Though this old villager was short and thin, he was quick on his feet and walked faster than Gu Dekang. He had to rest for a moment before continuing to walk. A few of the guards carried him on their backs in turns to save time.
"Since you don't even know where Bodhi Gene is located, how are you so sure they will promise to help you?" Jiang Xiu was anxious this trip would be in vain if they couldn't find the place.
Gu Dekang replied, "Of course I'm sure. Before Bodhi Gene retreated into seclusion, they had interacted with my Gu family and given us a medal. They told us to go find them if we encounter trouble in the future and that Bodhi Gene would definitely help us."
"So it was like that."
"But it looks like even you aren't sure whether Bodhi Gene is in the mountain."
"There's no doubt in it. I have prepared for 3 months before deciding to use that medal and gathered a lot of data to make sure that they are on this mountain."
"What? Are you afraid now?"
One of the guards mocked him.
The Bodhi Gene had racked splendid achievements in that era, making the invaders run on their tails. Li Bodhi had awed everyone with his powers and left behind several legends.
He didn't believe that an immature youth like Jiang Xiu could compare with a personage who was already deified a hundred years ago.
"Humph…"
Idiot!
The party continued along the path and unexpectedly encountered people inside the mountain. The other side was a group consisting of a man and two women.
Meeting someone on the road would've been normal, but this was the depths of the mountains and inside the forest. It wasn't a place people could feel safe, so their reactions were naturally unusual. Everyone stood on guard. Gu Dekang naturally wasn't afraid as he had his subordinates to handle any trouble, but the other party became nervous.
The other side communicated with each other silently. Jiang Xiu noticed that the man's condition was strange, so the two women were taking care of him. One woman looked around 40 while the other around 20. It appeared they were a family.
That woman asked, "May I ask if you are also trying to find the Immortal's Residence?"
"Indeed." Gu Dekang replied.
The woman's expression morphed, "That's really a coincidence."
Gu Dekang revealed a smile. He could feel the nervousness of the other party, "Since our destination is the same, how about we travel together?"
"Don't worry. We are proper persons."
Gu Dekang possessed an extraordinary bearing and didn't have a scummy nature, plus all the guards wore solemn expressions on their faces, so they didn't appear like evil people.
The woman replied, "Alright then. We shall accompany you."
"Why are you trying to find the Immortal's Residence?" Gu Dekang asked her.
"To cure my husband's illness."
According to the legend, Immortals lived in the Immortal's Residence, that their exceptional medical expertise and could even cure incurable diseases. This was the reason many people entered this mountain to look for a cure.
Hope is a very frightening thing. If someone tells a cancer patient that he will heal if he eats human flesh, he would definitely do that. Such was human nature.
"It looks like it's hard for your husband to walk!"
The man walked with quite a difficulty. The girl was making a great to support him from the side. She had long hair and resembled her mother, having outstanding looks.
"Yes. His body's condition is bad."
Gu Dekang ordered, "Yan Zhen, arrange a person to carry him!"
"Yes, sir!"
A guard came out to carry him.
"Thank you very much…"
A glint flashed through Jiang Xiu's eyes, making him smack his mouth. That man wore a baseball cap as well as a mask. His body was entirely covered on such a hot day, and Jiang Xiu noticed that his face was little blackened, seemingly appearing like scales were covering it.
He narrowed his eyes and gazed at him.
"Indeed…"
He could see faintly black energy rise from the man's body through his vision. The man was neither ill or poisoned but instead experiencing a transformation. This was the symptom of divinity cultivation deviation.
Jiang Xiu felt this was strange. The man showed no signs of cultivating divinity and was merely an ordinary person. The mother-daughter pair were also average.
"This is strange."
After interacting a bit, they too could make out that Gu Dekang wasn't an ordinary person, so they also revealed their identity. They were the Xie family of Pinghai province. The man was called Xie Sanxian and appeared to carry the presence of someone owning 100 million.
According to what they said, he caught this illness last year, and it had worsened very quickly, making him vomit blood indiscriminately. After getting an inspection at the hospital, the result showed that several organs had failed, but they couldn't figure out the cause. Today, he couldn't even eat food and found it difficult to move.
Their daughter acted quite bright, standing silently at the side, seeming very worried about her father's illness.
"Perhaps Mr. Xie's condition isn't an illness." Jiang Xiu commented.
The family looked towards Jiang Xiu who had finally spoken after all this while but said nothing. One of the guards retorted, "Stop pretending you know shit. You'll only waste their time." That tone was quite impolite.
That family felt this was indeed strange. It seemed like Jiang Xiu wasn't welcomed there.
The woman asked, "This is?"
Gu Dekang didn't know how to introduce him, so he just made stuff up, "He's with us. I recommend you to not act recklessly. We can't make any mistake with such a case."
"You're already looking for a magical elixir in the mountains, what delay are you talking about?" Jiang Xiu asked in return.
Though these words were harsh, they were also correct.
"That's…"
"Mr. Xie, if you don't mind it, can you take off your mask? Maybe I can help you."
The woman and the girl looked at each other. They were worried. Xie Sanxian also shook his head. He hadn't said anything right from the beginning.
"We won't be trouble this Mister."
The guards heckled when they saw Jiang Xiu was rejected.
The woman explained, "It's isn't that we don't trust this little brother but my husband's illness is quite strange. We are anxious that you might get infected. Anyways, we have already reached near the Immortal's Residence."
If it were an infectious disease, the mother-daughter pair would've been infected already. These words were just to evade Jiang Xiu. But since she had explained it, he could only back down.
He thought, You're worried his appearance would make the others call him a monster, right?
The old man spoke up at this moment, "Many people arrive here to seek elixirs from the Immortal's Residence but only a few are able to obtain it from the Immortals."
The woman asked with interest, "
"Old man, are Immortals really there in this mountain?"
The old man replied, "They exist. The reason it's called Immortal's Residence is that people have met Immortals there to say that it was the place Immortals reside in. It's said that those Immortals can control fire and water, turn stone into gold as well as bring rain and thunder…"
"How can we ask for the Immortals to grant us medicine then?"
"That's…"
"I'm not sure. But the Immortals desire neither money nor any worldly objects. Maybe they'll help if you ask sincerely? Right! The Immortal's Residence recruits little kids if they have Immortal karma."
Though Bodhi Gene had gone into seclusion, they were, after all, living in the modern society. They can't cut themselves off completely and need someone to communicate with the outer world. Children are required for this. Whenever there was a need to talk to the outside world, they would use them.
And since they were in touch with the outside world, it was possible money would work.
"Maybe they'll accept money." Jiang Xiu commented.
The woman and the girl looked at him. The woman was somewhat on guard against him as he had raised a request to inspect her husband and was now recommending to use money to settle it. She felt this person was scheming something, "Immortals live secluded from the secular world so they wouldn't look upon materialistic things like money."
Jiang Xiu smiled and spoke no more.
Even on the Immortal Martial Continent which was filled with Gods and Immortals, they bowed down in front of wealth.
The path ahead became increasingly rocky, and vipers appeared from time to time along with miasmic gases. Fortunately, the old man was there to act as a guide, so they were just spooked out yet continued to travel.
They had reached a naturally formed valley by the time the moon had come into view behind the clouds. The valley seemed isolated from the world and looked quite magnificent from a distance.
"That's the Immortal's Residence."
Gu Dekang furrowed his brows, "There's nothing here."
It only made sense that a house was required for someone to live.
"Maybe it's hidden by a formation or something?"
Jiang Xiu shook his head. These people were deifying Bodhi Gene too much. It was a simple thing to hide a house in this thick jungle. Also, he had already noticed someone practicing inside the valley.