Chapter 5

The vendor looked at the jade pendant for a few minutes and then put it around his neck .

“I’ll talk to you in private . Come with me . ”

The hoodlum ignored the disapproving crowd . He brought Mu Yi to his papercutting shop and shut the door .

“Li the Cripple comes from Xiangji, Ganshi . Two years ago, he escaped and hid here . During those two years, five men have died a violent death in the village, and two children disappeared . When I saw you leave with a red coffin, I knew that he had gotten something from you . I was surprised that he didn’t kill you . That’s very surprising, very strange . ” said the hoodlum inspecting Mu Yi’s reaction .

Mu Yi now clearly understood that Li the Cripple was an evil man . But why didn’t he kill him?

What happened after he passed out?

Unfortunately, no one could tell him . Mu Yi didn’t resent the paper cutter for not warning him earlier . The important thing was to figure where Li the Cripple was hiding as soon as possible . Then he needed to find his grandfather’s corpse and bury him again, so he could finally rest in peace .

“You want to find Li the Cripple to get your revenge, right?” said the hoodlum to Mu Yi .

“May I ask you for help, Mister?” said Mu Yi respectfully .

“If I were you, I’d give up . Li the Cripple didn’t kill you before, we don’t know why, but it doesn’t matter now . To him, you’re like an insect . Insignificant . Don’t take risks . Of course, I can’t do much for you if you decide to look for trouble and throw away your life . ” said the hoodlum indifferently .

Even though it wasn’t pleasant to hear, Mu Yi knew that he was right . He knew the difference between being brave and being stupid .

“Thank you very much, Master . Even though I can’t do much against him for now, I’ll become stronger and I’ll deal with him sooner or later . I will kill him . So please tell me more about him and where I can find him to get my revenge . ” asked Mu Yi .

The hoodlum looked surprised . He realized that he underestimated the little Taoist priest . Mu Yi sounded determined . In the future, he’d try to find a solution .

The paper cutter remained silent . Anger didn’t solve anything . Li the Cripple had chosen his own path, he was doomed . Even though he didn’t get anything from helping the boy, he felt sorry for him .

“Alright, even though people say I’m a hoodlum, I’m not a liar, and my real name is Gu Ren . Since I took your pendant, I have to tell you what you want to know . ” said Gu Ren .

“Thank you very much, Mister . ” said Mu Yi .

Li the Cripple truly did walk with a limp . Gu Ren didn’t know his real name though . According to Gu Ren, Li the Cripple came from a group who stole corpses . He reeked of the smell of cadavers .

He was positive that Li the Cripple had left the village . He preferred to steal corpses from remote locations, or even in ancient battlefields . Gu Ren didn’t know where Li the Cripple had gone .

Gu Ren told Mu Yi something else, Li the Cripple had an enemy and was trying to create powerful zombies, to get revenge on his enemies . That way, Mu Yi had some hints . He could also wait idly for opportunities .

Li the Cripple’s enemy was the suzerain of the Qu Mortuary . They were very famous but not for good reasons . Mu Yi also learned that the mortuary had several corpses .

After speaking with the paper cutter, Mu Yi left for the temple .

He dug a new grave behind the temple and crouched down low, waiting for a while in silence .

When it grew dark, Mu Yi retired to his room . The room flickered with the dim light from the oil lamp .

Mu Yi sat down cross-legged on his bed, attempting to make sense of all the information he had learned .

Mu Yi also wanted to become stronger . His grandfather had previously taught him how to cultivate . In the antiquity era, even regular people practiced cultivation to keep their eyesight and hearing as they aged, but Mu Yi practiced cultivation to transcend worldliness, to detach himself from samsara .

Those who practiced cultivation used to say: “Fate is self-willed, willfulness is determined by nature, study the path of Daoism . The cultivator cannot achieve enlightenment without the Dao . ”

Essentially, practicing Daoism cultivates one’s mind .

And the first stage the old man had told Mu Yi about was the heart .

The heartbeat was linked to the mind, one had to empty one’s heart and one’s mind . One had to be detached from worldly affairs .

Mu Yi was convinced that the first part was extremely complicated . He was still young and inexperienced . At fourteen years old, it was very difficult to have one’s mind focused in meditation, but now it seemed to be working . It was likely, that the eight years of travel had prepared him . He had to persevere . Many things were difficult to achieve but when one pushed through and managed to be detached from worldly affairs, things always worked out . It wasn’t good to have a heart like a capering monkey and a mind like a galloping horse .

To achieve perseverance, one had to stop having the mind of a galloping horse, running from one thought to another .

Usually, people who were not very intelligent had a heart like a capering monkey and a mind like a galloping horse, Mu Yi wasn’t extremely bright but he wasn’t exactly stupid either .

During the first part of the night, he managed to focus but soon became distracted . It was difficult to focus . He had many thoughts running through his mind . He was so perturbed that he got stomach cramps and almost vomited .

Mu Yi didn’t try to force himself because his grandfather told him that controlling one’s mind was important, but it was also dangerous . He had to progress step by step naturally, otherwise, he would use too much energy and collapse .

Mu Yi practiced his cultivation for a week . During that week, he only cooked his meals and practiced cultivation . He still found that he had a heart like a capering monkey and a mind like a galloping horse though . He had lost a lot of weight and looked exhausted with large bags under his eyes . Even though he was exhausted, he didn’t mind . Eventually, he neglected both food and sleep, only practicing cultivation .