Chapter 81

The snow on Mount Yishan continued until February, but it became increasingly sparse. In the end, only when the weather was very bad would some snow dust drift from the sky, and the Yishan that looked like an ice and snow fairyland in winter could no longer be seen.

Only then did spring arrive in the mountains.

In the meantime, the constable named Pan Yi personally ran up the mountain again, just in time for a day of fine snow, bringing the interrogation and verdict results of that martial artist.

Nothing was asked.

In addition, the Daoists of Fuqiu Temple had to go to the foot of the neighboring Scissors Peak every few days to do hard labor, repairing the temple for the fellow practitioners of Scissors Peak. Except for Daoist Yunhe, no one could escape. However, the senior and junior brothers working together without distinction, chatting while working, was undoubtedly a unique kind of fun, and as for hardship, it was absolutely out of the question.

Not long after spring arrived, the peach and pear blossoms all over the mountain bloomed.

Choosing a day of leisure and good spring scenery, the Daoists of Fuqiu Temple brought food and wine up to the depths of the peach blossoms in the mountain, sitting in a circle to enjoy spring.

On the ground were braised meat, salted meat, and brown sugar steamed cakes made by Lin Jue, and rice wine brewed by the third senior brother. Above their heads were full peach blossoms, and a slender fox was lying on a peach tree branch, dangling a fluffy tail.

The junior sister was holding a colorful raccoon, head down, focusing on eating.

"How are you two practicing your magic?"

Daoist Yunhe held a steamed cake, his beard long, with crumbs of the cake on it, and asked.

"Reporting to Master, I don't know the depth of my cultivation, but I have never slacked off in my practice," Lin Jue replied. "In terms of magic, I have already learned fire magic and alchemy from the second senior brother, and the bean soldiers are also about to be mastered."

"Reporting to Master, me too. The path I practice is almost over the first mountain. If I hadn't gone to help the Fourth Aunt repair the temple, I would have definitely crossed it," the junior sister said, following Lin Jue, but couldn't help but look at Lin Jue in confusion. How did she learn one, while the senior brother learned two, and his progress was not slow either?

Thinking for a moment, she had to add another sentence:

"I am also very serious about learning sword techniques from the third senior brother, and the third senior brother has always praised my talent!"

"Don't talk about these things. Today the spring scenery is so bright, and the peach blossoms all over the mountain are blooming. Why talk about these things instead of drinking?" The third senior brother held a wine jar in one hand, and after speaking, he poured wine for everyone, shaking his head and chanting happily while pouring, "Wine is the immortal's medicine, it can drive away all cold; wine is the life-extending powder, it can solve three thousand worries..."

Daoist Yunhe was also happy, not caring, grabbing meat to eat and holding a cup to drink.

Lin Jue felt some itching behind his head. Looking back, it was the tail of his little fox dangling down, swaying unconsciously.

Lin Jue patted it and also raised his cup to drink.

Don't look at the third senior brother drinking all day, and the temple being led by him to add a meal of wine at the dinner table from time to time. In fact, the wine he brews has a very low alcohol content. Whether it is fruit wine or rice wine, it has no strength. And this person is skilled in brewing wine; the wine he brews is neither astringent nor bitter, often with a sweet taste. Lin Jue and the junior sister drink it as sweet water.

Once in the mood, the seventh senior brother plucked a peach blossom and threw it into the sky, and it turned into a peach-red butterfly.

Everyone followed it with their eyes.

It really looked like a butterfly—

The little leaf stem connected to the flower became the butterfly's body, the stamen became the butterfly's head and antennae, and the petals were the butterfly's wings, flying over everyone's heads and among the peach branches.

The colorful raccoon couldn't tell the difference and was only attracted by the butterfly, leaving the junior sister's arms, jumping and jumping to catch it. After working for a long time, it couldn't catch it. Instead, when the butterfly flew in front of the fox, the fox reached out and naturally caught it, then seriously threw it to the colorful raccoon.

The butterfly landed, just a few petals.

The seventh senior brother held his wine glass, smiling.

Lin Jue undoubtedly felt the charm of theatrical arts. At this moment, this had truly become the magic he most wanted to learn.

"Now it's peach and pear blossoms. In a few days, the azaleas in the mountain will also bloom," Daoist Yunhe said. "Yishan has scenery in every season. After watching this season of azaleas, you two can be considered to have seen a full cycle."

"It's been a year already," Lin Jue sighed.

"It's been a year already!" the junior sister learned from him.

"Junior sister, don't forget to pick some peach blossoms for me after drinking, and you can drink peach blossom wine in a few days."

"Remembered, senior brother."

"You clumsy person, your own business, asking the junior sister to do it!" Daoist Yunhe glared at him. "How did you refer to yourself just now?"

Daoists pursue spontaneity, so naturally, they want to refer to themselves however they want.

After the laughter, the senior brothers asked Lin Jue what vegetables to plant this year, what poultry and livestock to raise, planning the food for the coming year. Lin Jue lay down and occasionally said the names of a few dishes, describing them in a few short sentences, which could make them drool and look forward to it.

Just as they were chatting, there was a sudden anomaly.

The fox lying on the tree was almost asleep, but suddenly turned its head to look at the sky in the distance. In addition, among the many Daoists on the mountain, only Daoist Yunhe turned his head.

The mountain wind filled the sky, peach blossoms danced, and a paper crane flew in with the wind.

Everyone noticed Daoist Yunhe's gaze, and then turned their heads to look, in a daze thinking it was the seventh senior brother's theatrical arts again.

But they saw the paper crane circling in the air, seemingly looking for something, then aiming at the few people below, shaking a few times, and then crashing down.

Daoist Yunhe reached out and caught it just right.

Lin Jue saw the spiritual light and spirit of the paper crane in a daze, but after it landed, it immediately disappeared.

Daoist Yunhe didn't seem surprised, just opened it.

The other senior brothers also looked at him curiously.

"Is it a letter? Where did it come from? This kind of magic can actually bypass the Yishan Mountain God!"

"Sent from Mingchao Mountain, saying that the Great Offering Ceremony this year will be held at Mingchao Mountain during the Mid-Autumn Festival," Daoist Yunhe said after reading it. "Hope we can go to the meeting."

"Great Jiao?"

Lin Jue suddenly thought of the Qiyun Mountain Daoist meeting that the theatrical performers in the city traveled thousands of miles to attend last spring. It was actually a kind of Great Offering Ceremony, so he couldn't help but ask:

"Is the Great Jiao held every year?"

"No, there is no fixed number for this. Some are long apart, some are short," Daoist Yunhe handed the paper to the eldest senior brother and explained to Lin Jue at the same time. "Although there is no fixed time, the manpower and financial resources required to hold a Great Jiao are extremely high. Like twenty years ago, it generally took four or five, five or six years to hold one."

Lin Jue didn't ask any more questions.

Having been on the mountain for so long, he already knew that Zhai Jiao is actually a grand ritual of the Fulu Sect, with the purpose of worshipping deities and praying for the country's prosperity and the people's peace, and favorable weather.

Famous Daoist temples of the Lingfa Sect will also be invited, firstly because they are fellow Daoists after all, and secondly because in terms of the country's prosperity and the people's peace, besides bowing, the Lingfa Sect can also contribute.

Another reason is that the cultivators of the Lingfa Sect and the world's loose cultivators, strange people, and scholars are closed off and do not communicate much with each other. The Great Jiao, a grand ceremony known to the world, has become a very good communication platform. Everyone can communicate about the world's situation at the Great Jiao, make friends, and even exchange magic tools, pills, and magic techniques, taking what they need, so they will go there by reputation.

The Great Jiao, which used to be held every four or five, five or six years, was held for the second time in just a year and a half, definitely because the country is not prosperous and the people are not at peace, and the weather is not favorable, so they are willing to spend money on this.

"And what magic is that?"

Lin Jue asked curiously, looking at the paper crane.

He regretted that he didn't reach out to catch it just now.

"Paper folding play, it's also a theatrical art," the seventh senior brother answered casually. "But this is used by the Fulu Sect."

"Is there any difference?"

"There is no essential difference; they are all paper folding plays, but the Daoists of the Fulu Sect don't know this magic technique themselves; they borrow the deity's ability. Hm, and it's borrowing the ability of the deity who specializes in this path. It can be roughly understood as one of the one or few people with the deepest attainment in this magic technique in the current world. Therefore, it can fly ten or a hundred miles near, and thousands of miles far, reaching wherever the divine power radiates."

"What about the Lingfa Sect?"

"Our temple doesn't have the magic technique of paper folding play, but even if you know it, you can't fly very far when your attainment is shallow. When your attainment is deep, you can fly far, but if you want it to accurately find the target, you still have to ask for the deity's help, or catch a ghost yourself, or ask a remnant soul to lead the way."

"The Fulu Sect still has a lot of advantages..."

"That's not all," the seventh senior brother said with a smile. "If ordinary cultivators fold paper to return, even if there is a ghost to lead the way, they can find our Fuqiu Peak, but they can't pass the Yishan Mountain God's level."

"Do all Fulu Sect cultivators know this trick?"

"Of course not. It depends on what deity you worship, whether the deity you worship knows this trick, and whether the deity you worship is the one who specializes in this path," the seventh senior brother said. "Qiyun Mountain doesn't worship this deity who specializes in this path, but they have other abilities. Like last year, they used the Qingji under Divine Lord Yi Li to deliver the letter."

"Qingji..."

"A kind of spirit deity, traveling a thousand miles a day."

"Are we going?"

Everyone looked at Daoist Yunhe.

"Cough cough, sigh, the Great Offering Ceremony is rarely held, so naturally we must go. Besides, the Great Offering Ceremony at this time, if our Fuqiu Temple doesn't go, I'm afraid we will be called indifferent to the world by fellow Daoists."

The old Daoist said and paused:

"But I am old, and Mingchao Mountain is a bit far, so I can't walk anymore. Sigh, the world is chaotic now, and it's hard to say if there will be anything asking for help at the foot of the mountain. You shouldn't all leave the temple. This kind of Vegetarian Offering Ceremony originally doesn't have much for us to do, it's just going to join in the fun. At that time, please ask a senior brother to take you two little ones for a trip. Let you go to see and learn. See what the level of other spiritual magic cultivators in the world is, and what abilities the strange people and scholars have."

"Understood..."

Lin Jue and the junior sister both nodded.

After setting this matter, the many Daoists threw it behind their heads and continued to eat, drink, and talk, as if there were no worries.

Only the junior sister was thinking about picking peach blossoms. Before she finished eating, she picked half a basket, then came back and sat down, listening to the senior brothers talking. Unknowingly, everyone and the fox were covered in flowers.

Thinking that this is the path of cultivation in the hearts of the common people at the foot of the mountain, this is the spontaneous and natural life of cultivating the Dao.

Returning to the temple, it was nothing more than brewing wine with pine flowers, boiling tea with spring water, in the comfortable days, after several mornings of cold rain and evening winds, the peach blossoms hurriedly thanked the spring red.

The spiritual plants in the mountain also bloomed.

In early summer, they bore fruit.

At first, more than twenty were formed. By the time they grew to the size of a fingernail, one could see they were fruits, and one could also see that no other fruits were emerging. The spirits in the mountain picked some and discarded them. Most of those picked were underdeveloped and those close together, leaving seventeen.

There are a total of fourteen spirits in the mountain, plus Lin Jue, the junior sister, and the fox, exactly seventeen.

Lin Jue didn't expect that they would also thin the fruit.

The ability to count also exceeded that of the fellow Daoists on Scissors Peak.