Chapter 130

In Luosu City, two Daoists were leading donkeys. The donkeys walked side by side, one on the left and one on the right, with a massive steel fork strapped to their backs. They stopped in front of a blacksmith shop.

Inside the blacksmith shop, the sound of "ding-ding-dang-dang" rang out as iron was being forged.

"Clang!"

The steel fork hit the ground, making a huge sound.

A young Daoist put down the steel fork and walked over to greet the blacksmith with a smile:

"Shopkeeper, do you buy steel forks?"

"Oh my! Where did you two Daoist priests get such a large steel fork?"

"We slew a Yaksha; it was dropped by the Yaksha."

"You two little Daoists shouldn't tease me! There are no such things as Yakshas. If there really were a Yaksha, and it could wield such a large steel fork, then I'm afraid only a mighty general skilled in martial arts or an immortal could deal with it!"

"Haha, it was indeed not easy to deal with, but there was no need for an immortal."

"This..."

The blacksmith was naturally astonished and walked over to examine the steel fork closely.

"This steel fork is made of good steel, but it is crafted very crudely. It's so thick and long, I'm afraid it weighs over a hundred jin? Who could possibly wield this? Could it really be a monster?"

"Will you buy it, shopkeeper? How much will you pay?" Lin Jue asked. "This is truly good steel. If this one piece were melted down, it could at least forge dozens of fine swords."

"Where did you Daoists actually get this?"

"A Daoist does not lie."

"Hiss..."

The blacksmith pondered repeatedly, feeling tempted yet afraid. In the end, he shook his head: "Daoist, it's not that I won't buy it, but I'm truly afraid that if I do, that monster will come looking for me. Besides, I only forge hoes and firewood knives here; I can neither use such good steel nor finish using so much of it. Even if I could use it, I couldn't afford it, and making a random offer would be unfair to you. There is a shop over there that forges swords and knives; they have the money and the guts. Please go find them, Daoist."

"Then what should be the price for this steel?"

"Pig iron is about ten coins per jin, but forging it is labor-intensive. Refined into five-fire wrought iron, it costs over a hundred coins per jin. Fine iron turned into steel is over two hundred coins per jin. If it becomes hundred-refined steel, it must be two or three taels of silver per jin."

"What would this count as then?"

"At the very least, it's fine iron."

"Many thanks."

The two of them hoisted the steel fork back onto the donkeys' backs.

As they passed through the market, countless people stared at them.

Two quarters of an hour later, they were in front of the knife and sword shop.

Lin Jue and his junior sister held a bag of silver, weighing it in their hands, both surprised and delighted.

The shop assistant was just carrying the steel fork inside.

They hadn't expected that this steel fork, which looked plain and ordinary and had no spiritual aura, would fetch a sum of silver far exceeding their expectations.

"Half for each."

"Good!"

"Let's go."

"Where to, Third Shixiong?"

"To live freely!"

"Good!"

The two walked into the crowd.

One day later.

There was a "ding-ding-dang-dang" sound in the mountain forest.

Two Daoists were riding paper donkeys, walking leisurely along the slanting mountain path as they headed upward.

Xiao Shimei had bought a bell for her paper donkey.

Lin Jue did not understand this—

Because the paper donkey was made of paper and had to turn back into a sheet of paper every time it was put away, while the bell could not change along with it. Therefore, not only did one have to carry the bell separately, but it also had to be re-hung on the paper donkey's neck every time, and when it turned back into a sheet of paper, the bell would fall to the ground, requiring one to bend over to pick it up, which was very troublesome.

Xiao Shimei did not find it troublesome; she even wanted to buy one for his donkey, but was refused by him.

Besides the bell, she also bought a bag of chestnuts.

They said they were living freely, but in reality, they neither knew how to spend money nor could bear to spend it, and there was nowhere to spend it anyway. The prosperity of Luosu was far inferior to Yixian. In the end, when they passed through the county seat, they only bought a bell, a bag of chestnuts, and ten-odd jin of pork, and had a good meal in the city.

At this moment, they were sitting on the donkeys' backs, peeling chestnuts as they walked.

The sound of the bell gradually entered the depths of the mountain forest.

Just after passing the hot spring and approaching the foot of Fuqiu Peak, they immediately heard a voice from the forest: "Eh! You actually returned? I thought you had died outside!"

This voice was strange and very distinctive.

"Senior, long time no see."

Lin Jue stopped his donkey and revealed a smile.

"That's not right! When have we ever met?"

"That's true..."

Lin Jue was startled for a moment, then his smile became even brighter.

Upon hearing this sentence structure, that familiar flavor immediately returned. Furthermore, knowing he had reached the foot of Mount Yishan and had already entered the Mountain God's territory—and not knowing if it was because he had carried the Mountain God's token for too long or something else—Lin Jue felt as if he could sense the spiritual aura of this mountain. Naturally, he felt a sense of peace, and his mood became much more relaxed and joyful.

He even had the heart to ask one question:

"Since we have known each other for over two years, we can be considered to have some friendship. But as you said, Senior, we have never met face-to-face, and I do not know your true appearance. Why not manifest yourself so we can meet?"

Yet he heard the voice in the forest reply: "Since we are already acquainted, why must we meet?"

"If we don't meet, how can it be called an acquaintance?"

"That's not right! You Daoist, have you never heard a saying? Those who associate do so with their hearts, not with their appearances! Don't you know that the human heart is more treacherous than mountains and rivers? If you don't see their heart and associate based on appearance, you think you are close; if you don't see their face and think you are distant, is that correct?"

"..."

Lin Jue had indeed heard this saying.

He had heard it from the village elder of Shu Village.

It seemed it was originally spoken by a fox demon.

There are often fox demons in the world living among humans. People have strong curiosity and always hope to meet them, while most fox demons do not want to be disturbed, so they use such words to refuse.

The general meaning is that association should be based on the heart, not on appearance. The human heart is very complex and cannot be seen clearly with the naked eye; in fact, the naked eye only causes interference. If you cannot see the heart and only associate based on appearance, yet think the relationship is intimate because of it, that is clearly wrong. If you cannot see the face, yet can see the heart, and think the relationship is distant, that is also wrong.

Lin Jue thought for a moment, smiled again, and casually changed the subject: "Then if we hadn't been able to return, would you have felt lonely in the future, Senior? Would you have missed me?"

That strange voice was also silent for a moment, then avoided the question: "You Daoist, you were clearly the last to go up the mountain to cultivate, so why did you run the furthest to slay demons? Your senior brothers have all returned long ago."

"How are my senior brothers?"

"Some were injured, but I reckon they should be better by now."

"That's good," Lin Jue said, and then answered it, "It was truly bad luck; we just happened to run into the place where the Many Yaoguai King stores death energy, which can point and transform ordinary plants and animals into demonized evil objects..."

Lin Jue knew it was knowledgeable, so he gave a rough account of what happened.

Until he reached Jun Niangniang Yao Hua.

"Does Senior know of this Jun Niangniang?"

"Do you know of Emperor Yu Jian?"

"Naturally, I know of him."

"That's it then."

It seemed to mean that this Jun Niangniang's status in the hearts of the spirits here is like Emperor Yu Jian's status in the hearts of the local people?

This person's speaking style...

Truly loves to argue.

"Then according to your knowledge, Senior, since I used the Mountain God's token as the basis for the offering and called out to the Mountain God, why did I summon Jun Niangniang Yao Hua?"

"Don't you know in your heart?"

"Is it really so?"

"Why don't you go ask that wild boar? Don't come asking me! I am just a spirit living in seclusion here; how would I dare to speak recklessly about the Jun Niangniang's affairs?"

"Wild boar?"

Lin Jue frowned and thought carefully.

Although it is a chaotic world now and there are many demons, ghosts, and spirits in the world—especially since the previous Many Yaoguai King in this area happened to have the miraculous power to spawn demons and evil—there were even more. But even so, the only wild boar Lin Jue had ever encountered seemed to be one.

The Mountain Lord of Langtou Mountain?

Was it he who sent it? Why didn't he even say a word?

Lin Jue's expression grew solemn.

On the way back, it seemed they had passed through a place only a few dozen miles from Langtou Mountain. If he had known, he should have gone to ask.

"Since Senior is unwilling to say more about that Jun Niangniang, let's talk about the battle between the spirits and the Corpse-Underworld Many Yaoguai Lord."

"What is there to talk about?"

"Then I guess they didn't fight," Lin Jue said off the cuff.

"Then you guessed wrong! Not only did they fight, but the civil and martial battles were extremely intense! Hmm?" The voice said, suddenly reacting, "You Daoist!!"

"Hahaha! Please tell me, Senior!"

"The Three Sages of the South descended to the mortal realm this time, and it's only been ten days since the battle ended, so how much could I know?" The voice in the forest continued, "I only know that even if the Corpse Tiger King isn't dead, he's not far from it. His dojo and his main strategists and generals were all swept clean by the Celestial Soldiers and Divine Generals. However, I heard that after the clearing, the Celestial Soldiers and Divine Generals searched the mountains for three days. According to my guess, they certainly weren't looking for the Corpse Tiger King."

"Then what was it?"

"Dullard! Besides that Silver-Eating Ghost, what else could it be?"

"Do immortals also need this thing?"

"Dullard! At the very least, they are the righteous gods of our Divine Land and the Three Teachings. No matter how they compete for incense and seize dojos, how could they be as willful as the small gods and evil spirits of foreign lands? No matter what, they still need to save face! Moreover, the divine power of most spirits is no longer related to their cultivation, but to incense. Doing this is just to prevent it from falling into the hands of demons and creating more monsters."

"Did they find it?"

"How would I know?"

"So there are things you don't know, Senior..."

"..."

"Senior?"

"..."

"Senior?"

But no matter how he called, there was no answer.

This person is truly...

Lin Jue could not help but shake his head.

"Ding-ding-dang..."

The donkeys in the mountain forest started moving again. The two Daoists sitting on the donkeys' backs swayed, peeling chestnuts to eat.

Walking a bit higher, they could overlook the area below.

Lin Jue seemed to suddenly remember and asked toward the bottom:

"Does Senior have a name?"

He thought there would be no response, but there was a voice:

"You are a Daoist between heaven and earth, and I am a spirit in the mountain forest. We met by chance, and due to fate, we talk a few sentences when we get along, and remain silent when we have no heart for it. We don't even need to meet, so why do we need names?"

"So Senior is still there..."

"..."

That side stopped talking again.

Lin Jue did not say much more, just smiled and rode the donkey further up the mountain.

The personalities of demons and spirits are naturally different from humans, because they are not human to begin with, even if they attain the Dao and take human form. For example, if a cat attains the Dao, it will still retain some of its feline nature; if a fox attains the Dao, its way of thinking will also be somewhat like a fox.

I wonder what this one is.

Anyway, it is perfectly normal for the temperaments, preferences, and ways of thinking of demons and spirits to be different from humans. It is enough to understand and respect each other.

Let's call it "Senior Rebuttal" for now.

This "Senior Rebuttal" is very free and easy.

This kind of free and easy temperament seems to have influenced Lin Jue as well, making his heart much lighter at this moment, feeling that the social interactions of a Daoist should perhaps be like this, or that this is also quite good.

Amidst the sound of donkey hooves, they gradually reached the entrance of the Daoist temple.

The two put away the paper donkeys. One carried a long sword and silver, the other carried a long sword, chestnuts, and pork, and they pushed the door open and went in.

The Daoist temple was still the same.

Entering the door, there was the outer courtyard. Directly in front was the Immortal Hall, with side halls and rooms on both sides. In the courtyard was an ancient pine tree, under which was the eldest senior brother planting small onions and garlic seedlings, with two clouded leopards lying down and several cats sprawled on the ground.

Seeing the two, the group of cats first got up and ran over. Some greeted the fox, and some ran to Xiao Shimei's feet and circled around.

"Junior brother and junior sister are back?"

The eldest senior brother held the small hoe used by the second senior brother for gathering herbs, turned his head to look at them, put down the hoe, wiped his hands, and came to welcome them, looking them up and down and asking about their well-being.

Not long after, the other senior brothers also gathered around.

"Why did it take so long to return?"

"Were you injured?"

"We only heard after returning to the temple that the place you went to was somewhat dangerous."

"I suppose you went home for a visit?"

"Junior brother, why are you wearing the Daoist robe of Qiyun Mountain? You look so strange!"

Without looking, he knew that the last sentence must have come from the third senior brother, but Lin Jue had no intention of replying to him, because the master had also walked over, and he had to go pay his respects first:

"Master, because of the turmoil in that area, I was a bit worried about home, so I went back to take a look. I originally intended for junior sister to return to report our safety to you, but we were separated and encountered some things, so I called her back to travel with me, so we could look out for each other."

"I had guessed most of it; tell me the details later," Daoist Yunhe smiled. "Several of your senior brothers also went back, though it was closer than your home. This is as it should be."

"That's good."

Lin Jue breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed it was as he had expected.

Thinking about it, spirit-writing is also a good magic art.

Compared to other methods of deduction and divination, spirit-writing does not require one to learn the ability to deduce and calculate, but relies on the spirit-writing immortal. However, the disadvantage is also very obvious, which is that it is highly dependent on and relies on the spirit-writing immortal. All ability lies in how to find a spirit-writing immortal who is knowledgeable and can calculate.

"Are the senior brothers injured?"

"Everything is fine; the third junior brother, who was the most severely injured, has recovered," the eldest senior brother said, and then asked them, "And you?"

"We have also recovered. It's just a pity for junior sister's clothes, which were slashed to pieces."

"Tell me in detail."

"Let's talk later, no need to rush. I bought some chestnuts on the road, they are quite delicious. Senior brothers can share them; the peeled ones were peeled by junior sister for Master on the road, you have to peel your own if you want to eat," Lin Jue said, putting a heavy bag of silver into the eldest senior brother's arms. "By the way, senior brother, my arithmetic is not good. Help me calculate how much silver we got from selling the steel fork we picked up after slaying the Yaksha ghost."

"Who did you sell it to? Didn't they tell you?" The eldest senior brother looked honest and didn't react.

"Stop playing with the third one," the second senior brother said lightly.

"Haha," Lin Jue then laughed, "I'll go boil water to take a bath and change clothes first, then cook some meat to eat."

"I'll go build the fire for senior brother!"

Traveling every day, he had long been uncomfortable.

Lin Jue did not soak in the hot spring at the foot of the mountain either.

At this moment, walking into the kitchen, he naturally first boiled a large pot of hot water, took a bath, changed into clean clothes, and then let Xiao Shimei go wash. While she was washing, he took the opportunity to dump the leftovers in the temple.

Tired from the journey, he didn't want to make complicated dishes, so he cut the pork bought at the foot of the mountain, coated it with starch, took some pickled vegetables from the jar, cut them, stir-fried them, added water, and boiled some pickled vegetable and slippery meat soup.

He steamed a pot of rice.

Before the sky was completely dark, everyone had half a bowl of rice, and then used the large soup ladle to scoop two ladles of pickled vegetable and slippery meat soup for each person.

The thin pickled vegetable leaves and the white-and-pink meat, with the soup turning a pale gold, covered the rice in the bowl almost completely. The pickled vegetable and slippery meat were already salty and fresh enough, so there was no need for other dishes; they just had to carry them outside to eat.

Xiao Shimei ate while simply telling them about what happened after going down the mountain.

The two foxes and the large group of foxes, the fellow Daoists of the Immortal Source Temple, as well as the tree demon Pear Ancestor, and the many withered tree evil objects catalyzed by the Many Yaoguai King's miraculous powers, the later black mist and death energy, the many evil spirits, and the Rakshasa bird that had slipped through.

And of course, Jun Niangniang Yao Hua.

"I knew this fox had an extraordinary background, but I didn't expect it to be one of Jun Niangniang Yao Hua's descendants," the fourth senior brother said.

"It's been the third year since you went up the mountain, right? I didn't expect your skills to progress so fast that you can already handle things on your own," Daoist Yunhe was still eating with soup stains on his beard. "Now I can rest easy."

"It's also thanks to the Mountain God's token, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to hold on for so long," Lin Jue replied.

"If you can't hold on, don't force it," the seventh senior brother raised his head and said. "We are not like the fellow Daoists of the Talisman Sect. If they die, they might be able to ascend to heaven to become immortals. Even if their cultivation isn't enough for immortality, as long as they have martial arts and some merit, it's probably still possible to become a Celestial Soldier. We can't do that; only by living can we sweep away more demons for the world."

"Naturally, I know; I have a sense of it."

"The Mountain God said that when you return, you should report the Many Yaoguai King's affairs to him. I expect an envoy will come to pick you up tomorrow," the eldest senior brother said. "Prepare for tomorrow."

"Did you hear that? The eldest senior brother means that we should cook tomorrow morning's meal tonight," the third senior brother also raised his head and said, and after speaking, he buried his head again.

"..."

Lin Jue also ate slowly, blowing the autumn wind, and occasionally glanced down to see his own fox eating attentively, which made him feel very comfortable.

The joy of cultivating the Dao is also very simple.