Chapter 337 - Reminiscence Town

A bad premonition swiftly filled Xiao Chen’s mind. He immediately stood up and ran to the door of the stone chamber, patting it with as much force as he could muster. “Men! Hey!”

He shouted his voice hoarse, yet there was no response. He paced inside the stone chamber for a while before calming down and sitting down cross-legged on the wooden bed. He began attacking the seals that Perfected Immortal Guyang placed on him.

Hours later, Xiao Chen’s entire body was drenched with sweat. He finally managed to break Perfected Immortal Guyang’s seals. He immediately crushed open the door with both palms. The collision was loud but the stone door didn’t even shake.

“Men! I want to see the Elders! I want to see the Elders!”

Once again, no one came to check out all the screaming. Xiao Chen could sense several powers at work here, the kind that entrapped deities. He collapsed on the bed and fell asleep in a daze. A nightmare roused him the next day. He dreamed that both his family and the Three Pure Sect were wiped out, leaving everyone dead. His father lay in a pool of blood, as were Bai Ying, Xiao Han, Xiao Wan’er, Shangguan Yan, and the three princes. All of them died with grievances!

“Ahhh—Ling Fei! You dare to touch my people! I swear I’ll exterminate your entire family! Exterminate your entire family!”

Blue veins were protruding on Xiao Chen’s face. In a fit of derangement, he attacked the door with his palm. The collision was loud but the door didn’t even tremble. Neither hacking nor slashing worked. This stone door seemed impregnable.

Moments later, he condensed nine flames on the hollow of his palm. These were the Nine Heaven-scorching Flames. Of course, he wasn’t planning on bursting the door open with these. The chamber was so narrow that even if he was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, the explosion would still kill him.

He wanted to use the heat and the cold to expand and contract the door, in the same way he did for the stone door at Wuwang Wind Cloud City. He flung a blue flame at the door. The fire immediately flared up and enveloped the entire door.

The temperature inside the stone chamber abruptly rose and the hay on the bed was spontaneously combusting. Xiao Chen put on an ice-cold barrier around his body to counter the scorching heat. When the stone door was burning red, he flung the Roar of Ice Dragon Spirit at it. Following a sizzling sound, a layer of fog instantly enveloped the door and stifled him.

When the stone door was completely encased in ice, Xiao Chen struck it with Cyan Dragon Roars. Two illusory golden dragons surged forth magnificently and slammed on the door. The ice fragmented and swirled in the air while the door trembled. However, the door showed no sign of destruction.

“Argh—”

Xiao Chen howled like a madman and started hacking the door with his Blood Lotus Demon Blade. Sparks of fire sprang forth and the clanging of metal resounded nonstop. However, no matter how he tried, the stone door refused to budge. He then switched his targets and hacked the stone walls instead. Still, he couldn’t even land even the tiniest hint of destruction on them.

“Guifeng! Guifeng!”

He remembered the General of Soul that he had taken it, but Guifeng didn’t show himself no matter how he yelled. The Restriction here was too formidable.

Hour by hour, time passed. After exhausting all of his brainpower, he still couldn’t find a way of leaving this place. Gradually, he fell into despair again and his bad premonition only became stronger.

By the time the third day rolled around, Xiao Chen had severe dark circles under his eyes and wisps of blood covering the whites of his eyes. His hair was a mess around his shoulders and filth covered his face. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the stone door being opened from the outside.

With a shiver, he dashed over and banged on the door with all his strength. “Men! Let me out! I want to see the Elders!”

He heard the voice of an Immortals’ League disciple saying, “Miss Li, you only have thirty minutes. We mustn’t let the Elders know.”

“I understand. Thank you very much, Brothers. Here are 2,00,000 Spirit Stones.”

Then, all he heard was a flurry of steps coming toward his direction. The stone door gradually opened to reveal Li Muxue.

“Brother Xiao!”

The rim of Li Muxue’s eyes reddened after she saw Xiao Chen’s messy hair, dirty face, and obvious exhaustion. She immediately gave him a hug. Xiao Chen patted her on the back. “Muxue, why are you here…”

“Shh…” Li Muxue let go of him and signaled him to be quiet before gesturing at the door outside. She conjured a Soundproof Barrier so that the disciples outside wouldn’t hear their conversation but they could hear theirs.

Li Muxue then cast a spell and took out several items from her Divine Vessel. They were the necessary ingredients for the Magic Mimicry lesson that Xiao Chen taught her not long ago.

“Muxue, you…”

Li Muxue shook her head and said softly, “We only have thirty minutes. Undress now and give me your clothes.” She then turned her body around.

Xiao Chen sighed and said no more. It wouldn’t be so easy to charge out of the many layers of restrictions placed on this prison, leaving him no choice but to do this. Moments later, he finished undressing and handed his clothes to Li Muxue.

Li Muxue didn’t turn around, but he could imagine her cheeks reddening as she said, “Don’t turn around…”

“Yeah!” Xiao Chen nodded. He heard the rustling of a sash being undone and a delicate fragrance instantly filled the stone chamber. Soon, Li Muxue handed him her clothes and he speedily put them on. Thirty minutes later, both of them had completely switched their appearances.

The greatness of the Magic Mimicry lay in the fact that even their aura and build would completely mimic the other person’s. Xiao Chen said, “Muxue, I promise I’ll come and save you once I’m done with my affairs outside!”

Li Muxue placed her fingertip on his lips and shook her head. “No. Brother Xiao, don’t ever return once you leave. They’ve already summoned the many great sects in seclusion… Don’t worry. Once they realize it’s me, they won’t make things difficult for me…”

Suddenly, the quiet voices of the two Immortals’ League disciples interrupted them. “Miss Li, time is up. Are you done?”

Li Muxue removed the Soundproof Barrier and said loudly, “Yes, I’m coming out now.” She then whispered, “Brother Xiao, take care! Oh, and Senior Zi Mo has returned to the Jade Qing Sect with Senior Sister Luo. I told the ladies of Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon to wait in the willow forest in the outskirts east of the city. Go now!”

Xiao Chen took a deep breath and nodded firmly. She stopped him, however, when he reached the door. He turned around and asked, “Muxue, do you have more to say?”

Li Muxue smiled at him. “After the trials and tribulations of a long journey, I hope the gentleman finally knows my heart.”

…

Then, under the guise of Li Muxue, Xiao Chen walked out of the prison without obstacle. However, he knew he must avoid the Elders of the League on the way. When he was about to reach the public square, several silhouettes popped out of the forest. The leader of the group was Ling Fei.

“Miss Li, where are you rushing to?”

Xiao Chen wanted nothing more than to slap this man to death at this moment, but he could feel the aura of several Elders in the vicinity and dared not to act hastily. He flicked his sleeve and made a swift exit. He didn’t have the time to return to his courtyard now and made a beeline for the foot of the mountain. When he reached the willow forest in the outskirts east of the city, he whistled.

The moment the whistle resounded, twelve silhouettes immediately emerged from the forest. “Master!”

Xiao Chen nodded. Not daring to tarry, all of them immediately took flight in the direction of the East Continent. His priority now was finding Zi Mo and Qingfeng, have them help him open the Space Teleportation Formation, and send him back to the Human World.

The group traveled through the night and finally arrived at the border that the East Continent and Middle Continent shared early in the morning—Changyin Mountain Range outside of Xianyong City.

The sun had risen in other parts of the city but the Changyin Mountain Range remained overcast with dark clouds overhead cutting off the sunlight. Xiao Chen couldn’t help lamenting now that he had returned to this familiar place. He had come to the Middle Continent with Xian’er in pursuit of his Master’s tracks just a few months ago. Little did he imagine so many things would happen after.

They flew on their swords for another hour when Xiao Chen saw a towering mountain up ahead. He could vaguely hear the sound of a clock coming from the top of the mountain. He wasn’t very familiar with the terrains, so he wasn’t quite sure where he was at the moment. He had the map last time, but his memory seemed to have led him in the wrong direction this time.

Beside him, Qingluan noticed that not even his changed appearance could hide his exhaustion. “Master, there’s a small town up ahead. Why don’t we go down for a rest?”

Xiao Chen nodded, thinking that it would be a good idea to go down and buy a map. The group landed outside of the town and when they lifted their heads, they saw a plate hanging above the gates with the words “Reminiscence Town” on it.

The town was bustling with people thronging the streets. Most were ordinary families bringing along their young children, but all of them had joss sticks and candles in hand. Traders lined the streets but they weren’t cultivation items like peddling pills, Spirit Stones, or seal talismans, but incenses, wax papers, and candles.

Xiao Chen and the ladies walked down the street, attracting many surprised looks along the way. It wasn’t surprising for the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon was attention-grabbing in every town they visited. Right then, a middle-aged couple holding the hand of a child walked toward them from the opposite direction.

The man looked anxious. “Sigh, they’ve always allowed people to burn incense at the Wuyin Monastery, but why did they bar everyone this year?”

The child whose hand he was holding bounced happily. “I know, I know! There must be a monster in the monastery! Yesterday, Xiaowang from next door said he heard strange noises coming from the place at night!”

The middle-aged woman beside him immediately glared at the child. “You d*mned kid! Don’t babble nonsense in the holy place of Buddhism! Be careful of a wolf spiriting you away at night!” The child scrunched his neck in fear after hearing the mention of wolves and immediately hid behind his father.

Xiao Chen was stunned. Did they land in the town of the thousand-year-old temple, the Wuyin Monastery?

They were in the Huai Prefecture, a prefecture surrounded by mountains on all sides that rested on a basin. The vegetation here was lush year-round, making summers in the prefecture cool. The Wuyin Monastery was the most famous spot here. It remained flourishing even after four thousand years of history. With four Great Divine Monks—Xuantong, Xuangui, Xuanji, and Xuanle—at the temple blessing the common folk, demons and ghosts dared not come near this place.

Unlike secluded Taoist sects, the Wuyin Monastery was a Buddhist sect that opened its doors to the public all year-round. Thus, countless people from all over the world would come here after hearing of its reputation to burn incense at the monastery every year. However, not long ago, the monastery began to refuse incense offerings and stop everyone from going up the mountain.

Of course, Xiao Chen didn’t have the luxury to wonder about this. Right now, all he wanted was to return to the Jade Qing Sect as soon as possible and meet Zi Mo and Qingfeng.

Soon, the group checked into a tavern and Xiao Chen returned to his original appearance. Noticing how intense his dark circles and exhaustion were, Qingluan said, “Master, why don’t you take a nap before leaving?”

Xiao Chen hadn’t had a proper rest in the past few days. Coupled with his energy depletion over their overnight journey on flying swords, his mind was indeed not functioning at its best. “Very well. Wake me up in an hour,” he said, and swiftly collapsed on the bed.

When Xiao Chen opened his eyes in a daze, not knowing how much time had passed, he got up in a start. “What’s the time now? Why didn’t you wake me up?!”