Now Raina Bear was left with only her daughter. To go back to True Heaven Palace and fight to reclaim the Palace Master’s seat, she had neither the confidence nor the certainty—and above all, she feared for Kira Bear’s safety.
Yet to abandon the Bear clan’s ancestral foundation, Raina Bear was unwilling to resign herself.
Quinn Shepherd saw her conflicted look and smiled, "I can remove your Silkbind Poison, but your cultivation won’t recover right away. You’ll need some time to recuperate, and I can help you restore your vitality. If you can’t decide, I have a suggestion: come with me to the Everpeace Empire for a while. I’m a doctorate instructor at the Imperial Academy—I can recommend you to teach there."
Raina Bear’s beautiful eyes flashed like water. She looked at him deeply, unconsciously revealing the bearing of a palace mistress. "I am, after all, the mistress of True Heaven Palace, and you want me to go teach at the Imperial Academy?"
Quinn Shepherd thought for a moment, then ventured, "Or, you could teach at the Cult of the Heavenly Saint’s school?"
Raina Bear couldn’t help but laugh and cry, her gaze flickering. "Let me visit the Imperial Academy first."
Quinn Shepherd bid farewell to the foxes and led his group toward Oldridge Village. As the village came into view, excitement welled up in him and he shouted, "Village Chief Grandpa! Apothecary Grandpa! I’m back!"
The scruffy old man rocked in his chair, basking in the sun. He glanced at Raina Bear and the two White Bat Demons, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "This girl is quite pretty, and her cultivation’s strong—too bad she’s been poisoned. These two white bats are interesting."
Now she was left with only her daughter. To return to True Heaven Palace and fight to reclaim the position of Palace Master, she had neither the confidence nor the certainty—and above all, she feared for Kira Bear’s safety.
Quinn Shepherd was speechless. Village Chief hadn’t moved in two months, just lying at the entrance, unmoving through wind, rain, and nightly darkness!
That’s laziness on a whole other level!
Raina Bear’s beautiful eyes flashed like water. She looked at him deeply, unconsciously revealing the bearing of a mistress of a sacred land. "I am, after all, the mistress of True Heaven Palace, and you want me to go teach at the Imperial Academy?"
Quinn Shepherd thought for a moment, then ventured, "Or, you could come teach at the Cult of the Heavenly Saint’s school?"
Raina Bear couldn't help but laugh and cry, her gaze flickering. "Let me visit the Imperial Academy first."
Five days later, they finally arrived near Oldridge Village. Quinn first went to look for Lina the Spirit Fox. Several white foxes popped out of Lina’s house, speaking in human voices: "Young master, big sister went to Everpeace Empire to find you! She left months ago!"
Quinn Shepherd asked for details. The lead white fox explained, "Lord Spiritfiend came to force a marriage, but big sister beat him up. He called for his father, but big sister couldn’t win, so she ran off—said she was going to Everpeace Empire to look for you."
Quinn bid them farewell and led the group toward Oldridge Village. When the village came into view, he grew excited and shouted, "Village Chief Grandpa! Apothecary Grandpa! I’m back!"
Raina Bear looked toward the small hamlet and saw an unkempt old man sitting in a rocking chair at the entrance. He had no legs or arms, his beard was wild, and his hair a tangled mess.
A flock of chickens strutted proudly around the village, patrolling with impressive swagger.
"Quinn’s back, huh? You’ve grown taller again."
The scruffy old man rocked in his chair, basking in the sun. He glanced at Raina Bear and the two White Bat Demons, looking surprised. "This girl is quite pretty and her cultivation is strong—too bad she’s been poisoned. These two white bats are interesting."
With a flutter, the two White Bat Demons dropped from the tree above Village Chief’s head, hanging upside down and peering at him curiously. "You’re really strong too!"
Quinn Shepherd frowned, sizing up Village Chief. He dashed into the village, fetched a butcher’s knife, and found a piece of white cloth in Granny Sue’s house. He tucked the cloth under Village Chief’s chin, boiled a basin of hot water, and covered the old man’s face with a steaming towel for a while.
Quinn lifted the towel, then used the butcher’s knife to shave Village Chief’s beard with a steady scrape. "Village Chief, where is everyone? What about Apothecary Grandpa? He’s not here? Look at your beard—it’s almost dragging on the ground."
"Apothecary ran off."
Village Chief sighed, "A few women came looking for him, scared him off, and left me here. I’ve got no arms or legs—couldn’t even crawl back inside."
Quinn Shepherd shouldered Apothecary’s medicine basket, gently placed Village Chief inside, and got ready to leave. Village Chief protested angrily, "You brat, what are you doing? Put me down!"
"Almost two months."
Quinn was speechless. The old man hadn’t moved in two months, just lying at the village entrance, unmoving through wind, rain, and nightly darkness!
Now that was laziness on a whole new level!
Raina Bear was shocked. Judging by the layout of the village’s stone statues, at night the light from Oldridge’s four statues couldn’t possibly reach this spot. Yet this scruffy old man had lain at the entrance for nearly two months and hadn’t been devoured by the darkness. Was he some kind of god?
Or maybe the horrors lurking in the darkness simply weren’t interested in him?
He then carried the old man back out and set him in the rocking chair, brewed a pot of tea, and asked, "Grandpa Mark and the others haven’t returned either?"
Village Chief replied, "Grandpa Mark came back once. The Old Tathagata and Dao Lord tracked him down and said he wasn’t really the World-Honored One. Old Tathagata cut off his own arm, saying he couldn’t return it to his children, but at least he could give Grandpa Mark an arm."
Quinn Shepherd exclaimed, "Old Tathagata cut off his own arm?"
"That’s right. Brood-Hen Dragon snatched Old Tathagata’s arm and dropped it in the chicken coop. Even those chickens can’t chew through it."
Village Chief sighed, "Grandpa Mark always seemed cold, full of hatred for heaven and earth, but when Old Tathagata cut off his own arm for him, he was deeply moved and cried. Then he went to sit in Great Thunderclap Temple, saying he’d come back when a new World-Honored One appeared. I doubt he’ll return—once he sits on the World-Honored One’s seat, he’ll realize he’s become the new Tathagata himself."
Quinn was stunned for a moment. "I just happen to be heading to Nethergloom Ravine, so I’ll visit Great Thunderclap Temple and see him on the way. What about Grandpa Lame? Isn’t he always with Grandpa Mark?"
"Grandpa Lame and Grandpa Mark are inseparable, so of course he went to Great Thunderclap Temple too—said he was afraid Grandpa Mark would get bullied."
Village Chief looked worried. "I’m afraid that once Grandpa Mark becomes the World-Honored One, he’ll find that everything on the mountain is empty."
Quinn hadn’t seen Butcher, Grandpa Blindeye, or Mute Smith either, so he asked again. Village Chief explained that Blindeye, Butcher, Dao Lord, and Old Tathagata had all gone off together to visit Little Jade Capital Sect. Mute Smith had stayed in the village, but the day before Apothecary ran away, he suddenly went berserk, shouldered all his belongings, and charged into the darkness—no one knows what he was chasing, and he hasn’t returned.
Granny Sue hasn’t come back either—she’s still in the Everpeace Empire, suppressing her inner demons and tempering her heart.
Quinn tidied up the village, collecting all treasures and suspiciously valuable odds and ends into his two Glutton Dragon Pouches. Then he walked to the medicine garden at the entrance, drove flying swords into the soil all around, cutting a neat block of earth beneath the herb beds.
With a lifting gesture, Quinn uprooted the entire medicine plot and stored it inside Ben Coates’s superior Glutton Dragon Pouch, whose interior space was large enough to hold it intact.
Ben Coates’s Glutton Dragon Pouch was much better than Quinn’s own—the interior space was bigger and could easily fit a whole medicine field.
Quinn shouldered Apothecary’s medicine basket, gently placed Village Chief inside, and prepared to leave. Village Chief protested angrily, "You brat, what are you doing? Put me down!"
"I can’t leave you here."
Quinn tightened the basket straps. "If anything happened to you, who would even know? Wherever I go from now on, Village Chief Grandpa goes with me!"
Village Chief fell silent, touched, and smiled. "Put me down, silly child. I’m old now, can’t roam the world anymore, and I’ve already promised Lord Hades that when I die I’ll go to his Dead-Alive Realm. When my time comes, a bird-headed god will come to take me."
Suddenly, the medicine basket felt as heavy as a mountain. Quinn realized Village Chief didn’t want to leave the Great Ruins, but he refused to give up. He blinked and said mischievously, "Village Chief Grandpa, don’t you want to meet the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor? Doesn’t the old sword god want to meet the new sword god? The Imperial Preceptor is hailed as a saint not seen in five hundred years—he’s worth meeting."
At that, the basket suddenly felt light. Village Chief’s voice gained a hint of old heroic spirit: "A new generation sword god? Very well—before I die, it would be good to see him. Come, let’s go meet the Imperial Preceptor of Everpeace!"