Chapter 93: The Prayer Drum

In short, many things were about to erupt on that day, just like the darkness before dawn, when it is increasingly difficult to see clearly.

I stopped speculating about what was going on. The ups and downs of these days, the falls and the falls, and finally the desperate escape, I just felt that some people in my life had disappeared, such as the elders who had always supported us, represented by Ge Quan, and the mysterious Jenny.

Even Jiang Yi hasn’t contacted me in a long time.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that my master and I have been on the run? Our escape has been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world! I hope that this time, in the Snow Mountain Range, we can really reunite with everyone smoothly and also find out some news about those people who have disappeared.

My thoughts were in a mess, and the carriage soon sped past the strange grasslands and stopped outside the gate of the Snow Mountain Range.

It was still the same huge cave with bright lights. I once described it as the “eighth wonder of the world,” and now, standing outside this huge cave, looking at it, I still want to describe it in this way.

This time, even Qiangzi, who was standing next to me, said, “Not bad!”

However, when he said this, I felt a slight chill of pressure, but it quickly dissipated… I frowned slightly, and I was afraid that Qiangzi’s situation was not so simple. I had to find a time to talk to Qiangzi about it. I always felt a little uneasy.

“Oh, this time I’m seeing two at once. I’m such a miserable person.” Just as I was deep in thought, a gentle voice sounded in my ear. Although the content of the conversation was complaining, the tone was actually very kind. The so-called complaints were just a gag to bring us closer.

I almost turned my head at the same time as the master, and then I saw a familiar person standing there, wearing a simple white hemp robe, with his hands in his sleeves, and a smile that was even softer than the spring breeze, smiling at me and the master.

Elder Bai! How could I not remember this person?

I was about to say something, but Master spoke first. He took out his pipe, put his hands behind his back, and looked at Elder Bai, saying, “Oh, Elder Bai, what do you think of this meeting? You look very unhappy! I also feel sad. Decades ago, when I came to the Snow Mountain Sect, you were the one who received me. After so many years, when I came to the Snow Mountain Sect, it was still you! So many years have passed, and you’ve only gone from a young man to a middle-aged man. You’re a real beauty!

“Yes, it’s serious to see two people at once. It can be attributed to a hard life. Elder Bai, you have to be careful.” Master Bai and Elder Bai chatted for a while. I looked at him and couldn’t help but smile at his “old and cunning” look. I couldn’t help but chatted with Elder Bai for a while.

Then he turned to the master and said, “Master, you said that Elder Bai has the secret to staying young, but you’re wrong. You’ve seen Elder Bai change from a young man to a middle-aged man, but I’ve seen him become younger and younger as he lives.

“That’s enough, stop it.” Still smiling, the expression on Elder Bai’s face grew more gentle. He reached into his sleeve and pointed at my master, saying, “Decades ago, you and your senior…”

“It’s a junior brother!” Master said with dissatisfaction.

“Okay, then he is a junior brother, who shamelessly demanded that our Snow Mountain lineage produce something that we didn’t have, and even beat the drum of wishes! In the end, he caused a big commotion, forcibly took away a few good things from our Snow Mountain lineage, and made several elders angry…” Elder Bai said very gently, and his smile was even more brilliant. However, when I heard about what happened to Master, I inexplicably shuddered.

He dared to cause such a commotion in the Snow Mountain Sect. Master is really arrogant.

But then the white elder pointed his finger at me and said, “After a few decades, you will be old, and your apprentice will have grown up… He was being chased and came to our Snow Mountain Sect with a disguise. But then he came here, and he couldn’t be low-key? He had to participate in the “Leaping the Dragon Gate” competition, and he had to show off, which was even more terrible. Our Snow Mountain Sect is a quiet place, and we never get involved in disputes. But look at him, he was pitiful, and he immediately offended the four major powers by helping him out.

As he spoke, the old man sighed, finally putting away his smile, then looked at the master and then at me, as if about to cry, and said, “Now, you say that seeing two at once is a miserable thing, isn’t it?”

…

I have to admit that the white elder is very eloquent. Just standing at the door, he made me and my master feel embarrassed. We looked at each other with guilt, and then we were speechless.

But Qiangzi couldn’t help but say, full of sympathy, “It’s a hard life.”

My master and I glared at him at the same time and shouted in unison, “Shut up.” Qiangzi looked at the three of us innocently and said, “Did I say something wrong?”

My master and I were speechless, but the white elder took advantage of the situation and led us towards the mountain gate with a smile.

Once, I remember that I entered here and stopped at the first huge platform… What impressed me most was that there were two monks and three huge statues on that platform, and now, as I climbed the stairs, I saw those three statues again.

Then, we slowly walked up to the platform… Compared to the bustling scene of the market, the platform is much quieter now. When we got here, except for the occasional movement of the disciples of the Snow Mountain School, dressed in white hemp clothes, it was surprisingly quiet.

The statues still stand in the center, but the bustling scene of the day is truly gone.

When we got here, White Elder stopped as he had done the last time, turned around and looked at me and Master with a smile, saying, “Since you came here under the name of the Eighteen Villages of the Ancestor, you should stay here. Naturally, the disciples will arrange for your food, clothing and transportation. Except for the forbidden areas, don’t wander around, so as to avoid getting hurt. You can look around the rest of the place. Our Snow Mountain clan is not a big one, but it is a beautiful place with fresh air. It’s fine to stay here for a few days to rest and recuperate.

These words are so convincing, but my master and I are not fools. Can’t we tell that the meaning of the words is so obvious? But before my master and I could say anything, Qiangzi stood up and said very directly, “We are here to do business, not to play. If you don’t want to do business, you have to tell us a way to do business.”

“Do business?” The white elder was not annoyed, and looked at Qiangzi with a smile and said, “The Snow Mountain lineage has left a way for the major forces to contact each other, naturally with the intention of being friendly, but our Snow Mountain lineage, we don’t do business, we only discuss things with people, and this kind of discussion, it has to be done by the head of a force or sect. This little brother, I see you are unfamiliar, may I ask which one of the eighteen ancestors of the eighteen ancestral villages are you? If not, a great witch is barely acceptable. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the old man to explain.”

Qiangzi stood silent on the side. I saw his face twitching slightly, as if he was suppressing something. I was a little worried, and stepped forward to pull Qiangzi back to my side, but at this time, a powerful aura burst out of Qiangzi, making me momentarily dazed.

Next, I heard Qiangzi’s voice without anger, but he looked at Bai Laoren very coldly and said, “Are you teasing me?”

“Qiangzi.” I couldn’t help but call out. If you really think that this harmless middle-aged man who is smiling like the spring breeze is as easy-going as he seems, you are absolutely wrong. He will eat you up to the last bone! Even though my impression of Elder Bai is absolutely not bad… but…

But Qiangzi didn’t pay any attention to me. When I called out to him, he just turned and looked at me. That glance made me think of the eternal ice of the snow-capped mountains in this uninhabited area. Not only was there no trace of emotion in it, but there was also an indescribable strangeness.

I felt that if I said anything that displeased him the next moment, he would immediately take action.

“Haha, interesting…” But unexpectedly, the old man Bai, who had been talking nonsense, suddenly changed his tone and became serious and serious. Qiangzi’s attention was drawn to him… just about to say something.

But the white elder was the first to strike, slapping Qiangzi on the shoulder and saying, “This Zuwu Eighteen Villages is interesting. A little guy who can’t even control himself is still allowed to merge like this and walk around like this. Interesting… Is this Zuwu Eighteen Villages crazy?”

My master and I can’t comment, because we don’t know anything about Qiangzi… At this point, the master, who had been silent, spoke up.

“Elder Bai, is it the old rule that if you want something done, you just have to beat the prayer drum?”

The prayer drum? The smiling Elder Bai let go of the hand on Qiangzi’s shoulder. Qiangzi took a step back and without saying a word, he looked up at me and fell over. I caught Qiangzi and looked at Elder Bai with some dissatisfaction.

But he just patted his hands and said with a smile, “Well, the prayer drum is not a bad idea.”