The old horse was fortunate; he was retrieved before he could pledge his lifelong devotion to the little brown mare. Meng Jingzhou paid the fee and led the old horse and carriage away.
"No, no, no, staying in the stables doesn't cost this much," the stable hand protested, waving his hands.
"What about the fodder? Aren't you charging for that?" Meng Jingzhou asked in confusion. The old horse had finished all the premium feed brought along long ago; he had assumed the starving horse had begun eating ordinary fodder.
The stable hand shook his head. "Your horse didn't eat a single thing."
"Huh?" Baffled, Meng Jingzhou stroked the old horse's mane and asked, "Are you fasting?"
The old horse gave a snort and made no answer.
How could a horse speak?
Meng Jingzhou threatened fiercely, "If you don't answer, you're never getting fodder again!"
Man and horse stared each other down for a long while. The old horse remained silent, and Meng Jingzhou conceded defeat, having pieced a few things together.
He had wondered why running away from home had gone so smoothly in the first place. Even his younger sister had known he was running away, so the rest of the family certainly knew as well. Yet not a single person had stopped him, and none of them had worried about him running into trouble.
Ruling out the possibility that he wasn't biologically theirs, it could only mean they knew he was safe.
The answer was obvious now: the horse pulling the carriage was his greatest safeguard.
He just didn't know the old horse's cultivation level, but to protect him, it had to be quite high.
Meng Jingzhou grumbled, "Since you're so strong, why didn't you stop Eldest Senior Sister from getting into the carriage back then?"
Meng Jingzhou still remembered how he had foolishly mistaken Eldest Senior Sister for an applicant, let her board the carriage, and claimed he had obtained the exact questions for the entrance exam.
He had made an absolute fool of himself.
If only the old horse had stopped Eldest Senior Sister, none of that would have happened!
The old horse cast a sideways glance at Meng Jingzhou as if looking at an idiot.
...
Before leaving, Lu Yang went to say goodbye to Constable Wei. Constable Wei was not at all surprised by the trio's departure.
After all, what cultivator would truly run a barbecue shop for an entire lifetime? It was just for novelty's sake, and once the novelty wore off, they would naturally close up shop.
"A pity, really. I won't get to taste such delicious barbecue ever again," Constable Wei sighed. "I was counting on arresting people at your shop to help promote me to Chief Constable."
Constable Wei figured that if he caught three more demonic cultivators, he could be promoted to Chief Constable.
"Still, it's good that you're leaving. Yanjiang Commandery might not be peaceful in the near future."
"What do you mean?"
Constable Wei lowered his voice. "Don't you go telling anyone else about this."
"I know."
Constable Wei trusted Lu Yang's character. "You know about Commandery Governor Li, right? Rumors are spreading that he colluded with demonic cultivators for the sake of a promotion. Whether it was a rogue demonic cultivator or someone from a demonic cult is still uncertain, but their cultivation was definitely high, or they wouldn't have been qualified to partner with Governor Li.
"Governor Li's corpse was discovered on Mount Song. Chief Constable Fang suspects a conflict of interest broke out between the demonic cultivator and Governor Li. With Governor Li dead and the demonic cultivator still out there, it means the demonic cultivator's cultivation is even higher than Governor Li's! Governor Li was only half a step from the Nascent Soul stage—just imagine how terrifyingly high that demonic cultivator's cultivation must be!"
Lu Yang shrank his neck back. "What a vicious demonic cultivator!"
"That's why I say it's a good thing you're leaving. Yanjiang Commandery may seem peaceful on the surface, but who knows where demonic cultivators are lurking? They could be right beside you and me!"
Lu Yang nodded in profound agreement. "Indeed."
...
Man Gu said a reluctant farewell to the barbecue shop. Ultimately, the glory of the Barbecue Man family could not be carried forward in his generation.
The two chang ghosts rejoiced, celebrating that they would no longer have to grill barbecue day and night.
...
Before their departure, Tang Yunsheng saw the trio off, cautioning them that infiltrating the Dao Seeking Sect was fraught with difficulties and that caution was of the utmost importance.
Lu Yang assured him, "Rest easy, Elder. The three of us will definitely not let down the organization's heavy trust. We will surely infiltrate the Dao Seeking Sect, steal their secrets, and shine our brightest for our Immortal Cult."
In front of the carriage, the old horse unhurriedly pulled the vehicle. Though it appeared to move slowly, each stride covered an immense distance—a feat involving profoundly esoteric principles of space.
Inside the carriage, the three chatted idly about the Immortal Celestial.
"Look, the notebook even has the three of our names: Immortal Celestial Lu Yang, Immortal Celestial Meng Jingzhou, Immortal Celestial Man Gu," Lu Yang said with a chuckle. Seeing their own names in a demonic cult's notebook was truly amusing.
Almost everyone he knew could be found in the notebook; it was clear the demonic cult had put immense effort into resurrecting the Immortal Celestial.
"What do you think the Immortal Celestial is really called? Mendeleev? Socrates?"
Meng Jingzhou chuckled mischievously. "Maybe it's some humble pet name, like Goudan or Gousheng. Too embarrassed to say it out loud, so he kept it hidden and only used an honorific title in public."
"It could also be a name from our Barbarian clan," Man Gu added.
The three held not a shred of reverence for the Immortal Celestial. Tossing Tang Yuansheng's admonition to only guess once a month straight out of their minds, they threw out celestial names at whim.
"Let's rein it in a bit. What if we actually guess the Immortal Celestial's name?" Lu Yang cautioned. Whether the Immortal Celestial was friend or foe remained uncertain, and claims that he protected the human race were merely the Immortal Cult's one-sided story, hardly something to take on blind faith.
"How about this: from now on, let's call the Immortal Celestial the 'Immortal Fairy.' That way, even if we recite the right name, the Immortal Celestial won't be resurrected," Lu Yang suggested.
"Lu Yang has a point. I agree," Meng Jingzhou said, raising a hand in approval.
Man Gu felt Brother Lu was as thorough as always.
After the carriage traveled for a while, the three felt hungry. They got off by a small grove, planning to grab a bite to eat.
The grove blocked out the annoying sunlight in a serene atmosphere, with faint birdsong drifting from afar, naturally putting them at ease.
Meng Jingzhou laid down a picnic cloth, Lu Yang produced pots, bowls, ladles, pans, and talismans for lighting fires, and Man Gu summoned his chang ghosts.
The two chang ghosts had been unemployed for barely half a day before Man Gu summoned them back to pick up their old trade, skillfully getting down to grilling.
Meng Jingzhou pulled out a cookbook and a whole heap of jars and bottles, shoving them all at the two chang ghosts. "Don't make barbecue. Let's switch things up. Here, you two cook according to this cookbook."
Lu Yang and Man Gu looked at him sideways. Why on earth were you carrying a cookbook around?
The two chang ghosts had no choice but to learn from scratch, preparing to start with the simplest dish: scrambled eggs.
Slacking off in life, cramming hard in death.
None of the three had any intention of taking Fasting Pills. When you could eat delicious food, why would you ever swallow something like a Fasting Pill?
"Tang Yunsheng guessed that the Immortal Fairy was from your Barbarian clan. Does the Ancient Barbarian race have any similar legends?" Lu Yang asked.
Man Gu shook his head. "I heard from my elders that the Ancient Barbarian race fought heaven and earth and could battle immortals with sheer strength, but I've never heard of an immortal ever being born from our race."
"That ruin was truly strange, too. Since it recorded the greatness of the Immortal Fairy, why didn't they just go ahead and write down her name?"
Meng Jingzhou analyzed reasonably, "Think about it. In ancient times, everyone had awe-inspiring titles and names. Before going to battle, they would announce their identities to each other. If the Immortal Fairy came forward and said, 'This venerable one is Immortal Celestial Li Goudan'—oh wait, rather, 'Immortal Fairy Li Goudan'—she'd have lost half the psychological battle before the fight even started!"
"The Immortal Fairy would definitely want to erase such dark history!"
Lu Yang chuckled as well. "Or maybe the name was too cute and lacked intimidation, like Immortal Fairy Huang Doudou or something."
Those words—Immortal Fairy Huang Doudou—seemed to touch upon heavenly secrets. The world abruptly shifted, and an incomprehensible power swirled above the trio, coalescing into the silhouette of a figure.
The previously relaxed old horse instantly grew alert, shielding Meng Jingzhou and glaring fixatedly at the power overhead.
The three swallowed hard.
Oh no. It seemed they had stirred up something huge.
Chapter 103