Daoist Temple

The country of Nanli takes its name from the meaning of the Southern Bright Lihuo. Its capital is called Lihuo. Immortal Trace Village is a small village in the southwest of this country.

Qin Yi hadn't just stayed in the village for the past two months; he had also gone to the city to explore and gather information. He learned that this was a vast continent with many countries. Nanli was just a small, wild country. Further south was the Transverse Rift Valley, bottomless and impassable even for birds. He didn't know if there was anything on the other side of the rift, but theoretically, Nanli was the southernmost border of the continent.

Because Nanli was remote, with many mountains, dense forests, and rugged roads, transportation to the central lands was extremely inconvenient. Therefore, news was blocked, and the country was self-sufficient. Qin Yi specifically tried to inquire but couldn't get much accurate information about the central lands; it was mostly "hearsay," and who knew how much it had been distorted through transmission.

However, the people here were warlike. While great nations in the central lands rose and fell, this remote small country had stood for countless generations, as if blessed by gods. The current king was called King Wude and had been on the throne for twenty years.

Before Qin Yi heard that the Li family siblings' enemy was the National Teacher, he hadn't expected them to be from the capital, Lihuo. Although Nanli was small, it had several prefectures. Lihuo City was at least two large prefectures and several small cities away from Immortal Trace Village. He had thought they were from a prefecture at most, but they were actually from the capital, and important figures who could confront the National Teacher... It was understandable that Li Qinglin had other plans, but this Li Qingjun had purely run so far just to see a legendary, ethereal immortal trace that many people didn't even believe existed. She truly had too much free time...

"Brother Qin, are you really not changing horses?"

"No. The road is rugged, and horses can't run fast anyway. How much faster could a different horse be?" Qin Yi certainly wouldn't tell them that he was lucky he could even ride this old horse slowly; if he tried to run, he'd fall off and kill himself first.

"Every bit faster helps. I really don't understand why a young man like you is as slow as an old man in everything you do!"

"Qing Jun!" Li Qinglin stopped his sister from getting angry. "Brother Qin not changing horses is out of sentiment, which is a valuable quality. Besides, Brother Qin is right, this road is not suitable for galloping horses, changing horses won't make a difference."

"Hmph, we could have been faster when we came."

On the mountain path, two fine horses carried two figures in brocade robes, with gold and silver belts and dark iron silver spears. A few yards behind them followed an old horse, carrying a young man in coarse cloth clothes. A dirty Wolf Tooth Club hung by the horse, and he held an old gourd in his hand, drinking wine leisurely, seemingly oblivious to the strange looks from passersby and Li Qingjun's sideways glances.

Li Qingjun ignored Qin Yi and sighed to her brother, "I really hope there are immortals who can ride the mist and clouds, and travel on the wind. How free that would be."

This girl had been angry with her brother before, but now she was close to him again, having been accustomed to being close to him since childhood. Qin Yi watched out of the corner of his eye, always feeling that this girl was missing a screw and might even help count the money after being sold.

This time, Li Qinglin didn't dampen his sister's enthusiasm for seeking immortals. Instead, he smiled indulgently, "I hope so too."

Li Qingjun said softly, "Everyone should hope so, right?"

Behind them, a song suddenly came: "In the morning I roam Cangwu, in the evening I return. In the cave, the sun and moon are mine to command. The treasured sword in the box roars from time to time, but I won't meet..."

Li Qingjun looked up at the sky with longing. Regardless of what she thought of Qin Yi, some of the things this kid occasionally came up with really touched her dreams.

But the song suddenly stopped at the fourth line. Li Qingjun turned her head and said, "What else is there?"

"Oh, the next line is 'I won't meet a fellow traveler and swear not to pass it on.' I don't know why they have to pass on the fellow traveler version and not the original, so I'm not singing it."

"..." Li Qingjun felt that she understood the original meaning, but after being misinterpreted by Qin Yi, she didn't understand it anymore. She simply ignored whatever he had misinterpreted and rolled her eyes, saying, "Was it a traveling Taoist singing again?"

"So smart, you can even answer questions before they're asked."

Li Qingjun sighed, "Maybe that was a true immortal."

"Actually, immortals also ride donkeys."

He had killed the conversation again. Li Qingjun glared at him, too lazy to bother.

Qin Yi. Liu Su's voice suddenly echoed in his sea of consciousness. Where did you get these songs and verses? Don't try to fool me with some traveling Taoist.

Qin Yi said silently, None of your business?

You wrote the songs yourself, Liu Su sighed. It shows you also yearn for such scenes. Why don't you follow me...

Shut up, repeating stick. At worst, I'll go seek immortality myself, just like Li Qingjun.

Heh... Immortal fate is hard to come by. Do you really think everyone has such good luck? Ever since that year... Hmm...

He was starting to hide things again. Qin Yi was used to it. He casually tilted the gourd, letting the wine pour onto the head of the Wolf Tooth Club.

Who didn't want to cultivate immortality? Who didn't want to travel north in the morning and south in the evening?

But couldn't everyone be a little more honest?

"Brother Qin." Li Qinglin suddenly said from ahead, "The sky doesn't look right. It seems like it's going to rain."

Qin Yi also looked at the sky. They had been on the road all day, and it was dusk. Dark clouds hung on the horizon in the distance, heavy and somewhat gloomy. It indeed looked like it was going to rain.

"The town ahead is at least an hour away. We might not make it," Qin Yi said. To understand the world's environment, he had specifically gone out to the county town and was somewhat familiar with the roads. "There's a Taoist temple in the mountains to the right, not far away. We can take shelter there temporarily."

The three of them reined in their horses simultaneously and galloped towards the mountain path on the right.

The sky grew increasingly dark. Just as they could vaguely see the eaves of the Taoist temple hidden among the trees in the distance, the dark clouds had already pressed down heavily. The three of them dismounted in unison and led their horses, running towards the Taoist temple. Qin Yi looked at Li Qingjun's back and marveled inwardly. This was truly not a pampered young lady; she was more like a chivalrous woman accustomed to roaming the jianghu.

"Brother Qin." Li Qinglin, who was running ahead, suddenly stopped and asked with some hesitation, "This Taoist temple... is it uninhabited?"

Qin Yi withdrew his gaze from Li Qingjun's back, looked around, and felt a slight chill in his heart.

He had been here before, and the Taoist temple had been inhabited. In such dark weather, if there were people, candles would definitely have been lit by now. But the Taoist temple before them was completely dark and silent, a scene of deathly stillness.

In the autumn wind, the leaves on the trees on either side swayed. Occasionally, leaves fell, swirling and drifting in the wind, carrying a faint fishy/bloody smell that dispersed lightly, like a desolate tomb.

"I only visited here a month ago. There were people then." Qin Yi cautiously gripped his Wolf Tooth Club. "Something might have happened. Everyone, be careful..."

Before he finished speaking, large raindrops poured down. Li Qingjun held out her spear and kicked open the temple door.

The temple was quiet and covered in dust. A huge spider web covered the statue of the deity in the temple, as if no one had lived there for a long time. There were also dead mice on the ground; the smell likely came from them. Li Qingjun, however, breathed a sigh of relief. "They must have moved away. There's nothing special."

Li Qinglin also naturally swept away the dirt, casually picked up a futon to start a fire, and smiled, "When you're traveling, this is just how it is."

"..." Qin Yi scratched his head. Thinking about the "broken temple spring passion" seen in TV shows and novels, it felt a bit off. How dirty was it? How could any passion arise?

Li Qinglin had already opened his pack to get dry rations, but Liu Su's voice suddenly echoed in Qin Yi's sea of consciousness: This Taoist temple has a problem. Be careful.

Qin Yi used the excuse of needing to relieve himself to go outside the temple door and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Liu Su said, There might be a demon hiding outside the back door.

"You sensed demonic energy?"

My soul power is weak, I can't sense demonic energy. Liu Su said, Would your house have such a large spider web if no one lived there for a month? I see something unusual. I suspect there's a spider demon or something similar, startled by your sudden arrival and hiding.

Qin Yi was startled. "Then this kind of demon is much more intelligent than that demon tiger, and its demonic power is likely stronger. They might not be able to handle it. I need to go remind them..."

Don't! I already said I can't sense demonic energy. It's purely a guess. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if I guessed wrong?

"..."

Don't worry. Since it's hiding, there's an understanding. The Li siblings' spears are formidable, and their bodies are filled with strong energy. It won't easily provoke them. However, spiders dislike noise and hate having their webs destroyed. So, as long as you don't make loud noises and don't damage its spider web, you'll basically be fine.

Qin Yi breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good then. The Li siblings aren't the type to be noisy either."

As a result, when he returned to the temple, the first thing he saw was Li Qingjun holding a stick and reaching out to sweep away the spider web.

Qin Yi rushed over, covered in sweat, and grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?"

Li Qingjun turned her head and glared. "I should be asking you what you're doing! There's such a large spider web right next to us. Doesn't it look creepy?"

"Oh, oh, I mean, this kind of dirty work shouldn't be done by a young lady. I'll do it, I'll do it."

Li Qingjun didn't insist, letting him take the stick, and turned to walk towards the back door.

Qin Yi grabbed her again, "Where are you going?"

Li Qingjun slowly lowered her gaze, looking expressionlessly at the large hand holding her wrist.

Qin Yi knew it was inappropriate to hold a girl like this. He turned to see Li Qinglin's expression had become strange, so he had to let go and said, "It's dark, there's a heavy rain, it's too dangerous to go out alone..."

Before he could finish speaking, a group of Jianghu people rushed towards the Taoist temple through the rain, "There's a Taoist temple here, we can take shelter from the rain!"

Qin Yi covered his forehead.