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

The entrance to the manor.

One person, one corpse, and one rat.

She stood against the wind, her skirt fluttering and billowing in the west wind. A long sword hung at her waist, her black hair flowed in the wind, and her flawless white face seemed untouched by the vicissitudes of life, exuding an extraordinary aura.

The villagers all thought these three strangers were very strange and came to watch.

"These three girls are so beautiful!"

A dark-skinned woman, carrying a basket and wearing a headscarf, pointed and gestured at them.

This praise made Shu Baimei overjoyed.

She twisted her waist and placed one hand, with her fingers in an orchid-like gesture, beside her cheek.

"Could she be a reincarnated fairy?"

An experienced old man said suspiciously.

"I heard from storytellers that girls with faces as beautiful as flowers are all fox spirits in disguise..."

"Not entirely. The enemy the manor lord killed last time, he was a real person, and quite good-looking at that. If he hadn't indiscriminately killed villagers, he wouldn't have been so fair-skinned and delicate, only to have his throat slit by the manor lord's sword..."

A middle-aged man with messy hair, his hands tucked into his sleeves, sniffed and sighed regretfully: "How could the master of the manor lay a hand on these three beautiful young ladies?"

……

Just then, the old steward of the manor rushed out, waving his hand at the crowd as if shooing away flies: "Go away, what are you looking at? Hurry up and leave!"

The group of people then scattered in a flash.

Then the old Taoist priest came out in person and bowed to the three people from afar.

"It is an honor to have you three grace us with your presence. We hope you have any guidance to offer!"

Shu Baimei: "Old Taoist priest, I used to be a wandering swordsman too. Forget the formalities, I'll just get straight to the point: have you found the zombie you were tracking?"

The old Taoist priest shook his head: "No."

Shu Baimei: "Found it, can we take it down?"

The old Taoist priest shook his head: "I'm not sure."

Although they had the broadsword as a source of confidence, it wasn't enough. After all, it was an ancient zombie, over a thousand years old. The older it was, the harder it was to suppress.

Shu Baimei: "I can help you take care of it."

Upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest immediately gestured for him to come in: "Honored guest, please come in."

The old Taoist priest personally led the way, welcoming us into the main hall, where he ordered tea and some pastries to be served.

As soon as the pastries were laid out, the little mouse couldn't resist. She stretched out her slender fingers and quietly pinched a piece of mung bean cake from the edge with two fingers, then quickly tucked it into her sleeve.

Then, while drinking tea, she covered her face with the teacup and quickly stuffed the mung bean cake into her mouth.

Old Taoist priest: ? ? ?

Shu Baimei: ...

It's a bit embarrassing; these sisters are not presentable in public, and I regret bringing them out.

The old Taoist priest smiled and said, "It's alright, you can eat more. Don't worry about the formalities."

The little mouse nodded repeatedly, thinking that the old man was a really good person.

It reached out of the book with both hands, grabbed two pieces of pastry, and stuffed them into its mouth. It ate too quickly and choked, its eyes rolling back in its head. Luckily, the female corpse was nearby and picked up a teacup to pour the tea into its mouth.

After finally getting down to the bottom, the little mouse grabbed another piece of pastry from its hand.

Shu Baimei couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she decided to talk serious business with the old Taoist priest.

"I won't take advantage of you either," Shu Baimei said confidently. "If we find the zombies, I'll let you go first. If you can't handle them, I'll take over. But if I defeat the zombies, you'll have to do one thing for me."

The old Taoist priest stroking his beard—this saying is a way of saying he's getting the better end of the deal.

These three women are no ordinary people. Right now, they seem friendly to our side, but who knows what might happen later…

After all, he's a seasoned veteran, having encountered all sorts of cunning and treacherous individuals.

Someone who is kind in public might be doing heinous things in private.

He might appear upright and virtuous in public, but in private he might be a bully who preys on men and women. Therefore, he certainly didn't believe what this beautiful woman said, but he couldn't afford to offend her.

"Old Taoist, could you perhaps consider this?"

The old Taoist priest remained calm and composed.

Shu Baimei knew this was an excuse, and she became anxious.

“Old Taoist priest, we are not some nameless wanderers. We come from Peach Blossom Temple on Peach Blossom Mountain in Lingzhou. We are the Peach Blossom Sword Sect, which won the title of one of the Five Greats in the Huashan Sword Tournament last year.”

Upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest's brows relaxed.

It turns out they belong to a prestigious and reputable sect.

How could such three strange people come from a prestigious and righteous sect?

Intrigued, he asked, "Are you three really...?"

Shu Baimei said, "My master is also a Taoist. You must have heard that the emperor once visited my master at Peach Blossom Mountain. It's all over the martial arts world."

The old Taoist priest was already halfway convinced.

"Is there any token?"

Shu Baimei: "No."

The old Taoist priest was silenced once again.

You can't produce any evidence, how can I believe you?

Just then, another servant rushed over, looked at the three people sitting there, and hesitated without saying a word.

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

He then hurriedly left the hall with his servant.

The three of them sat in the hall waiting.

The little mouse had already eaten until its belly was round, but it still wanted to eat more. However, Shu Baimei glared at it, and it immediately stopped reaching for the pastries.

We'd almost finished the pastries, with just a few scraps left.

I waited until it got dark.

The old Taoist priest never returned.

No one came to greet the three of them.

Shu Baimei was furious. She had been stood up and was no longer planning to cooperate with them!

Draw your sword!

The sword energy instantly soared into the sky.

boom--

The roof was blown off by the impact of the sword energy, and the sword light, like moonlight, dazzled everyone's eyes.

"Enemy attack!"

Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums resounded like a storm within the manor, followed by the lighting of countless torches and the sound of footsteps approaching. In just a short time, hundreds of people had gathered in the manor.

The hall was completely surrounded.

"Where is the old manor lord?"

One of the young men in the lead shouted loudly.

"They've gone to track down the zombies. Someone spotted them earlier, and the old manor lord went to follow them. It's just us here. Don't be afraid, there are plenty of us!"

Someone shouted loudly.

Shu Baimei stretched out her hand.

The burly man who had just spoken suddenly seemed to be sucked in, flying up and landing directly in front of Shu Baimei, who grabbed his vital point.

"Which direction did the old Taoist priest go?"

The burly man was so frightened that he peed himself, and the urine dripped down his trouser leg.

"My master has gone to Sanyuan Town in the west."

As soon as he finished speaking, three figures suddenly rushed into the night sky and disappeared.

The burly man collapsed to the ground. The young man looked at him and angrily said, "Why did you tell them?"

The burly man said, "They didn't go west, they went north. I deliberately misspoke."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than three figures suddenly rose up from the tree trunk beside the manor and disappeared into the night once more.

"Heh," Shu Baimei sneered, "I'm not someone who's been around the block."

Amidst everyone's regret, the three had already gone quite a distance.

To the north is Xiagou Town, which has only three or four hundred people, much smaller than this village.

The cavalry kicked up dust.

A group of people raised torches, illuminating the town.

"Surround it up!"

The old Taoist priest shouted loudly.

"Draw the sheath!"

The broadsword on his back shot out with a sound.

"choke--"

With a sound of being drawn from its sheath, a broadsword burst forth, its light illuminating the entire town under the moonlight. Beneath the moonlight, a tall, pale-faced man in a long robe slowly rose from the ground, raising his head to look at the old Taoist priest and his group.

One of the men in its arms slumped to the ground.

The blood has been drained, and the person has turned into a skeleton.

Another person's life essence has been drained.

Almost visibly, the zombie's facial skin had become fuller. Given more time, once it had absorbed enough essence and blood, its body would be no different from a normal person's.

By then, it will be impossible to control it.

The old Taoist priest knew this well, and even now, he didn't have the confidence to win.

"cut--"

With a sharp shout from the old Taoist priest, the broadsword suspended in the air suddenly transformed into a streak of light, slashing towards the zombie's head.

The zombie opened its mouth wide, took a deep breath, and then sprayed the light that the broadsword had transformed into.

The broadsword instantly lost its luster, froze in mid-air, and became locked in a stalemate with the black mist exhaled by the zombie.

The old Taoist priest seized the opportunity, stretched out his hand, and a guard's long sword fell into his hand. He leaped up and thrust the sword into the zombie's mouth.

A flash of cold light, swift as a shooting star.

The zombie didn't even look at it; it simply reached out and grabbed the speck of cold star in its hand.

With a "crack," the sword shattered.