"Senior sister, look quickly, it's truly Uncle Xiaoyousanzi's jade token. He really is our uncle..."
Looking at the Taoist name "Xiaoyousanzi" carved on the back of the jade token in her hand, Li Zihang became excited. Xu Lingwei also did not expect that this old man dressed as a security guard was actually the Uncle Chang Wude she was looking for!
"Disciple Zhishan, greetings, Uncle Master..."
"Disciple Zihang, greetings, Uncle Master!"
Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang, a senior and junior disciple, immediately performed the traditional greeting of their Wuliang Daoist Temple and bowed to Chang Wude.
"Haha, get up," Chang Wude said.
Chang Wude was surprised that the young disciples of the Daoist temple had come down the mountain to find him. He happily asked, "Who is your master?"
"Replying to Uncle Master, our master is the Abbot, Duan Wuyu," Xu Lingwei said respectfully.
"Eldest Senior Brother!"
Chang Wude's old face was astonished. He did not expect these two young people to be disciples of his Eldest Senior Brother, Duan Wuyu. "Does that mean your master sent you down the mountain to find me and bring me back to the Daoist temple?"
"Exactly," Xu Lingwei replied, nodding.
"Alas..." Chang Wude sighed with emotion and said, "Thinking back, it's been thirty to forty years since I came down the mountain without returning to the Daoist temple. I really miss going back to visit Eldest Senior Brother and see how the Daoist temple is now."
"Replying to Uncle Master, our Daoist temple now has many young disciples like me," Li Zihang said happily.
"Oh," This surprised Chang Wude. In his memory, the Wuliang Daoist Temple was considered a lower-middle-tier sect among the Taoist sects. It had very few disciples, unlike sects like Wudang and Longhu, which had many.
"Yes. It's all thanks to Uncle Master Sima. He promoted our Wuliang Daoist Temple externally, attracting many people to study at our temple," Li Zihang said.
"Uncle Master Sima?" These words startled Chang Wude. Wan Yunting, standing beside him, raised an eyebrow.
"Is it Sima Boyong?" Chang Wude's old eyes widened as he asked.
"Yes," Li Zihang nodded.
"Hmph," Chang Wude snorted coldly. This made Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang's expressions tense, as they didn't understand why Chang Wude looked displeased upon hearing Sima Boyong's name.
"That old bastard, how dare he return to the Wuliang Daoist Temple." Chang Wude's old eyes glared. The mention of Sima Boyong made him angry.
Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang naturally didn't know about the grievances of their previous generation. They asked, "Uncle Master, do you know the whereabouts of Uncle Master Gongsun? Master sent us down the mountain to find you all and bring you back to the Daoist temple to participate in the Ancestor Worship Grand Ceremony held once every ten years!"
"Ancestor Worship Grand Ceremony, it has indeed been a long time since I participated," Chang Wude sighed with emotion, then turned to look at Wan Yunting beside him. He shrugged and smiled, "I'll tell them." Chang Wude nodded and said to the senior and junior disciples Xu Lingwei, "Your Uncle Master Gongsun passed away peacefully some days ago."
"Ah," Li Zihang exclaimed, "Uncle Master Gongsun is dead." Xu Lingwei's expression froze, and she also felt shocked.
"Yes," Chang Wude nodded, then pointed at Wan Yunting and said, "He is the only direct disciple of your Uncle Master Gongsun. All his skills have been learned by this kid."
"Ah, you are Uncle Master Gongsun's direct disciple!" Li Zihang exclaimed again, and Xu Lingwei also looked at Wan Yunting. No wonder when he helped her detoxify earlier, she felt his internal energy and techniques were somewhat familiar. It turned out to be the same sect's internal energy techniques.
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled, "Technically speaking, you should be my senior sister and senior brother." Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang exchanged glances, not expecting him to have transformed into a junior fellow disciple.
"Alright, don't stand here talking. Come in and eat," Chang Wude stood up and entered the security room, eager to drink and eat roast goose. Wan Yunting, Xu Lingwei, and Li Zihang followed. Li Zihang, seeing the roast goose on the table, was already drooling with hunger. After all, the senior and junior disciples didn't bring much money down the mountain. They had been traveling rough and hadn't had a proper meal. Especially the delicious Lingnan-style roast goose, which made Li Zihang unable to resist reaching for a goose leg. Instantly, Xu Lingwei slapped his hand, signaling that the Uncle Master hadn't started eating yet.
"Ah..." Chang Wude, having a drink of Yu Bingshao, looked pleased. Seeing Li Zihang constantly swallowing, he smiled and said, "Eat, there are no so many rules here. Come, each of you gets a goose leg..." Seeing Chang Wude pick up two goose legs for Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang, they thanked him happily, "Thank you, Uncle Master..." Although Xu Lingwei was reserved, she couldn't help but take a bite of the goose leg after not having such delicious food for a long time. Her eyes lit up; she had never tasted such roasted flavor...
"Old man, I can't control my malevolent energy," Wan Yunting said to Chang Wude while drinking. Chang Wude turned and glanced at him, then snorted, "Didn't I tell you to stop practicing Qi recently? Be careful of your malevolent energy attacking your heart and going insane." Wan Yunting glanced at Xu Lingwei sitting in front of him and smiled, "No choice. Last night we apprehended a cult member of the Heavenly Eye Cult, so circulating Qi triggered the malevolent energy in the Shimeng acupoint."
"Let me see..." Saying this, Chang Wude put down his chopsticks and grabbed Wan Yunting's wrist. He sent his Qi into Wan Yunting's body and closed his eyes to feel the gradually growing malevolent energy in his Shimeng acupoint. This made Chang Wude raise his eyebrows, "Your malevolent energy is growing. You need to find a way to refine it!"
"Refine it?" Wan Yunting asked doubtfully, "How do I practice it?" Chang Wude released his wrist and continued to pick up a piece of tripe with his chopsticks to eat. He said, "How about this, we'll go back to the Wuliang Daoist Temple with them in a few days to attend the Ancestor Worship Grand Ceremony. Then I'll ask Senior Brother to think of a way to help you refine this malevolent energy."
Li Zihang, gnawing on the goose leg with his mouth full of oil, said, "Uncle Master, when are we going back?" Chang Wude took a sip of wine and replied, "No rush. The Ancestor Worship Grand Ceremony is on the fifteenth of next month. It's only the 24th now, so it won't be too late to go back on the tenth of next month." Xu Lingwei nodded, so she and her junior disciple would stay in Huadu City and return to the Daoist temple with their Uncle Master and the others later. Wan Yunting naturally agreed to go to the Wuliang Daoist Temple with them. There was nothing he could do; as long as the malevolent energy in his body wasn't refined, it was a ticking time bomb.
It wasn't until past one o'clock in the afternoon. After having lunch with Chang Wude, Wan Yunting took Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang away from Huadu University. Since they had been drinking, they had to call a designated driver. "Where are you two living now?" Li Zihang said, "Junior Brother, we don't have a place to live right now." Wan Yunting was stunned and turned to look at him and Xu Lingwei, knowing they had been at the hospital for the past few days. "Where did you live before?" "A small inn," Li Zihang said pitifully, sighing, "There was nothing we could do. The Master's wife only gave us a small amount of travel money, and we couldn't afford to stay in hotels." Wan Yunting smiled, looking at their clothes, which, although not Daoist robes, were clearly worn for a long time. He guessed they had lived a peaceful and ordinary life in the Daoist temple. In fact, Li Zihang and Xu Lingwei were both pitiable people. One was picked up and adopted by his master down the mountain since childhood, while Xu Lingwei's parents had committed crimes and were still in prison. As for her, she was abused by her uncle and eventually ran away, wandering to the Wuliang Daoist Temple. Finally, her master saw her and took pity on her, accepting her as a female disciple and learning household management from his wife.
"How about this, you can stay at my place first. Then next month, we'll go to the Wuliang Daoist Temple together." Wan Yunting thought about it. After all, they were now his senior sister and senior brother. Seeing that they had nowhere to go and were wandering in Huadu City, it wasn't good. So he decided to take them home to stay for a while.
"Great! Senior sister, we can save money again," Li Zihang said excitedly with a laugh. This caused Xu Lingwei to cast a disgusted glance at him and say softly to Wan Yunting, "Thank you." Wan Yunting smiled and said, "Then let's get in the car and go. I'll take you home first."
"Okay..." Li Zihang excitedly got into the car and sat down. Xu Lingwei nodded and also got into the back seat. Wan Yunting sat in the passenger seat and told the designated driver to drive directly back to Shengtangding Mountain.