Sometimes Yan Shouyi couldn't help but suspect that Long Feicheng had bad luck.
Why was it always him who stepped into traps?
Whenever it mattered, this guy would disappear and only reappear unharmed after the battle was over...
So, according to this pattern, Yan Shouyi wasn't worried about Long Feicheng's safety.
He looked at the dark doorway, already having a general idea of what was happening.
It must have been those two strange Taoist priests from the Ya-character room.
But he had no enmity with them, so why would they target him for no reason?
Yan Shouyi didn't understand.
"Don't panic," Yan Shouyi said to Lin Zitong, turning his head. "You stay here, I'll go out and check."
Zhang Shantong said indifferently, "Let me go instead."
Having lived to Zhang Shantong's age, especially having died once, there was little that could scare him anymore.
Besides, he was a ghost himself, so how could he be scared by ghosts?
Thus, Zhang Shantong floated directly to the doorway, his body gradually swallowed by the darkness.
However, after floating into the darkness for a few minutes, Zhang Shantong still showed no sign of activity.
This made Yan Shouyi's expression turn grim.
Zhang Shantong was capable of killing ghost kings; what could possibly be outside that could trap him?
In other words, if Zhang Shantong couldn't handle it, did he and Lin Zitong stand a chance?
Lin Zitong was a little nervous, "What should we do now?"
"Through the window!"
Yan Shouyi decided to temporarily avoid the conflict and led Lin Zitong to the window.
But the outside was also pitch black!
Earlier, as night fell, the sky had gradually darkened, and no one had noticed. Now, looking out the window, they couldn't see any of the West Lake night scenery, not a single light was on.
This teahouse seemed to have been abandoned by the world, cast into a different dimension.
"Interesting..."
Yan Shouyi felt no fear, but rather a sense of calm.
How had those two Taoist priests managed to turn their private room into this without him noticing anything?
Was it an array?
Or a spell?
Or perhaps an illusion technique that Yan Shouyi hadn't encountered much?
But no matter which it was, Yan Shouyi believed he wouldn't have been completely unaware.
This was too strange.
Lin Zitong suggested, "Why don't we just wait in the room? Maybe Grandpa Zhang and the others will be back soon?"
"What about little Long?" Yan Shouyi asked. "I don't think we can just wait to be killed. It's better to figure out what's outside and then find a way to deal with it, rather than just sitting here and waiting."
Lin Zitong thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll listen to you. As long as we're together, there's nothing to be afraid of!"
"Mm."
Yan Shouyi used a spell to retrieve his Zanpakuto, and Lin Zitong also used a similar spell to retrieve a clone of the Red God Umbrella.
Although the Red God Umbrella was just an oil-paper umbrella, its tip was actually shaped like a spearhead. Stabbing someone with it could be fatal.
Therefore, the Red God Umbrella was a weapon.
Shoulder to shoulder, the two walked to the door, exchanged a look, and stepped out together.
The moment they stepped out of the teahouse, Yan Shouyi felt a momentary disorientation.
He mentally braced himself for trouble.
When he came to his senses, Lin Zitong was indeed gone, and he was surrounded by darkness, unable to distinguish up from down, left from right, or east from west. He didn't even know if he was standing or floating.
Darkness breeds the unknown, and the unknown breeds fear.
"Zitong!"
"Little Long!"
"Grandpa!"
Yan Shouyi called out a few times but received no response.
Suddenly.
Three bright lights appeared in the darkness.
Upon closer inspection, they were three grand doors. Beyond the doors was bright light, as if beckoning Yan Shouyi to approach.
At this point, even if all three doors were traps, Yan Shouyi had no choice but to proceed.
Approaching the doors, he couldn't see clearly what lay beyond, making it difficult for him to decide.
"The three doors are indistinguishable, and I can't determine directions from here. I can't use Qimen Dunjia to predict good or bad fortune... Is it all down to luck?"
Even Yan Shouyi was bewildered. If those two Taoist priests wanted to scheme against him, their methods should have had some traceable pattern.
Just presenting three doors like this, what was the purpose?
He gritted his teeth, chose the middle door, and stepped through!
The familiar feeling of disorientation struck again. When Yan Shouyi opened his eyes, he even suspected he might be experiencing memory confusion.
He had returned to the starting point, and before him were three doors, exactly the same as before!
Looking back, the door he had come through had vanished!
"Something's not right..."
This extremely bizarre scene made Yan Shouyi unable to make any further decisions.
Behind the three doors were still three doors.
This was a path without end.
Were those two Taoist priests trying to trap him here to death?
Was this loop a Maze Array? But where was the array? Was he just walking in circles?
To verify his suspicion, Yan Shouyi raised his Zanpakuto and slashed wildly at the three doors.
However, even the sharpness of the Zanpakuto, which could slice through iron, couldn't inflict any damage on these three doors!
This was completely illogical!!
Whether it was an array, an illusion, or a spell, Yan Shouyi himself was still in the real teahouse.
With one slash, even a wall should have shown some damage.
Did those two Taoist priests really have such power that they could cast someone into a void?
Yan Shouyi's heart grew cold; he realized he was truly helpless.
The only path was through the three doors before him, with no room to retreat.
He had no choice but to proceed.
He sighed, randomly picked one of the doors, and walked through it.
...
At the same time.
The door to the Dan-character private room was pushed open.
Two Taoist priests from the Ascending Immortal Temple entered with cold smiles.
Looking at Yan Shouyi and the other three, who were fast asleep slumped over the table, the shorter Taoist priest sneered:
"Our Ascending Immortal Temple's unique Drunken Dream Incense, colorless and odorless, regardless of whether you're human or ghost, inhaling it will send you into a dream. It's more effective than anesthesia. No matter what happens in reality, you won't be able to wake up!"
The taller Taoist priest said, "Once one falls into a dream, unless they realize they are dreaming, there's no other way. They will only sink deeper and deeper until they naturally wake up... However, with the dosage we used just now, they won't wake up for at least three to five days!"
Yan Shouyi and the other three were all slumped on the table, fast asleep.
The shorter Taoist priest even kicked Long Feicheng and grabbed his hair, banging his forehead against the table. He showed no reaction, even letting out snoring sounds in his sleep.
"It looks like they've all fallen for it," the shorter Taoist priest said.
The taller Taoist priest surveyed the four people in the room.
Yan Shouyi's appearance was too similar to Yan Chou's, so the taller Taoist priest was certain he was the successor of Lu Ban, a descendant of his enemy, Yan Chou.
As for Lin Zitong, Long Feicheng, and Zhang Shantong, the taller Taoist priest didn't recognize them and wasn't interested in learning more.
Because they were about to die!
The shorter Taoist priest directly took out a dagger and gestured at Long Feicheng's neck. He said,
"Senior Brother, you take that brat, and I'll deal with the rest for you!"
"Wait."
The taller Taoist priest suddenly called out to the shorter Taoist priest, who asked in confusion, "What is it?"
"Look at what's on the table."
The two approached the table and began to examine fragmented pages of ancient books.
They were quite experienced and recognized the extraordinary nature of these ancient books at a glance. That's why the taller Taoist priest was attracted to these fragments before killing them for revenge.
The shorter Taoist priest picked up a star chart and frowned, saying,
"I think these ancient books are treasures, but I can't figure out what they are. Do you know, Senior Brother?"
The taller Taoist priest slowly flipped through a few pages and said in a deep voice, "It looks like ancient books passed down from the Tang Dynasty. This page of mine records... Hmm? The method for achieving longevity?"
"The method for achieving longevity?" the shorter Taoist priest exclaimed. "No way! Besides turning into a zombie, is there really a method for eternal life in this world?"
Strictly speaking, becoming a zombie wasn't true eternal life.
Zombies were outside the Five Elements, beyond the Three Realms, and rejected by heaven and earth.
Although they didn't die, they didn't enter the cycle of reincarnation either.
Even though Yan Shouyi was now a Heavenly Fiend Corpse Puppet, capable of regenerating flesh from bone, his soul had long since merged with his body.
When his body turned to dust, his soul would also dissipate, with no chance of reincarnation.
Yan Shouyi and Yan Chou knew this, but they never mentioned it.
After all, they hadn't even lived their current lives to the fullest, so why worry about reincarnation?
The taller Taoist priest continued to flip through the ancient books, saying,
"True longevity, immortality, eternal youth, abstaining from food and grains, only absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon... If such a thing exists, wouldn't that mean becoming an immortal?!"
Longevity and immortality were words that held far more allure for these Taoist priests than money or women.
The shorter Taoist priest's breathing became rapid. He picked up a few pages, flipping through them as he spoke,
"Senior Brother, can you be more specific? Do these ancient books record the method for achieving longevity?"
"Not entirely. Wait a moment, let me take a good look!"
The taller Taoist priest also became impatient and quickly examined all the fragmented pages.
Compared to Yan Shouyi, the taller Taoist priest's knowledge base was far more extensive. Some characters that Yan Shouyi didn't recognize were not a problem for the taller Taoist priest.
Although many pages of the ancient books were lost, the taller Taoist priest quickly deciphered some key content.
"According to these ancient books, those who practiced obscure folk arts and were thus cursed have a way to escape their destined calamities. Once successful, their names will be removed from the Book of Life and Death, and from then on, they can achieve true longevity... The secret to avoiding these calamities is hidden within this star chart. Only those who unlock the secrets of the star chart can obtain the method to escape their calamities!"
"Obscure arts? Calamities?" the shorter Taoist priest seized upon the key information. "Could it be that the people mentioned in these ancient books are those afflicted by the curse of the Five Deprivations and Three Shortcomings?"
Considering that these ancient books originated from Yan Shouyi, the successor of Lu Ban, the taller Taoist priest felt that everything began to make sense.
The Lu Ban Book was already incredibly mysterious.
Now, with such an ancient book suggesting that the successor of Lu Ban could achieve immortality, there was no reason to doubt it!
The taller Taoist priest took a deep breath and said, "Junior Brother, do you think it's possible that this ancient book is the legendary lower volume of the Lu Ban Book?"
The shorter Taoist priest was startled, then nodded, "Highly likely! The contents of the middle volume of the Lu Ban Book have long been widely circulated in the Xuanmen. Only this lower volume is extremely mysterious, and outsiders have no knowledge of it. It seems this lower volume of the Lu Ban Book records the method to break through calamities and achieve longevity!!"
Unaware of the truth, the two had mistaken this ancient book, written by a young maid, for the envied lower volume of the Lu Ban Book.
The taller Taoist priest held the ancient book, pondering it from various angles, his expression shifting from time to time.
The shorter Taoist priest also thought for a long time.
Finally, the taller Taoist priest said to the shorter Taoist priest, "First, take pictures of this star chart, just in case anything unexpected happens."
"Oh! Okay!"
The shorter Taoist priest immediately took out his phone and photographed all the pages of the ancient book.
Following that, the taller Taoist priest said, "Junior Brother, our opportunity has arrived!"
"The Yan family values bloodline the most. If we take Yan Chou's son hostage, don't you think he'll hand over the Lu Ban Book? Once we obtain the upper and middle volumes of the Lu Ban Book, combined with the lower volume we have... Immortality will be within reach, won't it?!"
The shorter Taoist priest also became excited, "If it's truly as Senior Brother says, then I will definitely support it wholeheartedly!"
"Good, let's do it!"
"But what about the others here?"
"Kill everyone else except Yan Chou's son!" the taller Taoist priest said with a sinister smile. "Keeping the others would only lead to trouble. It's better to kill them all and let Yan Chou know that we are not to be trifled with!"