The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#724 - Bodhi bracelet

Usually, rainstorms come and go quickly.

But this time, for some reason, the rain continued for more than half an hour without stopping.

Moreover, Lu Jing and Xia Huai later heard footsteps and voices coming from outside the temple.

"Oh, there's a mountain temple here, Second Uncle, let's go in quickly."

"But why would there be a temple in this wilderness?" Another person, who sounded older, hesitated.

"Who knows? Maybe it was built in earlier years when there were still people living nearby. It looks quite old, and it should be abandoned now. It's perfect for sheltering from the rain."

At this moment, a third voice rang out, "It's better to be careful. The world is so chaotic these days. Who knows what bandits might be hiding inside!"

"But the rain is so heavy that we definitely can't travel any further. If we don't go in, are we all just going to stand outside and get soaked?" The young man who spoke first said, "How about I go in and take a look first? If there's no danger, I'll call you in."

However, before he could move, he was stopped by the older man, "I'll go. Before leaving, I promised your father that you'd return in the same condition you left."

The young man wanted to say something more, but the man he called Second Uncle had already stepped forward and walked towards the temple.

He held a wooden stick in one hand and pushed open the temple door with the other, cautiously peering inside. He was stunned when he saw Lu Jing and Xia Huai, and subconsciously took a half step back, saying with some trepidation, "You two…"

"We're also here to take shelter from the rain," Lu Jing said.

Upon hearing this, the man's expression relaxed slightly. He looked at Lu Jing and Xia Huai, a man and a woman, both of whom looked young and didn't seem like villains, so he cupped his fist and said.

"My name is Li Fu, from Li Family Village in Shanyin County. I'm here with my nephew and a few fellow villagers to gather herbs in the mountains. We didn't expect to encounter heavy rain on the way, so we wanted to enter the temple to take shelter. I wonder if it's convenient for you two…"

"It's no inconvenience," Xia Huai said, "This temple doesn't belong to us. We just arrived a little earlier than you. There's no reason to prevent those who come later from entering."

Li Fu was overjoyed upon hearing this, "Thank you both. Then I'll call the others in."

"Please do."

Including Li Fu, all four of them were wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats, with large bamboo baskets on their backs and hoes, sickles, and ropes tied around their waists. They were indeed dressed as typical herb gatherers.

The youngest one, about sixteen or seventeen years old, had thick eyebrows and large eyes. He should be Li Fu's nephew. There were also two others, one in his early thirties with two fingers missing from his right hand, and the other with a full head of white hair, looking to be in his fifties or sixties.

When these two made eye contact with Lu Jing, their gazes were somewhat evasive.

However, this didn't necessarily mean anything. All four of them were clearly ordinary people who hadn't practiced any martial arts. It was almost certain that they would be apprehensive and fearful when encountering strangers in the wilderness.

On the other hand, Li Fu and his nephew seemed much better than the other two.

Li Fu thanked Lu Jing and Xia Huai again, and then asked his nephew to look around the temple for anything that could be used to make a fire.

In the end, they found two tables and a few broken chairs, which they chopped up and piled together as firewood.

As the flames rose, the chill on their bodies finally subsided slightly. They took off their straw raincoats and sat around the fire in a circle, warming their icy hands and feet.

Li Fu didn't forget to invite Lu Jing and Xia Huai to join them, but Lu Jing declined.

Seeing that Li Fu had been deliberately trying to please the young couple next to them since entering the temple, Li Fu's nephew felt somewhat dissatisfied. After Li Fu sat down again, he lowered his voice and said, "Second Uncle, why bother with them?"

Upon hearing this, Li Fu's expression changed slightly, and he immediately covered his nephew's mouth, saying, "Zongjie, be careful what you say."

Although the young man named Li Zongjie didn't say anything more, his gaze was clearly unconvinced.

"When you're out and about, it's never wrong to be polite," Li Fu said, seeing that his nephew was still unconvinced, he sighed and said, "We have to travel over mountains and ridges to gather herbs, but they don't. They avoid the main roads and choose secluded paths, not afraid of encountering villains and beasts… How could these two be ordinary people?"

Hearing what his second uncle said, Li Zongjie was already seven parts convinced, but he still couldn't help but say, "Is it possible that they got lost in the mountains?"

Li Fu shook his head, "People who are lost would either be delighted or wary when they see the four of us. But look at them, their expressions remain the same, they don't care what we do at all. So, everyone should be careful when speaking. I've heard that martial arts masters can hear sounds from very far away."

At this time, the other two were again worried about their own safety. The white-haired old man glanced at the direction where Lu Jing and Xia Huai were, and then said, "This place is not suitable for a long stay. Once the rain stops, let's leave quickly."

After saying this, the four of them fell silent.

While taking shelter from the rain, some ate dry rations and others rubbed their legs.

Lu Jing and Xia Huai then opened their respective bags.

Xia Huai found that her package contained a booklet called "Thirteen Swords of the Heavenly Gate." Judging from the name, it should be a set of sword techniques.

However, Xia Huai came from the Sword Washing Pavilion, which was known as the number one sword sect in the world, and had seen many powerful sword techniques. She wasn't too surprised when she saw this Thirteen Swords of the Heavenly Gate.

It wasn't until she flipped through a few pages that she couldn't take her eyes off it.

After a moment, she even closed her eyes and used her fingers as a sword, directly demonstrating it on the ground.

In comparison, Lu Jing was much more cautious. He opened his package little by little, as if he were disarming a landmine on the battlefield. After that, he quickly scanned it, but didn't see any books or secret manuals inside.

Huh?

Could it be that his previous plan to exchange internal energy for martial arts had failed?

Although Lu Jing's internal energy wasn't worth much, and he wouldn't feel bad even if the old beggar "ate" it all, he had been busy for so long, and he didn't want it to end up being all for nothing.

However, as Lu Jing looked more closely, he finally found something that wasn't in the package before.

— It was a string of beads, made up of twelve bodhi seeds.

Lu Jing was shocked.

Wasn't [Gui Zi 001] always giving away secret manuals? He hadn't heard that it could also drop equipment. Had he triggered some strange opening method?

Unfortunately, the old beggar in the temple was no longer there. Lu Jing wanted to ask, but there was no one to ask. After that, he studied the string of beads again, confirming that there were no hidden techniques on the bodhi seeds.