The Dilapidated Temple
Seeing Zheng Que agree, Xu Houde immediately smiled with delight. Stroking his long beard, he quickly said, “The immortal master in Great Peace County City is surnamed Lu. As for his specific given name, I don’t know.”
“The restriction at the town entrance was set up by Immortal Master Lu fifty years ago.”
“Immortal Master Lu said that the restriction he left behind would not be broken for a cycle.”
“Only fifty years have passed now, a full ten years short of a full cycle. In theory, the restriction shouldn’t be having this problem.”
As he spoke, he stood up, walked to the bookshelf, rummaged through it, and soon pulled out two yellowed deeds. Then, from a wooden box, he took out some silver taels and handed them all to Zheng Que.
“These two deeds are the land deed and property deed for that small temple.”
“I’ll arrange for the other matters to be handled right away.”
“Keep this silver. It will come in handy when you go to the county city.”
Zheng Que did not decline and promptly accepted the deeds and silver. Then he asked, “If I go to Great Peace County City and find that Immortal Master Lu is not in the city…”
“Or if I find Immortal Master Lu but he refuses to come, what should I do then?”
Xu Houde fell silent for a long moment before slowly replying, “If Immortal Master Lu is not in Great Peace County City, or if he is unable to come to our town, then we’ll have to find a way to seek out another immortal master.”
Another immortal master?
Did that mean there was more than one cultivator living in Great Peace County City?
Zheng Que was somewhat surprised. Xu Houde was just an ordinary person and had likely never left the small town.
But judging from his words, he clearly had some understanding of Great Peace County City.
Furthermore, that great herb passed down from his ancestors, Xu Houde’s ancestors were most likely cultivators as well. The things Xu Houde knew now had probably been passed down by one of them.
Thinking this, Zheng Que was in no hurry to leave. “By the way, town mayor, in the past few days, many people in the town have lost their shadows. Do you know what’s going on?”
Xu Houde frowned and shook his head. “Lost their shadows? I haven’t noticed.”
“Tell me in detail.”
As he spoke, he quickly walked behind the desk, pulled out a booklet with a spine and cover tinted pale green, opened it, picked up a rabbit-hair brush, and prepared to take notes.
Seeing this, Zheng Que directly recounted everything that had happened in recent days.
Xu Houde swiftly wrote it all down with flowing strokes, then pondered slightly. “I’ve never encountered this kind of situation.”
“None of the old books passed down from my ancestors mention it either.”
“Alright, when I arrange for someone to notify the town to avoid the small temple later, I’ll have them also tally the people without shadows.”
“If anything is discovered, I’ll inform you immediately.”
Old books passed down from ancestors.
Were they books left behind by cultivators?
Zheng Que immediately replied, “Alright.”
After chatting with Xu Houde a little longer and finding nothing else to gain, he stood up and took his leave.
Xu Houde also stood up and personally escorted Zheng Que to the main gate, watching him walk away into the distance before closing the door and fastening the bolt.
He turned and headed toward the study, but after taking just a few steps, a young boy wearing a pale green outer robe ran out from the main room. The boy had a coin-shaped patch of hair shaved on his forehead and a small braid left at the back of his head.
“Grandpa!”
The boy shouted loudly as he danced and ran toward Xu Houde.
Xu Houde’s face immediately broke into a kind, affectionate smile. He half-crouched and spread his arms, ready to catch his grandson as he threw himself forward. Then his expression froze. His grandson’s feet were empty, without a shadow.
At that moment, the boy quickened his pace, leaped forward, and crashed into him, tightly wrapping his arms around Xu Houde’s leg.
The shadow behind Xu Houde immediately began to vanish at a visible speed, as if being rapidly devoured by something.
In the next instant, his expression turned blank. After a few breaths, it returned to normal.
Gazing at the ground without the slightest trace of shadow, Xu Houde no longer felt anything amiss. He laughed heartily, picked up his grandson, and walked back into the house, gently teasing and playing with him along the way.
After leaving the town mayor’s house, Zheng Que carefully stored the two deeds. Instead of returning home, he headed toward the dilapidated temple.
It was already noon, and along the way he encountered a few scattered groups of people.
More than half of these townsfolk had no shadows, but everything else about them seemed normal. When they saw Zheng Que, they even took the initiative to greet him.
Zheng Que cautiously kept his distance from them. After walking for a while, he finally arrived at the entrance of the dilapidated temple.
Creak.
He pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped inside.
The courtyard was just as before: overgrown with wild grass, the old tree withered and dead, the main structure of the temple already half-collapsed, exuding an air of desolation.
As soon as he entered, Qing Li went over and hung herself from the withered old tree.
Zheng Que closed the courtyard gate behind him and walked into the temple.
The temple was roughly the size of two ordinary rooms, divided into front and back by the shrine. Due to the broken main beam, half of the roof on the left side had caved in, leaving very limited space to move around. The walls were covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and the paper on the rear window had long since tattered, letting the wind whistle through.
Even before his master settled here, this small temple had been abandoned for many years. Although his master had stayed for a short while, there was still no trace of human presence. Only the coldness unique to long-uninhabited buildings lingered, spreading slowly alongside the smell of mildew.
Zheng Que walked over and sat down on the cushion where his master had previously meditated. Then he took out the wooden box the town mayor had given him.
He opened the box, lifted the red cloth, and took out the three medicinal roots, holding them in his palm and examining them carefully.
These three roots were so thin they were almost weightless, yet they emitted a rich, intense Spiritual Qi. As soon as they touched Zheng Que’s skin, the pure Spiritual Qi spontaneously seeped into his body along the meridians in his palm.
At the same time, the roots released a clear, bitter fragrance. With just a light sniff, his internal organs seemed to feel cleansed, and his entire body felt as if it were soaking in a warm spring, cozy and indescribably comfortable.
Yet the Spiritual Qi within his body grew rapidly restless, as if some instinct deep within was roaring wildly, urging an intense craving for all three roots.
Zheng Que took a deep breath. He didn’t know what kind of medicine this was, but he was certain: it was useful to him now.
Without hesitation, Zheng Que immediately picked up one of the roots and stuffed it directly into his mouth.
To avoid damaging its medicinal efficacy, he did not chew it but swallowed it whole.
Unlike ordinary herbs, the moment this slender, hair-like root entered his stomach, Zheng Que instantly felt a surge of blazing fire ignite within him. This fire was gentle and mellow, transforming into countless warm currents that rapidly spread toward his limbs and throughout his body.
This warmth was somewhat similar to the non-poisonous wine he had chosen in this place before, but even milder.
Along with this warm current, Zheng Que could clearly feel the Spiritual Qi within him becoming extremely active, its circulation speed skyrocketing, increasing more than twofold in the blink of an eye.
His heart stirred. He immediately began circulating the 【Life Seed Art】.