Evergreen Immortal-Chapter 11: An Unexpected Delight

Under the dark night sky, moonlight shone on the front of the desolate temple.

Bang!

A loud crash echoed across the mountain, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Several figures shot out from the temple one after another.

A wave of chaos swept through the county court constables surrounding the temple. The leading man swung his blade and cut down a constable, breaking through the encirclement and fleeing down the mountain.

Han Qin and the other three disciples of Splendid Purity Sect followed closely behind in pursuit.

“After them!”

With a sharp shout from Head Constable Liu, a group of constables hurriedly drew their sabers and rushed down the mountain in chase.

Soon, calm returned to the front of the temple.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes slightly, the image of the man surrounded and escaping moments ago lingering in his mind.

"Injured a fellow disciple… stole Martial Uncle Ma’s secret technique."

The words spoken earlier by the young man, Zhou Hu, echoed in his ears.

There was something hidden in the temple!

That traitorous Splendid Purity Sect disciple had stolen a secret technique. If it were him, he certainly wouldn’t carry it on his person—hiding it in a concealed location would be the safest bet.

His gaze shifted to the ruined temple.

A ruined temple was the perfect hiding spot for a treasure, with plans to return and retrieve it once the heat died down.

Li Rui’s heart stirred. Gritting his teeth, he slipped out from the bushes.

Very quickly, he entered the ruined temple.

Desolate, dilapidated, overgrown with weeds—a wave of loneliness and decay rushed toward him. No wonder the nearby villagers said this place was haunted.

The Buddha statues were toppled.

The stone head of a bodhisattva was half-buried in dirt.

Li Rui wasn’t nervous in the slightest. He had visited this temple before back when it wasn’t yet abandoned—at that time, it was called Lingkong Temple.

Later on, rumors said the abbot ran off with the county magistrate’s sister-in-law, tainting the temple’s reputation, and that’s when it gradually fell into ruin.

Of course, most people who remembered that story were dead by now, and the tale had since turned into superstition.

Because of everything he’d seen over the years, Li Rui had long grown skeptical of tales involving spirits and ghosts.

He gave his robes a little shake.

A small cloth pouch dropped into his hand.

He untied the string and revealed a bag of white powder—ash lime, known in his previous life by its technical name: calcium oxide.

A stableman carrying a bit of lime on him was totally reasonable, right?

Li Rui grabbed a handful and scattered it on the ground.

Quickly, previously invisible footprints became increasingly clear.

“Bingo!”

Li Rui’s eyes lit up.

Study science and math well, and you’ll fear nothing wherever you go, those ancient sayings never lied!

Following the direction of the footprints, he continued scattering the lime until he arrived at a remote incense hall, not the main hall but a side building.

There were no signs of a struggle here.

Clearly, that Splendid Purity Sect disciple hadn't been fighting in the main hall the entire time, he had come to this side hall first.

Why did he come here for?

Definitely not to burn incense to the fertility goddess statue, the only real reason was to hide something!

At that moment—

Li Rui’s heart pounded wildly.

He had only intended to try his luck, but he might’ve actually struck gold!

After a bit of searching inside the side hall…

At last, he found something wrapped in oiled paper hidden inside a small hole beneath the fertility goddess statue.

Li Rui’s pupils dilated slightly.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be the secret technique the Splendid Purity Sect disciples were talking about.

Without taking a closer look, he stuffed the oil paper bundle into his robe and quickly swept away the lime on the floor with a broken tree branch, erasing all traces before leaving contentedly.

“Damn it, that bastard still got away.”

In the valley, Zhu Yue clutched his abdomen in frustration, clearly upset.

Han Qin and the others didn’t look too pleased either. Even with the use of a divine weapon talisman, Xu Hua had still managed to escape.

Just then, Li Rui emerged from the woods, leading the four Sweatblood Horsess.

Zhu Yue, surprised to see Li Rui unharmed, asked, “Old Li, where were you just now?”

Li Rui replied, “Young Master, when this old servant heard the sounds of fighting, I led the horses to a hidden spot.”

“You’re clever.”

Zhu Yue nodded. “If you hadn’t moved the horses, and they were spotted by people from the Ghost Nether Sect, we might not have even been able to keep them.”

Ghost Nether Sect?!

Li Rui’s heart jolted with fear at the mention of those words.

Had he not hidden the horses out of caution, he really could’ve been in deep trouble.

Zhou Hu also looked bitter. “That Xu Hua actually colluded with people from the Ghost Nether Sect, despicable! If not for their assistance, Junior Sister Jiang’s divine weapon talisman might’ve been able to capture him.”

Compared to Zhu Yue and Zhou Hu, Han Qin and Jiang Yan were much more composed.

Han Qin still wore a calm smile. “Let’s report this to the elders first. The Ghost Nether Sect is powerful, this isn’t something the four of us can handle alone.”

“Senior Brother Han is right.”

Zhou Hu was now completely convinced by Han Qin.

Previously, rumors in Splendid Purity Sect painted Han Qin as timid and only picking on the weak, the nickname “Han who punches only the weak and elderly” was famous, since he only accepted missions against enemies one level lower than himself.

But today, Han Qin used his Falling Blossom Sword Technique to hold Xu Hua at bay. Without him, even with the divine talisman, they wouldn’t have had a chance to use it.

“Senior Brother Han is much stronger than the rumors say.”

Even the sharp-eyed Jiang Yan now looked at Han Qin in a new light.

After cultivating evil techniques, Xu Hua’s strength had grown far beyond that of a typical martial artist. For Han Qin to match him blow for blow showed his real strength, he was among the elite of Splendid Purity Sect’s younger generation.

As the four from Splendid Purity Sect discussed calling reinforcements, Li Rui’s mind wandered to events from fifty years ago.

At that time, his former self had fled to Qinghe and sold himself to the Zhu family. The only way to escape a lowborn status was to join the Ghost Nether Sect.

Back then, it wasn’t even called the Ghost Nether Sect, but rather the Society of Equality.

Its teachings were strange.

No worship of gods or immortals, only oneself.

Using knowledge from his past life, Li Rui immediately judged: pyramid schemes ruin three generations, he'd rather sell himself into servitude than join something like the Society of Equality.

As for why the imperial court had declared it a cult and renamed it the Ghost Nether Sect…

That was because the Society of Equality had been the state religion of the previous dynasty.

But that dynasty had been dead for a thousand years.

Unless the Society’s leader was named Murong and had a beautiful cousin named Wang, it would be pure madness to think about restoring the empire.

Over time, the Ghost Nether Sect faded from the government's radar and continued operating in secret among the common folk.

So why did Li Rui still feel the sect was dangerous?

It wasn’t that they were actual demons with blue faces and fangs as rumors claimed—it was because, at some point, every member of the Ghost Nether Sect started practicing evil techniques.

“Evil” means going astray, walking the crooked path.

The righteous path was considered righteous because it was safe, steady, and tested by generations of ancestors.

The evil path might be fast, but the risks were high. Many went mad or lost control, turning into lunatics who hacked people in the streets, cultists of the Ghost Nether Sect weren’t exactly few.

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Even though mental illness in this world was still punishable by law, Li Rui wasn’t about to risk his life just to test that policy.

While he was lost in thought, Han Qin and the others had finished their discussion.

Zhu Yue turned to him and ordered, “Old Li, we’re heading back to the manor.”