Liu Zhuang Xian

The woman saw that Lu Xiaochan was fine and also breathed a sigh of relief, then said, “Eh, why hasn’t this young master eaten? Is it that you don’t like the earthy taste of catfish?”

Lu Xiaochan knew that Shu Wuxi rarely ate anything. When he was at the Wusi Tavern, it was mostly Shu Wuxi watching Lu Xiaochan eat. He quickly smoothed things over. “Please don’t misunderstand! My brother has always been like this, always saving the best food for me. Right?”

“Mm.” Shu Wuxi softly responded.

“Ah, the bond between you two brothers is truly wonderful!”

As she was speaking, they saw Shu Wuxi use chopsticks to pick the meat off the catfish, removing the bones from the bowl and pushing it towards Lu Xiaochan.

Lu Xiaochan ate the boneless fish meat, drank the soup, then scooped up a spoonful of tofu, thinking about how he had forgotten to please Shu Wuxi. “Brother Wuxi, you eat too!”

He thought to himself that Shu Wuxi, being so clean, would definitely not want to eat from the spoon he had used. But unexpectedly, Shu Wuxi turned his face slightly, gently lifted his wrist, and the Immortal-Locking Ribbon pulled Lu Xiaochan’s hand up. Shu Wuxi took the spoon in his mouth and ate the tofu.

Lu Xiaochan froze there. Even though the other person hadn’t actually touched him, he felt as if his own fingers had been eaten by the other.

Jiang Wuchao also didn’t know what was happening. He felt something was a bit inappropriate, but couldn’t say exactly what, so he could only turn his face away.

After finishing the catfish soup and hearing the story of He Family Village, Shu Wuxi pulled up the Immortal-Locking Ribbon, taking Lu Xiaochan to continue their journey.

Jiang Wuchao very much wanted to find out where that evil god temple was, but he also knew in his heart that this evil spirit had been doing evil for a long time, accumulating wicked thoughts for at least a hundred years. He feared it wasn’t something he could handle alone.

But the longer they delayed, the more danger the missing Madam Meng and the Meng family disciples were in. Most likely, they were already dead by now.

Jiang Wuchao initially wanted to ask Shu Wuxi for help, but seeing how nothing seemed to attract Shu Wuxi’s interest, he feared that even if he knelt down and cracked his head open, it would be useless.

Jiang Wuchao had no choice but to settle for second best and said to Lu Xiaochan. “Xiaochan, with Madam Meng and the Meng family disciples disappearing like this, if I turn a blind eye, I fear I’ll be punished by my master. You need to continue your journey, so we must part ways here.”

“Ah? What? Are you going to find that evil god temple?”

Lu Xiaochan tugged at the Immortal-Locking Ribbon, but immediately remembered that Shu Wuxi didn’t like to meddle in others’ affairs. He could only say in a pleading tone. “Brother Wuxi… why don’t you… give Brother Jiang some advice?”

Jiang Wuchao immediately seized the opportunity. “If I could receive guidance from senior, I would be eternally grateful!”

Lu Xiaochan perked up his ears, thinking Shu Wuxi would tell Jiang Wuchao the name of this evil spirit, what it fed on, how to form a sword formation to deal with it. But Shu Wuxi only said four words.

“Beyond your capabilities.”

Then he continued walking forward with Lu Xiaochan.

My goodness! I know that brother always uses the most concise words to describe the most complex things, but saying “beyond your capabilities” is really hurtful! Which mountain did you come down from anyway?

Just as Lu Xiaochan was thinking of saying something to smooth things over, Jiang Wuchao lowered his head and said, “Thank you, senior. But in this world, there are always some things that we know cannot be done, yet we must do them anyway.”

Having said that, Jiang Wuchao turned and left.

Lu Xiaochan didn’t ask Shu Wuxi for help again, as there were too many troubles in the world to manage, and evil spirits were countless. He only hoped that Jiang Wuchao would be safe.

“Um, Brother Jiang, I think instead of fighting alone, you should summon your fellow disciples to come together!”

Jiang Wuchao turned back with a smile. “I’m afraid by the time my fellow disciples arrive, they will already be dead. Thank you for your concern!”

When only Lu Xiaochan and Shu Wuxi were left, Lu Xiaochan couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, Brother Wuxi, do you know what ‘knowing it can’t be done, yet still doing it’ means?”

“I know,” Shu Wuxi answered.

He suddenly stopped walking, but the bored Lushu didn’t stop, taking two more steps forward, so Lu Xiaochan just happened to come to Shu Wuxi’s side.

Lu Xiaochan could smell Shu Wuxi’s scent, and couldn’t help but lower his head, while Shu Wuxi was looking up at him.

“Knowing it’s an ocean of obsession and delusion, yet unwilling to reach the shore. Only wishing to be an ephemeral mayfly, born in the morning and dying in the evening… But seeking in the remaining life to have…”

His breath touched Lu Xiaochan’s lips, gently prying them open, penetrating into Lu Xiaochan’s internal organs, raging unrestrained. The burning pain in his lungs came again, his shoulders trembled, and he sat up straight.

Just then, Lu Xiaochan heard a rustling sound from not far away, and… a faint smell of blood.

“Is it a wild animal?” Lu Xiaochan tightened his grip on the Immortal-Locking Ribbon.

“It’s nothing,” Shu Wuxi continued walking as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Then Lu Xiaochan heard a faint cry for help, and it sounded familiar, like the voice of the little girl who had greeted him when he first entered Li Family Village.

“Wait, Brother Wuxi… is someone hurt?”

“Yes.”

If it wasn’t a matter right in front of him, Lu Xiaochan wouldn’t have interfered.

But at this moment, if he left the injured little girl in the forest and ignored her plight, Lu Xiaochan couldn’t bring himself to be so heartless.

After all, that little girl had once sincerely smiled at him.

“Brother Wuxi, can we see how she’s doing?”

“No,” Shu Wuxi answered.

As they were passing by the girl, a silver bell sound suddenly came from her body.

Lu Xiaochan recognized it immediately – it was Jiang Wuchao’s! Jiang Wuchao used sound to enhance the power of his sword formation. If it wasn’t a matter of life and death, how could he have dropped his silver bell?

“Brother Wuxi! Wait! Brother Jiang must be in trouble!”

“Xiaochan, this isn’t the first time you’ve mentioned Jiang Wuchao.”

“That’s right! Brother Jiang is my…”

“It seems I must find him too,” Shu Wuxi said calmly.

“That’s great, you’re going to help him!”

“Find him, kill him, then you won’t mention him again.”

Lu Xiaochan’s heart trembled. This was serious – Shu Wuxi never joked!

“We don’t need to get involved! We don’t need to get involved! Let’s keep going!” Lu Xiaochan patted Lushu’s neck, thinking to himself, Jiang Wuchao called Shu Wuxi “senior,” which means Shu Wuxi is more powerful! If Shu Wuxi says he wants to kill him, it might be even easier than squashing an ant with a straw sandal!

But Lushu didn’t move at all, lying down instead. No matter how much Lu Xiaochan patted him, it was useless.

Annoyed by Lu Xiaochan’s patting, Lushu swung his tail up to hit Lu Xiaochan’s back, but Shu Wuxi’s finger flicked out and caught it.

“Insolent.”

Lushu trembled in fear, and the tip of his tail was pinched off by Shu Wuxi’s fingers.

He could only whimper with his head down, not daring to make a sound.

Shu Wuxi stood in front of the little girl and asked softly. “Where is Jiang Wuchao?”

“Please… please save me…”

The little girl’s abdomen was torn open, bleeding profusely, but fortunately, her internal organs weren’t pulled out. However, if not treated soon, she would die.

“No… if you want to ask her where Brother Jiang went, shouldn’t you treat her wound first so she can talk?”

The little girl struggled to raise her hand, trying to grasp Shu Wuxi’s clothes like a drowning person clutching at straws. Shu Wuxi didn’t move, but his clothes fluttered due to the spiritual energy around him. The little girl lifted her eyes with difficulty and saw Shu Wuxi’s emotionless eyes.

There was no compassion or pity, as if she were just a stone by the roadside with a fallen leaf on it.

The little girl’s tears fell.

Lu Xiaochan got down from Lushu and stumbled to the little girl’s side. Just as he was about to bend down, Shu Wuxi raised his hand, and the Immortal-Locking Ribbon pulled Lu Xiaochan up.

He flicked his fingertip, and a beam of spiritual light immediately entered the little girl’s body. The wound on her abdomen healed instantly.

The pain was gone. The little girl touched her body in disbelief and immediately knelt to thank him.

“Thank you! Thank you, Immortal Lord! Please save my father!”

“What’s going on here? That bell in your hand belongs to a friend of mine!” Lu Xiaochan asked.

“Today, the big brother Jiang who came with you to our village asked if anyone knew where that evil god temple was. My father actually came from He Family village, and his sister killed her entire family because she believed in the evil god. Only my father escaped death. My father said big brother Jiang was an immortal cultivator and would surely have a way to deal with that evil god, so he led big brother Jiang to find it!”

“Wait! Your father took brother Jiang to find the evil god temple, why did you go and make trouble too?”

“My father’s leg was twisted by his sister who was possessed back then, making it difficult for him to move, so naturally I went along to take care of him…”

In fact, that old father couldn’t remember clearly where the evil god temple was, he had only seen it once when he went to find his sister who had sneaked out at night to worship the evil god.

Even in broad daylight, as they walked deeper into the woods, the tree shade blocked out the sky, and there was less and less light.

Just when that old father thought they were lost, they actually found that evil god temple.

Actually, it couldn’t really be called a temple, it was just a giant ancient tree that had died many years ago. In the split middle part was placed a clay statue as big as a real person, and in front of the statue there was even an incense burner that had been used not long ago.

This showed that even though He family village was gone, there were still people worshipping the evil god.

Around the ancient tree were broken stone blocks forming a continuous wall-like structure surrounding the tree.

Just as Jiang Wuchao was examining this evil god temple, the clay statue in the hollow of the ancient tree actually moved, transforming into a real person, and walked gracefully towards them.

The old father recognized at a glance that it was his long-lost sister. Jiang Wuchao said his sister was possessed by an evil spirit, and immediately drew his sword to suppress the evil spirit. Unexpectedly, the surrounding stone walls suddenly moved and trapped him inside.

That evil god passed through the old father’s body and was about to take the little girl’s internal organs. Fortunately, Jiang Wuchao blocked it with his flying sword. The bell on his sword was cut off by the evil spirit, greatly reducing the power of his sword formation. The little girl ran away frantically with that bell, holding her breath, but finally couldn’t run anymore because she was too badly injured.

Lu Xiaochan tilted his head with a worried expression, but immediately realized the problems in this story.

He subconsciously pulled on the Immortal-Locking Ribbon, wanting to quietly tell Shu Wuxi that there were issues with this.

But Shu Wuxi paid no attention and simply said to that little girl. “Lead the way.”

Lu Xiaochan couldn’t hold back anymore. He grabbed Shu Wuxi and said unhappily, “How can this be? Knowing there’s a problem, yet still insisting on walking into the trap!”

Shu Wuxi ignored him and said, “Get on.”

Lu Xiaochan had no choice but to climb onto Lushu’s back, puffing and panting.

He knew very clearly that given Jiang Wuchao’s personality, he would absolutely not let villagers take him to some evil god temple. He knew he might not be a match for that evil god, so how could he let villagers risk danger with him! So what the little girl said must be problematic!

But it was certain that something had happened to Jiang Wuchao.

The little girl blocking their way with the bell was definitely trying to lure them to the evil god temple using Jiang Wuchao’s life. Before they arrived, Jiang Wuchao’s life should be safe.

But if Shu Wuxi went and wiped out the evil god temple, the next move would be to take Jiang Wuchao’s life.

If Shu Wuxi wasn’t that powerful and got eaten by the evil god, he, Lu Xiaochan, would surely lose his life too.

So, was it better for Shu Wuxi to be powerful or not?

This was truly a headache-inducing question.

While leading the way, the little girl was still trying to probe their background.

“Young master! Where are you and your brother from? Which cultivation sect are you under?”

“Me? I’ve joined the number one gang in the world!” Lu Xiaochan raised his head proudly.

Even in this situation, he felt proud of his optimism.

“What’s the number one gang in the world?”

“The Beggar’s Gang!” Lu Xiaochan answered.

“Huh? What’s the Beggar’s Gang? I’ve never heard of it.”

“My gang is very powerful! We have disciples all over the world! A hundred thousand members, each an expert at driving out evil spirits!”

Come on, beggars are starving every day. It’s already lucky if they don’t get possessed by “baishang”!

Shu Wuxi walked in front, not saying a word, allowing Lu Xiaochan to ramble on.

“Then young master, you must be very powerful too, right? What’s your specialty skill?” The little girl had an inexplicable reverence for Shu Wuxi, naturally feeling that the blind Lu Xiaochan was easier to talk to.

“My specialty skill…well, listen carefully.” Lu Xiaochan coughed, deliberately keeping the other in suspense.

The little girl looked up, waiting for Lu Xiaochan to show off.

At this moment, a small caterpillar fell from a branch, and Lu Xiaochan immediately called out, “Brother Wuxi, save me—”

Shu Wuxi turned back, flicked his finger, and a burst of true qi shot out, sending the small caterpillar flying far away.

The little girl was stunned by what she saw.

Lu Xiaochan squinted his eyes and smiled, lowering his head to say. “See, this is my special skill! Impressive, right?”

The little girl was dumbfounded for a while before she reacted.

“So… so you don’t have any real abilities!”

“How is this not an ability? This is a great ability!” Lu Xiaochan squinted his eyes, smiling happily, still clutching the preserved vegetable roasted flatbread in his hand.

All along the way, Shu Wuxi had been saving it for him, keeping it neither cold nor spoiled.

Take another sip of “Drunken Life Dream Death,” and no evil spirit mattered anymore!

As they walked, it got darker and darker, and the sounds of insects and birds grew fewer and fewer, becoming frighteningly quiet.

The quieter it got, the less sound Jiang Wuchao could use, and the weaker his sword formation became. No wonder he had fallen into a trap here.

Lu Xiaochan knew in his heart that they were getting closer and closer to that evil god temple. Logically, he should be getting more and more scared, but just because of the Immortal-Locking Ribbon tied around his wrist, Lu Xiaochan felt as if Shu Wuxi was holding his hand, and he wasn’t afraid of anything.

Just as they were talking, Lushu suddenly stopped beneath him. Its whole body tensed up, and Lu Xiaochan, sitting on its back, could feel its nervousness.

“We’re here…” The little girl’s voice began to tremble slightly. She took two steps back, hesitated, then stood firm. “My father… my father is right there!”

Just outside the entire circle of stone formations, an old man in his fifties or sixties was lying on the ground, his face stiff, with a bloody hole in his chest. He was clearly already dead.

“Father— Father—”

Lu Xiaochan listened intently. He had no interest in the little girl’s crying, only trying hard to distinguish any sound from Jiang Wuchao, but the little girl’s voice was too loud, annoying Lu Xiaochan.

“Listen, little girl, haven’t you acted enough? We’ve already come to see this evil god ‘lady’, what are you still wailing about? Why don’t you save your energy?”

The little girl immediately stopped her tears and stood up, looking extremely aggrieved. “Young master, my father is gone! Can’t I even be sad?”

Lu Xiaochan propped up one leg, resting his chin on it, a teasing smile curling his lips.

“Miss, the evil god temple is right next to you, aren’t you afraid? Even if you were very brave, you should be hugging your father and crying from far away, right?”

“You…”

“And you’re probably not from Chen family village, but from He family village, right? Because your accent is just a tiny bit different from the uncle and auntie who greeted us.” Lu Xiaochan made a small gap with his fingers. “Are you still keeping the fine tradition of worshipping the evil god from your He family village?”

The little girl’s face changed immediately.

“As for being sad, that makes even less sense! You don’t even have a heart, how can you be sad?” Lu Xiaochan dug in his ear. “It’s true that your belly was cut open, and it’s true that you’ve lost a lot of blood, but you’ve been with us all the way, and I just haven’t heard your heartbeat. Tell me, where did your heart go? What kind of evil technique allows you to walk, talk, and act without a heart? And besides your father, you have other accomplices, don’t you?”