Vol.1-Chapter 41 – Qing Xuan Temple

After pondering a bit, Daoist Yi Qing commanded the nearby villagers to find a place to bury the body of the Ten Thousand Corpse Elder. As for the zombie, because it was poisonous, he couldn’t let others dispose of it. He endured the smell and walked up to it before taking out a bluish-yellow jade gourd. Fire flew out and surrounded the zombie, creating crackling sounds. When Zhao Jiuge saw the jade gourd, greed appeared in his eyes.

The strong smell of a rotting corpse spread out and the crowd retreated as grey smoke rose into the air. After everything was finished, Daoist Yi Qing’s face finally relaxed.

Then he told the surrounding villagers that the haunting was caused by evil doers cultivating here and that the evil doers had been killed. In the future, they would have no more need to worry, so the crowd suddenly cheered. After being afraid for so many days, the people here were subconsciously letting out joyous smiles.

Su Su and Zhao Jiuge were standing on the side and quietly observing. When they saw the villagers’ happy smiles, they both smiled as well. Zhao Jiuge felt a sense of accomplishment and was eager to get stronger. He could take this girl with him and travel the mountains and rivers, righting all the injustice in the world. How wonderful that would be.

Qing Rong was a small town a few hundred kilometers away from Dong Yang City. This small town next to the mountains was not big, only about a dozen kilometers in size, and only housed about 100 or so families. Zhao Jiuge had spent a long time in the wilderness, and now he felt like he had entered a trance.

After journeying for more than half a day, Daoist Yi Qing had led Zhao Jiuge and Su Su to the town of Qing Rong. Along the way, Daoist Yi Qing talked to them about the people nearby and strange and interesting things. He made Zhao Jiuge and Su Su laugh to the point that even Zhao Jiuge felt that this Daoist Yi Qing seemed a bit too enthusiastic.

The two daoist children behind them didn’t speak a word the whole way, they just silently followed the three of them, holding the whisk and treasure sword. Zhao Jiuge didn’t feel any spirit force fluctuations from them, but throughout their fast-paced trip, their expressions didn’t change at all. Not even a drop of sweat had appeared on their faces.

Walking on the stone brick road of the town and feeling the liveliness of the town while being accompanied by a beautiful girl made Zhao Jiuge relax. His mood was very good.

Just at this moment, the sound of dogs barking came from the distance. They were coming closer, and the people on the side of the road all fled. Zhao Jiuge was surprised to see a child rushing toward him. The child seemed to have seen some people blocking the way and panicked. He tripped and fell down on the stone brick road.

The stone brick road was no longer smooth after years of usage, so when the child got up, his hands were bloody from his collision. Two wolf dogs about the size of this child rushed forward. Their eyes shined and they revealed their sharp, white teeth.

Zhao Jiuge observed the child before him—messy clothes, discolored face, and so thin that you could see his bones. This child looked like the wind could knock him over. Even though his palms were bloody, he was clenching his rag-like clothes so hard that they were red.

Zhao Jiuge saw through the opening in the cloth bag at the child’s waist. It contained merely a few bones and pieces of bread that had already been bitten.

The child got up and saw that the road was being blocked by Zhao Jiuge, and the two large wolf dogs were chasing him. He didn’t know what to do, so he was filled with fear and his eyes were begging for help.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t know how long the child had been running for, but he saw how exhausted the child was. The sound of the child gasping for air was like someone pulling a bellows to turn up the heat of their stove.

A loud voice echoed from the distance “What an insolent little beggar. How dare you come into my backyard to steal dog food!”

The two wolf dogs had already arrived and were barking before the child as if they would bite him at any moment. This caused the panicked child to become even more frightened. Behind the two wolf dogs was a fat may who was spitting everywhere as he cursed at the child. This fat man reminded Zhao Jiuge of Wang Dazhaung.

The more Zhao Jiuge looked at the fat man, the more he reminded Zhao Jiuge of the bully Wang Dazhuang! He had a silk coat and the two jade beads that he constantly played with in his hands, along with a jade token hanging at his waist. His head was fat, his ears were big, and he had a raised belly. His oily face formed a stark contrast with the little beggar.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t know if it was because his hatred for Wang Dazhuang hadn't dissipated or if he felt sympathetic toward the little beggar because it reminded him of his own childhood, but his breathing became rough.

Zhao Jiuge was used to poverty since childhood and had to go hunting in the mountains from the age of ten to survive. How could he not know that the little beggar had only stolen leftover food in order to survive? Even stealing like this, the little beggar wouldn’t be able to have a single full meal for days.

He looked at this fat man who looked like Wang Dazhuang with an oily face and then looked at the two big wolf dogs with sharp, white teeth. Zhao Jiuge felt like he was about to lose control of himself. He was going to return to that night when he killed Wang Dazhaung, and a sense of madness washed over him and his blood began to boil.

He stepped forward before the little beggar and shouted at the oily-faced fat man, “Scram!”

The fat man was startled for a bit, then he remembered that the town of Qing Rong didn’t have anyone like this. He thought that Zhao Jiuge was from a nearby village, so he immediately snorted, “Even a brat like you wants to intervene in my business? Don’t you know who I, Luo Fugui, am?!”

He was extremely arrogant! After a bit, he shouted at the two wolf dogs, “Bite him!”

After the fat man shouted, the two wolf dogs barked once again and kicked off with their hind legs with their sharp teeth out. They pounced at Zhao Jiuge. Luo Fugui still had his arms crossed and a disdainful look on his face. He was thinking about how to make Zhao Jiuge and the little beggar learn to crawl on the ground like dogs or kneel for mercy. However, just at this moment, what happened next caused his face to freeze.

“Bullying others just because you have some power?” Zhao Jiuge’s voice contained not a single trace of emotion and was filled with cold killing intent.

Then Zhao Jiuge’s brows wrinkled. With one kick from his right foot, the large wolf dog was sent flying over a dozen meters away. It landed on the stone bricks and slid across them for several meters. Now Zhao Jiuge was prepared to attack Luo Fugui.

“Immeasurable deity, let’s settle this matter now,” Daoist Yi Qing said expressionlessly with a white whisk in hand. He then looked at Luo Fugi before saying with his crisp voice, “Ah, so it turned out to be the owner of the Luo Fugui restaurant. How about giving me some face and letting this matter be?”

Luo Fugui was surprised by Daoist Yi Qing’s sudden appearance and immediately became respectful. He bowed slightly and said, “So it turned out to be Daoist Yi Qing. Since Daoist Yi Qing has spoken, let this matter be.” After a nod, Luo Fugui quickly turned and led the other wolf dog away. He didn’t even dare to let out a fart. Forget Daoist Yi Qing appearing, just Zhao Jiuge’s display of might had shocked him greatly!

Then Daoist Yi Qing quickly turned around to comfort the angry Zhao Jiuge. “Calm down, Jiuge, this is the way of the world. Evil people will do evil things. After they die, they will suffer the consequences. There's no need to get angry over someone like that.” Su Su also walked up to persuade Zhao Jiuge. She decided that they needed to have a good talk tonight.

He ignored the two of them as he bent down and looked at the timid appearance of the little beggar. He said in a comforting tone, “Throw away the things in the bag. I’ll take you to eat something good later.” The little beggar’s eyes opened wide as he looked up at Zhao Jiuge. Perhaps the beggar felt like the big brother before him looked rather kind, so he unexpectedly nodded in agreement to going with a complete stranger.

Holding the little beggar’s hand, Zhao Jiuge didn’t care about Daoist Yi Qing or Su Su as he walked forward. Su Su felt a bit helpless—she felt like this block of wood was angry at her!

In the daoist temple on the south west side of the town of Qing Rong.

In front of the temple was an arch gate made of grey stone. On each side of the gate was a stone lion carving. Behind that was a red double door. There was a picture of the yin and yang fish on the door. Hanging above the door was a gold plaque with three large swords: Qing Xuan Temple.

Everyone arrived at the door. The two slightly older daoists guarding the entrance bowed slightly and respectfully said, “Teacher.” Only after everyone had walked by did they return to their standing postures.

Inside the Qing Xuan Temple.

Paths paved by pebbles were spread across the courtyard, and the soil beside the paths was planted with various flowers and grass. The walls of the yard were made of bricks and the door leading to the main temple was a stone arch facing the statue of a god.

As they walked across the pebble path, they would occasionally encounter other daoists. They would all stop and respectfully call out, “Teacher”. The daoists would wait until they left before going back to what they were doing. They looked at Zhao Jiuge and Su Su, this golden couple, as well as the messy, little beggar, with surprise in their eyes.

“Chang Feng, Chang Qing, the two of you lead them to the rooms in the temple to settle down, and get this child some food to eat.

After Chang Feng and Chang Qing responded, Daoist Yi Qing turned toward Zhao Jiuge and Su Su. “You two stay here today while I deal with a few things. Tomorrow, I’ll come to see you both and we can have a long talk.” He walked out of the door, and the kind smile he had before disappeared. His eyes shined brightly and viciousness flashed in them.

On the way here, Zhao Jiuge had felt the atmosphere of the Qing Xuan Temple and couldn’t help but sigh. Even a third-rate sect such as this had such a comfortable environment where one wouldn’t have to worry about the outside world and could cultivate peacefully. However, Foundation Realm cultivators generally avoided worldly affairs. Why had Daoist Yi Qing chosen to open a temple here?

He also constantly ordered his dozen or so disciples around and relied on his cultivation to earn a little money. How could a naive person like Zhao Jiuge know that for someone like Yi Qing, who had no chance of reaching the Spirit Core Realm, it was better to earn some money and enjoy life.

Daoists usually focused on refining pills and used them to increase their cultivation levels. Alchemy required a large amount of resources, so these daoist temples chose to stay near towns to curry favor and obtain resources to improve their cultivation. This didn’t require much qualifications and was simple.

What’s more, even mortals all had their own pursuits. Like Daoist Yi Qing—even though his talent was mediocre and he had no hope of forming his core, he still had to struggle and crawl for that slim ray of hope. He constantly made friends with people of power to improve his cultivation.