Seeking Immortals in the Rain

In the afterglow of the setting sun, Qing Mu leaned against the car door, chain-smoking, waiting for Wang Xuan to finish work outside the design institute.

He was a little worried. His master had fled to New Star as if his ass was on fire. It had been many years since something like this had happened. What exactly was going on? He wanted to find out.

Wang Xuan was in a good mood, feeling a great weight lifted from his heart. He walked out with his colleagues, chatting and laughing.

"Little Wang, over here." Qing Mu called out to him.

"Someone's looking for me, see you tomorrow." Wang Xuan greeted the people around him and quickly walked towards the front.

In the sunset glow, a flock of migratory birds flew away, making the autumn even deeper, and the sky high and distant.

Qing Mu took Wang Xuan out to dinner, and began to constantly inquire on the way. When he heard that Old Chen had a recent appointment with an Ascension True Immortal, he slammed on the gas pedal, almost hitting the car in front of them.

"Watch the road, be steady!" Wang Xuan quickly reminded him.

There were many vehicles on the street, it was rush hour, and the road conditions were a bit congested. Qing Mu's heart was also a bit congested. What was going on? Old Chen was scared away by a Female Daoist practitioner?

He knew very well that Old Chen's old techniques were quite remarkable, belonging to the rare super-strong class, and coupled with his consistent shrewdness and competence, he almost never suffered losses. But recently... he had suffered a setback.

Wang Xuan was very relaxed and even had the mood to look at the fiery red maple trees on both sides of the road. The maple leaves looked particularly vibrant in the sunset glow. Thinking that the Female Daoist practitioner would no longer appear, he figured that this time she might really have gone to New Star with Old Chen.

"What do you think will happen to my master?" Qing Mu roughly understood the situation, and he felt it was a bit outrageous. How could someone who had died three thousand years ago still appear in dreams?

"Old Chen is a good person, he'll definitely be fine." Wang Xuan comforted him.

Qing Mu never lacked money and chose a very high-end restaurant. The private room was large and very quiet. After ordering, he began to whisper about the specific details.

"You're saying Old Chen took the hit for you?" Qing Mu choked on his cigarette and felt quite speechless.

"Don't overthink it, it's not my business. It can be said that no one who participated in the Greater Khingan Range underground experimental site is innocent. Old Qing, you need to be careful recently too!"

Wang Xuan was refreshed and had a great appetite. While enjoying the delicious food, he kindly reminded Qing Mu to prepare some Talismans, etc. recently. Old Chen was more experienced in this area. After the incident, he directly took out a pile and stuck them all over his body.

At the same time, he complained inwardly that Old Chen was really stingy. When he asked for help on the weekend, he only sent one Talisman, but when something happened to himself, he stuck them on his body as if his life depended on it, almost covering himself completely.

Qing Mu listened to his outrageous complaints and warnings, grimaced, and exhaled a smoke ring without saying a word, feeling complicated.

"Old Chen, with great power comes great responsibility." Wang Xuan commented.

Qing Mu glared at him. What nonsense was that? This kid was getting an advantage and still acting like he was wronged.

"What do you think we can do to help him?" Qing Mu frowned. He was indeed a little worried about Old Chen, after all, he was his master.

Wang Xuan said, "I don't think it's a big deal. Old Chen went to New Star. The Female Daoist practitioner must be unfamiliar with the place there. I guess she won't be used to it and will eventually bring Old Chen back."

Listen to what he was saying! Qing Mu glared at him, and then discussed with him whether to send him to New Star to meet and take care of Old Chen.

Wang Xuan immediately refused. He had just jumped out of a fire pit, who would jump back in for no reason?

He glanced at Qing Mu and said, "Don't worry about Old Chen yet, I think you really need to worry about yourself."

"What do you mean?" Qing Mu stubbed out his cigarette.

Wang Xuan looked at him and said, "What else could it mean? Old Chen chickened out and went to New Star. He definitely can't help the Female Daoist practitioner solve the problem. When she comes back, I guess it'll be your turn."

"Your mouth is poisonous, shut up!" Qing Mu really felt a little unsure in his heart, and he felt that this was probably how Old Chen was found.

He seriously suspected that the Female Daoist practitioner went to Old Chen after hearing Wang Xuan's nonsense.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case. He solemnly warned him, "Eat, and leave quickly after eating! You are not allowed to look for me during this period of time, and don't mutter to yourself when you are alone. Anyway, don't mention my name recently!"

"Old Qing, you're being unkind. It's as if my mouth has been blessed." Wang Xuan was dissatisfied and argued there. This matter originally had nothing to do with him, and he was also a victim.

"Don't say anything, let's temporarily draw a clear line. You are not allowed to contact me recently!" Qing Mu directly went to pay the bill and leave. He didn't want to stay for a moment longer, and he hardly touched his chopsticks.

Wang Xuan said, "Don't rush to leave, when will my five million arrive in my account? That's the compensation I earned with my life in Qingcheng Mountain."

"It will arrive tomorrow!" Qing Mu said and got up. He was quite generous about giving this money. Although the silver Animal Hide scroll had not yet been deciphered, the expert group unanimously believed that it was of amazing value, otherwise it would not have made an Ascended Daoist practitioner stare at it until death.

"Okay!" Wang Xuan was satisfied. For a recent graduate, such a huge sum of money was indeed an incredible surprise.

"You should eat something too." Wang Xuan persuaded Qing Mu, and then said, "Are you really leaving? Aren't you going to send me back?"

Qing Mu ignored him and quickened his pace. He disappeared in a blink of an eye and made up his mind not to go near Wang Xuan's residence recently.

The next day, Wang Xuan received a text message. The bank notified him that a large sum of money had been credited to his account. He counted six zeros, it was indeed five million, and his heart was immediately filled with joy.

Soon, he remembered another thing, had the tax been paid? He quickly looked for Qing Mu to ask, but Qing Mu hung up on him five times in a row, ignoring him!

Finally, he probably couldn't stand him anymore, Qing Mu used a text message to tell him that he had paid it on his behalf, giving him five million after tax.

"Old Qing, you're awesome!" Wang Xuan quickly typed a few words and sent them back.

When Qing Mu saw it, he directly blacklisted him, always feeling that something would happen if he had too much contact with him recently. The more he thought about it, the more he believed this was the reason. He shouldn't have looked for him and treated him to dinner. Old Chen was a lesson learned.

In the evening, Wang Xuan called his parents, told them that he would go back this weekend, and gave them a heads-up in advance, "I won the lottery!"

In the next two days, Wang Xuan studied the Daoist Canon, practiced the Root Method, and pondered the Ascension Stone. This time he had to go to that mountain to take a look when he went home to see if anything was left behind.

On Friday after work, Wang Xuan quickly rushed to the train station. His home was in a neighboring small city, only a little over a hundred kilometers away, which was not too far relatively speaking.

When he returned home in the evening, although his parents were very happy at first, they were much calmer than he had imagined later on. In Old Wang's words, what's the use of so much money, enough is enough, this mentality may also be the reason why Wang Xuan is usually a bit carefree.

"Keep it for yourself, buy a wedding house, and bring a wife back sooner." Old Wang said happily, not forgetting to urge him to get married.

Wang Xuan came back once every week or two, so although the couple was in a good mood after seeing him, they were relatively calm.

"I just graduated, it's too early, wait two years first, I'll transfer the money to you first." Then, Wang Xuan didn't care about anything and directly completed the transfer.

After dinner, he asked his parents about the Great Black Mountain, located dozens of miles outside the small town, a place that had always been associated with legends of a Fairy Maiden.

He remembered that there used to be a Taoist Temple on the mountain when he was a child, but it fell into disrepair over the years. No Taoist priests remained, and it completely collapsed. He wondered what it was like now.

Old Wang recalled with a touch of nostalgia, "Ah, that place. There were indeed some legends. When I was young, the incense was very prosperous. Later, the villages and towns at the foot of the mountain were demolished, and people moved away, mostly into the city. The incense gradually died out, and eventually, even the Taoist priests disappeared. Now, it's overgrown with weeds, and I heard that even the foundation of the Taoist Temple can't be found."

Wang Xuan said, "I'm planning to ask a couple of my childhood friends to go exploring tomorrow. It's been a while since I've been to the Great Black Mountain. It's autumn, so it would be good to see if there are any hazelnuts or walnuts."

That evening, he started contacting people. His two childhood friends were delighted to hear he was back and readily agreed. One would prepare a car for tomorrow, and the other said he would borrow a few local dogs to take into the mountains to chase rabbits.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. The forecast for Saturday was sunny turning cloudy, but instead, it started drizzling, and the rain grew heavier and heavier. His two childhood friends were disappointed and rescheduled their trip to the Great Black Mountain for Sunday.

Wang Xuan couldn't sit still. Even with the heavy rain, it didn't affect someone like him who practiced the old arts. He decided to go on his own.

He put on his rain gear, left his house, exited the small town, and then began to sprint, heading straight for the Great Black Mountain.

The main reason was that the legends about the Fairy Maiden seemed to be related to rain, so he wanted to take advantage of the weather and go into the mountains to take a look.

After practicing the Golden Body Art to the fourth level, even a distance of tens of miles was nothing to Wang Xuan.

Finally, he entered the mountains. The mountain rocks in this area were blackish. Without the vegetation, it would indeed look like light ink from a distance, hence the name Black Mountain, or Great Black Mountain.

Following his memory, Wang Xuan headed straight for one of the peaks and quickly climbed it. However, when he reached the summit, he was puzzled. The Taoist Temple was gone. Even if it had collapsed, there should still be a foundation and rubble, but it was completely bare.

He felt like the foundation had been dug up.

Could I have remembered wrong? Is it not this mountain?

Wang Xuan went to look on other mountains, climbing several peaks in succession, but he didn't find the collapsed Taoist Temple.

Boom!

A thunderclap exploded in the sky, and a blinding flash of lightning cut through the rain, illuminating the dim sky and briefly lighting up the entire Great Black Mountain.

Inadvertently, Wang Xuan looked up. What did he see?

On the main peak, the one where he initially thought the collapsed Taoist Temple was located, there was a creature appearing. It was quite large, a... Hou, carrying a person, and descending the mountain.

Moreover, as the Hou ran down, the mountain terrain was subtly shaking, heading straight for him!