave up.

The Xuan Yang Sect had also discovered the demonic cultivators outside the district and had been planning for many years. Now, they were finally ready to take action.

Therefore, she actually admired Li An.

If he had been a little careless and left the district, perhaps now, there would only be Tan Qingxue left in this Lingfu Shop.

"So, the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon might appear in the district soon?"

Li An asked keenly.

Otherwise, why would the people from the Xuan Yang Sect come here?

"Yes."

Xu Qiuhui said, "The sect has already made arrangements, and a batch of medicinal materials will be sent to the district soon."

"Among those medicinal materials, there are things that the Soul-taking Horse-faced Demon needs."

Li An suddenly realized.

This was the Xuan Yang Sect's plan.

"It's getting late, I still have some things to do. Li Fu Shi, can you send me off?"

Xu Qiuhui smiled and asked.

Li An's heart moved, and he immediately said, "Qingxue, tidy up the house. I'll send Senior Sister Xu out."

...

Leaving the room, they arrived at the storefront.

"Sister Xu, is there something you want to tell me?" Li An asked proactively.

Xu Qiuhui nodded and calmly said, "Fellow Daoist Li has great ambitions, and I have always known this."

"But sometimes, having lofty aspirations is useless. It might be better to accept reality."

Li An frowned, "What do you mean, Sister Xu?"

Xu Qiuhui said, "I don't want Qingxue to be alone in the future. Have a child with her, and leave yourself some hope. After all, in this world, no one knows which comes first, accidents or tomorrow."

Li An's face instantly changed, what did Xu Qiuhui mean...

Could it be that he might encounter an accident?!

Or perhaps even die?

So, she was advising him to have a child, to accompany Tan Qingxue and leave a legacy?

Thoughts raced through his mind, as he quickly pondered.

- Xuan Yang Sect wants to deal with the Soul-taking Horse Face.

But how does this have anything to do with Li An's life being in danger?

And Xu Qiuhui came specifically to tell Li An and Tan Qingxue about this, with the purpose of making Li An willingly leave a child for Tan Qingxue.

So the key point is, why would Xuan Yang Sect's plan to deal with the Soul-taking Horse Face endanger him?

According to Xu Qiuhui, Xuan Yang Sect has already set up a killing formation, and this matter has nothing to do with Li An.

Unless Li An is also part of this plan?

But Li An himself has low cultivation, why would he be involved in such a plan?

"Sister Xu, what is going on?" He stared at Xu Qiuhui.

Xu Qiuhui seemed hesitant, obviously, this matter has involved the sect's top-secret information.

"Sister, even if Li An dies, he wants to die with understanding... Please, for the sake of Qingxue, explain it clearly!" Li An pleaded.

Xu Qiuhui finally nodded and sighed, "Alright, in the end, you will know about this matter."

"The demonic technique that the Soul-taking Horse Face cultivates is called Yin Yang Demon Furnace Technique. Xuan Yang Sect obtained a copy of this technique over a decade ago."

"But after the inner sect elders deduced it, they found a fatal flaw in this demonic technique, which is that when the cultivator's spiritual roots ascend, it will inevitably cause the original body to collapse."

"In other words, every time they ascend, the cultivator needs to change their body."

"And the process of changing bodies in this demonic technique is different from ordinary body possession. It carries the spiritual roots along, making it even more difficult."

"Before changing bodies, the cultivator must meet two conditions: having a third-grade spiritual medicine as an aid, and... having no inner demons."

She only said this much.

Li An instantly understood...

The spiritual medicine that the Soul-taking Horse Face needs must be among the batch of medicinal materials prepared by Xuan Yang Sect, and Li An is...

"I am actually the inner demon of the Soul-taking Horse Face?!" He couldn't believe it!

He really wanted to say, as a grand cultivator of the demonic path, is it necessary to be so petty?!

Isn't it just because he sold a few fake spiritual talismans back then? Is it necessary to hold a grudge until now?!

"The Soul-taking Horse Face appears and disappears unpredictably, and the only time he suffered a big loss was in Qingyang District. How could he not hate you? Moreover, at that critical moment of his cultivation, he failed to obtain the second-grade spiritual vein in Qingyang District, so he fell short..."

Li An's expression was complicated, feeling helpless in his heart!

Avoiding the cause and effect is impossible!

Xu Qiuhui looked meaningfully at Li An, "Fellow Daoist Li, I arrived here three days earlier than the other inner sect members, which means you still have three days."

"After three days, I will make Qingxue leave you."

"You are a smart person, how you handle it is up to you."

"By the way, during these three days, I will be responsible for monitoring you, to prevent you from escaping or leaking information. But I think you won't, right? Staying in Qingyang District is always safer than being outside."

She left immediately.

Li An stayed in the shop, feeling a chill in his heart.

No matter how he tried to avoid it, he ultimately encountered this calamity!

...

(End of this chapter)