Chapter 8

From the mountaintop all the way down to the Nie family hunter's village, it only took about half an hour, but the sky had turned completely dark.

Just as they saw, the village elders were still organizing a few women and children, who were crying and wailing as they fled into the nearby forest.

Fortunately, this was the territory of the Laoshan Sect. Although there were spirits and monsters in the forest, they never harmed the hunters in the village. If it were in other wild areas, even entire villages would have to hide in their homes at night.

Not to mention running around in the forest.

The two hunters quickened their pace, running swiftly to the elders and asked anxiously, "Has the female corpse risen again?"

Living in the forest all their lives, the old man wiped away his tears and said, "Fortunately, fortunately, the female corpse seems to fear daylight and remained in the cart during the day without coming back to life."

The Nie family hunter tightened his grip on the hunting spear, trying to stay composed, and said with a smile, "Now there's nothing to worry about. We've invited a sage from Laoshan Mountain. Do we still need to fear that the corpse will cause trouble?" He signaled to Peng, the hunter, to help quickly evacuate the women and children to the depths of the forest.

At this moment, they could no longer worry about the threats from wolves, tigers, and leopards in the mountains.

Xuankong saw the old man standing in front of him, looking pitiful, and his heart softened. He said, "Brother Nie, Brother Peng, you two should also lead the strong men in the village to protect your families. The female corpse in the village can be handled by us disciples."

He glanced at Wang Qi, making him stand up straight and act composed.

Peng, the hunter, rubbed his hands and said, "How can we do that? We hunters are also strong. We should stay here to help the sage."

Wang Qi thought the same, looking at Xuankong with hope, wishing he would agree. But Xuankong disappointed him, smiling easily, "Brother Peng, are you laughing at us, the disciples of the Laoshan Sect, for being unable to deal with a mere zombie?"

Peng, the hunter, repeatedly said he dared not, and after a long discussion with the Nie family hunter, he finally waved his hand and led over a dozen strong young men to follow the villagers.

"Senior Brother..." Wang Qi watched the hunters in the village head into the forest, the courage he had mustered up also drained, looking at Xuankong, hoping he would speak up.

Xuankong laughed heartily, put his arm around Wang Qi's shoulder, and pushed open a wooden door, walking in, "Wang Qi, you've been on the mountain for more than a month, right?"

"Almost two months," Wang Qi said honestly. He was a citizen of the county, from a declining noble family. He was the seventh son, and after coming to Laoshan, his fellow disciples, for convenience, started calling him Wang Qi.

Xuankong sighed, "The world praises the immortals, but the hardships of the path to immortality are not just words."

After coming to Laoshan, Wang Qi lived with his fellow disciples outside the Shangqing Hall, and he rarely saw this senior brother who lived alone in the rear mountain's Yuwei Cottage. They had not even had ten conversations. Now, having the chance to chat with this mysterious senior brother, he felt curious.

He asked, "Senior Brother, why do you always avoid playing with Second Brother, Third Brother, and the others?"

Xuankong flipped his sleeve, took out a wine flask, and took a sip, saying wistfully, "Do I not know the importance of socializing? But people like them, with their restless temperaments, might not be able to endure the hardships of practice and give up after a few days. What's the point of socializing with them?"

Wang Qi quickly said, "I can do it, I can endure the hardships!"

Xuankong smiled and asked Wang Qi to find two sets of chopsticks and bowls, "Drinking without food is no fun."

As he spoke, Xuankong swept his sleeve across the wooden table, and a dish of peanuts and a dish of garlic appeared, making Wang Qi's eyes widen. He sat next to Xuankong, half-complaining, "No wonder Second Brother and the others say Master favors you. We've never even heard of such a spell."

Most of the disciples who came to the mountain envied the Daoist arts and heard that there were immortals practicing in Laoshan, so they came from far away to become disciples.

But now, seeing Xuankong's spell, Wang Qi couldn't help but feel angry for himself and the other disciples.

Xuankong explained, "This spell is called 'Sleeve Containing the Universe.' It's not that Master doesn't teach it; even he doesn't know it."

Wang Qi didn't believe it, arguing angrily, "If Master doesn't know it, where did you learn it from?" In his anger, he said a few words about Senior Brother's solitary nature, suggesting that if it weren't for Master secretly teaching him, he wouldn't have the chance to learn such a spell.

Xuankong poured a cup of fine wine for Wang Qi and said with a squint, "Do you think I can't make friends just because I live in Yuwei Cottage?"

Wang Qi spread his hands, "Isn't that the case? The other disciples say that Senior Brother has never left the small town at the foot of the mountain and just stays in the rear mountain, waiting to die."

Xuankong shook his head, "I'm not a hermit; you just don't see me often."

Wang Qi said, "But, can't we see you at the weekly morning meetings!" Is there really an immortal in the small town at the foot of Laoshan Mountain who is more accomplished than Master?

Of course not, immortals are not cabbages, they don't grow wherever there's mud.

Xuankong smiled, "In the past, Master told you to read less of the 'Liezi.' Although Lie Yukou often exaggerates, he didn't make up the part about immortals flying with the wind."

"Flying with the wind?" Wang Qi couldn't help but believe it, as he had been pulled by Xuankong to fly from the rear mountain to the peak of Laoshan in the afternoon.

But he still couldn't fully believe it, doubting that the flying technique was that amazing.

Xuankong said, "It's said that immortals travel from the Northern Sea in the morning and rest in the Cangwu in the evening. This means that they travel beyond the four seas in a single day, which is what it means to fly with the wind."

Wang Qi was amazed, "You still say Master doesn't favor you, but we don't know such divine techniques."

"Really don't know?" Xuankong smiled, intrigued by Wang Qi's "Wall-Penetrating Technique."

Wang Qi suddenly realized, "Could it be the Wind Control Spell taught by Master?"

The Five Elements Spirit Spells are essential for every Daoist practitioner, but each sect has its own secrets. As a disciple of the Laoshan Sect, the old Daoist naturally didn't forget to teach the basic Five Elements Spirit Spells, and the Wind Control Spell is a derivative spell that leans towards the Wood element.

All the disciples knew it, but none could apply it as skillfully as Xuankong, who had mastered the art of flying with the wind.

Xuankong was not arrogant, humbly saying, "What's the big deal? In the Northern Sea, there's a fish that transforms into a bird, spreading its wings to fly nine thousand miles; in the West, there's the Buddha of Victory, who can travel eighty thousand miles in one somersault. That's what counts as a divine technique!"

Xuankong drank a few cups with Wang Qi. Wang Qi had never drunk such strong liquor before.

In no time, he was dazed by the strong liquor made by Xuankong using modern brewing techniques, persistently pulling Xuankong to reveal where he learned the "Sleeve Containing the Universe." Xuankong smiled and reminded Wang Qi, "Let's deal with the female corpse in the village first. Next time, I'll tell you more."

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