Chapter 98: Seems I Got the Immortal's Name Right

The old horse was fortunate to be found before he was arranged to be with the brown mare for life. Meng Jingzhou paid for him and took the old horse and carriage.

"No, no, no, staying in the stable doesn't cost that much," the stable boy demurred.

"What about the feed money? Don't you want it?" Meng Jingzhou asked, puzzled. He had assumed the old horse, having long finished the premium feed he’d brought, was so hungry it had started on the common feed.

The stable boy shook his head. "Your horse didn't eat anything."

"Hmm?" Meng Jingzhou was confused. He stroked the old horse's mane and asked, "Are you on a fast?"

The old horse snorted but didn't reply.

How could a horse talk?

Meng Jingzhou menacingly threatened, "If you don't answer, you'll never eat feed again!"

The man and the horse faced off for a long time, but the old horse still didn't reply. Meng Jingzhou finally gave up and figured out a few things.

He recalled how smoothly he had left home back then. Even his sister knew he was running away, and the rest of his family must have known too. No one stopped him, and they weren't worried about him encountering any mishaps.

Excluding the possibility that he wasn't their biological child, it could only mean they knew he was safe.

Now the answer was obvious: the horse pulling the carriage was his greatest protection.

He just didn't know the old horse's cultivation level, but to be able to protect him, it must be quite high.

Meng Jingzhou complained, "If you're so strong, why didn't you stop Senior Sister from getting on the carriage back then?"

Meng Jingzhou still remembered how foolishly he had mistaken Senior Sister for a candidate, invited her onto the carriage, and claimed he had obtained the original questions for the sect entrance exam.

It was utterly humiliating.

If the old horse had stopped Senior Sister, wouldn't there have been no trouble at all?

The old horse squinted at Meng Jingzhou as if he were an idiot.

Before leaving, Lu Yang said goodbye to Captain Wei. Captain Wei wasn't surprised by the departure of the three.

No cultivator would truly run a barbecue shop for a lifetime; they were merely seeking novelty, and once the novelty wore off, they would close it.

"What a pity, I'll never taste such delicious barbecue again," Captain Wei lamented. "I was hoping to catch people at your barbecue shop to help me get promoted to Chief Captain."

Captain Wei estimated that if he caught three more demonic cultivators, he could be promoted to Chief Captain.

"It's good that you're leaving; Yanjiang County might not be peaceful lately."

"What do you mean?"

Captain Wei whispered, "You mustn't tell anyone else about this."

"I understand."

Captain Wei trusted Lu Yang's character. "You know Governor Li, right? There are rumors now that Governor Li colluded with demonic cultivators for a promotion. It's unclear whether they are rogue demonic cultivators or members of a demonic sect, but their cultivation level must be high, otherwise they wouldn't qualify to cooperate with Governor Li."

"Governor Li's body was found on Songshan Mountain. Chief Captain Fang speculates that there was a conflict of interest between the demonic cultivator and Governor Li. Governor Li is dead, but the demonic cultivator is still active, which means their cultivation is even higher than Governor Li's. Governor Li was only one step away from the Nascent Soul stage, so just imagine how high the demonic cultivator's cultivation must be!"

Lu Yang shrank his neck. "What a vicious demonic cultivator!"

"That's why I said it's good you're leaving. Yanjiang County might seem peaceful, but who knows where demonic cultivators are hiding, right here among us!"

Lu Yang nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

Man Gu reluctantly bid farewell to the barbecue shop. The glory of his family's barbecue tradition, it seemed, would not flourish in his generation after all.

The two ghoul servants, however, were ecstatic, celebrating that they no longer had to barbecue day and night.

Before their departure, Tang Yunsheng saw the three off, advising them to be extremely careful as infiltrating the Wen Dao Sect would be fraught with difficulties.

Lu Yang replied, "Don't worry, elder. The three of us will certainly live up to the organization's trust. We will definitely infiltrate the Wen Dao Sect, steal secrets, and bring glory to our Undying Cult."

In the carriage, the old horse pulled slowly but steadily. Though it seemed to move at a leisurely pace, its actual strides were immense, involving extremely profound spatial knowledge.

Inside the carriage, the three chatted about the Undying Immortal.

"Look, our three names are even in the notebook: Undying Immortal Lu Yang, Undying Immortal Meng Jingzhou, Undying Immortal Man Gu," Lu Yang chuckled. Seeing his own name in the demonic sect's notebook was quite amusing.

Everyone he knew could be found in the notebook, showing that the demonic sect was very dedicated to resurrecting the Undying Immortal.

"What do you think the Undying Immortal's real name is? Mendeleev? Socrates?"

Meng Jingzhou chuckled, "Maybe it's a common name, like Goudan or Gou Sheng, something too embarrassing to say out loud, so they hid it and only used honorifics publicly."

"It could also be a name from our Barbarian tribe."

The three had no reverence for the Undying Immortal. They completely disregarded Tang Yunsheng's instruction to only guess the immortal's name once a month and freely speculated.

"Let's be a bit more reserved," Lu Yang warned. "What if we actually guess the Undying Immortal's name? It's still unclear whether the Undying Immortal is a friend or foe, and the Undying Cult's claim that the Undying Immortal protects humanity is just one side of the story; we can't fully believe it."

"How about this," Lu Yang suggested, "from now on, we refer to the 'Undying Immortal' as the 'Undying Immortaless'? That way, even if we say the correct name, the Undying Immortal won't be able to revive."

"Lu Yang has a point, I agree," Meng Jingzhou said, raising his hand in agreement.

Man Gu felt that Brother Lu's plan was more thorough.

After the carriage traveled for a while, the three felt hungry, so they disembarked in a small grove, planning to eat something.

The small grove shielded them from the bothersome sunlight, creating a quiet atmosphere. Faint bird songs drifted from a distance, making them relax involuntarily.

Meng Jingzhou spread out a picnic cloth, Lu Yang took out pots, pans, bowls, and a fire-starting talisman, and Man Gu summoned his ghoul servants.

The two ghoul servants, having been unemployed for only half a day, were summoned by Man Gu to resume their old profession, skillfully setting up for a barbecue.

Meng Jingzhou pulled out a cookbook and a pile of bottles and jars, pushing them towards the two ghoul servants. "Stop making barbecue. Let's try something different. You two, follow the recipes in this book."

Lu Yang and Man Gu looked at him sideways, wondering why he carried a cookbook with him.

The two ghoul servants had no choice but to start learning from scratch, preparing to begin with the simplest dish: scrambled eggs.

They embodied the saying: "If you don't work hard in life, you'll study diligently after death."

None of the three had any intention of taking fasting pills. Why eat such things when they could enjoy delicious food?

"Tang Yunsheng guessed the Undying Immortaless was from your Barbarian tribe. Are there similar legends among the ancient Barbarians?" Lu Yang asked.

Man Gu shook his head. "I've heard elders say that the ancient Barbarians fought against heaven and earth and could even contend with immortals, but I've never heard of our tribe giving birth to an immortal."

"That ruin is really strange. It recorded the greatness of the Undying Immortaless, so why didn't it also just record her name?"

Meng Jingzhou analyzed logically, "Think about it. In ancient times, everyone had grand titles and names. Before battles, they'd announce themselves. If the Undying Immortaless came forward and said, 'This venerable one is Undying Immortal Li Goudan' – oh, wait, 'Undying Immortaless Li Goudan' – wouldn't she lose half her imposing aura before even fighting?"

"The Undying Immortaless must have deleted such embarrassing history!"

Lu Yang also chuckled, "Or perhaps the name was too cute, lacking any deterrent power, like Undying Immortaless Huang Doudou or something."

Those seven characters, "Undying Immortaless Huang Doudou," seemed to touch upon heavenly secrets. The world around them changed, and an incomprehensible power swirled above the three, forming a human figure.

The old horse, who had been relaxed moments before, instantly became alert, shielding Meng Jingzhou and staring intently at the power above.

The three swallowed.

"Oh no," they thought. "It seems we've caused a big commotion."