Volume 3: Dao, Dao, Dao… Heaven’s Dao, Earth’s Dao, Human Dao, Ghost Dao— I seek only my own Dao! Chapter 152

The mountain wind stirred the forest, rustling through the wilds with a gentle whisper.

Under the deep azure sky, the blaze consuming the pavilion had been extinguished. Wisps of lingering smoke swirled in the wind, drifting beyond the mountains. Torches gathered at the mountain’s foot, their flickering light mirrored by the clamor of countless voices.

“It’s here!” “Look! There’s still smoke drifting down from above!”

“Just like the immortal said—this has to be the place! Who in their right mind would build a temple out in the middle of nowhere like this? Only heretical beings would!”

“Hurry, the rope ladders are set! Get up there and have a look!”

Torches swayed in clusters. At the front stood the county magistrate in official garb. After receiving the divine revelation from the immortal, he’d organized a team to comb these mountains. It was nearly dawn, and had it not been for the flames seen atop the peak during the night, they might not have found this place at all.

“Enough chatter—rescue the people!”

With a wave of his hand, the magistrate dispatched dozens of constables. Skilled mountaineers had anchored soft ladders to trees atop the cliff, signaling below with a hand gesture that the way up was clear.

“Climb!”

The constables, swords strapped to their backs, clenched their teeth and scaled upward, helping the others follow. Before long, a sizable group had assembled and surged toward the stone gate.

Thump, thump, thump…

Their footsteps echoed across the white-rock paving as they rushed inside. The moment they entered, they were stunned by the sight—arched eaves, winding corridors, pavilions amidst gardens and flower beds. If not for the charred wooden building still exhaling threads of smoke, this place could have been mistaken for a hidden paradise untouched by the world.

“Search everywhere—move quickly!”

The lead constable gripped the hilt at his waist and barked orders, scattering the group. “Search every inch! The immortal said there are women and children here—they must be found!”

After a few paces, the firelight in his subordinate’s hand flickered across something. The constable glanced about, then abruptly stopped.

“A painting?”

He bent down and picked up a scroll that had been slashed through the center. On it, a fierce beast was vividly depicted—so lifelike that just one glance sent a chill up his spine.

“It must’ve been left behind when the immortal fought with the demonic beings here… Hmm? Lu Liangsheng? Why does that name sound familiar?”

Such a thing would be rare in the mundane world. The constable glanced around cautiously, then quietly rolled up the scroll and slipped it into his robes. At that moment, the other constables had also begun to uncover signs of what had transpired.

Someone suddenly shouted from within the charred wooden building:

“We found them! There are many women and children sealed inside clay jars!”

The constables scattered about immediately rushed over. The head constable quickened his pace, shoving aside two people blocking the way. Pressing down on the hilt at his waist, he strode up to the second floor. There, his subordinates were already pulling women and children one by one from the jars. All around them, similar ceramic urns numbered at least in the hundreds.

“This must be the work of those who worship evil and demons! Hurry—go inform the county magistrate at the foot of the mountain! Send up more laborers!”

“Yes, sir!”

The uniformed constables sprang into action, dashing back the way they came, shouting the discovery down the mountain. Soon after, more hands climbed up the soft ladders, helping to carry the children and women on their backs one by one down to the base of the mountain.

“A foul place like this—what use is there in keeping it!”

The county magistrate, a man who loathed evil with fervor, looked at the unconscious children and women with a heavy heart. Without hesitation, he gave the order to the constables still atop the mountain—to burn the entire temple to the ground.

Flames crackled and roared as they engulfed the wooden pavilion, lighting up the deep-blue sky of dawn. On a neighboring mountaintop, Lu Liangsheng blinked and finally turned his gaze away, his heart at last at ease.

“Master, we can go now…”

Propping himself up with a soot-blackened arm, he rose to his feet and walked back into the forest. A fire crackled beneath an iron pot, cooking rice. Beside it sat the Toad Daoist, legs crossed, his gaze fixed tightly on the woman beneath a tree not far off—bound at the hands and feet, dressed in black robes.

Honglian crouched beside the woman, resting her chin on her hand, watching her for a while before tilting her head and asking: “Toad Master, you said she has a thousand years of cultivation. How’d she get caught so easily? And… she just looks kind of dumb.”

The bound woman lay on her side, eyes open in a daze. Her form-fitting robes revealed graceful curves, yet she remained completely motionless.

“Hmm… she was probably sealed in a box by the people of the Fire-Worshiping Sect. It likely damaged her soul.”

The firelight cast a red glow on the toad’s face. The Toad Daoist, arms wrapped around his flippers, glanced at his returning disciple and gave a slight nod of the chin.

“Hmph… back in my day, even when besieged by the greatest sects—more than thirty of them—not once was my soul harmed. A tree demon like her, even with a thousand years of cultivation, isn’t even worthy of carrying my shoes.”

“But Master, last time you said there were only a few sects…”

Lu Liangsheng, bare-chested, sat down beside the fire. His robe had been burned to ash the night before, and with no spare, he had no choice but to endure the cold like this.

He scooped out three bowls of rice porridge and sprinkled diced meat on top.

“Let’s eat, then we’ll head out. First to Jinzhou to settle in. Since I gave Yang Su my word, I can’t go back on it. After that… might as well return to Southern Chen. Been away so long… I kind of miss home.”

“Mn… sounds good.”

The Toad Daoist sat cross-legged on the ground, eyeing the small porcelain bowl placed before him. “The things belonging to your master were probably taken and hidden somewhere else by that so-called Mingzun. Once I’ve recovered my cultivation, I’ll be sure to settle the—”

But as his gaze fell upon the freshly sprinkled meat chunks, his words took an abrupt turn.

“More meat! Add more meat!”

As the diced meat tumbled into the bowl and passed through his line of sight, the corners of his mouth nearly split open with excitement. And then—a slender black shadow flicked out and snatched the falling morsel.

The Toad Daoist froze, mouth agape. Where’s my meat?

Slowly, he turned his head. The black-robed woman lying beneath the tree blinked her eyes. The tip of a crimson tongue darted across the corner of her lips.

The toad’s own long tongue slithered out a bit as he glanced at it, then looked at her again.

…Damn it all.

You use root tendrils like that?! You’re a tree demon, not a toad!!

Across the way, the black-robed woman sat up. Seeing the Toad Daoist stick out his tongue, she copied him, stretching out her own—long and forked—waving it through the air. It even split into several smaller tongues, like a cluster of slender red snakes.

Nearby, the old donkey, lazily chewing on wild grass, suddenly pranced over excitedly and also stuck out its tongue, flopping it around beside its mouth.

A true clash of worthy opponents.

“Enough!”

The Toad Daoist’s face twitched. He retracted his tongue with a loud slap to the ground and turned his bowl in another direction.

“Eat!”

Lu Liangsheng looked at his deflated master and couldn’t help but smile faintly. Ever since they arrived, he’d mostly pieced together the origins of that black-robed woman. She was likely a tree demon captured by the Fire-Worshiping Sect through some unknown means. Her spiritual consciousness had been damaged—her memories were fragmented—and she remained dull and dazed most of the time. Then again, maybe she’d always been like this. Otherwise, how could she have been caught?

That long tongue of hers was actually made from the same root tendrils he had seen in the sealed box.

“The question is what to do with this tree demon…”

Lu Liangsheng rubbed his brow, troubled. He couldn’t just kill her, could he? But if he let her go and ignored her, there was the risk she’d fall into the Fire-Worshiping Sect’s hands again. That, too, would be a problem.

“Forget it. We’ll take her along for now. Once we reach Jinzhou, we’ll figure it out.”

The mountain wind blew gently as morning light spilled across the mountain slopes. With luggage and the bookshelf all packed, Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey westward, passing through the forest. Sunlight bathed his face as he occasionally lowered his head to check the map in his hand, winding around a bend before continuing onward.

Inside the wooden bookshelf strapped to the donkey, the toad swayed with each step, propping up his chin as his bulging eyes stared at the tree demon trailing behind, her rope tethered to the cart. She looked around curiously, eyes wide. When she noticed the toad watching her, she stuck out her tongue and began flicking it in and out between her lips…

The old donkey turned its head and did the same, its tongue flopping to and fro.

“Don’t copy her!”

The Toad Daoist bellowed, exasperated. His shout was accompanied by Honglian’s soft humming of a tune as they passed through mountain paths and forest trails—lively and boisterous, heading toward the lands of Jinzhou.