Chapter 33: Rainy Night in the Ruined Temple, The Old
Translator: 549690339
Half a month later.
“Boom!”
A thunderclap resounded abruptly over the parched land.
“Looks like it’s going to rain.”
On the imperial road, Lu Changsheng, mounted on a spiritual horse, looked up at the dark, overcast sky and spoke.
“It’s getting late, and there happens to be a temple ahead. Let’s rest there for the night,”
Li Feiyu said, gazing at the darkening sky.
“A mountain, a dilapidated temple, heavy rain—this isn’t going to lead to any accidents, is it?”
Lu Changsheng also noticed an abandoned ancient temple ahead and couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
But the weather was not suitable for spending the night outdoors.
The two rode their spiritual horses quickly to the old temple.
This ancient temple was very run-down, with overgrown weeds everywhere, and filled with dust and spider webs.
Lu Changsheng cast a Cleansing Technique, cleaned up a bit, then gathered some firewood and started a campfire.
Afterward, he took out some raw meat from his Storage Bag and began feeding the Nine Netherhound.
“You little thing certainly have quite the appetite,”
Li Feiyu said, watching the Nine Netherhound devour the meat.
“Yeah, I don’t know how its stomach can hold all that.”
Lu Changsheng said.
Although the Nine Netherhound was a pup, it had a huge appetite, needing five to six pounds of raw meat in one meal.
Ordinary raw meat was fine, even if it ate a hundred pounds a day, they could afford it.
But Lu Changsheng felt that to make the Nine Netherhound grow faster, he probably needed to feed it demon beast meat.
And demon beast meat was expensive.
The cheapest demon beast meat sold by the Lu Family cost one Spirit Stone for five or six pounds.
This made Lu Changsheng feel that if he wanted to raise the Nine Netherhound to Fourth Rank, it would likely cost a significant amount of money and resources.
The Nine Netherhound, still a pup, would fall asleep after eating its fill, so Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu started to meditate and rest.
The night grew deeper, and a heavy downpour began outside.
Just then,
hurried footsteps could be heard from outside.
Both Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu, who were meditating, opened their eyes at the same time.
The door of the decrepit temple creaked open as an old man and a young girl walked in.
The elder was slender, dressed in a black cloth shirt, carrying a grey bundle on his back,
Upon seeing Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu inside the temple, his gaze slightly hardened, then he bowed his hands in greeting, “This old man and my granddaughter were passing by and seek shelter from the rain. Sorry for disturbing the two young brothers.”
“This broken temple isn’t mine, please make yourself at home,”
Lu Changsheng said to the elder, then turned his attention to the young girl in pink beside him.
The girl appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old.
Decked in a long pink misty dress, her looks weren’t stunning, but she was still quite beautiful. Her delicate face was fair and youthful, still carrying a hint of baby fat, pure and lovely.
Because of the heavy rain, her pink dress was soaked through, clinging to her young and tender body, revealing the outline of her slender legs beneath the dress.
Her black hair was slightly disheveled, plastered against her cheeks, making her look frail and pitiful, yet with an allure of youthful temptation.
What was surprising, though, was that the girl was thoroughly drenched, while the old man’s clothes seemed hardly wet from the rain outside.
The elder smiled and bowed his hands in thanks, then sat down with the girl to one side.
“This old man must be an innate master, right?”
Lu Changsheng withdrew his gaze and used the Sound Transmitting Technique to communicate with Li Feiyu.
He could tell at a glance that the elder was a martial artist.
And being able to stay dry in the pouring rain clearly indicated exceptional martial prowess, so he guessed the old man was an innate master.
“Indeed, ‘A feather cannot be added, and insects cannot fall,’ this is the work of an innate master,”
Li Feiyu transmitted his voice back.
He naturally knew a few Primary Level spells used by cultivators and was even more proficient at them than Lu Changsheng.
“However, this elder and the girl are clearly not grandfather and granddaughter.”
Li Feiyu continued.
“Oh? How did you figure that out?”
Lu Changsheng asked.
He also felt that the two didn’t seem like grandfather and granddaughter.
Because there was no affection typical of that relationship.
But he didn’t know why Li Feiyu was so sure and wanted to hear what this ‘old hand’ in Jianghu had to say.
“Their actions and posture do not resemble those of grandfather and granddaughter, what kind of grandfather would watch his granddaughter get drenched like this?”
“Moreover, the elder is an innate master, yet the granddaughter shows no signs of martial arts training, which is also unreasonable.”
“However, these can all be barely explained away, the main thing is, this girl’s acupoint had been sealed, rendering her unable to speak.”
“And when she came in, the moment she saw us, her eyes lit up with hope, as if she was trying to ask for help.”
Li Feiyu explained in detail to Lu Changsheng.
“Not bad, the experience from wandering Jianghu really is different.”
“In that case, do you want to play the hero and save the beauty?”
Lu Changsheng said, admiringly.
He hadn’t expected Li Feiyu to notice so much in such a short period of time.
With his Third Level Qi Refinement cultivation, he had only noticed that the elder was an innate master and that the two didn’t look like grandfather and granddaughter, but hadn’t paid attention to so many details.
“I grew up in the Crimson Whale Gang and started wandering the Jianghu at the age of twelve, I still have this discernment.”
“As for playing hero, there’s no rush; let’s see how things unfold first.”
With a trace of smugness, Li Feiyu said.
While the two communicated through the Sound Transmitting Technique, the elder took out some dry food from his bag and said naturally and skillfully, “May the two young brothers lend me some fire to roast my dry food?”
“Moreover, my granddaughter is now drenched, and it would be easy for her to catch a cold if we don’t light a fire,” the elder added.
As he spoke, the old man walked toward Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu.
Seeing the elder coming over, Lu Changsheng immediately narrowed his eyes, feeling a stir of vigilance, and placed his hand inside his robes, holding a stack of talismans.
He clearly remembered Li Feiyu telling him that the strength of an innate martial artist was not inferior to that of a Third Level Qi Refinement cultivator.
If they got in close, the odds of an innate martial artist winning were even higher.
Given the elder’s unknown origins and Li Feiyu’s previous words, suspiciousness was evident.
In such a situation, he naturally became more cautious and was ready to take action at any sign of an unusual move.
“Please, help yourself!”
At that moment, Li Feiyu spoke up.
At the same time, he sent a message to Lu Changsheng, “Leave it to me.”
Lu Changsheng didn’t reply but kept holding the talismans, staying alert.
The elder reached the campfire and handed over the dry food, “You two young brothers haven’t eaten yet, have you? Would you like some?”
“Growl!”
Just then, the Nine Netherhound lying next to Lu Changsheng sleeping suddenly woke up and growled at the elder.
Lu Changsheng, without changing expression, calmed the Nine Netherhound, ready to act at any moment.
“We have already eaten.”
Li Feiyu, with a slight smile on his face, looked at the elder and said.
“Then I’ll just take a stick to start the fire.”
The elder seemed to pay no heed to the growls of the Nine Netherhound, bending down to pick up a stick of wood from the fire pit.
And at that moment, Li Feiyu, with a mocking smile, said to the elder, “I’m afraid that fire won’t be enough. Shall I add some more?”
Before his words had finished, Li Feiyu, who was sitting, suddenly swung his robe and struck a fierce palm towards the elder, the force of which whipped up a strong wind.
Facing this sudden strike, the elder seemed ready, swiftly raising his hand to meet the blow.
However, at that instant, a thumb-sized flame appeared in the palm of Li Feiyu’s hand.
“Bang—” “Ahh!!!”
As their palms met, the elder let out a piercing scream, and his hand burst into flames.
The fire quickly spread from his arm across his entire body at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning him into ashes.