The scholar waved his hand, pointing at the zombie that had lost its ability to resist. Hong Teng and the others immediately stepped forward to search the zombie.
They truly stripped it clean from head to toe, inspecting it carefully, even checking whether the zombie had any tattoo patterns on its body.
From start to finish, the scholar stood by watching, supervising their search.
After confirming there was nothing, the scholar said, “Your worldly ties as husband and wife should be completely severed.” With a wave of his fan, he sent the zombie tumbling into the sunlight.
“Hooo…”
The zombie, whose limbs and bones had all been shattered, howled miserably in the sunlight. Its writhing body rapidly turned to flying ash.
Before long, only a pile of dust remained on the ground. The scholar fanned away the dust to look, but still did not see what he wished to find. Only then did he divert his attention to the Third Cave Master.
The Third Cave Master sat with eyes closed under the blazing sun. The wound on his chest was no longer bleeding, but wisps of evil qi were rising from it.
The scholar walked up to him and asked, “How is it?”
The Third Cave Master opened his eyes. “A bit evil. The evil qi that invaded my flesh and blood, I actually cannot force it out for a long time. It’s fine, I will take it slowly.”
Seeing that he said it was fine, the scholar asked no more. He first walked to the stone platform and inspected it carefully. Suddenly, he struck it with a palm, shattering the stone platform to dust. He gently fanned away the dust with his fan, but still did not see what he wished to find.
Afterwards, he walked to that golden coffin. He observed the exquisite patterns on the sarcophagus for a while, but could not make anything of them for the moment. So he waved his hand repeatedly, and the golden gauze curtains flew back into the sarcophagus. The lid also rumbled as it flipped back into place.
The scholar then kicked the sarcophagus flying. He also stepped into the air, standing on top of the coffin, waving a folding fan in his hand. The man and the coffin slowly floated upward together. Only after floating out of the深渊-like massive pit did the man and coffin come to a halt in mid-air. After turning to find the right direction, they suddenly whooshed away through the air. That scene was like riding a sword through the air, except what was being ridden was a coffin.
The crowd of demons busy outside the pit were dumbfounded.
Inside the abyss, Hong Teng and the others were once again filled with terror. Being able to float and halt in mid-air was already extraordinary cultivation, let alone flying through the air while carrying such a heavy sarcophagus.
Everyone was guessing who this person could be…
Several days later, the music ended and the crowd dispersed. The demon cultivators who had gathered from all directions gradually left, leaving behind a massive scar on the land around Jianyuan Mountain.
The demon crowd only dug and did not fill back in. They just left like that, and Jianyuan Mountain itself showed no intention of dealing with it either.
When everything had returned to calm, Liu Piaopiao finally came to the mountain cave to meet with Yu Qing and the others, who had been hiding for a long time.
Upon learning they could leave, Yu Qing and the others naturally asked how things were.
Learning that Yun Xi had died under exposure to the sun, reduced to flying ash and annihilated, the hidden worry in Yu Qing’s heart was finally resolved.
Just as he let out a sigh of relief, Liu Piaopiao brought up another matter, “Right, you should be careful of that Qin Jue.”
Yu Qing was puzzled, “Why should I be careful of him?”
“Your identities as the three from Jianyuan Zhai, I told him…” Liu Piaopiao explained the course of events where she had intended to eliminate Qin Jue but an accident occurred.
The three were instantly shocked. Nan Zhu exclaimed, “Grand Protector, I really have to call you grandma. If you could eliminate him, then eliminate him. If you couldn’t, then leave it be. Why did you have to tell him our identities as the three from Jianyuan Zhai? Now that you’ve said it, he will definitely think we betrayed him.”
Liu Piaopiao apologised, “I just wanted to find an excuse to make a move. I didn’t expect him to bring out the identity of Chilan Pavilion.”
Nan Zhu: “Then you should have just been direct and killed him outright. You could have struck from the shadows too.”
Liu Piaopiao: “I told you, the Third Master of Qianliu Mountain spoke up. It was not convenient for me to act again.”
Yu Qing sighed, “You left the job half-done. Now he will come settle accounts with us in the future, won’t he?”
Liu Piaopiao said disdainfully, “Afraid of the wolf in front and the tiger behind? Then don’t harbour malicious intent to plot against someone’s life. If you dare to harbour such thoughts, you must dare to bear the consequences.”
The way she put it left the three senior brothers speechless.
Liu Piaopiao wasted no more words. She parted the vines covering the cave entrance and saw a team of people already heading this way. “Alright, prepare to set off. Just follow them out of the mountain.”
Yu Qing: “Just follow them out of the mountain openly like this?”
Liu Piaopiao: “They are a team of craftsmen who regularly come here to work. It’s been arranged for someone to escort them away. They don’t know who you are. Just follow along and leave. The mountain patrols won’t suspect anything either. If anything happens, I will help cover for you. Alright, no more nonsense, get down there.”
Yu Qing parted the vines. Just as he was about to jump down from the cliff, he suddenly turned back and asked, “Are we considered friends?”
Liu Piaopiao was silent for a moment. “No.”
Yu Qing smiled bitterly, but still replied with two words, “Thank you.” With that, he directly leaped down.
Nan Zhu cupped his hands towards Liu Piaopiao before jumping down. Mu Aotie did the same.
When the three reached the bottom, they waited for that team of craftsmen to arrive, then followed behind them, leaving unhurriedly with the group.
Liu Piaopiao stood at the cave entrance watching for a good while…
By mid-afternoon, the craftsmen’s team had exited the mountain and reached the official road. Only then did the three senior brothers separate from those craftsmen, first taking shelter under a tree by the roadside.
Where to go? This became the primary problem they faced.
Just as they were discussing, Nan Zhu suddenly spoke up, “What do you think, was what Yun Xi said about that ‘Little Cloud Realm’ true or not?”
The three suddenly fell silent, looking at each other.
Mu Aotie: “She herself said it was fake.”
Nan Zhu: “She saw that Old Fifteen betrayed her, so of course she would say it was fake. The problem is that what she mentioned twice both involved seemingly the same place. How about we go take a look?”
Yu Qing said irritably, “Old Seven, if it were real, how could she casually tell us? Do you also want to live forever?
Think about it, if that immortal abode truly had some way to achieve eternal life, would she still need to turn herself into something neither human nor ghost? She would have sought longevity herself long ago. Even she couldn’t obtain such a thing. I really don’t know why people like you still imagine it to be so wonderful, deceiving yourselves.”
Nan Zhu retorted, “Who said looking for an immortal abode is necessarily about seeking eternal life? You tell me, what did you come to Jianyuan Mountain for? We all know that we came out this time to earn money. Without money, we can’t buy cultivation resources. Without cultivation resources, our cultivation cannot rapidly improve.”
Mu Aotie: “The likelihood of it being fake is greater.”
Nan Zhu: “I’m just asking you, regardless of whether it’s true or false, now that we know the target location, can you really resist the urge not to go verify it?”
The three fell silent again.
Yu Qing suddenly said, “I can resist. Fake is fake, there’s no need to waste time. Senior brothers, after this experience, I’ve deeply reflected. You also saw it, we nearly lost our lives. I truly shouldn’t have brought you out to take risks.”
He turned around, reached into his clothes and fished around. When he turned back to face them, he took out two banknotes with face values of one hundred taels each. “It was my fault that I nearly cost you your lives this time. A small token of my apology. Consider it travel expenses. Go back to the temple, and use it sparingly on the road.”
Initiating to give money? The two senior brothers instantly had a reaction as if they had seen a ghost.
Mu Aotie asked, “You’re not going back?”
Yu Qing: “Old Seven is right. If we want our cultivation to improve, we need cultivation resources. As the sect leader, I bear the heavy responsibility of the sect. I need to find a way to earn money.”
Nan Zhu: “Where will you go to earn money?”
Yu Qing: “I’ve thought it through. I need to go to the capital, set up a stall to sell my calligraphy under the identity of A Shiheng. I should be able to earn some money.”
Nan Zhu: “Then we’ll accompany you. We can still help you out.”
Mu Aotie hmmed, “That’s right.”
Yu Qing shook his head and sighed, “You heard what Liu Piaopiao said. What background does that Qin Jue have? Chilan Pavilion, you should have heard of it, right? Qin Jue knows we sold him out. Sooner or later, he will come settle accounts with us. Moreover, the waters in the capital run deep. I truly don’t want to implicate you. Besides, it’s just writing a few characters, there’s no need for helpers. You should go back.”
Nan Zhu: “Before we left, Little Martial Uncle repeatedly instructed us that we must protect your safety. If you don’t go back and we do, we won’t be able to account to Little Martial Uncle.”
Mu Aotie hmmed, “Yes.”
Yu Qing saw they were going on endlessly and immediately turned hostile, “You protect me? With what? And you still won’t take a hint? Can’t you see that you yourselves are burdens? Can’t you see that I want to shake off you two burdens? Once something happens in the capital, I can run away alone. Dragging you two along, how am I supposed to run?”
This was simply humiliating. Mu Aotie instantly showed an angry expression and was about to retort.
Nan Zhu raised his hand to stop him, holding him back. “Alright, this is just his habit of turning hostile at the drop of a hat. He’s always been disrespectful to his elders. Trying to reason with him is like playing the lute to a cow.” After holding Mu Aotie back, he pointed at the banknotes in Yu Qing’s hand. “Such a long journey, and only two hundred taels of silver. You can’t even buy a good mount with that. Are you asking us to walk back? Add a bit more.”
“Why buy a good mount? As long as you have something to ride, it’s fine. Doesn’t it hurt to spend other people’s money?” Yu Qing mocked. He shook the banknotes in his hand. “That’s all there is. Take it or leave it. Steal or rob, figure it out yourselves.”
“Alright, alright, you win.” Nan Zhu gave up, snatching those two banknotes. He gave one to Mu Aotie, then pushed Mu Aotie to leave. “Let’s go, let’s go. There’s nothing more to say to this hostile-faced thief.”
Yu Qing stood under the tree with hands behind his back, watching them leave, occasionally stroking his little beard.
After walking some distance away, Mu Aotie, who kept looking back, said, “You don’t really believe he’s going to the capital to sell calligraphy, do you?”
Nan Zhu snorted, “I’d believe his nonsense. With his money-hungry nature, if he dared to go to the capital to sell calligraphy for money, would he have waited until now? He definitely has some concern preventing him from taking that path, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t be polite. One hundred taels isn’t little either. Take the money while we have it… Alright, stop looking back.” He kept giving him meaningful looks.
After confirming that the two senior brothers had walked far away and disappeared, Yu Qing’s brows twitched. He smoothed his ponytail and turned to head in the opposite direction.
In the opposite direction, in the mountain forest along the downhill path, Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie crept back. They crouched low, lurking in the forest, furtively peeping.
“He’s gone, he’s gone. Follow him.” Nan Zhu waved his hand.
The two immediately stealthily advanced through the mountain forest alongside the official road, maintaining their distance as they followed behind Yu Qing. Whenever Yu Qing occasionally looked back, the two quickly crouched down to hide motionless. They followed along like this, completely forgetting their thoughts from when they had encountered danger.