Chapter Four Countdown Four
[“Calamity’s d*ath” Countdown: 107H15M5S]
After arriving at the location agreed upon with Zhang Hainan, Luxianbei did not contact Zhang Hainan immediately; instead, she went with Bai Kai and Nanling Yaohua to the dilapidated small Taoist temple.
Once here, there was no need to worry about the unnamed assassin group chasing them again. They may have had the guts to stir chaos at the Three Gorges Psychiatric Hospital, but they absolutely wouldn’t dare to act recklessly within the territory of Dachunyang Palace.
Moreover, to prevent them from figuring out the itinerary to Dachunyang Palace, Luxianbei had given those guests a good “hospitality,” keeping them busy dealing with the Shancheng Siye Society, unlikely to free themselves anytime soon.
Arriving at the dilapidated small Taoist temple, she found the unnamed tombstone. From the God Realm Prototype, Luxianbei took out incense and candles, silently lighting them for Qing Ji’s four masters.
“The curse that tormented you for a lifetime has dissipated; now you should be able to rest in peace, right? From now on, no one will be bound to the fate of guarding Yumen anymore…”
After a pause, she quietly added, “Except Fang Ji, he deserves it.”
As her voice fell, she vaguely felt something around her had quietly changed.
Her spiritual sense did not detect any spirit energy fluctuations, nor did any premonitions flash by, yet she felt…
Looking up, the once terrifying and putrid small Taoist temple seemed to have suddenly become pure and clean. Only the breath of time lingered quietly in the crumbling structure, even the air around became fresh, carrying a faint scent of herbs unique to the mountains.
Perhaps the last lingering attachment of the four masters had also dissipated?
The fate of guarding Yumen was probably the last regret they had after Qing Ji’s return… Luxianbei thought.
She had seen countless formless urban legends and the lingering souls attached to objects in the God Realm Yumen before its transformation, unwilling to dissipate due to their dissatisfaction. It seemed the four masters of Qing Ji existed in a similar form.
Either due to regret over escaping Yumen or fear of the destiny that was chasing them.
After waiting for a moment, when Luxianbei turned around, Bai Kai moved closer, curiously asking, “Xiao Bei, you mentioned just now about the fate of guarding Yumen?”
After a pause, he looked at the unnamed tombstone not far away, “Could these few… uh, seniors have something to do with Yumen?”
“Mm!” Luxianbei nodded, “They were the four masters of my grandfather’s grandfather. From the relics they left behind, they likely escaped from Yumen…”
She took a few minutes to briefly explain the matter of Qing Ji’s four masters to Bai Kai.
After listening, Bai Kai fell silent for a moment, then slapped his head and said, “I thought so! Senior Brother Lu clearly has a deep family background; why would he stir up the muddy waters of the Yumen Sands Sea? I didn’t expect it to be like this!”
At the peak of the Yumen Sands Sea, there were once up to five heads, each having several disciples trained as successors under them, but by the time of Nanling Peak’s youth, it had declined to just him and his senior brother Bai Xun.
After Bai Xun was killed in a clash with urban legends, the young Bai Kai became a disciple of Nanling Peak, thus joining the Yumen Sands Sea lineage.
Before Lu Ming arrived, he had always thought of himself as the second disciple of Nanling Peak.
On the day Lu Ming went to the Yumen Sands Sea, he was overjoyed, thinking he would soon be promoted to the “Second Senior Brother,” only to hear the grim news of becoming the “Little Junior Brother” instead…
Although Lu Ming was slightly older, shouldn’t such matters be based on seniority?
Out of frustration, the mentally immature Bai Kai secretly sought out Lu Ming to challenge him to a duel, wanting to reclaim the title of “Second Senior Brother,” but then…
He was completely overwhelmed by a flurry of spell formulas.
“Magic” and psychological subjugation at the same time!
Although at that time, Lu Ming used only some low to mid-level spell formulas that were barely at the level of precision spell formulas, Bai Kai still thought it was unbelievable upon reflecting on it today.
High-speed chanting, triple chanting, combination spell techniques, intermediate spell upgrades during chanting, transformations… various techniques that usually only high-level spiritual ability users could master and typically only one could manage at a time all appeared in a low-level spiritual ability user.
Even more terrifying was that this low-level spiritual ability user was only twelve years old. While other children at this age might still be obsessed with toys or games, Lu Ming gave young Bai Kai the impression that he treated spell formulas as if they were toys or games…
Because, when he “pummelled” Bai Kai with spell formulas, he smiled very happily.
After further contact with Lu Ming, Bai Kai gradually transformed from an enemy who took away the title of “Second Senior Brother” into an enigma.
He heard from his master that this guy had a family background that was no less than that of the Yumen Sands Sea…
And heard from his senior brother that this guy rarely practiced with their master after arriving at the Yumen Sands Sea; the master’s swordsmanship and daily physical training were always skipped…
He also witnessed that guy, day after day, lounging around in the cave storing classics, perusing ancient spell and divination texts to the point of neglecting sleep and food, only occasionally asking the master some questions…
Those tricky questions would often vex the master for days, requiring repeated attempts before a fairly accurate answer could be given.
Those texts were accumulated during the Yumen Sands Sea’s heyday, and Bai Kai couldn’t understand them, nor was he interested. It made him sleepy just looking at them, and more so gave him headaches, but he didn’t care…
He always believed that his master was right: a person’s energy is limited, finding what one excels at and mastering one thing while only sampling the rest is the limit for an ordinary person.
Bai Kai always thought that Lu Ming could have avoided joining the Yumen Sands Sea lineage and inadvertently bore the fate of guarding Yumen.
He once asked Lu Ming, burdened with doubt.
Lu Ming just smiled and said, “My family won’t let me touch it; if I do, I get beaten. But I like these things. After being beaten too much, in a fit of anger, I ran away from home.”
After getting to know Lu Ming better, Bai Kai realized he was telling the truth, but not the whole truth.
Lu Baoyi, Old Master Lu, was born in the spring breeze and grew under the red flag. He was a materialist and truly didn’t want his son to be exposed to those vague “dregs.”
However, that didn’t stop Lu Ming from joining any other large spiritual organizations outside the Yumen Sands Sea; someone like him could learn whatever he wanted anywhere.
Later, as Bai Kai grew older and encountered more spiritual organizations, he no longer obsessed over this issue, as joining any spiritual organization requires paying a price, just different amounts.
From the bit of information Lu Ming occasionally revealed, joining the Yumen Sands Sea was merely a coincidence of stumbling upon records related to his father’s collection.
Now, after hearing Luxianbei’s narration, the many-year-old mystery in his heart was finally unraveled.
“Sasa, Sasa.”
Just as Bai Kai was immersed in his memories, the sound of a pen scratching across paper broke the silence.
[My grandfather told me that the reason the Yumen Sands Sea lineage declined was largely due to the four heads escaping Yumen together many years ago. I didn’t expect…]
“Mm, I’ve also heard my master mention it.” Bai Kai shook his head, letting out a meaningful sigh, “Ah, who would’ve thought!”
He didn’t expect Lu Ming’s background to be so connected to the Yumen Sands Sea lineage…
He didn’t expect the descendants of the four heads who had defected from the Yumen Sands Sea to ultimately unravel the curse-like fate that plagued the Yumen Sands Sea lineage for over eight hundred years…
Everything seemed like a coincidence, yet also like a cycle of “to untie the bell one must be the one who tied it.”
————
[“Calamity’s d*ath” Countdown: 106H02M51S]
After paying tribute to Qing Ji’s four masters, Luxianbei sent a message to Zhang Hainan through Zhipianxian, informing him that she had arrived at the agreed location.
However, after sending the message and receiving a reply from Zhang Hainan, she waited for nearly an hour but still did not see Zhang Hainan appear.
What is that old man up to? Why hasn’t he come yet? Luxianbei felt a vague unease.
She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen; a chill that felt almost tangible was constantly creeping down her back.
Just as this ominous premonition was about to peak, a howling sound suddenly echoed through the mountains, as if something was rapidly approaching. In the small low-lying area surrounded by mountains, all the wandering entities became agitated.
Like startled fireflies, tiny lights flickered, bouncing chaotically in the air.
Luxianbei, “????”
What is that? What’s going on?
The unnamed assassin group is chasing them again so quickly?
They actually had the audacity to chase all the way to Dachunyang Palace; their guts are too big!
Just as Luxianbei was pondering this, a familiar long howl suddenly came from the mountains, and then she saw a figure resembling a horse leap out from the mountain peak, bathed in moonlight, landing on a nearby boulder, enveloped in a thick mist, with tiny, sparkling electric snakes jumping within.
It was her cousin, the Shuishu Beast.
“Slow down, slow down, you’re going to fall…”
As the Shuishu Beast drew closer, a weak voice could be faintly heard muttering. Following the sound, she saw a figure lying on the back of the big cousin, hopping with the Shuishu Beast, like a cape fluttering in the wind.
“Ah, forget it, do whatever you like…”
Seemingly realizing that persuasion was futile, the girl finally made a compromise. The next moment, she leaped dramatically with the Shuishu Beast, her body forming a large character, spinning rapidly through the air, tracing a beautiful parabolic arc before crashing heavily in front of Luxianbei.
“Boom!” The ground trembled, and dust flew everywhere.
When the dust settled, the girl, embedded in the ground yet unharmed, revealed her exquisite, slightly lazy face. She pushed aside the messy hair in front of her forehead and smiled at Luxianbei.
“Long time no see.”
“How have you been lately?”
“By the way, thank you for the things you sent me before…”
Seeing Huasang, Luxianbei’s heart skipped a beat.
Zhang Hainan had sent Huasang to meet her, which she found unsurprising, but what surprised her was that Huasang had even bathed beforehand and spoke more than two sentences upon meeting.
What was even more alarming was that Nanling Yaohua was right beside her, watching everything quietly.
For a moment, even without activating her special eye ability, Luxianbei felt as if she were having a hallucination, sensing that Nanling Yaohua was floating around her in circles, looking at her with envy, ceaselessly muttering.
“This younger sister is so beautiful! Who is she? She seems to be quite close with you! Why haven’t I heard you mention her before?”
Luxianbei, “……”
