Grand Elder Wen stepped into the house and waved his arm towards Wen Leyang and the people behind him that were moving all the gifts. “Place the items under my bed! Leave that…horse outside!” Wen Leyang and the First Uncle Wen Tunhai bent over and placed the gifts under the Grand Elder Wen’s bed. The fat monk Shui Jing could not withhold his impatience anymore. He asked in a low, muffled voice, “What is the connection between the Wen family and the One Word Palace of Lake Luohai?”
The few old men shook their heads. Wen Leyang heard from the old demon rabbit Bu Le that, in the past, the Buddhism ancestral of Great Mercy Temple and the secular family of One Word Palace from Lake Luohai coordinated the right path of Five Blessings. They were one of the most outstanding cultivators in the cultivation world. Millennials ago, the family of the wicked witch of Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, who created trouble in the Miao stockade village, was exterminated after they pissed off the One Word Palace.
Wen Leyang placed all the treasures under the bed before he brushed the dust off his hands and stood up. He took out a stick of carrot and stuffed it into his mouth, “So, all these people are from the One Word Palace?”
The fat monk Shui Jing shook his head, “Not really, they are the small cultivation sects that attached themselves to the One Word Palace. Didn’t you hear that they added an extra ‘Yi’ word in the middle of their names? The ancestors or their leaders of these sects were trained at the One Word Palace.”
Wen Tunhai chuckled and said, “So the names of the people of One Word Palace would have the word ‘Yi’!”
The fat monk continued to shake his head, “Only the non-lineal disciples. They did so in order to declare their status. The direct lineal disciples do not care. They can be named as they desire.”
Ji Fei chuckled, “Each of The Five Blessings of the right path has its own influence. For example, the Great Mercy Temple is elected to be the holy ancestral by the seventy-two ancient temples in the world. There are countless little families under the siege of the three main sects of the Five Blessings. The One Word Palace is no exception. They have no need to take care of the usual matters on their own. They only need to give an instruction and the parties inferior to them will naturally help them to handle the matter.” Upon saying that he heaved a sigh joyously, “I did not expect that our little…um, you have a good relationship with people. Set aside the Great Mercy Temple, even the One Word Palace is now rushing over to send you gifts. None of these gifts are normal items. According to my judgment, some of these families even handed over their heirlooms!”
Wen Leyang did not speak. With a carrot in his hand, he tried to recall his encounters in the past two years. He then shook his head towards his four grandfathers who were looking at him with a suspicious gaze. “I have never made contact with the One Word Palace before. I am also not acquainted with the cultivators with the ‘Yi’ word in their names. I have no idea why are they congratulating me.”
Fourth Elder Wen suddenly blurted out six words, “Could it be Chang Li’s doings?”
The cultivator sects have always despised any mortal beings in the world and were very arrogant. Suddenly, they seemed to be in agreement amongst each other, coming in a mad rush to be the first to send gifts, giving praises upon meeting Wen Leyang, leaving as soon as they dropped their precious gifts. These sects have always followed the lead of the One Word Palace. They were certainly not doing this due to the respect for Great Mercy Temple. Hence, after some considerations, the only possible person that could make this happen was the ancestor grandmother of Wen family the elder demon Chang Li.
The First Uncle Wen Tunhai stretched out his hand and patted on Wen Leyang’s shoulder, “Young fellow, could it be that the One Word Palace took a liking to you and want to invite you over to become their son-in-law?”
Wen Leyang looked delighted. Playfully, he told the First Uncle, “Don’t you dare judge others. Your nephew does not behold your younger days’ character.”
Wen Tunhai roared with an arrogant laughter, “Young fellow, you are not bad as well. I can see that Wen Xiaoyi and that beautiful little girl of the Luo family…” He was halfway through his speech when he saw that Fourth Elder Wen was peering at him eerily. He immediately diverted the topic of discussion. He assumed a feigned manner and analyzed the situation, “Each of these treasures is exceptionally precious. However, if they wanted to make futile efforts, they are better off sending over a delicately pretty charming maiden. Only then she is the perfect match to a young man’s vanity. I do not believe that with so many old and experienced man in their families, they did not think of this.”
Ji Fei and Shui Jing were full of admiration. They gave a big thumb up to the first uncle, “Such brilliance! Your analysis has enlightened everyone.”
Wen Tunhai cupped his hand before his chest as a sign of humility. “When I was the head of the county, people would ask for my help to handle their affairs…”
Grand Elder Wen could not listen to their nonsense anymore. He was too lazy to make wild guesses. He squinted his eyes as he stared at the ground. It was uncertain whom he was asking, “Can we investigate this matter?”
As the Grand Elder Wen had already spoken, both Wen Tunhai’s and Wen Leyang’s resumed their composure simultaneously. They nodded in agreement, “We will descend the mountain tomorrow and start investigating!”
Grand Elder Wen continued to squint his eyes, he gave a neither approving nor disapproving chuckle.
The old monk Ji Fei rolled his eyes around twice from the side and took a step forward smilingly, “It is more convenient for us, the two brothers, to investigate this matter. We are more familiar with the affairs of the cultivation world. These little wannabees of the One World Palace must have received some information. I think it is not that difficult to investigate…” As he was saying that, the old monk gave the fat monk a hint with his eyes.
The fat monk Shui Jing immediately stood up. With an anxious expression, he pretended to roar loudly to the old monk, “How can the two of us go downhill when we have less than five cents from all our pockets. We will surely die of hunger if we go downhill!”
Wen Leyang roared with laughter as he turned around a gave a ferocious stare at the monk, “Master, your acting is too much!”
The two monks rubbed their palms in shame. It was certainly a rare sight to see two such foolish monks mingling in the cultivation world.
Wen Tunhai headed out and came back with two stacks of bank notes and a pair of cellphones in his hands. He stuffed each set into each of the two brother’s hands. Beaming, the fat monk carefully flipped through the bank notes and checked each note’s number.
The old monk shook his head with a strong sense of righteousness, “The poor monk is not trying to be coy, but…” As he was saying that, the old monk stuffed the bank notes into his pocket. His gaze swept over Grand Elder Wen’s bed repeatedly, towards the one-of-a-kind magnificent sword that was placed in earlier, “The One Word Palace is no minor character and this matter is seeping with strangeness everywhere. What if they conspire against us? My treasured flying sword’s primordial spirit is injured in the Miao stockade village and it has yet to recover…”
Grand Elder Wen raised his head and yawned. He muttered to himself loudly, as if he did not hear the old monk’s speech, “I am old and good for nothing now. I need to go to sleep right on time. I can no longer stay awake. So the decision is made, sorry for bothering the two of you. If you need anything, please let Tunhai and Leyang know.”
Ji Fei stomped his foot once, “Old man, your acting is as good as the fat monk!”
Grand Elder Wen acted as if he did not hear it and walked towards his precious bed with sleepy eyes. He was still muttering, “Wen Leyang, now that you are a master teacher, sometimes you ought to focus on your disciple’s appearance and dignity…”
The fat monk stopped. He pulled the old monk’s sleeves and walked out of the room. He muttered, “Why do you even want that one-of-a-kind magnificent sword? We are lucky to receive one million each…” The two monks stopped procrastinating. They had been very free since they arrived at the Wen family village and they were discussing whether they should leave the village to take a stroll after the new year. With the excuse of investigating a case, they departed the very same night.
Wen Leyang had a short discussion with the First Uncle after he left the room. He had thought about it over and over again, yet he could not figure out what was happening. Wen Tunhai instructed him to not return to the Red Leaves Forest anytime soon.
From the next day onwards, there was still a constant stream of people who ascended the mountain, bearing gifts. Every single one who came had the word ‘Yi’ in the middle of their names. Some were immortal-like, while some had an impressive appearance. All of them came bearing the name of established cultivator sects. Nonetheless, upon their arrivals, they gathered up their friendliest smiles and saluted the younger generation’s respect to any of the Wen family members with wrinkles. They patted on Wen Leyang’s shoulder and addressed him as their brother, while congratulating him incessantly. Yet, they refused to tell the Wen family the reason.
The gifts that were received grew more and more. The gifts became more precious than before. After ten days, the Grand Elder Wen instructed a disciple in the village, who excelled in carpentry, to make him a new bigger bed.
Being the person in charge of all the matters of the village. Wen Tunhai could hardly retain his composure anymore. He approached the Grand Elder Wen and asked in a low voice, “Grand Elder, do you think we ought to seal the mountain first and stop these sects from entering?
Grand Elder Wen burst into a fit of temper, “That’s bullshit, you are really the black sheep of the family!”
Ever since Ji Fei and Shui Jing left the mountain, there was no news from them anymore. Once in a while, they would send a few text messages, reporting that they were still investigating the matter.
Only after a month, the gift-sending crowd gradually reduced. Finally, there was no more movement for a few continuous days. Wen Leyang felt anxious. He was pondering whether he should discuss with the Grand Elder Wen to allow him to go downhill and look for these two monks. Suddenly, a rigid clanging sound, akin to the striking of two cobblestones together, echoed far away from the foothill. “The Wen family recently gained a popular reputation. I wonder if they really possess the true skills and genuine knowledge!”
The First Uncle Wen Tunhai frowned. The person that was approaching did not sound friendly. It was obvious that the person came to look for trouble. He was ready to bring some disciples to go downhill.
The Grand Elder Wen frowned, as he blocked the First Uncle and heaved a disappointed sigh, “Judging by his tone of voice, he is not here to send gifts.”
The person who came was indeed not sending gifts.
In a short while, the sound of footsteps echoed, a gush of foul wind seeped through the air. The shadows of human figure flashed past, seven to eight youngsters entered the village. They were dressed in different styles, some wearing traditional Chinese Tang costume while some were in western-styled clothes. Their expressions were a mixture of infuriation and arrogance.
W person less than thirty years old headed the group and he was closely followed closely by a white-furred flame-striped tiger that was larger than a rhinoceros.
Wen Leyang raised his thick brows and walked in great strides to the village entrance to stop them. He asked in a low voice, “Who are all of you?”
The Wen family disciples walked out in pairs as well. Some stood in the east while some stood in the west. They appeared to be scattered without an intention as they surrounded the outsiders in the middle without batting an eye. Wen Xiaoyi’s huge eyes glimmered with excitement as she stretched out her arm and grabbed the big-muzzled weapon.
The flame-striped tiger arched its back slightly and made a muffled roar from the depth of its throat as a sign of warning towards the Wen family disciples.
The young lad heading the group had straight brows and glimmering eyes. The corners of his mouth were curving with arrogance, “I am Qiu Baizhen from the Spirit Tiger, and these are my friends.”
The few youngsters behind him declared their family clans one after another.
“I am Zhang Shang from the Dazhigu Residential District!” The skinny man following behind Baizen introduced himself. His thumb was sheathed with a huge emerald ring. At one look, one could tell that it was no normal object.
“I am Xia Bufan from the Seven-inch Bamboo Grove!”
“I am Liu Zimo from the Bullhead Sawing Valley!”
“I am Xin Changgong from the Flamingo’s Door!”
…
This group of youngsters came from different family backgrounds. They carried themselves with a certain degree of style. It appeared that they were all successful youths of their sects. Yet, it was unknown why they gathered together and ascended the mountain to create trouble.
Baizhen with a leash on his tiger proudly waited for his companions to finish their introduction and looked strangely towards Wen Leyang, who was completely unimpressed. As if he was incredulous that Wen Leyang was not amazed by their reputation, he turned around and laughed with his companions, “This is a silly little lad here!”
The youngsters behind him laughed, amongst them, it was Zhang Shang from the Dazhigu District who laughed the loudest.
Wen Tunhai was prepared to start cursing when Great Elder Wen grabbed hold of him. The old man chuckled as he shook his head and nudged his chin towards Wen Leyang.
Baizhen puffed up his chest and asked loudly, “Which one is Wen Leyang? Send him forward so I can take a look! If he is too afraid to meet us then we shall start striking our first blow. Poison? That’s just some low-grade and good for nothing trick…”
Wen Leyang took out a stick of carrot and chewed loudly. The smile on his face was no longer as good-natured anymore. “I am him. Gentlemen, are you here to see me?”
Baizhen let out a surprised ‘huh’ as he looked at Wen Leyang from top to bottom for a while. His expression was infuriated as he laughed in rage, “I thought Wen Leyang is some extraordinary little lad. Turns out he is no better than a fool!” Upon saying that his feet made an inconspicuous stagger as he knocked lightly against the tiger’s heel once.
The white-furred flame-striped tiger roared vigorously, as it pounced towards Wen Leyang. A gust of scorching heat burned fiercely as the foul wind swept across their faces.
Wen Tunhai could no longer withhold anymore, he cursed in rage, “Where did these little brats come from…” Before his voice died away, the tiger suddenly moaned once. Its ruthless and tyrannical tantrum was dispersed off in the blink of an eye. It rolled and slammed onto a side, its huge paw was clawing messily on its face.
Wen Leyang was still standing on the same spot and had not made a move. He gazed at the tiger with puzzlement.
A streak of dark red-colored plump bug was tossing and turning strenuously in the tiger’s eye. Every time the worm rolled, the tiger gave out half a piteous wail that shook the entire universe. The flame-patterned stripes on its body were visibly fainting before the eyes, while the body of ‘You’ve Got Me’ turned into a darker shade of red.
Baizhen was both surprised and angered now. He cursed at Wen Leyang, “The shameless Wen family…” Before he could finish his sentence, suddenly the shadow of a human figure flashed past before his eyes. He felt that his face was burning with a scorching heat.
Smack!
At the sound of a crisp smack, Wen Leyang moved forward like a ghost and slapped Baizhen’s face. “Watch your mouth. I am not the one who made the sneak attack.” When Wen Leyang was speaking, his mouth was still dangling with half a stick of carrot. As he was speaking, he punched Baizhen’s stomach again.
Baizhen bawled and squalled in rage as he instructed the companions behind him, “Kill them!” He shook his arms once and the seven to eight cubs he was carrying on his back surged towards the sky.
Just as he was about to summon his treasured weapon, Baizhen’s face suddenly turned into the color of blood. Each and every strand of his hairs stood up, his mouth was opened so huge that a pressure cooker could be stuffed into it. He squalled and stomped his feet, “Spicy, spicy…give me water!”
Zhang Shang of the Dazhigu District saw that his companion got hurt. He shook his wrists once, releasing two pieces of blue-colored long damask silk. The rest of the people also started launching their attacks one after another. Unexpectedly, just as they released their treasured weapons and before they could attack the enemy, a gust of strong wind swept across their faces and a shadow shuttled back and forth continuously through them in a vigorous manner, akin to an agile black leopard. Every one of them felt a slight burning sensation on their shoulders. They were all lightly smacked by Wen Leyang.
Wen Leyang chuckled as he returned to his original spot. The group of youngsters hesitated for a while. If Wen Leyang had a murdering intent earlier, none of them would be left alive by now. Unexpectedly, as Wen Leyang finished chuckling, he pounced on them again. Everyone’s buttocks were kicked lightly.
These people had finite strengths, comparing to those people from the Palace of Sun Dynasty who came seeking for revenge in the Wen village. They were just a group of prodigals that were leeching off the family’s reputation. Their abilities were limited, but they had exceptional vision.
The young masters turned hostile as they each procured their treasured weapons. They were unwilling to admit defeat. They each recited their magic incantation in preparation to launch their tricks. Suddenly all of them, similar to Baizhen, kicked and scampered around with their bloodshot eyes opened wider than bull’s eyes. Their entire bodies turned scarlet as they moaned, “Spicy!” Soon after, they fell to the ground and struggled and rolled about. It was beyond agonizing.
The prodigals, who were lying on the ground, could not understand how they were scattered with chili noodles by the opposing party. They were aware that the Wen family was famous for their art of poison in the world. So prior to creating troubles on the mountain, they were all well prepared. Some used the spiritual talisman that deterred poison, some consumed the poison-detoxifying potion. These items were considered the treasures within the cultivation sects and were foolproof against all the strong poisons in the world.
Wen Xiaoyi placed her big-muzzled weapon down as she clapped and laughed, “Hands down to you Wen Leyang. I can’t believe you did it!”
Wen Leyang was also delighted. His pitch-black eyes were glimmering. He appeared simple and honest.
The tiger had now turned into a white-skinned pig. One of its eyes swelled loftily. It slumped on the ground, not moving at all. ‘You’ve Got Me’ crawled back joyously and leaped onto Wen Leyang’s palm, shaking its head and wagging its tail as it ululated. Once in a while, it would roll around happily.
The Grand Elder Wen asked Wen Leyang excitedly, “Young fellow, what happened? What kind of poison did you use?”
Wen Leyang hastily removed the half stick of carrot in his mouth and kept it back to his pocket. He did not care about few youngsters who were suffering the spiciness, as he turned around and answered the Grand Elder Wen with utmost respect, “That was not poison. It was a recipe that Wen Xiaoyi helped me to refine in the workshop. Today is the first time I’m using it.”
Wen Xiaoyi raised her delicate and pretty chin high up, as proud as a happy little pigeon.
The last time he fought with the young married woman in the Miao stockade village, Wen Leyang learned it the hard way and finally understood the principle that his method of cultivation was vastly different from the supernatural power of a normal cultivator. He utilized his strong and hard body and the incisiveness of his Faulty Punch to battle at close range. Even if he managed to cultivate himself into the Sky-splitting Divine Axe in the hand of Pan Gu, his fighting method would not be able to resist too many attacks. Using the Faulty Punch every day, he would collapse under his own attack one day.
Hence, ever since Wen Leyang returned to the mountain he had been pestering Ji Fei and Shui Jing to try to understand everything about cultivation. It was not because he wanted to refine himself into the nascent soul but because he wanted to use poison against cultivators.
The cultivators used their life’s vitality force to push forward their magic spells. They channeled the heaven and earth’s energy to form their supernatural powers. They dissolved their essences to suppress their tolerance. Nonetheless, until now Wen Leyang still could not figure out what was the difference between vital energy and farting or burping, not to mention about magic spells. Yet, he could at least try to understand about poison.
Regardless of which sect, regardless of which method of cultivation, from a cultivator’s point of view, the essence would still the same. Using one’s body to absorb all the energy scattered in between the heaven and the earth (Author’s note: In other words, it is just the spiritual energy), this form of energy could not be directly absorbed into the body. However, it could be merged with the cultivator’s primordial energy and formed into the life vitality force using the cultivation method.
On one hand, the life vitality force could slowly improve the condition of the human body. On the other hand, it could solidify and crystalize into the carrier of the soul and could form into the so-called nascent soul. A cultivator would not fear poison, as the life vitality force was circulating within his body. If a strong poison was to enter the body, it would be rapidly expelled out of the body. A cultivator was not invincible from all the poisons but the poisons were expelled as soon as the poisons invaded a cultivator’s body.
The higher the level of cultivation, the more vigor the life vitality force accumulated in the body was and the faster the speed for the poison to be expelled from the body. It would almost not cause any harm to the body. Even if the cultivation skill was limited, one could still channel the power of talisman to repel the poison. Hence, in a cultivator’s point of view, poison was something that worries a cultivator least.
There were only three situations for a profound cultivator to be poisoned. The first situation was where the cultivator’s life vitality force would be all lost, similar to the wicked witch from the Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture when she was in the Miao stockade village. The second situation was where the poison contained an exceptionally vigorous five elementary forces, which was enough to destroy a cultivator’s life vitality force, akin to the strand of primitive ages Poison of Earth inherited in the earth-splitting toad’s stomach. The third situation was where the cultivator’s state of mind suddenly lost its focus, resulting in his life’s vitality force being scattered. Back in the Miao stockade village, when the fat monk witnessed the giant toad swallowing Wen Leyang, his state of mind was anxious and confused. That was how he was poisoned by Wen Buzuo’s ‘Sulphur’.
When Wen Leyang had finally understood most parts about the principles of cultivation, he dove straight into the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death and started referring and practicing the poison recipes left behind by his forefathers. Wen Leyang was kindhearted but he did not lack good intelligence. He understood that even though the Wen family was established in the world for their art of poison, yet it was out of human’s capability to refine a pure poison that contained the five elementary forces. Hence, in order to poison the cultivators, one must choose another path.
Wen Leyang came up with a simple principle. As the life vitality force was like the Avast 360 Total Security, if there was anything suspicious it would leap forward and block the malware. However, it was unknown what would happen if it was a trustable software update, such as something that would strengthen the body or a medicinal powder that enhanced the body’s resistance.
There were many types of restorative medicines that would greatly benefit the human body. However, sometimes, one would experience the side effects of the medicine that might include some symptoms of discomfort. Hence, when faced with an enemy, should there be a sudden discomfort on one’s body, it would be scarier than being poisoned.
Wen Leyang stayed in the Red Leaves Forest most of the past half a year, aiming to recreate the discomfort symptoms, based on the side effects of these restorative medicines. Even though Wen Leyang based his refinement on this principle, when he was actually refining the medication, he put in more thoughts and performed more complicated procedures.
How to neutralize the medicine? how to increase the intensity of the breakout of the side effects? How to stimulate the five senses of a person without causing harm to the body? Wen Leyang took months to search for the correct measurement.
Moreover, Wen Leyang intentionally separated the process of planting the ‘poison’ into two steps. Hence, this group of young masters who ascended the mountain suffered two strikes from Wen Leyang each as they were planted with two types of medicines. These two types of medicines were nourishing medicines. Anyone of the medicines would not produce any symptoms. Yet, when the two forces of medicines converged in the blood vessels, the nourishing effect doubled causing the side effects to appear.
When the two types of medicines circulated through the blood vessels, the body would absorb it continuously. Therefore, the person planting the poison must be concise on the amount of poison. If there were any minor differences in the ratio of the medicine, as the two types of medicines converged together, it would fail to take effect.
As Wen Leyang finished explaining about what he learned from planting the poison in a soft voice, he let out a long breath and looked towards the four family elders joyously.
The first grandfather’s expression was gratified, he nodded strenuously, “Young fellow, not bad at all!”
Wen Leyang chuckled and answered, “I have been pondering on how to nourish the cultivators every day. It is actually quite exhausting.”
The First Uncle Wen Tunhai looked pleased. He stretched out his arm and smacked hard on Wen Leyang’s shoulder, “Like I said, this young fellow here is smart at times! Yet, when he is smart, he can be very outstanding! Young fellow, have you thought of a name for this nourishing medicinal poison?”
Wen Leyang nodded his head and gave a simple smile while he answered, “The Szechuan Cuisine!”
The few leaders of the Wen family roared with laughter. As the medicinal power on the prodigals, who were rolling around on the ground, had finally ended, they felt healthier and their blood circulation was smoother. Their entire bodies were bursting with an endless stream of energy. They gazed at one another, yet no one understood what happened. However, a fool would know that when they were struck by the spiciness earlier, Wen Bucao’s disciples could have easily sent over a dog to bite them to death and they would not have been able to do anything.
Wen Leyang bit on his carrot while he stared at the few people smilingly, “Tell me, why did you come to this mountain to create trouble for me.”
Before the sound of his voice died away, a friendly and humble voice echoed from the village entrance, “Who is the young master Wen Leyang? We are here to serve the young master!”
A middle-aged man that looked like he was in his forties trotted into the village with a smile. Hundred over people followed behind him. There were men and women of all ages, all with bundles in their arms.
The few prodigals were already feeling dejected. Upon seeing the middle-aged man, they immediately turned pale with fear. They stuttered, “Mister…Mister Gou…”
The middle-aged man paid no attention to them at all. He ran towards Wen Leyang and smiled in an utmost respectable manner, “This young master with a scar on his cheekbone must be Wen Leyang right?” It seemed that prior to ascending the mountain, they had already inquired clearly, such that they could immediately recognize Wen Leyang.
The few prodigals hastily snuck away from the mountain. Wen Tunhai frowned in preparation to speak, the Grand Elder Wen lightly poked on his sleeves as he squinted his eyes and looked towards the middle-aged man and spoke lightly, “Don’t bother those worms anymore.”
The First Uncle Wen Tunhai let out a ‘hey’ and muttered to himself, “Those who came earlier bore gifts, those who just came were looking for trouble and fights and now a bunch of manservants came to provide service. What the f*ck is going on here?”
