It is said that there are many fanatics among the disciples of the Three Realm Divine Cult. They believe that as long as they break through the Realm Barrier and respectfully invite for the descend of a god, they would be able to unite the Three Realms. As such, they committed many bizarre and out-of-place actions. Blood drips from their sinful hand and they have poisoned many civilians. Such actions made people term them as a ‘Demonic Cult’, causing them to meet with obloquy.
Many years ago, the cult was listed as the most dangerous evil cult by the Immortal Alliance and they commanded the world for their deaths. Ever since, they have never been seen in the open. Instead, they have been working in the shadows even to date. It was said that many of their cultists have slipped into innumerable cultivator sects under the Immortal Alliance and perpetrated many insidious and vile actions, causing serious trouble for the orthodox sects.
The the crowd gradually dispersed and no one bothered with the corpse of the dead remnant from the Three Realm Divine Cult. Anyway, someone would clean up after awhile.
Old Ma and Lu Chen stood at the very back of the crowd. They walked slowly back to the village and Old Ma whispered, “How is it?”
Lu Chen’s face was expressionless. Without any change in his intonation, he said, “A bunch of lunatics!”
※※※
Returning back to the village, the clear stream, the green bamboos, the peach blossoms as well as the green hills in the distance, the calm and graceful scenery seemed to serve as a distraction from the sight of bloodshed just moments ago, causing a subconscious perception that the danger was gone far away.
After walking for quite a distance on the bluestone pavement, Lu Chen suddenly noticed a fork in the road up ahead. A light shade of pink filled the branches of a peach blossom tree. A lively and beautiful lady stood beneath the tree. For an instant, it was hard to tell whether her face or the peach blossom was more beautiful. The lady was Ding Dang.
As wind blew, a few flower petal fell. Her light robe swayed along in the wind, and she looked like a fairy, an immortal who could not be soiled by the dirt of earth.
The villagers walking by noticed the view and quite a few men turned their head backwards repeatedly. Lustful expressions even emerged on several young men. Even so, most people choose to hurry past her; there wasn’t anyone who approached to engage her.
In this instant, Lu Chen spoke seriously to Old Ma, “There is only a few days left before the collection of the tea leaves. I also have to go and reap my harvest. You should return by yourself first.”
Old Ma reprimanded him, “Bullshit! Do you think that I am blind?”
Lu Chen chuckled, “Then, do you want to reap the harvest with me?”
Old Ma smiled coldly, “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Make sure not to play yourself to death!” After saying his piece, he walked away with big, slow steps with his hands behind his back.
Lu Chen smiled as he looked at Old Ma’s back figure, before walking straight toward the peach blossom tree. “What happened? I recall you saying that you wanted to laze in bed. To think that you would run out to watch the spectacle?”
Ding Dang rolled her eyes and gazed towards the end of the village. “I felt that something was amiss while listening to the racket outside, so I wanted to take a look. However, just as I was walking there, everyone started to walk back. So, what happened outside the village?”
Lu Chen spoke of the incident to her and Ding Dang gasped, a fearful look taking over her face as she said, “Ah? Isn’t that person a disciple of the Thousand Autumn Doors as well? Didn’t he cultivate the arts of immortals, how could he just die like that?”
Lu Chen burst into laughter as he patted Ding Dang’s head lightly and chided her, “The words that you said, on what basis would a cultivator who has trained in daoist arts be unable to die?”
“Shoo shoo shoo!” Ding Dang scolded him angrily while smacking away Lu Chen’s palms which were taking advantage of her. Then, a look of expectation and depression appeared on her face as she said, “But… Isn’t the reason why we dream about becoming cultivators to walk on the path of an immortal is so that we could live forever and ascend to the heavens to become gods? It was so difficult for him to earn such an opportunity, so he should have cultivated peacefully and lived his life honestly. Why are there still so many troublesome things occurring?”
“Tsk, how much have you only seen, for you to be lamenting here.” Lu Chen glanced at her and said, “Let me tell you what you missed just now. The dead person outside the village just now suffered seven sword slashes from his front and his back. One slash chopped off his hands, two penetrated his abdomen, one broke his ribcage and three more struck his face. This caused his blood to splatter around, as flesh and blood mashed together. In the end, what was left was a heap of flesh that could no longer be identified as that of a human’s…”
“Aiya!” Ding Dang’s face turned pale and she covered her ears with both hands. Paying no attention to her elegance and grace, she sent a kick toward Lu Chen, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up… bweh!”
Looking at how she clutched her heart in an attempt to vomit, Lu Chen laughed heartily before holding back his smile and spoke with an unreadable expression, “If you can’t even take this much, how would you survive if an opportunity to enter one of the sects of cultivators presents in front of you?”
“Pui!” Ding Dang gasped for air for momentarily. She struggled to get rid of the terrifying impressions her imagination conjured. She stared angrily at Lu Chen and said, “Rubbish! What kind of place do you think those immortal sects are, how could they be as terrifying as you describe them to be? Besides, you are a mortal yourself. After talking so much, beware of a passing immortal elder capturing you to punish you for your words.”
Lu Chen shrugged and ceased elaborating further on the subject. He smiled and said, “Forget it. A few days later, the Thousand Autumn Sect would be sending down their people to collect Spirit Tea Leaves and Spirit Grains. I also need to go to the tea mountains to collect some Spirit Tea Leaves to exchange for Spiritual Stones.”
Ding Dang’s eyes sparkled, “How is the harvest recently? How many Spiritual Stones can we trade for?”
Lu Chen looked at her and chuckled, “Look at how agitated you are, how many Spiritual Stones have you collected? How far are you away from a thousand?”
Ding Dang humphed, “There is no way I would tell you. Anyway, come and visit me if you have Spiritual Stones. Otherwise, scram.”
Lu Chen smiled, “I say, there are quite some people working in Clear Stream Village nowadays and most of them are males. As long as you are willing to lower your demands, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to reach a thousand.”
“Damn you! Do you think that I am that casual a person?” Ding Dang lashed out. However, looking at how Lu Chen nodded his head continuously, Ding Dang blushed. She couldn’t resist sending another kick towards him and said furiously, “Smelly man, why are you always provoking my ire? Do you think that I am not aging fast enough?”
Lu Chen dodged and smiled faintly, “Spiritual Stones are objects that we are born without and will depart without. All along, I use them quite casually. However, for those working in this village, most probably intend to save up for a trip to the Thousand Autumn Doors for the Immortal Discerning Mirror. So, most of them lust for you but none are willing to knock on your door?”
Ding Dang humphed, “Why do you speak of it when you know it clearly. Those despicable lads, constantly thinking about how to take advantage of me for free. All along, I have been kicking them out of my room. In the end, those gutless fellows started to gossip behind my back.” She paused for a moment. Unable to contain her curiosity, she questioned, “Hey, smelly man. Previously, I didn’t think much about it but now that you have said it, it does seem weird. Why does everyone pray so desperately for that single chance but yet you remain so nonchalant about it?”
Lu Chen stared at Ding Dang with a smiling face. Ding Dang frowned. She suddenly felt her heart turning cold.
…
StarveCleric 
Thanks for the chapter!!
LikeLike
Thank you for the chapter 😀
LikeLike