Chapter 247: Roadside Remnant Soul Obsession

The next morning, the three of them woke up in the desert.

In the early morning desert, the scorching light hadn't arrived yet, and it only felt cool.

The fox and the colorful civet cat were lying side by side by the dry grass, facing away from them, their movements looking like they were eating something.

However, the group's dry rations were almost finished.

"This place is too hot, the horses are about to die of heat, and there is no food, so it's not suitable to stay long." Luo Seng stretched his body. "The yaoguai rat has been eliminated; let's leave early while the sun isn't high."

"Makes sense."

"Does the Daoist intend to look for the millennium snow lotus?"

"Let's return to the capital." Lin Jue thought for a night and made a decision. "Let nature take its course."

On one hand, the refuting senior had already said that he had arrived early and the time hadn't come yet, so Lin Jue naturally trusted the refuting senior.

On the other hand, he hadn't come alone this time. His junior sister was willing to accompany him, which was a friendship of many years, needless to say. But Lord Luo was willing to accompany him here out of chivalry, so Lin Jue couldn't drag him along to find his millennium snow lotus, or say it out loud and make him feel embarrassed.

Since the refuting senior had said that the millennium snow lotus was to the south, and they were heading southeast to return to the capital, then let nature take its course.

If it didn't work out, he would just come again next time.

By the time he came next time, probably all the other materials would have been collected, and he would definitely have learned other travel magical arts, so it wouldn't be so hard when he came again.

"Little Flower, Fuyao, what are you eating?"

The junior sister carried her sword and patted the dust off her body.

The two little ones heard the movement and turned around, both staring at them with innocent and pure expressions.

Among them, the colorful civet cat still had a small piece of snake tail in its mouth.

"You two, you really can't starve to death wherever you go." Lin Jue said to them with amusement.

Not long after, the group set off on their return journey.

The three horses swayed, and the elegant white fox was surprisingly well-matched with the desert sand dunes. While walking, Lin Jue couldn't help but aim his gaze at it.

"It's probably six thousand miles from here to the capital. We only have to walk along the trade route to have supplies along the way." Luo Seng said. "According to my estimation, it will take ten days or so to enter the pass."

"Lord Luo seems quite familiar with this side?"

"My ancestors once guarded the Northwest for the imperial court, and later settled in the Northwest within the pass, so I can be considered a Northwesterner."

"No wonder, no wonder." Lin Jue walked behind Luo Seng, knowing he couldn't see, but still bowed to him. "Walking all the way, it's really thanks to Lord Luo."

"Drifting in the world of martial arts, where can one not walk?"

"Is the Western Regions stable now?"

"Unstable. It was unstable when I left my hometown for the capital. Not only are there frequent disturbances at the border, but the countries of the Western Regions have long since stopped taking the Central Plains dynasty seriously. They only obey in name, but in reality, they do whatever they want. What they fear is only the first few decades of the founding of the dynasty and the remaining prestige in history."

Luo Seng paused as he spoke and shook his head:

"It's better inside the pass; it's more chaotic outside the pass."

"How so?"

"These small countries in the Western Regions lack laws, and mutual attacks only depend on the moods and likes of the princes and nobles, without regard for etiquette. Yaoguai, demons, and ghosts are even more so, and there are no immortals to manage them. I heard that in some places, what the people of the whole country obey is not the human king, but a yaoguai, and even an entire country is a pasture for yaoguai."

"Ah?"

The junior sister was originally petting the cat, but upon hearing this, she couldn't help but be surprised.

"But don't be so surprised. They are sparsely populated, and the countries are not big. Many countries are just a single city." Luo Seng said. "These yaoguai are not necessarily more powerful than that crocodile. If it weren't for being in the heart of the Central Plains, that crocodile might have been even more rampant than them."

"So that's how it is."

After walking for two days, they got onto the trade route.

Along the way, it was thanks to Fuyao and the colorful civet cat hunting—one catching some wild sheep and rabbits, the other catching some lizards and sand rats—all of which were meat for food.

After walking for another day, they finally saw human figures.

It was a long caravan, with both camels and mules and horses, with more than a dozen people and twenty or thirty head of livestock, pulling goods from the west to the east.

The boundless desert wind and sand, the people walking in silence, the sun high in the sky, the heat distorting heaven and earth—it had a silent visual impact, undoubtedly a scene that neither the junior sister nor the fox had ever seen.

The three of them looked at them.

However, the caravan was equally surprised to see them.

Two Daoists in Daoist robes, a bearded chivalrous man in Central Plains attire, and a white fox—no matter how you looked at it, they felt extraordinary.

"Everyone..."

Luo Seng slowly rode his horse over.

"Do you know where there are supplies ahead? Our food is finished, and our water is drunk."

That person didn't speak, just took out a dry, hard pancake from his bosom, threw it to Luo Seng, and pointed ahead at the same time.

"Thank you."

Luo Seng walked back, divided the pancake between the two, and said to them: "It's their habit not to speak easily when traveling in the desert, but there should be supplies ahead."

"Hmm."

The group followed behind them.

They didn't walk far before there were indeed supplies ahead.

It was a large freshwater lake with sheds built beside it, selling some dry, hard pancakes, looking like a tea stall by the official road in the Central Plains.

Everyone went to replenish water and let the livestock drink.

The caravan drank a few mouthfuls of water and saw them still nearby, so they opened their mouths to ask: "Where are the two Daoists from?"

"From Huizhou."

"That's running far enough."

"Indeed."

"Just the three of you?"

"Indeed."

"It's not very peaceful here during this time." The merchant kindly reminded them, "You should be careful."

"How is it not peaceful?" Lin Jue asked.

"Small countries here often fight each other, and there are often bandits. These are just that; there are also yaoguai." The merchant said, "It is said that there is a yaoguai ahead that can drive bears and wolves to hunt passersby on the road. It's best if you don't spend the night on the road and follow the road, and it's best not to run into that yaoguai."

"Driving bears and wolves?"

Lin Jue became interested.

"Yes, previously there was a large caravan from Longzhou that happened to catch up with the time when that yaoguai was most rampant. They brought some martial artists with good skills from the local area as guards, thinking they could safely finish that journey, but they were still harmed by the yaoguai on the road. Sigh, their souls returned outside the pass, unable to return to their hometowns, and even after death, they were not at peace. I heard they turned into lonely ghosts by the roadside. Some merchants walking at night even ran into them. It's truly miserable."

Luo Seng heard this to the side and immediately raised his eyebrows:

"There is such a thing?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"That would be my fellow countrymen then." Luo Seng said.

"Where does the hero come from?"

"Longzhou, Yubi County."

"Then that really is a fellow countryman." The merchant said, "But we were also reminded by other merchants. Since we met on the road, let us remind you again."

"Thank you!"

"By the way, you three are not merchants, so how did you get here?"

Luo Seng and the junior sister both looked at Lin Jue.

Lin Jue answered truthfully: "We were chasing a yaoguai and chased it here."

"Chasing a yaoguai?"

The merchant was stunned for a moment, looking at the two Daoists, the fierce-looking martial artist, and the white fox by the lake licking water in small sips while disliking the horses and pushing the horses beside it away. Only then did he react that these people should not be ordinary Daoists and martial artists.

"Does the Daoist know magical arts?"

"I do know some."

"Then this little one dares to ask for a protective talisman!"

"I won't hide it from you; it's not that I'm unwilling, but I don't have that ability." Lin Jue said with a smile. "However, if we happen to meet that yaoguai and it really wants to eat people, we are willing to fight it."

Not long after, the two sides parted ways. Although they were walking along the same road, there were fast and slow ones, so naturally, they were one after the other.

The Daoist and the martial artist traveled light and walked in front.

Not long after, they left the desert.

Slowly, it approached twilight again.

The sunset glow every day was so brilliant.

The three of them didn't stop, but appreciated it on horseback, and didn't follow the merchant's suggestion to find a supply point early, but continued forward while taking advantage of the glow.

For people of this era, returning to one's roots is an obsession that cannot be erased even in death. The first travel expenses Lin Jue got from leaving home to seek the Dao were helping two ghosts deliver letters—returning to their roots. Lord Luo was heroic and chivalrous, intending to collect the corpses and bones of his fellow martial artists who died miserably outside the pass, and Lin Jue also intended to seek yaoguai.

So they moved forward at night, both to walk a little more and return to the capital earlier, and to seek a bit of fate.

Along the way, the sound of hooves was steady.

The fox turned its head from time to time, looking at the surroundings strangely, not knowing what it was looking at.

The sky grew darker and darker.

Suddenly, the fox walking in front stopped, first looking ahead, then turning back to look at Lin Jue.

"Ying~"

Lin Jue looked in the direction of their gaze.

Only to see a small river ahead, the water murmuring, the roadside grass and yellow-leaf forest, an autumn scene, but there were some blurry human figures on the road, drifting with the wind.

The three of them were not afraid, and the horses didn't stop.

This place only had this one road; this was probably the place the caravan mentioned where merchants and martial artists were harmed by the yaoguai, right?

Lin Jue looked carefully—

These figures totaled more than a dozen, mostly martial artists. The reason was that martial artists practiced martial arts all year round, had firm intentions, were brave and fierce, and had vigorous blood energy, so it was easy for them to be unwilling to leave after death due to temporary anger and uneven thoughts.

They seemed fierce, but they didn't harm people. Luo Seng approached them to check, and they didn't attack Luo Seng either.

"They are indeed the faces of my Central Plains people, dying miserably in a foreign land, their souls not at peace, truly not easy." Luo Seng said, rubbing his feet on the ground, finding some clothes and rags from the sand pile, and finding some bones in the forest.

"These are not lonely ghosts, but remnant soul obsessions." Lin Jue said, taking out a small bottle and saying to these remnant souls, "Good heroes, if any of you are willing to return to your hometown, you can come into the bottle."

The Daoist's heart and words were consistent, naturally able to communicate with ghosts and gods.

Immediately, several remnant souls looked at him, drifting in the wind, flying over with difficulty, and drilled into the bottle.

"Eh?"

Lin Jue looked at the other figures, pondered for a moment, and felt it was just right:

"If you were harmed by yaoguai, are unwilling, and want to seek revenge on the yaoguai, you can also enter the bottle to guide us, and this Daoist will find you peace."

Lin Jue's words were still calm, his heart and mouth consistent:

"From now on, you can disperse and rest in peace, or you can follow this Daoist. It just so happens that this Daoist's bean soldier method lacks some heroes to help, so you can join this Daoist to eliminate the yaoguai and evil spirits in the world."

"Shu shu..."

The remnant souls hesitated for a moment, then drilled into the bottle one after another.

One collecting corpses and bones, one calming souls and leveling thoughts, the ghost shadows drifting around soon calmed down.

This scene, which would have frightened ordinary merchants and travelers, not only failed to scare the Daoist and the martial artist, but under their simple actions, it soon returned to calm, just like an ordinary roadside grass forest.

And in this process, the Daoist didn't use any magical arts, and the martial artist didn't draw his saber. Truly speaking, it was just by heart.

The junior sister watched from the side, lost in thought.

Immediately, the three of them started a fire on the spot.

The fox showed its skills again, actually catching fish from the nearby river, while the colorful civet cat caught a rabbit. Added to the pancakes they brought, it was their dinner for tonight. ===== CHAPTER 248 =====