Chapter 98: The Young Monk Is Now Very Anxious

“Senior brother...”

The paper figure finally left, heading toward the small courtyard. The senior brother and sister stood frozen, both somewhat puzzled.

“Senior brother, earlier they said I had died fifty years ago because you had reached the sixth rank and wanted to keep me around, right?”

“Hmm.” Liang Si responded with a nod.

“But that god who came from the heavens, there was no need for him to separate the two of us, was there?”

“He didn’t separate us.” Liang Si replied absentmindedly.

“He went in the direction of the courtyard, right? Senior brother, do you think he was deceived?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Although I feel the same, but...” Wang Xi bit her lip and moved closer to Liang Si. “I just feel like what he said is true. In that demon-revealing mirror, we were different too. So, senior brother, which one of us really died?”

“...” Liang Si was helpless.

He reached out and flicked the little girl on the forehead. “What are you thinking about? I was never truly human in the first place.”

“Oh, really!” The little girl seemed excited. After clapping her hands, she suddenly realized her mistake.

“Senior brother, heh heh heh.” She laughed awkwardly, struggling to compose her words. “I think our master is truly amazing.”

“How so?”

“Senior brother, just think about it! Senior brother, you carry demonic energy. I bet very few in the Xuan Yun Sect even know about this!”

“If I didn’t remind master, he probably wouldn’t know to this day.” Liang Si nodded.

“Second senior brother was constantly targeted by demons in the illusion. They used his body as the best vessel. Even our grandmaster was forced to occupy second senior brother’s body because master caught the chance when improper thoughts arose. So, is second senior brother considered human or demon now?”

“Both, I suppose. Because they haven’t fused.”

“And third senior brother? Yes, right now third senior brother is the most normal one.”

“Hmm.”

“Our fourth senior brother was originally the eldest and quite wise. With master’s help, he reversed his aging, becoming young again, and later, due to the golden crow, he turned into an adult. The demon energy inside him is strong; he can no longer be considered normal.”

“Yes, he’s half-demon.”

“As for me, they say they saw me in a sedan chair. Although I thought they wanted senior brother to abandon me and leave, I can’t explain why.” She shed a tear, pointing to her chest. “When I heard the news, I wasn’t panicked but heartbroken.”

“Heartbroken?” Liang Si was stunned.

Most of the time, his heart was calm. Except for dreams about master—those dreams were full of suffering, and he felt pain alongside master. Only then did he feel he truly had feelings.

“Yes, as if I forgot something important. But fifty years is such a long time. I don’t remember anything from fifty years ago, unless master also took disciples back then.”

“When grandmaster brought me in, he said I was master’s first disciple.” Liang Si assured her. “Before me, master had no other disciples.”

“None?” The little girl seemed disappointed and collapsed onto the sand.

In the distance, fireworks exploded, blooming in the sky, brightening the silent night.

Though this place was deserted, it felt lively. They didn’t know who was setting off the fireworks.

This wasn’t the first time they had seen such splendid fireworks in the desert.

“Senior brother.” Wang Xi tugged at his sleeve. “If—just if—I really am not human, then except for Senior Brother Yang, are all our sect’s disciples extraordinary?”

“Hmm.”

“It’s funny to think that such a respectable sect took in a few demons as disciples.” She laughed. “I wonder how Senior Brother Yang will react when he finds out the truth.”

“What reaction could he have?” Liang Si sighed, though he wasn’t truly sighing.

“Master.” Yang Wennan didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. In a daze, he seemed to smell a strange fragrance, then felt himself being dragged, slowly losing consciousness.

The light here was much brighter than in the earlier cave, yet he was not happy.

Because beside him hung two people he knew very well.

One was Brother Qiao, the other was the Buddhist of Sorrow and Joy. Both were wrapped tightly in thick cocoons, covering most of their bodies, with spider silk spiraling upward. Only their heads remained outside.

They were unconscious, and only he had some movement, as the silk around his legs was still loose. No one knew when these two had met trouble.

Unexpectedly, his master was not here, nor was the little junior brother who had just joined.

“Master.” He called softly.

Here, only a diligent spider was working; nothing else was around. The area was covered in white cocoons, many shaped like humans, presumably people like him.

“Monk, did you hear anything?” Lu Wei appeared. “I thought I heard someone calling Wen Jinge. It sounded like Yang Wennan’s voice. That guy always speaks quietly.”

“Let me do the calculation.”

“You can calculate?” Lu Wei was curious.

In his past life, there were no fortune-tellers when he died. Perhaps the gifted mortals of the mortal world discovered the method after gods disappeared. He couldn’t get a precise formula from Wen Jinge because she just thought about it and arrived at an answer. But this monk must calculate, right?

“I don’t know how.” The monk was honest.

“Then why did you say you would?”

The monk shrugged innocently. “It makes me seem impressive.”

“...”

“After all, I’ve already led us astray, fallen into the enemy’s trap. I have to give my comrades some confidence.”

“...Thank you, but I don’t need that confidence.”

“But...” The monk’s face fell. “I do. I’m very anxious.”

“Master...” Yang Wennan’s feet couldn’t move. His sword had fallen somewhere. He initially planned to use his hands to cut the spider silk.

Fortunately, he didn’t. The silk was extremely sticky; the dagger used to cut it had stuck to it.

“Master, are you here?” Perhaps it was an illusion, but when he called out, the piled white cocoons seemed to move. He shouted again, “Master, are you here? I see you.”

“Master, are you here? I see you.”

“Master, are you here? I see you.”

Suddenly, echoes filled the cave.

Snap!

A cocoon broke, but the head that emerged was not human—it was a spider with a human face.

The little spiders followed the sound. Yang Wennan closed his mouth tightly. In the shadows, a figure flickered. Though brief, he sensed it.

“Is that you?”