A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

This phrase was considered very offensive in ancient times.

It's equivalent to a vulgar curse.

But the insults were delivered in a very polite manner, and at first glance, Shu Baimei had no idea what they meant. She turned back to look at her two sisters beside her, bewildered.

The two sisters also looked bewildered.

The female corpse tentatively said, "It's calling you 'Mother'."

Shu Baimei: ? ? ?

The rat looked at the mummified corpse, then at the coffin beside it, and asked, "Was it made of gold or not?"

Shu Baimei watches zombies.

"I'm asking you, is this coffin made of gold?"

The zombie stared at them without making a sound. It covered its genitals with both hands, crouching behind the coffin, extremely wary.

"Cut it off!"

Shu Baimei sighed and pointed her longsword at the zombie.

The zombie roared and suddenly leaped towards another stone door in the underground palace. Then, with a loud "bang," the stone door was smashed to pieces.

The zombie vanished from the main hall of the underground palace in the blink of an eye.

"Chase!"

Before Shu Baimei could finish speaking, the female corpse rushed over.

The zombies were very fast and knew the underground palace very well. After many twists and turns, by the time the female corpse rushed in, she had already disappeared.

"what--"

A scream came from the broken stone doorway.

The little mouse widened its eyes and covered its mouth. Despite being made of Consort Shun's human skin, it still looked rather charming and cute.

Behind the little mouse is Shu Baimei.

Shu Baimei held up a torch, illuminating the side chamber of the underground palace. The three of them were immediately speechless, their mouths agape.

The side chamber was neatly stacked with various utensils, seemingly made of gold, as well as various large chests and cages.

The little mouse rushed over impatiently, opened a box, shook off a layer of ashes, and saw neatly arranged gold ingots inside.

I picked one up, wiped it, and instantly a yellow light shone into its eyes, making the projected light appear golden. I bit it with my teeth.

"Gold, gold!"

The little mouse excitedly spun around in place.

"What's mine, it's all mine!"

"Um--"

A stern voice came from behind me.

Turning around, it was Shu Baimei, staring at it with sharp eyes.

Shrinking his neck, he held the gold ingot in front of Shu Baimei and said with a fawning smile, "Elder sister, I just checked for you, it's all gold."

Shu Baimei nodded and said, "These are all the property of the Taoist temple, and private individuals cannot misappropriate them."

The little mouse's eyes darted around, and it tentatively whispered, "Big sister, there are only the three of us here, do you think we should..."

Shu Baimei, a former江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and outlaws) person, surely understood what the little mouse meant. She sneered and said, "Are you sure you can kill my female corpse sister?"

Kill the female corpse? The female corpse is very loyal; she would definitely tell everyone.

The little mouse tensed up, suddenly feeling sweat pouring down its back. It tried to explain, afraid that if it spoke too late, it would either be chopped off by Shu Baimei or eaten by the female corpse.

"No, what I mean is, since the abbot doesn't know right now, we can keep it to ourselves... Heaven knows, Earth knows, and we three sisters know..."

Shu Baimei looked at the little mouse as if it were a fool.

The female corpse floated eerily to the little mouse's side, standing one in front of the other, next to Shu Baimei.

The little mouse froze, its mouth trembling slightly.

"What I mean is, anyway... now that the three of us know, if we offer it all to the abbot, it will be a great deed, and maybe he'll treat us differently..."

Shu Baimei reached out and patted its shoulder, speaking earnestly.

"Sister, I just saved your life. You just said that only heaven and earth know, but do you know who the master is? The master is heaven, an immortal, so don't say such suicidal things again."

The little mouse broke out in a cold sweat.

"Just think it in your heart, but never say it out loud."

Shu Baimei added a sinister remark.

She tucked the gold ingot the little mouse had given her into her bosom, then, holding a torch, began to examine it carefully.

The little mouse's eyes lit up when it saw Shu Baimei's action, and it immediately began to drag the box towards the hole with all its might.

Shu Baimei quickly stopped it.

"I really don't know what you're thinking with your tiny brain. You've moved all this out, how are we going to get it back? What if someone finds out we've moved it outside?"

The little mouse immediately stopped and stared longingly at Shu Baimei.

Shu Baimei: "This underground palace has remained undiscovered for a thousand years, and we only discovered it by chance. Why don't we leave it here, make a mark, and when we come back, bring more people to transport these things back?"

The female corpse indicated consent.

The little mouse looked at Shu Baimei and agreed.

"Alright, now put all these things away and let's go out and restore everything to its original state, in preparation for our return."

As Shu Baimei spoke, she took several more gold ingots, wiped them clean, and put them into her bosom.

Because the gold was so heavy, it drooped down when placed in one's bosom.

Each of the three men had their pockets full of gold. They found the place they had just entered and left.

As soon as I went outside, I realized it was already daylight.

It seemed to be morning; the temperature was still a bit chilly, and the sun looked like an undercooked egg yolk. The three of them worked for a long time, finally managing to cover the cave entrance again.

There was no sign of zombies.

Which way are we going now?

Shu Baimei asked the female corpse.

The female corpse looked around blankly, then randomly pointed in a direction, and the three of them began to walk in that direction.

From sunrise to sunset.

As the sun set, the desert was once again plunged into darkness.

A fire was lit.

The temperature difference between day and night was huge, and the cold wind howled like ghosts. Wild beasts lurked all around, looking for any opportunity to swarm the three and tear them apart.

Shu Baimei glared fiercely at the female corpse.

The female corpse stood nonchalantly by the fire.

If she could, she could stand there forever and never die.

But Shu Baimei and the little mouse will die.

Shu Baimei's lips were cracked. When she licked them, her tongue was scratched by the dry, cracked lips and almost bled. They were so dry that they had formed a hard shell.

"What are you laughing at!"

Shu Baimei glanced at the little mouse beside her, who was about to laugh.

The little mouse sidled up to us: "Big sister, do you think someone will try to steal all this gold we're carrying? Should we run for our lives, or throw the gold away?"

Shu Baimei laughed heartily: "Do you think anyone would dare to steal our gold? Sister, I'm not trying to be mean, but with me, you can conquer any hero in the world. Let alone a mere bandit."

The little mouse nodded admiringly.

She tightened her clothes, wrapping the gold in her bosom tightly. It had been too heavy; the gold was almost making her clothes fall apart. If it fell apart, people would see everything, which wouldn't be good.

The little mouse is now showing some sense of shame.

Suddenly, the green-glowing wolves on the periphery howled and cried out, scattering in all directions. The sound of horses' hooves approached.

"Someone's here!" Shu Baimei exclaimed with delight.

The little mouse was also overjoyed.

The female corpse looked in that direction. In the darkness, a dark shadow loomed, and the sound of horses' hooves grew increasingly urgent and closer.

Then they saw a group of people on horseback, clad in leather armor, rushing towards them. They surrounded the three of them. The horses circled the fire, raising sparks that flew up and then dispersed in the night sky.

The leader, an elderly man around fifty years old, dressed as a Taoist priest and carrying a broadsword, dismounted and bowed to the three women: "Greetings, ladies. I'm tracking a zombie; have you seen it before?"

Zombies?

Shu Baimei understood; the zombies that had escaped from the underground palace had been discovered.

"never seen it!"

The old Taoist priest was somewhat disappointed. He cupped his hands in greeting to the three men, mounted his horse, and prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment!"

Shu Baimei quickly said, "The three of us are lost in this desert. We've been wandering around for a long time without finding our way out. Why don't we follow you and you can lead us out?"

The old Taoist priest frowned and thought for a moment.

“We’re tracking zombies, it’s too dangerous, and it’s not appropriate for the three of you girls to come with us. Once we find and eliminate the zombies, we’ll come back for you. As long as you don’t wander around, we can find you.”

Shu Baimei was somewhat disappointed.

The old Taoist priest cupped his hands in farewell and said, "Farewell!"

The group of people then rode away quickly.

They ran for quite a while, getting far from the campfire. One of the young men rode alongside the middle-aged Taoist priest. He asked, "Second Uncle, why didn't you take those three girls with you? We could have sent someone to escort them..."

The old Taoist priest sneered, "You know nothing. You've got your eye on them because they're beautiful, haven't you?"

The young man blushed, quickly shook his head, and said somewhat guiltily, "I just... the three girls were too pitiful..."

The old Taoist priest glanced at him and sighed, "What do you know? Three young women got lost in the desert, yet they weren't panicked at all. Even the wolves and wild beasts only dared to stay on the outskirts and didn't approach. Why do you think that is?"

The young man was taken aback, thought about it, and realized it made sense.

"They...could they be...ghosts..."

As soon as he said it, a cold sweat broke out on his back.