The two young men and the villagers from the household that had always kept its doors shut disappeared...
Meng Laojiu went over to the great rock and talked at the old skeleton for ages, but the old skeleton paid him no attention at all.
Granny Yu never concerned herself with such matters, so Meng Laojiu went to consult Master Ming instead.
"Two Realms Village was only ever an inn where the Wild Spirit Land clung to its last breath in the Central Plains. Once you enter Two Realms Village, you've as good as betrayed Central Earth under the immortal sects' control. You're halfway to being a renegade of the Wild Spirit Land, a rogue cultivator, a wandering ghost! What's so terrible about regretting it?"
Master Ming spoke as he reclined in his swaying bamboo chair.
Meng Laojiu tapped his tobacco pipe and gave Master Ming a sidelong look. "Back then, you lot joined forces to save Two Realms Village and agreed on the rules with the Twelve Guardian Cities... Now the village is about to fall apart before our eyes. Can you accept that?"
Master Ming smiled. "What can I do even if I can't? Two Realms Village is the only road into or out of the Wild Spirit Land, but every road leads back to Central Earth! As long as the Immortals don't take issue, all you have to do is turn around! At worst, having just the few of us watch over the village would be fine. It would spare us the aggravation of looking at all this riffraff coming in..."
"They want to enter the Wild Spirit Land too. It's just that the other side won't take them... We can't keep dragging things out like this."
"Take them how? The Wild Spirit Land is right there. If they want to go in, they can!"
Meng Laojiu smiled... "Those who want to go are all trying to find life in the jaws of death! Without someone over there to look after them a little, who would dare say they could survive three years in the Wild Spirit Land? Those fractured, vicious factions of the Demon Race, and those living corpses... Wouldn't that just be seeking death?"
Master Ming nodded. "Then what do you have in mind?"
Meng Laojiu fell silent for a moment, then looked north and said softly, "You know. I want the same thing as the Faceless One. Revenge!"
Master Ming shook his head. "We can't beat them anyway. There's not much point."
Lü Bufan came rushing back in high spirits, shouting as soon as he entered the courtyard, "Old man! Let's make porridge today... Eating all these mountain foods and bamboo shoots day after day has scraped my guts clean!"
Watching Lü Bufan draw water and wash things in the courtyard, Meng Laojiu asked in bewilderment, "None of us can figure it out. Why did you bring back a mortal boy without a trace of spiritual energy? He hasn't the slightest aptitude for cultivation. What use is he?"
Master Ming smiled. "Hasn't Mute been helping straighten out his meridians these past few days? Judging by the little bastard's looks, it seems to be having some effect..."
Meng Laojiu shook his head. "Some effect? However poor Mute's methods might be, he still has a genuine seventh-realm golden body!
"And that technique is a proper Buddhist Golden Body Bone-Refining Method! Yet even with that, there's no sign this boy has shed his old flesh and bones...
"If you gave this opportunity to a fifth-realm martial artist, he could probably knock open the sixth realm's gates outright! That would be enough to make him a Commandery Governor or a general..."
Master Ming smiled. "This world has no shortage of commandery governors or generals..."
Meng Laojiu sighed. "Fine, fine! If you're not worried, forget it. I'm not the real Village Head anyway. Now that you're back, you can work all this out. Just call me if anything comes up!"
"Nothing will. What could happen? Nearly every one of those people from back then has been struck with the Heart-Piercing Curse now... They've all scattered... Who knows how many are still alive? If all of us die off, perhaps the old skeleton and Big Black will have an easier time of it..."
Lü Bufan watched Meng Laojiu walk slowly out of the courtyard, frowning and carrying his tobacco pipe, without even responding to his greeting...
Lü Bufan never cared about such things. What was his background? A beggar! What was face? Aside from the basic decency of being human, face wasn't worth a fart!
For ordinary folk, face meant money! Only money could buy you face. For slightly wealthier households, face was that set of official robes! It meant people stepping aside when you walked down the street, and fellow officials coming to offer their respects at your family's weddings and funerals!
A little higher up, face meant connections at court. Higher still... it meant the countless threads linking mortals to cultivation sects and the immortals up in the mountains! Now that was reaching all the way to heaven...
As cheerfully as ever, Lü Bufan washed rice and cooked, even making a pot of Pheasant Mushroom Soup. Master Ming sat in the main room of the Bamboo House, watching Lü Bufan bustle about his work, the corners of his mouth lifting in a faint smile.
Night fell, and Lü Bufan went to bed early. Tomorrow he would follow Meng Laojiu to town to trade for supplies, and he had prepared plenty of medicinal herbs and a large bamboo basket.
Mute only needed a full belly, so he seemed to have little interest in town.
Master Ming dozed alone in his bamboo chair. It seemed another ordinary night would pass just like that.
Beneath the moonlight, insects chirped all around.
Suddenly, five figures surrounded the Bamboo House where Master Ming lived!
Liu Ling'er slowly entered Master Ming's courtyard with the thin man and the cripple, smiling at Master Ming as he continued to recline in his bamboo chair...
"Master Ming! The moonlight is so lovely tonight, and this little lady's heart is stirring with springtime longing. I'd like to have a proper discussion with you. Would you do me the honor?"
Master Ming opened his eyes. With a flick of his fingers, he drew out a wisp of energy and sealed off the spiritual awareness of Lü Bufan, who was sleeping soundly next door!
Lü Bufan immediately sank into a deep, unconscious sleep.
Master Ming stood and dusted himself off... "What? Aren't you afraid Big Black will eat you?"
Liu Ling'er gave a coquettish giggle. "Well, I recently learned that you can't actually control that big black dog at all! That bell is what the dog loathes and hates most. You gave me such a fright that day, Master Ming!"
Master Ming bared his teeth. "How did you lot sneak into Two Realms Village back then?"
One-Leg spoke up. "The Village Head is half dead, and most of the villagers fled long ago. You're an old relic with the Heart-Piercing Curse and only a few days left to live. Why are you still putting on airs?"
The thin man added, "Two Realms Village has run out of fortune. Hand over the bell and the Faceless One's Wei Martial Classic, and our well water won't trouble your river water. Once we get them, we'll leave! You can stay here guarding Two Realms Village with the big black dog, keeping that old skeleton company and living out your days in peace!"
Master Ming nodded. "You know quite a lot. It seems the Faceless One bears some blame for Two Realms Village coming to this!"
The thin man sneered. "What did he do wrong? He only refined himself into a half-human, half-ghost monster... Fortunately, once he left, everyone's hearts scattered too. Otherwise, we wouldn't have dared show ourselves!"
Master Ming pointed toward the stone stele at the village entrance. "It seems you also know that the stone stele is the true foundation of Two Realms Village?"
Liu Ling'er smiled. "Master Ming! What stone stele? We sealed it with immortal talismans long ago! Even if you took over as Village Head right now, you couldn't use it to summon that ghost fog and burn jade and stone together!"
"As for that old skeleton and Big Black... heh heh, those two are the truly unlucky ones, caught between the Wild Spirit Land and Central Earth! Unable to advance or retreat... If the old skeleton said he bore no grudge against you people, would you believe him yourself?"
Master Ming paused, then said, "You really do know a great deal! All this talk of the Wei Martial Classic and the bell... It seems what you're after is something bigger, isn't it?"
Liu Ling'er sneered. "Enough nonsense. This rat hole of Two Realms Village is getting sealed today! If you want to die here, then die here. I've already drugged Mute, Granny Yu is useless, and Meng Laojiu isn't in the village tonight. The others... we disposed of them long ago. Master Ming... don't make us lay hands on you!"
Suddenly, an airy, drifting voice came from the roof of the Bamboo House... "I'm truly impressed that Two Realms Village has sunk to this state. Has the Faceless One spent all these years eating shit?"
Startled, Liu Ling'er hastily retreated several steps. A man in gray robes sat quietly beside the Stork's nest.
The two storks inside the nest were still sleeping with their heads tucked in, while a brood of chicks chirped and poked their heads about.
"Who are you? You're not from Two Realms Village. Who exactly are you?"
The gray-robed man raised his left hand to rub his chin. In the night breeze, an empty sleeve fluttered...
Master Ming smiled. "Why are you the only one who came back?"
The gray-robed man curled his lip. "You think everyone's like you? You can even use Mortal World Heart-Refinement as medicine to delay death. I froze myself inside an ice peak on Two-World Mountain behind us... and even then, I nearly died in there."
Master Ming nodded. "We're about to lose Two Realms Village now. Do as you see fit!"
"Bullshit! Are you dead? Where's the Faceless One?"
Master Ming's expression dimmed at those words. "I couldn't undo your Heart-Piercing Curses. The Faceless One went to Capital City... I don't need to explain the rest, do I?"
The gray-robed man froze for a moment, then lowered his head. "Useless bastard! I knew he still couldn't get past that hurdle... We should have thrown that face of his into the stove and burned it back then! How did he break through? Even if he did, there was no way he could kill that son of a bitch Immortal Venerable!"
Master Ming shook his head. "I don't know. He probably resorted to some method! In any case, he's dead..."
The gray-robed man slowly stood. He was tall and thin, with ice-cold eyes and a beardless, pale face tinged with waxy yellow... "What's the story with these things?"
Down below, the wary thin man and One-Leg exchanged looks. One-Leg whispered to Liu Ling'er, "Something's wrong. We've never seen this fellow. He's probably one of the rebels from back then, part of the same group as the Faceless One and Master Ming..."
Liu Ling'er gritted her teeth. "The Immortals planted Heart-Piercing Curses in all those vile creatures long ago! Even the survivors are half dead... Just kill them outright! The drug I used on Mute will only last another two hours. Tonight is the fifteenth, so the ghost fog won't rise. Kill them while we have the chance!"
The one-armed man in gray took a light step, and his figure instantly appeared beside Liu Ling'er... "You have Liu Ju's scent on you! Are you from the Liu Clan of Mount Zhlin?"
Liu Ling'er shot backward, releasing dozens of enormous poison bees with a wave of her hand... "Attack!"
The thin man, One-Leg, and another silent middle-aged man struck at the same time. The two fifth-realm cultivators actually unleashed four identical Full-Moon Artifacts together, their bright blue light flashing as they spun and slashed toward the gray-robed man!
The other middle-aged man silently stirred the silver martial Gang Qi throughout his body and lunged straight at Master Ming in the main room...
The gray-robed man's figure suddenly twisted strangely several times, and the four circular blades missed him again and again... He raised his only remaining hand, his left-and that hand had only three fingers left!
The gray-robed man's thumb and little finger had been severed long ago...
A supple glow flowed from between his three fingers, forming a weapon like a flexible sword. Then light burst in every direction, the flexible sword sweeping out like a long whip and filling the sky with shimmering trails... Dozens of poison bees abruptly shattered, but as they burst, countless venomous needles as fine as ox hairs shot outward!
Liu Ling'er shouted, "Kill him! He's a Sword Cultivator!!!"