Chapter 197: The Cultivator

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After dinner, it was time to sleep, because they had traveled all night, and most people were already tired. Since they needed a good rest, naturally, they were going to get some sleep.

However, traveling by night wasn't to prevent the Serpent People from discovering them; if humans, with their level of technology, could achieve such secrecy, there was no reason the Serpent People couldn't do the same.

Thus, the nighttime precautions were only against zombies. And if the Serpent People were indifferent to the army on the ground, the Expeditionary Army could easily reach their destination. If the Serpent People did not allow a large-scale presence of Earthlings, then this expeditionary force would never be able to arrive at its destination.

This was the consequence of completely losing the initiative, but there was no choice. The Serpent People represented a form of downgraded assault; what else could be done if not this?

Based on the situation with the existing shelters, the Serpent People knew that the Earthlings were still gathering in large numbers, yet they had not initiated any attacks, suggesting that the large-scale human migration should not present much of a problem.

This was an important prerequisite for the Expeditionary Army to travel by land.

Gao Yuan wasn't actually very tired at the moment, but given the opportunity to rest, he was going to make the most of it. So, he spread out his moisture-proof mat, took out his sleeping bag, and let Xinghe get some good sleep.

During their rest, there were martial arts masters from the Imperial Guard on watch close by, and around them were soldiers from the special combat brigade on guard. Gao Yuan and his company could sleep soundly without a care in the world.

Hearing "There's a situation!" from Li Yang, who was responsible for the guard duty, Gao Yuan suddenly woke up, though he had been in a groggy state of sleep.

Gao Yuan immediately opened his eyes, only to find Li Yang and the others looking at him with surprise.

But no one spoke. Zhao Qiang made a couple of hand signals, and Li Yang and the other three didn't make any special moves.

It was just a situation, not a crisis. Given the habits of the martial arts masters from the Imperial Guard like Zhao Qiang, they would not react dramatically to minor disturbances. Their nature of work meant that even in the face of real danger, they would handle it quietly. If it really came to it, they wouldn't cause a ruckus and slaughter countless people, like in the movies.

So, it seemed like Zhao Qiang and the others didn't have much of a reaction, just a slight adjustment of their sitting position.

The highway had a median strip, and Gao Yuan and his group were resting on the west side of the road, as the west was mountainous, while the east was hilly and flat terrain, with more rural areas. For safety, the guard troops walked on the right side of the highway—that is, the east side—and the marching army walked on the left side, that is, the west side, on the reverse lanes. This way, if a large number of zombies attacked, they would have slightly more time to react.

But this alert seemed to come from the west.

Soon, a member of the special combat team who was on guard spoke up, a man said in a low voice, "Stop! Who goes there?"

Since they spoke instead of silently dealing with the situation, it meant the visitor was a human, not a zombie or a massive horde of zombies.

The Expeditionary Army stretched for tens of kilometers, forming a long, snake-like formation. If someone appeared from the middle of the formation, they would directly come across Gao Yuan and his group, which was quite normal.

But Zhao Qiang, whose caution had become an instinct, was not willing to overlook any suspicious details. Even if an ant approached Xinghe, he had to clarify whether the ant's approach was intentional or accidental.

"I'll go check it out."

Zhao Qiang stood up and walked noiselessly towards the west, and Gao Yuan also stood up, saying quietly, "I'll go take a look as well."

"Hello there, may I ask where you are headed and what for?"

Someone ahead was talking; it seemed the guard troops had already spoken to the visitor. Gao Yuan hadn't seen the person yet, but as he walked further ahead, he saw, at the base of the date orchard slope, a Taoist dressed in a blue cotton robe and wearing a Taoist scarf hat.

Two armed special combat team members stopped the Taoist, who clearly held a sword in his left hand and a staff in his right. Pointing guns at the Taoist seemed utterly unnecessary, but in this time and place, encountering a Taoist was unexpected, leaving the two soldiers uncertain how to proceed.

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Zhao Qiang stood on the ridge and looked down before he jumped off the ridge and approached the Taoist. He directly folded his fists and said, "Greetings, Taoist Priest. May I ask how you address yourself and where you cultivate your immortality? How did you come to be here?"

Gao Yuan felt as if thunder were rolling in his head. Was Zhao Qiang reading too many novels? How did the phrase 'cultivate immortality' even come up?

Surprisingly, the Taoist's face lit up with joy as he returned the gesture to Zhao Qiang and said, "Greetings, fellow practitioner. My Taoist name is Lizhizi, and I cultivate immortality on Mount Tiantai in the west. This morning, as I looked down from the mountain, I noticed many people passing by on this road, so I came down to take a look."

Is this some kind of secret code?

Zhao Qiang smiled and said, "Oh, is there a Taoist Temple on Mount Tiantai?"

Lizhizi nodded continuously and replied, "Yes, there is. Originally there wasn't one, but a fellow practitioner from Ji City funded the construction of the Queen Mother Hall on Mount Tiantai to worship the Queen Mother. Local legends have long stated that Mount Tiantai was originally the Queen Mother's practice ground, and there is even a dressing table of the Queen Mother on the mountain. Therefore, Mount Tiantai is also known as Queen Mother Mountain, and because there was already a Taoist Temple on the mountain for worshipping the Queen Mother, locals customarily refer to the mountain as the Queen Mother Temple."

Zhao Qiang nodded, then he suddenly asked, "Which master does Taoist Priest Lizhizi follow?"

Lizhizi smiled and answered, "I studied the Tao at Wudang and follow Taoist Priest Qingxuan Zi. Brother, are you also part of the Taoist community?"

Zhao Qiang smiled and shook his head, saying, "No, I'm not a believer, just influenced by Taoism. Taoist Priest Lizhizi, what brings you down from the mountain?"

Lizhizi exhaled lightly and said, "Well, seeing the world in chaos, we cultivators simply cannot watch evil rampant without doing anything. I wanted to come down from the mountain to see if there was some way to lend a hand."

"You stay up there by yourself all the time?"

"Oh, yes. A fellow practitioner from Ji City entrusted the care of the Taoist hall to me. The mountain was originally planned for development into a tourist area, but the infrastructure isn't finished yet, so I'm alone up there."

Zhao Qiang nodded, then smiled at Lizhizi and said, "Alright, I understand. Taoist Priest, please return, or perhaps you should find refuge nearby. It's rather inconvenient to be on your own."

Lizhizi looked at Zhao Qiang, and since everyone else was in military uniform while Zhao Qiang was dressed in civilian clothes, he assumed Zhao Qiang was the one in charge.

"I see you are all soldiers. Brother, where are you headed? I haven't seen people on this road for a very long time. Tell me what I can do; let me help in any way I can, even if it's just menial labor."

Zhao Qiang shook his head and said, "Taoist Priest, I'm truly sorry, but we have an important mission and can't take you with us. Please return, or find a nearby shelter. I understand your feelings and appreciate your good intentions, but regretfully, we cannot take you along. I'm sorry."

Zhao Qiang nodded at two of the soldiers and told them, "See this Taoist Priest off, and be polite about it."

After speaking, Zhao Qiang turned and left, waving at Gao Yuan to follow along.

As they walked away, Gao Yuan couldn't help but say, "Immortality cultivation came up, are you exchanging code phrases?"

Zhao Qiang looked at Gao Yuan and replied, "No, just some common phrases used in Taoism. Many people don't understand Taoism. In fact, if you ask a real Taoist what he does, he can only tell you that he cultivates immortality because that's their belief. Nowadays, movies and novels have overused the term 'cultivate immortality', but for a Taoist, cultivating immortality is their one and only pursuit. If you ask a charlatan posing as a Taoist, he definitely won't claim to be a cultivator; who knows what nonsense he might spout."

Realization dawned on Gao Yuan, who responded, "Oh, I see. Are you very familiar with Taoism?"

Zhao Qiang chuckled, "I wouldn't say very, but I do understand some of it. From the few words exchanged earlier, it's clear that Lizhizi is indeed a Taoist. If he were a false Taoist putting on an act of saving the world, then a thorough investigation would be in order. But since he's a genuine Taoist, it's fine to politely send him off."

Gao Yuan, curious, asked, "I see. But why not let him join us?"

Zhao Qiang frowned and replied, "What are we about to do? Does it make sense to bring a Taoist along?"

Gao Yuan chuckled, saying, "True, I was just speaking offhand. Hmm, it's just interesting to encounter a Taoist at a time like this."