Chapter Five: One Eyebrow's Longevity

  Wang Qi glanced at Xuan Kong and didn't dare say that it was his fellow disciples who sent him to take the blame, so he pulled out Xuan Kong to take the fall.

  Due to yesterday's events, the crowd of junior brothers lost their last bit of respect for this senior brother who lived in seclusion on the mountain behind. If it weren't for no one wanting to take the risk of going up the treacherous mountain path, they would have already summoned Xuan Kong to scold him face-to-face.

  It's unbearable, why do these young people who look like they're under 20 years old get to lord over them?

  Wang Qi didn't speak, and Xuan Kong's heart grew even more anxious. He pinched a spell in his hand, conjuring up a gust of clear wind that lifted Wang Qi into the air: "What exactly happened? What about Master?"

  The treacherous mountain path didn't exist in Xuan Kong's eyes at all.

  With a junior brother, his speed was extremely fast. Wang Qi looked down at his feet and saw the deep abyss, and couldn't help but tightly grab Xuan Kong's sleeve: "Master, something's wrong, it's the mountain hunters coming up to seek help!"

  Xuán Kōng let out a breath, and the spiritual energy maintaining the Wind-Controlling Seal also dissipated somewhat. He said with relief: "Master is fine, what's with all the fuss?"

  On Mount Ling, up and down, only the safety of Old Dao Chang is what makes Xuan Kong worried.

  Hearing that Lao Da was all right, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his mind.

  "Who is shouting!" Wang Qi looked at Xuan Kong with dissatisfaction, feeling that his senior brothers were right, this senior brother was too arrogant and disrespectful to others.

  He didn't think that as the first disciple of Mount Lao, Xuan Kong would need to look down on these junior brothers. In fact, in Xuan Kong's eyes, if it weren't for Old Daoist taking in these ordinary people, he wouldn't acknowledge them as his junior brothers at all.

  Cultivation is cultivating oneself.

  Man didn't do well, but he has a lot of ideas in his mind.

  From the back mountain, they flew all the way to the top of the giant peak, and it only took a moment. Xuan Kong led Wang Qi into the Taiqing Temple courtyard and stood in his position at the front row of the two classes of disciples. The second and third brothers who were already standing in the front row on both sides looked at each other, but they both frowned and didn't speak.

  Xuan Kong stood at the top, seeing Lao Dao Chang inviting two hunters from the mountain to taste tea and engage in polite conversation. He himself didn't speak, only closing his eyes to listen to their conversation above.

  Those two hunters, one surnamed Nie and the other Peng, sat beside the old Taoist priest, shivering with fear: "Elder One-Brow, this time you really must save us!"

  The old Daoist's original name was forgotten even by himself, but others called him "One-Browed Daoist" because his two longevity eyebrows were almost connected in a line. This was reasonable. Anyway, Xuan Kong himself would never call the old Daoist that way.

  "A single eyebrow is quite long..."

  Always makes Xuan Kong remember a movie star he liked very much in his previous life, who pioneered a type of film.

  The old Daoist sat in the chair, lifted his teacup and blew on it, then said helplessly: "You two, our Cui Mountain Sect has been established here for twenty years. We are all neighbors and will not stand by idly when there is trouble. However, you should also explain things clearly."

  The hunter with the surname Peng shivered, and used his arm to nudge his companion with the surname Nie. The latter, however, had a bit of backbone. He was originally a high-ranking official in the imperial court, but because he offended the national preceptor, he was demoted and exiled. Who would have thought that he was hot-tempered and simply brought his family to abandon his post and leave?

  Having been a high-ranking official, his vision was broad. Nie, the surname of the hunter, began to tell the story from the beginning: "It's also strange to say that we mountain people originally didn't want to have much contact with outsiders. But that day, several merchants drove a horse-drawn carriage along the mountain road."

  "Did those few businessmen cause you trouble?" Second Master said, interrupting.

  Nie surname hunter shook his head: "When they walked on the mountain road, the sky was already darkening, so he called a small servant to knock on our house and wanted to stay overnight."

  "Are you guys taking them in just because of their wealth?" Second Master asked with a smile.

  Nie's face turned red with anger, but after glancing at Yimao Daozhang sitting beside him, he suppressed his temper: "I'm a rustic person and didn't want to get involved in this matter. I just advised those merchants to walk a few more steps forward, and they should be able to find an inn to stay in before nightfall."

  The man with the surname Peng said, trembling with rage: "But those few merchants refused to leave, insisting on staying until nightfall."

  Third Master said: "That's also possible, traveling merchants are afraid of encountering evil spirits at night, so they don't dare to walk too far."

  Nie said to the hunter: "We told him that this is the territory of Lao Mountain, where there are no evil spirits or ghosts."

  The old Taoist stroked his long eyebrows and smiled with great comfort, seemingly proud of the reputation of his Cui Mountain Sect in the vicinity.

  "Then they just left?"

  Peng surname hunter shook his head and said, "If they had left, there would have been no subsequent events." The mountain village was a small gate and a small household, with several families living together and having mutual support. Those merchants cried out that they encountered ghosts on the road and killed the young woman in their caravan.

  Nie surname hunter originally also from the capital all the way to the old house, heard that he had a daughter who was famous for her beauty in the capital, but no one had ever seen her. After a long time, there were rumors that Nie surname hunter's daughter died of illness on the way back home after resigning from office.

  These are all rumors and cannot be verified as true.

  However, the hunter with the surname Nie did have a soft spot in his heart and allowed several merchants to stay in the village. This was originally a kind act, but who could have predicted that something would happen in the village that night? Several robust young men were lying in bed, and the next day they simply didn't get up.

  "Probably because he's tired from hunting, so he wants to slack off."

  The hunter surnamed Peng angrily said: "We mountain people's families all rely on hunting to eat, if we don't go hunting what will we eat and drink?"

  Nie surname hunter blocked Peng surname hunter, sighed and said: "Those young people are not lazy in bed, but all dead." Xuan Kong heard this, his face suddenly wrinkled, what reason is there for wanting to die together?

  This is not a primary school spring outing, and we have to arrange a time for all the classmates in the class to set off together.

  The old Daoist also spoke up: "This is not normal."

  The hunter with the surname Peng continued: "After this incident, those merchants used fear as an excuse and hid in their rooms for a whole day without showing their faces. Our several households were busy with the funeral, and at that time we didn't notice this matter either."

  "This isn't scientific." Xuan Kong thought to himself, ordinary merchants who encounter this kind of thing are usually afraid and run as fast as they can, where is the logic in staying behind to continue facing danger?

  As expected, the hunter with the surname Peng angrily said: "At first we didn't suspect anything, but later that night, I vaguely heard some noise coming from the room of those merchants. Out of curiosity, I hid outside the window and took a look, only to see that the female corpse which was placed in the horse carriage actually got out by itself!"

  The disciples of the Cui Shan Sect on the hall were listening to the story with rapt attention when suddenly they heard a loud thud as Nie, the hunter, slammed his fist on the tea table. They all jumped in fright and glared at him with anger in their eyes, but did not hear him muttering under his breath: "Xiao Qian, Xiao Qian..."