Grand Uncle Master felt his temper flare up; there really was some genuine anger in him this time.
Getting on in years, after all these decades spent cultivating himself, most of the time, he could truly keep his cool and hold his emotions steady.
Even just two years ago, when the Sacred Fire Sect people arrived in Divine Land, Grand Uncle Master was honestly just a bit displeased, nothing more.
And behind all that, to put it bluntly—it was because the times had changed, and there wasn’t actually much he could do anymore. Doing something wouldn’t matter much, wouldn’t fundamentally change anything.
He couldn’t change the outside world, nor could he change Fuyu Mountain.
But after Old Xi returned, and there was the hint that a Descendant of the Scorching Sun might have appeared, the old man just couldn’t keep pretending everything was just a passing cloud.
Now, after hearing the Little Zombie making her complaint, the old man was absolutely certain—a Scorching Sun inheritor had definitely shown up.
And these days, it wasn’t as if he was ignoring everything. The fact that he’d managed to hold back and not ask about it to their faces—well, that was already a feat of great restraint.
If he just casually found someone to ask a couple of questions about Old Xi’s current situation, he could easily learn who was hanging around Old Xi these days.
Letting the big zombie escort the Little Zombie down the mountain back then—that was at least partially a way to test things out.
To have that Little Zombie be so close, talking so sweetly, even calling home to tell on someone—
—it could only be that kid called Wen Yan.
Not only had he awakened the Scorching Sun, he was a warmhearted and gentle kid too.
This kid... No, no, no—if the Little Zombie was being bullied by other sects, then honestly, Fuyu Mountain didn’t really have any strong masters to speak of. Sending out Qin Kun, who’s focused on martial training, would only make them a laughingstock.
But getting bullied by zombies? Well, then don’t blame Fuyu Mountain for standing tall again.
A corpse-controlling sect, a sect with big zombies, getting pushed around by zombies—if you don’t smack them right back, and smack them hard, you’d look down on your own damn self.
Grand Uncle Master suddenly recalled when he was just a child, listening to stories from his own Grand Uncle Master.
The Thirteenth Ancestor in those stories had also been gentle and kind by nature.
Come to think of it, maybe that very temperament is why Wen Yan was able to awaken the Scorching Sun.
Listening to the whimpering sounds coming from the phone, Grand Uncle Master’s tone gradually softened, but there was a rare level of determination threading through his voice.
"Don’t worry, Grand Uncle Master will definitely stick up for you and set things right. Little one, you have to listen to your brother, okay? Don’t be reckless."
Having soothed the Little Zombie, Grand Uncle Master then hung up the phone.
Old Xi listened to the busy tone on the other end, his feelings extremely complicated.
It was precisely because he could tell that Grand Uncle Master was being serious that his feelings were so mixed.
Sure enough, elders always have a soft spot for the kids.
When he was little, he too had been the favored one.
When you don’t know any better, being the apple of someone’s eye is just a phase—but once you’re grown, you come to understand what that means.
For decades now, Fuyu Mountain hadn’t produced any truly powerful Taoists. Yet this group of orphaned juniors had all been raised well. Even though their talents were limited and none had accomplished anything great, at least not a single one of them had turned out rotten.
Still, who knows this time—will Grand Uncle Master have to ask Big Senior Brother to step in again? Fuyu Mountain truly doesn’t have any outstanding juniors to send. But you can’t really ask the old generation of Taoists to make a move, can you?
At Fuyu Mountain, Grand Uncle Master walked out of the Fuyu Temple and made his way deep into the mountains.
He arrived at the entrance to an underground palace, his expression tightening. Suddenly, from his aged frame, a wave of momentum surged forth. He slowly stretched out a withered hand, tapped his knuckles on the stone gate, and that stone gate trembled as if struck by a great force, letting out a muffled thud.
With a rumbling sound, the stone gate swung open.
Grand Uncle Master stepped inside, his aged voice echoing in the darkness.
"Time to get up. It’s about time to take a walk outside..."
An hour later, Grand Uncle Master emerged from the underground palace, hands clasped behind his back, and returned to the Taoist Temple.
Back at the temple, he took out his phone and called Qin Kun.
"Kun’er, are you at the Scorching Sun Department?"
"Not looking for you in particular. But if you are at the Scorching Sun Department, let the leaders in Nanwu County know.
You know our rear mountain had a Little Zombie go down the mountain, right? And then she got bullied by other zombies.
The little one almost lost her life, now she’s called in, crying, to tell on them.
What do you expect me to do here?
The rear mountain’s big zombie is about to go down the mountain too, going to back up the little one.
Other things I can put a stop to, but when it comes to this—tell me, how could I even try to stop it?
So give your leaders over there a heads-up, okay? We don’t need any misunderstandings later."
On the other end, Qin Kun was left a bit dumbfounded by the call.
He absolutely knew how tricky this was. Even the Scorching Sun Department, knowing about it, could only cooperate as best they could—at most, maybe send someone to keep an eye on things so the big zombie from Fuyu Mountain wouldn’t drag others into the mess.
Matter between different races—the Scorching Sun Department rarely stepped in to break up the fight. And as for intra-race disputes, unless absolutely necessary, the Scorching Sun Department just wouldn’t get involved.
After all, you’ve got to respect another group’s internal traditions.
But Qin Kun more or less had a guess as to which zombies would be so brazen.
Just today, Cai Qidong had dragged him into a small meeting. In all of Nanwu County, there’s presently only one spot that’s home to a fair number of zombies.
Qin Kun felt a headache coming on. As someone from Fuyu Mountain, he obviously understood—this was crossing the line for Fuyu Mountain, totally intolerable.
But then, this also got mixed up with the chemical plant domain in Duanzhou.
And those big zombies weren’t actually under the control of anyone from Fuyu Temple.
He couldn’t even tell if having a big zombie show up was good news or bad.
His specialty was the Martial Path; as for rituals, opening altars, using talismans, Summoning and Controlling the Unusual—he honestly didn’t have any talent for that stuff.