Seeking the Tao in the Mortal World

Li Qingjun probably wanted to go out to pee. When a large group of outsiders came, Li Qingjun couldn’t really pee at ease now. She could only hold it and sit back by the campfire. Qin Yi could only sit back listlessly, bearing Li Qingjun’s hooligan-like eyes.

He just wanted to know if the beastkin monsters would be alarmed when this group of wandering artists came.

The bonfire was flickering, and a group of wandering artists came in randomly, chatting and laughing.

Meeting passers-by when sheltering in taoist temples from the rain was quite common for wandering artists. They didn’t take Qin Yi and others seriously at all. Their eyes lingered on the long spear of the Li Family’s brother and sister for a while. They were not afraid of trouble. In fact, someone scoffed, “Such pretty boys are actually playing with spears.”

Qin Yi secretly thought it was dunzo, but Li Qingjun was just eating the dry food slowly while ignoring other people’s provocations.

Since she didn’t respond, the others naturally wouldn’t ask for troubles. They just scoffed without saying anything, then they talked about their own affairs.

Qin Yi looked at Li Qingjun in surprise. This chick doesn’t seem to have such a good temper on the surface…

Li Qingjun squinted at him and said, “Didn’t you say you will remove the spiderwebs? Why are you sitting still?”

Qin Yi said casually, “When there were only us, I can do a big cleaning for free. Why should I do that for this group of outsiders now?”

“Bah, us? Who are with you?” Li Qingjun spat, but she didn’t insist on sweeping the net. It seemed that she didn’t want to clean up for this group of bad-mouthed people.

The chatter and laughter of the wandering artists came.

“Have you heard? The Zhang Family outside Hengshan County is haunted by ghosts. Even the family master has been killed by ghosts.”

“What ghosts? Taoist Cang Song went to see it. He said there is no ghost. The person died of illness.”

“Since Taoist Cang Song said no, means there is no ghost indeed.” Others looked convinced, “That is a man of tao who can hold real fire in his mouth and put his hands into boiling oil.”

“In that case, it is the Zhang Family’s own retribution for not cultivating good fruits.”

The opinions of several people reached a consensus. They all laughed loudly, “Exactly, what’s so good about those rich families? Maybe there will be someone who steals from them and give to the poor.”

Li Qinglin sipped his wine with a slight smile. Qin Yi knew what he was smiling at; it was a sneer. In this kingdom, even the wandering artists believed in immortals and gods. That kind of deception of putting hands into boiling oil could also be popular. It was no wonder that he would be dissatisfied.

Qin Yi felt more distressed than Li Qinglin at this time, because this group of people was making loud noises, which might offend the beastkin here. However, he couldn’t find a reason to dissuade them.

This was not his place, so why should they listen to him? It was unrealistic to expect the wandering artists to speak softly.

The topic over there changed again, “The incident of the Lin Family…”

Someone immediately responded, “They deserved it. The State Preceptor wants blazing stone, but he can’t find it after searching all over the kingdom. This old man from the Lin Family obviously had it, yet he dared to hide it.”

“That is to refine King Wude’s immortality pill, right? This time it is blazing stone. Last time, it was red-purple grass from all over the country. They searched all over the place, making people boil with resentment. Old Man Lin did the right thing. He shouldn’t give it to the incompetent ruler.”

“What do you know? It’s none of our business whether an incompetent ruler dies or not. The State Preceptor is really an immortal. You can’t afford to offend him!”

“Hey… why would this real immortal be willing to refine elixir for the incompetent ruler?”

While Li Qinglin was still laughing, Li Qingjun could no longer hold back. She said angrily, “The red-purple grass and blazing stone are all the idea of the State Preceptor. You don’t blame the State Preceptor, but hate the emperor?”

Then someone squinted at her and said, “If it’s not that the emperor let the State Preceptor refine the elixir, why would a real immortal do these? The county officials use such excuses to plunder people’s wealth, is this also the State Preceptor’s idea? Isn’t it all comes down to the emperor?”

Li Qingjun wanted to refute, but Li Qinglin handed over a piece of cake, “Eat.”

Li Qingjun held back and ate the cake resentfully. This time, those wandering artists didn’t let her go. A bulky man sneered, “Yo, eating a pancake like a woman. Are you the toy boy from the capital? He probably sells his ass to the dignitaries. No wonder he is speaking up for the emperor.”

Qin Yi looked at Li Qingjun’s purple aggrieved face, and he suddenly said, “Mind your words.”

Someone sneered, “Why? Do you want to report to the officials to arrest us?”

There was a burst of laughter. The sound shook the roof tiles, and sand rustled down, hitting the spider web.

Qin Yi said lightly, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you. You all can laugh louder.”

The bulky man who ridiculed Li Qingjun’s as a toy boy stood up, then he looked up and laughed loudly, “I will laugh all I want. What can you do?”

Before the words were finished, the laughter suddenly stopped as if it was stuck in his throat. Everyone saw a small spider fall from the beam, and it happened to land in his big open mouth. The bulky man’s face turned green.

“Big brother!” The group of people panicked and supported the bulky man one after another. The bulky man bent over and wanted to spit out the spider, but how could he spit it out? He could only retch. Qin Yi felt pain for him by just listening to it.

Li Qingjun asked Qin Yi softly, “You did it?”

Qin Yi responded in a low voice, “No, there is probably a beastkin lurking here. Be careful.”

Li Qingjun’s face changed, “You stopped me from moving the spiderweb and going out just now…”

“En.”

Li Qingjun stopped talking.

The wandering artists did not dare to speak loudly anymore. Qin Yi reminded them not to speak too loudly, and he really ate a spider in the blink of an eye, which made them feel a bit wicked. They even forgot to look for trouble at that moment. The big man clutched his throat and walked toward the back door, trying to rinse his mouth with the rain.

After just passing around the taoist temple shrine, the bulky man’s eyes suddenly lit up, “There is a huge coral tree at the back door!”

Qin Yi and Li Qinglin glanced at each other. When they first came in, they looked around and didn’t see any coral trees. Qin Yi knew in his mind that this must be the beastkin monster’s trap. It was casting bait now.

There was no essential difference between catching people and catching insects. It was nothing more than baiting and attracting.

The group of wandering artists all swarmed toward the back door. Li Qingjun couldn’t help but say, “Don’t go out! It’s a trap!”

Why would anyone listen to her? In the middle of the courtyard by the back door, a treasure tree stood impressively, shining brightly in the night rain. It was extremely tempting. That bulky man was the first to rush out of the door. He touched the tree with 1 hand, “It really is coral. Such a big coral tree…”

Since he was fine after touching it, no one listened to Li Qingjun’s persuasion. They all swarmed up. Their eyes were full of greed.

Li Qingjun stood on the edge of the shrine and looked out the back door, watching the bulky man’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth emitting white silks with sizzling sounds. The scene was extremely strange, but the people around him didn’t seem to notice it.

The scene of white silks surging out of 7 orifices was so disgusting that Li Qingjun covered her mouth and nearly vomited.

In the next moment, the white silks multiplied. Countless white lights seemed to come out from every pore of the bulky man. In the blink of an eye, everyone around him was tightly wrapped up, turning into 8 human-shaped white cocoons. The bulky man himself exploded. A spider tore open his chest, came out of his heart, and gradually grew in size until it became a spider monster the size of a carriage.

The body was still that of a spider, but on the head was a human face with fangs and a ferocious appearance.

There wasn’t any coral tree. It was clearly just a crooked dead tree that was covered with spider webs. The colorful treasure lights on the coral were just the carrion of rats and cockroaches.

Li Qinglin drank wine without saying a word while Li Qingjun stood aside and watched the whole process, holding the long spear tightly. Her hand was trembling slightly. It could be seen that she also feared the image of the spider beastkin.

The tiger beastkin still looked like a tiger after all, but this big spider had a human face, giving people a completely different feeling. Very disgusting.

In addition, the corpse of the bulky man lying on the ground with empty internal organs was being swarmed by little spiders. The scene was even more bloody and strange.

Qin Yi also felt disgusted and horrified. Suddenly, for no reason, he thought that certain seniors, who had traveled through <a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons>DND and tried to flirt <a href=https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Lolth>Lolth, the spider queen, were real men…

Liu Su’s voice sounded from his sea of ​​consciousness, “You have 2 choices. The first one is that this beastkin still has a tacit understanding with us. As long as we don’t disturb it, we will be safe and may even form a certain friendship. But I suggest you choose the second. Since the beastkin monster already has a human face and its spells are also very interesting, these are the characteristics of reaching the peak of the Spirit Initiation Stage. If it eats all of them, it may break through and condense the beastkin pellet. Then, we can kill it to snatch the pellet…”

Before the words finished, Li Qingjun took a deep breath. She went straight to the spider beastkin with the spear, “Beastkin monster, don’t hurt people’s lives!”

TL: Uhm, how do they defeat it now…