Free Web NovelChapter 296: Chapter 295: Dispute in a Scenic Area
"No rush! No rush!"
Gu Zhao couldn’t help but chuckle. The reactions of these old Daoists were exactly the same as everyone else’s.
"Qianshan Prefecture is secure for now, and the Nether Fire Sect hasn’t arrived yet. A day or two won’t make a difference. Besides, I just got to Lao Mountain and haven’t had a chance to look around properly yet," Gu Zhao said, placating them.
Taoist Tai Xian laughed heartily and nodded again and again. "I’ll give you a proper tour!"
Feeling the Thunder Seed cleansing his body, the abundance of Innate Qi within, and that wisp of Magical Power he could control as easily as his own limbs, Taoist Tai Xian felt a sense of comfort spread through his entire being.
Taoist Huai Yi blew out another smoke ring. This one transformed into a four-legged beast that actually galloped a dozen or so steps through the air before slowly dissipating in the breeze.
Taoist Xu Ning suddenly felt an itch in her gums. She couldn’t help but work her jaw, and a few old teeth fell out. When the others looked, they saw new teeth were already sprouting in their place.
Taoist Xuan Yong gently placed his hand on the stone table and pressed down. When he lifted it, a shallow palm print was left behind.
As for Jingyi, she had become even more stunning. Her gentle and elegant disposition made her seem like a Celestial Palace Fairy.
Just then, another group of tourists appeared. It seemed to be a large family on an outing, arriving at the pavilions with a great deal of noise and laughter. They occupied one pavilion and the adjacent walkway, then opened their bags, took out snacks, and began to feast.
The Daoists weren’t in any rush, so they remained seated, eating fruit and sipping tea. Gu Zhao also took the opportunity to continue explaining matters related to the Daluo Palace in the Otherworld.
"The Great Ning Court... The Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits..."
"So Senior Brother Yi Hong is a veteran of the Daluo Palace? And Senior Brother Jing Fa from the Eight Immortals Palace and Senior Brother Jing Hong from Dragon Gate Cave too?"
"The Golden Dog of Bond! The Jiaomu Flood Dragon?" Taoist Huai Yi felt as if legends were coming to life. "Of the Daluo Palace’s twenty-eight Guardian Star Officials, you’ve already gathered six?" he asked in astonishment.
Of course, what excited them most was the prospect of Exorcising Demons and Evil Spirits, Eradicating Evil and Accumulating Merit, gathering Evil Qi to nourish themselves, and cultivating Daoist Techniques in pursuit of Ascension.
’Are you kidding?’ they thought. ’If we can travel to another world to cultivate, how could Ascension be impossible?’
In contrast to the visibly excited Taoist Huai Yi, Taoist Tai Xian, and even Taoist Xuan Yong, it was the women, Taoist Xu Ning and Jingyi, who remained more calm and composed.
"Calm yourselves. Where has your usual calm and unruffled demeanor gone?" Taoist Xu Ning advised. "To cultivate the Dao is to cultivate the heart. Don’t let your eyes be clouded by desire, and don’t forget why you started on this path."
"Blessed Infinite Celestial Venerable!" the three old Daoists exclaimed, bowing in unison. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister!"
Taoist Xu Ning was the eldest of the old Daoists. After activating her Innate Qi, her Cultivation was also the highest. Impressively, her state of mind was also the most serene.
Gu Zhao smiled. "It’s only natural for my seniors to be excited by such sudden good news. Besides, eradicating evil is a form of doing good, and subduing demons is also a way to cultivate one’s heart."
Taoist Xu Ning certainly wasn’t going to refute Gu Zhao, so she just nodded with a cheerful smile.
Jingyi refilled everyone’s teacups. Then, three more young women appeared, walking together from a side path of the Shangqing Palace. They sat down in the last empty pavilion and began to eat and drink leisurely.
"There’s usually no one here. Why is it so lively today?" Taoist Huai Yi said, shaking his head with a chuckle. Just then, he saw two children, about eight or nine years old, run up to him.
The two children, a boy and a girl, tilted their heads back and stared at him with great excitement. Their intense gaze left Taoist Huai Yi a little dumbfounded. "Can I help you?"
"Grandpa Daoist, can you blow another smoke ring?" the boy asked, looking at Taoist Huai Yi with anticipation. "You’re so amazing at it!"
Taoist Huai Yi smiled. He didn’t refuse, simply saying to the two children, "Secondhand smoke is bad for your health. Stand a little further back, and Grandpa will put on a show for you."
The boy pulled the girl back two steps. Taoist Huai Yi glanced at the cigarette, which was less than half-finished. He took a long, deep drag, consuming the rest of it in one go, then began to exhale rhythmically.
First, two puffs of smoke shot out like a pair of auspicious clouds. Then, another cloud of smoke curled and transformed into a galloping tiger. Though released second, it quickly overtook the clouds. Finally, an Immortal Crane emerged from Taoist Huai Yi’s mouth, and with a flap of its wings, it soared above the tiger.
After lingering for a moment, the two clouds, the tiger, and the crane all dissipated, vanishing on the wind.
"Wow!" the two children cried out, clapping their hands.
The children’s parents didn’t come closer. They couldn’t see the details from a distance, but they could tell that Taoist Huai Yi was blowing intricate smoke rings and murmured their admiration as well.
The three young women, however, who were still eating and drinking, looked over with disgust and began to voice their complaints.
"Are you allowed to smoke in the mountains? Aren’t you afraid of starting a forest fire?"
"Besides, this is a public area! I saw a no-smoking sign on the trail on the way up!"
"And he’s supposed to be a Daoist! So inconsiderate!"
The parents with the children looked displeased but didn’t say anything. Taoist Huai Yi was equally unconcerned, simply chuckling as he extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand.
’After all, the young women had a point. Smoking really was forbidden in the scenic area. He usually only smoked in his own room and was careful when outside. It was just that he’d suddenly acquired the Thunder Seed and got carried away for a moment.’
However, seeing Taoist Huai Yi put out the cigarette didn’t silence the three women.
"He’s an old man, and a Daoist at that! He has no class at all!"
"The secondhand smoke is drifting everywhere. It’s disgusting!"
"Making the air all foul and smoky. I’m going to file a complaint later!"
The young women took a few sips of water, pushed the fruit pits and empty snack wrappers from their meal into a pile on the table, and got up to leave.
"You didn’t clean up your trash!" the little girl cried, running up to them and pointing accusingly.
The little boy, already unhappy that Taoist Huai Yi had put out his cigarette, saw his sister run over and quickly followed. "Our teacher told us that when you visit a park, you have to clean up your own trash, or you’ll pollute the environment."
But the children’s words made the three women furious.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo! Get out of the way!"
"That’s what your teacher told *you*, not us!"
"The park doesn’t say we have to throw our trash in a bin. You’re really overstepping!"
The three women ignored the children. One of them even reached out and shoved aside the little boy who was blocking their path, which drew the ire of the children’s family.
"Why did you put your hands on him?"
"You don’t clean up your trash, and now you’re getting physical? How did your parents raise you?"
"And you were calling the Daoist classless? I’d say you’re the ones with no class at all!"
The three women were completely unfazed by the accusations.
"Why should we have to clean up our trash?"
"Are the park’s sanitation workers just getting paid to do nothing? Isn’t it their job to clean up trash?"
"And what does how my parents raised me have to do with old fossils like you?"
The two sides began to argue. The little girl was so scared she looked like she was about to cry, and the little boy shielded her behind him.
The three women took out their phones to record a video. But just as they unlocked the screens, their hands suddenly felt light. With a WHOOSH, their phones flew up into the sky.
"Ah!"
All three cried out in alarm. They looked up to see their phones, as if held by an invisible hand, hovering silently in mid-air.
