Chapter 306

White hair grows on the ten-thousand-mile Cang River; how many people sit in the twilight by the lamp?

Yesterday's youth seems as if it were today; at that time, the bald grandpa's head was not yet this shiny, and the small town under the mountain was quieter and more peaceful than it is today. The sudden arrival of outsiders was like a pebble thrown into a lake, stirring up a thousand waves.

Zhang Tiansheng, who was like a charlatan, wanted to trade fortune-telling for a pot of old hen stewed for three hours, but what he got in return was the bald grandpa swinging a large ladle, and the old dog in the yard wouldn't stop barking.

When a thick stack of red bills was still on the table, that was when one had a soulmate within the seas, and the ends of the earth were like neighbors.

The large ladle served a bowl of delicious chicken soup for a friend, comforting the dust of the long journey; the dog in the yard stopped barking, grinning and drooling, as if it had seen a prosperous life with bone marrow in every meal.

"Zhang Tiansheng!"

Divine Diviner Zhang Tiansheng.

That is Zhang Lingzong's biological father, and also Zhang Fan's grandfather.

He did not expect that more than forty years ago, Zhang Tiansheng had actually come to the Ten Thousand Mountains, and the one he hired was also this bald grandpa's ox cart.

The mystery of fate and the depth of destiny are truly dark and vast, difficult to fully describe.

"Forty-plus years in a flash... forty-plus years, and I have never met anyone so generous again..." the bald grandpa said in a trance.

"How did you describe it just now?"

"Right, sucker, big sucker."

"I have never met such a big sucker again," the bald grandpa sighed.

"Well... grandpa, perhaps people just have a lot of money and a kind heart," Zhang Fan laughed dryly.

"What's wrong with you?"

Li Miaoyin saw that Zhang Fan's expression was a bit unnatural and couldn't help but care.

"Nothing."

Zhang Fan shook his head, looked at the bald grandpa driving the ox cart, and asked: "Grandpa, since that Second Master of the Zhang family was so rich, why did he come to this poor mountain ditch?"

"What could he do? Play, fool around; rich people, after all, must have some special hobbies, and must be different from normal people who aren't so perverted, to be considered rich," the bald grandpa said casually.

"However, I don't think he looked like a serious person; his body was very weak, as if he had been hollowed out..." the bald grandpa grinned: "At that time, I even thought, with this kind of body, he still drills into the mountain ditch; even if he can come out alive, I'm afraid he'll be left without descendants."

"..."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

Facing Li Miaoyin's concern, Zhang Fan shook his head, staring fixedly at the bald grandpa's back of the head, but the grandpa was like a broken faucet; once the gate was opened, it could never be closed again.

"Hey, young man, guess what? That big sucker you mentioned came again after more than ten years, and actually brought two little cubs."

"Little cubs?" Zhang Fan showed a strange expression.

"Yes, that was truly an old turtle having cubs..."

"How do you mean?"

"They were all bastards."

"..."

"However, among those two little cubs, only one was that sucker's seed," the bald grandpa whispered.

That night, Zhang Tiansheng brought the two little guys and still stayed in their courtyard.

The old dog from before had long since become a pile of yellow earth in the backyard; meeting an old friend again, the charlatan's body was even more sickly, and he had lost his former spirit.

He said he was dying!

"Since then, I have never seen him again."

The bald grandpa sighed.

At his age, it was already time to live by reminiscing about his past life.

The mountain roads were rugged, the jagged rocks looked ferocious, the ancient trees were like tangled algae, and the mist and miasma were like thin gauze.

Suddenly, a chicken crow came from the town that was gradually moving away behind them.

In the distance, the east revealed a touch of fish-belly white, and the rising sun jumped up, dyeing the sky full of clouds gold.

Looking back, the golden glow was ten thousand feet high, and the mountains and rivers were beautiful.

"Ha..."

The bald grandpa swung his long whip, pulled the reins, and looked at the golden color reflecting the sky; his turbid eyes flashed with a different kind of brilliance. At this moment, he seemed to be reliving his youth, his heart surging, and his poetic spirit burst forth.

"The Dao of Heaven has applied lubricant, the ten-thousand-foot golden glow cannot be stopped."

"..."

Zhang Fan and Li Miaoyin looked at each other, and the atmosphere vanished without a trace.

The bald grandpa, however, was full of pride and sighed: "Back in the day, I almost got into college too."

As he spoke, the bald grandpa's brows were full of a sense of brokenness.

"..."

The three of them took the ox cart, swaying, and walked on the rugged mountain road for about half a day, advancing twenty or thirty miles.

The bald grandpa pulled the reins and finally stopped.

"We can only go this far; there is no road ahead."

The terrain of the Ten Thousand Mountains is complex, and there was no road to begin with; these rugged mountain paths were explored by generations of mountain folk living nearby for cutting firewood and collecting herbs.

Later, they became routes for backpackers to sightsee, but that was all; it was still safe on the periphery, entering and retreating twenty or thirty miles, but it would be dangerous to go deeper.

"Alright, grandpa, let's part ways here," Zhang Fan jumped off the ox cart and turned back to pick up Li Miaoyin.

"Young man, it's not peaceful in the mountains; you two little guys shouldn't run around," the bald grandpa looked at Zhang Fan deeply and reminded him.

"Grandpa, we know what we're doing."

Zhang Fan greeted him, then walked side by side with Li Miaoyin into the wild deep mountains.

The mist in the mountains was pervasive, and soon their figures, moving further and further away, were submerged.

"Impermanence is swift, thoughts shift, stone fire and wind lamps, passing waves and residual light..."

"No wonder Zhang Laoer Master said back then, fate is like chiseling stone to see fire; how long can one live in the world... so many years have passed in a flash."

The bald grandpa looked at the direction Zhang Fan had gone and couldn't help but sigh softly.

"That kid is Zhang Tiansheng's seed, the last bloodline of the Southern Zhang."

Just then, the old yellow ox that had been silent all the way suddenly let out a muffled hum; its throat squirmed, making strange syllables, actually sounding like human speech, just a bit strange.

"What is he doing coming to the Ten Thousand Mountains?"

"Why do you care so much?" The bald grandpa glanced sideways and said indifferently: "Zhang Laoer Master himself said, the fate of future generations can only be fought for by future generations."

"Let's go, we still have to deliver express mail later!" The bald grandpa jumped up and leaped onto the ox cart.

"I really don't understand, why are you suffering so much? The human world is not all good."

The old yellow ox rolled its eyes, chewing dry grass, and couldn't help but say.

"You know shit."

The bald grandpa pulled the reins and raised the long whip.

"This is also cultivation!"

A long whip cracked in the air, echoing in the wild deep mountains.

"Not an ox or horse, but pretending to be an ox or horse..."

"This is not cultivation!"

"This is a serious illness!"

The old yellow ox muttered and turned to leave.

Ten Thousand Mountains, clouds don't know how many, mountains don't know how many layers.

Once you walk in, it's like breaking into a maze; here, the magnetic field becomes chaotic, the compass fails, satellite positioning is useless, and mobile phones have no signal.

Besides the sense of direction, the mountains are filled with bursts of poisonous miasma; once an ordinary person inhales it, they will be dizzy and unconscious at best, and their bodies will rot and their lives will be lost at worst.

However, Zhang Fan and Li Miaoyin are both cultivators; for one, they often practice the Inner Alchemy method, and their physical bodies are extraordinary. Even if ordinary poisonous miasma and smoke are inhaled into the body, their powerful lungs can expel it, and their strengthened livers can easily detoxify it.

Moreover, their soul-aspects observe; the poisonous miasma that looks uniform to ordinary people is colorful in front of them, and different colors have different toxicities.

After walking for half a day, Zhang Fan suddenly stopped, and saw that not far away, the colorful miasma around was gathering in the same direction, as if it were being swallowed by some kind of power.

He used his soul-aspect to observe and found that in the center of the colorful poisonous miasma, there was a mushroom growing, its cap like a cloud, shimmering with bright luster, and the patterns on it seemed as brilliant and colorful as a rainbow.

"What is that?"

"That's called a Cloud Mushroom," Li Miaoyin whispered: "It mostly feeds on the miasma in the mountains, and it generally takes at least thirty years of nurturing to take shape."

The Cloud Mushroom is not an ordinary mushroom; it can already be considered a great medicine.

However, its medicinal properties are extremely domineering and poisonous; if a cultivator accidentally eats it, and their cultivation is not enough, it will damage their soul-aspect.

"Look at the colorful patterns on the mushroom; each one is ten years, and this Cloud Mushroom has six, so it is sixty years old," Li Miaoyin was knowledgeable.

Just grinding such a 【Cloud Mushroom】 into powder and using it to soak in water to drink—if one has not entered the Gao Gong rank, whoever drinks it will have their soul-aspect immediately extinguished, without leaving a trace.

"So poisonous?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but say.

Gao Gong is not Chinese cabbage; how could it be so easy to find?

It shows the terror of this thing.

"How much is it worth?" Zhang Fan had the thought of picking it.

"Are you that short of money?" Li Miaoyin looked at Zhang Fan, then said: "If this kind of thing spreads out, I'm afraid it will also cause endless harm, and I don't know how many people's lives it will harm."

"Although the Dao of Heaven is ruthless and has always served life through killing, it is never good for it to spread from you."

As she spoke, Li Miaoyin looked at Zhang Fan, her eyes sincere and eager: "Heaven creates all things, each with its own wonderful fate; leaving it here might lead to another creation in the future."

"With just this one thought, there will surely be a future," Zhang Fan's heart moved slightly, and he couldn't help but nod: "Alright, I'll listen to you."

His cultivation was getting deeper, and he knew that Li Miaoyin's words were deeply reasoned; his own thought had arisen, and in the dark, he didn't know where in the future there would be a result waiting for him, echoing each other, entangled with each other; the mystery of fate is nothing more than this.

"So obedient."

Li Miaoyin smiled, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Zhang Fan had a touch of softness.

Zhang Fan seemed not to see it, turned his head away, and looked at the road ahead that had no road.

Boom—

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the mountains, followed by smoke and dust rising, roaring to the sky.

"You are a person from the Zhang family of Mount Long Hu!?"

Just then, a sharp cry suddenly sounded, accompanied by a figure flying out from the smoke and dust.

Zhang Fan looked intently and saw a young girl hitting the ground like a kite with a broken string; her face was delicate, her dress was stained with blood, and her pretty face was as pale as paper.

"Huang Sanlang actually colluded with outsiders... colluded with people from the Zhang family?"

The girl stood up staggeringly, staring fixedly ahead, a trace of fear lingering in her desperate eyes.

"Little monster, I don't want to kill you either, but if you don't die, I won't be able to finish my KPI this month."

Just then, a lazy and indifferent voice sounded.

From the dispersing smoke and dust, a young man slowly walked out; he was not handsome, but could be called clean, wearing a Daoist robe, fluttering in the wind, holding a mobile phone in one hand and a talisman in the other.

"Do you really think I'm easy to bully?" The girl gritted her teeth.

"I really think so," the young Daoist stood on a large green stone, looking down, and whispered indifferently.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, a wild wind whistled, the girl's eyes trembled violently; in her line of sight, the young Daoist had already disappeared, and a broad, thick hand had already landed on her shoulder.

"You're dead!"

Roar...

Just then, the girl's chest bulged, and she suddenly let out a terrifying cry.

The gale shook, sand flew and stones moved.

The terrifying power instantly blew the young Daoist away, the surrounding terrain collapsed instantly, vegetation exploded, and giant rocks shattered.

"Wind flows like sand, Qi rolls like a wheel, refining the cover gate in Huangpi Cave."

The young Daoist landed slowly, looking indifferently at the girl whose black hair was standing on end; at this moment, her chest was suddenly bulging, more than five times larger than before, and the wind and sand around her formed a formation, like a meat grinder; everything with form that was rolled into it was crushed to powder.

"Sigh, this talisman of mine is very expensive."

The young Daoist showed a look of heartache.

"Break the Mountain!"

As the words fell, the talisman in his palm burned violently, and in an instant, it turned into an aura, rushing over.

"Mount Long Hu's Mountain-Breaking Town-Mountain Talisman!?" The girl's face changed color.

That terrifying aura descended, instantly crushing her wind and sand formation to powder; the strong impact directly blew her away, and the latter fell heavily to the ground, a mouthful of blood gushing out.

"Look, you're dead again."

The young man looked at his phone and walked to the girl's side without raising his head.

The girl's eyes trembled, looking almost desperately at the Daoist in front of her; the prestige of the Zhang family of Mount Long Hu was like a mountain, completely shattering her confidence and cutting off her hope.

"Let you say your last words; don't be too long, I'm almost done with this game," the young Daoist said indifferently.

"You are a Daoist from Mount Long Hu? So, you are a disciple of the Northern Zhang?"

Just then, a slow voice came from behind.

The young Daoist's expression changed suddenly; he turned instinctively, his palm like a knife, actually with true fire rising, red light boiling, and the terrifying aura was many times stronger than just now.

The girl's expression changed suddenly; if the young Daoist had used this method to kill just now, she wouldn't have been able to withstand even one move.

Hum...

Just then, a figure appeared abruptly behind the young Daoist; who else could it be but Zhang Fan?

Facing the true fire like a knife, Zhang Fan reached out one hand, as fast as lightning, actually grabbing the young Daoist's wrist directly, shaking it gently, and the true fire suddenly dissipated.

The young Daoist's eyes trembled, looking at Zhang Fan in disbelief; on his originally calm face, a look of shock and horror finally appeared.

Such an understated move, without even seeing any Daoist method, had extinguished the true fire in his palm.

This cultivation was absolutely a big step higher than his.

Boom—

Just then, a terrifying pressure rose from Zhang Fan's body, as if a red dragon were floating in the air, and a great fire was spreading.

The young Daoist's pupils contracted sharply, as if he had fallen into a boundless purgatory, his mouth dry and tongue parched, and even his soul-aspect seemed to be burning.

"Expert!"

"Now come and tell me, you are a Northern Zhang disciple?" Zhang Fan said indifferently.

Entering the Ten Thousand Mountains, he had finally met someone from the Northern Zhang.

"Brother, I call you brother, spare my life!"

Just then, the young Daoist squeezed out a smile, actually leaning on Zhang Fan as if discussing.

"Hmm!?"

"Don't call me that." Zhang Fan's expression was strange, and he couldn't help but look at the young Daoist in front of him again; Gao Gong cultivation, strength not weak, and methods could be called powerful.

It was just this face, completely without the majesty of an expert, and it was really difficult to connect him with the legendary Northern Zhang lineage of Mount Long Hu.

"Brother, you are my own brother; don't accidentally kill your brother," the young Daoist laughed tremblingly.

"You are not from the Northern Zhang?" Zhang Fan asked the question in his heart.

"I am from the Northern Zhang, but not really," the young Daoist smiled bitterly.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Fan raised his eyebrows, as if he had guessed something.

"I come from the Northern Zhang lineage of Mount Long Hu, but... I have not yet been deified and had a statue erected, nor have I been named by the ancestor."

As he spoke, the young Daoist shook his head and sighed.

"Then you are..." Zhang Fan realized.

"My surname is Zhang..."

"My name is Zhang Wuming!" the young Daoist reported his family name.

Boom—

Just then, above the clouds, a bolt of thunder tore through the sky, as if it were a coincidence, just like fate, and the sunlight shone down, falling between Zhang Fan and Zhang Wuming.

(End of chapter)