Chapter 393

"Third Shixiong, this outfit of yours..."

"Hmm?"

Third Shixiong looked down at his attire: "This was just to blend into Mo Dushan. I just picked up some clothes. They are indeed a bit smelly and unkempt. I've let Daoist Lin and Daoist Liu laugh at me."

Before Lin Jue could speak, Princess Hua spoke up from the side: "Since we aren't going to Mo Dushan anymore, why are you still wearing these clothes? Hurry up and take a bath and change back!"

Lin Jue turned his head to look at Little Xiao Shimei.

Little Xiao Shimei rolled her eyes at him.

Their gazes met and quickly withdrew; everything was understood without words.

"Third Shixiong, if you want to take a bath, do you want me to boil some water for you? There should be a kitchen here." Little Xiao Shimei had always been diligent.

"That won't be necessary," Third Shixiong said.

"Then Third Shixiong, you should tidy up first. There are many rooms in this post station; just pick any superior room to stay in," Lin Jue said. "At this time, other fellow Daoists in the capital should also be on their way. I need to write a letter first to remind them to be careful of the straw men and hidden arrows on the road."

"Then I'll go patrol outside to see if there are any monsters hiding in the city," Little Xiao Shimei said.

Lin Jue took the cloth bag upstairs, and the fox followed.

Little Xiao Shimei took her sword and went out, with Cai Li accompanying her.

Lin Jue chose a superior room, which was only for high-ranking officials or children of major families passing through. The room was very spacious.

The first thing he did was take out the wood carving and spiritual gold.

Meeting Third Shixiong here was a good thing. His method of carving beans into soldiers was taught by Third Shixiong, who specialized in this method, so his attainments in this area must be better than his own. Besides discussing details with him, he could also ask Third Shixiong to help him forge the armor and weapons for the Long Bo bean soldiers, which should more than double the speed.

But there was no rush at the moment.

Lin Jue first took out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to write a letter.

The fox stood on the table, looking down at him writing.

"Straw men... hidden arrows... be careful...

"Fire attacks can be used...

"In Ziyun County, there are me, my Shixiong, and Xiao Shimei here. I have also written letters to inform the other two Shixiong, and I assume they will rush over once they receive the letters. If there is a shortage of manpower in the capital, other fellow Daoists and extraordinary people can be invited to Le Tian, Bo Yu, and Ji Guang counties."

He wrote briefly and blew on it to dry it.

Lin Jue folded it and handed it to Fuyao.

"Fellow Daoist Bai Lu is not here, and besides, they should have already left the capital and be on the road by now, so it's not easy to find them. I have to ask you to deliver it."

"The fox can find them!"

"That's exactly what I thought."

"Ying..."

The fox stood on the table and suddenly changed.

With a poof, the white fox on the table turned directly into a huge crow, even a bit bigger than it was before.

The crow took the letter in its beak, turned its head to look, and a clear breeze opened the window for it. With a flap of its wings, it flew out.

Lin Jue walked to the window, and it had already flown out of sight.

And this window faced the north.

Over there, everything was calm and peaceful.

Lin Jue took a look and then turned to go out.

"Creak..."

As soon as the door was pushed open, he was stunned.

At some point, the outside had changed completely.

Originally, this was a post station, and although it was built quite well, it was only "decent." Plus, it was quite old, and much of the wood was a bit worn. Now, walking out of the room, the corridor outside had turned into a palace-like structure, using fine mahogany, with carved railings and painted beams, exquisite and luxurious, without losing its charm.

In a trance, it was as if he had returned to that night several years ago, when he encountered rain while traveling in the wilderness, and that palace and pavilion.

Lin Jue reached out to touch it, but couldn't feel anything illusory.

Walking along the corridor, everything on both sides had changed. The doors and windows had all turned into mahogany, and the flowers carved on the windows had changed from simple patterns to dragons, phoenixes, and auspicious clouds.

The main hall below had also changed.

The original main hall was not small, more spacious than the main halls of most small city inns, and was furnished with some square tables and wooden stools for passing officials to eat and discuss matters, but it was also a bit old. Now, the space below had not only turned into a palace dominated by mahogany, but the space itself had become much more spacious.

The square tables and wooden stools had been replaced by tables and cushions, the ordinary blue cloth had been replaced by red gauze curtains, the oil lamps had become luxurious and exquisite candlesticks, and there were maidservants moving about.

Princess Hua sat in the seat of honor, holding a pomegranate in her hand, lazily peeling and eating it.

She was dignified and composed, with a hint of laziness.

Among the princesses of the human world, I'm afraid nine out of ten don't have her temperament.

"Princess Hua."

Lin Jue looked around and asked curiously: "Is this the Princess's supernatural power?"

"It is both a supernatural power and a treasure."

"Then is this palace and pavilion real or fake?" Lin Jue couldn't tell for a moment.

If it were real, it could disappear without a trace overnight; if it were fake, it could really shelter them from the wind and rain. If it were real, it had changed from the post station and overlapped with it; if it were fake, he couldn't find a single flaw by touching or looking at it.

"This is the supernatural power and treasure of a god, half-real and half-fake. But whether it is real or fake, why does the Daoist need to distinguish it so clearly?" Princess Hua said to him while peeling the pomegranate. "It's like the carved beams and painted buildings of ordinary families. By the way, the Daoist comes from Huizhou. I hear that the architecture in Huizhou is the most particular. There must be paintings under the eaves, and the beams must be carved with gods, Buddhas, and the three old men of fortune, prosperity, and longevity. The roof must also be painted. But after most people's houses are built, they won't be able to touch the paintings under the eaves or the carvings on the beams for a lifetime, right? Isn't it all just for pleasure?" "Makes sense..."

Lin Jue thought for a moment.

This Princess Hua is said to be a female ghost, but she is actually a god.

The Xiyue Prefecture Lord is a god, and a god with a high status. She is the adopted daughter valued by the Xiyue Prefecture Lord. It is said that there is a statue of her in the Prefecture Lord's temple at the foot of Xiyue Mountain, so naturally, she is a god.

It's just that the Xiyue Prefecture Lord used her as a bargaining chip, and she was unwilling, so she left Xiyue and no longer listened to the Prefecture Lord's orders, so naturally, she became a "ghost."

However, it's not good to call her a ghost.

The reason Lin Jue called her a ghost was entirely because in the words of Daoist Qingxuan and the letter Third Shixiong wrote to Eldest Shixiong, Third Shixiong called her a female ghost, saying he was chased and pestered by a female ghost. At first, Lin Jue thought it was Third Shixiong being annoyed by her chase and speaking in anger, but now that he thinks about it, I'm afraid there is some fun unique to the two of them.

And what she said just now does make some sense.

"Makes sense."

Lin Jue added another sentence.

No errors in the content at a glance!

So he stopped worrying about whether it was real or fake, stopped exploring how much of this place was real or fake, and just looked around.

He originally thought that Third Shixiong being chased by Princess Hua was a bit miserable, and that wandering the world and drifting in the rivers and lakes would mean living a hard life of sleeping in the open, but now it seems he is living the life of an emperor.

"Would you like to taste a pomegranate?"

"Thank you, Princess."

"The Daoist is too polite."

"Princess can call me Shidi. If you are unwilling, you can also call me fellow Daoist."

"Heh, fellow Daoist is interesting."

Princess Hua smiled slightly, with a hint of subtle happiness.

Lin Jue sat down below, and a servant immediately brought a plate of pomegranates.

He peeled one, and it was very sweet.

So the two chatted casually.

Lin Jue knew clearly that this Princess Hua was not simple. Meeting in the wilderness that night was fate, but what happened later was just her using him and playing tricks. When she couldn't use him, she turned to Third Shixiong, also wanting to use him. Both were fake.

The only real thing was the feelings that developed after being provoked by Third Shixiong, chasing him for a long time, not knowing how many entanglements, fighting wits and courage, and responding to moves.

Therefore, when Lin Jue faced her again, he didn't feel embarrassed or angry, just treated her as an old friend and talked calmly.

Not long after, Third Shixiong came downstairs.

He seemed to have long been accustomed to the changes in the post station below and didn't feel surprised at all, just said to his Shidi:

"Was the letter sent?"

"It was sent."

"How was it sent?"

"I let Fuyao deliver it."

At this time, Third Shixiong had changed back into his Daoist robe, which, although white from age, was washed clean. His hair had also been washed, his beard had been shaved clean, and he had a small sword and a wine gourd hanging from his waist, restoring the image of the dashing and unrestrained Daoist he was before.

Lin Jue recognized that this was the Daoist robe of Fuqiu Temple. The fabric, dyeing, and workmanship—even if you tried to copy it, it wouldn't be the same if you left Yixian and left the tailor in Yixian.

This small sword was given to them by Master Fuchi when they were in Cuiwei County, after proving that the plague ghost did not come from the north.

Third Shixiong had made it smaller.

He might have referred to the method of carving beans into soldiers.

Such a magic tool has its own spiritual charm and mystery. It is not easy to refine it to be smaller. At least, copying the refining method of bean soldiers won't work. On the contrary, it is easy to destroy the original spiritual charm and mystery of the magic tool. It requires making changes or even adapting to the magic tool, which requires extremely high attainments in this area.

Lin Jue couldn't do it.

So even though he learned "Little Ruyi" and could make himself smaller, and his clothes smaller, he couldn't make his cloth bag, beans, paper donkey, or night-watch lamp smaller.

He could ask Shixiong for advice.

Since the two True Lords eliminating demons is not a matter of a day or two, Lin Jue doesn't need to be anxious about guarding here. Just keeping his state of mind is both guarding the city and protecting the people, and it is also a form of cultivation.

Just as he was thinking, Little Xiao Shimei came in.

Xiao Shimei was holding a long sword, and her hem was stained with blood.

"There are a few monsters hiding in the city. Fortunately, I brought Little Flower. Little Flower discovered them, and I..."

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly froze.

Little Xiao Shimei turned her head to look around, then looked at Little Shixiong and Third Shixiong sitting below, and Princess Hua sitting above, obviously also shocked by the changes in the post station.

Cai Li also widened its eyes.

Not long after, singing girls and dancers came with lotus steps, music played in the post station, and some people danced gracefully. The dance posture did not belong to the human world.

Maidservants came over, knelt beside them, poured wine and peeled pomegranates for them, and servants entered one after another, carrying all kinds of exquisite dishes and respectfully placing them in front of them.

"This..."

Little Xiao Shimei sat restrained, a bit uncomfortable.

In a trance, it was like returning to several years ago.

She and Little Shixiong looked at each other, then looked at Third Shixiong and Princess Hua, and looked at this palace, pavilion, singing girls, and dancers.

Thinking carefully, this kind of ability, although it is not a supernatural power that destroys the world, how can it be inferior to those supernatural powers? Third Shixiong wanders the rivers and lakes and the world, and with this Princess Hua accompanying him, it is equivalent to carrying this palace and pavilion with him, and bringing so many maidservants and servants. Why not?

(End of chapter)