Chapter 27: The Master’s Footprints (Part 1)

I have a limited imagination. Although I was curious about what kind of monster was in the pool, I never imagined what it could be. The pool was so small, only about 20 meters long and wide, that I would never have thought that a huge monster could appear here. It would be difficult to turn around, wouldn’t it?

I believed Xiao Chengqian’s words, but it was hard to accept them at first. I could only think about it with a smile, no wonder it was Xichu, the specialty of this area is water monsters!

However, none of this could scare me. In my opinion, at least the cave is quiet now, and the water is calm. It’s hard to say if the water monster is resting or not. It hasn’t shown up in Xicheng for at least a few years. I don’t believe that Xiao Chengqian and I are lucky enough to meet the water monster twice in a row.

Well, if there is danger here, there are a couple of angry ghosts…

So, thinking about this, I told Xiao Chengqian what I thought. Xiao Chengqian swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked at me and said, “Are you sure it won’t appear?”

“No, but mathematically speaking, the probability of it happening is very low. Although we are Taoist priests, we still have to believe in the truth that has been proven by science, don’t we?” I said to Xiao Chengqian in a very serious tone. What I didn’t tell him was that from childhood to adulthood, the worst thing I learned was mathematics. I even suspected that I learned mathematics during physical education class. I was also grateful that I was not favored by Master Li and was admitted to the Life Divination School. Otherwise, he would have been so angry that he would have vomited blood. After all, these two schools require some basic mathematical knowledge.

“But what else is in this hole? There’s nothing left! Let’s do a little ritual to dispel their resentment, and then we’ll leave after giving them a guide to lead them away.” Xiao Chengqian said nonchalantly, and in the meantime he took two steps, deliberately moving further away from the hole.

“What else is in this cave? Didn’t you tell me? There is it!” After saying this, I pulled Xiao Chengqian and shone the flashlight at the stone pillar in the cave. The light just fell on the purple plants!

“Fuck, it’s here?” Xiao Chengqian was shocked, and then said incoherently to me, “I thought it was in the water, or else it would grow on the rock wall. I was in the abandoned village before. I went to the abandoned village. You know? My two uncles went down to pick this purple plant. I thought it was aquatic.”

“It’s here. It seems we’ve found the right place.” I calmly said to Xiao Chengqian.

“Chengyi.” Xiao Chengqian took a deep breath and then called me seriously.

“Huh?” I was curious why this guy was suddenly serious again.

“I know your attitude, you must destroy it, but I have to remind you that there has always been a saying in our school, including the high-level people in the circle, that this plant contains the secret of immortality.” Xiao Chengqian said to me in a low voice.

What is the ultimate pursuit of Taoism? Metaphysical immortality! Rebelling against the heavens is also to escape the cycle of reincarnation and suffering. The word “immortality” is not only attractive to Taoists, but also to ordinary people!

But, immortality? A terrifying image appeared in my mind: a bloated body, a face covered with rotten flesh and new flesh growing endlessly – the old village chief!

I also remembered the face under the cloak, which had completely turned into a zombie! No, if that is immortality, I would rather live happily for a few decades, close my eyes without regrets, and have my soul sublimated to a higher level. This is more meaningful than immortality!

So I said to Xiao Chengqian, “It must be destroyed. I’ll tell you the reason later.”

“In fact, you don’t need to tell me the reason. You don’t know everything either. Regarding this purple plant, people in the circle and some departments in my country are not top-secret. Especially after witnessing Yang Sheng’s madness, I don’t think you would be particularly opposed to destroying me, so go ahead.” Xiao Chengqian said to me with a somewhat wandering tone.

“Do you know something?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Let’s talk about it outside. And I seem to remember a little bit about those gray-eyed people,” Xiao Chengqian said to me seriously.

The purple plant. We decided to destroy it, but Xiao Chengqian resolutely refused to go near the pool. He told me firmly that I wouldn’t know what the strange-looking monster looked like, otherwise I wouldn’t go near the pool.

However, before that, there was one more thing I had to do, and it was something that the pen left here reminded me of.

A pen left behind here means that someone has been here, maybe it was Master and the others. Since the vengeful ghosts have been wandering here for many years, they must know something, so asking them should work.

I told Xiao Chengqian my idea, and he was also excited. Then we went together to communicate with the ghosts, expressing our meaning. After the ghosts understood, they let us see a scene, and we felt the same way as they did when they saw something later.

It was also a normal night without moonlight. Compared to tonight, the cave was even darker. The seven vengeful ghosts were wandering in the cave (there were seven of them), and there was no difference compared to the past.

There is no difference, in this cave, to the ghosts, all that exists is endless resentment and loneliness trapped all day long, unable to see the hope of reincarnation, unable to obtain the liberation of transcendence, day after day.

However, stubborn thinking often leads to mistakes. On that night, more than ten people came to the cave.

The vengeful ghosts could not forget how they appeared, because before them, after the vengeful ghosts were tortured, no strangers had ever come to the cave, including their own kind, the gray-eyed people.

Those people, like Xiao Chengqian and I, came out of one of the dozen caves in the rock wall, and like us, they appeared in the cave with strange glowing objects in their hands.

Because of the subjective narrative of the vengeful ghosts, Xiao Chengqian and I felt this emotion, but the intuitive picture that came into our minds was not so calm.

We first heard the noise of people, then saw my master first enter the cave, followed by Master Hui, my uncles, Grandma Ling Qing, Xiao Chengqian’s grandfather, Wu Liyu, and several other old men I didn’t know. Finally, there were two unfamiliar middle-aged men who didn’t look like cultivators. However, for some reason, one of them looked familiar, but I couldn’t think of where I had seen him.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Chengqian and I were so excited that we could not describe it. Since my master and the others disappeared so many years ago, we never thought that we would be able to see their footprints so clearly through this strange way of communicating with ghosts.

So many people entered the cave, and the atmosphere was naturally strong. In particular, several of them had an extraordinary aura, and the angry ghosts naturally chose to hide, hiding in every corner of the cave.

After my master and the others entered the cave, they began to explore, just like us. But it seemed that my master was out of luck, because they only found human bones and did not find the purple plant hidden at the top of the pillar. Then they looked disappointed.

Was it disappointment? I couldn’t feel any specific disappointment in the old man’s eyes. I noticed a detail: he actually took a deep, quiet look at the pillar, but then turned around as if nothing had happened.

During this time, Wu Liyu was standing next to my master, wanting to say something, but strangely, he didn’t say anything, and then turned around with my master, as if nothing had happened.

“It seems that we either came to the wrong place, or whatever was supposed to be here has already been taken by someone else. Let’s go. Not every place has a reward, and we can only achieve our goal.” My master said loudly and walked out first.

Then my several uncles smiled and followed my master.

I felt a little strange watching this scene. I always felt that this old man was a bit too hasty. He was completely different from his previous self, who seemed carefree and careless, but in fact was very careful and paid attention to every detail. He should have been more careful in such an important place, where there were even human remains.

Could it be that the old man was so nostalgic for me that his IQ had dropped?

The truth should not be like this. I opened my eyes wide, afraid of missing a detail. Even if the souls of these vengeful ghosts were good, they no longer had the strength to communicate with us a third time. Therefore, the details here were particularly important.

Some people suggested leaving, and others agreed. It seemed that the matter was settled. Even Xiao Chengqian’s people didn’t argue, and followed my master’s footsteps and walked out.

But at this moment, one of the two strangers suddenly said, “There are bones here, which means there should be some secrets here. Even if it has nothing to do with the purpose of this trip, I still want to draw a rough sketch of this place and record some details.”

After he said that, my master turned around, and I noticed that my master’s eyes changed slightly, and then stared at that person’s face, which looked a little ugly!

At that time, my master and his party had already approached the cave entrance. The man who said he wanted to record the scene stood still, with his back to the pool, more than ten meters away!