Chapter 440

Unexpectedly, although there were few pedestrians on the road during the day, by night, six people had arrived one after another at this dilapidated post station.

Lin Jue and the fox counted as one.

A pair of official and servant.

A young scholar.

A middle-aged merchant.

An elderly man dressed quite well.

Although they were all strangers, in these times, one had to be on guard, and everyone intended to sit apart; but the guest hall of this post station was only so big, and with so many people sitting there, plus two windows that wouldn't close properly, constantly letting in wind, rain, and thunder, they had to avoid those spots to stay dry, making it even more crowded.

Being on guard like this, unless they didn't sleep at night, there was really little necessity.

It would be better for everyone to gather together and defend against thieves.

Soon, a voice came out:

"Everyone is here to avoid the rain, and meeting is fate. Why not sit together, light a fire, warm each other, work together to defend against thieves, and spend the long night together, how about that?"

It was the person who looked like an official.

As soon as the words fell, the young scholar agreed vehemently:

"Excellent! Excellent!"

The others had no objections either.

Sitting together and lighting a fire could not only work together to defend against thieves and warm up, but also prevent demons and ghosts.

The young scholar seemed timid and was the most diligent.

Everyone soon collected some firewood in the post station, piled it together in the middle of the guest hall, lit a fire, and agreed that when resting at night, if anyone was found to be a thief intending to do something untoward, they must shout out loud to warn everyone.

Lin Jue naturally sat over as well.

If he didn't go over, he feared they would be on guard against him all night, and he would have to be on edge all night too.

And only then did someone notice that not only was Lin Jue wearing Daoist robes, but he was also accompanied by a white fox that looked quite extraordinary.

"This..."

The scholar immediately pointed at the man and the fox, his face showing shock.

"It doesn't hurt people."

Lin Jue looked at him with a smile.

The fox also stared at him seriously.

"Is the Daoist from Qinzhou?" the middle-aged merchant asked.

"Indeed."

"No wonder! I hear that it's the fashion in the capital to keep foxes, and Daoists in Qinzhou all take bringing a white fox as a trend; the Daoist must be following suit, right?" The middle-aged merchant said while carefully sizing up Fuyao, "This white fox of yours has quite an extraordinary appearance; it must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"I picked it up."

"Haha..."

The middle-aged merchant smiled without a word.

The person dressed as an official saw this and took the lead in cupping his hands and saying: "I am Sheng Yuqing, and this is my old servant who has followed me for many years, called Zhou Liu. Since we have met here, why don't we leave our names?"

"Oh my, excuse me, excuse me!" The scholar hurriedly returned the salute, bowing his head very low, "I am Qi Gao, greetings!"

"I am Lu Yichen, originally a traveling merchant." The middle-aged merchant said.

"I am Ma Bo'en, I live locally." The old man said.

"I am Lin Fangjue." Lin Jue also said with a smile.

"I didn't expect that after traveling all day, I didn't see anyone on the road, but by night, I actually, actually met a few fellow travelers..." The scholar was clearly afraid.

"This is normal." The official said, "People used to travel during the day because they couldn't see clearly at night and were afraid of bumping into demons and ghosts, but in this world, human hearts are more terrifying than demons and ghosts; it's safer to go out when it's getting dark and travel at night."

"Yes, after all, if you meet demons and ghosts, you'll at most be eaten, but meeting mountain bandits is another matter. Especially for women." The old man nodded leisurely.

"What is everyone doing?" the scholar asked again.

"We are going to Zhaojun County ahead to take up our posts. The world is truly too chaotic now; a few months ago, the Dazu broke through Zhaojun County, burning, killing, and looting, and many officials in the city died. Last month, the army under General General Shu Xian recaptured Zhaojun and ordered me to go and fill the position of county registrar." The official said, "I thought it wasn't far, but unfortunately, we encountered this sudden rain and had to come here to hide."

The scholar listened and nodded repeatedly.

"I used to be a merchant traveling this road, often passing through here. I have a friend who lives ahead, and I'm going to visit him. It just so happens he owes me a debt, so I'm going to collect it, otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't dare to walk this road for another ten years, and it would be even harder to collect. Things are impermanent." The merchant said, looking up at the post station, "Just like this post station, I passed by here every year for the past few years, and it was perfectly fine. It was still here when I passed by last year, but coming back this year, I didn't expect it to be empty."

The scholar nodded and looked at the next person.

"Hehe, little scholar, don't be afraid. I have a daughter who married ahead, and she sent someone to bring a letter a few days ago saying she had a big, fat boy, so I'm going to visit her. There are mountain bandits on this road, so it's not safe to walk during the day. I'm old, but I have courage, and I'm familiar with the road, so I travel at night."

The scholar looked at Lin Jue.

"Me? Just a Daoist, traveling the world, visiting famous mountains, going to see what's beyond the pass."

"In this world, Daoist, without urgent business, you actually dare to go beyond the pass?" The scholar was surprised, clearly becoming more guarded.

"Indeed."

Lin Jue looked at him with a smile.

"This..."

Everyone looked at Lin Jue but didn't say anything, just keeping an extra bit of guard in their hearts.

"And you?"

Everyone looked at the scholar again.

"Oh, I am originally from Longzhou. I have a cousin who is serving in the army in the north as a general. He wrote a letter a few days ago asking me to go to his army to be a clerk... Sigh, it's not that I'm afraid of being laughed at, but I've been studying hard at home and haven't achieved any merit. Now, heh, everyone knows that if we want to take the imperial examination, we either have to wait for the next dynasty or wait for General General Shu Xian to be defeated. And staying at home isn't an option, so I agreed and am taking the risk to go over." "It's all difficult..."

A sigh came from beside the fire.

The fire crackled.

Sitting idly wasn't good, so they simply started chatting.

"How is the war going over here now?" the merchant asked.

"Sigh, General General Shu Xian was about to break into the capital, but unfortunately, he suffered a setback, and his momentum was blocked. Later, the Dazu took the opportunity to move south, invading cities and seizing land, and the general was attacked from both sides. A few months ago, one of the banners under his command actually rebelled, and the general spent a lot of energy suppressing it." The official sighed, "Fortunately, a General Luo emerged, brave and invincible, using troops like a god, unstoppable."

"I heard, I heard that General Luo is General General Shu Xian's son-in-law?" the scholar also asked.

"That's right!" the official replied.

"I heard that too. But General General Shu Xian has more than ten daughters and more than ten adopted daughters, all of whom he has married off, so he has many sons-in-law." The merchant said.

"Let's not discuss this recklessly." The official hurriedly stopped him.

"I just hope this war ends soon..." The old man didn't say much, but hearing this, he shook his head and sighed, "Since ancient times, whenever there is a war, martial artists go to be enfeoffed as marquises, and scholars go to be prime ministers, but the ones who suffer the most are us common people."

!

"I, for one, want General General Shu Xian to win, so that our children in the northwest can turn things around." The merchant said.

"Exactly!"

The scholar agreed repeatedly.

Because everyone spoke normally, and except for that Daoist, everyone's purpose for coming here made sense, plus their behavior and the feelings shared during the conversation, he slowly relaxed.

"Before, when General General Shu Xian's army moved south, everyone said it was unstoppable; how was it blocked?"

"I heard that it was someone who was originally unknown, not even a county magistrate in the city, who happened to block him. Sigh, you say this world's strife, sometimes it's really mysterious, and you never know where a dragon or tiger hero might be hiding, just not showing themselves in a prosperous age..."

Everyone started chatting about major world events.

Some were locals, some had connections to the northern army, and some had their own hearsay and knowledge; one word after another, regardless of how credible it was, they pieced together the current state of the world.

And because this was a roadside post station in the middle of a thunderstorm at night, as they talked, they drifted from major world events to stories of demons, ghosts, and immortals.

The merchant started it first:

"I passed through Qinzhou before and heard that Qinzhou has had many demons, ghosts, and immortal events in recent years. The most serious one was that several cities in the northeast of Qinzhou sank into the ground, and many experts went there to deal with the monsters, and immortals descended from heaven to eliminate them."

"There have always been many demons and ghosts in this world." The official said, "I encountered one not long ago."

"What?"

Everyone was very interested.

Lin Jue also cast his gaze over.

Even the fox, which was lying beside him and already drowsy, opened its eyes wide and looked at this person.

"I lived in Qingzhou before, and for a while, my heart was muddled, not knowing if I had been cursed, so I went to a Daoist temple I often visited to burn incense and pay respects to the gods, and I met a Daoist I had never seen before and talked with him. Unexpectedly, after chatting with this Daoist for a few sentences, I suddenly became enlightened." The official said, "But when I went to this temple again later, I found that there was no such Daoist in this temple, and no other Daoist had come to visit during that time."

"Was that an immortal?"

Everyone guessed one after another.

"I don't know. The temple didn't have a statue that looked like him." The official shook his head, "But there was a grave behind the temple, said to be left by a Daoist who used to be in the temple, and there was no name on the tombstone in front of the grave, only a poem. I still remember that poem."

After the official finished speaking, he pondered for a moment, then shook his head and recited:

"Where are the old friends? Where is the immortal path? Who shares my worries?

"Courtyard of yellow flowers, green lamp in the night rain, white hair in the autumn wind."

"It was probably an old Daoist seeking immortality, wasting half his life, leaving it behind on his deathbed. Sigh, it makes one sigh."

Lin Jue listened to this story and felt a bit of spirit:

"I have heard that ghosts and gods are essentially similar. Even if this was a ghost, since he could answer your questions and help you get rid of your confusion, there's no need to care whether he is a ghost or not. If you are grateful, burning a stick of incense at his grave and treating him as an immortal while doing so is fine."

When the official heard this, he was filled with respect and turned to bow to Lin Jue.

The others also took an extra look at Lin Jue.

"I have also encountered some things like this." The old man spoke, "When you get old, you always encounter quite a few ghosts and monsters."

Everyone looked at him, listening attentively.

"There was a person in our village before who lived next door to me. Our village is famous for brewing wine, and every family is wealthy, especially his family.

"One day he was returning home from the city, and not long after leaving the city, he met a woman who asked him for a ride, and he agreed.

"However, after traveling ten li, the woman told him, 'I am actually a ghost, ordered by another ghost to go to your house and harm you. But you let me ride in your carriage, and after talking on the way, I feel you are a good person and don't want to harm you, so I'm telling you this.'

"The man immediately begged for mercy.

"The woman told him to go back quickly, take his wealth, and move to the city, while she walked slowly behind. He must move before noon, as there is a City God in the city, and a small ghost like her cannot enter.

"The man went back, took all his wealth, called his family, and moved to the city. As it turned out, at noon, his house collapsed."

Everyone was amazed when they heard this.

Lin Jue was also thoughtful.

Next, it was the scholar's turn.

The scholar saw everyone looking at him and was a bit embarrassed: "I am young and have little experience, and I don't know many stories like this, but I am willing to tell one to entertain everyone and pass the time at night."

Saying this, he looked at everyone:

"Do you know that not far beyond the pass, there is a Mount Tianshan, and on Mount Tianshan, there are immortals and monsters, and there is a thousand-year-old snow lotus, and legend has it that the Snow Lotus Gathering is held every fifty years?"

When Lin Jue heard this, he immediately sat up slightly.

With wind blowing and rain falling, thunder flashing, several people sat in the abandoned post station, telling stories by the fire.

(End of chapter)