Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

When he saw two white figures fly by, Master Li's first thought was that they were ghosts. After all, it was late at night, and a white, seemingly glowing humanoid object could only be a ghost.

But when he followed and looked closely, he dismissed the idea, because ghosts don't float around up and down; the white figure in the distance looked more like someone using the surrounding trees to jump up and down, which is what people commonly refer to as light-footed kung fu.

But if someone is using lightness skill to travel... that lightness skill is a bit too amazing. Master Li has to travel around and fight demons, so he naturally knows martial arts. It is precisely because he knows it that he knows that the kind of lightness skill in street stories, where one can go to heaven and earth with just one pair of legs, basically does not exist.

It's easy to ascend to heaven or descend to earth; just learn some techniques to control the wind and fly. Those who attain enlightenment can ride the clouds and travel a thousand miles a day with ease. There's a technique called "shrinking the earth into an inch."

However, without any magic, relying solely on one's legs to perform these actions using the internal energy described in stories but which few people in reality can actually perceive is basically a pipe dream, let alone being able to move freely in mid-air like those two white figures.

Moreover, who else would go out into the wilderness so late at night, except for someone with a special profession like him? The only light source in this place is the moon in the sky, and it's pitch black in the woods. Jumping back and forth in the trees in this environment could easily lead to a misstep and a fall.

Master Li's conjecture was based on his own situation and the judgments of other extraordinary people he had come into contact with. However, he did not include the innate people he had met a few times before in this standard.

"All I encountered were things unrelated to my major. I'm just here for tourism and sightseeing."

As Ren Pingsheng stepped over the bamboo branches, he uttered this exclamation in mid-air. The white figure that flew through the air using light-body skills was actually Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao.

Because they received so little information from the villagers, they could only wait patiently until nightfall. They then smoothly saw the human head the villagers had described, watching it roll away into the distance and disappear quickly.

After making sure there were no other dangers in the village, the two chased after the figure and saw a blurry figure walking forward in a very awkward way, looking a bit like a zombie.

Ghosts, mountain gods, fox spirits, zombies, cultivators, and underworld officials—this place is truly a gathering of heroes. If it weren't for the fact that some species there are harmful to the living, Ren Pingsheng would think this mountain would be perfect for tourism development. It has all kinds of species; they might as well build a zoo.

Having wandered around outside for so long, this was the first time they had ever seen a zombie. Jian Feidao had developed the habit of opening his eyes whenever he saw something inhuman. As a result, when he took a look, he found that this zombie was very strange. It was not a simple zombie, but also had the resentment of evil spirits on its body.

They encountered a Frankenstein's monster right away, and of course, they couldn't let it get away. They went up to grab it, but the thing was very sensitive and ran away.

It would have been better if they hadn't run, but once they started running, they realized something was wrong. As soon as the zombie lifted its leg to run, its head started to fall off, and its body ran away on its own.

They'd seen people lose equipment while running away, but this was the first time they'd ever seen someone lose their head. They first looked at the head on the ground and realized it was the same head that had appeared in the village earlier.

It was disheveled, its eyes were open, and its mouth was wide open, as if it wanted to speak, but no sound could be made. It had to chase the headless body, and it couldn't ignore the human head in front of it, but this thing was not only dirty, but its appearance was also strangely creepy.

Carrying this thing while chasing after them makes me feel like they're not the good guys. Combined with the atmosphere tonight, it strangely feels like a dark and stormy night for murder.

But we couldn't just ignore it, so in the end we wrapped it in a cloth and carried it with us to find that strange zombie.

It was another decapitated zombie. Based on the stories they had heard before, the zombie was very likely the White Lotus Sect leader who had been executed. Given the high caliber of the various sorcerers within this sect, they had reason to suspect that the leader had done something else before being beheaded.

For example, using special means to evade the ghosts after death and continue to roam free.

Because the fact that the zombie turned around while running was quite eye-catching, Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao both stopped to observe the head on the ground. The zombie that turned its head away took the opportunity to run away and disappeared. Now they could only search for it little by little.

When they saw the other person's head fall off, they thought the other person would stop or run back to pick it up. Taking the decapitated ghost they had seen before as an example, without a head to command, the body seemed to become difficult to control.

But this one is clearly different. The head and body each do their own thing. Even if the head falls to the ground and rolls more than ten meters away, the body can still keep running forward and is agile.

The target had long since disappeared. To find the zombie again, they had to search back and forth. The two chose to occupy a high place first, using their lightness skill to look down from above, which would be easier. This was the place where Master Li had initially seen the two white figures in the distance.

Dressed in white with long hair, their clothes and sleeves were also long. From a distance, they looked like two ghostly figures flying around, glowing white. They knew very well what it would be like to travel at night, so they always traveled during the day.

"That zombie... might not even be a zombie."

Jian Feidao's eyes glowed eerily in the darkness as he scanned the area below. Although the creature appeared to be a zombie, the intense resentment emanating from it made it seem as if it were possessed by a demon, making it a true "Frankenstein's monster."

Although they hadn't read the original story of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio carefully, they knew that this situation was definitely not the norm in this world. Did the White Lotus Sect really have such great abilities?

"Any clues?"

"No."

Ren Pingsheng, carrying the package containing the human head, inquired about its contents. As a part of the same body, and seemingly possessing some self-awareness, he thought the head could be used as a clue. However, after carrying it around for so long, the head still didn't respond at all.

The grove of trees was nestled between the town and several villages. It wasn't very big to begin with, and the innate human's lightness skill made them incredibly fast. The two of them had already circled around it once and hadn't seen any more headless zombies.

That's strange. This thing has a physical form, yet it can disappear into thin air like a ghost.

"Traveler, do you think it's possible..."

Jian Feidao frowned. If he couldn't find this place, he had two other options: either sneak into the city or run to the surrounding villages.

Both of these situations are very difficult and could potentially implicate innocent people.

"...Finally caught up."

Master Li watched as two white figures appeared to be near and far in the distance. As they drew closer, he noticed that both figures had flowing robes and long sleeves, and their clothes and hair moved with the wind. This proved that they were two living people. However, the figures in front were moving too fast, and it took Master Li a lot of effort to catch up with them.

Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao both knew that someone was chasing them, but compared to the person behind them, the thing they were looking for that looked like a zombie and a ghost was more important.

The one behind, though also far faster than a normal person, was a righteous cultivator. He probably sensed something was wrong and came to catch the demon. Since they were on the same page, they didn't interfere.

Now that the two in front have stopped, Master Li has finally caught up. Looking at the two people in front of him with white hair and white clothes, complicated attire, and good looks, certain memories inevitably surfaced in his mind, and he uttered a word.

"innate?"

Upon hearing this, Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao, who were still pondering how to find the person, turned their heads at the same time, startling the person who had spoken.

Because they were thinking about some bad scenarios, both of them had serious expressions. Jian Feidao's eyes were still shining. In the quiet of the night, anyone who was stared at like that would feel a sense of oppression.

However, their expressions quickly softened. Jian Feidao's eyes stopped shining, and they both suppressed their auras, the oppressive feeling disappeared, and Master Li also relaxed.

"You know us?"

"I don't know him, but I do know Jianzi Xianji."

Recalling the person he had met because of a painted skin, and looking at the two in front of him, Master Li's expression froze for a moment. He felt as if he knew the so-called innate standard of Taoism: complicated white robes and exceptionally beautiful white hair, right?

Liu Qingyuan: No, it's just a coincidence. Don't believe or spread rumors.

“I once met a scholar who was entangled by a painted skin demon. While helping him get rid of the demon, I met a white-haired Daoist named Jianzi Xianji. From him, I learned some things about the innate beings.”

After leaving, Master Li continued his wanderings to exorcise demons. He heard rumors about immortals descending to earth and remembered what the Sword Immortal had said about inviting his fellow disciples to travel in this world.

However, he was not very familiar with the group of "innate people". He went to them to ask if they were innate people based on a few ambiguous rumors. Such abrupt behavior was not in Master Li's style. He also had his own travel plans and then did not care anymore.

Unexpectedly, tonight, he was only invited by the young master of the Chu family to find the headless monster whose existence was unknown, and he encountered two innate people he had never seen before.

"So you're a friend of Senior Swordsman."

Upon hearing the name Jian Zi Xian Ji, Jian Fei Dao's face showed a knowing expression. In this pitch-black forest, Master Li usually couldn't see other people's expressions, but the two in front of him were very strange. Without any special lighting, he could see Ren Ping Sheng and Jian Fei Dao's appearances clearly.

Looking back now, it seems that when they were trying to catch the painted skin, the person in question also saw it clearly at night; it was truly "glowing white." Master Li didn't try to avoid pursuing this matter, since he knew that no amount of research would reveal anything anyway.

"I never imagined that Jianzi Xianji, who has friends all over the world, could achieve such a feat here. When this Taoist priest came here, did he see a headless zombie?"

When Master Li chased after them, it seemed that he initially came from the direction of the town. Judging from the soaring resentment, it would have been difficult for the local Taoist priests, who were skilled in the art, not to notice. If Master Li did not see them, it would rule out the possibility that they had run to the town.

"Zombies? No."

Why are zombies involved again? This place is so eerie.

"I have been traveling here and the Chu family is the most powerful clan here. Today, when the young master of the Chu family went out for a stroll, he saw a head roll past him. I was entrusted by him to come here to investigate the matter of the head."

"A head... here it is."

Ren Pingsheng raised his arm and lifted the cloth bundle in his hand. Master Li couldn't understand what he was doing. When he saw the simple bundle, he sensed that there was a faint evil aura coming out of it. It didn't look like a good thing, so he couldn't help but ask.

"what is this?"

"Head, open it and see if it's what you're looking for."

"?!"

"cough."

Noticing that Master Li's expression was starting to contort, Jian Feidao quickly stepped forward to explain.

"We came here today and found a headless corpse hanging on a woodcutter's carrying pole. It disappeared quickly. People from the same village also saw a head fall from the sky today and disappear quickly as well. The traveler and I plan to investigate tonight."

"Then we not only saw a human head, but also something that looked like a zombie and a demon. The guy ran away and his head fell off halfway down. It was right there in there."

As he spoke, Ren Pingsheng handed the bundle covering the head to Master Li. After all, this was the Taoist priest who was truly professional and could find another target based on the head.

Ren Pingsheng is not from the Taoist lineage; Jian Feidao focuses more on physical attacks, and currently they have no way to deal with his head.

"..."

Master Li instinctively took the package, and by the time he realized what he had done, the package was already in his hands, and the other person seemed very unwilling to take it anymore.

Come to think of it, this package doesn't contain any rare or precious treasures, but rather a bizarre dead man's head, and one that has been dead for an unknown period of time and has become zombie-like. Who would want to carry around such an unlucky thing?

“Since that thing didn’t run into the city, it must have gone to the surrounding villages. There’s nothing in the villages that can stop it. Since you’ve come here for this matter, you can keep this head and do whatever you want with it. Jian Feidao and I will continue to look for that zombie.”

They were just hoping that Master Li would work on the head, perhaps finding some clues or even luring the zombie back.

"By the way, I heard from the villagers that this might be a cult leader who led a rebellion hundreds of years ago. He might not be completely dead and is causing trouble now. Taoist priest, please be careful. We're leaving."

After saying this, Ren Pingsheng patted Master Li on the shoulder, expressing his trust in his abilities, and then leaped up, transforming into a white shadow that darted through the forest.

Seeing Ren Pingsheng leave, Jian Feidao also bowed to Master Li, then kicked off the ground and transformed into a white shadow, disappearing after flashing a few times in mid-air.

This time, Master Li finally understood how the two used their lightness skills to move through the forest, which made him doubt once again the claim that innate people were merely cultivating and had not yet become immortals.

The two men were gone, leaving only Master Li and the package containing the human head in the silent woods. He wanted to give chase, but they were moving too fast. He had already expended a lot of energy to catch up, and he wouldn't be able to catch up if he did.

Looking at the moon in the sky, at the surrounding darkness and silence, and at the spot where the two white figures disappeared, and then at the package in his hand, Master Li felt he should say something, but in this situation, he didn't know what to say. He wanted to complain, but it seemed he had nothing to say. He was stuck in this awkward situation.

"That's all..."

Master Li hesitated for a long time, wanting to speak but then stopping, before finally uttering only a sigh.