Chapter 203

"These are Xinxin."

Lin Jue only said four words to her, which made the Xiao Xiao Shimei widen her eyes.

Then, when she looked at the group of strange monkeys ahead again, her eyes also became bright.

However, she didn't act rashly either.

As a practitioner of the Dao, there is no reason to go and rob or kill others for no reason just because they possess treasures.

She saw her Senior Brother step forward and salute:

"Everyone, do not be afraid. We have no malice; we just accidentally trespassed into your territory and want to ask for directions."

Luo Seng stood by, holding his saber and watching, very puzzled.

Is this enough?

Can these monkeys understand human speech?

Or is there something different about what the Daoist said?

However, just at this moment, the group of Xinxin ahead, which were originally timid and fleeing, actually stopped in their tracks and turned their heads to look at Lin Jue.

"Why not come over and talk?"

Lin Jue said another sentence, with a smile on his face.

Those Xinxin actually gathered from all around.

This scene made Luo Seng feel quite strange.

Then Lin Jue still maintained his etiquette:

"My Xiao Xiao Shimei and I are Daoists from Mount Yishan. This time we entered the mountain because we want to find a kind of snake with horns on its head, so we want to ask you all where we can find one?"

A Xinxin immediately raised its hand and pointed in a direction.

Another Xinxin showed a look of surprise, dancing with joy, and made some gestures to them.

"Many thanks, many thanks." Lin Jue thanked them one after another, paused, and said again, "By the way, my Xiao Xiao Shimei has sharp eyes and picked some hidden spiritual plants on the way. We happened to meet you all, and your hair is useful to me for alchemy; I wonder if we can use it to exchange for some with you?"

Upon hearing this, the Xiao Xiao Shimei immediately handed over the bamboo basket containing the spiritual plants.

Many Xinxin looked at each other.

Then they looked restrainedly at the bamboo basket in the Xiao Xiao Shimei's hand; some even stretched their necks and raised their heads, clearly moved, but after looking at Lin Jue, they looked at each other, and their expressions became even more awkward.

It was rare to see such an honest expression on a monkey's face.

"I dare not make things difficult for everyone, nor do I force it; I just want to exchange for some hair that is about to fall off your bodies." Lin Jue said so, paused, and smiled, "Of course, the more hair, the more spiritual plants; we will exchange them at an equivalent weight, how about that?"

Many Xinxin continued to look at each other.

"What are your concerns? I am a practitioner of the Dao, and I pay attention to having a clear conscience; I will definitely be fair and honest, and will not deceive people or animals."

Many Xinxin were still hesitant.

Lin Jue soon noticed one thing—

They are in this place; although the spiritual plants here are hidden and difficult to obtain, they have their own strange fragrance when they mature, and perhaps they are also found and eaten by them. Although the Xiao Xiao Shimei picked many spiritual plants and gathered them into a large pile, which had a considerable attraction to them, this attraction perhaps wasn't that great.

After all, the hair on their bodies is still very precious.

Lin Jue thought for a moment and took out a small bottle again.

"I also have a bottle of spiritual liquid, which is refined from rare treasures, gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon; it is pure spiritual aura."

Uncapping the lid, a strange fragrance immediately wafted out.

With a brush!

All the Xinxin turned their heads, staring fixedly at the porcelain bottle in his hand.

The so-called rare treasures are actually these spiritual plants; this is just a beautified way of speaking used by Lin Jue, but after refining, it is completely different.

Before refining, they are plants that have gained spiritual aura; even Lin Jue, who has achieved some success in the method of ingestion, finds it difficult to fully absorb the spiritual aura inside the spiritual plants by eating them directly, let alone these ordinary exotic beasts.

But after refining, it is the purest spiritual aura.

The attraction of this to them is huge.

Lin Jue showed a smile.

A moment later, the group continued forward.

The basket of spiritual plants that the Xiao Xiao Shimei had just picked had already been exchanged for several baskets of compacted Xinxin hair; Lin Jue used the harvesting method to seal the spiritual aura on top so that it would not dissipate. And behind them, a group of Xinxin, which were originally smooth and shiny, had become bare; some were huddled in the trees, some were hiding in the bushes, some were gnawing on the spiritual plants to their heart's content, and some were savoring the taste of the few drops of spiritual liquid from earlier.

"What is the use of this hair?" Luo Seng asked.

"Alchemy."

"There is quite a lot stuck on the trees too."

"That spiritual aura has dissipated; it's useless."

"So that's how it is." Luo Seng nodded, "What did those Xinxin say when they gestured to you?"

"I don't know what they gestured either, just roughly knowing that they are very afraid of that snake and are warning us of danger."

"Then we must be more alert."

Luo Seng kept turning his head, examining his surroundings.

He had just seen the speed of that group of Xinxin; they came and went like the wind, and coupled with their intelligence, not to mention how powerful they were in this forest, at least they rarely had natural enemies. Since even that group of Xinxin was afraid of that horned snake, he thought that the horned snake must have the ability to threaten them.

Along the way, they also saw a thousand-year-old cedar tree, full of spiritual aura, estimated to be close to becoming a spirit.

This is the main material for refining Giant Spirit Pills.

Lin Jue picked some of the lower side branches, and as a reward, poured some spiritual liquid for it, then thanked it and left.

There are really many treasures in this deep mountain.

No wonder so many Daoist practitioners in ancient times loved to travel the world, and those alchemists also loved to search famous mountains for medicine.

Gradually, they walked to a mountain hollow.

Below, it looked like a grass lake, and also like a swamp, with smoke rising from the water surface, unable to distinguish whether it was miasma or water mist.

"Ying ah~"

The fox on the tree suddenly called out.

The three of them immediately raised their heads and looked in the direction it pointed.

They saw a huge and slender figure slowly moving in the miasma-filled distance; the wind blew and the fog moved, and it disappeared in just an instant.

"No wonder you can't see traces of it walking on the ground; it turns out it lives in the water." The Xiao Xiao Shimei said.

"It likes to eat people, be careful."

Luo Seng took out his long bow and nocked an arrow.

Suddenly, everyone felt something was wrong.

The ground seemed to be trembling faintly.

"Ka chi..."

Some small cracks suddenly appeared on the ground not far away.

Although the group didn't know what was going on, they all reacted quickly and retreated rapidly.

But they didn't expect that just two zhang behind them, a puff of yellow smoke suddenly sprayed out from a thin crack.

The yellow smoke sprayed toward them, and they ran toward the yellow smoke; the two sides met just right.

Seeing that he was about to crash into this yellow smoke, Luo Seng reacted extremely quickly, immediately stopping his steps, and with a movement that an ordinary person could never make, his whole body instantly jumped backward.

One jump was two or three zhang away, just like Fuyao.

But after this jump, he regretted it.

He had practiced martial arts since he was a child, so he could naturally react and avoid it, but he had avoided it; what about those two Daoist priests?

His feet landed on the ground, and he was about to draw his saber and move forward again, but he saw that the two Daoist priests ahead indeed couldn't stop instantly, but both of them made the same movement—

Waving their sleeves forward to fan the wind.

Just like they were carved from the same mold.

With a whoosh!

Although the robes and sleeves were not large, a wild wind rose in the forest, blowing the leaves all around to shake crazily and the branches to sway; the yellow smoke, along with the fallen leaves on the ground, was blown back.

Only then was Luo Seng relieved.

Then he couldn't help but be surprised—

How many spells and abilities do these two actually have?

"Ying!"

The fox called out again!

Lin Jue and the Xiao Xiao Shimei flashed to the side, one left and one right.

At the same time, the ground was violently smashed open, and a black shadow the size of a house pillar stabbed out rapidly.

That was close!

The two stood firm and looked closely.

Where they had originally been standing, a large, colorful snake had emerged; it was truly as thick as a house beam, its whole body like brocade, with a single horn about a foot long growing on its head, staring straight at them.

The Xiao Xiao Shimei's long sword suddenly left its scabbard.

Lin Jue also had a sword in his hand.

This thing is so fierce!

But this is also good, so he doesn't have to struggle.

This giant snake, like an ordinary snake, did not leave immediately after missing a strike, nor did it attack continuously; instead, the whole snake emerged from the ground, re-coiled its body to store power, and examined them, looking for a second chance to attack or leave.

They saw this giant snake standing in front of them, lifting its upper body, its height easily exceeding that of a house.

The Xiao Xiao Shimei held her sword and looked up to meet its gaze.

Lin Jue scattered his bean soldiers.

"Shu!"

An arrow broke through the air.

This snake was large, but this arrow actually hit it.

However, it only hit the edge of the snake's body, striking the scales, and didn't pierce in, but slid off instead.

Luo Seng, not far away, shook his head, dropped the bow and arrow in his hand, and turned to draw his long saber.

As the long saber left its scabbard, there was a faint wail.

Holding the saber, he moved forward, while looking into the forest from the corner of his eye; he saw that the few beans Lin Jue had thrown earlier had now turned into several armored soldiers, some holding shields and sabers, some holding swords, and some drawing bows.

Scattering beans to turn into soldiers from immortal stories?

"Shu!"

Another arrow broke through the air.

This arrow was fast and urgent.

The giant snake hadn't reacted yet when its whole body suddenly shook; at the height of the snake's heart, right in the middle, a sharp arrow had pierced in, its fletching trembling.

What accuracy!

Luo Seng had already withdrawn his gaze, but seeing this situation, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at that archer again.

It was just a quick glance.

At this time, he had already entered the giant snake's attack range; this giant snake liked to eat people and was very aggressive. Seeing him rush over, it immediately lowered its head, moving like lightning.

Because of its huge size, it looked like it was smashing down, but it had actually opened its bloody mouth.

Luo Seng turned and dodged, avoiding it steadily.

At the same time, his legs suddenly exerted force to stabilize his body, aiming at the giant snake's body with a simple and unadorned vertical slash.

The move was ordinary, but it had the strength of a thousand jin!

It even faintly stirred up a gale!

Coupled with this family heirloom treasure saber, many fierce demons had died under his saber in this way.

"Bang!"

It was like slashing onto a stone or wood.

Luo Seng understood immediately why that arrow of his had been bounced off, and was also surprised that the arrow shot by that armored archer had such great force, able to pierce so deeply.

However, this slash of his was even more fierce!

Even though the snake's body was like wood and its scales like stone, a not-so-small cut was slashed open.

Luo Seng then retreated.

As expected—

The giant snake was in pain from the attack and immediately began to twist crazily.

This is the instinct of snakes.

However, this snake was huge and had great strength; one flick of its tail could flatten small trees, and for a while, it inevitably filled the sky with fallen leaves and mud.

While twisting, it also spat out yellow smoke from its mouth, which permeated the surroundings as it twisted.

"Hmm?"

Only then did the group see that where the yellow smoke had hit earlier, the trees had already been covered with a layer of stone-earth color; now, as the yellow smoke spread, this layer of stone-earth color was also gradually spreading.

It seemed that the grass and trees touched by the smoke had all turned into stone.

The group had no choice but to retreat repeatedly, temporarily avoiding its sharp edge.

Just as Luo Seng was thinking of a strategy to defeat the enemy, he heard another sound of breaking through the air.

"Shu!"

An arrow pierced the giant snake again.

And it hit almost the same position as before!

Steady! Accurate! Ruthless!

Luo Seng couldn't help but turn his head to look at that archer again.

At the same time, Lin Jue flicked his wrist.

Four beans flew out immediately, turning into four flying swords made of pure metal as soon as they left his hand; accompanied by his incantation, they pierced straight into the giant snake's body, also shooting toward the direction where the two arrows had pierced.

There was a clanging sound in the yellow smoke.

The Xiao Xiao Shimei breathed out wind again, blowing away the yellow smoke and pushing out flames, which rushed toward the giant snake like a dragon.

The giant snake was in pain, but instinctively dared not run, because the snake's body was too long; once its back was turned to the opponent, its whole body was meat on the opponent's chopping board, so it flew into a rage and bit toward Lin Jue again.

That speed was also like an arrow leaving the string.

In an emergency, the Daoist stepped back.

Being one with things.

His whole body instantly hid into a large tree.

"Boom!"

The giant snake, as thick as a house pillar, crashed into the large tree that several people could embrace, exploding like thunder; it didn't hurt the Daoist, but instead knocked itself dizzy.

Before it could react, the martial artist holding the saber had already arrived in front of it, full of malevolent energy.

The martial artist was surprised at how many spells and abilities the Daoist had, but he didn't stop at all.

Holding the saber with both hands, he exerted all his strength, raising his hand and bringing the saber down.

Even though the snake's body was as solid as stone and wood, it was cleanly and neatly cut off by this slash.

The snake's head fell to the ground and rolled twice.