Wait a minute, where is my master?

High in the sky, the little Taoist pondered silently.

More than half a month had passed since the trip to Shangjing City, and truly, he had experienced far too many events. It was just a pity that there was still no news about his master.

"But at least I know now that Master is a cultivator who can distinguish right from wrong and supports the weak while opposing the strong,"

Jin Xu whispered softly.

Yu Yaoer, who was next to him, didn't catch the little Taoist's words and turned to ask, "Young Master, what did you just say?"

"It's nothing, I said that we are home."

Underneath the feet of the three of them was none other than the Xuanxu Temple of Little Platform Mountain.

...

The little Taoist, along with the three ladies, quietly descended in front of the gate of the Taoist temple, which had been closed for more than half a month.

The entrance of Xuanxu Temple was now devoid of those frenzied female devotees.

However, the temple entrance was guarded by the loyal underlings Little White had recruited before, still sincerely standing watch.

Upon seeing the trio return, the two watchdog wolves at the entrance were initially stunned, then started waddling toward them with their round bodies, barking and howling, their cries instantly echoing throughout the whole Little Platform Mountain.

After their howls, birds flew up in large numbers from the forest, and the small animals of the mountain instinctively hid. Little Platform Mountain seemed to come alive, and in a short while, a large group of round-shaped wolves and dogs gathered on the open ground before the Xuanxu Temple.

Jin Xu looked at the scene before him and couldn't help but laugh, never expecting that the first ones to welcome them back would be these little fellows.

Little White and Yu Yaoer were already frolicking with the underlings, occasionally tossing out food from their storage magical treasures into the air.

Yet, these wolves and dogs all waited quietly for the food to fall before eating.

Each of them too lazy to jump!

Jin Xu knew that the food was all bought by the Husky in Shangjing City, as Yu Yaoer was afraid that these underlings would be hungry during the half-month she was away.

Looking at their physique now, her worries were clearly unfounded.

"Little White, ask them if anyone has been feeding them these days? How did they all get like this in only half a month?"

The little Taoist walked through the group of underlings and spoke at the entrance of the temple.

"Temple Master, I've asked. They said at first, many human females would bring food to feed them, but after about eight or nine days, not many people came. Only a 'fat woman' and a 'thin woman' came every evening with a group of people to feed them,"

Upon hearing this, Jin Xu scratched his head. He didn't know any women in Gusu City, let alone a 'fat woman and a thin woman.'

However, he did know one man. Thinking of this, the smiley chubby face of Zhao Dabao naturally came to mind.

Seeing the temple master not speaking, Little White daringly added, "Temple Master, in their worldview, someone like Little Yu would be considered 'enormously fat,' so... Ah, Little Yu, I was wrong!"

Before she could finish, the Husky's head was struck by Yu Yaoer's fist.

After listening to Little White's words, the little Taoist curiously sized up Yu Yaoer.

"Is the Little Fish Demon fat? She seems quite slim."

While pondering, he pushed open the temple gate.

"Hey, where's the second set of doors for my temple?"

This question immediately arose in Jin Xu's mind.

He remembered that when he left, his temple had a double-door entrance, and senior Guan Ling had promised to watch over the Bronze Gate for him.

The little Taoist quickly walked through the front courtyard and the main hall, shouting, "Senior Guan Ling, I'm back."

But upon passing through the side door of the main hall, he was stunned.

It wasn't that Jin Xu wasn't knowledgeable; it was just that the scene before him was too baffling.

Half of the remaining branches of the Serenity Willow were bound in a tortoise-shell pattern over the Bronze Gate, and that wasn't all. The willow tree had also unearthed several thick, dragon-like roots from the soil, hanging the Bronze Gate suspended in the air.

Looking closely, the Bronze Gate was even a little deformed from the binding.

"Who would believe if I told them that my door and my tree got into a fight?"

The little Taoist stood in place for a full half a minute before tentatively walking under the Big Willow Tree and gently prodding the suspended Bronze Gate.

The door swung in the air when his finger touched it, swaying as if it had lost consciousness without any intention of resisting.

"emmmmm..."

Jin Xu found his brain a bit scrambled.

He softly called out to senior Guan Ling a couple of times with no response; he called out twice more for Elder Qin, and still, there was silence.

The little Taoist closed his eyes and then opened them again with a faint silvery light in his gaze.

He was prepared to use the Insight Skill of the Spiritual Eyes to see whether the two were still alive.

Just then, Little White with Big Black and Fat Wolf leading the wolves and dogs entered from the temple front.

"Temple Master, I was thinking of giving the Spiritual Liquid to... holy smokes, punitive binding!"

Little White had intended to enter and ask Jin Xu whether he could dilute the Spiritual Liquid in the temple to give it to the underlings. She was planning to have her round underlings who didn't look like canines cultivate since they got so fat by just eating a little food, completely embarrassing her Husky image!

But to her surprise, she immediately saw this shocking sight upon entering.

"What did you say?"

The little Taoist was startled and didn't quite catch it.

"Punitive binding, Temple Master! When our neighboring tribe lost the fight, many of them ended up bound and hanging like this! And some positions were even more brutal than this! Is senior Guan Ling punishing Mr. Qin?"

The Husky patted Fat Wolf's head, her expression filled with curiosity and excitement.

"...No, I was asking what you were originally going to say, not about the binding punishment."

Jin Xu's face was expressionless, and his eyes gleamed with a silver light as he carefully observed the tree and the door before him.

"Awoo awoo, temple master, I want to dilute the Spiritual Liquid in the well a bit, to let my younger brothers have a drink."

"Good. Oh, call Little Yu in for me."

At this point, the little Taoist was sure that both of them were still alive. However, the Big Willow Tree's internal strength was weak, and there was also a pitch-dark crack in its Sea of Consciousness. The Bronze Gate had an even weaker internal strength—so much so, that its Sea of Consciousness was completely drained.

But considering the history of Guan Ling feigning illness, he still needed to confirm it once more.

"Alright, temple master."

Little White cheerfully took a wolf and a dog out again, with what had just happened quickly forgotten.

A moment later.

Yu Yaoer walked in from outside the temple, having been immersed in the joy of returning to the temple. It was rare for her not to head straight to the kitchen upon her return, but instead, she had played with the wolves and dogs outside for a while.

"Young master, you called for me... Eh?"

Little Fish Demon was also startled as she entered the backyard, and she understood slightly more than Little White.

"Right, go make a bowl of soup for Guan Ling and the door to drink."

The little Taoist emphasized his point, choosing to confirm with Yu Yaoer's secret "soup" recipe.

"Ah, okay, young master."

Yu Yaoer's cheeks flushed, and she stealthily cast a glance at the Big Willow Tree and the Bronze Gate, then sneakily peeked at Jin Xu, apparently thinking of something, before scurrying off to the kitchen to get busy.

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

Little Fish Demon walked out from the kitchen, carrying two bowls of steaming, blue-dimpled, purple-welling soup and stood beside the little Taoist.

"Young master, it's ready."

Jin Xu nodded, took the bowls of soup, and carefully poured one of them at the base of the Big Willow Tree.

He waited for a moment, and the tree showed no reaction.

The little Taoist furrowed his brows slightly, then poured the other bowl onto the body of the Bronze Gate.

The result was the same as with the Big Willow Tree.

"...Has Little Yu's soup turned tasty, or are these two really so depleted that they can't even wake up?"

Jin Xu returned the bowl to Yu Yaoer with a puzzled look.

His eyes engaged the fortune-telling method, and two large "auspicious" characters appeared in his vision.

"...Even in this state, their fortunes still show as auspicious, huh."

The little Taoist silently criticized in his heart.

"Young master, are Guan Ling and the door...?"

Yu Yaoer was intensely curious, but since the young master had just instructed her to make the soup, she didn't have the chance to ask more.

"I don't know either, but their fortunes show the auspicious character, so there shouldn't be any big issues, I guess."

The little Taoist said with some uncertainty.

Well, in this state, is everything really fine?

Little Fish Demon did not voice this question. Since her master had said there were no issues, then even if there were issues, they would surely turn into no issues!

Yu Yaoer, blindly following.jpg

Having confirmed that the door and the tree wouldn't wake up anytime soon, the little Taoist began trying to untangle the Bronze Gate from the willow branches, as having this scenery in the backyard was simply inappropriate. But due to the intricacy of Guan Ling's entwining, Jin Xu eventually had to resort to some physical methods.

After one hour.

The little Taoist reburied the roots of the Big Willow Tree and cleaned up the courtyard. The Bronze Gate had also been tossed by the little Taoist into his master's room.

He didn't dare place it inside the Mystic Treasure Pearl for fear of disturbing Little Hong, who was still inside.

Once everything was neatly arranged, Jin Xu stood in front of the slightly sparser Big Willow Tree, feeling a silent apology in his heart. He resolved to find some Soul Nourishing Liquid for Guan Ling if he had the chance.

"Sigh, I wanted to ask Guan Ling if the life energy contained in his branches and leaves could help people restore their sight. Now it seems, Xu Qian can only hope for the Three Elements Rejuvenation Pill."

Jin Xu had just checked, and the life energy contained in the branches and leaves of the Big Willow Tree had diminished to just a tenth of what it had been, obviously a huge expenditure over the past half a month.

Before heading back to his room, the little Taoist couldn't help but use his Spiritual Eyes to inspect Guan Ling again. He noticed the "auspicious" character still above Guan Ling's head, and after its roots were buried back into the ground, the faint vital presence started to show signs of growth. Only then did he feel at ease.

"After learning this Dongxuan Spirit Vision, I don't have to worry about Guan Ling feigning illness anymore."

Jin Xu muttered to himself, turning back to his familiar little room.

At this moment, Yu Yaoer might be busying herself with something in the long-missed kitchen, and Little White was preparing her little brothers for cultivation, reportedly to eat more.

All three were thoroughly enjoying their homecoming in their own ways.

...

At dusk.

The guardian wolf encountered the "fat lady" and "skinny lady" bringing a group of people for a feed.

And just then, they happened upon the pack of wolves "diligently" cultivating in front of the temple, led by a Husky.

"Sister, look, why are all these wolves sitting cross-legged?"