Chapter 20 - Ji Mo.

The rain grew denser.

Li Shiwu lowered his head, looking at the still faintly beating, blood-soaked heart in the mud.

He said in a deep voice, "You all leave."

"Oh... oh..." The sword-wielding youth's eyes showed terror, and he fled in a panic.

"Master, you leave too."

Seeing no response, Li Shiwu looked up.

He saw that the old monk in yellow robes had already fled several miles away, his monk's staff discarded, his monastic robe lifted to reveal two hairy legs, looking utterly ridiculous.

"Heh, it has to be the Master."

Li Shiwu took a deep breath, his gaze dark, like a deep pool.

"Friend, what should I call you?"

At this moment, the Monkey Aspect man was pressed against his back, very close, less than half a step away.

He replied with a smile, "Ji Mo."

"Heh heh, if you're lonely, go to a brothel, why cling to me?"

Hearing this, Ji Mo just tilted his head forward slightly, his lips close to Li Shiwu's ear.

He whispered, "Of course, it's to annoy you to death."

It was then.

Town guard Liu Shaohu, wearing a straw cape, hurried through the rain.

He chuckled, "Esteemed immortals, I've prepared a celebratory feast and am waiting for you."

"Also, a singer came from outside today, her figure is so supple, as if water could be squeezed from her."

When he got closer, he took a good look.

His expression was extremely awkward.

He saw Ji Mo pressed against Li Shiwu's back; their stance and posture indeed invited wild speculation.

"Li... Daoist Li, I didn't know you had such a preference!"

"Co... carry on!"

After speaking, he turned and ran off frantically.

Watching the person leave.

Li Shiwu's gaze sharpened: "Monkey Aspect, Unreasonable Monkey, right?"

"Today, I'm going to see what you're up to!"

With that, he strode forward.

A short while later. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

Li Shiwu arrived at a small tavern facing the street.

About seven or eight men, and three to five old men, were warming wine and telling lewd jokes, emboldened by the alcohol.

Upon seeing the two arrive, they all couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of wine, then looked on with strange eyes.

"Innkeeper, a pot of wine."

Li Shiwu called out, then, as if no one else was there, went to a window seat, pulled out a long bench, and sat down.

Behind him, Ji Mo spread his legs and sat down, also pressed against him, so from a bystander's perspective, it looked as if two grown men were embracing.

"Dao... Daoist Master, your wine."

The waiter put down a pot of aged brew, filled the wine glass, and then left sullenly.

Li Shiwu, without glancing sideways, drank from the wine glass as if no one was around.

Just then.

"Cough... spit!"

Ji Mo poked his head out from behind, and viscous saliva, like egg white, was spat precisely into the cup.

"What do you mean by this?" Li Shiwu's brows furrowed, clearly on the verge of exploding, yet he couldn't do anything about the fellow behind him.

"Just playing." Ji Mo still had that playful, casual tone.

Li Shiwu forced himself to endure, took another clean glass, and had just poured the wine.

"Cough... spit!"

"Heh, just playing!"

In the tavern.

Other patrons, seeing this scene, all covered their eyes, as if unable to bear watching.

They kept muttering, "Tsk, this old Daoist, he really plays it fancy."

Listening to the vulgar chatter in his ears, Li Shiwu slightly closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing.

He said, "Great Yao National Religion, Ten Forms Gate."

"Monkey Aspect, Unreasonable Monkey."

"You cultivate the national religion's Daoist lineage, and this is how you deal with people?"

Hearing this, Ji Mo still looked unconcerned.

He merely said, "You're just a mortal, what do you know?"

"The so-called Unreasonable Monkey acts unreasonably and makes unreasonable demands."

"Ancient texts of the Ten Forms Gate record that an ancestor of my Monkey Aspect lineage, before achieving immortality, literally clung to an immortal until they died."

Li Shiwu's heart stirred: "Clung an immortal to death, how did they do it?"

Ji Mo smiled and said, "My ancestor couldn't defeat that immortal." Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"Fortunately, my Monkey Aspect lineage's inheritance is sufficiently bizarre; he used Daoist magic to cling to that immortal."

"Just like now, how I'm clinging to you."

"Even though that immortal possessed vast divine powers, they simply couldn't do anything about my ancestor, nor could they get rid of him by any means."

Ji Mo cleared his throat, casually picked up the wine pot from the table, and poured it over Li Shiwu's head.

Then he said, "And what happened next, that's where it gets interesting."

"That immortal was literally clung to by my ancestor for two hundred thousand years, a full two hundred thousand years."

"Whether meditating, traveling, refining pills, or even seeking pleasure with a Daoist companion, my ancestor followed them step by step, either causing trouble nearby or pointing fingers..."

Hearing these words, Li Shiwu felt a chill shoot from his back straight to his crown.

He had only been clung to by Ji Mo for a short while and was already close to unbearable.

He truly couldn't imagine how that immortal endured being clung to for two hundred thousand years.

"You Monkey Aspect people are simply a bunch of persistent nuisances," he couldn't help but slam the table and shout.

Seeing his anger.

Ji Mo again leaned close to his ear and whispered, "That's right, we are a bunch of persistent nuisances."

"Not just you say that, the entire Great Yao says that."

"Once we cling to you, unless you can find a powerful senior to kill us, otherwise, prepare to be clung to until you die."

"Heh, clinging a person to death, that's the greatest pursuit and joy of our Monkey Aspect lineage in this lifetime."

In this modest tavern, another guest arrived.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man wearing a Daoist crown, with a fierce appearance and an intimidating aura.

However, a jaw-dropping scene unfolded.

Behind the middle-aged man, another figure was tightly pressed, less than half a step away, like a persistent nuisance.

When they stepped into the shop, they also paused for a moment.

The fierce middle-aged man asked, "That old Daoist, you don't seem to be a cultivator, how did you get clung to by this Monkey Aspect bastard?"

"By the way, how long have you been clung to by him?"

Li Shiwu thought for a moment, cupped his hands, and said, "I was only clung to today."

Upon hearing this, the fierce middle-aged man's temples throbbed.

"Heh, it's only been one day."

"But I've been clung to by this bastard behind me for a full sixty-year cycle, sixty years!"

Tears streamed from the middle-aged man's eyes, as if he had found someone to confide in.

"Do you know how I spent these sixty years? It's beyond description, utterly beyond description!"

"This son of a bitch, even when I'm taking a shit or going to a brothel, he has to follow me every step of the way, and he even says I have weak kidneys, and that the courtesan looks like his deceased great-grandmother..." Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

On the other side.

The Monkey Aspect man behind the middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Young man, the target you chose isn't very interesting, just annoy him to death quickly."

Ji Mo spread his hands: "Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I'll play slowly."

Li Shiwu then looked at the fierce middle-aged man: "Senior, are these Monkey Aspect cultivators truly so lawless?"

The middle-aged man, hearing this, let out a long howl to the sky.

"This Ten Forms Gate is the Great Yao's national religion!"

"And there are countless brats cultivating the Monkey Aspect in their sect; kill one, and you'll provoke a whole bunch, so who dares to provoke them?"