Chapter 133: This silver smells so fragrant! (Seeking monthly votes)

"Take it."

Lin Jue returned to his room and handed a piece of silver to the Silver-Eating Ghost.

"Many thanks, Zhenren."

The Silver-Eating Ghost did not know how long it had been since it last ate, and coupled with its injuries, it was already starving. When it reached out to take the silver, it was already drooling. After taking the silver, it immediately sniffed it in front of its nose.

"Hiss! So fragrant!!"

The Silver-Eating Ghost immediately revealed a look of shock, and also a touch of tearful emotion, saying repeatedly: "So fragrant, so fragrant! It has been so long since I have eaten such fragrant silver!"

Lin Jue frowned and stared at it.

The little fox was also squatting on the ground, standing like a human, stretching its neck, tilting its head, and staring at it with a curious expression.

Clearly, whether human or fox, neither could smell any fragrance or stench from the silver; wasn't it all about the same smell? At most, it might have some human scent when just taken from someone.

However, knowing that many Yaoguai and ghosts had strange traits, and that the Daoist arts of the world were always marvelous—many wonders being things that cultivators could hardly master no matter how they practiced—Lin Jue was not surprised. It was the fox that, seeing it eat so deliciously, couldn't help but lick its lips a few times, also having the thought of trying it.

A small piece of silver, at most two taels, it stubbornly sniffed and sniffed, licked and licked, and chewed slowly in its mouth before swallowing it into its stomach.

"Gulp..."

The Silver-Eating Ghost looked at him expectantly.

"How much silver do you need to eat in a month?" Lin Jue couldn't help but ask.

"In normal times, I must eat ten taels of silver a month to maintain survival and spit out one pill, but at most, at most, no more than one hundred taels, spitting out ten pills." As the Silver-Eating Ghost said this, it couldn't help but reveal a look of lingering fear, as if recalling the time it was in the hands of the Demon King, so it hurriedly added, "Once I eat more than one hundred taels of silver in a month, I will be overstuffed, and the spiritual pills I spit out will become impure; consuming them will have bad effects."

"Ten taels a month..."

Lin Jue couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Not to mention the upper limit of one hundred taels a month, even the lower limit of ten taels a month was no small economic burden for their Daoist temple.

One must know that when the brothers in the temple went down the mountain to eliminate Yaoguai, they never actively mentioned remuneration in silver or money; people gave as much as they were willing. If they were wealthy, they gave more; if they were poor, they gave less. If they were truly destitute, giving a bag of rice and wheat gathered by the village households was not to be disdained.

Where would they get so much silver to supply it?

Not to mention that this Silver-Eating Ghost was very picky; the origin of the silver directly affected the quality of the pills. Even without this point, given the character of the Daoists of Fuqiu Temple, it was impossible for them to wantonly accumulate wealth for this reason.

But then he thought again—

Perhaps this was the reason why this piece of silver was so delicious in its mouth.

A few days later.

The crisp pears sent by Li Village as tribute were ultimately not finished. Even after being offered to the Mountain Yili Shenjun and given to incense pilgrims, they were not finished. Instead, the temple had two more old hens, some salted meat, and cloth, all brought by incense pilgrims who came up the mountain to return gifts and express thanks; some also brought some silver money.

The Junior Xiao Shimei had already started getting busy.

Boiling autumn pear paste was something both the Second Shixiong and the Fifth Shixiong were better at, so there was no need for Lin Jue to teach.

At this time, Daoist Yunhe brought a recliner and sat on the steps outside the main hall, looking ahead. Beside him, only Lin Jue was sitting, meticulously carving wood with a carving knife.

Wood shavings were already scattered in a circle on the ground.

"Hoo..."

The Junior Xiao Shimei also lit the fire in the stove.

On the stove was a large pot. She used a high flame to boil the grated pear pulp and pear juice. Taking advantage of this time, she conveniently took the peeled pear skins and pear cores to feed the pigs.

Returning, she washed her hands, brought a small stool, and sat earnestly in front of the stove, prepared for a protracted battle.

"This Xiao Shimei of yours, if she doesn't find something to do for a day, it's as if she feels uncomfortable all over," Daoist Yunhe turned his head and said to Lin Jue.

"It's quite good."

"Of course you think it's good! You let her do everything!"

"How could that be? Why would Master slander me?" Lin Jue stared earnestly at the statue in his hand, not even raising his head, and his hand movements did not stop. "I clearly went up the mountain to find ice powder fruit, just so that after she finishes boiling the autumn pear paste, it can be put to use, letting her feel that she has a place to apply her skills. It can be said that I have put in a lot of painstaking effort."

"You always manage to come up with some novel things."

"It's just that it's too idle on the mountain."

Lin Jue blew a breath, blowing away the wood shavings, and held up the wood carving to look at it carefully.

It already had quite a tall and mighty appearance.

"Hoo..."

Beside him, the fox imitated him blowing air.

Only the air it exhaled was very cold.

Gradually it reached the afternoon, and the Daoists gathered in the courtyard again.

There were many things in the mountains that could be made into snacks. Just for making ice powder alone, there were dove leaves in the spring, which could be made into emerald green dove tofu; there were mountain loquats in the summer, which could be made into pomegranate-colored mountain loquat ice powder; and in this autumn, there were ice powder fruits, which could be made into transparent ice powder.

Although it was late autumn, everyone was like in the spring and summer of this year, each holding a bowl of ice powder and eating it, with osmanthus, pear bits, hawthorn, raisins, and date shreds added inside, sour and sweet, icy and cool.

Unexpectedly, there was another knock on the door outside.

"Knock, knock."

"I'll go see!"

The Junior Xiao Shimei immediately ran over.

Soon she brought the guests in.

Just having finished sending off the believers who came to thank them these days, they didn't expect that the Daoist friends from Qiyun Mountain had come again.

It was still those three: Daoist Jiang Ning, Daoist Qingxuan, and Ma Shidi.

The three followed the Junior Xiao Shimei inside and saw all the Daoists holding bowls and eating. They couldn't help but be puzzled. Coming twice in a row, both times they ran into the Daoists of Fuqiu Temple eating. Could it be that they didn't offer to the gods every day, but instead spent all their time offering to the gods on researching how to satisfy their gluttony?

What kind of immortal life is this?

"Daoist friends, have mercy."

The three bowed to them.

"Daoist friends, don't have mercy; come and get a bowl quickly." The Third Shixiong had his own way of receiving guests.

"Many thanks, many thanks." Daoist Qingxuan stood in front, maintaining the bowing posture, waiting for the Daoist friends from Fuqiu Peak to send the food to him, and then he would decline a few times, while saying, "This time, one is to thank the Daoist friends of Mount Yishan for going down the mountain to eliminate Yaoguai and protect the living beings from being devastated; the second is that the True Lord's extermination of Yaoguai has ended, and the dust has settled. We are here to report the results to the Daoist friends."

"No need for thanks." The First Shixiong was honest and simple.

"Sit down and talk." The Second Shixiong was also very hospitable.

"Eat while talking." The Third Shixiong was the most enthusiastic.

Daoist Qingxuan found it hard to refuse. He first took the first bowl and handed it to Daoist Jiang Ning, took the second bowl and handed it to the Shidi behind him, and only then did he hold the third bowl in his own hand.

Lowering his head to taste it, he felt amazed.

In the spring of this year, the food and snacks eaten by these Daoist friends of Fuqiu Temple had left a deep impression on him, and now he finally tasted it again.

This bowl of cold drink snack was somewhat similar to the dove tofu from half a year ago, but the difference was not small. Besides the difference in texture itself, the biggest difference was that this time it seemed the temple had been prepared for a long time; the dried fruit and small ingredients in the bowl were much richer than last time, with various flavors and fragrances mixed together, sour and sweet, and it was more comfortable to eat.

"What is this called?" Daoist Qingxuan asked.

"Homemade ice powder," Lin Jue replied.

"I boiled the pear paste!" the Junior Xiao Shimei also said.

"It still has to be the Daoist friends of Fuqiu Temple who have leisure and elegance," Daoist Qingxuan shook his head and sighed. "These few days we have been almost busy to death. Fortunately, we managed to get the opportunity to come to Mount Yishan to report to all the Daoist friends, which can be considered stealing a bit of leisure in the midst of busyness."

"Resting is also good."

Lin Jue roughly knew what they were busy with.

Although it had stabilized here and now, and the Demon King and its forces had mostly been swept away, the remaining marginal Yaoguai or small Yaoguai either fled or were killed by the Celestial Soldiers. However, they had just gone through a catastrophe; the number of people who died or were injured was unknown, the hearts of the living needed stability, and the souls of the dead also needed to be comforted.

The Daoists of the Fulu Sect, regardless of whether it was Qiyun Mountain, Mingzhou Mountain, or some unknown small mountain or small temple, all had to go down the mountain to perform rituals. This was also one of their main duties.

However, after so many days, they should be almost done.

"Then how did the True Lord's extermination of Yaoguai go?"

"Oh!"

Daoist Qingxuan then straightened his expression and said to them:

"I suppose the Daoist friends have also heard—

"Although the three True Lords descended to the mortal realm with the momentum of thunder to eliminate Yaoguai, beating that Demon King until it had no power to fight back, alas, alas, that Demon King actually had preparations early on and was very tenacious.

"That Demon King had previously stored a lot of unique death energy in the four corners of this place. If its cultivation went smoothly and the chaotic times arrived, this death energy would be released by it to catalyze Yaoguai and add soldiers and generals to its demon kingdom. At this time, it was released in advance, using such a trick to force the True Lords to make a choice between the people in the four places and its own life."

The Daoists of Fuqiu Peak naturally had understanding and guesses early on, but after being confirmed by Daoist Qingxuan, they still felt shocked.

It had been peaceful for too long, longer than many people's lives. Such things, even to Daoists who had cultivation and could perform magic, felt like hearing from a myth story.

"The True Lords were angry but helpless. After all, the lives of the people had to be cared for, so they had to use all their strength, using all their miraculous powers and magical treasures to exterminate the Demon King. Although the Demon King was beaten until its soul was almost destroyed and its cultivation collapsed, it ultimately found a glimmer of survival and escaped."

Daoist Qingxuan also said with quite some helplessness:

"I don't know where it went, and I don't know if it can survive, but no matter what, in a short time it will definitely not be able to stir up trouble again. Even if it stirs up trouble next time, I'm afraid it won't be here."

The Shixiongs listened and also felt it was a pity.

Lin Jue was thinking on the side.

It seems it was about the same as what the "Senior" at the foot of the mountain said.

However, if what Daoist Qingxuan said was true, even if that Corpse Tiger King could survive, without the Silver-Eating Ghost, it wouldn't be so easy for it to restore its cultivation, right?

Lin Jue had never "attained the truth and attained the Dao" after all, and was not a Yaoguai, so he didn't know what abilities the Demon King had, and couldn't be sure.

Daoist Qingxuan continued to tell the details.

He didn't mention the Silver-Eating Ghost; it should be that they didn't find it. The gods and Daoists were embarrassed to say, and no one in Fuqiu Temple asked.

It sounded like this place had temporarily stabilized.

Only Lin Jue couldn't help but look at Master, then look at the dining table that hadn't been put away under the ancient pine tree, and remembered the spirit-writing that day.

Half is the human world, half is the pill.

"This time we visited again, besides reporting this matter, we also have the meaning of saying goodbye," Daoist Qingxuan said, but he first looked at the Third Shixiong, Lin Jue, and the Junior Xiao Shimei, and only then looked at Daoist Yunhe.

"Saying goodbye?" the Third Shixiong asked.

"Yes, saying goodbye," Daoist Qingxuan nodded and said very solemnly, "Nowadays the world is in chaos. The True Lord entrusted a dream and issued a decree, saying that believers who believe in the Emperor have raised funds to build a Daoist temple in the capital, which is about to be completed. We will set off for the capital early next spring to live and cultivate in this newly built Daoist temple."

When the brothers heard this, they all looked at each other.

Although they were not Daoists of the Fulu Sect, they were Daoists who had cultivation and could perform magic, so they naturally knew the meaning.

The capital had always been the main place to worship Lord Tianweng.

There were indeed some Daoist temples of Emperor Zi Xu and Eastern Qing Hua Di, but that was also because these two had a close relationship with Lord Tianweng—even in the Tianweng Hall of Fuqiu Temple, these two stood on the left and right of Lord Tianweng. As for Emperor Yu Jian and Emperor Miaoming, one was in the south and one was in the west, and their incense places were not in the capital. However, in recent years, trade in the Huizhou area had been prosperous, and Huizhou merchants often went to the capital to run businesses. There was no lack of those who, after making money, would set up residences in the capital or stay temporarily. If there were those who believed in Emperor Yu Jian, they might bring the statue or tablet of Emperor Yu Jian and worship it at home.

The Daoists of Qiyun Mountain building a temple in the capital and sending their direct disciples to live and cultivate there, what did this mean?

Lin Jue originally had some thoughts in his heart, thinking about the world-shaking matters of these gods competing for incense and Daoist sites, but then he heard Daoist Qingxuan say solemnly:

"Because we have quite a lot of fate with several disciples of your temple, have had some dealings, and have also been helped by your temple going down the mountain, we have been taken care of a lot. Such fate is ultimately not easy. This place is far from the capital, and thinking that it will probably not be easy to meet in the future, we specially came to say goodbye."

Lin Jue's thinking stopped, and he couldn't help but sit up straighter.

Clearly, they hadn't met and spent much time together, but the wording and tone of Daoist Qingxuan gave one a feeling that, in this very moment, this matter seemed even more important than the struggle of the gods.

This was the importance people of this era placed on fate and friendship. ===== CHAPTER 134 =====