Chapter Fifteen: The Night Illuminating Divine Candle

  "Li Yuechi is a respectable master of Wu Xing." The Taoist had just made the prophecy of death to the young men, and then said this.

  His gaze returned from afar and fell on Xiao Qiu, seeing through all his doubts at a glance. "Li Yuechi's inner elixir is in you, it has told me everything." Then he raised his right hand, with two fingers pinching a light yellow small sphere.

  Xiao Qiu subconsciously touched his chest twice, only to find that he could no longer feel the rotation of his inner elixir. The inner elixir that Mo Zhong had tried so hard to steal but couldn't, was easily taken away by this strange Taoist.

  The boys listened quietly, although they heard the word "death", but they couldn't feel any threat from the Taoist priest. He was a stern-looking man, just like Qin Mr., Fangfang's father, who was strict but not cruel, and his harsh words were meant to make the students behave rather than inspire fear.

  The Taoist's gaze rose again and fell on the wooden stake in the courtyard of the Wind Grandma, as if he was talking to someone far away, explaining why he had to be so.

  Through his narrative, Wu Xing Master Li Yuechi appeared in front of the young men with a more full-bodied image.

  Li Yuechi was discovered to have a Taoist root at the age of ten and was able to enter Pong Mountain for cultivation. He looks like he is only in his thirties, but he is actually sixty-seven years old this year. As a Five Elements Master, his duty is to travel around the world to slay demons and eliminate evil spirits. In this process, he has seen countless strange and bizarre things.

  "He understands the horror of the demon seed better than most people," the Taoist continued, his tone heavy and ignoring whether the boys could understand or not. "And also has a stronger will than most people. The demon seed in the snake demon's body did not pose a fatal threat to Li Yuechi, but he knew that the demon seed was impossible to eradicate completely, and being lucky would only give the demon seed a chance to take root. He would rather ask a group of children for help and hand over his internal elixir than risk returning to Mount Peng with the demon seed."

  The Taoist paused for a moment, his eyes cast downward, as if mourning with his fellow practitioners. Then he raised his head and said: "Li Yuechi has taken his own life. He had been fighting against the demonic kind all his life, and in his final moments, he did not yield to them either. He is the pride of my Mount Pan Taoist sect."

  A gust of night wind blew by, bringing a stench from the ugly corpse not far away. The young men were all frightened and disordered, huddling together in a heap, seeking support from each other.

  Xiao Qiu took a step forward and asked loudly: "Do you want us to commit suicide too?"

  The Taoist didn't answer, but walked slowly along the official path, pushed open the gate, and entered the courtyard of the Wind Old Woman. He fixed his eyes on the wooden stake, and suddenly a small candle appeared at the top of the stake. The light was dim and not strong at all, but its range was extremely wide. The boys who had stayed behind were attracted to it like moths, and also followed him into the courtyard.

  A voice came from the wooden stake, it was an old woman, "Why bother explaining how to fly to the walking beasts? They are ordinary people and should do ordinary things, no need to be demanding. What the Five Elements Masters can do, they cannot do is also normal."

  "Wind Grandma." Fangfang recognized this voice, although she had already guessed that Wind Grandma was not an ordinary person through the two similar oil lamps, but when she heard her speak from the wooden stake, Fangfang was still shocked and took a step closer to Xia Qiu.

  The other boys were also astonished and carefully examined the wooden stake, unable to imagine how someone could be hiding inside.

  The old woman continued, "Since the Demon King has personally descended this time, there must be a great conspiracy. He won't waste his magic power for nothing. These few children have very little strength, and the Demon King wouldn't leave his demonic seeds in their bodies."

  The Taoist glanced at the young man behind him, "They can hear my voice transmitted from a thousand miles away." He looked at Xia Qiu and Fang Fang for two more eyes, these two children were the first to hear the sound, different from ordinary people.

  "What about now? They had magic in their bodies back then."

  The Taoist didn't say a word, but the candles on the wooden stake emitted a powerful beam of light that spread out rapidly like ripples in water. Before the young men could react, the light had already passed through their bodies and disappeared more than ten zhang away.

  "Night Shining God Candle." The Wind Grandma said, no matter where she was at this time, she was very clear about the scene that happened in her own home. "It won't lie, the demon breed didn't leave any marks on these children's bodies. Even if something unexpected happens, even if they were really invaded, with their powers, it wouldn't cause too much harm."

  The Taoist remained silent, and the wind granny also stopped talking. She knew that this was not a person who could be persuaded, and he had to weigh the pros and cons himself.

  Dali quietly approached Xiao Qiu and said in a very low voice: "Xiao Qiu ge, I want to go home."

  Xiao Qiu also wanted to leave this place, the Taoist and the Wind Old Woman spoke in a cloudy and foggy tone, but he could roughly understand: The Taoist wanted them to die, while the Wind Old Woman hoped to give them another chance.

  Xiao Qiu nodded at his companions, took a deep breath and stepped two steps closer to the Taoist priest, "Are you Master Pangsahn?"

  The Taoist looked down at the young man wearing a grass hat, and suddenly remembered that this was the first ordinary mortal he had come into contact with in many years. Having been isolated for so long, he had almost forgotten the weakness and vitality of mortals. The boys sent to Mount Pong were all elites like Li Yuanchi, who showed exceptional qualities from an early age. But the group of young men before him were genuine ordinary people.

  But he is still human and can understand the Taoist's words, and even occasionally help the Taoist with a small favor.

  "My name is Ning Qiwei, and yes, I am the Master of Pongshan."

  "That... Li Daoshi's internal elixir has been handed over to you, we need to return to Yelin Town."

  Xiao Qiu led the way to the gate, feeling anxious and worried that Master Pongshan would call out to them. Suddenly remembering something, she stopped in her tracks and took out a few pellets of medicine from Li Yuechi's pouch and placed them on the ground.

  The other boys immediately followed suit, and small objects such as copper bells and copper mirrors were scattered all over the ground. Da Liang was extremely reluctant to part with them, and he wiped the copper gourd again and again before putting it down.

  Only Fangfang didn't put anything down, and the oil lamp she got was taken away by Prince Xingyoutao of Western Xia.

  Xiao Qiu leaned against the wooden door, waiting for all her companions to leave before gently closing it. "Thank you for saving my life," she said. "I originally wanted to become your apprentice and learn from you, but I don't have... any spiritual roots or anything."

  Xiao Qiu remembered the sorrel horse and pulled open the gate, beckoning it to come out.

  Pang Shan Zong Shi Ning Qi Wei remained silent, his long gown fluttering in the wind. He was also like a wooden stake, silently communicating with Feng Popo through another wooden stake.

  "Shall we go now?" Ershuang asked in a low voice, only at this time did he not have the heart to compete with Xia Qiu for the leader position, he was like everyone else, eager to run away as soon as possible, but always felt that it would be safer after Xia Qiu spoke.

  Xiao Qiu closed the gate, holding the reins of the sorrel horse, he was trying to listen carefully, hoping to know what the Taoist and the wind granny were saying, but just as the wind granny said, after the demon kind disappeared, his hearing returned to normal, he couldn't hear anything.

  "Don't be in a hurry, walk slowly." Xiao Qiu led the way to the wild forest town in the east, Er Shuang and others followed closely behind, all trying to control the urge to look back.

  The boys walked out for no more than ten steps, and a crisp bell sound came from the opposite side. Unlike Li Yuechi's copper bell, this bell sound had no power to capture people's hearts, but was extremely ordinary.

  Xiao Qiu stopped in her tracks, and the others followed suit. Er Shuang's heart skipped a beat with joy, "It must be my father sending someone to look for me."

  In the dark night opposite, a small donkey appeared, as if verifying Er Bao's words were not wrong. All the young people became excited, and in their eyes, Shen Lao Ye was a greater figure than Pang Shan Zong Shi.

  A little donkey with a bell hanging from its neck appeared, but sitting on it was a stranger.

  The stranger had a long face, and wore a lofty high crown, which made his face look even longer. He jumped down from the back of a donkey, but his limbs were all very short, and a faint smile floated on his face, looking quite comical.

  "Hey kids, are you going back to Wildwood Town?"

  The young men nodded, compared with Master Ning Qiwei of the Pong Mountain Sect, this person was much more amiable, although he looked strange, he wouldn't make people feel afraid.

  "I suggest you turn back."

  "Who are you? You don't look like someone from our Wild Forest Town." Er Bao asked with a straight face, considering himself the future master of Wild Forest Town.

  The tall-crowned stranger did not answer, leading the little donkey past the boys, and when passing by the sorrel horse, he glanced at it a few times, comparing it with his own donkey, seemingly quite envious.

  He walked to the edge of the gate and stopped, cupping his hands in a salute towards Ning Qiwei: "I didn't expect that Master Pongshan would deign to visit, I'm afraid Xijiguolong will be remiss in its distant welcome, forgive me, forgive me."

  "Ah!" exclaimed Erniang, then whispered: "This man is a Fu Master, the entire Dragon Guest Assembly are all Fu Masters."

  "Could it be the Fu Lu master that San Er mentioned?" asked Er Lang.

  Ning Qiuhuo returned the greeting, but his voice lacked the warmth of meeting an old friend. "A demon king has appeared in this land, and I have come specifically for it."

  "Hmm, the Demon King has appeared. Indeed, it's necessary for Master Gotou to take action himself in order to defeat him at once." High Crowned Priest Gasshu nodded repeatedly, but his expression was one of being unimpressed, "Sigh, demons are truly troublesome. No matter how many you cut down or drive away, you never know when they'll stop coming."

  "This is just the beginning." Ning Qiwei's voice was even colder.

  "Heh heh, for a short-lived talisman master like me, I'm probably just getting started in the eyes of the sect master, right?"

  Ning Qiwei didn't respond, and Fu Mianzi turned his head to glance at the curious young men. "Please forgive me, Master. I happened to overhear a few words when I came over just now. Let me resolve this trouble. I'll take these children away with me; they have nowhere else to go anyway."

  "We want to go home." Er Biao said loudly, even if the bald boy's parents beat him up, he still wants to go home. This is the common voice of all the young people, and even Xia Qiu and Fang Fang are also afraid of the outside world and think it's better to go home and think of a way.

  The Fu seal master smiled and shook his head, "No way, no way, Ye Lin Town is gone, you have nowhere to return to, can only follow me."

  "Is Wildwood Town gone?" The young men looked at each other, none of them understanding what this sentence meant.

  "It's gone, you wouldn't think that there are only one or two Mo species, would you? This is a large-scale invasion, Longbin and Pangshan have exerted their full strength - but still haven't completely blocked it. You're extremely lucky to have left Ye Lin Town ahead of time, escaping disaster. The current Ye Lin Town is already an uninhabited desolate town. Let me say something absurd, but also the truth: there aren't even any rats left in the town."

  "It's impossible." Er Biao retorted angrily, turning around to gaze out at the Wild Woods Town, where everything was pitch black but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

  "I can take you to see later," said Fu Lao Shi, then turned to Ning Qiwei, "How about it? Pang Shan deals with the demon kind, Long Bin will be in charge of ordinary people, this is what we agreed on."

  This is exactly what Ning Qiwei dislikes about ordinary people, they always challenge cultivators with the wisdom accumulated in their short lives, "Sorry, I'm taking these nine kids back to Pong Mountain."

  "Heh heh, when did Pang Shan become interested in children without spiritual roots?" Master Fu's expression changed slightly.

  The night-shining lanterns on the wooden stakes around Ning Qi's body emitted another wave of bright light. Unlike last time, this wave of light revealed the internal structure of all living things it passed over, even flowers, grasses and trees showed the flow of water droplets in their veins.

  The Fu Luan Master looked down at his own beating heart, and his smile disappeared. He thought he was the only one who had discovered the truth, but he underestimated the abilities of the Pang Shan Zong Shi.

  They stared at each other in astonishment, their internal organs crystal clear, and found it hard to believe what they were seeing, almost forgetting the terrifying rumors about Wildwood Town.

  Ning Qiwei knew that this small group of mortals had undergone a strange change, and Pang Shan wanted to find out the reason. The child must be taken away by him, so he answered Fu Miao's question: "From the moment they produced the Dao root, they belonged to Pang Shan."

  The Night Illuminating Divine Candle did not find any demonic seeds within the bodies of the nine youths, but instead discovered their Dao Roots, which were things they had never possessed before this moment.

  (Collection needed, recommendation needed)