Chapter 33: Rainy night, abandoned temple, old man and young girl!

Half a month later.

“Boom!”

A clap of thunder echoed over the dry land.

“Looks like it’s going to rain.”

Riding on a spirit horse, Lu Changsheng looked at the thickly clouded sky and spoke.

“It’s getting late, and there happens to be a temple up ahead. Let’s rest there for the night.”

Li Feiyu looked at the darkening sky and suggested.

“In the wilderness, an abandoned temple, heavy rain… Could we have an accident?”

Lu Changsheng couldn’t help but mutter to himself when he saw the abandoned temple in front of him.

However, this kind of weather wasn’t suitable for spending the night outside.

The two of them rushed on their spirit horses and arrived at the ancient temple.

The temple was in a state of disrepair, with weeds growing everywhere, dust covering the interior, and spider webs hanging from the ceiling.

Lu Changsheng used a cleaning talisman to tidy up a bit, then gathered some firewood and started a fire.

Then he took some raw meat out of his storage bag and began to feed the Nine Netherworld Hounds.

“This little guy sure can eat.”

Li Feiyu commented as he watched the Nine Netherworld Hounds devour the meat.

“Yeah, I wonder how it manages to fit everything in its stomach.”

Lu Changsheng replied.

Although the Nine Netherworld Hound was still young, he had a huge appetite and could easily consume five or six catties of raw meat in one meal.

Ordinary raw meat was no problem, and even a hundred catties a day would be affordable.

However, Lu Changsheng felt that if he wanted the Nine Netherworld Hound to grow faster, he would probably have to feed him demonic beast meat.

If you feed a demon beast meat, it will be expensive. 

For example, the demonic beast meat sold by the Lu family, even the cheapest one, costs one Spirit Stone for five or six catties.

Therefore, Lu Changsheng felt that if he wanted to raise the Nine Netherworld Hound to the fourth rank, it would probably cost him a lot of money and resources.

The Nine Netherworld Hound was still a puppy. As long as he was fed, he would sleep. Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu also began to meditate and rest.

As night fell, it began to rain outside.

It was at that moment.

Suddenly, they heard hurried footsteps outside.

Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu, who had been meditating, both opened their eyes.

The temple gate creaked, and an old man and a young girl entered.

The old man was thin, dressed in a black robe, with a gray bundle on his back.

When he saw Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu inside the temple, his eyes narrowed slightly, then he clasped his hands and said, “This old man and my granddaughter came here to take shelter from the rain. We’ve disturbed you two young brothers.”

“‘This temple isn’t ours either. Please make yourselves at home.’ 

Lu Changsheng said to the old man, then looked at the young girl beside him.

The girl looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old.

She was wearing a long pink smoke-colored skirt. Her appearance wasn’t stunning, but she was very beautiful, with fair skin and a lovely face that still had a hint of baby fat, making her look pure and graceful.

Due to the heavy rain, the girl’s pink skirt was soaked through, clinging to her budding youthful figure and revealing glimpses of her slender legs.

Her jet black hair was slightly disheveled against her cheeks, making her look fragile and pitiful, yet with a hint of youthful allure.

But what was surprising was that while the girl was soaked, the old man’s cloth robe was barely touched by the rain outside.

The old man smiled and clasped his hands, then sat down beside the girl.

“This old man is an innate martial artist, right?” 

Lu Changsheng withdrew his gaze and communicated with Li Feiyu via sound transmission.

He could tell at a glance that this old man was a warrior. 

Being able to stay dry in heavy rain indicates extraordinary martial arts skills, so he guessed that he was an innate master.

“That’s right, ‘Not a single feather can be added, not a single fly can land’. This is the method of an innate master.” 

Li Feiyu also replied via voice transmission.

Of course, he knew several basic cultivators’ spells, and he was even more proficient in them than Lu Changsheng.

“But this old man and young girl are obviously not grandfather and granddaughter.”

Li Feiyu continued.

“Oh? How did you figure that out?”

Lu Changsheng asked.

He also felt that they didn’t look like grandfather and granddaughter.

There was no sense of intimacy between them.

But he didn’t know why Li Feiyu was so sure, and he wanted to hear what this experienced man had to say.

“Their behavior and attitude don’t resemble that of a grandfather and granddaughter. What grandfather would watch his granddaughter get soaked like this?”

“Moreover, this old man is a master of natural strength, but his granddaughter shows no signs of martial arts training, which seems rather unusual.”

“But these can all be overlooked. The main point is that the girl had her acupoints tapped and couldn’t speak.” 

“And when she saw us come in, her eyes brightened visibly, showing a hint of hope, as if she was looking for help.”

Li Feiyu explained in detail to Lu Changsheng.

“All right, the world of cultivation really is different.”

“In that case, do you want to play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress?” 

Lu Changsheng exclaimed.

He had not expected Li Feiyu to realize so much in such a short time.

With his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refinement, he had only noticed that the old man was an innate master and hadn’t paid attention to so many details.

“I grew up in the Crimson Whale Gang, and at the age of twelve, I started traveling around the world. I still have some keen insights.” 

Li Feiyu said with a hint of pride in his voice.

“As for playing the hero, there’s no rush for now. Let’s see how things develop first.”

As the two of them talked via voice transmission, the old man took some dry rations out of his bundle and casually said, “Could you two young gentlemen lend me a light? I would like to toast these rations.”

“And my granddaughter’s clothes are soaked. Without a fire, she may catch a cold and catch wind.”

With these words, the old man walked towards Lu Changsheng and Li Feiyu.

Seeing the old man approaching, Lu Changsheng immediately narrowed his eyes and felt a hint of caution in his heart. He reached into his chest and held a pile of talismans.

He clearly remembered Li Feiyu’s words that innate martial artists were not inferior to cultivators at the third level of qi refinement. If things got close, the innate martial artist would have the upper hand.

Given the uncertain background of the old man and Li Feiyu’s recent words, it was obvious that something was amiss. 

In such a situation, he naturally became cautious. 

If the other party dared to make any suspicious moves, he would take direct action.

“Please, help yourself.” 

Li Feiyu said at this moment.

At the same time, a voice was transmitted to Lu Changsheng: “Leave it to me.”

Lu Changsheng didn’t answer, still clutching the talisman and remaining vigilant.

The old man approached the campfire and handed out some dry food, saying, “You two young brothers haven’t eaten yet, why don’t you have some?”

“Roar!”

At that moment, the Nine Netherworld Hound that was sleeping next to Lu Changsheng suddenly woke up and roared at the old man.

Seeing this, Lu Changsheng calmly comforted the Nine Netherworld Hound without changing his expression, ready to act at any moment.

“We’ve already eaten.” 

Li Feiyu said with a smile on his face as he looked at the old man.

“In that case, I’ll just light a fire,” the old man said.

As if ignoring the roar of the Nine Netherworld Hound, the old man bent down and picked up a piece of firewood from the campfire.

But just then, Li Feiyu looked at the old man with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and said, “Isn’t this fire enough? Shall I add some more for you?”

Before he could finish his words, Li Feiyu’s robe fluttered and he swiftly struck out a palm at the old man, the force of the palm being so fierce that the wind whistled.

Faced with this sudden palm strike, the old man seemed to be prepared, reacting very quickly as he raised his hand to counter with a palm strike of his own.

However, at that moment, a thumb-sized flame appeared in the palm of Li Feiyu’s hand.

“Bang!”

“Ah!!!”

The two palms collided, and the old man immediately let out a piercing scream as his hand caught fire.

Immediately, the flames spread from his arm to his entire body at a visible speed, reducing him to ashes.