MOF Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Xie Yiling’s First Visit to the Rain Blossom Temple – If I Succeed in Pursuing Him, Would That Be Considered…?

Since he knew the three were trapped by a formation, Gu Huanzhi volunteered, “How about I give it a try and see if I can undo the seal for you?”

Frost Guest, gleaming with silver light, danced in his hand, creating several talismans.

Watching Gu Huanzhi’s series of actions, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but whisper, “Master, this Junior Brother Gu seems quite capable.”

Nangong Ci said softly, “That’s one of the Soul Return to the Dao techniques from the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform.”

Xie Yiling looked up at him, with a hint of a smile, “Master knows so much.”

Gu Huanzhi, having failed to break the formation, sighed and walked over somewhat abashed. “This formation is really strange, I can’t undo it.”

“It’s okay,” Xie Yiling comforted him, “Junior Brother Gu certainly hasn’t encountered these kinds of heretical and evil practices, so it’s normal that you can’t undo it. Master, why don’t you try?”

Nangong Ci calmly stepped forward, took out Azurefall, and released spiritual power from his fingertips.

A faint light emanated from the cold sword, and the faint outline of a dark formation appeared in front of the tomb. It was a formation of long horizontal and short vertical lines, intersecting each other, also known as the Soul Confinement Lock.

The *Record of Strange Contracts* recorded: “Soul Confinement Lock, belongs to the Nine Evil Ghost Arts. It can confine the three souls and lock the seven spirits, causing a person to be unable to reincarnate for lifetimes, unable to dissipate, and possess endless solitude.”

Gu Huanzhi and Xie Yiling looked at each other in unison, one with a solemn expression, the other with a blank face. This formation was exactly the opposite of the Soul Release Lock of the Wen Residence, but the techniques used were no different.

Only to see white light and black energy entangled with each other, colliding with each other, and repelling each other. Then, with a loud “clang”, the black energy lost its strength and fell downwards, “Wow” scattering a layer of dust.

“It’s undone?” A look of joy appeared on Xie Yiling’s face, and he took two steps forward to check.

Nangong Ci stared at the traces on the ground that faintly revealed the original appearance of the formation, and when he spoke again, there was a bit more sternness in his voice: “Although the technique of the person who cast the formation is clumsy, the formation itself is not low-end. It’s a formation from the Wen Residence.”

Xie Yiling thought for a moment in his heart, linking Wen Zilao with the Wen Residence. After thinking for a while, he finally placed his suspicion on Wen Zilao’s Wen eldest son, Wen Liangchen.

It seems that whether that Wen eldest son is really deceased remains to be verified.

As soon as the three “people” were saved, they were about to kneel down to thank them, but Gu Huanzhi hurriedly said, “No need! You are also innocent sufferers, so you should leave as soon as possible!”

The old woman weakly pretended to wipe away tears, and only said, “The wicked deeds of my rebellious son, how can a parent not feel heartache? I only hope that the three Immortal Lords, and that little Immortal Lord…”

A Si straightened his back, listening intently to the rest of the words.

“If you see my rebellious son, you must capture him and not let him harm people again!”

Gu Huanzhi responded, “That’s only natural.”

“This old woman has one more thing to say.” A hint of fear appeared on the old woman’s withered face, like the wrinkles formed after tree bark accumulated a layer of dust and cracked open due to age. Fear flowed freely across her face.

“I once followed my rebellious son to Forgiveness Mountain and saw a man in black. I couldn’t tell his age, nor did I know what he looked like, but I only felt that the stench on his body was too strong, as if he had killed many people. He gave my rebellious son a tattered book, which I later stole from my rebellious son’s room and hid in the cowshed. That’s all this old woman knows.”

After listening, Xie Yiling had a few doubts between his eyebrows.

Man in black? Forgiveness Mountain? It seems to be a handover point for their implementation plan.

Xie Yiling withdrew his thoughts, waved his hand to bid farewell to them, leaving only the three lonely souls motionless, watching the backs of the group disappear into the distance.

Arriving in front of the cowshed, Xie Yiling first led Jiao Jiao out and placed it outside, then rummaged through the thatched shed. Gu Huanzhi also followed in to help, holding a sword and poking around in the thatch while chatting with Xie Yiling.

“Senior Brother Xie,” his expression was still calm, but the envy in his eyes couldn’t be hidden, “Can I take the liberty to ask, how did you get Fufeng Daoist to accept you as a disciple?”

Xie Yiling tilted his head to look at him, hugging his arms: “Junior Brother Gu wants to ask me for experience?”

“Ah, no, no.” Gu Huanzhi’s voice was a little quieter, seeming a little embarrassed, “I am a disciple of the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform, so how can I join other Immortal Sects. It’s just that I’ve heard that Fufeng Daoist never accepts disciples… Forget it, I should listen less to rumors in the future.”

Perhaps it wasn’t a rumor. Xie Yiling couldn’t help but think secretly in his heart: Nangong Ci indeed had a rule of not accepting disciples before.

Then why did he make an exception and accept himself this time?

The question about the change in Nangong Ci’s personality resurfaced in his mind, and Xie Yiling stood still, no longer looking for the book, but instead guessing in his mind.

The biggest possibility was that after he died, when the Heavenly Dao erased Nangong Ci’s memories of him, it mistakenly changed his personality.

Xie Yiling’s mind moved. Could he still pursue Nangong Ci with his changed personality? If he succeeded, would it be considered that he had cuckolded his former self?

Thinking of this, Xie Yiling’s heart instead had an unspeakable excitement.

“By the way, what about that child?” Gu Huanzhi saw that he hadn’t moved for a long time, called out, and then asked.

“A Si?” Xie Yiling came back to his senses, his tone indifferent, “Oh, he’s just a Five Ghost formed by the Five Elements.”

“Five Ghosts?!” Gu Huanzhi’s reaction was extremely strong, unbelievable, “I’ve only ever seen the Five Ghosts in books and heard about them from storytellers. It’s the first time I’ve seen them with my own eyes!”

“Then you’re in luck, A Si is outside,” Xie Yiling pointed to the door, “You can watch him to your heart’s content now.”

Gu Huanzhi smiled, “Senior Brother Xie, I don’t mean anything else. My ability to gather spiritual energy has always been worse than others in my family since I was a child. My father only calls my eldest brother and second brother to do things, and I am often locked in the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform to practice. I know very little about the outside world. Although I haven’t met many spirits and monsters, and I don’t know much about them, I think spirits and monsters are also divided into good and bad. I think A Si is a good spirit and monster without any evil intentions.”

Hearing this, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but say, “Junior Brother Gu has a pure heart, which is really rare. However, people’s hearts are sinister, so don’t trust others easily.”

“Naturally.” After Gu Huanzhi finished speaking, he glanced at him, slightly puzzled, “However, Senior Brother Xie, why aren’t you wearing the Southern Return disciple’s uniform?”

Xie Yiling briefly explained the reason in two or three sentences, withdrew his thoughts, and started looking for the book again. This time he found it quickly, but it was Gu Huanzhi who found it.

Before he could react, Gu Huanzhi had already ran out excitedly with the tattered book, shouting as he ran, “Fufeng Daoist, I found it!”

A Si was so hungry that he was lying on Jiao Jiao’s back, weakly saying, “When will we have something to eat?”

Nangong Ci said, “Soon.”

A Si couldn’t help but roll his eyes and said, “I want to eat cake, but I don’t want you to draw a cake to satisfy my hunger.”

Nangong Ci looked at him, “You just need not do anything superfluous.”

A Si bared his teeth, lowered his voice, and said fiercely, “Hypocrite!”

Nangong Ci remained noncommittal.

What Gu Huanzhi saw when he came out was this scene. He walked up, patted A Si on the shoulder, and said earnestly, “Little brother, do you know who this Daoist is?”

A Si pouted and turned his back, not wanting to look at him.

Gu Huanzhi didn’t care, and turned around to present the book he found to Nangong Ci as if it were a treasure.

Nangong Ci took the book and said, “Thank you.”

This book was so tattered that almost every page was missing a piece, but the content was generally visible.

Nangong Ci flipped through the book and said, “This should be a tampered formation diagram.”

Xie Yiling walked over casually, leaned forward to take a look, looking like he didn’t understand but wanted to join in the fun, “Tampered?”

“Yes.” Nangong Ci shifted the book slightly, so that he could see the content on it, “It has changed the Wen Residence’s Soul Release Lock into a Soul Confinement Lock.”

Gu Huanzhi said, “In that case, there is something very wrong with this Wen Residence. Fufeng Daoist, should we also go to the Wen Residence to take a look?”

Peace Town and the Wen Residence were in the same direction, so going there wouldn’t be too much trouble.

Xie Yiling glanced at Nangong Ci with lingering fear, for fear that something he didn’t know about had also happened in the Wen Residence.

Fortunately, he observed Nangong Ci and saw that his expression was no different, so he spoke for him.

“Okay, let’s follow this route. Master,” he took the formation diagram from Nangong Ci’s hand, “Can I borrow this to take a look?”

Nangong Ci nodded in agreement and gave him the book, “Let’s go, it’s almost dawn.”

The sky was about to dawn, and in the distant east, there was already a trace of white, like a clear spring constantly pouring into the ink-covered sky, and the dark black sky was tinged with soft and light ink colors.

Four figures and one horse walked side by side on the ancient road, heading towards the town that was about to become bustling.

Although Ink City was empty, there were still a few small states and towns around it that survived.

Xie Yiling and his group arrived at Peace Town, Ling Zhou, Ink City, as the sky was completely bright.

A Si smelled the aroma of various foods along the way, and his saliva was almost three feet long. When he came to a pancake stall, Nangong Ci went up to buy pancakes.

Xie Yiling counted with his eyes, and asked strangely, “Why did you buy five?”

Nangong Ci said, “There’s one for Jiao Jiao.”

Xie Yiling laughed straight away when he heard this, and took one of them, “Thank you, Master, for your generosity.”

This pancake had just come out of the pot and was very hot. Xie Yiling held the pancake and slowly realized in his heart that he had really returned to this human world again.

Nangong Ci said, “No need. You take two, I don’t eat.”

Xie Yiling had just taken a bite of the cake, and when he heard this, he asked, “Master, can’t people who cultivate immortality eat these things? Then won’t I be able to eat them in the future?”

Of course, this was nonsense. Not only was the scenery of Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion extremely beautiful, but the food was also exceptionally delicious. He used to have three meals a day, every day, without fail.

Nangong Ci paused, “No, I’m just not hungry.”

Xie Yiling only took one and gave the extra one to A Si. A Si silently held three pancakes, eating one himself and feeding Jiao Jiao. It wasn’t that Gu Huanzhi didn’t have any money, but seeing that Nangong Ci had bought his as well, he accepted it.

“I heard that in this Peace Town of Ling Zhou, there is a temple called Rain Blossom Temple, and the Rain Blossom God enshrined in the temple is also called Rain Blossom Goddess. It is said that this temple is very effective, and anyone who has made a wish will definitely go back to fulfill it within three months,” Gu Huanzhi suddenly said after swallowing the last bite of the pancake.

“Rain Blossom Temple?” Xie Yiling raised his hand to flick away the crumbs remaining on the corner of his mouth and asked in confusion, “Why haven’t I heard of it? Was it newly built in recent years?”

Nangong Ci said, “About five or six years ago, someone built the Rain Blossom Temple here, but after the incident in Ink City, the surrounding other states were also destroyed, and only two towns in Ling Zhou survived, one is Yong’an Town, and the other is Peace Town.”

Gu Huanzhi said, “I heard that on the night Ink City was destroyed, Dark Butterflies pressed down on the city, and no one survived wherever they passed. Someone led all the people in Peace Town to escape to the Rain Blossom Temple. However, the temple was very small and could not accommodate all the people. They thought they were doomed to die, but who knew that the Dark Butterflies did not dare to approach that place at all, and only stayed for a while before going elsewhere.”

“After this matter spread, the people of Yong’an Town, which was very close to Peace Town, also came to the Rain Blossom Temple, and unexpectedly it really protected their lives. After this turmoil, the people of the two towns revered the Rain Blossom Goddess as a god, expanded the temple, and rebuilt it.”

Hearing this, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and said, “There really is such a strange thing. While it’s still early, Master, why don’t we go and see this legendary Rain Blossom Goddess?”