Chapter 90: Filthy Hair and Tattered Bellyband

  The two of them were delighted to have obtained the money, but they feared the fierce-looking Taoist and did not dare to take the road alone. So they called out to their friends and summoned some people who enjoyed watching the excitement, and together they led the crowd towards the two helpless old men.

  There were also good things spreading the news everywhere, and for a time, idle men and women all followed to see how the Taoist handled the two old people.

  The Taoist seemed indifferent, with only a smile on his face. Unfortunately, this smile appeared ferocious to ordinary people, and if it weren't for curiosity, probably not many people would be willing to approach him.

  As I walked to the southeast corner, I saw an old tree. The old tree was as thick as a man, with withered branches and a thatched hut underneath it. An old man lay inside, occasionally letting out a groan.

  That old man was thin and dry, and before he even walked up to the front, a foul odor had already reached everyone's nostrils. The Taoist saw this and was delighted, hastily asking the crowd beside him how long it had been since the old man last cleaned his body.

  "It's been over 40 years, since the death of Old Zhao's son, that this place hasn't been cleaned." A nearby villager with a quick mouth looked at the Taoist priest with a strange expression, wondering why he was asking about this matter.

  "Boundless Heaven Venerable! Heaven helps me too!" The Taoist's face showed joy and was very satisfied with the old man's answer. He didn't mind the stench on the old man's body, went forward and squatted in front of him, saying in a low voice: "I, a poor Taoist, have been traveling around to collect money to help widows and orphans. Today we meet by fate, I'll give you some money, can you please give me this white hair?"

  This old Zhao was already on his last breath, his mind somewhat muddled, he opened his mouth and hummed a few times, but nobody knew what he was muttering about. The Taoist took it as the old man's consent, directly stretched out his hand and stroked his head, only to see a head of disheveled hair fall to the ground, which was then tucked into the Taoist's bosom.

  Throwing a small amount of money in front of the old man, not even bothering to help him clean the dirt off his body, and not caring about the pain he's suffering from, just thinking that by giving him money, they've done their due diligence.

  A crowd of ordinary people were overjoyed at the sight, and they elected several elderly men to collect the money and prepare to pay it back to those who had often helped Old Man Zhao. The Taoist priest didn't care about this and followed someone to the northwest corner, where he met a fool.

  That silly man had a head of long hair scattered on the ground, he squatted on the ground and continuously used his fingers to draw out patterns. The Taoist walked forward to watch, only to see that the patterns drawn by the other party were actually some military equipment in the army, including big knives, long guns, bows, crossbows, and carriages, although they were simple, but also let people understand.

  "What a pity that you have such talent, yet it has been buried in the countryside for decades. You can't blame others, only yourself for not having the opportunity." The Taoist let out a long sigh and couldn't help but think of the woman who worried about her country and people he met three to five years ago in the Tianyu Imperial Court. In his opinion, the two had some commonalities.

  "What are you going to take from me?" The fool said suddenly as he saw Daoren squatting in front of him.

  The crowd following him was shocked by this remark. They discussed whether the fool was really foolish or not, with each one talking nonsense. The Taoist priest burst out laughing loudly.

  "I'll take your head for one use." He pointed to the idiot's muddy and stinky head, saying loudly: "I'll give you money, are you willing to exchange?"

  That fool wiped away the patterns drawn on the ground, then pointed to his own head with a serious expression: "If you want it, take it, don't give me money to prove that you're a good person."

  The crowd of onlookers who heard this remark suddenly became angry, and one by one they scolded the fool for being ungrateful. "You fool, you're almost dead, and yet the Taoist priest is kind enough to give you some money so that you can buy a coffin after you die. How could you repay his kindness with such words? Where else can you find someone as good as him these days? Today, instead of thanking him, you dare to speak to the Taoist priest in this tone. If I were the Taoist priest, I wouldn't bother with you!" The crowd was dissatisfied with the fool's words and immediately began to reprimand him.

  The Taoist heard the fool's words and burst out laughing: "Infinite Heavenly Master! I, a poor Taoist, think you're not foolish, but rather your mind is deeply immersed in things you like, it's just that people misunderstand you."

  "I'm not a good person, I've done all sorts of evil things - arson, murder, robbery, rape... you name it. And what you said makes sense too." With that, he reached out and stroked the idiot's head, and the filthy hair, full of dirt and stench, was pulled down and stuffed into his Taoist robe.

  For a moment, his bald head made him feel somewhat unaccustomed. He rubbed his head and then bent down to draw various military weapon patterns on the ground. The surrounding crowd cheered again when they saw the Taoist priest's skillful move of wiping off his hair with one hand. One by one, they shouted in admiration of the Taoist priest's prowess, and some even knelt down to beg him to take them as apprentices.

  The Taoist lazily pushed his way out of the crowd and walked towards the outskirts of the town. Some people chased after him, but despite his slow pace, no one was able to catch up. Only when the Taoist had disappeared into the forest did the crowd begin to discuss the strange things he had just done, and then they dispersed in twos and threes.

  But said that after people hide in the woods, they hurriedly stuffed two clusters of messy hair into a pouch from their wide Taoist robe.

  "Boundless Heaven Venerable! Just add a few dozen more filthy hairs, and I'll be able to reforge the treasure again. Hehe! If you can't find a thousand-year-old calabaza, then I'll forge a million-filthy banner instead."

  The Taoist sat on the ground with his hands stretched out, and ten or seven-eight inch long fingernails popped out from his fingertips. The nails clanged, making a "ding" sound, and a thread of green smoke flowed into the nails from the fingertips. After being tempered by the green smoke, the nails gradually turned blue-white. About two or three hours later, the green smoke dissipated, and the seven-eight inch long fingernails retracted to about three inches, still clanging and making a clear sound.

  Feeling the power of Qimen "Sand between Fingers" after being tempered by Fa Li, the Taoist is quite satisfied. This Qimen cultivation is similar to Shentong cultivation, it's just constantly infusing Fa Li into a few specific parts for tempering, the longer the tempering time, the greater the power of Qimen.

  Now, some special meridians and acupoints on his fingers have been infused with mana for a long time, and in terms of width and tenacity, they are no less than the main meridians that transport mana within the body. Even if he now sheds his fingernails, new fingernails will grow back to this level of power in just seven or eight days. However, wanting to further improve, without dozens or even hundreds of days of tempering, it is extremely difficult to increase the power by another layer.

  "You think you're mighty with your ancient artifacts? I'll have your heads rolling on the ground and your souls flying away! Even if you possess the most powerful treasures, I will still make you kneel before me!" The Taoist's face twisted in a fierce grin as he snapped his fingers, releasing threads of green light from his fingernails that struck a massive boulder in front of him. Within a few breaths, the boulder was riddled with holes, and when an autumn breeze blew by, it crumbled to dust.

  After his usual fierce departure, the Taoist stood up and chose another direction to walk on foot. He was going to the next town to find people who had not cleaned their hair for decades, and obtain their hair to refine the Wanxie Changfan.

  Early autumn was still sweltering, and even with spiritual power protecting the body, the heat made one feel parched. Wiping away a sweat, suddenly in the distance by the roadside there was a teahouse. The teahouse nestled under a large tree had a wooden pole slanting out towards the road, on which hung a tattered cloth with the word "tea" written on it, indicating to travelers the range of business here.

  The Taoist was overjoyed at the sight and hurriedly quickened his pace to get there. Still far from the teahouse, he saw that it was crowded with people coming and going, including merchants traveling north and south, as well as wandering scholars. Dozens of people were packed into this small teahouse, making it seem rather cramped.

  As the man walked into the teahouse, he saw no one paying attention to him. Just as he was about to tear down the teahouse and teach its owner a lesson, he was suddenly drawn in by the conversation of three women in the center.

  Only three women were seen standing in the central station, a middle-aged woman, a delicate girl, and another was a Taoist practitioner wearing a Taoist robe.

  The middle-aged woman and the delicate girl were both wearing short jackets with a soft cloth draped over their shoulders, holding tea pots in their hands, clearly they were waiters or owners of the teahouse. Although their clothes were old and worn out, they were washed very clean, without any oil stains or mud.

  The woman practitioner, on the other hand, wore a purple phoenix coronet on her head, a moon-white Taoist robe on her body, and a water-fire silk sash around her waist. She held a horse-tail whisk in her hand. Her face was handsome, and when she spoke, her voice was loud and clear, without any awkwardness or reserve. If she were to change into different attire, ordinary people would likely mistake her for a man!

  "What's wrong with you two hags? I, the young lady, have taken a liking to your belly bands and you're being so obstinate! Don't provoke me into taking action, or it'll be unbecoming for both of us." The female Taoist priest scowled, shouting fiercely.

  Unfortunately, the people around who were drinking tea just laughed at this and didn't feel threatened at all.

  "I had heard that there were girls who liked yuri, but unfortunately I had never seen one before. Unexpectedly, today in this small teahouse, I met one, and I don't know if she's the attacker or the receiver. Unfortunately, such a beautiful young Taoist nun was corrupted by someone and became like this. Otherwise, it would be fun to play with her in private." There was a fat merchant who held a tea pot and drank loudly without any manners. He had three or five skilled martial artists guarding him, so he was extremely bold. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to say such teasing words.

  "You'd better watch your mouth, or I'll have you castrated and sent to the palace as a eunuch!" The nun glared at the fat merchant with a fierce gaze, then continued to pester the pretty girl for her bellyband. Just as the fat merchant was about to order his guards to take care of the nun, they shook their heads, indicating that they were no match for her. Seeing his guards cower, the fat merchant rolled his eyes and didn't dare to personally start a fight, so he just chuckled dryly and continued drinking tea from the teapot.

  "Little girl, if you give me that old bellyband on your body, I can give you a Xian family's elixir. Although it won't extend your lifespan to 100 years, it can slow down your aging process. You know, many people wear a bellyband for three to five years, but an elixir that slows down facial aging is hard to come by." The female Qi cultivator shook her head and took out a yellow bean-sized pill from her bosom, weighing it in her hand, hoping to entice the girl in front of her.