Chapter 114: The Late-Arriving Battle of Magic (Seeking Monthly Votes)

The ancient road down the mountain is covered with autumn leaves, and colorful forests are everywhere.

Occasionally, there is moist soil exposed, covered with the footprints of wild wolves and cloud leopards.

A mule walks silently, with a thin village elder sitting on its back, his body swaying, and two Daoists holding swords in front, their steps fast.

"It will take two days to get to our place, thank you for your hard work, two Daoists."

"We are not working hard, the village elder is the one suffering. Those who remain in the village are the ones suffering." Lin Jue says again, "While there is time on the road, village elder, tell us about the fox yaoguai in the village."

"Okay..."

The village elder sits on the mule's back, showing a look of recollection, and also hesitates for a moment before asking: "Actually, this group of fox yaoguai has always lived beside our village, and we have known them for a long time."

"Known them for a long time?"

"Yes..."

Lin Jue nods, which is not unexpected.

Stories about fox yaoguai and fox spirits are the most common in the world, not only because there are the most fox yaoguai and fox spirits in the world, but also because they often live and mix with people.

Such things are not surprising.

So he just lets the village elder continue to speak.

"This old man doesn't know where to start, only that a few years ago, this group of fox yaoguai was once divided into two sides, incompatible with each other, often fighting in the night. Some people in the village were even invited by them to help. Even this old man was once approached by them in the night, asking this old man to bring a hoe and shoulder pole to help them fight, but this old man didn't go, and people in the village didn't go much either.

"Later, not long after, they seemed to have decided the winner, and only one side remained.

"After that, for a period of time, the figures of these foxes were rarely seen, and the things about encountering foxes in the village in the past were also rarely heard of.

"Until these two years, at first, there were thefts in people's homes; at first, it was not known who did it, but later it was known that it was these foxes. After being discovered, they simply tore off their masks and demanded offerings of silver and money; if not given, they would make the village restless. We reported to the government and invited teachers from nearby villages, but none of them could do anything about them, so we had to offer them.

"Three days ago, I don't know what happened, they went crazy, harming people in the village and demanding young boys and girls. We were all very scared, many people ran out of the village, and invited martial arts people to go, but they were also harmed by them."

The village elder on the mule's back says, unable to help but glance at the white fox following them.

The fox seems to notice and turns its head to look at him while jumping nimbly.

The old man is scared and withdraws his gaze instantly.

"There is no other way. I heard that there is a Fuchi Temple on Mount Yishan, and the Daoist is very powerful at eliminating yaoguai, but I also heard that yaoguai are causing trouble everywhere recently, as if they had agreed, and our village is very far from your temple, so the people in the village dare not run such a long road, fearing they will be harmed on the road. Only this old man, at my age, wouldn't lose anything if I died, so I came to beg alone."

"Old sir is righteous."

An old gentleman who has lived for more than half his life and wouldn't lose anything if he died, yet is willing to risk his life to come to such a remote place to beg the Daoist to save his neighbors—such an old gentleman is worthy of the title of village sage.

And for such a person, no matter how high Lin Jue's skills are, it is obviously worth his extra respect.

"But are the ones in the old sir's village really fox yaoguai?"

"What? Naturally, they are fox yaoguai."

"Have they ever revealed their original form? Do they look like foxes?"

"They have revealed their original form, and they are the same as ordinary foxes." The old man says, pausing, and then glances at the fox beside him, "But they are not like this fox, this fox of the Daoist; they are about the same as ordinary foxes."

"Aren't foxes afraid of dogs? Are there no dogs in the village?"

"We raise them, but those foxes have high cultivation, and there are many of them, so the dogs in the village have long been subdued by them."

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue nods, lost in thought.

There are really too many fox yaoguai and fox spirits in the world, and in this day and age, information circulation is not smooth, and people's cognition is limited, making it difficult to form a unified cognition, so it is very chaotic.

These legendary fox yaoguai and fox spirits are not only like people, having their own races, clans, and even factions, but many are not foxes at all.

This is the reason why the Daoist wants to separate fox yaoguai and fox spirits—

Is there a difference between the words yaoguai and spirit?

To investigate the root cause, to find the most original and source meaning of the characters, perhaps there is a difference. But whether it is characters or words, they are all used for communication; after a long time, they have been confused, and in fact, there is no difference.

Just like gods and immortals.

Gods and immortals originally had differences, but now, many who are called immortals in the sky are actually gods who have been conferred, and many who are called gods are actually immortals who have cultivated themselves, so "gods and immortals" has become a shared term in the actual use of the world, and the specific meanings of the two characters do not need to be distinguished in detail, nor do they need to be regarded as the only correct solution from the source.

Yaoguai and spirits are just like this.

But "fox" is truly special.

Like the previous dynasty, people in the previous dynasty admired dragons and loved dragons, but how can a real dragon be seen casually?

So after a long time, "dragon" was used in a confused way.

When people saw large crocodiles in the water, they called them Tuo dragons, and small crocodiles were called pig-mother dragons. When they saw large snakes that had cultivated successfully, they called them Jiao dragons, and carp that had become spirits were also called dragons. Even some unremarkable small snakes, either out of respect or as a term of endearment, were called dragons when referred to or written in poems and books.

Later, it became even more exaggerated.

People might walk to the mountain, pass by the roadside, see some strange things, call them glowing or riding the wind, unable to understand, and as long as these things touched water, people would exclaim, this is a dragon.

Then they could go down the mountain and brag to their families and friends.

In fact, it satisfied people's longing and thirst for seeing dragons and seeking dragons.

Fox yaoguai and fox spirits are also like this.

People in this dynasty love fox spirits. If they see yaoguai and spirits in secular villages and cities, having the ability to change, and don't know what they are, they call them foxes. In this way, they are like the protagonists in books and stories, seeing the ever-changing foxes, making friends with such miraculous spirits, and can be proud of themselves, can feel miraculous, and can go and brag to others.

In fact, it is not necessarily a fox.

Therefore, in order to distinguish, the Daoist separated the two words yaoguai and spirit; yaoguai and spirits cultivated from foxes in the mountains are called fox yaoguai, while those whose true form cannot be distinguished by the world are called fox spirits.

What Lin Jue wants to find is a proper yaoguai transformed from a fox.

Although fox yaoguai have their own clans and factions, there must be communication between them, and perhaps he can learn from them where the fox he has raised for more than two years roughly came from.

When walking to the foot of the mountain, a voice suddenly came from the mountain:

"Do you still dare to go down the mountain at this time?"

The old man sitting on the mule's back felt that it was not a human as soon as he heard this strange voice, and was suddenly startled. In his panic, he almost fell off the mule's back.

But he saw the two young Daoists calm and composed.

"Why not dare?"

"I heard that Emperor Yu Jian has made a great determination, sending the Three Sages of the South, numerous spirit officials and star lords, celestial soldiers and divine generals, swearing to eradicate the Corpse Tiger King. Looking at this battle formation, no matter what, the Corpse Tiger King cannot escape this disaster! In order to seek a glimmer of survival, he must order his subordinate yaoguai to disrupt the world, the bigger the commotion the better. You go down the mountain, those yaoguai will all fight you to the death!"

"All the more reason to go."

The Daoist just said so.

There was no more movement in the forest.

Lin Jue and the other looked at each other, took out paper donkeys, turned them into two gray donkeys, and led the mule while riding the donkeys to hurry on their way.

A thin mule, elegant Daoists.

Crisp hoofbeats came from the mountains.

It was already afternoon, and it took the old man more than two days to come; with the two hurrying, they were almost close by the second night.

However, the sky was already near dusk.

"Third Shixiong brother..."

The junior sister on the donkey's back called out.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Jue turned to look at the junior sister.

"The road is somewhat familiar."

The junior sister pointed ahead and said with a puzzled expression.

"Somewhat familiar?"

Lin Jue also turned his head to look.

Ordinary mountains, ordinary water, small mountain paths, fields by the road, nothing rare.

But after she said that, it did indeed seem somewhat familiar.

"Ying-ah~"

The fox jumped lightly, flew onto a tree branch, and stretched its neck to look left and right.

"Is it the road to Xiaochuan Village?" Lin Jue said, turning to look at the old man, "May I ask old sir, have you ever heard of Xiaochuan Village?"

"Naturally I have heard of it. Our Pear Village is not far from Xiaochuan Village, it's about twenty miles away. We heard about the Daoists of your temple from Xiaochuan Village, that's why we came to invite you."

"So that's how it is."

While Lin Jue was speaking, he heard the fox call out again.

The sound was light and thin, a little nasal.

Looking at it, then looking ahead along its gaze, it happened that the small path was a gentle slope; riding the donkey a few steps forward, he saw a large tree that suddenly appeared on the road.

The large tree was right in the middle of the small path, blocking the way.

There certainly wouldn't be a tree in the middle of such a small path.

Lin Jue's expression froze.

Isn't this the same as last time?

The only difference is that it is still daytime.

"Oh!?"

The sunset hung golden in the sky, but the old man on the mule's back was suddenly startled, pointing ahead:

"This... this, this, this... how can a tree grow in the middle of the road? There was no such tree when this old man came!"

"Old sir, do not be anxious."

Lin Jue rode the donkey forward, looking at the tree.

I don't know if it's the one I saw at night two years ago; anyway, I didn't see it clearly at that time, but I can see it clearly now.

This should be a pear tree, with lush branches and leaves.

Dangshan produces pears, and now is the season when pears are ripe, and this tree is also densely covered with fruits, but they are all crooked pears.

Lin Jue seemed to have a feeling and turned his head back.

Behind him is the old gentleman riding the mule, and then the junior sister; the senior brother and junior sister are one in front and one behind, protecting the old gentleman in the middle. But I don't know when, a giant rock appeared on the small path behind them.

"Sure enough, it's you two."

Lin Jue jumped off the donkey, reached out, and the donkey turned into a piece of paper, flying back into his hand, while he frowned and held his sword forward:

"Since we have met again, it can be considered as meeting old acquaintances. I don't know if you two remember us, anyway, it's still that sentence—

"We are Daoists from Mount Yishan, from the orthodox Fuchi Temple of the Lingfa Sect. This is to go to Pear Village to eliminate yaoguai. If you two are kind-hearted spirits, knowing the danger ahead, and came specifically to block us, then just leave now. Both my junior sister and I will accept your good intentions, and when we return, there will definitely be incense and candles offered, just like last time.

"If you two are also demons, having received the Demon King's order to block us, then let's have the battle of magic that we didn't have two years ago right now!"

As soon as the words fell, he had already drawn his long sword.

"Whoosh..."

There was an evening wind blowing in the mountains, blowing the pear tree ahead to shake, as if the pears were about to fall.

But the next gust of wind immediately became a demon wind, and the sky light and sunset were dimmed as the demon wind blew.

The pear tree shook, and even the branches swayed.

Suddenly, a branch flicked!

A black dot actually smashed toward Lin Jue.

Besides a pear, what else could it be?

Lin Jue just flicked his left hand, chanted an incantation, and a throwing dart shot out.

To say how accurate it was, it wasn't really, but Lin Jue stared straight at that pear, chanted an incantation, and the flying dart hit it just right.

"Puff..."

The pear exploded instantly, turning into a puff of black smoke.

Only then did Lin Jue smell the heavy death energy.

Sure enough, it is a demon related to the Demon King!

And not a good yaoguai!

What a waste of the offerings from last time!

"Fuyao! Take the old gentleman further away! And protect the old gentleman's safety!"

"Woo!"

Lin Jue threw away the reins in his hand, the fox naturally jumped down from the tree, took the reins, and walked toward the dirt on the side.

The two of them were one in front and one behind, holding long swords, one facing the pear tree, and one facing the giant rock.

It is thought that on that night years ago, the two of them came with the intention of harming people, but at that time it was a spontaneous act, and seeing that the three were orthodox Daoists, blowing so powerfully, and with such momentum, it was not easy to provoke, so naturally they were unwilling to risk fighting them for a few pieces of flesh and blood, tested them, found that they really had magic, and left.

Now that the Demon King is in crisis, he must be urging them tightly, so the two demons naturally cannot retreat anymore.

Lin Jue thought it through instantly, but couldn't help shaking his head.

"What a pity, what a pity..."

At that time, it was indeed boasting to build momentum, but two years have passed, and the two young Daoists who needed their senior brother to take them down the mountain to gain some knowledge are no longer what they used to be. ===== CHAPTER 115 =====