"Young Master, Young Master, they're lining up to welcome you!"
Yu Yaoer was full of surprise.
"Uh, Taoist Jin Xu, you really are, really..."
After hearing what Yu Yaoer said, Xu Qian tried to dish out another compliment to Jin Xu, but the scene before him was too rare, and his brash mind couldn't quite catch up.
"Shut up."
The young Taoist's good mood from feeling the warmth of the human world, whoosh, gone.
This was too socially awkward.
At that moment, the pedestrians on the town streets also noticed this spectacle.
"Hey Second Auntie, look, what's with that pack of wild dogs that always steal our cured meat in our town!"
"Wow, that little Taoist in the group of three looks quite handsome!"
"They wouldn't happen to be the dogs' owners, would they?"
"Eek, we'll have to ask them to compensate us for the meat!"
"Have you lost your marbles, Third Uncle? That's an official in uniform standing there!"
The townspeople on the street were all abuzz, some with shining eyes upon seeing Jin Xu's appearance, while others mistook them for the dog owners, thinking of demanding compensation.
But due to the waist knife and the official uniform Xu Qian wore, nobody dared to come forward after all.
"Young Master, who would have thought that the big, silly lug next to you could be a bit useful at a critical moment," Yu Yaoer whispered to the young Taoist.
The conversations of the townspeople on the streets weren't far from the trio, so naturally, all their words were heard by the three.
Xu Qian had a face full of grievance.
He very much wanted to tell the girl in the golden red gauze dress beside the young Taoist that he was at the Golden Core Realm, and with such a short distance between them, even a whisper would be heard by him.
But looking at Jin Xu's rather sour face,
He dared not.
The three quickly dispersed the pack of wild dogs that had lined up to welcome them,
and hurried into an alley. After several turns, they arrived in front of a small bungalow.
Seeing that Xu Qian stopped in front of the door,
Jin Xu condensed his "Hand Palm Thunder. Full Power Version" in his right hand and asked, "Is this the place?"
Feeling the terrifying aura suddenly radiating from the young Taoist, Xu Qian, who was about to knock on the door, hastily spoke up to stop him.
"Taoist Jin Xu, please calm down! This is the residence of the person who reported the information! He said he didn't want a reward when he reported it, just asked me to take him along, saying he wanted to join me in rescuing his junior sister."
"Oh, alright."
Upon hearing this, Jin Xu dissipated the golden lightning in his right hand.
Boy, almost sent the informant packing before even starting the investigation. Xu Qian, seeing the young Taoist dissipate the golden lightning, felt the weight lift from his heart.
He quickly went up and knocked on the door.
"Knock knock knock."
The wooden door creaked open,
and out popped a person.
Seeing the figure and appearance of this person, Jin Xu finally understood why Xu Qian called him little old Taoist.
The person who came out was height-wise, still a child,
but by looks, if you said he was fifty, people would believe you.
To top it off, he was wearing a snow-white Taoist robe, making his temperament look all the more mismatched.
"This is the informant who discovered the clues, Taoist Tian Gou."
"These two are the helpers I've asked for, Taoist Jin Xu and... uh... and his companion."
Xu Qian introduced everyone to each other, though to this day he still had no idea what the identity of the beautiful woman accompanying Jin Xu really was, so he had to settle for 'companion.'
Taoist Tian Gou gave the three a Taoist salute, extremely courteous, even to the point of being somewhat abject.
"Lord Xu, it must have been hard for you. Taoist Jin Xu and his companion, you must have had a hard journey. I beg the three of you, you must save my poor junior sister. My junior sister and I grew up together since childhood, and now that I see my junior sister falling into the clutches of evil, I feel so powerless, and I, as her senior brother, feel truly..."
Towards the end of his speech, Taoist Tian Gou was on the verge of shedding tears.
...
Taoist Tian Gou had been raised in Qianyuan Temple since childhood, along with his junior sister, who was also the daughter of his master.
They were childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree.
The two were always seen together, studying and practicing their cultivation.
Everything changed, however, in the year Taoist Tian Gou turned 17.
That year, his master brought back a tall, handsome young man from somewhere.
He said that this man would be his closed-door disciple from now on, with the Taoist name Tianjiang.
Taoist Tianjiang had been in the sect for a year and although his cultivation was not yet up to par with that of Taoist Tian Gou, he always showed great respect to him.
But since the time their master went out to exorcise demons and met with a calamity, Taoist Tianjiang changed his earlier respectful attitude. Not only did his demeanor change, but his cultivation also surged, and he directly injured Tian Gou and threw him out of Qianyuan Temple.
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...
After hearing everything Tian Gou Taoist had said, Yu Yaoer asked with a curious face, "You were seventeen when your junior brother was brought back to the temple, and you said he has been a disciple for a year now, so you are only eighteen years old!!!"
Hearing what Little Fish Demon had said, Jin Xu and Xu Qian also stared carefully at Tian Gou's face that seemed to be fifty years old.
Having his face scrutinized made the boy in white Taoist robes blush slightly as he stammered, "I am indeed eighteen this year."
"Hmm, you sure grew in a bit of a hurry," Xu Qian bluntly added.
"Let's hurry to Qianyuan Temple, the later we are, the more danger your junior sister faces," Jin Xu didn't care about Tian Gou's actual age; he just wanted to unleash the "Hand Palm Thunder."
"Right, right, right, Jin Xu Taoist is making sense. Let's quicken our pace to rescue my junior sister!"
Seamlessly, the little old-looking Taoist in white was relieved from the encirclement, following Jin Xu's lead.
After Tian Gou Taoist spoke, he took the initiative to lead the way.
The group of four traversed the streets and bridges, arriving at the southeastern corner of Qian Deng Town, the location of Qianyuan Temple.
Upon reaching the main gate, they found it tightly shut, indicating they had no plans to welcome worshippers that day.
"Not very devoted, are your colleagues,"
thought Jin Xu, starting to regret not bringing Little White along. Otherwise, a sniff from him would tell if there was a scent of Transformation Fruit inside.
Turning to Xu Qian for a comment, Xu Qian indicated that his Compass could only detect the presence of demonic and evil energies when they were on full display.
It belonged to the type of Magic Artifact that required a passive discovery.
Jin Xu had no choice but to ask Yu Yaoer to use her Spiritual Sense to investigate and assess the current situation inside Qianyuan Temple.
This time, the little old-looking Taoist in white volunteered.
"Wait a moment, the three of you, let me do it."
With someone volunteering, Little Fish Demon was more than happy to relax.
Then, the three of them watched as Tian Gou Taoist lifted his snow-white Taoist robe and clambered up the steps at the temple's entrance, knocking on the vermilion doors.
"..."
The little Taoist turned his head to look at Xu Qian, as if to ask what he was up to. Xu Qian shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.
To their surprise, the temple's doors were actually knocked open.
A woman in a light yellow floral dress peeked out half of her body, exchanged a few words with the little old Taoist in white, and then with a bang, closed the doors again.
"My lord, something about this doesn't seem quite right,"
even the typically slow Yu Yaoer noticed.
The three of them were standing on the steps not far from the gate, so they heard what the woman inside had said, loud and clear.
"Big brother, stop coming to find me, I'm afraid Tianjiang will misunderstand."
Tian Gou Taoist remained frozen on the spot even after the door was ruthlessly closed.
After quite a while, he slowly turned around.
On his eighteen-year-old face were "old tears streaming freely."
"This is your lead on the Demon Sect? Where I come from, this is called being a soft touch!"
Jin Xu's blood pressure was beginning to rise as he looked at the bewildered Xu Qian, thinking to himself.
Maybe we should just explode it, considering we're already being hunted by two Great Immortal Sects, what's adding Great Xia to the list?
Hearing the little Taoist's words, Xu Qian also realized what was happening, walked up the steps, and dragged the crying Tian Gou Taoist down, unleashing a tirade of expletives on him.
But the little old Taoist in white remained deaf to Xu Qian's scolding, silently crying and muttering to himself,
"I was here first."
"I am your childhood sweetheart."
"He just happens to be a bit more handsome, that's all."
And other such incomprehensible remarks.
Seeing his reaction, the three had no further recourse but to drag him away; otherwise, even this secluded place would soon draw the townspeople's attention.
Plus, with the deceptive appearance of the little old Taoist in white, those who didn't know any better might think they were bullying an old man in broad daylight.
Xu Qian picked up Tian Gou Taoist in one go, hoisting him onto his shoulder.
Jin Xu and the others turned to leave.
They hadn't gone far when suddenly there came a thunderous shout from behind.
"Duan Ming Taoist, come out and face your death!"
Upon hearing this, the trio turned their heads and saw a monk draped in Buddhist robes, holding a Water Mill Zen Stick, with a clean-shaven head that shone brightly, swinging his Zen stick in front of Qianyuan Temple.
With a "boom,"
the vermilion door shattered into pieces.
Seeing this scene, the little old Taoist atop Xu Qian's shoulder struggled to get down and started running towards the temple, shouting as he ran,
"Junior sister, I'm coming to rescue you!"
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