The red-robed Taoist shivered so intensely that he could barely hold on to the legacy with both hands.
Some nearby green-robed Taoists were equally stunned. The others communicated a few words by nodding their heads, and everyone's breathing became rapid and their faces flushed!
"I..."
"You... you..." The red-robed Taoist couldn't manage to say even a coherent sentence. He pressed the legacy hard against his chest with both hands, and when he looked at me, it wasn't my face he was seeing; instead, he scanned me from head to toe.
"This... impossible... this... how can it be... Lu Xian Shen... you... you who exactly are you..." He was completely confused.
"Who am I?" I shook my head and said, "Don't you know? The little uncle on the Four Rule Mountain, Luo Xianshen."
After saying the last sentence, I took out a series of magical tools from under my robe, all of which were from the Juqushan.
All of them were the items left in the secluded room by Mao Zhana!
And I told them about the secret room in Qi's mansion, explaining that there were other things inside as well.
This left them completely confused.
I returned to the chair, closed my eyes, and no longer looked at them.
My mind, however, felt an indescribable relaxation, as if a tense string had been relieved.
Wu Jinluan spoke in a low voice, "You guys should stay here for a while longer. Otherwise, if those people from the eight residences haven't left yet and see you all alive again, they might come back to cause trouble."
Fine, the gentlemen lifted the chair and left.
I walked back for a long time before I opened my eyes. I didn't see any of the Taoists following, nor did I hear their footsteps approaching.
"Master, you're being too generous. We didn't just lose the woman and the troops, we also wasted all our resources. It's like taking a leak in a basket." Lao Gong showed his discomfort even more.
"Way is all about singularity of heart." I replied to Lao Gong, "Mao Xianjun has chosen, and so have I."
Lao Gong paused again before reluctantly saying, "Alright, I won't deny it, what you said is true. The twists and turns have been navigated, and it seems like Juqushan has been saved. Greed is hard to change; these people won't learn from the Mo Xi and Mo Su. They may not turn into bugs, oh right, they haven't eaten from Tian Gong Spring either."
"Turn around, I will ask the people from Zhong Huang Dao to help, together with the Huā family, to send back Mo Zhan's body." I added immediately.
"That's good." Lao Gong moved his head and was also straightforward. Once he gave out, explained it clearly, he didn't say it in detail.
"Master Luo did the right thing. Juqushan will no longer be an enemy, and you've even sown a seed for them. Someday if you need anything, perhaps they will be as willing to leap into the fire and swim in the boiling water as our Immortal Path Field." Wu Jinlan sighed softly.
"There's no need for such exaggeration. It's only necessary unless there are additional hereditary items and immortal herbs." Lao Gong refuted with a sentence.
Wu Jinluan smiled without a word.
We returned to the gate of Juqushan.
After entering, I walked directly towards the main hall.
The entire Daoist Observation Hall appeared dilapidated and bloody, with bodies everywhere and blood scattered in every corner.
I had already been mentally prepared, and with the preservation of the Mo Xi and Mo Su, as well as the fire seed kept by Juqushan, there wasn't as much weight on my mind.
When we arrived at the main hall, we saw that the mud sculpture of the three Mao Zhenjun still remained intact.
Here, we finally saw the bodies of several Taoists with hoods, who seemed to have been devoured by demons, leaving them with full wounds and being incomplete.
I also saw the bodies of the Mo Su and Mo Xi.
They appeared very pitiful, with black fine darts planted all over their bodies. This was the method of that group of people from the eight residences.
The most tragic part was not this; it was... Mo Su and Mo Xi had no heads.
Their necks were neatly cut off.
"True spirit bones are good stuff, but they haven't been refined by the essence of days and moons. They're just two blobs of meat with no effect. Even if used to cultivate medicine, they can only be fertilizer..."
"That's not right... the souls were taken away too..."
"Truly pitiful two old men. Suddenly, I don't find them as annoying anymore." Lao Gong muttered, suddenly landing on one of the corpses and twisting its head.
"A place over there is completely burnt, with a lot of fire damage and some more corpses." one of the scholars called out.
I got off the chair and told Wu Jinlan that I was sufficiently rested and didn't need to be carried anymore.
Immediately, I looked in the direction pointed out by the scholar.
We entered from the southern entrance of the main hall. The area burned by fire was to the west. There was a row of houses, and indeed, even the gate had been burned off.
One could see some exposed bookshelves and books that were burned down to only their charred shells.
Not only that, there were over ten corpses there! It seemed they had huddled together, trying to rush into that place.
"It seems to have been where the classics and some heritage were stored at the mountain gate. Since Juqushan lost the main line of heritage, they aren't too weak now. Those people wanted to seize the heritage, and ended up being burned by the fire," Wu Jinlan pondered.
I recall a detail.
Indeed, fire is also a form of attack in Juqushan's Daoist techniques.
I had suffered a considerable loss before, fortunately, the Daoist techniques of Siguishan had methods to counteract it.
I roughly counted, there were about sixteen burnt corpses there, while in the main hall, there were eight.
Twenty-four people, three groups of eight scholars from the eight residences!
The Mo Xi and Mo Su had still shown the might of the True Immortal.
Perhaps, when those people rushed into the main hall and killed ordinary disciples as if they were in an empty place, they were arrogant to the extreme and did not expect the abilities of Mo Xi and Mo Su.
After the loss of disciples, it was likely that three immortals had joined forces to kill two people, and still managed to kill a group within the main hall.
"All right, all right. They've gained a reputation, but lost their heads. It seems they'll be turned into zombie heads to cultivate medicine and fed to other disciples. They showed off their power, but will also be avenged."
Lao Gong's words were no longer so carefree. His demeanor was filled with a strong sense of caution towards those Taoists from the eight residences.
"Mo San?" one of the scholars asked unnaturally.
Suddenly, footsteps came from behind the statue of the Three Taoist Masters.
Mo San only walked out after hearing the footsteps.
"Quite interesting. There's an incomplete array here. It was just repaired not long ago, and it's not yet stable. That's why those people wouldn't leave no matter what. I just added some to make it stronger. Hmm, it should be firm enough for a while. However, I think there should be two more places in this array."
"Wu Jinluan, send someone to take a look and then have your people disperse to search the mountains thoroughly to perfect it further. Take the Yangshen ghost with you, so it's easier for us to be found later."
Mo San wiped away his thin sweat and felt a slight pain in his donkey-like face.
I faintly remember seeing Mo San's expression like that a long time ago.
"Did you invest some magical tools?" Lao Gong asked suddenly.
"Hahaha, these are just external objects. If I want to take away the real person's corpse, I have to pay some price, and the hunting Tao still has to fulfill its duties," Mo San answered seriously.
"Thank you." I bowed my hands together and bowed to Mo San.
"People from Siguishan owe Juqushan nothing, don't they? This is a business deal. Those disciples might not thank me either. You've seen them; you shouldn't be so distressed anymore. Besides, they won't return that quickly either," Mo San continued.
"They won't." I exhaled softly.
"All right, Wu Jinluan, do as I've said."
"Manifest your divine presence, come with me." Mo San beckoned me again and headed towards a door in the corner of the northern wall of the main hall.
