Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1307 Seeking Immortals and Asking for the Way

Just when Lu Ning was watching with interest, three more people came together and knocked on the door.

"Hmm? Taoist priest, why did you beat up Six Fingers?"

"He's raising a little ghost again. How are you guys watching?" Xuan Yangzi turned around and yelled at the person who came in.

"That's just because he can't change his bad habits. We are not his father, so why should we care about him?"

The first person who spoke was a fat man with a bald head, a small drum tied around his waist, half naked, painted in fancy colors, and spoke in a rather rude tone. The other two behind him, one wore a melon-shaped hat and held a banner with the words "iron mouth straight judgment" written on it; the other was hunched over, with a monkey squatting on his shoulder and a large basket on his back. After the three people came in, Xuan Yangzi looked around and nodded, "Everyone is here."

"Master, why did you call us here?" The fortune teller spoke in a gentle tone, "I read a fortune before I came in, and it's a bad omen, a bloody disaster. Not good, not good."

"If you keep talking bullshit, I will show you a bloody disaster." The beggar snorted coldly, "Xuan Yangzi, didn't you go into the mountains? Why did you come back suddenly?"

Xuan Yangzi sighed and said, "Pockmarked is back."

Everyone heard it and looked at each other. Finally, the bald-headed man spoke first: "Didn't that little bastard go to ask for help from the gods?"

"It's a good thing that he didn't die." Xuan Yangzi sighed, "He sent me a flying letter asking for help. He almost lost his life in asking for help from an immortal. We have to trouble you to find him."

"Don't get yourself into trouble and get us old guys into trouble too." The man with the monkey on his shoulder said in a shrill voice.

Xuan Yangzi lifted his robe and kicked the monkey trainer again, but the monkey trainer was agile and dodged the kick.

"Taoist, where can we find Ma Zi?" The man among the man and woman with the child said, "After two years of absence, the boy will surely become more capable. Besides, he is a stubborn person by nature, and he actually asked us for help directly. I think it is not a small matter."

"Everything is ready, let's go."

Xuan Yangzi flicked his sleeves and extinguished the fire in the stove. He led the people in the yard out.

However, when the monkey trainer walked out of the door, the monkey on his shoulder suddenly started scratching its ears and cheeks, and jumped up and down. Lu Ning, who was sitting on the tree, also smiled slightly, broke off a piece of sugar cake and threw it down. The monkey jumped up, grabbed the sugar cake with one hand, squatted on the ground and started to chew it.

"Who is being held captive without even knowing it?" The beggar shouted angrily, leaning on his crutches and turning to the tree. Lu Ning jumped down from the tree, stuffed the remaining sugar cakes into his arms, clapped his hands and said, "Xuan Yangzi, how are you?"

Xuan Yangzi was surprised, and when he saw it was Lu Ning, he forced a smile.

One's own family knows one's own business. He asked for help from Lu Ning because he really couldn't get rid of the demon, so he wanted to ask the help of the strange man in the mountains to help him catch it. Now that he saw Lu Ning again, he could only sigh at the entanglement of cause and effect. He escaped with an excuse at that time, but he still couldn't avoid this.

At that moment, Xuan Yangzi bowed to Lu Ning and said, "Lady, I have already paid for the work in the mountains. If you are not satisfied, you can come to me the next day. We have something to do today, so I hope you can spare us a favor."

"I haven't said anything yet, why are you begging for mercy?" Lu Ning said with a smile.

"This... is my guess wrong?"

"Stop pretending. After seeing your Taoist magic, I know that you are not a true Taoist." Lu Ning looked at the people around him. They all had alert faces, ready to attack at any time, but Lu Ning could also feel that among their martial arts, the old beggar and the baldy-headed man were the strongest, and the others were uneven. However, Lu Ning's orthodox internal energy would not have much problem defeating them.

However, most of these people don't look like martial artists.

"I also want to practice the orthodox Taoist technique, choose the right time, breathe in and out, and after twenty years, I will become an immortal. But where in the world can I find such an immortal technique?" Xuan Yangzi said with a smile, "Lady, since you are here, you must have heard what we said. Now that you show up, are you interested in what we are doing?"

"Yes, but shouldn't you, a Taoist priest, tell me everything in detail?" Lu Ning looked at him leisurely, "Or is it that the situation is so urgent that we don't even have this little time?"

"It's indeed urgent. If you don't mind, we can talk while we walk?" Xuan Yangzi said.

Lu Ning smiled and agreed.

This group of people were considered to be fellow practitioners that Xuan Yangzi knew. Xuan Yangzi did not say much, but just mentioned their names.

There are Six Fingers who raises little ghosts, Liu Bozi who begs for money, Bai Tieyi who performs acrobatics with Fang Huaisu, Jinbao and Yinbao, Monkey Hand who walks the monkey, Baldhead Wujie, and Tao Xuanzu who tells fortunes.

They were originally the lowest class in the martial arts world, with no martial arts skills but some acrobatics. Later, they were saved by Xuan Yangzi and saved Xuan Yangzi, and after a few interactions, they became what they are today. There are actually a few more of them, but only these few are in Lingying Mansion now.

The pockmarked man was a down-and-out scholar they rescued two years ago. He read the books of sages, but he had a heart to seek immortality. With his youthful nature, he had caused a lot of trouble. But it was not a big deal. He was usually enthusiastic and wrote a lot of letters for this group of people who, except Xuan Yangzi, could not recognize a hundred words. So they helped him get out of trouble. Unexpectedly, two years ago, the pockmarked man suddenly left a letter, saying that he had found immortality, and went to the overseas Three Immortal Islands to seek immortality.

Since everyone has their own destiny, they have no right to interfere. However, unexpectedly, Xuan Yangzi received a letter for help, which was sent by this pockmarked man.

"Because the flying talisman is very useful, it consumes a lot of energy. Even I usually don't want to use it." Xuan Yangzi said, "He only had time to send a direction and a message for help. It can be seen that he was in a critical moment."

"But you look quite relaxed." Lu Ning said.

Xuan Yangzi smiled bitterly: "How dare I go there without being prepared?"

"Oh?"

"If you can't get help from the gods, call on some demons and ghosts to come and ask for help." The bald-headed man said in a hoarse voice, "This little bastard always has to deal with the troubles he causes."

"What do you mean? I heard that Sanxian Island is a good place to cultivate immortality." Lu Ning asked with a smile.

"We don't know whether Sanxian Island is a good place or not. We only know that there are probably no immortals in this world." Six Fingers said in a low voice, "There are only demons and monsters everywhere."

Xuan Yangzi led the way, and the group passed through several quiet streets and alleys in Lingying Mansion. Liu Bozi seemed to have sensed something and asked, "Old Taoist, this direction is the muddy market entrance in the west of the city."

"Where do you think that pockmarked fellow can find? He must be smart to crawl there alive." Xuan Yangzi said, "Open your eyes and tense your skin. Taoist, I have a bad feeling."

The muddy market is just a common name for the market here. Because the west of the city is far from the main trunk of Lingying Mansion, it is almost unmaintained. In addition, it is a place where the lower nine classes gather, so the chaos is worse than other places. Liu Bozi can see it, of course, because he usually hangs out in this area.

"I didn't hear any news of outsiders coming." Liu Bozi said.

"Pockmarked Man has learned some skills after all." Xuan Yangzi was also quite familiar with this place. He walked to the back of a row of straw sheds, picked up a rake from the corner of the wall and pushed the grass stems mixed with mud on the ground aside, revealing a knotted straw rope. He stretched out his hand to lift the straw rope and pulled it hard. Lu Ning heard some light noises nearby. "Let's go." Xuan Yangzi pointed to a fallen stone lion not far away. This stone lion had been thrown here for who knows how long, and it was covered with a layer of mud. However, there was a hole in the belly of the stone lion, which was only big enough for one person to get in.

"Taoist! If you go in with such a small space, we will probably be stabbed one by one!" Wujie snorted.

  "Shut up!" Xuan Yangzi raised his hand and suddenly turned into a piece of paper, and suddenly slipped into the hole. Then Lu Ning felt her body sink, and she and the people around her fell down together!

It is the method of painting on the wall to create a door.

Lu Ning landed lightly on the ground, and everyone else also landed steadily. Even the two children were brought down by Bai Tieyi and Fang Huaisu, each holding one.

"Xuan Yangzi, your little magic is really good." Tao Xuanzu brushed off the dirt on his clothes, "It's just that this place is a little dirty."

"Haha." Liu Bozi sneered.

"Quiet!"

Xuan Yangzi let out a low roar, and then a little fire lit up. He held a paper talisman in one hand, and the talisman was burning. The fire was not strong, but it could illuminate the entire cave.

"There is actually a cave here, and it is hidden under that broken stone." Liu Bozi frowned and said, "Xuan Yangzi, when did this place appear?"

"It's made with lead dice to prevent people from chopping off their hands while chasing them for debts." Xuan Yangzi said.

"If he has this much strength, why not find a proper job?" Monkey Hand laughed, "He digs holes in the ground every day. Last time, he almost made Liu Guaizi fall into another hole and broke his remaining leg!"

"Forget it, he has no hands now anyway." Bai Tieyi said, "Xuan Yangzi, is Ma Zi in there?"

"Ah."

Xuan Yangzi walked into the depths holding the talisman. In the innermost, slightly larger space, there was a figure lying curled up on the ground.

"Pockmarked?" Xuan Yangzi called out softly.

"Hey... are the brothers... here?" The man on the ground turned over slightly, and in the light of the fire, everyone saw the pockmarked face.

Lu Ning saw a face with a lot of tumors on it.

Of course, this appearance did not surprise Lu Ning at all. She had seen appearances that were ten times uglier than this one. She even observed carefully and found that there was some movement in the tumor on the man's face.

The others were all shocked, even Xuan Yangzi was no exception.

"Ma Zi, how did you become like this?" Tao Xuanzu took out a cloth bag, hesitated for a moment, but still did not step forward.

"Brothers, it's better not to come near." Ma Zi supported himself on the ground and sat up. The tumor on his face trembled. The eyes in the gap of the tumor blinked, looking quite scary.

"You asked for help, and now you're telling us not to get close?" Xuan Yangzi said in a cold voice, "Ma Zi, what's going on? You went to ask for help without saying a word, and now you're back in this state?"

"Hey, hehe..." Ma Zi reached out and touched the tumor on his face, then said, "Brothers, I found the Three Immortals Island."

There was disbelief on everyone's face.

"You found the Three Immortals Island? Even if you did, you would still look like this?" Wujie sneered, "You scared me. When I came to find us, I thought you were going to die."

"It's true that I'm going to die, but I don't know when." Ma Zi said with a smile.

"What? Why don't you let the fortune teller take a look at it for you?" Wujie immediately raised his voice.

Tao Xuanzu took a step forward but was stopped by Lu Ning with one hand.

"Lady?" Tao Xuanzu tilted his head and glanced at her.

"Let him finish." Lu Ning said.

She looked at Ma Zi with her evil eyes and found that the man's condition was very strange.

Normally, whether it is a human or a demon, they only have one color of aura, but the pockmarked man in front of him has some dark green egg-shaped gas wrapped in human aura.

She didn't know whether this person was still considered a human being, but she did become interested.

"Because the Three Immortals Island is really about cultivating immortals, it's not about cultivating immortals." Ma Zi said, "Old Tao, you don't have to treat me anymore, you can't cure me. I wrote to you because I want to meet my brothers as soon as possible."

"What's the matter with meeting us?" Xuan Yangzi asked.

"I have only owed you my whole life. Since I know I am going to die, I will naturally find you brothers to repay your kindness." Ma Zi pinched his sleeves, "There are eight hundred independent cultivators on Sanxian Island. When I arrived on the island, I was taken in by a Taoist priest and began to cultivate immortality."

"How come it's almost the same as a fortune teller's lie..." Six Fingers muttered.

"I started to learn from that Taoist the method of eating wind and drinking dew, refining qi and transforming spirit. After more than half a year, my whole body felt relaxed, and I felt that all the turbid qi had gone away, and I was not stained by dust." Ma Zi pulled out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve, "I felt that there was indeed a magical method of immortality on this Three Immortals Island. However, later on, the Taoist said that I had made some progress and took me to the island to meet the immortal master. Then, I felt something was wrong. Then, these things started to appear on my face."

"What immortal master?" Xuan Yangzi asked.

"The strange thing is that I have no memory of what happened to the Immortal Master. It's as if I just entered the island in a daze. After I experienced all this, my body became more relaxed, and I even often felt like I had become an immortal. Unfortunately, this is different from the immortal path I imagined. I knew it was not good, but the Taoist priests on the island did not notice it. There are usually no ships passing by the Three Immortals Island, so I cut down trees and spent a long time. I came back by boat, and my face has become like this."

"Have the Taoist priests on the island changed like you?" Lu Ning suddenly asked.

"Never seen it." Ma Zi had no doubts about Lu Ning, a person he had never seen before, probably because he was brought here by Xuan Yangzi. "I just know that my time of awakening is getting shorter and shorter every day. When one day, I am no longer aware of dreams, that will be the time when I die. However, this Sanxian Island is not as the folk legends say. I must let my brothers know, and this volume of the breathing technique I first practiced is the only useful thing I got from the island. After I die, you must remember to burn me with fire, and don't leave any trace in the world, lest the dirt on my face escape somewhere."

(End of this chapter)