Lonemoon took out a dharmic talisman, casted a spell and covered it on Shen Ying"s hand. Immediately, that red light slipped into the talisman paper. "Take it back to the mountain, cleanse the baleful Qi on it with spirit qi and just send it into Samsara." With that said, he was just about to keep the talisman, but then he thought about it, and his hand turned to stuff it into Shen Ying"s storage bag. The immortal qi on him was too thick, he was afraid that he"d really break the remnant soul if he"s not careful. It"s still safer to put it on Shen Ying."… Yes, Master." Jian Xing nodded. He gave Shen Ying a look and said nothing more.
Yet the ground suddenly started shaking. Without the support from the Ghost Qi of that evil ghost, the mountain started destabilizing.
"It is collapsing here. Let"s leave quickly." reminded Lonemoon.
"Wait!" Jian Xing turned and said, "There"s still Mushroom!" He pointed to the side.
Indeed, Mushroom was lying here, seeming to have fainted. Lonemoon walked up and grabbed her directly. Then he looked around, but saw no other figure. He asked subconsciously, "Where"s that sister of yours?" Wasn"t she the one said to be caught?
Jian Xing"s face whitened and his eyes dimmed immediately. His head bowed down with some sorrow. Lonemoon understood immediately that he came one step too late. For a time, he didn"t know what to say. He sighed and lingered no more, but directly waved to set an array, transporting them out.
Before the four returned to the place just now, they already saw Fatty and others who rushed towards them.
"Master, is that ghost dealt with?" Fatty hastened his footsteps and walked over, yet he saw the person he was grabbing immediately. "Mushroom! What"s up with her?" Fatty hurried to take the person into his arms and started checking carefully.
"She was injured by that ghost and fainted." Lonemoon explained casually. "That ghost was very good at soul summoning, her primordial spirit might be unstable."
Fatty"s face changed. He hurried to take Mushroom"s hand and sent a bit of immortal qi inside. Indeed, the primordial spirit showed the tendency to leave the body at any moment. He hurried to help her stabilize the primordial spirit.
Lonemoon actually turned to Jian Xing at the back, took out a recovering elixir and said, "You are also hurt rather badly. Eat the elixir and adjust your breathing right here for a while."
"Thank you so much, Master!" Jian Xing took the elixir and ate it. Instantly, the wounds on him began to heal.
The other disciples looked behind them, and discovering that one person was missing, they couldn"t help but say, "Uncle-Master Jian Xing, where is Miss Zhi Lin? Why didn"t she come back with your party?"
The figure of Jian Xing who just sat down swayed a little. His hands tightened by his body. After a long while, he finally said in a low voice, "I… didn"t reach in time. She was killed by that ghost."
Everyone"s faces paled together, and they started sighing and sobbing. Especially the disciple who just spoke, he didn"t know what to do at all. Though Zhi Lin was also chased out of the sect, she used to cultivate together with them after all. Though she made mistakes on the way, it was not worth a death. There was a bit of friends.h.i.+p after all, especially with her being the younger sister of Jian Xing.
Jian Xing worked harder in cultivation than others partly because of this younger sister as well. So long as he finished his studies and went down the mountain, there would eventually be a day of reunion. A pity that… life is unpredictable.
The scene silenced down, and n.o.body knew how to comfort him.
Lonemoon also sighed, and said in a low voice, "The matter of the ghost this time is so troublesome because of your misjudgment. Not only did you fail to identify the source of the problem in the beginning, you even broke the dreamland before time, making all the souls in the city unable to return to their bodies."
He glanced over these disciples, he had to say that they really lacked experience. "If not for me and Fatty stabilizing those live souls temporarily, I"m afraid it would cost the lives of all the people in this city."
Everyone bowed their heads low in guilt. It was indeed their fault. They thought that something that could affect a whole city must be the likes of a large demon beast, but n.o.body thought that it was actually a ghost, that"s why they almost brought harm onto the people of a city.
"After this matter, all of you have to know that even the best cultivator is not omnipotent, and even the most capable can fall miserably in a very easy task. Never be arrogant and forget why you began this journey." At first, this matter was very easy to solve. They didn"t need to wait till dark at all, but only needed to follow the Ghost Qi, find the ghost and kill it. Furthermore, Yang Qi is stronger during the day, and the ghost was easier to deal with than at night. Yet none of them noticed this. They didn"t even notice the Ghost Qi in the city. He had to say that Fatty and him were rather disappointed.
"Yes, Exalted Master!" All the disciples replied together.
Lonemoon said no more, as everyone was injured after all. Earlier, they were forcefully captured into dreamland, and repelled out of it after they broke the dreamland before time, so all of them suffered injuries of various degrees, besides Fatty who had prior preparation.
He thought about it and produced the other two paper slips asking for help. He gave everyone another look before ordering, "Fatty, you take Mushroom and Jian Xing back to the sect to rest first. The three of them will deal with these two following places."
Fatty looked at Jian Xing, severely injured, and then at Mushroom, still unconscious in his arms, and nodded. "Yes, Master."
Jian Xing had also recovered some of his essence qi. He stood up.
Fatty finally took out a Dharma artifact, took the two and flew off.
In the following days, Lonemoon was in no hurry. Bringing the three disciples and dragging Shen Ying who wanted to be idle at any moment, he flew towards the other two places. If they came by other problems on the way, they"d also solve them on the way.
Surprisingly, they actually met other cultivators on the way, only that their cultivation was low in general, mostly at first or second level of Qi Refinement. Lonemoon thought it must be because the treasures he spread out earlier had already been picked up by some people, and they started cultivating.
At a small town, they even met a cultivator who had recently achieved Foundation Establishment. He led a group of people at first or second level of Qi Refinement, and were about to deal with a fourth-level demon beast. They helped him out casually. After asking, they were informed that that Foundation Establishment cultivator found a book several years ago and tried to cultivate, but he didn"t expect it to actually work, so he spread the news. Right now, everyone in that town had started cultivating.
Lonemoon expressed great satisfaction with the results of the treasures spreading. Only that for anyone without guidance, their cultivation was much more difficult.
They went all the way following the addresses on the paper slips. This time, they met no great trouble, but only two low-level demon beasts who were making trouble. The three disciples dealt with them very easily, and no further problems ensued.
But the mental state of the three still showed obvious changes from before. That distinct pride on them was reduced, and they were more discreet when faced with danger.
It was three months later when they finished all three tasks and returned to the sect. Once they entered the gate, a wind carrying sword qi blew over instantly, and then stopped abruptly in front of Shen Ying.
"Master!" A familiar voice sounded instantly, full of joy and longing.
"Hey, Chef!" Shen Ying waved a hand in greeting. "You"re back." I have supper again!