Episode 41

  As they walked along the road, more and more people came and went. The girl with a face as beautiful as a flower naturally attracted attention from everyone.

  "Chang'er, let's use the documents provided by that corrupt official and take the post station route. This way, we can speed up our journey a bit, and also avoid drawing unnecessary attention to yourself, lest we encounter some evil people and get into all sorts of trouble!"

  "It's all up to older brother to take charge."

  So the two of them just traveled day and night, taking the horse carriage to hurry along the road every day. When they were about 500 miles away from Guzhou City, Zhen'er couldn't help but say:

  "Insufficient elder brother, how about we two change to take a small path?"

  "Why walk on a narrow path?"

  "On the one hand, taking a shortcut will get us to Fanjia Town faster. On the other hand, sitting in this carriage every day for several months has made my bones almost fall apart."

  "You usually cultivate your skills diligently, but you always do it while playing around. Now look at yourself, after traveling just a few thousand miles, you're already exhausted. Grandfather once said that those with great magical powers can travel tens of thousands of miles in a day. If one doesn't cultivate diligently, how can they achieve such heaven-defying speed?"

  "Inferior brother, I am also cultivating diligently! My family isn't one that can easily recognize the six senses and divine consciousness like yours!"

  "What kind of magical power is that? It's just like a distant glimpse of the gate of refinement! In the past, Grandfather said that those with great magical power can defy heaven and move, summon wind and rain, change and transform at will, and have no limits to their abilities. The highest level can even shatter the void, fly up to the upper realm, and ascend to the heavens. As for cultivating immortality and achieving the true fruit, one can then be in harmony with heaven and earth, and be invincible wherever they go!"

  "Insufficient elder brother, do you also wish to cultivate and attain the right result?"

  "Who among cultivators doesn't have such thoughts? However, the difficulties of cultivating the Dao far surpass our imagination. In my family's history, only one person has ascended to immortality in thousands of years. According to Grandfather, it's rare to hear about anyone achieving great success in cultivation even among the masses of cultivators over the past few thousand years! Moreover, among cultivators, they often fight each other for treasures, techniques, sacred lands, precious medicines, and materials, which is even more brutal than the struggles for fame and wealth in the mortal world. There have been cases where entire families or sects were wiped out. It's already a great fortune if a cultivator can cultivate peacefully! Achieving enlightenment is indeed extremely difficult! You should think about it, among ordinary people, anger might lead to killing one or two people, with blood splattering within three feet! But the methods of cultivators can affect countless innocent people. In my family of several thousand, only three people survived a single war. Later, Mother passed away, and now there are only Grandfather and I left!"

  "Isn't it insufficient, brother? Don't I still have our family's company?"

  "You! Yes! And also Chang'er sister! You are just a little girl, can't be taken seriously! Hehehe......"

  "You look down on me, but from ancient times to the present, there have been many capable women. How can you belittle them like this? I've heard Master say that the daughters of great masters are often not to be underestimated!"

  "This is also true! But the closer I get to Fanjia Town, the more uneasy I feel in my heart. Will Grandpa be okay?"

  "Brother, don't worry too much, just be careful on your journey!"

  "Hmm!"

  After a moment's thought, he raised his head again and said:

  "Chang Er, what you said is right! We should hurry up and get going!"

  In just ten days, they arrived at the 500-mile mark. With insufficient cultivation of the Golden Body Technique, their physical strength was robust, and their footsteps were swift. Even on mountain roads, it felt like walking on flat ground. They couldn't help but feel delighted, thinking that this speed could rival that of horse-drawn carriages. If not for the delay caused by Chang'er, they wouldn't have even needed to hurry, even if they only traveled 100 miles a day. As they approached the town of Fanjia, about 200 miles away, Chang'er quietly released her Great Wisdom Divine Sense, and with just one sweep, she knew that several cultivators were hiding in the area, cultivating in ambush.

  "It seems that the Fangzhen family's cultivators have not lost their patience and have been waiting here to guard the tree. However, there are only three Foundation Stage cultivators and two Condensation Stage cultivators. From this, it can be seen that they also only have a lucky intention. This won't make Insufficient Brother fall into danger and lose his life. But if Insufficient Brother knew that his grandfather had passed away, how could he be persuaded? If he becomes violently angry and loses his rationality, how can he avoid those few Fangzhen family cultivators?"

  Then Chang'er walked slower and slower, not just because she was being urged on. She could have arrived at Fanjia Town by noon, but it wasn't until dusk that she finally got there. Not far away, she took a look around, but didn't see the school. Her heart sank, her face changed greatly!

  "Chang Er, isn't your eyes blurry or something? How come you didn't see the school?"

  "Insufficient brother, the school has indeed disappeared! Look at the old site of the school over there, only a huge pit remains! I'm afraid it's... Insufficient brother, don't rush to move recklessly. If something happened to the school, it must be the fault of the Fangzhou family! They will surely set up an ambush here, waiting for us two to fall into their trap! Let's quietly slip away and carefully investigate the cause of the matter before making plans."

  "Could it be that Grandfather is in trouble? Someone... someone..."

  Insufficient suddenly stood up and rushed towards the old school site. Chang'er was in a hurry, grabbed Insufficient's hand and said:

  "Insufficient brother, don't be impatient! Even if grandfather has something to attend to, one should still plan carefully and calmly. Rushing in like this, if you fall into the enemy's trap and lose your life, how will you avenge the family? How will you continue the lineage of the Shi family?"

  Insufficient, he struggled for a few moments, panting heavily, his whole body trembling slightly.

  "Chang'er, something..."

  "Don't worry, brother, let's be careful and take a look first, then we'll figure out what to do."

  "I am certain......"

  The girl looked around, feeling empty and lost, like a soul without a master. She couldn't bear the pain in her heart, and tears flowed down her face uncontrollably. Knowing that there were no members of the Fang family's cultivation group left to guard this place, she took Insufficient's hand and walked past the old school site as if they were just ordinary passersby. Insufficient followed the girl like a fool, passing by the old school ruins. The surrounding area was filled with broken walls and dilapidated houses, probably damaged when the school was destroyed. Now, there was no one else around, only a stone platform with a thatched hut on top. The girl knew this must be where the cultivation group's guardian stayed. She didn't say anything, just took Insufficient's hand and walked slowly forward. Insufficient saw the dusty old earth and remembered the past, but it was clear that something had happened here a long time ago. He stared blankly into the distance, his eyes red and swollen. The girl saw this and felt an overwhelming sadness in her heart, and two lines of tears fell from her eyes.

  "Insufficient elder brother, let us two go ask our former master and fellow disciples to understand the reason and right or wrong!"

  "Uh-huh."

  He was foolishly following Chang'er to find a fellow villager named Ma. Fellow Ma had already passed the imperial examination and was at home waiting for an official appointment. He was known far and wide for his literary talent, so it wasn't difficult to find out where he lived. When he heard that an old friend had come to visit, he welcomed him in the main hall, and upon seeing him, he was shocked and said:

  "Are you two not Shi Lang's junior brother and Jin Chan'er's junior sister?"

  "Yes!"

  Chang'e forced a smile and said.

  "In a mere ten years' time, my junior brother and sister have become so elegant and beautiful! Alas, it's just a pity that I can no longer find my own master anywhere!"

  The words ended with tears streaming down.

  "Big brother, we came here to ask about Master's situation! Please tell us, big brother."

  "Alas, you two have traveled a long way, first eat and drink, rest for a while, and then we can talk later!"

  "Big brother, if this matter is done by our enemies, then we two really dare not stay in this place for long, fearing that it will bring disaster to big brother! Please forgive us!"

  Chang'e knew she was insufficient and hastily spoke directly to Master Ma.

  "In that case, I shall tell you in detail."

  At this time, one of Ma's servants brought in tea. Ma raised his hand and made a gesture to invite them to drink, and he also took a sip himself.

  "On that day, the two of us went out to attend to some matters. Before half a day had passed, a group of evil people arrived. They were skilled in dark magic and sought to destroy our master. Our master was afraid that we, his disciples, would also be affected and harmed, so he made a three-battle agreement with them. The first battle was to let us, his disciples, leave; the second battle was not to harm the surrounding villagers; and the third battle was a life-or-death gamble. I don't know what stakes our master agreed to, but as a result, that group of evil people promised to start the battle. Later, I don't know how the battle went! My fellow disciples and I were only worried about our master, but we didn't dare to approach, nor could we get close! The area around the school was engulfed in flames for over a hundred feet, and even looking at it from afar made our eyes hurt! It burned like that for half an hour, during which there were loud explosions and rumbling sounds inside the fire. Then, a deafening explosion shook the sky, and a huge fireball, dozens of feet in size, rolled through the air and exploded in the clouds. This explosion was so shocking that people from all around could see and hear it. It was truly like the heavens were collapsing! The next day, we came to look for our master, but that group of evil people wouldn't let us, and they even used their magic to injure over a dozen of us! Half a month later, when we came again to search, we couldn't find even a shred of our master's clothing! The old school site was reduced to nothing but ashes, and the surrounding houses were damaged, with some collapsed and people injured. Everyone could only cry out in grief and return. A year later, we erected a stone monument outside the town on a mountain ridge to commemorate our master."