“Little Mu, we can stay and be here with you in the evening. This temple is really haunted. And it’s happened more than once. You’re not safe on your own,” suggested a middle-sized, small-headed young man in cheap camouflage clothing with a smile after washing the mud off his face.
“No, it’s not necessary. Chao, you guys should go back.” Li Mu beamed and said, “You are going out to work in a couple of days. And I heard that you’ve coaxed a girl from Hunan Province into a relationship and are getting married at the end of this year. Don’t make her wait for you in Hunan.”
The young man’s name was Wang Sichao. He and the other youngsters who were smiling were Li Mu’s former playmates and junior high classmates. They were all from the village. After graduating from high school, Wang Sichao did not pass the National College Entrance Examination but acquired excellent cooking skills and found a good job in Baoji City.
Today, upon hearing that Li Mu was back, Wang Sichao specifically drove to the village and called his old friend that he would help repair the Randeng Temple. Their childhood friendship was not forgotten at all. After so many years, Wang Sichao was still enthusiastic about seeing his old friend.
“Haha, fair point. Mu, take care of yourself. By the way, what’s your phone number? You don’t have one? Well, when I come here tomorrow, I’ll bring one for you. Well then, I’ll hit the road,” Wang Sichao said.
Li Mu then turned to the other villagers and said, “Thank you so much for helping me repair the temple. Let’s say, when I’m done with my business at hand, I’ll set up an open banquet and invite all of you to come and join in the fun.” Holding an open banquet was the typical way to thank the folks in the village.
Everyone burst into a round of hearty laughter.
“Then we must come and have a good meal. Little Mu, I know you are successful at first sight.” Mr. Zhang, who was sucking a cigarette pot noisily, said with a grin.
As the night fell, the crowd dispersed.
So, Li Mu settled down alone in Randeng Temple, most of which had been renovated.
The night grew darker.
The wire had been set up again. Li Mu put up a big street lamp in the yard, then took off his coat, and began to practice in the forest where the weeds had been uprooted. Just like five years ago, he stood there and displayed the preparation style of the Zhenwu Boxing.
He had learned a total of seven styles, including the preparation style. Now, he performed one style a time, and then practiced the set of moves coherently and repeated the process as if it was a warm-up.
Although there were some Spiritual Qi on Earth, its quantity was still far away from that on the Divine Land. Thus, when Li Mu launched the Zhenwu Boxing, he felt that the practice was more difficult than that on the Divine Land, and the result of his practice was also far less satisfying.
After practicing for a while, Li Mu went back to the meditation room, turned on the TV, and began to watch the news broadcast.
The villagers cared about Li Mu very much. In just one afternoon, they set up not only the wire but also the network cable. Nowadays, it was quite easy to install these facilities. Besides, the speed of the Internet was almost as fast as the speed of light, and there were hundreds of TV stations available.
“Here comes urgent news…”
The scene on the TV suddenly changed.
“The sunspots have entered into an active period, leading to electromagnetic disorder and electronic instruments dysfunction in high altitudes above more than a kilometer on Earth. Hence, from this afternoon, domestic flights have all been canceled. According to the news from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, airplanes, not only those in China but the whole world, will be temporarily out of service in a long period of time. Our country’s citizens can take the railway or ride cars to travel. These two means of transportation will not be affected.”
The news that suddenly popped in caught Li Mu’s attention.
“Airplanes will be grounded?”
“And there won’t be any flight for a long time?”
He immediately associated it with the fact that it took him more time than expected to fly from Gansu Province to Baoji City last night. He was afraid that the truth was not as simple as the news had reported.
“But according to the news, it seems that the train and the car are not affected.”
“Could it be that when flying at high altitudes, unusual phenomena will occur, while walking on the ground will have no problem?”
“This is really bizarre.”
···
···
“How can I contact that Li Mu you talked about?”
In the conference room of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Lu Bing looked very serious when he met Su Cuo and Song Changlin again.
“Mu said that if we ever need help, we can go to Randeng Temple in Baoji City to find him.” Having once been a soldier, Su Cuo did not hesitate to tell the truth when she faced a superior of the army.
Anyway, when Li Mu left his contact address to them, he told Su Cuo and Song Changlin that there was no need to keep it a secret, and they could disclose it to anyone.
Lu Bing said, “He’s told you that he was willing to serve the country, hasn’t he?”
Su Cuo hesitated for a moment.
Song Changlin answered, “Mu said that being a Chinese descendant, if the country needs him, he won’t stand by and do nothing.”
Lu Bing said, “I hope he can go out of the mountains… You two, go pack your things. Early tomorrow morning, the head of the army will visit Randeng Temple in person. I hope you two can go with him. After all, you two are the only ones who know Li Mu.”
Su Cuo figured something out and said, “Is our country in trouble so soon? Is it because of the Vanguard?”
Lu Bing nodded and said, “The masters from the seven major countries have all come. Dozens of top-class masters from the Truth Society, Round Table Knights, Maple Leaf Garden, Ice Plateau, Black Dragon Triad, and Philosophy and Meditation Group have all entered our border in various ways. In addition, the Qinling Heaven is about to open. Some of our people have been lost, and there are not enough personnel. If Li Mu is really as invincible as you described, he may be able to help us.”
“I’ll go.” Su Cuo nodded at once.
This beautiful female soldier still clung to the hope that Li Mu would work for the country. This time, since the military showed their good-faith first, she was certainly willing to persuade Li Mu by herself.
···
···
“Who is it? Who killed my junior fellow apprentice?”
A middle-aged Taoist with a face as black charcoal and a figure as strong as an iron tower forced his way into the hospital. Gazing darkly at the three King Kongs who were lying in bed, bandaged from head to foot like Chinese rice dumplings, like rice dumplings, the man demanded.
“It’s, it’s… an immortal…” stammered Tie Jun. When he recalled the scene on that day, his eyes were still full of fear.
“Bullsh*t! What immortal? My junior fellow apprentice was an immortal!” The black-robed middle-aged Taoist was furious, thinking that the three men were just trying to get over with it.
Zhang Youfa hurriedly told him what happened that day.
“Nonsense! How can there be such a person in this world?” After hearing Zhang Youfa’s account, the black-faced middle-aged Taoist put on a “you-are-fu*king-insulting-my-IQ” expression and sneered, “Flying on a broadsword? Why don’t you say that he jumped into a plane and fly away?”
“Well, let me do it.” A gray-haired old Taoist with his hair tied in a bun walked over. He stared at Tie Jun and said, “Look at my eyes…” There seemed to be a whirlpool swirling in his eyes, which made Tie Jun become dull all of a sudden, as though his soul was controlled by him.
Moments later.
The old Taoist withdrew his gaze with shock written all over his face.
He performed the Gazing Skill again, looking at the eyes of Zhang Youfa and the other man in a row and reading their minds. This kind of mind-reading skill could only be performed by those with high cultivation.
A short while later, the solemn expression on the old Taoist’s face grew even more intense.
“Master, what on earth is going on…” The middle-aged black-faced Taoist looked at the old Taoist and inquired.
“We’re heading back.” The old Taoist whipped around, ready to leave.
“Ah?” The middle-aged black-faced Taoist was confused and said, “But what about Junior Fellow Apprentice Lu…”
“Shut up.” The old Taoist snapped, “Order the high-speed trail ticket back to Tianshui today. We’re going back to the Flowing Cloud Temple. And tell the Lu family that we can’t solve the problem.”
“Ah?” The middle-aged black-faced Taoist was astounded.
He never knew that his master could make such a decision after reading their minds.
Junior Fellow Apprentice Lu had cultivated in the Flowing Cloud Temple, but he did not really enter the Taoism practice. Because his family was very powerful and had great influence in the northwest, the moment the news of Lu’s death was released, the Flowing Cloud Temple sent the Chief of the Medicine King Hall to investigate the case, in order to give the Lu family an explanation. But now…
They would just go back like this?
Seeing the old Taoist’s vile expression, the middle-aged black-faced Taoist did not dare to ask any more questions.
“Have the three crippled people lying in bed been telling the truth?” He found the thing extremely dubious.
The Flowing Cloud Temple also had a lot of influence in the secular world, especially in the northwest. Therefore, the business-class tickets for the high-speed train were quickly purchased. When they came to the hospital, they were still allowed to take the plane. But now, all the aircraft were forbidden to fly, so the whole country’s planes were already grounded. Therefore, the fastest means of transportation for the moment was only the high-speed rail.
Seven hours later, they returned to the Flowing Cloud Temple.
The Flowing Cloud Temple was located on the famous Mount Maiji in Tianshui. It used to be a small Taoist temple, but since four years ago, it had suddenly become well-known and cultivated several powerful figures in the three provinces in the northwest. Most of the rich merchants and powerful people in the three provinces had all visited the temple.
Now, the influence of Flowing Cloud Temple could be said to be at its peak. The Taoist temple had been renovated four times in the past three years, and each time its scale grew larger than the previous one. At present, there were thousands of disciples and a large number of members in the temple.
As soon as the old Taoist arrived, he went to report to the abbe.
The middle-aged Taoist stood outside the Fuxi Hall and saw a horse-faced senior fellow apprentice. He hurriedly asked, “What happened? I saw that there are a lot of cars parked outside the temple. Have any guests come to visit?”
“Lu’s family and Ma’s family have both sent people here, so have the Labrang Monastery and Mount Qilian. It’s said that they’re here to discuss the affairs of the Qinling Heaven. They’ve joined forces asking the government for a spot. Also, I’ve heard that there are some new moves in Randeng Temple,” said the horse-faced Taoist.
“Randeng Temple?” The middle-aged black-faced Taoist asked in surprise, “Could it be that the old liar who’s obtained the dragon skeleton appeared again?”
The horse-faced Taoist said, “That’s not the case. I heard that the grandson of the old swindler, who is studying in another province, has returned. He has refurbished Randeng Temple and wants to take over the business of the old swindler.”
“Hasn’t that grandson of his disappeared for five years?”
“Yap. After five years of investigation, no clues were found. But he came back without any warning. It’s very likely that the old swindler arranged all of it. When the news spread out, all the fellows in the three provinces in the northwest were alarmed. Some are already rushing to Randeng Temple.” The horse-faced Taoist then added, “Haha, poor kid. I guess he will be scared to death.”
“He’ll be lucky if he is frightened to death. I’m afraid that if not so, he will be eaten up by all parties and even have no bones left. Hehe, some people’s means will make the dead tremble,” the middle-aged black-faced Taoist said gloatingly.
While they were talking, dozens of men stepped out of the Fuxi Hall, including Taoists, monks, and secular men. Although they were of different ages, they all looked imposing. They came straight to the parking lot, went into their modified luxury vehicles driven by their full-time drivers, and left Mount Maiji for Baoji City.
In the high-tech district in Baoji City.
After inquiring many people, Li Mu finally arrived at the gate of the Waterside Community.
Wang Shiyu’s parents lived right in this community.
