Chapter 239: The Disappearance

Around the same time when Wen Leyang had left the family village and rushed towards Mount Hua, both Ji Fei and Shui Jing too left the Nine Peaks Mountain. Ever since both of them have acknowledged Wen Leyang as their Master, they have treated the Nine Peaks Mountain as their holiday home. They would wander around the outside world and return when they were tired to rest there for a while. They would then leave again when they grew bored of the mountain so no one paid any attention to their movements.

The old monk Ji Fei had not said a single word during the journey as he pulled the fat monk along and hurried forward with a lowered head. Finally, when they were at a distance from the great mountain, the old monk Ji Fei stopped walking and asked his junior mysteriously, "Fat monk, is it true that you can't remember anything at all?"

The fat monk Shui Jing was dazed as he rubbed his fair-skinned hand on his head strenuously. His face was filled with helplessness as he said, "The last thing I remember was... Was that we were discussing on how to deceive that red-shirted girl into giving us her lantern and stone tablet."

The old monk sniggered as he then dragged the fat monk to a desolated spot that he had found. He then filled in the fat monk's missing memories in detail to the fat monk. Even the memories which were supposed to be erased by Chang Li concerning the 'big flat cake, broken gong, and dog' that was imperative to Xiang Liu; that Wen Shulin was the obscure cultivator; and also the fact that Wen Leyang's group were rushing to Mount Hua, all these were relayed by him back to the fat monk!

Ji Fei also talked about their experience with the demon cat, the chaos in the Great Mercy Temple, the adventure in Painting Town, as well as the fierce battle of the Eyang Sect's master cultivators on the highway. These encounters startled the fat monk and it took him a long while before he could recover from his surprise. He glared at the old monk and asked, "Why had the demon cat's magical art failed to erase your memories?"

The old monk Ji Fei revealed an expression that was too profound to be understood and his intentionally lowered voice sounded very despicable, "Fat monk, do you still remember what my cultivation method is?"

"It's the 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers Reflects the Moon in a Cloudless Sky with a Clear Mind and Spirit Cleansing Art of Sword'!" After the fat monk had finished speaking, he felt that there was still more to say and added, "My cultivation method is the 'Musical Divine Lotus Sect Suit of Armor Ancient Bagua Buddhist Hymn the Supreme Spirit's Crossing Over Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi Supernatural Power'!"

The old monk Ji Fei nodded, "That's correct! Other than your actual power and supernatural power, your cultivation method is tightly pinned to those three words 'Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi'. Once it has been launched, there is no cultivator who is capable of escaping your Art of Spirit-Searching." The old monk then suddenly laughed in an immortal-like manner, "However, my cultivation method is pinned onto the words of 'Clear Mind and Spirit Cleansing'!"

Shui Jing was slow-witted and could not fully comprehend the old monk's intention so he nodded as he answered conveniently, "Your cultivation method is 'Clear Mind and Spirit Cleansing' yet you could still behave this way. If you had cultivated another cultivation method instead, I wonder how chaotic you would have become..."

The old monk exclaimed indifferently and he waved his hand, interrupting the fat monk, "Don't talk nonsense here! The 'Clear Mind and Spirit Cleansing' method is to cultivate in the primordial spirit's silence that cannot be distracted by outside forces. As long as this old monk does not allow it, the demon cat or even a Taoist immortal with the highest attainment could never erase my memories!"

Both Ji Fei and Shui Jing's supernatural power may be at an average level, each of them had their own special abilities. No one could hide from the fat monk's spirit-searching while the old monk's primordial spirit's silence had fooled even the demon cat. She was completely unaware that the old monk still retained his memories.

The old monk showed off for a while before he continued, "Fat monk, I guess you've forgotten about that important matter by now too!"

The fat monk Shui Jing shook his head impatiently, "I had lost all my memories from these recent years, if you wish to tell me then do so, don't keep me guessing anymore!"

The old monk burst out into laughter, "In the past, Painting Town was the number one well-known family amongst the rogue cultivators. However...Leyang Shoujin had died in the Gold-Consuming Lair, Leyang Tian had died in Shanghai and Leyang Wen's whereabouts are still unknown. When the tree falls, the monkeys will scatter - the entire Painting Town's members have deserted the family as it fell, leaving only two or three small characters behind..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the fat monk abruptly widened his eyes, "Are you hoping to steal something or rob someone? I can't remember anything about recent incidents but I do remember that Painting Town had always offered us financial assistance in the past so don't you be getting the wrong idea here!"

The old monk was stunned and he laughed, infuriated, "You confused f*ck, what nonsense are you talking about here! The matter that I am referring to is the matter that we've been discussing all along earlier!"

The old monk then inhaled a deep breath and his voice turned stern and solemn. However, there was a joyous smile in his eyes which had remained unwavering throughout, "The cultivation world is rolling on with full force while Painting Town is now feeble and weak. The battle between the righteous and evil forces are growing even more treacherous with time. As the rogue cultivators in the world are like a leaderless group now, everyone is feeling insecure. That large building is about to collapse and even though Ji Fei and Shui Jing are the loners, for the benefit of our fellow sect members, we shall go beyond our abilities to resist!"

The fat monk Shui Jing's open mouth was so wide that one could stuff a chicken egg perfectly into it, "What do you mean?"

"I will organize a rogue cultivators' meeting with the intention of asking them to choose us as the leaders of the rogue cultivators in place of Painting Town! You've even finished making the invitation cards for the rogue cultivators' meeting!" The old monk then took out a formal-looking invitation card from his chest pocket, "On the third day of the second lunar month, don't linger by. Please come to the foothill of Mount Tai, we welcome the wandering rogue immortals..." The old monk recited a few phrases before he continued to remind the fat monk, "I felt that your wording in the invitation had not been written in a dependable manner back then. Otherwise, I would have sent out the invitations earlier."

The fat monk Shui Jing's brows were all the way at the top of his head. He jumped up with a scraping sound and though he lowered his voice with all his might, he could not suppress the terror in his tone of speaking, "You must be crazy! I must have followed you and became crazy together with you back then?"

The old monk Ji Fei was startled by Shui Jing too but he did not hesitate to raise his palm and slap the fat monk's bald head ferociously, "Speak sensibly!"

The fat monk Shui Jing rattled his words off as quickly as a machine gun, "We will become the leaders of the rogue cultivators? Just the two of us? The best result we can get is that no one turns up, the mediocre result is that quite a few of them will turn up. However, the consequence is that the people in the world would laugh their teeth off at us while the worst possibility is that we would be directly shredded to bits by Giant Bull and Red Grandaunt! Do you think that gang of rogue cultivators will listen to us?"

The old monk Ji Fei burst out into laughter. His expression had been relaxed all along as he completely disregarded the fat monk's concerns, "I won't blame you for your fears, you have lost your memories which is why you don't know how much resources we now own! Listen to me properly as I tell you slowly."

Soon after that, the old monk raised a fingertip, "Back then, on Mount Emei, a group of rogue cultivators had been taken captive and it was us who had followed Chang Li to fight the Great Mercy Temple and rescue the group. We have gained a new level of prestige but we also managed to earn their favor too! This is the first resource!"

The fat monk Shui Jing nodded, although the rogue cultivators were usually arrogant and unyielding, they could clearly distinguish between kindness and hatred. With such friendly feelings placed before them, the group would at least attend the meeting after they had received the invitation cards.

"During the fierce battle of the wicked witch in the Miao stockade village, the both of us had contributed to the success of rescuing little Chi Maojiu. It had been quite a remarkable act so the Qing Miao clan would certainly repay their debt of gratitude. They can be depended on to help us maintain an appearance. Little Chi Maojiu has an extraordinary cultivation method now, he has inherited ten percent of Grand Master Tuo Xie's witchcraft power. He had achieved vast improvements in his cultivation power after the Three Arts had been fused into one. If he were to display his skills then give a speech on behalf of us, what do you think the rogue cultivators would say? This is the second resource!"

The fat monk frowned, "Chi Maojiu's ability is naturally remarkable but the disciples of Miao Bujiao aren't very well-known. I'm afraid that the group might remain unconvinced..."

Ji Fei pursed his lip, "Be calm! We have famous people on our side too! We have saved the lives of the big and small demon rabbits on Mount Emei. After that, you had then saved the small demon rabbit's life on our journey from Shanghai to Sichuan! When the Five Blessings were fighting fiercely on the Nine Peaks Mountain, the two demon rabbits had revealed their methods. Everyone in the world had witnessed that and if the Great Mercy Temple will assume personal command for us during the meeting, what are you still afraid of!"

An excited glow had appeared involuntarily on the fat monk Shui Jing's face.

The old monk Ji Fei, on the other hand, refused to stop as he continued to speak, "The most crucial and the most important resource is that the righteous and the evil path will start fighting again soon. The rogue cultivators can only hope that they can defend themselves but a moment of carelessness is enough to pull them into the vortex and churn them into pieces! However, who are the both of us? They must depend on the Nine Peaks Mountain, Tuo Xie's disciples, Wen Leyang, the demon cat Chang Li and the zombie Hanba. Also, there's now the addition of the terrifying Zhui Zi as well! Whether they are from the righteous path of the Five Blessings or the Rainbow Brothers leading the four Heavenly Sects of the evil path, no one would dare to disobey the Wen family. We will issue a call to action and let whoever choose to follow us. By that time, other than the divine punishment, no one would dare to make things difficult for them anymore!"

The old monk paused for a moment after he had finished speaking. He then shook his head as if he still had more to say, "It's a waste that the Rainbow Brothers' memories have been erased and they adamantly refuse to reveal their true identity. Otherwise, there would be a chance during the meeting for both the righteous and the evil path to follow us. If that was the case, we shall become even more honorable then...

The fat monk Shui Jing's face was filled with an excitement which he could no longer suppress. He grabbed Ji Fei's wrist and his voice was filled with agitation, "So, what you are saying is that in our current lifetime... This time, we can truly become the overlords of the rogue cultivators in the world? There would be no number one well-known rogue cultivator family in the world from now on; there would only be the number one rogue cultivator... And number two rogue cultivator in the in the world?" The fat monk's demand was not exceptionally high, he was already fully satisfied if he could become the number two rogue cultivator in the word.

Ji Fei pried open the fat monk's grip strenuously, his wrist was now marked with bruises. He then bared his teeth fiercely as he answered, "To be addressed as the number one in the world is the greatest taboo! We will never call ourselves the number one men even after we become the overlords of the rogue cultivators because someone who may hate that term will then oppose us... We probably won't be able to get the Great Mercy Temple to our side anyhow so we shall be known as... The Great Virtues! There will be no ranking and we shall become all-conquering in the world!"

The fat monk was now standing face to face with the old monk. Their gazes were filled with encouragement and anticipation as they looked at one another for a moment before raising their heads and burst into laughter abruptly. Becoming the leaders of rogue cultivators would indeed be a glory to their ancestors!

In their perspective, the battle between Tuo Xie's disciples and Xiang Liu was no different from the battle of immortals and the Buddha. This was why Ji Fei and Shui Jing had completely disregarded Xiang Liu in their hearts. When they had been on the Nine Peaks Mountain in the past, they had been completely engrossed in their plan to earn the name of the rogue cultivators' leader. They had wished to be like Leyang Wen back then because he had traveled everywhere and was respected by everyone in the world. However, after the trip to the Red Leaves Forest, Chang Li had unexpectedly erased their memories and almost ruined this top-priority task which had been placed before the two monks.

Fortunately, the old monk Ji Fei had used his special ability to protect his primordial spirit and retain his memories so he could then remind the fat monk.

The two monks did not procrastinate anymore and began to plan the rogue cultivators' meeting in detail once again. The old monk ground his teeth for a long while as he read the invitation card written by the fat monk but he could no longer think of any better words. However, his eyes had suddenly brightened in the end, "There's no need to make alterations to the words but let's change the location from Mount Tai to Mount Hua! Wen Leyang, Chang Li and the rest have all gone to Mount Hua together. We have lost our memories so they should consider our presence there as a lucky coincidence..."

The fat monk immediately reacted to the situation and he hastily nodded as he laughed, "Wonderful! Wen Leyang's disciples would become the leaders of the rogue cultivators in the world. Chang Li will certainly be very excited!"

Initially, Ji Fei and Shui Jing would never dare to deliver an invitation card into Chang Li's hands but now that they had 'lost their memories', if Chang Li could be present on the occasion at the right time, she would definitely offer her help to them!

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They had entered the Immortal's Cave in high spirits but left in despondency. Chang Li and Guo Huan both appeared rather dejected.

Wen Shulin, who had been busy with his calculations, hastily stood up and gathered forward when he realized that Chang Li had returned. Xiaowu pouted her lips as she asked in a childish voice, "Have you finished with your calculations? Can tell us the result now?" Wen Shulin had calculated continuously for the past two days, only stopping for his meals. He had cried out in surprise softly once and it was apparent that he had found a result but had refused to tell Wen Leyang or Xiaowu what it was. He made up his mind that he would take credit for his achievements after Chang Li has returned.

Chang Li's expression was unpleasant and Wen Shulin dared not keep her guessing. He hastily stepped forward and his tone of speaking was earnest and determined, "There's no need for me to mention about the others, those are all useless items. I had managed to calculate the result of a dog!"

Everybody else was shocked and Chang Li grabbed Wen Shulin, "This dog and that dog, is it the same dog?"

Wen Shulin pulled a long face and shook his head as he answered honestly, "I do not know... I had only come up with the result of 'dog'. I can't tell the specific meaning behind it and whether it is the same as the dog in the past as well..."

They all felt disheartened at once. Even though he had managed to calculate the result of a 'dog', even if he could come up with the results for the 'big flat cake, broken gong, and dog' within this Immortal's Cave, they would still be as lost as they had been before.

They had not managed to locate the split body and everything else has also turned out to be futile. No one could figure out where the split body had gone and, in the end, it was Chang Li who waved her hand as she interrupted everybody else's boundless guesses. They could discuss things further as they continue to look for a substitute body or they could go to the highland. In any case, they should first leave the Immortal's Cave.

Mount Hua and Mount Emei were similar in that these were both the country's key areas for tourism. Thus, the communications network received almost full coverage here but they would not be able to get any signal in the desolated valleys. They would have to head to the higher regions for their cellphones to receive an unhindered connection.

The group left Guo Huan's Immortal Cave and had only just crossed a mountain ridge when Wen Leyang's cell phone immediately started vibrating. Seven to eight text messages had come surging in together. Wen Leyang read the text messages and other than the one text message which was about the transaction of guns and car smuggling, the rest were all from Gu Xiaojun. The messages had all been delivered one and half days ago and the content was almost all the same - Urgent, call back immediately!

Wen Leyang was just about to dial his number when Old Gu called him first.

On the other end of the call, Gu Xiaojun sounded very feeble. Wen Leyang was still a master cultivator anyhow so even if he was separated by a phone call, he could still clearly distinguish whether the other party was feigning his feebleness or he had truly injured his life vitality.

Judging by the way Gu Xiaojun sounded, he had injured far more than just his life vitality. It would only be under the circumstance of profuse vital energy and blood loss for him to become so feeble. Old Gu did not even allow Wen Leyang to ask what happened before he spoke directly and asked, "Are you on Mount Hua right now?"

Wen Leyang was stunned he replied in surprise, "How did you know about that?"

"Mobile location-based services. I had monitored that your last call had been made from Mount Hua. This was then confirmed once you had reentered the network!" Old Gu explained strenuously. Following that, he suddenly diverted the topic of conversation and his tone of speaking was filled with solemnness, "When you were in Painting Town, you had once promised Tangtang that you would help me. Do you still stand by your words now?"

When Old Gu was speaking, it sounded like he was almost exerting all his strength to shout yet he could only manage to shake the air with effort and speak with a pathetically low voice.

Wen Leyang did not hesitate at all, "Tell me how can I help!"

Gu Xiaojun seemed to exhale a long breath before he informed Wen Leyang about the matter from the beginning to the end.

Not long ago, a Mount Hua scientific exploration team had disappeared in the huge mountain. Initially, this matter had been completely unrelated to Gu Xiaojun's department but the following events which occurred had attracted Gu Xiaojun's careful attention.

The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a dozen people from the exploration team was very bizarre. They had communicated with the outside world two days before they disappeared. The scientific exploration team had made an important discovery back then and had sounded very excited about it.

They had discovered a peculiar object in the depths of the huge mountain but because they were making a call, they had not described the object clearly. Still, they had confirmed that the biology specialists in the team had not been able to identify what this object was.

Perhaps because the team members had been overly excited, they forgot to hang up at the end of the call which was how their colleagues who had picked up the call could make judgments on their behavior during the following period of time through their voices.

No one knows what the scientific exploration team had discovered and they had not given an accurate name to the object as well, only referring to the item as 'it'. Old Gu had guessed that they had discovered a rare plant since they had mentioned digging through the soil to look at this object's roots.

Following that, there was a debate which revolved around 'the plant'. The person who was listening in to the call had felt rather anxious by them. He had understood that the object they had discovered had unconventional features. However, the voices on the other end of the call sounded chaotic and there had utterly been no way for him to clearly discern what they had been debating about. Perhaps some had wanted to call it a plant while other wanted to call it a rock. Some had even called it a 'meaty polypore mushroom' while a few had said that it was a geological phenomenon...

In the end, the entire scientific exploration team members had agreed unanimously to dig out the shallow layer of soil. The surroundings then quieted down as they begun to dig. They were experts and spent most of their time dealing with plants and animals aside from the other activities of eating and sleeping. If they had been tossed into the Changbai Mountains to dig for wild mountain ginseng, they would definitely have brought back all the ginsengs with complete and unbroken roots. No matter how they had chosen to excavate this object, it was for certain that they would have absolutely done it in a way which did not harm this newly-discovered object.

Following that, there had been a series of gasps and a messy array of voices urging to 'keep digging' and 'keep digging'. The surroundings soon quieted down once again as the operation members continued their excavation task...

After that, not a sound could be heard from the team and the person who was on the other end of the call then filed a report to the police when he felt they had gone silent for too long.

The team's scientific exploration mission had been nothing out of the ordinary. They were there to examine the plants and animals but they were still a professional team after all. Before they had entered the mountain region, they had already reported their route, itinerary, and timetable to the related administrative authorities. This was a huge advantage to the search and rescue attempt of this organization later on.

After Mount Hua's local armed police had received the police report, they immediately began to search for the team along the scientific exploration team's route. Along the way, they had continuously discovered traces left behind by the scientific exploration team as they passed through this route. Finally, at a spot known as the 'Standing Softshell Turtle' in the depths of the huge mountain, they had discovered a campsite.

Not a single soul could be found within the campsite, it was as if everything there had stood in the dense forest for decades. Long vines had crawled onto everything everywhere. Tufts of wild grasses were growing out of the field cauldrons and had turned the place into an ants' amusement park. Even a large tree as thick as a bucket had shot its way out of a tent in an askew manner.

However, after they had verified the many items which had been branded by serial numbers before the team had entered the mountain, the rescuers discovered in surprise that these tents were the equipment which the scientific research team had reported to the higher authority earlier. This campsite, which looks like it had been overgrown in the forest for decades, had actually been built just a few days ago. Following that, the rescue armed police widened the search area and began to look for survivors within the radius of three kilometers radiating from the campsite.

At this point, Old Gu suddenly paused for a moment before he continued, "That was the content of their final report!"

Even though he had been mentally prepared, Wen Leyang was still astonished and he could not help but ask, "Had the search and rescue team disappeared as well?"

Old Gu huffed strenuously as a confirmation to Wen Leyang's question.

The scientific research team and the search and rescue team had both disappeared one after another. Anyone would know that this was an important matter and a second team was immediately assembled which had been even bigger and was better-equipped with each member selected from well-trained professionals. The officer who had led the team was a Second Lieutenant and his name was Qu Jia. Even though his official rank was not that high, he had far more field experience than anybody else.

This time, almost a few hundred people had entered the huge mountain in a mighty contingent. They soon discovered the final campsite of the scientific research team but the situation had looked to be even worse than before. The campsite had been completely covered by the already booming plant blanket and there was no way they could see clearly. The Second Lieutenant team leader had studied the situation in the campsite closely. To everyone's surprise, he had then disobeyed the headquarters' command. After he had laid down the perimeter line, he immediately brought his team members and left the huge mountain. During the entire time, when he had incurred censure from his superior, the Second Lieutenant team leader had only responded with, "This matter is not something which we are capable of dealing with, I'm determined to report this to the authorities!"

On the other end of the phone call, Old Gu gave a forced laugh, "The Second Lieutenant officer's judgment was right indeed!"

Finally, this matter had passed through many layers of authorities before it reached the higher authorities of the Gold Armed Forces Troop. As Gu Xiaojun read through the archived files, he could almost immediately confirm that a Wood Elemental Attack Spell had been cast on the scientific research team's campsite which then caused it to turn into an overgrown appearance.

Whether it was the scientific research team or the first search and rescue team, they had been unrelated to the cultivator's magic art. The only available clue right now was that the cultivator who had caused all that trouble had cultivated in Wood Elemental magic art. Old Gu, who had only rested for a few days, had then brought the Fei Fei siblings along as they made their way hurriedly to Mount Hua. Their sole duty was to investigate the conflict between the cultivators and the human world so this type of mission was their inescapable duty.

Wen Leyang could not refrain himself from giving a forced laugh, "Are there only three of you in your department? As long as there's a mission, will it only be assigned to the three of you?"

Old Gu had spoken for a long while and his voice was so feeble he sounded like a cotton thread which could break at any moment, "The World Sect is creating trouble... They are in a chaotic mess. When I was on the highland, the rest of my staff had been sent out to attend to the mission. There were only the three of us who were unoccupied since we had just returned."

Gu Xiaojun hastily refocused the topic of conversation once again, "We arrived on Mount Hua five days ago. After we joined the Second Lieutenant Qu Jia's team, we then departed for the incident's location in the huge mountain."

Second Lieutenant Qu Jia had disobeyed his orders and brought his team back not because he was a coward who was afraid of dying but because he had understood that this matter must be handled by professionals. If he had depended only on the strength available on his hands, if the situation were to become too dangerous, everyone would only find their doom there.

After Old Gu and the others have arrived, Qu Jia had bravely volunteered to become their guide. To Gu Xiaojun, this mission was no longer directly connected to the search and rescue attempt. Their responsibility was to confirm their own deductions and to try to figure out the clues left behind by the murderer as best as they could. From their point of view, their trip was for an initial investigation so it should not be too dangerous for them.

Wen Leyang could almost guess what had happened afterward, his tone of speaking was solemn as he asked Old Gu, "Did you remember what the enemy looked like? What kind of magic spell did he use to harm you, are you severely injured?"

Gu Xiaojun has always been mysterious to Wen Leyang. Even though this old fellow had emphasized that he does not possess any abilities, his subordinates Xiao Sha and Fei Fei both possess shocking abilities in their own domains. Wen Leyang would never believe that Old Gu was just an ordinary old fellow regardless, the enemy who was capable of severely injuring this old fox here would not necessarily be an amateur as well.

Old Gu reflected for half a second and when he answered, his breath sounded like spider's web, "We had just entered the mountain for less than half a day before I was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and was sent out of the mountain by them. I had only come out from the operation theatre right now..."