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

On the third day, early in the morning, the deceased was sent on their way.

The customs are similar to those of Linbin Town.

After the deceased was buried, the family sent someone to settle the money, and Zhang Zhengdao led the two men away from Chenjiazhuang.

A crowd had gathered around the lake outside the manor.

Zhang Zhengdao went over and jumped off the donkey.

“A dragon appeared the night before last. You didn’t see the scene… thousands of people were swallowed whole.”

A dragon emerges?

I did hear Hu Yunying mention this; the night before last, people by the lake were shouting that a dragon had appeared. I was just dozing off and didn't wake up to watch.

"I heard that Judge Lei Dongjiu, the Soul-Summoning Judge, was swallowed whole by a dragon, leaving no trace of his body!"

"Hehe, it's impossible for that many people to have died. It's just a rumor."

"You really haven't seen it, but I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Who knows if you just heard it from someone else..."

"Nonsense, I even made a move! I threw out my family heirloom sword! That dragon was so white and so big..." The man seemed to be recounting his own glorious achievements.

"That head held up... as tall as two four-story buildings..."

I guess I've only ever seen a four-story building in my entire life.

"That mouth, when it opened, thunder and lightning flashed..."

Zhang Zhengdao's lips twitched.

Opening your mouth and lightning? That's quite a clever thought!

However, that didn't stop him from listening with great interest.

"Then Lei Dong picked up a horse and threw it into the lake. In the blink of an eye... a huge dragon emerged from the lake, sucked in the horse, and it vanished into thin air... Can you guess why it disappeared into thin air?"

"why?"

"Of course it was eaten..."

Everyone:...

Are you kidding me?

Zhang Zhengdao laughed heartily, which drew eye rolls from those who were listening intently, and some even made a fuss.

"Stop laughing, you son of a bitch, don't interrupt."

Many people arrived at the village later. They were all blocked at the entrance and couldn't go in. Then they heard about what happened the night before and longed to go there.

Some people are quietly preparing to wait here for a long time, automatically activating their protagonist mode.

As long as you are willing to put in the effort, you will reap the rewards.

Who knows, one day suddenly a dragon will emerge from the water and say to you, "My destined one, I have finally waited for you! Come, come, my dragon pearl, please accept it... You won't accept it? You have no choice but to accept it, you must take it orally... My cultivation method leads directly to immortality... You refuse? If you dare to refuse, I'll break your legs..."

Who among us, living in the martial arts world, hasn't dreamed of being the protagonist?

Zhang Zhengdao also has one.

I started in junior high school, reading fantasy novels and imagining myself flying on a sword and collecting all the beauties in the world.

After all, it's a novel. Once the protagonist enters his invincible mode, he only has one goal—to collect beautiful women!

Times may change, but people's hearts remain the same.

So, this is probably how it is in the protagonist's dream of these people.

He's invincible, able to dominate everything, from the heavens to the earth, and even the air itself; he takes money, land, and beautiful women.

Zhang Zhengdao: May the Heavenly Venerable grant boundless blessings and longevity, and may the world be in harmony.

The crowd was buzzing with discussion. Some had already started setting up tents – the action-takers! Others were observing, seemingly waiting until after the Mount Hua Grand Competition to come back and become one of the lucky ones destined to join the dragon.

As they were talking, suddenly the surface of the lake made a gurgling sound, as if there was something in the lake.

Everyone was shocked and involuntarily stepped back.

A space by the lake was immediately cleared out.

After the lake surface swelled with water for a moment, a dark object emerged.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be the shadow of a person lying on the water's surface.

"Someone's there! It's a person!"

Someone shouted, then rushed forward, and someone else threw out a long rope, hooked the person, and dragged him to the shore.

They dragged it to the shore and turned it over with a stick.

Guo Lanying couldn't help but take a few steps back, and almost vomited when she turned her head.

A man's face was already swollen. The pale, bloated flesh and his jet-black hair were twisted together, his mouth was wide open, and a loach seemed to be slipping out of it…

The crowd was so frightened that they took several steps back.

However, being people of the martial arts world, they quickly surrounded them.

Someone finally recognized him: "Isn't that Lei Dong, the Soul Judge?"

"It sure is him!"

Lei Dong, the judge who was swallowed whole by the dragon that night, has reappeared on the lake's surface.

This discovery stunned everyone around.

Quite a few people were still here from the night before last, all waiting for their chance. They naturally knew about the spectacle of Lei Dong being swallowed by the dragon that night…

Unexpectedly, this thing wasn't digested and came out as a whole lump?

As if remembering something, Zhang Zhengdao turned around with a pale face, leaned against a tree, and complained bitterly.

Hu Yunying glanced at it, then looked at Zhang Zhengdao.

Guo Lanying quietly leaned closer and asked, "Did Master have a dream about eating people yesterday?"

"vomit--"

I'm really venting my frustrations.

Lei Dong, the judge who summons souls, is dead.

So what if they're dead? It doesn't stop everyone from staying here.

Zhang Zhengdao didn't want to waste any more time there, so he turned and left with the two women who were huddled in the crowd, listening intently to the rumors. He then instructed Guo Lanying to unfurl the large flag.

These past two days, my golden core has been acting strangely, and I keep having some odd dreams.

Holding the big flag, they traveled without delay all the way to the foot of Mount Hua.

There is a small town at the foot of Mount Hua.

Because a grand competition is held at Mount Hua every two years, a large number of families have settled here. It's no smaller than a county town, with well-organized streets and a particularly large number of inns.

Each inn was adorned with various banners.

"Desheng Inn"

"One Sword Breaks Through Ten Thousand Laws Inn"

"Peak of Excellence Inn"

Dengxian Restaurant

"A Inn"

……

Everyone here is a guesthouse or restaurant, so why is one of your guesthouses the cheapest? It's because of the large number of tourists visiting Huashan; the guesthouse owners have all agreed to raise their prices together.

The price of a standard room has risen to five taels of silver, while the better deluxe rooms cost ten taels of silver.

This business only comes once every two years.

We must put in all our effort and make sure that: if we don't open for business for two years, we can live off it for two years once we do.

However, there is an inn where a room costs only one tael of silver. There is no distinction between upper and lower rooms; all rooms are the same price. But there is one condition: only masters of the rank of Grandmaster or above can stay there.

Ha ha!

This rule was met with unanimous contempt. A grandmaster staying in such an inn? He would have been taken up the mountain by the Huashan Sect long ago, treated to fine wine, food, and lodging.

Moreover, among the many inns at the foot of Mount Hua, this inn doesn't look luxurious at all, and its exterior decoration is simple. It's the kind of inn that you would easily overlook at first glance.

Trying to attract the attention of suckers with a big gimmick?

Haha, we're all smart people.

"Get a room!"

A room costing one tael of silver can only be opened by a grandmaster.

Therefore, Hu Yunying has the confidence to do so.

The old shopkeeper looked at Hu Yunying and said to her, "Draw your sword!"

Near the counter at the entrance of the inn, a sword is stuck in the bluestone slab, its blade embedded up to the hilt.

"Draw your sword?" Hu Yunying was bewildered. "Give it to me?"

"Only those at the Grandmaster level can draw their swords, and only those who draw their swords can stay at the inn," the old innkeeper explained.

Hu Yunying walked to the sword, bent down, and strained.

With a "whoosh," the sword was halfway drawn, but then it wouldn't budge.

The old shopkeeper sat at the counter, looked at Hu Yunying, and nodded: "Mid-stage Grandmaster, you can open a shop there."

Hu Yunying immediately turned to look at Zhang Zhengdao.

"The innkeeper said there's only one room left."

Sima Zhao's intentions...

Old shopkeeper: ...

Did I just say that?

"Then let's get a room!" Hu Yunying said decisively, then took out some silver and said to Guo Lanying, "Lanying, the inn's rules state that only Grandmasters are qualified to stay here. Or... why don't you look somewhere else?"

Guo Lanying was shocked.

Looking at Hu Yunying, I couldn't believe my ears.

Zhang Zhengdao pretended not to hear.

Hu Yunying tried her best to comfort her.

"I've told you before, cultivation, cultivation, cultivation!"

"Cultivation is so important, why are you always unwilling to work on it?"

"Always focusing on the master's little affairs... what great things can that accomplish..."

……

Guo Lanying, tears welling in her eyes, looked at the old shopkeeper and said, "I want to pull them too!"