Chapter 517 Ghosts
Seeing Wen Hun ran away, Su Li didn’t follow him. She just picked up and opened the scroll Wen Hun read just now. It turned out to be Strange Stories Essay, which had nothing to do with cultivation.
“Wen Hun and He Jiu are good to me, and the disciples are also kind. But I always feel that this Sect…lacks something.”
Su Li opened a page of the Essay and saw a scratchy illustration, which was a barren mountain with a thatched cottage standing alone.
“Is it vitality?”
Su Li read the Essay thoughtfully and carefully.
The Essay was composed of multiple stories, each of which was quite horrifying. The first story was about the thatched cottage.
A scholar went to the capital city to have an exam and passed through the barren mountain. After he entered the mountain, it rained heavily, and he had nowhere to stay. Suddenly, he saw the light in the deep mountain. Therefore, regardless of the muddy road, he ran to the cottage and knocked on the door.
Squeak—
The door opened a gap. He saw a delicate and beautiful woman’s face. However, except for the face, everything else was immersed in the darkness.
“Gentleman, come in and take shelter from the rain…”
Seeing she lived alone, the scholar waved his hand repeatedly and said, “You lives in this deep mountain alone. It is really inappropriate for you and me to stay together.”
“Gentleman, come in and take shelter from the rain…”
The woman’s face was very stiff, and only her lips were moving, as if she could only say this sentence. The scholar felt it was a little strange. But when he saw that the book bag on his back had leaked rainwater, he couldn’t care about too much and pushed the door to walk in…
Su Li turned the next page, but it was blank.
She was startled slightly, and continued to turn the next page. But it turned to be another story and the next page was also blank, without ending.
“Stories without endings?”
Su Li pursed her lips slightly. A familiar voice suddenly sounded in her ears.
“Junior Sister Apprentice, it’s getting late. You should go back to sleep.”
With her pupils constricted, she jumped in scare like a frightened rabbit. The scroll in her hand was also thrown out, but caught by the person who spoke just now.
Wen Hun turned around with a smile. The candlelight flickered, and could only shine on his face.
“Junior Sister Apprentice, it’s getting late. You should go back to sleep.”
“Senior Fellow Apprentice…”
Su Li called him, and felt something was wrong. It was unexpected that she didn’t notice that Wen Yun had come back with her perception.
“Junior Sister Apprentice, it’s getting late. You should go back to sleep.”
The voice sounded three times, and Su Li was afraid. Looking at Wen Hun with the stiff and pale face, like a dead person, she immediately remembered the strange story happened in the barren mountain she just read.
Were there really ghosts in the world?
But if there was, what was she?
Her heart was full of doubts. Suddenly, she sensed an instinctive thought of the evil ghost.
“Hungry…”
Hungry?
Su Li looked at “Wen Hun” with a frigid smile attentively. Was it for eating?
She turned her head abruptly, and looked at the huge book pavilion. Unlike during the daytime, the book pavilion seemed to lose its color at night and was full of depression. It was so quiet that you could not hear frogs croak and insect chirp outside the door.
How many things there for eating?
Su Li, who looked away, didn’t see the face of the senior fellow apprentice in front of her suddenly splitting down the middle, exposing dense teeth.
And “Wen Hun” also didn’t see the shadow behind Su Li suddenly moved to his feet, and opened the bloody mouth quietly…
“Junior Sister Apprentice!!”
An anxious voice transmitted to the book pavilion through the dark sky and was mingled with a strange vibration. With such vibration, the book pavilion returned to its vibrant color, and the gloomy atmosphere faded away. Then various sounds also poured in ears again.
She raised her head and glanced at the outside. It turned out to be late in the afternoon.
Wen Hun shook his hand nervously in front of Su Li, and then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she focus eyes with full of doubts.
He came in time.
If the junior sister apprentice was harmed by the ghosts here because of his negligence, his mind of practice would inevitably show up flaws and turn into evil thoughts.
“Huh, Senior Fellow Apprentice? Didn’t you say that it’s getting late. Why is it late in the afternoon?”
Su Li pointed to the sun outside the window, which was still hanging in the sky. She began to probe directly.
Wen Hun’s expression was dreadful. He glanced at the book pavilion that was darkened by Su Li’s words and held Su Li away without another word. He didn’t release Su Li’s hand until they returned to the yard where personal disciples lived. He breathed a sigh of relief secretly, and warned with a serious face, “Little Junior Sister Apprentice, if I didn’t be with you, you must not go to the book pavilion alone.”
Su Li touched her palm. The touch just now…was very cold, not like a living human’s hand.
Seeing it, Wen Hun blushed suddenly. He didn’t hold woman’s hand before. Under the emergency just now…
Fortunately, Su Li didn’t care, and only said with a blink, “Why?”
Seeing the little junior sister apprentice persisted to figure it out, Wen Hun remembered the master’s instruction in his heart, though, he finally couldn’t help saying after hesitations, “Our Immortal Cultivation Sect is not as simple as it looks like. Do not ask too much and try hard to practice. Then you will know it later. Several places in the Sect are dangerous. Even I don’t dare to go there at night. I will mark them for you, and you must keep them firmly in mind!”
Saying that, he drew out a piece of rice paper and picked up the writing brush…
Su Li stood aside quietly, widened her eyes to look at the aerial view of the Sect slowly appearing on the paper.
Unsurprisingly, this scene was seen by He Jiu.
“Wen Hun trusts others easily.”
In the dim hall, He Jiu’s face full of senile plaque showed a glimmer of helplessness, “However, it may be an opportunity for him to grow up.”
Accepting Su Yue as a personal disciple was to give the Ni Sect an explanation and maintain his sect’s public image. Additionally, it was…naturally to test whether Su Yue was sincere.
If the woman was an agent from the Ni Sect, she could only pretend temporarily, and couldn’t maintain the illusion all the time.
He Jiu felt that there was nothing serious with her after the observation in the several days.
At least, she was indeed the little girl named Su Yue, and the age of her bone was also very young. She was simple and straightforward. It could not be seen any tactics imposed by the Ni Sect on her in such a short time.
For the next few days, Su Li obeyed Wen Hun’s words and practiced earnestly every day.
Under the guidance of Wen Hun, Su Li started to practice the Immortal Cultivation Sect’s authentic mental method—Immortal Cultivation Tactics.
She didn’t do anything improper. After all, the Sect was full of weirdness, and He Jiu might have prying methods that she could not detect.
Just one year passed, there were still nine years. She had enough time and didn’t need to worry about it now.
A month passed quickly.
On this day, it was finally the time to receive monthly salary.
Su Li followed Wen Hun to come to the only large square of Immortal Cultivation Sect. At this moment, hundreds of disciples stood sparsely in the square. It looked very deserted and quiet. It seemed to represent the decline of Immortal Cultivation Sect.
A woman in black that Su Li had never seen stood silently with a cold expression in front of the long stone table. On the long stone table were hundreds of wooden boxes, each of which was half a meter long and wide.
Seeing Wen Hun coming over, she forced a kindly smile. But in Su Li’s eyes, it looked like a little hideous.
“Okay, everyone is here. Yue, distribute the monthly salary you brought.”
He Jiu walked over with his back bent.
The woman in black showed an expression of respect, and nodded slightly. Then she waved her hands and casted hundreds of wooden boxes on the table, each of which fell into the hands of every disciple accurately, including Su Li.
Su Li took over the wooden box in front of her, and her hands sank suddenly.
The thing in it weighed hundreds of catties at least. She was prudent and didn’t use divine awareness to look at it.
“So much!”
“Such a generous amount of the monthly salary!”
“Finally, I will be full. So happy…”
The joyous voice of disciples filled in the square. Su Li felt it was weird, but because of the occasion, she didn’t ask more.
“This monthly salary is brought by your Senior Sister Apprentice Yue. You should appreciate her.”
After He Jiu said, everyone immediately returned to their senses and saluted the woman in black.
“Thank you, Senor Sister Apprentice Yue!”
The woman in black still looked cold. She just nodded slightly. After she looked at He Jiu and got his permission, she turned around to fly into the mountain and disappeared.
“Senior Sister Apprentice Yue is…”
Su Li couldn’t help transmitting to Wen Hun. Although the young man knew that it was improper to whisper in front of the Master, he still responded, “She is the elder of our Sect and usually practices in isolation in the deep mountain. She asked us to call her senior sister apprentice, because she’s still young and doesn’t want to be called elder.”
Su Li was trying to ask something else, but interrupted by He Jiu’s voice suddenly.
“It’s really not easy for our Immortal Cultivation Sect to hold on till now from the ancient times.”
He Jiu walked to the stone table and looked at the disciples below. A little prestige and seriousness appeared on his kind face, “Now that the inheritance of our Sect has been cut off. There are only the first three levels of the Immortal Cultivation Tactics left, and the highest level of cultivation is the Yuanying Realm. You have to explore for higher levels. It’s the destined relationship that you join my Sect. The Sect cannot give you a place for cultivation, that is, we destined to meet but not fated to be together. If anyone wants to leave the Sect today, I will never blame him. Now… whoever wants to go down the mountain and looks for a celestial chance stands up.”
As He Jiu was saying, the gaze of a pair of turbid eyes suddenly fell on several people in the square.
The several people sighed and stood out reluctantly. Each of them all gave a salute to He Jiu and then left. Some of them, who were reluctant to leave, wiped their tears while walking down the mountain.
Su Li was confused. She could see that they didn’t want to leave the Immortal Cultivation Sect at all. If He Jiu didn’t call their names, they would definitely not stand out.
Was there anything being worth of remembering in the Immortal Cultivation Sect?
Could it be the true relationship as He Jiu said?
With many doubts in her heart, Su Li returned to residence. She opened the wooden box, and fell into deep thought when she saw the fresh meat with blood.
A piece of meat?
“No wonder some people say that they will be full.”
Su Li understood, but felt that it was absurd. She had never seen such a weird sect.
Was there anything being worth of remembering in the sect without enough things to eat?
“Little Junior Sister Apprentice, are you still there?”
The voice of Wen Hun came from outside the yard. Since Su Li had a lot of doubts, so she dragged him into the house immediately.
“I know you are confused now, and I was just like you when I first came here.”
Wen Hun looked at Su Li with a smile.
“Little Junior Sister Apprentice, how long haven’t you had meal?”