He is right, and in this case, we are in the right, and Zhang Si can still report to Yunjinshan.
"Let's go." I opened my mouth in a deep voice.
"Right away." Zhang Si turned around, slipped into one of the rooms, and when he came out, his pockets were bulging.
Lao Gong's eyes showed a touch of admiration as he said, "Great! This old guy has gained enlightenment, robbers won't leave empty-handed!"
"Hmm... I'm taking these pills back to study and see what they do." Zhang Si explained.
"I understand, I understand! Sir, you all go ahead! I'll be there shortly." Lao Gong said, as he too swiftly retreated.
"I remain silent, walk out of this courtyard, and follow the path I've already taken, heading outward. Zhang Si follows closely by my side, speaking in a low voice: 'Brother Luo, please don't misunderstand me. I indeed have no interest in these pills. The cultivation of corpse-type pills is certainly not a good thing. Eating them will have endless harms. I only took a few bottles and will deliver them to Yunjinshan.'"
"Lao Gong has a loose mouth, and the Zhang Elder does not need to worry about him." I replied.
Zhang Si finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Lao Gong's head caught up to us, and there was a package under his head.
Intuitively, he has stripped Ji Kui of all his belongings…
The moment it landed on my shoulder, the package wrapped itself around my arm, feeling exceptionally heavy.
"Take it back and let Fan Laodie study it carefully. Ah, look at the effects." Lao Gong smiled happily.
"This..." Zhang Si glanced at Lao Gong in an extremely awkward manner.
"What's this 'this'? Old Gong, you're copying you." Lao Gong smiled warmly, even winking.
Zhang Si's face broke into a bitter smile, and he remained silent.
Soon enough, we returned to our previous position and could see the old temple.
However, the temple was engulfed in fierce flames, with thick smoke billowing and a particularly oppressive smell.
"It seems that those five people released their anger here, probably because they discovered Ji Ku's disciples and apprentices were here."
"The two of them seem to be more like legitimate Daoists, but unfortunately, they worshipped an illegitimate master and ancestor. They were used as a facade, and in the end, they ended up in this situation." Lao Gong shook his head and sighed deeply.
The meaning in this statement is clear: Ji Ku took them on as disciples not to genuinely teach them, but to boost his own reputation and cover up his methods in the shadows.
"Hurry up, there is another disciple outside." Zhang Si seemed a bit hurried.
We then left the old temple and moved back to the location of the national road we ascended earlier, seeing Ji Yang and Ji Xiang's car, which was undamaged.
Continuing forward, we saw our previous vehicle, with a young Taoist standing by, peering around.
Zhang Si let out a sigh of relief, and I also breathed a sigh of relief.
The people at Zhonghuang Daoist Temple are all good, and if I died here, I would feel just as guilty.
As we got back into the car, I took out my phone and sure enough, there was now a signal.
A series of missed calls and text messages made my phone vibrate nonstop.
I felt a slight blockage in my chest. Among them were Fan Jie, Han Ying, and calls from my parents.
The calls started around the time we entered the mountain and stopped an hour ago, with no further calls made after that.
I immediately dialed Han Ying's number, but it showed that it had been turned off.
My expression changed slightly, and I dialed my dad's number. It rang once and then connected.
"Manifesting the Deity!" My dad's voice was heavy with worry and urgency, mixed with a touch of frustration and self-reproach.
"Something has happened, where are you? Are you okay?"
My heart sank again, and an uneasy emotion surged up.
"Is Han Ying okay? What about Qi Youyou? Has Mao Zhan's body been taken away?"
I cut to the point directly.
The reason for putting Han Ying and Qi Youyou together is simple: after their conversation, Qi Youyou disappeared, and I faintly sensed a trace of her aura from Han Ying. She must have reached some kind of agreement with Han Ying and stayed by her side.
Ji Ku's target was Mao Zhan, and it's also possible that although he appeared to admit defeat publicly, he harbored a grudge in his heart and took the opportunity to injure Qi Youyou.
Plus my dad's tone and demeanor, which made me feel that something must have happened...
"Han Ying is okay, Qi Youyou has not shown any trace, and Mao Zhan has not been kidnapped." My dad replied.
This news sure relieved me a great deal.
Lao Gong has been on my shoulder the whole time, and he can hear this conversation.
"Nothing happened, what are you in a hurry about! It scared my heart so bad that it was beating fast. Hehe." Lao Gong's eyes rolled around, and he also showed a relaxed expression.
Zhang Si nodded slightly on the other side, and he too seemed a bit more at ease.
"Ah." My dad sighed before saying, "The people who came were very strange. His target was indeed Mao Zhan's corpse. I may have stopped him, but he killed several members of the Han family and some of the ghosts from the Ghost Cache were also injured. Fan Jie controlled corpse-type ghosts, and he was particularly targeted, suffering heavy injuries as well."
"The Han family members were not well taken care of." This last sentence from my dad carried even more complexity.
Lao Gong showed no expression, but I understood that my dad had lived in the Han family for a long time and had developed some kind of attachment to them. Plus, my relationship with Han Ying, the Han family members were like his own family. When they were in trouble and he couldn't protect them, he naturally felt guilty.
"The people who came was an old Daoist, wearing a blue and black robe, right? Is that Ji Ku?" I opened my mouth again to confirm if it was Ji Ku.
In this interval, the car was already on the road, heading towards Daxiangzhuang District.
"Old Daoist?" My dad's tone was slightly surprised.
"I didn't see his face, he wore a mask and a hat, moving like the wind, disappearing without a trace. It's almost impossible to confront him directly. His movements are very strange."
"But, intuitively, he doesn't seem to be an old man. He is too decisive and ruthless."
The two consecutive sentences are both analyses of the attacker.
"It's him. He just hid his face." I spoke in a low voice.
No wonder the eight Taoists were chasing after Ji Ku. Ji Ku is not just a traitor, but he even does things in disguise as his master's door, indirectly letting others take the fall.
Ji Ku isn't simple either; the people who came to clean up the sect didn't recognize him, and they even mistook someone else for him.
There must be more bizarre and hidden secrets here that we don't know about.
"Manifesting the Deity, you should be at Zhonghuang Daoist Temple. We have also contacted the people inside the temple, saying that you and Zhang Si Elder left and never returned. Where did you go? Are you okay?" My dad asked me again.
I composed myself and replied, "I'm fine, Dad. You should take care of the Han family first. We'll return soon."
"The person who committed the action is the master of the two Taoist disciples who previously abducted Qiqiu. His name is Ji Ku, a calm and stern person. You have to be careful, as he might be lurking in the shadows." I advised my dad again.
Ji Ku probably doesn't know that his stronghold has been compromised.
The geomancy formation is interfering with the signals, and I can't receive all calls. His apprentice Ji Xiang and grandapprentice Ji Yang can't contact him either.
Failing to achieve his goal, he may not give up easily.
The speed of the car was fast, and time seemed to pass quickly.
It was almost the dead of night when we finally returned to the Han family.
However, the Han family appeared to be in disarray, with several broken houses and yards, and more than a dozen coffins arranged. The entire clan was filled with a sense of sorrow and oppression.
I didn't see Fan Jie. He must have been sent for medical treatment.
In the hall, Han Qiong and Han Chang were pacing back and forth, and there were several leaders from the Ghost Cache present. Among them was someone who had a missing arm, and he hadn't left.
My parents were sitting on the other side, with Han Ying by their side.
They were staring at a small coffin placed on the ground in front of them, about half a meter in size. I knew that it contained Mao Zhan's corpse.
Moreover, behind my parents stood three men of tall stature with dark skin, exactly the three who had escaped from the Black City Temple and followed us from a distance!
This scene made Zhang Si's eyebrows furrowed and he whispered, "Such a Han family, its strength is comparable to the combined power of all the Taoists at Zhonghuang Daoist Temple. Even more, Ji Ku can hide his true identity and still cause harm and leave the scene. He's indeed not simple."
