Chapter 162: 162. Chapter 160: Wind Rises on Longyuan Mountain, the Mountain Guardian Takes Action!

162. Chapter 160: Wind Rises at Dragon Source Mountain, the Mountain Guardian Takes Action!

As the sun set behind the western hills, these animals in the farmland reluctantly left and returned to the mountains above.

The village head led a group of villagers to the Mountain God's temple, their expressions filled with excitement and agitation.

"It must be the Mountain God's doing; these sprites are acting under the Mountain God Elder's orders, deliberately coming to help us—we must keep this in mind!"

"If that is the case, then from now on we must live in peace with the demons, understand? So as not to anger the Mountain God Elder."

After witnessing the spirituality of the mountain animals, the villagers no longer dared to look down on them.

These animals are surely the Mountain God Elder's subordinates; if we harm them, it would be like slapping the Mountain God Elder in the face—let alone the fact that these animals have helped us.

"Village head, rest assured—we will repay kindness with kindness and absolutely will not do such ungrateful things."

The villagers chattered among themselves; the snake statue in the temple silently watched everything before it, its expressionless face seeming to soften considerably.

……

What happened in the mountains naturally did not escape Ye Qin's eyes; now his spiritual power covered a wide range, so even while in the mountains, he could hear in all directions and see in all ways.

Moreover, there was such a great commotion at the mountain base.

In the twilight, the evening clouds were brilliantly colored, dyeing the horizon's clouds in myriad hues; the red sun had long lost the harsh glare of daytime, emitting a faint afterglow that gilded the originally emerald mountain peaks with orange light.

Dozens of small black dots ran toward the direction where Ye Qin was; the sunset stretched their shadows extremely long, and leading them was the Northeast Tiger, which dashed ahead and arrived at Ye Qin's side.

"Roar——"

The low tiger roar carried a hint of seeking credit.

"I know everything that happened at the mountain base; you did well, being kind to others and accumulating merit—do not do evil."

Upon hearing Ye Qin's words, those animals all raised their heads and chests, their spirits reaching the peak.

Earlier, Ye Qin had taught them to do good and accumulate merit, but the animals had no clue and did not know where to start; although they had opened their spiritual wisdom, some concepts had not yet shifted—after all, living deep in the mountains, they did not understand human affairs.

Unlike the Northeast Tiger, which had stayed in the zoo for so long, having seen all kinds of people and possessing a mind full of tricks, it suddenly turned its gaze toward the villagers below with a flash of inspiration.

This is how it came to lead those animals down the mountain, and what followed proved effective—the villagers were extremely grateful, and even Ye Qin praised them highly.

Although he is a demon, he does not wish to dominate the world alone, nor to enslave humanity; harmonious coexistence is the true path.

However, the Northeast Tiger considers itself the leader of these animals, so it did not personally go down to help the villagers, merely directing from behind the scenes.

The animals that had previously been unconvinced are now wholly convinced.

The Northeast Tiger arrived at Longyuan Mountain not long ago and has already integrated here, becoming the most authoritative presence under Ye Qin—after all, its strength and intellect are evident.

Ye Qin also intends to cultivate the Northeast Tiger; after spending time together, he has realized that although it seems unreliable, it can still hold the front line at critical moments.

After all, he cannot stay in Longyuan Mountain forever; he must still go out for training, and the Northeast Tiger's huge size would make it too conspicuous if they went out together, which would also be inconvenient.

Staying in Longyuan Mountain and cultivating together with these animals is also not a bad thing.

Seeing the harmonious scene, Ye Qin was very satisfied.

"Animals capable of cultivation are rare in the world; you can say you are one in ten thousand—this opportunity must be cherished. I hope you will help each other in the future, advance and retreat together, grow the demon population, thrive in the world, and open up your own realm."

Ye Qin has long had this vague concept—he is not human, nor is he an ordinary animal; if forced to use a word to describe him, accurately speaking, he should now be considered a demon.

In the world, he is the only demon—how lonely that would be.

To say something unpleasant: if he were to perish by accident, his abilities and divine powers would have no living being to inherit them; in this world, wouldn't he leave no trace, with nothing left behind?

At that time, Ye Qin already had a rough framework in mind, but his strength was then too weak—he could barely protect himself, let alone found a clan.

But this did not affect Ye Qin's planning; he proceeded step by step, and finally awaited today.

Longyuan Mountain is his stronghold; this place has already been transformed into a blessed cave, capable of becoming a breeding and dwelling place for demons, and can thus be called the Demon Court!

Ye Qin's realm and cultivation level have become profound; establishing the demon clan can now be put on the agenda—the animals that previously fully awakened their spiritual wisdom and embarked on cultivation are the first batch of the demon clan.

"Now, merely doing good and accumulating virtue is not enough; you also need systematic study—starting today, I will teach you how to cultivate."

Upon hearing this, whether the Northeast Tiger or other animals, they all became extremely excited; the tiger's roars and the chirping sounds never ceased.

Ye Qin has no experience as a teacher; he took out the ancient scrolls from the Left Ci tomb, distributed them to the animals, and his expression showed he had high hopes.

Earlier, it was because of that ancient scroll in the cave that he comprehended the Dao and thus created his own cultivation path.

The fox and the yellow weasel whispered to each other; both are renowned as the smartest creatures in the animal world; they looked at the books in their hands, then shook their heads at each other, actually feeling a sense of mutual pity.

Their mood now is probably like that of a poor student seeing the teacher hand out a stack of test papers.

When he previously lectured, with Ye Qin's spiritual power supporting him and his words being easy to understand, combined with the scriptures, if one listened carefully, one could also grasp a little.

But if these animals were to directly read the scriptures and ancient scrolls, it would still be difficult—the characters on them seem like ants crawling around, making them dizzy.

The animals stared at each other wide-eyed; to avoid displeasing Ye Qin, they could only force themselves to keep looking.

"Rattle-rattle-rattle——"

From not far away came the sound of pages flipping rustlingly; Ye Qin followed the sound and looked over.

Only see the Northeast Tiger waving its beast claws, creating afterimages even in midair; soon it finished flipping through a book, then raised its head and chest and came before Ye Qin, indicating it had finished reading.

Ye Qin's expression instantly became indescribable; even now he cannot achieve reading a hundred lines at a glance—the Northeast Tiger this is not reading books, clearly just flipping through them!

"Finished reading?"

The Northeast Tiger nodded firmly.

"Good, then you explain to me what this sentence means."

The Northeast Tiger glanced, its mouth corners instantly drooping, it stammered and hesitated for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Just as Ye Qin was about to say something, a snoring sound came from beside him.

Only see the leader of the jackal clan holding a book, nodding his head bit by bit, with drool almost dripping onto the book.

The Northeast Tiger laughed nonstop; a tiger roar startled the jackal awake, shocking it so that the book in its hand fell; it hurriedly picked it up, even carefully brushing off the dust, and showed Ye Qin a standard smile with eight teeth.

Such a great commotion also did not affect the monkey beside it.

It sat with posture extremely proper, cross-legged, back straight, unaffected by external influences, holding the book in its hand without moving, looking extremely serious and absorbed.

However, that book happened to cover its face, so its expression could not be seen clearly.

The Siberian tiger flicked over a doubtful expression, the more it looked the stranger it became, it crept closer on tiptoe and pulled the book out.

What a good fellow, the monkey's posture hadn't changed at all, still maintaining the pose of holding the book, looking at its face again, eyes tightly shut, obviously sleeping soundly.

Even the Siberian tiger showed an expression of utmost admiration, this skill wasn't something just anyone could learn.

When the monkey opened its eyes, it found countless pairs of eyes staring at it, it hadn't reacted yet to realizing it had been exposed, about to make a page-turning motion, only to find its hands empty.

Ye Qin's mood instantly became extremely complicated, he silently stared at them, saying nothing, his emerald green snake pupils flowing with a faint light.

The surroundings fell silent in an instant, even the Siberian tiger stopped laughing, cautiously looking at Ye Qin, like a child who had done something wrong, begging for an adult's forgiveness.

Seeing the animals' attitude of admitting fault was good, Ye Qin let out a slight sigh.

"Actually it's not your fault, I was the one who overthought things earlier."

He overlooked one point, these animals are different from him.

In the world there is only one Ye Qin, he is a unique existence, no creature can replicate his path.

Although they have already awakened spiritual intelligence, in terms of comprehension ability, they fundamentally cannot compare to Ye Qin, after all his existence is too special.

So to have these animals study ancient texts on their own to gain insight, who knows how many monkey years and horse months it would take to succeed, let alone the subsequent contemplation.

"Since this path won't work, let's take another one."

After realizing this, Ye Qin already had an idea in mind, his cultivation method doesn't suit these animals, so he'll change the cultivation path.

The Great Dao has three thousand paths, it's not only his path that is viable.

Contemplation cultivation method is his unique enlightenment method, I'm afraid it's rare in this world for another creature to learn it.

So, rather than that, why not based on his own method, create a simple and direct Great Dao!

Earlier Ye Qin had browsed through not a few ancient classics, he naturally had mountains and valleys in his mind, moreover he still had his own foundation here, compiling a set of introductory cultivation techniques for these animals is not a difficult task.

"You go back first to rest, wait until I later compile the technique, then we'll talk about cultivation, during this period you must not slack off."

Seeing Ye Qin's expression showed no displeasure, the animals then left.

……

Not far away, green mountains lush and verdant, the mountain road winding like a long dragon, disappearing into this group of mountains, extraordinary peaks came into view, making one unable to help but marvel at nature's supernatural craftsmanship.

On the mountain road occasionally a few cars drove past, the roar of the cars added some liveliness to this road, two deep black cars drove along within it.

Inside the car, all seated were tall-built men, their features looked ordinary, the kind that get lost in a crowd, but occasionally a hint of killing intent flickered in their expressions, indicating their extraordinary identities.

Unfortunately, this killing intent, ordinary people cannot discern.

"This time our mission is Longyuan Mountain, the order from above is, we must investigate clearly whether this mountain has the meteorological weapons and materials researched by Daxia."

These people come from the Western CIA Intelligence Department.

They are spies who have been lurking in Daxia for many years.

Since Oliver accepted the mission and died in the suburbs of Kyoto, CIA restored the last image data he transmitted before his death, up and down were shaken by it.

CIA leadership concluded Daxia is researching meteorological weapons, personnel must be sent to definitely clarify this matter.

"Boss, why don't we go to the suburbs of Kyoto instead, that's where the incident happened."

The one called Boss is a thirty-year-old man with the codename Poison Bee, also the captain of this small team.

"The suburbs of Kyoto above have already been investigated, no clues left behind, according to the information received from above, the events that happened in the suburbs are related to Longyuan Mountain."

The companion beside him showed a puzzled expression, "Is the information reliable? After all, one is in Wu Du, one is in Kyoto, there's basically no connection between the two."

Poison Bee nodded affirmatively.

"The information obtained by the superiors after great effort from inside, is absolutely reliable, because after the incident in the suburbs of Kyoto, Daxia officials immediately came to Longyuan Mountain, hence this inference, but whether it's specifically here we also don't know, so we need everyone to come investigate."

"Moreover according to the investigation, Longyuan Mountain was inexplicably sealed by the government, prohibiting anyone from entering, just from this point it looks quite suspicious."

Others looked at the materials in their hands, all were information searched about Longyuan Mountain, the truly useful content is actually very little, all are exaggerated claims from the internet.

Someone has always claimed, it seems there is a mysterious force, hiding the true nature of Longyuan Mountain.

But regarding this, CIA personnel naturally don't believe a bit, consider it pure nonsense, rumors.

"Speaking of this Longyuan Mountain, it's actually quite famous, previously it caused quite a commotion, logically speaking, if Daxia really had some activity here, doing so wouldn't it be exposing themselves?"

Poison Bee's face flashed a cold smile, "Have you heard of 'dark under the lamp'? This is Daxia's cleverness, these public opinion hypes are merely means to cover people's eyes and ears, otherwise how would there be an unfounded blockade later?"

This statement makes sense, and is also the idea of CIA leadership, previously they had already investigated Longyuan Mountain thoroughly.

Regarding those mysterious sayings about Longyuan Mountain, they naturally don't believe them, instead they think this might be a smoke screen released by Daxia, the purpose being to confuse them.

Moreover according to the intelligence they obtained, there is also a transnational artifact smuggling organization, seemingly for the artifacts in the ancient tombs inside the mountain, they dispatched people, result three waves of people all fell there.

This point, however you look at it, seems somewhat strange, it's hard not to make CIA personnel think, if it were just an ordinary mountain peak, how could Daxia possibly value it so highly.

And that artifact smuggling organization, its strength is still quite large, even they have stumbled several times following it, how could an ordinary mountain possibly achieve that?

True and false mixed together, only in this way can they confuse the line of sight, but CIA also isn't sure, to clarify this point, that's why they have this operation by Poison Bee and others.

As the car drove along, not far away a village came into view, exactly Longyuan Village.

Poison Bee and others were very cautious, "We shouldn't rashly enter the mountain first, look around to see if there are police guarding nearby, secure the point then regroup."

The remaining few people nodded, then split up to act.

Longyuan Village isn't large, so after about an hour they returned to the car, already having roughly figured out the nearby situation.

"Boss, we've checked, only a village near the mountain, area not large, just over a hundred people or so, no police traces found, at the mountain foot only a few villagers guarding."

Poison Bee's brows slightly furrowed, "It shouldn't be like this."

Logically speaking, if Daxia really had a base here, conducting meteorological weapon research, it's impossible not to dispatch personnel to guard.

Yet they saw no police or military traces along the way, really somewhat unreasonable.

"Could it be that the police are all lying in ambush in the village?"

"Impossible, I went into the village and looked, there are no suspicious personnel, all are villagers."

"Didn't those villagers notice you?"

"They're all those yellow-faced, earth-backed peasants, how could they notice my presence, there definitely aren't any plainclothes in there, I can guarantee it!"

This team is well-trained and can be said to be a sharp force of the CIA lurking in Daxia; even ordinary police are no match for them, let alone these farmers.

Therefore, for these villagers, they really don't take them to heart, as long as they don't attract the villagers' attention.

The poisonous bee pondered for a moment, "This mountain cannot possibly be unguarded; since there's no one at the mountain base, it's very likely that they are on the mountain, so we should be careful when we go up the mountain later."

Saying that, he came to the trunk, only to see that inside were all guns!

After everyone equipped themselves properly, they waited for dusk to fall before setting out.

It's no wonder the poisonous bee is so cautious; from the information obtained in hand, this mountain is not simple, and they are also uncertain whether there are police or military on the mountain.

Traveling under the cover of night can also provide some concealment, allowing them to sneak into the mountain unnoticed to see what Daxia is up to.

……

Meanwhile, in Longyuan Village.

The villagers, whom the CIA didn't even notice, were quite sharp and discovered these few figures.

This is thanks to their extraordinary physique; any rustle in the wind or grass cannot escape their keen senses.

And after discovering suspicious movements, they did not immediately startle the snake, after all, they still didn't know the other party's background and couldn't confirm whether they were truly bad people.

Therefore, these few villagers knocked on the village chief's door, intending to discuss the matter.

"Village chief, we've discovered a few strangers near the village who look suspicious."

"Are you sure?"

Dazhuang nodded affirmatively, "I'm sure; although I was doing farm work at that time, my peripheral vision caught that black shadow, and I've been observing his movements ever since."

The village chief's expression first showed surprise, then quickly turned solemn, "Definitely not good people; if they were passersby or tourists, they could walk openly, no need to sneak around."

"Since the Mountain God bestowed blessings, my physique has become quite formidable; even from a distance, I can see them clearly, and they still think I don't know."

The village chief nodded and ordered, "Notify the other people in the village to do what they should do; absolutely cannot let anyone discover any clues."

Dazhuang was a bit puzzled, "Shouldn't we call the police?"

The village chief shook his head, "Calling the police would easily startle the snake, and besides, they haven't taken any action yet, and we can't confirm their identities, so we should hold our position for now and see what they're up to."

After speaking, the village chief seemed to think of something, angrily pounding the table with his fist, this force almost splitting the wooden table, "If it weren't for those two thugs running away last time, we could still show our skills; this time is a good opportunity, and we can't let it pass; we've received so many favors from the Mountain God, we should also do something for the Mountain God, otherwise it would make us look useless."

"Dazhuang, you should know, we are the guardians of Longyuan Mountain!"

"Do you know what it means to be a mountain guardian?"

Dazhuang looked at the village chief's increasingly excited expression, raised his head and replied, "Of course I know; no matter who wants to enter the mountain, they must first pass through us, the mountain guardians!"

The other villagers looked at each other, feeling that the village chief made perfect sense, their expressions even revealing a hint of anticipation, all giving thumbs up.

"The village chief still has the best idea; just follow what he said."

The village chief's gaze fell on a not-so-distant place.

"If I haven't guessed wrong, they are most likely here for the secrets inside Longyuan Mountain; let's deal with them!"

……

On another side, at the southernmost position of Wu Du, there is a building with a vast footprint, heavily guarded.

Rows of soldiers stand like poplars around, red flags fluttering over the lush green grass of the square; this is precisely the military defense zone of Wu Du.

At this moment, the door of the military region chief's office was suddenly knocked on.

"Report to the chief! This is the latest news transmitted from the general area!"

Wu Du's chief Zhao Zhiyong, nearly sixty years old, looked at the information handed over by the soldier, his face immediately sank.

"Has a spy already entered the province?"

The earlier commotion of the CIA spy dying in the suburbs of Kyoto had already drawn the attention of the higher-ups; Kyoto issued a notice, requiring all localities to closely monitor.

"What are they doing here in Wu Du?"

Zhao Zhiyong thought, earlier the 749 Bureau had investigated that Oliver's accidental death seemed to have countless connections with Longyuan Mountain, and precisely because of that, this case could only end without resolution.

"Because of this, the 749 Bureau finally did not continue the investigation; could it be that this mountain really has something special?"

Zhao Zhiyong thought for a while, feeling that this was pure baseless talk; initially, the military region had not intervened in this matter, so he didn't know anything about what happened on Longyuan Mountain.

However, having heard something about this mountain, but in fact, the military does not really believe it.

But if the 749 Bureau could investigate this, and if the CIA side also investigated it, it's very likely they would send people again.

And the timing of this spy's appearance is really too coincidental, making people unable to help but link it to the previous Oliver.

"Could it be that their target is Longyuan Mountain!"

If he didn't remember wrong, after Longyuan Mountain was sealed off, our military did not go to garrison it, and the urban area also did not arrange personnel.

It was the villagers who volunteered to become mountain guardians; under such circumstances, they are bound to clash with the people the CIA sent over.

If the two sides clash, how could those villagers possibly be a match for these people?

This is bound to suffer!

Zhao Zhiyong, upon thinking this, his face changed dramatically, he immediately stood up and ordered, "Quickly notify the personnel, immediately head to Longyuan Mountain!"

Once something really happens, as the person in charge of the Wu Du military side, he will definitely not escape responsibility!

Not long after, the urgent alarm bell rang suddenly, drifting above the military region.

Whether it was patrolling soldiers or soldiers training on the drill ground, they all stopped what they were doing.

"What's going on?"

"Looking at the situation, it seems like a major event has occurred."

"The military region hasn't heard such an alarm bell for a long time."

……

The sun set in the west, night slowly unfolded its curtain, like a huge black curtain draped over the sky.

The lush and verdant mountain peaks during the day, as if a pot of ink had been overturned, stained with endless blackness, their outlines also indistinct, looking from afar like a ferocious giant beast.

The poisonous bee and others arrived at the mountain foot, paying no attention to the encircling fence or that warning sign.

However, just as they were preparing to climb over, a voice suddenly came from behind them.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"As expected, you want to sneak into the mountain!"

Countless flashlights shone on them, blinding them to the extreme; even the originally dim environment was illuminated as brightly as daytime.

The Poison Bee and the others were like rats in a sewer, exposed before everyone.

The village chief and the others sized them up, a flicker of vigilance crossing their expressions, and they shouted sternly:

"Who are you? We spotted your sneaky figures during the day—don't you know Longyuan Mountain has been sealed off by the state?!"

The Poison Bee glared fiercely at the teammate beside him, lowered his voice, and said: "Is this the bunch of stupid peasants you were talking about?"

Looking at these villagers, it seemed they had long discovered their presence but had simply remained motionless; the Poison Bee had carried out so many missions, yet had never encountered such a situation.

These people were still the peasants they had initially looked down upon!

To them, it was nothing short of a disgrace—if it got out, they would be laughed at.

Moreover, these villagers had obviously been lying in ambush for a long time, yet they themselves had noticed nothing—could ordinary people achieve such stealth capability?

The person who had gone to the village in the daytime to scout now had a slightly changed face; he never imagined these villagers would be so alert, muttering with his lips.

"No, impossible—how could they have detected my presence?"

The Poison Bee and the others were utterly baffled, but now was not the time to discuss this.

Although these villagers were numerous and armed, they only had hoes, sickles, and the like—their lethality was minimal, and compared to the trained Poison Bee and the others, it was nothing but a world of difference.

Therefore, even if discovered, aside from feeling furious and ashamed, the Poison Bee and the others felt no tension or fear; as long as they resolved the matter here before alerting the police or the military, they could still escape successfully.

A hot-tempered member of the team, code-named Mad Scorpion, drew his pistol directly: "Chief, why waste words with these villagers? Kill a few and they'll behave."

Seeing that they actually carried firearms on their persons, the villagers' faces changed slightly—this proved their identities were even more extraordinary.

Although the villagers' overall quality had improved and the customs of Longyuan Village had become fierce, they had never undergone real combat; they knew they had grown stronger, but had not yet figured out where their limits lay.

Faced with the current scene, they still felt somewhat nervous inside—after all, they were used to working in the fields, where had they ever seen things like pistols?

Yet even so, no one retreated.

Because the confidence of the big guys came from the Mountain God!

The Mountain God had bestowed upon them superhuman strength, and if any real danger occurred, the Mountain God would certainly not stand by idly.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side, many CIA members were equally astonished.

Originally, they thought these villagers would show fear upon seeing guns, but unexpectedly, the villagers showed no retreat at all—indeed, they could be described as calm.

It was as if what they held was not a gun, but a plastic toy! (End of chapter)