Xie Lian asked, “What’s wrong?”
Sanlang sat down, spread his hands, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fuyao frowned and asked, "Who are you?"
Xie Lian said, “He’s a friend of mine. Do you know him?”
Sanlang looked innocent and asked, "Brother, who are these two people?"
Hearing him call him brother, Nanfeng's mouth twitched, and Fuyao's eyebrows twitched. Xie Lian raised his hand to Sanlang and said, "It's okay, don't be nervous." Nanfeng shouted, "Don't talk to him!"
Xie Lian asked, “Why, do you know each other?”
"..." Fuyao said coldly: "I don't know him."
Xie Lian said, “If you don’t know them, then why are you so…” Before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt something glow on both sides. He turned around and saw that the two men had simultaneously gathered a ball of white light in their right hands. A bad premonition came over him, and he hurriedly said, “Stop, stop. Don’t be impulsive!”
The two balls of white light that appeared out of nowhere were crackling and looked extremely dangerous. They were definitely not something that could emerge from the hands of an ordinary person. Sanlang clapped his hands twice and said politely, "Amazing, amazing." These two compliments were truly insincere. Xie Lian finally managed to hug the two people's arms. Nanfeng turned around and looked at him, angrily saying, "Where did you meet this person? What's his name? Where do you live? What's his background? Why is he with you?"
Xie Lian said, "I met him on the road. His name is San Lang. I don't know him at all. Since I had nowhere else to go, I let him stay with me. Please don't be impulsive for now, okay?"
"You..." Nan Feng held his breath, as if he wanted to curse, but he swallowed it back and asked, "How dare you let him in without knowing anything?! Aren't you afraid that he has some ulterior motive?!"
Xie Lian wondered why Nanfeng was speaking as if he were his father. Any other priest, or even just another person, would have been displeased to hear someone younger than them speak in this way. But Xie Lian had long since become completely insensitive to all sorts of scolding and ridicule. He also knew these two were merely being cautious and, ultimately, well-intentioned. So, he didn't care. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What do you think I could be plotting against?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Nanfeng and Fuyao were speechless.
This question truly made sense. If someone was being targeted, it was usually because they were in possession of a treasure. But the sad thing was, upon closer inspection, I couldn't imagine anything about Xie Lian that was worth targeting.
At this time, Sanlang said, "Brother, are these two your servants?"
Xie Lian said gently, "The word 'servant' isn't right. To be more precise, it should be called 'assistant'."
Sanlang smiled and said, "Really?"
He stood up, grabbed something at random, threw it towards Fuyao, and said, "Can you help me?"
Fuyao grabbed the thing without even looking at it, held it in his hand, looked down, and suddenly a black gas rushed to his head.
This young man actually threw a broom at him!!!
He looked as if he was ready to smash the broom and the young man into dust right then and there. Xie Lian quickly grabbed the broom and said, "Calm down, calm down, this is the only one I have." But before he could finish his words, the ball of white light in Fuyao's hand shot out. He shouted, "Show yourself now!"
Sanlang made no effort to dodge, still sitting with his arms folded. He tilted his head slightly, and the blinding white light hit the altar table. The table tilted, and with a crackling sound, cups, plates, and bowls fell to the ground. Xie Lian held his forehead slightly, feeling that this could not go on any longer. With a wave of his hand, Ruo Xie suddenly appeared and tied the arms of Nanfeng and Fuyao. The two struggled twice but failed to break free. Nanfeng shouted angrily, "What are you doing!"
Xie Lian gestured to pause, saying, "Let's talk outside, let's talk outside." With another wave of his hand, Ruo Xie dragged the two of them out. Xie Lian turned back to San Lang and said, "I'll be right back." He closed the door and walked to the front of the temple. He first took Ruo Xie, then took the sign from the door, placed it in front of the two of them, and said to them, "Don't talk yet. Please read it again and tell me what it is."
Fuyao read to the sign, "This temple has dilapidated buildings. We sincerely ask kind people to donate money to repair them and accumulate merit." He looked up and said, "Damage buildings, donating money? You wrote this?"
Xie Lian nodded and said, "Yes. I wrote it. If you continue to fight inside, then what I ask for is not repairs, but construction."
Nan Feng pointed at Puqi Temple and said, "Your Highness! Don't you think that young man is weird?"
Xie Lian said, “Of course I do.”
Nan Feng asked, "How dare you keep him by your side even though you knew he was in danger?"
Xie Lian put the sign back and said, “Nanfeng, what you said is wrong. People in this world have countless temperaments and adventures, and being eccentric doesn’t necessarily mean being dangerous. You must know that in the eyes of others, I certainly look eccentric, but do you think I’m dangerous?”
“…”
This is truly irrefutable. This man clearly has the appearance of an immortal, elegant and graceful figure, yet he spends all day collecting scrap. Isn't that incredibly strange!
Xie Lian added, “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t tested him before.”
The two of them looked serious and asked, "How did you test it?" "What was the result?"
Xie Lian recounted those attempts and said, “To no avail. Having come this far, if he’s not a mortal, then there’s only one possibility left.”
Absolutely!
Fuyao sneered, "Maybe it's really true?"
Xie Lian said gently, “Do you think the Ghost King of Despair is as idle as we are? Come to one of the villages and join me in collecting scrap.”
“…”
On the hillside, outside Puqi Monastery, the three of them could only hear the young man strolling leisurely back and forth within the house. He sounded quite content, as if not worried about anything at all. Xie Lian patted their shoulders and said, "This kid and I quite get along. Since we do, and I don't have anything worth plotting against, let's not worry too much about anything else."
After a while, Nan Feng said in a deep voice: "No. We still have to think of a way to test whether he is absolutely sure."
Xie Lian knew he couldn't stop him, so he rubbed his brow and said, "Then you guys try. But don't go too far. You're priests of the Heavenly Court, after all. He might really be just a runaway boy. Be friendly and don't bully him."
Hearing the words, "Don't bully him," Nan Feng's face was filled with indescribable sadness, while Fu Yao's eyes were practically rolled back. After giving them his instructions and opening the door, San Lang was looking down, seemingly checking the legs of the altar. Xie Lian coughed lightly and asked, "Are you alright?"
Sanlang smiled and said, "I'm fine. I'm just seeing if this table can be repaired."
Xie Lian said, “It was just a misunderstanding. Please don’t mind it.”
San Lang smiled and said, "Since you said so, why would I mind? Maybe they think I look familiar."
Fuyao said with a chill, "Yes. It looks familiar, so maybe I was mistaken just now."
Sanlang grinned and said, "Oh. What a coincidence! These two look familiar to me."
“…”
Although the two were still on guard, they didn't make any more radical moves. Nan Feng muttered, "Make room for me and draw the formation."
Now that these two young priests had joined, there was no need to walk to Half Moon Pass. With their magical powers, they could naturally use the "Shrinking the Earth" technique, shrinking a thousand miles of mountains and rivers into a single step. Although this technique would be unusable for several hours each time it was used, it was still extremely convenient. Xie Lian collected the mat from the ground and said, "Draw here."
Fuyao had just come in and hadn't taken a close look at the furnishings inside the temple. Now, he stood in this crooked little house for a while, looking around, looking uncomfortable. He frowned and said, "You live in a place like this?"
Xie Lian brought him a stool and said, "I always stay in places like this."
Hearing this, Nanfeng paused, then continued drawing the formation. Fuyao didn't sit down, and his expression froze for a moment. It was hard to tell what was on his face; part of it looked like he was stunned, and part of it looked like he was gloating.
However, he quickly put away his strange expression and asked, "Where's the bed?"
Xie Lian hugged the mat and said, “This is it.”
Nanfeng looked up at the mat, then lowered his head again. Fuyao glanced at Sanlang beside him and said, "Are you sleeping with him?"
Xie Lian asked, “What’s the problem?”
After a long while, the two men didn't utter another word, apparently the problem was resolved. Xie Lian turned and asked, "Sanlang, you were interrupted mid-sentence just now. What exactly is going on with the Half Moon Demon Dao? Please continue."
San Lang had just been staring at them, seemingly lost in thought, his eyes dark. When Xie Lian asked him, he came to his senses, smiled slightly, and said, "Okay."
After a pause, he said, "That Ban Yue Imperial Master is one of the two masters of the demon path."
Xie Lian casually asked, "There must be two demonic Taoist masters, so who is the other one?"
Sanlang naturally answered every question and said, "He is a demon Taoist from the Central Plains, named Fangxin Guoshi."
Xie Lian widened his eyes slightly and continued to listen.
The Banyue people were known for their bravery and aggressive nature. Their unique geographical location placed them at a crucial junction between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. This borderland was plagued by frequent clashes and conflicts, with numerous battles, both large and small. Two hundred years ago, a Central Plains dynasty finally launched an attack on the Banyue Kingdom.
The Half Moon Demon Daoist was an orphan from the Half Moon Kingdom. Abandoned as a child, he wandered the land, but as he grew up, he acquired a host of uncanny abilities from an unknown source. The people of Half Moon, awed by his magical prowess, revered him as their national master. During a prolonged battle between the two nations, the national master offered a sacrifice to the heavens, claiming it was to protect the Half Moon soldiers. This, combined with a surge of fighting spirit and morale, saw the soldiers desperately defend the city gates. Arrows, boulders, boiling oil, and swords raged in the raging battle.
Unexpectedly, this imperial teacher suddenly opened the city gate at the most intense moment of the battle.
The city gates were wide open, and tens of thousands of enemy troops rushed into the city frantically in an instant.
As the iron cavalry passed, the entire city instantly transformed into a blood altar. Thanks to this heaven-defying blood sacrifice, the Banyue Imperial Master finally achieved his ultimate sorcery, becoming a powerful and influential force. And the Banyue Kingdom, in turn, became the Banyue Pass.
Strangely enough, the area where Half Moon Pass stood was once an oasis. After the fall of the Half Moon Empire, as if engulfed by an evil spirit, the oasis was gradually swallowed up by the surrounding Gobi Desert. It's said that sometimes at night, people could see tall, mace-wielding Half Moon soldiers wandering the Gobi Desert from afar. Tens of thousands of people once inhabited this area, but gradually, unable to survive, they migrated away. Meanwhile, a legend spread that "every time someone crossed the pass, more than half disappeared."
The saying "every time they pass through a checkpoint, more than half the soldiers disappear" means that any caravan passing through this area must leave money for passage. And this money is human lives. The Half Moon Demon Dao uses these passing souls to feed the souls of the Half Moon soldiers in that city, preventing them from starving and turning against themselves.
Fuyao said with a forced smile, "Sir, you know so much."
San Lang laughed and said, "No, no. You just don't know much."
“…”
Xie Lian couldn't help but laugh, thinking this kid was quite sharp-tongued. Then he heard Sanlang lazily say, "It's just some stories from unofficial history and ancient books of strange things. Who knows if such a national teacher really existed? It's even possible that the Half Moon Kingdom existed."
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