The family's surname was Wang. When its head, Wang Tong, received the report and came outside to welcome them, his expression twitched a little at the sight of a group of nuns.
People here rarely saw monks or nuns, let alone such a beautiful young nun among them.
Actually, the Wang Family's problem did seem right up the Buddhists' alley, and Wang Tong had indeed hurried out in anticipation... it was just that this particular group gave him some misgivings.
"Um... venerable nun, we've already asked the Heavenly Evolution Sect to handle this. An immortal should be coming in the next day or two. If you're passing through on your travels, why not stay for a vegetarian meal?"
"The Heavenly Evolution Sect..." the leading nun said coolly. "I heard they went to deal with a problem for a family named Ye, only to kill its head, seize its property, and even issue missions for their disciples to capture the Ye Clan's survivors. Is this how the Heavenly Evolution Sect handles problems among its subordinate families?"
Wang Tong did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Venerable nun, where did you hear those rumors? The sect already announced that the Ye Clan plotted against the sect master's direct disciple. Do you realize how serious that is? How can you compare the two?"
The nun said, "You believe whatever the Heavenly Evolution Sect tells you?"
"Of course. Why would the sect spout nonsense about something like that? My Wang Family has lived peacefully here for centuries under its constant protection, without ever suffering any oppression. And it's not just us. Every family is the same. Even families with thousands of years of history live and work in peace under the sect's protection. Why was the Ye Clan alone in getting into trouble?"
The nun was a little surprised and pondered briefly.
It seemed the Heavenly Evolution Sect had quite a good reputation within its own territory, along with considerable credibility. Even after a case of a family being wiped out and its property seized, no one felt the slightest panic or mourned like the fox grieving the rabbit's death. Instead, they firmly believed the sect could not have been at fault.
Such trust was not easy to earn. It took years upon years of fair conduct to nurture it.
Of course, they might also have been too afraid to speak ill of it.
Those two young Heavenly Evolution Sect disciples she had met last time disregarded moral propriety and had glib tongues. They hardly seemed like decent people, did they...
The nun added one more thing. "This haunting of yours has been going on for ten days or so, hasn't it? Yet the Heavenly Evolution Sect still hasn't sent anyone to resolve it."
"Uh, there's no hurry, no hurry. Nothing has happened so far..." Wang Tong said, but anyone could see the worry that would not leave his face.
The sect had indeed been acting a little strangely lately. The mere news that the sect master had taken a Qi Refinement direct disciple through the back door was baffling enough, and then the Ye Clan incident had become entangled with this backdoor disciple too. Whether this would become a landmark event signaling a change in the sect remained unknown.
At last, he sighed. "Then would you take a look for us, venerable nun? How much of an incense donation would you need..."
"No need. We'll simply take a look. We might not be able to resolve it, after all."
"Please come in, venerable nun."
The Wang Family was a small family. It did not even have its own rear mountain like the Qi Clan, merely a fairly large residence with an ancestral shrine behind it, and a small hill behind the shrine serving as a burial ground. Its total grounds were still fairly spacious.
Wang Tong led the nuns to the burial ground at the rear. The moment they entered, they heard a sound like a ghost's wailing, extremely faint and coming from an unknown source.
There also seemed to be faint tremors underground.
Taken together, these two phenomena easily suggested a "haunting" or "corpses rising," terrifying the Wang Family. Yet nothing had actually happened over these past days. No one in the family had died, been injured, or fallen ill. Everything remained normal.
Still, the Wang Family clearly could not bear living in constant fear like this. To be honest, the nuns' Buddhist affiliation inspired considerable trust in this regard. Had it been anyone else, Wang Tong would never have let them casually inspect his ancestral graves.
The nuns made a large circuit around the many graves, and their leader actually asked the beautiful young nun through voice transmission, "Wunian, have you sensed any demonic qi? Or witchcraft?"
The beautiful young nun opened her clear, large eyes wide and shook her head earnestly. "No."
"It really has nothing to do with those?" The leading nun's brow furrowed deeply. "Could those rumors all have been fabricated? Are there no such signs around the Heavenly Evolution Sect at all? Or are our senses still too weak, and we need to go inside to be certain?"
Beside them, Wang Tong had not noticed their voice transmissions. With an ingratiating smile, he asked, "Have you discovered anything?"
The leading nun shook her head. "We need to take a look inside... of course, if you don't trust us, family head, we can leave it at that."
They had already come this far... remembering how many days he had waited in anticipation without the sect sending anyone, Wang Tong simply gritted his teeth. "Then please take a look, venerable nun."
As he spoke, he activated a mechanism and opened the tomb's entrance.
The nuns exchanged glances and filed inside.
Wang Tong paced in circles outside, constantly worrying about what he would do if his ancestors rose from the dead and started killing people... could these nuns really deliver them from suffering?
While he was trembling with apprehension, the gatekeeper hurried over. "Master, immortals from the sect have arrived. They say they've come to resolve the haunting."
"I'm done for!" Wang Tong was dumbstruck.
One matter should not trouble two masters. Having reported this to the sect, he had then brought in outsiders. That would offend the sect...
But of all the times you could have come, after not showing your faces for so many days, you show up the moment I find someone else. Are you deliberately making life difficult for me? Wang Tong nearly coughed up blood, but could only hurry out to welcome them.
Seeing the people outside the gate from afar, Wang Tong felt an even stronger air of unreliability hanging over them. "Jing Chuan... isn't he that wastrel son of the neighboring city's lord? Can he be trusted?"
Indeed, this was not Jing Chuan's home city, where he had previously taken Qi Yan, but the neighboring city. Who knew what these nuns were doing roaming through so many cities and towns?
There were also two young men beside Jing Chuan. One was very handsome, perfectly complementing the beautiful young nun among that group, somehow emphasizing the air of unreliability surrounding both parties.
Wang Tong came out through the gate and said awkwardly, "I didn't expect Young Master Jing to grace us with his presence... shall we have some tea in the hall first?"
Jing Chuan paused. "Hey, something's happened to your ancestral graves, and you're still in the mood for tea? Just take us straight to work. We're not that desperate for a cup of your tea."
Wang Tong was drenched in sweat. Why don't you mention how you've kept me waiting for ten days? If you hadn't dragged this out, I wouldn't have been anxious enough to let the nuns inside...
But if he let Jing Chuan and the others in now, they would run straight into a group of nuns. That scene...
Left with no choice, he could only tell the truth. "Inside... there's a group of venerable nuns investigating inside."
Jing Chuan and Qi Yan exchanged a glance, their expressions turning somewhat solemn.
What were these nuns doing roaming around here?
Speaking of which, Qi Yan wondered whether the luck his master had attributed to him as the "key point on the board" really was a little uncanny. This was so strange.
Why had he run into Yun Ranyi on his last mission, and now these nuns on this one? Every mission seemed to come with some strange business outside its scope.
Jing Chuan said gravely, "What have you discussed with them? Tell us everything, down to the last detail."
Wang Tong gave a careful account, and Jing Chuan asked Qi Yan quietly, "What do you think?"
Qi Yan said, "They even know the rumors about me... it feels like they're here to investigate us, not ordinary wandering nuns."
"Then why come to the Wang Family?"
Qi Yan shook his head. "Let's go take a look."
The reasoning was similar to the Ye Clan incident. Yun Ranyi and these nuns were outsiders who had become involved, not the ones who had caused the incidents. At the very least, these were not conspiracies or traps they had prepared.
So why couldn't they go? Ideally, they could talk things out and find out exactly what the nuns had come for. At the foot of the Heavenly Evolution Sect's mountain, they had plenty of confidence.
Jing Chuan was not afraid of trouble either, so he said, "Take us to have a look."
Wang Tong had no choice but to lead the three to the tomb. Just as he was about to speak, a faint Buddhist light shone from within the still-open stone entrance, peaceful and vast.
"Buddha Light Shines Everywhere, used for cleansing impurities and illumination. It isn't offensive," Jing Chuan said quietly. "They seem quite open about things, not as though they have any ill intent."
Qi Yan nodded and entered first.
As agreed when Jing Chuan invited him, he was here to serve as the martial cultivator holding the front line...
After passing through a corridor, they soon reached the "front hall" on the tomb chamber's outskirts, a circular outer chamber. All the nuns had gathered there, watching warily in the direction Qi Yan and the others were approaching from.
They seemed to have sensed someone coming up behind them and formed a defensive formation here. Upon seeing the familiar faces of Jing Chuan and Qi Yan, a trace of astonishment appeared on their faces too.
"Ahaha..." Jing Chuan gave a laugh and cupped his hands all around. "Venerable nuns, we meet again. Was that meal last time to your liking?"
The leading nun offered a one-handed salute. "Thank you for the vegetarian meal, Young Master Jing."
Qi Yan: "..."
I paid for it.
Still, Qi Yan had never intended to show his face outside and lead a team as their "little martial uncle." His cultivation was too embarrassing for that... their current "captain" was Jing Chuan, so he could handle the bullshit.
I'll handle looking at the young nun.
The young nun stood just behind the leading nun, her large eyes watching Qi Yan with a little irritation. When she saw him looking at her too, she turned her head slightly to avoid meeting his eyes.
Qi Yan was a little amused.
Jing Chuan asked cheerfully, "Have you venerable nuns come to beg for alms in someone else's tomb?"
The leading nun said coolly, "Naturally, we came to investigate the haunting... since the Heavenly Evolution Sect wasn't handling it, surely we Buddhists, with compassion in our hearts, could do something."
With a faint, ambiguous smile, Jing Chuan asked, "Might I ask your Dharma name, venerable nun, and at which famous mountain or great temple you cultivate?"
The nun pressed her palms together. "This humble nun is Wuzheng, from the Pure Heart Nunnery. An insignificant little establishment, unworthy of your ears."
Jing Chuan choked a little. There were probably eight hundred nunneries called Pure Heart Nunnery in the world, if not a thousand. Some were even mere prayer halls for mortals. Those three words made it utterly impossible to discern her background, and he had no idea whether she was telling the truth or had simply picked a name to brush him off.
And you're called Wuzheng-"without contention"-too. Weren't you the one who opened her mouth to scold me last time...
So Jing Chuan said, "I thought you venerable nuns were here to shop, but now it seems that wasn't entirely the case? Two days ago you were in the neighboring city, and today you've come here, even meddling in someone else's affairs."
"We were traveling all along, gaining experience, eliminating evil, cultivating our hearts, and broadening our knowledge."
Jing Chuan nodded. "The Wang Family is subordinate to the Heavenly Evolution Sect, so this is our sect's internal affair. Now that we're here, we needn't trouble you to eliminate the evil."
Wuzheng nodded. "That is only proper. Let's go."
With that, she led the others past Qi Yan's group, preparing to return through the corridor they had come from.
Just then, an insubstantial, chilling soul-voice came from somewhere unknown, piercing straight into everyone's souls. "Since you've come to our Heavenly Evolution Sect's territory, why be in such a hurry to leave?"
Rumble! With those words, the outermost stone door slammed shut.
The underground tremors grew increasingly violent, and even stones from the ceiling of the chamber began to fall.
Strangely, they fell only on the nuns. Not a single one fell toward Qi Yan's group.
Wuzheng raised a golden barrier, blocking the falling stones overhead. All the nuns instantly put distance between themselves and Qi Yan's group, crying angrily, "Is your Heavenly Evolution Sect trying to trap and kill us?"
"I think you've banged those wooden fish so much you've knocked your own brains loose," Qi Yan finally snapped. "One look is enough to tell something's trying to provoke us into fighting first. If you can't even see that, you call this traveling? It's a miracle you made it here alive."