Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 23: The Pure Immortal Temple at Night

"Don't go out at night."

"If my master comes knocking, just close your eyes, cover your ears, and it will pass quickly after a sleep."

"Also, I'm going out to patrol the mountains tomorrow. You have to leave before I go."

Chen Huangpi settled everyone in the temple's guest rooms, left three instructions, and left early.

In the guest room, only Granny Tang and the fox mountain god remained.

The other remnants were in the next guest room.

Granny Tang hadn't closed her eyes for a day and a night. Her mind was tense, and she had encountered many changes. At this time, she was already exhausted.

As soon as Chen Huangpi left, she closed her eyes.

But the fox mountain god didn't need to rest.

Only incense could sustain a deity.At this moment, it had retracted all its aura, pretending to be a dead thing.

But its divine soul was constantly thinking.

There were countless evil entities in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

But there were very few deities because there were too few remnants to support too many deities.

Generation after generation, they struggled to survive.

Although it had lost the memory of Chen Huangpi's master, it remembered what happened later.

The fox mountain god and the Yellow Peril had existed for nearly two thousand years.

They had also fallen into slumber several times in between.

Because of natural and man-made disasters, a village would always perish.

The remnants of Huanghu Village had also found it and the Yellow Peril two hundred years ago, and it was only with incense offerings that they were revived again.

During this period, they had also encountered other deities.

Some of those deities had not fallen into slumber for nearly two thousand years.

It learned from those deities that the Hundred Thousand Mountains had existed for so long. Logically, it should have long since given birth to incomparably powerful evil entities. But there was a terrifying existence that had been patrolling the mountains. Once an evil entity called a "peril" appeared, it would immediately disappear.

However, that existence had not patrolled the mountains for a very, very long time.

Because evil entities called "perils" had long been born in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

But those terrifying existences never dared to show their faces.

They were afraid that the one who patrolled the mountains was still there.

Even if it was dead, its remaining power could still suppress them with fear.

"Chen Huangpi also has to patrol the mountains. Could that existence be him?"

A thought arose in the fox mountain god's mind, but as soon as it arose, it was extinguished.

What a joke.

This kid was only nine years old. Although he was mischievous, the "patrolling the mountains" he spoke of was probably just the few mountains near the temple.

"Perhaps it's his master."

The fox mountain god told itself this, and then it extinguished this thought again, "It must not be, it must not be!"

It had already lost that memory.

But it still clearly remembered the ferocity and evil of the white-robed old Daoist.

If this was the one who patrolled the mountains, then it would be completely over.

What Yellow Peril, what Hu Peril, they would all have to step aside.

If that one turned into an evil entity, it would surely be called the Lord of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the evil of evils.

So it must not be.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be sending itself to its death now?

"I'm so weak now, it probably won't notice me."

And just at that moment, a knocking sound suddenly sounded.

"Have you seen Huangpi'er? I didn't see him in the pot, nor in the alchemy furnace. Is he in there?"

That voice was precisely the purple-robed old Daoist's.

The fox mountain god's eyes went black, and it screamed in its heart, "He's not here, he's not here."

"Alright, then I'll look again."

After a while, the fox mountain god finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to itself that Chen Huangpi was right. If it heard the old Daoist knocking and didn't respond, he would leave.

It's good that he left, it's good that he left.

This god's divine soul was about to be scared to pieces. It would leave tomorrow morning and absolutely could not stay in this cursed place.

But the next second, the purple-robed old Daoist's voice sounded, "I didn't leave."

"What, you're not leaving?"

The fox mountain god was terrified. Its statue trembled so much that several pieces of dirt fell off.

"You've been muttering about me for half a day. You've made me hungry."

"When I'm hungry, I have to eat."

As the purple-robed old Daoist's voice fell, his stomach rumbled with hunger.

But to the fox mountain god's ears, this was not the sound of a hungry stomach.

It was clearly the sound of a death sentence!

...

The red moon hung high in the night sky.

Looking up, the night was like a curtain, and not a single star could be seen.

However, this was only within the Pure Immortal Temple.

The extra areas were different, very evil, very strange.

Chen Huangpi carried the weasel oil lamp and stood in front of a courtyard gate covered in moss, saying in a low voice, "Huang Er, after we go in, the red moon won't be able to shine in. Do you still have enough lamp oil?"

"It's definitely enough. If it's not enough, then I'll just squeeze out some more."

The brass oil lamp was not entering the extra area for the first time.

In fact, it knew it better than Chen Huangpi.

Because it was already in the Pure Immortal Temple when it was created. It knew the layout of the temple and how terrifying it was inside.

"Family, you have to be careful. Don't move around after you go in. Don't disturb them."

The brass oil lamp's tone was very cautious.

"Also, you must go in and out quickly. If we don't come out before dawn, we'll never be able to come out again."

Chen Huangpi said, "Don't worry, Huang Er. We've been here several times. I know what I'm doing."

"If you knew, you wouldn't be thinking of going to the scripture pavilion to find a medicine classic!"

The brass oil lamp rolled its eyes.

Before, it was only because you pestered me that I agreed to go with you to the outer perimeter for a few strolls. I never dared to go inside.

At that time, the Temple Master hadn't gone mad yet.

Chen Huangpi was the Temple Master's treasure. He was afraid it would melt in his mouth, afraid it would be bitter in his arms.

If he went in, he would at most get a few spankings.

Then he would be thrown into the alchemy furnace and burned with true fire to remove the things he had been tainted with.

But it would be miserable. When refined by the true fire, its lamp oil would be refined out. It was a fate worse than death.

It was only because the Temple Master was mad now, and the brass oil lamp couldn't refuse, that it agreed to help Chen Huangpi this time.

"Let's go!"

Chen Huangpi said to the brass oil lamp.

Then he stepped in.

The next second, he could no longer see anything, as if he were blind.

With a whoosh, the wick of the brass oil lamp lit up with a bean-sized flame.

Only then was the darkness around Chen Huangpi dispelled, allowing him to see.

However, the range was not large.

The night here was different from the night outside.

Even the brass oil lamp did not dare to be too presumptuous.

Chen Huangpi's footsteps did not stop.

He walked carefully. From this courtyard gate, it was the closest place to the scripture pavilion.

He just needed to turn left, then right, and then go straight.

One step, two steps, three steps.

With each step, Chen Huangpi counted silently in his heart.

"Nine hundred and ninety-eight steps, not one extra step."

The first time he turned left, it was a total of nine hundred and ninety-eight steps.

He had walked this path twice.

The first time he walked it, there was still one step left.

It was the brass oil lamp's scream that stopped him.

Because once he took that extra step, he would instantly disappear.

What was strange was not the extra stone slab under his feet, but the number of steps.

Whether you took a big step forward or a small step, the number of steps would be the same.

The difference was one more step or one less step.

"Let's go quickly. You're lucky. That thing isn't here today."

The brass oil lamp breathed a sigh of relief and urged Chen Huangpi in its heart.

But it was also a little disappointed. It would have been better if there was one more step.

If they couldn't go any further, then they could just go back.

And they wouldn't have to be so on edge.

Chen Huangpi continued to walk forward and asked in a low voice, "Huang Er, this is the third time I've walked this path. I'm very curious what that thing looks like. It seems that as long as I don't take an extra step, it won't appear."

"What does it look like?"

The brass oil lamp thought for a moment and said, "The upper half is human, but the lower half is a pile of rotten flesh. It has no legs, but it's covered in fleshy buds. It was cut in half at the waist when it was alive, and it crawled nine hundred and ninety-nine steps with its hands before turning into an evil entity."

"In the mountain god's memory, I saw many people grow strange things on their bodies. They all turned into evil entities after they died."

"Yes, this thing is just as you think."

The weasel oil lamp said with great fear, "We're still on the outside now. It's even more dangerous to go further in. More people have died inside, especially in the scripture pavilion. We have to be even more careful when we get there."

"Huang Er, our relationship has faded."

As Chen Huangpi walked, he said in a low voice, "You clearly knew about these things. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"The Temple Master didn't say anything. What if he didn't want to tell you? Wouldn't I be tired of living if I said too much?"

The brass oil lamp explained, "Besides, not long after I was created, those people all died. The Temple Master also divided me into several thousand pieces. It wasn't until later, when you came along, that I was reawakened. I don't know many things either."

"Then how did I come to be? Was I born from master? Or was I picked up?"

"I really don't know about that."

The brass oil lamp shook its head secretly. It really didn't know.

Because the reason the Temple Master had awakened it was purely to be Chen Huangpi's playmate.

He was afraid that Chen Huangpi would be very lonely without a playmate.

Otherwise, the brass oil lamp would still be in slumber now.

Chen Huangpi said no more, and his feet did not stop for a moment.

This path, only by following the order of left, right, and forward could one reach the scripture pavilion.

After Chen Huangpi had walked to the end on the left, he closed his eyes and walked to the right.

"Huang Er, you guide me."

He didn't dare to open his eyes.

The brass oil lamp was the same. And the moment Chen Huangpi closed his eyes, it extinguished the burning wick and no longer emitted light.

Because with light, that thing could see them.

Even if it didn't look, it could perceive everything around it with incomparable clarity.

"Forward, forward."

"Slower, lean a little more to the left."

"Lean a little more. You almost touched it."

"Be careful of your feet. Its roots have grown a lot more. You can't walk, you have to jump over."

The brass oil lamp's voice echoed in Chen Huangpi's mind.

Chen Huangpi was extremely nervous.

He couldn't see anything, so he could only rely on Huang Er.

Because he had stopped here last time. At that time, Huang Er had also reminded him like this, but he had been careless and tripped. He had subconsciously opened his eyes and seen that incomparably strange thing.

It was a tree.

A withered tree with no leaves, of unknown height.

Because the crown was incomparably huge, as far as the eye could see, it was all densely packed withered branches intertwined, like a canopy of clouds.

Chen Huangpi had once suspected that the reason the extra area of the Pure Immortal Temple was dark at night was because the red moon was blocked by its crown.

It did not allow a single ray of moonlight to shine in.

And this was not its strangest part.

Although it was a withered tree, it was not dead.

It would bear fruit every once in a while. Those fruits looked like babies, and they would grow bigger and bigger, just like people, they would be born, grow old, get sick, and die. It was just that they spent their entire lives hanging on the tree. Only after they died would they fall and become fertilizer.

That time he came in, when Chen Huangpi opened his eyes and saw it, the tree was covered with old men and women.

They were all naked, their skin wrinkled like rotten fruit, and they emitted a foul stench.

Chen Huangpi only glanced at them, and those old people let out shrill wails.

The next second, Chen Huangpi appeared on the tree, entangled by the branches. A branch was crazily drilling a hole in the top of his head, wanting to pierce into his head.

But his skin was thick and his flesh was tough.

The branch couldn't pierce his skin, nor could it pierce his skull. So it hung him upside down, wanting to enter from another position.

Chen Huangpi was terrified, and the brass oil lamp was also terrified. It quickly called for help through its avatars.

It was only because his master wasn't mad at that time that he instantly appeared and saved him.

Otherwise, the current Chen Huangpi would probably be hanging upside down on the tree.

"Huang Er, what do those fruits look like now?"

"Don't make a sound. They seem to be able to hear the voices in our hearts."

The brass oil lamp was extremely nervous. It felt that the human fruits hanging on the withered tree were currently in their youth.

Their eyes were not dim, and their ears were not deaf.

Even if it extinguished the wick, the human fruits hanging on the tree couldn't see the person and the lamp below, but they could hear their thoughts.

At this moment, they were cupping their hands to their ears, facing the position below.

(End of Chapter)