Chapter 114 - 114 One hundred and fourteen

Words : 1498 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

114: One hundred and fourteen. Coming down the Mountain 114: One hundred and fourteen. Coming down the Mountain “Is it your girlfriend again?” Old Taoist Lu guessed, knowing he was right the moment he saw those deep, ocean-like black eyes and said with a look of elder’s frustration, “Aiya, I really can’t understand you young people, always with your lovey-dovey and life-or-death drama...” “I remember you liked your master——” “Alright! Do you have to be right?!” Old Taoist Lu was ashamed and angry, puffing his beard and glaring as he retorted. Lu Li had only mentioned it casually, but upon seeing Old Taoist Lu’s embarrassment, he promptly changed the subject, “I have another question.” “I! Will! Not! Speak!” Old Taoist Lu stood with arms akimbo and eyes wide, emphasizing each word. Lu Li ignored the response and calmly continued, “That door’s activities are getting more and more out of hand. Yesterday, I narrowly avoided being discovered by the door. If things continue to escalate, I won’t be able to hold on for much longer.” “There’s nothing I can do about that, you’ll have to try your luck at the Metaphysics and Cultural Exchange Meeting in half a month. By the way,” Old Taoist Lu chuckled, shaking his head with a smug look, “you need an invitation to go there, and I have one——” he teased with a playful ‘but I won’t give it to you~’ attitude, “Are you mad?” Lu Li fell into brief silence, his gaze landing on the surrounding jars of liquor. “You won’t just stay at the Taoist temple all the time, will you?” “What?” Old Taoist Lu blinked, feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Lu Li looked around calmly, “What do you think would happen if I said I’d sneak up the mountain while you’re not here and open these jars? Those locks on the doors might keep out passersby, but not someone determined.” Rustle rustle whisper whisper— Nearly a hundred jars began to tremble with Lu Li’s words, and an eerie snickering filled the night-time wooden house. Old Taoist Lu was terrified, chilled to the bone at the thought of the consequences, and he warned sternly, “You wouldn’t do something that would harm others without benefiting yourself, right? There are nearly a hundred spirits here; if you let them out and their resentment fills the sky, causing a pandemonium during the night, Lingling would be in chaos, and besides, such actions could harm your ‘Yin’—” “Of course I won’t let them go,” Lu Li wasn’t so heartless. “But it’s possible to release them for exorcism.” His black eyes stared at Old Taoist Lu with a hint of depth, “I think you have a reason for not directly exorcising them but choosing to purify their resentment instead.” Old Taoist Lu hesitated, his gaze shifting to the corner, slightly guiltily admitting, “I can take you there to have a look, and if you’re lucky you might find the person you’re looking for.” “Thank you.” Lu Li was earnest in his gratitude as if the threat earlier hadn’t come from him. Old Taoist Lu dared not let Lu Li stay any longer, even regretting why he had crazily decided to bring him here. Who brings a thief into a vault? After ushering Lu Li out of the jar house, Old Taoist Lu locked each of the three locks in turn, finally setting the burglar alarm before returning with Lu Li the way they came. “Is it safe now?” Lu Li asked. “This is the back mountain; tourists can’t even get here,” Old Taoist Lu casually replied as he tucked away the keys. “I advise you to get ready, the forum isn’t going to be easy, and there might even be a fight.” “There will be fights?” “At the forum, neighboring sects all come to join in on the fun. We old-timers are naturally all friendly, even if we see someone we don’t like, we wouldn’t kill them on the spot. But apart from us old ones, each sect will also bring along their young talents, holding a kind of trial competition to test the mettle of the young ones—though that’s old news now, the trial competition has now been renamed to something like... the ‘Youth Demon-Extermination and Ghost-Capture Friendship Contest’?” “Trial competition” doesn’t sound good, but it’s much better than the current “Youth Demon-Extermination and Ghost-Capture Friendship Contest.” Old Taoist Lu sarcastically bemoaned the aesthetic taste of these sects, then said, “As for the competition, it used to be one-on-one fights, but later that was seen as unfair, plus those youngsters are corrupted by the internet, always thinking about murdering for treasure, defying the heavens, demon wives, and spirit concubines, so it changed to setting up scenarios with a few or a dozen ghosts inside, and then letting the participants—uh, I mean the young talents—go in for an adventure.” “Can’t it be avoided?” Lu Li frowned slightly. He had no interest in participating in any sort of trial. Old Taoist Lu circled around the branches in front, stepping on the damp fallen leaves, threading his way through the forest while panting slightly, “If you want them to notice you, this trial is indispensable. If you’re just ordinary, why should those guys take a liking to you?” “So.” Under the night sky and drizzle, the silhouette of the temple’s outer wall emerged in the distance. With the tops of their heads slightly damp, the two, dappled with water droplets, returned to the Taoist temple. Old Taoist Lu then tiptoed, lowering his voice, “You either have to make yourself look strong, or make yourself look useful.” “Kid, it’s unsafe to go down the mountain this late. How about staying the night here in the temple?” Back at the entrance to the bedroom, out of habit, Old Taoist Lu politely uttered an offer to stay. Such words, like “I’ll treat you to a meal someday” or “Let’s exchange phone numbers sometime,” were purely polite and not to be taken seriously. “Then, I’ll impose.” Lu Li nodded. Slap— Old Taoist Lu gave himself a slap, clear and loud. Lu Li was arranged into an empty guest room. The bedding was a bit damp, but as Lu Li didn’t sleep on a bed, it wasn’t much of a problem. After settling Lu Li in, Old Taoist Lu snuck back to his room. Lu Li fell asleep in a chair, and the night passed without incident. He woke up on his own at eight o’clock in the morning. Under normal circumstances, Lu Li had never woken up so early. Even if he couldn’t sleep, he would stay in bed until after nine before getting up. He pushed the door and stepped out of the guest room. The morning mist in the backyard was thin, and the Taoists bustled to and fro, cooking and practicing martial arts. Old Taoist Lu, who was practicing Tai Chi in the open space, noticed Lu Li come out. He finished his exercise and stood firm, radiating a slight warmth as he led Lu Li down the mountain. As they passed the main hall, a wail burst from inside. Old Taoist Lu ignored it, while Lu Li glanced over to see a little boy wailing loudly, and one of the statues of The Three Pure Ones on the altar had toppled over, shattering on the ground. The boy’s father looked ready to hit him, which scared the little boy into hiding behind a Taoist who merely offered a wry smile. The Taoist repeatedly intervened, waving his hands, “It’s no big deal. If it’s broken, it’s broken; it’s just a clay statue. In a few days, we’ll get a craftsman to remake it. Just don’t hit the child anymore. However, you’ll need to cover the craftsman’s fee when the time comes.” As they walked farther away, their voices became less distinct; a faint dialogue could be heard, “It’s not expensive, just a few hundred yuan to sculpt a new clay image.” “It seems like the other people in the temple don’t know you’re ghost hunting.” Lu Li withdrew his gaze and walked with Old Taoist Lu toward the mountain gate. “Hmm, only my senior brother and I are involved in this business. We consider ourselves Exorcists, while the other kids are just ordinary Taoists. Like now, pretending to be crazy and silly all day long, not having to do any work, isn’t it just delightful?” Old Taoist Lu stopped in front of the mountain gate. In the misty rain, a stretch of brown stone steps stood out against the green mountains, winding downward. “Don’t die.” He said with a complex tone. Without looking back, Lu Li walked down the stone steps, his voice trailing off. “That’s not for me to decide.”

Chapter 114 - 114 One hundred and fourteen

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