Chapter 3 - True and False Daoist Temple.

At this moment, the world had stopped shaking, and everything returned to normal.

Li Shiwu's neck recoiled: "Ma... Master, should I go?"

Qianyuanzi, meanwhile, stood outside the temple gate, holding the half-arm-long cleaver, glaring menacingly.

As for Zhao Si, he lay supine in a pool of blood, eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.

"Shiwu, don't worry, I, your master, love you the most, and I definitely won't chop you."

"You also have an Immortal Opportunity; when the time comes, we master and disciple will ascend to immortality together, which will be a beautiful story."

Qianyuanzi coaxed him patiently, but to Li Shiwu's ears, it was like the King of Hell claiming a life, jarring and unsettling.

No, that's not right!

Li Shiwu's eyes flickered, and he suddenly realized that something seemed very wrong.

He had lived cautiously under Qianyuanzi for so many years; the man was temperamental, disregarded everything, and acted on every whim.

Only when the word 'immortal' was involved, no one could touch it.

But clearly, the Immortal Opportunity was right before them, yet he uncharacteristically held back, instead letting his disciples go forward.

What sense did this make?

"My disciple Shiwu, hurry up!" Qianyuanzi urged again.

"Yes... yes!"

Li Shiwu responded with difficulty. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of turning and fleeing; it was just that although Qianyuanzi looked old, his martial arts and blade skills were incredibly powerful.

He had personally witnessed him, alone with a single blade, defeat dozens of bandits in the desert, staining the yellow sand with blood.

"Shiwu, be careful."

Hua Erling stood behind him, head bowed very low, but still kindly reminded him.

"It's fine!"

Li Shiwu exhaled deeply and bravely stepped forward.

At this moment, he was about a hundred paces from the temple gate.

After walking about fifty paces, Li Shiwu suddenly stopped.

Previously, due to the distance and dim light, he couldn't see clearly.

But now, he saw something that shouldn't have been there.

It was a tattered, muddy Daoist robe, scattered among the weeds nearby.

Its style and material were exactly the same as the one he was wearing.

"Shiwu, does it look familiar?" Qianyuanzi squinted, speaking abruptly.

"The Daoist robes for you disciples were specially sewn by someone I found, and as for that mute tailor, your master chopped him to death with a single blade long ago."

Li Shiwu held his breath, understanding instantly. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

The Daoist robe on the ground belonged to the only disciple who escaped, Shi Erba.

Didn't this mean that he had found this Daoist temple before them?

"Alas!"

Qianyuanzi sighed, and actually made a comical gesture of wiping away tears with his sleeve.

"Shiwu, it seems the Immortal Opportunity your master has sought for so long has been snatched by that rebellious disciple."

"Go ahead and open the temple gate, and see what has become of that wicked disciple."

"If he truly succeeded, I, as his master, must congratulate him."

Li Shiwu said nothing, just stared blankly at the Daoist robe.

He remembered Shi Erba privately boasting multiple times that if he managed to escape, he would never escape alone.

Instead, he would find a way to set up a false Immortal Opportunity on their path, with various hidden weapons, traps, or poisons inside...

Given Qianyuanzi's nature, he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to rush in and then fall victim.

Thinking of this, Li Shiwu's pupils contracted.

Could it be that this wasn't the real Seed Immortal Temple?

But merely a desolate mountain temple, which Shi Erba encountered and then set up as a deadly trap to deal with Qianyuanzi!

As for the Daoist robe left outside, it was a deliberate warning to them not to get caught in the crossfire.

At the same time, Guan San and Hua Erling slowly approached, also looking at the scattered Daoist robe on the ground, heads bowed, lost in thought.

"Shiwu, why are you spacing out?" Qianyuanzi said coldly.

"Com... coming."

Li Shiwu's eyes darted around. After figuring this out, he was absolutely unwilling to be the first to open the temple gate.

He held his breath, focused, and took several large strides to stand before the temple gate.

After bowing to Qianyuanzi, he said indignantly: "That Shi Erba has shallow fortune; does he deserve this Immortal Opportunity?"

"Your disciple thinks he definitely hasn't succeeded at this moment."

"Therefore, I ask Master to take up the blade and personally purge the sect."

Hearing this, Qianyuanzi smiled meaningfully.

"Shiwu, you are truly filial. In that case, I leave the task of purging the sect to you."

Li Shiwu's cheek twitched, and he stammered: "Ma... Master, I think it's more appropriate for you to do this."

"It's fine, it's the same if you, the disciple, take action."

"No, no, it's better if Master does it personally." Li Shiwu vehemently refused.

Qianyuanzi fell silent, just staring with his mismatched eyes, continuously scrutinizing the three of them, his gaze sharp as a knife, chilling to the bone.

Suddenly, he said in a low voice: "This Daoist temple before us is a false Immortal Opportunity set up by that rebellious disciple, trying to lure me, the old Daoist, into a trap, isn't it?" Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"Heh heh, the reason he threw his Daoist robe outside was precisely to warn you not to follow him in."

"You little brats, trying to trick me, your cultivation is probably not enough."

In an instant, Li Shiwu's heart seemed to stop, his face filled with uncontrollable astonishment.

How did this old man know?

How could he?

At the same time, he clearly knew that simply by repeatedly urging the other party to enter the temple, he probably wouldn't live past tonight.

Qianyuanzi's gaze was like a hook, baring his yellow teeth, as if he was about to devour someone: "Shiwu, you truly are a filial disciple."

"Knowing it's a death trap inside, you still kept egging your master on."

"Now, whether you want to or not, you're going in for me."

Listening to the death-calling words in his ear, Li Shiwu turned around with difficulty, his gaze fixed on Hua Erling.

"Was it you who informed?"

The other party shared a bed with Qianyuanzi every night; the only possibility was that he had spilled the beans.

"No... I didn't betray you." Hua Erling, seeing this, quickly waved his hands and shook his head, equally panicked.

But standing beside him, the seemingly honest and tall Guan San suddenly smiled, a harmless, innocent smile on his face.

He said in a booming voice: "Heh heh, Shiwu, I told Master about this beforehand, didn't you expect that?"

"Master said he likes obedient disciples, so I'm the most obedient. I tell him about your every move."

"Including several times when fellow disciples tried to escape, it was I who called Master, and that's why Coffin Master bit off their heads."

Before the temple gate, Li Shiwu's knuckles cracked in his palms. He never expected the problem to come from the seemingly most harmless Guan San.

But then Guan San continued: "Hey, don't blame me."

"Shiwu can tell immortal stories to please Master, Hua Erling can warm the bed, and even Hou Qi is very sweet-tongued."

"But I can only eat, and I have no special skills."

"But I also want to live, so I can only listen to Master and tell him your every move; this is my only use."

Qianyuanzi, standing by, simply stared at Li Shiwu as if he were already dead: "Enough with the nonsense, enter the temple."

"I want to see what tricks that rebellious disciple has prepared for me."

Facing Qianyuanzi's man-eating gaze, Li Shiwu took a deep breath.

At this point, he had no choice.

"Creak..."

As he pushed with both hands, with a sound, the temple gate opened.

However, there were no imagined mechanisms or traps; only a shallow room.

And the overwhelming, suffocating smell of blood. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"This... this..." Li Shiwu showed an expression of disbelief.

Because in the center of the room, on the ground, lay a red candle about to burn out.

Under the dim candlelight.

There was a horrifying figure fallen to the side, completely naked, half of its human skin flayed off, revealing crimson flesh.

And he was none other than Shi Erba.