Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 154 Grandfather and Grandson in the Ancient Temple
Li Wushou's mind stirred, and he went outside the courtyard.

Walking to the right of the courtyard, as the perspective changes, a simple thatched hut stands next to the Three Immortals Pavilion.

The house was built in a very haphazard way. Apart from the foundation which was secured with a few stones, the rest of the walls were made of thatch mixed with some yellow mud.

This also consumed a lot of Li Wushou's energy and mental strength.

As if sensing something, a figure suddenly emerged from the door of the thatched hut, then quickly prostrated himself on the ground, facing the empty space, and uttered prayers:
"Paper Guanyin greets Second Master!"

Looking at the devout paper Guanyin statue and the somewhat shabby thatched hut, Li Wushou felt a little guilty.

With a thought, a wooden sign appeared out of thin air, on which were written crookedly in charcoal: "Baizhi Taoist Temple"

The wooden plaque slowly floated down and hung above the door of the thatched hut. Li Wushou nodded in satisfaction. This was much more impressive!
The paper Guanyin's repeated thanks piqued Li Wushou's interest, and he turned and walked towards the back of the Three Immortals Pavilion.

The once empty wasteland behind the houses on the low hill in the south of the city has now been completely transformed.

A dozen or so withered trees were planted in the dark, and in the middle of this grove of dead trees was a mound of earth, inside which was the head of the Tree Goddess.

Outside this grove of dead trees, Li Wushou dug four more similar mounds, as the old beggar had requested, but they were all empty inside.

Li Wushou didn't understand why, but since he had already dug, there was no point in arguing about it; it was just a convenient thing to do!
Since he had already given the paper goddess a plaque, he felt he couldn't show favoritism, so a wooden plaque slowly appeared.

Li Wushou hung it on a branch of a dead tree, on which the words "Burial of Souls" were clearly written in charcoal.

However, the Tree Goddess was in a daze at the moment and was not as sensible as the Paper Goddess. Li Wushou curled his lips and didn't care.

He clapped his hands, looked around, and nodded in satisfaction.

Since following the old beggar's advice, we built a house for the Paper Goddess next to the Three Immortals Hall and allocated a piece of land to the Tree Goddess.

Li Wushou had acquired two more skills, origami and tree planting, which he became increasingly adept at. At this point, he had begun to experience the exhilarating feeling of instant advancement in the Sealed Spirit Path.

Although he didn't improve much in his cultivation, he gained two extra skills for no reason. What more could he want?

Moreover, the current Three Immortals Pavilion of the Divine Palace is only a rudimentary structure. If it is built better in the future, who knows what skills might grow there. Li Wushou was naturally very satisfied.

However, it wasn't all good news. In order to build this Divine Palace and Three Immortal Hall, the Yin and Yang power in the lower and middle dantian was greatly consumed. The diligent cultivation over the past few days, let alone accumulating any, it would be considered good if it hadn't been used up.

His vital energy and blood were also depleted, even most of his liver was consumed, before he could barely build the Three Immortals Pavilion in a decent manner.

Such a consumption is astonishing, and this divine aperture will need to be continuously nourished with the power of Yin and Yang and the flow of Qi and blood.

This was another considerable expense for him, which further solidified his resolve to protect Wufang City. After all, having a hen that lays eggs at home gave him some peace of mind.

However, we still don't have enough chickens at home!

Li Wushou was feeling melancholy when he suddenly heard Chen Gou'er's exclamation.

"We've found our way!"

Li Wushou opened his eyes and saw Chen Gou'er lying on the ground. He jumped up suddenly, walked to a tree, and took a good piss.

Li Wushou leaped down from the tree hole and said to the old beggar and Chen Gou'er:
"Found it, let's go!"

The old beggar nodded, put down his hand that was picking his ear, got up and followed. Chen Gou'er, however, suddenly jumped to Li Wushou's side and said excitedly:

"Li Wushou, I want to go back to the Three Immortals Pavilion!"

Li Wushou was somewhat speechless, but seeing Chen Gou'er's excited expression, he did not refuse. With a thought, a dazzling golden light flashed between his brows, and the Three Immortals Pavilion on the low hill suddenly appeared on the open ground in front of him.

Chen Gou'er tumbled back into the courtyard, then suddenly turned and shouted at the old beggar:
"Old man, you're here too!"

The old beggar rolled his eyes. He had initially intended to refuse, but then he thought, "I'm here to make incense, and who knows what kind of torment they'll give me later. Maybe I should take a break?"
Thinking this, I stepped inside.

With a thought, the Three Immortals Pavilion withdrew its divine aperture.

"Haha. This is so much fun. We're inside Li Wushou's head now."

Chen Gou'er clapped happily and laughed joyfully.

The old beggar picked at his ears again. The child was too noisy; he felt his hearing was getting a little impaired. He couldn't help but urge Chen Gou'er to hurry up:

"Give me directions quickly, stop dawdling!"

Chen Gou'er snorted and then pointed the way to the main room.

Li Wushou understood perfectly and followed Chen Gou'er's instructions, walking slowly.

The conversation between the old beggar and Chen Gou'er resonated vividly in his heart.

Moreover, he can adjust the volume or mute the sound at will.

He later tested it himself and found that unless he wanted to, no one could hear Chen Gou'er's voice, even if they were standing right in front of him.

After walking for a while, Li Wushou suddenly stopped and asked the old beggar and Chen Gou'er in the Divine Aperture Three Immortals Hall:
“Fenglingdao seals gods within divine palaces. If the Three Immortals Pavilion is my divine palace, then are you two humans or gods?”

The old beggar frowned, about to reply, when Chen Gou'er suddenly jumped up and exclaimed, "We're immortals! Li Wushou, have you forgotten? What kind of divine palace do you have? This is an immortal palace! The Three Immortals' Hall!"

The old beggar's brow relaxed, and he smiled and agreed.

Li Wushou was taken aback. That makes sense!

The next time he meets Zhu Liuli, if she asks him what he is, he will reply that he is an immortal!

The fog in the Land of Misery grew even thicker.
Even at a distance of only two zhang, it was difficult to see clearly ahead. Li Wushou knew that it was nighttime outside.

This bit of fog was naturally no problem for Li Wushou, whose eyesight had improved since he refined the divine aperture between his eyebrows.

Although his perspective was mysterious, it always hovered around Li Wushou, and unless Li Wushou controlled it, it was usually a feeling of looking down.

This time, however, it feels more like his own perspective, lacking the external feel of before.

However, if Li Wushou wanted to return to his original state, it would only take a moment of thought.

Therefore, he walked quite steadily through the fog.

But Li Wushou still didn't plan to leave, intending to find a place to wait for the fog to clear before taking any further action.

Because when the fog is thick, just like when it gets dark in the Five Directions City, many evil spirits will begin to become active.

Although he was also looking forward to catching a few evil spirits for the shadowy figure to feast on, he had only just entered and had not yet figured out the situation around him.

He had never been to this area before, so his immediate priority was to find a settlement, learn about the surrounding area, and then decide on his next move.

Suddenly, Li Wushou raised his head and looked into the mist ahead. A burst of crimson suddenly appeared in the gray, dense forest. Upon closer inspection, it was a dense swarm of blood-red fireflies.

At this moment, the fireflies are splitting into two groups and constantly converging. From a distance, they look like two big red lanterns hanging high above the gate of a dilapidated temple overgrown with weeds.

The mist near the ruined temple was slowly dispelled by the blood-red glow of the fireflies.

"Someone!"

Inside the Three Immortals Pavilion, Chen Gou'er muttered to himself, for he smelled the scent of flesh and blood.

Li Wushou nodded knowingly; he had seen these blood-red fireflies before in the Land of Misfortune.

The people living here catch fireflies like these and put them in lanterns made of human skin, just like the blood lanterns distributed by the Blood Buddha Temple when he moved the corpse. The blood light of these fireflies is believed to have the power to ward off evil spirits.

It can also dispel the nearby fog to some extent.

But it's clear that these fireflies weren't captured by anyone; they were actively converging in this direction, which means they sensed death here, and two of them must have died.

Li Wushou looked into the dilapidated temple. The temple was half-buried underground and had been abandoned for many years. The gods inside had long since died, and even the statues of the gods were completely shattered.

On the ground covered with withered grass, two corpses, a man and a woman, lay prone.

The two men were decapitated, their necks covered with irregular, lacerated wounds, as if they had been ripped off!
His chest was a bloody mess, but it was also very empty, clearly indicating that the inside had been eaten away.

A few sobs and whimpers echoed in the dilapidated temple. On the left side, where the doorway originally led to the side hall, a little boy of eight or nine years old stretched his neck and desperately pressed against the wooden door, as if resisting something to prevent the other party from coming out.

Despite his best efforts, the wooden door continued to tremble, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, an old voice asked from outside the porch, seemingly with a hint of anxiety: "My dear grandson, go and see your parents quickly?"

The boy shook his head frantically. Through the crack in the door frame, he could see clearly that his grandfather was standing right in the doorway, but through the crack in the door, a pair of cloudy eyes were visible.

Those were Grandpa's eyes, but the gap in the door panel was nearly two feet away from Grandpa's shoulder.

How could Grandpa have such a long neck?
"I won't go see them. Our parents are dead, and you've already eaten them dry! You still want to eat me!"

The boy's eyes were slightly red, and he was trembling all over as he called out to his grandfather behind the door.

Hearing the boy's shouts, the voice behind the door became even more anxious.

"Good grandson, your parents aren't dead! Go and see for yourself, you'll see! And how could I have eaten them?"

The boy was slightly taken aback, as if he had been persuaded somewhat.

"You didn't eat it? But there's no one else in this temple. If you didn't eat it, who did?"

"Never mind who ate them! Blood Firefly, come quickly and retrieve your parents' heads, or they'll all be eaten!"

The boy was roused by the sound from behind the door and tried to turn his head to look at his parents, but they were right behind him on the ground. No matter how he turned, he couldn't see them.

Just then, a series of light footsteps suddenly came from behind.

Then a gentle voice rang out from inside the dilapidated temple: "Does anyone need help?"

(End of this chapter)