Chapter 148 He Is Already Dead

"It was indeed in Yuzhou that we crossed paths," Wei Sangzi confirmed to her husband.

Cough, cough...

She had spoken a bit too eagerly and thus accidentally breathed too fast, catching her throat and breaking into a continuous fit of coughing.

"My impression of him was quite deep..." Wei Sangzi paused after saying this. Having just recovered, her internal organs were still frail, so she needed to catch her breath heavily several times before she could continue.

Seeing her in this state, Lü Dongbin wanted her to rest for a moment and speak later.

"Let me cast the Rejuvenation Technique for my sister-in-law once more," Chen Jin offered.

"Then I must trouble Brother Chen," Lü Dongbin said gratefully.

Chen Jin nodded, then formed hand incantations and stepped in the Pace of Yu. A pure radiance instantly burst from his palms, showering over Wei Sangzi. For a moment, it looked as though a translucent, shimmering veil had been draped across her body.

This scene lasted for a full minute before dissipating. With only Lü Dongbin, Wei Sangzi, and himself remaining in the room, the sight caused Lü Dongbin's jaw to drop in utter astonishment all the way to the floor.

Chen Jin's Rejuvenation Technique this time was even more effective than before. Having prepared both the Pace of Yu and the hand incantations rather than simply releasing primordial energy at a basic mental frequency, the Pace of Yu enhanced the effect of communicating with heaven and earth to gather primordial energy, while the hand incantations optimized the efficiency of the primordial energy and channeled the gathered external energy into the actual healing efficacy of the spell. Therefore, whenever time permitted, Chen Jin preferred to perform these complete steps when casting spells.

Following this spellwork, Wei Sangzi's complexion improved noticeably once again, though not drastically. After all, this was merely building upon her previous recovery, a healing process that still required time and patience, as the Rejuvenation Technique could not work miracles overnight.

"A-Sang, how do you feel?" Lü Dongbin immediately hurried from the side to the bedside, embracing Wei Sangzi and asking with anxious concern.

"Much better," Wei Sangzi smiled. Her smile at this moment did not seem forced.

"That's good, that's good." Lü Dongbin chuckled foolishly along with her. To be honest, the goofy grin of a middle-aged man with a goatee was rather comical.

"Many thanks, Brother Chen, many thanks, Brother Chen," Lü Dongbin then turned to express his deep gratitude to Chen Jin.

Chen Jin waved his hand, brushed off the praise with a few modest words, and prompted Wei Sangzi to resume her previous topic.

After witnessing this display of magic, Wei Sangzi looked at Chen Jin in an entirely different light, her eyes filled with a few more shades of reverence. Previously, she had only heard others recount how she was saved by Chen Jin's miraculous arts, leading her to believe merely that his medical skills were so sublime others mistook them for sorcery. Now, it was vastly different—witnessing it with her own eyes was infinitely more persuasive than hearing about it with her own ears.

"Well... when we encountered that person by the banks of the Han River, I had the sensation of a mouse meeting a cat—it must have been something like that... That is why I firmly etched his appearance into my mind. Later, when we crossed paths with him again in Yuzhou City, I was able to recognize him instantly..." Wei Sangzi began to reminisce.

This memory was quite heavy for her, and as she spoke, a strained smile invariably lingered on her face.

Lü Dongbin gently stroked her back from the side, soothing her nervous emotions.

"I am fine," Wei Sangzi smiled and said to Lü Dongbin.

"Then could this matter be related to that person?" Lü Dongbin asked at the opportune moment.

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no. It is hard to tell, given the considerable time that has elapsed between then and now," Chen Jin shook his head.

Even so, this at least provided a clue rather than leaving them completely in the dark, and the direction pointed by this clue was so specific that it fell directly upon a single individual.

Wait, it was still uncertain whether this fellow was even human. After all, when Lü Dongbin and his wife boarded that boat on the Han River, the boatman had uttered such an eerie remark, implying that there were demons and ghosts aboard the vessel. Thus, it was highly likely that this creature was some sort of mountain goblin or demon.

"I wonder what Sister-in-law's birth date and time are?" Chen Jin thought for a moment and decided to approach the matter from this angle. Perhaps he could uncover some underlying cause from Wei Sangzi's astrological eight characters, as certain malevolent and heterodox cultivators often required the heart blood or primordial souls of people born in specific years and hours for their cultivation.

"This... I shall write it for you." Lü Dongbin hesitated briefly, but after Wei Sangzi gently squeezed his hand, he nodded in agreement.

Before long, Lü Dongbin wrote down Wei Sangzi's birth details and handed them to Chen Jin.

Upon taking and examining the slip, Chen Jin could not immediately discern anything out of the ordinary, though it warranted closer examination and study.

"Brother Lü, please go ahead and impart that cultivation method to Sister-in-law. I shall calculate her birth data here first." Holding the slip of paper, Chen Jin walked over to the small table in the room.

In truth, Chen Jin was not particularly proficient in divination and calculation, but a practitioner was expected to have a broad grasp of everything, even if it was not their specialty.

He turned Wei Sangzi's birth details over in his mind, but ultimately yielded no concrete results.

Nevertheless, Chen Jin retrieved a piece of blank yellow paper from his pocket, devoid of any writing.

He then pulled out a small box of cinnabar from his pocket.

Pouring the cinnabar onto the yellow paper, he used his primordial energy to spread it evenly across the entire sheet.

Once this was done, Chen Jin manipulated his primordial energy to swirl across the surface of the cinnabar. First, a pattern resembling a door frame entwined with morning glories materialized upon the red dust.

Following that, a vertical column of ghostly talismans appeared within the door frame.

Only Chen Jin knew that these ghostly talismans represented Wei Sangzi's birth date and time.

Having completed these steps, Chen Jin spat a mouthful of saliva. This was saliva infused with his primordial energy, containing the very essence of his cultivation.

Hiss...

Puff...

The yellow paper, now covered in cinnabar spread across the table, instantly transformed into a ball of fire.

The cinnabar was scorched and vaporized in an instant, and the pungent odor of burning cinnabar filled the entire room.

Chen Jin immediately swung his wide sleeve, summoning a fierce gust of wind that propelled the pungent gas directly toward the window. The window burst open instantly, and the irritating fumes were swept outside along with it.

"..."

"What is this..." Both occupants of the room looked on in sheer panic at the unfolding scene.

"Spellcasting failed; such things happen frequently," Chen Jin said with a solemn expression.

"Then... will there be any problems?" Lü Dongbin asked anxiously.

"Nothing serious. It merely confirms that Sister-in-law's ordeal is indeed the handiwork of that person," Chen Jin replied.

"What should we do then?" Lü Dongbin hurriedly asked.

"He must have been tailing you closely, and is likely somewhere nearby. As long as we smoke him out, the curse and sorcery placed upon Sister-in-law can be undone," Chen Jin revealed the good news.

"But he is already dead..."