Chapter 4 Hope
Arriving in the hall.
When Li Xiangyun once again saw Zhang Song's eerie old face, he couldn't help but take a step back in fright.
"Little fellow, you seem to be quite afraid of this old man?"
"No, not at all."
"Hehe, rest assured, this old man is an immortal, I won't harm you." Zhang Song revealed a slight smile, stepping forward and speaking in a gentle tone: "Come, eat this pill. If you can endure it, you can begin cultivation."
"Really?" Upon hearing that he could cultivate, Li Xiangyun immediately showed a moved expression.
"Of course, this old man never deceives children." Zhang Song handed the pill over.
Li Xiangyun stared at the pill for a moment, extended his small hand to take it, hesitated briefly, then tossed it into his mouth.
Ah!
Instantly, Li Xiangyun's face contorted. With a thump, he collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing violently as if having an epileptic fit. After just a dozen breaths, his legs kicked out once, and he fell completely still.
"Master." Fan Zhengping watched this scene, wanting to speak but holding back.
Zhang Song's expression turned unpleasant. "Enough! Dispose of him. Your teacher needs to go down the mountain to continue searching for spirit herbs. Guard the temple well until I return. If anything goes wrong, I'll hold you accountable."
"Yes, Master."
Zhang Song flicked his sleeves, turned around, and went back to his room to pack. Moments later, he came out with a bundle on his back, staring at Fan Zhengping. "Zhengping, I know you have a kind heart. But you must remember, you are a cultivator. A kind heart will not accomplish great things. When your teacher returns next time, I hope you have already changed somewhat..."
"Yes, Master."
After Zhang Song left, Fan Zhengping sighed again, picked up Li Xiangyun's corpse, and carried it out of the main hall.
To the left of the courtyard was a small door. Fan Zhengping pushed it open, revealing a large pit several zhang in circumference ahead. The pit reeked of a foul stench, swarming with flies like clouds, countless corpses piled inside.
Some corpses were just beginning to rot, others had already turned into skeletons.
Fan Zhengping only glanced before tossing Li Xiangyun down. The once lively and cute child instantly became the object of contention for flies and ants.
Time flowed, and seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
"Mud Monkey, Fatty said that Xiangyun hasn't made any sound for many days, as if he's not in the room at all."
In room number one, Lu Li leaned against the partition wall. Through a hole slightly larger than a fist in the adjacent wall, the worried voice of Qin Shouren from next door came through.
Over these past few days, the few of them had transformed from initial panic to numbness.
All three had forcefully punched a small hole through the adjacent room walls with their fists. Chen Zhong's room was next to Li Xiangyun's. No matter how Chen Zhong called out to Li Xiangyun these days, the other never responded.
"I know." Lu Li responded calmly, but offered no further words.
Apart from the brick-built partition walls between rooms, the surrounding walls of this room were all large stone blocks, impossible to budge. He truly couldn't think of any way to escape.
"Will we... die?" Qin Shouren's voice trembled slightly.
"I don't know." Lu Li didn't know how to comfort him. If he guessed correctly, Li Xiangyun had likely already met with an accident, and it wouldn't be long before it was their turn.
By the dim light, Lu Li raised his left hand, staring at the small pagoda pattern in his palm, murmuring, "What exactly are you?"
Upon closer inspection, he suddenly noticed characters on this small pagoda. Besides the four characters on the Three Treasures Glazed Pagoda base, from bottom to top, the three layers were carved with the characters 'Realm', 'Void', and 'Time'.
"Three Treasures Glazed Pagoda?" Lu Li blurted out, wondering if this wasn't a ghost but some kind of treasure?
Creak...
Just as Lu Li prepared to examine it more closely, the door was pushed open. A young Taoist priest around seventeen or eighteen stood at the doorway, glanced at Lu Li on the ground, and said, "Master isn't here. Come out to get some air."
It was Fan Zhengping.
They could go out?
The long-missed fresh air rushed into the room. Lu Li sprang up, rushed out in two or three steps, and took deep breaths of the outside air.
Before long, Qin Shouren and Chen Zhong also ran out.
"I'll kill you!" Suddenly, Chen Zhong charged toward Fan Zhengping, swinging his fists.
Fan Zhengping frowned slightly. Just as the other reached him, he suddenly raised his foot and kicked, bang, striking Chen Zhong in the chest, directly sending him flying backward to crash heavily against the wall behind.
Chen Zhong spat out a mouthful of blood with a retching sound.
Lu Li and Qin Shouren's expressions changed. They hurried over to help Chen Zhong up.
Fan Zhengping shook his head, looking at them. "Letting you out already violates Master's instructions. If you don't appreciate it, I'll have to lock you back up."
"Where's Xiangyun? What have you done with Xiangyun!" Chen Zhong still struggled to charge forward, roaring hoarsely.
"If you're talking about that child, I can tell you, he's already dead."
"What!"
Hearing this news, Qin Shouren and Lu Li were both stunned. Although both had already suspected it, hearing confirmation was still hard to accept.
Qin Shouren clenched his fists until they cracked. Just as he was about to charge forward, Lu Li stopped him, shaking his head: "Go back."
Qin Shouren showed unwillingness, directly storming back into the room and slamming the door shut with a clang.
Chen Zhong gave Lu Li a heavy look, unable to conceal his disappointment, similarly turning and going back to his room.
"You're smart. Although I'm only Qi Refining first layer, I'm not someone you ordinary mortal kids can deal with." Fan Zhengping gave an appreciative glance at this thin, dark youth who was a head shorter than him, then turned and walked toward a stone chair in the center of the courtyard, saying as he walked, "Let's talk."
Lu Li took a deep breath and slowly followed.
After sitting down on the stone chair, Fan Zhengping patted beside him: "Sit."
Lu Li hesitated, then sat down, not speaking.
Seeing Lu Li silent, Fan Zhengping spoke on his own: "Actually, I was once like you, captured for pill testing. But I was lucky. He suddenly had a whim and gave me an Awakening Spirit Pill, and I happened to have five spiritual roots. So, he took me as a disciple, having me assist him. Over these years, he's taught me many skills. I'm grateful to him, but I don't want him to keep killing people, so... I'm conflicted."
Hearing this, Lu Li looked at Fan Zhengping in surprise, not expecting that he too had been captured. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but plead: "Immortal, if that's the case, could you secretly let us leave?"
Fan Zhengping shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to let you leave, but I can't. Not to mention Master has treated me well, if I let you leave, I probably won't survive once he returns."
"What about leaving together?"
Fan Zhengping gave Lu Li a strange look. "Why should I leave? Master is testing a kind of pill. If the test succeeds, my cultivation will surely advance by leaps and bounds... Perhaps Master is right. Mortals should take pride in becoming stepping stones for us cultivators."
Ultimately, it's just selfishness at play. So-called benevolence only exists when it doesn't touch one's own interests.
From these few words, Lu Li already understood the other's meaning. So-called immortals weren't as desireless and wantless as he imagined. Their greed might even be heavier than mortals'.
Hearing this, Lu Li also fell silent.
After a moment of silence, Fan Zhengping spoke again: "Although I can't let you leave, I can give you a hope......"