Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

"Sigh..." The old man sighed upon hearing Wen Chong's affirmative answer, muttering to himself, "How long has it been? How come he's back again? The rumors about him living for ten thousand years are just nonsense. How can a person live that long..."

Wen Chong frowned as he listened to the old man's words. Indeed, there were methods of cultivating immortality on this continent, and there were indeed successful examples. But in the past ten thousand years, how many had actually succeeded? The legendary Martial Emperor? How many people knew the truth? Panlong had only disappeared from the martial world for less than a century before reappearing. Did that person think the storm hadn't been stirred up enough? How many people did he want to die to be satisfied?

"Shanren, what exactly do you want?" Wen Chong muttered softly, frowning. "Who...are you?"

"Wenchong, pack your things immediately and leave right now!" the old man suddenly said, his expression unusually urgent, his hands already busy as he spoke.

“But…Dad, let’s not watch…” Wen Chong was taken aback when he heard this. Looking at the old man in front of him who was busy, he couldn’t help but ask.

"Watching a play? Is watching a play more important than your life?!" the old man interrupted Wen Chong and shouted sternly. Hearing the old man's reprimand, Wen Chong was puzzled, but he still got up, but after a while...

"Uncle, how have you been lately?" a voice came from outside the tent.

"Hmph, whether I'm healthy or not depends on whether you'll show me mercy, Uncle?" The old man was clearly startled by these words, but quickly calmed down and replied with feigned contempt.

"Haha, Uncle, you flatter me. Where would I get the audacity to disrespect you? It would be terrible if word got out, damaging our reputation, wouldn't you agree?" The voice outside the tent showed no humility. The old man looked at Wen Chong beside him and shook his head slightly, his sharp eyes fixed on the tent entrance without uttering a sound.

“Since you don’t mean that, then it would be good for you to come in and catch up with your uncle. We haven’t seen each other for many years, and we haven’t even had a proper cup of tea together,” the old man replied in a deep voice.

"No, no, I see that Uncle has already prepared everything. I suppose Uncle has something urgent to attend to. Even if I am ignorant, I cannot ruin Uncle's important business. I know this basic etiquette."

"Hmph! I'm not going to watch this show. Wouldn't it be better to go home, get ready, and wait for the grand show you've arranged for me?"

“Oh, Uncle, what are you saying? How could I, your nephew, dare to trouble you?”

"Enough! Stop pretending. Don't you know what you're up to? If you have nothing else to say, please leave." The old man didn't want to talk to the person outside the tent any longer. He bluntly told them to leave. Wen Song, who was beside him, knew that a member of the Wen family had defected many years ago, but he didn't know much more about the details over the years. Listening to the old man's conversation with the person outside the tent, he couldn't help but feel confused and agitated. He wondered if the person his father was talking to outside the tent today was the one who had been expelled from the Wen family.

"Since you have other business to attend to and cannot keep me here any longer, then I will take my leave. Please take care, Uncle."

"Wait! Keep your Panlong under control! The martial world isn't that fun." Hearing this, Wen Chong was startled and stared wide-eyed at the old man beside him. The old man closed his eyes and slowly nodded.

"Thank you for your guidance, Uncle." The voice outside the tent remained calm, devoid of any further emotion.

"Yes, he is your brother." Sensing that the person outside the tent had gone far away, the old man looked at Wen Chong, who was standing there dumbfounded, and sighed deeply, thus answering Wen Chong's question.

Chapter 1202 Big Shot

With a "whoosh," the carriage came to a steady stop at the edge of the Dark Forest. "Senior Sister, we've arrived." A young man who had been driving the carriage jumped down and stood respectfully to the side, holding the reins. A short while later, the woman in black robes led Weiwei off the carriage.

"Alright, Wenqiang. You go back to the city first, and two days later, take some men to the edge of the third level and wait for me." The woman in black robes quietly looked at the forest in front of her for a while, then turned her head and spoke softly to the young man standing beside her.

"Okay, senior sister." Wen Qiang nodded with a smile, leaped onto the carriage, and turned the carriage around, leaving the dark forest.

Watching Wen Qiang drive the carriage away, the woman in black took a deep breath, turned to smile at Weiwei beside her, took Weiwei's hand, and stepped into the dark forest in front of her.

After a long time, Li Xiuchen finally regained his sight. The darkness before him slowly began to fade, and a faint ray of light shone into his eyes. The dripping sound continued. Li Xiuchen closed his eyes, shook his head, took a deep breath, and slowly opened his eyes, his gaze drifting backward. Finally, he gritted his teeth and looked back. The narrow, dark cave he remembered had inexplicably become incredibly deep. Li Xiuchen swallowed hard and slowly groped his way deeper into the cave.

"Coo-coo~coo~" A low, muffled sound suddenly came from somewhere. Li Xiuchen was startled and immediately stopped in his tracks, looking around nervously, but the sound suddenly stopped. Li Xiuchen trembled and licked his dry lips, which were extremely dehydrated from nervousness, and cold sweat kept sliding down his forehead.

"Coo~ Coo~" The cave, which had been quiet for a long time, once again emitted a sound.

"Who...who!" Li Xiuchen, who had been suppressing his fear for so long, finally erupted. His voice trembled uncontrollably, his hands and feet were icy cold, and his breathing suddenly became rapid. As if suddenly remembering something, Li Xiuchen hurriedly calmed down and began to test the battle qi within his body. But no matter what he did, no matter how he tested, the battle qi within his body seemed to have vanished without a trace. Li Xiuchen's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his breathing became more and more rapid and unstable, and his whole body trembled incessantly.

"Holy...Holy...Holy Buddha...Where are you? Come out quickly...Come out quickly...Come out quickly..." Li Xiuchen's voice trembled even more violently, a deep sense of helplessness enveloping him.

"Coo~" The sound suddenly became crystal clear. Li Xiuchen twitched his eyebrows and forced himself to open his eyes. A parrot-like bird stood in front of Li Xiuchen, tilting its head and curiously watching the slightly trembling Li Xiuchen, occasionally making "coo-coo" sounds in its throat. Li Xiuchen instantly collapsed backward to the ground, panting heavily as he stared in horror at the...parrot? Li Xiuchen didn't know what to call this strange bird.

"Senior sister, this Dark Forest is so big, where are we going to find him?" Weiwei asked the black-robed woman beside her curiously, looking at the towering trees around them that all looked pretty much the same.

"It's hard to say, but I don't think he'd be foolish enough to go to the third floor alone, since not just anyone can go there," the woman in black robes said slowly after a moment of contemplation upon hearing the question.

"But I don't know why, I always have a bad feeling." Weiwei nodded hesitantly, but still expressed her feelings. Hearing this, the woman in black robes suddenly stopped and looked at Weiwei.

"How confident are you in your feelings? When did they begin? Are they strong?" In an instant, the woman in black robes asked three questions. For the first time, her gaze towards Weiwei lacked gentleness and instead appeared exceptionally frightening. In that instant, Weiwei suddenly felt that her senior sister, with whom she had spent over a year, was so unreachable, so unfamiliar. She gave off a feeling of being kept at arm's length. However, it was only a fleeting moment. Weiwei quickly regained her composure and looked at her senior sister, whose expression was unusually serious this time, and nodded.

"When we were about twenty miles from the Dark Forest, I had a really bad feeling. I had this feeling that there was a person, an animal, or an object in this forest that made me feel scared. But if I had to say it was strong, I don't think it was that strong, because the aura that thing was emitting was too weak, so weak that it was unbelievable." Weiwei recalled as she spoke, her expression a little confused and a little strange.

“But even if it’s an ordinary person, this aura shouldn’t be this weak…” As she spoke, Weiwei’s brows suddenly furrowed, looking particularly puzzled.

Although Weiwei spoke casually, the woman in black robes couldn't help but gasp upon hearing this, inwardly marveling at the impossibility. The young Weiwei before her possessed not only the Xuanbing physique but also an ability incomprehensible to ordinary people: the ability to sense the presence of individuals several times or even dozens of times more powerful than herself. Normally, only those with high-level abilities could perceive the presence of those less powerful. However, if a person with a high-level ability was nearby, they would be instantly blind, seeing only an ordinary person even if they walked right past them.

The woman in black robes had pondered this question more than once. If she encountered an enemy of a higher level, whether to run or fight, and even whether she could clearly distinguish between them, were significant issues. It wasn't until later that she realized the common sayings circulating in the martial arts world weren't entirely accurate. Normal cultivators could also sense when an opponent unleashed their power.

The changes in battle aura can only be detected when the opponent conceals their battle aura, thus revealing their level. Although someone had specifically explained this to the woman in black robes, she still had a nagging feeling that things weren't quite as simple as they seemed.

"So you mean... there's a big shot here." The woman in black robes said to Weiwei, enunciating each word clearly.

"Who...who are you? What...what do you want?" Li Xiuchen finally caught his breath and stammered as he looked at the strange bird in front of him. "Where is this? Can you...talk?"

"Holy Buddha, Holy Buddha, you should wake up! Help!" Li Xiuchen asked the strange bird in front of him, but in his heart he kept calling out to the Holy Buddha. The Holy Buddha hadn't appeared for a long time.

"Coo~coo~" The strange bird made a "coo" sound again, straightened its head and looked at Li Xiuchen in front of it with its eyes full of curiosity.

"You...you can't speak?" Li Xiuchen stared at the strange bird in front of him for a while before tentatively asking the question, inwardly slapping himself. He thought to himself, "Am I out of my mind? Isn't that obvious? It's a bird standing in front of me! A bird! And I actually asked it if it could speak! This is utterly ridiculous! If word got out, people would laugh at me to death!" But then he thought again, "It seems like nobody recognizes me. Come to think of it, I've been on this continent for so long, and besides Weiwei and the old man, I don't seem to know many other people." Suddenly, a desolate and sorrowful feeling rose in Li Xiuchen's heart.

But soon, Li Xiuchen slapped himself hard across the face again. There was still an unknown bird to deal with! What a load of rubbish! Even if it wasn't a demonic beast, if it went berserk, judging by its sharpness and the fact that its bird's rafters seemed as hard as iron, it could probably poke several big holes in him in no time!

"Uh...this...uh...this gentleman, oh no, bird, could you...could you spare me a bit?" Li Xiuchen finally came to his senses, raising his hand in a wry smile and stammering polite words to the strange bird opposite him. In that instant, Li Xiuchen didn't care whether the bird could understand him or not; he was just hoping it wouldn't peck him a few big holes.

The strange bird tilted its head and stared at Li Xiuchen for a long time. This time, for some reason, a hint of murderous intent flashed in its eyes, but it quickly returned to its usual gentleness. Li Xiuchen smiled awkwardly, keeping a close eye on the strange bird, not daring to relax for a moment. Without the guidance of the Holy Buddha, relying solely on his short year of training, he thought he could survive on this continent; that would be overestimating himself.

"Senior sister! I feel it! He's in that direction!" Weiwei suddenly exclaimed, pointing in a direction to her southeast. The woman in black robes looked in the direction Weiwei was pointing, her brows furrowed; she felt nothing. Although she hesitated slightly, she still grabbed Weiwei's hand and ran forward quickly.

"Father, there's someone!" Wen Chong, who was running at full speed, suddenly stopped and frowned as he looked at a place in the distance. Seeing this, the old man beside him also stopped and looked in that direction, letting out a contemptuous snort.

"Ignore them. Those old men in Tianwu are always up to no good and cause all sorts of weird trouble. Aren't they ashamed? Humph! Let's go." With that, the old man took another step and leaped forward. Wen Chong glanced deeply in that direction, turned around, and followed the old man, flying away as well.

Before long, two figures stopped where Wen Chong and the old man had just stood.

"What if we're too late?"

"Chase!"

Li Xiuchen held that position for an unknown amount of time, his shoulders aching terribly, his face almost stiff from laughing, but the strange bird in front of him continued to tilt its head and stare at him. If Li Xiuchen couldn't feel the bird's breathing, he would have thought the scene before him was frozen in time, appearing extremely eerie.

"Coo~" The strange bird's throat moved slowly, making a sound, and Li Xiuchen instantly felt as if he had been reborn. He had just lowered his aching arms, thinking he could relax, when suddenly the world spun around him, and everything before his eyes began to blur. Soon, everything around him was plunged back into darkness.

After a long while, Li Xiuchen suddenly awoke, taking a deep breath as if he had just been rescued from drowning, which helped him regain his breathing and ease the pressure in his chest. A wave of soreness came from his shoulders, and Li Xiuchen's consciousness cleared considerably. He got up from the cold ground and looked behind him; it was still the same narrow and dark place, the entrance still perfectly sealed by rocks. Li Xiuchen rubbed his aching shoulders and slowly made his way towards the entrance. Li Xiuchen didn't know why his shoulders were so sore; he had no recollection of it. But he clearly remembered that this cave should have been perfectly dry, so why was it unusually damp now?

"Weiwei, where are you?" the woman in black asked Weiwei beside her, her brows furrowed.

"This is the direction, we'll be there soon, this is the direction." Weiwei also frowned deeply.

"Ouch... what happened?" Li Xiuchen grimaced and muttered. "What was I doing? Why does my shoulder hurt so much? Seriously, this is awful."

Li Xiuchen stopped and stretched his body. After a while, his body felt slightly better. He looked around the cave again, carefully examining it. Something felt off, a strange feeling lingering, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After a long silence, Li Xiuchen decided not to stay there any longer and prepared to leave the cave.

"Holy Buddha?" Li Xiuchen suddenly remembered that the Holy Buddha hadn't contacted him for a long time. He waited for a while, but it remained silent. Li Xiuchen sighed and walked towards the cave entrance, sensing his surroundings as he went. Fortunately, his fighting spirit had almost recovered; if he encountered wild beasts outside, he wouldn't have to run away immediately. Slowly pushing aside the stones that had sealed the cave entrance, Li Xiuchen looked at the lush green expanse before him and suddenly felt a surge of joy. He took a deep breath and was about to leave when he suddenly saw someone.

"Vivi!"

Just as Li Xiuchen was feeling great and preparing to leave, he suddenly saw someone standing not far away. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Weiwei!" Li Xiuchen's eyes widened, unable to believe what he was seeing. He couldn't believe that the girl he had been thinking about was standing right at the entrance of the cave where he was hiding. Li Xiuchen rubbed his eyes in disbelief and rushed to Weiwei. "Weiwei, how did you get here? How did you find me? Why are you all alone? Why are you crying?" As he got closer, Li Xiuchen noticed that Weiwei's clothes were tattered, she had injuries, and her eyes were filled with tears.

"Xiu Chen... Xiu Chen..." Weiwei couldn't control her emotions when she saw Li Xiu Chen in front of her. Large tears instantly slid down her face. "Senior sister disappeared to save me, to save me." As she spoke, Weiwei buried her head deeply in Li Xiu Chen's chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Your senior sister? Who is your senior sister? The woman in black robes who took you away?" Li Xiuchen held Weiwei in his arms, gently stroking her head with one hand, and asked softly. "What happened to you? Don't worry, tell me slowly, okay?"

"Not long ago, I told my senior sister that I wanted to come see you, so we set off for this forest where you are. Everything was going very smoothly, and we were about to see you, but just now... just now..." As she spoke, Weiwei suddenly became very emotional and cried uncontrollably, unable to continue speaking.

"Don't rush, don't rush, it's okay, it's okay." Li Xiuchen gently comforted Weiwei in his arms, and for a moment, only the sound of Weiwei sobbing could be heard around them.

"Later, on our way here, we suddenly encountered a group of people. They attacked us without saying a word. My senior sister and I were outnumbered and gradually lost ground. To protect me, she told me to run first and come find you quickly. After running for a while, I couldn't stop worrying and turned back to check on my senior sister, wanting to help her escape as well. But when I went back..."

At this point, Weiwei suddenly stopped. Li Xiuchen was startled, feeling Weiwei in his arms raise her head. Looking down, he saw Weiwei looking at him and suddenly smiling. Li Xiuchen didn't react for a moment, thinking that Weiwei's emotions had stabilized a bit, and smiled back at her. But in an instant, Li Xiuchen's smile froze.

Weiwei looked at Li Xiuchen and smiled happily, as if nothing had happened and she had forgotten the pain she had just felt. Li Xiuchen, however, stared wide-eyed at the smiling Weiwei in his arms, utterly incredulous.

"Why..." Li Xiuchen spat out a mouthful of blood, some of which splattered onto Weiwei's face. "Why... Weiwei, what happened to you?"

Beneath Weiwei's sun-like smile, a knife was plunged deep into Li Xiuchen's stomach. As Weiwei's smile grew sweeter, the knife went deeper and twisted more violently. Soon, blood stained Li Xiuchen's clothes. Li Xiuchen tried to channel his internal battle qi to seal the wound and regulate his rapidly draining life force, but for some reason, his once abundant battle qi had vanished without a trace.

As time passed, Li Xiuchen's legs gradually gave way, unable to support his increasingly lifeless body, and he collapsed limply to the ground, his eyes filled with deep confusion.

"Don't look at me, Brother Xiuchen, you know what? I've been waiting for you for so long." Weiwei smiled and squatted down next to Li Xiuchen, playfully tapping his nose and complaining to him.

"You know what? That so-called senior sister of mine doesn't know any kung fu at all. She's just a pretty face, right? She even dared to take me away, to that damn Tianwu Academy, to train what? Hahaha. I told her I wanted to come see you, but she was worried about me and insisted on coming with me. See how funny that is? I took her down. Tsk tsk tsk, but I have to admit, she did have some skill. I even got scratched, look."

As she spoke, Weiwei gently touched her wound, her eyes filled with a pitiful look. If it weren't for what had just happened, Li Xiuchen really wanted to hug her tightly.

"You big bad guy! You're still looking! Don't you care about me at all!" Weiwei turned her head and scolded Li Xiuchen, who was lying on the ground, with a face full of grievance. "Look at you, where have you been all year! You haven't come to see me at all. You said you'd come in three years, and you really thought you'd only come after three years, didn't you! You heartless bastard, didn't you promise Grandpa you'd take care of me? How could you go back on your word?" As she spoke, tears suddenly welled up in Weiwei's eyes, and her voice began to tremble. Li Xiuchen looked at Weiwei's face and suddenly wanted to go forward and wipe away her tears. But he couldn't.

Li Xiuchen felt himself growing weaker and weaker, and even opening his eyes to look at Weiwei beside him seemed like an incredibly difficult thing. He felt his eyelids drooping, and he knew he was about to give up.

"Xiuchen, Xiuchen, what's wrong with you! Your face is so pale! What happened to you! Don't scare me!" Weiwei seemed to snap out of her daze, looking at the increasingly weak Li Xiuchen with sudden anxiety. She frantically touched Li Xiuchen's pale face, her eyes filled with worry.

"Well, that's fine too. When you die, I'll dig out your heart and keep it with me. Hehe, that way you can stay by my side forever!" Weiwei suddenly laughed, as if she understood something. Li Xiuchen couldn't understand. What had happened? How could the obedient and adorable Weiwei he remembered have become like this? How was he going to explain this to his grandfather in the afterlife? A tear unexpectedly slid down Li Xiuchen's cheek.

"Brother Xiuchen, don't sleep, don't sleep! Please talk to me a little longer, okay? Please talk to me a little longer." Weiwei nudged the unconscious Li Xiuchen.

Hey! Wake up! Wake up!

Chapter 1203 Tonglai Inn

"Father, they're catching up soon," Wen Chong said calmly, glancing back at the path he and the old man had taken.

"Hmph! Overestimating themselves. Since they like to follow us, let's just wait and see." After a moment's thought, the old man suddenly called out to Wen Chong.

"But Dad, aren't we going back? Isn't time tight?" Wen Chong asked the old man beside him, puzzled.

"It's alright, Panlong is still here. He won't be going back anytime soon. We should be able to speed up our journey." The old man frowned slightly and continued, "Has that letter been sent?"

"Yes, it's been mailed. I mailed the letter before I entered this forest, but what exactly was in that letter?" Wen Chong's eyes revealed deep doubt upon hearing this.

Before Wen Chong and the old man entered the Dark Forest, the old man stopped at the edge of the forest and handed Wen Chong a letter, instructing him to deliver it to Wang Lin at the Tonglai Inn in Tianwu City as soon as possible. Although Wen Chong was puzzled, he didn't say anything and did as the old man instructed. After parting ways with the old man, Wen Chong rushed to the Tonglai Inn in Tianwu City, but he didn't find the man named Wang Lin the old man had mentioned. He initially thought of giving it to the inn's waiters, but all the waiters who saw the letter avoided it like the plague. Helpless, Wen Chong had no choice but to stay at the inn, but as the days passed, Wang Lin still didn't appear. Wen Chong's brow furrowed deeper, and his anxiety grew. He didn't know how the old man was doing, nor what had happened in the forest.

"Waiter! When is Wang Lin coming back?!" Wen Chong finally couldn't hold back any longer and called over the waiter who was busy not far away, his brows furrowed.