“Grandma Yuan is ready to see you. Be prepared, it won’t be a short visit. She has cleared her schedule especially for you. Oh and wear that Panda Pin if you understand what I mean.” The assistant on the phone informed him, and Jin immediately took off his stuff and told Yun to look after the shop. He hailed a cab via his phone app to reach the destination the assistant had given him.
“Sir, the place you are going, you sure that is the correct address?” The taxi driver asked casually.
“That is what my colleague told me, why? Is there anything wrong with the address I gave you?” Jin who was sitting at the back seat, stared out the windows for once, instead of consistently looking at his phone.
“Hmm, it’s just that I assumed you were one of the few relatives of the victims wanting to pay your respects to the place. Guess I was wrong, sorry to disturb you, Sir.” The veteran taxi driver answered and his reasoning made Jin curious.
“No, it’s okay. What actually happened in that area?” Jin pressed for an answer.
“I think it was about 23 years ago? A fire, a large enormous one that consumed the entire temple during the Qing Ming Festival. A sizeable number of people was there to give thanks to their forefathers.” The taxi driver started.
“But what remained a mystery was how the fire was able to spread so fast that it killed that many nearly in an instant. The government was short of calling it a terrorist attack given how most of the people who died there were pretty decent cultivators at least Grade two and above.” He made a turn and into the expressway.
“Oh yea, to common folks, Grade 2 cultivators were the norm of life…as compared to my cultivators.” Jin thought to himself as he continued to listen to the taxi driver.
“However, that’s the government and national news. You and I both know that the government would always keep things under wraps. I had a friend whose relative died in the fire too, and he depicted a different story according to his relative who later succumbed to the injuries and passed on.”
“His relative supposedly shared that there was a man, with literally monstrous chi. He had horns coming out from his shoulders and even a tail. He came barging into the temple and immediately started slaughtering the people in there. It was not just mass murder but a massacre at that. The cultivators came together to fight against it, but it was no use at all.” The taxi driver went to the third lane and drove a little faster since the traffic was smooth.
“It might sound delusional but the relative even on his deathbed kept emphasising the word demon, demon, demon. The recount he gave stated that there were a few cultivators who managed to fight that ‘demon’. But the demon eventually gave one last push by ending its life with a blast.” He narrated with exaggeration which made Jin give him a weird look.
It seemed such a coincidence that the taxi driver talked to him about Demons when he was about to see Grandma Yuan about the request on Demon Exorcists. So he decided to try his luck and ask with regards to it.
“I am sorry to sound rude. It’s just that for a relative that had succumbed to injuries, your friend seemed to be able to get a lot of information about the incident.” Jin said as courteously as he can while questioning the cab driver.
“Heh, what do I know, it’s only a story. I am merely telling you to pass the time. Besides, you gotta admit it’s a rather decent story from a friend.” The driver replied in a joking manner.
“I am more concerned about the loopholes in that. Like Demons.” Jin said while staring intently at the rear mirror to see the expression of his eyes. That moment when their eyes connected, Jin swiftly understood that the taxi driver knew something which he did not know.
The taxi driver immediately drove faster, seemingly with little to no regard to his life. “What is your motive for going to the abandoned temple.” The driver asked as he continued to step onto the pedal.
“That is none of your business,” Jin said as he prepared himself by diverting his chi into his left hand. He was ready to slam the side door open when he deemed fit to escape even though he knew the car had already reached 110km/hr. “I will probably be going to escape with more than just bruises on myself.” He prepared himself mentally.
“You do not seem to understand the current situation. Even if you manage to get out of this car, you will die no matter what.” The taxi driver lowered his voice and warned Jin. “I shall ask again. What is your motive for going to the abandoned temple?”
“Likewise, you do not seem to care about your life.” Jin wasn’t planning on revealing anything no matter what. He was confident that he was able to get out of it with just a few bruises. “System, I hope you are ready for a portal escape.”
Upon Jin’s reply, the taxi driver smirked and pressed on the pedal even harder, accelerating to the maximum limit of the speedometer. Jin could also feel that the car was shaking from the top speed it was going. However, he suddenly felt his chi in his left hand dissipate as well.
“What?” Jin could not fathom what was happening. He tried to muster the chi back into his left hand, but it was not working. The System was also not responding to him while he tried to turn on his phone. None of it was working, and now he started to panic as he pulled the car’s handle.
“It’s locked, don’t bother.” The taxi driver said in a dark, ominous tone. Even the seatbelt was unwilling to budge; instead, it was strapping him tightly to the point he was severely immobilised by it. Jin could see from the front that the driver was evading as many cars as possible until he reached an overhead passing before the taxi driver made a sharp right turn.
The taxi smashed into road barrier that protected the pedestrian crossing but the speed that it was going, allowed the car to break it easily and it went off the road. All Jin could see was a valley which he was going to smashed into. The taxi driver laughed as the car flipped in midair and there was nothing Jin could do.
He was powerless without his chi, without his system.
All he could do was to wait for the impending crash to happen.
——–
Jin gasped for air as he opened his eyes wide, and the taxi driver in front of him turned his head. “You okay back there Sir?.” The middle aged rugged looking uncle asked as he returned and concentrated what was right in front of him. Jin held on to his for a while and nodded a little in response.
“Looks like you had a bad dream, you were sleeping soundly just now. We should be arriving soon.” The driver interrupted and continued his driving.
The dungeon supplier looked around him and quickly checked his chi gathering abilities as well as his phone. His chi was gathering smoothly, the phone was not locked and Jin asked the System for a quick update. “Did anything happen to me just now?”
“You had been in a deep state of sleep for 67 minutes until a minute ago, your heart rate and brain activity spiked, and you woke up immediately. Other than that, there was nothing unusual. No interference of any sort.” The System reported.
“How did I fall asleep? I don’t believe I was that tired or anything.” Jin asked but the System only stated the time he slept.
“Is something wrong? Your vitals are all over the place.” Pei asked via the bracelet in a worried voice for once.
“I…I do not know. Perhaps I just had a very bad dream.” Jin said as he noticed that the taxi was driving into an isolated side road.
“Hmm, the GPS said it should be a few hundred metres ahead. Do you know where are you going, Sir?” The driver asked as he looked unsure where he was going but continued to follow the GPS.
“Honestly, I am not sure. My colleague told me its a temple or something?” Jin still remembered the details of the dream and see if it matches with the ‘real life’ version.
“Really? Well, this is my first time coming here. I have no idea what- oh…you are right. There’s a temple.” The taxi went up to the slope and saw the standard Guardian Lion statues that were guarding the temple main gates.
“Looks awfully run down and broken though.” The uncle gave his own assessment of the place. “and burnt too.”
“Well, yeah. My colleague just told me to come here. You can stop further up front.” Jin said as he prepared his payment to the taxi driver.
“Hmm, if you need a ride back within an hour or so, do not hesitate to message me via the app, I believe I should be nearby taking a break. Else, I will be going back after that.” The uncle hoped that he could earn Jin’s business again since it was quite a far trip from where he was. The money would be good.
“You do not have to. We will send him back.” A well dressed young man in his twenties said when he overheard the conversation between Jin and taxi driver as he opened the gates of the temple.
“Ah, alright then. Have a nice day, Sir.” Even though the driver was irritated by the arrogance of that well dressed person, he was still courteous to Jin and bid him goodbye.
“Go in, don’t waste any more time.” A separate attendant from the lady Jin saw at his store had spoken to him as he snobbishly told Jin to enter. “Do not expect us to give you any preferential treatment just because you are acquainted with Grandma Yuan.” He said out loud as he closed the temple main gates with just a push.
Jin noticed that aside from the front temple gates, the temple structure was similar to his dream when he fought with the White Tiger of the West, except that its exterior was badly burned. And like those shounen anime he watched, there were a few teenagers spread out around the central courtyard sitting and observing his every move.
Grandma Yuan was at the centre of them all as she sat on a rather lavish looking chair in the middle of the courtyard.
“You got the message, that means you are finally a Grade 8?” Grandma Yuan asked rhetorically and the other teens sniggered at her sentence.
“Just a Grade 8? So old and yet so incompetent.” One of the boys in a fancy suit was looking at his phone.
“Stop it! There’s probably a reason why Grandma Yuan chose him.” The girl with plaited hair from afar waved at Jin as she replied to the boy.
“Have more respect to Grandma Yuan who is in front of you!” The supposed attendant in a well dressed suit shouted at the two teens while there was the last lady with long hair sitting on a tree branch who did not bother to respond.
“Yes, Grandma Yuan. What is the meaning of this?” Jin asked and the others chuckled again. Grandma Yuan smacked her stick once and suddenly everyone kept quiet.
“I am afraid I have to test you first before I can reveal any information.” Grandma Yuan replied as she nodded her head once and the four cultivators around him immediately went ahead to ambush Jin.
“Survive for 30 seconds and we shall talk more.”
