Chapter 61

These mouse soldiers all had fierce glints in their eyes, not at all related to the word "timid as a mouse," as if the pain only deepened their ferocity. Either they were burned and disheveled, still carrying fire on their bodies, or they were scorched out of their original forms by the flames, revealing a mouse head, their expressions fierce and hideous. Charging over like this, even though they were short, they were still frightening.

Unexpectedly, just as they ran close to the three, a whistle stick swept across the ground.

The wind of the stick was fierce, wailing incessantly.

In the end, they were just mice; how could they block a wooden stick? Immediately, two mouse soldiers were swept away!

This stick was from the hands of a woman.

Although the junior sister was young and didn't know many spells, she had followed the old Daoist all the way here and had seen many fierce yaoguai and ghosts. Plus, listening to the senior brothers chatting in the temple, being with the clouded leopard, and sometimes dealing with mountain spirits and monsters when building roads up the mountain, how could she be afraid of these little monsters?

Not to mention her personality, even if she were afraid, she would never show it, just treating them as ordinary mice to be beaten.

Seventh Third Third Shixiong also took the broom of the temple.

"Bang bang bang..."

For a time, chaotic sticks were waved down, some aimed and hit, some hit wildly, beating these mouse soldiers until they fled in panic.

It was fine if they could dodge, but if they were hit solidly by a stick, there was no other talk, only the result of their bodies stiffening and falling straight to the ground, turning into their original forms.

Even that fox that hadn't grown up yet rushed to the side, biting a mouse soldier running on the edge.

But these mouse soldiers were numerous after all, and had the advantage of flexibility, so there were still mouse soldiers running from the very inside to Lin Jue's side.

I don't know if it was because that old woman was in Lin Jue's hands, or if they regarded Lin Jue as the leader of the three, but these mouse soldiers seemed particularly resentful of Lin Jue, all charging toward him.

When they rushed to his front, they screamed incessantly.

"Squeak squeak!"

How could Lin Jue be afraid of them?

A ball of flame was sprayed out immediately, hitting the ground, spreading out a brilliant flower along the ground, followed closely by the heavy firewood knife.

The blade seemed to cut through the flames.

A few mouse soldiers had just rushed out of the flames, their vision hadn't recovered yet, when they were solidly slashed by the firewood knife.

Having chopped firewood in the mountain for two months, he had already understood the way of exerting force when swinging the knife. Although the firewood knife was heavy, the blade was straight.

One slash and two pieces, no suspense!

Only that mouse soldier leader had higher cultivation, actually retreating backward, avoiding the blade.

Then a fierce glint flashed in its eyes.

As if feeling that it had caught an opportunity, it immediately rushed forward crazily, wanting to take advantage of the gap when the blade had just slashed over, and rush to Lin Jue's side.

But unexpectedly, the clearly heavy firewood knife had just swung over, but immediately swung back, hitting it solidly on the body with the back of the knife, sweeping it away in one go, hitting the wooden door beside it.

"Squeak squeak..."

These mouse soldiers were finally afraid.

It seemed they realized that these people were not the ordinary people in the city who would be scared out of half their lives when they saw monsters, and were not so easy to bully, so they ran back at a faster speed.

"True person, spare my life!

"True person, spare my life!

"Spare my life!"

A firewood knife was placed beside the mouse soldier leader. As soon as Lin Jue approached it, it immediately scared it into a puff, bursting into black mist, turning into a big gray mouse.

Accompanied by a smell of putrefaction.

Lin Jue frowned, stepped out with one foot, and stepped on its tail.

If it could be said that the monsters he met along the way had made him lose his fear of monsters, then before this, because most of the monsters he met were respectable, Lin Jue had some respect for monsters in his heart. But now, this group of mouse yaoguai who stole people's silver and dared to harm people made him lose his collective respect for monsters.

"Speak! What are you doing stealing people's money?"

"True person, spare my life!"

"Speak!"

"If I speak, can you spare me?"

"Less nonsense!"

"Naturally, naturally it is useful!" The big gray mouse on the ground was as big as a cat, its eyeballs rolling, and as soon as timidity arose, its ferocity disappeared without a trace.

"Then where did you hide the money you stole?"

"True person, did you come for the money? Then if you let us go, we will return the money to you!"

The mouse yaoguai's address had a natural change.

With a slap, the firewood knife slashed to the ground.

"Still dare to negotiate terms with me?"

"It's not negotiating terms! True person, if you are not a fool, you should also be able to see clearly! True person, you killed two of our family members and injured so many of our family members. If you still want to kill all of us, how could we give you money? Besides, if you kill all of us, you will never get the money in your life!"

"..."

This mouse was really smart.

"You say I killed your family members, but haven't you harmed human lives? Besides, you stole so much money in the city, did you think no one would be unable to live because of this? Besides, if you hadn't raised your knives and shot arrows as soon as we met, how would I have killed you?" Lin Jue said in a deep voice.

"This..."

The big gray mouse's eyes rolled around, as if thinking, then decisively avoided this topic:

"True person, what you say is reasonable, but is there any room for negotiation on this matter?"

"What is there to negotiate with you?"

"We are rebellious, stealing silver in the city. True person, you are so angry, it is as it should be. But why doesn't the true person think about it? We mice, being able to become spirits by chance is already stepping on a great opportunity. How can there be a whole family becoming spirits? Besides, we are a group of mice. Even if we become spirits, what use is white silver? It's better to steal a few handfuls of rice and a few pieces of cured meat to have a full meal."

"What do you mean?" Lin Jue couldn't help but frown, "Someone is directing you?"

"I say this just to explain that we are not the mastermind. The purpose is to save our lives. If I say everything, wouldn't it still be death?"

The big gray mouse's eyes rolled around, thinking rapidly:

"True person, you are right. Silver is a person's life, and a person's life is definitely more expensive than a mouse's life. The silver we stole in this temple last night is still in the hole below, but it is dozens of zhang deep. Only we mice can get it, and it will be transferred away by tomorrow at the latest. If the true person lets me and my family go, we will return all the silver to the true person right now. Otherwise, this silver will never be retrieved again."

"You are really smart..."

"We are also helpless."

"..."

Lin Jue stood on the spot for a while, looking at it with a cold smile.

The two people in the room looked at Lin Jue.

Only the little fox sat at his feet, guarding against other mice and the hole in the corner of the wall for him.

The big gray mouse was extremely nervous, its heart beating very fast.

"That money is not my money. It is naturally good to get it back, and it is not my loss if I can't get it back." Lin Jue looked down at it, his eyes also hiding a few fierce glints, "It is not so easy to spare you."

The big gray mouse saw that fierce glint, and its courage was almost shattered.

Eight or nine out of ten of the certainty in its heart was gone.

Falling into such a situation during negotiations could be considered a loss.

"Squeak squeak..."

The big gray mouse was extremely panicked.

Lin Jue's gaze flickered, but his heart sighed. Knowing that under the flood, this sum of silver might really save lives, he turned his head to look at the distance from here to the corner of the wall:

"I will give you a chance at most."

"What chance!?"

"You let two people go to retrieve the silver, not a single bit less, and the rest stay here. If you play tricks, all those who stay here will be burned to death by me with a fire. If you retrieve all the silver, I will give you five breaths of time to escape. If you can escape, it's your ability; if you can't, admit your bad luck."

"Two people? Oh! Squeak squeak!" The big gray mouse pondered, "How long is five breaths?"

"It is..."

Lin Jue looked at it silently, breathing five times.

"So long."

"Ten breaths!"

"There is no room for negotiation!"

Lin Jue's voice suddenly deepened.

The big gray mouse was startled and hurriedly replied:

"Good!"

"Those who stay here must include you, and this old one."

"..."

The big gray mouse's eyeballs rolled around, constantly examining the distance from here to the corner of the wall. There was no other way, so it still agreed.

So two big gray mice struggled to get up, walked and stopped toward the distance, and drilled back into the hole, while the rest stayed by Lin Jue's side, also blocked in the corner of the wall as hostages.

Those knives and bows were piled on the other side, like children's toys, but their sharpness could not be ignored.

When the two mice came out again, they became four.

The remaining two were very small, and when they turned into humans, they were not complete, still leaving a mouse head.

They began to move the white silver out.

Each time they could only move one piece.

Lin Jue sat on the ground, waiting patiently.

It was wonderful to say that at this time, he had just won against this group of mouse yaoguai, and had temporarily reached an agreement, not a reconciliation. When Lin Jue looked at that mouse soldier leader again, his state of mind was actually much more stable.

"I talked with you and felt that you are very smart. You must also know the danger of helping people do such things. Why do you still continue to help the evildoer?" Lin Jue looked at the silver money on the ground in the temple increasing, although he was still vigilant about the movements of these mouse soldiers, he asked.

"How can the world of yaoguai be compared with humans?"

"How do you say?"

"We mice often live with humans, often listening to people talk and read on beams and in walls, knowing that people have etiquette and laws. But yaoguai and ghosts don't." The mouse soldier leader said weakly, "For us, being able to get freedom in the wild is already not easy. If we can't get it, we have to see if the deity who manages this place is strict, or if the great yaoguai who rules this place is tyrannical."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh:

"Just a mouse, the true person just slashed two to death with one knife. How much difference can you have in your heart? If we were really stepped to death by a great yaoguai, or punished by a deity for a small mistake, where would we have a place to seek justice?"

"..."

Lin Jue stopped talking.