Chapter 161 The Immortal Realm: Old Fang was truly in a dilemma.

Master Fang and the mirror polisher rested at the old man's house, watching as the old man skillfully mended the fishing net with a shuttle.

They drank two jugs of water, ate two bowls of dried seafood, and made two trips to the outhouse. As evening approached, the salty sea breeze blew in through the open door, rattling the strings of conch shells hanging under the eaves.

"grandfather."

Master Fang immediately stood up with a beaming smile, finally welcoming back his grandson who had brought the dried fish.

The eldest grandson was named He Dasheng. He was dressed in a coarse linen outfit, and his dark brown skin looked like it had been coated with a layer of shiny copper. Due to years of fishing at sea and being exposed to the sun, he looked much older than his age.

The eldest grandson was surprised to find two strangers in his house after he went out, because the two stepping stones he brought back were waiting for him there.

The place where they found the stone wasn't far from here. The three generations of the family were illiterate, and even if they could read, they wouldn't understand what it was. It was just a little flatter than other rocks. No matter what was carved on it, it was just an ordinary stone that couldn't be turned into gold or silver.

The eldest grandson, without any suspicion, readily went out to lead the way for them.

The crimson sun plummeted straight down from the horizon, its afterglow scattering across the waves like shattered gold, flowing like silk.

This was the first time Lu Bing had ever seen the sea.

It's so vast.

Boundless and endless.

He was born in Beiqu and grew up on the banks of the Yellow River. He was very naughty as a child. His grandmother forbade him to go into the river to catch fish and would always scare him by saying that if he fell into the river, he would be swept into the sea and could not be retrieved.

It turns out that from the north to the sea, the long river flows for three thousand miles, rushing to the sea and never returning. It is really so far.

Lu Bing trudged forward on the fine sand, his steps unsteady. He wanted to walk into the sea, preferably be swept away by the waves, and never be able to get back.

"Lu Bing," Chen Ying called out, "Let's stop here, don't go any further."

The sun and moon alternated on the sea level. Lu Bing stopped in place, and the rising and falling tide just reached his feet, wetting only the soles of his shoes before receding in an instant.

Chen Ying's intentions were certainly not as simple as just bringing him to see the sea.

Ah Cong carefully unwrapped the cloth and handed over the sandalwood box.

Chen Ying opened the lid with some hesitation. Inside was the yin sui (a type of fire-resistant device) that had been snatched from the Jingguan (a mound of skulls), which looked like seashells scattered on the beach.

Chen Ying said to Lu Bing, "You pick it up."

Lu Bing didn't move: "What are you doing?"

“I’m not going to do anything, I’m just letting you try,” Chen Ying said, “to pick it up.”

Lu Bing slowly raised his hand, about to reach into the box, when Chen Ying suddenly spoke up again: "Wait a minute."

Lu Bing's arm froze in mid-air.

Chen Ying took a deep breath, her heart pounding: "You keep thinking about the Boundless Secret Realm in your mind, you keep thinking about the Boundless Secret Realm in your mind."

"Something's wrong with him," Lu Bing thought to himself, rolling his eyes. "Who cares what he's thinking?"

Chen Ying urged, "Think quickly, think about it five times first."

If this were some kind of supernatural ritual that allowed him to have whatever he wanted, he would definitely want Chen Ying and A Cong to die as soon as possible.

Chen Ying asked him, "Have you thought about it?"

Lu Bing nodded: "I've thought about it."

I wish you all would all die, and it would be best if a storm or tsunami could come, or some kind of demon or monster could descend and wipe out these two scourges and that bunch of monsters.

"Then pick up the Yin Sui now."

This time, Lu Bing didn't give her time to dawdle. He quickly scooped up the seashell from the box. Oh right, this broken thing is called a Yin Sui.

Lu Bing actually knew that he had heard Ya Ren explain it to him when he was in Bei Qu Jiu. It was said that this was a piece of Yin Sui that Lao Tzu carried with him when he traveled west, and it contained the Dao.

At that time, Ya Ren said: "The Yin Fire can carry the Dao, and one can also draw water from the moon. The accumulated coldness of Yin becomes water, and the essence of water becomes the moon. Therefore, it is possible to construct a Taiyin Dao body in Beiqu."

Unexpectedly, he held this Dao-carrying Yin Suit in his hand, facing the vast sea and the bright moon. And then? Could the Dao within manifest its power and kill these two scourges beside him?

Just as Lu Bing was pondering something with ill intentions, the Yin Sui he was holding seemed to be filled with a pool of moonlight under the bright moon, slowly overflowing from the seashell, suddenly echoing the sea and sky.

Something strange suddenly appeared on the distant, azure sea.

"No way," Lu Bing thought in astonishment. "Is it really that amazing?"

Under the still-sunny moonlight, mist rose from the once calm sea, and within this veil of clouds and mist, undulating hills, jagged trees, and scattered boats could be faintly seen...

No, those weren't boats, but rather resembled the houses of a fishing village.

Lu Bing noticed this as soon as he arrived at the place. The fishermen here live in seaweed houses with walls made of local materials, such as rocks. The roofs are built in the shape of boats, with slightly upturned ends, which is quite characteristic of fishermen who "make boats their homes".

Chen Ying stared at the scene appearing and disappearing in the clouds and mist, and after a moment of stunned silence, she was overjoyed.

"We did it! We did it! I did it!" She gazed at the distant sea, murmuring to herself, her voice filled with both eagerness and disbelief. "Acong, Acong, did we do it? There," Chen Ying excitedly pointed to the horizon, "it's right there, isn't it the secret realm? Did we find the secret realm?"

Ah Cong stood stiffly upright, almost petrified, on the beach, staring blankly at the misty area where the scene was emerging.

After not hearing a reply for a long time, Chen Ying suddenly realized that Acong could not speak human language and could not open his mouth. So she turned her head to see how Acong would gesture.

"Ah Cong?"

Ah Cong slowly turned his head, his gesturing fingers seeming rusted, unlike his usual nimbleness.

The sign language gesture meant: "No."

Chen Ying's upturned lips froze on her face: "What is it?"

Ah-Cong signed: "It's not a secret realm, it's a mirage."

"How could this be? How could it be a mirage? It was clearly made with a fire-lighting device..."

This yinsui was originally a large clam, belonging to the mussel family.

An ancient saying goes, "The small one is called a clam, and the large one is called a sea snail."

The mirages it exhales can conjure up cities in the sky and mirages on the sea.

“This is a mirage projected by Yin Sui on the sea.” Acong paused for a moment, then continued gesturing, “But we succeeded; he can open the Boundless Secret Realm.”

Upon seeing the last sentence, Chen Ying, who had been feeling down, suddenly looked up, stared at A Cong for a few breaths, and then slowly grinned, smiling with immense joy.

All her hard work over the years has finally paid off.

Truly, heaven rewards those who persevere.

Ah Cong gestured to her: "Thank you, Ah Ying."

Chen Ying shook her head, a glint of light flashing in her smiling eyes: "You're welcome."

She turned around and stared at Lu Bing's back as he stood under the bright moonlight, radiant and dazzling.

Even if they don't find the Boundless Secret Realm right now, Lu Bing will definitely be able to lead them there.

A warm current seemed to surge through her heart, flowing gently through her entire body. Chen Ying was overjoyed, and her gaze towards Lu Bing was filled with extraordinary affection, as if she were looking at a hard-won treasure.

Lu Bing, who was standing still, was suddenly startled and staggered back a step.

"Lu Bing..." Chen Ying had barely finished speaking when the clouds and mist gathering between the sea and the sky began to change.

The world is full of myriad phenomena, and mirages also change with the weather, which is normal. However... a strange black shadow suddenly appeared in that pale mirage, with a huge head and an open mouth that seemed to be torn to the ear, as if it had been split in the middle to tear out such a bloody mouth.

Chen Ying's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly grabbed Lu Bing, who was backing away, and subconsciously pulled him behind her.

"What is this?" Lu Bing asked慌张地, his face pale. "A person?"

The dark figure in the mirage was clearly a humanoid with fully developed limbs and torso, emerging from a dark tunnel. However, its proportions were off, with its upper limbs being several inches longer than its legs, and it twisted around as if it had no bones.

On the other side, several dark figures were crawling painfully on the ground. They also had their mouths wide open, but unlike the previous dark figure, they did not have a terrifying appearance with their mouths torn to the ears. Instead, they seemed to be howling in a pitiful manner.

As white mist floated, this eerie mirage moved closer, magnifying the image several times over, making it clearer. However, the twisted, crawling shadows remained faceless.

As they crawled forward, the mirage gradually expanded, and the eerie, ghostly aura it generated almost spread across the boundless sea, slowly enveloping the fishing village.

The mirage, which was originally in a distant sea, was brought closer.

"This...this..." The Taoist priest in the forest was horrified. "Is it a demon, a ghost?"

Demons and monsters have appeared in the sea!

The mirror grinder had never seen such a bizarre scene before. The twisted things crawled out of the sea like madmen. He instinctively hid behind Master Fang and grabbed his robe, saying, "Old Fang, this is really haunted."

Master Fang frantically drew his sword, and at that moment, another world seemed to appear on the sea, a bizarre and grotesque ghost realm.

"No, don't panic." He Dasheng was also frightened by the scene. His scalp tingled as he quickly recovered and explained, "No, it's not a ghost, it's a mirage."

Fishermen who have lived along the coast for generations have almost all seen mirages, from castles in the air and palaces in the sky to fertile mountains and even bustling cities. But this kind of bizarre and terrifying mirage is something He Dasheng has never seen before, and he has never heard his elders mention such a phenomenon. The mirages in the legends are all beautiful and alluring.

Master Fang broke out in a cold sweat: "What mirage? Are mirages really that scary?!"

“A mirage is just an illusion created by mirage energy; it is illusory, so you two need not be afraid.”

Master Fang was not comforted at all, and continued to stare at the sea, his nerves taut: "I feel that this is not quite the illusion you described."

The mirror polisher couldn't agree more. He grabbed Master Fang's robe and nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, Master Fang, can't you feel it? The yin energy is so strong."

“Yin energy? What yin energy?” He Dasheng said, “Our fishing village is right next to the sea, and the sea breeze blowing in at night might be a bit damp.”

“No, it’s not, my nephew Dasheng.” Master Fang’s back was soaked with cold sweat. “I am a cultivator, and although I am not a highly accomplished master, I still have some sense of this yin energy.”

He Dasheng corrected, "Taoist Master, this is a mirage, but the mirage that appeared this time is a bit scary."

Seeing how confident and unfazed the other party was, Master Fang swallowed hard, wondering if he was really making a fool of himself in front of them.

"Is that so?" Master Fang was unsure, so he slowly lowered his sword and sheathed it.

"Shall we go?" He Dasheng asked. "Or should we wait until we've seen the mirage before we leave? It's very rare to see one like this. You've come all this way, so you're really lucky to have encountered it."

Master Fang found it difficult to comment. Was encountering such a terrifying mirage considered lucky?

Let's focus on finding the stone carvings first: "Let's walk and look around."

Mirages in the sky can be seen and searched for without wasting time, but they give people the creeps.

The dark figures kept crawling in the white mist, their postures becoming more and more contorted, as if they were struggling, and their mouths were opening wider and wider, as if their lips were being torn apart.

Master Fang was horrified by what he saw.

The thick, swirling mist lingered, seemingly spreading to the nearshore waters, and a dark shadow frantically climbed toward a ship.

Boat?

He Dasheng suddenly jolted awake, staring intently at the fishing boat on the sea, trying hard to make out its features.

Master Fang stopped in his tracks, following him: "What's wrong?"

He Dasheng rubbed his eyes hard, afraid of confusing the mirage with reality. He pointed to the sea and asked, "Do you see that ship?"

Master Fang and the mirror polisher both nodded: "We see it."

A colorful flag hangs from the mast of the fishing boat, fluttering forlornly in the wind. At this moment, it blends into the phantom, yet it is the only real object with color.

"That's my family's fishing boat. My dad went out to sea to fish this morning, and he's only just arrived..."

Before He Dasheng could finish speaking, a dark figure had already climbed onto his fishing boat, and withered hands grabbed the fishing pole, which suddenly snapped!

Everyone froze, staring in astonishment at the colorful flags drifting into the sea.

Where's the promised mirage? Is it just a coincidence? Or an optical illusion? Or was the gardenia stem itself rotten and fragile, and thus broken by the wind?

The mirror grinder looked at it more and more strangely: "Something doesn't seem right."

Like ghosts emerging from the mirage, the dark figures climbed onto the fishing boats. The boats had drifted to nearshore waters and appeared to be not far from the coast.

At the same time, they seemed to hear terrified screams coming from the fishing boat.

He Dasheng turned deathly pale with fright, abandoning Master Fang and the other man, and ran frantically towards the shore, crying out, "Father—!"

Master Fang and the mirror polisher looked at each other in bewilderment, then suddenly rushed after them, saying, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Didn't he say it was an illusion?!" The mirror grinder ran faster than Master Fang. "I told you it wasn't true."

"If it's not an illusion, then what is it?!"

"Many people must have drowned at sea, so it's possible it's haunted, right?"

"Dasheng, wait for us."

“His father is at sea, how could he possibly wait for us?”

Screams rang out from the fishing boat near the shore, and He Dasheng's heart nearly leaped out of his throat: "Dad—"

He didn't care about anything else. He rushed to the beach, broke free of the reins, pushed the fishing boat into the water, grabbed the oars, and rowed frantically.

Master Fang immediately became anxious: "Child!"

If the sea is truly teeming with evil spirits and monsters, what good will it do for this child to plunge in?

"Hurry up," Master Fang urged the mirror grinder, who was faster than him, "catch up with him."

As expected, the mirror grinder finally managed to wade ashore as the boat moved away from the shallows, shouting, "Don't be impulsive, it's dangerous!"

By the time Master Fang arrived, panting heavily, the small boat had already sailed far beyond the shore.

"No." He was out of breath and could barely speak. Why was no one waiting for him? Could you two even handle the evil spirits before leaving me behind?

Master Fang was completely baffled. He supported himself on his knees, bent over, and gasped for breath.

Running this fast must have exhausted him.

Suddenly, he heard a noise from the distant shore. Master Fang turned his head and saw two dark shadows reflected on the sand next to a reef.

Master Fang was traumatized by the dark shadow on the sea, and now, seeing the dark shadow on the sand, he was terrified. He held his breath, afraid to breathe too hard, but then he saw his own shadow reflected on the sand and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

You're scaring yourself.

Perhaps there was someone by the rocks, for the moonlight cast their shadow obliquely onto the sand.

Master Fang glanced at the fishing boat drifting further and further away, knowing he couldn't board it. After hesitating for a moment, he tiptoed toward the reef.

"Who knows what that is? The people on the fishing boat were just frightened by this mirage." It was a woman's voice.

"Will something happen?" Hmm, that voice sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before.

"So what if something happens, or so what if nothing happens? This is none of your business. Come back with me now."

"But those things were what I just..."

"Lu Bing, are you ever going to stop? It's just a mirage, no one will die."

Suddenly, Master Fang froze and hid behind the rocks.

What did that woman call out? Lu Bing? Was it the Lu Bing he knew?

Master Fang cautiously peeked out and actually saw a familiar face. He was startled at first, but then his face lit up with joy.

When fellow villagers meet, tears well up in their eyes. These two people from the northern Qu County actually met in Mizhou, a thousand miles away. What a preordained fate this must be!

Just then, Lu Bing saw him at the same time, and Master Fang immediately stepped out from behind the reef, overjoyed at the chance to meet an old friend in a foreign land.

As a result, Gu Zhi looked as if he had seen a ghost, his face changed drastically, and he pretended to fall down on the spot. Whether it was intentional or not, he deliberately fell on the woman with the alluring figure, resting his chin on her shoulder, while winking and mouthing at him.

Huh? What's going on with Officer Lu? Why does he act like he has sand in his eyes whenever he sees him? And Officer Lu was able to speak normally just now, so why can't he even make a sound now?

We're playing charades with him.

Intuition told Master Fang that the current situation was not suitable for fellow villagers to meet.

So he immediately retreated behind the reef, peeking out with one eye to carefully analyze the words of Constable Lu, who seemed to be saying, "Go, go."

Walk?

Should we let him go?

Why leave?

Where are we going?

In a flash, Master Fang suddenly realized that Lu, the constable, had suffered a terrible misfortune at home and his fate was unknown.

Overwhelmed with joy at their sudden reunion, Master Fang completely forgot about the tragedy that had befallen Officer Lu's family.

According to what he learned when he returned to Beiqu, all the murders in Beiqu were committed by the new bride of the Shen family and the evil spirit Wangxiang. So the person with Constable Lu at this moment is that new bride, the Gu Master.

Master Fang stared wide-eyed in the darkness, his mind racing. He realized that Officer Lu was being held hostage and had no control over his own actions, which was why he was deliberately feigning a fall and constantly giving him meaningful glances.

“Acong,” Chen Ying said, “carry him back.”

Suddenly, a masked man appeared, startling Master Fang. He immediately hid behind a rock, not daring to show even a single hair.

If this woman is indeed the Gu Master, then the things dug out of the river tomb are in her hands. Master Fang's heart pounded. Good heavens! The Gu Master is elusive. I've been searching for him for so long and haven't been able to find out where he is. And now I've run into him here!

No, he had to go and find out what was going on, and also find a chance to rescue Officer Lu.

Master Fang tried hard to calm himself down, afraid that he would make a sound if he got too excited. He listened carefully to the receding footsteps and was about to follow when he heard a scream from the sea. The owner of the scream was obviously that damned mirror polisher...

"Ah! Ah! Old Fang!"

Stop shouting, stop shouting.

Old Fang was truly caught in a dilemma.