Chapter 538

"I had nowhere to stay last night, so I ended up lodging there."

"I didn't expect to see no ghosts, no immortals either—instead I ran into a wanted criminal."

The scholar pointed toward a distant Gaoshan and spoke through the pouring rain.

That Gaoshan, shrouded in the mist of heavy rain, looked rather eerie.

"Oh! What has that got to do with me?"

Bu Yuanting vaguely understood—could this scholar be planning to go capture the so-called wanted criminal himself?

Truth be told, in a certain sense Bu Yuanting himself counted as a wanted criminal too!

A wanted criminal of both the Xuanhua Hao and the Search God Palace!

"Uh!"

The scholar's words faltered,

"But that wanted criminal carries a hefty bounty."

"Not only has the Great Tang issued a thousand-tael gold reward for him, even the Qinglong Society has put up a generous price."

Bu Yuanting, who had been about to leave, stopped in his tracks at those words and looked at the scholar as he asked,

"Qinglong Society? Are you sure?"

Now that Bu Jingyun was with the Qinglong Society, Bu Yuanting paid close attention to anything concerning the Qinglong Society.

If the Qinglong Society truly cared about this wanted criminal, then if he could take the man down, the credit going to his son wouldn't be bad either.

"It's true, absolutely true."

The scholar pulled Bu Yuanting into the thatched shed, then took two bounty notices from his pack.

The first was naturally the bounty notice issued by the Great Tang imperial court, for the capture of the great thief Liu Ruofei.

The second was worded in the Qinglong Society's tone, calling for the capture of Liu Ruofei on the grounds that this great thief had stolen a treasure from the Qinglong Society.

If Liu Ruofei were successfully captured, one could obtain the chance to join the Qinglong Society.

If the Qinglong Society's treasure were recovered from Liu Ruofei, one could go directly to Qinglong Peak to claim the reward.

At the bottom of the bounty notice, a Qinglong Society emblem was also printed.

Everything, indeed, looked just like a Qinglong Society release.

But Bu Yuanting had met Qinglong Society people before, and vaguely felt something was off here.

After all, the Qinglong Society's experts were as common as clouds—even an altar master like Guichen could hold his own.

If someone truly stole a Qinglong Society treasure, the Qinglong Society Bandou Society would handle the capture themselves.

Why would they issue such a strange bounty notice?

But what if it really was true?

Bu Yuanting thought it over—anyway, the ancient temple wasn't far from here, so taking a look wouldn't hurt.

If it were true, then he'd be earning merit for Bu Jingyun.

If it were false, then he'd still be ridding the Qinglong Society of scoundrels.

Either way, it would benefit Bu Jingyun.

"Fine! I'll go with you."

Once Bu Yuanting had made up his mind, he let the scholar lead him toward the Shenshan.

This ancient temple in the Shenshan was indeed rather eerie.

Along the way, vines and the like blocked the path, as if no one had ever come here.

By the time the scholar led Bu Yuanting to the front of the ancient temple, night had already fallen.

At the scholar's suggestion, the two of them pushed open the seemingly unmanned ancient temple gates and walked in.

The scholar, familiar with the place, found a room and settled in for the night with Bu Yuanting.

Then, somehow producing firewood and a source of fire, he lit a bonfire.

After entering this ancient temple, Bu Yuanting released his Xin Qiji to probe the entire structure.

But this ancient temple was extremely eerie—even with Bu Yuanting's supreme Mythical Realm cultivation, some areas were blocked.

The places he could sense seemed completely empty!

Could this seemingly simple, harmless scholar, who looked too weak to truss a chicken, be deceiving him?

"Where is Liu Ruofei?"

After dealing with this so-called Qinglong Society bounty notice, Bu Yuanting still had to continue his journey.

"Uncle, wait…"

The scholar, looking thoroughly confident, took out a ledger and began writing something by the firelight.

Bu Yuanting was just growing impatient when he suddenly heard a number of footsteps approaching outside the ancient temple.

Then the temple gates were pushed open, and a group of people skilled in Wu Gong burst in.

"Liu Ruofei, come out!"

The moment these people entered the ancient temple, they immediately began shouting.

"Huh? There's really a Liu Ruofei? This scholar didn't trick me?"

Hearing this, Bu Yuanting grew even more puzzled and couldn't help glancing at the scholar.

But the scholar went on writing and drawing as if he hadn't heard the commotion outside.

Then the Wu Lin figures outside actually spread out through the ancient temple, searching.

Strangest of all, a bonfire was clearly burning in this broken room.

At this late hour, anyone entering through the temple gates should have seen it clearly.

Yet these Wu Lin martial artists acted as if they were blind, none of them coming over to push open the door on this side.

Instead, they gradually walked deeper into the ancient temple.

"Hm? Why are they acting as if they don't see this side?"

Bu Yuanting couldn't help but speak out.

Although none of these people were Land Immortals, they couldn't possibly be blind, could they?

"No rush, no rush. Liu Ruofei will show up soon."

The scholar kept his head down, drawing and writing, and said casually.

"Hehe, big brother, come catch me!"

"If you catch me, tonight I'll keep you company…"

At the same time, from this quiet and eerie ancient temple, a woman's laughter suddenly rang out.

Although Bu Yuanting hadn't looked carefully at the Wu Lin martial artists who had gone deep into the ancient temple earlier,

he could confirm that none of them had this woman's voice.

Moreover, the women who spoke these flirtatious words seemed to be more than one.

Before long, this secluded and eerie ancient temple seemed to have turned into a place of wind and moon.

Those Wu Lin martial artists who had entered earlier got mixed up with these women who had suddenly appeared.

"What's going on?"

Bu Yuanting could no longer hold back, and said to the scholar,

"Stay here, don't go out. I'll go take a look."

This ancient temple reeked of eeriness everywhere, and the scholar had also become rather strange after entering here.

Yet Bu Yuanting still gave him a reminder, then without waiting for the scholar's reply, left the room.

Stepping out of the room, he faintly saw firelight reflected from deep within the ancient temple.

Several slender, graceful figures danced lightly, set off by the firelight.

Only their shadows were cast too long by the firelight, giving off an indescribably eerie feeling.

"Hmph! Playing tricks and trying to scare people."

Bu Yuanting, bold in both skill and courage, directly moved his body and charged toward that side.

But after only a few steps, he found he was still in the courtyard.

He was at the early stage of the Supreme Mythical Realm, and had even made it onto the Heavenly Dao Golden List.

Although lightness skill was not his forte, at the speed he had just used, he should have long since passed through the ancient temple.

"Something's off! I've fallen into a strange formation array…"