Chapter 318

The group protected the exhausted Lord Luo and the injured and unconscious Wan Xinrong and Ma Shidi, and with the help of the twelve armored soldiers and thirty celestial soldiers, after a bitter struggle, they finally killed or routed the yaoguai soldiers.

Just as they were about to look for Lin Jue and the fox, they saw a white egret flying leisurely across the blue sky.

Then came a series of heavy hoofbeats.

Two stone horses walked slowly out of the forest. On the back of one sat a Daoist who had already changed into a clean Daoist robe, and on top of the other stood a white fox about the size of a cat.

Even more eye-catching was that the Daoist was holding a lantern staff in his hand.

Although it had been pitch black before, they had seen that the magic treasure the yaoguai held was this staff connected to a lantern.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Did Daoist Lin catch up and eliminate that yaoguai?" Daoist Tao stepped forward and asked.

"No." Lin Jue shook his head. "It seems to possess a life-saving magical spell and ability. At the moment of death, its soul escaped, leaving behind a husk and this lantern staff."

"It actually turned out like this!"

Daoist Tao was still secretly shocked in his heart.

As expected of a True Person who lives with Master Fan Tian.

Although he had heard before that Master Nan and Master Fan Tian of the Ju Xian Fu had eliminated such great yaoguai, and even yaoguai kings, rumors said they always invited celestial soldiers and generals to eliminate the yaoguai. However, this Daoist Lin had truly fought the great yaoguai with his own magical skills and abilities, defeating and chasing it away. Even the person protecting him could fight a great yaoguai alone.

More importantly, all of this happened right before their eyes, not in rumors.

Daoist Tao was a wandering sorcerer, and if one really counted, he should actually be considered a cultivator of the Lingfa Sect, so he naturally felt shocked by this.

Daoist Qingxuan, Daoist Jiang, and Ma Shidi of the Zhen Jian Gong were equally surprised.

Unlike the people from the Ju Xian Fu, who knew Lin Jue's prowess from the first time they heard of him eliminating the Tuo Long Wang by the Wei Shui River and regarded him as an expert from the start, the three from Zhen Jian Gong were fellow villagers from Huizhou who had witnessed the growth and changes of this Yishan Daoist with their own eyes.

From the young Daoist who had just arrived at Mount Yishan and struggled even to deal with a Rakshasa bird, to fighting corpse ghosts in Gong Village and Li Village, to designing the elimination of the Tuo Long Wang, and now, almost alone with a fox, he could defeat the yaoguai generals under the Leopard King and force them into a desperate situation.

This was undoubtedly another kind of surprise.

However, at this moment, Lin Jue had already walked toward Lord Luo.

"How is Lord Luo?"

"He is seriously injured, his blood energy is depleted, and he is severely exhausted. We have already bandaged his wounds and applied dragon bone gold sore medicine." Daoist Qingxuan said from the side, "However, Lord Luo has already entered the Dao through martial arts, and this martial skill is already at the peak of the world. As long as he can recover, I fear he will be on the path toward becoming a 'god'."

"Hmm..."

Lin Jue looked down.

Lord Luo was still sitting on the ground, weak but clear-headed. His body was indeed wrapped in many cloth strips, and the bleeding inside had stopped, saving Lin Jue the effort of using the Qi-Sealing Art to stop his bleeding.

"Have they fed you spiritual liquid?"

"..."

Lord Luo nodded imperceptibly.

Hearing this, Lin Jue also nodded and then took out a handful of medicinal pills, handing them to Lord Luo's mouth.

"Open your mouth."

Lord Luo opened his mouth with difficulty.

Lin Jue stuffed them into his mouth.

These pills were mostly mild in nature or contained little gold, silver, lead, mercury, jade, or cinnabar, so ordinary people could eat them too. There were Light-Returning Pills, healing pills, and spiritual pills purely rich in vitality and spiritual aura. Anyway, Lord Luo was considered to have entered the Dao, so he stuffed them all into his mouth.

The spiritual pills dissolved upon entering his mouth, and the medicinal effects and spiritual energy rose together. Lord Luo, who was exhausted and dizzy, could no longer maintain his last bit of consciousness. His body tilted to the side, and he collapsed.

Lin Jue supported him with his leg and then looked at the wolf corpse.

"Didn't they say this wolf yaoguai had the ability to turn into a bird?"

"It indeed did." The person, whose vision was excellent after turning into a fierce tiger, said to him, "I saw Lord Luo fighting this wolf yaoguai. It could have won earlier, but yaoguai soldiers came to assist it. Later, the wolf yaoguai used several yaoguai soldiers as cover and retreated, preparing to cast a spell to turn into a bird and fly away. As a result, as soon as it flew out, it was struck down by the celestial soldiers and finally stabbed to death here by Lord Luo's spear."

"It really could turn into a bird..."

Lin Jue muttered to himself.

It seems that after turning into a bird, it could not have the same abilities as its original form, which is why it could be struck down by the celestial soldiers. And its transformation into a bird was not at will; it couldn't change with a single thought, requiring time to cast the spell.

At this moment, the fox had jumped from the top of the stone horse's head, jumped straight onto the wolf yaoguai, and lowered its head to sniff something constantly.

Daoist Tao walked over and asked, "What should we do with this wolf yaoguai?"

"Rest for a while. After my Fuyao checks it, we will cut off its head, or take the whole corpse back to Jinping County, and then back to the capital." Lin Jue said, looking at Daoist Qingxuan and Daoist Jiang, "Do you two fellow Daoists think this is appropriate?"

"Naturally appropriate! It should be so!" Daoist Qingxuan said without hesitation, "It will just happen to settle the hearts of the people of Jinping County, and also let the yaoguai, demons, and ghosts in the capital know that even with hundreds of years of cultivation, they cannot disturb the human world at will!"

"..."

Daoist Jiang did not express an opinion but just raised her hand and bowed seriously to Lin Jue: "Many thanks, fellow Daoist, for today."

"Why thank me?"

"Fellow Daoist saved me again, so I should naturally thank you."

"It was just joining forces to eliminate the yaoguai."

Lin Jue also raised his hand and bowed to her.

The sun rose higher and higher.

The fox drank the magical liquid and jumped back onto the stone horse's head.

Lin Jue fed Wan Xinrong another spiritual pill to help him recover faster and fed Ma Shidi a Heart-Protecting Pill to help him wake up. He then went to bring back the horses that everyone had tied on a distant mountain and moved the wolf general's corpse onto the horse's back.

Not only did he bring the wolf yaoguai's corpse, but he also brought the corpses of several yaoguai soldiers, all loaded onto the horses. He then found dead branches and rotten wood from the mountains and piled up all the yaoguai soldiers' corpses to burn them.

This person also finally understood—

This Daoist Lin is a true Daoist and a true expert.

He came along with them for this trip; the knowledge he needed to gain he had gained, and the fame and profit he needed to get would not run away. Because he had been called by everyone to investigate the yaoguai in Jinping City, the effort he put into this battle was inevitably less, and his injuries were the lightest, so he took the initiative to do these odd jobs.

This fame and profit could be taken with more peace of mind.

Lin Jue picked up Lord Luo's silver spear and also picked up the silver spear dropped by the wolf general. Daoist Qingxuan and Daoist Tao went to count the wooden boxes that these yaoguai were going to take away. Inside, they were indeed gold, silver, and jewelry.

It was unknown what the yaoguai used these for.

Then they walked onto the official road and headed toward Jinping County.

In the mountains, there was only the sound of their footsteps.

"There used to be many people on this road, but they were harmed by these yaoguai into this state!" Daoist Tao gritted his teeth.

At this time, not a single person could be seen on this road.

The people who had been rescued should have also left along this road, but they had left much earlier than Lin Jue and the others. Fleeing for their lives, they likely wouldn't have delayed, so naturally, they were long gone.

Gradually, it reached noon and then the afternoon.

Finally, they saw Jinping County.

At this time, the gate of Jinping County was not deserted, but many people living in the city had been terrified after the yaoguai sealed the city and devoured people a few days ago. This morning, for some reason, the yaoguai left the city. After a brief observation, they chose to take this opportunity to flee the city.

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Almost no one was entering the city.

Amidst this tide of people fleeing the city, suddenly there were a few injured and blood-stained Daoists and a few donkeys and horses coming in the opposite direction.

When the crowd saw them from afar, they thought they were yaoguai and were very shocked. When they saw them up close, they realized they were humans, but when they saw the huge wolf head and the yaoguai corpses loaded on their horses, they were even more shocked.

Even those who had been urgently wanting to flee the city gradually stopped their steps, unable to help but stand still in place.

How could they not recognize that these yaoguai on the horses were the very yaoguai that had been causing chaos and eating people in the city some time ago?

All the people stopped their steps in unison, all making way for them, and all turned to look at them.

They saw that the ones walking in front were actually two stone horses, which were several sizes larger than ordinary horses. Even though they were carved from stone, they could walk. On the back of one stone horse sat a young Daoist wearing a clean Daoist robe; he was also the only one among them who was neatly dressed.

The Daoist's posture was straight, his expression calm, and his hands hung naturally. Against the backdrop of the tall stone horse, he looked like an immortal.

On the back of the other stone horse was a martial artist covered in rags and soaked in blood.

Beside the two stone horses, a white fox followed.

The few people behind, some riding horses and some walking, were also covered in injuries, their clothes torn and bloody, as if they had experienced a fierce battle.

A fierce battle with whom? One look and it was clear—

That was a person in purple, leading a few donkeys and horses. On the horses' backs were loaded wolf yaoguai far larger than ordinary people, as well as other leopard yaoguai and jackal yaoguai, all with ferocious death states.

"We are people from the Ju Xian Fu! Invited by Vice Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Rites, we followed Master Lin to eliminate the yaoguai." The person leading the rope said to the crowd, "The one walking in front is Master Lin, and the few beside me are the Daoists from Zhen Jian Gong!"

"The yaoguai have been eliminated, everyone can rest assured!" Daoist Tao also bowed to his fellow villagers, "Not only these, but all other yaoguai have also been eliminated by us. Bringing these corpses back is just to let everyone feel at ease. We didn't bring the others because we couldn't carry them, so we burned them on the spot!"

"We are people from the Ju Xian Fu..."

The two walked and talked wherever they went, tirelessly.

The expressions of the many people were different.

Some were dazed, some couldn't believe it, some burst into tears, and some asked them if it was true. Others were too afraid to look, and some exclaimed that they were immortals.

I don't know when, but suddenly someone bowed down.

This was like a chain reaction; the people on this road out of the city bowed down one after another, kneeling in a patch.

This was something that couldn't be helped even if they tried to support them.

The group had to continue forward.

Before entering the city, they first passed a temple.

This was originally a newly built temple, as could be seen from the clean and brand-new courtyard walls, but at this time it had already become a ruin.

Daoist Qingxuan and Daoist Jiang stopped here in silence.

Daoist Tao informed Lin Jue that this was a newly built temple in Jinping County, mainly dedicated to the Southern Emperor Yu Jian and Lord Yi Li.

Lin Jue also looked on in silence, his eyes flickering.

These yaoguai were truly calculating—

If Zhen Jian Gong did not come to eliminate the yaoguai, they would unexpectedly destroy the incense grounds that the Southern Divine System had painstakingly established in the middle of Da Jiang, and they could retreat under the guise of "Guanxing Palace inviting gods to repel yaoguai." Both fame and incense would belong to the Guanxing Palace and the Tianweng Divine System, killing two birds with one stone.

But if Zhen Jian Gong came to eliminate the yaoguai, the wolf yaoguai was one of the three great generals under the Leopard King and was not weak itself. If the divine power invited by the Zhen Jian Gong Daoists and the celestial soldiers brought were enough, this wolf yaoguai could consume and contain the power of the Heavenly Fire Divine General, making the main battlefield on the other side easier. If the divine power invited by the Zhen Jian Gong Daoists and the celestial soldiers brought were not enough, they could even keep the Zhen Jian Gong Daoists here.

Even after getting the news, they stubbornly sent another yaoguai general from the Leopard King's lair, wanting to keep them here.

A total of three yaoguai generals, and two actually came.

Unfortunately, they didn't count on Lin Jue's abilities.

And all the magical arts in the world have their wonders. Who could have thought that a trick could capture the yaoguai's movements even in black fog? Because of this, the withered yaoguai's abilities were hardly used at all.

"Let's go."

Daoist Jiang said calmly.

The group entered the city.

The Jinping County city, which Daoist Tao had previously described as quite prosperous, was now desolate and deserted. There was no lack of broken houses around, there were white bones on the roadside, and people were constantly fleeing outward.

The group caused a shock wherever they went.

As long as someone knelt and bowed, others would follow.

The people didn't know anything else; they only knew that the yaoguai were fierce, eating and harming people, and even the government soldiers couldn't stop them. During this time, they didn't know how many times they had prayed day and night, bowing to how many gods and Buddhas. Now, in this situation, whoever could eliminate the yaoguai, their skills and virtues were all those of immortals.

Lin Jue had a mysterious feeling in his heart.

It was the merit he had accumulated.

Merit is elusive, and its weight is hard to measure; it needs to be weighed with that kind of mysterious feeling. And he could clearly feel that the merit he had accumulated was gradually increasing.

(End of chapter)