But the singing suddenly stopped at the fourth line, and Olivia Thompson turned her head and said, “What about the rest?”

“Oh, the next part is ‘unless meeting a kindred spirit, it must not be passed on.’ I don’t know why it has to be passed to a kindred spirit and not the original, so I’m not singing anymore.”

“……” Olivia Thompson felt that she understood the original meaning, but after William Foster twisted it, she was even more confused, so she simply ignored whatever he was twisting, rolled her eyes, and said, “Was it another wandering Taoist who sang it?”

“So clever, you’re even answering ahead of time now.”

Olivia Thompson sighed, “Maybe that was a real immortal.”

“Actually, even immortals ride donkeys sometimes.”

The conversation died again. Olivia Thompson glared at him and couldn’t be bothered to respond.

“William Foster.” In his sea of consciousness, Alice Carter’s voice suddenly sounded, “Where did you get all these song formulas? Don’t try to fool me with that wandering Taoist nonsense.”

William Foster replied silently, “None of your business.”

“You made up the songs yourself, didn’t you?” Alice Carter sighed, “It shows you really long for that kind of scene. Why don’t you and I…”

“Shut up, you broken record. Worst case, I’ll go seek immortality myself, just like Olivia Thompson.”

“Heh… Immortal fate is hard to come by. Do you really think everyone is so lucky? Ever since back then… mm…”

She started hiding things again. William Foster was used to it by now, and casually tilted the gourd, pouring wine over the head of his spiked club.

Who doesn’t want to cultivate immortality, who doesn’t want to travel from the North Sea in the morning to Cangwu in the evening?

But can’t everyone just be honest?

“Mr. Foster.” Up ahead, Ethan Thompson suddenly said, “The sky doesn’t look right. It seems like it’s going to rain.”

William Foster also looked at the sky. They’d been on the road all day, and now it was dusk. In the distance, dark clouds hung at the horizon, heavy and gloomy, indeed looking like rain was coming.

“The nearest town is at least an hour away, we probably won’t make it in time.” William Foster, wanting to understand the world, had deliberately gone out to the county town before, so he knew the way. “There’s a Taoist temple in the mountains to the right, not far from here. We can take shelter there.”

The three of them reined in their horses together and darted toward the mountain path on the right.

The sky grew even darker. Only when they were still some distance away did they see the eaves of the temple peeking through the trees, and the black clouds had already pressed down heavily. The three of them dismounted in unison, leading their horses as they ran into the temple. William Foster looked at Olivia Thompson’s back in surprise—she really wasn’t some pampered young lady, but more like a heroine used to wandering the martial world.

“Mr. Foster.” Ethan Thompson, running ahead, suddenly stopped and hesitantly asked, “Is this temple… unattended?”

William Foster withdrew his gaze from Olivia Thompson’s back and looked around, feeling a slight chill in his heart.

He’d been here before, and there had been people at the temple. In this kind of dark weather, if anyone were here, they would have lit candles by now. But the temple before them was pitch black and dead silent.

In the autumn wind, the leaves on both sides swayed, occasionally a leaf would fall, swirling in the wind, and there was a faint bloody smell drifting in the air, like a desolate grave.

“I only visited here a month ago, and there were people then.” William Foster cautiously gripped his spiked club. “Maybe something happened. Everyone, be careful…”

Before he finished speaking, raindrops as big as beans poured down. Olivia Thompson drew her spear and kicked open the temple door.

Inside, it was quiet and covered in dust. A huge spider web draped over the temple’s deity statue, as if no one had lived here for a long time. There were even dead rats on the ground, probably the source of the stench. Olivia Thompson let out a breath, “Looks like people just moved out, nothing special.”

Ethan Thompson naturally swept away the filth, grabbed a meditation cushion and lit it, laughing, “When you’re out traveling, this is just how it is.”

“……” William Foster scratched his head. All those TV shows and novels about spring romance in a rundown temple—thinking about it, something felt off. It’s so dirty, how could anyone feel romantic?

Ethan Thompson had already opened his pack and taken out some rations, but Alice Carter’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind, “There’s something wrong with this temple, be careful.”

William Foster took the excuse of going to relieve himself and walked outside the temple, asking in a low voice, “What is it?”

Alice Carter said, “There might be a demon hiding outside the back door.”

“You sensed demonic energy?”

“My soul is weak, I can’t sense demonic energy,” Alice Carter said. “If your house was empty for a month, would there be such a huge spider web? I think something’s off, maybe a spider demon or something, startled by your sudden arrival and hiding…”

William Foster was shocked, “Then this kind of demon is much more intelligent than that demon tiger, and probably much stronger. They might not be able to handle it. I’d better go warn them…”

“Don’t. I already said I can’t sense demonic energy, it’s just a guess. If I’m wrong, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”

“……”

“Relax, since it’s hiding, there’s a tacit understanding. The The Thompson siblings have a righteous aura and strong energy, it won’t provoke them easily. Spiders hate noise and hate their webs being destroyed, so as long as you don’t make a racket or damage its web, there shouldn’t be any trouble.”

William Foster breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good. The The Thompson siblings aren’t the noisy type anyway.”

But when he returned to the temple, the first thing he saw was Olivia Thompson grabbing a stick, reaching out to sweep away the spider web.

William Foster broke out in a cold sweat and rushed over to grab her hand, “What are you doing?”

Olivia Thompson turned and glared at him, “I should be asking you that! Isn’t it creepy having such a huge spider web right next to us?”