Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 240 Bewitchment. (First Update!)

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que frowned. Were the cultivators who entered Wanshan Temple taking turns being tricked?

In the blink of an eye, he and Zhang Guitu had already taken two steps at a time and arrived at Lu Maohong's side.

Zheng Que immediately asked, "Senior Lu, what do we do now?"

Lu Maohong's face was ashen, and his expression was extremely ugly. He glanced at him and said in a low voice, "Go with him to the guest courtyard first. That's the safest place."

"We'll talk about the rest once we're inside the guest quarters."

As he spoke, Mu Jia turned around and walked towards the back of the hanging flower gate. His sleeves fluttered as he walked, and his demeanor was unrestrained, as if he were truly a hermit living in seclusion. Moreover, he had a clear goal and seemed to be very familiar with this place.

Lu Maohong followed with a sullen face, and the others followed suit.

The group entered through the hanging flower gate, which led to another courtyard. There was a door on each side wall: the treasure vase door on the left, the crescent moon door on the right, and the auspicious door directly opposite the hanging flower gate.

Inside the Ruyi Gate, artificial hills are piled up, and the faint sound of flowing water can be heard, mixed with the scene of abundant flowers and willows.

Behind the crescent-shaped gate was a cluster of lush green banana trees, which sheltered the railing.

Before everyone could take a closer look, Mu Jia had already taken the lead and walked into the treasure bottle door on the left. Behind the treasure bottle door was a low bamboo fence with a cobblestone path between them.

Azaleas and other wildflowers are planted in the bamboo fence, with a few flower buds blooming here and there. They are interspersed with lake stones and pomegranates, and the arrangement seems random and not particularly interesting. Now that it is late, the shadow of the high wall falls down, like a black veil covering the ground, making it look particularly gloomy.

With everyone on guard, they followed Mu Jia along the winding path several times until a secluded courtyard finally appeared ahead. A black plaque with red characters, "He Qi Tang," hung above the main gate.

creak.

The place was empty, with a layer of dust on the threshold, as if it had been abandoned for a long time. Mu Jia went straight up, pushed open the door, and strode in.

Behind the gate is a square courtyard, with only a tall ginkgo tree planted in the southeast corner. Its pale yellow leaves fall onto the blue bricks, adding to the ancient atmosphere.

Surrounding the courtyard are rows of identical houses, each not very large, with identical doors and windows, resembling a guesthouse for multiple people.

As soon as Mu Jia reached the middle of the courtyard, she stopped. Suddenly, a female cultivator wearing a short purple blouse and a light blue skirt stepped forward and pointed to the surrounding houses, introducing them in a loud voice: "This is the guest courtyard where you can rest. The size and furnishings of the houses are all the same."

"Each room can accommodate four people."

“If a house has an owner, no outsider may enter without the owner opening the door, except for empty houses, of course.”

"The mountains are not peaceful. After dark, everyone must make sure to lock the doors and windows."

"From 1:15 PM to 1:15 PM, the evening service is held. Devotees may go to the side hall to participate."

"Except from midnight to 1:45 AM, one may enter the main hall to draw lots; at other times, one must not disturb the abbot."

"Alright, I will now arrange accommodations for you all."

As she spoke, the female cultivator began pointing at the crowd, quickly and roughly dividing the guest rooms.

Lu Maohong, Zheng Que, Shentu Jinghai, and Yu Zhongyin were assigned to the same room.

Chen Zhentao, Zhang Guitu, Shi Yiquan, and Yan Zhiyong were assigned to the same room.

The other two Qi Refining Stage 7 cultivators in the "A" car, Feng Jian and Wei Yingjuan, along with Mou Jia, the leader of the "B" car, and Sun Zhengyi, the leader of the "Xin" car, were assigned to the same room.

The other monks from the caravans were also quickly and randomly assigned to various rooms by the female cultivator, who seemed to point at them casually.

A moment later, in the room directly opposite the guest courtyard gate, Lu Maohong, Zheng Que, Shentu Jinghai, and Yu Zhongyin stared at the simply furnished room covered with cobwebs, showing no intention of resting.

After a brief silence, Shentu Jinghai asked in a deep voice, "Senior Lu, what just happened?"

"First it was Zhang Guitu, then Mu Jia, and then Lan Yanqun..."

What happened to these three?

"Should we stay away from them from now on?"

Lu Maohong slowly shook his head and explained, "All cultivators who enter this Wanshan Temple will be like this."

"The reason we look normal now is simply because our yang energy is stronger than that of the three of them."

"As for those cultivators at the fifth and sixth levels of Qi Refining, they weren't hit earlier because they were relatively far away at the beginning." "Next, cultivators below the seventh level of Qi Refining will definitely not survive if their willpower is weak!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que immediately asked, "Senior Lu, was Fellow Daoist Zhang's situation just now due to being misled?"

"If you're misled, will everything be alright as long as you wake up in time?"

Lu Maohong listened, shook his head again, and said calmly, "It depends on the situation."

"The first time we were misled, it was for a very short time, just like what we just saw. From the moment we entered the room until the rooms were assigned, only three people were affected."

"Those who are bewitched will not exhibit any abnormalities other than losing their memories of the period during which they were bewitched."

"But if one is bewitched a second time, firstly, the duration of the bewitching will be longer; secondly, the memory will be affected by the Wanshan Temple and become distorted."

"By the third time they are bewitched, they will lose their sense of self and start actively participating in evening classes and sword practice at Wanshan Temple..."

"After the fourth time, he will truly become a Daoist boy in the Wanshan Temple!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que and the other two frowned, while Yu Zhongyin, who had been silent all along, slowly asked, "Then, how can we get out?"

Lu Maohong took a deep breath, looked around, and said in a deep voice, "It is now the hour of You (5-7 PM)."

“You can leave between 7 AM and 3 PM every day.”

"However, this Taoist temple is strange, and we may easily miss the time to leave."

"When I first encountered the Wanshan Temple, it was through my unwavering willpower that I found the right time and managed to escape from it."

"Besides finding the right time, I've also heard that drawing lots is another way out."

"But I have never tried it, nor have I ever seen a cultivator succeed through this method."

Drawing lots?

Chen Zhentao from Xuanyuan Pavilion came here to draw lots!
Thinking of this, Zheng Que immediately asked, "Senior Lu, so are we just going to stay in this guest room from now on, and then calculate the time so that we can leave at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Maohong immediately shook his head and said, "As long as you follow the rules, it will indeed be very safe in this guest room."

"But if you stay here, you'll fall asleep without even realizing it."

"When I wake up, it will definitely be the hour of You (5-7 PM) the next day."

"In that case, we'll have to wait another day."

"Therefore, from now on, we cannot stay in the guest rooms for more than 15 minutes each time."

"Besides that, every time we go out, we have to leave one person in the room, otherwise, when we return to the room next time, there will be extra things inside..."

Some extra items?
Zheng Que immediately recalled that when the female cultivator named "Lan Yanqun" introduced the guest house, she had said that in normal guest rooms, no one else could enter without the owner opening the door, except for empty rooms.

In other words, if all four people leave the room at the same time, the room they were assigned will become empty.
Upon hearing this, Shentu Jinghai immediately asked, "Senior Lu, does that mean that only three of us can go out each time, and one person has to stay inside?"

"But the person left in the house will definitely be asleep."

"The three people who need to go out should turn back and wake up the people who stay in the house."

"If that's the case, why not just send one person out and leave three people in the house?"

"In that case, we just need to send one person out every now and then."

Lu Maohong shook his head and quickly replied, "It is indeed safe inside the house after dark."

"But things are different outside!"

"People who go out alone may not come back alive."

"Therefore, if only one person is sent out, the three people in the house will likely sleep until the hour of You (5-7 PM) the next day!"

(End of this chapter)