Tang Hao’s eyes flashed with surprise as he looked at the phone.
It had been more than a month since last they spoke.
“Who is it? Qin Xiangyi asked languidly.
“It’s master!” Tang Hao replied. Afterward, he picked up his phone.
“Fellow Cultivator Tang!” The master’s voice was heard on the other end of the phone.
“It’s been a while, master!” Tang Hao smiled. “It’s still early in the morning. Is something the matter?”
“That is… I’ve run into a bit of trouble, Fellow Cultivator Tang. I need your help!” Master said somewhat embarrassedly.
“What kind of trouble?” Tang Hao froze.
Taoist Master Chang Qing did not have an excellent cultivation base. However, he sure knew his way around when fighting a ghost.
“It’s a long story, and the matter’s quite troublesome. So, I have no other choice but to ask for your help. Oh right, a fellow senior brother of mine is also here. I can introduce you to him right now.”
Upon hearing this, Tang Hao’s interest was piqued.
The master had mentioned in the past that he would introduce him to a few of his senior brothers. This was so that he could learn about the situation in the cultivation world.
“Where are you right now?” Tang Hao asked as he began to show interest.
He had always been curious about the cultivation world, but he had no way of getting in touch with anyone. Now, he could definitely get a glimpse into the world of cultivators if he were to get to know a genuine disciple from the Mao Mountain.
The master chuckled once he sensed that Tang Hao’s interest was growing. “I’m now at Clear Water District’s Bronze Sparrow Ridge. Once you’ve arrived at the district, just ask someone, and they’ll let you know where it is.”
“Oh! That’s right, Fellow Cultivator Tang. This time around, it’ll be better if you come prepared, especially with those jade talismans of yours. Bring more of them because the things we’re facing this time around are quite troublesome.”
Tang Hao frowned as he listened to the master’s tone. He was afraid they would be facing something extraordinary this time.
“It’s zombies!”
The master said in a heavy tone.
“Moreover, it isn’t just one of them. My brother and I went into an ancient corpse cave, and almost lost our lives in the process!”
“Zombies?”
Tang Hao murmured as the expression on his face turned somewhat imposing.
Zombies were quite well known, and they could be found in many folklores. It could be said that they were far more vicious than even the fiercest ghost.
There were many kinds of zombies, including white zombies, green zombies, hairy zombies, flying zombies, and more.
Flying zombies were the most terrifying of all. They could soar into the sky and land straight onto the ground. Even those Perfected Persons that had ascended into the State of Foundation Establishment were not their match. The second most terrifying would be the hairy zombies, whose whole body would be covered by black fur and whom had copper skin with iron bones. They could even resist spell attacks to a certain extent. In short, they were terrifying monsters.
As for the green zombies and white zombies, they were a little easier to deal with.
“Corpse cave…” The atmosphere surrounding Tang Hao was growing heavier. He immediately dived into his mind’s pocket dimension and checked the number of jade talismans he had.
There were about 70 pieces of jade talismans altogether.
‘These should be enough! If it’s not, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it!’ Tang Hao decided as he discreetly thought to himself.
Then, he said to the master, “Alright then, I’ll be there today. I’ll contact you once I’ve arrived.” With that, he hung up the phone.
“What’s wrong?” Qin Xiangyi asked.
“Master bumped into some sort of trouble, and he needs my help.” Tang Hao got up and speedily put his clothes back on.
“Alright then, but be careful!”
After leaving the villa, Tang Hao went straight to the bus station.
Clear Water District was also in Province Z. It was separated by several cities, and it would take about two to three hours by long-distance coach. He bought the ticket and got into his ride, and the bus departed after a short while.
Before leaving Westridge District, Tang Hao had sent a message to Han Yutong stating that he had left the district today. Also, if she had any work-related issues, she needed to wait until he returned.
After more than two hours, the coach finally reached its destination.
Tang Hao then took a minivan to the station and headed toward Bronze Sparrow Ridge.
The driver was an older uncle, and he was taken aback when he heard that Tang Hao was going to Bronze Sparrow Ridge.
“There’s a spawn of evil in Bronze Sparrow Ridge, young man. It’s always haunted there, and I heard that a few people died there just a couple of days ago!” The uncle driver said to Tang Hao whilst he was driving.
“Oh? What happened there?” Tang Hao asked in surprise.
“A couple of backpackers went into the mountains for fun, but they never came back. So, they dispatched a few people to go and look for them, but they only found corpses. Everything was broken and scattered around. It was a tragedy.”
The driver paused for a moment before continuing.
“I’d say. They were perfectly fine before, so why’d they had to run into mountains and the wildernesses. People nowadays are just looking for trouble when they’re bored!” The uncle driver shook his head, his expression filled with sorrow.
Tang Hao thought to himself that since the matter was happening in Bronze Sparrow Ridge, it had to be related to that corpse cave.
After driving for half an hour, they arrived at a mountain road ahead of them. For the next ten minutes, the road was bumpy as the scenery around got more and more desolate.
Suddenly, he noticed a black car parked on the mountain road in front of him. Two people were standing in front of the vehicle, and one of them was none other than Taoist Master Chang Qing.
“Stop!” Tang Hao exclaimed.
The uncle driver was stunned and asked in astonishment, “You wanna stop here?”
“It’s fine. Someone’s here to pick me up!” Tang Hao then took out two hundred Yuan and handed it over, “Keep the change.”
“Hey! Thank you so much, young man!” The uncle driver said with a big grin on his face.
Once he got out of the minivan, he saw Taoist Master Chang Qing walking toward him. Then, he shouted, “You’re finally here, Fellow Cultivator Tang!”
“Come here, let me introduce you two. This is one of my former brothers, Taoist Xuan Ling’zi,” The master pointed at another person and said to Tang Hao.
Tang Hao’s eyes scanned him over as he looked at him from head to toe.
This Taoist Master Xuan Ling was dressed peculiarly. He was wearing a grey robe that looked somewhat dirty and extremely scruffy. His face was dark and swarthy, and the hair on his head was in a complete mess, such that it looked like a birds’ nest.
He carried several pouches on his body like Taoist Master Chang Qing and had a peach wooden sword on his back.
At first glance, Tang Hao could only describe him with a single word—shabby.
Tang Hao was slightly surprised after he took a closer look. Taoist Master Xuan Ling’s cultivation base was in the middle period of the State of Qi Channeling, almost approaching the late period.
As he scrutinized the other party, the other party was likewise also looking at Tang Hao.
Soon enough, Taoist Master Xuan Ling frowned. He could not see the cultivation base of this Fellow Cultivator Tang.
How could this be?
Could it be that this little baby that was still wet behind the ears had a more profound Taoist attainment than he did?
He frowned and let out a groan of disbelief.
He was adopted by his master when he was young. Then, he entered Mao Mountain and had been cultivating for over 50 years to reach his current Taoist attainment level. How old was this little baby?!
“Come here, let me have a test, little baby!”
Taoist Master Xuan Ling said in a cold tone. He suddenly stepped forward and stretched out his hand to grab onto Tang Hao’s wrist.
Tang Hao did not dodge, and merely let the other party do as he pleased.
In a split second, a surge of Qi started bubbling out of the other party’s palm.
This shabby and old Taoist Master obviously wanted to investigate his cultivation base.
Tang Hao smiled indifferently as the Qi inside his body vibrated slightly. The vibration made the shabby old Taoist Master croon out loud and let go of his hand. After this, he took a few steps back, an extremely horrified look on his dark and swarthy old face.
“What… What the…”
The old Taoist Master was stunned for some time and almost wanted to curse out loud.
This baby’s Taoist attainment was actually higher than his, and he had entered the late period of the State of Qi Channeling.
“You, you, you… you stinking brat! How on earth did you cultivate? How is your Taoist attainment higher than mine? Motherf*cker, this is depressing!” The old Taoist Master swore out loud as he spoke. There was a bitter look on his face.
Taoist Master Chang Qing, who was observing from the side, almost laughed out loud.