Chapter 238: Who Are the Immortals

Two catfish weighing several hundred to a thousand *jin* dug a pit by the small stream and hid, only to be found by the martial artists.

The small stream was too shallow to allow their true bodies to pass, and turning into human form was too conspicuous, so they had to resort to this inferior plan, not expecting to be found out; for a time, they could only beg for mercy repeatedly.

"Heroes, spare our lives!"

"Spare our lives!"

"We are not soldiers or generals!"

The martial artists did not let them go, only snorting coldly and using the long spear dropped by the Shrimp General nearby, piercing them to death with a few thrusts.

The remaining martial artists were not idle either.

Some lit torches and walked in groups into the Long Wang's cave to search for yaoguai treasures.

Some pulled at the scales of the yellow-scaled guards and the shells of the shrimp and crab soldiers, picking up those bone swords and long spears. Some said they wanted to keep a souvenir, some said they might be able to sell them as rare objects in the market, some said they wanted to make a close-fitting yellow-scaled inner armor, and some said they wanted to polish a heart-protecting mirror.

In the center of the sinkhole in the distance, the Daoist walked slowly.

Lin Jue stopped in front of a large pit, looked down, and bent over to pick up a withered bulb flower from the pit.

It was just a short, small branch, the root wrapped into a ball, with a flower blooming on top, all scorched black and withered. After Lin Jue picked it up, the dry pear blossom on top immediately fell off.

"Hoo..."

Lin Jue blew a breath and wiped it with his hand.

Many fragments fell from the air, revealing a golden bead the size of a fingernail inside.

The bead was round, the surface smooth, weighing about two *liang* in the palm of his hand.

"Top-grade golden essence..."

This was probably the biggest harvest of this battle.

Beside him was another clear breeze.

Lin Jue turned his head to look; it was Good Fuyao riding the wind, landing lightly beside him.

At this time, it had become the size of a cat again.

Their fox had inherited the supernatural powers of Lady Yao Hua and had the instinct to absorb magical powers and supernatural abilities from the pure energy naturally dissipated by yaoguai after winning a fight. Lin Jue naturally knew what it had just gone to do—probably to fiercely pat and retaliate against the corpses of the Long Wang, Chicken Immortal, and General Rhino, and then inhale.

He saw the fox look up at him and speak to him:

"Mouse! Ran away!"

The voice was crisp, the words short.

"This is not your fault; that mouse yaoguai knows earth-escape. Unless there is a supernatural power to restrain it, or it is designed to be lured into a trap, or it is chased until its magical power is exhausted, it cannot be caught." Lin Jue nodded, tucked this golden essence into his bosom to carry close to his body, and at the same time comforted and praised Good Fuyao, "You have already helped me a great deal."

"Mark!"

"Eh?" Lin Jue was startled for a moment, and after reacting, he was very surprised, unable to help but lower himself to stroke its head, "You are still the capable one!"

"Fox! Smart!"

"Naturally, naturally..."

"Chase!"

"The hatred of being intercepted and killed must naturally be avenged. This time, no matter what, it cannot be allowed to escape again!" Lin Jue's tone was firm, "However, there is no need to rush for a moment; there is a more important thing to do right now!"

"Ying?"

"Let's go!"

Lin Jue turned around immediately.

The fox also turned around accordingly.

Several *jianghu* martial artists behind them saw them, and the scene of the Daoist fighting the yaoguai king alone and fighting with the yaoguai king flashed through their minds again. They hurriedly cupped their hands in salute, and the first thing they asked was:

"Dare I ask which immortal the True Man is?"

"Eh?" Lin Jue heard this and could only reply, "I am just a Daoist, not an immortal."

After a pause, he said to them:

"However, since you fellow heroes could come here today and use the sabers and swords in your hands to exterminate yaoguai and demons, for the numerous commoners who are currently locked in dungeons by those yaoguai and used as blood food, you are already immortals. Why bother respecting any immortal or not?"

"Dungeon?"

Numerous *jianghu* martial artists then remembered what Luo Seng had said before.

"Follow me!"

Lin Jue returned their salute.

The fox had already understood where he was going from his words, so it just jumped lightly and rode the wind forward. Its posture was light and elegant, like a carefree mountain spirit, and it made people think of the three-tailed white fox the size of a fierce tiger that had been playing with the rhinoceros yaoguai just now.

A group of martial artists followed quickly.

Passing through a narrow mountain cave, a foul stench came from inside, and faint, hoarse wails of crying could be heard. Numerous *jianghu* martial artists looked at each other and immediately quickened their pace.

The deep dungeon had only faint light and no sun, and at this time, there was no one guarding it.

It was unknown how many people were locked inside.

Most of them were commoners from both banks of the Wei Shui, as well as scholars who were passing by on boats and had been overturned, and even people from wealthy families, singing girls, and dancing girls.

Commoners living on both banks of the Wei Shui, or people who often traveled here, had mostly heard rumors of a great yaoguai eating people here, but the rumors were varied, true and false, and difficult to distinguish. Some did not believe it, treating it as a legend like other yaoguai stories; some believed it but were either half-believing or, for various reasons, still lived or traveled here.

It was not until they were caught by the yaoguai king and locked in the cave, saying they were to be used as food at the yaoguai king's birthday banquet, that they truly understood the horror of the rumors.

More than ten days had passed.

Sometimes they felt like livestock locked up waiting to be slaughtered, and sometimes they felt even worse than livestock, like fish and shrimp in a fish basket.

This was because when livestock were sold and slaughtered in the market, they would at least be treated a little better, not crowded together like this, nor would they be left alone even if they were seriously ill or dying, and even if someone died, they wouldn't care, just leaving the living, the sick, and the dead crowded together, so much so that they could even see white bones beside them, not knowing how many years ago those victims had been there.

It was even worse than a fish basket.

Although the fish in the fish basket were also crowded together, regardless of whether they were dead or alive, ultimately, every time it was emptied, it would be cleaned, and those that died would be quickly sold cheaply or thrown away.

These yaoguai didn't care about this at all.

It was not until the past two days that yaoguai came to tell them that they wouldn't eat people at this year's yaoguai king's birthday banquet, and that a high-level expert wanted to use their hair and fingernails to refine pills. In this way, they escaped the "birthday hurdle." But obviously, they couldn't be released because of this; those yaoguai also said that when they caught new people, they would still eat them, and those who died or couldn't grow hair would also be eaten.

Being here was waiting for death, and it was also torment.

Those who were terrified had long since cried their voices hoarse, leaving only the wails, sighs, crying, begging for mercy, and mournful sounds that rose and fell.

Until this day.

For some reason, earth-shattering rumbling sounds came from outside and overhead, like thunder, and like an earth dragon turning over.

In despair, someone guessed, could it be immortals exterminating yaoguai?

At least there was a little more hope.

But everyone also knew that it was rumored that this yaoguai had been causing trouble here for many years; if immortals were to come to exterminate the yaoguai, they would have come long ago, and they wouldn't have been caught here at all.

There was no sun in the dungeon, and they didn't know the time; the rumbling sound didn't know how long it lasted, but finally, it stopped.

Not long after, there were footsteps in the cave.

"Puff, puff, puff..."

The fire basins on the walls were inexplicably lit, one after another, barely illuminating the cave and reflecting the numerous figures that had come before them.

They were not divine officials or gods, not celestial soldiers or generals, but some *jianghu* martial artists dressed in cloth clothes.

There were also two Daoists and a fox.

Although these *jianghu* martial artists were all holding weapons, disheveled, fierce, and menacing, and all carried wounds and bloodstains, like demons who had just arrived in the human world, it could be seen that these martial artists were obviously different from the yaoguai and demons in human form they had seen before. Even when they saw them, some of these martial artists obviously had red eyes.

All doubts were washed away by the hope of survival.

But just as hope rose in everyone's hearts, they saw these two Daoists and the fox, seeing that they were the Daoists who helped the yaoguai king refine pills, and they were terrified again, shrinking back one after another.

"Fellows, do not be afraid!

"We are not demons, nor are we wicked people; this time we have come to exterminate the yaoguai and save you all."

The Daoist said gently, bowing to them and explaining:

"That day's matter was truly a last resort.

"The yaoguai king here is a Long, who has committed many evils and eaten countless people.

"He has occupied this place for many years, his cultivation is very high, and he is close to becoming an immortal. He also has two guest generals, and our cultivation is shallow, our Daoist path thin, so we could only design to make him eat the poisonous pills we refined, and with the help of you fellow heroes, could we have the certainty of victory.

"The reason for taking your hair and fingernails was just to let you live until today, a last resort. You can just consider it as imitating the ancients, using cut hair to replace beheading, and exchanging it for a life."

Everyone looked at each other, none daring to make a sound.

The *jianghu* martial artists behind the Daoist heard this and then suddenly realized, followed by an uproar.

No wonder Lord Luo let them ambush and wait in the distance!

No wonder when they arrived, they were already fighting.

Wasn't this entering a tiger's den alone, walking on the edge of a knife?

For a time, they could not help but marvel at the schemes and courage of the two Daoists in front of them, admiring them endlessly.

Then they hurriedly explained to the numerous commoners:

"Yes! I can testify! The yaoguai outside have already been exterminated! You will see it when you go out!"

"You can go out now!"

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid! You've picked up your heads!"

"I'll open the lock!"

A martial artist immediately stepped forward, holding a round-ring tiger-head saber, and hacked forcefully at the dungeon iron chain. The long saber cut through the air, and it was a force visible to the naked eye.

Only a *snap* was heard!

The thick iron chain broke in response!

"Creak~"

A sour, light sound, but in the dungeon at this time, it undoubtedly became the clearest and most pleasant note, rippling endlessly in everyone's hearts.

Numerous commoners looked at each other, wanting to move forward but also afraid, wanting to escape but afraid that what they would face after walking out of this door would be a guillotine, and that all this was just a trick of the yaoguai to tease people.

But they saw the Daoist in front of them bowing to them.

"One step forward is the path to life."

Finally, someone staggered forward, and then it was like triggering a chain reaction; hundreds of people surged out one after another.

The Daoist and the martial artists had no choice but to clear the way.

The first person rushed out of the narrow mountain cave, breathing in the fresh air outside with the scent of blood, and the sunlight hit his face; he felt both warm and unable to open his eyes, only able to cover them with his hands.

After adapting, he couldn't help but be stunned and chilled.

Outside was a chaotic battlefield—

Not only was the grass and ground a mess, but there were yaoguai corpses everywhere; some still maintained human form, some had turned back into their original forms, giant shrimp, crab, and fish yaoguai, and there was also a giant rooster the size of a person with its head cut off, and a humanoid rhinoceros more than a *zhang* tall.

There were scattered weapons and shattered stones everywhere, pits and bumps, and even the cliff seemed to have cracks.

He would believe it if someone said this was a battlefield left behind by celestial soldiers and generals.

The people surging from behind bumped into him unconsciously.

But after that, there was no more movement.

The first person to rush out of the cave turned his head, only to see that the people behind him were either like him at the beginning, unable to open their eyes because of the light, or like him just now, after recovering, opening their eyes, and immediately being shocked beyond measure by the scene reflected in their eyes, unable to speak.

People were still rushing out of the cave behind, even crowding and falling to the ground, but seeing this scene, they still forgot everything else.

It took a long time for someone to recover.

"Immortals..."

For a time, who knew how many people shouted the word "immortal," kneeling in a patch toward the two Daoists and martial artists walking out from behind, constantly kowtowing, crying and shouting for escaping death.

"We are not immortals, and you should not be so polite. After you recover, if you go out of the mountain cave ahead, it will be the riverbank. You can leave by following the riverbank. After that, please go home." Although Lin Jue persuaded them, he did not stop them one by one, only leaving calmly.

In the strong light that made it hard for people to open their eyes, the two Daoists and the fox walked further and further away, only the fox, with a childlike heart, turned its head to look at them a few more times, its eyes full of curiosity.

The martial artists were laughing and joking, also walking away. ===== CHAPTER 239 =====