Outside the hall, Xu Qing walked up to Meng Yongzhen and took a moment to look at the lantern in his hand.
The Celestial Master Liu was a bit too able to endure, Xu Qing always felt that the old guy was brewing some evil trick waiting for him!
And Meng Yongzhen before him was the Celestial Master's last disciple. If the old turtle really had some hidden moves, Xu Qing thought he might find some clues in Meng Yongzhen's lantern.
However, as the pages of the Sutra of Salvation turned, Xu Qing's brow never relaxed.
Originally, Meng Yongzhen came from a wealthy family; his household ran a silver shop, two cloth stores, and several inns and restaurants.
But this Daoist was born not to favor a stable life and instead enjoyed the ways of bandits robbing and vicious murder, engaging in such blood-curdling acts!
To satisfy himself, Meng Yongzhen secretly left home, ran alone to Yulong Fort on Black Cloud Mountain outside the city, and found the Bandit Leader, wanting to join the bandits and enjoy the thrills of being a bandit himself!
Yet becoming a bandit isn't just something you can do by saying you want to do it.
A nobody claiming to join the bandits, that's unlikely, what if you're an undercover agent planted by the authorities?
Meng Yongzhen was anxious; being a bandit and killing and plundering was his dream. If his family supported him in pursuing this dream, he wouldn't have become estranged from them and run here looking for a way out.
The Bandit Leader was somewhat moved upon hearing this; in these times, apart from those starving and unable to eat, or those too poor to afford clothes, who would want to be a bandit?
Rarely would there be someone with a genuine love for this line of work, but the Bandit Leader was still not daring to easily trust Meng Yongzhen.
"Alright then, you say you sincerely want to join, so first you need to provide proof of your loyalty. If you can produce that, I'll recognize you as a brother!"
Meng Yongzhen asked, "What is proof of loyalty, and specifically how does one prove it?"
The head said, "Proof of loyalty is a head, and since it carries the term 'name', it must be someone with a name and status in the city or its vicinity, like the county's constable or shopkeepers from major firms, those all count!"
At that time, Meng Yongzhen was just an ordinary person who couldn't even practice martial arts; how could he have the ability to trouble major firms?
Let alone the county's constable!
But just as Meng Yongzhen was getting anxious, a sudden inspiration struck him—the fact that his own father was just the owner of a major firm, wasn't he!
In terms of reputation, who within ten miles could match his father?
Oh well! For the sake of the child's dream, the old man must temporarily be wronged!
Meng Yongzhen rolled up his sleeves, and acted decisively.
That night, the moon was dark and the winds were high.
That night, the dogs of the Meng family were barking.
Meng Yongzhen successfully realized his dream, but upon learning that the proof of loyalty he gave was his entire family, the Bandit Leader refused to swear brotherhood with him no matter what.
Bandits aren't insane; though they may have a low moral baseline, they still have one.
And Meng Yongzhen was evidently a true lunatic; today he dared to betray his kin, tomorrow he'd dare to betray his brother in oath, and the day after he'd dare to slaughter his household.
A person like this is no different from a frozen snake; one day, smelling warmth, he wouldn't even know how he met his end!
Front foot, the Bandit Leader swore brotherhood with Meng Yongzhen; back foot, he took him to the cliff of the rear mountain.
"Brother Meng, do you want to ascend to immortality?"
"Immortality?"
"Yes, like an Immortal! I've heard storytellers say many people find Immortal abodes at the bottom of cliffs and learn formidable skills, Divine Techniques!"
"I think Brother Meng has this kind of fate."
Before Meng Yongzhen could react to what was happening, he felt a tremendous force on his lower back, and his entire person was already kicking down the cliff like a broken sack.
During his fall, Meng Yongzhen faintly heard the Bandit Leader scoffing at him...
Xu Qing continued to read, Meng Yongzhen didn't encounter an Immortal abode, or a paradise; rather, he met the Celestial Master Liu, who possessed nine shadows.
The Celestial Master Liu glanced at the thing falling from the heavens; how could there be seven trails of exhaust behind it?
Upon closer inspection, well! It turned out to be seven shadows trailing behind the person falling off the cliff!
In the Five Filthy Evil Worlds, good people don't live long, but evil ones have their fortune, Meng Yongzhen miraculously survived the disaster and happily earned the position of Celestial Master's Mansion last disciple.
The Celestial Master Liu was also pleased; this disciple was like an uncut gem, truly born for practicing the merciless path of cultivation!
Meng Yongzhen indeed lived up to expectations; during his cultivation following the Celestial Master Liu, his cultivation level skyrocketed.
Reaching a century of cultivation, Meng Yongzhen returned to his hometown, seeking the Bandit Leader who had once kicked him down the mountain.
The Bandit Leader saw his oath brother clothed in Taoist robes, walking clouds as if on solid ground, and thought that the storytellers really weren't deceiving; there indeed was fortune waiting beneath the cliffs!
A generation of bandits thought his wicked life was about to end, but unexpectedly, Meng Yongzhen not only didn't kill him for revenge but laughed and thanked him, saying if it weren't for his brother's kick, he wouldn't have met the Celestial Master Liu, nor achieved today's success.
After speaking, Meng Yongzhen even expressed wanting to take the Bandit Leader to the Celestial Master's Mansion to become a Daoist.
The Bandit Leader was deeply moved, but strangely, ever since joining Meng Yongzhen in the Celestial Master's Mansion filled with mental patients, the originally evil-doer bandit became the only one who could read the scriptures, willing to reform and be a genuine Daoist.
But this clearly didn't fit the tradition of Celestial Master's Mansion; everyone was abnormal in private, how come he was proper both front and back?
With only one shadow, the Bandit Leader became the target of bullying in Celestial Master's Mansion; if Meng Yongzhen hadn't intervened and assigned him to guard the mountain gate, this Bandit Leader probably wouldn't have been able to live to today.