Mortal Mirror

Li Ergou had witnessed the prowess of those ladies and wanted to avoid them, thinking of his embarrassing encounter.

Seeing that they weren't paying attention to him, he was delighted. Just as he was about to skirt past, he noticed that the Taoist priest's cart was full of books, a discovery that surprised him.

In his imagination, books were only found in academies, weren't they? His thirst for knowledge was intense, and seeing so many books stirred excitement within him.

However, the presence of those women made him hesitant. Fortunately, after purchasing rouge, powder, undergarments, and other items, the women dispersed. The Taoist priest, with a beaming face, seemed to have made a good profit from the ladies and continued onward, calling out his wares.

Li Ergou was somewhat puzzled. Why was the Taoist priest doing business in the middle of the night? Besides the courtesans, there were only drunkards and gamblers on the street. Wasn't he afraid of getting beaten up for no reason?

Before he could dwell on it, the Taoist priest moved away, and he quickly followed.

"Wait," he hurriedly called out, as the Taoist priest, despite appearing leisurely, was surprisingly fast, and he almost couldn't catch up.

Hearing the voice behind him, the Taoist priest stopped and looked back, seeing Li Ergou in tattered clothes, wearing straw sandals, with bloodstains on his face.

"Oh dear, you wouldn't be trying to rob me, would you? I, a poor Taoist, have nothing worth stealing."

Li Ergou's expression faltered. He had indeed just robbed someone. He wondered if the Taoist priest had seen him, and a bad feeling arose in his heart.

Wu Daozi seemed to read Li Ergou's mind. He twirled his Eight Trigrams banner, revealing the three large characters 'Wu Shen Xian' (Divine Immortal Wu). His tone changed, and he suddenly said, "Oh, young brother, I see you have prominent horns and a full forehead, your future achievements are sure to be limitless."

Li Ergou was amused, wondering when he had grown horns on his head. This Taoist priest was too good at bluffing. Seeing Li Ergou looking dazed, Wu Daozi intensified his efforts:

"As the saying goes, 'Before the horns emerge, one sleeps soundly amidst the tangled branches. Not following the fragrant grass to distant mountains, why bother the herdboy with his whip?'"

Li Ergou was slightly stunned, feeling like a deaf man listening to a book, not understanding a thing. He heard each word clearly, but together, they made no sense. Embarrassing...

Seeing Li Ergou's complete lack of reaction, standing there dumbfounded, Wu Daozi immediately showed him the characters on the Eight Trigrams banner.

Li Ergou only recognized the character '仙' (xian, immortal), and none of the others. He couldn't help but pause, saying, "Immortal? What kind of immortal are you? Huang (yellow) immortal, Bai (white) immortal, family guardian immortal, fox immortal, or gray immortal?"

Wu Daoren was speechless. After all this, the kid was illiterate. He was truly playing the lute to a cow, feeling utterly insulted.

His voice turned cold, "What yellow immortal, white immortal, family guardian immortal? I am a divine immortal, Wu... Shen... Xian." He deliberately slowed down, pronouncing the three characters on the Eight Trigrams banner slowly.

"Wu Shen Xian!" Li Ergou shook his head, thinking, 'What do I care? Even if you're a god, so what? It has nothing to do with me.'

He nodded, not wanting to waste time with this guy, and went to the cart, flipping through the books and picture books.

Wu Daoren was confident in his storybooks, all of which were the most popular ones at the moment.

Eighteen Springs, Jin Ping's Drunkenness, Spring Palace Jade Flute, My Date with Ling'er – he had everything, with incredibly exciting content.

Li Ergou didn't recognize many characters, only flipping through the content. Fortunately, the books had many illustrations. He picked up a small book at random, and the content stunned him.

It showed two small figures embracing. His face flushed red, and he wanted to throw the book away, but he couldn't resist.

Seeing Li Ergou's expression, the Taoist priest revealed a sly smile, thinking, 'Young lads, who can resist such exciting scenes? Even if you're a man of steel, you'll fall into the gentle trap.'

After flipping through a few pages, Wu Shen Xian snatched the book away, stroking his beard and saying, "This, you can sample, but not finish, otherwise, how will I sell these books?"

Li Ergou scratched his head, feeling that what he said made sense, but the wonderful scenes made him fantasize. Now that it was taken away, it felt like something had been suddenly pulled out of his heart, making him itch all over.

However, that wasn't what he was looking for. He quickly remembered his real purpose and said, "Do you have any cultivation manuals? I urgently need something like that."

"Cultivation manuals? Those are forbidden in the Great Xia Kingdom. Only the imperial court and major sects have them, and cultivation methods are treasures of each sect. They are not to be passed on to outsiders, a well-known principle.

Except for disciples personally taught by the sects and officials examined by the court who can cultivate, common people, even if you steal it, it's useless. If caught, your cultivation will be crippled, and your head will be chopped off.

How dare I privately teach something like that? Wouldn't that cost me my Taoist life?"

Hearing this, Li Ergou was surprised, not expecting the Great Xia Kingdom to have such rules. He suddenly lost interest.

"Huh..." His eyes lit up as he found a yellowish, old-looking book among the many picture books. The book was thin, with no words on the cover, only a picture of a person sitting cross-legged.

This was very different from other picture books. He opened it and saw many small characters and human illustrations, but the people in the illustrations were sitting there, and their bodies were marked with many dots, and he didn't know what they meant.

Unfortunately, he was illiterate, making him anxious, and he once again strongly desired to be literate.

With doubts, he picked up the book and asked Wu Shen Xian, "What is this book?"

Wu Daoren looked over, also with a surprised expression. He had never seen such an ugly book. As he pondered, he suddenly remembered the scene of his book stall being overturned by the beggar.

Who was he? Wu Shen Xian! Only he could deceive others; how could he be deceived by others? With his clever mind, he immediately realized the reason.

He smiled, thinking that the old beggar had used a muddying-the-waters trick to shift the blame to him.

He grabbed the book to check, and indeed, it was some kind of cultivation method. Unfortunately, the book had no name, and he didn't know its origin. The content wasn't particularly outstanding; it seemed to be an ordinary basic cultivation method.

He stroked his beard, his mind moving, and pretended to be profound, saying, "Alas, everything is fate. I didn't expect you to really find it. To tell you the truth, this is my family's treasured book. You want this book, but selling a cultivation book to you could cost your head. The laws of the Great Xia are strict, and privately teaching cultivation methods is punishable by death.

I'm taking a big risk. Without this number, I can't sell it."

Saying that, he held up one finger.