15 Qingshan Town

How can a cultivator shed blood so casually?

Yin Li understood the situation perfectly, but feigned reluctance and said to the monk, "Please be patient for a while. Once my sister and I have gathered the money, then we can—"

He paused at just the right moment, head bowed, seemingly wanting to say something but unable to.

"Alas, another pair of unfortunate people. May the Heavenly Ancestor protect them."

The monk sighed with regret. To Chu Qing's surprise, the other party agreed to Yin Li's statement without even asking any questions.

"Esteemed benefactors, tomorrow is the annual blessing ceremony. You may come to share in the good fortune and ward off disasters."

A blessing ceremony?

Chu Qing and Yin Li exchanged a silent glance, both understanding the meaning in each other's eyes.

"Thank you, Master. We will be there on time tomorrow."

"May you have a safe journey, benefactor."

The monk nodded to them, but as he turned away, no one saw the fierce-looking man's eyes close and then open again.

The two bowed deeply and walked out in silence. Once in the carriage, Chu Qing sighed and closed her eyes to pretend to sleep.

Is it because they trusted each other too much, or because they saw these things as insignificant and therefore let their guard down?

"Master, shall we go back to the inn?"

The sound interrupted her thoughts. Yin Li looked at her calmly, concealing the turmoil in her eyes. Now there was no clue about her junior sister's whereabouts. What exactly did Chu Qingge want to do?

“No, Yin Li, we have to split up. I’ll go to Li Yi and ask about the situation. You go back and observe the situation further. Contact us immediately if you find any clues.”

Upon hearing this arrangement, Yin Li subconsciously frowned. If Chu Qingge deliberately sent him away to conceal some clues, wouldn't his junior sister be in great danger?

Thinking of this, he quickly put on an anxious expression, his eyes filled with panic: "Master, I should stay with you. The temple is heavily guarded now, and I'm afraid my abilities aren't enough to detect anything. If we overlook important clues, I—"

"Bang!"

A powerful force slammed Yin Li against the inner wall of the carriage, eliciting a muffled groan from the young man.

"Useless trash! If I'd known you were only this capable, what good would I have brought you along!"

For some reason, Chu Qing just couldn't stand his weak and pitiful appearance. It was like a dog that she had painstakingly raised with all her heart, hoping it could take on its own responsibilities, but in the end, it had to lie at her feet, showing its vulnerable neck and waiting for rewards and orders.

If he were just a cute guy, I wouldn't say anything, but the key is that he's the male lead!

What kind of person are you now, so self-conscious and cowardly? You're not even as good as when you first met him in prison and showed half of that ruthlessness!

"Yin Li, remember to think before you speak, don't always ask others for their opinions, and when you encounter difficulties, dare to take on the challenge. Don't back down or be lax."

Chu Qing really felt that she was getting better and better at "maintaining her persona". Now she would resort to violence at the slightest disagreement. Was she going a little too far?

"Cough cough"

Does it hurt?

No, Yin Li felt a surge of emotion, a mixture of excitement and surprise.

Looking at the other person's angry expression, he slowly opened his lips and weakly said, "But, Master is not just anyone."

"What?"

The words that had just left her mouth were immediately regretted. Chu Qing turned her head to the other window, looking at the bustling crowd, as if something was quietly sprouting in her heart.

He must be too worried about Ling Xueluo. His emotions have been fluctuating so much lately, which is not a good sign.

"Get off the bus now, return the way you came, and wait for me there at midnight tonight."

After speaking, Chu Qing, as if trying to avoid something, quickly raised her hand and pulled the boy out of the car.

"master!"

The slightly panicked voice still lingered in my ears, but the person standing on the road quickly became a black dot and disappeared from sight.

This is insane! Absolutely insane! What happened to the supreme demon lord who could slay gods and Buddhas alike?!

Amidst the swirling sand, Yin Li simply stood still. Compared to his junior sister's safety, he found Chu Qingge's reaction more interesting.

He covered his chest, where he had just been hit, and closed his eyes to sniff the air.

Master, you smell much better than before!

[Current favorability rating: 49, please keep up the good work, host]

As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the Li family's house, Chu Qing couldn't wait to push the door open and go inside: "Call Li Yi out, I have something to ask him."

"Alright, alright, Immortal, please have a seat. This old servant will go and fetch the young master right away."

The butler poured a cup of hot tea and jogged into the backyard.

Before long, Li Yi walked over slowly with his head down.

"Immortal, what can I do for you?"

"Li Yi, you had a dream, and your wish came true. Could these things have happened after the blood was spilled?"

Suddenly, the other person's pupils contracted, and they accidentally knocked over the teacup.

The moment the scalding hot water touched his skin, he stood up, only to fall uncontrollably to the ground again.

"I, I...I...I regret it, I..."

Tears streamed down his face as he looked at Chu Qing in surprise, before finally telling her everything he knew.

It turns out that he and Li Jun had gone to a popular temple in the suburbs to pray for good fortune and sachets so that their elder brother could achieve a good ranking in the imperial examinations.

That temple has a long-standing tradition—wealthy and powerful people would go to the inner room to eat vegetarian food and recite scriptures, and to show their sincerity, they would often offer gold and silver.

But that time, everything changed.

They discovered that the person inside was not Manjushri Bodhisattva at all, but was replaced by a monster with an ugly face, bulging eyes, and a gaping mouth and ears.

But the monks and abbot inside said that this was the Heavenly Ancestor, who could help people fulfill all kinds of wishes, and was many times more effective than Manjushri Bodhisattva. Li Yi and Li Jun were initially skeptical, but the people around them kept saying, "Li family sons, right? The Ancestor is really effective! Last time our family prayed for a prosperous business, and the very next day a big business came in!"

"We were hoping our master could be promoted to a higher official position, but I didn't have much hope. Who knew that the transfer order would come from the other side the very next day!"

Is it really that effective?

With a skeptical attitude, they paid the silver. As soon as they knelt down, the two monks took out two bowls and placed them in front of them: "In order to show the sincerity of the believers, we need to drip blood to see the fate. If the pattern on the bottom of the bowl lights up, then it is fate, and you are one of the believers of the Heavenly Ancestor. But if the pattern does not change, then we can only find another way."

Li Yi and Li Jun didn't say much, but instead pricked their fingers and slowly dripped the blood into the bowl.

For the sake of his elder brother's career and official position, it's just a matter of a few drops of blood.

The waiting process was long, and the two brothers were afraid that the pattern wouldn't light up and they wouldn't have a chance to seek protection.

When the snowflake-shaped pattern at the bottom of the bowl lit up, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After they finished their prayers, they went home.

The strange thing happened after the eldest brother passed the imperial examination.

As usual, Li Yi lay in bed sleeping at night, but this time, he couldn't sleep soundly. It was as if someone was watching him intently from the shadows. He wanted to wake up, but the heaviness of his eyelids was irresistible.

After drifting off to sleep once more, a thick fog suddenly rolled in, and Chu Qing learned everything that followed.

“Originally, I thought I was the only one like this, but when I woke up that day and saw my second brother running over in a panic to ask me if I had any strange dreams last night, we were both terrified.”

"But we were just dreaming. No matter how scared we were, nothing strange happened in real life, until—"

"Until Li Jun disappeared, right?"

Chu Qing responded, her expression becoming even more serious.

Therefore, those who went missing may be of different ages and have different identities, but they must have all done the same thing—dripped blood into a bowl.

Before we knew it, night had fallen. The weather seemed unusually gloomy today, with hardly any trees in sight.

"I understand, Li Yi. Try not to go out during this period. Contact me immediately if anything happens. Stay safe."

"Thank you, Immortal. The whereabouts of my second brother depend on you."

Chu Qing glanced at Li Yi silently, said nothing, and headed directly towards the temple.

Gusts of wind blew by, making the trees beside the temple sway slightly, appearing like ghostly hands waving their claws in the darkness.

Yin Li leaned against the spot where the carriage had been parked earlier that day, and just as she was feeling a little drowsy, she sensed a familiar presence.

Sure enough, Chu Qing walked towards him, bathed in moonlight.

"Did you find anything?"

As soon as they got close, the two of them crouched down behind the bushes.

Yin Li shook his head and said, "There are basically no people here until 7 PM. A few monks cleaned up and then went back. I kept an eye on it, but I didn't see anyone suspicious."

That shouldn't be the case. What about the Buddha statues in the front hall?

Estimate the time, Chu Qing said, "You keep an eye on things, I'll check out the situation inside the temple."

"master."

Yin Li stopped her and took out something to place in front of her: "Use this, it won't be easily discovered."

Chu Qing took a look and realized it was a small paper figure. What a great idea!

She smiled slightly, her eyes showing a hint of appreciation; he had learned his lesson.

At Chu Qing's prompting, Yin Li dotted the eyes of the paper figure, and "he" skipped and hopped forward, sneaking into the temple.

But as soon as she entered, Chu Qing noticed that the other person's expression was a bit off, and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

"No, the statue in the outer hall has turned back into the Heavenly Demon statue from the first night!"

What!

Chu Qing clenched her fists, telling him to keep looking inside and not to rush.

"Pay attention to your surroundings; I have a feeling there might be a trap."

Unexpectedly, his words came true. Not long after Chu Qing said those words, the little paper figure had just stepped into the inner hall when a sharp sword pierced the air from the shadows, heading straight for him.

!

"Clang! Bang!"

The sounds of fighting came from inside; it seemed to be just one person, but they were quite strong.

"Yin Li, hold on and lure him out. I'll go in and check."

He instinctively wanted to refuse, unwilling for Chu Qingge to take the risk herself, but seeing the situation, there was no better arrangement.

Yin Li nodded, focused his attention again, and slowly guided the paper figure to the outer hall, where it emerged.

The attacker was none other than the monk who had led them today!

"Ha, a mere paper doll, trying to lure me out?"

Oh no! Chu Qingge just went in!

For a moment, Yin Li wanted to reveal her figure, but then felt that doing so would be too risky.

Just as the monk was about to turn around, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and began to practice his martial arts again.

[Author's Note]

I'm back early! (Actually, I was forced to meet the word count for the list, haha...)

Oh my god, I can't take it anymore! Wasn't this supposed to be a romance novel?! Wasn't this supposed to be a master-disciple story?! Why are there so few interactions between the male and female leads lately...?

But I'll try my best. After this somewhat complicated dungeon is finished, I'll probably be moving on to the main romance storyline, hahaha. Please leave your comments, cuties~ I feel like I've been relegated to the cold palace [crying emoji]