Chapter 190: New Year Visits and Treasure Seeking

As Zhou Qing flicked his hand, the four men he had helped up all showed looks of astonishment.

Only moments before, they had clearly felt an invisible force lift them from the ground. Such an indescribably strange sensation was something ordinary people like them had never experienced before.

“You three, go on down for now.”

After Zhou Qing had raised him up, Yin Mao exchanged a glance with the three servants, and they very sensibly withdrew.

“Master, what brings you here?”

“Put your shoes on first. Don’t catch cold.” Zhou Qing smiled at his disciple and said, “It has been so many years since we last met. Coincidentally, these past few days I have been passing near the county where you live, and I happened to think of you, so I came to spend the New Year with you.”

“That you could think of your disciple makes me truly happy.” Yin Mao replied as he slipped on his shoes.

“By the way, what is this ghost poison in your body?”

“Ghost poison? I’ve been poisoned by ghost poison? I’m not too sure about that either. After I lay down to sleep last night, I don’t know what happened afterward. When I woke just now, I saw you, Master.”

Yin Mao put on a thick coat and came to Zhou Qing’s side, his tone full of confusion.

“Sit down and tell me carefully. During this recent period, have you offended anyone?”

“Offended anyone? No?”

After sitting down beside Zhou Qing, Yin Mao frowned and stared at some corner of the room, thinking for a while. At last, enlightenment dawned on him, and he said, “I know, Master. It must have been that wealthy Zhang.”

Thinking of how he had somehow fallen victim to ghost poison for no reason at all, Yin Mao recalled Squire Zhang, for there had been many suspicious points in the matter when he had gone to the Zhang household the day before yesterday to exorcise the evil spirit there.

Though he did not know exactly what had happened in the Zhang residence, he had gleaned from Tian Ling that Squire Zhang harbored certain schemes.

After voicing the thoughts in his heart, Yin Mao could not help but regretfully murmur, “That Zhang Zhiming is truly terrifying.”

“Hell is empty; devils walk the earth. From the way you describe it, that Zhang fellow is indeed ruthless and vicious.”

After listening to the whole account, Zhou Qing rose from the wooden table and said, “You have been ill. Rest early. I will stand up for you in this matter.”

“Thank you, Master.” At Yin Mao’s grateful words, Zhou Qing clasped his hands behind his back and left the room.

Under the pitch-black night sky, snow fell outside in utter silence, and the courtyard of the Yin residence was already blanketed in thick drifts.

Standing along a covered corridor and looking out at the snow in the courtyard, Zhou Qing let out a sigh. Then he stepped into the snow in the yard and sat down on a stone bench buried beneath it.

A short while later, Gui’er and Yue’er came to the front courtyard and told Zhou Qing that they had already prepared a room for him.

“I understand. You should go and rest early as well.”

After sending the two maids away, Zhou Qing sat alone in the front courtyard, breathing in and out as he meditated beneath the falling snow.

At the Spirit-Motion Stage, a cultivator could not only refine spiritual power into protective force, but also gather spirit through countless apertures. Thus, when Zhou Qing cultivated now, he no longer cared much for the passing of time. Though the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was richer at the turning of night and day, he could still absorb it and cultivate at any hour.

For Zhou Qing, the seasons of the world no longer held sway over him. It was not because of the Tribulation-Avoiding Robe upon his body, but because of the fire spiritual root within him.

Ever since he had acquired fire spirit ten years ago, he had discovered that neither cold nor heat in this world could affect him in the slightest.

Whether he stood amid ten-thousand-year ice and snow or within raging flames, he could exist at a most comfortable temperature.

For example, in this front courtyard laden with snow, even without the Tribulation-Avoiding Robe, he would still feel no trace of cold.

At daybreak, Zhou Qing returned to his senses from meditation. He shook off the thick layer of snow that had settled on him, then rose and made his way to the main hall of the Yin residence.

After circling the hall once, just as he sat down, his disciple Yin Mao arrived in the hall wearing a thick coat.

At this hour the sky had only just begun to brighten. Under ordinary circumstances, Yin Mao would surely have still been lazing in bed, but today was different. Because Zhou Qing had come to the Yin residence, he had already awakened before dawn.

“Master, Happy New Year. Your disciple wishes you great fortune in the coming year, with good luck and providence arriving in endless waves.”

Once in the hall, Yin Mao dropped to his knees at once and bowed in New Year’s greetings.

“Rise. Are you asking your master for a red envelope?”

With a smile, Zhou Qing helped his disciple to his feet, had him sit in the hall, and then went himself into the incense chamber behind it.

He had already come to this incense chamber the night before, and seeing the portrait hanging within stirred many feelings in his heart. At first, he had taken Yin Mao in only on a whim, yet he had never imagined that the other would value their master-disciple bond so deeply.

After entering the incense chamber, Zhou Qing reached to pat the Treasure Pouch at his waist, then took out an ordinary red robe and changed out of the Tribulation-Avoiding Robe.

After removing the Tribulation-Avoiding Robe, he carried it back into the main hall.

“You little rascal are already well-off enough, so I won’t give you money. This robe has been with me for ten years, and now I give it to you.”

As he spoke, Zhou Qing swept the Tribulation-Avoiding Robe in his hand and sent it into Yin Mao’s grasp.

“Many thanks, Master.”

Taking the robe in both hands, Yin Mao knelt again and offered his thanks, then, at Zhou Qing’s gesture, removed the thick coat he had been wearing.

Beneath the coat, he still had thick cotton-lined clothes and trousers. Glancing at the robe, he intended to simply wear it over his padded garments.

“Why wear so much? Take off the cotton clothes and trousers too, and just wear this robe directly.”

“Wear it directly?”

Looking at the thin robe in his hands, Yin Mao said, “Master, unlike you, I have no profound cultivation. If I don’t wear thicker clothes, I fear I won’t be able to endure the winter cold.”

“This robe is no ordinary thing. Not only is it impervious to water and fire, it cannot be cut by blades nor pierced by spears. Once you have changed into it, come find me in the front courtyard.”

After giving his instructions, Zhou Qing clasped his hands behind his back and went into the front courtyard.

Hearing this, Yin Mao did not hesitate at all. He promptly stripped off the thick cotton garments. The moment the heavy clothes were gone, a chill swept over him.

Shivering from the cold, he had no time to think further. He opened the robe at once and put it on.

The instant the robe was worn, the icy sensation vanished at once. The feeling sent Yin Mao into wild joy. He had never imagined that Zhou Qing would pass him such a wondrous treasure.

“Impervious to blades and spears, unfazed by water and fire”—the words Zhou Qing had spoken only moments before still echoed in Yin Mao’s ears. Once he had donned the Tribulation-Avoiding Robe, the chill on his body disappeared immediately.