The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

The father and son monsters were firmly imprisoned by the mind-controlling talisman, their bodies stiff and unable to move.

Old Fan stood before the two men, his expression calm, but his eyes held an intense pressure as he stared at them and slowly began his interrogation: "Tell me honestly, why did you choose to hide under the hydroelectric dam instead of somewhere else?"

The old mouse, now restrained, was filled with fear. It dared not look us in the eye and could only peek sideways, speaking hesitantly and timidly.

"Yes, it was arranged by Master Chang."

His voice trembled as he honestly confessed, "Master Chang has old sins, which were punished by the Heavenly Fairy Goddess. She sent him here to reflect on his sins and atone for them. At the same time, she ordered him to protect this area and ensure peace around Tianxian Town."

I stood aside, listening with utter astonishment.

I initially thought this mysterious Master Chang was just an ordinary local demon, but it turns out he was personally assigned by the Celestial Goddess to guard this place. To be appointed by the Celestial Goddess to atone for one's sins and protect the town, it's clear that Master Chang is no ordinary demon; his background must be extraordinary.

My curiosity was burning, and I couldn't help but ask the old rat spirit in front of me, "Then let me ask you, what exactly is this Master Chang? What kind of deity is he?"

Before the old rat spirit could reply, Hui Mi, who was frozen in place, spoke first, his tone honest and earnest: "Master Chang is not a god, but... he's almost like a god, he's always been protecting us."

When Lao Fan and I heard this, we were both slightly taken aback, and a bit surprised.

Old Fan quickly regained his senses, his gaze returning to the old rat spirit, and he pressed for the core question in a deep voice: "If he's not a deity, then what kind of monster is he? Also, are there any other wild immortals or spirits within the territory of Tianxian Town?"

The old rat spirit's eyes flickered, and he hesitated for a long time before slowly nodding.

"have."

He honestly said, "Behind Tianxian Town is Mount Makan, and on its slope is a Taoist temple called Xianweng Temple. I heard that a major incident happened there recently. Master Chang is concerned about the Tianxian Goddess's Taoist temple and is afraid that something might happen to Xianweng Temple, so he goes back every night to guard it. Recently, the town has been carrying out large-scale road construction and breaking ground in the mountains, which has disturbed the spirits in the mountains, and many of their kind have been forced to flee for their lives."

At this point, he hurriedly defended himself, his tone tinged with grievance: "My son and I have been hiding under the hydroelectric power station. We have never gone out to harm anyone. We have stayed here peacefully and have never done anything evil! At most, we would sneak into the town to get some food when we were extremely hungry at night."

Old Fan was speechless after hearing his sophistry. He looked at him irritably and said coldly, "Old man, you call that taking? Stealing is stealing. Don't try to make up nice excuses for yourself."

Suspicion abounds; we await Master Chang's appearance.

When Lao Fan and I heard the old rat spirit mention that a major incident had occurred at the Immortal Elder Temple, our faces both darkened, and we instantly connected a series of strange events to our minds.

I immediately recalled the ghostly lament of Old Liu: their construction team was building a highway next to the Zitong River, and a series of bizarre accidents had occurred at the site, resulting in heavy casualties. No matter how they investigated, they couldn't find any human error, and in the end, they could only hastily conclude that it was an accident. In addition, Huang Xian Huang Canye had specifically instructed us to come to this Tianxian Town.

As the events unfolded, my heart sank deeper and deeper. I had a feeling that there was definitely a connection between them, and it was not just a coincidence at all.

I immediately stared at the old rat spirit, frozen in place, my brow furrowed, and asked with a hint of urgency and gravity, "Is the Immortal Temple on Mount Makan just within the area affected by this highway construction and groundbreaking? Do you know what major event happened at the temple?"

The old rat spirit was already terrified by the talisman, and when I asked it that question, it shrank back even more, its eyes darting around, its face full of fear, and it didn't even have the courage to look up at us.

His voice trembled, weak and guilty: "I... I really don't know... Even when I go out to forage at night, I never dare to go far. I just stay around the town and don't dare to go into the mountains. I heard about the Immortal Temple from an old dog in town."

He paused for a moment, then quickly added honestly, "It happened a month or two ago. The old dog went to the market with its owner and overheard someone talking about it. I only heard the gist of it; I don't know any of the details."

Upon hearing this, my heart skipped a beat, and I immediately turned to look at Lao Fan beside me, my eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.

I lowered my voice and said in a serious tone, "One or two months, the timing is perfect! Strange things started happening at Boss Huang's construction site a month or two ago, with people dying one after another."

A chilling thought crept into my mind, sending a shiver down my spine: "So, the deaths of Old Liu and the others weren't due to negligence or a construction accident at all! It's highly likely that the road construction disturbed evil spirits in the mountains; some monster was secretly causing trouble and harming people!"

Old Fan stared calmly at the trembling old rat spirit on the ground, who knew very little, but his eyes were deep and unfathomable. He could tell that these two rat spirits, one big and one small, had low cultivation levels and limited horizons, and that was all the inside story they knew. He wouldn't get any more clues by asking them.

He spoke slowly, his tone resolute: "These two little demons know too little; asking them further is useless. The only way now is to wait for the Master Chang they speak of to return and personally inquire about the truth."

I started to think about it.

Judging from the tone of the father and son, that Master Chang must be a local hermit with considerable cultivation and extraordinary methods. Moreover, he goes to the Tianxian Niangniang Temple in town every night to guard it. Presumably, he learned of the incident at the Xianweng Temple on Mount Makan and became wary, fearing that the Tianxian Niangniang Temple might also suffer the same misfortune. Therefore, he guards it every night without daring to relax.

After figuring this out, I suddenly felt a bit more pressure.

Meanwhile, Lao Fan, standing to the side, rolled his eyes slightly, and a meaningful, wicked smile suddenly appeared on his face, giving him a cunning look as if he had something on his mind.

He glanced at the two immobilized monsters and said calmly, "Since that's the case, then let's have a proper chat with this Master Chang. Until then, you two will have to put up with this for a while."

Before the words were even finished, the two monsters were given no chance to beg for mercy or explain themselves.

Old Fan casually pulled two crumpled yellow talismans from his pocket with a swift and decisive movement. Seeing the talismans flying towards them, the imprisoned rat spirit father and son instantly showed terror, their eyes darting around frantically, their faces filled with fear and helplessness.

But their bodies were stiff and they couldn't move. They could only watch helplessly as Old Fan raised his hand and firmly placed two talismans on the center of their foreheads.

The moment the talisman was affixed, the two monsters' eyes glazed over, their heads drooped slightly, and they completely lost all their luster, standing quietly and motionless in place.

I stood there dumbfounded, staring at the two lifeless monsters. A strange pity welled up inside me, and I quickly turned to Old Fan, my voice trembling with apprehension: "You...you killed them? How come they're completely silent?"

Old Fan grinned, still sporting that mischievous expression, and waved his hand, teasing, "Damn, brother, do I look like such a bad person? I didn't kill them, I just put them to a deep sleep and made them behave themselves. Only by keeping these two little guys calm can we deal with that unpredictable Master Chang with peace of mind."

While I had complete faith in Lao Fan's abilities, I couldn't help but feel worried.

I'm mediocre in skills and couldn't help at all; frankly, I'm just a complete burden. Plus, this underground hut is cramped, with nowhere to hide. When Master Chang returns and we start fighting, we'll have nowhere to escape.

As I was pondering where to hide and how not to hold them back, Old Fan spoke first, his tone crisp and decisive: "Don't delay, let's start preparing now!"

I looked up at him blankly, my face full of doubt, and asked, "This place is tiny, barely bigger than a palm, where can we hide? If a fight really breaks out, I'm useless and will definitely hold you back!"

Old Fan chuckled upon hearing this, looking confident, and patted my shoulder reassuringly, "Brother, you're worrying unnecessarily again! This time, I'll play a fun trick on you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a blank piece of yellow paper from his pocket, followed by a calligraphy brush and a small bottle of ink.

He lightly dipped the brush tip into the inkwell, his wrist swiftly and fluidly sketching two talismans on the yellow paper. After finishing, he tore off the two talismans, sticking one to his own chest and the other to mine.

After affixing the talisman, he explained calmly, "This is an invisibility talisman. Once it's on, that wild spirit won't be able to detect our presence at all. We'll sit openly on the chairs on either side of the shrine inside the house. You just watch and see how I deal with him!"

After saying that, Lao Fan reached into his backpack and took out his chain and the short knife that had been transformed from the hilt of the sword.

As I looked at these two familiar objects, I suddenly remembered what the monster had said before. The chain was called the God-Binding Chain, and the sword was the God-Slaying Sword.

I looked down at the long stick I was holding, and a sense of curiosity suddenly arose in my heart: If his two items were top-tier divine artifacts, then could my stick also be something extraordinary?

I immediately looked up at Lao Fan and couldn't help but ask, "Hey Lao Fan, tell me honestly, is this stick I'm holding some kind of really powerful and awesome equipment?"

Old Fan glanced at me, couldn't help but chuckle, and teased, "You usually seem so honest and unambitious, but I didn't expect you to be so shrewd in these ways behind the scenes."

He paused for a moment, then said frankly, "Your stick is indeed a magical weapon, called the God-Slaying Stick."

I was completely stunned and couldn't help but mentally rant.

Fighting a charlatan?

I'm talking about the Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Stick! Isn't this just something from the Investiture of the Gods? Jiang Ziya clearly had the God-Beating Whip, not some kind of God-Beating Stick!

Completely bewildered, I quickly asked, "Then what's the use of this stick?"

Old Fan, with a serious expression, slowly explained to me, "This is a protective artifact specifically designed to work with the Three Pure Ones Transmission Technique. In the past, when practicing and casting spells, we were afraid that the various immortals, wild spirits, and monsters we subdued would turn against us and cause trouble. Therefore, we created this magic staff to counterbalance and suppress them."

His eyes were resolute as he revealed the terrifying power of this divine artifact: "One strike can cripple ten years of an opponent's cultivation. Don't you think these demons and wild immortals are afraid?"

After attaching invisibility and breath-holding talismans, Lao Fan and I completely concealed our presence, fully preparing for our ambush. The small underground hut was eerily quiet, the air heavy and damp, mixed with a faint smell of incense ash and the earthy stench. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only our soft, steady breathing remaining.

I followed Old Fan slowly to the shrine in the center of the room, my gaze slowly settling on the ancient, worn wooden tablet. The tablet's grain was mottled, bearing the marks of years of offerings, and seven large characters were neatly engraved in cinnabar: "The Divine Tablet of the Willow Fairy, the Heavenly Immortal of Rain and Sunshine." In front of the tablet, three sticks of incense had long since burned out, leaving only short, grayish-white ash lying quietly in the incense burner. Only two half-burnt red candles stood on either side of the altar, their flickering, dim yellow flames casting distorted shadows on the rough walls, making the entire small room appear deep and eerie, inexplicably unsettling.

As arranged by Lao Fan, we sat on the old wooden chairs on either side of the shrine, one on each side. My posture was tense, my back ramrod straight, my hands unconsciously resting on my knees, my heart pounding with apprehension and nervousness. My mind was racing. That Master Chang was a powerful, unseen immortal guarding this area, with profound cultivation and unpredictable methods. Tonight, we had deliberately laid an ambush here; if we were exposed and faced off, the consequences would be unpredictable. I was weak and powerless, completely useless, only a burden to Lao Fan. But now there was no turning back; I could only feign composure and quietly wait for his return.

In contrast, Lao Fan beside him remained relaxed and calm throughout, his expression languid and composed, showing no sign of panic. He casually leaned back in his chair, his gaze calmly sweeping over his surroundings, exuding an air of confidence and certainty of victory, as if the impending confrontation was nothing more than an insignificant little game to him.

After a long wait, after who knows how much time had passed, Lao Fan lowered his head slightly and glanced at the time on his wrist.

I immediately lowered my voice and asked cautiously in a whisper, "What time is it?"

Old Fan's thin lips moved slightly, and he just uttered a soft "three".

In that instant, a series of heavy, chaotic footsteps suddenly echoed from the dark alleyway outside, approaching step by step and shattering the deathly silence of the house. Immediately afterward, a rough, hoarse, and somewhat irritable shout suddenly exploded at the doorway, its penetrating power instantly filling the entire small house.

I instinctively held my breath and looked up.

A burly, imposing man strode in through the doorway. He was bald, his head gleaming, and his face was covered by a thick, unruly beard, so dark and coarse that it almost completely obscured his face, revealing only a pair of deep, piercing eyes. His skin was a dark, glossy bronze, the color of years of exposure to the elements, rough and rugged. He was extremely tall and robust, with broad shoulders, a thick back, and strong, muscular arms, exuding a powerful and oppressive aura of someone who had cultivated himself through years of training and experienced countless battles. In terms of sheer darkness, he was comparable to Old Fan, and he possessed a fierce, untamed aura, making him someone to be avoided.

He strode into the house, looking around impatiently and shouting angrily, "Old Gray! Old Gray! Where have you been? Gray Mi! Gray Mi!"

After calling out twice without response, his brows furrowed deeply, his tone growing increasingly irritated. He muttered angrily, "What the hell are you two doing here! I told you a thousand times to guard the cave and stay put! With the road construction and groundbreaking in Tianxian Town, the mountains are in chaos, filled with malevolent energy. Countless spirits are fleeing. The world is in such turmoil, yet you two are always wandering around aimlessly, practically courting death!"

His face was full of hostility, and he kept muttering complaints, his rough voice echoing back and forth in the small room.

Old Fan and I remained seated, solemn and unsmiling, steadily concealed in the light and shadow. Thanks to the invisibility talisman drawn by Old Fan, our figures were completely obscured, and with the breath-holding talisman sealing our breath, heartbeat, and body temperature, no matter how many times Master Chang scanned us, he could not detect that there were two people hiding in the room.

After several unsuccessful calls, Master Chang didn't dwell on it too much. He was probably already used to the playful and lazy nature of the rat spirit father and son, and simply assumed they were sneaking out to forage and wander around under the cover of night, without giving it much thought.

He suppressed his anger, stepped forward to the shrine, and his attitude instantly changed from agitated to respectful. He reached for a brand-new stick of sandalwood incense from beside the altar, flicked the lighter, and steadily lit the incense.

Watching the wisps of smoke rise, he faced the memorial tablet of the Celestial Goddess, his expression sincere, and murmured to himself, his tone tinged with helplessness and earnestness: "Your Majesty, recently the construction of roads in the town has disturbed the earth's veins and mountain spirits, causing chaos and frequent misfortunes. This is certainly not due to my negligence in guarding the temple. If in the future I encounter evil spirits and calamities that my magic cannot suppress, I hope Your Majesty will investigate the matter thoroughly and show more understanding and protection!"

After speaking, he carefully placed the incense sticks into the ancient incense burner, and wisps of smoke rose and swirled around the memorial tablet. Having finished his prayers, he turned to leave and continue his search for the missing Old Gray and his son.

Just as he turned around, Lao Fan, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly broke into a sly and irritating smile, his eyes full of mockery and amusement.

He moved with extreme lightness, silently raising his left hand, extending his index and middle fingers to form a scissor-like gesture, aiming at the sandalwood incense that had just been lit in the incense burner, its smoke curling upwards, and gently applying force with his fingertips.

"Snap!"

A barely audible sound rang out, and the straight-burning incense stick was snapped in half by an invisible force!

The broken incense stick suddenly tipped over, the flame was extinguished instantly, and the wisps of smoke stopped abruptly.

This abrupt and bizarre change stood out starkly against the solemn shrine.

Master Chang, who had already turned around, suddenly stopped, his aura freezing instantly. His intuition, honed over many years of cultivation, made him immediately sense the abnormality behind him. He whirled around, his gaze fixed on the incense burner.

The moment he saw the incense burner suddenly snap and go out, the powerful immortal was completely stunned. His eyes widened, his face filled with astonishment and confusion, his brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with disbelief, bewilderment, and doubt. He stared at the broken incense, motionless, completely frozen in place.

The burning incense, which was perfectly fine, suddenly went out without any wind or cause. In a Taoist temple, this is a very taboo and unusual phenomenon.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the dimly lit cabin instantly became extremely tense, and a shocking confrontation was about to erupt.