The Immortal’s Poison

The fat monk and the old monk spread their legs and ran about in the courtyard as they shouted and ranted, trying to urge the Great Mercy Temple to release their companions immediately.

The both of them decided that they could buy Chang Li some favors so they did not attack too viciously to offend the Great Mercy Temple. Both of their magic weapons tossed and turned in the air yet these weapons always veered away before hitting the Buddhist hall and flew a safe distance away from the monks’ bald heads

Hope Aware, from the seat of honor at the Ten Modes Monastery, appeared exactly as he sounded. He was big and tall with horizontal brows with a fierce and determined look in his eyes. He looked like the living embodiment of a Skanda as he shouted loudly and commanded the disciples under him to catch the culprits. The Buddhist practitioners adhered strictly to a creed of mercy, meaning that they should only risk their life if the enemy also risked theirs. So, they could only run about behind the enemy instead of throwing out their Buddhist prayer beads and kill the sibling with an explosion.

The main Buddhist hall and the monasteries of the Great Mercy Temple were arranged one after the other with plentiful sculptures and buildings in the temple complex. The old monk and the fat monk had been thieves all their lives and their ability to evade capture allowed them to elude the chasing monks and caused a grand and spectacular bustle for almost half a day.

In the end, the divine monk Hope Aware had to resort to his magic weapon which was a demon-trapping golden alms bowl. Otherwise, those two old thieves would still have been running about for many more hours. Once caught, a few monks came forward and confiscated their magic weapons, talismans and precious elixirs. Only then did Hope Aware retract his magic weapon and ask, "Demons, how did you manage to enter the compound?" There was a mountain-guarding divine beast lurking outside the Great Mercy Temple but Hope Aware would rather die than believe that these two were capable of outsmarting the divine beast. He was also wary that these two had more capable companions who had not shown themselves.

Shui Jing and Ji Fei had not known that there was a divine beast out there as they stared defiantly back at Hope Aware and said, "This old monk has a body full of supernatural powers, there’s nowhere that we cannot go!"

Ji Fei tried to hide his weakness, "I would never brag to all you crude and impetuous monks! You should release this great master’s friends soon, or else…" Ji Fei imbued his voice with Qi power from his dantian, causing his words to boom and carry far across the mountains…

The divine monk Hope Aware has a short temper, his face full of horizontal muscles were squeezed together and he asked in a raging laugh, "Or else? What can you do…" Before he could finish his sentence, however, he suddenly wrinkled his eyebrows and put his palms together in a devout manner while bowing towards the direction of the temple’s back courtyard. His long earlobes that hung below his jaw trembled slightly as if he was listening to something.

Ji Fei was so shrewd that even his brows were hollow. He saw the situation and rolled his eyes around in search of ideas. He continued to thrust out his chest and shout aloud, "Ji Fei has a camaraderie as close as brothers with the rogue cultivators, we push forward and retreat together. If you monks were to refuse to release our friends today, then this great master will never let this matter go! Even though the Great Mercy Temple is the head of the five blessings, but you cannot blind the eyes of all mankind!"

The old monk had assumed a faked demeanor and the naïve Shui Jing believed it. He looked admiringly at the old monk before loudly chiming in as well, "Shui Jing is also like that!"

The divine monk Hope Aware straightened his body and looked at the both of them with a strange expression. He then flung his sleeves once before instructing his disciples, "Release them! Same goes for the group of rogue cultivators, release them as well!" After saying that, as there’s no longer anything else to be done, he turned around and left the front courtyard.

Ji Fei was both shocked and joyous as he and the fat monk Shui Jing looked at one another. Their chests were so puffed up with pride that it almost reached their chins. The continued to curse as they retrieved their confiscated items, bragging that if it wasn’t for the monk’s good sense, the Great Mercy Temple would have been razed to the ground by now.

Compared to the Wen and Luo family members, the rogue cultivators had received a very different treatment from the monks.

The Wen family and Luo family were of normal human beings. To the monks, they did not practice magic arts nor supernatural powers and were imprisoned at the slightly desolated back of the mountain. They were guarded lightly with just a prohibition spell and someone brought their meals every day.

The rogue cultivators, however, were treated very differently. Those who were of decent capabilities such as Leyang Wen, his bodyguards, and the Red Grandaunt were detained along with hundreds of other rogue cultivators in the main Buddha hall at the front courtyard, contained within the golden Buddha statue’s own prohibition spell. The Ten Modes Monastery was in charge of guarding them while a few other monks of the ‘Hope’ name generation also kept a close watch on them at all times. The rogue cultivators were not allowed to communicate with one another.

The monks had not expected that there were people who were capable of bypassing the divine beast and trespassing into the temple. When they had put the prohibition spell in place they did not completely isolate the sounds from the hall as they had hoped that the melodious sounds from the Buddhist prayers would have an uplifting influence on this group of devil incarnates. So earlier, when Ji Fei and Shui Jing had been shouting and wrangling, the rogue cultivators could hear everything clearly and gave them both a thumbs-up in their hearts, all the while praising them as good fellows, real friends!

Under Hope Aware’s orders, the rogue cultivators were all released from their prison. They were even more surprised by the supposed prestige of Ji Fei and Shui Jing do be able to convince the temple to let them go. The rogue cultivators retrieved their magic weapons, then, while supporting the wounded, crowded around Ji Fei and Shui Jing as they walked out of the temple together. They asked with a lively discussion on how the two monks were able to convince the Great Mercy Temple into releasing them.

It was certainly not easy to make up the lie, Ji Fei had smiled and shook his head at the questions. He only said this in an offhand manner, "As long as our fellow rogue cultivator friends are safe and sound, I think that we should leave the matter alone…"

After being released, the rogue cultivators then bumped into Wen Leyang and the elites of the Wen and the Luo families. There were a total of hundreds of people when the two groups merged as they rushed towards the magnificent front gate of the Great Mercy Temple. There were a few who had ungallantly spat on the gates as they left.

Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu were waiting impatiently until their hearts had almost erupted into flames when suddenly, row upon row of Buddha’s light floated up and lit up the mountainside around the Great Mercy Temple as bright as day. They saw hundreds of people rush out of the temple in a haphazard manner; they wrangled with one another and roared with laughter while the sounds of their curses roused Mount Emei from its slumber. The two young girls were both overjoyed and cheered as they welcomed them.

Wen Xiaoyi dove head first into Fourth Elder Wen’s embrace. The old man immediately broke into a rare kindly smile which was followed by him giving Wen Leyang an icy-cold stare, "The little girl is not injured, so consider yourself lucky!"

Wen Leyang tried to shift the blame onto Wen Tunhai, "It was the Eldest Uncle who asked me to bring Wen Xiaoyi along…"

Mumu, on the other hand, was holding on to both her grandfathers’ hands as she smiled with tears running down her face. She saw that her family’s elder’s eyes were swollen to the size of kiwi fruits and stomped her feet ferociously before asking Wen Xiaoyi, "Little sister, can I borrow your big-muzzled weapon? I would like to blast this broken temple into pieces!"

Wen Xiaoyi gave a crisp assent and began to remove the blunderbuss which was strapped to her back. Wen Leyang hastily stood between the two of them.

Ji Fei and Shui Jing walked around Wen Leyang sneakily. They blinked their eyes and looked around for a long time before asking him in a hushed voice, "Brother, where’s…where’s the little grandaunt?"

However, before Wen Leyang could answer, Wen Xiaoyi caught sight of the two old thieves, she leaped forward and said in an unforgiving manner, "The both of you almost killed Wen Leyang with your little act! I’ve yet to get even with you two!"

The four elders of the Wen family have not been told of the incident at the Red Leaves Forest and assumed that the pair of sneaky-looking monks before them were the enemy. With a single wave of their hand, the master cultivators from the Death Trademark immediately surrounded Ji Fei and Shui Jing, cutting off their way of escape.

The rogue cultivators too broke their formation. At the moment, Ji Fei and Shui Jing have become like heroes in their eyes. The two old rogues did not need to lift a hand in the fight as hundreds of rogue cultivators immediately jumped in front of them and stared at the other group with fierce expressions.

The Luo were also descendants of Tuoxie and by that connection, the Luo elders directed the master cultivators of The Centipede into a battle formation and launched their Spirit Needles one after the other.

Wen Leyang had seen firsthand of the rogue cultivator’s ruthlessness and he immediately stood before his family elders as his usually virtuous and sincere face snarled with rare viciousness. He was like an enraged leopard as he stared at the rogue cultivators and as he spoke, his voice was sonorous and forceful like the sound of metal striking metal. There was no room for doubt as he demanded to the rogue cultivators, "Retreat!" The scar on his cheekbone glowed a murderous red under the light.

Wen Xiaoyi stood next to Wen Leyang and hefted the blunderbuss up, her expression was full of disdain as she asked, "Who’s first?!"

Mumu had been their companions all the way so she too jumped forward to help Wen Xiaoyi. The long Spirit Needles clacked in her hands as she knocked them together. The undead toddler, Ah Dan, put its hands on its hips was strolled forward in a leisurely manner. Though the night sky was dark, it wore a pair of sunglasses on its face.

Suddenly a clear and melodious Buddhist chant could be heard. The little stutterer Hope Voice, who had been in charge of leading the way, immediately gathered with a group of monks to guard Wen Leyang. The young and old monks of the Great Mercy Temple have all received the rabbit demon abbot Shan Duan’s decree and treated Wen Leyang as their honored guest.

Hoping to stave off disaster, Red Grandaunt ran ahead and waved her arms around as she spoke to the four elders of the Wen family, "You old folks were wrong to react this way, the child Wen Leyang had caught the fancy of Ji Fei and Shui Jing, which was a heaven-sent blessing! You see, even though your family has its own legacy, but if this child ever had the opportunity to ascend and become immortal, we old folks should never stand in their way…" She had thought that the elders of the Wen family were reluctant to let Wen Leyang leave with Ji Fei.

Second Elder Wen squinted his eyes and stared at Wen Leyang as he asked, "So, you’ve formally acknowledged another as your master teacher now?" His gaze was gloomy and colder than a venomous snake’s.

Wen Leyang tried to make sense of it all in his heart as he shook his head emphatically and said, "Wen Leyang dares not. I am the disciple of the Wen family and I will never seek knowledge from another master teacher."

Upon hearing this, Second Elder Wen’s expression became calmer.

Ji Fei hastily waved his hands and bowed to his supporters as he explained, "It was a misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding. Fellow respected celestial beings, please stand down…"

The rogue cultivators had already lost once to the Great Mercy Temple and they could see that the monks were obviously on Wen Leyang’s side. The majority of them had also mingled with Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi, and Mumu during the past few days. Other than a few scoundrels, most of them didn’t really want to fight so they dispersed immediately upon hearing their idol’s instruction. They could see the way that the monks regarded Wen Leyang with awe and veneration and a few of the smarter ones started to ponder whether the reason for their release was due to this silly young lad instead.

Wen Leyang too, hastily explained to his grandfathers, "I’m afraid that there were some misunderstandings here, I’ll explain it all to you in a while."

Grand Elder Wen nodded with a smile on his face and patted Fourth Elder Wen’s shoulder as he winked at him. Immediately, all the elites from the Death Trademark retreated.

When both sides have backed down, Ji Fei and Shui Jing both let out a relieved sigh. The two of them were most afraid of fights and while little ghosts were fine, it was not a good idea to offend that living ancestor of the two families.

The short man, Leyang Wen brought along his three muscular bodyguards as he too walked ahead. His pale and weak face still carried some strains of remorse and he saluted the two thieves, "Much appreciation to these two masters for their hand in this. Thank you for risking your safety to infiltrate the temple to save us!"

Leyang Wen then saluted the rest of the rogue cultivators and addressed them all, "This time Leyang Wen had fallen under the bewitchment of some devilry and got so many of my friends injured and inconvenienced. For this, I would not be forgiven even if I were to die a thousand deaths. We were lucky that the monks of the Great Mercy Temple were reasonable and merciful. I, Leyang Wen, now swears to fully investigate the manner and find out who the chief culprit is. We will issue a report within three months of the investigation. In the future, if any of you have any directives, the Leyang family of Painting Town will never have any objections!" After saying his speech, he then turned around and left along with his three subordinates.

After Leyang Wen had led the group of rogue cultivators up the mountain peak, he noticed that something was amiss. Zhanyan Peak was a desolate place and there were no auspicious signs to be seen there. When they encountered other beings with great supernatural powers fighting there as well, he then realized that they were being used as cannon fodder. Though he had realized the trickery he had refused to give up and continued to lead the rogue cultivators up the peak. In the end, they were all captured by the masters from the Great Mercy Temple.

Leyang Wen had contacted these rogue cultivators to storm Mount Emei in search of the extraordinary treasure based on the information he had received from the elders of his family. Now was not a good time for him to say anything more so the most important matter at the moment was for him to return home and search for the truth.

The rogue cultivators too felt that they had made a fool out of themselves as they exchanged casual goodbyes before dispersing on their own. Of course, there were some who had refused to give up and snuck back to Zhanyan Peak, only to return empty-handed.

Red Grandaunt and Giant Bull passed their phone numbers to Wen Leyang. The little monk Hope Voice, upon seeing that there would be no more fighting, became full of high spirits and stuttered ‘good’ to Wen Leyang over twenty times before finally finishing it with the word ‘bye’. At long last, he fulfilled his charitable and pious deed. He led his monks and returned to the temple.

The mountain which had exploded with sound earlier finally began to quieten down. The elite troops of both the Wen and the Luo families followed behind their elders in silence. Ji Fei and Shui Jing dared not walk out of line as Wen Xiaoyi’s big-muzzled weapon was still aimed at their bodies.

The sky was brightening into a pale white, the day soon broke on the wintering mountain as an ice-cold breeze blew past them.