On that day, Young Master Yan didn’t even come out to eat - is the food in that shabby inn for people to eat?

He ate two pieces of dessert sickly and couldn't sleep at night because of the pain.

Even though the Taoist boy had cleaned the thatched hut where he stayed a hundred and eighty times from inside to outside, he still felt that the mattress had a smell, the bed boards were so uncomfortable that he couldn't sleep, the room was stuffy and hot, and any fragrance made him feel upset.

In a word, in this shabby place, Master Yan had doubts about his entire life. He finally couldn't stand it anymore, and adhering to the principle of not letting others be unhappy, he jumped up and prepared to settle the score with his master.

Yan Zhengming left the Taoist boy behind and turned into a headless fly, angrily wandering around the shabby inn.

Because the inn was too run-down and the owner looked like a black shop owner selling human meat buns, they were the only ones staying there, and the huge yard was empty. After Yan Zhengming passed by many thatched houses that looked like haunted houses, he found his poor and cursed master in the innermost one.

However, he did not rush forward, because Yan Zhengming saw from afar that Master Mu Chun was with the innkeeper Wen Ya.

It didn't matter if he caused trouble for his master in private, but Yan Zhengming had no intention of humiliating his master in front of outsiders.

But he had finally found it, and he was reluctant to go back like this, so Young Master Yan hesitated for a moment, and finally felt in his purse, and took out a cicada wing.

Needless to say, this weird thing was naturally made by Li Yun. There are five holes on a small piece of cicada wing. Tie the holes up with a string and hang it around the neck. It can hinder other people's five senses to a certain extent and conceal one's whereabouts.

Of course, what advanced things can Li Yun make? This little gadget has limited functions. You can't even think of making people disappear or become invisible. But if you are far enough away and the person wearing it is careful enough, it can play a certain auxiliary role.

This thing was Han Yuan's weapon for stealing bird eggs. When Yan Zhengming saw it, he gave him a righteous scolding and then took it for himself.

Yan Zhengming went around to the other side of the hut, climbed in through the broken yard that was windy everywhere, hid behind the hut, and planned to wait for that bastard named Wen Ya to leave before coming out to argue with his master.

Yan Zhengming has been practicing sword for many years. Although he is not very diligent, his hands and feet are more flexible than ordinary people. With the protection of Li Yun's cicada wing, he did not alarm the two masters in front of him.

Yan Zhengming found a place to sit down, prepared a face looking for trouble, and waited for his master to send him away.

At this moment, the voices of the two people talking reached his ears.

Wen Ya said, "Last year, I predicted a strange phenomenon in the sky, and I was wondering what it was. It turned out to be a celestial demon. The celestial demon came, and the demon king was furious. In addition, the demons mutinied, and the Demon Valley must have been a sea of ​​blood. The celestial demon was still in the egg. If that person had not suppressed the rebellion with his own strength, and sent the celestial demon egg out... A celestial demon born in blood, tsk, then it must not be just the disaster of Fuyao Mountain - by the way, where is the celestial demon now? Has it hatched?"

Mu Chun Zhenren replied calmly: "She has hatched. She is in your yard. I will go to see her later to avoid her wetting your bed."

Wen Ya: “…”

Then, without waiting for him to come back to his senses, Mu Chun suddenly spoke in a serious tone. Yan Zhengming even lowered his voice involuntarily when he heard him, and asked, "Let me ask you, who is that great demon cultivator with the power of the North Sea? What is his relationship with my sect? Why is he willing to use his soul as a talisman to protect my sect from disaster?"

Wen Ya: "He didn't tell you?"

Master Mu Chun sighed, "Even if he was a great demon, sacrificing one soul would be a heavy blow. After that day, I never saw him again."

Wen Ya listened and thought for a moment before saying, "When he asked me to hand that thing over to you, he only claimed to be an abandoned disciple of the Fuyao Sect, so I thought I knew him."

Master Mu Chun said, "Since our founder founded our sect, there have been many heretics. There are two predecessors named 'Lord Bei Ming' whose origins I can tell, not to mention those who later changed their names and refused to reveal their master... After so many years, how can I know who he is?"

"At least there is no ill intention." Wen Ya said, "I think instead of worrying about that little remnant soul, you should think about how to deal with your old friend."

When Wen Ya said the word "old friend", her voice sounded eerie and low, with a strong warning. With just a few words, others could hear the fear of this big man between the lines.

Yan Zhengming, who was eavesdropping behind the house, was startled.

Old friend?

This time, Master Mu Chun did not respond for a long time. Yan Zhengming sat up straight involuntarily and poked his head out.

After a long while, the master finally spoke.

"Brother Wen Ya," Master Mu Chun said quietly, "If I...my children, I will have to trouble you to take care of them."

Wait, what does this mean?

All the sharpness that Yan Zhengming had not developed in his sixteen years of life was concentrated on this ear. He even forgot that he was eavesdropping. His mind quickly changed and he held his breath for a moment.

Wen Ya sneered softly, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but it was unclear who she was mocking.

"Come on, I'm just a nobody, how can I take on this responsibility?" Wen Ya said, "Your Fuyao Mountain is so blessed with natural beauty, and demons will appear in every generation. How can an ordinary person like me control them? Besides, don't you have a fool who is willing to carve a spell on his soul to ward off disaster for you? I think you should ask him for help."

Master Mu Chun understood what Wen Ya meant, so he tactfully decided not to dwell on the topic.

The two of them soon started chatting in a casual manner. These middle-aged and elderly men in the world of cultivation knew all the gossips of the past five hundred years, and when they chatted, they could talk like a river flowing through the ages.

Yan Zhengming's legs were nearly numb from sitting, and only then was he sure that he couldn't hear anything. He then stood up carefully and tiptoed back the way he came.

In the furnace-like weather of June, his palms were covered with cold sweat.

Yan Zhengming left his master's hut and went straight into Cheng Qian's place. It was already late, and Cheng Qian had already fallen asleep, but was dragged out of his quilt alive by Yan Zhengming.

Cheng Qian's sleep was disturbed for no reason. He stared at Yan Zhengming with a look of impending disaster, as if he was planning to scratch his face.

Yan Zhengming didn't notice his expression at all. He picked up the clothes on Cheng Qian's bedside and threw them on his face. He said solemnly, "Put them on and follow me."

Yan Zhengming frowned and paced anxiously in Cheng Qian's room. He was almost absent-minded. He neither noticed that the clothes on Cheng Qian's bedside was the one he had just worn today, nor did he take the opportunity to point out the wrinkles on his belt that looked like dried pickles. He just kept urging Cheng Qian with a heavy heart.

Based on this detail, Cheng Qian concluded that he was in trouble, and at least in Yan Zhengming's eyes, this matter might be a bit serious. He hastily put on an outer robe, and without even having time to comb his hair, he was dragged away by Yan Zhengming with his hair disheveled, and went to Li Yun and Han Yuan.

Han Yuan was not found. Ever since he came down the mountain, he had become like a runaway horse and no one knew where he had gone.

Li Yun hadn't slept yet, still studying under the oil lamp. Seeing the two of them coming together, he was very surprised at first. Then, his eyes fell on the cicada wings on Yan Zhengming's neck, and he asked with a little confusion: "Big Brother...did you just finish listening to someone's corner?"

Yan Zhengming gave up looking for Han Yuan. He didn't argue any more and sat down to wipe a porcelain cup from inside to outside seven or eight times. At the same time, he absentmindedly repeated what he had just heard from his master.

Li Yun and Cheng Qian looked at each other. Cheng Qian took the porcelain bowl with a layer of glaze wiped off from Yan Zhengming's hand and poured him a cup of herbal tea that had been there for who knows how long. Yan Zhengming took it and drank it unconsciously.

Li Yun frowned and asked, "Big Brother, do you... know about the 'old friend'?"

Li Yun was actually very careful, but he was just too playful and indulged in unorthodox practices, so he wasn't very focused. Yan Zhengming lowered his head and stared at the cold water in the cup for a moment, then admitted, "Not bad."

Cheng Qian said with certainty: "Then I know, he must be a demon cultivator."

Yan Zhengming: "How do you know?"

In fact, Cheng Qian had felt something was wrong a long time ago - after following his master in chanting scriptures for a long time, he noticed that although his master often talked nonsense and there were often contradictions in different scriptures, the content of "the great way is invisible" and "following the laws of nature" ran through the entire text.

If there is no form, there is naturally no right or wrong. All things have the same destination. Cheng Qian has been a disciple for so long, and he has never heard his master say that there is anything wrong with practicing magic or demon cultivation.

The one who hates these things the most is the senior brother who doesn't take them seriously.

Cheng Qian: "Last year when we were in the Valley of Monsters, Second Senior Brother talked about practicing magic. When he was stopped by First Senior Brother, I felt that... First Senior Brother seemed to be particularly averse to the magic path."

Yan Zhengming waved his hand and said, "I'm just afraid that he might corrupt you with his nonsense."

Cheng Qian didn't even blink: "Oh, then Senior Brother sets an example by sleeping during morning classes every day, so he must not be afraid of teaching us bad things."

Yan Zhengming: “…”

The bastard is quite good at taking advantage of every opportunity!

Yan Zhengming rolled his eyes at him, was silent for a while, and then slowly said, "I probably haven't told you where I met my master. When I was seven or eight years old, I got angry for some reason. I left the servants' sight and ran away alone. As a result, I was kidnapped on the way."

You can tell a person’s future by looking at the child when he’s three years old. This really seems like something that the eldest brother would be able to do.

"I remember that person was a handsome man, but his face looked as if he was terminally ill and had a layer of deathly aura," Yan Zhengming said as he recalled, "He took us to an abandoned Taoist temple."

Cheng Qian blinked: "You guys?"

"We," Yan Zhengming said, "were four or five kids about my age, except for one girl, the rest were boys. That man was a demon cultivator, and he killed the girl first. I saw him strangling her neck, but he didn't strangle her to death directly. Instead, he pulled her soul out from her forehead. Afterwards, the little girl was still breathing and her heart was still beating. Only a shell was left there, and she lingered on for seven or eight days before she died. That was... the first time I saw a dead person."

Nearly ten years later, Yan Zhengming could still describe every detail of that incident, which shows that this memory has been engraved in his mind.

Li Yun was stunned when he heard this: "What's the point of a demon cultivator killing a child?"

Yan Zhengming said: "He put the girl's soul into a lamp with very smelly lamp oil, and the flame immediately jumped and grew, burning forever. Then it was our turn. He didn't kill us directly, but took our blood every day and poured it into the lamp oil. At first, it was nothing except a little disgusting, but young children don't have that much blood. After a few days, some people couldn't hold on and were about to die."

When Cheng Qian heard this, he felt it sounded more and more familiar, and couldn't help but blurt out: "Could it be the Soul Devouring Lamp..."

Li Yun: “What?”

Yan Zhengming's expression suddenly became fierce: "How do you know?"

Cheng Qian: "I've seen it in the Sutra Building. The Soul Devouring Lamp can refine souls. The lowest level uses a girl's soul as the wick, and refined corpse oil and boy's blood as the lamp oil. Burn it for 49 days, and you can refine the girl's soul into your own ghost. This is a kind of magic, called the ghost way."

Yan Zhengming grabbed his wrist and said sternly, "Cheng Qian, I opened the door to the Sutra Building for you so that you can see how to bleed people and refine their souls."

Cheng Qian was not afraid of him, and said confidently: "I didn't say that you can't read it. I just flipped through the three thousand magic ways."

"Alright," Li Yun was very smart. When he saw that the topic was going in the wrong direction, he immediately pulled it back. "Big Brother, go on. What happened to that murderous demon cultivator? Did the master save you, so you became his disciple?"

Yan Zhengming glared at Cheng Qian fiercely: "It was indeed my master who saved me, but that is not the point..."

He paused involuntarily when he said this: "Master and that devil knew each other. I heard it with my own ears. Master called him 'Senior Brother'."