Chapter 20

After a few more horizontal slashes and vertical chops, swinging wildly without a moment's pause, the other strange monkey, which had tripped, was also hacked until it was covered in wounds, completely losing its ability to act and collapsing on the ground, twitching incessantly.

Only then did Lin Jue breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But when he glanced to the side, he was startled.

The martial artist surnamed Luo was facing a siege by far more strange monkeys than he was, including the monkey leader. The strange monkeys not only understood group tactics well but also threw stones. Yet, at this moment, he was not only completely unharmed, but two strange monkey corpses were already lying on the ground.

These strange monkeys were not human; what gave them the upper hand was instinct, not a nature that would fight to the death. Seeing this situation, they were already so scared they wanted to run.

Unfortunately, this man had previously dragged Lin Jue to such a perilous spot. Originally, it was the monkey troop that had surrounded them in the river corner, but now that their positions had swapped, it had turned into this man alone blocking the entire monkey troop.

Anyone who wanted to run could not escape the blade in his hand.

If they threw stones, he dodged them easily, and within a few moments, there were no more stones to be found by the river.

He saw him step forward with steady paces, meeting them with a powerful, armor-breaking slash. What monkey body could withstand such blade momentum? They screamed and fled in panic. As soon as they dodged the slash, the martial artist turned, dropped his guard, and swept horizontally across their waists. The force of the blade did not seem heavy, but instantly, two strange monkeys were cut in half at the waist.

Their intestines and guts spilled all over the ground.

The numerous strange monkeys not only had no power to resist, but at this point, they had no intention of resisting at all.

All of this happened in a very short time.

Only then did the strange monkey leader widen its eyes, screaming incessantly. Not knowing what to do, it suddenly jumped back a distance, eyes wide as saucers, and also opened its mouth to inhale.

"Hiss..."

"Puff!!"

It actually spat out a mouthful of green, thick smoke.

Although the strange monkey leader's position and the wind direction were unfavorable to it, it had plenty of strength. As the breath was spat out, only a small part was scattered by the wind, and the grass-like mist still rushed toward the martial artist surnamed Luo, expanding in range as the distance increased.

Lin Jue's eyes instantly narrowed.

What a creature, it really knows how to spit breath.

At the same time, he felt the wind blowing.

Lin Jue knew that most of the breath spat out by yaoguai and ghosts tended to be yin energy, which was mostly countered by yang energy and fire, so without hesitation, he also opened his mouth.

"Boom..."

A burst of flames sprayed out, colliding with the front.

The green smoke collided with the fire, and with a sizzling sound, it dissipated into nothingness, leaving only a stench drifting by.

"Eh?"

The effect exceeded Lin Jue's expectations.

No wonder this thing knew how to spit breath; it was actually so afraid of fire.

It turned out to be completely countered.

The martial artist surnamed Luo had just dodged using his footwork. In the midst of shifting, he only heard the sound of the fire exploding and the sizzling. When he landed and turned to look, both the flames and the green smoke had disappeared.

Beside him was the surprised strange monkey leader, and Lin Jue, who had spat out his breath and was now catching his breath.

The scorching heat had just washed over them.

The martial artist surnamed Luo naturally understood what was happening and couldn't help but glance at Lin Jue, but his movements did not stop. His steps were steady and powerful, and his long blade swept across like a full moon.

With a *crack*, he slaughtered two strange monkeys, then quickly stepped forward, lunging upward with a slash. Even if the monkey leader could spit demon mist, it was only made of flesh; how could it compare to this hundred-battle refined steel blade?

It was split into two from bottom to top.

The scene was so bloody that Lin Jue couldn't bear to look.

The remaining few strange monkeys, having lost their leader's restraint, completely exposed their animal nature and just ran for their lives. During their flight, two more were slaughtered by the martial artist, one after another, and in the end, only one managed to escape.

The martial artist, unhurried, took his bow and nocked an arrow.

"Whoosh!"

"..."

"Whoosh!"

His archery was truly not good; it took two arrows to hit.

"Hmph..."

The martial artist snorted coldly, put away his bow unhurriedly, took his long blade to shake off the blood, and then took out a dry cloth to wipe it.

While wiping, he looked at Lin Jue.

"I was wondering how a frail scholar like you dared to walk this road alone and confront this group of beasts alone. So, you were hiding such a trick."

"A petty skill, not worth mentioning, nothing compared to you, great hero."

Lin Jue's words were not modesty; he thought that the old man who had mastered the Fire-Hating Art must have thought the same.

Specifically at this moment, he was also very clear that his little stage tricks could not possibly counter these beasts, let alone this martial artist. If not for him, he wouldn't have been able to avenge the mockery of these strange monkeys. And compared to the various magical arts with infinite uses, what this martial artist had mastered were true, pure killing techniques.

"The martial arts I practice are for fighting humans; they don't really shine when slaughtering these beasts," the martial artist surnamed Luo said in a deep voice.

"Is your martial art really that powerful..."

"I heard these beasts used to live deep in this mountain; I don't know why they came out recently. This one must have lived for a long time, or it ate people and was about to become a demon." The martial artist surnamed Luo continued to stare down at the largest and oldest strange monkey leader on the ground while wiping his long blade. His tone held some sighs, and his brow was furrowed with worry, leading him to lament, "In recent years, yaoguai and ghosts on the road have indeed become more and more numerous."

"Do these count as yaoguai and ghosts?"

"These don't count. They should be strange beasts from the mountains; there are some records in ancient books, but they have become increasingly rare."

"Then what is the explanation for 'yaoguai and ghosts on the road becoming more numerous'?" Lin Jue couldn't help but be curious, because when he was in the village, he had heard the village elders lament similar things, and some of his own experiences seemed to confirm this—

In the peaceful years of the past, many people might not see a yaoguai or ghost once in half a lifetime. Only when they were old, their vitality faded, and their eyes grew dim, was the probability of seeing one higher, but it was hard to distinguish if it was just blurred vision or hallucinations from a muddled mind.

But in these last few years, even sturdy men in their prime often encountered yaoguai or ghosts while walking at night.

"What other explanation could there be? Haven't you heard about what happened a few years ago?"

"What happened?"

"There was a massive mountain that inexplicably moved from the southwest to the southeast overnight."

"What?"

Lin Jue widened his eyes: "Such a thing actually happened?"

"You really haven't heard of it?"

"I have been studying in the village and have not concerned myself with affairs outside, so I truly have not heard of it."

Lin Jue couldn't help but be very surprised. This world was strange enough, but was it strange to this extent?

"That's not your fault. This matter was indeed quite sensational, though the imperial court also intended to suppress the news. It is said that less than a thousand miles from here, a mountain appeared out of thin air. The locals were all shocked until a hermit who loved to travel the world and see all the mountains and rivers traveled there and identified from the mountain's appearance that it was originally a mountain from the southwest. Later, someone went to the southwest to ask, and sure enough, a mountain was missing there."

Perhaps because they had fought side by side, this man did not stint on words, chatting casually and voicing his worries with such shocking talk:

"The ancients said: 'If a mountain moves silently of its own accord, there will be war in the world, and the state will perish.'

"Another book says: 'When a mountain moves, it is because the ruler does not follow the Dao, the virtuous are not promoted, or the salary is lost, the rewards and punishments of the royal house do not come from the ruler, private factions form groups, and they are not saved; this is a sign of a changing era and a changing mandate.'

"These years, the world has not been peaceful; with internal troubles and external threats, one has to worry about bandits and thieves while walking on the road. If this continues, I fear there will truly be a catastrophe, and the world will be turned upside down."

Lin Jue was incredibly surprised, listening earnestly and thinking earnestly.

A massive mountain moving for no reason—such a thing was already shocking enough, and there were actually ancient sayings in this world specifically recording such things, even detailing what such things portended.

No wonder this martial artist knew of such a shocking event, yet his worry outweighed his surprise.

Perhaps to people in this world, although such things were rare and shocking, they were not entirely impossible. At least ancient books had already recorded them, so when they really happened, the surprise was not as deep as Lin Jue's.

This was undoubtedly another thing that peeled back a corner of this world and the worldviews of its people for Lin Jue.

Then he keenly discovered another point—

This martial artist seemed to be not only highly skilled in martial arts but also quite knowledgeable in literature, and he was concerned about the country and the people, caring about the affairs of the world.

"I wonder, great hero, are you..."

"Why?"

"You are not an ordinary knight-errant, are you?"

"There's nothing much to say. My ancestors were a family of generals, but now we have fallen. Because I feel this is a time of great upheaval in the world, I left my hometown for the capital, wanting to re-enter the military ranks, rely on my martial arts to make a name for myself in the world, and win a reputation for the Luo family once again between life and death."

Young spirit, lofty ambitions.

Lin Jue couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.

"My apologies, my apologies."

"Don't mention those."

The martial artist surnamed Luo snorted, sheathed his long blade, and took the firewood chopper from his hand: "These strange monkeys, you killed two, and since you also provided a key force, I'll share two with you."

"That won't do!" Lin Jue said, "I said before that the rewards for these strange monkeys all belong to you. I have vented the anger in my heart, and that is enough for me!"

"Don't mention those."

"..."

"Then what about you? What did you come out to do? Do you want to go to the Ju Xian Fu in the capital and seek some fame and fortune too?" the martial artist asked casually while taking Lin Jue's firewood chopper to cut the monkey heads.

"Ju Xian Fu? What is that?"

"You don't know that either?"

"I don't know."

"Then never mind."

"Please, Brother Luo, enlighten me."

Lin Jue changed his form of address quite naturally.

"... It's just a place in the capital... similar to a government office, I suppose. It gathers strange people and talented scholars, as well as high-level Daoist and Buddhist masters from all over the world. Once you enter, you are a guest minister, barely counting as eating the imperial grain; anyway, the imperial court supports you."

"I see." Lin Jue tried hard to remember this; it was quite useful information. "I only know a few stage tricks; how could I enter such a place?"

"That is indeed true."

This martial artist was not subtle in his speech at all.

"Then where do you want to go?"

He asked immediately after.

"I just want to find a famous mountain temple first, seek immortality and ask about the Dao, and learn some proper spiritual methods and magical arts."

"Which famous mountain?"

"Have you heard of Mount Qiyun?"

"Of course, I passed by it on my way here."

"What about Mount Yishan?"

"What mountain?"

"It is said to be an immortal mountain as well."

Between laughs and talk, the martial artist had already cut off all the heads of the strange monkeys, drained the blood, put them in several cloth bags, and hung them on the horse's back.

"Let's go, to the county government office."

"Good!"

Lin Jue shouldered his book basket and followed him toward the county government office.

He would ask about how to get to Mount Qiyun on the way.

In the afternoon, the two entered the city, passing through it. The bloody bags on the horse's back attracted the attention of countless people. Some retreated in fear, while others boldly came to ask. Upon learning they were the strange monkeys from the road, every merchant and traveler who needed to travel clapped and cheered.

The process of receiving the reward was also extremely smooth.

This martial artist was truly free-spirited; he threw eight taels of silver to Lin Jue, said "until we meet again," and then rode off on his horse, saying he was going to see that mountain that had moved silently.

Leaving Lin Jue alone in the city.

With eight more taels of silver, reaching nearly eighteen taels, Lin Jue felt more secure and confident. Compared to the poverty and confusion when he first left Shu Village, he now felt light and airy, even having a feeling that "there is nowhere in this world that he cannot go."

"The feeling of having money is truly good!"

He needed to find an inn and take a hot bath.

He needed to return the pu dao.

At the same time, this experience gave him quite a bit of inspiration:

In this world, besides magical arts, martial arts were also extremely useful; most yaoguai were afraid of blades. He didn't have martial arts, but he could buy a blade. These days, when traveling, a small knife was not enough.

Of course—

The urgent task was to repair the book basket.