“Gaojia Village?”
Li Nianfan nodded. He knew this was the current name of Gaolao Village.
After all, so many years had passed. It was not easy for Gaolao Village to have survived until now. It was normal to change its name.
He said, “What? Perhaps the ‘Journey to the West’ made Gaojia Village famous?”
“Exactly,” Ye Huaian nodded. “‘Journey to the West’ came from an unknown Immortal, and it told the story of all the powerful Immortals. Let alone the ordinary men, many cultivators would study it as well. According to their observations and comparing it with the descriptions in the book, they had a conclusion—Gaojia Village is likely to be Gaolao Village!”
“Really?” Li Nianfan was dumbfounded. He shook his head bitterly and smiled. He did not expect a nonchalant story from him would cause such a big movement. The cultivators even studied it thoroughly…
From the map given to him by the Heavenly Temple, he had verified that Gaojia Village was indeed the Gaolao Village. He was surprised that…this cultivating world managed to make this as well. What detailed work!
Ye Huaian said, “Since it’s related to the faraway era, many people came because of that.”
Li Nianfan found it funny. “So, the ‘Journey to the West’ created a tourist attraction?”
“Tourist attraction?” Ye Huaian halted. He did not understand.
Li Nianfan explained, “A place for visitors to visit.”
“Sounds like one.” Ye Huaian nodded. He then said in a mysterious tone, “However, according to my source, the Gaojia Village is very likely to be the actual Gaolao Village!”
Li Nianfan asked curiously, “Oh? What source?”
“Ha-ha, I’ll tell this to you for free, no charge.” Ye Huaian laughed and said, “All these years, Gaojia Village had lived in peace with no demons attacking it. They managed to stay intact during a few disasters. Most importantly, everyone dies of old age and the entire village is very wealthy. Isn’t it strange?”
They had good wealth, no trouble, and died of old age. This was the ideal life that all ordinary people chased after. If this village had maintained this for a long time, this was indeed an ideal place to live! It was strange, especially in this cultivating realm.
Li Nianfan said, “Perhaps it’s related to the local soil and water. Maybe it’s a coincidence.”
Ye Huaian shrugged, “Who knows, but this is a functioning immortal remain. No matter if it was real or not, many people would be attracted to it.”
Li Nianfan raised an eyebrow, thinking. Perhaps Zhu Bajie actually went back to Gaolao Village after obtaining the Sutra? That he cast some Immortal Spell over this land to protect it?
This was very likely.
He wondered where Zhu Bajie had gone.
Buddhism was destroyed by the demons. Wukong turned into a Preaching Pearl to die with the Lawless. The Monk and his disciples did not end well as well. Li Nianfan did not want to think about it.
He had met with the Jade Emperor and God Jiro. However, he was still unable to meet the four of them that had impressed him the most. Li Nianfan could not help sighing.
What a pity.
Well, it was nice being able to visit the tourist attractions from the ‘Journey to the West’ to curb his craving.
Li Nianfan let out a long sigh to make the thoughts go away.
The caravan continued the journey.
Other than Ye Huaian coming over to chat with them, they did face some troubles along the way. However, those were some insignificant characters. Ye Huaian and his men had some cultivations and they were able to fight them easily.
This made Li Nianfan and Nanan more at ease. This was the benefit of spending money. Although those were minor matters, they came one after another which was quite annoying. It was nice to hand it off to the others while they get to enjoy it. How relaxing.
With that, the journey went on for three days.
Today, the group arrived at a canyon. It seemed very dangerous.
The surrounding trees were scarce and the soil on the ground went from soft to stiff. There were some scattered stones everywhere. However, the caravan stopped.
Li Nianfan noticed that they were not the only ones who stopped here. A few other caravans had stopped.
Ye Huaian who was in front turned back at him and said, “Boss, we can only go over at night. Let’s rest here for now.”
Li Nianfan asked curiously, “Why’s that?”
“Ha-ha, this canyon’s known as the Black Wind Canyon. A Dryad with over a thousand years of cultivation took over this place. If we go over during the day, we’ll be dead.” Ye Huaian soothed the horse and said, “However, the Dryad will stop during the night. As long as we don’t wake it up, we’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Boss. I’ve been to this place for more than ten days. I’m a professional.”
Nanan asked with anticipation, “How powerful is the Dryad?”
“I heard it’s in its late-Foundation Building!” Ye Huaian said with an astonished tone. He continued with a serious tone, “It’s too powerful, it rules over this place! Nobody dares to offend it.”
Nanan was instantly uninterested. She waved it off and said, “Only a late-Foundation Building? What are we waiting for, then? Keep going.”
“Sigh, a young girl like you is indeed ignorant and fearless. Do you know what late-Foundation Building means?” Ye Huaian was amused. He pointed at himself and said, “Along the way, did you see how cool I was killing the demons? Very powerful, right? And yet the Dryad’s slightly more powerful than I!”
Nanan looked at Ye Huaian calmly. She was about to speak but Li Nianfan smacked her head.
He said, “My sister’s ignorant. Please, don’t blame her. We’ll go over at night, then.”
“Boss, I’ve always wanted to tell you all something along the way. Please, don’t mind me for being straightforward.” Ye Huaian halted and said, “The two of you have been brought up under nice conditions. You have no idea how wild and dangerous it is out here. You showed your wealth and didn’t know about the dangers of the world. To be rude, if you go on like this, you two won’t last for three days in this outside world!”
Li Nianfan made a gesture. He smiled and said, “I know, I’m lucky to have met you, Brother Ye.”
“Don’t worry, I took your money, so I’ll keep you safe.” Ye Huaian waved it off. He said proudly, “I’ll let this Dryad be arrogant for a little while. Soon, when I have a breakthrough, I’ll kill it!”
Li Nianfan asked, “This Dryad offended you before?”
Ye Huaian said coldly, “Killing demons is my duty as a cultivator. Furthermore, with this Dryad residing here, it has killed countless lives. Of course, I must kill it!”
Li Nianfan nodded. “Good ambition!”
“I know right, boss! Have you heard of the Heavenly Palace? It’s right above our heads.” Ye Huaian looked up with a glow in his eyes. “I heard the Heavenly Palace is recruiting some Immortals. Unfortunately, if I was born a few hundred years earlier, I might even apply for this! It’s okay, I’ll get in one day, and I’ll be at least a Heavenly Guard!”
Li Nianfan smiled. He did not speak.
Ye Huaian patted his chest and said with a grin, “Boss, you’re so wealthy, why don’t you invest in me? You only need to give me ten or so golden coins. When I get rich one day, I’ll return them to you a hundred or thousand times!”
Li Nianfan pretended that he did not hear it. He closed his eyes and laid on top of the goods.
“Hey, you missed an opportunity! You’ll regret it in the future!” Ye Huaian pouted and walked away sadly.
Time passed. The night had arrived quickly.
All the caravans were preparing to enter the canyon. After all, this place was like a life and death exam to those people.
Ye Huaian took out a talisman paper and wrapped it around the carriage. He said this would cover up the Qi of the carriage. The other caravans made similar gestures.
However, there was not much communication between the caravans. They all did their things and only cared for themselves.
The night turned even darker. Some caravans could not wait any longer and started entering.
After a moment, Ye Huaian’s carriage went into the canyon as well.
He did not forget to remind them, “Boss, when we get in there, don’t speak. Take good care of your sister.”
Li Nianfan could not help smiling. “Okay.”
Nanan rolled her eyes.
If it was not for Li Nianfan to stay so low-key, she would have gone over in clouds to make Ye Huaian’s eyes pop in shock.
Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
Under the moonlight, only the vague sound of horses galloping was heard. The crowd dared not breathe too loudly.
The canyon was long but the crowd dared not speed up. They needed an hour to pass through.
Luckily the journey was harmless so far. They had arrived at the middle of the canyon by then.
Suddenly a sound was heard. The ground shook.
Swiftly after, a black shadow flashed by. In the night, a sizzling sound was heard.
They could see that in a caravan not too far in front of them, one of the men was stabbed in his chest by a branch coming out from the soil. He was hanging mid-air.
The other men from his group were shocked. They used up all of their powers trying to fight back. Instantly, many dead branches shot up from the soil and stabbed right into their chests!
In the blink of an eye, the caravan had been destroyed.
The dead branches were twisting and surrounded the caravan.
‘So unlucky!’ Ye Huaian was shocked. He was quietly turning his carriage away. ‘The caravan must be stupid. They must’ve brought something that attracted the Dryad!’
He was scolding them in his head, he wanted to cry!
These people dragged him down!
The rest of the caravans tacitly stayed quiet. They bit their tongues and quietly tried to leave as if nothing happened.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, many dried branches shot up from the ground. These branches were twisting. They looked like pythons in the night. Following that, they launched at the people.
“Oh, my mommy! Run! Drive!” Ye Huaiwan jumped in shock. He cried out loudly and started driving away frantically.
“Boss, we’re rushing out, hold on tight!”
He quickly cast another spell and the talisman paper around the carriage lit up. The wind became stronger and the carriage drove three times quicker.
Whoosh!
From above and from below, the dead branches were swimming all over them. Instantly, the canyon had turned into an ocean of dead branches. The countless branches were everywhere, turning the soil over and sending the stones flying.
All of the caravans were panicking. They used up their cultivations, glowing all over. They cast spells that lit up under the night sky.
“Unlucky! Unlucky! Unlucky!”
Ye Huaian looked around with his scalp itching. He felt his organs shivering. He lifted his hands and made a gesture. Instantly, the talisman paper that was wrapped around the carriage went on fire. The flames repelled the dead branches and went away.
Ye Huaian’s eyes turned red. He was burning his money!
The caravan was escaping.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, one side of the canyon cracked open. Countless gigantic dead branches turned into a black shadow. Like a long whip, it was whipping at the caravan.
“Block them all!” Ye Huaian and his group of twelve cast a spell in unison. They held nothing back and used up all of their energy for that. They were casting a shield spell to fend off the dead branches.
Vroom!
The dead branches hit the shield as if one was popping on a bubble. The shield easily vanished with nothing left. The shadow was about to lash at the caravan again.
The demon wind was blowing and glowing in a terrifying black light.
“Oh no! Oh no!”
The group was in despair. They were waiting to be dead.
Nanan sat beside Li Nianfan calmly. She had a smirk on and she gradually outstretched a finger.
Instantly, a powerful pressure crashed down from the sky as if the Heavenly Gods had arrived from above. The pressure was so powerful and extremely terrifying.
The dead branches that were so wild seemed to be transfixed. They were stunned in the air and dared not move.
In the sky, a gigantic finger gradually appeared. Following that, it fell like a meteorite that pressed down on a spot somewhere in the canyon!
Whoosh!
In the darkness, a terrifying scream was heard. Countless dead branches retreated and formed into a gigantic net trying to block the finger.
Unfortunately, however many dead branches there were, even if there were a hundred thousand branches, a million or unlimited of them, they were powerless and their efforts were futile.
The finger was too powerful, it was undefeatable. It was as if the finger was pressing down on some ants, knocking above the canyon!
