Chapter 205: Colored Civet and Mountain Pressing Down

In the wild mountains and grasslands, the shallow grass was the road.

Two Daoists leading donkeys walked among them, one of the donkeys had a bell hanging on its neck, and the crisp sound drifted far away in this morning.

Behind the two followed four divine officials.

At this time, they did not deliberately hide their tracks; Daoists like Lin Jue and Xiao Xiao Shimei could still see them.

Although they were not righteous gods, they could be considered divine officials, the petty officials and soldiers under the gods. They did not have their own temples, and might not even have statues; even if they did, they were only placed in the temples of other gods. The human imperial court and the Nine Heavens Palace did not record their names, and incense was allocated by the righteous gods. However, they were ultimately not demons, monsters, ghosts, or wild spirits, so it was fine for them to come out in broad daylight; they didn't need to fear sunlight or yang energy, nor did they need to fear Daoists or other righteous gods.

Lin Jue thought for a moment, turned his head and asked the divine official in red robes:

"How should I address you?"

"My surname was Zhang before I died."

"Divine Official Zhang."

Lin Jue was also relatively polite at this time:

"I heard that the snake horn becomes a Poison-Absorbing Stone when sun-dried, and a Highly Toxic Stone when shade-dried. Divine Official Zhang is knowledgeable, and just now you explained the usage of the Poison-Absorbing Stone, but I would like to ask Divine Official Zhang, what is going on with this Highly Toxic Stone?"

"..."

Divine Official Zhang glanced at him and couldn't help but say: "If I tell you, Daoist, you won't use it to harm people, causing me to be tainted with karma for no reason, right?"

"Definitely not!"

"You don't look like that kind of person either." Divine Official Zhang thought of his skills and that he still had to rely on him to lead the way, so he softened a bit and said, "There is indeed a reason why this snake horn becomes a Highly Toxic Stone when shade-dried."

"Please enlighten me."

"First, this Earth-Horn Snake has a five-element attribute of earth and is also poisonous. This snake horn grows from its body and naturally has spiritual poison, which is a kind of earth poison. It can only disappear after being sun-dried," Divine Official Zhang said while walking. "Second, this Poison-Absorbing Stone can absorb poison and hide it in the stone; whatever poison it absorbs, it will have that poison. If it absorbs a lot, the toxicity will be great. These poisons can only be dissolved in water. But you must know that earth overcomes water; if it is the original earth poison, it cannot be dissolved in water and can only be removed by exposure to the sun."

"The principles within this are very deep."

"It is good that you know, Daoist." The divine official in red robes still couldn't help but be a bit arrogant. "Although you, Daoist, have profound Daoist practice and have learned many spells, you must know that if a person who practices the Dao does not become an immortal, no matter how high their skills are, they will only live for a hundred years. The world is so big, and there are so many things in the world; in a hundred years, how much can you see and know?"

"That makes sense."

Lin Jue smiled and didn't argue with him.

This was indeed the truth.

And he had just asked him for advice, so he could be considered his "teacher" for half a moment; so what harm was there in letting him feel he was a bit more powerful for now?

The fox in front suddenly turned and jumped into the withered grassland.

Looking closely, one could see a small path in the middle.

Yes, the road they had just walked, overgrown with weeds and almost indistinguishable, was actually a major road.

Not far away, the fox climbed over a hill, stopped, looked back at the few, and then looked ahead.

"This is the place."

Lin Jue pointed here and said.

The mountains and valleys were covered with wild grass like silk, about knee-high, and often with cogon grass, but there was a flat open space in this mountain col, neither wild grass nor cogon grass grew there, only a pomegranate tree.

"That night, we met Princess Hua here. She treated us with pomegranates from this tree and many delicious dishes."

The three martial officials looked around.

The divine official in red robes had already arrived in front of the pomegranate tree, looking up at it, murmuring: "The Princess also loved pomegranates on the mountain."

"Since we have brought you here, our Xiao Xiao Shimei and I will leave."

"Daoist, are you really unwilling to return to the Western Peak with us? There is no reason for the world to treat the letter-deliverer unfairly, and my Lord is even more so; there will definitely be a heavy reward."

"I am just a letter-deliverer, meeting by chance. Returning to the Western Peak with you has no other purpose. It would only allow you to push the trouble onto me," Lin Jue saw through their intentions. "Besides, I still have to go to Yang Family Village in Runze County to meet with Lord Luo. Even if I were to go, I would have to wait until I reach the capital."

"Sigh..."

The divine official in red robes was helpless and could only sigh.

Knowing that he could neither intimidate nor do anything to Lin Jue, his attitude was indeed much better.

"Why must you be like this, Divine Official? I heard that the gods of the Five Peaks are holy and wise, and the gods of the Four Rivers are benevolent. You have done your best. If you report truthfully, would your Lord make things difficult for you? Besides, didn't Princess Hua say she would go back to see the Lord of the Western Peak?"

Lin Jue wanted to find out some news.

"What do you know, Daoist?" The divine official in red robes couldn't help but sigh. "There have been continuous floods under the Western Peak mountain; droughts in the dry season and floods in the rainy season. That River God of the Wei Shui is completely useless. Every year, countless people come to offer incense and pray, and later, some arrogant people even scolded the gods. My Lord has long been overwhelmed. Although the Princess is the adopted daughter of the Lord, she is the smartest and most capable among the Lord's many daughters. If she were to marry the River God of the Wei Shui, it would at least guarantee the smooth flow of the river under the Western Peak mountain, and perhaps it could even..."

The divine official in red robes didn't finish his sentence and closed his mouth.

"But wasn't that River God of the Wei Shui killed by the Tu Long Wang?"

"Even if she can't marry the River God of the Wei Shui, the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers—who the Princess marries is still up to the Lord to decide, isn't it?"

"..."

Lin Jue shook his head.

He didn't know if Princess Hua's departure that night had anything to do with these people arriving in the vicinity.

"I can't manage such things. Meeting is fate; if there were any misunderstandings, please don't take them to heart," Lin Jue said, bowing his hands. "Farewell."

After speaking, he didn't look back and turned to leave.

Xiao Xiao Shimei learned to bow her hands and turned around as well.

The wind blew the wild grass like waves.

The autumn was high and the air was crisp, the sky was far and the earth was wide. In the eyes of the few divine officials, the two people, the two donkeys, and the bell sound gradually went far away.

Leaving only them looking at each other.

A fox ran in front, and a colored civet chased behind.

Xiao Xiao Shimei's expression was serious, walking while thinking about the mystery of the spell in her heart.

"Mountain Pressing Down..."

"Little Stone Pressing Down..."

She couldn't help but secretly raise her magical power and point forward.

The colored civet was running happily, like a small leopard, when suddenly there was a little weight on its body.

This weight was really light, perhaps less than a liang. If applied to a person, it would likely be imperceptible, but the cat's body was small and sensitive, so this sudden weight made it unable to help but lower its body.

While continuing to crawl forward, it kept looking back at its back, but saw nothing.

A look of doubt couldn't help but appear in the colored civet's eyes.

Xiao Xiao Shimei silently withdrew her hand, looked straight ahead, and concentrated on the journey.

"Meow?"

The colored civet couldn't help but stop, shook its body, and bent its body to scratch several places on its body with its hind legs to see if anything was hidden on it, but still found nothing.

Looking at Xiao Xiao Shimei, and then at the fox that had stopped in front and was waiting for it in doubt, it had to continue to follow while crawling.

"Third Third Shixiong."

Only then did Xiao Xiao Shimei dare to glance at it, while saying to the Third Third Shixiong beside her as if nothing had happened: "I think I have learned this spell."

"I can see that."

Third Third Shixiong's voice came faintly.

"Eh?"

Xiao Xiao Shimei was startled; Third Third Shixiong was indeed smart.

Then she felt fortunate; fortunately, it was Third Third Shixiong beside her. If it were Master or the First Third Third Shixiong, they would likely lecture her.

"Third Third Shixiong, I read the paper you asked 'Lady Yao Hua', she said the top-grade golden essence is with the Tu Long Wang. Are you going to find the Tu Long Wang to exchange for it, or what are you going to do?"

"We'll see when the time comes."

"That Tu Long Wang doesn't seem to be a good monster," Xiao Xiao Shimei squinted at him. "If it's to eliminate harm for the people, Third Third Shixiong, you don't have to wait until you send me to the capital and then come back to find it. Such things should be done sooner rather than later, and I am also very powerful and can help you, Third Third Shixiong."

"We'll see."

"Oh."

Xiao Xiao Shimei stopped talking.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the colored civet seemed to have adapted to the extra weight on its body. She thought for a moment, then waved her hand and withdrew the spell.

"?!"

The colored civet jumped up on the spot, looking around vigilantly.

Xiao Xiao Shimei's expression was as usual, leading the donkey, walking past it. Seeing it acting strangely, she even looked at it in doubt.

The colored civet scratched its head and tentatively followed.

Unknowingly, they had walked dozens of miles.

The colored civet looked around while walking.

Xiao Xiao Shimei chatted with Lin Jue while walking, asking him for advice on the tricks of this spell.

The two asked and answered, talking about spell practice, chatting about this and that, plus the scenery they saw on the road and the novel things that popped up from time to time; the two-day road, without wind or rain, gradually cleared up, and it seemed as if they had finished walking in a blink of an eye.

The fox jumped into Yang Family Village first.

The two Daoists with the donkeys and the cat followed in.

Only to see the fox stretching its neck, looking left and right, and sniffing the smell in the air carefully, until it heard the footsteps and bell sounds behind it, only then did it step forward.

The two followed it straight to the middle of the village.

The architectural style of the village here was obviously different from Huizhou; it was no longer white walls and black tiles, but it was also built near the water. The houses were mostly courtyards built with blue bricks and earth bricks. Most of the courtyards were not small, and there were stone carvings at the entrance, with door plaques hanging, showing the wealth and prominence of this village.

It was indeed true that many talented people had been produced.

Lin Jue, however, keenly discovered that every household here had built a very high threshold, and there was a half-person-high wooden board embedded in the threshold, with the wooden board tilting outward.

This was meant to prevent zombies.

Because many zombies in the world were turned from dead people, even if they were not stiff and rigid, they were inconvenient to move. People believed that this kind of wooden board that was both high and tilted outward could stop them from entering the house.

Perhaps it was useful, otherwise it wouldn't have been passed down for so many years.

At the same time, every household had their doors closed.

The whole village was silent.

The donkey hooves stepped on the blue bricks, plus the sound of the bell, which was also very obvious in the silent village, but no one came to look.

"No one?"

"Don't rush."

Until the fox led them into the middle of the village.

Noisy human voices came from several large courtyards.

The fox stopped in front of the largest courtyard, looked back at Lin Jue, then walked up along the door, raised its paw, and moved the door knocker.

"Clang..."

The door knocker shook and made a sound.

The sound inside paused.

Lin Jue didn't say anything, walked up, took the door knocker from its paw, and knocked rhythmically.

"Dong dong dong..."

Although the fox was smart, knowing how to knock on the door and knowing that the door knocker on the door was for knocking, its paws were not convenient after all, and moving the door knocker made a messy sound, which might make the people inside feel scared at this time.

It was different when Lin Jue did it.

Soon, a voice came from inside:

"Don't be afraid, it's the two Daoists who went to get the snake horn with Lord Luo. Hurry up and open the door."

Only then did a burst of footsteps come from inside.

With a creak, the door opened.

The one who opened the door was a young retainer, with some vigilance and anxiety on his face. Seeing that it was indeed people, he felt relieved.

And behind him, there were floor mats laid out in the courtyard and rooms, with many people lying down, basking in the sun, and in the middle, several winnowing baskets of snake horns cut into small squares were being sun-dried. Some people sat in the courtyard with hollow expressions, and some were moving back and forth in the courtyard, taking care of others, or turning over the snake horns.

A stench of rot permeated the courtyard.

Luo Seng was leaning on his long blade, his clothes stained with black blood, sitting in the corner somewhat silently. ===== CHAPTER 206 =====