Excessive ferocity due to caution

"Judging from the mess in several rooms, the Taoist priest must have had a fierce fight with someone..."

Zhao Yi went to a corner of the room.

There were many wood chips scattered on the ground, as well as a piece of wood stuck to the ground.

The wooden planks were nailed to the ground on all four sides.

"strangeness……"

Thomson, standing to the side, stared intently at the wooden plank on the ground with a strange expression.

"There was something similar in the room just now; it seems they... dismantled the upper part of the wooden cabinet during the fight?"

At this point, his head began to throb again.

Thomson immediately stopped thinking about it.

Zhao Yi seemed oblivious to Thomson's change and continued:

"It wasn't dismantled during the fight."

"It was dismantled after the fight ended."

Thomson was puzzled:

"Dismantle it after the fight?"

Why?

Zhao Yi casually said:

"Perhaps they want to rebuild... but it's hard to say."

"To figure out this, we first need to find out who the Taoist priest was fighting with."

Thomson nodded and agreed:

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Zhao Yi used his torch to illuminate his surroundings, remaining vigilant while saying:

"Didn't you say earlier that the Taoist priest had another disciple?"

Thomson:

"Yes."

"If I remember correctly, his name was Ning Jiang. Before the Taoist priest ascended to immortality, he met with him and gave instructions on his affairs in the mortal world."

Zhao Yi:

"It seems the person who fought with the Taoist priest... was most likely Ning Jiang!"

"No one usually comes to places like this."

Thomson thought for a moment.

"That's true, after all, the nearest town is nearly a hundred kilometers away..."

"It's very difficult to find the dojo if you don't know the exact location."

"But...why would the Taoist priest fight with his own disciple?"

"Look at these bloodstains. The battle must have been extremely fierce. The Taoist priest is so old, how could his disciple be so ruthless?"

Seeing that he had once again led Zhao's thoughts down a different path, Zhao said:

"Thompson..."

"Preconceived notions are terrifying..."

"How do you know these bloodstains were left by the Taoist priest?"

Thomson paused for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly:

"The last time I saw the Taoist priest, he was already eighty-four years old."

"His health is still fairly good, but he's probably no match for a young person in their prime..."

Zhao Yi:

"You know he cultivates immortality."

"A person who is about to ascend to immortality must have some special abilities."

"How can this be summarized using common sense?"

Thomson choked.

Zhao Yi said:

"We don't have enough clues right now, but we can still make some inferences."

"If the Taoist priest fought with his disciple, then the most likely reason is that he ascended to immortality."

"After all, there's nothing of value in this place, and the possibility of him having an irreconcilable feud with his disciple is extremely small..."

"The former is unnecessary since the Taoist priest is about to ascend to immortality. He can simply give it to his disciple. There is no reason for a fight."

"As for the latter, if the two had an irreconcilable feud, why would the Taoist priest have called his disciple back before ascending to immortality?"

Thomson continued, following Zhao Yi's train of thought:

"Unless... the Taoist priest needs his disciple when he ascends to immortality."

Zhao Yi praised:

"That's right."

"Did the Taoist priest ever tell you about ascension before?"

Thomson pondered deeply.

"Now that you mention it, I seem to have remembered something."

Zhao Yi arrived at the door, closed it, and also closed the window.

Tell me about it.

"Perhaps... the answer lies within!"

Thomson:

"When I last visited the Taoist priest, he mentioned to me that it had not been easy for him to get to where he is today. He broke through the shackles of his predecessors and forged a new path for himself."

"But he worried that after he ascended to immortality, the path he had painstakingly paved would be cut off, so the Taoist priest left behind his cultivation method for ascension and hid it in..."

Zhao's eyes flashed:

"Where is it hidden?"

Thomson frowned:

"It's hidden...hidden in a book!"

Zhao Yibin didn't give him time to rest and continued to press him for answers:

Where is the book?

Thomson's breathing had become slightly rapid.

"The book...the book is..."

Zhao Yi:

"Is the book somewhere in this dojo?"

Thomson seemed to find an outlet for his tension, and took the opportunity to say:

"Yes... the Taoist priest hid the book that recorded his method of ascension in a corner of the Taoist temple."

Zhao Yi patted him on the shoulder, causing Thomson, who was lost in thought, to suddenly shudder.

"Relax... things aren't as bad as we think."

Thomson looked somewhat dejected and sighed:

"But I've forgotten where that book is..."

"If only I had listened to the Taoist priest properly back then..."

Zhao Yi's eyes flickered slightly:

"Actually, we can speculate on it."

Thomson was somewhat puzzled:

"How can this be deduced?"

Zhao Yi looked at the bewildered Thomson and said:

"What are books made of?"

"Paper."

What's on the paper?

"ink."

"What's there to be afraid of with paper?"

"fire."

"Where's the ink?"

"water."

"So where should I put it to be both fireproof and waterproof?"

Thomson pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up:

"Iron box".

Zhao Yi continued to ask:

Does the tin box smell of food?

"no."

"So, wild animals from outside won't deliberately rummage through the metal box, right?"

"right……"

"So the metal box just needs to be placed where wild animals can't reach it or see it, right?"

"right!"

"So... if it were you, where would you hide the metal box?"

Thomson's thoughts flowed like a spring, and his eyes grew brighter:

"If it were me, I would put the iron box... in the wall behind the painting in the altar!"

The two exchanged a glance, and Thomson exclaimed excitedly:

"Mr. Zhao...you're simply a genius!"

"Let's go back and look for it!"

After saying that, he opened the door.

The cold wind made him shiver.

The two hadn't walked far down the corridor when Thomson suddenly heard Zhao Yi say:

"It's started killing people..."

"We don't have much time left."

Thomson shuddered and followed Zhao Yi's gaze.

Beyond the rain, at the entrance to a forest path in the distance, a dark figure was frantically devouring a corpse on the ground...

Thomson's legs went weak and he couldn't walk.

Although he couldn't see the face of the dark figure clearly, the familiar thin and short body still made Thomson immediately remember the Taoist priest who should have ascended to heaven from the depths of his memory!

"It really is him..."

Thomson's lips trembled slightly.

The shadowy figure on the other end seemed to sense something, turning its head from the rain and staring intently at Thomson!

"It...it saw me!!"

Thomson turned to Zhao Yi in fear.

After saying that, he turned back to look at the tree again, and suddenly his whole body trembled!

The ghostly figure that was just devouring the corpse... has vanished.

PS: Second update.

This story will probably end tomorrow or the day after.

True and false, false and true.

Goodnight, my darlings.