A Valiant Life

It lasted until the afternoon.

Lin Fan looked at the GPS on his phone and the scenery in front of him. He looked around again and wondered if he was in the right place.

Wuxiang Daoist Temple!

It was a little different from what he saw online. The website said that this place was really beautiful but it seemed really plain.

There was a road before him that allowed cars to be driven on. However, there were two large rocks at the end of the road. It looked as if it didn’t allow entry via cars.

There was a carpark beside it and there were a lot of cars being parked there. It seemed like there were a lot of tourists.

The place didn’t seem to have anything interesting. The fact that so many people visited it was probably because of its magnificent scenery.

He drove to the carpark. Just as he drove past the gantry to pay the parking fees, he asked, “Sir, is the Wuxiang Daoist Temple at the top of this mountain?”

The man who was sitting there accepting parking fees was old but looked full of vigor. He nodded, “It’s at the top of the mountain. Young chap, are you here to look for the Silent Priest too?”

“Huh?” Lin Fan was stunned. He wondered who was the ‘Silent Priest’. Then, he chatted with the old man. “Sir, is this temple very popular? The carpark seems to be almost filled up. I guess a lot of people visit this place, right?”

After saying that, the old man looked really excited. He said proudly, “Of course. A lot of people visit the Wuxiang Daoist Temple. The ‘Silent Priest’ is our old deity. A lot of foreigners are here for him.”

“Sir, why is he called the ‘Silent Priest’? The title is a little bizarre. Is he really mute?” Lin Fan asked curiously. He was there to befriend some of the priests in the temple so that he could unlock immortalization Encyclopedic tasks. That would be absolutely incredible.

The old man laughed, “Young chap, you will find out after going there.”

Everyone that lived there really respected the ‘Silent Priest’. Ten years ago, this mountainous region was really underdeveloped and poor. However, after the arrival of the ‘Silent Priest’, the situation changed tremendously. It became a tourist attraction. Although it wasn’t a shrine, a lot of people went there to make wishes. A lot of people also came here to look for the ‘Silent Priest’ to treat their illnesses as he possessed fantastic medical skills.

Gradually, they made a reputation for themselves.

Lin Fan didn’t ask much. Since the ‘Silent Priest’ was said to be so powerful, he must really be a powerful priest.

He had to befriend him.

“Sir, I will be here for quite some time and I will pay you when I return.” Lin Fan waved his hand and left.

The old man nodded and smiled.

He was responsible for charging parking fees and his annual salary was pretty good. After spending on the necessities, he would probably still have around $100,000.

Lin Fan went behind the two large rocks and realized that it was a different environment.

There were hostels, hotels, bathing and recreation centers. Although they weren’t high rise buildings, they were mostly two-stories high.

A lot of people that came to Wuxiang Daoist Temple stayed there for some time.

“It looks really lively,” Lin Dan chuckled. The day was coming to an end and he decided to go to the mountains the next day instead.

As for the ‘Silent Priest’, he was really curious about him. He wondered how he looked like.

He went online and tried to research about him but he couldn’t find anything. There was only a brief introduction but there wasn’t any proper description of him.

The results were really different from searches of himself.

The results that could be obtained from searching ‘Master Lin’ online would possibly even scare someone to death.

He found a hotel that charged about $100 per night and decided to stay there since the environment seemed clean and decent.

…

At the taxi stand.

After being released from school, Yang Yuan rushed to the bus station while carrying his school bag.

He asked the lady about the price of a ticket. When he found out that it cost $200, he didn’t bear to spend that much money. Although he had $300 in his pocket, he didn’t buy the ticket after thinking of his brother who was in the hospital.

As it was a small bus stop, they did not check tickets strictly and Yang Yuan easily hid in the crowd.

He hid in the section which was for suitcases.

It was pretty big but there were several suitcases being kept there. He just hid in there and nobody found out about him.

He found a good spot and hugged his school bag tightly. Before coming to the bus station, he had already thought of visiting his brother in the hospital with the eggs he had prepared at home.

He met a godly uncle and he gave him a medicinal pill which would help his brother regain his health.

When he was in school, he tried to call his parents with the phone service provided in school. He told them about the medicinal pill that would heal his brother but they didn’t believe him. They wanted him to stay at home.

Yang Yuan didn’t know what to do. He wanted to say that it was given by a godly uncle but he promised him to not speak of it.

In the end, he decided to go to the hospital himself.

“I’m driving off now! Those who have not boarded, please hurry up,” the bus driver shouted. After seeing there was nobody left at the bus stop, he closed the bus door and the door of the luggage compartment.

Yang Yuan was so afraid that he trembled. However, when he thought of his brother who was in the hospital, he tried his best to hide.

It was dangerous for him to hide there and he might even suffocate to death.

Thankfully, the bus was a little old and the metal gate had small openings that ensured air circulation.

After a long while.

He opened his eyes and recovered from his deep slumber.

*click*

The door of the luggage compartment was opened.

The tourists who were prepared to take their suitcases out of the compartment were shocked after seeing a little kid rush out of it.

“Hey, why is there a little kid hiding here?”

The bus driver and the others were stunned when they saw the boy run out of it. They shouted, “Don’t run! Stop right there!”

Yang Yuan ran as quickly as he could after seeing that the bus driver was chasing after him.

The guard at the bus stop grabbed onto the small figure.

“You little chap, how dare you run?” The guard said.

*slam*

The school bag that he was carrying dropped onto the floor.

Then, a clear and crisp voice could be heard.

The surrounding tourists gathered around in confusion.

The bus driver rushed over, “How did you end up here?”

Yang Yuan was stunned. “I… I hid in the bus when the bus drove off.”

The bus driver was stunned after hearing that. “You’ve hidden in there for over ten hours..!” He continued, “Did you know that it’s really dangerous? You could have lost your life!”

Thankfully, the door of the luggage compartment had some issues with it and it couldn’t be closed fully. If not, he would have died.

Yang Yuan lowered his head, “I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

The bus driver looked at Yang Yuan and sighed in relief. Thankfully, nothing happened to him. If something had happened to him, people were going to be in trouble.

The guard at the bus stop asked, “Where are your parents?”

Yang Yuan said softly, “I’m alone. My parents brought my brother to the hospital. I’m here to visit him. I didn’t do this on purpose. Please do not arrest me.”

The surrounding crowd looked at how torn and tattered his clothes were. His clothes had several patches being sewn together. They knew that this boy wasn’t well to do.

“Hey, what is that repulsive smell?”

Then, the surrounding tourists shouted and looked at the school bag that landed on the ground. “What’s in it?”

Yang Yuan suddenly realized what was in his bag and he got really anxious. “My eggs…”