Chapter Twelve: The Wild Inn Encounter

  "Do you want to go and pay respects to your parents?!" In the quiet room, Ling Jia Shang Ren was slightly stunned, looking at Kong Zhuo who was kneeling in front of him, and asked again.

  "Yes, Master!" Kong Zan said, knocking his head before lifting it up to look at Ling Jia Shang Ren, "Your disciple has been following you on this mountain for ten years now. Although I have received the care of Master and all the uncles and aunts, my parents are buried in the desolate mountains, suffering from the scorching sun and rain. Every time I think about it, I feel uneasy in my heart. Therefore, I beg the venerable to be compassionate and allow me to go down the mountain to pay respects to my parents!"

  "Hmm!" Lingga Shangren nodded, looking at Kong Zhuo with a extremely benevolent smile on his face, "This is the normal human sentiment, your current cultivation among your peers can be considered as outstanding, going down the mountain should be no problem!"

  "Thank you, Master!" Kong Zan said with a delighted face.

  "You're just like your master!" Ling Ga Shangren said with a wry smile. "When did I agree to this? You've only just hinted at it, and yet you've already seized on the opportunity. This time when you go down the mountain, I don't object, but after going down the mountain, you must remember the rules and precepts of our sect. Don't do anything improper or wicked, don't associate with bad people, don't..."

  He was lectured at length, and all Kong Zhuo could do was nod his head, nod again, and nod once more. As for what Ling Jia Shang Ren specifically said, except for the first few sentences, everything else was thrown to the back of his mind.

  Nature, Lingga Shangren also saw his distracted appearance and said a few more words before letting him leave.

  Having obtained Ling Jia's consent, Kong Zhuo naturally wouldn't be polite either. He went back to pack his bags and said goodbye to a few of his close junior fellow disciples, namely Zhou Xue and Fang Shao Bai. After giving them some instructions, he left the mountain.

  After leaving Luofu Mountain, Kong Zhuang felt a sense of relief wash over him, his entire body feeling comfortable and at ease. It wasn't that he disliked Luofu Mountain, but after staying there for nearly ten years, seeing only the same fellow disciples day in and day out had become stifling. Now that he was off the mountain, it was only natural that he felt a sense of liberation. The first thing on his agenda was to find a good restaurant and treat himself to a hearty meal. He had also thought about how, now that he was leaving Luofu Mountain, Ling Jia Shangren hadn't given him any time constraints, so after paying his respects to his parents, he could take some time to travel and sample all the world's delicacies.

  This is a bit too much, although there is no time limit, but the most time spent outside is only half a year. If it's more than that, it's hard to explain. The place where my parents are in trouble is only over 3,000 miles away from Luofu. Although I can't fly with a sword and travel thousands of miles a day, with my current strength, the distance of over 3,000 miles would take about five or six days to cover, and it wouldn't take more than ten days to come and go if I don't hurry up. Even if I spend a month coming and going, it's enough. If I drag on for half a year, that's already the maximum limit. So, time is pressing!

  So, down the mountain, Kong Zhuang suddenly exerted his bodily skills and ran wildly, covering over 800 miles in one day. Only when the sun set in the west and the golden crow dipped into the horizon did he slow down his pace.

  "Bad luck, too rushed. Looks like I'll have to spend the night in the wilderness today!" Kong Zan gazed out at the distant horizon, a dull gray expanse with not a single ray of light, and couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

  This is a wilderness, with only a few sparse trees scattered around, and in the distance, a wide official road stretches out, but it seems to be deserted, without even a rabbit.

  Just at this moment, a thunderbolt flashed across the sky, and then those pea-sized rains fell rapidly, making Kong Zhong so angry that he didn't even have the mood to scold, nor did he have the heart to curse. As cultivators, they naturally knew that the heavens couldn't be casually cursed, and could only admit their own bad luck.

  "If I hurry another hundred li along the official road, shouldn't there be some signs of human habitation?!"

  He thought to himself, his feet sped up twice as fast, and his entire body floated forward along the official road like a wisp of clear smoke, and after running in the rain for about an hour, he finally saw a glimmer of light.

  It was a tea house, a small tea house on the desolate official road, this kind of tea house generally also has the function of a small inn, in the past when Kong Zhuo followed Mo Xiu down the mountain, he had stayed in such a tea house several times.

  The teahouse wasn't very big, outside the door a large paper lantern was hung on a chess stick with a big "tea" character written on it. The door was already closed, but through the gap of the door, a faint yellow light came out.

  Kong Zuo lightly knocked on the door, and after a while, he heard several disordered footsteps inside, then the door creaked open.

  The door was opened by an extremely old elderly woman.

  She was still shorter than Kong Zhan's chest, wearing a set of blue cloth clothes, although they were old, but very clean. She held an oil lamp in her hand and raised it up, the yellow light flickering in front of Kong Zhan. Her eyes, which seemed to be half-closed, stared at Kong Zhan. Although there was no sign of true yuan flowing from this old woman's body, in this desolate place, meeting such a seventy or eighty-year-old old woman still gave Kong Zhan a spooky feeling.

  "Old lady, I was in a hurry and missed the last stop. Can I stay here for the night?"

  The old lady seemed to have poor hearing, and Kong Zhuo had to repeat himself three times before she nodded in understanding. She opened the door and let Kong Zhuo in, saying, "Young man, there are a few empty guest rooms in the back, you can sleep there. There's no food left over, so just make do for one night!"

  "Oh, never mind, I have some dry rations with me!" Kong Zuo said, taking out a silver ingot from his bosom and handing it to the old lady.

  The old woman suddenly stared blankly for a moment, raised her head, and looked at Kong Zhuo with one eye, "Sir, it's too much!"

  Kong Zuo smiled and said, "It's just a broken silver piece, no big deal. You can take it, old man!"

  Ascetics have no concept of gold and silver, nor do they need one. To ordinary people, these things are very valuable, but to them, they're just dog shit. In their eyes, a big lump of yellow gold isn't even as valuable as a piece of worthless iron. At least iron can be forged into a sharp sword - what can gold do?

  So, as for money, Kong Yan wasn't very concerned about it either. For an old lady in her seventies or eighties who had been guarding this small tea shop all alone, giving a bit more was only right.

  The old lady hesitated for a moment and no longer refused, accepting Kong Zhuo's silver. Meanwhile, Kong Zhuo had already gone to the back guest room.

  A faint smile floated onto the old lady's face, and with a casual toss, she threw the silver ingot in her hand to one side. A dark green glint flashed through her turbid eyes, and slowly turning around, she carried the dim oil lamp and left.

  As soon as Kong Zong entered the guest room, a musty smell rushed into his nose. Looking around, the bed was extremely damp and it was unknown how many years it had been since someone last slept on it.

  It's okay, Master Kong Da came here not to sleep, but to take shelter from the rain.

  So, he didn't care at all. The purple energy flowing on his body flashed and dried the already wet clothes. Then, with a swing of his arm, a hot air that was extremely dry emanated from his body in a ring shape, sweeping away the humid and sultry air in the entire room. Only then did he walk to the bed, lift up the bedding, drum up the bed board, and Kong Zhuo sat on the bed board, starting to meditate and regulate his breath.

  After rushing for a day, even an immortal would feel tired.

  After one cycle of breath adjustment, the innate purple gas in the body starts from Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, turns to Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian, Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian, and reaches Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian, then circulates back to the starting point of Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian.

  After a whole day's rest, feeling refreshed and no longer tired as before, just when I was satisfied in my heart and about to start another day's work, an unusual noise came from outside the house.

  Then he heard a shout and several clashing sounds of metal on metal.

  His face changed, Kong Zhuo's body shook, and he jumped up from the bed, wanting to open the door. However, as soon as his hand touched the door, it was bounced back by a soft force.

  Kong Zhan's face changed greatly, the innate purple energy on his body began to circulate, and in an instant, a layer of purple aura enveloped him. His hands once again reached out to that door, and this time, he fell even deeper.

  When his congenital purple gas came into contact with the door, a faint smoke mark suddenly appeared on the door. Then, his congenital purple gas was bounced back, hitting his extremely fat body to the bedside and heavily slamming it under the bed board.

  Kong Zhan only felt a sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of blood surged up, when at this moment, a low voice like a mosquito sounded in his ear.

  "Listen up, kid! If you don't want to die, then stay right there and don't move!"

  Kong Zhan immediately recognized that it was the voice of the old lady from the tea shop, and his heart turned cold. He became very aware of himself and stopped speaking.

  He had a clear understanding of himself, initially he didn't find anything unusual about the old lady at all, which showed that her strength was far beyond his own. Now he was being trapped here by her, and earlier when he tried to use his innate purple energy to touch the door, it was a self-inflicted suffering.

  But he wasn't too flustered either.

  With their strength, it would be easy for them to kill me, especially since I was completely defenseless when I was practicing my skills just now.

  While she is still alive now, at least it shows that she did not intend to kill herself. In this case, there is only one thing he can do.

  Observe the changes quietly.