Volume Three: The Unrestrained Path Chapter 101

A heavy weight pressed upon Jinli’s brow as she gazed at the chaotic, scattered corpses strewn across the ground. The young man discerned her thoughts and asked, “Ajin, you…”

“Let’s go,” she interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

By the time the two emerged from the cave, it was already midday.

As they descended the mountain, neither spoke a word. Each was lost in their own thoughts, silent and pensive.

Jinli pondered how a mere ghost bride could have appeared here, slaughtering so many. Surely, there had to be others behind her.

Meanwhile, Geng Yuan contemplated the relationship between the Yao Cen Emperor and Jinli, wondering why she appeared so tense.

“Sir.”

Jinli raised her eyes to see Xiao Su approaching with a group. Upon seeing them, Xiao Su’s joy was boundless, and the worry that had clouded her brow vanished instantly.

She casually glanced over the armed mortals behind Xiao Su, noting their grim determination, as if ready to sacrifice themselves.

Were they here to rescue them?

“How did you come here?” Jinli asked.

Xiao Su looked at Jinli and replied, “I intended to call you for breakfast this morning but couldn’t find you. Instead, I spotted something you dropped at the mass grave and immediately sought out Brother Li and the others.”

With that, Xiao Su handed Jinli the medicine bottle she had lost the previous night.

Jinli took it, nodding in thanks.

They returned to the village, where lunch was already prepared.

Jinli stirred her meal absentmindedly, her mind still replaying the events in the cave. The more she thought, the more uneasy she felt.

Why would the ghost bride be at the Xi Zuo Temple? Shouldn’t she reside in the Underworld? Why were there so many candlelight ghosts, red-boned demons, and red-eyed beasts? Where had all the missing livestock and villagers vanished to?

Could it be...

That Tushan Yan had come here for the same reason and ended up injured?

“Sir? Sir?” Xiao Su’s soft voice called out, pulling Jinli back to the present.

“Ah? Miss Xiao Su, is something wrong?”

Xiao Su sat beside her, gently picking at the food in Jinli’s bowl. “Why aren’t you eating? Is the food not to your taste?”

Jinli shook her head with a smile. “No, you worry too much, miss.”

The young man beside her regarded Xiao Su oddly.

Jinli stood up. “Everyone, I’m done eating. I’ll take my leave.”

With that, Geng Yuan rose and followed.

Walking along the road, Jinli mulled over the string of troubling questions.

What was really going on?

“Ah Yuan.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know the rumors about Xi Zuo Temple?”

Geng Yuan nodded. “I don’t know much.”

He continued, “That temple was once used by the villagers of Peach Blossom Village to pray for blessings. It was thriving with incense offerings but was abandoned long ago for unknown reasons. Back then, the Nine Profound Emperor fought the Shark Demon there. After being injured, his immortal aura spread suddenly, allowing Peach Blossom Village to prosper for many years.”

His tone was even, void of emotion.

Jinli listened intently. She knew little of the Western Wilderness, only having a cordial acquaintance with the local brewing immortal, though they had never met.

The Xi Zuo Temple had come to her attention first through ancient texts, then from the ghost bride’s words, and now again from the youth’s mouth.

Geng Yuan looked at Jinli and asked, “Ajin, do you think those afflicted villagers can still be saved?”

Jinli shook her head. “I don’t know who the Taoist that came to the village was. We need to investigate.”

“Perhaps that Taoist has met Tushan Yan.”

Geng Yuan nodded, and they returned to their small residence.

After briefly packing, they prepared to depart.

“Ajin, do you know where to find that Taoist?”

“Since he came here within a day’s journey, he must be nearby. We just need to inquire in the nearby town. We’ll surely find a clue.”

Observing Jinli’s anxious expression, Geng Yuan gently reassured her, “Ajin, don’t worry. We will find him and uncover the truth.”

He then produced a piece of paper from his bosom. “This is the address the young woman just gave us. Let’s go.”

Indeed, how had she forgotten that?

The busier she became, the more mistakes she made.

She was undeniably nervous and fearful, even anxious and uneasy beneath the surface. Though she hid it well, the youth’s comforting words brought her much-needed peace.

They bid farewell to Xiao Su and her group and left.

Unbeknownst to them, barely had they stepped out of the village when the villagers looked up, their eyes filled with greed. Their throats moved as they swallowed, mouths slightly open and drooling, oblivious to themselves.

They looked as if they were gazing upon prey.

At that moment, a faint blue streak of light appeared, accompanied by a gust of wind. The villagers collapsed one after another, as if asleep.

Geng Yuan’s eyes darkened as he watched them.

Somewhere deep in the mountains, the ghost bride toyed with a resting red-boned demon at her feet, a slight smile curling her lips.

A disciple of the Immortal Sect following a deity?

Suddenly, a blue rune appeared. The ghost bride waved her hand, and the rune hovered before her.

It burst into blue flames.

She swiftly tossed the red-boned demon into the blaze.

A piercing scream echoed as the creature was engulfed.

Yet, the ghost bride’s gaze remained cold.

Childish tricks.

Jinli narrowed her eyes, staring at a certain spot deep in the mountains, her hands folded behind her back with fingers raised in a gesture.

This ghost bride was certainly no ordinary foe.

By evening, they arrived at the town.

Jinli looked up at the large characters: Fallen Flower Town.

Geng Yuan stepped forward. “Ajin? What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” she replied shortly and walked on.

Fallen Flower Town was no better than Peach Blossom Village.

The streets were deserted, leaves piled thickly on the ground. Shops were shuttered, and market stalls lay toppled and dilapidated.

The youth’s eyes swept the surroundings warily, fingers tightening unconsciously on his sword’s hilt.

Jinli glanced around. “Why is there no one here?”

Just then, the faint chime of a bell drifted with the wind.

A ragged figure clutching a staff approached.

Seeing them, the figure called out, “Hey, old man, why is Fallen Flower Town suddenly so desolate?”

The figure had gray hair falling past the shoulders, partially obscuring a dirty face. Between the strands, one could see a single black eye, devoid of any spirit.

Jinli’s heart skipped a beat.

There was something off about this person.

The hoarse voice asked, “Who are you?”

If one wasn’t paying close attention, the words were barely discernible.

Geng Yuan appraised the old man. The staff was weathered and thickly dusted, with patches of red rust.

His tattered clothes revealed mud-caked calves and bare feet, toes fused together beneath thick scabs. On his back hung a grimy, blackened sack, with the corner of a yellow talisman peeking out.

A Taoist.

Jinli answered, “We’re from another town, here to visit relatives.”

The man fixed his gaze on Jinli, then Geng Yuan.

“Go, go. There’s no one here you’re looking for. Go.”

With that, the man turned to leave but suddenly said to Geng Yuan, “You’re the Taoist, aren’t you?”

He continued walking slowly, the copper bell on his staff jingling.

It seemed, as Geng Yuan had guessed, the matter was unrelated to him.

Jinli stepped aside to let him pass. His eye glanced at her beneath the gray hair.

Jinli held her fan, her gaze fixed on him.

Geng Yuan pressed on. “If you know anything, please tell us.”

The old man muttered unintelligibly.

After he left, Jinli spoke softly, “What did he just say?”

Geng Yuan’s eyes darkened with complexity and unease.

After a long pause, he said slowly, “He seemed to say… we… will all die. They… have come.”

‘They?’

Jinli frowned, looking at Geng Yuan. The youth met her gaze in kind.

Who were ‘they’?

...

...

...

The two walked along the deserted street under the faint glow of the moonlight. Only their footsteps and breaths disturbed the stillness. A gentle night breeze stirred the fallen leaves and the tattered cloth on a collapsed cart.

After about half an hour, the further they ventured, the more desolate it became—overgrown with weeds, utterly abandoned.

“Ah Yuan, look.”

Beneath the shadow of a phoenix tree, a figure sat. Upon hearing their approach, the figure slowly rose.

Geng Yuan’s expression was eerily calm as he watched the person emerge from the cold moonlit shadows.

A faint smile touched Jinli’s lips as she coldly regarded the newcomer.

She could finally make out his features.

A young man, clad in a dark blue Taoist robe, walked with measured steps. His black hair was bound with a hairpin; a duster hung lightly between his arms. Though handsome, an inscrutable danger radiated from him.

As he approached, Jinli greeted, “Ha—Greetings, Daoist.”

Geng Yuan recalled the old Taoist they had met earlier.

How could a mortal’s disguise be so flawless?

Jinli was filled with suspicion.

The man smiled and said, “I heard you were looking for me?”

Jinli smiled in return. “Ha—Daoist, your disguise skills are impressive.”

“Heh, you flatter me, young sir.”

With his graceful demeanor and unfathomable aura, no one would guess he was the same deranged old man they had encountered at dusk.

The Daoist continued, “Are you both from above?”

This Taoist was evidently no ordinary man.

Geng Yuan replied calmly, “Daoist, your insight is piercing. May I ask your name?”

“My name is Zhang. The world calls me Old Zhang.”

A handsome Daoist named Old Zhang—what a curious contrast.

Jinli asked, “Daoist, you mentioned ‘they have come.’ Who are ‘they’?”

Zhang smiled faintly. “They change in countless forms. Wherever they go, living beings suffer.”

Demons?