Chapter 120: Meeting the Immortal Again in the Temple

Ji Yuan watched the group of people panting heavily and scrambling. Then he looked at the seven or eight-year-old child, who was lying pale and unconscious in a woman's arms.

To Ji Yuan, it didn't look like a simple faint; the child seemed to have lost their soul. However, judging by the occasional twitch of the eyelids and furrowing of the brows, the lost soul was likely unharmed and still connected to the body.

Although the only time Ji Yuan had previously witnessed a "lost soul" condition was when dealing with the beautiful snake in Shanghegou Village, Suiyuan County—where a merchant was so terrified his soul briefly left his body—he felt that this child's state seemed particularly unusual.

'Interesting. It seems like it ran out on its own!'

With his spiritual eye open, Ji Yuan saw no traces of convulsions or residual evil magic on the child. After careful consideration, he surmised that the soul had left the body on its own, especially since the child had indeed appeared somewhat unusual before.

More than half their number was gone, and they were in this state. He wondered what kind of attack they had encountered.

If they were being hunted by ruthless bandits or villains, Ji Yuan felt he could intervene. But if it was a matter of common feuds or grievances in the martial world, perhaps being a spectator would be more appropriate.

However, more than curious about their ordeal, Ji Yuan was curious about what made this child so special. Then he thought about the trouble it would cause if they suddenly discovered him, so he decided it was better to reveal himself.

"Cough... cough..."

A soft cough immediately caused the already tense individuals to instinctively react defensively.

"Swish~" "Swish~" "Swish~"

Three of them immediately drew their swords.

"Who's there?" "Who's there?"

Ji Yuan shifted slightly and waved a hand to make himself visible, but he didn't stand up, so as not to startle these easily frightened people.

"I can't seem to find peace anywhere. This time, you're the ones disturbing me. Swords and blades have no eyes; be careful not to harm an innocent person!"

"It's you! Were you waiting for us here specifically?"

The man named Mo Tong asked, both surprised and wary.

Ji Yuan's voice was clear, strong, and highly recognizable, which was why he was immediately identified.

Ji Yuan had anticipated such a question. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Heh heh, I am merely a passerby. I spoke up to avoid misunderstanding. If I truly harbored ill intentions, wouldn't it be better to act stealthily?"

After speaking, Ji Yuan pointed to the brazier nearby and the firewood and charcoal in the corner.

"Why don't you gentlemen start a fire to warm yourselves? An autumn rain brings a chill. Be careful not to catch a cold."

Ji Yuan's words were calm, gentle, polite, and reasonable, which helped to somewhat lower their guard.

The burly man, Mo Tong, hesitated for a moment before cupping his hands apologetically towards Ji Yuan.

"It was our misunderstanding, sir. Please forgive us. However, it's not convenient for us to start a fire right now; we might have to leave soon."

The group sheathed their weapons and moved slightly away from the door, settling diagonally opposite Ji Yuan behind the mountain god statue. They also dragged the remaining two prayer mats over and laid the boy on them.

Two women in close-fitting attire attended to the boy, while the others tended to their wounds.

"Our young master wasn't injured, nor did he hit anything. How could he have fainted? Was he perhaps just frightened?"

"Sister, don't worry too much. The young master isn't hurt; he'll wake up eventually!"

"How can I not be anxious? We've tried everything to wake him—pinching his philtrum, even channeling vital energy—nothing works! How can I not be anxious?"

"Ah, calm down. For now, we can only find a doctor later!"

Mo Tong could only offer that.

A martial artist nearby used a strip of cloth torn from his own clothes to bandage Mo Tong's chest wound. Mo Tong glanced at Ji Yuan, then at the entrance of the mountain god temple.

"Tonight's rain was a great help to us. Without it, we wouldn't have escaped so easily. It's just a shame we lost over a dozen brothers!"

Mo Tong deliberately looked at Ji Yuan as he spoke, wanting to gauge his reaction, but it was too dim in the shadows to tell if Ji Yuan was disturbed by the mention of death.

Ji Yuan's attention was mostly on the boy. Observing the subtle twitching of his eyelids, it seemed his soul was currently wandering but shouldn't be too far from his body.

'Strange, if the soul can move and isn't far from the body, why doesn't it return?'

Ji Yuan was puzzled. A wandering soul was no trivial matter; it was a very dangerous state. If it couldn't return and lost connection with the body over time, the body would either truly die or become comatose.

'Could there be another reason?'

Thinking this, Ji Yuan decided it would be best to strike up a conversation and find an opportunity to ask.

"You all appear to be martial artists. Our two encounters could be considered fate. Would you mind telling me what kind of bandits or villains you ran into? From what I just overheard, I believe this child might be suffering from the 'lost soul sickness' that elders in my hometown speak of!"

"Lost soul sickness?"

The older woman among them asked, her voice tinged with doubt, as she looked at Ji Yuan. While the literal meaning of the condition wasn't hard to grasp, she found it somewhat unbelievable.

"That's right. People with lost soul sickness are like this—they cannot be awakened, or they remain dazed and delirious all day, beyond the help of medicine."

"What should we do then?"

Worried and flustered, Mo Tong instinctively asked.

"In my hometown, for someone suffering from lost soul sickness, either their family goes to places the patient frequently visited to 'call their soul back,' or they go to worship the Earth God. If there's no Earth God temple, they worship the City God, imploring the deity to help retrieve the patient's soul."

Ji Yuan was describing folk remedies genuinely used by ordinary people, and they were indeed effective, provided the lost soul sickness didn't have any unusual underlying factors.

Upon hearing this, the few people exchanged glances, speechless for a moment.

"Of course, seeking help from the mountain god is also useful. Earth Gods, Mountain Gods, and other nature deities are most skilled in such matters within their jurisdiction."

Ji Yuan's words by this point no longer sounded like something a refined scholar or a village elder would say, but these martial artists couldn't discern the difference.

Upon hearing this, the group instinctively looked towards the temple's deity statue, which, in the dim night, appeared somewhat eerie and terrifying.

The heavy rain continued to pour "splish-splash" outside, and the mountain god temple fell silent for a moment.

Just as Mo Tong was about to speak, he saw the gentleman in the corner suddenly stand up and raise a hand to stop him, as if knowing he was about to speak.

Ji Yuan inhaled deeply, his brows furrowing at the same time, then turned to look at the unconscious boy.

"It certainly doesn't seem like an ordinary martial world affair. In that case, I must intervene!"

Ji Yuan's low murmur was inaudible. Before the others could ask what he was muttering, they saw him take a few steps forward to the altar in front of the statue and speak in a calm, clear voice.

"Guard your young master. I'll go deal with what's outside!"

No sooner had Ji Yuan spoken than the main door of the mountain god temple burst open with a "bang," seemingly blown open by the wind and rain. However, the rain that swept in bypassed Ji Yuan completely. In the dim night, those inside couldn't see clearly, but those outside certainly could.

In the rain outside stood three figures, all dressed in tight martial arts attire, bearing swords and sabers, appearing to be martial artists. However, Ji Yuan knew clearly that though these three had human forms, they were not purely "human."

"Sir, this matter doesn't concern you. Please come back quickly! There are four of them in total, and each possesses incredibly high martial arts skills. We've lost many brothers already. Sir, don't do anything foolish!"

Mo Tong and the few martial artists around him immediately stood up, drawing their weapons one after another.

What puzzled Mo Tong and the others was that the three figures outside didn't immediately rush in; there was a faint sense of caution emanating from them in the dimness.

"Incredibly high martial arts? Hehehe..."

Ji Yuan chuckled and nodded.

"Indeed, for martial artists, their skills are exceptionally high..."

Ji Yuan widened his spiritual eyes a bit more, half probing their true nature and half genuinely sighing as he continued:

"Humans, demons, ghosts, and gods, I have seen many. But these fiends are truly rare, using the bodies of ordinary martial artists as vessels to seize this child. Quite interesting!"

These words left the martial artists inside the mountain god temple utterly bewildered, yet they felt a strange sensation given the situation.

"Hehehe... How unusual to encounter a cultivator in this desolate place today. I advise you not to meddle in this affair, or we might have to take the body of a cultivator as our new vessel!"

Ji Yuan stood at the temple entrance, showing no visible signs of power or divine light, yet the rain parted around him. The three figures outside couldn't quite ascertain his background.

Demons come in many forms: there are inner demons born from the mind, intangible external demons, shadowy demons born from calamities, and those who deviate from the true path of cultivation and fall into evil. While the term "demonic possession" is often used by ordinary people to describe frenzied obsession, most true demons are, in fact, exceedingly sinister and rarely truly insane.

"You are four. So the remaining one must be pursuing the child's soul, while you three are here to seize the body?"

The martial artists inside the temple couldn't see it, but in Ji Yuan's eyes, black mist was already emanating from the faces of the three possessed figures outside. Even if they couldn't see through Ji Yuan, he was ready for a confrontation.

"Even if you protect this child's body, their soul will surely be captured by us. So why don't you..."

"That's not necessarily true!"

Ji Yuan interrupted with a clear laugh. In this situation, trying a new move was perfectly justifiable!

As a magical incantation began to form in his mouth and his power shifted at will, Ji Yuan gently lifted his right foot and stamped it on the ground. A strange, shimmering ripple seemed to spread out.

"I summon the Mountain God of Jiaoye Mountain to appear!"

A swirling gust of wind and mist seemed to appear in response, rising and spinning from the temple floor...

The pupils of the three demons outside contracted sharply in an instant.

"He's summoning a deity! Run...!"