The Immortals Poison

by Stayrr

This is the story of the youth Wen Leyang, born into the family with an expertise in the cultivation of the Art of Poison. The enemy may not always be evil, and neither does someone evil necessarily be the enemy. However, one thing is certain. Wen Leyang is a frank and honest young man, a delightful hero who posseses a kind disposition towards any living creature.

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Chapter 33: The Painting

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was a landscape painted in the classical style of Chinese ink painting on a long scroll of rice paper.

On the scroll, there was a lonesome mountain's peak covered in dark greenish-colored rocks with a few ferocious fissures twined around the rocks like raging dragons, arrogantly transmitting the perseverance that belonged only to the horizons.

Leyang Wen from Painting Town only took a short moment to paint Zhanyan Peak onto the paper. He managed to capture the stern outline of the peak with a few brushstrokes and he was even capable of portraying the dark and brooding character of this lonely peak!

As the painting fluttered in the wind, the gold-shrouded Zhanyan Peak suddenly began to come to life like a creature slowly waking from hibernation. The mountain's natural instincts seemed to have been awoken by the painting scroll and it started to shift around uneasily. A powerful innate momentum started to slowly seep out of the mountain's many fissures and strived to shake off the imprisoning golden light.

Leyang Wen's expression was ferocious as he raised his paintbrush up into the air and continued to doodle unceasingly. His two small eyes glowed with an exuberance that was almost palpable as he stared intensely at the painting scroll that had been tossed into the air before roaring loudly, "Split!"

The painting scroll shook fiercely and erupted into a cloud of black smoke with a bang. It burned up in the blink of an eye, leaving a few pieces of gray ashes which fluttered down like butterflies. On the other hand, Zhanyan Peak appeared to be thoroughly enraged and the ferocious mountain's will refused to submit any further and a burst of suffocating innate momentum erupted from it and tightly bound up the Buddha's Golden Light!

The rogue cultivators felt lighter now as they started to regain their vision which had been sealed by the divine monk Hope Aware's Heaven's Omniscient Eye spell. Even though the golden light has yet to dissipate completely, the denseness of the light has become greatly subdued and their sight and telegnosis abilities were both fully recovered.

Wen Leyang watched in awe from behind the mountain rock. The battle had started initially with the monk using his knowledge from the twenty-eight sets of Buddhist scripture from the God Emperor's All-Seeing Eye to cast the spell that sealed the vision and telegnosis abilities of the rogue cultivators. This was followed by the short man's expertise in waking the innate power of Zhanyan Peak using a painting on a scroll. This method successfully broke the blinding golden light spell and this form of battle tactic was entirely at a different level when compared to simply throwing one's magic weapon like a hand grenade, it also far exceeded his knowledge of the self-cultivators' method of fighting in large groups.

As soon as the rogue cultivators regained their vision, the first thing they did was to conduct their magic weapons, which had been hovering by their sides, to smash onto the monks from the Ten Modes Monastery with a loud crashing and clattering noise.

There was once a thief who walked past a commercial area, he saw that there were plenty of money in the blind beggar's broken bowl so he walked on tiptoes towards the bowl in an effort to steal the money. He could see that he had almost reached the money when the blind d beggar suddenly leaped up and slammed a brick into his head. Too late he saw the beggar's sighted eyes glinting brightly behind the dark sunglasses.

The monks were in the same situation now. They had no intention to kill initially, nor had they released their own magic weapons. They had only formed a mudra with their fingers and hid under the golden light's protection. They struck upon the blinded rogue cultivators elatedly, yet suddenly the blind persons had all suddenly regained their sight…

The rogue cultivators could not care less about how the monks were merciful to them earlier. The top of every person's feet was so red and swollen, it looked as if their shoes were stuffed full of steamed buns. They were filled with pent up anger and when the vision in front of their eyes suddenly regained clarity, they conducted their magic weapons and sliced at the baldies. The sound of heart-wrenching cries came incessantly as the disciples of the Ten Modes Monastery were all targeted. Their blood splashed against the dark mountain rocks, the scene appeared particularly savage as it glinted under the remnants of the golden light.

After the initial confusion, almost half of the Ten Modes Monastery disciples were killed or severely wounded, while the remainder who were still alive were monks of a higher level of Buddhist practice. However, these Buddhist monks were no longer merciful. They loudly shouted their Buddhist hymns, which were filled with a murderous aura now and revealed their magic weapons one by one in response. But Hope Aware from the seat of honor at the Ten Modes Monastery did not make any action at all, he was not roaring with rage nor did he cast any other spells.

The surviving monks' skills were obviously of a higher level than most of the rogue cultivators. Upon recovering from their surprise, the monks struck back at the rogue cultivators until they were forced to retreat repeatedly. If it weren't for the few master practitioners such as Red Grandaunt, Giant Bull, and old man Gongye who held the line, it seemed that the rogue cultivators would soon be beaten to a pulp by the monks.

The short man rested for a quick moment, then stood up and brought along his three fighters and pounced onto the monks.

The strength of the four of them far exceeded the rest of the monks and the rogue cultivators. In the next moment, they had turned the tide of the battle.

The Buddha's Golden Light illuminated every corner of the land. The lone black peak stood high as a group of rogue cultivators and a group of monks engaged in a group fight.

Wen Xiaoyi watched as magic weapons flew all over the sky; her left eye shone with terror while her right eye shone with excitement, "Wen Leyang, shall we help them?"

Wen Leyang ignored the little girl, his eyes were shut and his head was bowed down as if he was in a daze. One of his hands still held firmly onto Mumu's delicate hand.

Mumu couldn't tell whether this fellow was really deep in thought or if he was taking the opportunity to hold her hand. She extended her free hand and poked him in the side, "Why are you still in a daze? What are you thinking about with your eyes closed?!"

Wen Leyang suddenly jerked awake. He paid no attention to the two girls as he jumped towards the rock cliff not far from behind them and looked downwards. He then picked up a piece of rock and tossed it down the cliff, after that he frowned and closed his eyes again.

Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu couldn't tell what he was up to but before they could begin to ask questions, Wen Leyang's silhouette abruptly shrank and disappeared from two pairs of intense gazes.

The two girls slumped to the ground in shock, realizing that Wen Leyang had just jumped off the cliff! Just as they were about to react, the young fellow had somersaulted back up the cliff with a laugh and said, "We will definitely enter the ancient cave!"

Wen Xiaoyi patted her chest as she exhaled a long breath of relief. She looked towards the two groups of people who were all muddled up in the battle and asked, "How do we continue to go up? The entire pathway has been blocked by them!" Zhanyan Peak was dangerously steep, there was almost no pathway to ascend the mountain and the place where the two groups of people were engaged in a fierce battle was the only slightly leveled ground for temporary lodging halfway up the mountain. It was also the one place on the peak that was easy to guard against attacks, as even a flying bird could be easily shot down by the magic weapons flying around the sky.

Though the monks were being pushed back, they were not ready to concede defeat. The Great Mercy Temple had gone all in this time as all of the five supreme monasteries had gathered on the mountain, it was only a matter of time before more reinforcements would arrive.

"I think there's another way." Wen Leyang put Wen Xiaoyi on his back and looked towards Mumu and the undead toddler with a slightly embarrassed face, "Can you carry Ah Dan?" Mumu did not fully understand the situation but nodded her head. Ah Dan seemed to sense its master's intention and immediately extended both of its plump hands as he looked towards her with anticipation.

Mumu mocked Ah Dan, "As if I don't carry you often enough!" She bent over and picked up the baby corpse, cradling it in her arms. She was about to speak but cried out in alarm instead as Wen Leyang's strong arm firmly wrapped itself around her delicate and slim waist. He then arched his back and took two quick strides towards the cliff not far from where they were. The three people and the baby corpse were all holding on to each other together as he took a step over the edge of the cliff!

"You…" Mumu was shocked and indignant as her body fell down the cliff at a high speed. She wanted to brandish the Spirit Needles but she was unable to even gather an ounce of energy to do so. She wasn't sure whether this was due to the rugged, manly scent that rose from Wen Leyang's chest or the state of weightlessness from the free fall. Just as she worked up enough energy to struggle, her body abruptly stopped and both her feet came into contact with a hard surface. Throughout all this Wen Leyang continued to hold on to her waist.

Mumu's little face was flushed scarlet as she scolded in rage, "Why aren't you letting go of me!" As she said that, she took a quick look around and had another shock. Her body turned weak once again and her free hand held tightly on to Wen Leyang instead.

There was absolutely nothing at all below their feet, the four of them were tightly huddled together and stood on thin air. Once in a while, a bird would fly past under their feet and curiously raise its head to look at them. Once the bird had determined that these fellows were not food, it then flew away, its curiosity satisfied.

Hope Aware from the seat of honor at the Ten Modes Monastery had drawn the magical power from within the Buddha's Golden Light. When he sealed the vision and telegnosis abilities of the rogue cultivators, Wen Leyang had shut his eyes and the pores on his entire body constricted and relaxed intensely, after which his body gradually detached from its surroundings. His pores had swiftly relayed the information of his surroundings directly to his mind. The extra sense radiated out in a circle with his standing body at the center. He could clearly see everything that was tens of meters away from him and the biggest miracle was that his vision was no longer restricted to a linear form; he could see behind him, under him, above him and everything to the left and right from his body.

When every matter was slowly materializing before him, Wen Leyang had discovered something particularly strange. Not too far away from the rock cliff behind him. There was a thin black band which was winding up the mountainside like a pathway made out of black smoke. Judging by its direction it looked like it would go all the way towards the top of the mountain peak. However, Wen Leyang could only sense the direction that was within tens of meters away, where the pathway eventually lead to was completely unknown to him.

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Chapter 34: The Pathway

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Leyang Wen broke Hope Aware's Buddhist magic spell and the crowd of rogue cultivators had regained their vision. Wen Leyang had taken a look off the edge of a cliff and saw nothing. The rock that he threw also dropped downwards without any resistance. Yet when he closed his eyes, he could sense that there was an invisible pathway hugging the cliff wall. He then took a leap of faith and jumped, but of course, Wen Leyang was no fool and he had reasoned that with his current level of skill, he would be able to slide down the mountain wall and use his hands to control the momentum of his free fall.

Sure enough, upon jumping down he discovered that there really was an invisible pathway. Only then did he jump back up to bring the two girls onto the pathway.

By this time, Wen Leyang had gained some insight on the Buddhist cultivator's abilities and he gasped with a face full of admiration, "This must be some spell which had been cast by the masters of the predecessors, it conceals the entire pathway and what is even more baffling is that this pathway can hold the weight of humans but not of other objects! Even if someone was intentionally probing around, they could never be able to find it…" As he was saying that he felt that he was incorrect so he shook his head and laughed, "This is essentially not a normal pathway at all, I am afraid this is actually created by a celestial being."

Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu could not see the pathway underneath their feet at all and they did not even know where they should put their next step. They could only follow behind Wen Leyang's footsteps cautiously.

Wen Leyang was a young teenager who has not turned twenty yet. Though he had a pure and kind temperament he could not help but show off proudly, his two eyes intentionally avoided staring at his feet as he looked everywhere around him and clicked his tongue in admiration. The two young girls were so terrified that they were turning ashen white as they persistently urged him to look where he was walking. As a matter of fact, he was essentially not looking at the pathway with his eyes, because there were no pores in his eyes.

The invisible pathway twisted upwards, leading towards the direction of the mountain peak. It was covered with countless traps so even if someone were to mistakenly drop onto the pathway and grope his way forward along the mountain wall, he would definitely lose his footing and slip at certain points. Even though this place was not considered too high up, the drop was high enough to turn a person into mush.

It was still a muddled mess on the mountain, with various types of magic weapons swinging around and reflecting dazzling lights as the sound of Buddhist chanting and obscene swearing from the rogue cultivators overlapped with one another. It was both dignified and sacred at the same time.

Wen Leyang led the two girls forward as he walked along the invisible path with a completely relaxed look on his face. He figured it was best to let the monks and the rogue cultivators settle their fight on their own.

Gradually, the sound of brawling started to fade and finally disappeared into the bitter cold mountain breeze. Wen Xiaoyi lay on Wen Leyang's back and relaxed, she did not need to be like Mumu who was trembling with terror at every step. As the path took the higher and higher, she laughed in good spirits as she asked, "Will this pathway lead us straight to the top of the peak?"

Wen Leyang could only 'see' in front of himself for about tens of meters away and he does not know where this pathway will lead ultimately, though it was still winding up towards the peak. So he only shook his head as he said, "I don't think so, even if it leads straight to the top of the peak, it is essentially not worthwhile for them to pay so much attention into fixing up this stretch of the pathway."

Wen Xiaoyi's knowledge was far superior to Wen Leyang's, yet her thinking was an entirely different story. She squinted her huge eyes in puzzlement, "What do you mean?"

"This stretch of pathway is essentially a secret trail, it is not made for normal beings to walk. The place it is leading to is of course not for the knowledge of outsiders. If it does lead straight to the top of the mountain, it would make more sense to just ascend the mountain directly instead." As Wen Leyang was saying that, he turned around and twisted his mouth at Wen Xiaoyi.

Wen Xiaoyi caught his meaning as she reached into the string bag and grabbed a stick of carrot, stuffing it into Wen Leyang's mouth. She then glanced at Mumu who was trembling with terror and asked, "Would you like one?"

Mumu's gaze was almost frozen, she obviously knew that she could not see the pathway yet she still stared stubbornly with her eyes wide open. She didn't even dare to shake her head.

Wen Leyang bit a huge chunk off the pointy tip of the carrot and the little girl finished off the rest of the carrot as she asked, "Then where does this pathway really lead to?"

Wen Leyang laughed confidently as if he had a foolproof plan all thought out beforehand, "There is no other place on Zhanyan Peak anymore, so this must be a shortcut!"

"You are saying…that this will lead us straight to the ancient cave?"

"Smart little girl! This pathway should be leading to the other end of the ancient cave, perhaps it leads directly to the central region. Don't forget, the ancient cave on the peak was revealed because of a landslide…pass me another one."

They walked all the way and the sky was beginning to turn dark when Wen Leyang suddenly cheered out loud and held firmly onto Mumu, "There's no more pathway ahead! Stand there and don't move."

Mumu hastily planted her feet firmly down as she looked towards Wen Leyang eagerly without any of her usual red-hot peppery gaze. A black stone wall protruded from the black stone wall and was about four to five meters away from their faces.

Wen Leyang released her, took the half-eaten carrot from his mouth and tossed it towards the stone wall. The half-eaten carrot bounced off the stone wall with unexpected elasticity, turned a cheerful somersault, and fell down towards the bottom of the mountain.

The sky was gradually dimming and Wen Xiaoyi stared at the mountain wall which was not too far away with great effort, "What just happened?"

Wen Leyang forced a smile as he answered, "The cave, it's just over there." As he was saying that, he cautiously placed Wen Xiaoyi on the ground and instructed her, "Be sure to stand and don't move, I will jump over first to test it out."

Wen Xiaoyi had released her grip initially, yet upon hearing that she grabbed onto him again as her huge eyes filled with terror, "What if this is not a cave, but a wall…" Within her tiny head, she had already sketched out the outline of a clear image, Wen Leyang's arms and legs were spread out as he crashed brutally onto the hard mountain wall, and he then slowly slid down the side of the mountain like a millet cake…

Wen Leyang too thought of the millet cake's undignified ending and his expression turned rather unpleasant. However, he shook his head strongly as he consoled her with a gentle voice, "Don't be afraid, I'm sure that is the cave." The sensation coming from the skin on his body confirmed that it was the pitch black entrance of the cave, yet his eyes were telling him that all he could see was a massive rock-solid mountain wall. Wen Leyang knew that he should trust his body, yet the feelings in his heart felt unreliable. He patted lightly on the little girl's head, "I'll be back in a moment."

Wen Xiaoyi's huge eyes were filled to the brim with tears, she puckered her little lips with an unyielding spirit as she tried to hide her sobs.

Mumu too spoke with a trembling voice, "You…you must return real soon!"

Wen Leyang tried to ease the tensed situation by roaring with laughter as he moved his body around in preparation for the jump. Suddenly, he stopped moving and turned around to look at Mumu with an awkward smile and asked, "Hey, what is your real name anyway?"

Mumu was shocked and her face flushed scarlet, "That is none of your business, I'll not tell you!"

Wen Xiaoyi looked piteously towards Mumu and beseeched her with a trembling voice, "You should tell him…he…" Her tearful gaze flashed with a dedication as if asking Mumu to fulfill a person's dying wish.

Mumu's heart instantly softened and she hesitated for a while before suddenly stomping her foot and spat three words angrily through clenched teeth: "Luo, Wang, Fu! (Wang Fu is a Chinese saying that literally means the flourishing of one's husband through the wife's positive traits)"

Wen Leyang and Wen Xiaoyi were both momentarily stunned as the meaning of her real name struck them. Then the older one lost his fear while the younger one lost her tears; the both of them held on to their bellies as they laughed loudly. Mumu's face was flushed as red as a tabasco pepper. She was mortified and wanted to turn around so she could avoid looking at them but her feet won't obey. The worst thing was, even Ah Dan, who was cradled in her arms, also turned around and cruelly gave her a magnificent smile.

As they were busy laughing, Wen Leyang suddenly gave out a long whistle and his slender but strong body leaped off the invisible pathway and flew towards the mountain wall with great effort!

Moments before he hit the mountain wall, he suddenly disappeared like a drop of water merging into the sea. His body utterly vanished right in front of Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu's eyes, there was only the black mountain wall that remained.

The two of them cheered in unison! Immediately after there was a blur in their vision as Wen Leyang leaped out from within the mountain wall without warning. He took Wen Xiaoyi on his back and said, "I will carry you in one by one, so wait for me here." As soon as he'd said that, he carried Wen Xiaoyi and leaped into the mountain wall once again.

The mountain wall the exact opposite of the pathway; the pathway was invisible yet it existed in reality while the mountain wall, on the other hand, could be seen yet it did not exist. However, both were created to prevent foreign objects from probing around and only allow the passage of human beings.

Mumu held onto Ah Dan and stood on the 'air', her heart was pounding with trepidation but she also felt a rush of desire from her innermost heart, awaiting the moment when Wen Leyang would return and hold her while they jumped over.

After a moment Wen Leyang appeared in front of Mumu and wrapped his arm around her, "Are you ready?"

Mumu kept a straight face as she nodded, suddenly a strong grip, carrying with it a strong sense of protection and security, radiated from around her waist. In a flash, the blackness in front of her eyes turned bright again and they were both standing in the middle of a spacious cave.

The cave's walls and the ground were covered in green flagstones. Lively and vigorous flourishes of Gu Zhuan (ancient Chinese chirography) wording was carved into each stone slab. Antique bronze lamps hung from the cave's walls and illuminated the space with their gentle light.

Wen Xiaoyi was standing not too far from them, aiming the big-muzzled weapon at the deep end of the cave with a vigilant expression.

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Chapter 35: The Ancient Cave

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wen Leyang was feeling proud of himself; if it hadn't been for Wen Lazi's extreme form of cultivation that allowed him to use his body to sense everything in the world, Wen Leyang would have never discovered the invisible pathway that was winding up the mountain wall. He cheerfully reached out and tapped Wen Xiaoyi's shoulder as he demanded, "Carrot!"

The little girl, on the other hand, had a serious expression on her face as she shook her head. She gestured for Wen Leyang to keep quiet as she aimed the big-muzzled blunderbuss in front of her.

A low, almost inaudible pattering sound of approaching footsteps echoed from within the cave.

Wen Leyang immediately took two steps forward and hid Wen Xiaoyi behind his back. Ever since he had left the Red Leaves Forest, this action has become a conditioned reflex. As soon as there was a sign of danger, his first reaction would be to shield Wen Xiaoyi against the threat.

Mumu tossed Ah Dan onto the ground and pulled out her Spirit Needles. She held the needles against the inner side of her pale arms as she rearranged herself so that both she and Wen Leyang were grouped into an attack formation. Upon being tossed to the ground, Ah Dan was like an agile monkey and used all four of its limbs to climb up the wall of the cave and hid in the shadow of the brass lamp.

The sound of rapid footsteps became louder and clearer, it almost sounded as if the approaching person was rushing towards them. A voice eventually called out to them, "You… is that you?"

Wen Leyang was astonished, for he was unsure of how to answer the question. It's me? It's not me?

The voice was as chilly as the autumn's cold dew. The coldness penetrates the body from the ears all the way into the bone marrow. In the end, the three million and six thousand pores of the entire body would release a dense freezing sensation akin to frost and snow.

There was a feeling of anxiety and anticipation in the voice. The eagerness of it made the hearts of the three young people clench painfully.

Finally, the light of the lamps flickered and a young maiden, followed by a delicately fragrant scent, came running out of the other end of the cave. Wen Leyang felt as if his vision had darkened for a moment, followed by a blaze of light that shone through all of a sudden!

She was as radiant and enchanting as the flashing of the mirror lake, a maiden so beautiful she made the spring mountain appeared pale in comparison.

A conflicting look of surprise and apprehension were mixed in between the maiden's bright eyes and white teeth. She looked so ethereal that aside from Wen Leyang, even the two girls could not help but breathe lightly, for fear that even a little force would shatter her fragile expression which was like fine porcelain.

The maiden was momentarily surprised when she saw Wen Leyang and Wen Xiaoyi, and her expression gradually turned into disappointment such that even the light within the stone cave seemed to dim along with her dejection.

The maiden's entire body was wrapped in a snow white fur coat. She had a red scar which was over an inch long on the side of her slender neck. The red color of the scar formed a shocking contrast with her fair complexion. She had a slightly pointed chin, thin lips, a straight and sharp nose bridge, eyes like black gemstones, delicate brows, and long black hair that was draped over the fur coat. Her entire manner exuded a gentleness and grace that was almost difficult to look upon.

The fur coat covered all the way past her calves and ended at her ankles, revealing a pair of small bare feet. The girl looked to be older than Wen Leyang and Mumu by around one or two years; she appeared to be a twenty-something years old person.

The three girls were all beautiful in their own way – Wen Xiaoyi's beauty was pure and a sense of innocence radiated from her very bones; Mumu's real name, Luo Wangfu, was slightly awful but her burning hot charms was enough to seduce anybody; the third girl's beauty was like magic, her radiance and enchantment was beyond imagination, akin to bright moonlight or like a sky full of stars.

A radiant and enchanting smile appeared on her face, washing away her disappointment without leaving a trace, "Who are all of you… and what is this?" The young girl's stared in fascination at the big-muzzled weapon in Wen Xiaoyi's hand before continuing, "Is that a magic weapon?"

Wen Xiaoyi shook her head involuntarily before she hastily nodded in affirmation, "Yes, it's a magic weapon!"

Wen Leyang tensed his body and the familiar heavy sensation began to settle all over him as he asked, "Who are you?"

The young girl answered with a smile, "I'm Chang Li." As she spoke she saw the red scar on Wen Leyang's cheekbone and couldn't help but reach out to touch it.

It was a strange name and Wen Leyang repeated it name twice as he was unsure if there was anyone in China with the surname 'Chang', "What is this place and what are you doing here?"

Unexpectedly, as soon as she heard the question Chang Li's gentle expression turned ferocious like a raging cat. Her enchanting features and her calm smile were shattered and replaced with disappointment as she asked hysterically, "Wasn't it that person who allowed all of you to come here? Otherwise, how did you know of this pathway and how did you enter into the cave!" As she was speaking she swiftly extended her arm!

Wen Leyang and the rest were completely oblivious when Ah Dan, who had been hiding in the shadows preparing to attack the enemy, suddenly uttered a heart-wrenching cry and tumbled down at their feet. Five deep cuts were slashed across its back, showing bone.

Ah Dan's capabilities, even without exaggeration, were stronger compared to how Wen Leyang was before he had left the Red Leaves Forest. But now it had been brought down with just one hit without even the chance of resisting at all.

Wen Leyang's reflex was the fastest as he struck three continuous punches without uttering a word. His heavy body felt the familiar spike of power and became swifter and more violent by a hundred times. When he was defending the Wen family village against the Sun Dynasty Palace's incursion, none of the priests were able to escape his quick as lightning punches.

Chang Li made a condescending 'humph' sound as her expression began to change according to her mood. She was still beautiful but her expressions were like a set of unrelated masks rapidly interchanging on her face. At this moment the ferocious mask has been replaced by one of arrogance. Wen Leyang's three swift blows glanced off the thick fur of her coat as Chang Li sneered coldly and raised her delicate hand with her five fingers hooked like claws and struck with lightning speed.

Wen Leyang yelled abruptly as the force that had struck out stopped in midair without warning. His waist gyrated in a peculiar manner and his body twisted together like a hemp flower as his fists thundered towards Chang Li in an exact demonstration of the Wen family's Faulty Punch. However, he did not notice that the other party had already raised her hand and as his fists started swinging, her five fingers tapped gently onto his face. An icy-cold sharp piercing pain immediately shot from his eyes to his brain.

However, seeing that Wen Leyang's head was almost crushed like an eggshell, Chang Li uttered an 'eh' in astonishment.

Wen Leyang suddenly felt his head getting lighter as the five deadly fingers turned as light as the spring breeze and stroked his forehead gently. Both of his fists missed their mark and the power of a hundred poisons pounded into the air violently accompanied by the muffled sound of an explosion from within. On the other hand, Chang Li was completely unaffected by his attacks and continued to stand prettily at the same spot.

Another raging shout was heard and Mumu directed the Spirit Needles forward. The needles were like a pair of forest-diving spring sparrows and they trembled frantically as they charged rapidly towards the girl in the fur coat.

Mumu's reflex and movements were slightly slower than Wen Leyang's. At the moment of her attack, Wen Leyang's first round of The Faulty Punch had already completed its swing.

Chang Li's eyes brightened and her arrogant expression was replaced with joy. It almost seemed like this girl could change her expressions without needing to move her facial features at all.

Chang Li extended her arm and lightly flicked the Spirit Needles as they approached her. Mumu made a dull sound as if she had been struck by lightning and the needles immediately dissipated. Wen Leyang managed to catch her in midair and rapidly retreated.

The sound of the final charge was a loud' bang' noise, Wen Xiaoyi's 'magic weapon' made its move and black smoke rose upwards in the cave as a puff of suffocating gunpowder odor choked the air.

Chang Li made a 'yuck' exclamation as she chuckled, "This magic weapon of yours is quite dirty!"

The rock cave had some hidden ventilation shafts for the black smoke soon cleared up completely. Chang Li was still standing at the same place and was spotlessly clean. She smiled and them and said, "I'm such a muddled person! That baby corpse is obviously being guided by the Corpse Controlling Art, I only remembered this when I saw the Spirit Needles!" She stuck out her tongue cheekily towards the three and apologized with a cheerful expression, "I am sorry for what happened earlier, it was my careless mistake!"

Chang Li suddenly dodged out of the blue, Wen Leyang was caught unawares as he hastily pulled the two girls and retreated backwards. But Chang Li had only stooped down to help Ah Dan back on its feet. She passed her fair and smooth palm once across its back and the five deep slashes disappeared immediately. Ah Dan, who had been sprawled on the ground with no movement whatsoever suddenly began to move rigidly. He turned his neck stiffly and a foolish smile appeared on his face.

Mumu could not care less about the danger as she hastily took a few steps forward and snatched Ah Dan back to her bosom. Wen Leyang stood aside slightly dumbfounded, he was unsure what action he should take based on this turn of events. Wen Xiaoyi was busy with refilling the blunderbuss with gunpowder, but the little girl's expression was gloomy. She had brought the weapon with her as she left the Red Leaves Forest and mingled with society. Since then, it had only hit its target twice, once on Yuan's buttocks and the other time was on half of Wen Leyang's body; it did not manage to hit any of their enemies at all.

"Why didn't you admit to knowing that person? The Faulty Punch and the Corpse Dance are both of his masterpiece moves!" Chang Li was like a joyful little girl, her eyes shimmered with a bright glow as she pondered for a moment. She then pointed to Wen Xiaoyi's big-muzzled weapon and asked, "This item here is extremely peculiar, is this a new gadget that he had invented over the years?"

It only took the time of their conversation for Wen Xiaoyi to finish refilling the gunpowder, she raised the big-muzzled weapon once again with an eagerness for a rematch. Chang Li chuckled and waved her hand around, "Don't shoot anymore, that item of yours is not effective, it just fills the place up with black smoke. Oh, right!" As she was saying that, her eyes brightened suddenly and she reached into her fur coat and procured a tiny embroidered purse, tossing it to Wen Xiaoyi, "You ought to try this in the future. Mix this with your stuff and put it into your magic weapon to fire!"

Ever since Chang Li saw the cultivation of the Faulty Punch and the Corpse Dance, her entire mood had transformed into the rising sun during springtime and she became especially friendly and warm towards the other three.

Wen Xiaoyi absent-mindedly opened the embroidered purse. Immediately, a ray of blue-colored arc light filled the place, flickering on her little face. The embroidered purse was filled to the brink with silver-colored powder.

"Remember that it is adequate to scoop up only a little bit with your nail every time you use it. This Thunder's Heart Sand is extremely precious." Chang Li anxiously gave a few other instructions before finally turning to Wen Leyang and asked, "His… Are all of you his disciples?"

Wen Leyang, hoping to understand her intention, asked in lieu of answering, "The 'him' that you are referring to…is he Grand Master Tuoxie?" Wen Leyang's practice of the Faulty Punch and Luo Wangfu's Corpse Dance were both inherited from Grand Master Tuoxie's legacy.

Chang Li pursed her lips and puffed up her cheek as if she was angry, "Who knows what his real name is, he changes his name once every day yet none of them sounds pleasant. But…I do remember how he looks like!" As she was saying that, she raised her hand and began drawing rapidly on the rock wall.

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Chapter 36: The Witch

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi, and Mumu stood and gazed at one another in perfect silence. They speechlessly faced the drawing of a pickle jar on the cave wall which had four limbs and a pair of eyes. Wen Leyang's muttered in his heart that it was highly improbable that Grand Master Tuoxie was a jar that had cultivated itself into an immortal.

Chang Li propped her chin up with her little hand and said, "Even though the drawing doesn't look exactly like him, but it's an accurate representation of his essential characteristics." Upon saying that, she heaved a relaxed and cheerful sigh, asking, "Where is he? Why hasn't he come to look for me personally? Hehe, wait till the day I get out of here, I will surely pull out all of his hair!" Her fierce tone of speaking could not hide the sense of warmness and concern that rippled in her bright and beautiful eyes.

Wen Xiaoyi quietly scooped a little bit of the 'Thunder's Heart Sand' into the big-muzzled weapon as she used her probing gaze to look towards Chang Li.

Chang Li's expression returned to an unreadable state as she leaped to Wen Xiaoyi's side and pointed her slender finger towards the depth of the cave, "Aim at that direction and fire!" As she said that, she used both of her hands and to help cover Wen Xiaoyi's ears and, wrinkling her little nose she tilted her head with her eyes closed tightly away from the weapon.

There was a clicking sound as Wen Xiaoyi pulled the trigger.

A loud booming sound more terrible than the noise of a landslide erupted from the weapon. The sound was like the claws of the demigod Asura and tore through everyone's eardrums ferociously!

Thousands of rays of arc lights, like Zeus waving his whip in rage, spread out in all directions and plunged headlong into the depths of the cave!

The pressure caused by the loud sound created a bitterly-cold gale that blew everyone's hair into a mess. Wen Leyang, Mumu and Wen Xiaoyi all exclaimed loudly as they were slammed heavily backwards yet they could not hear themselves over the din of the noise.

It seemed like almost half a day had passed before the void echo slowly dispersed. Wen Leyang, in a great bustle, helped the two young girls up to their feet. Wen Xiaoyi heaved a long sigh and remarked, "The recoil is even more powerful now!"

Chang Li, her face full of pride, was like a child who had just presented a treasure to her friends, "This cave was fortified by his magic arts. There is a force field within the cave, but if you were to fire it outside, hehe…Oh, when we leave for the outside you might as well try it again, I guarantee your satisfaction. But don't you ever tell the Grand Master, he is stubborn, cowardly and stingy. He will certainly try to snatch the Thunder's Heart Sand for himself…"

Wen Leyang coughed once lightly and interrupted Chang Li's speech as he admitted honestly and sincerely, "We…we are the true descendants of Grand Master Tuoxie."

Evidently, Chang Li's hostile attitude towards them had completely changed after she had witnessed their practice of Tuoxie's legacy moves.

Chang Li frowned delicately, "Grand Master?" Following that she shook her head lightly to prevent Wen Leyang from saying anything else. She wrinkled her graceful eyebrows and nodded as she pondered on something for a while. A moment later, she asked, "How many years has it been? From the first year of the reign of Emperor Zhongzong until this very moment, how many years is that?"

Wen Leyang did not know when the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of the Han Dynasty was, but he clearly remembered First Grandfather's mention that Grand Master Tuoxie had lived in the Shu region during a certain era of the Western Han Dynasty. He was staggered by the implication as he asked in return, "Was that during the Han…The Han Dynasty?"

Chang Li frowned as before, "What do you mean by the Han Dynasty, it is the Great Han Empire!"

Wen Leyang let out a sigh and said in all seriousness, "It has been two thousand years."

A look of dismay and shock, like a burning-hot knife, shattered her gentle and graceful expression. Chang Li's slender body trembled and slumped towards the ground suddenly. Wen Leyang did not manage to react in time but Wen Xiaoyi ran over and held her up.

Chang Li took a deep breath and managed to control the panic in her heart as she looked towards Wen Leyang with revelation, "So, are all of you his disciples or his disciple's disciples?"

Mumu was plainspoken and straightforward, without waiting for Wen Leyang's response, she snapped, "We are all the descendants of Tuoxie, but…it has been over two thousand years, how can you not know that?"

Chang Li's initially alert gaze turned dull as she looked towards Mumu emotionlessly, "There is no sun and moon in the cave. I have been waiting here all alone but turns out it has already been two thousand years." A sorrowful yet gorgeous twist was on her lips as she said, "He said that he would come and take me out of here. From that day on and every moment of the future amounted to two thousand years. But these two thousand years had passed with just the snap of the fingers! Hahahaha, one snap of the fingers!"

Her disappointment and agony intertwined, her bitter laugh was cracked at the edges.

Mumu's eyes filled with sympathy but her curiosity rapidly won out against her sympathy as she asked, "You…how could you stay alive for two thousand years? Are you a mortal or a ghost?"

Chang Li's bitter smile abruptly vanished, her gaze turned savage as she glared at Mumu ferociously. Wen Leyang held his breath and started to gather the strength in his entire body while Wen Xiaoyi was still by Chang Li's side. This woman appeared to be slightly neurotic and no one could predict whether she will suddenly attack or not.

Fortunately, the feeling of savageness in her glare soon turned complicated as Chang Li looked towards Mumu and asked, "What, he never told you all about me?"

Mumu pursed her lips, "We have never met the Grand Master before. No one has seen him since two thousand years ago, more so, how can a human being live that long?"

Chang Li shot her gaze towards Wen Leyang.

Wen Leyang nodded his head in all honesty, "Two thousand years ago, Grand Master summoned our three families' ancestors for a meeting in the Shu region. They were his disciples but during the night the thunder…he disappeared after a 'thunderous escape'."

Mumu's response was exactly the same as Wen Leyang's second and third grandpa and she could not help but snigger.

Chang Li too, laughed and it brought along a playful warmth, "What do you mean by 'thunderous escape'? I am aware of this matter, on that day three of his foolish disciples had returned to the mountain. He was extremely happy and so he totally did not anticipate that I would have blown him up along with his cave using the 'Thunder's Heart Sand'!" She held out a finger as slim as a spring onion and pointed at Wen Leyang's forehead, "What's with your intense look? If I'd wanted to harm any of you, all of you would have been dead several times over already."

Wen Leyang's little trick was exposed by Chang Li but he did not blush, instead, he questioned her closely with a frown, "Then you…were you the one who killed Grand Master Tuoxie?"

Wen Leyang was hesitating because he wasn't sure if she would turn hostile. Fortunately, Chang Li only laughed as she shook her head, "With such great capabilities, who could even touch him! I had only used the 'Thunder's Heart Sand' to blast the cave that he had been staying into pieces! Afterwards, he had chased after me with a frenzy of rage."

Mumu's expression was puzzled, "Why did you get his attention so he would chase after you?"

Chang Li smiled spuriously and looked towards both Mumu and Wen Leyang. Her words hid meanings between the lines, "You have a silly little boy as a guardian by your side, so how can you understand another's hardship…I cannot tell what good this silly little boy has but…he was only slightly stronger than this silly little boy at that time. He would smile foolishly every day, his puffy cheeks were so hideous."

Mumu's pretty face turned red, she turned and glared at Wen Leyang then surreptitiously glanced at Wen Xiaoyi who was thoroughly engrossed with listening to the story.

Wen Leyang, too, blushed scarlet. He felt awfully unjust in his heart and met her glance as he reached for a carrot. He wasn't sure what to say; his heart was completely focused on finding his missing grandfathers. This woman here said that she was an old acquaintance of Grand Master Tuoxie. In addition, the cave at Zhanyan Peak contained the evidence of the Faulty Punch and the Plague Ointment. Judging by the look of things these two were most likely to be connected in some way. However, Chang Li who was standing in front of his eyes was powerful beyond imagination but her way of speaking and handling matters was even more confusing to him. He was too afraid to acknowledge her and even more hesitant to bring up questions about the whereabouts of his four grandfather – perhaps even the grandfathers had fallen into her hands.

Wen Xiaoyi was oblivious to the two big blushing faces and she innocently asked from her side, "Were Grand Master Tuoxie's capabilities powerful? Was he even more powerful than you?"

Chang Li's eyes once again shimmered with an enchanting glow, "Of course that is the case! I can only count a few persons in this world who were capable of challenging him. Back then there was a fellow who was attracted to me, he kept bothering me all day and irritated me so badly that I finally killed him."

"Whoa!" Wen Xiaoyi, Mumu and Wen Leyang simultaneously exclaimed in alarm.

Chang Li pursed her lips nonchalantly as if this incident was not worth to make a fuss over, "That fellow's father came to me seeking for revenge. He managed to catch up to me at a crucial moment as I was about to break through a demon's spell. I could not defend myself so the only choice was to run, unexpectedly then I met him…" As she was saying that her extremely exquisite face floated with joyous radiance. She continued, "Naturally he wasn't aware of what had happened for when he saw that I was being bullied by the old demon, he came forward and attacked him. He may have appeared to look like an idiot, but when he fought he was awfully fierce and malicious. I've never seen such a ferocious pair of eyes before."

Wen Leyang and Mumu looked into each other's eyes simultaneously; they both felt that this Grand Master of theirs had been quite an indiscriminate fellow.

"He was exceptional; his physique was tougher than a huge mountain and his fists were harder than titanium. Ever since then, I've been following him but he never had any concern towards me. It's all that old demon's fault, for he managed to tell him the situation about his son before he died. He had always been simple-minded, when he was bullied by those soulless laymen he would only smile and regard it as nothing. But not for me, those who had bullied him during the day would face retribution when I killed their entire family at night; those who treated him unpleasantly, no one in their village would live to see another day."

Wen Leyang was holding the carrot but he forgot to put it in his mouth as he muttered, "I bet that after this had happened, he cared even less about you." That phrase petrified Mumu so much that she hastily shot him a warning glare.

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Chapter 37: Past Events

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chang Li did not seem to be offended by what Wen Leyang had said at all. She nodded her head in distress and said, "It was as if he was angry at something. He put on an act and tried to murder me. I too stuck out my neck for him to kill as I liked his ferocious appearance when he was holding the knife. Hehe, he couldn't bear to kill me in the end." Her snow-white finger lightly brushed the red scar on her neck as she said that.

Wen Leyang was felt genuinely and sincerely worried on behalf of their Grand Master as they listened to Chang Li's story. He understood that his Grand Master should be an erudite master who possessed supernatural powers granted by a great celestial being, yet he had deliberately mingled a witch with utterly no sense of right or wrong in her perception and acted with utter disregard for the human life.

The witch sighed lightly before she continued, "Ever since that encounter, he refused to speak to me ever again. No matter how I tried to please him in a hundred ways, he was even too lazy to take a glance at me. He thought that he could chase me away with that, but he did not expect that I still had my ways."

Chang Li changed a new set of expressions after almost every phrase of her speech; sometimes it was grievance and injustice, sometimes it was cheerful and enchanting, sometimes it was cunning and mischievous. In addition to her pleasant voice akin to the sound of ice knocking lightly on a glazed ceramic bowl, she had brought Wen Leyang and the two young girls deeply into her emotions. "I first went to the Kongtong Mountains and broke that four-thousand-year-old purple cinnamon plant. Then, I went to the towering cliff and smashed Laozi's statue. After that, Qilian county's Immortal Sect's exquisite ice crystals…I offended all the enemies in the world and they hunted me all over the place. I knew that he still cared about me, I refused to believe that he would watch helplessly as I got killed by others."

Wen Leyang's head started dripping with cold sweat.

Wen Xiaoyi asked the same question again, "What happened next?"

Chang Li lightly knocked her finger against her forehead, "He still wouldn't pay attention to me! He ignored me since the beginning. I was foolish, he was not easily deceived as it was not possible that those idiots could kill me. Under those circumstances, I was not endangered so of course, he wouldn't pay any attention to that matter either, so…" As she said that, the witch lowered her voice and whispered to Wen Xiaoyi secretively, "If you want to charge, you must charge with a huge disaster!"

Wen Xiaoyi fulfilled her duty of supporting her conversation and answered with a dumbstruck expression, "What kind of disaster?"

"Even if I were to explain you wouldn't be able to understand it. Anyhow, in the end, I charged with the worst disaster as large as the heavens, hehe. If he had continued to ignore me, not only would I have died without a proper burial, I would be reborn ever again." Chang Li's tone of speaking essentially was not of someone who would bring disaster, but akin to a stealthy egg-eating little fox. She held her cheerful yet cunning and prideful expression.

"By the time I escaped to his side, I arrived just in time to see him meeting with his three worthless disciples. I saw that he was so happy and I couldn't bear to disturb him so initially, I had thought to wait for another two more days. But that group of old demons caught up so quickly and by nightfall they had broken through my camouflage spell. I then used the Thunder's Heart Sand to blow his cave up and, as expected, he chased after me burning with a frenzy of rage, hehe. Afterwards…" Wen Leyang now understood that his first ancestor's 'thunderous escape' back in the past was because of this witch's misdoings.

Wen Xiaoyi, upon hearing that crucial fact, couldn't hold back any longer as she reached out and grabbed Chang Li's hand. She eagerly made a detailed inquiry pertaining to the thing that caught her interest, "Then… The Thunder's Heart Sand that you gave me was actually so powerful? Even with Grand Master's great abilities, the cave's magic weapons were all blasted into pieces?"

Wen Leyang and Mumu's bodies swayed simultaneously…

Chang Li, feeling highly flattered, looked at the little girl. There was utterly no sense of dignity within this elderly person of two thousand years old as she answered beaming with joy, "That happened naturally of course! This magic weapon of mine has a great past history, it is said that back in those years…"

Mumu and Wen Leyang were listening with keen interest before she suddenly changed the topic of discussion, causing them to stomp their feet in frustration. Chang Li chuckled as she looked at Wen Leyang and Mumu mischievously. She extended her hand and pinched Wen Xiaoyi's cheek, "I will tell you all about Thunder's Heart Sand in a while. As I was saying, he came running out fuming with rage at the same time that the old demons caught up with us. At last, he helped me still but…that battle…" Though she seemed to fear nothing and no one, the face of the witch who had slaughtered without batting an eyelid unexpectedly wore an expression of dread and she seemed to be afraid of recalling these past events.

"Both of us were severely wounded but he was no longer trying to hide his affection towards me anymore… Humans, they are just so peculiar, they have to experience a life and death battle only then they are willing to face each other sincerely. It's nothing to them even if there was a Milky Way blocking the way. He finally told me the truth, that he liked me. I was beyond joyous."

Chang Li's voice echoed within the cave faintly, because the heroine of the story was too beautiful, everyone was hoping for a happy ending, "At that time, I couldn't move anymore so he hid me here and set down a series of prohibition spells. Then he left to look for those three foolish disciples of his. He said that he would return for me after a period of time, but he would not allow me to murder others for no reason. Sigh, where is the fun in randomly killing people? If it wasn't for him, I would have been too lazy to kill anyone. The pathway that all of you took to reach here had been left behind by him. I refused to count the days, refused to look at the sun rising and setting outside. I waited for him because he said that he would return. When I missed him I said to myself, my portion of loneliness will soon be compensated by him eventually."

Chang Li completed her story and gazed at Wen Leyang, "It has been two thousand years, right? Yet he never returned." An unshakeable sense of disappointment grew slowly from the corners of her eyes to the tips of her brows, the air within the stone cave turned heavy once again.

Wen Leyang first nodded his head, then shook it as he said, "Ever since that day, the Grand Master had never returned to his disciples either."

At first, Chang Li was stunned, her almond-shaped eyes stared at Wen Leyang as her gaze froze suddenly.

When that expression faded from her beautiful face, it was replaced with the unsurpassed agony of heartbreak. Wen Leyang and Mumu hastily completed one another's sentences and told her the stories that had been passed down through word of mouth down the generations. The legend of Grand Master Tuoxie was told by these two in less than a hundred words.

Regardless, the legends which had been handed down by the two families were truly similar and goes like this, "The Grand Master had walked to this spot, he moved the mountains and filled the ponds, he scattered the soil and made the land fertile, he slayed the demons and punished the evil before finally moralizing the barbarians…" The adjectives used were not much different, it appeared that the three fellow apprentices had compared their testimonies in private back then.

Chang Li bowed her head and muttered to herself for a while, then suddenly leaped up with a delightful heart and laughed at the three youngsters, "So he really did not return after that? The three foolish disciples too did not see him ever again?"

Wen Leyang painfully scratched the back of his head and was filled with psychological stress as he responded, "The three foolish disciples…were our ancestors."

Chang Li covered her little mouth with her slender hand, her eyes shone with a joyful glow as she offered a witty apology, "It is true that he never returned after that? That he…vanished not because he was unwilling to come back for me? Even if he had refused to return and look for me, I bet he would not have left his three good disciples!" When she was happy, the ancestors from the Wen, Miao, and Luo families too benefited from the association.

"But…" An uncertain expression flashed through Chang Li's gaze as she looked towards Wen Leyang once again, "How about you? If he never returned after that, while the three disciples were normal beings, how could your body practice his method of cultivation?"

Wen Leyang coughed once, "The three ancestors each inherited one of Grand Master's unique skills; the Faulty Punch is practiced by those of us from the Wen family…"

Chang Li waved her hand around and interrupted him, "Not the Faulty Punch, I mean the unique power within your Faulty Punch. Albeit there are some differences, but your bones do not lie! I am talking about your unique power and also, how did all of you even discover this pathway?"

This time it was Wen Xiaoyi and Wen Leyang's turn to tell the story together. They gave a broad summary of the misfortune encountered in the Red Leaves Forest and how he had cultivated himself using Wen Lazi's method of cultivation. Mumu, who was listening on the side, could not believe what she was hearing and opened her eyes wide. The story of his body burdened with hundreds of poisons, followed by the breaking of his Meridian vessels and nerves. Then the usage of the Return-to-Before Herb's fruits coupled with the string puppeteers, all those unimaginable incidents mingled together and this little monster in the form of Wen Leyang.

Chang Li was ecstatic as she listened to the story. Mumu reminded her from the side, "Did you think that Grand Master Tuoxie's disappearance had anything to do with him getting into an accident?"

Chang Li laughed with a sharp voice, "If he is truly dead, I will accompany him for sure. As long as he had not intentionally refused to return and look for me!"

Though Wen Leyang had already became inured to the strange beings and occurrences, the witch's words and manners were widely divergent from normal beings in every aspect.

Wen Xiaoyi opened her eyes wide as she caught on to the earlier topic and refused to let go, "What do you mean when you said that Wen Leyang had inherited Grand Master Tuoxie's method of cultivation?"

Chang Li laughed as she shook her head, "I do not understand that fellow either, but this foolish little lad's unique power, is very similar to his power…"

Wen Leyang shook his head and interrupted Chang Li's conversation. He stooped towards her and made a civil bow, followed by rapidly telling her the story of how the ancient cave at Zhanyan Peak was exposed to the public, and that his four grandfathers had also vanished without a trace. At last, he begged, "The three families of the Luo, Miao, and Wen were the descendants of the legendary Tuoxie. Since the Grand Master has disappeared, you would be considered our elder…"

Chang Li chuckled lightly and said, "Foolish fellow, you need not use your sweet words to please me. I will never watch idly if his descendants were bullied by others, but…if they had really entered this ancient mountain cave, I am afraid that by now…" As she was saying that she shook her head, "Grand Master Tuoxie had personally cast the prohibition spell on this cave, only the pathway that you entered from was safe to traverse, if anyone were to enter the cave from anywhere else, they would immediately trigger the prohibition spell."

This cave stretched unbroken and endlessly through the mountain, it was originally a stretch of horizontal shafts through the inside of Zhanyan Peak which had been used by Tuoxie to hide the severely wounded witch. In addition, it was laid with prohibition spells. In the past two thousand years, the witch had been waiting around on this side of the cave, she had essentially never been to any other parts of it and she wouldn't know if the other end of the cave had already been exposed.

The three youngsters cried out in alarm simultaneously. They looked towards the long stretch of the cave in front of them as they raised their legs in preparation to walk forward. If the four grandfathers were to trigger Grand Master's prohibition spells, it was feared that they had already come to a bad end. The three of them: Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi, and Mumu were concerned about the elders in their own family as they prepared to rush towards the other end with great haste.

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Chapter 38: No Entry

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chang Li reached out her arm to stop them, she spat as she lightly cursed them, "Are you trying to get yourselves killed? The prohibition spell that he left behind will never allow all of you to rampage around at will! If all of you were to be within my sight and were then killed by the prohibition spell that he had left behind, how can I ever have the nerve to face him again! Follow carefully behind me, whoever that tries to exceed me by one step, I'll gouge their eyeballs out!" She seemed to feel that she had reacted too harshly so she chuckled and asked, "Do you actually believe that I would gouge out your eyeballs?"

The three of them had become accustomed to Chang Li's rapid mood changes so upon hearing what she said, they all nodded their head in agreement. The witch smiled and said, "Since he can't come to look for me… let's see if those disciples and their disciples really did die by his hand." In her manner of speaking, she seems to think that this was a very interesting affair.

Chang Li led the way while Wen Leyang and the two young girls followed immediately behind her. They absolutely dared not exceed her boundaries so their speed was not considered to be fast. At every few meters, Chang Li would instruct them to wait as she walked ahead alone and disappeared within the cave's winding path. Sometimes it only takes less than a minute while other times it takes more than half an hour before she would appear again and bring them along the pathway. Every once in a while she would voice her grievances, "He's such a stubborn person, ever since my injuries had fully healed, who could still harm me? What was the purpose of setting so many cruel prohibition spells?"

Mumu laughed from the side, "Grand Master must have really cared about you."

Chang Li was like a joyous newlywed and she peeked once at Mumu cheerfully.

The cave was long and winding, its length far exceeded Wen Leyang's imagination. Even Chang Li was surprised – though she had stayed in this place for almost two thousand years, she had never thought of walking all the way through the cave. However, the witch kept to a slow pace as she knew that Tuoxie had laid out many prohibition spells all along the path before he left the cave. This was the first time she had ever walked this way and she could almost feel the spirit left behind by Tuoxie through traces that he had left behind in the cave. She would gently caress some of the artifacts that they encountered on the pathway for a little while.

The prohibition spells that had been left behind by Tuoxie had almost no effect on Chang Li at all. There was not even a single prohibition spell which was capable of stopping her.

Mumu muttered to Wen Leyang from the side, "She…if she had wanted to go outside…why did she wait two thousand years?"

Chang Li turned around and cracked a charming smile, "If it wasn't for you telling me that he won't come back, I would have continued to wait, haha! He told me to wait for him, so I'm better off waiting for him here."

The three youngsters didn't know what to say, there were very few people in this world who could truly comprehend Chang Li's willful and extreme way of thinking.

Almost half a day had passed and Wen Leyang and the two girls were stopped at another winding part of the cave. After a tense period of waiting, Chang Li's voice came from ahead of them, "Come and take a look, are they from your family?"

Wen Leyang's heart was in his throat as he rushed forward with large strides. He turned the corner and noticed a light in the distance, this winding path has almost reached its end. Chang Li stood with a grimace in front of him, the ground underneath her feet all the way to the cave's exit was strewn with corpses!

Wen Leyang was frowning as he passed slowly along the pathway of corpses. Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu were ghastly pale but they continued to follow behind him. Both young girls reached out their hand and grabbed tightly onto Wen Leyang's sleeves.

After a little while, Wen Xiaoyi was the first to heave a long breath, "These are not the people from the Death Trademark, I don't recognize them at all." Wen Leyang also did not find his four grandfathers amongst the corpses but his heart felt calmer upon hearing the little girl's words. The people from the death Trademark would have never left the elder's corpses lying around callously. He then turned to look at Mumu.

Mumu too shook her head.

There were almost a hundred corpses, both male and female, lying on the ground. Judging from their attire and appearance, the majority of them seemed to be from the city and were from a well-to-do background. Wen Leyang had never even heard of the brands of the watches which were on some of the bodies. The victims had all died in different ways; some were badly mutilated, some died smiling, and some had black colored tear stains on their faces.

Wen Xiaoyi gulped nervously and observed with a trembling voice, "Some of them were…poisoned by our Wen family's poison, some of them were cursed by the Miao's witchcraft, while some…"

Mumu interrupted from the side, "There's also the Corpse Refining Art from Crow Ridge!" Her voice was trembling mildly – even though she was used to seeing corpses from a young age, those had been ancient corpses or zombie corpses. It was her first time seeing so many fresh corpses all at once. The prohibition spells that had been laid by Grand Master Tuoxie were rather humane as it also preserved the freshness of the corpses.

Mumu finished speaking and paused for a moment, a look of worry appeared on her face as she asked, "If…the grand elders of our families didn't come here, then where did they go?"

Wen Leyang's answer was straight to the point, "You should ask that question to the Great Mercy Temple."

Mumu had a sudden revelation – firstly, the monks from the Great Mercy Temple were obstructing others from ascending to Zhanyan Peak. Secondly, the only place at Mount Emei capable of capturing the Wen Bucao and the master cultivators of Crow Ridge was the mighty Great Mercy Temple. Mumu would have come to that conclusion herself but she was disconcerted by the pile of corpses and her brain froze at that moment. She cocked her eye at Wen Leyag and commented, "You're actually quite clever!"

Wen Xiaoyi held her big-muzzled blunderbuss and chimed in proudly, "Of course he is!"

Chang Li stood aside with her arms folded across her chest. There was a smile on her face, as if the gruesome corpses on the ground were nothing but carrots and cabbages, not even worth her attention. She explained, "This is the first set of prohibition spells at the entrance of the cave. It looks like witchcraft and deadly poison were combined through the use of the Corpse and Soul Technique. It appeared that he cared for his disciples and this set of prohibition spells were meant as a warning, it was not meant to kill…" She was halfway through speaking when she frowned suddenly and her voice turned shaky, "Unless he…at the time of his leaving he knew that he would never see his three disciples ever again?"

Wen Leyang watched as Chang Li's expression turned ashen instantly, "Grand Master could be…maybe he just wanted to let you heal your injuries and for you to not worry about other matters. The prohibition spells that he had put in place were not meant to trap you as there is an exit at the other end of the cave too. You would have been able to leave anytime when your injuries were healed. But you… you had waited for two thousand years by yourself?"

Chang Li smiled, but there was no one who could read her smile.

It might be due to the effect of the prohibition spells – the outside of the cave was shining with bright light until it was difficult to see anything clearly, but no ray of light had projected into the cave at all.

A mural with three thick lines had been roughly carved into the stone wall near the entrance of the cave. Wen Xiaoyi explained to Wen Leyang in a low voice, "These are the primary styles of the Faulty Punch, the Witchcraft Play, and the Corpse Dance."

Wen Leyang nodded his head, he knew that these three abilities differentiated the Wen, the Miao, and the Luo respectively with their own unique set of inherited teachings and skills. On the other side of the murals were two large words carved in lively and vigorous flourishes of Guzuan calligraphy which warned: "No Entry!"

Chang Li was still smiling as she explained, "This was a reminder for his disciples and any who came after. Your grandfather probably saw these two words and understood his meaning." As she spoke, she held out her hand and lightly pressed the stone wall. The entire mural and the Guzuan warning immediately turned to dust and scattered down onto the ground. "All the prohibition spells had been broken by me, people can now come and go as they like. Let's get out of here."

Wen Leyang nodded his head in agreement but made no move to leave the cave. He stared at Chang Li and almost said out loud, "We will follow you out." Zhanyan Peak had been enshrouded with golden light, the group of rogue cultivators and the leaders of the five supreme monasteries from the Great Mercy Temple were also fighting on the mountain. Who knows what might fly towards his nose if he were to leave the cave first.

Chang Li snickered then laughed out loud, she extended her hand and pulled Wen Leyang along as she started striding towards the lustrous and dazzling white light at the cave's exit.

There was no sensation as they walked through that light, I was like walking through a doorway into another room. The four of them stepped out of that ancient cave as an icy-cold and refreshing mountain breeze blew past their faces gently. Chang Li inhaled deeply and an expression of ecstasy appeared on her face.

Outside of the mountain cave, it was already dusk.

Suddenly, there was a clattering sound.

A wooden fish had fallen onto the ground, bouncing twice before rolling a short distance forward.

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Chapter 39: Sense of Hope

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

An old monk had been idling away time aimlessly at the entrance of the cave while knocking on the wooden fish. Suddenly, four people walked out from within the cave and he was so startled that he dropped the wooden fish onto the ground.

Fourth Elder Wen, who managed the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death, was so old that the deep wrinkles on his face could hide twenty or more toothpicks. But Fourth Elder Wen would seem like a robust young fellow if compared to this old monk here, the two's aging was essentially not on the same level at all. The old monk's eye bags had drooped so low that they almost covered the corners of his mouth.

However, despite under such a trying and surprising situation, the old monk was still able to make a panicked expression. His mouth gaped widely and there was not a tooth to be seen, only a slightly shriveled tongue.

Wen Leyang looked at the old monk and tried to sound out the situation, "Great master, what were you doing here?" Behind him, Wen Xiaoyi raised her big-muzzled weapon. Chang Li had never seen the old monk before, her big eyes shone with a radiant and charming glow as she looked at the old monk from head to toe.

Almost half a day's time had passed since the crowd of several hundred rogue practitioners had put on a grand scale of fighting with the monks of the Great Mercy Temple, which blocked their access to Zhanyan Peak. So, Wen Leyang had been prepared in his heart to find someone guarding the entrance of the cave, yet he did not except that there was only one monk and that the monk would be so old.

The golden light that had enshrouded Zhanyan Peak had dispersed and the surrounding area was completely silent and still, it would seem that the great battle between the rogue practitioners and the monks had ended.

The old monk picked up the wooden fish in a great bustle and knocked on it twice. The sound that the wooden fish made was hoarse, like the croaking of a toad being stepped on and it then cracked into a large fissure. The old monk's pitiful eye bags shivered continuously.

Chang Li chuckled charmingly, "Hey, we asked you a question!"

The old monk's gaze was murky. First, he looked at Chang Li then at Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu's faces before his gaze stopped at Wen Leyang's face. His old eyes started glowing slowly and after a long while he suddenly leaped up and cackled, "Little benefactor, it is fated!" As he spoke, he stretched out a shaky hand and started rummaging around in his chest pocket.

Wen Leyang was shocked, "I don't suppose you are acquainted with Shui Jing? I bear my family's practice and I will not formally acknowledge another as my teacher!"

The old monk was surprised at first, "Who in the world is a water mirror (Shui Jing)? Which shrine is he from?" However, his face then beamed with happiness as he asked Wen Leyang, "Silly little…little benefactor, do you know what this old monk's destined age is this year?"

He did not wait for an answer before laughing proudly and saying, "If your grandfather's grandfather were to meet with me, he would need to respectfully address me as his senior! This year this old monk is already two hundred and forty…forty plus years old!"

Chang Li retorted from the side, "In any case you are almost two hundred and fifty years old already!"

"That is correct, almost two hundred…" The old monk was not slow to react and he rolled his yellowed eyeballs at Chang Li before returning to talk to Wen Leyang, "Before this, you've only learned from the teachings of a layperson. Now you have reached the sky with a single bound. If you were to follow the way of this Buddhist monk, needless to say, you will naturally attain longevity and you will also learn a set of exceedingly high-level abilities; you'll be able to jump from here to another three realms outside of the five elements in nature. Based on your age and natural endowments, it would only be a small matter for you to dominate and lead the Great Mercy Temple in a hundred years' time…But, if you were to refuse the initiation to become a monk, hehe…since the three little girls here are so beautiful, then I will formally accept them as my layman disciples. Hope Sense has never accepted any disciples in his entire life and that was because I had yet to discover such a fine young successor!"

Hope Sense had used his age as a way to brag about himself but if he were to find out that there was a witch who had lived through two thousand years standing near him, moreover her teeth were still in perfect condition, he would probably have used his eye bags to cover his face in shame and run away.

The holy name of 'Hope Sense' seemed to stir up some kind of recollection in Wen Leyang's memory. He repeated the name a few times before he remembered that as he was following the rogue practitioners up the mountain, Lord Leyang from Painting Town had mentioned that Hope Sense was the original seat of honor from the One Prime Deed monastery and he had passed his seat along to the little stuttering monk Hope Voice.

Hope Sense was still babbling on to Wen Leyang from the side, expounding his way of character-building, but now he had touched upon a higher plane of principle, "Since you've walked out of this cave, according to reason I should bring you down the mountain and pass you to the abbot for judgment. But as your teacher I'm not asking how or why did you enter the cave, after all is said and done, you are nothing but a mortal person. Even though your natural endowments are quite fine, you had been able to walk out of this dangerous and evil place alive to subsequently meet me. This is all by the creator's making and lucky chance, following the saying of the Buddha, our meeting is fated!"

Wen Leyang's method of practice has a distinct style of his own. He possesses a strength that evenly matches that of a normal practitioner, yet even if a first-rate celestial being were to meet him, he would be treated as a normal person with exceptional natural endowments.

Hope Sense controlled his discerning eye which was like electricity; regardless of whether a person is engaged in self-cultivation or if they were ghosts or monsters, they could not hide what they were from being tracked by his two hundred years of magical practice known as the 'Wisdom of the Spiritual Eye'. Initially, he was taken aback when he saw the four of them walk out of the cave earlier. Then, when he realized that they were just normal people with some practice foundation, the first impression in his heart was that they had entered the cave from elsewhere and had fortuitously made it through alive. He also considered that t may have been possible that the prohibition spells within the cave only blocked people from entering it but not from exiting it.

Additionally, the monk was also hesitant about leaving potential gaps in his life's story. His biggest regret after a lifetime of reciting prayers and Buddhist rituals was that he had never formally claimed a good disciple so upon seeing Wen Leyang he felt that this yearning of his could finally be fulfilled.

Wen Xiaoyi was not impressed as she held the huge murderous weapon in her hands. She rolled her big eyes and said, "Monk, if he is not willing to become your disciple, are you going to capture us and bring us to the temple?"

Wen Leyang laughed as he came up with a slogan in his heart: No one could tell that I am a genuine self-cultivator! He patted Wen Xiaoyi's head and shook his head before diverting the topic of discussion, "Great master, what were you doing here? If you were guarding the cave, other than it being slightly warmer on the inside, there is nothing else at all."

Hope Sense stared at Wen Leyang from head to toe then shook his head, causing his eye bags to flop around, "There is a set of Buddhist sutras which has been passed down through the generations at the Great Mercy Temple. It says that if anything were to change at Zhanyan Peak, the disciples serving the Buddha must guard it wholeheartedly. Even the abbot from the past dynasties do not understand the meaning behind this set of sutras but since the ancient cave had appeared on the Peak half a year before, the abbot had sent me over to guard the entrance of the cave. I passed my seat of honor to a junior fellow apprentice and came over here. Haha, I certainly did not expect to meet you, child. It is fated!"

Chang Li wrinkled her eyebrows slightly as if she was trying to recall something with great effort.

Mumu decided to investigate what the monk had said further, "There really is nothing in the cave and so what is there to guard?"

The old monk shrugged his bony shoulders which looked like a pair of long thorns as it raised his empty robe, "Good fellow, ever since this cave has revealed itself to the world, Mount Emei is no longer silent anymore. This monk had arrived late by one step, many people had already entered the cave."

Wen Leyang nodded his head, "The people who had entered the cave are all dead. Who were those people anyway?"

The old monk flung his eye bags around, "How would I know? I never entered the cave before! In the beginning, there were groups and groups of martial heroes who came to make trouble, hey, leave them aside. Those who had spent a long time in cultivation often forget about the boundless universe, it was rather unexpected that there were still hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this world. I'd nearly tumbled over with them! Following that some monster that no one had ever heard of arrived and if it weren't for the help of my fellow disciples, I may truly be unable to defeat it! The most b*stardly of all was…"

Wen Xiaoyi giggled while she put on an act and said, "Great master, you have deviated from the path and rules of morality."

The old monk spat on the ground rudely, "I have been cultivating for two hundred years, I've seen through many things. The Buddha has no concern for dispute and I have even less concern for dispute…the most b*stardly of all was the group of rogue cultivators who had listened to and believed in rumors. They managed to ascend the mountain together and caused so much trouble. A few of my junior apprentices were helping me to deal with the monster so we could not undertake the effort to deal with them. Fortunately, a helping hand came."

Wen Leyang questioned closely, "What happened to those troublesome rogue cultivators?"

Hope Sense harrumphed and said, "Some ran away in defeat while some were captured; we are votarists and we do not kill. Afterwards, when you are learning under my sect, you too cannot reckless break the no-kill prohibition. Always remember this, otherwise, you will jeopardize your Buddha's enlightenment and your powers will deteriorate severely!"

Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi, and Mumu took a look at one another. They understood that they will have to make this trip to the Great Mercy Temple as the elders from their two families and the master cultivators who were in their company were most likely captured by the monks and brought to the temple before they had even ascended the mountain.

Chang Li crossed her arms with a smile as she stood aside without uttering a word. Her long fur coat rippled gently in the mountain breeze, it was an unspeakably elegant scene.

From his earlier experiences, whether it was the flying swords from the Sun Dynasty Palace or the magical weapons from the rogue cultivators, to Wen Leyang these were nothing but an upgraded form of martial arts from normal folks. The power of such weapons was slightly greater but it still belonged to the category of innate physics.

However, Wen Leyang was deeply shaken after encountering the seat of honor from the Ten Modes monastery and Leyang Wen of Painting Town halfway up the mountain. One of them had recited prayers to summon a godlike power while the other had broken through the spell by using the mountain's innate power. These forms of power no longer belonged to the realm of the mortal world and if all the master cultivators of the Great Mercy Temple were of the same standard, he was certain that there would be no way for him to defeat them. It was also unsure if Chang Li could deal with them or not as well.

Hope Sense thought that Wen Leyang, who was deep in thought with his head bowed, was considering the matter of formally acknowledging him as his teacher. The old monk continued to brag in high spirits and declared, "Our Great Mercy Temple is the most orthodox school for Buddhist practitioners in the entire world. No one dares to look down on the little acolytes who walks on Mount Emei. If you were to follow the teachings of our sect…To whoever who is sneaking and lurking around like a ghost, make yourself known!" The old monk had been halfway through his bragging when he suddenly growled in a low voice, turning around and squinting his eyes at a huge chunk of rock nearby.

Wen Leyang was taken aback, for he had not sensed the presence of anyone nearby.

A loud rustling noise was heard as two familiar silhouettes of men with great stature appeared before their eyes.

Mumu muttered a low 'oh dear' before she cursed humorously, "Those two old thieves are still alive!"

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Chapter 40: The Circle

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The old monk Ji Fei and the fat monk Shui Jing were smiling sheepishly, both of their attires had been torn to pieces and the red undergarment of Shui Jing was especially striking in between the torn holes of his robe.

Hope Sense had been all kindly smiles towards Wen Leyang but once he saw the two rogue cultivators he immediately lost his friendly demeanor. His face turned stern, which cause his eye bags to droop further as he said, "You two should descend the mountain and the merciful Buddha will spare your lives. This old monk, Hope Sense's orders were to guard the ancient cave, so don't even try to come near it."

Ji Fei and Shui Jing were shocked by the title of the old monk because in the Great Mercy Temple, which is the sacred ground of Buddhism, the seat of honor at the One Prime Deed monastery has an incomparably godlike status in the hearts of ordinary cultivators.

Ji Fei was quick to react, with the roll of an eye he swiftly smiled and said, "This is a misunderstanding, Divine Monk. We are not here for the ancient cave but…we are looking for our disciple!"

Too bad Hope Sense was bald, or else his hair would all be bristling with anger. His eyes stared fiercely as he asked, "Which one's your disciple?" The old and nasty voice of his became fierce and stern all of a sudden, with an echo bursting in the sky like a wave.

Ji Fei's cheeks began to shake and he gritted his teeth as he pointed at Wen Leyang, "He's my…no, he's Shui Jing's disciple."

Shui Jing was not a fool either and he waved both hands as he negated, "He's not my disciple, he's Ji Fei's disciple."

When Hope Sense heard the name 'Shui Jing', he looked as if he had been injected with chicken blood. His wrists twisted skillfully as he recited a Buddhist chant, yelling out, "The Buddha!" With a roar, the mountain rocks around Shui Jing all flipped over and tumbled for a moment under the shockwave of explosive strength as if it had become mud. Hope Sense yelled, "Your disciple is now mine!"

Chang Li, who had been standing quietly on the side suddenly spoke up, "Monk, where is the Great Mercy Temple?"

Stunned, Hope Sense could only ask in return, "Why are you looking for the Great Mercy Temple?"

Meanwhile, Shui Jing nodded naively, "I know where it is."

Ji Fei shook his head instead and said, "I'm not really a monk."

The three of them had thought Chang Li had addressed them when she asked the question earlier. Though they were standing at different places, each thought that she had been looking directly at them respectively.

Chang Li smiled and fully addressed Shui Jing, "Then that's easy, you will lead the way." The Great Mercy Temple was a prestigious place amongst the cultivators and therefore its location was never a secret.

Chang Li explained to Wen Leyang in a low voice, "Actually, I can find its location with

Chang Li explained to Wen Le Yang in a low voice, "Actually, I can find its location with my Divine Sense, but there're lots of old monsters hiding in Mount Emei and that'll probably stir them up. There's no need to get into more trouble, tee-hee. I'll go look for them after we've rescued his disciples."

Wen Leyang was pleased to hear this as he had been dealing patiently with Hope Sense all this while in order to obtain the information on the Great Mercy Temple's location. He never expected to be handed that information without the need to expend much effort.

Hope Sense did not expect the four youngsters to want to leave right away and treat him like a fraudulent fortune-telling monk. He also felt that these people had an ulterior motive for going to the Great Mercy Temple. In three strides, he stood in front of Wen Leyang and blocked his way with both his hands stretched out at his side. With his loose robes flying in the wind, the ancient monk looked like a scarecrow indeed.

Wen Xiaoyi hefted the big-muzzled weapon at Hope Sense, "What do you think you're doing?"

Hope Sense took it as a joke and said, "Little girl, that thing is ineffective against me."

Ji Fei and Shui Jing both chimed in and simpered, "Yes, yes, that thing is useless. Not even we are afraid of it, much less the old monk."

The four of them laughed out loud.

Hope Sense had sincerely admired Wen Leyang and thought that the reason an ordinary man like him would have mistaken him to be a fraudulent monk was due to his lack of worldly exposure. He wanted to showcase his abilities and straightened his skinny chest as he said, "If you don't believe me, just shoot me and see. If I'm unharmed, then this young lad will call me his teacher." He stared hard at the group of them and threatened, "If all of you insist on leaving, then I'd have no choice but to detail you and hand you over to the Abbot."

After a while, it seemed that handing them over to the Abbot had no deterrent value to them, he further threatened, "That Abbot of mine is a ruthless man…"

Wen Xiaoyi ignored him totally as she cocked her head at Chang Li and asked, "Will this kill him?" She had reloaded the gun in the cave earlier on and had also added a dash of Thunder's Heart Sand with the idea of testing it out in the mountain originally. They had bumped into Hope Sense before she had the chance to test it out.

Chang Li scrutinized Hope Sense for a while then turned to Wen Xiaoyi, "Definitely."

"I won't die, fire away!" Hope Sense had no worries at all.

This time, Wen Xiaoyi had hesitated. In the previous times, she had shot at enemies during moments between life and death without thinking twice but to shoot the old monk dead now was a whole different story.

Feeling her impatience rising, Chang Li yelled, "Out of the way, little monk!"

Puzzled, Hope Sense turned around and searched for a long time; he thought that his little junior martial brother, Hope Voice, was here.

Wen Xiaoyi had figured out what to do and with her back firmly supported by Wen Leyang's arms, she aimed the big-muzzled weapon and fired at a big rock in the distance.

There was a thunderous crashing noise and the air was filled with purple arc lights!

The rocks within the radius of the iron pellets had become scorched as if it had been struck by millions of thunderbolts. A huge hole yawned open at the mountainside, surrounded by fragments of rock which rustled like quicksand into the black hole…

The huge wave sent both Ji Fei and Shui Jing stumbling backwards and if it weren't for the fact that they had attained a decent cultivation level, they would have fallen for sure. After getting their footing back, their faces turned pale and the looked at each other with a cry before hastily bowing to Wen Xiaoyi, "Thank you, young lady, for your mercy in sparing our lives earlier on."

The skin on their faces had managed to repel the iron pellets previously but could never stand up against the Thunder's Heart Sand.

Hope Sense too, was shocked but calmed down moments later and the dimness of his eyes sharpened into an intense gaze. He quickly took a few steps back while his hands moved to the Buddhist prayer beads around his neck as he asked in a deep voice, "It seems as if I've made a mistake. Who are you people?!"

Chang Li, on the other hand, casually walked in a circle around Hope Sense with steps as fast and light as lightning. She then smiled at him and said, "Little monk, were you planning on sending this information back to the Great Mercy Temple? It's not working now!"

All cultivation sects, especially an elite sect like the Great Mercy Temple, would have their own unique way of transmitting information between the members and their home base. This includes transporting messages with flying swords while the more skilled ones would transmit it through notes and mantras. Hope Sense is an eminent monk, within the area of Mount Emei, he could easily use his 'Heavenly Ear's Wisdom' to communicate with the other monks at the temple. However, Hope Sense was shocked to discover that his magical ability had been firmly sealed within the circle drawn by Chang Li's footprints.

Chang Li looked at him with a smile, "I'll concede defeat if you can get out from this circle."

Hope Sense took a deep breath and began to recite a Buddhist hymn in a low voice. He began to break apart the string of prayer beads on his chest with a solemn and careful air.

Ji Fei and Shui Jing immediately tried to retreat towards the direction of the cave's entrance but when Chang Li lifted her eyes, the both of them returned to their places at once.

The prayer beads fell onto the ground.

A crackling sound was heard.

Hope Sense, with a smile on his face, dropped the beads as if he were sowing seeds in a rice field. None of the beads bounced or rolled on the ground but instead sank deep into the mountain rocks under the monk's feet. Chang Li was full of curiosity as she had never seen the magical ability of a Buddhist practitioner in the past. Back then, while she was bringing disaster to the world, the monks were still getting their visas in India.

When the last bead had embedded itself deep into the rocks, the Buddha's Golden Light spread out and enveloped the old monk completely. The sound of a Buddhist chant could be heard in the air and Sanskrit words as well as Buddhist swastikas of all sizes appeared from thin air and merged into the golden light. The Buddha's Golden Light was so thick and dense that it looked almost solid.

Nonetheless, not a trace of the golden light managed to leak out from the circle drawn by Chang Li.

Chang Li frowned and cupped her jaw with her hand. She blinked curiously and asked, "It's really strange that you've set up a defensive formation. I've already told you, you'll win if you are able to get out from the circle. I don't plan on beating you up in there."

Hope Sense smiled lightly as he took out a cellphone from his chest pocket and pressed a shortcut key.

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Chapter 41: The Phone

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Mount Emei has the most radiant and enchanting scenery in the world and it was the country's focal point for tourism. Naturally, there was more satellite communication in this place when compared to the Nine Peaks Mountain, the cellphone signal strength at Mount Emei was of a decent level.

Hope Sense, after being trapped by Chang Li in a circle, had calmly recited a protective Buddhist hymn around himself then called the Great Mercy Temple on his cellphone. The monks these days were rich and Hope Sense's cellphone was of pretty good quality, it even has a high megapixel camera.

Wen Leyang cried out in surprise and ran towards the circle. In his head, he thought that if the old monk were to make a call and ask for aid the Great Mercy Temple would be alerted and guard its captives even stricter. It would then be even more difficult to rescue the prisoners.

Chang Li, on the other hand, had a condescending expression on her face, she hugged her shoulders and stood outside the circle as she sneered, "What kind of magic weapon is that, do you think it can escape my prohibition spell?!" She was waiting for the old monk to recite the incantation and toss the cellphone into the sky.

The witch's prohibition spell allowed people to enter but barred them from leaving the circle. It did not hinder Wen Leyang. However, Hope Sense's Buddhist magic art only allowed exit but disallowed anyone to get close to him. As Wen Leyang brandished his fists and came into contact with the golden light, a loud peal like the sound of a large bell could be heard all of a sudden.

The golden light was like a golden bell and trapped the old monk firmly in it.

Wen Leyang's body vibrated vigorously, he lost his breath and felt as if all his internal organs were empty and hollowed out. As the enormous impact radiated from the Buddha's Golden Light, the bones of his fists felt like they were splitting apart with agonizing pain.

Meanwhile, the Buddhist prayer beads that were embedded into the mountain rock also trembled slightly.

Hope Sense too, was taken aback. His prohibition spell was called 'Return to Shore (Repent)' and drew its power from the fifty-four Buddhist prayer beads that had been refined through a long process in a fire. The beads had burst forth with the force of Gautama Buddha, for nothing could impede the mind and nothing could cause fear, when there is no fear then the spirit is pure, if the spirit is pure then the energy was primed and through this one could adapt to changes easily. One would be able to cultivate perfectly at random so no matter where the enemy attacked, the protective energy would be concentrated in that area. This was the Buddha's protective prohibition spell which had been passed down through the generations at the Great Thunderclap Temple. If a normal person, even if they were of average cultivation level, were to touch or hit the spell, their primordial spirit would be injured by the Buddha's Golden Light. Hope Sense had not expected Wen Leyang to still be able to swing his arms around and grimace in pain after being dealt a hard blow by the protective spell.

"Hello…hello…" The old monk's call went through and Chang Li looked at him in puzzlement.

Wen Leyang turned pale with fear, he no longer cared about the unbearable agonizing pain in his fists as he launched into the Faulty Punch, raining hits with his entire body onto the golden light. Every part of his body all the way from his head, his buttocks, and to his heels, was attacked in turn by the 'Return to Shore (Repent)' protective spell.

Wen Leyang smiled grimly in his mind, ever since he had successfully cultivated according to Wen Lazi's style of cultivation, the Poison's Power had fused together with his body. He wouldn't be embarrassed to describe himself as having steel muscles and metal bones. He would dare to slam against walls of any thickness but based on what he was feeling now, it was as if he's only an ordinary person trying to smash the metal door of a bank's vault.

The two old thieves, Ji Fei and Shui Jing, were paralyzed with terror as they saw Wen Xiaoyi reloading the big-muzzled weapon.

The loud noise generated by Wen Leyang's attack rang like a large bell and the sound gradually repeated into an endless ringing noise until the birds which had returned to their nests for the evening were startled and flew squawking into the sky.

The old monk was beginning to feel contempt and a condescending gaze spilled out over his eye bags. He tilted his head as he looked at Wen Leyang with derision. However, beads of sweat started appearing on his old face and he shouted loudly into the cellphone, "Hello…hello…speak louder, I can't hear you!"

At the Great Mercy Temple, a monk held the phone to his ear with a puzzled look. He could only hear the sound of a roaring bell in the receiver, he could hear nothing else

Mumu ran in front of the witch and shouted loudly in panic but in the end, all other sounds were annihilated by the roaring noise echoing to the horizon, her mouth moved but no sound could be heard. Chang Li chuckled as she watched, her laughter somehow sounded clearly in everyone's ears.

Mumu pointed towards the cellphone in the old monk's hand and gesticulated repeatedly. An expression of uncertainty appeared on Chang Li's face as she asked, "Is that weapon capable of passing through my prohibition spell?"

Mumu, Wen Xiaoyi, Shui Jing and Ji Fei all nodded their heads simultaneously. Mumu mouthed these words to her, "Quick, seize it!"

But Chang Li only laughed and shook her head, "I want to see what this foolish little fellow does next!"

Though the Buddha's light blooming from the 'Return to Shore (Repent)' spell was still dense and thick, since Wen Leyang had commenced his attack on it using the Faulty Punch, it looked like the golden light was beginning to dim. Deep in the mountain rock, the fifty-four Buddhist prayer beads were trembling rapidly.

Hope Sense stomped his foot in frustration as he shouted and bellowed into the cellphone. The pressure on his body was growing stronger and as he looked at Wen Leyang, his expression of derision was slowly being replaced by one of surprise. He had engaged in self-cultivation for over two hundred years. He had many experiences with erudite cultivators of good and bad practices as well as countless ghosts and goblins of evil forces. The power of Wen Leyang's attack on the protective spell was violent and forceful, yet it was not considered frightful to the ears. But he had now found a rhythm with this strange method of punching and it generated a peculiar sort of noise which felt like thousands of ants were slowly chewing through the power of the magic spell.

Chang Li smiled happily as she watched this development before suddenly speaking loudly, "Foolish little fellow, listen to me properly. Your Grand Master had never once asked the devils to refine any magic weapon in his entire lifetime, yet he was able to walk the earth and stay undefeated. This unique boxing style which had been passed down through the generations was specifically created to break a cultivator's psychic connection with the magic weapon. As long as your physique is strong enough, these magic weapons should be nothing but withered branches and dead leaves to you, they mean nothing at all!"

Despite the waves of deafening noise from the fight, Chang Li's words reached Wen Leyang's ears clearly and he had a revelation. He understood that during the attack of the Sun Dynasty Palace on the Wen family village, he had unintentionally used the Faulty Punch's chaotic finger to flick the red flying sword 'Firetail'. The little sword had immediately stopped obeying the commands of its master after that.

Wen Leyang lit up with delight and he roared loudly, "This is not good, my bones can't take it anymore!" He appeared disheartened and landed two final punches before slumping on the Buddha's light. It was almost like a solid substance and his body slowly slid down towards the ground.

The fifty-four Buddhist prayer beads were forged through a long process of refinement with fire and were immersed for many decades in the Great Mercy Temple's Buddha's light. The old monk Hope Sense had concentrated on cultivating himself for over two hundred years. Yet Wen Leyang, who was in the early stages of his practice, had been able to use his physique to sustain the battle to this point, which can be considered quite a shocking development.

Chang Li laughed then spat, "Useless fool!" She then disappeared without a trace.

The loud ringing noise had finally stopped and the old monk was delighted as he yelled into the cellphone, "Quickly, send help to me…what the f*ck, oh great merciful Buddha!" The other person on the line had already hung up the phone sometime during the attack. Hope Sense immediately started dialing the number again in a great hurry.

All of a sudden, a burst of heavy pressure like a lofty mountain descending from the sky enveloped him ferociously. A snow-white blurry form was running speedily around the 'Return to Shore (Repent)' protective spell. Chang Li's slender and delicate hands pressed over and over again on the golden Buddha's light from the spell! Just when the phone started to ring, a light fragrance of orchids wafted into the old monk's nostrils. His left hand immediately felt lighter and his cellphone was in the hands of the woman in the snow-white fur coat. The golden light which had been protecting him swiftly dispersed into a formless state, the prayer beads embedded in the mountain were crushed into halves and lost their gleam, turning dull like a dead fish's eyes.

The old monk growled and put both his hands into a Dharmachakra mudra and with his devoted cultivation of the force of Gautama Buddha for over two hundred years, he flew high into the air and surged towards Chang Li while yelling, "My Dopod!" He had just flown up before landing back onto the ground as he raised his hands with a look of distress.

Wen Xiaoyi raised the blunderbuss with such an adorable expression that one would have been tempted to pinch her cheeks. She smiled savagely as she asked, "Whose Dopod were you referring to?"

"Yours, it's yours…" The old monk had experienced the blunderbuss' power earlier and did not want a repeat performance.

There was a cracking sound and the brand-new cellphone in Chang Li's hand broke into fragments. The witch frowned as she asked, "What kind of a magic weapon is this? Why is it so fragile?"

The old monk was so heartbroken that his eye bags started twitching.

Mumu helped Wen Leyang to stand, his entire body felt as if he had been trampled by a herd of elephants. Every single joint on his body was limp and he could not even gather up an ounce of energy to move. With great effort, he gave a thumbs-up to Hope Sense and said with heartfelt admiration in his voice, "Great master's method was truly extraordinary!"

With his current level of ability, Wen Leyang should be able to tear a small building down into rubble by now but he had failed to break the protective prohibition spell.

The old monk glanced at Chang Li with some trepidation, he then shook his head and asked, "Who are you people anyway? The Great Mercy Temple has always been in harmony with the rest of the world for over thousands of years…"

Chang Li ignored his nonsense, her body flashed towards him and she knocked the old monk once on the back of his head. The old monk's eyes rolled up and he fainted onto the ground. The witch then rapidly walked in a circle twice around him, a sweep of red and green light slowly began to envelop Hope Sense's body. She had cast a small protective circle to prevent others from harming the old monk's unconscious body.

Once that business was done, Chang Li turned her charming gaze to the stunned Ji Fei and Shui Jing before instructing them, "Lead the way!"

The two old thieves mumbled their assent. After much bowing and fawning they both pointed towards the northwest of the mountain.

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Chapter 42: The Ancient Temple

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ji Fei and Shui Jing led the way ahead on weak legs. Out of curiosity, they both asked Wen Leyang, "Dear disciple…brother, who is this fairy maiden?"

Wen Leyang had felt as if his entire body was falling apart from slamming onto the spell earlier, yet after walking for a little while the soreness began to slowly disperse. His spirit was restored by more than half and he felt that it was rather miraculous as he laughed and said to the two, "She is the elder of my family!"

Ji Fei and Shui Jing were filled with profound respect. Wen Leyang's strange method of cultivation was ruthless and potent, but his level of attainment was still at the beginning though turned into a little demon when he strived with all his might. This young woman was somehow even more horrible, and didn't she know that Dopods were in great demand!

A smile was plastered on Ji Fei's face as he fawningly asked Wen Leyang, "Dear brother, your highness is…"

Wen Xiaoyi straightened herself and proudly answered the question for Wen Leyang, "Not a single root grows on the Wen, never befriend a Miao, to die a dog's death on Crow Ridge! We are the disciples of the Wen family from the Nine Peaks Mountain in Western Chuan!"

The two monks threw a puzzled look at each other before laughing hollowly, "Oh…we've long been looking forward to meeting the descendants of such an eminent family, we have so much admiration for you." The Wen, Miao, and Luo families were amongst the strongest in the mortal world, yet most cultivators were extremely arrogant and were ignorant to this fact. These two monks had not heard of the Wen Bucao before.

Wen Leyang was too lazy to introduce himself, instead, he grabbed a carrot and started chewing on it loudly before asking, "By the way, where are Red Grandaunt, Lord Leyang and the others?"

Ji Fei slapped his thigh once as he exclaimed, "Heh, they were all captured by the monks!"

Chang Li had almost effortlessly defeated the divine monk Hope Sense earlier. At this point, Wen Leyang was confident about her abilities to deal with any further incidents in the future so he felt more relaxed. He laughed and asked, "What about both of you? How did you escape?"

"We siblings' cultivation is of a higher level than the rest, we pushed through numerous hardships and finally blazed a bloody trail out of the battle."

Wen Leyang grinned, there was still bits of carrot stuck between his neat teeth, "It would seem that this eminent monk tripped and fell off a mountain cliff, you managed to escape out of sheer luck. How about the other monk?"

Shui Jing laughed sheepishly and said, "I crashed headlong into a fissure on the mountain, but how did you even know about this?"

Wen Leyang laughed uproariously before recounting his experience while they were ascending the mountain. His face gradually grew serious before he asked, "Earlier on that mountain slope, who was it that the both of you had chased after?"

Ji Fei shook his head as he replied, "He was a sorcerer of deviant and evil practices, he had been in the process of casting the Mountain Coffin spell on us but in the end, he managed to get away. In recent years, those monsters which had cultivated their evil practices were beginning to get restless and make trouble. The world has been in harmony for over hundreds of years yet their evil actions kept growing continuously. Naturally, they also wanted to gain access to the magic weapon which was supposedly reborn at Zhanyan Peak."

The setting sun charged the red scar on Wen Leyang's cheekbone with a murderous glint, "What kind of people are they, actually?"

Ji Fei pursed his lips before he replied while shaking his head, "This is the evil way of the Earth Element, and even though it's not considered to be an overly cruel form of magic, it had been lost for many years. However, if you wish to investigate this further, you can depend on the both of us!"

Chang Li suddenly interrupted and asked, "What happened? Are you seeking revenge? I can help you."

Wen Leyang's expression was profound but he shook his head firmly, "This vengeance is my own and I shall avenge them myself…but if I were to fail then you should carry on."

Chang Li spat and cursed before speaking with a laugh, "You're a good for nothing! In those days he was so much stronger than how you are now!"

Wen Leyang pulled a long face, "How could I dare to compare myself to my ancestor."

"Why not?" Chang Li suddenly dodged and appeared in front of Wen Leyang, the faint scent of her breath caused his heart to flutter ferociously, "Young lad, his method of cultivation was extremely potent and domineering. He did not care whether you followed the Buddha's way of cultivation, or blood sorcery, or had magic weapons which had been tempered of over a hundred times. He would not even take a look before he crushed you with his fist. Your level of attainment has not matured yet, but I can see that your power and innate character is much more potent than his in the beginning!"

Wen Leyang laughed so hard that his eyebrows almost split apart, "Stop trying to make a fool of me…"

Mumu, who had been walking at the back while cradling Ah Dan, was frowning in deep thought. She did not pay any attention to Chang Li and Wen Leyang's whispered conversation but suddenly, she looked up and pointed towards Shui Jing and Ji Fei, saying, "You're both bad people!"

Wen Xiaoyi had been walking beside her immediately raised the blunderbuss and aimed it at them.

Ji Fei instantly hid behind Shui Jing and begged, "Dear fairy maiden, regarding that lantern of yours, us brothers will definitely compensate you."

Mumu shook her head before explaining, "That bullsh*t rumor about the appearance of an extraordinary treasure was all nonsense! The both of you clearly knew that there were evil people in the mountain yet you kept this information to yourselves, the two of you must surely be the companions of those bad people!"

Ji Fei thrust out his hand and shook it from behind the fat monk, risking his life to bemoan the unjust accusation, "That…it's true that we discovered the sorcerer, we were also uncertain on whether there was actually a treasure on Zhanyan Peak. But what if the rumors were really true? We brothers are not considered rogue cultivators, we are both lonely souls wandering around like ghosts. We did not have a master to guide us nor fellow disciples, we had to cultivate our own incredibly high-level abilities…"

Wen Xiaoyi yelled at them. "Focus and talk about the topic at hand!"

Ji Fei hurriedly answered, "Those monsters must be here at Zhanyan Peak because of the news of the extraordinary treasure. If not, why did those monks from the Great Mercy Temple try so hard and put up such a desperate fight to prevent others from ascending the mountain! The more disordered it was on the mountain, for the both of us brothers…it's not easy…" Ji Fei poked his head out from behind the fat monk and looked at Wen Leyang, "Dear brother, please tell the truth to your big brother, what on earth was the extraordinary treasure on Zhanyan Peak?"

Wen Leyang pointed towards Chang Li and replied in all honesty, "It's her."

The fat monk's facial features were squeezed together in puzzlement, "Who was the one who found her…she's the elder member of which family?"

The old monk was so exasperated that he gave him a slap from behind, "Silly monk, you are such a fool!"

Shui Jing too, felt that his question was rather absurd and only covered his head without fighting or answering back.

The company of six people chatted as they walked, they gradually picked up their pace and as the moon rose, the structure of a very dark and grand ancient temple appeared impressively before their eyes. Ji Fei pointed towards the massive temple and said, "Here it is, the Great Mercy Temple, a holy land for the Buddhists from around the world!"

Chang Li squinted her eyes at the ancient temple, after a while, she smiled lightly, "Sure enough, there are some tricks in it. The baldies can be considered to be not half bad!"

Ji Fei tugged and pulled at Shui Jing's robe, then exerted all his strength to bow with his hands together in supplication at Chang Li, "Fairy maiden, us brothers were blessed to help with accomplishing your mission and have brought the respected group to the destination, now…our Wen brother wants us to investigate the sorcerer. We fear that he may have gone too far away, so we brothers will leave immediately…"

Chang Li chuckled charmingly as the soft, long fur on her coat rustled and rippled in the breeze. Her fur coat shimmered with a gentle glow under the moonlight as she turned around and addressed Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu, "I want the two of you to stay here and not move. If anyone were to approach you don't stop to ask, just use the Thunder's Heart Sand to blow them away immediately!" As she was saying that she walked with light steps in a circle around the two young girls before instructing, "Don't leave the circle, if anyone tried to break in I will immediately know!"

Wen Xiaoyi nodded energetically as she exerted all her strength to wield the big-muzzled weapon in her hands and answered with a crisp voice, "Sister Chang Li, you can trust us!"

Chang Li chuckled, her laughter was clear and sharp as she commented, "This little girl is a smooth-talker!" She then grabbed Wen Leyang and looked towards the two monks, "Let's go!"

Ji Fei and Shui Jing both voiced their agreement but turned to leave in the opposite direction. They only took two steps before they returned, looking embarrassed. "Grandaunt, please forgive the two of us brothers…the Great Mercy Temple is not a place that we are permitted to enter!"

Two large black spikes with the texture of jade and stone had appeared from the air and were now firmly pressing against the chests of the two monks.

Chang Li waved her hand and dismissed the spikes, which disappeared back into thin air. She continued to pull Wen Leyang along and walked ahead with light, elegant footsteps towards the Great Mercy Temple.

Ji Fei and Shui Jing looked at one another before following reluctantly behind Fairy Maiden Chang and Brother Wen as they thumped their chests and dragged their feet in sorrow.

The three of them walked closely next to Chang Li but after taking a few more steps they discovered that they were no longer walking on the ground. Instead, their steps floated a small distance above it, they were walking on air!

The ancient temple situated deep within the mountains stood sturdily in the icy-cold air. Under the dim light of the night, it resembled a beast which had been hibernating since prehistoric times, there was a sense of arrogance and disdain for the world in its contours.

The pores on Wen Leyang's body were contracting and relaxing. He was observing is surroundings in silence when suddenly his foot stepped on a soft surface and he almost fell. He stared at Chang Li in surprise and was preparing to speak when a soft and smooth hand gently covered his mouth. The witch's voice was akin to a mercury-condensed filament as she quietly said, "Don't be afraid, young lad. It's asleep, it doesn't know that we are coming."

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Chapter 43: The Strong Poison

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

All the pores on Wen Leyang's entire body contracted and relaxed as he once again shifted out of the physical world and used his unique observation method to search his surroundings. Everything felt normal in the beginning and he was puzzling over why such an important location would not be protected by any prohibition spells as even the supermarket has two security guards on patrol all the time. After a while, however, he began to sense something in the soil underneath his feet. It was as if a gigantic entity was hiding there. Unfortunately, his unique sense of observation only extended a few meters around his body and did not manage to stretch out all the way to the entity's edges. He was only aware that this was a living creature breathing at an extremely slow pace yet he could not determine what kind of creature it was.

Ji Fei and Shui Jing were experiencing what it feels like to fly and their old faces were filled with joy. Though they were not very far off the ground, as long as they were floating above it they considered it as flying. But they had no idea that there was giant crisis concealed right underneath their feet.

Chang Li's voice sounded in Wen Leyang's ears, "Don't be such a coward, it's not such an extraordinary creature. Wait till we are done with our proper business then if you still want to enrich your experience, I'll help you to skin it, hehe. I could do with some new clothes too." She strolled idly through the courtyard as she spoke and in a little while all four of them reached the foot of the Great Mercy Temple…

Wen Leyang's body lightly flew up and landed next to Chang Li on the temple's wall. He looked at giant temple complex which was slumbering in silence. The buildings were arranged in rows with the monasteries and Buddhist halls situated next to each other. The temple complex followed the topography of the mountain and was built in layers. The place was so grand that it made one feel nervous. A pagoda soared into the sky from afar, it was so tall the only the lower half of the tower could be seen, the upper floors were concealed by the clouds.

It was impossible to see the entire extensive structure from the ground. It was only when one was on the enclosing wall could one see such a panoramic view.

Chang Li chuckled lightly, "It's alright, you can talk now but try not to speak too loudly."

Wen Leyang grimaced as he shook his head, he wondered in his heart why he was being treated like a foolish little boy to be reminded to speak softly, "Those…people, where are they being held captive at?"

There was a soft rustling sound as the two monks too jumped onto the wall in fear. Ji Fei was treated to the grand panoramic view of the temple as well and felt an ominous sense of foreboding as his heart missed a beat and his body swayed once. He quickly got a hold of himself and smiled foolishly, "This poor monk…is feeling slightly nervous…"

Chang Li smiled sweetly and glanced lightly at the two old fellows, "Is that so? Hehe, this business of rescuing the prisoners is entirely reliant on the two of you."

Shui Jing answered immediately while nodding his head vigorously, "Fairy maiden, please set your mind at ease…" Ji Fei, however, turned pale with fear and rolled his eyes. But before he could have the chance to speak, a force hit his back suddenly and the two old monks were tossed into the air with their arms and legs swinging before slamming hard into the Great Mercy Temple.

The two of them hit the ground and not a second later, the entire Great Mercy Temple sounded its bells in alarm. The monks in the monasteries who had been sleeping soundly were jerked awake and the temple complex was transformed from a hibernating prehistoric beast into a ferocious dragon. A strong voice sounded against the tolling of the bells and asked, "From whence did the superiors come from, who dared to charge into the Great Mercy Temple in the middle of the night?" The voice was especially familiar to Wen Leyang and he recognized it as belonging to the seat of honor at the Ten Modes Monastery who had quarreled with Leyang Wen at Zhanyan Peak.

Jifei rolled his eyes and flipped himself upright before roaring loudly, "Hey, listen to me Great Mercy Temple! Release my friends immediately, or else…" He gestured with his hands once and a silver-colored flying sword surged upwards into the sky, shining brightly. The little sword sounded like a dragon hatchling as it released waves of long humming moans as it flew through the air.

Shui Jing turned around with the intention to run away, "That Ox's Nose must have lost his mind!"

Ji Fei, however, was quick of eye and deft of hand. He grabbed a handful of Shui Jing's robes and scolded, "Dumb b*stard, you have to see this in a different way. It's obvious that the witch needs us to draw the attention of the bald donkeys and distract them. Think about it, if we offend the Great Mercy Temple the worst we'd get is probably a beating, but if we were to offend the witch…"

Shui Jing looked absolutely terrified as he thought of that and eagerly nodded his understanding. He threw out his small inverted bell, intending to send it crashing into the nearest big Buddhist hall next to him. Ji Fei was shocked almost to the point of insanity and hastily directed his flying sword to block the fat monk's magic weapon. The two magic weapons which had fought each other countless times clashed in midair and made a huge din. "It's enough to make some noise, let's not offend the monks for real!"

"At least these two fellows still have some sense in them!" Chang Li commented before closing her eyes for a moment. She then grabbed a handful of Wen Leyang's tank top and said, "I've found them!" She then snuck off to the corner of the wall and vanished like a streak of vapor, rapidly dashing to the depths of the temple. Under the cover of the commotion caused by Shui Jing and Ji Fei as they fell to the ground, she had stretched out her mind sense and skimmed over the entire temple in the time of a quick attack. Every corner of the Great Mercy Temple was revealed entirely to her innermost heart.

Outside the temple, the hibernating beast made a muffled roar when it noticed that someone was using their mind sense to pry around in the temple. However, this sensation was gone in a flash and it snorted twice falling back into its slumber.

The Great Mercy Temple has been renowned for thousands of years. Naturally, there were hidden expert cultivators who had withdrawn from society in the temple. It's the middle of the night and it was also the time for the old monks to meditate. Even if Chang Li had exceptional abilities, it would have been impossible for her to avoid them while using her mind sense. With the noise that the two clowns Ji Fei and Shui Jing had stirred up, almost every eminent monk was startled and lost their concentration momentarily as a result. Chang Li's mind seized the opportunity to scan the entire temple and upon finding the correct location, she brought along Wen Leyang and moved stealthily at a high speed.

Wen Leyang was only conscious of one sensation: they were moving at great speed.

There was a whistling sound in his ears from the air whizzing past them and the scene before his eyes swept past in a blur.

The fact that there were intruders who had unexpectedly outsmarted the divine beast guarding the mountain and had jumped into the temple to cause a scene was an unprecedented occurrence in the Great Mercy Temple. All the monks, both young and old, rushed to the scene with a protective layer of Buddha's light wrapped around their bodies. The strong voice spoke once again, "All monks stay where you are. In order to prevent the enemies from seizing the opportunity to infiltrate the premises, all the disciples from the Ten Modes Monastery will follow me to vanquish these demons and monsters!"

Multiple majestic voices answered in unison as a gentle glow bloomed within the temple. In the blink of an eye, the huge temple complex was as bright as day. However, not a single monk noticed a shadow whizzing back and forth within the temple, it moved so quickly that it had almost melted into the air.

Wen Leyang has always been frank and honest ever since he was a child, but he couldn't help but feel an unpleasant sensation in his heart. Though he was aware that Chang Li was obviously a super-powered person from his ancestor's time, he had felt dejected and ashamed that he needed her help to rescue his family members from the temple.

Chang Li's voice suddenly sounded in his ears and her tone of speaking was light, "There's nothing to be dejected about; you can only depend on yourself to fight your own battles. When I was your age, I was still on the mountain…" She spoke halfway before the diverted the topic of the conversation, "Your ancestor's exceedingly high level of cultivation and extreme methods were created after enduring countless years of hard work."

Wen Leyang did not pay much attention to what she was saying, he asked in astonishment, "How did you know…"

"Your body feels slightly heavier." Chang Li smiled before stopping abruptly. She pulled Wen Leyang and hid in the shadows as she pointed out a huge courtyard a short distance away. "There are many ordinary beings here, they should be his disciples and their descendant's disciples.

Wen Leyang took a careful survey of his surroundings. It had only taken a moment for Chang Li to pull him almost halfway through the Great Mercy temple. The pagoda, which was originally rising at a distance in front of them, was now a long way off behind them.

They could no longer hear the distant uproar and shouts from the courtyard of the big hall, there was only a tranquility within the night here.

Compared with the main hall at the front, the buildings here appeared dilapidated and desolate. Wen Leyang took a deep breath before quietly releasing his senses to feel around carefully in his surroundings. However, he could only sense a stretch of gray mist, whatever his eyes could not see he was unable to detect anything further using his senses either.

Chang Li knew what he was doing and smiled gently, "There is the presence of a camouflage spell here. It's harmless so go ahead and save your people, I'll be waiting here. There's no need to worry for if someone were to notice us, the worst case scenario is that I'll bring all of you along as we tear this damaged temple apart and kill all the baldies!"

These few phrases, said in a light tone of voice, revealed the witch's true qualities. Chang Li completely disregarded the fact that this was a world famous temple at all.

Wen Leyang looked at her once gratefully and squatted down. All the pores on his entire body contracted abruptly, he felt a heavy sensation all over before he somersaulted over the courtyard's wall. The moment his feet touched the ground he immediately lowered his body all the way onto the ground. Like a lizard hunting its prey, he began to creep forward slowly.

He moved stealthily, his hands and legs need not exert any strength. Instead, the strength was generated from his joints. He slowly moved the hundreds of muscles on his entire body and crept slowly on the ground without making a sound. This technique would be useful for ambushing enemies and it was also a remarkable strategy in moving stealthily.

Wen Leyang had only crept forward a short distance before he suddenly stuck his face tightly into the ground. He then laughed silently – the courtyard was laden with a strong poison which was familiar and immediately recognizable.

A smile had only just bloomed on his face when his expression changed drastically!

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Chapter 44: The Luo Family

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The very toxic, harsh and potent poison had completely fused with the air of the courtyard in a highly concentrated manner. Once the skin has been contaminated, the poisoned person would die immediately. This was the Wind Poison from the Wen family.

Without mentioning the poison's severity and composition, the method of releasing it requires an exceedingly high level of skill. One would have to fuse the poison in the air but not allow it to be dispersed by moving air. So as long as a person was outside the courtyard, they could stand by the doorway and not be poisoned at all. However, just by pointing a finger into the courtyard, they would immediately trigger the poison's effect. Amongst the hundreds of people in the Wen family, only the four elders were capable of releasing this poison, even the First Uncle might not be able to do it.

Wen Leyang was an inner disciple so he wouldn't be harmed by his family's poison. But just as he was about to use his family's inherited secret technique to expel the poison, all the three million and six thousand pores on his body contracted and relaxed vigorously, absorbing the Wind Poison rapidly into his body.

The extremely toxic poison which was originally condensed in the air suddenly behaved like a fly which was attracted by the smell of blood and rushed towards him in all directions!

Ever since Wen Leyang had successfully cultivated his ancestor Wen Lazi's practice, this had been his first time coming into contact with poison again. He did not expect his body to react like a giant cupping glass, in a flash he had drawn up all the Wind Poison towards himself and before he could jump away, the strong poison had been absorbed into his body. He shivered once, the sensation was similar to after he had urinated on a normal day. All of his sweat pores moaned without a sound before relaxing in a satisfied manner.

Wen Leyang hurriedly took out the poison antidote but held it in his hand without making a move to take a dose. When the Wind Poison had entered his body, he had unexpectedly not shown any symptoms of being poisoned and only his skin feels a little unwell from the tightness of his pores.

Suddenly, a grumbling voice sounded from the big house in the middle of the courtyard, "You disciples of the Wen Bucao never think with your brains when you are handling matters. You've set up the toxic poison in the courtyard and it's driven away all the monks who used to bring us our meals. Now, they toss us steamed buns over the wall like we are their pet dogs!"

An old and gloomy voice answered, "Yet you ate all the steamed buns that they'd tossed in." The person who spoke sounded extremely ancient and it was impossible to tell if they were a male or a female.

Wen Leyang was overjoyed and completely forgot about checking his body as he leaped up and cheered. That second voice was very familiar to him, there was no one else in this world other than Fourth Grandpa who had wrinkles were so deep they could trap a fly and would speak in such a manner.

The other majestic voice shouted in haste, "Fourth brother's night air has been broken!" Before his voice had died away, the big house turned dark suddenly and five or six shadowy human figures appeared in the courtyard. They looked like wandering ghosts in the dim light as they pounced towards Wen Leyang silently.

Wen Leyang's sharp eyes immediately recognized that the shadows which were pouncing at him from ahead, above, and from the left and right side were his four grandfathers. He shouted in surprise, "Grandpas, it's me!"

The four elders of the Wen family immediately paused simultaneously as stunned expressions appeared on their old faces.

However, another two shadows flashed out from behind the four elders and pounced towards Wen Leyang without a pause. One of them cursed, "Little b*stard, he's pretending that he knows the family elders! He must be looking for death!"

The two old men were both attired like old farmers, there was utterly no sense of honest kindness that can be said about their faces. In their hands, they held dreadful white-colored long needles which were waving and rustling. The atmosphere in the Buddhist courtyard, which was originally serene and still, changed into a gruesome and ghostly one.

The movements of their long needles were almost like Little Chili Pepper's Spirit Needles but their martial style and power were far more ruthless and spicy.

Wen Leyang leaped up abruptly as he cried in alarm, the four long needles were stabbing towards his body simultaneously!

He had been fully prepared and leaped up to dodge the soul-attaching and bone-chewing long needles wielded by the two old men. However, in the end, he did not manage to jump as high as he'd expected. His body was somehow heavier after absorbing the Wind Poison.

Even though the weight increase wasn't much, he had not been prepared for it and this lowered his agility significantly.

The four needles shimmered in ashen and decayed colors before stabbing into Wen Leyang's shoulders and chest. The two old men's gazes were triumphant but their hands unexpectedly became heavy. The long needles had pushed into the flesh for half an inch before meeting a strong resistance from their opponent's body. To them, it felt like the young fellow was like a strong but flexible rubber man. The ferocious needles could not break through the skin and not a single drop of blood was spilled.

The two old men were shocked, they are brothers and the elders of Little Chili Pepper. Both were outstanding cultivators from the Luo family at Crow Ridge. They had dealt with corpses all their lives and the points where their Spirit Needles had hit was the weakest points on a human body. It did not matter if they were living or a thousand-year-old corpse, their body will tremble from the needles' attack on the shoulders and intercostal spaces. The two old men weren't sure if the person they were attacking was a friend or foe and did not use their full strength. But it was still an extremely strange occurrence for all four Spirit Needles to be unable to pierce through the skin, this was something that they had never encountered before.

The two elders of the Luo family raised their voices and pushed with their hands again when Second Elder Luo on the right cried out in agonizing pain. He let go of his needles and stumbled back hurriedly, grabbing onto the wrist of his right hand. The two Spirit Needles remained embedded on Wen Leyang's body.

'You've Got Me' raised the long bristles on its body and rolled happily around on the back of the old man's hand. Its poison spikes that were harder than steel pricked straight into the skin.

Second Elder Luo shook his hand as if he was being electrocuted. 'You've Got Me' uncurled itself and lay tightly on the back of his hand, posing like a surfer on its surfboard.

Grand Elder Luo, upon seeing that his younger brother was injured, no longer cared to have the contest of strength with Wen Leyang. He retracted his long needles and reached to pluck the Buddha's Light Bug from his sibling's hand. Though 'You've Got Me' was still relatively young it was no pushover either, it had retaliated upon seeing its master being attacked. After injuring the Second Elder, the bug's body rushed forward with great speed and flew through the night sky with a red glow towards the older brother's face.

The Grand Elder of the Luo family cursed, "F*cking vermin!" He twisted his body and dodged the Buddha's Light Bug without a moment to spare, swinging the long needles in his hand. 'You've Got Me' made an agonized sound and tumbled to the ground, it lay there for a moment as if it had been beaten senseless. The bug then crept around for a while before it located Wen Leyang and crawled dejectedly towards him. It made a pitiful howling sound with its mouth as if asking for Wen Leyang to avenge it.

Grand Elder Luo exhaled a long breath before rushing to check on his younger brother's injuries. However, before he could take the first step, the four angry-looking grandpas rushed towards him and without saying a word swung out their fists and began to beat him up.

The Luo and Wen family were both equally well-known but upon arriving the zombie corpses which had been destroyed by the monks. The temple, which was like a holy land for Buddhists, naturally disallowed this type of creature from entering it. Though Grand Elder Luo would hold his own in a solo fight, he was overwhelmed by the four grandfathers – he got punched in the nose and his tears and snot began to flow uncontrollably.

Grand Elder Luo bellowed in pain and yelled, "Come out and help me!" Similar to the Wen family, the elders from the Luo family had brought the secret elite members of their family along to Mount Emei. They were all also captured by the monks and imprisoned here.

A group of enormous chaps with poker faces and rigid body movements ran out from the rooms on the west side of the courtyard. They carried themselves with a heavy and oppressive force.

Fourth Elder Wen snorted, "Even The Centipede is not invulnerable!" Before the sound of his voice had died away, a hundred other humanoid shadows glided out of the rooms on the opposite side and silently made their way to the people of Crow Ridge.

The silence of the dim night was immediately torn apart by the sounds of a battle; every corner of the big courtyard was filled with the sound of punches. The Death Trademark of the Wen family and The Centipede of the Luo family finally broke the two powerful clans' peaceful and harmonious coexistence after two thousand years.

The people from the death Trademark latched themselves onto the enemy while the four elders of the Wen family continued to fight wholeheartedly as a team with the elders of the Luo family. Grand Elder Wen cursed savagely as he fought, "Did you think it was easy for my grandson to raise up such a good bug?" When the four elders had met, Fourth Elder Wen had told them about the incident that Wen Leyang had experienced at the Red Leaves Forest.

In the same time it takes for one to roll their eyes, Wen Leyang had managed to sneak into the courtyard and cause a fight between the four elders of the Wen and the two outstanding cultivators of the Luo.

Wen Leyang's skin had tightened as soon as the long needles had touched him, all that remained at the spot was an indentation on his skin and he wasn't injured. 'You've Got Me' jumped onto his palm and circled around it twice in grievance before slowly crawling up his sleeve.

The elders of the two families fought against one another while the younger ones fought amongst themselves. More than a hundred men were tangled in a hideous mess but everyone knew very well that this was a personal dispute and not a life or death battle. They fought with boisterous clashes and bangs but not one of them drew his knife and risked his life.

The fighting went on for a while before Grand Elder Wen withdrew from the battle, he smiled as he looked at Wen Leyang and asked, "Young fellow, are you alright?"

Wen Leyang nodded his head hastily in response and turned around to show that he was unharmed. This time he was certain that his body definitely felt heavier than before. Grand Elder Wen burst out laughing as he grabbed Second Elder Luo's hand which had swelled up as red as an apple. He then took out his bamboo detoxification needles to help draw out the poison.

The remaining three elders struck a few more blows before stopping. The excited look on their faces settled back into their usual stern and somber expression as they gazed at Wen Leyang and asked, "Why are you here?"

Wen Leyang looked at the four elders in turn and tried to suppress the excitement in his heart with all his might, "Are…the four elders unharmed?" Ever since he had discovered the corpses of his clansmen on that mountain slope, he had been getting more and more worried. Now that he could see that the four elders were relatively safe and sound, the giant rock which had been weighing on his chest finally loosened and dropped away.

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Chapter 45: Little Mouth

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The older Luo sibling raised his hand and signaled for his subordinates to back down. He raised his head and tried to peer through what was left of his eyesight as his eyes were severely swollen. He stared at the direction of the Wen family and said, "This isn't over!"

Grand Elder Wen was nimble and agile. In just a moment, dark red poisoned blood began to slowly flow from out of the bamboo needle and the second Luo brother sigher in relief. He moved his limbs around before standing in front of his elder brother and challenged, "Those of you from the Wen family, let's fight again!"

Grand Elder Wen laughed and shook his head, "Forget about it, even if we were to fight again you will still lose. He's our grandson." He pointed at a bewildered-looking Wen Leyang as he said that and continued, "He had already declared his intention and while all of us had stopped fighting, it's only you two old fellows who still refused to forgive and continued to wound others. The second brother Luo's poisoning was not an injustice, and the eldest brother Luo deserved to be beaten by us!"

Grand Elder Luo could only see out from a small slit under his swollen eyelids, his chin was raised so high that his head was almost parallel to the ground. Only when he could see Wen Leyang's face did he say, "How is just saying 'grandfather, it's me' considered as him declaring his intentions? If this young fellow here is from the Wen family, then has he also been taken captive by the monks?"

Wen Leyang shook his head, he no longer cared about discussing other matters and directly addressed his four grandpas, "All of you are here because…"

Grand Elder Wen suppressed his own queries temporarily and responded in a direct manner, "We had just arrived on Mount Emei when we were stopped by a group of sorcerer-monks. We were able to deal with them at first but then came a monk whose magic skill was completely out of this world. They captured us and brought us here. Young fellow, the Wen Bucao had fallen and lost spectacularly this time! But unexpectedly, not even two days had passed before the people from the Luo family were also brought here. They were even more unfortunate as the monks did not touch our belongings and poisons but the zombie corpses of the Luo were all confiscated by the bald donkeys!"

The two outstanding cultivators of the Luo family huffed simultaneously.

Grand Elder Wen roared with laughter as he continued, "The monks had cast a magic spell on this place, everything looks normal in the courtyard but if one were to walk near the walls that person would encounter a resistance and be bounced back. We've tried every method from levitating to digging a hole in the ground but nothing worked. Fourth brother became angry and set the Wind Poison in the yard, by his reckoning if we couldn't get out then the monks should not be able to enter too!"

Wen Leyang looked at a random part of the enclosing wall of the courtyard and walked towards it. As expected, upon nearing the wall he immediately felt a gentle force blocking his way forward. He leaned his body and tested the resistance before backing away in large strides as he slowly accumulated his power.

Grand Elder Luo pointed his chin at Grand Elder Wen's head and laughed soundlessly, "Why is that Wen lad so confident?" Before he had finished talking, a strong blast of air blew past him – Wen Leyang had gathered enough power and ran full speed ahead. He surged forward like lightning towards the courtyard wall and used the inertia produced by his body to slam himself ferociously at the solid wall like a raging dragon!

Not a sound was heard but Grand Elder Wen could feel that the ground beneath his feet was pulled by an unknown force. It expanded to its limit before suddenly shrinking rapidly. Wen Leyang's figure had disappeared from his sight while the shape of a human figure with his arms and legs spread out (it formed the exact shape of the Chinese character '大') appeared on the yard's wall. The young fellow's posture as he slammed through the wall was accurately recorded by the empty hole he left behind.

Everyone's jaws dropped in awe and stone powder rained from the edges of the damaged wall. The imprisonment spell that had been impassable was now like a piece of plastic which had been corroded by acid, a break had formed and was expanding rapidly from the shape of a man to as wide as two busses.

The moment Wen Leyang came into contact with the surface of the wall, every joint on his body was shaking. He used the Faulty Punch to direct the Poison's Power in his body to explode with all his might. In the time of a quick attack, he had corroded through the mottled ancient wall. As he came out from the other side, he found Chang Li standing outside smiling at him.

Regardless of whether it was a magic weapon or the magic art of the prohibition spell, the person who had cast the spell clearly absorbed divine energy and relied on the divine power to accomplish the spell. Other than tempering poison, the biggest trick from the Faulty Punch that was inherited from Grand Master Tuoxie was that it was capable of destroying that little connection of primordial spirit using the Power of Poison, once the primordial spirit was broken, any other magic spell would be dispelled.

Wen Leyang surveyed his surroundings with vigilance as he asked Chang Li in a low voice, "Did I startle the monks?"

Chang Li smiled lightly, it brightened the entire night sky as her infinite charm floated lightly. She answered vaguely, "Monks? Definitely not the monks."

A chin poked itself out of the breach in the wall in a very sneaky way…

Grand Elder Luo looked incredulously around, "The spell…the spell has been broken?"

Footsteps as agile as a leopard's pattered rapidly out. Even the fearless second, third, and the fourth brother of the Wen family's faces were filled with astonishment as they followed behind their eldest brother. More than a hundred shadows of the people from the Death Trademark of the Wen Bucao and the Centipede of Crow Ridge also came out. Some of their movements were agile, some were rigid and they cruised out of the breach before dispersing into every strategic position to protect their masters.

Grand Elder Wen looked outside when he saw a lively Chang Li standing there, he was stunned for a moment. He then spoke to Wen Leyang in a low, unpleasant voice, "Don't take after the bad traits of your first uncle!"

Wen Leyang was scandalized. Chang Li was a genuine witch and her moods were constantly changing, she could be smiling happily in one moment and in the next, she would be chopping a person into eight pieces. Even though she had sworn an oath of alliance to the Wen family, yet Wen Leyang could not be sure when she could turn hostile. But before he could explain himself, his heart suddenly detected a hint of danger. The skin on his entire body tightened involuntarily as if there was an immense danger lurking stealthily nearby.

Chang Li looked at him with slight astonished and chuckled lightly, "This is getting more and more interesting." As she was saying that, she raised her brilliant eyes and looked ahead.

A monk with a face full of terror was running towards them. He did not try to hide from them nor did he slow himself down. He had almost entered into the ambush circle of the Death Trademark and The Centipede when he stopped suddenly, "How did all of you escape? Do return quickly for if the monks at the front were to find out about this then you would be in big trouble."

The monk appeared to be over thirty years of age and had thick brows, large eyes, and a plump face. However, his mouth was tiny and his lips were bright red in color.

A murderous glow flashed through Grand Elder Wen's eyes as he roared with laughter, "Grand master, something has happened in the courtyard!" As he was saying that he took a big stride forward as the other three elders followed closely behind him to protect one another. Before they had been captured, they had fought with the monks for many days. So they knew that even if the monks were well-versed with magic spells, their physiques were limited and only slightly stronger than an ordinary person's, they would still die if they came into contact with a strong poison.

The monk with the little mouth shook his head rapidly, he spoke frantically in a panic, "Return quickly, do return quickly! No matter what happens you must return…"

The eldest Wen brother continued to elaborate as he intentionally tried to sound mysterious, "Great master, there is a ghost in the courtyard!"

Wen Leyang tilted his head and looked at Chang Li who was staring at the monk while deep in thought. Her eyebrows were wrinkled slightly as her radiant and enchanting delicate features wore an expression of curiosity. She completely ignored him for the moment.

Whether it was the Wen or the Luo family's brightest and stealthiest expert cultivators, all of them had gathered the power within their bodies and were prepared to kill with one strike at any moment. The monk with the little mouth appeared to not notice the murderous atmosphere as he frowned and cursed, "Nonsense! This is the holy land of Buddhism, how could there be any monsters or ghosts?"

Chang Li suddenly laughed out loud as she interrupted, "Are you sure there isn't one?"

The monk with the little mouth was stunned and looked at her in a peculiar way.

Wen Leyang knew that he could not order the witch around so he walked hastily to the side of his first grandpa before saying helpfully, "There really is a ghost, otherwise how were we able to get out?"

The monk with the little mouth was gradually becoming more frantic as he listened to the group talk, upon hearing Wen Leyang's voice, he looked up and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could make a sound, however, he pulled a clownish expression at Wen Leyang, his nose started twitching rapidly at an inhuman speed. His entire face then contracted and relaxed swiftly as if a gigantic hand was pinching his face continuously.

Grand Elder Wen saw that the monk's face was having a muscle cramp and stopped walking forward in puzzlement. He turned and looked at Fourth Elder Wen, "This must be one of your doings…" Before Grand Elder Wen could finish speaking, the monk had stopped twitching and suddenly turned a frighteningly greedy gaze towards Wen Leyang. His voice trembled yearningly as he held out a hand and whispered to Wen Leyang, "Give it to me!"

Chang Li chuckled with a crisp voice and agreed, "Give it to him."

Wen Leyang was clearly confused, "Give what to him?"

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Chapter 46: The Eloquent Speech

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The monk with the little mouth trembled like a drug addict with withdrawal symptoms and his large, black eyes glowed with a contradictory gaze. Finally, he stomped his foot fiercely and the contradiction in his eyes was totally replaced with greed as he ran forward with great strides towards Wen Leyang.

Once the monk had made a move, everybody else too followed suit.

Dozens of black shadows glided out from every direction noiselessly. The blades of their swords too were silent as they made their attack in a disciplined manner towards the monk.

The monk's gaze was firmly fixed on Wen Leyang's body and he paid no attention towards the terrifying attack that was coming his way. Just at the moment before the swords were about to pierce his body, he raised his two arms and flapped his wide sleeves around, resembling a huge freshwater clam which had closed up in that moment. His entire body shrank and a loud noise, like the explosion of a pressure cooker, erupted from within his body. The elites of both the Wen and the Luo families were thrown into the air like freshly popped corn!

A gust of fishy-smelling evil spirit odor spread in the air and rose into the sky!

The four leaders of the Wen family cursed in rage simultaneously and just as they were about to leap up, a strong force of wind blew into them and threw all their battle poses into a crooked scene. Wen Leyang looked like a weird bird, his limbs were spread apart widely as his body flew past in front of their eyes, slamming towards the little-mouthed monk fiercely.

The little-mouthed monk was a mystery, a single flap from his monk's robe was like a bowling ball smashing into chess pieces and dozens of master cultivators had been thrown into the air with one blow. Wen Leyang did not want his grandfather to risk their lives and though his body was comparatively heavier than before, as long as he was properly prepared the extra weight no longer restricted his moving speed. His held both his arms open widely as if he wanted to hold on to the monk and compete toughness with toughness, to see if the monk's pressure cooker explosion was stronger or his Faulty Punch would be more effective.

The monk too leaped up towards Wen Leyang. He stuck his tongue out and repeatedly licked his lips as if the thing that was flying towards him in the sky was not an enemy but a delicious piece of meat dumpling.

As the monk got closer to his chest, Wen Leyang exhaled with all his might so his chest could tighten up as much as possible to brace for the oncoming impact. His open arms snapped closed and hundreds of joints on his body shook simultaneously, launching into the Hundred Poisons Power from the Faulty Punch in the blink of an eye! Even if that person was the Iron Buddha, he could still hold onto him until he turned into a fluffy ball of dough.

Unexpectedly, his confident hold turned into an empty embrace.

Wen Leyang only felt a lightness in his embrace as the monk's big body shrank into a small ball and slid weirdly down his ribs. At the same time, he felt a chill on his thigh and knew that the little-mouthed monk had taken something out of his trousers' pocket.

Wen Leyang made a muffled growl before contracting and relaxing his waist to somersault in midair. He held onto his knees with his arms, turning himself into a human cannonball and charged forcefully towards the rolling flesh ball of the monk ahead of him.

The little-mouthed monk landed on the ground and spread his body out into its full size again. His face was lit up with excitement and joy as he started to run away quickly. It was only at this moment that the popcorns which had been blasted into the air earlier began to fall back down to earth. It seemed that no one was hurt by the attack as they had put their expert cultivation to good use, stabilizing themselves and controlling their falling speed. Other than the ghastly pale pallor on their faces, they were otherwise uninjured.

Wen Leyang was afraid that the monk might try to hurt the others again and he followed closely behind the monk. The four elders of the Death Trademark and the two elders of The Centipede too no longer cared about remaining stealthy as they shouted to one another as they obstructed and intercepted the path of the little-mouthed monk. However, the monk was like a soft breeze and constantly changed his direction so they couldn't block him at all. Wen Leyang, who was following closely behind the monk was like a fully wound metal spring as he chased after him with all his might. Anyone who accidentally touched him then would certainly supper broken bones.

Chang Li was amused by them until she started to chuckle before suddenly extending her arm to grab onto Wen Leyang firmly, "Don't you think that you are being too stingy?"

Wen Leyang could sense a gentle force that fully extinguished the gigantic inertia produced by his body in the blink of an eye, it felt as if he had bumped head first into a cotton pile. Once he regained his footing, he asked in astonishment, "What do you mean by me being stingy?"

The monk saw that Wen Leyang was no longer chasing him so he too stopped running about. The elite cultivators of both the Wen and the Luo families caught up to him and surrounded him with their swords drawn.

It was only then that everyone could see clearly that within the monk's firm grip was a carrot. He held the carrot up to his nose and sniffed with all his might.

Wen Leyang fumbled through his pockets and found out there and then that the little-mouthed monk had stolen a carrot from his pocket during the exchange earlier. He was so astonished that he was at a loss on whether to cry or laugh at the situation.

The little-mouthed monk too had no care about his audience's gradually dilating pupils as he raised the carrot and brought it towards his mouth. Suddenly, there was a blur in his vision and his upper and lower teeth clacked together on empty air.

The carrot was now in Chang Li's hand. The witch scrutinized it as she asked Wen Leyang, "Does this really taste that good?" She had been hiding in that stone cave for the past two thousand years and had no idea what a carrot was. Even though she had seen Wen Leyang eat one the day before, she did not pay much attention to it then.

Everyone, including the little-mouthed monk, once again turned pale from fright. No one had expected that such an affective but sweet young woman would surprisingly possess such a fine talent. Wen Leyang was the only one who'd kept a normal expression as he nodded his head and answered, "Well, it tastes pretty good actually." Chang Li had previously snatched the Dopod from the old monk, Hope Sense's hand so it did not surprise him that she had effortlessly taken the little-mouthed monk's carrot.

Crunch, a crisp snapping sound was heard as small white teeth like seashells gingerly bit the tip of the carrot.

The little-mouthed monk straightened his back, his Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped. His eyes were red as he stared at the witch's hand as if he wanted to pounce forward but was too afraid. Chang Li chewed thoughtfully for a moment before she grimaced, "This tastes awful!" She swung her hand and threw the offending carrot onto the ground, at the same time stomping her feet to vent her displeasure.

The little-mouthed monk was so heartbroken that he turned pale. Wen Leyang hastily grabbed another carrot from his pocket and lobbed to the monk from afar. The monk's face immediately filled with joy, as he stretched his arm out to catch the carrot. Just as he was about to grab it, his body trembled a few times and stood completely still. He could only watch blindly as this carrot also fell onto the ground.

Chang Li's gaze became brighter and brighter.

Wen Leyang was still puzzled when the sound of a light sigh drifted in faintly and indistinctly on the night breeze. The figures of an old monk and a young monk appeared at the end of their line of sight but it only took them a few steps before they arrived in front of everyone else.

The old monk, other than being slightly older, looked as if he had been cast from the same mold as the little-mouthed monk. He had thick brows and big eyes, his nose bridge was high and straight, and he too had a plump red little mouth. Wen Leyang recognized the younger monk as the little stutterer Hope Voice.

Grand Elder Wen coughed and everybody from the Death Trademark immediately dispersed. The other three grandfathers hid their hands within their sleeves and rapidly snapped their fingers.

The little monk Hope Voice exclaimed fearfully as he hastily took out a string of Buddhist prayer beads from his chest pocket and hung them around his neck. The faces of the Wen family's elders all darkened simultaneously. The strong poison which they had just sent out was curbed as soon as the little monk had put on the Buddhist prayer beads.

The old monk looked at the carrot on the ground with a face full of pity. He then held out a finger and flicked the little-mouthed monk's bald head with great strength as he said, "Idiot, idiot. You're such a useless person, after all the long years of practicing Buddhism, you still can't overcome your old ways!"

Chang Li chuckled and said, "Well, it's only a stick of…" She looked at Wen Leyang with an inquiring gaze.

Wen Leyang hastily pointed out, "Carrot."

"It's only a stick of carrot, since he has eaten some of it then let him eat it all."

The old monk, on the other hand, shook his head seriously, he then began to chant eloquently, "One shall not eat, one shall not eat. All the interests from before must all be forgotten or else one's natural character will constantly be under temptation, if one could not even cultivate his heart, one could never cultivate to the heavens."

Chang Li appeared to be in a good temperament and refuted the chant with a smile, "But if one were to forget this and forget that, one day one would forget entirely who they were."

The old monk stared at the carrot lying on the ground as he spoke, "One does not understand, one does not understand. We do not measure ourselves to others, if we were to forget ourselves then…"

Chang Li did not wait for him to finish speaking and laughed in a carefree manner, "If one were to forget who one is, then what was one cultivating for? Cultivate this and cultivate that, in the end, one cultivates oneself into another person, might as well become a wild hare in the mountains, upon seeing a…carrot it will be a new rush of joy all over again!"

The old monk abruptly shifted his gaze away from the carrot and looked towards Chang Li, a murderous intent flashed from his eyes.

Chang Li's laughter stopped and her charming face lost its smile as soon as she met the gaze of the old monk. Her eyes too started brimming with a murderous gleam as she glared back, "If you keep staring at me I'll dig out your eyeballs!"

Sister Chang Li was no longer happy.

A feeling of arrogance permeated the air like countless steel needles capable of recklessly pricking anyone who stood in its path. All the pores on Wen Leyang's body were tightly shut as he shuffled in front of his four grandfathers to defend them.

The four old men, however, looked at one another in bewilderment as they had not felt a thing.

The young little-mouthed monk jumped behind the old monk as he was seized with panic. He cautiously poked out half his head out and looked at Chang Li with great fright.

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Chapter 47: The Rabbit Demon

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The old monk looked at Chang Li as a shocked expression gradually grew on his face – his small mouth gaped wider and wider and the murderous look in his eyes was ultimately replaced by surprise. He smacked himself hard on the forehead and asked, "You've come out? It…it's you? Cat…THAT fairy!"

Unmoved, Chang Li's serious expression remained unchanged as she continued to glare at the monk with a murderous look.

The old monk had completely lost the grace of a divine monk, he bowed with obsequious smiled and said, "I won't stare, I won't stare anymore. I just didn't recognize you, or else even in death I wouldn't dare to cause trouble for you. You're finally out, my dear Grandaunt! A while ago, a cave had appeared on Zhanyan Peak and I was worried that those brats would disturb you. So, I ordered my disciples to seal off the mountain and had a few tough fights with some ungrateful monsters and ghosts." The old monk started to boast about his contribution to please Chang Li.

Wen Leyang was shocked to see that the old monk knew about Chang Li. She had been hiding in the cave for over two thousand years without seeing anyone, could the old monk be another two thousand years old demon as well? He inched a few steps closer to the witch and asked, "Do you know him?"

The existence of both Chang Li and the old monk was definitely a challenge to the country's personal identity documentation system.

The attitude of the witch towards Wen Leyang was very different from others. She treated him like an inheritor who had taken over the mantle of Tuoxie. She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled radiantly as she explained, "I can't remember which year it was but on the road outside the cave entrance that you had come in from. A rabbit had fallen off the cliff suddenly. In the past, I would have killed it instantly but I was still recovering from my injuries and when I thought of the words he had said to me before, it cheered me up. I was kind-hearted for once and let the rabbit into the cave with my magic arts.

The others could not hear a single word what Chang Li had said at all, they saw only the movement of Chang Li's lips without any sound.

"That rabbit was no ordinary one. It had just eaten a mature Huang Jing and was chased by a serpent as a result. I had accidentally fallen off the cliff but with great luck, it fell exactly on the invisible path that he had left behind. It only ended up breaking both its legs.

As she saw the silly look on Wen Leyang's face, Chang Li could not help but give him a whack on his forehead and continued with a smile, "Another silly boy, just like him! That rabbit had secretly eaten a thousand-year-old Huang Jing and fell off the cliff. Out of boredom, I helped to reconnect its leg bones and allowed it a few days' rest before conveniently laying a foundation of immortality in it. Once it had fully recovered I put it back up onto the cliff. I would never have expected to see it again after so long and to observe that it had succeeded in its cultivation.

A small mouth and an obsession with carrots. Wen Leyang finally linked up the rabbit from the story to the baldy in front of him and stared dumbfounded at the old monk, completely speechless. He had very recently encountered and learned about cultivation, flying swords, the prestige of heaven, the awakening of the mountain's innate power, and on top of that he has a two-thousand-year-old youthful looking Grandaunt. Wen Leyang's nerves had been tempered after the series of surprising encounters but this new revelation that a rabbit had turned into an immortal had turned his worldview upside down again.

Wen Leyang pointed at the old monk, "It's…him? How did you recognize him?"

As he couldn't hear a single word of the conversation between Chang Li and Wen Leyang, the old monk only stood around and bowed with a smile.

Chang Li knew that Wen Leyang did not understand the situation so she explained patiently, "I was the one who laid his base for immortality so how could I not recognize him?"

Wen Leyang suddenly thought of a question and asked with an incredulous look on his face, "Then, are these monks all…"

Chang Li laughed out loud, "How could there be so many monsters turning into immortals? It's only just the two of them." She pointed her slender fingers at the heads of the two small mouthed monks while ignoring the little stuttering monk.

The old rabbit monk saw Chang Li pointing to him and suddenly seemed to recall something. He turned around and hit the head of the younger small mouthed monk, "Faster kowtow, kowtow! Meet your martial grandmother!"

The small-mouthed monk immediately acknowledged this, he knelt on the ground and began to kowtow. The small stuttering monk and the rest were all dumbfounded and simply did not understand what was going on.

Chang Li did not evade the greeting at all and accepted the kowtow of the small-mouthed monk without any qualms, "So, it was all your arrangement to keep everyone away from the cave on the peak?"

The old rabbit monk hesitated as he took a quick look at his surroundings. Both he and Chang Li were surrounded by curious looks but if such looks had carried any weight and even with his Heaven's Cultivation, he would have been squashed by the burden of those stares. "Let's talk somewhere else, somewhere else…there's just too many people here," he said before pointing to the yard. He then turned to the little stuttering monk and ordered, "Take good care of the guests, if the monks from the front yard come over, tell them to get lost!"

Chang Li pulled Wen Leyang over and followed behind the old rabbit monk. Just when the elders of the Wen were about to stop them, Wen Leyang quickly waved them off, "First Grandpa, I'll be right back so please wait here for a moment…"

The rabbit demon also took along his small mouthed relative and walked to the far end of the yard before he stopped, "A thousand and nine hundred years ago, I was granted an opportunity by the Great Immortal to cultivate Heaven's path and to get out of the reincarnation of the six realms…"

Wen Leyang breathed a sigh of relief, he was glad that the monk had finally spoken normally.

Chang Li shook her head in realization as her mouth pursed and pouted, "It's been so many years. How did you end up…becoming a monk?"

The rabbit demon replied obediently, "After I left the cave, I cultivated wholeheartedly for four hundred years and achieved my human form. But…the world was vast and I didn't know where to go…At that time, this temple had just been newly set up. It was only an ordinary temple on Mount Emei. When I was free, I'd come here to chat with the monks and after some time, I started to appreciate the Buddhist teachings and decided to shave and take up the mantle of being a monk espousing the principles of Bu Le (not happy). The old ordained Zen Master at that time helped me tonsure and also praised the root of my wisdom.

Wen Leyang smiled and shook his head. The Holy Land of Buddhism had somehow unknowingly let a demon into their ranks. He guessed that the Bu Le monk would definitely be sentenced to the Avici Hell after his death due to serious malfeasance.

Chang Li too, found it ironic. Though she did not know much about the monks, she understood it was a human religion and commented casually, "The magic art of Buddhism is about neutrality and peace which has some merit to it. If you could really cultivate deep into it, there's some serious power to it!"

Bu Le, the demon monk nodded his head enthusiastically, "Indeed! Indeed!"

To which, Chang Li rebuked, "Speak properly!"

"…At the beginning, I didn't take this group of baldies seriously. But then came a wandering monk who stayed at the temple for more than half a year and discussed the teachings of Buddha with me every day. At first, I didn't think too much of it and thought that having someone to bicker with every day was not a bad way to pass the time. Never in my wildest dream would I expect the monk to laughingly say to me before he left – rabbit, I'll spare you since there's still some Buddhist-like nature in you. The merciful Buddha had left behind a pathway for divine intervention, if you can really erase the evil-natured spirit in you, it will be a virtue in itself! Opportunities like this don't come easily, it only takes one false step to go beyond redemption so you better take care of it!"

Chang Li curled her lip, "What nonsense! I feel like twisting his head off to see it's made of flesh."

Bu Le rubbed his hands with a mirthless smile, "There's something you don't understand. The Zen in Buddhism is really something…"

Wen Leyang saw that Chang Li's face was full of disdain and hurriedly interrupted Bu Le, "That wild monk could identify the rabbit's…Bu Le Monk's true identity while Bu Le Monk thought he was just an ordinary human. There must be a vast difference in cultivation level between you two."

Not taking the comment seriously, Bu Le laughed, "The monk's words were wasted somehow as I didn't think of stepping into the outside world in the first place, else I wouldn't have become a monk in the temple. Later on, the old Abbott handed down his position to me before he passed away. As there were many unusual talents in the Buddhist world, I kept as low a profile as possible and lived a simple and disciplined life. I was born a demon but with the cultivation base that you had granted to me, the process of cultivation became easier. I also gathered some good disciples and the Great Mercy Temple was gradually transformed from an ordinary temple to the Holy Land of Buddhism that you see today."

Chang Li waited for him to finish and said in a mocking tone, "That little-mouthed monk is also your apprentice? You've got a pair of good eyes, that little monk will achieve something big in the future!"

Bu Le smiled happily while nodding his head, "Nominally he's not my apprentice but I'm the one who is teaching him!" He pointed to the small-mouthed monk behind him as he said this. The old rabbit demon had been alive for over a thousand years and his greatest hobby was to gather talented disciples. In this manner, Hope Sense and the other monks were the inheritors of the rabbit demon's legacy.

Wen Leyang smiled politely while in his head he thought that since this Bu Le Monk was originally a rabbit demon yet he had secretly raised this temple to become the Holy Land of Buddhism, revered by all Buddhist cultivators. Could this be regarded as the limitless potential of the Buddha's teachings?

The rabbit demon Bu Le Monk saw Wen Leyang's polite smile and, feeling slightly embarrassed, he defended himself, "This little…little brother, though I cultivated Buddhism as a demon, for over a thousand years, I've been redeeming myself with purity and kindness, doing things with only Zen in my heart. The Buddha has no form and all living things have no form, if you were to focus on the Buddha wholeheartedly…"

Wen Leyang turned to Chang Li suddenly and asked, "Is the…life of a demon very long?"

Chang Li lifted her slightly pointy chin, her long eyelashes almost touched the eyes of Wen Leyang as she asked with a faint smile, "Little boy, what're you trying to ask?"

Wen Leyang smiled good-naturedly and said, "I was just curious, that's all."

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Chapter 48: The Dharma Practice

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wen Leyang has a virtuous and sincere character. Though he was kind-hearted he was not a foolish young lad and was capable of deep thinking. He had been considering a few points in his head. First of all, Chang Li is a very beautiful woman, so why was Grand Master Tuoxie willing to die instead of living together with her. Also, the Rabbit Demon which had an esteemed status was absolutely obedient to her and the monk had shouted 'cat' in fear when he first met her. When one added in her constantly evolving expressions, her out-of-this-world beauty, and her appearance which had remained unchanged for two thousand years…

Chang Li's smile was innocent and warm, her red lips parted gently as she said four words in a light tone to him, "I'm a Cat Demon." A light scent of orchids exuded from her breath.

Wen Leyang's curiosity was greatly satisfied and he chortled, "I used to have a pet cat when I was younger, it ran away in the end."

Chang Li, on the other hand, was stunned. She looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression and asked, "Are you not afraid of me?"

Wen Leyang was a youth of today's modern age, he had read all the 'Doraemon' comics and 'The Legend of Sealed Book' when he was younger. He had also played role-playing games such as 'The Legend of the Sword' and 'Fairy' at the cyber café in the county town. So, to him and most of the teenagers of his generation, the word 'demon' no longer held a negative connotation in his heart. He had utterly no awareness as a spiritual practitioner and shook his head in a candid manner as he laughed, "Why should I be afraid of you? I'm not a mouse!"

Chang Li's gaze was sharp and bright as she stared at Wen Leyang for a long while. She then held out her arm and patted his shoulder, "Young lad, you are much stronger than your great master!"

The rabbit demon monk Bu Le wondered what the relationship between Chang Li and Wen Leyang was. To his eyes, Wen Leyang was just a normal teenager with fine natural endowments. Bu Le continued to fawn at Chang Li, "Before I retired and lived in seclusion away from the world, I had left behind a phrase of Buddhist sutra at the temple. This sutra instructed all the Great Mercy Temple's disciples and their disciple's disciples to guard and protect Zhanyan Peak in the coming generations…"

Chang Li waved her arm and interrupted him, "I knew about all that. The little lad known as Hope Sense had told me before this. I spared him his life, you should send someone over to the peak to bring him back."

The rabbit demon turned around to look at the little-mouthed monk and it was at this point that Wen Leyang realized that the little-mouthed monk who had appeared to be thirty years of age was also a rabbit demon.

The younger rabbit demon braced himself as he answered, "I've sent someone over…after seeing his caller ID." The Great Mercy Temple had received Hope Sense's call and even though they could not hear anything of note, they knew that something must have happened to him. So they had dispatched some of their monks to help.

Chang Li's facial features were covered with a puzzled expression as she repeated with her head tilted, "His caller ID?"

Wen Leyang gave a brief explanation but it made Chang Li even more confused than before. She shook her head and pushed that thought aside as she spoke to the two rabbit demons, "The cave now lies empty so there's no further need to guard it anymore. Do release the people that you've captured as well."

The rabbit demon Bu Le had only chatted with Chang Li for a short while but he was no longer as reserved as he was before. He laughed and shook his head at her request, "If I were the one to go and hand this new decree over, all the monks would only see that the abbot from a thousand year ago had leaped back to life. They would all certainly be petrified to the point of madness. This matter will be handed over to Shan Duan, he's outstanding with good judgment and he's also the abbot of the temple!" As he said this, he turned and pointed towards the little-mouthed monk behind him.

The little-mouthed monk Shan Duan smiled shyly and said, "I shall pass the new decree now. Those people had thought that there was the birth of an extraordinary treasure on the mountain and made so much trouble because of that. If I were to release them now they will still make trouble on the mountain so I had no choice but to imprison them at the temple."

There was a worried look on the old rabbit demon Bu Le's face, he shook his head and added, "These people were bewitched and enchanted by sorcery; those demons and ghosts of earthly ancestors had been hidden away from the world for decades without any suspicious happenings. Yet in the recent years, they have begun to become utterly insane. Regardless of where they were, as long as there was any sign of disturbance or trouble, they would rush forward in great numbers as if they were looking for something. You should be more careful if you descend the mountain now, I'm afraid there will be more disruptions soon."

The earthly ancestors were those who had cultivated a type of devilish sorcery and had remained hidden stealthily in the mortal world. They had been placid for decades but had suddenly become restless recently. So whether the place was a famous mountain or some great desert or lake, whenever anything unusual would happen they would be drawn to that area in great numbers. The few great Mountain Sects had begun to take notice as it seemed like these monsters would receive some form of information and were spreading their net in search of something unknown.

Though Bu Le and Shan Duan had demonic origins, yet they have cultivated many years of Dharma practice and prolonged intense meditation. They can be considered as reformed demons of justice.

Ever since the emergence of the ancient cave on Zhanyan Peak was revealed to the world, originally it was not an important occurrence but it had drawn in a chain of dispute on a grand scale. Nothing can be said of the two families of the Wen and Luo had come to investigate and look for their ancestors, but the cruel monsters who had also attempted to ascend the mountain and failed to pass the Great Mercy Temple's blockade then sent out a rumor about the heaven-sent extraordinary treasure at the peak, catching the attention of the huge group of rogue cultivators who then arrived to cause trouble in their attempt to ascend the mountain.

Disdain showed on Chang Li's face once again as she patted Wen Leyang's shoulder and told the monk, "This is my junior, if he were ever inconvenienced by anyone else in the future…"

Both rabbit demons immediately puffed their chests out as their expressions turned serious and menacing, "Then they will also incur the wrath of the Great Mercy Temple! They should weigh themselves first if they wanted to look for trouble with the Mountain Sect's five blessings! Oh, merciful Buddha."

Chang Li raised her brow in puzzlement, "The five blessings?"

The rabbit demon Bu Le explained proudly, "There are five great Mountain Sects. Firstly the Three Mountains refers to the sects located in the Kunlun Mountains, Jilong Mountain, and Eyang Mountain, while the One Palace refers to the One Word Palace at Lake Luohai, they are not monks nor cultivators but have formed a sect of their own. Finally, the Great Mercy refers to our Great Mercy Temple on Mount Emei. These five sects are known as the five blessings as they help those who follow the right path to bring benefits to the world.

Wen Leyang laughed heartily at the explanation as the form of address was so incredible that it sounded like it was from a folklore.

The younger rabbit demon took out a name card from his pocket and gave it to him, "Please do call us if you need anything else."

Wen Leyang was frank, so he recounted the incident of his seventeen clansmen who were buried alive after being hit by an evil spell on that unnamed mountain slope before asking, "Do you know who would be capable of doing that?"

The little rabbit demon frowned and pondered for a while. His answer, however, disappointed Wen Leyang greatly as it was the same answer that the old monk Ji Fei had said. They both mentioned that such dark sorcery, while relatively common, yet this particular spell had never been heard of for a long time, it was a long-lost art. Of those who had been trying to ascend to the mountain peak, most of their strength was at a normal level but there was one particular monster with an unknown name who was extremely difficult to handle. By the time Shan Duan had arrived the unnamed one had already escaped.

The old monk Bu Le was afraid that Chang Li might still be displeased, he tapped his chest confidently and laughed, "Don't worry, little brother. This matter had happened on Mount Emei and our Great Mercy Temple will take the matter on. I will inform you immediately if we know of any new developments."

Wen Leyang nodded his head and continued to ask, "Have both the great masters heard of the Sun Dynasty Palace?"

Shan Duan was obviously relieved as he asked with a righteous indignation, "Did they offend you? No, I don't care! I will make them come to your family's place and humbly apologize to all of you in a short while. Whether to pay with one's life for a murder or to pay back the money owed in a debt, they ought to do what needs to be done!"

The prestige of being connected to a large sect was indeed quite sufficient.

Wen Leyang laughed, "It's best if we can have a discussion with them as there were some things that we have yet to fully understand."

Chang Li waited for them to finish talking before nodding to the two monks. She grabbed Wen Leyang and walked back out of the courtyard, "Foolish fellow, if you ever need anything you should seek help from these two monks. I had laid the foundations for Bu Le's immortal roots and according to the lineage of demonic cultivation, he is my disciple. If you need help he wouldn't dare to ignore you."

Wen Leyang looked into her eyes as his own were filled with questions.

Chang Li laughed in a free and easy manner, "I will now walk around everywhere in the world. Even if he's dead, he would have left some bones behind somewhere. Moreover, I do not believe that he would have died so soon. There are so many old demons in the world so I should be able to discover some clues about his whereabouts. I'm out of here."

Wen Leyang had guessed that she would not stay with him for too long, yet he utterly did not expect that she would leave so abruptly. He shouted at her elegant and rapidly receding figure, "Look for the Wen family village at the Nine Peaks Mountain at Western Chuan, number 138…" But before he could finish saying the address, Chang Li waved her hand and disappeared into the dark night.

Wen Leyang's heart, however, felt slightly emptier.

Outside the courtyard, a group of monks rushed forward with an attitude of utmost respect. They had been waiting for Wen Leyang to come out so that they could send them off the mountain.

The elders of the Wen family saw Wen Leyang walk out of the courtyard alone. They looked at each other in a peculiar manner but did not ask any questions. Wen Leyang walked alongside Fourth Elder Wen and told him, "Fourth Grandpa, Wen Xiaoyi is waiting outside."

Fourth Elder Wen nodded his head at first, then he jumped up abruptly and smacked his hand hard on Wen Leyang's head as he scolded angrily, "Little b*stard, if there's even one strand of hair missing from her head, I'd skin you alive!"

Grand Elder Luo's chin was pointed almost skywards, his eyes were even more swollen now and it was almost impossible for him to open them, yet he still laughed at Wen Leyang's misfortune as he asked, "Who's Wen Xiaoyi? That name sounds like she's a little girl, hehe. The children of the Wen family are indeed terrifying, they would dare to bring a maiden along to wherever they go in the world."

Wen Leyang nodded at Grand Elder Luo and said in all honesty, "That, err…Luo Wangfu is also waiting together with Wen Xiaoyi for our return."

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Chapter 49: Release Them

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The fat monk and the old monk spread their legs and ran about in the courtyard as they shouted and ranted, trying to urge the Great Mercy Temple to release their companions immediately.

The both of them decided that they could buy Chang Li some favors so they did not attack too viciously to offend the Great Mercy Temple. Both of their magic weapons tossed and turned in the air yet these weapons always veered away before hitting the Buddhist hall and flew a safe distance away from the monks' bald heads

Hope Aware, from the seat of honor at the Ten Modes Monastery, appeared exactly as he sounded. He was big and tall with horizontal brows with a fierce and determined look in his eyes. He looked like the living embodiment of a Skanda as he shouted loudly and commanded the disciples under him to catch the culprits. The Buddhist practitioners adhered strictly to a creed of mercy, meaning that they should only risk their life if the enemy also risked theirs. So, they could only run about behind the enemy instead of throwing out their Buddhist prayer beads and kill the sibling with an explosion.

The main Buddhist hall and the monasteries of the Great Mercy Temple were arranged one after the other with plentiful sculptures and buildings in the temple complex. The old monk and the fat monk had been thieves all their lives and their ability to evade capture allowed them to elude the chasing monks and caused a grand and spectacular bustle for almost half a day.

In the end, the divine monk Hope Aware had to resort to his magic weapon which was a demon-trapping golden alms bowl. Otherwise, those two old thieves would still have been running about for many more hours. Once caught, a few monks came forward and confiscated their magic weapons, talismans and precious elixirs. Only then did Hope Aware retract his magic weapon and ask, "Demons, how did you manage to enter the compound?" There was a mountain-guarding divine beast lurking outside the Great Mercy Temple but Hope Aware would rather die than believe that these two were capable of outsmarting the divine beast. He was also wary that these two had more capable companions who had not shown themselves.

Shui Jing and Ji Fei had not known that there was a divine beast out there as they stared defiantly back at Hope Aware and said, "This old monk has a body full of supernatural powers, there's nowhere that we cannot go!"

Ji Fei tried to hide his weakness, "I would never brag to all you crude and impetuous monks! You should release this great master's friends soon, or else…" Ji Fei imbued his voice with Qi power from his dantian, causing his words to boom and carry far across the mountains…

The divine monk Hope Aware has a short temper, his face full of horizontal muscles were squeezed together and he asked in a raging laugh, "Or else? What can you do…" Before he could finish his sentence, however, he suddenly wrinkled his eyebrows and put his palms together in a devout manner while bowing towards the direction of the temple's back courtyard. His long earlobes that hung below his jaw trembled slightly as if he was listening to something.

Ji Fei was so shrewd that even his brows were hollow. He saw the situation and rolled his eyes around in search of ideas. He continued to thrust out his chest and shout aloud, "Ji Fei has a camaraderie as close as brothers with the rogue cultivators, we push forward and retreat together. If you monks were to refuse to release our friends today, then this great master will never let this matter go! Even though the Great Mercy Temple is the head of the five blessings, but you cannot blind the eyes of all mankind!"

The old monk had assumed a faked demeanor and the naïve Shui Jing believed it. He looked admiringly at the old monk before loudly chiming in as well, "Shui Jing is also like that!"

The divine monk Hope Aware straightened his body and looked at the both of them with a strange expression. He then flung his sleeves once before instructing his disciples, "Release them! Same goes for the group of rogue cultivators, release them as well!" After saying that, as there's no longer anything else to be done, he turned around and left the front courtyard.

Ji Fei was both shocked and joyous as he and the fat monk Shui Jing looked at one another. Their chests were so puffed up with pride that it almost reached their chins. The continued to curse as they retrieved their confiscated items, bragging that if it wasn't for the monk's good sense, the Great Mercy Temple would have been razed to the ground by now.

Compared to the Wen and Luo family members, the rogue cultivators had received a very different treatment from the monks.

The Wen family and Luo family were of normal human beings. To the monks, they did not practice magic arts nor supernatural powers and were imprisoned at the slightly desolated back of the mountain. They were guarded lightly with just a prohibition spell and someone brought their meals every day.

The rogue cultivators, however, were treated very differently. Those who were of decent capabilities such as Leyang Wen, his bodyguards, and the Red Grandaunt were detained along with hundreds of other rogue cultivators in the main Buddha hall at the front courtyard, contained within the golden Buddha statue's own prohibition spell. The Ten Modes Monastery was in charge of guarding them while a few other monks of the 'Hope' name generation also kept a close watch on them at all times. The rogue cultivators were not allowed to communicate with one another.

The monks had not expected that there were people who were capable of bypassing the divine beast and trespassing into the temple. When they had put the prohibition spell in place they did not completely isolate the sounds from the hall as they had hoped that the melodious sounds from the Buddhist prayers would have an uplifting influence on this group of devil incarnates. So earlier, when Ji Fei and Shui Jing had been shouting and wrangling, the rogue cultivators could hear everything clearly and gave them both a thumbs-up in their hearts, all the while praising them as good fellows, real friends!

Under Hope Aware's orders, the rogue cultivators were all released from their prison. They were even more surprised by the supposed prestige of Ji Fei and Shui Jing do be able to convince the temple to let them go. The rogue cultivators retrieved their magic weapons, then, while supporting the wounded, crowded around Ji Fei and Shui Jing as they walked out of the temple together. They asked with a lively discussion on how the two monks were able to convince the Great Mercy Temple into releasing them.

It was certainly not easy to make up the lie, Ji Fei had smiled and shook his head at the questions. He only said this in an offhand manner, "As long as our fellow rogue cultivator friends are safe and sound, I think that we should leave the matter alone…"

After being released, the rogue cultivators then bumped into Wen Leyang and the elites of the Wen and the Luo families. There were a total of hundreds of people when the two groups merged as they rushed towards the magnificent front gate of the Great Mercy Temple. There were a few who had ungallantly spat on the gates as they left.

Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu were waiting impatiently until their hearts had almost erupted into flames when suddenly, row upon row of Buddha's light floated up and lit up the mountainside around the Great Mercy Temple as bright as day. They saw hundreds of people rush out of the temple in a haphazard manner; they wrangled with one another and roared with laughter while the sounds of their curses roused Mount Emei from its slumber. The two young girls were both overjoyed and cheered as they welcomed them.

Wen Xiaoyi dove head first into Fourth Elder Wen's embrace. The old man immediately broke into a rare kindly smile which was followed by him giving Wen Leyang an icy-cold stare, "The little girl is not injured, so consider yourself lucky!"

Wen Leyang tried to shift the blame onto Wen Tunhai, "It was the Eldest Uncle who asked me to bring Wen Xiaoyi along…"

Mumu, on the other hand, was holding on to both her grandfathers' hands as she smiled with tears running down her face. She saw that her family's elder's eyes were swollen to the size of kiwi fruits and stomped her feet ferociously before asking Wen Xiaoyi, "Little sister, can I borrow your big-muzzled weapon? I would like to blast this broken temple into pieces!"

Wen Xiaoyi gave a crisp assent and began to remove the blunderbuss which was strapped to her back. Wen Leyang hastily stood between the two of them.

Ji Fei and Shui Jing walked around Wen Leyang sneakily. They blinked their eyes and looked around for a long time before asking him in a hushed voice, "Brother, where's…where's the little grandaunt?"

However, before Wen Leyang could answer, Wen Xiaoyi caught sight of the two old thieves, she leaped forward and said in an unforgiving manner, "The both of you almost killed Wen Leyang with your little act! I've yet to get even with you two!"

The four elders of the Wen family have not been told of the incident at the Red Leaves Forest and assumed that the pair of sneaky-looking monks before them were the enemy. With a single wave of their hand, the master cultivators from the Death Trademark immediately surrounded Ji Fei and Shui Jing, cutting off their way of escape.

The rogue cultivators too broke their formation. At the moment, Ji Fei and Shui Jing have become like heroes in their eyes. The two old rogues did not need to lift a hand in the fight as hundreds of rogue cultivators immediately jumped in front of them and stared at the other group with fierce expressions.

The Luo were also descendants of Tuoxie and by that connection, the Luo elders directed the master cultivators of The Centipede into a battle formation and launched their Spirit Needles one after the other.

Wen Leyang had seen firsthand of the rogue cultivator's ruthlessness and he immediately stood before his family elders as his usually virtuous and sincere face snarled with rare viciousness. He was like an enraged leopard as he stared at the rogue cultivators and as he spoke, his voice was sonorous and forceful like the sound of metal striking metal. There was no room for doubt as he demanded to the rogue cultivators, "Retreat!" The scar on his cheekbone glowed a murderous red under the light.

Wen Xiaoyi stood next to Wen Leyang and hefted the blunderbuss up, her expression was full of disdain as she asked, "Who's first?!"

Mumu had been their companions all the way so she too jumped forward to help Wen Xiaoyi. The long Spirit Needles clacked in her hands as she knocked them together. The undead toddler, Ah Dan, put its hands on its hips was strolled forward in a leisurely manner. Though the night sky was dark, it wore a pair of sunglasses on its face.

Suddenly a clear and melodious Buddhist chant could be heard. The little stutterer Hope Voice, who had been in charge of leading the way, immediately gathered with a group of monks to guard Wen Leyang. The young and old monks of the Great Mercy Temple have all received the rabbit demon abbot Shan Duan's decree and treated Wen Leyang as their honored guest.

Hoping to stave off disaster, Red Grandaunt ran ahead and waved her arms around as she spoke to the four elders of the Wen family, "You old folks were wrong to react this way, the child Wen Leyang had caught the fancy of Ji Fei and Shui Jing, which was a heaven-sent blessing! You see, even though your family has its own legacy, but if this child ever had the opportunity to ascend and become immortal, we old folks should never stand in their way…" She had thought that the elders of the Wen family were reluctant to let Wen Leyang leave with Ji Fei.

Second Elder Wen squinted his eyes and stared at Wen Leyang as he asked, "So, you've formally acknowledged another as your master teacher now?" His gaze was gloomy and colder than a venomous snake's.

Wen Leyang tried to make sense of it all in his heart as he shook his head emphatically and said, "Wen Leyang dares not. I am the disciple of the Wen family and I will never seek knowledge from another master teacher."

Upon hearing this, Second Elder Wen's expression became calmer.

Ji Fei hastily waved his hands and bowed to his supporters as he explained, "It was a misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding. Fellow respected celestial beings, please stand down…"

The rogue cultivators had already lost once to the Great Mercy Temple and they could see that the monks were obviously on Wen Leyang's side. The majority of them had also mingled with Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi, and Mumu during the past few days. Other than a few scoundrels, most of them didn't really want to fight so they dispersed immediately upon hearing their idol's instruction. They could see the way that the monks regarded Wen Leyang with awe and veneration and a few of the smarter ones started to ponder whether the reason for their release was due to this silly young lad instead.

Wen Leyang too, hastily explained to his grandfathers, "I'm afraid that there were some misunderstandings here, I'll explain it all to you in a while."

Grand Elder Wen nodded with a smile on his face and patted Fourth Elder Wen's shoulder as he winked at him. Immediately, all the elites from the Death Trademark retreated.

When both sides have backed down, Ji Fei and Shui Jing both let out a relieved sigh. The two of them were most afraid of fights and while little ghosts were fine, it was not a good idea to offend that living ancestor of the two families.

The short man, Leyang Wen brought along his three muscular bodyguards as he too walked ahead. His pale and weak face still carried some strains of remorse and he saluted the two thieves, "Much appreciation to these two masters for their hand in this. Thank you for risking your safety to infiltrate the temple to save us!"

Leyang Wen then saluted the rest of the rogue cultivators and addressed them all, "This time Leyang Wen had fallen under the bewitchment of some devilry and got so many of my friends injured and inconvenienced. For this, I would not be forgiven even if I were to die a thousand deaths. We were lucky that the monks of the Great Mercy Temple were reasonable and merciful. I, Leyang Wen, now swears to fully investigate the manner and find out who the chief culprit is. We will issue a report within three months of the investigation. In the future, if any of you have any directives, the Leyang family of Painting Town will never have any objections!" After saying his speech, he then turned around and left along with his three subordinates.

After Leyang Wen had led the group of rogue cultivators up the mountain peak, he noticed that something was amiss. Zhanyan Peak was a desolate place and there were no auspicious signs to be seen there. When they encountered other beings with great supernatural powers fighting there as well, he then realized that they were being used as cannon fodder. Though he had realized the trickery he had refused to give up and continued to lead the rogue cultivators up the peak. In the end, they were all captured by the masters from the Great Mercy Temple.

Leyang Wen had contacted these rogue cultivators to storm Mount Emei in search of the extraordinary treasure based on the information he had received from the elders of his family. Now was not a good time for him to say anything more so the most important matter at the moment was for him to return home and search for the truth.

The rogue cultivators too felt that they had made a fool out of themselves as they exchanged casual goodbyes before dispersing on their own. Of course, there were some who had refused to give up and snuck back to Zhanyan Peak, only to return empty-handed.

Red Grandaunt and Giant Bull passed their phone numbers to Wen Leyang. The little monk Hope Voice, upon seeing that there would be no more fighting, became full of high spirits and stuttered 'good' to Wen Leyang over twenty times before finally finishing it with the word 'bye'. At long last, he fulfilled his charitable and pious deed. He led his monks and returned to the temple.

The mountain which had exploded with sound earlier finally began to quieten down. The elite troops of both the Wen and the Luo families followed behind their elders in silence. Ji Fei and Shui Jing dared not walk out of line as Wen Xiaoyi's big-muzzled weapon was still aimed at their bodies.

The sky was brightening into a pale white, the day soon broke on the wintering mountain as an ice-cold breeze blew past them.

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Chapter 50: Be Our Guest

The old monk had hidden behind the fat monk for some time, revealing only his two arms which were held with their palms together in an apologetic manner towards Wen Xiaoyi.

Wen Xiaoyi sniggered as she asked Shui Jing, "Hey monk, why are you so sincere to let him hide behind you?"

The fat monk chuckled, "Little grandaunt, with that powerful weapon of yours, what difference would it make if one were to hid behind or stand in front of it?"

Now, who said that the monk was foolish?

Fourth Elder Wen's brows were wrinkled into a strange and eccentric expression. Wen Shulin's big-muzzled weapon which is now in Wen Xiaoyi's hands had a limited firing range. Also, its power was only slightly stronger than a double-bang firecracker (something that the author was extremely fond of when he was younger) so how could it terrify the two so badly?

Ji Fei too finally understood the principle and emerged from behind the fat monk with raised eyebrows. His face bore a flattering smile, "Little grandaunt, from now on matters of the Wen family will also become the manners of us two siblings…"

Wen Xiaoyi shook her head with a great effort, "No way, the Wen Bucao's matters are ours alone, why would we need the two of you to interfere?" She then wrinkled her cute little brows and contemplated for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes twinkled with an idea, "Since you keep telling the others that Wen Leyang has officially acknowledged the both of you as his masters, why don't you kneel and kowtow to him now and formally accept him as YOUR master teacher instead!"

The old monk could be threatened with a beheading and he'd still not agree to this term. Though he knew that Wen Xiaoyi was obviously only jesting with them, he had no other choice than to abide as the big-muzzled weapon was in her hands. He could only keep a straight face as he shook his head with all his might.

Suddenly, a blur appeared before everyone's eyes and a charming and smiling human figure materialized before them.

Wen Leyang was both surprised and joyous, "You…why are you still here?"

The person who had appeared suddenly was Chang Li and she laughed as she replied Wen Leyang, "I was worried about the two rabbits so I sneakily stayed behind to check on them." She extended her arm and patted Wen Xiaoyi's forehead as she said reproachfully, "Why didn't you shoot them in the beginning? From now on, if anyone were to even goggle at you, you will immediately aim directly at them and shoot them!"

Wen Xiaoyi nodded shyly.

Chang Li greeted Little Chili Pepper and then turned her attention to the old monk, "Formally acknowledge him as your master teacher, now!"

The fat monk and the old monk's old faces crumpled, they wore a distressed expression and dared not speak even one word.

Wen Leyang roared with laughter as he took a few steps forward and said to the two monks, "Then you should start running away now!"

The fat monk was delighted as he turned around to leave but Ji Fei grabbed and held onto him. He looked at Wen Leyang with a complicated expression in his eyes and asked, "Start running away now? What…what do you mean?"

Wen Leyang looked at Chang Li who nodded once in reply. Her gaze was warm and sincere, meaning that it was all up to Wen Leyang's decision now.

"You should start running now, I will give you a three-day head start before I come looking for you. If I manage to catch the both of you within a month, then you shall formally acknowledge me as your master teacher. If I were to fail at catching you then we shall call it even, if the both of you were to come to the Nine Peaks Mountain, I'd even buy you a drink!"

The old monk was stunned for a moment before looking at Chang Li with a frightful expression, "A month's time…that's a little too long, isn't it?"

Chang Li's charming expression began to change, "Make it ten years then!"

The old monk and the fat monk both leaped up immediately, "One month's time, so be it, one month's time. We'll leave now…" Before their voices have died away, the two monks took huge strides and employed all their ability to gallop away. After a few rise and falls, they disappeared into the boundless mountain.

Chang Li said to Wen Leyang, "After three days, I'll help you catch them!"

Wen Leyang roared with laughter, "Why bother catching them? I was only trying to intimidate and frighten the both of them into hiding for one month. To me, that's already a fair deal." He hasn't turned twenty yet so he still had a youthful temperament in his bones. This prank was meant to poke fun at the two old thieves and he couldn't stop himself from laughing over it.

Chang Li too started laughing elegantly as she patted him on his shoulder, "You really are much stronger than he was. I'm leaving for real this time…" She disappeared from their sight, leaving only the echo of a melodious voice and the scent of orchids…

Wen Leyang talked nonstop during the way back. He recounted his encounters from the Red Leaves Forest to Mount Emei, filling the story in for his four grandfathers. At the same time he did not try to hide the facts from the Luo family, and anyways Luo Wangfu was present as well for some of those encounters so even if he'd wanted to embellish the details, he could not do so.

The four grandfathers stared in bewilderment, not only was Wen Leyang's circumstances in acquiring his powers shocking, even the story of Chang Li and Grand Master Tuoxie was equally inconceivable. In comparison, Wen Xiaoyi's terrifying big-muzzled weapon and the rabbit demon at the ancient temple deep within the mountains became less astounding.

Wen Leyang had reached the part of the story of Mount Emei's nameless mountain slope where seventeen of his clansmen were bewitched and buried alive. The four elders of the Wen family simultaneously exclaimed, "What?" as they exchanged glances amongst themselves. They were deeply sorrowful but also intrigued at the same time.

The other thing the elders were pondering on was the earlier incident of when Wen Leyang had managed to absorb all the Wind Poison which had been set by Fourth Elder Wen with seemingly very little effort. The four elders did not dare to make a conclusion about it now and will deliberate on it after they've returned home.

Grand Elder Wen laughed proudly as he pointed towards his three aged brothers, "Back then when I used to boast…every time I'd talked about the Grand Master's supernatural powers all of you would laugh at me! You can laugh now all you want but I bet you'd never expect that our Grand Master was an immortal!"

Wen Leyang had shed his old self and was now reborn into a new person. He's forging a path with wide strides which couldn't be comprehended by a normal person. Nobody can tell whether in the future this path was a straight highway lit with golden light or a treacherous and difficult road. Regardless, his ability is now at a formidable level and the four elders were full of relief and they looked at the Luo family with eyes brimming with pride.

The two elders of the Luo family were deeply concerned with something else as they repeatedly chastised Little Chili Pepper, "Why did you tell them your name!"

Grand Elder Wen laughed uproariously, "This little girl's name is very pleasant to the ears and I think that both our families should become relatives by marriage!" Upon saying that he immediately diverted the topic so that Grand Elder Luo would not become hostile, "What say you, why did the group of Miao clansmen not come to the mountain? Both our families had received the same information so according to common practice they too should know about the information regarding our Grand Master which was revealed at Zhanyan Peak."

Grand Elder Luo snorted and replied, "Maybe the Miao clan had forgotten their roots after over two thousand years! Or perhaps they've even forgotten the name of our Grand Master!"

Grand Elder Wen shook his head and said lightly, "That's highly unlikely, the Seven Maidens Mountain, hey…if all of you aren't occupied, why don't you come and visit the Nine Peaks Mountain? Our two families could get to know one another and you can take it as our way of apologizing for whatever transgressions we have caused! Moreover, I can also tell you about the matters which had happened on the Seven Maidens Mountain. In the past, our three families were isolated from one another but now since a clue about our Grand Master has been revealed, and there was also the presence of that cat…that elder. Maybe, in the future, all three families might move and stay together."

Grand Elder Luo considered the offer for a little while. He then made a call to his family to let them know that he was safe and to make sure that all was well in their village. Once that was done, he nodded, "We'll go pay you a visit then, I want to see how poor your Wen family is now!"

Wen Leyang hastily called his eldest uncle Wen Tunhai and informed him of the situation. Wen Tunhai laughed heartily upon learning that the four elders were safe and sound and gave the order to his family members, "Prepare scrambled eggs and lamb stew, tonight we will all feast like a king!"

The two families left the mountain together. First, they retrieved the seventeen Wen clansmen's remains. The four elders of the Wen family checked each of the deceased meticulously while an expression of comprehension passed through their faces.

Almost a hundred people marched forward in a great contingent. Once they'd left the mountain, they immediately hired two huge coach buses as neither the Wen or the Luo family were hard for cash. After traveling for a day and a half, the two buses arrived at the foot of the Nine Peaks Mountain.

Wen Tunhai, who had been injured severely a few days ago in the attack by the Sun Dynasty Palace, insisted upon waiting at the foot of the mountain to greet his returning family members. Ever since Wen Leyang had left for Mount Emei, he had activated another prohibition spell which had been left behind by a previous Wen ancestor. However, the past few days have been relatively calm and quiet. No one from the Sun Dynasty Palace came to cause any more trouble so he deactivated the spell early that morning. The Luo family is visiting and the Wen family should not embarrass themselves.

The few masters of the Wen family looked at the mountain's peak and heaved a relieved sigh. Grand Elder Wen took good care of the Luo family as he led them up the mountain. Wen Leyang and Wen Xiaoyi walked beside Mumu and pointed out the mountain's scenery to her with enchanted expressions.

Little Chili Pepper pursed her lips, "It's empty and desolate during the winter, what's there to see?" As she said that Ah Dan, which had been cradled in her arms, suddenly struggled to free himself from her hold. It walked unsteadily towards an empty patch of land at the side of the foothill and squatted down. It studied the ground in detail for a little while before he turned to Little Chili Pepper and babbled at her. He abruptly leaped upwards, shifted all the weight towards his little buttocks, and rammed himself forcefully onto the ground!

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Chapter 51: The Text Message

The size of the tainted land was not as big as before with a circumference of a dozen meters. The undead toddler Ah Dan smacked his buttocks onto the ground seven to eight times before returning to Mumu's side.

Wen Leyang's expression was somber and he immediately started digging on the places Ah Dan had landed on. The first time Ah Dan had displayed this skill, they discovered seventeen of his clansmen's bodies buried in Mount Emei. Not that it had done the same thing at the foot of the Nine Peaks Mountain, Wen Leyang had good reason to be concerned.

As his fingers came into contact with the ground, Wen Leyang's heart sank. The hard mountain rock was loose and soft as if the land had recently been plowed for sowing. It was exactly like the situation that they'd encountered on the nameless mountain slope at Mount Emei.

Fourth Elder Wen summoned the people from the Death Trademark to help Wen Leyang with the digging. After a while, they managed to unearth a body which had not begun to decay from the soil.

Wen Leyang exhaled heavily. He did not recognize the deceased so he was not from the Wen family.

What was originally a delicate and handsome face was now horribly deformed by an extreme convulsion. Clumps of dirt were in his orifices and under his fingernails while his four limbs were twisted out of proportion. Just as they lifted the body out of the soil, there was the sound of a light clank as a brilliantly shining flying sword dropped out of the deceased's clothes.

The people of Death Trademark continued to work and after a short period of time, they managed to dig out the rest of the remains. There were eight bodies in total and the way they had died was similar to the disciples of the Wen family who were martyred at Mount Emei. They had all been buried alive in a vertical manner into the soil. Out of the eight deceased persons, five were old priests while the other three were young people with graceful features.

There was no sign of decay on the eight remains at all.

The people of the Death Trademark began to callously strip the bodies and search through their belongings on the spot. Grand Elder Wen smiled gently as he gestured respectfully at the people of the Luo family and said, "We'll let these kids investigate the matter, the rest of us can continue to ascend the mountain!"

The six elders from both families had been imprisoned together for the past few months and even though they quarrel constantly, they were already on a certain level of familiarity and the manner of speaking is more casual rather than courteous towards one another. Grand Elder Luo shook his head and stated plainly, "There's no rush to go up the mountain, we should figure out what has happened here before we continue up the mountain otherwise our hearts will surely be troubled with concern."

The deceased's belongings were placed next to their body. Other than several cellphones and wallets, the other belongings mostly consisted of flying swords, talismans, elixir bottles, and jade pendants, none of which was the gear of a modernized person. The injured Wen Tunhai, supported by a younger relative, picked up one of the jade pendants as the expression on his face shifted, "It's…this belonged to the Sun Dynasty Palace. The group of priests who had entered the mountain earlier had also brought along similar items too."

The cellphone's battery still showed full bars.

Wen Leyang had unknowingly instigated the conflict between the Sun Dynasty Palace and the Wen family when he killed the Baby-Faced Man in the Red Leaves Forest. This had caused the group of priests to attack the Wen family in search of retribution. Now, however, he was completely confused by this situation. There were too many unanswered questions in his head and even when Wen Xiaoyi handed him a carrot, he could only accept it in a daze.

Wen Leyang walked over and took his cousin's place to support his eldest uncle, "First Uncle, after we reach the village we should ask Wen Yiban about those priests. After all…"

Wen Tunhai, on the other hand, only shrugged and gritted his teeth as the action pulled painfully at his wounds, "He didn't manage to interrogate them further. A few days ago that group of b*stards tried to escape and triggered the prohibition spell on the mountain. They are all dead and their remains must have decayed into slime by now."

Wen Leyang was shocked, "They're all…dead?!"

Behind him, Second Elder Wen laughed in a horrible manner, "Those priests had killed and injured the disciples of the Wen, there's no way they would be allowed to live for long."

Suddenly, a dull and robotic female voice sounded from the bodies lying on the ground.

"youhaveanincomingcall…youhaveanincomingcall…youhavean…"

(Author's note: My arrangement of words is considered as a child's play when compared with proper English usage)

Wen Leyang was so stunned that it took him a while to react and realize that, bloody hell, it was the cellphone's ringtone.

Someone immediately picked up the cellphone and all six elders, the eldest uncle, Wen Leyang, and the two young girls circled around the dead priest's cellphone. It was an incoming text message and it read: "Accidentally injured my fellow cultivator friend on Mount Emei, my apologies, my apologies. I present a token of my apology in the form of eight of your enemies, kindly accept this small gift of mine."

Wen Tunhai huffed and used his cellphone to make a call. He informed the person on the receiving end about the phone number that had sent the text message, "I want you to look into this immediately and find this number's user account immediately!"

Wen Leyang pondered for a little while before making a call to the rabbit demon monk Shan Duan at the Great Mercy Temple. The call was picked up by the little stuttering monk Hope Voice and Wen Leyang relayed the current incident to him. He's taking this seriously as almost twenty people have died during their journey up and down the mountains. Needless to say, the Sun Dynasty Palace will place the blame of this evil matter on the Nine Peaks Mountain. If they were not careful they might be accused of colluding with the evil sorcerers as well.

After telling the whole story, Wen Leyang made a blunder by asking Hope Voice to repeat the story to him as he was afraid he might forget it. The little monk stuttered all the way until Wen Leyang had almost reached his house with his grandfathers. After they ended the call, Wen Leyang felt that he was starting to stutter as well.

They had only arrived at the top of the mountain for a short while before Wen Tunhai received a return call. They managed to find out that the phone number had been stolen recently and the owner had yet to report its loss.

Wen Leyang's mind felt like glue, the more he pondered the more he could not comprehend. Grand Elder Wen, however, firmly smacked him on the shoulder and chuckled, "If you can't understand it now then stop thinking about it. Sooner or later, the day will come when all is made clear! The Wen Bucao has existed for over two thousand years and we have never once lost a drop of blood for no good reason! Tunhai, get them to serve up the scrambled eggs, lamb stew, and our very own home-brewed wild ginseng, tiger bones, and seven sages liquor! The Wen family will entertain our honored guests today…"

Tonight, the people of the Luo family feasted to their heart's content.

After dinner, most of the family and guests turned in for the night. At the big house of the village chief, only the key members of the family consisting of the four elders from the Wen, the two elders from the Luo, Wen Tunhai, and Wen Leyang remained.

A plate of carrots was served onto the table and Wen Leyang felt overwhelmed by the special favor. He had earned his place as one of the key members of the family after he had protected the Red Leaves Forest with his own life, repelled the attack from the Sun Dynasty Palace and saved members from both families from Mount Emei.

Grand Elder Wen did not bring up the matter about the Sun Dynasty Palace but he asked this question to the two elders of the Luo family, "Have any of you heard from the Seven Maidens Mountain in these recent years?"

Grand Elder Luo shook his head, "The Miao clansmen were not very different from savages, who would have the leisure to mind them!"

Second Elder Luo also spoke up with a mocking tone, "Efficiency comes from diligence and the young lads of Crow Ridge train hard every day. The secret art of cultivating Grand Master Tuoxie's legacy shall not be wasted by us!"

Grand Elder Wen laughed soundlessly, "Drop it, seriously! You talk about diligence and waste yet when you picked up the steamed buns in the courtyard to eat, you did not even know how to peel the skin off the buns!"

Grand Elder Luo smacked the table hard with his palm, he wore a displeased expression on his face as he said, "Old poisonous idiot, stop talking rubbish! Just be frank and quick about what you want to say!"

Grand Elder Wen's smile vanished, "Our three families had not had much communication with one another for the past two thousand years. Initially, we also did not pay much attention to the Seven Maidens Mountain. However, four years ago, something strange happened." The old man stood up as he said that and went to pull something out from under his bed.

Back then, he had brought out the Black Jade Incense Tripod in this manner too. Wen Leyang finally understood that the Wen Bucao's most important items were all hidden under the eldest grandfather's bed.

This time, he brought a small box. Inside rested a chip of bamboo about the size of a cigarette lighter. It was very withered and yellowed, there were even some cracks on it and it appeared to be quite old.

Grand Elder Luo was stunned upon seeing the bamboo chip. He stared incredulously at Grand Elder Wen and asked, "What on earth were you doing with this thing here?"

Grand Elder Wen smiled gently, "This isn't mine."

"Whose was it then… this belonged to the Miao?!" Grand Elder Luo's gaze was full of doubt.

Wen Leyang scratched the back of his head in agony, what did he mean by that?

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Chapter 52: The Messengers

Wen Tunhai was concise and to the point as he explained the object to Wen Leyang, "This is a bamboo talisman. Grand Master Tuoxie had passed one of these to each of his three original disciples back in the past, the three families have since been passing it down from generation to generation as a family heirloom."

Grand Elder Wen held the bamboo talisman, "Four years ago, four dead Qing Miao clansmen brought this talisman with them and ascended our mountain."

Grand Elder Luo squinted his eyes as he asked, "What do you mean by the dead ascending the mountain?'

Fourth Elder Wen interjected with a cold tone, "Those undead messengers were not related to your Luo family. Using undead corpses as messengers had always been a unique trick of the Miao Bujiao's cultivation!"

The Miao clansmen on Seven Maidens Mountain had continued to cultivate Grand Master Tuoxie's legacy in witchcraft. The master cultivators of the Miao had painstakingly bred a type of venomous insect known as the Ben Ming Parasite. Within a period of seven days after a person's death, the Ben Ming Parasite would carry out its host's unfulfilled wish and direct the corpse to its final destination.

The Ben Ming Parasite can only exercise control over its host's corpse towards the final intended journey and nothing more; while the Luo from Crow Ridge would control the corpses of other people and refine them to be able to hunt or kill.

Grand Elder Luo ignored Fourth Elder Wen's mocking as he continued to ask closely, "I've heard of undead corpses being used as messengers before but what was the message that they'd delivered?"

The eldest grandfather procured a piece of white fabric which had been folded under the bamboo talisman, "A word had been carved onto the back of each corpse's left hand!" He shook out the white silk to show four purplish-black bloody words which had been stamped onto the fabric in a crooked manner: End, The, Here, Nearly.

Those four words had been written with savage gestures and were surrounded by bloody palm prints. It looked as if it carried the grudge of a vengeful ghost and anyone who saw them would immediately shudder with fear.

Wen Leyang frowned as he repeated those four words over and over again. The eldest grandfather was reluctant to pressure his grandson and explained, "I've pondered on this for a very long time. These words were not in the correct sequence but once you've arranged them in the correct order, they will say 'The End (is) Near(ly) Here'!" However, this only made Wen Leyang even more confused.

Grand Elder Wen continued to explain, "Even though those from the Seven Maidens Mountain were also descended from the disciple of Tuoxie, to the best of my knowledge, this group of Miao cultivators worships the devil Mara!"

At this point, Wen Leyang had finally worked it out that it was more difficult to carve the word 'Devil' on the messenger corpse so the Miao clansmen had replaced it with the word 'End' which has the same pronunciation but was less complex to write.

The two elders of the Luo family did not raise any questions for they knew that Grand Elder Wen still had more to say.

The bodies of the corpse messengers had also been covered with dirt. It was theorized that they were killed while they were on their way and buried by the enemy. After dying, the reanimated corpses had clawed their way out of the soil and continued to push on to deliver the message.

The master cultivators from the Seven Maidens Mountain must have been very skilled to be able to reach the level of using undead corpses as messengers. The fact that four of these extraordinarily skilled cultivators were killed was an even stranger matter. Due to the type of witchcraft cultivation that the Miao clansmen had cultivated, even if they were to encounter a powerful enemy, they would at least stand the chance to flee. But it would seem that they had prepared for every eventuality as they had carved the message on their palms well beforehand.

Grand Elder Wen stopped his explanation at this point and looked at Wen Leyang, "The eyes, mouth, ears, noses, and fingernails of those four messenger corpses were also encrusted with dirt. Their faces were twisted into a horrible grimace and their limbs were convulsed. They had been…buried alive!"

Wen Leyang had just reached out for a carrot when he heard that and jumped up, "That…that sounds like the same state as the Wen clansmen who had died on Mount Emei?"

Grand Elder Wen's expression was solemn, his face looked even gloomier under the dim light, "It's the same with those priests from the Sun Dynasty Palace that we found today. However, the enemy had not expected that the master cultivators of the Miao Bujiao were so proficient with the unique skill of the messenger corpse that even after these four Qing Miao clansmen had died, they would manage to free themselves from their graves and deliver the message to our Wen family!"

Only the four elders and the Wen county magistrate knew of this matter. Their investigation had been focused on the four words: The Devil (is) Nearly Here' from the messenger corpses and not on the cause of death of these Miao clansmen. However, the recent events with the seventeen disciples at Mount Emei and the eight bodies from the Sun Dynasty Palace which had also been buried alive under similar circumstances have forced the elders to take a closer look at this incident again.

Grand Elder Wen had been confused by the message when he'd first received it. He knew that some of the Miao clansmen worshipped Mara the devil. There was also nothing exceptionally remarkable about the ancient totem which had been inherited from their ancestor. The physical form of Mara was either an electric rice cooker or a cedar coffin and if Mara had really descended upon them, the worshippers of the Miao clan would have been overjoyed instead of sending such a grim message along with their heirloom seal over to the Nine Peaks Mountain.

The Wen family had started getting in touch with the rest of the world in recent times. There had been a large-scale mountain sealing spell which was inherited from their ancestors but this was no longer activated. Though the Wen family village was located in a remote area, every three to five days they would receive study groups and examination groups. If they had activated the mountain sealing spell, these groups of people would all be poisoned to death. The Luo family had also opened themselves up to modern society – the two elders of the Luo both operate accounts in QQ which is a social media network in China.

The Qing Miao, however, remained reclusive and refused to engage with outsiders. They protected the foot of the Seven Maidens Mountain with deadly traps which resembled a poisonous mist to deter any visitors from entering their mountain.

The local authorities have sincerely advised the citizens that hiking there was bad for health.

The master cultivators of the Wen family were also excluded from the Seven Maidens Mountain and were only able to gather information outside the perimeter of the mountain. Finally, they learned from the Miao clansmen who had worshipped Mara the devil that the date of descent for the devil was exactly four years after the date of the message.

Wen Leyang was astonished and he chewed on the carrot as he asked, "You mean now?"

"It's a month later, the third day of the twelfth moon of the lunar month," said Grand Elder Wen in a deep rumble.

Wen Leyang immediately took out his cellphone and counted the dates on the calendar application. Not many youngsters can remember the Chinese lunar calendar as they were more used to the solar calendar nowadays.

The investigated had stalled for four years as the Wen family was unable to find any more viable clues to move it forward. The matter had gradually slipped their minds but with the revelation of clues to their Grand Master Mount Emei, this was once again brought to the forefront. Though the Qing Miao clan did not seem to have been alerted by the incident, the lost art of the Mountain Coffin Spell was involved and so Grand Elder Wen had no choice but to invite the Luo family over for a discussion.

As Grand Elder Wen finished speaking, Fourth Elder Wen added with an icy tone, "More than half a year ago, something else had happened that was related to the Qing Miao clan too." He then shouted outside the house, "Wen Buzuo, come in here!"

A shadowy figure flashed immediately inside the house. It was a husky fellow with a smug-looking smile on his face. His footsteps were light and agile, coupled with that ingratiating smile, it looked as if he had run over while holding in a fart all the way.

Wen Leyang got the impression that this person was from the Death Trademark and was always seen near Fourth Elder Wen's side.

Fourth Elder Wen nodded to the man, "The matter regarding the Return-To-Before Herb."

Wen Buzuo looked like he had just been granted a great honor, his face beamed with joyous ecstasy as he bowed with his hands folded in front of him to everyone in the room, "I'm Wen Buzuo from the Death Trademark. I have a brother named Wen Bushuo. If you need any information please do not hesitate to ask me instead of my brother as he only speaks less than ten words in a day, he can even bore a person to death…"

In his heart, Wen Leyang was of the opinion that though this man was not boring, he could irritate an impatient person to death.

Wen Buzuo was about to continue rambling on when Fourth Elder Wen scolded in a low rumble, "Stop talking rubbish! If you want to keep that tongue of yours tell the story of that matter clearly from the beginning to the end!"

Wen Buzuo snickered dryly before settling into the story, "It's said that there were countless capable men in the world. There were also a great number of parties out there. However, none could stand erect with two thousand years of history like our Wen family with the mannerism of using strong poison to inspire awe throughout the world. Our might was such that we don't need to keep most parties in our eye as those of them with a bit of background and experience would not dare to fight the masters of our Wen family. We from the Death Trademark would play the ferocious role akin to an evil character…"

"You must not want your tongue anymore." An icy-cold voice came spiraling out of Fourth Elder Wen's mouth as his usual monotonous expression was gradually being replaced by one of vigorous rage.

Wen Leyang has no doubt that should the hefty fellow speak one more word of nonsense, the fourth grandpa would really cut his tongue out with a knife. In fact, he appeared to be anticipating the move now.

Upon seeing the rage slowly climb into Fourth Elder Wen's expression, Wen Buzuo stuck out his tongue and finally got on with the real talk, "Last autumn, we noticed that the Return-To-Before Herb in the mountain was starting to bloom. A flower would bloom on each month every month and by the time all nine branches had bloomed, it was another month before the fruits of the herb would fully ripen. This was the treasure that our four masters were deeply concerned about…"

The Return-To-Before Herb was split into nine branches and a flower would bloom every month on each branch. After ten months, the plant would bear nine precious fruits. Wen Leyang's life was salvaged by these nine fruits which helped him cultivate Wen Lazi's forceful cultivation technique.

Wen Buzuo continued, "The Death Trademark had been guarding the immortal plant since ten years ago. As it grew on the Nine Peaks Mountain it was well within the Wen family's territory. Naturally, we didn't need to be courteous with any interested parties as this information was kept secret and also it was reckoned that no one would dare to make a move at it. The Death Trademark diligently looked after the plant but we did not worry too much as we never anticipated such an incident to occur later on."

Wen Buzuo paused for a little while and looked at the crowd expectantly. Wen Leyang was virtuous and sincere, he obliged him by asking, "And what incident was that?"

Wen Buzuo suddenly smacked his thigh, the abruptness of his action made everyone jump, "Someone tried to steal the immortal fruits! Our Death Trademark's negligence caused the big loss. In the next few, days dark clouds obscured the sun while the birds and the beasts were horrified…"

This time, even the mild-tempered eldest grandfather could not take it anymore. He hit the table hard and demanded, "Bstard! Which bstard father gave life to this b*stard son? Get out, get out! I'll tell the story myself!"

The two elders from the Luo family laughed uproariously, "What an impression you've made! You asked a young lad to story us on such an important matter, it serves you right for making a fool out of yourself!"

The Return-to-Before fruit was considered as a heal-all magical fruit and drew the attention of greedy eyes when it ripened. Wen Bucao's descendants had held the mountain for two thousand years and of course, they would not allow such an indiscretion to slide. The Death Trademark combed through the entire mountain but were unable to catch the thieves. Though they managed to engage them in a few fights, those ended with losses to the Death Trademark as the ones who had stolen the fruits were all trained in magical arts, some of their abilities were out of this world.

Grand Elder Wen's explanation was much simpler and clearer to understand. According to him, just a few days before the Return-to-Before fruits had almost fully ripened, the Death Trademark finally caught up with the opponents. But they found that all of the enemies had died after being hit by the Miao clan's Green Head Widow Spell. The flesh and skin of their bodies were all shriveled up and only their hairless and heavy head was left behind.

Wen Leyang suddenly had a revelation, "Those…corpses at the Red Leaves Forest, they belonged to those who had come to steal the Return-To-Before fruits? Then it was the Miao from the Seven Maidens Mountain who had helped us kill the enemies?" Wen Leyang had thought that those corpses which were cursed by the Green Head Widow Spell were the disciples from the Death Trademark and had silently regarded the Qing Miao clan as his enemy.

This was good as the person who had released the Spirit Guiding Light that had drawn in the huge undead serpent which almost killed him was not from the Luo family, and the people who had been killed by that spell were also not from the Wen family.

Grand Elder Wen had spoken for a while and the rage within his heart had calmed down. He chuckled as he said to Wen Leyang, "Young lad, not all the matters in the world is as simple as you think!"

Afterwards, the Wen family had gathered the nine Return-to-Before fruits and with the revelation of the ancient cave on Zhanyan Peak after the landslide, the Wen Bucao had immediately rushed to Mount Emei with their master cultivators.

Grand Elder Luo raised his head, his initial bantering expression has cleared and in its place was a cunning expression of a crafty scoundrel. He chuckled and said, "You crafty old fox with the surname of Wen, you must have been scheming to drag our Crow Ridge down!"

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Chapter 53: The Wooden Stool

Grand Elder Wen chuckled as a look of determination flashed onto his face, "The lives of seventeen of our family members were taken on Mount Emei so therefore we will pursue the clue of the Mountain Coffin Spell unceasingly. We were unable to enter the Miao Bujiao's territory in the past but now that we have new information about Grand Master Tuoxie, it makes sense for us to deliver the information to them, right?" The grand speech from the eldest grandfather which had covered the story from the beginning to the end was for the purpose of persuading the Luo family to accompany them to the Seven Maidens Mountain. At the same time, they would also use this opportunity to learn more about the Mountain Coffin Spell.

This time, they will visit the Seven Maidens Mountain by flaunting the banner of Grand Master Tuoxie and by hook or by crook they will drag the Luo family along as well

Wen Tunhai too added his thoughts as well, "Moreover, the day of the devil's descent is almost upon us."

Second Elder Luo, who had picked the steamed bun from the ground and ate it without peeling its skin laughed, "The devil's descent? For four years the Wen family had been aware of this strange matter, yet you've never once thought to notify the Grow Ridge even once! Now that you've suffered losses from this devilry, you'd try to pull our family into investigating this matter with you. The Wen Bucao have really done well this time!"

Fourth Elder Wen hummed and asked, "No one from the Luo family had disappeared on Mount Emei at all? But who knows if someday that zombie baby might slam out a few other red-shirt lads who had been buried alive!" The Luo family deals with zombie corpses and were all dressed in red to keep themselves safe from evil spirits. Similar to the Wen family, they had also sent people to ascend Mount Emei who have not been heard from since. Until this very moment, they've not seen any signs of those missing people, whether they were alive or dead the odds were stacked against those from Crow Ridge.

The expressions of the two elders from the Luo family became visibly agitated, they both hit the table in rage but Grand Elder Wen stared firmly into Grand Elder Luo's still slightly swollen eyes and waved his hand while he roared with laughter, "Hold it, hold it. It's not like you weren't fully aware of the situation! My Fourth Brother's words have merit. Although the whereabouts of our Grand Master remains unknown, our founding grandmother has reappeared. In the beginning, our three families were like broken bones. Now our muscles have been reattached again so we should check on the matter regarding the Miao clan.

The two elders from the Luo family were stunned by that proclamation but they only shook their heads in silence.

Grand Elder Wen was unaffected by the Luo family's response, instead, he turned and looked at Wen Leyang, "Wen Leyang, now that you've completed your studies at the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death, your final examination topic is already being prepared by the few of us old men!"

Wen Leyang had just picked up the last carrot on the plate when he heard this and immediately tossed it back. His smile vanished as he solemnly nodded to the elders of his family. The inner disciples who had completed their studies from the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death would then be given the final examination's topic by the family elders. They would formally complete their training my fulfilling the examination topic, only after that can they profess themselves as the disciples of Tuoxie. Back then, Wen Tunhai's topic was based on a 'bush rat' as a poison refining ingredient. The ancient families would always use peculiar methods to pass down its lineage and as these methods were considered as the clan's law, the descendants would always have to abide by it.

When Wen Leyang was on Mount Emei, he had declared to Chang Li that he was a disciple of Tuoxie despite the fact that he had not completed the final examination yet. But to him, Chang Li was considered as an elder of his family so he could say that to her without repercussions. Moreover, based on Wen Leyang's level of ability now, completing the final examination was only a matter of formality.

Wen Leyang could not help but feel very excited at this development. He was imagining how he would declare to his enemies in an awe-inspiring manner in the near future: "I'm a disciple of Tuoxie!" It was a good feeling.

"Deliver this letter to the Big Dragon's Root of the Miao Bujiao." It was unknown when Grand Elder Wen had written that letter but he retrieved it from a drawer and stuffed it into Wen Leyang's hand. The Qing Miao from the Seven Maidens Mountain do not follow the ways of others. The clan's leader was addressed as the Big Dragon's Root. Their entire world revolved around the clan and this form of address for their leader was also a part of that.

Wen Leyang was stunned, "That's…all? But there's no post box in our village."

Grand Elder Wen spat and cursed with a smile, "Stop being so talkative! You will manage the remaining matters on your own. As long as you return to us after delivering the letter, then you will be considered as passing the final examination." He finished his speech and turned to look at the two elders of the Luo family, "What are the two of you going to do?"

The two old man hesitated for a moment before they replied, "We shall allow Mumu to follow along for the trip."

This will be a special trip as it was the first time that both families would pay a call to the Miao clan in over two thousand years. Therefore, they have to carefully choose the right people to deliver the letter. If the elders themselves had dropped in unannounced, it would make the event a grand one and if by any chance the Miao clan would show disrespect then the elders would be greatly embarrassed. As a matter of fact, Wen Tunhai would be the most suitable candidate from the Wen family but he was still recovering after being severely injured by a flying sword not too long ago, and could barely speak in an audible voice. So they had no choice but to nominate the inner disciple Wen Leyang to do the errand. It was a good thing that he had improved in his abilities. If he were to encounter any dangers he would be able to deal with them himself.

The situation too was not so different for the Luo of Crow Ridge. They assigned a junior for the errand as well to save the two old men from any potential embarrassment. All of their zombie corpses had been left behind on Mount Emei as well and this has greatly reduced their abilities. It was only after much consideration that they'd decided Mumu was the most suitable candidate from their side to send on this trip.

Grand Elder Luo stared suddenly at Wen Leyang and spoke in such a deadly tone that one almost felt suffocated, "Young fellow of the Wen family, if something were to happen to Mumu during this trip to the Seven Maidens Mountain, it's best that you don't return as well." Wen Leyang nodded his head solemnly. In actual fact, Grand Elder Luo's threat was quite unnecessary.

Fourth Elder Wen was about to reply sarcastically when the eldest grandfather shook his head to stop him. Grand Elder Wen chuckled and said, "They will only be delivering a letter. What kind of danger can they pose? The disciples of the Miao Bujiao rarely make contact with outsiders but they were also the descendants of Tuoxie too. There must be some form of connection between the descendants of the same ancestor, right?"

Second Elder Luo looked at the elders of the Wen family, "When the matter regarding the Miao clan has been made clear, the few of you should pay a visit to Crow Ridge too and improve the relationship between our two families."

The four old men of the Wen family jokingly pointed at themselves as they answered in unison, "Do you think I'm a fool?"

Early next morning, Wen Leyang and Mumu departed with sixteen good hands from the Death Trademark and sixteen people of The Centipede. Wen Buzuo stood impressively in the formation while his brother Wen Bushuo followed closely behind him.

Wen Buzuo was a big and tall man. He's a fair and clean-looking lad and when he walked his footsteps were so light that it was like he was carried around by his fart. His mouth never stopped talking all along the way.

Wen Bushuo, on the other hand, was dark-skinned and skinny. His height was less than one meter and a half, and he weighed less than forty kilograms. Yet his footsteps were heavy and sturdy, it almost seemed like he would nail himself into the ground with each step and pull his foot out again before taking the next one. He was exactly as described by his brother and kept his mouth tightly sealed, hardly saying a word.

Wen Xiaoyi and the two foolish uncles sent them off all the way until the foot of the mountain. They watched as the figure of Wen Leyang gradually recede into the distance and big drops of tears began to flow from Wen Xiaoyi's eyes. Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen busily began to wipe the tears away from the little girl's face.

The Seven Maidens Mountain is situated in the middle of the Shu state. The Miao Bujiao do not live on the mountain but have lived at the foot of it for many generations. There were no paved roads to the mountain as the Jinsha River that flows around the foot of the mountain changed its course in the past and left countless big and small lakes as well as huge tracts of forests in the surrounding area.

As the weather in the Shu state changed, plants began to grow abundantly and the numerous lakes gradually turned into sludgy swamps. Some of the swamps had quicksand which appeared like a solid patch of ground but would suck you down once you stepped on it and even if some of the outsiders were extremely cautious, some could not avoid the gruesome fate of becoming trapped and sinking into the quicksand.

For over thousands of years, dead plants and creatures had rotted away in the sludge and a noxious poisonous mist filled the air around the area.

Mumu stood on tiptoes as she peered into the horizon. She shook her head as she smiled grimly, "Why do they even bother with a prohibition spell? There's no way anyone can get in there."

Wen Buzuo, with his chin covered in spit, was determined not to miss this opportunity to speak as he added in from the side, "A normal person can't get in but this is no match for us, the disciples of the Wen Bucao and the Crow Ridge who have lived in seclusion from the world for over two thousand years…"

Wen Leyang quickly stopped him from speaking anymore as he took a step into a forest which was so dense that it obscured the sky. Even though it was winter, this forest was still flourishing with vegetation and there was no sign of desolation at all.

The ground was carpeted with old vines but he did not sense any danger so far.

The people of the Death Trademark and The Centipede slowly began to spread out as they cautiously explored the paths around the area. Wen Buzuo took a few light steps after Wen Leyang and said, "Brother, you may not have been aware of this fact but under the ground, there are countless underground rivers and hot springs. Therefore, the four seasons do not exist here. The further you go in the forest the hotter it gets."

Wen Leyang looked with slight astonishment at the talkative guy, "How did you know that?"

Wen Buzuo laughed proudly, "My mountain skills are placed as the first from the back in the Death Trademark. But for my experience with lakes, and I will say something too crazy to believe now, is considered as the world's second best as no one would dare to consider themselves as the best in the world."

Wen Leyang nodded as he forced out a smile, there must have been a good reason for Fourth Elder Wen to assign this nagging chap to his side.

The group of people carefully picked their way through the forest. Wen Buzuo lived up to his boast as he would observe the plants and the soil and direct the group to avoid the dangerous areas where the poison mist would be found. He also instructed the people from the Death Trademark to mark the path as they approached the Miao Bujiao's territory. He smiled and explained to Wen Leyang, "The way forward may seem clear and easy to discern now, but the witchcraft of the Miao is no trivial matter. If they were to cast a spell on us even the sky and the earth would be spinning so it's a good practice to blaze our trail."

According to Wen Buzuo's estimation, if they kept to this pace and rested during the night, the journey would take them at least four days.

As the sky began to turn dark, the good hands of their families picked out a dry and high ground to set up camp. They didn't need to be instructed to set up various lookout points and traps around the perimeter of the camp. Once that was done, they started a fire and began to prepare dinner from the canned food that they had brought with them.

Wen Leyang munched on his carrot as he asked Little Chili Pepper, "Does Ah Dan eat?"

Little Chili Pepper rolled her eyes in an irritated manner, "Do you think that you'd still need to eat after you are dead?"

Wen Leyang tsked and laughed at her reply. However, before he could say anything, a clattering sound was heard from outside the camp. It sounded almost like a small horse was coming towards them.

Mumu looked towards the direction of the sound before she suddenly reached out and grabbed onto Wen Leyang's arm, "Is that…a wooden stool?"

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Chapter 54: The Mud

The clattering sound which resembled a little horse running was exceptionally loud and obvious in the quiet night. A stool-like object ran briskly into Wen Leyang's line of sight and a few of their companions immediately dived towards it with their weapons drawn but they were stopped with incredulous faces.

The object was not a living creature, it seemed to be made up of a few sticks of bamboo tied together with some green vines into the shape of a stool. It twisted itself around and stopped in front of them. A strip of green-colored cloth hung from the front of the 'stool' and two huge words were written on it: Retreat Immediately.

Little Chili Pepper stood closely next to Wen Leyang and stared incredulously at the object. She wasn't sure if the stool would do anything else besides delivering this message.

Wen Leyang took a deep breath and spoke loudly, "The Luo family of Crow Ridge and the inner disciple of the Wen family of the Nine Peaks Mountain, humbly beg to meet with the Big Dragon's Root of the Seven Maidens Mountain. I have a letter here that is addressed to your leader!"

He repeated his message twice and the giant forest was so dense and quiet that there wasn't even an echo, one would even be shocked by the sound of a falling leaf.

Wen Leyang quietly sensed his surroundings, his sense was like tendrils of awareness which was released from his skin and they extended outward in all directions. But he couldn't discover anything with his senses at all.

Suddenly, there was a crashing sound and the 'stool' trembled for a few moments before falling apart into pieces. It had only been made out of those few pieces of bamboo and some thin vines, there wasn't a trace of anything suspicious in it at all.

Wen Buzuo walked towards the two teenagers and asked in a low voice, "What do you think, should we go over and take a look?"

Wen Leyang shook his head, "We should let everyone rest and continue on our journey tomorrow."

Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper did not need to concern themselves with setting up the lookout post and the night's watch as Wen Buzuo had arranged everything in an orderly manner. Other than his unbearably constant nagging, he was exceptionally experienced and capable in handling things.

The next day, they continued their journey forward without interruption. It was only at night when they had set up camp that another 'stool' had come running over with a piece of green cloth which said: Stop Walking.

Of course, Wen Leyang was not going to stop walking and he didn't care if there were any Miao clansmen in the area. He once again declared the purpose of their trip in a loud voice and then fell asleep straight afterward.

By the third night they had completed more than half of their journey and it was exactly as Wen Buzuo had said, the temperature had been steadily increasing and though it was the middle of winter, within the forest it was so swelteringly hot that one would almost be tempted to strip to their undergarments in the heat.

The third 'stool' did appear but this time everyone felt at loss for the stool was bare and carried no messages for them.

Wen Buzuo scrutinized it for a long while before he exclaimed, "The cloth strip had fallen off." A few strands of the cloth's material still hung off the end of the stool and fluttered lightly in the night breeze.

Wen Leyang laughed involuntarily, "The cloth strip is missing, what was the bloody purpose for the stool to come here then?"

Wen Buzuo too chuckled, "We are only a day's journey away from the stockade of the Qing Miao clan and we are actually in their territory now so everyone should be extra careful."

The Seven Maidens Mountain loomed up in front of their eyes. They caught glimpses of the mountain from between the foliage of the trees. It was a heavy presence hanging over everyone's heads like a giant looking back at them with spite.

Other than the few hidden lookout guards, the whole camp was deep in sleep. The campfire burned with a soft crackling sound and sparks burst out of it occasionally, scattering brightly into the night sky…

Suddenly, Mumu cried out in alarm. She opened her eyes and sat up, her face was shadowed with a deep sense of dread.

Wen Leyang was awoken by her cry and rushed to her side. He looked at her with concern and asked, "What happened?"

Everybody else too was jerked awake, they immediately spread out in search of the enemy.

Mumu regained her senses and a healthy pink glow came back to her pale face. She shook her head and smiled, "It's nothing, I had a nightmare. I dreamt that we had all died, it was such an ominous dream. But such a dream is broken once spoken!" She then spat twice onto the ground.

Wen Leyang's expression, however, changed from a relaxed one to a concerned look when he heard about her nightmare as he asked, "We all died?"

Mumu was nodding her head hesitantly when Wen Leyang suddenly said out of the blue, "Most of the others were sinking in quicksand while I had fallen into the water…" Before he could finish speaking, Little Chili Pepper had jumped up with horror, what he'd described was the nightmare which she had just seen! "How…how did you know this?"

Wen Buzuo ambled towards them with a big smile on his face and he chimed in cheerfully, "Me too, I was strangled to death by the tree vines…" Little Chili Pepper felt her hair stand with terror and she pointed at Wen Buzuo and cursed with rage, "Do you even know how to worry?"

Wen Leyang looked at the others, everyone's expression had turned ashen as they slowly nodded as well.

They had all experienced the same nightmare. Wen Buzuo however, seemed unconcerned as he laughed blithely, "It's only the witchcraft of the Qing Miao clan. The running stools, the nightmares, they were all meant to intimidate so don't take it too seriously…"

Before he could finish speaking, a strange noise appeared from their surroundings and echoed around them. It was the squishing sound of someone trudging through sludgy mud and once in a while, it would make bubbling noises as well. The sound made everyone feel as if their bodies were coated with disgusting slime.

Wen Buzuo frowned, "What's that noise?" He immediately made a secret gesture and awaited the night sentry's response. At the same time, he made a few unpleasant hoarse-sounding hooting noises from his mouth.

The surrounding area was silent and still, other than the sound of surging mud from afar, there was no other response.

Wen Leyang leaped up, his figure disappeared into the forest, leaving only this command behind, "Stay on the spot!"

Mumu was the inner disciple of the Luo family, it's not like she was inexperienced at all. She sneered as she pulled out her long needles while Ah Dan hauled itself up into a big tree and hid between the branches. The thirty good hands in their company initially appeared to be scattered randomly in the east and west but in reality, they had sealed the entrance and exit of the empty space.

The two hidden guards on the outside had consisted of a member of the Wen and the Luo family respectively.

It was midnight and there was no light from the stars and the moon. All they could hear was the soft rustling sound of Wen Leyang's clothes as he moved and this too disappeared after a while. Little Chili Pepper held her breath as she stood on the same spot like a clay sculpture. She stopped her body from bearing any living signs as she listened attentively to the surroundings. The flowing sound of the mud was closer now, it was as if it was flowing slowly towards them…

Mumu kept a count of the time in her heart, she had reached six hundred counts already.

Ten minutes had passed but it felt like a century, there was still no sign or sound from Wen Leyang.

The leader of The Centipede was a bold and strong fellow not quite forty years of age, his name was Luo Xie and he approached Little Chili Pepper to ask, "Do you want me to go look for him?"

Little Chili Pepper shook her head, "Let's wait for him a little while longer."

Luo Xie's mouth opened to reply when a popping sound appeared from underneath him. A gigantic mud buddle burst below him and the solid ground turned unexpectedly into a muddy trap two meters wide. Lue Xie's snarled and immediately pushed Little Chili Pepper out of the way. The mud had flowed up to his chest and though he struggled, he could not free himself. Luo Xie's hands flashed and a pair of Spirit Needles appeared, he then stabbed the needles downwards into the mud.

He was the only one who could feel the pair of strong hands which had grasped onto his ankles firmly and were dragging him into the mud!

A short moment later, all that was left was a bunch of dirty air bubbles.

As Little Chili Pepper hit the ground, the rest of the group broke the guard formation and ran towards the muddy patch on the ground.

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

Wen Leyang's forceful shout was heard before the shadow of his figure appeared in a strong surge of air. The force pushed everyone aside and he relied on his heavy inertia and slammed forcefully into the muddy swamp with the force of a heavy rock falling from the sky!

The bubbling sound immediately grew louder and sounded like a rat grinding its teeth or a venomous snake shedding its skin. It grated on everybody's already strained nerves continuously.

A dull sound, like someone pounding a muffled drum, could be heard from under the ground.

After a while, there was a whoosh as a mud-covered person surged up from the sludge holding a crumpled object in his arms.

The mud-covered person's body began to tremble in a peculiar manner and flung aside most of the mud in a strange fashion. His face was revealed, carrying a simple and honest expression with a hint of ferocity and rage. Mumu let out a long breath of relief.

Wen Leyang carefully placed the 'object' in his hand onto the ground and everyone realized that it was Luo Xie. His entire body had been crushed and crumped into a mess, not an intact bone had remained in his body.

The people from both the Death Trademark and The Centipede had nerves of steel but even they couldn't help but turn pale at this. In everyone's nightmare, Luo Xie had died exactly like this – with his body turned into something that was softer than dough and covered entirely with foul-smelling mud, yet there was a still slight smile on his face.

Wen Leyang's voice was hoarse, "I've avenged him."

The sound of the bubbling mud had receded in all directions like a falling tide. A short while later, the surrounding area was peaceful and quiet again.

Wen Buzuo, after the scare, unexpectedly had another vile smile on his face. He moved forward and asked Wen Leyang, "Should we advance or retreat?" I reckon there's not much difference in either choice as the Miao clan has always been persistent in their endeavors. Now that their killer instincts have been triggered, they will not stop for anything."

"We advance!" Wen Leyang helped Mumu up to her feet as he declared, "Everyone, follow me!"

All the pores on his entire body were rapidly opening and closing. Wen Leyang no longer relied on his eyes and ears as he sensed his surroundings attentively. He led the way as everyone followed swiftly behind him. But they had only moved forward a few meters when Little Chili Pepper's body trembled once abruptly as she screamed in fright, "Ah Dan! Ah Dan was still on the tree!" The undead toddler would normally follow after its master without needing to be called and would never leave her side for long. But this time, it had not followed after its master.

Mumu had been absent-minded earlier, it was not because she was a coward as her mind was filled with the realization of her nightmare. So, she had followed along for a few steps before she suddenly realized that Ah Dan was missing.

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Chapter 55: The Counterattack

Not a single root grows on the Wen. Never befriend a Miao. To die a dog's death on Crow Ridge. The Wen, Miao, and Luo were three clans with their own hidden strengths and power. The Wen has the Death Trademark while the Luo has The Centipede. The elite assassins from the Miao were called The Swarm.

Once The Swarm in the jungle were launched, it would be a never-ending tale until death!

The Wen and Luo were extremely strict and brutal when it came to training their secret force, however, they were still human after all no matter how well they were trained. The Miao, on the other hand, was a whole other story. Members of The Swarm were selected once they were been born and were treated very differently from other human babies. The Miao turned them into parts of the swamp and jungle with black magic and witchcraft, transforming them into beasts that knew only about killing and black magic. The Swarm was only interested in finding unusual ways to kill someone.

Thud.

Just as Wen Leyang and Mumu were about to turn back, the baby zombie Ah Dan fell from a tree.

The last Centipede in the group was quick to react, with a light jump he sprang to his feet and caught the baby zombie firmly in mid-air. However, not a second later he had uttered a hoarse shriek and his burly body trembled violently as he fell hard onto the ground.

Ah Dan had bit into his throat and was pulling forcefully. The strong body of the man jerked once as his scream came to an abrupt end with his limbs twitching uncontrollably.

Mumu could not help but cry out as this particular member of The Centipede had appeared in her nightmare with a torn and bloody neck.

Although Ah Dan was a zombie, it normally looked cute and naïve with a silly smile on its pudgy face. It was a well-accepted and popular zombie in Luo family. No one expected it to suddenly turn and attack the others.

The people from the Luo have yet to react while the Death Trademark, not having as many scruples, flashed their weapons and came dashing towards Ah Dan.

Ah Dan's face was stained with blood, its silly smile had turned ferocious and with its light and brisk body, it counterattacked as it snarled fiercely. Mumu urgently reminded them to not get bitten by it as she flipped out her Spirit Needles. She shouted to Wen Leyang, "Help me hold him!"

Wen Leyang's speed was much faster than the others. He took a step towards Ah Dan and wrapped his arms around the little zombie like an iron vice as wave after waves of huge force kept churning out from his palms. Ah Dan struggled desperately and all of a sudden, its sunglasses fell off its face.

Wen Leyang wan taken aback for a moment as the eyes of the little zombie were wide open and both pupils were glowing with a strange, bright red color.

The little zombie opened its mouth suddenly and smiled foolishly at Wen Leyang. Against the light from the campfire, the bloodstains and bone fragments were clearly visible on its blackened teeth.

Little Chili Pepper took a Spirit Needle and pierced it mercilessly through the top of Ah Dan's head all the way into its body. Its small body shivered quickly as the second Spirit Needle was pierced through his ears.

The little zombie straightened its body suddenly and closed its eyes.

Stunned, Wen Le yang asked, "This…can be considered as a cross?"

Just as Ah Dan had closed its eyes, the mud bubbling sound began again from all directions and the campfire in the center of the campsite suddenly erupted into plumes of flame and flew towards everybody!

Wen Buzuo squinted his eyes as he looked at the scattering fire in the sky and shouted to the Death Trademark suddenly, "The earth!" Everyone from the Death Trademark, including the reserved Wen Bushuo, acknowledged with a shout. All fifteen people from the Death Trademark moved quickly and bombarded the ground with hard punches, each hit caused the soil to fly upwards and create a barrier of dirt against the approaching flames. Before the flames could reach the ground, numerous dragons of dirt had been created and they soared into the sky, effectively blocking the flames from reaching them.

Little Chili Pepper waved and commanded, "Soul Rushing!" as she took a flying leap into the Wen's group.

Thirteen Centipedes immediately sat down with their legs crossed and took out their Spirit Needles. They strummed the needles rapidly, making a deep and dull sound. The sound began to pick up speed and soon entered into a weird tempo. Everyone from the Wen felt their hearts beating faster to keep up with the odd rhythm of the vibrating Spirit Needles. The sound of blood rushing filled their ears and they felt so impatient that they wanted to dance around.

Little Chili Pepper moved about and fed a small fingernail-sized piece of black jade to each of the Wen Bucao. Once they held that in their mouths, a sense of coolness immediately rose from their heart and calmed the agitation in their blood down instantly.

When Mumu got in front of Wen Leyang, he shook his head instead. The Soul Rushing sound by The Centipede did not have an effect on him. He only felt his pores shrinking and closing on his body, effectively shutting off his body from the soul rushing and possessing rhythm.

It was a counterattack!

The Wen Bucao blocked the scattered flames in the sky as the Crow Ridge took advantage of that and launched their Soul Rushing killing attack.

Neither the Death Trademark nor The Centipede were ordinary people who only depended on using a knife to fight. After consecutive setbacks for being inattentive, they were quick to respond and cooperate to launch their counter attacks!

There was a sizzling sound and the light from the flames began to fade quickly. The mud which had been thrown up into the air were being charred by the flames into thick puffs of smoke. As the flames were put out by the mud, the sky faded back into darkness rapidly.

Just as the firestorm went out, the flowing sound of the mud was replaced with high-pitched screeches as several dwarves which were less than half a meter in height appeared from deep within the jungle. They were howling in pain and were struggling to walk. They seemed to be inexorably drawn towards The Centipede. Suddenly, there was the sound of a small explosion as the head of one of the smallest dwarf suddenly burst apart like a rotten watermelon. Its bony body spun around several times before falling onto the ground.

The other dwarves too did not last very long after as their heads exploded one after the other, leaving only their small bodies.

The rustling sound of the mud had subsided once again.

Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding.

The faces of the people from the Death Trademark and The Centipede were beginning to turn pale. Both the action of punching the ground to raise the mud dragons and launching the Soul Rushing killing attack were extremely physically demanding and consumed a lot of their energy. Even the nail-like Wen Bushuo's footsteps were slightly shaky.

Two Centipedes got a hold of Ah Dan and tied him to the back of Little Chili Pepper with a red string. Of course, the zombie wouldn't die but with the two Spirit Needles in its body, it would behave like an ordinary corpse and would not be able to acknowledge its master again until it was brought back home. The witchcraft of the Miao had been able to drive the little zombie into a frenzy, it was indeed a formidable sorcery.

Wen Leyang looked questioningly at everyone and was acknowledged with a nod. This victory had raised the morale of the elites from both families. The Wen had defended while the Luo had attacked, the perfect cooperation had brought everyone closer than before.

Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper walked side by side. Together with the remaining twenty-eight elites, they continued to speedily transverse into the jungle.

It was a few miles down the road and all was quiet, they no longer heard the squishing sound of the mud anymore. Wen Buzuo, as if he'd just remembered something of note, went quickly up to Wen Leyang and said in a secretive tone, "Actually…we didn't need to worry about the rain of flames just now."

Not understanding his meaning, Wen Leyang gave him a puzzled look.

Wen Buzuo swallowed hard before saying, "In the nightmare, none of us had burned to death!"

Not knowing to laugh or cry, Wen Le Yang gave him a stern look. Just as he was about to speak, his expressions changed unexpectedly as he yelled, "Watch out!" In a flash, he had thrown himself forcefully towards the back of Wen Buzuo's body. In that instant, the rushing sound of the mud could be heard again!

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Chapter 56: The Other 'Self'

A long vine that was almost invisible in the night had wriggled and crept up soundlessly behind them. It had almost wound itself around Wen Buzuo's throat.

Wen Leyang's five fingers moved in a swift plucking motion and hit onto the vine like raindrops falling from the sky. The black long vine trembled, letting out a heart-wrenching cry in the dark before falling to the ground.

The crowd had just sighed in relief when the vine which had dropped to the ground abruptly leaped up and pounced towards Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper. It hissed with its head raised – the vine had unexpectedly turned into a grayish-colored snake!

Concurrently, the entire jungle started to tremble vigorously. The sound of squishing mud merged with the rustling of the leaves until it cascaded into a noise that made one's blood run cold. Countless black vines suddenly attacked the group from every direction!

The people from both the Wen and the Luo families retreated with each of them pulling out a short knife to retaliate. The tempered blades of the knives flashed in the moonlight as they chopped the black vine into pieces.

Mumu's Spirit Needles were being used on Ah Dan but she was not anxious at all in the face of the approaching snake. She sneered as she crossed her arms and reached out like lightning to grab onto the snake. However, just before her hands could touch the snake, it abruptly shrank away. Mumu stomped her foot and shouted in anger, "I can do it myself!"

"The hell you can!" The usually mild-mannered Wen Leyang suddenly cursed with uncharacteristic rage. The red scar on his cheekbone flashed cruelly and fiercely. He had grabbed the snake's tail as it was about to pounce and pulled the snake away with one hand before Little Chili Pepper could get her hands on it.

Wen Leyang's other hand rapidly scoured the snake's body. The gray snake made a heart-wrenching screech and twisted its body insanely as it tried to escape the attack. Finally, it fell to the ground stiffly, never to move again.

It was then that Mumu noticed that the snake's body was covered in bone needles, the sharp tips of the needles were almost at level with the snake's body. Other than Wen Leyang's steel-like hands, if anybody else were to grab the snake their hands would have been pieced mercilessly by the needles.

The other black vines which were attacking the rest of the group were unexpectedly fragile. It took only a few slashes of the knives to sever them and in just a moment the vines were all reduced to nothingness.

But none of their faces showed any relief. Everyone adjusted the state of their body's readiness to their peak as the cautiously defended against all directions. They were prepared to deal with the next attack from The Swarm of Bees.

Something was wrong, yet no one could tell what was wrong at the moment.

The sound of mud surrounded them and continued to squish in everyone's ears.

As expected, a moment later there was an ear piercing cry!

The usually somber nail-like person Wen Bushuo yelled hysterically as his thin, withered body jumped up ferociously. His fists oscillated like wheels as he slammed into one of The Centipede's troops in rage.

The person cried out in alarm as he retaliated ferociously against Wen Bushuo in midair. Under the mottled moonlight, everyone could feel their scalps going numb as the two fighters looked exactly like Wen Bushuo! Both of them were desperately exchanging blows with one another and looked so alike that even Wen Buzuo couldn't differentiate which one was his real brother.

Soon after, more cries of alarm were sounded. Everyone noticed that they had another 'self' nearby and the original group of thirty people had turned into sixty after being attacked by the black vines. Other than Wen Leyang, there were doubles for every other person. Even Little Chili Pepper too had been cloned and each carried an Ah Dan on her back.

The candidates who were selected by the family elders to come on this mission were masters of killing with one punch. They were fearless and were even better at turning their fear into rage. When they saw that there was an enemy that looked exactly like themselves, they pounced on them without a word and fought valiantly against their other 'self'. Only Wen Buzuo and his double were quarreling as they fought.

Heart-wrenching cries continued to sound through the night. Some of the figures were dropping onto the ground and regardless if the person was the authentic one or the double, they would savagely attack the other and stab their weapon into the enemy's belly. In a short while, four to five clusters of intertwined figures had fallen onto the ground. When two of the same person died, one of the bodies would distort and turn back into a small bamboo figurine. A strand of hair or a little shred of skin had been nailed onto the face of these figurines.

Ever since the enemies had appeared, Wen Leyang attempted to use his special telegnosis ability of opening and closing his pores to scan his surroundings. Unfortunately, his powers have a limited range and he could only sense a few dozen meters around him. The Swarm of Bees must be hiding at a distance away and were casting their spells from there. Wen Leyang had been unable to locate them so far.

But now, things were different and the enemy had appeared right by his side. Wen Leyang closed his eyes as the pores on his body opened and closed rapidly. He could see the scene around him in his mind's eye and was able to differentiate the fighters from those who had followed them on this mission and the other which was a bamboo figurine wrapped in blood and black mist.

Wen Leyang shouted as he pounced like a raging leopard towards Little Chili Pepper. His hands interlocked ferociously and he snapped the fair and delicate neck with a loud crack. A sad and shrill moan could be heard from far away as a bamboo figurine with distorted facial features dropped onto the ground.

Little Chili Pepper stared in bewilderment as she stood on the same spot, "You…were you not afraid that you might have killed the wrong one?"

Wen Leyang had since pounced into the fray and his body was wrapped in a vigorous wind and he rapidly ran around the battlefield. Each time he stretched out his arms to snap a neck, a bamboo figurine would fall onto the ground and a sad and shrill moan would echo from far away…

In the midst of the pressing affairs, Wen Buzuo had managed to take his time. He roared at Wen Leyang, "Why aren't you helping me!"

The other Wen Buzuo shouted with a piercing voice, "Kill him, quick!"

Wen Leyang grinned, "You don't seem to be too busy."

All of the doubles had been dispatched by Wen Leyang with the exception of the two Wen Buzuo. But they weren't in much danger as they were basically scolding one another instead of trading punches.

Mumu took a closer look at the hair and skin scraps that were nailed onto the bamboo figurine's heads and said, "The Qing Miao clansmen can only use skin or hair to cast their spells. Everyone should wrap your hair up and cover your hands and legs!"

Wen Leyang nodded his head in agreement. As the group had made their way through the dense jungle, it was inevitable that they would have scraped their skin or left strands of their hair behind in the tree branches. The Qing Miao had only attacked in force now as they had been preoccupied with collecting these samples. As for himself, ever since he had cultivated Wen Lazi's method of cultivation, his hair and skin had become vital parts of his body. They were as important as his fingers and bones and if he were to drop anything it would be his eye's discharge. He wondered if the Qing Miao could use a person's eye discharge to cast their spells.

Mumu made a rough headcount and discovered that they had lost ten more people. The ground that had followed Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper had been reduced to twenty people. This consisted of eleven from the Death trademark and nine from The Centipede.

There's still the matter of the two Wen Buzuo.

Wen Leyang shook his body once and one of the Wen Buzuo cried out as he cursed, "What the hell is this?" The Buddha's Light Bug, 'You've Got Me', was lying lazily on his cheek. It seemed pleased with itself as it rolled around and the red-colored bug stood out in contrast against Wen Buzuo's cheek.

Wen Leyang laughed as he said, "Pay attention, the one with the bug is the real one. The two of you can keep fighting but don't accidentally kill the bug!" As he was saying that, he turned his face sideways and started listening attentively. The squishing sound of the mud was still around them but the noise was a lot softer now.

This was the second time Mumu had seen Wen Leyang in a dazed state. The first time was when the rogue cultivators were fighting the ten Modes Monastery from the Great Mercy Temple on Zhanyan Peak.

She hesitated for a while before walking lightly to Wen Leyang's side, "What're you thinking about?"

Wen Leyang replied in a low voice, "The sound of the mud. Every time the Qing Miao launch their attack the sound of the mud will grow louder, this is equal to informing the enemy that: We the Qing Miao are here…" As he was saying that, he held Mumu's hand and wrote a few words lightly onto her palm.

Mumu was stunned for a while before her face suddenly blushed scarlet. She bowed her head as her red lips curved up in delight, "What're you trying to say? How can I be in the mood to discuss that right now?"

Wen Leyang was astounded, "What do you mean?" He paused for a moment before he whispered into Little Chili Pepper's ear, "What I just wrote was: I'll be back soon."

Mumu was burning with anger, her little face turned into a big red apple as she stomped her foot while cursing sweetly, "Why were you writing on my palm from out of the blue and in a mysterious way when there are so many strokes in each letter? How could I tell what you were writing about?!"

Wen Leyang continued to be astounded but this time he was also blushing as he murmured in a low tone, "What did you think I was writing about?"

Mumu stomped her foot, her face was so flushed that blood was almost seeping out, "What do you care! You said that you want to go then you should go soon…you should be more careful…" Before her voice had died away, Wen Leyang had laid himself on the ground with every inch of his skin tightly pressed against the surface. He sensed the vibrations coming from the ground as he waved his arm and instructed in a low voice, "Strike him down!"

Wen Bushuo was concerned about his brother so he was the first one to leap forward and stab his knife into Wen Buzuo's buttock.

Wen Leyang frowned as his intention wasn't achieved.

Wen Buzuo hissed and cursed in rage, "B*stard, you've got the wrong guy!" The Buddha's Light Bug raised its head from where it was lying on Wen Buzuo's face and looked at Wen Bushuo stupidly.

The nail-like Wen Bushuo was confused as he turned and asked Wen Leyang who was still lying on the ground, "The one with the bug is fake, am I correct?"

"Bullsh*t! The one with the bug is the real one!" Everyone spoke at the same time, the three-inch nail bowed his head in shame as he laughed lightly, "Sorry, I misunderstood earlier." Upon saying that, he raised his hand and stabbed the bugless version of Wen Buzuo in the buttock.

As the shrill cries sounded, Wen Leyang had an elated expression on his face. Like a joyous lizard, he sensed the sound of the squishing mud as he rapidly crept into the depth of the dense jungle. Immediately after, four good hands from the Death Trademark also lay onto the ground and swiftly followed after him.

Wen Leyang was stunned but he did not say a thing for he knew that the people of the Death Trademark refused to let him face the hardships alone anymore.

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Chapter 57: Extinguishing the Flames

More and more people on Wen Leyang's side were getting wounded or killed but the Miao Bujiao's 'The Swarm of Bees' were not faring so well either. This form of voodoo doll witchcraft was only effective when it was launched on a one-to-one basis so thirty voodoo dolls would require thirty sorcerers. Once the witchcraft had been jeopardized the sorcerer themselves would be severely injured as well.

In the depth of the dense jungle next to a huge swamp, a ball of light green-colored flame was blazing brightly. Around twenty to thirty dwarves lay next to the bonfire, their faces reflected the wretched green color of the burning flames. The dwarves had been disemboweled – their voodoo dolls were compromised and as a result, they suffered serious injuries. Their companions had dug into their abdomen as they breathed their last.

Another dozen dwarves were filled with joy as each of them held a huge jar. They carefully collected their companions' internal organs and they conversed in whispers to one another. As they swayed around their jars to show off their harvest, they made a high-pitched squeaking sound like that of a rat's teeth grinding.

These internal organs were the best-quality raw material for refining potions.

There was one more dwarf who was sitting upright and faced the flames. Beads of sweat were dotted densely around his entire forehead and his body would tremble every once in a while. His face was turning paler by the minute for every time the fake Wen Buzuo that he was controlling was injured, the voodoo doll's witchcraft power would diminish and he would suffer more injuries on his body.

The dwarf was at his limit as he shouted and spat a mouthful of pus and blood upwards into the sky. At the same time, the sound of raging laughter was heard from the edge of the dense jungle and a voice said, "Kill them!" Five shadowy figures immediately pounced forward like raging leopards.

The dwarves that were collecting the internal organs immediately tried to flee the scene. They tossed the jars in their hands onto the ground and scattered clumsily in all directions. These dwarves had relied on hiding in the jungle and casting their spells from a distance to kill others. Face-to-face, however, they had almost no capacity to defend themselves and their strength was weaker than that of a seven or eight-year-old child.

The four men from the Death Trademark were like tigers whose wrath had just been unleashed. Their eyes were blood red as they executed their Art of Poison abilities and slashed with their knives without mercy to kill this group of monsters.

None of the dwarves managed to escape as they were brutally cut down by the agile killing strikes of the Death Trademark. Huge amounts of black-colored blood quickly began to stain the ground, their shriveled bodies had unexpectedly contained a surprising amount of blood.

Wen Leyang was slightly astounded for he did not expect that the affair could be executed so smoothly. He continued to sense his surroundings with his skin to ensure that there were no more enemies hiding in the dense jungle.

The four men of the Death Trademark did not need further orders as each of them put on a pair of surgical latex gloves and cautiously started examining the dwarves' corpses.

Each time the dwarves from The Swarm of Bees cast their spells, the sound of squishing mud would grow louder. Wen Leyang was correct in guessing that the sound of the mud and the sound of ringing from the Buddha's Golden Light on Zhanyan Peak served a similar function. The strange sounds not only distracted the enemies, it also enhanced the effectiveness of the spell. When the sorcerers were attacked and the spell was interrupted, the sound of the mud would gradually diminish until it was fully dispersed.

At first, the origin of the squishing sound of the mud was hard to identify as it had sounded from all directions at once. But when one of the sorcerers was attacked, the sound of squishing mud would become softer from one direction before the sound started to fade from the other directions too.

The Death Trademark and The Centipede who remained with Mumu had continued to stab the fake Wen Buzuo's body. Therefore, Wen Leyang was able to identify the direction of the sound and followed it stealthily until he had found the dwarves' camp. After that, the enemies were swiftly and easily dispatched.

The process may seem easy but it would not have been possible without his special telegnosis ability to sense the micro-vibrations in the ground. Without this ability, even if he understood the theory he could not have located the direction of the sound.

One of the Death Trademark lifted up a piece of green cloth strip found on a corpse and brought it to Wen Leyang.

Two big words were written on the cloth strip: Too late! The cloth strip appeared ragged, it must have been the missing message which had been torn off from the third 'stool'.

The four men from the Death Trademark had completed their search, other than the cloth strip there was nothing else which was worthy of attention. They spread out in the area to keep a cautious lookout and every once in a while their gaze would sweep past Wen Leyang with a look of respect and joy.

Wen Leyang frowned, he had assumed that the 'stool' had been relaying warnings from the Miao Bujiao but it now seemed like the messages were from somebody else. Otherwise, the dwarves didn't need to tear off the cloth strip so the warning would not reach them.

A small sentence was written on the back of the cloth strip, it said: North-west, put your trust in luck.

Wen Leyang put the cloth strip away into his chest pocket. He then instructed the Death Trademark, "We shall return now…" He took two steps forward before he suddenly stopped and, after hesitating a while, rapidly ran back to the open ground and kicked the corpses into the bonfire. As he was kicking the third corpse towards it, the green bonfire was extinguished.

When Wen Leyang's group had rushed in earlier, they had arrived just in time before the last dwarf had cast his spell into the green flames. Wen Leyang did not know the secret within the flame but he knew that it should be extinguished just to be on the safe side.

Moments before the flame was extinguished, a sad and shrill cry was heard abruptly. It echoed from the direction of Seven Maidens Mountain and the voice penetrated into everyone's eardrums into their brains like a burning-hot blade.

Wen Leyang was shocked, he had a 'why are you always in trouble' expression on his face as he looked at the Death Trademark and asked, "Are we in trouble now?"

The people from the Death Trademark blinked innocently, "We might be!" Upon saying that the group of five started to run back towards the direction where Little Chili Pepper was…

After the sad and shrill cry had sounded, the entire dense jungle became shrouded with a layer of nauseating humidity. Just as Little Chili Pepper was becoming restless, a blur appeared before her – Wen Leyang had returned.

Mumu leaped up in joyous surprise but before she could begin speaking, Wen Leyang had surged forward and grabbed onto her arm. He had no time to make sense of the direction as he cried out, "Run, quick!"

The group of people did not ask any questions as they followed behind Wen Leyang and started running as well.

The compact soil on the ground was cracking rapidly and started collapsing closely behind the group. One by one, gigantic mud bubbles erupted and burst, releasing a fishy stench into the air. The jungle continued to cave into the crack and a dull rumbling sounded from the center of the earth!

Little Chili Pepper kept looking back as she was running away. She then asked Wen Leyang with a voice full of astonishment, "How did you get into such a big trouble…" Before she could finish her question, she cried out in alarm abruptly as the ground underneath their feet had turned soft and mushy. Every step they took trapped them deeper into the mud and they were soon sunk up to their knees. Fortunately, they had stopped sinking down after that but it had greatly reduced the group's running speed.

The crack behind them was like a hungry leech. It shook its head and wagged its tail as it rushed forward with a big, gaping mouth.

Wen Leyang dashed from person to person in the group, if someone was lagging behind he would grab that person and toss them to the front of the queue. In a short while, Wen Buzuo had been thrown forward five times already until even his taciturn brother had complained, "Why can't you run faster?"

Little Chili Pepper stopped running as she turned around and shouted loudly at Wen Leyang, "Stop, there's a trap in front of us!"

Wen Leyang had been so focused on tossing people to the front of the line that he had no time to process any other matters. He did not realize that in front of them were countless people-swallowing air bubbles that were hidden in the mud. Two of his people had lost their footing and sank out of sight before they could even cry out.

Wen Leyang felt extremely helpless for when he took care of those at the back he could not take care of those in front. He shouted through gritted teeth, "North-west! Run towards the north-west!"

Mumu managed to identify their direction despite being in the midst of panic, "But we are already running towards the north-west!"

"Then run faster!" Wen Leyang had not noticed this earlier but Little Chili Pepper loved to chat so much that whenever he said something she would definitely reply something else. He lost his train of thought for a while as he pondered this in his heart – earlier when he had written on her palm with his finger, what did she think he was trying to say? Soon after, he noticed that Wen Buzuo had become the last in line again. Wen Buzuo pulled a long face at Wen Leyang as he said, "So sorry for causing you so much trouble, so sorry for causing you so much trouble."

The group of people ran as fast as they could, trying to seek refuge from the constant pursuit of the giant crack. Once in a while, one of them would sink into a hidden trap and the few from the Death Trademark and The Centipede with the fastest speed would run ahead of the queue. If one of them were to step into a trap, the others would then rapidly stay away from the trap. The expression on everyone's face was ravaged with grief!

Finally, the mud beneath everyone's feet gradually became shallower, their footsteps regained their agility and the crack that was chasing them too gradually began to lose speed. As the ground regained its former dryness and rigidity, Little Chili Pepper's eyes brightened with hope, they had run out of the dense jungle.

The crack gave an unwilling roar as it stopped abruptly at the edge of the dense jungle. Wen Leyang was the last in line as the jungle behind him shook several times ferociously before returning to its prior serenity.

A total of nine people were lost to the mud.

Only eleven people remained behind Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper, consisting of seven from the Death Trademark and four from The Centipede.

Before their eyes was a dreary stretch of empty land. Beneath their feet, the dried mud was cracked and the place resembled an ancient, withered river bed. In the distance stood an oddly-shaped temple which rose impressively from the middle of a graveyard.

The few men from the Death Trademark all heaved a sigh of relief and the happiest one was Wen Buzuo, "Not a single blade of grass grows here!" He can still recall his nightmare of being strangled to death by a vine.

The river bed was dried and desolated, not a single root grew in it and the yellow soil connected straight to the foothill of the Seven Maidens Mountain.

However, as the four men from The Centipede rushed forward to the river bed, their expressions suddenly changed drastically!

Little Chili Pepper stomped her foot in rage as she yelled at Wen Leyang, "You…do you even know how to direct us to the correct path?!"

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Chapter 58: The Land of Evil Spirits

The mystical Corpse Control Art practiced by the disciples at Crow Ridge had been passed down for over two thousand years. Ever since the disciples could remember they had started mingling with corpses and graveyards. It would not be considered as an exaggeration if they were to say that they could not sleep without using a tombstone as a pillow. However, the expressions on the disciples of the Luo family now were panic-stricken.

The witchcraft and the murderous battle from the dense jungle did not follow them any further. Wen Leyang retrieved the cloth strip from his chest pocket and passed it to Mumu. The pores on his body simultaneously contracted and relaxed as he sensed his surrounding attentively. After a while, he abruptly opened his eyes wide and warned loudly, "Be careful!"

There were countless unidentifiable objects underneath the dried riverbed. They flowed like water as they converged from all directions towards them.

Little Chili Pepper gave a crisp and clear instruction to her men, "Guiding Lights!"

The remaining four men from The Centipede immediately guarded the four cardinal points as they retrieved some translucent lanterns which appeared to be made from moth's wings from their backpacks. They turned their Spirit Needles the other way around and lightly pierced it into their chests. A few drops of deep red-colored fresh blood flowed down along the side of the long needles and dripped into the core of the lantern.

The disciples of Wen Bucao opened their eyes wide as they watched the Luo family disciples display their mystical cultivation.

Little Chili Pepper's family origin had been passed down for many generations. She had indeed received strict training in the graveyard and she explained to Wen Leyang in a low voice, "This riverbed was an ancient burial ground and it's surrounded by the foothills of the Seven Maidens Mountain as well as the swamp and the dense jungle. Year after year, evil spirits would accumulate here without a way to disperse. The spirits have now taken a form, once any living beings come into the graveyard they will immediately be corroded by the malevolent energy." As she was speaking, her charming red-hot gaze settled on the evil energy around them and she looked around attentively, "If this wasn't caused by widespread flooding then it must be an ancient river which had changed its course. There're just too many grieving spirits underneath this place!"

Wen Leyang finally understood the situation as he had led them into this graveyard, "We should be more cautious as the witchcraft practiced by the Miao Bujiao in this graveyard could be different from the mystical cultivation of the Luo family."

The thick blood had seeped into the core of the lanterns and a dark green flame immediately ignited within. The four good hands of The Centipede inhaled deeply, suppressed the trembling of their body with all their might, and started releasing the lanterns.

Little Chili Pepper shook her head and continued to explain to Wen Leyang, "You don't get it, a graveyard of this size is utterly uncontrollable by any human's power. It…it's a naturally formed murderous troop, an evil influence of this size can't be stopped by any human! You can toss a swimming champion and a bunch of non-swimmers into the middle of the ocean and they'd all die." She then leaped up and stepped as lightly as a feather onto Wen Leyang's shoulder to look around. She said, "There will always be a balance between the forces of yin and yang in this world so there must be a vitality point in a land heavy with evil spirits."

Wen Buzuo overheard their conversation and he shook his arms as he ran over, "We were better off back in the jungle, at least we could still continue to run there!" Though he had run the slowest out of them all, he had been quite proficient at flying through the air instead.

Little Chili Pepper answered in a neutral voice, "It's too late now. Once we've stepped into this place it makes no difference whether we're at the edge or in the middle of the graveyard…I need to get higher!"

Wen Leyang answered her demand as he supported Little Chili Pepper on his shoulder and stomped his legs hard onto the ground. He utilized his surroundings by jumping on top of Wen Buzuo's head.

The three-inch nail-like Wen Bushuo who had been watching the exchange from a distance ran over and bent to grab his brother's legs. He exerted his strength and heaved the three people onto his shoulders.

Wen Buzuo, who was in the midst of a pressing affair stiffened his neck as he said to his brother, "Your attitude was pretty good but the effect is somewhat lacking. Why do I have such a short brother?!"

The four dark green colored Spirit Guiding Lights slowly floated into the air. Each lantern trembled non-stop, as if it would explode at any time.

Wen Leyang could feel a gloomy and cold air gathering from all directions like a merging river. The sinister air surged around the area illuminated by the Spirit Guiding Lights and continued to flow around them as it became thicker and faster. In Wen Leyang's senses, it was as if a huge swirling vortex was wrapped firmly around the little group of people in the middle of it.

Little Chili Pepper could see the terrain clearly now. She immediately leaped down and started doodling her calculations onto the ground. Wen Buzuo was even more appreciative towards the opportunity to speak when faced with imminent disaster as he explained to Wen Leyang, "The Spirit Guiding Light actually guides the evil energy in the area. The ancient evil spirits which had taken form followed this evil energy and it will go wherever this energy can be found. The Luo family is using the Spirit Guiding Lights to absorb the evil energy in this area so the evil spirits cannot enter here temporarily but by my estimation, I think that the Spirit Guiding Lights will not last much longer."

Wen Buzuo glanced at Little Chili Pepper who was still calculating nonstop on the ground. He once again stirred up the same old topic and said to Wen Leyang with a smile, "Actually, there's nothing to be afraid of as we did not die this way in our nightmare…"

"Bullsh*t!" The person who spoke was the three-inch nail brother, even he could not keep silent any longer, "Luo Seventh dreamt that his brain was devoured by bugs in the nightmare but he ended up falling into the pit. Can't you see that the nightmare was not reliable?!"

Wen Buzuo was elated that someone had responded to his conversation, "It was possible that Luo Seventh's brain got devoured by bugs after he fell into the pit, you know…"

This time, it was Little Chili Pepper who jumped up and shouted in rage, "Stop talking! I found it!" As she said that she pointed at the oddly shaped old temple in the distance, "It's in there!"

The Wen brothers who were in the middle of their argument held their tongues and asked Little Chili Pepper, "Was it even necessary to look for the temple?!"

Without the need to calculate where the vitality point was at, any fool would think of running to the temple to escape the evil presence in the area. Mumu blushed scarlet for a moment but she felt that she had justified herself to the folks.

Suddenly, there was a dull bang as the lantern on the east was extinguished. The good hand who had been in charge of that Spirit Guiding Light moaned in pain and thin rivulets of blood flowed from his seven orifices. The battle formation as broken and the other three lanterns did not last long after that as they were quickly extinguished.

The four disciples of the Luo family suffered heavy injuries as they all dropped to the ground!

The Miao Bujiao do not practice this kind of ability nor do have a need for it as they did not cast their spells from this ancient giant burial ground. The evil presence here was utterly beyond the power of any human to control, even for the Luo family's disciples who had depended on their ability to manipulate evil corpses to stand tall in the world for thousands of years.

Wen Leyang sensed that the evil presence below the ground had shrunk away when the lanterns were extinguished, only for it to rush forward after that like a raging tide towards the group!

Little Chili Pepper cried out in surprise as she jumped, she pointed at the odd temple in the distance and shouted loudly, "Run!"

The surviving people of the Death Trademark scooped up the severely wounded Luo family's disciples and started running towards the odd temple. However, the first person to step out had only taken two steps forward before he let out a long and agonizing moan. A layer of ash rapidly crawled up his body and even before he had fallen over, he had turned into a dried-out corpse and was left with only skin and bones as his flesh and blood vaporized into the air.

Wen Leyang yelled out as he grabbed the two closest people next to him. Without sparing a look he immediately threw them with great force at the direction of the odd temple as he growled, "Good brothers, Godspeed!" His telegnosis ability could not determine the extent of the raging evil energy and he could only hope that his throw would send his comrades out from the concentrated area of evil presence around them. Otherwise, if they only counted on their two legs, they would never be able to step out of this haunted land!

Wen Leyang's movements were so agile that it was incomprehensible. The survivors had only felt a strong and ruthless force against their faces as their bodies were tossed high into the air. Of the remaining six people from the Death Trademark; some were holding onto their companions, some who were all alone, were all thrown up one by one. The two brothers Buzhuo and Buzuo had unexpectedly held onto each other at the critical moment, they resembled a big koala bear spooning a small koala bear as they were both tossed up into the air by Wen Leyang.

The last person who was grabbed by Wen Leyang had a pair of soft and delicate hands. Just as he swayed forward to throw them the pair of little hands firmly entwined themselves into his arms. Mumu's huge eyes were burning with an expression that no one could understand as she pointed her sharp chin at the direction of the old broken temple, "Let's both go forward together!"

Wen Leyang too no longer talked rubbish as he tightly pulled Mumu's slim waist into his arms and leaped into the air!

Everything happened at a lightning-fast speed. As Wen Leyang began to dash forward, the first person he had tossed over was still sweeping through the air in an unstoppable arc.

The pores on Wen Leyang's entire body were tightly shut. Each time he'd landed onto the ground he would shake ferociously as countless evil spirits slammed into his body. However, though they were unable to enter his body the power of those spirits were like millions of huge hammers and exploded upon his skin savagely. Wen Leyang's body, which had been tempered with hundreds of poisons had evolved into an extremely resilient structure with copper skin and metal bones but he still felt an unsettling sensation as he took the three to five jumps on the land.

Mumu's charming eyes took no notice of the ground as she gazed upon Wen Leyang's face with a smile. She raised her hand gently as if to caress the scar on his cheek.

The first person from the Death Trademark who had been tossed over started to come down. At the moment when his feet touched the ground, he channeled the strength into both of his arms like what Wen Leyang had done and threw the injured man from The Centipede towards the broken temple with all his might. As he did that, a layer of ash flashed onto his body and turned him into a dried skeleton.

The man from The Centipede was not tossed too far and his feet too touched the ground soon after. The layer of ash immediately swept towards him followed by three crisp snapping sounds. The next attack of the evil spirits had visibly slowed down and after another crisp snapping sound was heard, the good hand of the Luo family too was reduced into a dried corpse by the evil spirits.

Each of the master cultivators of Crow Ridge had brought along a Spirit Guiding Light, a Necromancy Seal and a pair of Spirit Needles on this mission. These items had been refined by the Luo family using their mystical methods which had been passed down from Grand Master Tuoxie. These items could control corpses and ward off evil spirits but faced with the boundless evil spirits in the ancient burial ground, these treasured items could only restrain the evil spirits for a short while before failing.

The second pair of men from the Death Trademark and The Centipede started falling towards the ground. The man from the Death Trademark intended to follow suit and started to channel the strength into his arms when the person from the Luo family grabbed onto his arms firmly. His smile was a combination of warmth and determination.

We should live and die together, for we are brothers!

The ash flashed past, followed by three crisp snapping sounds and a pair of dried corpses fell onto the ground with their four hands were still holding onto one another.

The brothers Bushuo and Buzuo's momentum from the toss were gradually slowing down. Wen Buzuo somersaulted in the air and spared no effort to throw his brother on top of his, "When I touch the ground, step on my back and try to leap again!"

Without saying a word, Wen Bushuo's hands gripped tightly onto his brother's shoulders like a leech. His eyes stared at the ground in preparation to throw his brother up as well. The two brothers then simultaneously exerted their strengths and neither managed to throw the other forward. They turned into a convulsing octopus and screamed in fear as they dropped onto the ground.

Just as they had already smelled the gloomy and chilly air blowing against their faces, the clopping sound of horses' hooves was heard from the direction of the broken temple.

Seven to eight stools were rushing forward with a clopping sound from the broken temple!

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Chapter 59: The Vitality Point

It was the middle of the night and the dried river bed, the ancient burial ground, the evil spirits, and the broken temple in the distance had created a terrifying atmosphere which was suddenly broken by the sudden clattering of the stools. The atmosphere had turned downright odd at this point.

The stools' appearance was like someone throwing a lead ball into a fish tank. The rapidly flowing evil spirits under the ground which had been hunting its human prey were scattered like a startled school of fish. The spirits dispersed with a loud crash and left Wen Leyang's group of people alone for the time being. The brothers Buzhuo and Buzuo had struggled as they fell back to the ground and were now slightly confused as they stood up.

However, only Wen Leyang had a grasp of the situation – the evil spirits were not startled or dispersed, they were instead like bloodthirsty piranhas that had discovered newer and more scrumptious delicacies. They erupted with a booming sound and rushed madly in swarms towards the stools.

A tiny doll had been tied to each of the stools.

The remaining few people of the Death Trademark all fell back onto the ground. Wen Leyang roared loudly, "Don't stop! Head for that old temple!" He was hopping about as he searched for a gap in the evil spirits to land on and he guided the last of the survivors towards the old temple. A survivor from the Death Trademark had accidentally stepped onto the undercurrent of the evil spirits and did all he could to throw his companion from The Centipede towards Wen Bushuo before he turned into a dried corpse in the blink of an eye.

The stools could not withstand the onslaught of the evil spirits for long and were crushed one after another. Wen Leyang and his group seized the final moment and ran at full speed towards the old temple!

The last stool collapsed with an unpleasant and hoarse sound. The evil spirits once again gathered and rushed towards the survivors.

The old temple was getting closer and closer. It stood tall amongst the desolation in the weak moonlight.

The sound of clattering hooves could be heard as another wave of little stools ran out from the temple. However, the stool's movements this time were significantly slower than the first batch. It was obvious that the evil spirits were no longer as attracted to the stools now, some of the evil spirits continued to chase after the stools while some chased after the survivors.

Wen Leyang had continuously braced the lashing of the evil spirits for a while now, the vital energy of his entire body was suffering in an unspeakable agony. The pores on his body were gradually relaxing as he no longer had the strength to tighten his pores. The broken temple was very close now, it was around three to five meters away from them but the evil spirits were equally close behind. If he were to blink now perhaps he would no longer be able to open his eyes anymore.

The evil spirits had once again converged into a mighty torrent. It appeared as if the survivors would soon be swallowed whole when suddenly seven to eight black-colored long vines coiled out from the broken temple and quickly wrapped around the few survivors before pulling them into the temple!

It was too late for one of the men from the Death Trademark, as the vines started to pull him along, the ashes from the evil spirits had crawled onto his body as a faint sigh sounded from within the temple. The long vines swallowed and spat, tossing the man onto the ground…

Wen Leyang slammed heavily onto the ice cold ground. Little Chili Pepper, Bushuo, and Buzuo, as well as the last of the man of The Centipede were all spread out around him. Outside, the evil spirits continued to snarl soundlessly as a gust of bone-chilling wind blew into the old temple. But there was no way for the evil spirits to enter.

Only five survivors remained from their little group.

Wen Buzuo had not yet opened his eyes and his mouth was already speaking, "Like I was saying before, I was strangled to death by the vines in the nightmare…" He then suddenly realized that he was still wrapped in vines and jumped up to untie himself hurriedly.

Wen Bushuo cautiously placed the injured Luo family disciple onto the ground before taking a few quick steps to Wen Leyang's side and helped Little Chili Pepper to hold him upright.

Wen Leyang took a few deep breaths. His entire body was now relaxed as he started sizing the place up. The broken temple was quite large but its shape was twisted around in an odd manner as if during its construction, the temple's structure had been twisted like a piece of soft clay by a giant's hand.

Rows of torches as thick as a child's arm were hung on the walls yet these torchers could barely light up the interior. There were five to six Miao clansmen with green-colored cloth wrapped around their heads as they sat or stood around the area. Their faces were ashen white and they were all panting weakly.

A child with bright eyes who looked to be around six to seven years old walked towards Wen Leyang with his face full of admiration. His accent was peculiar but he was straight to the point as he spoke, "Don't worry, you'll be fine now. Those things outside can't come into the temple…your power's really strong! Those things had all been surging towards you yet you look fine…" Before he could finish speaking, however, a Miao clansman grabbed onto him and stopped him from getting any closer to Wen Leyang.

Little Chili Pepper had felt a sense of relief as she had slammed into the temple but upon seeing the Qing Miao before her eyes, she immediately felt anxious again. A faint hostility rose in her eyes and she placed Wen Leyang behind her to block him from any potential attacks.

An elderly man from the Qing Miao turned around and spoke to the person behind him in the Miao language for a long while.

Wen Buzuo immediately walked up to Wen Leyang and translated to him in a low voice, "These heartless underdogs, you would risk the lives of our people and insist on rescuing them yet we still can't be sure if we have drawn in a pack of wild dogs."

A weak laugh sounded from behind the Qing Miao clansmen and a female voice spoke in fluent Chinese, "Uncle, they understand the Miao language. These people had refused to abandon each other in the face of death, they have unyielding integrity."

The old man of the Miao huffed in reply.

Wen Leyang had only now noticed the female who looked to be around forty years of age behind the old man. She was leaning on a pillar and seemed to be guarding a brazier that was close to being extinguished.

The Miao woman stood up with difficulty with the support of her clansmen. She smiled in a friendly manner towards Wen Leyang's group and asked, "Who're all of you?" The Miao woman had an ordinary appearance, none of her features exceed the other as her eyes were not considered big and her mouth was not considered small. Yet there was a sweet and affectionate nature in her smile that made Wen Leyang feel at ease immediately.

Wen Buzuo signaled Wen Leyang with his eyes and hinted at him not to speak. He then diverted the topic of discussion while he asked in reply, "Are you sick? I know how to treat sickness…"

The Qing Miao child shook his head, "The Second Mother is not sick, she had released all the Bamboo Horses and Dolls to rescue you and her vital energy has been greatly diminished."

Wen Leyang now learned that the stool's actual name was called the Bamboo Horse. If Wen Xiaoyi were here, she would immediately stop them from calling those stools as 'stools', it was embarrassing.

Mumu asked in a rush, "Were those stoo…Bamboo Horses from a few days ago released by you as well?" Wen Leyang too procured the piece of green-colored cloth strip he had taken from the 'Swarm of Bees' corpse from his pocket and handed it over.

The Qing Miao child nodded with pride, "Of course that was us! The Second Mother could not bear to see all of you killed so she sent over the Bamboo Horses to warn you but in the end, all of you still dived in without a care. On the third day, the 'Swarm of Bees' had their eyes on all of you so Second Mother had no other choice but to guide you to a way out."

The three-inch nail Wen Bushuo suddenly spoke up, "What kind of f*cking way out was this?! This was the deadliest dead end I have ever seen." The last few disciples of the Death Trademark had all lost their lives here and other than his brother who had no heart or soul, anyone would feel sorrowful in this situation.

The Qing Miao woman shook her head with a slight smile on her face. She seemed not to care about the three-inch nail's vulgar language at all, "There was no way you could have walked out of the jungle alive. You would have been running around in circles until you die. However, once you've entered into this dried river bed, there's still a chance for you to escape with your lives."

Wen Leyang understood that the Qing Miao would not have expended such a great effort to save them if they had wanted to harm them. They could just as easily toss Wen Leyang's group back into the graveyard and leave them to die. He smiled in return at the Miao woman and asked, "How did you know we were here?"

The Miao woman and Wen Leyang's smile set each other off wonderfully and turned the somber atmosphere in the broken temple into a much warmer one, "I would know once any living being has entered into the jungle. I can see them but I can't hear them." She then scattered something into the brazier and the green-colored flame vanished into a thin puff of smoke that coiled upwards, forming the scene of the path that Wen Leyang had taken when they first entered into the dense jungle. The smoke hung in the air for a while before dispersing.

The Miao woman coughed twice feebly and she leaned her entire body weight into the supporting shoulder of the woman next to her, "I guess you can finally tell me now, who are all of you?"

Wen Leyang nodded his head and introduced himself, "Representing the Wen family of Nine Peaks Mountain from Western Chuan, I'm the inner disciple Wen Leyang. I've been entrusted with a mission from the family elders to deliver a letter to the Big Dragon's Root of the Qing Miao clan."

Mumu followed after Wen Leyang as she announced her origins, "From the Crow Ridge of Southern Chuan, I'm the inner disciple of Luo family, Luo…Luo…I'm Inner Disciple Luo."

Wen Leyang sniggered as he glanced at Miss Luo Wangfu in a jolly manner.

The Qing Miao child, on the other hand, looked puzzled as he stared at the two of them with his bright eyes, "Your family elders have a letter for me? But I am not acquainted with them though."

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Chapter 60: The Second Mother

Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper looked at one another before they both burst into polite laughter. Wen Buzuo laughed as well and addressed the matter directly, "Hey, young fellow, is your surname 'Big' and your name 'Dragon Root'?"

The Qing Miao child angrily shouted at Wen Buzuo, "My surname is Chi and my name is Maojiu!"

Wen Buzuo continued to roar with laughter, "Chi Maojiu? I thought you said that you were the Big Dragon's…" However, before he could finish his sentence, the vision before his eyes darkened as the old Qing Miao man who had regarded them as underdogs earlier appeared suddenly in front of him. The old man's expression was savage as he glared at Wen Buzuo, who had not noticed where he had come from at all.

The old Qing Miao man had not appeared conspicuous when he was sitting by the side but now that he was standing up, one could see that his physique was unexpectedly tall and robust. Wen Buzuo was already considered as a husky sort of fellow yet he had to raise his head to look up at the old man.

The rest of the Qing Miao clansmen too gathered around immediately and blocked Little Chili Pepper and the others from the inside.

The old Qing Miao man cursed in the Miao Language as he stretched out his hand to press it mercilessly against Wen Buzuo's vile face. However, he had not expected his fingers to come into contact with an icy-cold surface. Instead of a fleshy face, his hand felt like it was grabbing onto a metal disc instead and his face filled with shock when the force exerted by his fingers were frozen on his fingertips instead of bursting onto the face.

Underneath his five fingers, the vile face which had belonged to the fellow with the fair complexion had unwittingly transformed into an honest-looking youth with a scar on his cheekbone.

Wen Leyang chuckled as he looked at the old Qing Miao man. He had placed his face unreservedly at the power of the old man's five fingers. Wen Buzuo looked at Little Chili Pepper with a face full of puzzlement; he did not know how the old Qing Miao man had appeared by his side, nor did he know how he had escaped from the old man's grasp. All he had felt was a force around the back of his neck and the next thing he knew was that he was standing next to Mumu. After a short while, Wen Buzuo finally made a resentful huff and said to Little Chili Pepper, "He should consider himself lucky today. I've applied poison on my face, he would have been killed the instant he had touched me!"

This time it was the Miao woman who said a few words rapidly from behind the crowd.

Wen Buzuo roared loudly, "Stand back!"

The Miao clansmen quickly turned around and shot him a furious glare. Wen Buzuo had a martyred expression on his face as he explained, "I was only translating what she'd said."

The three-inch nail younger brother was afraid that his older brother would get into trouble again so he went and stood in front of him in a sturdy manner. He was exactly like a nail, anyone who wanted to come forward had to pull the nail out first.

The Miao woman appeared to have a rather important status in the Qing Miao clan as the Miao clansmen, though still furious, slowly began to move away from Wen Leyang's group.

The Miao woman gently patted Chi Maojiu's head, "Who was it that allowed you to speak so carelessly?" She then looked with mild surprise at Wen Leyang, "The people of Wen family, since when did they become so terrifying?"

Wen Leyang chuckled for he was unsure of how to answer that question. Instead, he stretched out his arm and grabbed a carrot from his pocket.

Since the last encounter on Zhanyan Peak when he had used his body to smash onto the old monk Hope Sense's protective prohibition spell, from that experience he knew that even if his body was completely exhausted, he could still recover quickly as long as he was allowed to relax for a short while. He had now regained half of his physical strength so he was able to exchange himself with Wen Buzuo as he was worried that the Qing Miao clansman would strike out too forcefully.

The Qing Miao child Chi Maojiu saw the carrot and his eyes immediately brightened once again, "This…what kind of object is this?"

"It's a carrot, do you want one?"

"Yes!"

Wen Leyang laughed as he tossed the carrot to the child. Chi Maojiu had stretched his hand out to grab the carrot when the Miao woman extended her arm and plucked the carrot from the air. Her other hand continued to pat the child's head, "Maomao, you should not simply eat anything that belongs to the Wen Bucao's disciples."

Wen Leyang was slightly embarrassed as he tried to defend himself, "It's not poisoned. Why would I want to poison a little child?"

Little Chili Pepper frowned and her expression turned unpleasant, "Don't simply eat anything that belongs to Wen Bucao, yet you had simply grabbed it from the air. If he had wanted to poison you, you would be laid flat on the ground by now."

The Miao woman was not angered at all, the friendly smile stayed on her face as she spun the carrot around on her fingers. Mumu appeared to want to say something but gasped and closed her mouth. The people on the scene had sharp eyesight and they could clearly see that as the Miao woman was spinning the carrot, her fingers were not in direct contact with the carrot at all – there was an extremely thin gap between her fingers and the carrot.

The Miao woman had a sickly complexion yet she could still perform such a proficient skill. Little Chili Pepper was stunned for a moment, to her knowledge, only two family elders of the Luo at Crow Ridge were able to perform a similar feat. But Wen Buzuo was reluctant to give in and muttered in defiance, "If there was a Poison of the Wind on that carrot, you'd be lying on the ground by now."

The Miao woman ignored him and with a deft twist of her hand tossed the carrot back to Wen Leyang. She smiled heartily as she said, "Maomao's status is rather special so we must always be extra cautious." She paused for a while before saying, "Hand the letter over. Maomao is the Big Dragon Root of the Miao Bujiao."

Wen Leyang did not think twice before he asked directly, "It's him? How many Big Dragon's Roots are there in the Qing Miao clan?"

The Qing Miao clansmen appeared displeased again as they stood up one after another.

Little Chili Pepper too was displeased. Ever since they had entered the broken temple, the group of Miao clansmen had only whined to them. They did not speak in a proper manner and would turn hostile at the slightest provocation. The good hands of her family which had accompanied her had almost been completely annihilated. She had been suppressing the anger in her heart earlier but she has had enough as she ran up next to Wen Leyang and declared loudly, "We're here to deliver a letter to the disciples of the Miao Bujiao. All we wanted was for our three families which shared a common ancestor two thousand years ago to now be as intimate as brothers. Yet when we had rushed over from afar with clues about our Grand Master Tuoxie, all you Miao Bujiao had tried to kill us and now you've turned hostile from some blunt words. Do you really think that our two families were at your disposal?"

The three-inch nail Wen Bushuo too spoke up suddenly, "The Miao clansmen had been after us all the way, if it wasn't in the name of your abilities then it was because of the topographical advantages. You've killed my brothers, I shall dig out your ancestors' graves!"

Wen Bushuo was both surprised and joyous as he stole a glance at his younger brother. This could be the longest speech he had ever said in his entire lifetime. Even though his foreword did not match the rest of his speech, just by his opinion one could understand that he too had turned hostile.

Since the younger brother had spoken, the professional elder brother too would naturally chime in, "So what if you have the topographical advantage? We had entered the mountain in a group of thirty-four people, now there're still five of us remaining while the group of sun-fearing dwarves on the other hand, who knows how many of them were left! I'm afraid that they have all turned into ashes in the green-flamed brazier!"

Mumu and Wen Leyang simultaneously looked at Wen Buzuo in puzzlement and both of them asked, "What do you mean by the dwarves with the green-flamed brazier?" Ever since Wen Leyang had killed the entire 'Swarm of Bees', they had all been forced to immediately flee for their lives. Little Chili Pepper utterly had no time to find out these matters.

"How did you even know about that?" asked Wen Leyang as Wen Buzuo had not followed along when they went to massacre the enemies.

The expression on Wen Buzuo's face became prideful again, "Back when we were escaping from the forest, I had asked the four brothers who went with you."

Wen Leyang did not know what else to say, he could only give a genuine and sincere thumbs up to Wen Buzuo. Back when they were trying to escape from the dense jungle, the path ahead had been full of traps while behind them was a giant crack which was trying to swallow them whole. Wen Buzuo had been the slowest in the group and he was continuously tossed to the front of the queue only to fall to the back of the queue again. Yet he somehow still had the time and effort to find out this bit of gossip.

Other than the Miao woman, the group of Qing Miao clansmen had been hostile from the beginning. However, upon hearing the fact that Wen Leyang's group had massacred the dwarves and extinguished the ghost flame, their expressions changed to one of apologetic surprise. They looked at one another and slowly sat down. Two young chaps brought Wen Leyang's group some bamboo stools for them to sit on.

The old Qing Miao man pointed at the bamboo stools and instructed with a choppy accent, "Sit!"

Wen Buzuo examined the bamboo stool with his eyes attentively as he mumbled, "I hope it doesn't start spreading its hooves and run away after a while."

The old Qing Miao man's expression was deeply concerned as he leaned forward ever so slightly, "So all the dwarves were dead? What about …the green-colored bonfire?"

Little Chili Pepper huffed as her anger had yet to cool down, "I thought all of you would be able to see that in your vision?"

The Miao woman shook her head, "Three bamboo horses were severed by them. I thought that there was no hope in rescuing you so I did not waste any more of my energy. Moreover…I could not cast my vision into that area."

Wen Leyang bit into the carrot and told the story of how he had massacred the dwarves from start to finish, but he did not mention how he had been able to locate the enemies.

When Wen Leyang talked about the part of how he had extinguished the green-colored bonfire and how that had caused the heaven to split and the ground to crack, the old Qing Miao man jumped up in excitement. He rubbed his hands together as he spoke to the Miao woman in a loud and unintelligible voice. All the wrinkles on his face were scrunched together, an expression of joyful viciousness tangled in his face, it was extremely unpleasant to the eyes of others.

Wen Buzuo immediately translated the old Qing Miao man's words in a low voice, "Second Mother, the wicked witch must have been severely injured this time. We shall strive to…to avenge the Big Dragon's Root!" When he said the last few words, the remainder of the Qing Miao clan became angry again. Could it be that the Big Dragon's Root of the Qing Miao clan was dead?

Second Mother's was clearly surprised but she pondered carefully before she spoke, "We should clarify the matter first through a discussion." She was replying to the old Qing Miao man yet she had spoken in Mandarin.

Little Chili Pepper was plain-spoken and straightforward as she asked the Miao Woman, "The Big Dragon's Root is dead? How did he die? What happened? Back in the forest those…"

Wen Buzuo had a sympathetic expression on his face as he worked out a useless idea for Wen Leyang, "If the Big Dragon's Root is dead, then we should just burn the letter and consider it delivered."

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Chapter 61: The Third Mother

The Second Mother put her hands onto Chi Maojiu's shoulders as she looked at Wen Leyang's group and spoke in a gentle voice, "Right now, the Qing Miao clan living at the foot of the Seven Maidens Mountain are no longer the descendants of Grand Master Tuoxie's sect. The Big Dragon's Root had been murdered by a wicked person four years ago. The few of us who remained here are the Qing Miao who were descended from Tuoxie's disciple."

Wen Leyang was not too surprised to hear that the Big Dragon's Root was dead. He chuckled as he asked, "The disciples of Tuoxie? Show me your bamboo talisman to prove it." The bamboo talisman that had belonged to the Qing Miao clan was now in Grand Elder Wen's hand back at the Nine Peaks Mountain, Wen Leyang was waiting to catch them in a lie.

The Second Mother glanced at him once with a faint smile on her face before she began to write a few words on the ground. She did not hold a thing between her fingers but the words on the ground had been drawn in red and spelled out: The, Nearly, Here!

The three big words had been written with vigorous strokes. It contained an arrogant rage akin to wounds on a deceased person. The words surged directly from the eyes all the way to the heart. Regardless of the body, or shapes or the meanings of the words, they were exactly the same as the bloody words Wen Leyang had seen. However, there was one word missing and when he wrote it down, the Miao woman looked at Wen Leyang with a smile, "At last, there's a verification."

Without saying a thing, Wen Leyang had added an 'End' word after the word 'The'. His writing style was not as garish yet when his fingertip had touched the rock the strokes sank deeply into the stony surface as if it had been made of clay. There was not even any stone shavings produced.

The Qing Miao clansmen appeared dumb-struck with amazement and when they looked at Wen Leyang their gazes were filled with an extra sense of admiration.

The Second Mother's eyes glowed with a trusting brightness as she exhaled deeply and laughed, "All these effort of ours has not been wasted!" She did not wait for Wen Leyang's inquiry but instead started to push lightly on little Chi Maojiu's shoulders as she took two steps forward. She then raised her head and said, "The disciple of Tuoxie from the Qing Miao lineage, the Big Dragon's Root is here."

Little Chi Maojiu raised his head, his eyes were brimming with pretentious reservation and confidence as he looked at Wen Leyang in an awe-inspiring manner, "Where is the carrot?"

Second Mother was stunned before she laughed soundlessly, "It's the letter!"

Mumu did not know the sequence of events and she also did not understand what this group of people was doing here. But she didn't speak and had only been watching silently from the side. Wen Buzuo, his face full of pride, winked and signaled to her. It roughly carried the meaning of 'ask me if you have anything you don't understand'.

Wen Leyang took out the carefully wrapped letter from his eldest grandfather. He hesitated for a moment and Second Mother smiled confidently at him, "It's safe."

Little Chi Maojiu received the letter with delightful joy and Wen Leyang conveniently threw in a stick of carrot with the letter.

Wen Leyang, upon delivering the letter into the hands of the Big Dragon's Root, felt a sense of honor in his heart joyously. From today onwards, he will be able to officially announce that he was a disciple of Tuoxie. To try it out, he immediately puffed out his chest as he looked at the Miao clansmen and declared, "The disciple of Tuoxie, Wen Leyang."

"Oh." A kind Qing Miao clansman answered once without thinking while the rest of them were utterly too preoccupied to acknowledge him. They gathered around their Big Dragon's Root to read the letter. The Second Mother read the letter out in a soft voice to the illiterate child. The letter was originally not meant to convey any proper business but to inform them about the revelation of the trace their Grand Master had left behind in the ancient cave on Zhanyan Peak. It also mentioned that the Grand Master was, in fact, an erudite person with remarkable magical powers and that the ancestor had not disappeared using a 'thunder escape'. The letter then noted that the current whereabouts of the Grand Master was still a mystery and so on and so forth. The group of Miao clansmen had excited expression on their faces, while the Old Qing Miao's face was trembling continuously.

The Miao people have the disposition of being stubborn and persistent, 'Our Grand Master walked to this spot. He then moved the mountains and filled the ponds. He scattered the soil and made the land fertile. He slew the demons, punished the evildoers and moralized the barbarians…" This phrase was regarded as a joke in the Wen and Luo family but the Qing Miao clan believed in it firmly. They passed it from mouth to mouth as an heirloom and were sincerely fixated that the grand master was still alive and that the master was still flying around in the sky to peer down on them occasionally.

Wen Leyang too has a head full of questions right now. It turned out that the Big Dragon's Root was dead and the new Big Dragon's Root was just a child. These Qing Miao clansmen who were still continuing the legacy of Tuoxie had been hiding in the broken temple. They appear to be trapped there but who were those people that had been chasing after him and why did the heavens split and the earth crack when the green bonfire was extinguished…

He waited until the Qing Miao clansmen were done reading the letter. Wen Leyang looked at the Second mother, "He…if he's the Big Dragon's Root, then who are you?" The woman appeared to have a prestigious position in the Qing Miao clan. The Big Dragon's Root was still a young child while the old Qing Miao man had an unpleasant face. Moreover, this Miao woman knew of the matter about 'The End (is) Near(ly) Here'.

The Miao woman watched with tender affection as the Big Dragon's Root Chi Maojiu chomped on the carrot, "My name is Chi Hui, I'm the sister of the former Big Dragon's Root. I'm also his second wife."

Wen Leyang gulped nervously. Even though he was aware that regular matrimony laws may have no place in the Qing Miao clan, yet this matter had violated that law greatly. The remaining survivors, upon hearing the Miao woman's introduction, simultaneously turned their gazes towards Chi Maojiu. The child had originally seemed like a clever and quick-witted boy but now they seem to be able to see some aspects of the 'international feature' in his appearance.

Second Mother Chi Hui shook her head hastily, "I'm his Second Mother. He's the child of my elder brother and the First Mother." She then pointed at the old Qing Miao man, "He's my uncle, Chi Shuilie. The four messengers who had sacrificed their lives to deliver the letter to the Wen Bucao were all his sons."

Wen Leyang's expression turned solemn and he gave a respectful bow in salutation to the old man. The old Qing Miao Chi Shuilie's expression became slightly kinder towards them as he too nodded lightly in acknowledgment.

"All along your journey, the person who was after you was not us." The Second Mother knew that Wen Leyang's group must be clearly confused about the situation now. She no longer rambled about and instead cut straight to the point and started telling them about the past.

Little Chi Maojiu's father was the previous generation's Big Dragon's Root to the disciples of Miao Bujiao. He had been married to two wives; his first wife had a difficult labor and died during childbirth. After that, the Big Dragon's Root became depressed all day long and Chi Hui couldn't bear to see her brother being sad, so she made another wedding arrangement in the stockade village for the Big Dragon's Root.

Little Chili Pepper wrinkled her eyebrows when she heard this and interrupted, "Those in the stockade village, aren't they all his relati…" Halfway through saying that she shut her mouth and her face was blushed scarlet. If the Big Dragon's Root could even marry his own sister, needless to say so about his cousins.

Second Mother Chi Hui chuckled, "Our particular group of Qing Miao was considered rather peculiar within the Miao clan but we do not devote particular attention to that."

With the passing of the Great Mother, Second Mother helped her husband in selecting the third wife. It had not been strange at all in the beginning for the Third Mother was also a fellow kinsman. She was only sixteen years old back then and her witchcraft skill was considered ordinary. But as she was a dainty and exquisite woman who behaved in an extremely virtuous manner, the Qing Miao clansmen all had a jolly time in making arrangements for their wedding. It was supposed to be a satisfaction for all, for the Big Dragon's Root had found a new wife and he could finally forget about his old wife.

Though this group of Qing Miao clansmen had also started to worship Mara the Devil, they still believed more in Grand Master Tuoxie. Their worship of Mara the devil had slowly turned into a social custom during the past two thousand years. However, following the rise of the Third Mother Chi Liang's status, she gradually revealed her fanatical level of worshipping Mara the Devil. She would receive the Devil's Incantation and during that year, almost every major happenings on the Seven Maidens Mountain had been predicted according to the Devil's Incantation.

Mara the Devil repeatedly made its apparition and the disciples of the Miao Bujiao continued to manipulate the practice of witchcraft for many generations. They refused to make contact with the outside world for they were originally rather superstitious. In addition, the Big Dragon's Root himself also prayed devotedly to the devil every day so all of a sudden the young and old of the entire clan started to worship Mara the Devil again.

"Back then, even for myself and the elders in our clan, we had all started to worship the devil earnestly again. The especially intriguing part was…" The Second Mother paused for a moment before she continued speaking in an almost infatuated tone of voice, "All those who had worshipped Mara the Devil would find the power of their witchcraft increased exponentially. It only took a few months' time for my witchcraft power to increase threefold!"

Little Chili Pepper watched with bright and shimmery eyes, she then questioned closely, "What happened after that?"

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Chapter 62: The Mushroom

Second Mother Chi Hui's tone of speaking turned flat but the corners of her lips were still lifted in a slight smile. It was as if she was telling another person's story, "The prophecy of the Devil's Incantation that came true could be doubted, but it was genuine when I realized that my witchcraft power increased exponentially. The Big Dragon's Root and every other clansman truly thought it was due to the apparition of Mara the Devil so the worshipping became more and more devoted. But after some time, the Big Dragon's Root suddenly discovered a queer occurrence…"

Halfway through her speech, the Second Mother suddenly diverted the topic of discussion, "Amongst the elders in the stockade village, there was a strange man who had loved to indulge in various fantasies and imaginations ever since he was young. He did not use bugs nor herbs to refine his potions; he refined with rocks and made rock potions. However, he did not manage to successfully refine his witchcraft in his entire lifetime. His witchcraft power was nothing out of the ordinary and his power was even weaker than those of the junior generation. However, his witchcraft power, when compared to those of us who refined our witchcraft potions with bugs and herbs, was generally slightly different from us."

Wen Leyang's group did not speak as they waited patiently for the Second Mother to continue her story.

Afterwards, the disciple of Miao Bujiao who had refined rock potions passed away. Not long after, the Big Dragon's Root suddenly discovered that there was a stone-potion form of witchcraft power within his body. Due to his superior abilities in witchcraft, he had been able to discern that two forces of the same root and same source within him had a minute difference. No one else would have been able to detect such a small change within their body.

This was a cause for suspicion and the Big Dragon's Root had recalled that ever since they had begun to worship Mara the Devil, their witchcraft powers would increase without a discernable cause. However, he also noticed that more of the older people in the clan were passing away than before. Since they had died seemingly of old age and disease, there was no cause for suspicion in their deaths. But he had noticed that not long after someone had passed away, the other clan member's witchcraft power would increase by one point!

Following that, the situation then remained the same for a period of time. Every time the entire clan performed a group worship of Mara the Devil, some of the clansmen would die in a natural manner and a few days later everyone's witchcraft power would increase a little bit more.

Wen Leyang's expression gradually turned astonished and the Second Mother nodded towards him, "You were right, with the increasing number of dead people, the remaining living one's witchcraft power would grow stronger and stronger. So what do you think happened in the end?"

Wen Leyang needed not to think about that question at all, "The last person or the last few people will receive the essence of the entire clan's witchcraft power!"

The Big Dragon's Root slowly became doubtful. The Third Mother's actions became suspicious to him and he started to follow her movements and investigated the matter further.

Little Chili Pepper was an impatient girl, she frowned and interrupted when she heard that part of the story, "Since there had been a cause for suspicion then he should have just taken her down directly and cleanse the sect of this parasite!"

Second Mother looked at Little Chili Pepper. The flickering candlelight reflected in her eyes, creating a unspeakably eerie expression on her face as she replied, "If you were the Big Dragon's Root, you would no longer be allowed to live in the Seven Maidens Mountain right now!"

The Big Dragon's Root had his reasons for taking his time to begin the investigation. Firstly, he was unsure of the enemy's intent and purpose. Secondly, it was important for him to clarify the situation between worshipping Mara the Devil and the increased mortality within the clan. He needed to know whether a spell had been cast during the worshipping process which would then take the life of one of the clansman and divide the witchcraft power between the remaining living clansmen, or whether the person had been targeted earlier and the worshipping ceremony was only a pretense to deceive the other clansmen.

The Big Dragon's Root gradually found some truth through his investigation. The matter was even more terrifying than he had predicted, every clansman who had successfully cultivated their witchcraft practice had been bewitched by an unknown spell by the Third Mother. She would put any of them to death at any time.

The worshipping ceremony was also a part of the spell and every participating clansman would have a kind of soul-controlling spell cast on them. As long as they also received a share of the power, the Third Mother would only need to wish for anyone's death and the person would die immediately!

Wen Leyang nodded as if he was deep in thought, he had come to the Miao Bujiao to deliver the letter but that had been his secondary purpose. His main purpose was to investigate the Mountain Coffin Spell and look for clues about the enemy. He had prepared himself in his heart that they might encounter cultivators who were engaged in evil practices at the stockade village of the Miao clan at the foot of the Seven Maidens Mountain. Since his trip to Mount Emei, his horizons had been greatly broadened and he was aware that there was a cultivator capable of supernatural powers who had been committing crimes in secret. No matter how strong the Miao Bujiao were, it was inevitable that they had been targeted. The only thing he did not understand now was that if the Third Mother had been living in the isolated stockade village all her life, how had she turned into a cultivator of evil practices?

Little Chili Pepper's thinking was much more innocent than his thinking and she asked in hesitation, "Third Mother Chi Liang did not activate the spell to kill everyone all at once. Was it because she…could not have been able to withhold that much power in such a short moment of time?"

The Second Mother smiled incredulously, "Perhaps that may have been her plan all along. However, as we have never heard of this kind of spell, how would we understand her theory in operating it." Upon saying that, she panted for a moment. Earlier, when she had used her abilities to divert the evil spirits and rescue them, the action must have consumed most of her energy.

Wen Buzuo, who had yet to interrupt finally could not endure it anymore as he heaved a heavy sigh, "Poor Big Dragon's Root, he must have been in great danger at that time!"

Wen Buzuo was a talkative person whose worldly experience had taught him about the terrifying things a master cultivator can do. Even though he was unsure why Chi Liang would do such a thing, even if she had unknowingly planted such a spell into the master witchcraft cultivators of the Qing Miao clan, then her abilities must be shockingly powerful. It might be beyond his capabilities for the Big Dragon's Root to try to deal with this kind of enemy.

As expected, the Second Mother gave a forced smile as she nodded, "Before he could share the results of his investigation, he was attacked by a spell which caused all of his five senses to be sealed. He turned into a living dead who could only think but could not speak! The wicked witch's spell was exceptionally cruel but we had also inherited several excellent spells from the Grand Master. My brother had secretly made use of a Dream Visitation spell!"

Little Chi Maojiu held his half-eaten carrot and puffed up his little chest as he interrupted with a proud look on his face, "The Dream Visitation spell was one of the three spells inherited from the Grand Master's legacy!"

The Big Dragon's Root had used the Dream Visitation spell to inform the sequence of events to the Second Mother.

The Second Mother was quite shocked upon receiving the information. She then probed around a few times and identified some of the clansmen who still retained the inherent qualities of the Tuoxie Sect. The last person of prestigious reputation was Chi Shuilie. As the Big Dragon's Root was completely under the Third Mother's control, both Second Mother and Chi Shuilie were concerned for him and refused to leave the Miao stockade village. The Miao Bujiao's personality was as its name had implied – they had no other friends in the world despite being in existence for over two thousand years. The only viable relationship they had was with the disciples of the Wen Bucao and Crow Ridge. Therefore, the Second Mother followed the guidance of the Big Dragon's Root as instructed in the dream. She found the bamboo talisman which had been was passed down for generations and Chi Shuilie sent his four sons on a mission to secretly seek help from the Wen family. The Second Mother carved the word on each of the four sons' hands in case of an emergency for they must deliver the message to the Wen family without fail.

"Why did they send the letter to Wen family and not to the Luo family?" asked Little Chili Pepper, who was feeling challenged.

The Second Mother answered logically, "The Wen family's location from our stockade village was a lot closer than the Luo family's village."

Little Chili Pepper was turned speechless. Wen Leyang then asked his question, "But why did you carve the words 'The Devil is Near(ly) Here' instead of something like 'Miao Family In Trouble'?"

The gloomy-faced old Qing Miao Chi Shuilie who had kept quiet since the beginning suddenly opened his mouth and said, "That's a good question!" He then coughed and began to speak in choppy Mandarin. It seemed as if he was trying to explain the story on behalf of the Second Mother so that she could recover her energy. "To ask for help from the Wen family, we relied on our same ancestral origin from two thousand years ago with the code of our same origin brotherhood we…"

Wen Buzuo couldn't stand it anymore as he laughed, "Hey uncle, do not show off your proficiency in the Chinese language anymore. You can speak in a direct matter with us!"

The old Qing Miao stared back at him, "The enemy's devious spell was sophisticated beyond…"

"Beyond sophisticated!"

Mumu, Wen Buzuo and little Chi Miaojiu, the traitor, simultaneously corrected him. (Author's Note: Haha, whoever had failed to notice the old Qing Miao's mistakes in his speech, please report yourself to the book's comment section.)

"…the enemy was cruel. If the Miao Bujiao's disciples could not defeat the enemy, what more of the disciples of Wen Bucao. The wicked witch had cast a devious spell and enclosed the entire area to worship Mara the Devil. The Big Dragon's Root had once tricked the wicked witch into telling him that when the day the Devil arrive would be the day her work was brought to a successful completion. Even though we did not cultivate in the Art of Devilry but after a long consideration, we concluded that the case would still be related to Mara the Devil ultimately. So, we had delivered the four words of 'The Devil (is) Near(ly) Here' to all of you and hoped that you could discover some useful clues and expose her flaws to defeat the enemy in one stroke. But we were also afraid that all of you would act like a crude and impetus wild boar and rush into the mountain at once seeking doom! The meaning hidden within the four words, the Second Mother took great pains into conveying them correctly!"

Old Qing Miao's speech was originally sonorous and forceful but due to his strange intonation, though he had spoken affectively, the result was that he sounded strange and funny instead. The few survivors from Wen Leyang's group had lowered their heads and their shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter.

Chi Shuilie sighed heavily as he said, "This was quite unexpected! Your Wen family still truly remembered our code of brotherhood; the people they sent had taken four whole years to walk here!"

The three families of the Wen, Miao, and Luo had not contacted one another for the past two thousand years. Therefore, they would be insane to send over rescue troops the moment they received the peculiar message. However, Wen Leyang could feel his face burning as he blushed in embarrassment so he diverted the topic and solemnly described the state of the four Qing Miao master cultivators' death. He then asked, "They were killed by an evil magic known as the 'Mountain Coffin spell'. Had the wicked witch ever cast such a spell…" His final purpose of his visit to the Miao Bujiao was to investigate the matter of the Mountain Coffin spell.

The Second Mother had rested for a while and she looked better now. Ss she shook her head and answered, "The wicked witch never left the stockade village. The four elders would probably have been killed by an accomplice of the wicked witch."

Back then, Second Mother's actions were soon discovered by Chi Liang.

The second day after the four master cultivators had left the mountain, Chi Liang leveraged on her prestigious status in the clan as she gathered the young and old together. She then threw the Big Dragon's Root's corpse in front of the Second Mother. There were a few hidden clues on the corpse and they all pointed towards the misdoings of Second Mother and Chi Shuilie. Nobody believed in the Second Mother's explanation for, in the eyes of a regular person, it was impossible for this form of unheard-of devilry to exist in this world.

Soon after, chaos broke out as those in support of the Second Mother were the master cultivators of the stockade village. Even though there were only a few of them, they were capable of protecting themselves against the wicked witch.

The wicked witch Chi Liang too refused to abandon her effort in extracting witchcraft power as she was one step short completing the ritual successfully. She did not activate the devilry spell or make a direct death threat, but she somehow managed to convince the Qing Miao clansmen to attack them with witchcraft power. What was even more frightening to the Second Mother and Chi Shuilie was that Chi Liang's witchcraft skill had become exceptionally powerful. Her abilities surpassed the Big Dragon's Root when he was alive. After several battles, the Second Mother and her few supporters were driven to desperation. They were forced to flee to the land of the dead and their original troop of a few hundred men had dwindled to only a few lucky survivors by the time they made it into the broken temple.

Though they were now trapped in the land of evil spirits their enemy was unable to enter as well. So the few of them continued their existence in this broken temple and persisted along until now.

Second Mother's calm tone of speech turned puzzled as she continued, "In the end, I still can't understand why the wicked witch didn't cast any life-threatening devilry spell in these past few years." She then shook her head and refused to elaborate about this matter anymore. She smiled as she concluded, "The people who had attacked you were all under the direct instruction of the wicked witch. Right now, the wicked witch has a prestigious status in the stockade village. I'm afraid that her status has become much higher than when the former Big Dragon's Root was alive."

Wen Buzuo was unusually amazed, "So all of you had held out over here for four years? What do you eat for sustenance?"

Little Chi Maojiu answered with a smile, "We have mushrooms! There's an exceptionally huge cellar underneath this temple…" He used his hands to make a huge shape with all his might, "There are huge mushrooms everywhere. Each stalk of mushroom is bigger than a large tree."

Wen Leyang hastily pulled out another two carrots and stuffed it into little Chi Maojiu's hand. The poor child had been munching on four years' worth of Dog's Pee Fungi (Author's Note: A form of commonly known fungi, inedible, purely used as an entertaining metaphor. Fellow food-fanatic readers please pay special attention to this…). No wonder he had enjoyed munching on the carrot so much.

Little Chili Pepper's expression changed abruptly and her chin dipped twice with great effort as if she was trying to suppress her gag reflex. Her agonized gaze also held surprise as she asked, "The ghost's flesh…are these mushrooms abundant?"

Little Chi Maojiu nodded his head exuberantly, "These mushrooms are abundant and huge, are you hungry?"

Little Chili Pepper was no longer interested in the Miao Bujiao's past events, her huge eyes were brimmed with a bright hope, "Bring me to the cellar, quick!"

The Second Mother spoke no further and led them with slow steps around the ferocious huge Buddha statue then to an endless stretch of underground tunnel. The tunnel twisted and turned downwards all the way as if they were walking straight into the eighteen levels of hell.

Mumu's expression was excited but at the same time disturbed. She shouted at Wen Leyang, "Follow me!" She then retrieved a torch and ran down the underground tunnel with quick strides.

The tunnel wound and slanted diagonally downward. Wen Leyang did not let her out of his sight as he followed closely behind her. His skin relaxed and tightened continuously as he gradually sensed his surroundings. The rest of the people followed behind with the Second Mother who had a relaxed manner. Even though she appeared sickly, her footsteps never slowed down as she led the rest of them behind the two youngsters.

Wen Buzuo's skill was unreliable and his legs were equally disappointing, he was gasping for air upon running for a short while and he asked with his tongue hanging from his mouth, "How deep is this tunnel?"

The Second Mother chuckled as she answered, "It's rather deep and the total length is about a hundred feet. It's not dangerous as long as you are careful and don't trip."

The rest of them laughed when they heard this. Other than Wen Buzuo, everybody else was a master cultivator in the mortal world and they wouldn't trip even if they were to run on a steep glacier.

The tunnel started to widen further down and the narrow path gradually turned into an alarmingly spacious space. The stone walls by the side soon disappeared into the gulf and the air became scorching hot. Every inhalation felt like puffs of flames burning through their lungs.

Finally, they walked around a jagged piece of protruding rock and the vision before their eyes brightened suddenly. Little Chili Pepper and Wen Leyang yelled in alarm and stopped abruptly.

A gigantic mushroom forest appeared impressively before all of them.

No one had ever seen such a huge mushroom before, much less a forest made up of these gigantic mushrooms!

The smallest mushroom in front of Wen Leyang's eyes was taller than an electric post. The mushrooms grew in layers which resembled gigantic umbrellas supporting the sky. They squeezed and pushed onto the people's heads. Every gigantic mushroom was a pretty and striking red color but on the outside of each mushroom's body was glowing lightly with a white light. The overall effect was a ghastly one in such a gloomy atmosphere.

Little Chi Maojiu, with a smile on his face, squeezed out from behind Second Mother and said, "This is what we eat but there's not much taste to it." He then reached out to the stalk of a gigantic mushroom and tore off a piece before passing it to Wen Leyang.

Wen Leyang suddenly growled as he took a step forward and blocked everyone behind him. His body was slightly arched and he looked like a black leopard which had sensed danger. His gaze was vigilant as he stared at the injured gigantic mushroom. Only he had sensed that during the exact moment when little Chi Maojiu tore off the mushroom's flesh, a gust of ghastly air had bloomed and enclosed all the pores on his body. The air coiled around him and refused to disperse.

Second Mother's body swayed as she pulled little Chi Maojiu to her side. At the same time, a few other Qing Miao clansmen moved up and formed a guarding formation around them. Chi Shuilie spoke in his strange intonation once again and asked Wen Leyang, "What happened?"

Wen Leyang shook his head as he looked at Little Chili Pepper who was standing by his side, "You know about these mushrooms right? Are they…alive?"

Mumu nodded gently, "These are not mushrooms; they are ghost's flesh! Perhaps…there's a way out!" She looked at Second Mother and asked, "The land of evil spirits above us, how was it formed?"

As the Second Mother heard the two words 'way out', her eyes immediately brightened as she answered in a serious manner, "This place was originally an ancient battleground thousands of years ago. Two troops of barbarians had fought each other to the death. Their sorcerers had cast spells continuously yet unexpectedly, at the end, the spells were too strong and it called in a deluge. It was said that the floodwater poured out from the ground suddenly and as this was low terrain, many were drowned in a flash. After the flood had receded, all the corpses which were buried under the mud slowly decayed and turned this place into the land of death. The story goes that more than a thousand year ago this old temple had suddenly appeared here, no one from the clan knew what happened really…"

Little Chili Pepper nodded her head in excitement, "I don't care about the old temple, this place has been a vitality point in the land of evil spirits all along whether the temple existed or not! Millions of people above had suddenly met with violent deaths. The dead air was trapped there and could not be dispersed. It then gradually turned into evil spirits that cause disturbances while the world was supposed to be filled with vitality…"

The Luo family had been dealing with corpses for the past two thousand years. They have a high priority in dealing with the art of yin and yang energy in the cosmos. All the master cultivators of Luo family were highly proficient in this skill. From their point of view, the world was supposed to be filled with vitality so for example, even though this stretch of ancient battleground had been turned into the land of evil spirits, the vitality of the land should not have dispersed. Instead, it had slowly condensed and shrunk until it finally formed into a vitality point in the middle of the ground. It was the only place with living force in the entire land of evil spirits.

When a person dies, their corpse would retain some level of unwillingness to part with its vitality. More often than not the corpse would be filled with so much yang energy that it would turn into a walking dead. The corpse demon from most folklores was also resurrected by converging the living being's vitality. As for these corpses here which had been buried alive in mud, they would have slowly gravitated towards the yang energy and would gather around at the spot with the most vigorous vitality.

Finally, all those corpses would be refined by that vitality into a small piece of unperishable fleshy stone, known as the ghost's flesh.

Little Chili Pepper at towards Wen Leyang and said, "The ghost's flesh is not a rare object, as long as there's a vitality point there will surely be ghost's flesh. But if the ghost's flesh was transformed into a mushroom and to slowly grow into such a wide stretch of mushroom forest, then that means there's an endless stream of vitality! Since the floodwater had gushed out from underground, there must be a humongous underground river or underground lake here. In other words, the outside world is connected to here, if only we can find a way out…"

Before she could finish her sentence, however, a roaring laughter suddenly sounded from behind her without any warning.

Wen Buzuo was holding his stomach while laughing maniacally, "So these mushrooms were transformed from dead people?"

Little Chili Pepper nodded her head in confirmation, "Almost!"

What! As the Qing Miao clansmen found out that they had been consuming dead men's flesh for the past four years, they started vomiting vigorously. Only the elder Chi Shuilie remained unmoved though the expression on his dark-skinned old face was gloomy.

Wen Buzuo raised a thumbs up sincerely at him, "Good lad! You're strong enough to endure this!"

Chi Shuilie huffed, "I've had no appetite during the past few days so I haven't eaten anything since…"

Wen Leyang's body sped around as he rapidly swept past every Qing Miao clansman's side and applied a dash of green-colored powder under their noses. Wen Buzuo advised anxiously from the side, "Be careful not to get vomit on yourself."

As Wen Leyang's shadow flashed past them, the disciples of Miao Bujiao could feel a jet of cool and refreshing sensation seeping from their noses into their hearts. Their nausea was then reduced by half in the blink of an eye.

The Second Mother ruthlessly suppressed the nausea in her heart as she looked at Little Chili Pepper, "How do we find the way out?"

Little Chili Pepper pointed at the gigantic mushrooms ahead, "By digging. The ghost's flesh had drawn in the vitality from outside and slowly transformed into mushrooms before accumulating into this wide stretch of mushroom forest. All the mushrooms are joined together under the soil so eventually, their roots will lead to the first ghost's flesh demon. The way out should be underneath the first mushroom's stalk!"

Wen Buzuo stared at the vast horizon of the boundless mushroom forest before him and inhaled a cold breath ferociously, "So…so how long would it take to dig through all of this?"

Wen Buzuo was still pondering on the difficulty of the task while the rest of them, other than little Chi Maojiu, had each selected a stalk of gigantic mushroom. Some used their bare hands while others used their swords to begin to dig rapidly.

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Chapter 63: The Ghost Shadow

The soil on the ground was moist and loose and made it easy to dig through it. In a short period of time, they had excavated underneath a few of the giant mushrooms. It was as what Little Chili Pepper had described – a few thick strands of root-like objects were extended beneath each mushroom and were linked to the rest of the mushrooms.

As the amount of excavated mushrooms grew more and more, the 'roots' too were gradually exposed in a messy tangle. However, after careful tidying, one could see that between the gaps of every few mushrooms, there would be one stalk of giant mushroom with distinctive nodes. The gigantic mushroom with distinctive nodes too would be derived from another even larger mushroom with nodes.

Little Chili Pepper was even more confident now as she pointed at the depth of the mushroom forest and laughed, "We shall excavate through layers upon layers of mushrooms and finally trace it back to the earliest ghost's flesh mushroom. Then we will find the way out!"

The Second Mother nodded her head and stood up. She smiled as she suddenly saluted the group. The other Miao clansmen hesitated for a moment before they too followed suit and bowed to Little Chili Pepper and Wen Leyang!

Wen Leyang mumbled: 'oh no', as he quickly helped them up in a great bustle. The Second Mother relied on his power as she stood up and the smile on her face has turned solemn, "That salutation earlier was to express our gratitude towards the Wen and the Luo family's loyalty in remembering the code of brotherhood. Firstly, you've severely injured the wicked witch and secondly, for guiding us to the way out. Even if only one disciple of the Miao Bujiao were to survive this ordeal, we will never forget your favor and kindness today!"

Wen Leyang was rather confused when she said 'severely injured the wicked witch', he shook his head in puzzlement, "All along our path, we had only killed some dwarves…"

Wen Buzuo acted on his imagined intelligence, "The wicked witch lies within those dwarves aye…" Before he could finish his own sentence he shut his mouth, as he remembered that the wicked witch was actually the youngest wife of the late Big Dragon's Root.

Little Chi Maojiu rushed in and answered, "We are the cultivators engaging in refining witchcraft spells. Each of us stokes a vital fire, we use that vital fire to refine our spells and cast the witchcraft spell into the fire. The stronger our witchcraft power grows, the more vigorous our vital fire will burn! However, if the vital fire was extinguished, the sorcerer will be severely wounded. If the sorcerer survives the ordeal, then their witchcraft power will erupt soon after and try to kill the person who had extinguished the fire.

Wen Leyang was suddenly enlightened, "So I had extinguished the wicked witch's vital fire? Why would she leave her vital fire in the forest and why was it so easily extinguished?" As he was speaking, his heart was flooded with waves of fear. He had conveniently extinguished the blazing green-colored bonfire then and his action had immediately caused the heavens to split apart and the earth to crack. Based on little Chi Maojiu's explanation, the wicked witch's witchcraft power had been released in full force and the level of her power was truly shocking.

The Second Mother nodded with a smile, "The wicked witch had lit her witchcraft fire in the forest in order to enhance the witchcraft power of the 'Swarm of Bees' and to also seal the dense forest to completely cut off the entrance and exit. A person with strong witchcraft power is capable of moving their vital fire around. When the wicked witch needs to cast a spell, she can summon the vital fire back to her side at any desirable moment." As she was saying that, she looked at Wen Leyang curiously, "But I'm intrigued as to how you had known the way to extinguish the vital fire, for the vital fire of a sorcerer can only be extinguished using another sorcerer's blood and flesh…"

Wen Leyang chuckled, it had been purely coincidental that he had managed to extinguish the fire. He hated the group of dwarves so much back then that he had kicked the corpses into the bonfire purely to vent his resentment.

Unexpectedly, the Second Mother continued to speak, "Moreover, the vital fire of a sorcerer is usually guarded with at least three tyrannical spells. The wicked witch's art of devilry and witchcraft power was alarming, yet you were capable of breaking her tyrannical spells. Your abilities must be formidable! What a promising youth you are, even if my brother was resurrected he may never…"

This time everyone was astounded as Wen Leyang shook his head and said, "It wasn't me, I didn't encounter any form of tyrannical spells."

The Qing Miao clansmen were all horrified, they stood looking at one another and after a good while the Second Mother spoke with an incredulous tone, "Perhaps…there was still someone else?" Following that she shook her head, "I shall stop thinking about that, it is now more important for us to find the way out!"

The group of people excavated through the giant mushroom forest day and night. Their speed was swift and rapid; Wen Leyang had the strongest physique so he could dig through hundreds of gigantic mushrooms in a day while the weakest Wen Buzuo could only dig through a dozen. Mumu, the Second Mother, and little Chi Maojiu were in charge of inspecting the messy root system. They guided the direction continuously while they excavated towards the next bigger mushroom node.

When everyone was tired they lay down and slept. When they woke up they would continue to dig. Luckily the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo and the few severely wounded yet surviving brothers of The Centipede had brought along some field rations and water. Regardless whether it was the Death Trademark of the Wen family or the master cultivators of Miao Bujiao, they had received strict training regiments and could survive for a long period with very little food. These people could temporarily resist eating the ghost's flesh mushrooms.

After seven to eight days, thousands of gigantic mushrooms were spread all across the ground in a mess. Little Chili Pepper and the Second Mother cautiously tidied up the hideous tangle of the mushroom's 'root system'. Their eyes were burning bright with new hopes as soon as they had excavated through the final layer of extremely intricate nodes. The two women concurrently cheered as they pointed towards a stalk of an insignificant-looking mushroom which was less developed than the rest of the giant mushrooms.

Wen Buzuo roared with excited laughter, "So this was it?" He rubbed his palms together and called out to his younger brother. The two brothers then stood on either side of the mushroom, held onto it tightly, and pulled it upwards with great effort at the same time. This final mushroom was so underdeveloped it didn't need to be dug out but could be plucked out like a carrot.

Wen Leyang had been initially stood to the side with a smile. However, his expression suddenly changed and he swayed his heavy body and pounced forward!

At that very moment, the ghost's flesh mushroom shook as a gust of cruel and ruthless air that only he could sense was abruptly released!

The brothers Bushuo and Buzuo screamed with an agonized and hoarse voice as their bodies shivered while struggling to free themselves with all their might. Their physical strength poured out madly from each and every part of their bodies especially from their hands, shoulders, and arms that were in contact with the mushroom. It was as if there was an invisible vortex which was absorbing their strength with an irresistible madness.

Within the explosive shouting, Wen Leyang was like a strange steely bird as he slammed his body ferociously onto the mushroom. A ghastly pale shade swept past his face and his body felt weak all of a sudden. It was similar to the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo, his physical strength was being absorbed by the ghost's flesh mushroom. If it weren't for his pores which had tightened vigorously to seal the strength within his body, Wen Leyang would also become stuck to the mushroom while shivering helplessly.

Little Chili Pepper and everybody else started to run forward in alarm but Wen Leyang roared loudly, "Stand back!" Following that warning the countless joints on his body started shaking and his Faulty Punch was like quicksilver spilling over the ground. He attacked in an insane manner towards the…mushroom?

Little Chili Pepper was incomparably worried as she violently grabbed a long Miao's sword from one of the Miao Bujiao's disciple. She yelled in her sweet voice as she leaped up, slashing with an ice cold arc towards the mushroom violently.

Mumu had just leaped up when the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo simultaneously made a muffled moan as they staggered and freed themselves from the mushroom's suction before falling back. Earlier, every time that Wen Leyang had struck onto the mushroom with the Faulty Punch, the mushroom's suction would grow weaker by a portion. Finally, its suction was completely stopped and the two brothers then managed to escape.

Wen Buzuo's head hit the ground as he cried out in alarm, "Suck…suck star over China?" He must have been a fan of the Wuxia novel 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'.

At the same time, the mushroom cap burst and scattered in all directions with a popping sound. It sent a gush of black-colored blood accompanied by a thick stench of decay skywards as a ghostly greyish-colored shadow seeped out of the mushroom in a gloomy manner.

Little Chili Pepper ran straight into it!

It was a completely unforeseen event and Wen Leyang was squalling as he tried to pull himself away from the mushroom forcefully. But the spot where his hands and legs were trying to prop himself up was unexpectedly slimy and slippery. Not only was he unable to relay his strength and leap up, on the contrary, his body started to sink deeper into the stalk. The entire mushroom had turned into a pile of slimy decayed flesh after the mushroom cap exploded.

There was a murderous intent in Little Chili Pepper's eyes as she gritted her teeth to raise the sword in preparation. A sweep of light refracted off the sharp blade as she slashed downwards diagonally towards the ghost shadow.

Just as the sword was about to touch the ghost shadow, Mumu sensed a burst of bone-piercing chill erupting from the edge of the blade all the way into her heart. She cried out in alarm as the long sword slipped from her hands. However, the ghost shadow did not stop and grabbed onto her shoulder ferociously with its blurry ghost claw!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Three loud cracking sounds were heard as the Necromancy Seal hanging from Mumu's neck and the Spirit Needles which had been used to bind Ah Dan shattered simultaneously. Soon after that, the swooshing sound of a sonic boom was heard as four pieces of the broken needles flew from the top of the zombie baby's head!

When that happened, the ghost shadow's movement in the air suddenly stopped for a while before returning back to normal in a flash. Those three treasured weapons were used to control corpses by the Crow Ridge disciples and were also capable of warding off evil spirits as well as for self-defense.

The ghost shadow had been momentarily blocked by the Necromancy Seal and Spirit Needles but after that it became even more deranged. It started to move so rapidly that it could no longer be seen with normal eyesight and suddenly surged towards Mumu with lightning speed.

The cross strike of Yin and Yang energy generated a force that shook Little Chili Pepper. Her body spun around in midair, her eyes were closed as bright red blood seeped out from the corner of her mouth. Similar to the users of the Spirit Guiding Light, when the Necromancy Seal and the Spirit Needles were destroyed, the master of those weapons would be gravely injured as well.

Another snapping sound once again plucked on the extremely fragile nerves of the onlookers. The red rope which had been used to tie Ah Dan up broke and the zombie toddler abruptly opened its eyes. Its sharp gaze and the faint silly smile on its face combined to create an absolutely bloodcurdling expression!

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Chapter 64: The Nosebleed

Just as the ghost claw swung upwards in another attempt to grab onto Mumu, Ah Dan suddenly sprung to his feet. Its four plump chubby limbs crossed in front of it as it unexpectedly held the empty shadow in a firm yet ferocious grip!

The ghost shadow abruptly made an ear-piercing noise akin to a baby's cry. It struggled with all its might and the originally empty shadow shook vigorously before it soon melted swiftly into Ah Dan's body!

All that, from the first moment when the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo were stuck onto the ghost's flesh mushroom until the final moment when the ghost shadow was hugged into nothingness by Ah Dan, happened in only a short span of time. Even for someone as powerful as the Second Mother and a first-rate master cultivator like Chi Shuilie, the vision before their eyes were dazzling and confusing. They had utterly no time to react to the situation and rescue their friends while stopping the enemy.

Wen Leyang struggled free from the decayed mushroom's flesh, he was in time to firmly catch a falling Mumu before she hit the ground.

There was a muffled banging sound and it gave everyone a good scare. Ah Dan swung his arms and legs as he slammed onto the ground face first. His face was flat on the ground while his buttocks pointed skywards, his body then stopped moving.

Little Chili Pepper's body was limp as she lay in Wen Leyang's arms feebly. She opened her eyes slowly, "Ah…Ah Dan…" She then fell face down directly into Wen Leyang's arms, she had only just found out that the zombie baby had broken the red rope apart.

Wen Leyang related the entire scenario about Ah Dan and the ghost shadow to her and Mumu felt relieved. She struggled laboriously for a moment and laid her beautiful forehead gently upon his chest before smiling contentedly and closed her eyes. The red-colored bloodstain on the corner of her mouth was eye-catching.

The faint sound of decaying was slightly similar to the sound of the bubbling mud when the 'Swarm of Bees' of the Qing Miao clan were attacking. The ghost flesh mushroom rapidly disintegrated and melted into a puddle of black liquid in a short moment. The liquid seeped into the ground and disappeared, leaving behind a gigantic hole in the ground.

Wen Leyang could not check on Ah Dan yet but he was afraid that Ah Dan might turn hostile and injure others again. However, he could only hold onto Little Chili Pepper and stayed far away from Ah Dan as possible.

Mumu had been severely injured, her blood was surging and racing in her chest. She felt an agony as if the blood vessels in her entire body were in the process of rupturing. The Wen family favored poison while the Qing Miao clan arrogated spells. They all had distinguished abilities and an understanding of medical and medicinal knowledge above the level of regular human beings. All at once, her mouth was stuffed with all sorts of medicinal pellets, pills, powder, and paste.

The two brothers Bushuo and Buzuo too stood up with the support of the Qing Miao disciples. They groaned and moaned as they stood up, they were exhausted, their entire bodies were sore and weak but they were relatively unhurt. The muscles on Wen Buzuo's entire body were lax, only his cheek muscles were still functional. This was the result of his lack of training on most days as he would babble on endlessly about big plans to rescue others.

Little Chili Pepper chuckled, she could only manage half a laugh before she wrinkled her eyebrows, and shook her head gently, "I will be well again after resting for a few days, it's fine…" As she was speaking, she signaled for Wen Leyang to help her into a sitting position. She then utilized the family's mental cultivation method to slowly heal herself. Gradually, the agonized expression on her face was reduced and her wrinkled eyebrows too started to gently relax.

The surviving disciples of The Centipede of the Luo family explained to Wen Leyang, "The countercharge of a destroyed Spirit Guiding Light is the most harmful one while the countercharge of the Necromancy Seal and the Spirit Needles are slightly less damaging. Based on Mumu's cultivation level, her injuries shouldn't be too bad. She would only need to rest quietly for a period of time to recuperate."

All three spirit weapons of The Centipede had been annihilated, resulting in Mumu's unknown level of severe injuries. Right now she was starting to recuperate gradually and Wen Leyang was slightly relieved to know that she will be alright. He then pointed towards Ah Dan who was still lying unmoving on the ground far away.

The Centipede disciples too did not understand what happened, they could only force a sheepish grin as they shook their heads. The ghost shadow had disappeared after being grabbed by a little zombie, this affair was equivalent to the battle between an evil ghost and an evil demon. In the end, the ghost had swallowed the demon, not even a movie would use this as its plot.

The Great Elder of Qing Miao clan Chi Shuilie brought along one of his men and walked swiftly to the gigantic hole left behind after the ghost's flesh mushroom had melted away. They peeped down for a while before he nodded to the Second Mother. The two figures then jumped into the hole. The Second Mother waved her arm once and conjured a green-colored bonfire out of thin air.

Little Chi Maojiu, who seemed to like talking as much as Wen Buzuo, explained to Wen Leyang proudly, "Advanced sorcerers like the Second Mother and the Great Elder can move their own vital fire around at any desirable time." As he was speaking, he looked at the Second Mother with admiration.

The faint dark flames burned and spat continuously. After flickering for a moment, the flames started to twist in a ghastly manner and formed into a miniature scene: A dim fiery glow was wrapped around two figures who were moving with cat-like stealth.

"The Second Mother is casting her witchcraft to protect them!" Little Chi Maojiu's voice was full of adoration and pride.

Wen Leyang instructed the remaining Qing Miao disciples, "Please protect Mumu carefully!" Upon saying that, the skin on his entire body tightened once again as he walked cautiously towards the unmoving zombie baby which was still lying face-down on the ground.

One of The Centipede disciples immediately staggered and followed alongside him, "You don't cultivate the art of Corpse Controlling, let me help you!"

Despite the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo's aching limbs, they supported each other as they walked forward. Ever since they had entered the Miao's territory, every single incident they encountered had been horrifying. As the last surviving disciples from the Death Trademark, they were charged with the great responsibility to never let Wen Leyang go through any danger alone. They didn't care if they were of no help, they simply followed behind Wen Leyang with a determined expression.

Wen Leyang took a look at them, he didn't speak but gave them a forced grin. His body was slightly slanted as he walked to the front of Ah Dan as if he was subconsciously blocking everyone behind him. He then stretched out his left arm cautiously and touched Ah Dan's little shoulder while his right hand was clenched into a tight fist and raised in midair in preparation to strike a blow at any time.

The corpse-control master cultivator of the Luo family advised him in a fully professional manner, "Be careful there!" Following that he gulped anxiously.

Wen Leyang finally understood now that every family had its own qualified personnel.

He did not exert much strength onto his fingers yet he managed to turn Ah Dan over. Ah Dan's eyes were shut tightly as he lay on the ground with his arms and legs out like he was making a snow angel. Two trails of blood had flowed out of his nostrils and down his face in bends and curves.

If one were to land face-down onto the ground, it would be completely expected that one would get a bloody nose. However, the disciple of Luo family mused in a highly professional manner once again, "Yikes, it's having a nosebleed!"

Wen Buzuo too nodded with all apparent seriousness, "Yup, it's having a nosebleed."

Wen Leyang frowned and looked closely at Ah Dan who still had a smirk on its face. He could sense that something was wrong with the zombie but he couldn't figure out what it was.

The Luo family's disciple still persisted and repeated his words continuously, "It's having a nosebleed. It's having a nosebleed. It, is, having, a, nosebleed!" His tone of speaking gradually became more and more strenuous, the final few words were squeezed out between his gritted teeth.

Wen Leyang too cried out softly as he finally noticed what was wrong – Ah Dan's dark eye circles were very slowly fading away, it already appeared slightly lighter than before.

At the same time, the disciple of The Centipede spoke with an incredulous and trembling voice, "The zombie corpse…has no blood. Even if it were to be injured its skin will only break, but it will not bleed!"

Wen Buzuo's eyes were filled with curiosity, as he questioned closely without any standards, "What if it is bleeding?"

The Luo disciple's answer was unusually brief, "If it bleeds, then it is no longer a corpse!"

Wen Bushuo, who cherished his words like gold, spat out a word from his chest, "Sun!"

At this moment Ah Dan's body shuddered abruptly, he then opened his eyes and blinked. Wen Leyang felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as his left fist hanging in the air made as if to throw a punch. If it weren't for Ah Dan who had smiled at him naively, he would have punched the zombie baby without any hesitation.

Wen Leyang's heart softhearted, he did not throw the punch. Instead, he stood up and guarded the other three as they retreated rapidly. Ah Dan stumbled around as he tried to stand. He then used his sleeve to wipe off the nosebleed, his round head turned this way and that way as he searched for Little Chili Pepper. He cheered with a clear and articulate voice as soon as he'd found her.

The Centipede disciple cried out in alarm once again, "He…a zombie corpse should not speak with such a voice!" He paused for a moment before adding, "To be able to speak with such a voice means that he's no longer a zombie corpse!"

Back then, Wen Leyang had heard the zombie baby's voice. It had only been able to make a babbling sound similar to the sound of two pieces of leather rubbing together. That was utterly unlike his voice now which sounded childish and sweet. Wen Leyang did not know what to do all of a sudden.

A weak yet familiar voice sounded from behind them, "Don't hurt Ah Dan!"

Little Chili Pepper, who had been recuperating, suddenly opened her eyes, her huge eyes had lost their former shine.

At the same time, a whooshing sound was heard as well as the sound of sleeves flapping in the wind. The Miao clansmen who had followed the Great Elder suddenly leaped out of the hole with a joyful expression. He informed the Second Mother, "There's a way out; we could hear the sound of running water flowing below us! Great Elder wanted to continue exploring the place and he sent me back to deliver the message so that the Second Mother and the Big Dragon's Root can be at ease!"

Wen Leyang's expression suddenly changed as he warned with a loud voice, "Be careful, behind you!"

Ah Dan, who had been staggering as he walked forward, suddenly found his way blocked by the Qing Miao lad who had just leaped out from nowhere.

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