Chapter 14: Entering the Village

I couldn’t help but feel once again that life is really a cycle that you never expect. I never thought that I would set foot in that place again in my lifetime, but…

The first encounter outside the bamboo forest was a gunfight. I didn’t think that my master and I would enter the Hungry Ghost Tomb peacefully again. Could it be that that place would be the place where my master and I would be buried?

But my master looked calm, so I was relieved. When the three of us entered the village, it was already dusk. The setting sun cast its rays over the entire village, and the smoke from the chimneys of every household rose up, making the scene look peaceful and harmonious… But my heart was not at peace. This was the village where I grew up, and I felt the bustling life of the village at this moment. I was a little dazed. If I was destined to die here, would that be considered returning to my roots?

At dinner time, there weren’t many people on the main road in the village. Plus, so many years had passed that not many people in the village recognized me. However, there were still some people who knew my father. Occasionally, I would meet someone who would greet my father, and my father could only mumble a few words in response.

Neither my master nor I asked my father how those people had taken my family hostage. If a cultivator wanted to take ordinary people hostage, there were too many methods to use. We just kept going, and soon arrived at the location of the Hungry Ghost Tomb.

The Hungry Ghost Tomb was once a bamboo forest, and the village cemetery was in the bamboo forest. Here, I will never forget a tragic spirit, Li Fengxian. Later, after several changes, the Hungry Ghost Tomb was sealed off, and a small factory once existed here. Later, due to poor management, the factory was left behind, and the people left the building empty.

To be honest, if these people came here in the middle of the night without being noticed by anyone, they would not be noticed by anyone in the village.

“In the Hungry Ghost Tomb, or in this abandoned factory?” The three of us had already reached a place where there were few people. Standing at the door of the abandoned factory, my master suddenly asked, “What do you think?”

“Some people are up there, and some people don’t know why they are hiding in that tomb.” My father thought about it and replied.

“Okay, let’s go in then.” The master was very calm and was about to walk in. I hesitated for a moment and held back the master, saying, “If we go in, what if they…”

“Don’t worry, they have already been disqualified from the circle for moving the relatives of the cultivators. If they shoot randomly in this ordinary person’s territory, they are provoking the bottom line of the entire world’s cultivator circle. Yang Sheng is crazy, but he wouldn’t dare to order his men to do that! Even in the fight, he has scruples. We are actually throwing ourselves into the net, and in a certain way, we have actually gained a certain degree of initiative. The master spoke very easily.

Sometimes, I really have to admire my master. He seems to be so indifferent to everything, and even a little unreliable, but his thoughts are so delicate and he thinks of everything so thoroughly.

“Don’t be afraid. Let’s just walk in there casually. As long as there’s something to talk about, there’s always a chance for things to turn around. Don’t forget, those people who escaped from our place are also a threat to Yang Sheng. He moved ordinary people, and he was also afraid that if he really spread the news, after all, only the dead can truly keep a secret.” As he spoke, the master had already taken a step and entered this desolate factory. I quickly pulled my father in and walked in together.

The entire factory had been abandoned for a long time, overgrown with weeds, and the various abandoned buildings were among the weeds… In the setting sun, it seemed to have a desolate meaning. When the three of us went in, it was quiet inside, and there was no trace of human habitation.

But after walking a few steps, we saw people coming out of the buildings from all directions. Suddenly, the momentum of twenty or thirty cultivators gathered together, and it was still extremely powerful.

My master, my father and I stood in the middle of a field of weeds, and from above, it looked like we were surrounded.

The warm spring breeze blew gently, but it could not disperse the tense atmosphere. The cultivators were silent… It seemed that the one in charge of them raised his hand slightly, and I saw that all the cultivators had pulled out a pistol. The sound of the chambering of the gun and the dozens of black muzzles pointed at the three of us in an instant.

I have seen many big scenes, and this kind of situation naturally doesn’t scare me. What’s commendable is that my father, who has been holding my hand, is also very calm, at least he doesn’t have any extreme reactions. In fact, for him, this is definitely a scene that can only be seen on TV.

As for my master, he burst out laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” In Sichuan, the weather in spring is already slightly hot and dry, but this leading cultivator is dressed in an exceptionally strict manner, with black pants, a black shirt with buttons all the way to the collar, and even a black scarf that is very nervous.

He wore a hat, and like these cultivators, his face wore a mask that looked like a smile but wasn’t, and looked like a cry but wasn’t. This was the work of Wu Tian.

In fact, it is not surprising. The four major organizations follow Yang Sheng. After Wu Tian and Yang Sheng cooperated, with Wu Tian’s status and his ten followers who looked very complicated, his status in the four major organizations must not be lower than Yang Sheng’s. It is normal for these people to wear the “Wu Tian” mask.

“I’m a cultivator, but I’m playing with knives and guns. I’m obviously not allowed to shoot here, so who am I threatening?” The master was very relaxed and natural.

But the leader said, “It won’t take more than a few shots to kill you, and it’s not certain that it will alert the people here.”

After saying this, he seemed unwilling to say more, waved his hand and turned around to leave, and several of the people he had indicated were about to shoot at us.

“Most of our people have left! Are you sure you don’t want to talk? Or can you make the decision on your own? If I had been prepared, you wouldn’t have been able to kill us with a few shots. Think about the people you brought with you.” At this moment, Master said another sentence quickly and loudly.

The leader suddenly turned around and shouted, “Wait!” Someone next to him couldn’t help but shoot, and the leader of that person was extremely fast, but he was only able to pull back in time.

The bullet naturally missed, landing on a building not far from us. With a crisp bang, the originally dusty and broken glass on the building immediately formed a large hole with cracks, which looked somewhat shocking.

My father’s body softened a bit, and he barely stood up straight by holding me. He whispered in my ear, “Son, hold me a little. I don’t want to show weakness in front of these sons of bitches.”

I laughed when I heard him say that. Whether my father was a strong man or not, whether he was strong and powerful or not, at that moment, I was proud of him as a son.

“You won’t get away with it.” The leader of the group let out a sigh of relief, but said these words with a stern but weak voice.

Perhaps my master and even my name had already been mentioned in their ears. Even if we had no trump cards, our calm and composed appearance was enough to make him suspicious.

The biggest difference between an organization and an individual is that an individual has no worries. Whether the consequences are good or bad, they are all borne by one person. However, an organization has many loopholes that can be exploited. Everyone wants to get the good results, and naturally, they will pass the things they cannot afford to others. Even if Yang Sheng is very capable, he cannot control people’s hearts 100%.

This person in charge obviously had this mentality. If he said something like that, it meant that he was already trying to push this thorny matter off his shoulders.

“Since you’re here, you’re not planning to run away. I believe that both Yang Sheng and Wu Tian would be willing to talk to me directly about something. You’re in charge of contacting them, so you can be credited for this. Do you want it?” The master’s voice was full of temptation at this moment. I didn’t expect the master to have such a cunning side. Just as he said, if there is something to talk about, there must be a turning point.

The leader was very quiet. Obviously, Yang Sheng had given us a death sentence. This kind of death sentence made me guess that it might even be an order to kill without any nonsense. However, he encountered a tricky situation where most people had run away. He couldn’t make a decision for a while. Should he take the risk and grab the credit, or should he live a peaceful life without any achievement?

Perhaps, to hide his inner struggle, he shouted at us, “How dare you, you actually dared to call the names of the two holy ancestors. Do you think the people who ran away can escape? I’m not afraid to tell you, we have set up a trap all over China. Either you hide and stay hidden for the rest of your life, or you will always be… hmm…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Master just looked at him and smiled. Even I thought that this kind of talk was childish. Master would never listen to him!

Perhaps after yelling like that, the man made up his mind and said, “I’m not afraid of you running away anyway. As for you wanting to talk to the Holy Ancestor Yang, I can’t make that decision. Go see the Holy King Liu. I don’t care if he beats you or kills you.”

Holy ancestor? Holy king? What exactly is Yang Sheng trying to do? At first, I thought I had traveled back in time to some dynasty, but I also secretly laughed. This guy who wrapped himself up so tightly is actually quite clever. He knows that some things, although good, grow on cliffs, and for these things, if you are not careful, you will fall to pieces. It is not worth it.

He is very good at doing things according to his abilities and sticking to the rules.

However, it was obviously unrealistic for him to take me and my master to meet the so-called holy king like this… The result was that all three of us were tied up in a very strong way, and even my innocent father, who was just an ordinary person, could not escape this fate.

We were searched again, but my master and I didn’t bring any magic tools with us. My master only had one extra thing on him, a pipe. The man who covered himself up tightly couldn’t see anything after looking at it for a long time, so he just stuck it on my master’s body.

Master let him check, looking completely at ease. I was also at ease, because I knew that Master’s pipe had no secrets.

But I didn’t know what Master was going to do, and I still haven’t seen my mother and two sisters… But Master didn’t say anything, so I didn’t want to show that I was too concerned, and I ended up falling into the enemy’s trap.

So, after we were tied up, we were shoved and shoved into the familiar hungry ghost tomb.