I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 187 The trap failed, he is a smart guy!

The red fox turned its head with difficulty and looked towards the temple gate.

Xie An had already left, and only the white snow was left outside.

"This guy was quite cautious, always keeping a distance of more than 20 meters. He crouched on the wall all night, clearly coveting the treasure in the box next to me. Even when I pretended to be fast asleep all night, he didn't make a move."

"I'm too badly injured to move. I can only wait for him to get close to me before I can catch him..."

The red fox sighed, feeling a little disappointed.

"Xiaobai said he had this guy under control and that he was a fool. I think you're the fool... You left behind clues and didn't even notice someone was looking for you."

"But it's not a big deal. I'll just let Xiaobai cooperate with me in this show. I'm not afraid that he won't take the bait."

After muttering a few words, the red fox lay on the ground and continued to sleep.

……

When Xie An returned to the county town, it was already dawn.

The falling snow stopped for a moment.

The breakfast shops on the street have opened, with stalls set up at the door, and the fragrant smell of meat buns wafts through the street.

Feeling his hungry stomach, Xie An bought two meat buns and walked towards home while eating them.

Although Xie An had killed a dog demon before, this red fox gave Xie An a very different feeling.

Xie An did not intend to tell anyone else, nor did he intend to report to the Demon Suppression Division to eliminate the red fox.

He was still thinking about the large box of treasures beside the red fox. The white fox had pulled out a few items from it, and they were so amazing. If he took them all... what would happen?
He always felt that the red fox was hiding very deeply and it would be dangerous to act rashly.

This is not a big deal, as long as the plants continue to sprout, it is fine to continue trading.

Everything is waiting for the precious plants to sprout.

The next few days.

Xie An started to get busy.

Besides practicing, he went to Tangjiabao. Because of the patrol officer's presence, Xie An had to go to the Demon Suppression Division from nine to five. Fortunately, Xie An also had an independent courtyard in the Demon Suppression Division, which did not interfere with his practice.

In addition, Xie An also had to read the classics, history, and collections in the library to learn about the history of Daqian and improve his knowledge of martial arts.

If you are in Daqian, you need to understand this world.

Although the days are busy, they are fulfilling.

After several days of hard training, the progress has been improved to: Beginning of Winter 20/100.

Xie An roughly estimated the effect of the second-level long life character on Mingyu Nineteen Sections: in about five days, there will be a point of progress improvement.

It seemed unhappy, but in fact, Xie An was too busy during this period and did not have much time to practice Mingyu Gong every day.

If you put everything aside and work hard, you can make about one point of progress every two days, and one solar term in half a year!
This is quite an exaggeration!

If one has a level one long life personality and faces the nineteenth level of Ming Yu Gong, even if one works at full strength, it is estimated that it will take more than half a month to achieve even a slight improvement in progress.

As for the water drop internal energy method, there was almost no improvement.

Once it comes to martial arts training, it doesn't work.

Xie An was not discouraged and continued to practice diligently.

If you don’t have enough talent, then make up for it with hard work.

Anyway, I am free anyway...

Xie An had no talent for martial arts and did not expect immediate success, but he was looking forward to Baozhi, hoping that it would sprout soon and complete the next transaction.

Unfortunately, the winter thunder has not come yet. Although it is snowing, the temperature has not dropped.

The bare tree stump never sprouted any new buds.

However, the money spent on purchasing medicines continues to increase.

One hundred and fifty taels a day, nearly five thousand taels a month.

Two months passed in a flash and it was the twelfth lunar month.

The snow falling from the sky became heavier and heavier, and the weather became colder.

Every morning when Xie An got up, the first thing he did was to check whether the bare tree stump had sprouted any new buds.

The results were disappointing.

No sprouts appeared for two full months.

What surprised Xie An even more was that in the past two months, the white fox had not followed him again, and had not even come to Xie's house. This inevitably made Xie An feel puzzled...

Early that morning, Xie An got up early and went to see the tree stump again, but still no new buds had grown.

I spent a full ten thousand taels on you, and this is how you give me back?

Why not find a woodcarver to turn this tree stump into a coffee table for making tea...

Ok……

Overall it's still profitable.

Through two transactions, he exchanged for a total of nine white pupa stones, absorbed two thousand seven hundred strands of demon spirit energy, and also sold them for an additional sixty-three thousand taels of silver!
Later, Xie An also sold the four pieces of white pupa stone to Ye Luo.

It’s worth spending only ten thousand taels to cultivate this precious plant.

But its half-dead appearance is really irritating.

Putting away his anger, Xie An squatted on the tree stump and began to think:
This is not a solution.

The white fox hasn't appeared for two months and hasn't followed me.

Could it be...that something happened?

The red fox's injury has worsened?

Or hung up?
After this thought came to his mind, Xie An became a little excited.

If the red fox left, wouldn't the box be easy to get?

The white fox, although fast, is no match for him and cannot protect the box.

"Pick a time these few days to go to the Stone Temple again!"

After making up his mind, Xie An began to plan:
Last time, it was just an investigation. This time, Xie An still focused on the investigation, but also planned to pick up treasure. The fox was cunning, so he had to be prepared.

The heavy bow is difficult to use and not very useful at close range. You can put it aside for now.

Xie An had the famous sword that could suppress demons. This sword was just right for a martial artist of the seventh or eighth level, and it was very handy.

But it lacks the inner shell and the long round needle.

It seems... Chen Tie is the son of the great master craftsman?
I arrived at the Demon Suppression Division early and had tea with Wei Haoran, Zhao Qinger and Chen Tie on the seventh floor.

After drinking a few cups of tea, Zhao Qing'er looked at the copper kettle dripping and said, "Wei Haoran, it's time for you to go out on patrol. Otherwise, people will accuse us of being lazy again. Remember, go out in a big way. Let everyone know."

Wei Haoran, the lowest-ranking official present, was angry, but he still went on patrol with his spear in hand.

Originally, police officers did not need to go out on patrol regularly.

But after Li Hao arrived, he insisted that the monsters from Dayin Mountain could descend at any time. He divided Qingwu County, near Dayin Mountain, into four large areas, with each officer responsible for one of them. If a monster appeared in one of the areas and injured someone, the officer would be held accountable.

This put several officers under great pressure.

In Wei Haoran's words: they are all superficial achievements.

Not long after, Zhao Qing'er looked at the clepsydra and said, "I have to go out on patrol too. Thank you, Chief Commander, Brother Chen, goodbye."

Chen Tiedao said, "Be careful on your way. The area you're in charge of is adjacent to Hei Ze County, where the Huai River covers a large area and is adjacent to Hongze Lake. Local residents say that water monsters often appear there, so be careful."

"knew."

Zhao Qing'er responded and then left in a hurry.

This princess is quite dashing once she gets serious.

After the two aristocratic scion left, the room became much quieter. Chen Tie, making tea for Xie An, smiled faintly and said, "Ever since Li Hao arrived, under the guise of being the Inspector General, he's been making demands on us everywhere, which has suddenly made our workload much heavier. Li Hao, however, always leads by example, which has made everyone afraid to complain and instead has given rise to a certain amount of respect for him. They all say he's a capable and good official."

Xie An muttered to himself.

A good official?

It's just acting.

However, it did demonstrate that Li Hao, the Crown Prince, was decisive and self-disciplined. Aside from his initial overreaction to Chen Tie, his performance over the next two months was exemplary, earning praise from everyone in the Demon Suppression Division.

In a sense, because of Li Hao's harsh governance methods, the entire Demon Suppression Division has become more like a ruthless machine. Everyone has become much colder.

"Does Director Xie know what the Demon Suppression Division is calling Li Hao in private?"

"what?"

"Iron-faced Yama."

"..."

"Hey, Li Hao is too strict. Life is hard for everyone. Many people are complaining. Besides, the general inspectors will leave after a few months of inspection. After all, too long will affect the operation of the local government. But from the look of Li Hao, I'm afraid he doesn't plan to leave." Chen Tie said while drinking tea, "If Li Hao's actions are entirely out of public interest, it may not be a bad thing. But I always feel that it's not that simple."

After a brief exchange of greetings, Xie An explained his purpose.

Chen Tie was very surprised when he heard this. "You want to make a needle?"

No wonder Chen Tie was surprised.

Daqian needles are mostly used for needlework, sewing, fish hooks, acupuncture, and so on. Needles are rarely used elsewhere. For martial artists, they are even less commonly used. Chen Tie really didn't know where Xie An got this brilliant idea.

"Could Deputy Director Chen do it?"

Chen Tie's father was a master blacksmith, and he himself was a highly skilled blacksmith, casting swords and weapons with ease. He also enjoyed it. But needles... he had never made one before, but he knew the production process.

After weighing the pros and cons for a while, Chen Tie said, "It can be done. However, what Chief Xie wants to make is definitely not an ordinary needle, right?"

Xie An took out the drawings he had prepared long ago and showed them to Chen Tie.

A straight needle with a very fine tip, about three inches long, with a spiral pattern in the middle and a slightly thicker tail, similar to a lotus bud.

Xie An spent a lot of effort to design this needle.

He referred to the silver pen-tip-shaped pins of the Sansui Miao people in the Republic of China and used them as the basis for his painting.

Ordinary embroidery needles are fine for mending clothes, but when mending shoes, peasant women often need to wear leather or other hard objects on their fingers to push the needle through the soles, otherwise they will hurt their hands.

Even though the eye of the needle has been blunted, it's still too thin and will still pierce the skin if you apply force. You can only hold the needle on both sides with your hands and push it in by friction.

How much force can friction exert?
Xie An used needles to kill people.

The end of the needle naturally needs to be blunted and roughened. The Miao ethnic group's pen-shaped needle is very suitable.

What kind of person is Chen Tie? Just by looking at the shape of the needle, he could roughly understand Xie An's idea. "Is General Xie planning to make it into a hidden weapon?"

Xie An did not hide it, "I am old now, so I have to be careful when I go out."

Chen Tie agreed. "Director Xie is quite cautious. The shape of this needle looks very beautiful. It's not difficult to make. It's just the material..."

Xie An immediately said, "I will bear the cost of materials."

Chen Tie shook his head. "A needle isn't like a large weapon. The materials required are minimal, so I can't bear to charge you. I'm saying... that piece of black iron that General Manager Xie sold to Master Ye a while ago, if you cut off a small piece, it would be perfect for making this needle. Ordinary wrought iron would be much less effective."

Xie An suddenly thought of this and couldn't help feeling a little regretful.

It really doesn’t take much material to make a needle; a small piece is enough.

If I had known earlier, I would have found a way to remove a piece from the black iron. A small piece shouldn't affect the trading value.

"Is it possible to buy black iron?"

Chen Tie frowned: "Black iron is extremely precious. It is rare even in Nanyang Prefecture, let alone Qingwu County."

Xie An felt a little lost.

I feel that my third brother Yi Qiutang is so nice to me, and the gifts he gave me are really valuable.

Finally, Xie An had to settle for the next best thing, "Let's use wrought iron instead and make a few first."

Chen Tie stared at the blueprint for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth, "This needle looks beautiful. Since it's what General Xie wants, I'll shamelessly go find Ye Luo and cut some off from that piece of black iron."

Xie An bowed and said, "Thank you, Deputy Director Chen."

Chen Tie quickly stood up and said, "I cannot accept such a generous gift from Mr. Xie. You are older than me, so just call me Brother Chen."

Even though things had come to this, Xie An didn't hesitate.

"Brother Chen."

"Don't worry, brother Xie. I can make it in about three days."

……

three days later.

Xie An came to the Demon Suppression Division as usual. When he reached the seventh floor, he saw Chen Tie sitting behind a long desk and writing on an album with a wolf-hair brush.

After seeing Xie An, Chen Tie leaned his wolf-hair brush against the mountain-shaped brush holder and stood up to greet him enthusiastically, "Brother Xie, you came much earlier than usual today."

Xie An smiled and said, "My left eye has been twitching non-stop since early this morning. I think it means good news."

"Hahaha, Brother Xie, come and see." Chen Tie led Xie An to the coffee table next to the railing.

There were three long silver needles placed on the coffee table.

The entire blade is silvery and translucent. Three inches long, its tip is as fine as a hair, its cold light captivating. From the tip, it gradually thickens, with a spiral pattern along the back half of the needle, culminating in a rounded lotus bud shape for easy grip.

Xie An praised, "Excellent craftsmanship! You are worthy of being the son of a great master craftsman!"

Chen Tie was even more delighted to receive Xie An's praise. "This is my first time making needles. I even read some ancient books for this. Thank you, brother, for your guidance."

"it is good."

Xie An reached out and picked up a silver needle.

The whole body is cool and feels great.

Especially the rounded bud at the tail, which feels great to hold and can be pushed directly to exert force without hurting your hands.

At that moment, Chen Tie brought a piece of steel plate and said, "Thank you, brother, try to see how sharp it is."

Black iron is not an ordinary precious iron. Most of it comes from meteorites from outer space and is much harder than steel.

Xie An held the flower bud and poked it hard at the steel plate.

Suddenly, with a "snap" sound, the needle tip penetrated the steel plate.

Not too difficult.

"The black iron is indeed amazing. A good needle."

Xie An accepted the three silver needles and bowed again, "Thank you, Brother Chen. I'm afraid the material is not cheap, right?"

"It's a small matter. If you get any precious iron in the future and want to make it into a weapon, Brother Xie, just come to me anytime." Chen Tie waved his hand generously.

Xie An originally wanted to give him some banknotes, but then he thought that Chen Tie was not short of money.

This favor has to be repaid from somewhere else.

At dusk, Xie An returned to Xie Mansion and had dinner with Chunlan Yuhe, He Chunli and Han Li as usual. He also chatted with everyone for a while before returning to the courtyard to practice.

At the beginning of Haishi.

Xie An stopped practicing, then put on his nightgown, took the demon-suppressing knife, the fire starter, and especially the three large needles.

With this big needle, if he attacks by surprise, even if he faces a grandmaster who has just entered the ninth rank, Xie An feels that he can stab the other person to death.

To be on the safe side, Xie An hid the seven-treasure box and the mirror in a dark place.

If an extreme situation occurs and he is caught by the red fox, he can at least use the magic treasure as bait to lure the other party to Xie Mansion and let Su Yuqing capture it.

Xie An made sure that nothing was missed before leaving.

When we arrived at the top of Stone Mountain, it was already the end of the hour of midnight and the sky was gray.

The heavy snow fluttered down.

Xie An gripped the hilt of his knife tightly and activated Ming Yu Gong to walk towards the stone temple. Before he even got close to the courtyard wall, he heard a miserable howl of a fox.

The voice was gentle and sad.

Ok?
Why is the little white fox crying?
The red fox is dead?

Xie An gently climbed over the courtyard wall and stuck half of his head out to look.

I saw that the red fox that was lying in the hall was completely motionless, and the white fox was crying beside it, with tears and snot running down its face, looking extremely miserable.

Is the red fox really dead?
Then Xie An's eyes fell on the wooden box next to the red fox.

If he were a young man, he would have rushed over right now.

But Xie An didn't, and continued to lie on the wall to check. After more than an hour, the white fox kept crying, which was really sad to hear.

Xie An always felt that the little white fox seemed to be crying deliberately.

But I am a human being after all, not a fox, and I cannot completely adopt the mentality of a fox.

To be on the safe side, Xie An lit a pile of wood in the yard, creating a huge fire. At the same time, Xie An used all his eyesight to stare at every move of the white fox and the red fox.

If the red fox is truly dead, then it won't move.

If he wasn't dead... he definitely couldn't hold it in.

Xie An could also make a judgment based on the white fox's performance in the fire.

Soon, the white fox panicked, looking at the fire outside the door, then looking at the red fox next to it. In the end, it chose to ignore the fire and continued to cry in front of the red fox.

Xie An was immediately furious.

This is too fake.

slip away.

As soon as Xie An left, the red fox opened its golden eyes and said, "Idiot! You've been exposed. Go put out the fire."

The white fox let out a "wooo" and ran to put out the fire.

Because it was snowing moderately and the fire wasn't very big, putting it out wasn't difficult. The white fox rolled up huge snowballs and threw dozens of them into the fire, which was almost completely extinguished.

Then the little white fox returned to the red fox with an embarrassed look on his face, feeling very guilty, and made some gestures. He said that he had no experience in this area, and the red fox was not really dead, so he couldn't get into the situation and didn't know how to act.

Eh.

The red fox sighed, "This is really putting you in a difficult position. I don't blame you, it's mainly because this person is too cautious. I spent two months trying to stop you from following him and showing up. I made him think I was dead and come to steal the treasure. As long as he gets close to me, I can catch him. But he set fire to test the authenticity and didn't even bring the Tongling Treasure Mirror with him. He's quite a shrewd person."

After receiving the red fox's forgiveness, the white fox felt relieved. He gestured and asked what to do next.

ho ho~
The red fox spat out a mouthful of blood, his breath very weak. "I can't hold on any longer. There's no other way to deal with such a cunning person. I can only be straightforward. Go find him and trade this box of treasures for a tree stump. See if he's willing."

(End of this chapter)