Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Scroll in Hand
The space inside Great Immortal Fire Dragon’s storage pouch was not large, but it held many things. Aside from a small portion of tools for making talismans, most of it was luxurious items such as silks and satin, pearls, Jade Communication Stones, and the like.

With one sweep of Yu Zhao’s divine sense, she quickly picked out a scroll from the pile of clutter that was giving off a faint fluctuation of spirit power.

The scroll was about the length of an arm. Its shaft was a bluish gray color and gave off a strange fragrance.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon had probably felt that this scroll was something special, so he had been unwilling to spit it back out after getting his hands on it.

Yu Zhao took the scroll out of her storage space but did not hurry to open it. She looked at the two people on the ground and fell into thought.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon and County Magistrate Jia seemed to sense Yu Zhao’s measuring gaze and could not help shivering.

“Since you cannot bear to part with the riches and glory of the mortal world, I will send you on your way.”

Before Great Immortal Fire Dragon could react to the meaning behind her words, a burning pain like fire suddenly came from his dantian.

“No!”

Great Immortal Fire Dragon’s face went deathly pale. His whole body curled up like a boiled shrimp as he let out a despairing, unwilling howl.

The spirit power inside him leaked out bit by bit. His features aged rapidly, and gray-white hair grew at his temples.

County Magistrate Jia watched with his own eyes as Great Immortal Fire Dragon turned from a middle-aged man into a weathered old man. The shock and fear in his heart were beyond words, and a puddle of yellow liquid spread under him.

He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered under his breath: “Immortal, spare me, Immortal, spare me, Immortal, spare me…”

“Lord, Lord, this is bad! Something has happened!”

Just as County Magistrate Jia thought his death was at hand, a clamor suddenly came from outside the main hall.

Right after that came a rush of panicked footsteps.

“Lord, y-you… what happened to you?”

When the steward and several servants worked together to help County Magistrate Jia up from the ground, he was still dazed, his face full of disbelief.

[I’m actually fine? Has the Immortal already left?]

One servant looked troubled: “Lord, this old man is…”

County Magistrate Jia turned his head and glanced at the white-haired, unconscious Great Immortal Fire Dragon. Bitterness and vicious satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

“A fraud who cheats people in the name of the gods. Throw him into the dungeon and wait for the officials to judge him!”

“Lord, forget about this swindler for now, something big has happened!” the steward said anxiously.

“Hmph. What big thing could possibly happen inside my jurisdiction?”

The elders all said that if you survived a great disaster, blessings would follow.

If he, Jia Zheng De, had managed to keep his little life under an Immortal’s hand, then his good fortune would surely grow, and his luck would turn.

“Lord, the things in your storeroom have flown away!”

“What!!!”

County Magistrate Jia could not believe his ears.

[What do you mean, they flew away?]

The steward stomped his foot in anxiety, had two servants grab County Magistrate Jia under the arms and drag him straight out of the main hall, then pointed up at the sky and shouted: “Lord, look!”

Just one look.

County Magistrate Jia collapsed back onto the ground.

His face was deathly pale.

He was finished. Completely finished!

The spirit beads, gemstones, and fine cloth he had stored in the treasury were lined up in a single file, stretching from the storeroom all the way up into the clouds, like a long dragon coiling in the sky.

Now everyone in the county could see just how much wealth he had squeezed from the people while he was in office.

Never mind keeping his position as county magistrate, he might not even be able to keep his life.

…

The pawnshop.

Twenty to thirty people ringed the small back courtyard so tightly that not even water could get through, yet not a sound of noise could be heard.

The shackles on Wang You Cai and Shopkeeper Qian’s hands had already been removed. But when they saw that Yu Zhao did not speak, the two of them did not dare make a sound either, though they were both very puzzled inside.

[Why is the Immortal sitting so still without moving? Is she waiting for the county magistrate to come to her on his own?]

At this moment, a dark shadow fell from the sky.

Their vision blurred for a moment, and when they looked carefully, they saw that there was suddenly a scroll in the Immortal’s hand.

Wang You Cai cried out in shock: “The family heirloom!”

At a glance he recognized it as the ancestral treasure of their Wang Clan, the Immortal’s Scroll!

Shopkeeper Qian recognized it as well.

The two of them exchanged a look, their respect and awe for the Immortal growing even deeper.

Yu Zhao paid no attention to their reaction. All her mind was focused on the painting scroll before her.

Even though she had not yet unrolled it, she could already feel a subtle connection between the scroll and herself.

Yu Zhao guessed that the reason she had come into this small town back then was probably because she had been subconsciously drawn here.

She took a deep breath, then slowly opened the scroll.

A moment later, her expression jolted. [Just as I thought.]

It was an Immortal Teaching Scroll. The scene depicted in the painting was of a young woman in a blue Daoist robe standing in front of a grand mountain gate, expounding the Dao and clearing up doubts for her disciples.

The young woman in the blue robe looked eight or nine parts like Yu Zhao. The one difference was a cinnabar mole at the outer corner of the young woman’s right eye.

Yu Zhao reached out and gently rubbed that tiny cinnabar mole with her fingertip. A faint light flickered in her bright eyes.

[Who is she? What is my relationship to her?]

For the first time, Yu Zhao felt the urge to investigate her own origins.

In the past, she had thought her parents had died in the war years ago, which was why she had been left to wander.

But looking at this painting now, Yu Zhao could no longer fool herself into thinking she had nothing to do with the person in the picture.

If her mother was also a cultivator, then why had she abandoned her?

And who was her father?

As if thinking of something, Yu Zhao’s gaze suddenly fixed on the mountain gate behind the young woman in the painting.

In the center of the gate stood a stone stele, and three large characters could be faintly seen.

Yu Zhao stared at it for a long time before she could vaguely make out the top two characters: Shui Yun.

[Shui Yun?]

She silently repeated the name in her heart. It looked like she would have to make another trip to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

Having unexpectedly gained a clue about her life, this trip could be considered worthwhile.

Yu Zhao looked at Wang You Cai: “I am taking this painting. You can prepare another family heirloom for your Wang Clan.”

Wang You Cai gave a bitter smile.

It was not that he minded Yu Zhao taking the painting. Back then, he had called out her identity precisely because he wanted to trade the scroll for his life, and also to form a good connection with the Immortal.

After all, how many people ever had the fortune to speak face to face with an Immortal? Even princes and nobles probably did not have this chance.

It was the words Yu Zhao had said afterward that made him feel so bitter.

He had ruined the Wang Clan’s foundation completely. How was he supposed to leave any ancestral treasure for his descendants now?

When he went down to the Yellow Springs after death, he would not even have the face to meet his ancestors.

Wang You Cai clenched his fists. When he thought of how he had sunk into gambling in the past and squandered all the family’s fortune, he wanted to slap himself to death.

Suddenly, someone bumped his shoulder.

Wang You Cai turned his head and saw Shopkeeper Qian climbing up from the ground, limping.

“Stop thinking about it. The Immortal is gone.”

Wang You Cai snapped his head around and saw that the place where the Immortal had been sitting was indeed empty.

For some reason, a strong sense of loss rose in his heart. It felt as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest, dragging it down.

[Heavy?]

Wang You Cai instinctively touched his chest.

“Spirit beads?!”

It was a big pouch of spirit beads!

Tears rushed from Wang You Cai’s eyes before he could stop them. He kowtowed three times toward the spot where Yu Zhao had been sitting.

“Thank you, Immortal, for saving my life twice. I am willing to set up a Longevity Spirit Tablet for the Immortal and honor the Immortal as the Wang Clan’s guest elder, to repay the Immortal’s kindness!”

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