Chapter 243

Spring water is greener than the sky, listening to the rain in a painted boat.

A light drizzle began to fall again, and the river surface, like a jade belt, rippled. Such weather was inconvenient for rowing, so Lin Jue had to use the Water Control Art to push the covered boat forward slowly.

Although it looked carefree and immortal, Lin Jue actually hadn't spent much effort on the Water Control Art; his attainments in this area were very shallow, the covered boat moved very slowly, and he needed to be distracted by casting spells at all times.

It was, however, a good way to practice the skill of multitasking.

"Junior sister?"

"Third Shixiong brother?"

"Stop imitating my tone."

"Understood!"

"Now that the matter of the demons here is over, the capital is not far, but a rat yaoguai has escaped." Lin Jue sat in the cabin, stroking the fox's back while saying to the junior sister, multitasking three ways: "That rat yaoguai once intercepted and killed us. If we don't eliminate it as soon as possible, my heart will not be at peace, and my thoughts will not be clear. How about I send you to the Daoist temple on Mount Feng first to practice in peace, and Fuyao and I will go and chase it?"

The junior sister leaned against the side of the boat, reached out to catch the fine rain outside, and only after a while did she turn back to say to them:

"That rat yaoguai once intercepted and killed you. If we don't eliminate it, my heart will not be at peace, and my thoughts will not be clear. How about we go and chase it first, and then send me to the Daoist temple on Mount Feng to practice in peace?"

"Did you have to think for so long just to say that?"

"I was catching the rain." The junior sister said, "Besides, it was only for a little while."

"That works too."

Lin Jue didn't think much, because he had already thought about it before speaking.

The junior sister was definitely going to the Mount Feng Daoist temple.

He was also definitely going to the capital.

But although the capital is big, for those who practice the Dao, it has many inconveniences. Even if he is in the capital, he still needs a quiet place outside the city to practice. Although the junior sister is on the mountain, she cannot avoid entering the city to buy things or deal with people in the city.

People in the city must go up the mountain, and people on the mountain must enter the city.

Mount Feng is about a hundred miles from the capital, not too close, not too far, like the distance from one county to another.

It was not easy for the Master and the uncles to find such a Daoist temple near the capital that was uninhabited, so even if it was remote, it could not be wasted.

Even if the junior sister didn't go to that temple, he would have to go.

"Although that rat yaoguai runs slowly, it cannot be delayed. Long nights bring many dreams." Lin Jue said, "Since it is a life-and-death feud, naturally we won't give it more opportunities."

"Good!"

The junior sister agreed decisively.

"Let it run for a few days to relax its vigilance, then we will quietly catch up and try to kill it in one blow." Lin Jue said, "Otherwise, we can only use the most primitive method and slowly chase it to death."

"Good!!"

Still decisive.

"However, with so many things and so many treasures, it's really hard to carry them. The lease for that hut outside Runze City is until the end of this spring, the inn waiter is getting married in the summer, and Lord Luo is not the type to stay in one place peacefully." Lin Jue frowned and said, "I'm afraid we still have to go to Mount Feng to hide these things near the temple, or put them with the second senior brother."

"Good!!"

Still decisive.

Lin Jue turned his head and saw the junior sister still sitting sideways, looking out the window, reaching out to catch the rain attentively, and for a moment he didn't know if she was listening.

Just as he thought that, the junior sister turned her head, and her whole body stood up with a 'swish'.

Lin Jue thought she had some insight, but then he saw her immediately walk to the stern of the boat.

"The rain has stopped, I'm going to row the boat!"

Seeing her high spirits, one who didn't know better would think it was some good job.

The covered boat slowly rowed to the outskirts of Runze City.

With a touch of a paper slip and a chant of a spell, two gray donkeys appeared on the willow-lined bank—probably the most ancient immortal art in immortal stories. Then the two brought all the cloth bags and bamboo baskets and returned to the outskirts of the city.

In the courtyard, the peach tree had just produced thumb-sized fruits. After the spring rain, the clouds parted to reveal the sun. A colorful civet lay on the stone mill in the courtyard, lazily basking in the sun, and a weathered martial artist was chopping wood in the courtyard.

"Meow?"

The colorful civet seemed to hear footsteps, looked up, and immediately jumped off the stone mill, running wildly toward them.

First, it ran to the junior sister's feet, rubbing back and forth while meowing, then ran to the side to jump and play with the fox.

"How did you watch the house? No thieves came at night these past few days, right?"

"Meow!"

"You've worked hard."

Lin Jue said, pushing open the brushwood door and entering.

The martial artist stopped, leaning on his axe, and looked at him.

"Lord Luo, this is..."

Lin Jue looked at him in confusion.

"The lease for this house and courtyard is about to expire. Yesterday I went to pay the rent; it was much lower than the market price here. I have nothing to repay him with, and since I was waiting for you here today, I just chopped some firewood to leave him a woodshed full of wood!" Luo Seng said casually, then asked them, "Was your journey back smooth?"

"Everything went smoothly, but we met people from Ju Xian Fu." Lin Jue said, "I wonder if you knew a person named Master Fan during your time serving in the capital?"

"Who in the capital doesn't know the name of Master Fan? Even the yaoguai know it!" Luo Seng said, his face showing mockery, "But he's just a jianghu swindler!"

"I heard his name can scare away demons and ghosts?"

"When I was serving in the capital, I mainly dealt with the demons and ghosts in the city. Several times I thought about finding trouble with him, but firstly, I never caught him committing any major crimes, and secondly, when my constables went out and encountered evil yaoguai, they really relied on his name to save their lives. Some commoners walking at night accidentally encountered ghosts and said they knew Master Fan, and sometimes it actually scared the ghosts away." Luo Seng's expression became even more sarcastic, "In this day and age, there really are all kinds of strange things."

"There are such strange things..."

"Demons and ghosts aren't smarter than people either..."

"Makes sense."

Luo Seng put down the axe and took out a few small bottles from his bosom: "These are the medicinal pills given by the Daoist. I only used the Light-Returning Pill to stop the bleeding for a few heroes; none of the others were used."

"Lord Luo, keep them; they might be useful someday."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

Luo Seng casually tucked them back in.

"What are your plans after this, Lord Luo?"

"Plans? I am a wanted man, so it's not good to stay in one place for long. I also happened to find the gift list of that crocodile. Everyone who feasted inside and outside the crocodile's cave that day was recorded on it, and those who ate people were also recorded in my heart."

Luo Seng said, paused, and looked at them:

"What are your plans, Daoists? If there's something we can do together, I'll go with you. If not, after returning this hut, I'll go and visit the yaoguai on this gift list one by one!"

"We have to chase that rat yaoguai."

"Chase that rat yaoguai? That's fine! Anyway, it's all about eliminating demons!" Luo Seng said heroically, "I don't think it will take more than a few days, so let the yaoguai on this gift list live a few more days!"

"Then it's a deal!"

"I've asked a few trustworthy jianghu heroes to help the Daoist collect rewards at the county offices along the Wei Shui. Just wait a few days, and while I'm at it, I'll tidy up the house for that waiter, and then we'll set off."

"Good!"

After agreeing, Lin Jue and the junior sister walked back into the house, unloaded all the cloth bags and bamboo baskets, took back the paper donkeys, and rested.

The house was quiet, and the birds outside the window chirped serenely.

The jianghu martial artists Luo Seng knew collected the rewards from several county offices one after another and sent them to Lin Jue. Lin Jue just said thank you, without feeling too indebted.

"Clatter..."

Hot water was poured into a crystal cup, tea powder was added, and after stirring a few times, a clear fragrance drifted out.

Lin Jue took out the wood carving.

The fox couldn't help but reach out its paw to fiddle with it.

"Are you there?"

A puff of white smoke drifted out, turning into the Silver-Eating Ghost.

"I am... it seems the Daoist's demon elimination went smoothly... congratulations..."

The Silver-Eating Ghost had a bitter face, feeling miserable.

Previously, to deal with the Tu Long Wang, although Lin Jue only used four poison pills, he had actually prepared five—ten taels of silver per pill, and the fake silver made from snake horns also had to be ten taels, so five pills meant fifty taels.

Some of those snake horns were highly toxic stones dried in the shade, and some were highly toxic stones that had absorbed corpse poison and were dried in the shade. After turning into silver, they were really not a good taste for the Silver-Eating Ghost; it had to bite the bullet and eat them.

Heaven knows how big a pile fifty taels of snake horns was.

It even took a full half-month to finish eating.

One can see how agonizing it was.

Lin Jue knew he had wronged it and felt very guilty: "I'm sorry, it's really because our cultivation wasn't enough, and we could only use this last resort."

"Daoist, don't say that. I was willing to do this." The Silver-Eating Ghost said, "It's just that in the future..."

"There will definitely be no such thing in the future." Lin Jue promised it, while taking out a bag of silver, looking like a few hundred taels, "After eliminating that Tu Long Wang, some heroes collected reward silver from different county offices on both sides of the Wei Shui on our behalf. It's more than we expected, which will be your food for the next half year or more. Please take a look."

"Phew..."

The Silver-Eating Ghost breathed a sigh of relief, sniffed, smelled the sweet silver scent, and was so moved it almost cried.

"Is it fragrant?"

"Fragrant! Fragrant! But a bit worse than before! Still fragrant!"

"It should be that the county officials of various places heard that the demon king had been eliminated and felt that the person who could eliminate the demon king must have great skills. In shock and even fear, or instigated by martial artists, they made an ad-hoc decision to increase the reward."

"Fragrant! It's fragrant!"

Only then did Lin Jue set his mind at ease.

"Eat."

The sound of the Silver-Eating Ghost eating silver soon rang out in the house.

The fox squatted nearby and watched it eat.

Lin Jue held the crystal cup, blowing on the hot tea, and in a trance, looking at the cup in his hand, he felt he was not in this time.

After drinking the tea, he took out a handful of beans, turned them into three long swords and twelve flying swords, and placed them neatly on the table.

The Silver-Eating Ghost was startled.

The fox also turned its head to look.

Both the ghost and the fox felt a chill—

Previously, when they were on Mingzhou Mountain, they had heard of martial artists using blades to slay demons, after which the long blades developed supernatural powers. The most powerful one they had seen later was the precious blade in Lord Luo's hand, which had slain countless demons and ghosts, and now, one strike from it would probably make even an immortal fall. And Lin Jue had just used these swords to slay many yaoguai and a demon king with deep cultivation, so naturally, they had developed some supernatural powers.

"It's just a pity..."

In the end, they had to be melted down and reforged.

"A chaotic world is coming..."

There should be more powerful demon kings waiting in the future, right?

Lin Jue wiped the long swords and flying swords carefully, as if treating living creatures, and only after a long time did he put them away.

The Silver-Eating Ghost also finished a meal and spat out a pill.

"Thank you."

Lin Jue took this pill, but didn't take it, nor did he put it away, but walked out directly.

The cat was licking its paws in the courtyard.

"Eat.

"You've worked hard guarding the house here, so this is your reward."

Lin Jue handed the pill in his hand to it:

"But this pill is poisonous. Before you learn the method of consuming it, this is the only one. After eating it, feel it carefully and practice well. Don't waste it; you must know this is an immortal pill that even demon kings want to obtain."

The cat was naturally mischievous. Although it listened to him speak, it reached out its paw and flicked the pill on his hand like it was having a seizure.

"Little Flower!"

"Meow?"

The colorful civet was playing, looked up at him in confusion.

Lin Jue stuffed the pill into its mouth.

"Eat quickly, I know a rat, you'll definitely like it, and then I'll leave it to you and Fuyao to deal with."

The cat was innocent and naive, smacking its lips.

The fox sat on the side, looking forward to it.