Chapter 2: Honglian Temple

  A slight rain surprised Bai Qi's heart.

  "Don't worry, your father's martial skills are ordinary for a Qi Refiner, and ten or eight of them wouldn't be his match. However, the martial skill he is cultivating seems to be about to advance to the Land Sword Immortal, at which point there will be calamity. As for the heavenly mechanism, even my mother doesn't dare say it. But this warrior's calamity should be much less than that of a Qi Refiner, and he should be able to pass through."

  Bai Qi didn't understand the affairs of the Cultivators, but as for the Land Sword Immortal, he was clear about it.

  Martial artists cultivate true energy, divided into three levels: postnatal nine products, prenatal nine products and land sword immortals. People of the postnatal nine products are everywhere, while people of the prenatal nine products can already become fierce generals in the court or heroes in the Jianghu.

  However, this Land Sword Immortal, when Bai Qi was learning the family's traditional spear techniques, only heard his father say: If a martial artist cultivates to become a Land Sword Immortal, they can fly in the air and travel a thousand miles in one day. Their lifespan will also be extended to over 500 years, and the armies of this world will no longer pose a threat to such a martial artist.

  Listening to Xiao Yu's tone, it seems that becoming a Land Sword Immortal requires going through numerous tribulations. And these tribulations are nothing compared to those of a Qi Refining Master. Is it really true that Qi Refining Masters are so powerful?

  Bai's heart was racing with excitement, and he didn't know how long they had flown. The shaking beneath his feet finally stopped, and Xiao Yu let go of his hand, saying: "Little White Brother, you can open your eyes now."

  Bai Qi didn't even open his eyes, but he could feel a slight chill on his body. As a first-rate martial artist, he knew that if he felt cold, it was already at the level of frost. Indeed, when he opened his eyes, he saw a mountain ridge covered with snow. The clouds were gray, and in front of him stood a towering cliff, on which there was a temple.

  There are wooden stakes embedded in the sheer cliff, and the temple's buildings are built on top of these stakes. The temple has red walls and green tiles, with glazed tiles used throughout. Below, there is a steep flight of stairs that winds its way up the sheer cliff face.

  "Where is this?"

  "Hong Lian Temple, a place where monsters reside, looks dangerous. Many monsters are raised here and have been tamed by the Buddha's law, no longer daring to eat humans. Xiao Bai Ge, don't speak for now, I'll introduce you as my brother."

  Bai Qi nodded in agreement, and the grass dragon had long since disappeared. Even the long bench that transformed into a grass dragon was nowhere to be found. Bai Qi didn't have the heart to ask questions now; he knew that Xiaoyu bringing him here probably wasn't just about looking at monsters.

  This Red Lotus Temple was built on the precipice of a cliff, and apparently did not expect to have any incense offerings. Bai Qi stepped onto the stone stairs, his feet unstable, but there was ice underneath. Xiao Yu laughed and said: "Hold onto me."

  As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and let Bai Qi pull her up, walking steadily up the steps to the front door of the Red Lotus Temple.

  When they arrived at the platform, Xiaoyu let go of Baitou's hand and went to knock on the door ring. Before long, the temple door creaked open, revealing a ferocious face. The facial features were all horizontal, with high cheekbones and round eyes like copper rings. The hair on both sides of his temples was curly, but the top of his head was shiny and oily, and he turned out to be a monk.

  "Little master, my brother and I have come to repay our vow," said Xiaoyu, handing over an octagonal copper coin.

  The ferocious-looking monk accepted the copper coins and opened the door wide, not saying a word. He stepped aside to let Xiaoyu and Bai Qi enter. After the monk closed the door, he led them through several large halls to a secluded meditation room.

  "Stay here for just one night." The monk's voice was surprisingly soft, like that of a eunuch.

  Xiaoyu pulled Baiqi into the Zen room, the furnishings in the Zen room were clean and simple. However, it was cold and frosty outside, there was no heating in the room, and the breath they exhaled was all white and misty.

  The low bed was like something from a barbarian's place, but on top of it were piled several Buddhist meditation cushions. In front of the window stood two tall vases with white flowers that he didn't recognize. This Zen room was strange; apart from the meditation cushions, there was no sign of any Buddhist atmosphere.

  Xiao Yu pulled over two meditation cushions, sat down on one herself and handed the other to Bai Qi. "Hong Lian Temple wasn't originally a Buddhist temple," she said. "It was an ancient shrine, but I don't know what kind of deity it enshrined. Later, the Hong Lian Sect took over this place, subdued the nearby demons and established a Daoist altar."

  "Xiao Yu, what brings you here?" Bai Qi asked directly, he didn't believe Xiao Yu just came to broaden his horizons.

  "Hey... of course I'm stealing." Xiaoyu blinked her eyes, with a somewhat mischievous look.

  "This is not good!" Bai Qi frowned, he was not a Confucian scholar, but as the descendant of the Duke of Guo Gong Fu, he would never think that stealing was a good thing. Moreover, Xiaoyu said it clearly, the monks in this Honglian Temple could tame the nearby monsters, their abilities were probably not simple, if they two came here and stole something important from others, these monks wouldn't care about his identity as a member of Guo Gong Fu.

  Look at the monk who opened the door, there is a murderous aura on his body. This feeling won't be wrong, Wei Guo Gong Bai Jian, also known as White De's father, had more than 100 battle-hardened generals under him, and even though he was idle at home, there were still over a dozen people following him with the identity of a house general.

  Bai Qi could sense the aura of those family generals from He Shang's body. Those dozen or so family generals were also tempered in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, each having probably killed thousands of enemies.

  "Little white brother, are you scared?"

  Bai Qi let out a cold snort, but didn't respond. He was somewhat afraid, but the unyielding spirit of youth made him unable to say such things to Xiao Yu. Moreover, since Xiao Yu dared to come, what did he have to be afraid of? With this thought, Bai Qi allowed Xiao Yu to leave.

  Xiaoyu smiled and said to Bai Qi: "I lied that I came to fulfill my vow, the monster who fulfills his vow has to wait until tomorrow sunrise before he can enter the main hall to burn incense. We will stay overnight, take action tonight, and then ride the grass dragon to fly away, and the monks will be helpless."

  "What if the monk chases us?" asked Bai Qi.

  "Xiao Bai Ge, the Great Jin Dynasty has been revering Tao for three generations, and the Qi practitioners have occupied the palace. Now it's said that they want to appoint a national teacher, and the monks don't dare to cause trouble within the Great Jin. As long as we can fly back, we're not afraid of them chasing us."

  Jian Baiqi was still worried, and Xiaoyu said: "I'll take this thing, the monks at Honglian Temple won't know. Don't disturb anyone, even if something is missing, it won't be discovered."

  Bai Qi reluctantly nodded, everyone has arrived, and it would be meaningless to return like this. He came out just wanting to experience for himself whether the magical things written in books really existed in this world. If he couldn't see anything, it would also make him feel unfulfilled.

  Bai Qi's temperament, he likes to read legendary and strange stories, but for the sake of his father's family, he also studied orthodox classics for ten years. He started school at the age of five, now he is fifteen years old, which is the time when curiosity is strongest. That's why he agreed with Xiaoyu's plan, if it were his father Bai Jian, he would probably shoot Xiaoyu dead first.

  It's a supernatural power, but it's not something a national official should be dealing with.

  As dusk approached, Xiaoyu and Bai Qi walked to the back of the temple, where Honglian Temple provided a vegetarian meal. However, most of the demons who came to burn incense didn't have such a good appetite for the monks' cooking. Xiaoyu and Bai Qi passed through two courtyards, and after Bai Qi took a look, it turned out that Honglian Temple was indeed a temple that had been renovated later, with most of its buildings still maintaining the style of the previous dynasty, which was quite inconsistent with the temple itself.

  In the yard, there was a water tank. After a light rain, Bai Qi went to take a look. When he arrived in front of the water tank, he was startled. In the water tank, three or four small fish jumped out, their mouths open, revealing sharp teeth and a bloody smell. Seeing Bai Qi, one of the small fish leaped out of the water and pounced on his face. Bai Qi drew his sword and slashed at it, sending the small fish flying back into the water tank.

  The little rain pulled back and said, "This is a fish demon, it hasn't been tamed yet. When it sees strangers, it still wants to eat."

  Bai Qi's tongue was raised, his own short sword, made of deep-sea cold iron, was a powerful weapon. With all his might, he swung the sword, and even a stone would be cut in two. The fish demon only had an additional white mark on its forehead, shallow to the extreme.

  Could it be that this fish demon is even more powerful than the household generals?

  Xiaoyu didn't explain anything to Baqi, but instead pulled him through the courtyard, twisting and turning, until they arrived at a dilapidated house deep in the mountains. Above them was a massive crevice, from which some faint light could be seen. In the corner of the yard stood an old well. Xiaoyu tightly grasped Baqi's hand and led him to the edge of the well. Just as Xiaoyu was about to jump in, Baqi caught hold of her.

  "Little white brother, things are down there."

  The well's mouth was black and bottomless, blowing out waves of gloomy wind. Bai Qi looked down and saw that it was extremely deep. There were no unusual signs at the edge of the well platform, but when he approached the well mouth, he heard that amidst the gloomy wind, there were also waves of wailing sounds, as if beneath was an abyssal iron prison, or a place where countless lonely spirits and wild ghosts were hidden.

  Bai Qi's hand pressed against the short sword at his waist, and with a nervous heart, he followed Xiaoyu into the well. His eyes were calm, but the sweat on his hands was absorbed by the silk thread wrapped around the hilt, making his palms sticky. He had been practicing swordplay since he was six years old, and now, exactly nine years later, Bai Qi's eyes would not reveal any cowardice due to tension, but this body of his was uncontrollable.

  It would be great if I could become a congenital martial artist, Bai Qi thought to himself. A congenital martial artist can control any part of their body and will never have sweaty palms, which makes it easy for the short sword to slip out of hand.

  The well was filled with thick fog, cool and refreshing. Bai Qi circulated his true energy, but his body still had a layer of goosebumps.

  Fortunately, the small rain's back was clear and near at hand, and the thick fog couldn't block the emerald green long skirt, which fluttered in front of Bai Qi. Bai Qi couldn't help but smile, what was wrong with him, actually relying on Xiao Yu?

  "Arrived." Xiaoyu's figure suddenly stopped, Bai Qi flipped over in mid-air, but was caught by Xiaoyu, who gently received him. The depth of this well is terrifying, if he had really fallen, Bai Qi would have definitely been injured.

  Bai Qi is now not afraid, he was originally a person with a good temperament and a strong curiosity. However, the teachers hired by King Wei from a young age were all mature and steady, or to say, old and cunning people. Bai Qi was influenced by them and hid his true nature very well in daily life. Even if he occasionally made trouble, it was always from his father's perspective and wouldn't cause any big problems.

  But today, under Xiaoyu's temptation, Bai Qi's impulsive side was unable to be hidden.

  What treasure is hidden beneath the mysterious ancient well?