Stranger Danger

The Temple of Divination was a very small temple. A small, shabby, and remote temple. Yi Pin was a senior and a champion before his fall from grace, so he thought for sure that his temple would be overflowing with riches and worship. Even if it wasn’t, it should be massive and located on a flourishing street or something.

As usual, reality slapped him in the face. If the ugly scrawl on a wooden board at the entrance of the temple didn’t say “Temple of Divination”, he could walk past it a hundred times and never realize that it was the place he was searching for.

“He was actually telling the truth?” muttered Ye Qing as he examined the temple critically.

Back at the Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin, when he said that he was going to pay Temple of Divination a visit, the old Taoist had tried to reject him with all his might. One of the main excuses he gave was that the Temple of Divination was shabby and had bad fengshui. At the time, he thought that the old Taoist was desperate to keep him away from his precious home, but now he realized that he was telling the truth. The temple was anything but presentable.

So, why did Yi Pin say that his temple had bad fengshui? Why, that was because it was located on the opposite side of a coffin shop. Imagine this: a customer had just finished praying to their deity and receiving a peek into their future, and the first thing they saw after they exited the building was a coffin shop. Was the Taoist implying that they should plan their funeral in the near future? Seriously, the only way the temple’s fengshui could be worse was if it was set opposite a graveyard.

Luckily, Ye Qing didn’t mind the shabby conditions or bad fengshui. He was a fugitive looking to hide from his captors. As long as he had a roof over his head, he had no complaints to offer.

The door into the temple was shut, so Ye Qing stepped forward and rapped his knuckles on the door. He waited for a moment, but no one responded to his knocks.

Ye Qing frowned and released his demonic thought. He quickly discovered that no one was inside the temple.

I don’t see Yi Pin or Longxiang[1] anywhere. They haven’t actually run away, have they? Ye Qing thought to himself, though it was just a joke to himself. He could see that the temple was littered with daily necessities, and the food inside the kitchen looked fairly fresh. They must have bought it just a while ago. The courtyard looked pretty clean, and there were only a handful of leaves and dust piles here and there. This meant that someone had swept it recently.

All signs said that someone was living in the Temple of Divination in the past three or four days or so. It had to be Yi Pin and Li Longxiang. If they really wanted to run away, the place would have been abandoned months ago.

They’re probably out on a shopping trip or something. I’ll head inside first and wait for them to come back.

Ye Qing was about to push the door open when suddenly, he lowered his arm and turned around to face the coffin shop. An old man was standing at the entrance and examining him closely.

Time hadn’t been kind to the old man. His face was covered in wrinkles and age spots, and his figure could only be described as skin and bones. He wore a ragged sheepskin shirt and hid both his hands in his sleeves as if he was cold.

Despite this, the old man stood with a straighter back than most. He reminded Ye Qing of a sword who would rather break than bend.

Before Ye Qing could say anything, the old man broke the silence first, “Are you looking for the old Taoist?”

“Yes, I’m looking for Reverend Yi Pin.” Ye Qing nodded affirmatively before asking, “Do you know where he went, mister?”

The old man ignored him and asked another question, “Is your surname Ye?”

Ye Qing noticed that the old man had a very odd way of talking. The intonation of each word and the interval between each word spoken were exactly the same. It was almost like he was speaking to a robot.

Ye Qing squinted a little and asked, “Did Reverend Yi Pin tell you that?”

“It is you,” the old man continued in his stiff, conservative, unhurried tone. “The old Taoist asked me to give you a message.”

“He knew I was coming today?” Ye Qing frowned. The old man simply stared at him quietly.

You don’t want to answer my questions. Fine. Ye Qing ranted mentally before asking, “What is the message?”

The old man answered, “‘If I do not return in three days, come save me at Longevity Village.’”

“Longevity Village?” Ye Qing voiced his doubt. “What kind of place is Longevity Village? Why did he go there?”

A short silence later, the old man said, “I’m busy. Wen Shu will tell you everything you need to know.” Then, he turned around and went inside his coffin shop.

“Mister? Mister?!” Ye Qing hurriedly called out. I get that you don’t want to talk with me, but you should at least tell me who Wen Shu is and where to find him, don’t you think?!

Before he could give chase, he heard a youthful, lazy voice coming from inside the coffin shop. “What is it, old man? Can’t you see that I’m practicing the sword?”

“Ow! Oof! S-Stop hitting me, old man! I’m gonna get angry if you hit me one more time—argh!”

“The hell’s gotten into you? I swear I would kick your ass if you aren’t so old!”

A bunch of yelling later, a young man hugging his head ran out of the coffin shop. He looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, and he wore coarse linen clothes that were little better than rags. He cut a thin, short figure and had coarse, black skin as if he was malnourished. He carried a wooden sword on his waist.

“Ahem...”

Outside the coffin shop, the young man continued to yell at the old man when he caught Ye Qing out of the corner of his eyes. He immediately ceased his yelling, coughed, and said without a shred of shame, “I could’ve beaten that old man with a finger. The only reason I didn’t is because I’m a kind, merciful man who respects the old and cherishes the young. You believe me, right?”

Ye Qing smirked. “Sure I do. The whole world can tell me that I’m wrong, and I’ll still believe in you.”

The young man was only a Vessel Augmentor, and that old man felt like an ordinary person, so technically speaking, it wasn’t a lie. Assuming that the old man really was an ordinary person, of course.

The old man had poor vigor and terrible footing. On the surface, he really looked like an ordinary old man with one foot in the grave. However, his behavior and way of speech seemed to suggest otherwise.

“Hahaha! You’re a discerning man, friend!” The young man was delighted to hear Ye Qing’s reply. He looked like a kid trying to act like an adult as he took two steps forward and saluted Ye QIng. “My name is Wen Shu, and I’m happy to meet you, brother. I am fifteen years old, unmarried, and my dream is to become the greatest swordsman in the world.”

Ye Qing returned the salute. “Well met, Brother Wen. I am Joyless Ye, and I have no big ambitions. My only dream is to become the number one warrior in the world.”

They matched eyes for a moment before bursting into an uproarious laugh at the same time. At that moment, both men knew that they had encountered an interesting character.

A short while later, when they had both calmed down somewhat, Ye Qing asked, “So, what’s up with Reverend Yi Pin, Brother Wen? And what kind of place is this Longevity Village?”

“I’ll tell you about Longevity Village first.” Wen Shu began, “Longevity Village is a legend in Bei You. A few dozen kilometers to the west from here, it is said that a mysterious village named Longevity Village exists in Longevity Mountain. The village cannot be seen or entered via normal means unless specific conditions were met, but those who were successful would find their lifespans increased by several times that of an ordinary person’s. That is why the village came to be known as Longevity Village.”

Ye Qing’s eyes widened. “That sounds too good to be true.”

“It is too good to be true.” Wen Shu sneered. “There is no such thing as a free lunch. You cannot gain something without losing something.”

“It is true that those who entered Longevity Village would have their lifespan increased, but their friends and family will age ten times faster than a normal person. Can you imagine a boy turning into a hunchbacked old man in just a couple of years? Can you imagine a teenage girl turning wrinkly and ugly before she even got to enjoy her maiden years? It’s like they’re fueling their own lifespan with their friends and family’s.”

This is more like it, Ye Qing thought as he nodded. There was no such thing as free lunch even in his world, much less this one. “Is there no way to solve this?”

“No. If there was, I’ve never heard of it. It is said that those who entered Longevity Village do not remember how they got inside the village, what they experienced inside the village, and how they got out. How can you solve something that you know nothing about?”

Wen Shu shook his head. “There were people who committed suicide to save their friends and family from damnation, but it didn’t work. Some also tried to wait out the curse—as in they waited until all their friends and family were dead before making a new family—but their descendants still suffered from it.”

“Make no mistake, this so-called ‘blessing’ is one hundred percent a curse. The person would enjoy a long lifespan, but they can only watch their friends and family wither away like grass. They will never have someone in their life for as long as they live.”

1. I completely forgot to mention this, but did you know that Longxiang meant Dragon Elephant? ☜

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