Following the principle of taking someone all the way to their destination, Xu Qing decided to reopen the Sutra of Salvation.
A wisp of incense was infused, and the pages suspended above the blood lake changed again, slowly coalescing into several lines of small incense characters below the name Shi Xiaoyu—
Father: Surname Jiang, taboo name Yuanyang, from Yanyang County, Guangling.
Mother: Maiden name Chunlan, from Qinghe County.
Marriage on the twenty-seventh day of the Peach Month in the Year of the Rooster.
Child Shi Xiaoyu, born on the ninth day of the first month of the Year of the Rabbit.
Seeing the information about Shi Xiaoyu's biological parents, Xu Qing's expression became rather peculiar.
Could it be that his Sutra of Salvation also serves as a tool for paternity determination?
Jiang Yuanyang, from Guangling...
Xu Qing remembered Shi Xiaoyu's mother acknowledging four or five godfathers for the child, and suddenly came to a realization.
Wouldn't this child's mother know who Shi Xiaoyu's biological father is?
Xu Qing took out two paper ingots and a small paper girl with blushing cheeks and said, "Stay here and don't move, I'll go find your mother. If you feel scared, play with these little toys."
The child, unaware of the taboos about burning paper offerings, was instantly captivated upon seeing the little paperman and paper ingots.
Having soothed Shi Xiaoyu, Xu Qing searched along the river and finally found Shi Xiaoyu's mother on an ironhead boat three miles away.
Xu Qing listened to the roaring waves hitting the shore inside the boat and pondered for a moment before picking up a stone from the bank to throw it at the docked ironhead boat.
Not long after, a shirtless man emerged from the boat, followed by a disheveled woman.
The man, grumbling, pulled up the mooring rope to bring the boat ashore, then jumped out to confront Xu Qing, who had interrupted his business.
Xu Qing turned aside, tripping the man to the ground with one kick. Without even looking at him, he addressed the woman at the bow.
"Since you are the child's mother, you should take good care. It was a coincidence today that I happened to save your drowning child, but you may not be so lucky next time!"
Shi Chunlan suddenly came to her senses. She ran to the fore cabin, and when she couldn't find Shi Xiaoyu, her eyes immediately turned red with worry.
"Where is my child?"
Before Shi Chunlan finished speaking, the man who had just climbed up from the sandbank anxiously asked, "Where's my kid?"
Xu Qing glanced at the man, who was more anxious than anyone else, and pointed toward the distant riverbank.
The two of them didn't hesitate and ran off in the direction Xu Qing indicated.
Xu Qing leisurely followed behind, and when he arrived, Shi Chunlan was checking her child's body incessantly for any injuries.
The man wanted to approach but was pushed away by Shi Chunlan.
"Don't touch us! If it weren't for you insisting on making the child stay alone in the fore cabin, Xiaoyu wouldn't have fallen into the water."
The man, aware he was in the wrong, had no choice but to approach Xu Qing with a contrived smile. "Big brother, thanks to your help, I'll remember this favor!"
Xu Qing asked curiously, "What's your name?"
"My surname is Tian, crude name Dashan."
"Is Shi Xiaoyu your child?"
"Of course! I've known Mrs. Shi for five or six years; who else would be his father?"
"..."
Xu Qing chose to remain silent.
Meanwhile, after the mother-child duo finished crying, Shi Chunlan came over to Xu Qing to thank him repeatedly.
She said if anything happened to Xiaoyu, she wouldn't know how to live.
Seizing the moment while Tian Dashan was talking to Shi Xiaoyu, Xu Qing took the opportunity to ask: "Mrs. Shi, I heard Shi Xiaoyu saying he has several fathers. Do you know who Xiaoyu's biological father is?"
Shi Chunlan's smile froze, her expression turning a bit unnatural as she said, "I'm quite an irresponsible mother; I don't actually know who the child's father is."
"Early on when I was pregnant with Xiaoyu, I went to Bao Sheng Temple to pray and inquire about the father, but there hasn't been any result..."
Xu Qing glanced at Shi Chunlan, knowing Bao Sheng Temple never offered paternity testing services!
"Mrs. Shi, to be honest, I strolled by the riverside tonight in the dark because Lady Bao Sheng appeared in a dream to save your child."
"Is this true?"
Shi Chunlan, shocked, hurriedly knelt on the ground and knocked her head several times in the direction of Ziyun Mountain, then clasped her hands in prayer, muttering words of gratitude for Lady Bao Sheng's spiritual intervention.
Xu Qing thought for a moment and finally said, "Lady Bao Sheng mentioned the child's father is surnamed Jiang and from Guangling..."
Shi Chunlan stood there stunned, unable to react for a long time.
Xu Qing didn't say much else; as for Shi Xiaoyu's numerous godfathers, they might not really be as clueless as they seemed to all believe they were Shi Xiaoyu's biological father.
Shi Chunlan, having no support at the dock, found it difficult to raise a child alone amidst complex personal relationships, which Xu Qing wasn't going to interfere with more than necessary.
Before leaving, Shi Xiaoyu hugged the paper ingots and paper dolls on the ground as if they were treasures, while Tian Dashan's face turned pale with horror!
"Where did you pick up these unlucky things? Throw them away!"
"The man in white gave them to me."
"..."
Xu Qing touched his face, wondering since when he had become the man in white.
Seeing Tian Dashan's inquisitive gaze, Xu Qing explained, "I work at the funeral shop, carrying paper offerings is normal. If Tian brother has a need, you can find me on Underground Street."
"If there's no need, you can help spread the word and introduce more friends and relatives to visit; I can offer a special price for acquaintances, and if Tian brother wants a commission, that can be arranged too!"
"..."
Tian Dashan's face, already green, seemed to grow even greener.
Is this something someone can say?
Only because the other man was his child's savior, otherwise, he would have already swung his massive fists!
...
Funeral Shop.
Xu Qing, ignoring the Sutra of Salvation for the first time, instead immersed himself overnight in studying the newly acquired Sutra of Salvation.
Compared to the Sutra of Salvation, this book primarily serves to foster new life, monitor mundane fertility matters, and ensure the continuation of human lineage and incense.
As long as someone has worshipped Lady Bao Sheng and made a vow at Bao Sheng Temple, their descendants will appear in the book.
As a deity of Bao Sheng Temple, Xu Qing feels like a clerk reviewing memorials needing to fulfill various randomly occurring vow issues.
During this time, Xu Qing can choose to ignore them, but if he fulfills his duties, Bao Sheng Temple's incense and reputation could further improve.
Throughout the process, Xu Qing discovered some uncontrolled situations, such as followers thousands of miles away.
He couldn't respond to these people's vows in time.
It was a time of great calamity when demons reigned. Over thousands of miles, one might encounter countless monsters, and Xu Qing's current magical power couldn't even guarantee his own safety, let alone traverse thousands of miles to fulfill others' vows.
If it weren't for the Celestial Master's Mansion and the damned Emperor's obstruction, if the nurturing handbook had been spread early, then even with a thousand-mile distance, Xu Qing would have a way to reach instantly.
And this method would be to establish a Bao Sheng Temple in each of the sixteen provinces, allowing Xu Qing to traverse between temple nodes through the Dharma Realm.
Once the incense divine power reaches a certain level, the temple immortals appointed by Bao Sheng Temple, such as Protector Bai Xiaoxian and Guardian Maiden Shiyue, could handle temple vow issues in his stead.
"There's still a long way to go for the Bao Sheng Temple system."
Besides the Sutra of Salvation's basic use, Xu Qing found something very interesting.
It turned out that the location of each child registered in the book could be perceived by Xu Qing, serving as coordinate anchors for his Divine Travel Celestial Scripture to traverse.
The Divine Travel Celestial Scripture is part of the Celestial Scriptures and outlines the methods of transiting heavens and earth. Wherever the divine thought reaches is the domain of the heavens!
The Sutra of Salvation could connect Xu Qing's divine thought, allowing him to go to places his physical form hadn't reached.
However, there was a prerequisite: his magical power had to be ample enough to support the consumption of the transiting method.
...
At dawn the next day, Xu Qing bade farewell to Xuan Yu and headed urgently to the county lord's mansion again.
He was still concerned about the venomous scale in Chen Liu'Er's possession; how could a child keep such a dangerous item around all the time?
If this matter wasn't addressed, Xu Qing would be troubled.
Passing through East Gate Alley, a barber was giving someone a haircut.
Xu Qing didn't stop and, upon reaching the street where the county lord's mansion was located, before he even entered, he saw a familiar figure pacing the street corner.
A tattered patchwork outfit, ragged monk shoes, and that shiny bald head.
Who else could it be but Monk Xinyuan?