Besides Master Zhixi and Shen Yu, Shen Wei and Shen Yi also followed along. One wanted to express gratitude, the other to catch up on old times. Accompanying them were Shen Yi’s son, Mo Zonghan, and Shen Wei’s daughter, Shen Qian.
It could be said that the whole group had turned out.
The Mo family’s coachman drove the carriage. Master Zhixi and Shen Yu sat on either side of the coachman, while the other four rode inside. They sped along the road that Shen Yu had taken earlier, heading out of the city.
“Almsgiver Shen, please describe in detail what happened just now to this monk,” Master Zhixi said to Shen Yu.
Although he did not know the strength of that monster, since it had subdued her in one move, Master Zhixi reckoned that Shen Ying’s magical power was not weak. He wanted to understand the situation in advance, even if only a little. After all, one must prepare for any eventuality, mustn’t one?
“Er… describe in detail…” Shen Yu could not help feeling somewhat embarrassed when he thought of his earlier eagerness towards Wang Manzhu. Did he have to mention that too?
But if he did not say it, what if the monk wanted to see the battlefield? The battlefield was in the woods behind the hill, so how would he explain that?
“Is there something troubling you, Almsgiver Shen?” Master Zhixi narrowed his eyes and asked, feigning puzzlement.
“Xiao Yu, Master Zhixi is asking you a question. Just honestly recount everything that happened earlier!” Shen Wei said gravely.
“Yes!” Shen Yu nodded with a wry face, then began from when he had brought Wang Manzhu to the Shen family ancestral graves and discovered white banners and offerings placed before the tombstones of Shen Yue and his wife.
…
“Then, Wang Manzhu wanted to say some private words to me, so I took her towards the small woods behind the hill…”
“Snort.” A snort of laughter came from Mo Zonghan inside the carriage; he could not hold it back.
“Zonghan!”
“Sorry, cousin. Please continue!”
“Ahem!” Shen Yu cleared his throat twice and carried on.
…
“I saw she was about to bite me when suddenly there was a scream. She fell backwards, then tried to run but collapsed to the ground, as if she had been restrained and could not escape,” Shen Yu said.
As for the crystalline peach blossom and the peach blossom evil that Shen Ying had deployed, they had flashed by in an instant. At the time, Shen Yu had been in a state of shock and rigidity, so he had not noticed them at all.
“So it was an old rat spirit!” Master Zhixi nodded.
“Er… how disgusting…” Mo Zonghan inside the carriage stole the scene again.
For the first time, Shen Yu found this cousin of his so annoying. Ignoring him, he continued, “Then she begged for mercy. I thanked her, and when I looked up, I saw my aunt and another man.”
“What?” Master Zhixi was stunned and quickly asked, “Another man? There was someone else?”
Shen Yu nodded. “Yes, there was another person.”
Master Zhixi felt somewhat bewildered. Such an important matter, and you only mention it now?
Shen Wei inside the carriage could not help scolding him. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I… I…” Shen Yu thought to himself that no one had asked earlier, but he could not say that. So he replied, “He did not make a move from beginning to end, so I didn’t mention him.”
Master Zhixi shook his head and said, “Continue.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Shen Yu nodded repeatedly, then recounted in detail the conversation between Lu Zheng and the two of them with the rat spirit, as well as the process of them asking whether he knew Wang Manzhu.
“Then my aunt seemed to move her hand, and the spirit died, turning into a three-foot-long large rat. Then my aunt moved her hand again, and the ground beneath the rat split open with a crack, swallowed her, and then returned to normal.”
Next came Shen Ying’s questions and his own guesses. Finally, he said, “I wanted to invite my aunt to come home with me, but when I looked up, she and that man had already disappeared. Then I hurried back home.”
After Shen Yu finished speaking, Master Zhixi fell silent in thought, silently speculating to himself. “That rat spirit could not hide her demonic aura even in broad daylight, so she was just a minor demon with fifty or seventy years of cultivation at most. Yet the female ghost subdued her instantly, meaning she had at least one hundred and fifty years of cultivation, or perhaps two hundred if we round up. If the man accompanying her is similar…”
Master Zhixi shook his head. When they met later, he would still need to speak carefully.
…
Soon, the group arrived at the ancestral graves. They saw the offerings before the tombs of Shen Yue and his wife, then looked at the other graves. Shen Yi shook her head and said to Shen Wei, “These are all Shen family ancestors. In future ancestral worship, we should be equitable. At the very least, we should offer incense and candles, and present some fruits.”
Shen Wei nodded repeatedly.
Master Zhixi glanced at the two of them. Along the way, he had noticed some awkward expressions between them and knew there was some discord. However, judging from Shen Ying saving someone, it should not have reached the point of mortal enmity.
Arriving before the graves, Master Zhixi did not touch the offerings. He simply formed a hand seal, then drew a wisp of aura from the burning incense into his hand.
Forming seals and casting a spell, he guided the aura, and it pointed towards the east.
“Phoenix Mountain!”
“Phoenix Mountain?” Shen Yi’s eyes lit up. “Has Cousin Ying gone to Phoenix Mountain for an outing?”
Thus, the group set off again, following Master Zhixi’s guidance and heading towards Phoenix Mountain.
…
Phoenix Mountain.
Today the sun shone brightly with scattered white clouds. Lu Zheng and Shen Ying climbed the mountain hand in hand, passing through Phoenix Tail Grove, Phoenix Feather Waterfall, and Phoenix Wing Gorge, until they reached a viewing pavilion halfway up the mountain and beyond.
Phoenix Perch Pavilion.
“There are quite a few visitors.”
With spring warmth and blooming flowers under a clear sky, it was the perfect season for outings to enjoy the flowers and scenery. Thus, Phoenix Mountain was crowded with visitors, streaming endlessly along the main carved mountain path.
Lu Zheng and Shen Ying waited a moment until the resting visitors in Phoenix Perch Pavilion left. They entered the pavilion and looked out. Phoenix Mountain was covered in lush green trees. The continuous mountain ranges on either side resembled a phoenix spreading its wings, and the main peak where they stood was the Phoenix Head Peak.
“I used to come to Phoenix Mountain often in the past,” Shen Ying said with a smile. “But I lacked strength and only climbed to the summit once. After that, whenever I came again, the highest I reached was a bit further up at Phoenix Beak Rock.”
“Then today, let’s climb to the summit again,” Lu Zheng said with a smile.
“Of course!” Shen Ying smiled in agreement.
That smile brought forth a hundred charms, causing several scholars who had just climbed panting to Phoenix Perch Pavilion to feel their fatigue vanish, as if they could hold their breath and continue all the way to the summit.
Then Shen Ying pulled Lu Zheng away from Phoenix Perch Pavilion and continued upwards along the mountain path.
“Further up, the path becomes increasingly difficult,” Shen Ying said as she lightly leapt over two steps made of mountain stones.
“I can see that,” Lu Zheng nodded. The higher they went, the fewer people there were. Now, with no one around, he also lightly jumped and landed beside Shen Ying.
“Over there is Phoenix Beak Rock. There are many inscriptions by previous visitors on it,” Shen Ying said as they walked. But just as they reached Phoenix Beak Rock, they stopped.
“Someone is approaching us using a qi-seeking technique,” Shen Ying said.
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow. “Could there still be extraordinary people in the Shen family?”
Thus, the two did not continue walking. They stopped in place and waited a moment until they saw Master Zhixi leading the way, followed by the Shen family members who had been blessed with the divine walking technique.
