The sun set once more in the west, dusk drawing near.
A twin-headed lion-tiger carriage was racing through the territory of Yanluo Kingdom. This carriage was exceptionally fierce, its speed incredibly fast, like a flash of lightning, leaping a hundred meters with each bound. One could truly say that only its sound was heard, its form unseen.
Faintly, one could see the driver was a short, fat man dressed rather meticulously. The man's body was round, his hair slicked back with oil, and his cultivation was that of an Earth Immortal. It was none other than Fei Kui, Boss Fei. At this moment, he stood at the front of the carriage, hands gripping the reins, carefully driving.
The luxurious and imposing carriage was surrounded by layer upon layer of formations. Thus, even as the twin-headed lion-tiger carriage sped through forests and mountains, it was as if traversing flat ground, the carriage not jostling in the slightest.
Inside the carriage, Gu Qingfeng sat casually, his eyes slightly narrowed as he took occasional sips of wine, as if asleep.
This trip to the Mountain-River Branch had left him with many thoughts.
It wasn't because Feng Xu and the others didn't believe his identity.
Nor was it the life-and-death struggle of the Crimson-Letter Sect.
To be honest.
From the very beginning, he had no interest whatsoever in the fate of the Crimson-Letter Sect, and couldn't be bothered with such troublesome matters unrelated to him. What truly concerned him were his old Crimson-Letter brothers from back then. Especially Zhou Taihe and his faction—not only had they defected to the Immortal Dynasty, but they had also turned against their Crimson-Letter brothers, disregarding the blood-oath sworn in the past. This left him in a rather foul mood.
If he hadn't known about this matter, that would be one thing.
But since he knew.
Gu Qingfeng would absolutely not stand idly by, nor would he let it rest.
Alas.
No one knew Zhou Taihe's whereabouts. That scoundrel Dong Laohu wasn't in Yanluo Kingdom right now either. For the moment, Gu Qingfeng didn't have a particularly good plan. Feng Xu had said Dong Laohu would return during the Yanluo Temple Fair, and Zhou Taihe might show up then.
Since the temple fair was approaching anyway, Gu Qingfeng figured he could only wait until then for now.
Back at the Mountain-River Branch, when Feng Xu mentioned the temple fair, it suddenly reminded him of someone—an old man who guarded the mausoleum.
The mausoleum was the royal mausoleum of Yanluo.
And the old man guarding it was also said to be a member of the Yanluo royal family.
No one knew how long this old man had lived, nor exactly what his status within the Yanluo royal family was. Nor did anyone care about such things.
Indeed.
Even in the Ancient Era, no one had paid attention to this question, let alone in the Present-Ancient Era where all sorts of prodigies with great fortunes were as numerous as stars in the sky. Who would care about an old man guarding a mausoleum?
In fact, back then, if not for a chance encounter, he too would have thought that unremarkable old fellow, who only knew how to drink and bask in the sun all day, was just an old mausoleum guard.
Back then.
Yanluo Kingdom was in a crisis. The Yanluo emperor had suddenly passed away, and the four great families and seven great sects within the country were locked in a fierce struggle for the throne. To make matters worse, the Immortal Dynasty chose that moment to intervene and dominate Yanluo. At the time, it wasn't the Yanluo Empress yet, but Princess Tang Hengxi who was losing sleep over this matter night after day. To help this close friend of his, Gu Qingfeng threw caution to the wind and acted alone. Not only did he sweep aside the four families and seven sects for Tang Hengxi, he also went against the tide, forcefully making the Immortal Dynasty abandon its plan to dominate Yanluo.
At that time, although Gu Qingfeng relied on his mysterious, heaven-defying fortune to act without fear, he was still alone. Moreover, his cultivation time wasn't long. Adding to that, Yanluo's four families and seven sects had legacies spanning ten thousand years or even tens of thousands of years. They not only had experts as numerous as clouds, but also various Dharma Idol Daozuns presiding over them. Especially the Immortal Dynasty—the experts they sent at the time were all Earth Immortals.
Dharma Idol Daozuns of the Ancient Era were not something the Present-Ancient Era could compare to.
Earth Immortals of the Ancient Era were also not something the Present-Ancient Era could match.
It was no exaggeration to say that in the Ancient Era, let alone Dharma Idol Daozuns, even Nascent Soul old monsters were enough to dominate a region. If they were Earth Immortals, they were absolutely terrifying existences.
Back then, relying on his mysterious, heaven-defying fortune, Gu Qingfeng did not fear Earth Immortals, but that was just 'not fearing'. One or two were fine, four or five he could handle, seven or eight he could manage. But facing the endless stream of Earth Immortal experts sent by the Immortal Dynasty, he alone simply couldn't hold out.
There was one time when he was jointly pursued by over thirty Earth Immortals from the Immortal Dynasty. At that point, Gu Qingfeng had already fought continuously for several days and nights, killed many people, and his Primordial Spirit Dharma Idol was on the verge of depletion. Utterly exhausted and nearly at the end of his rope, someone suddenly charged out.
That person was Old Man Tang, the guardian of the mausoleum. With one move—just one move—he reduced those thirty-plus Earth Immortals to ashes.
That had truly shocked Gu Qingfeng at the time.
Before that, he knew Old Man Tang. Because Tang Hengxi would occasionally bring some good wine to Old Man Tang, Gu Qingfeng had tagged along a few times. Both of them loved wine, and Old Man Tang's personality was that of an old rascal. The two of them were absolutely birds of a feather.
Tang Hengxi said Old Man Tang was an ancestor of their Yanluo royal family.
As for what kind of ancestor, Tang Hengxi didn't say, and Gu Qingfeng didn't ask. He couldn't see any special skills in Old Man Tang besides drinking and boasting.
He just never expected Old Man Tang to be a peerless expert hiding his true abilities.
Exactly how profound Old Man Tang's strength was, Gu Qingfeng didn't know back then either. In his memory, it seemed he couldn't detect the slightest bit of cultivation from Old Man Tang at the time. As it was so long ago, his memories had long grown hazy. Many things from back then were already hard to recall, and he didn't know what kind of existence Old Man Tang really was.
The reason he thought of Old Man Tang when the temple fair was mentioned was because back then, when he followed Tang Hengxi to visit Old Man Tang, it was on the very day of the temple fair. And what left the deepest impression on Gu Qingfeng was that time, he got drunk from Old Man Tang's urging, spouted a bunch of nonsense, and did some rather embarrassing things. At the time, he didn't know what was going on. Thinking back on it now, he realized Old Man Tang must have played some trick on him back then, making him do those shameful deeds in front of Tang Hengxi.
Remembering those past events, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but think of Tang Hengxi. Coming to find Old Man Tang this time was also to ask about Tang Hengxi's whereabouts.
In his mind, if there was anyone in this world who knew Tang Hengxi's whereabouts, it would definitely be Old Man Tang.
That fellow, who knew how many years he had lived, had always silently protected Yanluo Kingdom from the shadows. He absolutely knew Tang Hengxi's whereabouts.
Pulling aside the curtain, he looked outside. After more than three hundred years, his memories of Yanluo Kingdom had long grown fuzzy. He didn't know where this place was either. He asked, "Fei Kui, you brat, do you know the way? Don't you dare lead your master around in circles."
As Fei Kui drove the twin-headed lion-tiger carriage into the mountains, he slightly slowed its speed. Hearing Gu Qingfeng's voice, he replied, "Young Master, every year during the temple fair, this humble one follows Buddha Master to the mausoleum to pay respects. Of course I know the way. Please rest assured."
"If your master remembers correctly, that mausoleum is the royal mausoleum of Yanluo, right? What's that scoundrel Dong Laohu doing going to someone else's mausoleum to pay respects for no reason? What's the deal? Is he a son-in-law of the Yanluo royal family now?"
"No... Buddha Master goes to..." Fei Kui stammered, as if afraid to speak.
"Goes to do what?"
"Buddha Master goes to the mausoleum to pay respects... to pay respects to you."