Chapter 153

Lingxiao Gate.

"Have you ever heard of 'Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species'?" A plain-looking man whispered mysteriously beside Lu Beichen's ear, "I believe you will achieve great things in the future!"

"I've heard of it," Lu Beichen said with a look of looking at a fool, "Fellow Daoist...what do you want?"

The man who was speaking scratched his head and muttered, "Yes, this sentence is indeed ancient Chinese, but isn't this immortal journey a fiction? How come I've heard of it before?"

The girl next to him rolled her eyes: "Illiterate."

"If you are not illiterate, go ahead!"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Lu Beichen rubbed his brows and said, "My two fellow Taoists, the disciple in charge of recruiting new members of Lingxiao Sect is over there. I don't care about this."

"We are not here to become your disciple," the man hurriedly called out to him, "We are here to find you. Aren't you Lu Beichen?"

"Yes, what do you want from me?"

"We have heard of Mr. Lu's reputation for a long time," the man bowed, "We are here to seek refuge with you!"

“…”

The girl reminded quietly: "Shouldn't we call him sir in this era?"

"You don't understand. In ancient times, people also called him sir. Could it be that I should call him Mr. Lu?"

"Have you read too much Jin Ping Mei?"

"Can you talk?" the man said angrily. "I said you just find fault with me every day. We are in the same boat. If you don't want to help me, don't keep making sarcastic remarks, okay?"

"Who is on the same page with you? Didn't you say you wanted to kill Xu Shulou? Go ahead and kill him! Why did you follow me to Lingxiaomen?"

"..." The man was retorted and touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.

Lu Beichen had already taken the opportunity to slip away, and the two of them stood there, looking at each other, both feeling quite awkward.

Just a few days ago, a particularly bizarre thing happened to the two of them——

Bad news, the two of them crossed over;

The good news is that they found themselves in the world of the male-centered immortal cultivation novel "The Immortal Journey". The two of them had followed the series and knew the plot;

Another good news, they met someone who came with them, they held hands and looked at each other with tears in their eyes, knowing that they could still be each other's companions, they were very happy;

The bad news is that before they could look at each other for more than a minute, the two discovered that they had argued with each other more than once on the forum about this book, and had developed a deep hatred for each other through the keyboard battles across the Internet.

They knew each other's forum IDs and speeches like the back of their hands, and once the truth came out, the situation suddenly became awkward.

What is strange is that the guy who swears all the time online, when met in real life, has no passion to charge and fight with the keyboard at all. Because he is suddenly in an unfamiliar environment, he even looks a little timid.

When the two exchanged information, the girl was quite depressed: "If I had known that I would travel through time if I criticized the book too harshly, I would have been more lenient with my words."

The man glanced at her unhappily: "You at least have a reason for what happened, but how did I get in if I didn't spray?"

The girl glared back at him unceremoniously, wanting to ask him back, "Don't you just like this rubbish stallion story? Isn't it a good deal for you to come in and experience it for yourself?"

But considering that this man was unfamiliar with the place and the two of them might have to survive together, he swallowed his words.

Unable to find a way to go back, and not daring to try to go back dead, they could only stop someone on the street and ask what year it was.

The common people answered with the reign title and year, and the two were completely clueless after hearing that - who can remember the fictional reign title in a novel so clearly? Even the most loyal fans wouldn't be able to do that.

What should we do? The two of them discussed and decided that since they knew the plot, they should first find the characters in the plot and find a way to confirm the current time.

The two inquired about the nearby immortal cultivation sects, and they happened to be the closest to the Hehuan Sect. The woman's face lit up with joy: "That's right, it's written in the book that the Hehuan Sect owns the spiritual mine and is a wealthy place. Luo Fusheng is also stupid and rich, so maybe we can get some benefits from them."

The two of them asked for directions and found their way to the nearby Wushuang City. The man suddenly came up with an idea: "Do you remember the part in the book where Gao Ming, the son of the owner of Xuanwu Tower, saved the disciples of Hehuan Sect?"

"Remember, Gao Ming's meridians were completely damaged because of this, and the master of Xuanwu Tower took his anger out on the Hehuan Sect and eventually massacred the sect," the woman frowned, "I don't know if this has already happened. We have to be careful, so as not to get caught in the act of annihilation and lose our lives."

"I want to say that we should imitate the hero saving the beauty," the man winked at her, "and take advantage of the situation to get closer to the Hehuan Sect."

"This hero," the woman gestured between the two of them, "who can we save with our strength?"

"It doesn't necessarily require strength," the man motioned for her to lean closer. "It's written in the book that the Hehuan Sect is full of evil women who are hated by everyone. Every time they come to Wushuang City to buy some daily necessities, they are surrounded and spit on. We are waiting for such a moment, so why don't we stand up and say a few words for them?"

"That's a good idea, but it may not be enough..." The woman thought for a moment and added, "It would be best if we could hire a few thugs to throw tomatoes and eggs at us, kick us, and threaten to drive us out of the city. In this way, maybe the people from the Hehuan Sect will take us in."

“Are there tomatoes in this era?”

"I don't know... there are always persimmons, right?"

"Alright, a hero saving a beautiful girl and using self-torture to save her?" The man nodded. "No matter if it works or not, let's give it a try."

Fortunately, the original owner of the body still had some money on him, so the two of them stayed in Wushuang City temporarily, waiting for the disciple in charge of purchasing from the Hehuan Sect to show up.

The two of them took the opportunity to visit the "Immortal Sword" restaurant in Wushuang City. After listening to the story of the immortal who cared about the people, they felt a little amused. They thought that the ancient people who were moved by this story really had no knowledge and it was just a marketing strategy of the restaurant.

When standing on a high place to look at the scenery, the woman pulled the man and said, "Is that the one you see on the street over there?"

She didn't say what it was, but the two of them had been squatting here for a few days, so the man naturally knew what she meant. He squinted his eyes and looked at them: "With high buns and embroidered acacia flowers on the hem of their skirts, it must be them. Let's go!"

He went after the Hehuan Sect to buy disciples, and the woman hurried to the alley entrance to find the gangsters who had made an "appointment" with her: "Come with me, I will make a gesture to you after I finish talking, and you can just throw eggs at me and ask us to get out of Wushuang City. Remember to act fierce! I will pay you the remaining half of the silver after the job is done."

The gangster made a gesture to her that said "trust me, I will do the job" and followed her.

The woman caught up with the man and found that he was following the girls from the Hehuan Sect with a lonely look on his face. She was surprised and asked, "Why hasn't it started yet?"

“…But someone has to spit on them first.” The man sighed.

The woman curled her lips, but could only follow patiently. She saw a stall selling bamboo mats. A Hehuan Sect disciple squatted down and carefully selected one. When paying, the stall owner took the initiative to say, "I'll give you another straw cushion."

"Thank you very much."

The woman opened her mouth and said, "Isn't this quite harmonious?"

"That's right, I've been like this all the way here, and no one has ever despised me, let alone called me a witch." The man looked quite disappointed. He had finally traveled through time and space and wanted to satisfy his "saving prostitute" complex, but it seemed that his wish was about to be dashed.

The woman made up her mind: "Keep fighting the two stalls. If no one scolds me, I'll just let those hooligans do the scolding!"

"good."

Unexpectedly, this plan was also rejected. Several hooligans shook their heads like rattles: "No, we won't do it!"

The woman gritted her teeth and said, "I'll pay more."

"It's not about the money," the thug continued to shake his head, "Are you crazy enough to provoke the Hehuan Sect?"

The woman didn't believe it: "They are just a few disciples who buy things. What's so terrible about them? Are you so timid?"

The gangster shook his head again: "More than ten years ago, there was a drought. Some of us here almost couldn't make ends meet. We survived with the help of the Hehuan Sect. We should never forget our roots."

"This..." This is different from what is written in the book. The two looked at each other and saw the doubts in each other's eyes. Where is this plot in the book? Isn't it just about the people's contempt for those "witch women" of the Hehuan Sect?

"Besides, with Sect Master Luo's style of doing things, if you bully her subordinates' purchasing today, she will tear your head off tomorrow." The gangster stuffed the deposit back. "If I had known that your trouble was related to the Hehuan Sect, I would not agree to it. I advise you to stop making random plans and take care of yourselves!"

“…”

The thugs ran off, leaving the two men feeling frustrated.

The woman herself looked down on the "dual cultivation" method of the Hehuan Sect, and naturally was unwilling to achieve her goal by becoming a disciple. The other person, being a man, could not join the Hehuan Sect. They did not know where to go for a while, and wandered around for a while unwillingly, but did not find any opportunities.

What should they do? The two of them discussed and decided that since Lu Beichen was the protagonist of this world, they should find him first.

The location of Lingxiao Gate was easy to find out. The two of them traveled through mountains and rivers to get there. On the way, they passed by a town called Tianshui. The man suddenly became excited: "Do you remember this place?"

"What's there in Tianshui Town?" The woman had no impression.

"It's the hometown of Su Lian'er, one of the women around Lu Beichen," the man introduced to her briefly. "Tianshui Town was hit by a flood, which almost destroyed the entire town. She became homeless and was tricked into becoming a medicine man. Later, she was rescued by Lu Beichen."

The woman sneered: "Why did you have to take a detour here? It's obvious that you just want to see women, right?"

"I really liked Su Lian'er when I was reading the book," the man shook his head, "but I came here mainly to confirm the time. We can't remember the year. If we go to Tianshui Town and ask how many years ago the flood occurred, wouldn't we be able to infer which part of the story we are in based on that?"

"Well, that makes some sense."

Plans are always slower than changes, and their itinerary is a good example of this.

They asked around in Tianshui Town.

What flood? There was no flood.

Take down the town? Nope.

“…”

The two looked at each other in bewilderment. Lu Yi just wanted to go back and scold the author. What kind of thing did he write? It didn't make sense at all.

But Lu Jia persisted and finally found out from the old man in the town that about one or two hundred years ago, the Canglan River flooded and almost submerged the town. Fortunately, a fairy passed by and quelled the flood with a folding fan, thus saving the entire town.

Lu Jia was at a loss: "Is there a Su family in the town, and is there a woman named Su Lian'er in the family?"

The old man was stunned: "Su Lian'er, of course there is."

"…What happened to her later?"

"She was found to have spiritual energy, so her parents were very happy to send her to a big sect to cultivate. It was said that her family didn't have enough money at the time, so the neighbors chipped in," the old man said with a smile, "She came back later, and I heard that she was doing very well in her cultivation. She also donated a lot of money to rebuild the road in the town and build a big house for her parents. It happened a long time ago. Look, the yard at the corner of the street is the Su family."

“…”

The two looked at each other and said, "I feel as dazed as I did in the advanced math class."

“…”

"Maybe it's just a coincidence. This name is not special." The woman looked at the old man, "Is there anyone else named Su Lian'er in this town?"

"Of course there is," the old man said with a smile, "Su Lian'er is very famous here. Many families in the town name their girls Lian'er, and there are also a few families with the surname Su."

The two were immediately relieved: "It's just a coincidence of names. It seems that the real Su Lian'er's story has not happened yet. We have traveled to the time before the flood."

They continued to move forward. Every time they passed a place mentioned in the book, the man would tell the woman what happened there. One day, the man pointed to a city and said, "This city is the residence of Shen Zhuang, the wealthy and generous man mentioned in the book."

The woman thought: "He is so generous, can we find a way to get some money from him?"

The man thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say, but it's better to try."

The two of them happily went into the city to ask around.

The city dweller scratched his head: "Chen Zhuang? Oh, you mean the scum who ran the Colosseum? Remember, he was killed a long time ago, it happened many years ago."

"By whom?"

"Xu Shulou."

"Xu Shulou?"

The two left the city in confusion, without staying any longer, and headed all the way to Lingxiao Gate.

They were also lucky, as they happened to arrive when the sect was opening its doors to recruit new disciples, so they were able to sneak in.

However, this Lingxiao Sect is not quite the same as described in the novel. It actually seems a bit... desolate. On the day of recruiting new disciples, there were surprisingly few applicants.

The man was confused: "This part is not mentioned in the novel. I don't remember Lu Beichen ever being down and out. Hasn't he always been a favored child of heaven?"

"Yes," the girl nodded, "I remember that too."

At that time, some people in the forum complained that other immortal cultivation stories with male protagonists usually had a plot of counterattack and slapping others in the face, but this story was so refreshing all the way.

"But it's better this way," the girl analyzed. "When he's in a good mood, he may not respond to us if we cling to his thighs. But when he's in a bad mood, we can help him and he will remember our kindness."

"That's right." The man agreed.

"So what about your great plan of 'killing Xu Shulou first when entering the book'?"

"What's the hurry? What? Are you going to stop me?"

"He's just a silly love-brained person," the girl spread her hands, "He's not worth my bother."

Seeing that she didn't stop him, the man could only tell the truth awkwardly: "Actually, I just hate the character of Xu Shulou. I just said something about him online, but who knows if he will really come through? How dare I really kill that living person?"

This is the truth. Before he traveled through time, he was just a lazy otaku in modern society who didn't know how to grow crops. He had never even killed a chicken before, so how could he dare to kill someone?

The girl rolled her eyes when she heard that.

"Don't just look down on me, what about you?" The man was dissatisfied. "You keep saying that Lu Beichen is a stud, but you still want to cling to him?"

"I did that to survive. After all, he is a hero with great luck. It's easy to get along with him," the girl retorted. "Besides, I want to be his junior sister and find ways to take advantage of the opportunity to practice. I'm different from those useless women of his."

"Why is it useless?" The man counted on his fingers. "In the plot, Ling Yuechan gave him information about the demons, and A Fu gave him a life-saving magic weapon. Even..."

"Alright, alright, you don't understand what I mean at all," the woman said impatiently, "You said I was clinging to someone powerful, but aren't you the same?"

"Who said I'm the same? I want to lurk beside him, wait for the plot I'm familiar with to start, snatch his opportunity, and then snatch his girl," the man said proudly, "After all, I'm a modern person, and I know the plot, how can I be better than him?"

"...Okay, I have ambition."

The two stopped being sarcastic with each other and went to register with the receptionist. They didn't know the original name of this body, so they made up a fake name. The man was called Lu Jia and the woman called herself Lu Yi.

"Passerby A and Passerby B, our names are so perfunctory..."

Fortunately, they were lucky. The bodies they occupied after traveling through time were filled with spiritual energy. Although their spiritual power was low, they successfully sneaked into Lingxiao Sect and became outer disciples.

However, after staying here for two months, the two realized that this plan was not appropriate. Lingxiao Sect was in decline at the time, and they, the outer sect disciples, could not get too many resources. If they wanted to help Lu Beichen in his time of need, they had to have coal to give first. The two were penniless. Could it be that just by giving Lu Beichen a few words of chicken soup, they would make him appreciate their kindness?

They have no skills at all, but just by saying "You will achieve great things in the future, and I will follow you until death", can Lu Beichen support them for nothing?

What's more, the outer disciples rarely saw Lu Beichen, and they couldn't bear the hardship of training, so they were all dejected.

At this time, they got a chance to follow Lu Beichen into the secret realm to hunt for treasure.

The magic weapons in this small secret realm are not very powerful, and Lu Beichen basically cannot use them. This time he brought the new disciples and outer disciples here specifically to find some resources for cultivation.

Lu Jia and Lu Yi were accompanying them. They felt that everything they saw was new and they couldn't wait to take out their phones to take pictures and post them on WeChat Moments.

Before entering the secret realm, we met another team.

Lu Beichen knew at a glance: "It's someone from Wuchen Island."

Lu Jia suddenly became excited and whispered to Lu Yi, "Hey, I didn't expect to meet him so soon! Wuchen Island, do you think Xiaobai will be in the team?"

Lu Yi rolled her eyes: "What's so good about a dodder flower?"

"What do you know?"

"Why don't I understand?" Lu Yi said disdainfully, "Don't you just like this kind of weak and useless woman?"

Lu Beichen stepped forward and greeted her with a smile: "Junior Sister Bai."

"Brother Lu, are you taking the new disciple treasure hunting?" Bai Roushuang smiled when she saw him, "Would you like to join us?"

“Yes, yes, yes!” Lu Jia’s eyes lit up and he nodded frantically.

Bai Roushuang gave him a strange look: "A new disciple?"

Lu Jia excitedly pulled Lu Yi to his side: "Even the voice is so nice."

"...You haven't even figured out the plot yet, and you're still thinking about picking up girls?"

Lu Beichen nodded: "Alright, thank you, Junior Sister Bai."

In recent years, his mentality has become much calmer, and he was quite calm in accepting Bai Roushuang's invitation.

There were not many people in both teams, and after they joined together, they entered the secret realm together.

Lu Yi was quite puzzled: "Where is the plot going at this point? Why do they seem to have nothing to do with each other?"

Lu Jia rubbed his hands: "It should be at the beginning, when Lu Beichen and Xiao Bai had just met and were not together yet?"

The two of them kept whispering to each other, causing Lu Beichen to look back and frown, saying, "Be serious."

The two of them didn't dare to speak anymore and pretended to observe their surroundings carefully.

During this observation, they discovered a strange large two-headed fly swooping down towards them. Lu Jia was startled, and then he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that some people had already taken up their weapons to meet the attack. He rolled his eyes and stepped forward to protect Bai Roushuang behind him: "Don't be afraid, Miss Bai, I'll protect you!"

He was very proud in his heart, Lu Beichen, ah Lu Beichen, the opportunity to conquer a beauty is right in front of you, if you don’t wake up to it, don’t blame me for taking the lead.

He turned around, wanting to admire the beauty's delicate and helpless expression. Hmm? Where is she? When he turned his head, he only saw Lu Beichen's complicated face not far away.

Bai Roushuang's voice came from the other side. After being blocked, she immediately changed her position and chose a good angle to watch the battle: "Junior apprentice sister Li, throw the sword to hit its compound eyes, and junior apprentice brother Shen, chop the base of its wings! Go around first, don't just chop straight! Use some strength, chop to death!"

Lu Jia looked over blankly, and Lu Yi started whispering to him again: "Are you sure this is Bai Roushuang?"

"Of course it is. From Wuchen Island, with the last name Bai, dressed in white, using a sword, and looking so pure, who else could it be?"

Lu Beichen cleared his throat: "You two are not yet at the stage where you can fight against the two-headed fly, but you should also take a closer look at how others fight the enemy."

“…”

"careful!"

Bai Roushuang was originally commanding the younger generation to kill the enemy, but when she saw another two-headed fly swooping over, she took action herself. Her dress fluttered and her long sword swung like a rainbow.

Seeing with their own eyes the scene from the fairy tale novels of fairies holding swords and wearing fluttering white clothes, Lu Jia and the others opened their mouths wide.

The sun shines on Bai Roushuang, she is as beautiful as a small white flower stained with dew in the early morning, her eyes are like spring water, clear and flowing. Judging from her appearance, she is indeed like the dodder mentioned by Lu Yi.

When the graceful waist bent, it was like she was dancing, but she used a deadly move in front of them, killing them with one blow.

Lu Beichen looked up, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

After the two two-headed flies were turned into corpses, several Wuchen Island disciples who participated in killing the enemies politely said, "Thank you, Elder Bai, for your guidance."

"No need to be polite."

Bai, Elder Bai? Lu Jia and Lu Yi looked at each other and stepped forward quickly: "Elder Bai, do you mind telling me your name?"

"Bai Roushuang."

"..." Lu Jia pressed on, "Is it possible that there is another girl with the same name on Wuchen Island, also called Bai Roushuang?"

Bai Roushuang shook her head: "What exactly do you want to ask?"

Several other Wuchen Island disciples also looked at him with slightly frowned brows.

Lu Yi quickly pulled him back: “No, nothing.”

Lu Beichen patted his shoulder in understanding: "Don't even think about it. The hero saving the beauty trick didn't work two hundred years ago."

"..." Big liar, Lu Jia thought. You clearly used it many times in the novel, on different girls, and it worked great every time.

"Next time we meet an enemy, don't block my sight." This was Bai Roushuang's only comment on Lu Jia's heroic act of saving the damsel in distress.

In recent years, she has long been accustomed to putting herself in the position of a weak person. She is Elder Bai of Wuchen Island, and she has the responsibility to face the battle head-on and protect the disciples behind her.

Lu Jia could only nod awkwardly.

"What is that?!" someone in the team raised a warning.

Suddenly, a rock-splitting explosion sounded at the other end of the secret realm. The entire secret realm trembled, reflecting the overwhelming flames, thick smoke rising straight up, and a heat wave directly reached this end, causing everyone to look over in panic.

"Don't panic," Bai Roushuang soothed, "My senior sister has also come in. There is a kind of mushroom here that can be ground into powder to make soup more delicious. She took advantage of the opening of the secret realm to look for mushrooms."

"It's not surprising if it's Xu Shulou." Lu Beichen smiled bitterly. Several disciples from Wuchen Island also looked relieved. They didn't even ask why finding an edible mushroom would cause an explosion.

Bai Roushuang couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that everyone was used to it. She looked at the flames in the sky over there. Her senior sister's life was as bright as a bunch of fireworks, exploding wherever she went.