My Wife Is A Sword Immortal-Chapter 70 - 59: Foolproof Plan

Chapter 70: Chapter 59: Foolproof Plan

It was still around midnight when Zhao Rong set out, arriving at the inn he had rented by the south gate of Luojing. He changed his clothes, took some dry food with him, and rushed to arrive at Chongxu Temple on Taibai Mountain before the hour of yin. He then spent the entire day copying scriptures in the Spirit Temple until sunset, waiting until all the Daoists had completed their evening class before handing in his scriptures, tired from the day’s work.

That night, upon returning to his dwelling, he ate the osmanthus cakes made by Su Xiaoxiao, while meticulously noting down on white paper the details he had memorized that day and the vulnerabilities he thought could be exploited, carefully deliberating each one.

Over these days, Zhao Rong maintained such a routine. Although it was tedious and difficult, he had no choice but to continue, as Lin Wenruo had mentioned that Master Qingjing possessed Golden Core Cultivation. If he himself also had a Golden Core, he could simply take what he wanted by force.

However, lacking such powerful strength at the moment, he could only outwit his opponents—planning step by step with great effort within his current capabilities.

Through several days of covertly copying and observing, he roughly figured out the daily routine of the Daoists in the Spirit Temple.

At the beginning of the hour of yin, the bells of the Daoist temple would ring to signal the start of the solemn period; the Daoists would get up, eat vegetarian meals, and hurry to the Great Hall before one quarter past the hour of yin.

...

From one quarter past yin to one quarter past the hour of mao, in the span of one hour, the morning class would take place in the Spirit Temple where they closed their eyes and recited scriptures.

After the morning class, the Daoists dispersed, leaving only three blue-clothed core Daoists and four black-clothed ordinary Daoists, plus four young Daoist acolytes, totaling eleven people who nearly spent all day inside the temple meditating, practicing, or receiving visitors bringing incense offerings.

At noon, they went to the dining hall to eat, which took roughly half an hour, but the Daoists inside the temple did not all go out at once. Instead, the three blue-clothed Daoists stayed behind, while the remaining Daoists brought back food from the dining hall to eat near the back door of the Great Hall.

From one quarter past the hour of shen to one quarter past the hour of you, the group of Daoists who had done the morning class returned to the Spirit Temple for the evening class.

After one quarter past the hour of you, the temple exterior was closed off, and Zhao Rong had to stop copying scriptures and leave the temple with everyone else.

However, Zhao Rong’s predictions were not wrong—the Spirit Temple indeed had blue-clothed Daoists on night duty. One day, he intentionally delayed for a while and just before being urged to leave the temple, he glimpsed the arriving blue-clothed Daoist coming to change the guard.

It is worth noting, however, that although the changing of the night-time blue-clothed Daoist happened at one quarter past mao, including the Daoists on night duty in many major halls like the Spirit Temple, they would depart early at one quarter past yin, just when the day’s guarding Daoists hurried to the Great Hall for morning class, leaving only one blue-clothed Daoist to lead the morning class, while the others went to the southeast side of the outer Observatory Tower, waiting for the mountain-foot Daoist acolytes to bring breakfast.

This was indeed the situation he had witnessed on his first day.

Zhao Rong reflected deeply, his brush dipped in ink at the inkstone, continuing to write intermittently.

From one quarter past yin to one quarter past mao, observing the temple’s defense throughout the day, this was a period when the guard was weakest.

Although there were many Daoists in the Spirit Temple at this time, few were a threat to him.

In the temple, only one aging blue-clothed Daoist was left leading the morning class with closed eyes, the Daoists behind him doing the same, and besides the visiting incense-bringing worshippers and the heads-bowed scripture-copiers, the real threats to him in the Spirit Temple were only the four young Daoist acolytes at each side of the temple and the white-haired old Daoist receiving visitors.

Ah, that’s right, there were also the custodial workers.

He hadn’t seen these workers the first day because he had arrived late, but when he entered the temple early to copy scriptures over the next few days, he noticed that every day during the morning class, a worker took advantage of the few visitors to clean the temple…

Zhao Rong, seated at his writing desk, suddenly paused his writing.

Wait, previously he had seen a custodial worker wiping the table in front of the deity statue where offerings and ritual instruments were placed, and had touched the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace.

Zhao Rong put down his brush and walked slowly to the window, lightly frowning, his gaze unfocused as he looked toward the mountainside rock carvings hidden in the darkness.

His initial thought was to blend in with the worshippers during the day, take advantage of their negligence, and cleverly swipe the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace, but this would expose him to the risk of being discovered by many worshippers. As someone not associated with the Daoist temple, touching the ritual instruments on the table would definitely draw attention, not to mention the difficulty of getting it out of the Great Hall afterward.

This method was indeed too risky…but what if he used that custodial worker?

Zhao Rong’s eyebrows relaxed, and he felt roughly some idea take form in his mind. He turned back to his desk, organized his things, and immediately left the house. It wasn’t yet midnight, and despite a day of fatigue and no rest, he was now too excited with a feasible plan in mind to fall asleep, and headed to Chongxu Temple early.

Zhao Rong arrived at the marketplace at the foot of Taibai Mountain around the first quarter of the hour of the ox, which was still early before the Daoist monks woke up to the sound of the bell. Following yesterday’s memory, he crossed several buildings to reach an ordinary quadrangle courtyard at the northeast corner of the market, where the Daoist novices from Chongxu Temple resided.

Yesterday evening, as he descended the mountain, Zhao Rong had followed the four young Daoists on duty at the Spirit Temple and learned where they lived.

At this moment, the night was deep and quiet, yet Zhao Rong saw that one of the rooms in the courtyard still had a light on. He raised his eyebrow, tiptoed to the window, poked a hole through the paper window with his index finger, and peeked inside. He was startled to see two children shirtless, sitting at the edge of the bed, with an oil lamp lit, reading a book intently.

They were the chubby Daoist young and his round-faced companion who had been on duty during the day at the Spirit Temple.

Zhao Rong observed for a while and noticed their expressions were strange—they alternated between silly smiles, furrowed brows, eager expressions, and gasping with wide eyes.

About a quarter of an hour later, the two suddenly exhaled a long breath, their faces relieved. They tidied up a bit and then blew out the candle to sleep.

In the darkness, after settling down for a while, one of them spoke, “Ah, it’s too little. How could we have finished it already… Nan Qing, I also want to wield a sword in green clothes, ride a small donkey, and roam the world! Become a hero who lives a life of impassioned revenge…”

“Nan Xiao, you’re too heavy, the small donkey won’t be able to bear it…”

No wonder they were drowsy during the day, Zhao Rong couldn’t help but smile. It turned out they were young enthusiasts staying up late and reading wuxia novels… I thought they were up to something else at night. Ah, my apologies, young heroes.

Zhao Rong then moved on to the houses of the other two on-duty Daoists, quietly observing for a while. Seeing that their breathing was long and they were deep in sleep, Zhao Rong frowned slightly.

“Gui, do you know approximately how heavy the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace is?”

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“The weight of the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace varies depending on its size. With its current height and width under ten feet, it’s roughly around ten jin.”

Zhao Rong recalled the first time he saw it, when it was carried by the chubby Daoist, Nan Xiao. It must not be too heavy. His physique at the Golden Stone Stage of the Ascending Realm should allow him to pick it up easily.

Zhao Rong nodded silently. He looked around the pitch-dark surroundings and, guided by memory, headed toward the living quarters of the menial workers, casually curious, “The Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace can also change size at will?”

“Nonsense, otherwise with its current small form, would you go for alchemy? It probably wouldn’t even fit the materials.”

Gui added, “This isn’t the normal size of the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace. Logically, it shouldn’t be this size because if it were for alchemy, it could at least fit you inside. And if it’s for storage, it could shrink to the size you can hold within a fist. The current size, neither large nor small, is indeed strange.”

Zhao Rong’s expression shifted, “If I approach it, can you contain it?”

Gui thought for a moment, “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not possible at the moment. However, if you can touch it and maintain contact for about a quarter of an hour, I can borrow your Soul Power to temporarily gain control of it and help you shrink it to the size of a fist.”

Zhao Rong’s mouth twitched. Your help is as good as none. If I could continuously touch it for a quarter of an hour, what would be the difference from having it in hand? At most, while retrieving it, you could contain it, which would slightly facilitate my escape—just icing on the cake.

Zhao Rong sighed; he had to rely on himself entirely now.

At the quarter hour of the tiger, the Daoist Temple bell rang to end the silence, and the marketplace at the foot of the mountain gradually became bustling.

Today marked Zhao Rong’s fourth day copying scriptures at the Spirit Temple, with only five more days until the Confucian debate.

Zhao Rong didn’t have much time left.

The Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace must be seized!

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PS: Another update this morning.