Yang Guanshi has indeed been quite good to me, starting from the suspicion of something being wrong with the leader, he even plotted with me to deal with the leader.
Although we had some initial friction, it can be said that we got to know each other through not hitting.
His call, however, came a bit too coincidentally.
After entering Jin Yang, I headed straight to Changfeng Taoist Temple. We didn't go anywhere else, nor did we meet anyone.
For such a long time, Yang Guanshi hasn't contacted me...
Moreover, he had previously sent Lao Chu and Yang Guijin out of Jin Yang to find me...
This isn't someone to rely on in a critical moment; it's a ghost!
Yang Guanshi... I fear he's in grave danger, much less being Yang Guanshi; even if it is him, he's under the control of a plague ghost...
For a moment, a strong sense of sorrow overwhelmed me.
I don't have many acquaintances in Jin Yang, and there aren't many familiar places. How could both Changfeng Taoist Temple and Huangsi all fall?
"All right, let's just go by the words of the Seventh Elder. Little disciple, you lead the way, Si Yan, you need to contact..."
He Youtian's face slightly sank, and he suddenly stopped speaking.
"Fear that the car cannot be used for the time being, perhaps the layperson disciples have already..." Si Yan complexly said.
I came to my senses, and forcefully exhaled a mouthful of foul air.
"We'll leave as soon as possible, no more delay, as for how to deal with the plague ghost, we can discuss it again after we reach the Sifeng Mountain." Same as He Youtian looked at each other, I took a serious look and added a sentence: "The one who contacted me is an old friend of Jin Yang Huangsi. He's too timely, so timely that it's scary. The supervising Daoist field and Huangsi have fallen, there's only one ghost niche left. My intuition tells me that the ghost niche is not the opponent of the plague ghost either. It may have changed its appearance..."
"The plague ghost can control the undead and humans by eating them. No wonder... Jin Yang's information doesn't get passed out much... It seems he has sealed it off himself..."
As I kept talking, the coldness in my heart kept increasing.
"Yes yes yes! Grandpa is right in everything he says!" Old Gong nodded like a toy top. He jumped back onto Si Yan's shoulder.
He Youtian's demeanor became even more serious, and his face faintly had a touch of iron-green.
I dared not waste any more time, nodding to Si Yan, I walked further away.
Once we left the mountains of Changfeng Taoist Temple, there was no need for Si Yan to guide us anymore. The four of us hailed a taxi and I told the driver where to go.
About a point later, as the clock struck the hour of the Ox, the car stopped on a desolate old street. Both sides were lined with plain houses, with most of the windows torn out and the characters peeling off significantly.
The ground was full of cracks and grew weeds.
I tried to glance at the door number with my eyes, hiding the fact that I was a first-time visitor.
We walked straight into the depths of the street and stopped in front of the house at number 77.
Compared to the other dilapidated houses, this one had windows that were normal and the door was still in good condition, except for some chipping paint.
Taking a step forward, I pushed open the door and walked through the room as if I had done it many times before. I made my way to the inner wall, pulled aside the curtain, and walked in.
On the outside it was a plain house, but inside there was a completely different scene, a compact courtyard.
On one side of the courtyard, there was a clump of Southern Bamboo, tall and slender, forming a large bamboo shadow under the moonlight.
A stone table stood in the center, topped with a purple clay teapot, dusted over from years of disuse.
Beside the purple clay teapot, there was a dust-covered whisk, a testament to the passage of time.
I stood in the courtyard, motionless.
I raised my hand and pointed to the door opposite me, trying my best to recall the sadness in my heart when Old Qin left.
When the sour and bitter feeling surged up, I closed my eyes slightly and whispered: "My Master's thin coffin is inside. However, the current Master may not look the same. He has been poisoned."
"Toxin?!" He Youtian's face changed slightly. He had been looking at the Southern Bamboo, but his gaze swept over the dusted whisk, and there was sadness in his eyes. Now, that sadness turned into alertness, mixed with a trace of anger!
"Little disciple, I know that Master's death was not normal. He suddenly left the temple years ago, and I don't know what happened. Was he poisoned? Do you know who did it?" He Youtian spoke quickly, with words that were firm and resolute.
I fell silent for a moment and shook my head, saying, "I don't know. When Master took me under his wing, he was already suffering from a severe toxin. It didn't take long for him to die of the toxin. I prepared to bury him, but… his body rotted quickly. The toxicity was too strong. I dare not touch it much, nor do I dare touch anything that belonged to Master."
I raised my hand, pointing to the dusted whisk.
He Youtian showed a touch of heartache and sorrow, and walked forward.
The Seventh Elder also looked sorrowful, following behind him.
Si Yan lowered her head, looking solemn, showing no sign of movement.
Only when He Youtian and the Seventh Elder pushed open that door and walked inside did Si Yan cautiously look at me, her eyes flashing with a hint of emotion... it was a mix of confusion and admiration.
I know that she was confused and bewildered by my emotional change, and her admiration was for my ability to lie without blinking an eye?
Exhaling softly, I followed after them.
At this moment, both He Youtian and the Seventh Elder took out a copper sword each, and inserted them into the side of the coffin.
Both of them drank a light breath and exerted force together, and the coffin lid suddenly opened abruptly. It stood behind the coffin head, clanging loudly.
A foul smell filled the air, piercing the nose.
He Youtian covered his nose, and the Seventh Elder showed a surprised expression, with a look of horror in his eyes.
Only I, without any change in expression, only sadness, and I banged my knees to the ground!
It was only then that He Youtian realized what had happened, and he immediately knelt down with the Seventh Elder.
After a few seconds of silent condolence, I was the first to stand up, and they followed suit.
The decayed state of the body was much worse than I had imagined.
The purple Daoist robe was still intact, but his face had rotted so much that the bones were almost visible. Moreover, it wasn't a dry body; it was a wet one.
His hands were covered with fine black spots, not normal postmortem stains, but more like mold.
There was no sensation of soul fluctuations from him; only emptiness...
"Master..." He Youtian trembled, even though he was already an old man with white hair, he cried like a child who had lost his dear ones in an instant.
The Seventh Elder was equally sorrowful and tearful, struggling to speak.
They cried for a while before He Youtian wiped away his tears, his eyes red and puffy.
"Mr. Wu." He opened his mouth in a hoarse voice.
"Call him by the name of Old Gong, that name of his is not pleasant to say, not pleasant at all!" Old Gong's mouth was snapping loudly.
"Who killed my Master, do you know?"
In He Youtian's knowledge, Old Gong was Wu Zhongkuan.
Four Guizhen, the true master, had subdued Wu Zhongkuan's soul. The protective spiritual ghosts he left for me were what asked Old Gong, and that was not strange at all.
Old Gong's eyes flickered, suddenly revealing a sinister and cunning demeanor.
"I say it was this old kid named Zheng Rende, do you believe me?" Old Gong whispered.
The courtyard suddenly became completely silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop!
He Youtian's face changed dramatically.
I whispered a reprimanding command: "Old Gong, stop talking nonsense!"
Zheng Rende indeed had issues.
However, even if he had issues, he was still the core of Mingjing Tianzhen, the leader of Sifeng Mountain.
Old Gong had never seen Four Guizhen before, so how could he possibly know that Four Guizhen was killed by Zheng Rende?
He talks nonsense all the time, which could easily lead to chaos in Sifeng Mountain.
