Return to the Mountain, Temple!!

The mountain path wound its way through lush, green forests on either side.

The voices of Wang Lang and Su Yao, one human and one fox, chatting animatedly, added a touch of life to the quiet mountain road on this serene night.

"If we count from when I gained sentience, according to your human calculation methods, I've already lived through thirty springs!"

"You're young, you should call me Sister Su Yao."

Hearing this, Wang Lang couldn't help but marvel that this little fox had reached a level equivalent to the late Qi Induction stage for humans in just thirty years.

The Snow Shadow Spirit Fox's bloodline talent was truly extraordinary!

After all, ordinary mountain spirits and wild beasts that absorbed the essence of the sun and moon for a hundred years were lucky to even brush against the threshold of first-tier Qi Induction. Most lived their entire lives in a daze, remaining mere mortals.

His thoughts raced, but his expression remained calm as he said:

"Oh? Thirty years old? In our human world, girls your age are mostly married with children, already mothers."

"Yet you still look... hmm, like you haven't lost your childlike innocence."

"Calling me 'sister' would probably shorten your lifespan, so let's skip it."

"Pah! You're the one who'll lose lifespan!" Su Yao immediately bristled.

"Our demon race has a long lifespan; thirty years old is still youth!"

"You're just jealous, plain and simple jealousy!"

"Mother always said human scholars are very particular about etiquette. I think you, despite having Grand Righteous Qi, are a fake scholar!"

Wang Lang let her fuss without getting angry, merely stating calmly:

"I read miscellaneous books, unlike those pedantic scholars who only spout empty phrases."

"Besides, etiquette depends on the recipient. For a little fox who snuck out of home, there's no need to be so rigid."

"Who snuck out!" Su Yao's voice suddenly took on a hint of grievance:

"I was... Mother suddenly said she was going into seclusion to break through some critical juncture, and left me alone... no, left a fox alone in that cold, desolate cave dwelling."

"I got bored and came out to see the bustling human world. What's wrong with that? Langzi! Tell me! What's wrong with that?"

Wang Lang felt a bit helpless at her calling him "Langzi."

This nickname originated from Su Yao recalling her mother mentioning that scholars in the human world liked to be addressed with suffixes like "zi," making them sound learned.

She found "Wangzi" awkward and "Langzi" more natural, so she started calling him that.

After several failed attempts to correct her, Wang Lang resigned himself to it.

"Deep mountains, mother in seclusion..." Wang Lang mused inwardly, "It seems this Little White Fox's mother is quite powerful."

The human and the fox chatted intermittently.

Mostly, Su Yao spoke while Wang Lang listened, interjecting a few unenthusiastic remarks here and there. The atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious.

But at some point, the path gradually narrowed, and the trees on either side grew denser.

Suddenly, from the bushes not far ahead, came a distinct, unusual sound!

The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally sharp!

Wang Lang felt his mind jolt, his gaze involuntarily drawn towards it.

Vaguely, he seemed to see an extremely dazzling golden light flash and disappear amidst the gaps in the trees.

And that golden light seemed to possess an indescribable allure!

Wang Lang's consciousness instantly blurred, his body seemingly out of his control. His steps faltered, and he found himself chasing in the direction the golden light had vanished!

"Huh? Langzi! Where are you going!"

Su Yao was startled by his sudden action and shouted anxiously from behind him.

Seeing Wang Lang ignore her and run even faster, Su Yao quickly followed, still yelling as she ran, "Wait for me!"

The forest was deep and the trees dense. The Grand Righteous Qi within Wang Lang's body surged through his meridians, all to keep pace with the faint golden light ahead.

It darted through the woods with incredible speed, always staying a short distance ahead of him.

Although Wang Lang's mind was momentarily lost due to the strange sound, his instincts remained.

Now, chasing with all his might, he had only one thought: catch it!

After chasing for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the golden light ahead suddenly slowed down.

The distance between them rapidly closed.

Wang Lang seized the opportunity, exerting force with his feet, and his right hand shot out, grabbing towards the slowing golden light!

His touch wasn't on a solid object as expected, but rather felt ethereal!

Yet, he had indeed grasped a cicada about the size of his palm, its entire body seemingly forged from pure gold!

But before he could examine it closely, the golden cicada suddenly dissolved into specks of flowing golden light in his palm.

Like shattered Kyōka Suigetsu, it instantly vanished into nothingness.

At the same time, Wang Lang shivered all over. The haze in his eyes rapidly receded, and his consciousness completely cleared.

"Huu... huu... Lang... Langzi!"

Little White Fox Su Yao finally caught up, panting heavily.

She leaped back onto his shoulder, patting his chest with her little paws, and said anxiously, "Why... why did you suddenly run off like that! Were you trying to ditch me? Or are you going back on your word to protect me?"

"Your human race says a gentleman's promise is worth a thousand gold, you..."

As she spoke, her words abruptly stopped, and the snow-white fur all over her body bristled slightly.

Wang Lang didn't answer.

His entire mind was captivated by the scene before him.

The moment the Golden Cicada dissipated, he suddenly discovered that not even fifty feet ahead, where the dense forest should have been, a temple had silently appeared!

The temple was enormous, far exceeding anything Wang Lang had ever seen.

Crimson walls towered high, stretching out to both sides as far as the eye could see, as if enclosing the entire mountainside.

The temple gate was even more magnificent, several dozen feet tall.

The eaves, with their interlocking brackets, were covered in glazed tiles that, even in the dim night, emitted a faint golden radiance. It looked majestic and extraordinarily sacred.

However, beneath this sanctity and grandeur, Wang Lang felt a bone-chilling strangeness and disharmony.

In all of Yuan Province, while he couldn't claim to have traveled every inch, there was no way such a large and conspicuous temple could exist within hundreds of miles of Listening Waves Mountain Manor!

His instincts screamed a warning, and a chill ran down his spine.

Even the Grand Righteous Qi within him seemed to have been stimulated by some invisible force, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Langzi..." Su Yao's voice trembled noticeably as she nuzzled closer to Wang Lang's neck.

"This place... this place feels so terrifying..."

"It looks golden and radiant, but deep down it's so sinister, scarier than the deep mountains and old forests I live in..."

Wang Lang nodded in agreement.

The scene reminded him of records he'd read in Old Wang's miscellaneous books filled with strange tales:

Some deep mountains and great lakes, or places where yin and yang meet, sometimes abruptly manifest things that shouldn't exist, like mirages or immortal abodes.

But more often, they were man-eating lairs and life-claiming illusions!

They often presented themselves with beautiful appearances, like idyllic paradises or heavenly palaces, luring living beings in.

Those who stumbled in were, nine times out of ten, lost forever. The rare few who managed to escape, even if they told their stories, would mostly be mentally deranged and die mysteriously not long after.

This magnificent temple before him did not feel like a safe place at all!

Without hesitation, Wang Lang scooped Su Yao off his shoulder and held her in his arms.

He feared that if something truly unexpected happened, the little fox might get left behind.

"Let's go!"

With that, he turned and sprinted in the direction he believed they had come from!

The wind howled past his ears as the trees blurred and receded rapidly.

Wang Lang's mind was focused, his only goal to get away from the strange temple as quickly as possible.

At the same time, he was frantically thinking: "What exactly was that Golden Cicada?"

"How could it make me lose focus and lure me here? Was it an illusion? Or some kind of spirit?"

He ran for a full fifteen minutes. By all rights, he should have already broken through the dense forest and returned to the original mountain path.

However, although the surrounding scenery was still unfamiliar, the oppressive feeling of being watched had not diminished in the slightest.

Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes, his pupils contracting sharply.

Ahead, the trees had become sparse.

And in that clearing, the magnificent temple, emitting a faint golden light.

Along with its gate, several dozen feet high, it stood silently once more, as if it had always been there, never having moved.

Its angle and position were exactly the same as when he first saw it!

"How is this possible?!" Wang Lang's heart was shaken.

He was one hundred percent sure he had been returning in a straight line!

Disbelieving, he immediately turned to his right, picked a direction, and sprinted again.

However, after running hard to the right for a while, pushing aside a thicket of vines, the temple gate once again blocked his path directly ahead.

Wang Lang's expression turned grim. He tried heading left.

The ending was no different.

No matter which direction he turned, no matter how fast or far he ran, in the end, the bizarre temple would always appear precisely on his path ahead.

Even more chilling was that a grayish-white mist began to silently permeate the surrounding air.

This mist was thin at first, but it rapidly grew denser at a visible speed, making the surrounding trees appear indistinct and adding a touch of gloom.

"Hiss!" Wang Lang gasped, stopping his futile run.

"Like a shadow... did I run into a ghost wall?"

To be honest, he had encountered many Yaos with Old Man in the past, and now he even carried a little fox demon in his arms.

He had even come face-to-face with man-eating Heretical Cultivators, but this ghostly phenomenon was a first in this life, truly bizarre and unpredictable.

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