Chapter 50

Wu Mian did not know what kind of medicine was buried in Guangren’s gourd. Given the current situation, he could only take it one step at a time. Wu Mian nodded and said to Guangren, "I have three of these pills. The one in your hand, I gave to someone else, but unfortunately, that person did not have the fortune to enjoy it."

Guangren smiled faintly, put away the pill, and said, "If I also want to borrow a pill of immortality from you, little brother, would it be too difficult?"

This time, before Wu Mian could answer, Gui Bu Gui spoke for him, "It won’t be too easy, after all, this is a pill of immortality. If it could be borrowed so easily, everyone on the street would be immortal. Speaking of which, Guangren, you say you want to borrow, but borrowing means returning. How will you return the pill of immortality? Don’t tell me that before your predecessor, the Great Master, passed away, he secretly called you to his small room and secretly gave you the formula for the pill. Your first batch of pills hasn’t even been made yet, so you’ll have to wait until you make them to return it, right?"

Guangren sighed, his gaze shifting from Wu Mian to Gui Bu Gui. The current Great Master reined in his smile, looking at Gui Bu Gui and said, "Brother Gui, you’re joking again. How could I have such a divine formula? I won’t borrow the pill for free, but I left in a hurry this time and didn’t bring anything valuable to use as collateral. So, if you lend me one pill, I’ll owe Brother Wu Mian a favor. I will definitely repay this favor in the future."

The pill was, to Wu Mian, just an external possession. Since he already had an immortal constitution, the pill had no use for him. Although Gui Bu Gui kept giving him meaningful looks, Wu Mian still took out the porcelain bottle from his chest and said to Guangren, "Is one enough?"

Before Guangren could answer, Gui Bu Gui loudly shouted, "Enough! Do you think he eats this for meals?"

Wu Mian ignored the old man, pulled out the stopper of the bottle, and poured a wax pill into his palm, handing it to Guangren. Guangren held it in his palm, examined it several times, and only after confirming it was genuine did he put it away.

At this moment, Gui Bu Gui seemed to remember something. He said to Guangren, "That’s not right. The pill you left in the palace is already in your hands. You already have one, why are you still asking for another one?"

Guangren’s mood improved after getting the pill. He didn’t take offense at the old man and continued to smile, "In recent years, I have found a few alchemists with considerable talent. Unfortunately, they are all limited by their short lifespans. No matter how talented they are, a few decades of life won’t allow them to achieve much. If they could be transformed into people with constitutions like ours, given time, their achievements in alchemy would not be less than ours."

After hearing Guangren’s words, Wu Mian’s brows furrowed. He didn’t agree with Guangren. If what Guangren said were true, then hundreds of years ago, Xu Fu would have already started distributing pills of immortality. By now, the world would be overrun with white-haired people.

As Guangren was speaking, a middle-aged man in his forties suddenly entered the incense room. When he saw Wu Mian, he was taken aback, then looked at Guangren, hesitated for a moment, and didn’t dare to directly approach the Great Master. The man silently walked to Huo Shan, leaned close to his ear, and whispered a few words, passing him a bamboo slip.

As the man spoke, Huo Shan’s eyes lit up. When he looked at Wu Mian, his expression changed. After receiving the bamboo slip, Huo Shan didn’t dare to read it first. Without hesitation, he walked behind Guangren and, finding a moment to speak, whispered the words he had just heard into his master’s ear.

After listening, Guangren’s eyes almost narrowed into a straight line. Gui Bu Gui noticed something was wrong and immediately pulled Wu Mian, saying, "We’ve given you the pill of immortality, so there’s nothing more for us here. Let’s go." As he spoke, Gui Bu Gui tried to lead Wu Mian around Guangren from behind.

Unfortunately, before they could take a few steps, Guangren stepped sideways, blocking Wu Mian again. The new Great Master ignored Gui Bu Gui and directly said to Wu Mian, "Little brother, besides the pill of immortality, did the Great Master entrust you with anything else to keep safe?"

Wu Mian looked at Guangren coldly and said, "The Great Master entrusted me with many things. How would I know what you want?" The way Wu Mian said it made it even more unpleasant to hear. Before the new Great Master could speak, Huo Shan’s face turned red, and he glared at Wu Mian, as if ready to attack him at any moment.

Guangren’s back seemed to have eyes. He turned and glanced at his senior disciple. With just that glance, Huo Shan’s anger subsided, and he immediately lowered his head. Only then did Guangren turn back to Wu Mian and say, "Not long after we parted at the lecture hall, you appeared in the Yan Mountains of Liaodong not far from here. Two years later, you went to Miaoshan, a thousand miles away. I don’t know how you met Brother Gui, but you and Brother Gui appeared in Bashang City together, which is true. In Bashang City, you found the alchemist supervisor of the former Qin palace. The three of you entered the Qin palace the night before the Han army entered Xianyang. The supervisor’s fate was unfortunate; he was split in two and left in the palace’s secret passage, along with the pill of immortality. Later, someone saw you two at the foot of Yang Mountain, and we met here tonight."

This series of statements was clear and logical, and it was hard to imagine how Guangren had summarized it in such a short time. After listening, both Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui’s faces changed. They thought they had almost fooled Guangren, but everything changed when the middle-aged man entered. Guangren seemed to have been watching Wu Mian all these years, knowing his every move. Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui exchanged a glance, neither of them speaking, waiting for Guangren’s next words.

Sure enough, Guangren smiled at their reaction, paused, and continued, "Don’t misunderstand. Since you are someone the former Great Master valued, I can’t just let you wander in this world. Therefore, I specially ordered my disciples to find you, but unfortunately, they always arrived a step too late. By the time they got to the places you had stayed, you had already moved on."

As he spoke, he glanced at Huo Shan again. Although he didn’t say a word, the默契 between the master and disciple was almost perfect. With just a look, Huo Shan understood what his master wanted. He respectfully handed the bamboo slip given to him by the middle-aged man to Wu Mian. Wu Mian opened it and saw a detailed record of his movements over the past few years, including small details he had almost forgotten.

After reading it, Wu Mian threw the bamboo slip back to Huo Shan. He then looked at Guangren coldly and said, "So, what do you mean by saying the Great Master entrusted me with something to keep safe? Were you peeking when the Great Master gave me something?"

"I don’t have the nerve to do that," Guangren laughed, then continued, "After I took over as Great Master, I organized the items of our sect and found that a few valuable items were missing. It seems that the former Great Master, many years ago, scattered these items among famous mountains and rivers. When he left you alone, he likely entrusted these items to you to help you practice our sect’s alchemy techniques. However, these items belong to our sect. If you have already mastered the techniques, it would be best to return these items to our sect."