Asked About The World Of Mortals

Chapter 9: Daoist Temple

Nanli Country, named after the meaning of "Southern Bright Fire," is commonly referred to as Lihuo, the capital of the country. Xianji Village is a small village located in the southwest of this country.

In the past two months, Qin Yi has also visited the city and intentionally gathered a lot of information. He learned that this is a very large continent with numerous countries. Nanli Country is just a small and remote country. Further south is a vast and bottomless rift valley, making it difficult for birds to cross. It is unknown if there is another world beyond the rift valley. Theoretically, Nanli Country is the southernmost border of the continent.

Due to its remote location, numerous mountains, dense forests, and rugged roads, communication with the Central Plains is extremely inconvenient. As a result, information is scarce and the country is self-sufficient. Qin Yi deliberately tried to gather information about the Central Plains but could only hear rumors that may have been distorted in transmission.

However, the people of this land are skilled in warfare. When many great nations rose and fell in the Central Plains, this remote small country stood strong for countless generations, as if blessed by the gods. The current king is called King Wude and has been in power for twenty years.

Before Qin Yi heard that the enemies of the Li siblings were the national teachers, he didn't realize that the Li siblings came from the capital city, Lihuo. Although Nanli is small, it still has several counties, and there are at least two large counties and several small cities between Lihuo City and Xianji Village. He thought they came from a county, but it turned out to be the capital city, and they were dealing with such a powerful figure as the national teacher... If Li Qingjun had other plans, it would be fine, but she came all this way just to see a legendary and widely disbelieved miracle. She must have a lot of free time...

"Qin Xiong, aren't you going to change horses?"

"No need. The road is rugged, and horses can't run here. How much faster can we go if we change horses?" Qin Yi certainly wouldn't tell them that he can barely ride a horse, let alone run with one.

"It's still a bit faster. I don't understand why a young man like you does everything so leisurely, just like an old man!"

"Qing Jun!" Li Qingjun stopped her sister from getting angry. "Qin Xiong doesn't change horses out of consideration for our feelings. This is a commendable quality. Besides, what Qin Xiong said is correct. This road is not suitable for riding horses. Changing horses won't make a difference."

"Hmph, we could have been faster when we came."

On the mountain road, two horses galloped, their riders wearing luxurious brocade clothes and gold and silver belts, holding black iron silver spears. A few zhang behind them, there was an old horse with a young man in coarse clothes. He carried a dirty wolf-toothed club and held an old gourd, leisurely drinking wine, seemingly oblivious to the strange gazes of passersby and Li Qingjun's disdainful eyes.

Li Qingjun ignored Qin Yi and sighed to her brother, "I really wish there were immortals, riding on clouds and wind, so free."

At first, this girl was angry with her brother, but now she has become close to him again. She has been too accustomed to her brother since childhood. Qin Yi glanced at them sideways and felt that this girl might be a bit slow, maybe even counting money for someone who sold her.

This time, Li Qingjun didn't dampen her sister's enthusiasm for seeking immortals. Instead, he smiled indulgently, "I hope so too."

Li Qingjun mused, "I think everyone would hope for that."

Suddenly, a singing voice came from behind, "In the morning, I float in Cangwu, and in the evening, I return. I am the master of the cave, the sun and moon are under my control. The treasure sword in the box roars from time to time, but it has not met..."

Li Qingjun looked up at the sky with great admiration. Regardless of what she thought of Qin Yi, the random things he occasionally said really struck a chord with her dreams.

But when the song reached the fourth line, it suddenly stopped. Li Qingjun turned her head and asked, "What's next?"

"Oh, the next line is 'but I won't pass it on unless I meet someone of the same kind.' I don't know why it has to be passed on to someone of the same kind instead of the original text, so I won't sing it."

Li Qingjun felt that she understood the original meaning, but after Qin Yi's interpretation, she became confused. She decided not to care about what he had misinterpreted and rolled her eyes, saying, "Is it another wandering Taoist singing?"

"Very clever, you're quick to answer."

Li Qingjun sighed, "Maybe that's a True Immortal."

"Even immortals ride donkeys."

The conversation died down again, and Li Qingjun glared at Qin Yi, too lazy to pay attention to him.

"Qin Yi." Liu Su's voice echoed in his sea of consciousness. "Where did you get these verses? Don't fool me with some wandering Taoist."

Qin Yi silently thought, "Why do you care?"

"You made them up yourself," Liu Su sighed. "It's clear that you also yearn for that kind of scene, so why don't you..."

"Shut up, repeating the same thing. I'll go find immortals myself, just like Li Qingjun."

"Heh... It's hard to come across an opportunity for immortality. Do you really think everyone has such good luck? Since that year... Mmm..."

He started speaking in veiled language again, but Qin Yi was used to it. He casually tilted the gourd, and the wine spilled onto the wolf-toothed club.

Who doesn't want to cultivate immortality? Who doesn't want to travel from the North Sea to Cangwu?

But can't we be more honest?

"Qin Xiong." Li Qingjun suddenly said ahead, "The weather doesn't seem right. It looks like it's going to rain."

Qin Yi also looked at the sky. They had been on the road for a day and it was dusk. Dark clouds hung in the distance, gloomy and seemingly about to rain.

"The town ahead is at least an hour away, we might not make it in time." Qin Yi, in order to understand the world, had deliberately gone to the county town and was familiar with the route. "There is a Taoist temple in the mountains on the right, not far away. We can take shelter there."

The three of them stopped their horses and hurried towards the mountain path on the right.

The sky grew darker and they could only faintly see the eaves of the Taoist temple among the trees. The dark clouds had already descended heavily. The three of them dismounted and ran towards the temple. Qin Yi looked at Li Qingjun's figure and couldn't help but be amazed. She didn't seem like a pampered young lady, but rather like a martial arts heroine who was used to wandering the rivers and lakes.

"Qin Xiong." Li Qinglin, who was running ahead, suddenly stopped and hesitated as he asked, "Is this temple...uninhabited?"

Qin Yi shifted his gaze from Li Qingjun's figure and looked around. He felt a slight chill in his heart.

He had been here before and there were people in the temple. When the sky was this dark, as long as there were people, candles would have been lit. But the temple in front of them was dark and silent.

In the autumn wind, the leaves rustled and occasionally a leaf fell, swirling in the wind. There was a faint smell of decay in the air, like a desolate burial ground.

"I visited here just a month ago, and there were people then." Qin Yi cautiously gripped his wolf-tooth club. "There might have been some changes, everyone be careful..."

Before he could finish speaking, large raindrops poured down. Li Qingjun raised her spear and kicked open the temple gate.

The temple was quiet, covered in dust. A huge spider web hung over the temple's statues, as if no one had lived there for a long time. There were dead rats on the ground, and the stench seemed to come from them. Li Qingjun let out a sigh of relief, "Looks like people have moved out, nothing special."

Li Qinglin also casually swept away the dirt, lit a cushion on fire, and smiled, "It's just like this when you're away from home."

"..." Qin Yi scratched his head. Thinking about those cheesy temple romances in TV shows and novels, it didn't seem right. It was so dirty, how could anyone feel romantic here?

Li Qinglin had already opened the package and took out some dry rations, but Liu Su's voice suddenly appeared in Qin Yi's mind, "There's something wrong with this temple, be careful."

Qin Yi walked outside the temple while relieving himself and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Liu Su said, "There might be a monster hiding outside the back door."

"You sensed Monster Qi?"

"My soul power is weak, I can't sense Monster Qi." Liu Su said, "Your house has been empty for a month, would there be such a large spider web? I find it unusual, suspecting there might be a spider demon or something similar. It was startled by your sudden arrival and hid..."

Qin Yi was shocked, "If it's a monster like that, it's probably much stronger than that tiger demon we encountered through Spirit Communication. They might not be able to handle it. I should go and warn them..."

"Don't, I already said I can't sense Monster Qi, it's just a guess. It would be embarrassing if I guessed wrong."

"..."

"Don't worry, since it's hiding, there must be an understanding. The Li siblings are resolute with their long spears and strong aura. It won't easily provoke them. Spiders hate noise and hate their webs being destroyed, so as long as we don't make loud noises and don't destroy its web, we should be fine."

Qin Yi breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, the Li siblings are not the type to make a fuss."

But when they returned to the temple, the first thing Qin Yi saw was Li Qingjun holding a stick and reaching out to sweep away the spider web.

Qin Yi broke out in a cold sweat and rushed over to grab her, "What are you doing?"

Li Qingjun turned her head and glared, "I should be asking you what you're doing. There's such a huge spider web right next to us, doesn't it make you uncomfortable to look at?"

"Oh, I mean, it's not appropriate for a young lady like you to do such dirty work. Let me do it, let me do it."

Li Qingjun didn't insist and let him take the stick, then she turned and walked towards the back door.

Qin Yi grabbed her again, "Where are you going?"

Li Qingjun slowly lowered her gaze and looked at the big hand holding her wrist without expression.

Qin Yi realized that it was inappropriate to hold a girl's hand like this and turned to see that Li Qinglin's expression had become strange. He had no choice but to let go and said, "It's dark at night, it's dangerous to go out alone in the pouring rain..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a group of martial artists rushed towards the temple in the rain, "There's a temple here, we can take shelter from the rain!"

Qin Yi covered his forehead.

Continued to seek clicks and recommendations~

(End of this chapter)