An Unexpected Windfall

Chapter 11: An Unexpected Windfall

In the Black Night, moonlight shone before the gates of the abandoned temple.

Bang!

A thunderous crash against the door exploded through the mountains, startling countless birds into flight.

Several figures shot out of the abandoned temple in quick succession.

The constables from the County Office surrounding the temple erupted into chaos. The man at the forefront slashed down a constable with a single stroke, broke through the encirclement, and charged straight down the mountain.

Han Qin and the other three Huaqing Sect disciples pursued him closely.

"Chase!"

Captain Liu let out a sharp cry.

The constables hurriedly drew the sabers at their waists and gave chase down the mountain in disarray.

Before long, calm returned to the front of the abandoned temple.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the expression on the man's face as he had fled under everyone's pursuit and blockade.

"Wounded a fellow disciple. Stole Elder Ma's secret art."

Youngster Zhou Hu's earlier words echoed in his ears.

There was something hidden in the temple!

That renegade Huaqing Sect disciple had stolen a secret art. If it had been Li Rui, he certainly would not have kept it on his person. The best method would be to hide it somewhere secluded.

His gaze settled on the abandoned temple.

An abandoned temple was the perfect place to stash treasure—he could return to retrieve it once the storm had passed.

Li Rui's heart stirred. Gritting his teeth, he slipped out of the bushes.

Before long, he entered the abandoned temple.

Desolate, dilapidated, choked with weeds—the lonely air rushed over him. No wonder the nearby mountain folk all said this place was unclean.

The Buddha statue had toppled over.

The stone head of the Bodhisattva was half-buried in dirt.

Li Rui was not the least bit flustered. Back when this temple had not yet become abandoned, he had come here to burn incense. At the time, it had been called Lingkong Temple.

Later, he heard that the abbot had run off with the county magistrate's sister-in-law. Its reputation had been ruined, and it had gradually fallen into abandonment.

But almost everyone who remembered that bit of history had died, and only then had the tale grown more and more mysterious with each retelling.

Precisely because he had lived through so much, Li Rui treated many tales of gods and ghosts with skepticism.

Li Rui shook out his robe.

A small cloth pouch dropped into his hand.

He untied the string around the pouch, revealing a bag of White Ash. This substance was called White Ash.

In his previous life, it had another scientific name—Lime Powder.

He was a Groom. Was it not perfectly normal for him to carry some lime on him?

Li Rui grabbed a handful of lime and scattered it over the ground.

Very soon, the footprints that had been nearly invisible gradually became clear.

"There's a way!"

Li Rui's eyes lit up.

Learn mathematics, physics, and chemistry well, and you could travel the world without fear. The ancients had not deceived him!

He scattered lime as he followed the direction the toes of the footprints pointed, and soon arrived at a secluded incense hall. This was not the Mahavira Hall, but a side hall.

There were no signs of fighting.

Clearly, that Huaqing Sect disciple had not been in the Mahavira Hall, where the battle had taken place, the whole time. He had first come to this side hall.

What had he come to a side hall for?

First, rule out burning incense for the Child-Giving Guanyin in the hall. The only possibility, of course, was hiding treasure!

At once.

Li Rui's heart began thumping wildly.

At first, he had merely wanted to try his luck. He had never expected to truly dig up a treasure!

He searched through the side hall.

Finally.

In a small hole beneath the Child-Giving Guanyin statue, he felt out an item wrapped in oil paper.

Li Rui's pupils widened slightly.

If he was not mistaken, this should be the secret art those Huaqing Sect disciples had mentioned.

He had no time to inspect it further. He quickly tucked the oil paper into his robes, then broke off a branch and swept away all the lime he had scattered on the ground. Only after no trace remained did he leave in satisfaction.

"Damn it, that bastard still got away."

In the mountain valley.

Zhu Yue clutched his lower abdomen in frustration and said bitterly.

Han Qin and the others did not look much better. Even after using the Divine Weapon Talisman, Xu Hua had still escaped.

Just then.

Li Rui emerged from the forest, leading four Blood-Sweating Horses.

Zhu Yue looked at the unharmed Li Rui in surprise. "Old Li, where did you go just now?"

Li Rui said, "Young Master, this old servant heard the sounds of fighting, so I led the horses somewhere hidden."

"You were clever."

Zhu Yue nodded. "Had you not led the horses away, if the people from the Ghost Underworld Sect had spotted them, we likely could not have kept even the horses."

Ghost Underworld Sect?!

Hearing those three words, Li Rui immediately felt a wave of lingering fear.

If he had not hidden the horses out of caution, he really would have met with disaster.

Zhou Hu also looked unwilling to accept it. "Xu Hua actually colluded with people from the Ghost Underworld Sect. Truly detestable! If not for the Ghost Underworld Sect providing him support, perhaps Junior Sister Jiang's Divine Weapon Talisman would already have captured Xu Hua."

Compared with Zhu Yue and Zhou Hu, Han Qin and Jiang Yan were far calmer.

Han Qin still wore a smile. "We should report this matter to the elders first. The Ghost Underworld Sect is powerful; it is not something the four of us can handle."

"Senior Brother Han is right."

Zhou Hu was now completely convinced by Han Qin.

The Huaqing Sect had always circulated rumors that this Senior Brother Han was timid by nature. His nickname, "Senior Brother Han, Who Only Beats the Old and Weak," had rung far and wide. He only ever accepted missions against opponents a tier weaker than himself.

Yet today, Han Qin had restrained Xu Hua with his Fallen Blossom Sword. If not for this Senior Brother Han's intervention, they would not have had a chance to use the Divine Weapon Talisman.

"Senior Brother Han seems far more formidable than the rumors suggest."

Even Jiang Yan, who had high standards, now viewed Han Qin in a new light.

After practicing an evil art, Xu Hua's combat strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Martial Master. The fact that Han Qin could fight him to a standstill showed his strength. Even among Huaqing Sect disciples, he was an outstanding talent.

The four from Huaqing Sect were discussing calling for reinforcements.

Li Rui's thoughts, however, drifted back fifty years.

Back then, his former self had fled to Clear River and sold himself to the Zhu Family. There had been only one path to escape his lowly status: joining the Ghost Underworld Sect.

At that time, the Ghost Underworld Sect had not yet been called the Ghost Underworld Sect. It had been called the Equality Society.

The doctrine of that society was extremely heretical.

They worshiped neither gods nor immortals, but themselves.

Judging by the experience of his previous life, Li Rui knew that pyramid schemes destroyed three generations. He would rather sell himself than join the Equality Society.

As for why the Imperial Court had labeled it an Evil Cult and renamed it the Ghost Underworld Sect—

It was because the Equality Society had been the state religion of the previous dynasty.

But that previous dynasty had already fallen a thousand years ago.

Unless the leader of the Equality Society was surnamed Murong and had a beautiful younger female cousin surnamed Wang, he surely could not be so brain-addled as to still dream of restoring the dynasty.

Over time, the Ghost Underworld Sect faded from the official eye and operated only in secret among the common folk.

As for why Li Rui considered the Ghost Underworld Sect dangerous—

It was not because its members were truly the blue-faced, fang-toothed yakshas of legend. Rather, at some point, the people of the Ghost Underworld Sect had all begun practicing evil arts.

"Evil" shared its sound with "crooked"—it meant not walking the proper path.

The proper path was proper because it was safe and steady, proven by countless generations of ancestors.

The crooked path was indeed fast, but the risks were great. One careless move and one would suffer qi deviation. There was no shortage of Ghost Underworld Sect followers who had ultimately trained themselves into madmen and taken to the streets hacking at people.

Although the mentally ill in this world were punished as well, Li Rui had no intention of gambling with his own life to test it.

While his thoughts wandered.

Han Qin and the others had already finished their discussion.

Zhu Yue ordered him, "Old Li, return to the residence."