Three days later.
Chen Mu was closing his eyes, sensing the Spirit Nourishing Talisman.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man surnamed Sun peeked out from behind the screen, glanced at a few people, then turned to leave.
“Stop right there!” Ai Ji glared at him, “What are you looking at!”
The middle-aged man surnamed Sun walked out from behind the screen, a sheepish smile on his face: “I just wanted to see if anyone here had sneaked away.”
Had someone left the practice field halfway again?
Chen Mu couldn’t help but open his eyes.
“Has this happened before?” Lu Ku spoke out.
“In the past year, everyone has been busy with pioneering work; there was no one in the practice field, so there were no incidents,” the middle-aged man surnamed Sun said with a bitter smile.
“How many left?” Chen Mu frowned slightly.
“Seven.”
…
After sending the middle-aged man away, silence fell inside the cave.
“Have similar issues occurred in the Upper Court’s practice field?” Chen Mu solemnly looked at Lu Ku.
This guy had already cultivated Spiritual Light. He must have been to the Upper Court’s practice field.
Lu Ku’s eyes narrowed slightly: “I haven’t heard of any.”
“What is the environment like in the Upper Court’s practice field?” Chen Mu continued to ask, his brows already furrowed.
“Not much better than here,” Lu Ku replied, his expression also turning serious.
That meant the issue wasn’t much related to the practice field itself.
Chen Mu stood up from his cushion, walked around the screen, and came to the entrance of the practice cave.
Through the wind and snow, he looked down at the round Cold Moon Pond below.
A wooden plank bridge extended from the shore inward, ending at an octagonal pavilion standing alone in the middle of Cold Moon Pond.
Looking closely, one could vaguely see a figure.
“Director Song is still at Cold Moon Pond. There shouldn’t be any problem, right?” Yu Lin said hesitantly.
The six siblings from Wu Mountain also came to the edge of the cave entrance.
“Hard to say,” Chen Mu shook his head.
Could it be that the giant toad had stealthily returned?
Chen Mu’s heart chilled.
Leave the mountain? No way!
Without Director Song’s deterrence below the mountain, it was even more dangerous.
But staying in the practice field didn’t seem safe either.
“This is the tragedy of the weak,” Chen Mu sighed to himself.
If he had the cultivation of Song Wujie, he wouldn’t be afraid of anything!
Unfortunately…
Chen Mu glanced at the pavilion once more, then walked back into the cave and sat down on his cushion.
He might have sat down, but his heart was restless.
This uncertainty made him incredibly agitated.
“With so many people in Cold Moon Pond’s practice field, it’s not possible for me to be the only unlucky one, right?” Chen Mu murmured with lifeless eyes.
“And there are the seven brothers from Wu Mountain in this cave, if there’s a problem, it couldn’t possibly start with me, could it?” Chen Mu tried to comfort himself.
“Even if I’m not willing, there’s nothing I can do.” Despondency began to spread in his heart.
“Forget it, let fate decide,” he concluded.
After struggling for a long time, Chen Mu had no choice but to close his eyes in resignation.
…
In the middle of Cold Moon Pond.
The octagonal pavilion was covered with white snow, looking like a white hat.
Snow also accumulated along the edges of the pavilion, resembling a ring of white lace.
Song Wujie was wrapped in a black beast skin cloak, wearing a brown beast skin hat, and a snow-white fox tail scarf twined around his neck.
His chubby face was mostly covered by the fluffy tail, leaving only a pair of eyes visible.
He was sitting on the edge of the pavilion, his eyes, with a faint green sheen, not blinking as they stared at the water’s surface.
Liang Yi hurried into the pavilion, “Master, people have disappeared from the practice field for no reason.”
Song Wujie remained silent, still staring at Cold Moon Pond.
After a long while, the green light in his eyes receded, and a resonant voice emerged from under the fluffy scarf: “That little toad has gotten cunning.”
“Is it the Cold Moon Toad causing trouble?” Liang Yi’s expression shifted as he looked at the water.
Song Wujie stared at Cold Moon Pond and chuckled.
“It sneakily tunneled into Cold Moon Pond?” Liang Yi felt a chill on his back and couldn’t help looking around.
It was as if a pair of cold eyes were silently hiding in the water, watching him.
That was a monster with a cultivation nearly equal to his master’s—if it suddenly attacked…
So damn sneaky!
Song Wujie waved his hand merrily: “Don’t worry, at most it can bewilder a few disciples with weak wills.”
“And every time it moves, it leaves flaws.”
“Once I pull it out, there will be no problem,” Song Wujie said confidently. “It’ll be quick.”
…
Evening.
At the Scripture Transmission Institute below Cold Moon Pond.
Fu Zi stepped out from the counter, standing at the entrance. Looking at the dusky yellow sky’s snow-covered earth, he stretched lazily and said, “Comfortable.”
After enjoying the scene of falling snow for a while, he turned and entered the Scripture Cave.
The direct passage to the heart of the mountain was brightly lit, and the branching pathways leading to the Scripture Caves glowed with a warm white light.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Fu Zi strolled leisurely past one cave entrance after another.
Just like inside the Octagonal Tower of the Lower Courtyard by the Tongtian River, he casually perused the scripture scrolls on the shelves and in the niches in the walls.
He had lived like this for decades, and he planned to continue for several centuries more.
“Brother Wujie, you’re blocking my way, so I have no choice but to bid you farewell in death,”
Fu Zi said with a smile, lifting his hand to straighten a skewedly hung Glowing Algae Lamp.
“I’m just pursuing the life I like.”
“Brother Wujie would surely understand,”
He chuckled, humming an unknown tune as he leisurely walked deeper into the Scripture Cave.
He preferred this steady life without waves.
The scripture scrolls that didn’t talk were his best companions.
And he especially loved the Scripture Cave at night—vast, empty, comfortable, and leisurely.
“For this tranquility, any price is worth paying,”
Fu Zi’s mouth curled into a smile, a genuine smile that rarely appeared on his usually expressionless face.
Thinking about attracting the Cold Moon Toad next spring and doing away with Song Wujie, he would then have exclusive access to the Cold Moon Pond and could attempt the Yin-Yang Purification.
Elated, he couldn’t help but clench his right fist and vigorously waved it through the air a couple of times as he shook his head.
Ha ha!
After a good while, Fu Zi finally collected his emotions.
He cleared his throat and straightened his clothes, returning to his aloof and indifferent demeanor, ready to go back and continue tempering his Divine Orifice.
But then he turned his head and came face to face with a cautious expression.
Fu Zi: “…”
Chen Mu was peering around a secret corner of the cave entrance, his eyes seemingly askew as he strained to look to the side.
Mother of heavens!
Seeing a big shot let loose, I’m not going to be silenced, am I?!
“I heard nothing!”
“I saw nothing either!” Discover stories at empire
Chen Mu earnestly explained, trying hard not to look into the other’s eyes.
Fu Zi: “…”
You might as well not have explained at all!
His eyelids drooped instantaneously, and he looked at Chen Mu with a dangerous gaze.
“Who are you? Why are you lingering here and not leaving!” Fu Zi said expressionlessly.
Chen Mu’s expression turned serious. Stepping out of the cave, he clasped his hands together and bowed respectfully, “Lower Courtyard disciple Shang Huan, I’ve seen the great Director Fu.”
“The scripture was just too profound, I was entranced and completely lost track of time.”
Fu Zi expressionlessly glanced at the scripture in Chen Mu’s hand.
“A Cookbook for Frogs?”
Cough cough!
Chen Mu quickly shut the book and rolled it up in an attempt to cover the cover.
“‘Yan Jie’s Cookbook’?”
Fu Zi’s face darkened.
You’re here at night, looking at this?!
Chen Mu kept his composure and said earnestly, “Sorry for disturbing Director Fu, please be forgiving.”
“Do you know that experience of being so engrossed in a scripture that you can’t extricate yourself from it?”
“That’s the state I’m in right now!”
Fu Zi’s eyelid twitched.
I’d believe in ghosts before you!
“If I can’t finish this scripture in one go, I definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight,” Chen Mu sighed, then immediately praised, “The system of our Scripture Transmission Institute is really good.”
“As long as you pay enough, you could stay here till the end of time and no one would mind.”
“And if you stay overnight, it’s even half price!”
“I won’t be going back tonight. I feel like enlightenment is right in front of me.”
Chen Mu said solemnly, “Please, Director Fu, grant me this favor!”
While saying this, he took out three prepared White Jade coins and presented them to Fu Zi.
Fu Zi: “…”
Enlightenment?
Enlightenment on how to cook a toad?
Overnight?
Who was the damn fool who suggested this rule?
Did I add it myself?
Crap!
I’ll go cross it out later; first, I need to get rid of this troublesome fellow in front of me!
The way I lost my composure can’t be known by anyone!
That’s why I like the Scripture Cave at night, I had my reasons.
Empty, no people… Fu Zi’s right hand clenched into a fist again.
Then he saw Chen Mu turn and shout towards another part of the cave.
“Do you guys even know the rules?!”
“If you want to read here, you have to pay!”
“Hurry up and come out with the money!”
Fu Zi incredulously turned his head to look.
And he saw six figures of varying heights obediently walk out from the cave entrance, appearing before him.
It’s over!
My reputation is utterly ruined!