My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 794 - 496: Right in Front of You (Two-in-One)

Before the group went to search for the rift, Li Xian proposed they first examine the corpse.

He distinctly remembered helping the Five Chang Gods pin Duan Guanshi dead against the willow tree, but now Duan Zengshi suggested a different version of events, leaving him uneasy and apprehensive.

"Just afraid that this weasel might have nine lives."

Li Xian's voice trembled as he spoke.

So, Chen Yi followed his words and located the willow tree.

Blackened blood stains had seeped into the trunk, emitting a stale stench that assaulted the nose, but the corpse Li Xian referenced was nowhere to be found—only a piece of torn fabric hung at the treetop.

The sight made the three ghosts' hair stand on end. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"I clearly pinned him right there..." Li Xian said in a trembling voice. "Where could this person... have run off to?"

Chen Yi glanced at the scene but wasn't in a rush to seek out the vanished corpse. Due to the Old Saintess's remarks, his attention was more keenly focused on locating the reincarnation rift.

Even Li Xian wasn't entirely sure of its whereabouts.

His memories were fragmented; if he had to search on his own, he'd probably spend a long time remembering and wandering aimlessly until it was too late.

Fortunately, Chen Yi didn't place his hopes on him.

"Taoist... Are you certain it's here?"

"You saw it in your soul."

A chilling wind swept through, an unspoken cold radiating from the tips of expanding grass blades, shrouded in an indescribable eerie air.

It felt as if this forest was a realm of ghosts.

Though all three had lost their physical forms and were merely spirits, they instinctively hunched their shoulders upon feeling the wind. Strangely, however, when it brushed past them, it brought a peculiar comfort.

Being ghosts for the first time, the three found it oddly novel.

But as they looked ahead, any novelty quickly evaporated without a trace.

The forest was dense, its towering dead branches stretching in every direction. The post-New Year chill gnawed deeply into their souls, while peculiar noises darted through the air beside their ears, causing a prickling unease on their nonexistent scalps.

Though headless now, they still felt phantom sensations crawling over their skins.

Their hearts sank as they observed until suddenly, an urging voice came from behind:

"Well, aren't you going in?"

The three jolted in fright, exchanging looks with each other before Li Chenghang cautiously and fearfully turned back to ask:

"Taoist... Should we go in first?"

"Naturally."

At those succinct words, the three flinched, hesitant to move. Duan Zengshi cast an expectant glance at Yin Tingxue, hoping the young woman might step forward to dissuade her senior brother.

After all, women shouldn't make things harder for other women.

So went Duan Zengshi's thoughts.

But Yin Tingxue stepped back, seeking refuge behind the Daoist.

A venomous woman's heart indeed!

Duan Zengshi cursed inwardly.

Chen Yi spoke coldly: "Go in."

With those commanding three words, the tone accepted no dissent. Left with no choice, the three braced themselves and turned toward the shadowy trail obscured by the woods.

Even stepping inside posed a dilemma—who would take the lead?

Duan Zengshi thought herself a frail woman; it wasn't right for her to step ahead of two men. She instinctively shrank back two steps.

Just then, a feminine voice rang out: "Madam should walk up front. If you get lost, now that would be troubling."

Duan Zengshi's face stiffened. Before she could refuse, Li Xian and his son immediately stepped back three paces, positioning themselves to cover her rear.

As the trio's figures grew farther and farther away.

Chen Yi didn't immediately follow.

Yin Tingxue turned her head to glance at Chen Yi and spoke up: "Where are we headed next?"

Chen Yi replied, "To find a Daoist."

Yin Tingxue figured he meant the Daoist who had given him the Demon-Revealing Mirror, but she couldn't quite comprehend why Chen Yi was looking for that Daoist. Tilting her head to listen more closely, she found Chen Yi had begun forming hand seals, denying her any chance to eavesdrop.

He's just too awful.

Yin Tingxue mused to herself, shaking her head. Yet, upon reconsideration, it didn't really matter to her anyway.

...…..

Dusk pressed heavily over the sky, as tufts of wild grass sprawled across the crumbling path, a green ox carrying a small bundle was led into town.

It's said that monks are sneered at as bald donkeys, Daoists as smelly ox-noses. Though it sounded disparaging, it's rooted in an inherent bias; monks are genuinely bald, whereas Daoists rarely lead oxen. Many Daoists remain secluded in retreat their entire lives, often barely encountering these animals. Merely because Laozi led an ox, they were scorned as ox-noses. Thus, when Daoists were insulted, they weren't bothered. Wrongs have perpetrators, debts have payers—after all, they just chanted "Infinite Heavenly Venerable" and let the Taoist ancestors handle it.

This old Daoist entering town, however, was truly leading an ox.

He muttered courteously, "Pardon me," "Let me through," as he guided the ox into the village on the fifteenth day following the Heavenly Official's blessings.

He quickly passed by the eerie, overgrown City God Temple without stopping for even a moment.

Casually asking passersby for directions to the Duan Estate, the Daoist arrived at its gates.

Under the shade of roadside trees nearby, a group of constables had gathered some liquor, lounging about in playful leisure—some squatting, some standing—rolling dice on the ground and gambling brazenly.

Two particularly imposing foremen stood near the gate: one with a distinctly equine face, the other so robust he resembled a bull. The pair argued animatedly with their subordinates, faces flushed red in competitive zeal, until raucous jeering forced them to down shots in drunken surrender.

"Hold it! Who are you?"

The horse-faced foreman turned upon noticing the old Daoist approaching and barked sharply.

"Just a relative of this household... a relative…"

Unfazed, the old Daoist reached into his robe, pulled out a tael of silver, and offered it to the horse-faced foreman with a grin.

Though whether the old Daoist was truly familial to the Duan household remained unclear, the sight of gleaming silver convinced the foreman of a kinship without doubt.

The pungent scent of alcohol wafted from his nostrils as he snatched the silver swiftly, grunting, "Make it quick now—don't waste our time."

With that, he pocketed the tael without hesitation, tossing it onto the gambling ground as he turned back.

This granted the old Daoist his chance. Unloading the bundle from the ox, hoisting it onto his back, he stepped confidently into the Duan Estate.

Crossing the threshold, his face creased into an ever-broadening smile. Entering deeper into the household, he located Duan Siyuan, locked within one of its chambers.