Chapter 133
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Inside the cave-dwelling, a toad with a head that had grown several times larger than normal, wrapped around a bead, lay sprawled on the ground, struggling to rise on its webbed limbs.
“Liangsheng, help your master… quick…”
Beside him, a hand reached out. Lu Liangsheng picked up the Toad Daoist and gave him a vigorous shake mid-air, up and down a few times — but the bead lodged in his throat still wouldn’t come loose.
“Master, please bear with it a little longer.”
“Hurry, hurry… I can’t breathe…!”
Lu Liangsheng paused to think, then gently set the Toad Daoist down on the ground. He flattened his palm and placed it squarely on the elder’s back.
“Master, hold still.”
The toad lying there tilted his face slightly, his bean-sized eyes rolling hard to the corner to glimpse the descending palm — a very bad feeling welled up within him.
“No… no no, ah—”
Lu Liangsheng’s palm stopped two inches above the toad’s back. With a surge of spiritual power, he pressed down — even the air trembled.
Bang!
The condensed force of his palm crashed down like an invisible iron hammer. The Toad Daoist’s limbs instantly stretched taut in all directions. His frog mouth opened to the limit, and his bulging eyes nearly popped out.
There was a pop — like a cork being pulled from a bottle — followed by a soft thud. A round, dark object shot out in a straight line, striking the opposite ‘Treasure Mountain’, knocking down several magical tools and porcelain pill bottles. A white item tumbled down, rolling along the slope and out toward the entrance of the cave.
Outside, far away, an old donkey chewing on grass tilted its neck, flicked its bald tail, and clopped over. Lowering its head, it sniffed the rolling object, then stuck out its tongue and gave it a lick.
Inside the cave, Lu Liangsheng, unaware that the entrance was now blocked from view by the so-called ‘Treasure Mountain’, crouched down beside the motionless Toad Daoist.
…Did I use too much force?
“Master?” The young scholar called out softly.
After a while, the Toad Daoist finally opened his mouth and let out a long, ghostly sigh.
Weakly, he lifted one webbed hand and waved it toward his disciple.
“I’m fine now… that moment’s passed. Actually… it feels kind of nice now…”
Hearing this, Lu Liangsheng finally let out a breath of relief. He glanced at the few spiritual swords lying on the ground — his cultivation was still too shallow. It seemed that trying to wield multiple magical tools at once would at least require a foundation at the Golden Core stage.
He stood up and respectfully cupped his hands toward the Toad Daoist lying on the ground.
“Master, just now your disciple was too playful and acted beyond his capabilities.”
“It’s nothing.”
The Toad Daoist was already used to things like this. Ever since he’d been injured, nothing had gone smoothly. With his cultivation and experience, he faintly sensed something unusual at work.
He glanced at his slightly guilty disciple and waved his hand.
“With your master’s level of cultivation, how could something like this possibly injure me? Liangsheng, go out first. I need to recover a bit from my injuries.”
…Damn it, if you stay here any longer, I don’t even know if this old man will survive.
I must eliminate all potential threats.
Over there, Lu Liangsheng nodded, walked over to pick up the bead embedded in the ‘Treasure Mountain,’ placed it in front of his master, then picked up the Veiled Moon Sword from the ground and exited the cave-dwelling. With a turn of his sleeve, the stone door rose upright from the ground.
With a loud rumble, it sealed shut the entrance.
Birds scattered through the forested mountain as a golden glow filled the sky. In the midst of the glowing clouds, Nie Honglian drifted down from a tree branch, landing beside the scholar.
“Young Master, how come Toad Master didn’t come out?”
“Master’s recovering from his injuries — I was chased out too.”
Lu Liangsheng gave the female ghost a smile. The reason he said “too” was because earlier the Toad Daoist had driven Honglian out as well. Of course, Honglian could tell what had really happened. By putting it this way, he was trying to save her a little face.
Naturally, Nie Honglian probably didn’t think much of it.
“It’s getting late. Master likely won’t come out for a while. Let’s start a fire and cook something. What would you like to eat, Honglian?”
“Something fragrant.”
Looking at the woman bathed in the evening glow, Lu Liangsheng couldn’t help but smile as well. He turned and walked toward the old donkey — just then, a crisp crack suddenly sounded beneath his foot.
What was that?
Lu Liangsheng shifted his shoe aside — beneath it lay a crushed white fragment. He picked it up, rolled it between his fingers, and sniffed it. A strange smell lingered on it.
Nie Honglian leaned over and peered at it for a few moments before softly saying: “Looks like an eggshell…”
“The question is — where did the egg come from…”
Just then, Lu Liangsheng suddenly stopped speaking. Across from him, the old donkey with the bald tail seemed to feel his gaze. It lifted its head and met the scholar’s eyes.
The donkey grinned, tossed its shaggy mane, brayed a few times, and lowered its head again, tongue lolling out as it licked at the ground, happily munching away.
Right in front of its mouth was an eggshell split in two, larger than a fist. Most of the fluid inside had already made its way into the old donkey’s belly.
Lu Liangsheng waved the donkey aside and picked up the eggshell. Though it looked sturdy, it felt somewhat soft to the touch. No wonder the old donkey had managed to tear it open. But… where had this thing come from?
He glanced back toward the tightly shut stone door. “Don’t tell me it rolled out from in there?”
“If it was something Master had collected, it certainly wasn’t ordinary. We don’t know what it was, but in the end, it’s that old donkey who got the bargain.”
Thinking that, he tapped the donkey’s head twice with the eggshell before tossing it aside. After checking the old donkey over and finding nothing amiss, he walked to an ancient pine tree nearby, built a fire, set up a small pot, and began cooking.
Nie Honglian gathered up her skirt and squatted beside the flames, hugging her knees and staring into the flickering firelight.
“Young Master, where are we headed next? I kind of miss Auntie.”
Across from her, the scholar stirred the steaming porridge and smiled. “I’m not sure. But I think we’ll go back eventually. Lately I’ve had a vague feeling of unease. That day I got drunk and let go of all caution but thinking back now, I’m afraid I might drag both my family and Master into trouble.”
“Young Master really should go back and take a look.” Nie Honglian said, clutching her knees tighter at his words.
Lu Liangsheng poked a stick into the fire, watching sparks leap into the air, and gave a light “mm.”
After a moment, he added:
“…But as for Master, I don’t know how well his injuries have recovered — whether he’ll go after the thief who raided his cave. Sometimes, once a person takes a single step forward, it’s no longer up to them where they go…”
Sha—sha—sha—sha…
As he spoke, a fierce wind swept down from the mountain peak. The ancient pines began to sway violently. Lu Liangsheng cut off his words, frowned, and stood up. From the sealed cave behind him, an overwhelming pressure surged out like a tidal wave crashing against the world.
He summoned his cultivation power to resist it. His robes fluttered, his hair bun unraveled, and danced in the storm.
“It’s Master…”
The flames flattened under the pressure. Nie Honglian gulped — though she had no throat — spun on her heel, shed her painted red robes, and hastily vanished into her painting to hide.
“Young Master, Honglian can’t take it. I’ll return to the painting first.”
Hahahaha…
Haha!!!
A wild, thunderous laughter exploded from behind the stone gate, echoing across the mountaintop. The sound sent birds flocking out from the distant forest, wheeling above the sky in dense clouds, too frightened to land.
The old donkey let out a terrified bray, every strand of hair standing on end. It reared back in panic, dragging the bookshelf as it bolted behind Lu Liangsheng for cover.
Boom—!
The stone door came crashing down, sending up a ring of dust that swept outward in a wave.
As smoke and ash billowed through the air, Lu Liangsheng’s eyes caught sight of a figure — tall and round, a great belly pushing against the robes as he strode out with confident steps.
A broad, round face. Long white beard and mustache cascading over his chest. A black-grooved gourd was clutched in one hand. His eyes narrowed like slits, gleaming with a piercing chill.
“Liangsheng, this is your Master’s true form!”
