Chapter 42: The Ancient Temple

Ji Fei and Shui Jing led the way ahead on weak legs. Out of curiosity, they both asked Wen Leyang, "Dear disciple...brother, who is this fairy maiden?"

Wen Leyang had felt as if his entire body was falling apart from slamming onto the spell earlier, yet after walking for a little while the soreness began to slowly disperse. His spirit was restored by more than half and he felt that it was rather miraculous as he laughed and said to the two, "She is the elder of my family!"

Ji Fei and Shui Jing were filled with profound respect. Wen Leyang's strange method of cultivation was ruthless and potent, but his level of attainment was still at the beginning though turned into a little demon when he strived with all his might. This young woman was somehow even more horrible, and didn't she know that Dopods were in great demand!

A smile was plastered on Ji Fei's face as he fawningly asked Wen Leyang, "Dear brother, your highness is..."

Wen Xiaoyi straightened herself and proudly answered the question for Wen Leyang, "Not a single root grows on the Wen, never befriend a Miao, to die a dog's death on Crow Ridge! We are the disciples of the Wen family from the Nine Peaks Mountain in Western Chuan!"

The two monks threw a puzzled look at each other before laughing hollowly, "Oh...we've long been looking forward to meeting the descendants of such an eminent family, we have so much admiration for you." The Wen, Miao, and Luo families were amongst the strongest in the mortal world, yet most cultivators were extremely arrogant and were ignorant to this fact. These two monks had not heard of the Wen Bucao before.

Wen Leyang was too lazy to introduce himself, instead, he grabbed a carrot and started chewing on it loudly before asking, "By the way, where are Red Grandaunt, Lord Leyang and the others?"

Ji Fei slapped his thigh once as he exclaimed, "Heh, they were all captured by the monks!"

Chang Li had almost effortlessly defeated the divine monk Hope Sense earlier. At this point, Wen Leyang was confident about her abilities to deal with any further incidents in the future so he felt more relaxed. He laughed and asked, "What about both of you? How did you escape?"

"We siblings' cultivation is of a higher level than the rest, we pushed through numerous hardships and finally blazed a bloody trail out of the battle."

Wen Leyang grinned, there was still bits of carrot stuck between his neat teeth, "It would seem that this eminent monk tripped and fell off a mountain cliff, you managed to escape out of sheer luck. How about the other monk?"

Shui Jing laughed sheepishly and said, "I crashed headlong into a fissure on the mountain, but how did you even know about this?"

Wen Leyang laughed uproariously before recounting his experience while they were ascending the mountain. His face gradually grew serious before he asked, "Earlier on that mountain slope, who was it that the both of you had chased after?"

Ji Fei shook his head as he replied, "He was a sorcerer of deviant and evil practices, he had been in the process of casting the Mountain Coffin spell on us but in the end, he managed to get away. In recent years, those monsters which had cultivated their evil practices were beginning to get restless and make trouble. The world has been in harmony for over hundreds of years yet their evil actions kept growing continuously. Naturally, they also wanted to gain access to the magic weapon which was supposedly reborn at Zhanyan Peak."

The setting sun charged the red scar on Wen Leyang's cheekbone with a murderous glint, "What kind of people are they, actually?"

Ji Fei pursed his lips before he replied while shaking his head, "This is the evil way of the Earth Element, and even though it's not considered to be an overly cruel form of magic, it had been lost for many years. However, if you wish to investigate this further, you can depend on the both of us!"

Chang Li suddenly interrupted and asked, "What happened? Are you seeking revenge? I can help you."

Wen Leyang's expression was profound but he shook his head firmly, "This vengeance is my own and I shall avenge them myself...but if I were to fail then you should carry on."

Chang Li spat and cursed before speaking with a laugh, "You're a good for nothing! In those days he was so much stronger than how you are now!"

Wen Leyang pulled a long face, "How could I dare to compare myself to my ancestor."

"Why not?" Chang Li suddenly dodged and appeared in front of Wen Leyang, the faint scent of her breath caused his heart to flutter ferociously, "Young lad, his method of cultivation was extremely potent and domineering. He did not care whether you followed the Buddha's way of cultivation, or blood sorcery, or had magic weapons which had been tempered of over a hundred times. He would not even take a look before he crushed you with his fist. Your level of attainment has not matured yet, but I can see that your power and innate character is much more potent than his in the beginning!"

Wen Leyang laughed so hard that his eyebrows almost split apart, "Stop trying to make a fool of me..."

Mumu, who had been walking at the back while cradling Ah Dan, was frowning in deep thought. She did not pay any attention to Chang Li and Wen Leyang's whispered conversation but suddenly, she looked up and pointed towards Shui Jing and Ji Fei, saying, "You're both bad people!"

Wen Xiaoyi had been walking beside her immediately raised the blunderbuss and aimed it at them.

Ji Fei instantly hid behind Shui Jing and begged, "Dear fairy maiden, regarding that lantern of yours, us brothers will definitely compensate you."

Mumu shook her head before explaining, "That bullsh*t rumor about the appearance of an extraordinary treasure was all nonsense! The both of you clearly knew that there were evil people in the mountain yet you kept this information to yourselves, the two of you must surely be the companions of those bad people!"

Ji Fei thrust out his hand and shook it from behind the fat monk, risking his life to bemoan the unjust accusation, "That...it's true that we discovered the sorcerer, we were also uncertain on whether there was actually a treasure on Zhanyan Peak. But what if the rumors were really true? We brothers are not considered rogue cultivators, we are both lonely souls wandering around like ghosts. We did not have a master to guide us nor fellow disciples, we had to cultivate our own incredibly high-level abilities..."

Wen Xiaoyi yelled at them. "Focus and talk about the topic at hand!"

Ji Fei hurriedly answered, "Those monsters must be here at Zhanyan Peak because of the news of the extraordinary treasure. If not, why did those monks from the Great Mercy Temple try so hard and put up such a desperate fight to prevent others from ascending the mountain! The more disordered it was on the mountain, for the both of us brothers...it's not easy..." Ji Fei poked his head out from behind the fat monk and looked at Wen Leyang, "Dear brother, please tell the truth to your big brother, what on earth was the extraordinary treasure on Zhanyan Peak?"

Wen Leyang pointed towards Chang Li and replied in all honesty, "It's her."

The fat monk's facial features were squeezed together in puzzlement, "Who was the one who found her...she's the elder member of which family?"

The old monk was so exasperated that he gave him a slap from behind, "Silly monk, you are such a fool!"

Shui Jing too, felt that his question was rather absurd and only covered his head without fighting or answering back.

The company of six people chatted as they walked, they gradually picked up their pace and as the moon rose, the structure of a very dark and grand ancient temple appeared impressively before their eyes. Ji Fei pointed towards the massive temple and said, "Here it is, the Great Mercy Temple, a holy land for the Buddhists from around the world!"

Chang Li squinted her eyes at the ancient temple, after a while, she smiled lightly, "Sure enough, there are some tricks in it. The baldies can be considered to be not half bad!"

Ji Fei tugged and pulled at Shui Jing's robe, then exerted all his strength to bow with his hands together in supplication at Chang Li, "Fairy maiden, us brothers were blessed to help with accomplishing your mission and have brought the respected group to the destination, now...our Wen brother wants us to investigate the sorcerer. We fear that he may have gone too far away, so we brothers will leave immediately..."

Chang Li chuckled charmingly as the soft, long fur on her coat rustled and rippled in the breeze. Her fur coat shimmered with a gentle glow under the moonlight as she turned around and addressed Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu, "I want the two of you to stay here and not move. If anyone were to approach you don't stop to ask, just use the Thunder's Heart Sand to blow them away immediately!" As she was saying that she walked with light steps in a circle around the two young girls before instructing, "Don't leave the circle, if anyone tried to break in I will immediately know!"

Wen Xiaoyi nodded energetically as she exerted all her strength to wield the big-muzzled weapon in her hands and answered with a crisp voice, "Sister Chang Li, you can trust us!"

Chang Li chuckled, her laughter was clear and sharp as she commented, "This little girl is a smooth-talker!" She then grabbed Wen Leyang and looked towards the two monks, "Let's go!"

Ji Fei and Shui Jing both voiced their agreement but turned to leave in the opposite direction. They only took two steps before they returned, looking embarrassed. "Grandaunt, please forgive the two of us brothers...the Great Mercy Temple is not a place that we are permitted to enter!"

Two large black spikes with the texture of jade and stone had appeared from the air and were now firmly pressing against the chests of the two monks.

Chang Li waved her hand and dismissed the spikes, which disappeared back into thin air. She continued to pull Wen Leyang along and walked ahead with light, elegant footsteps towards the Great Mercy Temple.

Ji Fei and Shui Jing looked at one another before following reluctantly behind Fairy Maiden Chang and Brother Wen as they thumped their chests and dragged their feet in sorrow.

The three of them walked closely next to Chang Li but after taking a few more steps they discovered that they were no longer walking on the ground. Instead, their steps floated a small distance above it, they were walking on air!

The ancient temple situated deep within the mountains stood sturdily in the icy-cold air. Under the dim light of the night, it resembled a beast which had been hibernating since prehistoric times, there was a sense of arrogance and disdain for the world in its contours.

The pores on Wen Leyang's body were contracting and relaxing. He was observing is surroundings in silence when suddenly his foot stepped on a soft surface and he almost fell. He stared at Chang Li in surprise and was preparing to speak when a soft and smooth hand gently covered his mouth. The witch's voice was akin to a mercury-condensed filament as she quietly said, "Don't be afraid, young lad. It's asleep, it doesn't know that we are coming."