Chapter 85: The Rules of the Mountain Forest

The leaves are turning yellow, and the mountains and rivers are already in autumn.

Three Daoist figures stood at the entrance of the Daoist temple, all wearing Daoist robes. The person in front looked to be in his thirties, and the two behind were both teenage Daoist priests. Behind them stood a donkey, and the donkey was carrying bamboo baskets on its back.

On the ground was also a fox looking into the distance.

The Second Shixiong held several small porcelain bottles and handed them emphatically to Lin Jue and his Xiao Xiao Shimei.

"Remember, the cyan bottle contains the God-Walking Pill, the white bottle contains the Heart-Protecting Pill, which makes it less likely for you to be confused or bewildered by miasma, monster energy, or ghost energy. The green bottle is the Shatang Pill; after eating it, you won't drown if you fall into the water, and you can move freely. The red bottle is the Returning Light Pill, which stops bleeding and heals wounds. If you suffer a near-death injury and cannot walk, eating it will allow you to walk to a medical clinic."

His Xiao Xiao Shimei had a solemn expression and tried hard to remember.

Lin Jue also remembered it.

"There are still some pills and heavenly materials and earthly treasures on the back of Donkey Shixiong. See if you can exchange them for useful things at the Daoist meeting. Your Third Shixiong is unreliable. You must remember that although the pills are sealed and the heavenly materials and earthly treasures have been processed, they can be rained on, but they cannot fall into the water. If you encounter a heavy rain, just in case, you need to avoid it."

The First Shixiong exhorted the two again, just like when the two first went down the mountain to eliminate yaoguai with the Third Shixiong, and Daoist Yunhe exhorted them.

The Third Shixiong didn't mind when he heard it, just stood by and smiled.

"When you arrive at Mount Mingzhou, listen more to your Third Senior Brother, but don't listen to everything. The Vegetarian Offering ceremony is a mix of fish and dragons. Besides the Daoist temples of the Fulu Sect and the proper Daoist temples of the Lingfa Sect, there are also many loose practitioners and strange people in the world of martial arts. The behavior and character of these people are unpredictable. There are people beyond people and mountains beyond mountains, and there are many techniques in the world, which are strange and unpredictable. Don't easily conflict with others."

"I have remembered."

"I have remembered!"

Both said solemnly.

"Senior Brother, please also remember what I said. Cook dried pork ribs with rice into porridge, don't put anything else, it can be breakfast. Dice salted vegetables and salted meat, stir-fry with lard, it can be a side dish for dinner. Remember, the salted meat must be soaked in water for two hours first."

"I have remembered."

The First Shixiong waved his hand.

"Go."

The little fox could understand human speech. Hearing the sound, it turned its head to look at Lin Jue. Seeing Lin Jue shake the book bag behind him, it also stepped forward, and it jumped forward.

In front was a flight of stairs.

The little fox just jumped lightly, its figure was light, and it crossed twelve stone steps in one go, landing on the flat ground below.

It turned its head to look at Lin Jue again.

The three also walked down slowly.

"Your First Shixiong and Second Shixiong are very long-winded. Like them, worrying about this and that, they would be exhausted to death," the Third Shixiong said as he walked, and then laughed again. "Junior Brother, you are about the same. But I see that your exhortations are useless. Those pork ribs and salted meat won't last a few days. After you leave, the mouths and stomachs of some people in the temple will have to suffer."

Someone behind already had a bitter face.

Lin Jue carried the book bag, leaned on the whistle stick, and soon walked to the small path in the woods. The ground was already covered with fallen leaves, and the mountains were in autumn scenery.

Three swords were still inserted on the donkey's back.

Two iron swords from the Daoist temple, and one good sword gifted by a jianghu person from the foot of the mountain who came in the middle of the night in the snow.

Daoist robes, a black donkey, and swords.

It actually had a bit of jianghu spirit.

"You can listen to some of your First Shixiong's words, but you can't listen to all of them."

As the Third Shixiong walked, he repeated the First Shixiong's words again, as if he were singing against him:

"When you meet those miscellaneous people on Mount Mingzhou, you shouldn't easily conflict with them, but if someone comes to provoke you, don't be timid. No matter what, we represent Mount Yishan when we go out, represent the proper Lingfa Sect, and represent the name and Daoist techniques of our Ancestor.

"Besides, those Daoists of the Fulu Sect, hehe, they can invite gods to eliminate yaoguai, they are good hands, but if they fight with people, how much Dao cultivation do they have?

"Our Fuqiu Temple also has a wide network of contacts.

"Most importantly—

"People in the jianghu are naturally free and easy. If you are too careful, sometimes it is not good to make friends with others!

"..."

Lin Jue and his Xiao Xiao Shimei looked at each other.

What the First Shixiong said naturally made sense, but the Third Shixiong's words were obviously also reasonable. It was just a matter of different personalities and attitudes. How to choose and how much to take still depended on themselves.

"Will the gods not help the Daoist friends of the Fulu Sect to fight?" his Xiao Xiao Shimei asked curiously as she walked.

"That is natural! The reason why the Fulu Sect is blooming everywhere, besides simple cultivation, isn't it because it poses no threat to people?" The Third Shixiong said, "Gods can help them eliminate yaoguai and drive away evil, but if it involves matters between people, the imperial court has its own way. If the gods helped with everything, even helping to deal with people, how would the imperial court let them build temples and preach?"

"That's right..."

His Xiao Xiao Shimei nodded, thinking it made sense.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the woods:

"That's not entirely correct! The so-called etiquette and laws mostly exist in prosperous times. Gods not intervening in human affairs is the etiquette of the gods, but there are chaotic times in the human world. Is there none above the Nine Heavens?"

This voice was strange, and it didn't sound like a human at all.

But Lin Jue was already very familiar with it.

Even more than the voice, he was very familiar with the tone of speech and the wording of the rebuttal.

In the past year or so, he had gone up and down the mountain more than a dozen times. Every time he passed this place, he often shouted to the senior in the mountains. Sometimes he could get a response, sometimes he couldn't, and sometimes the other party spoke before he even shouted.

Over time, although they had never met and didn't know each other's names, they actually had some friendship.

The Third Shixiong just nodded when he heard it.

He had gone down the mountain with Lin Jue to purchase things several times, and gradually knew about this spirit monster.

This one was probably lonely and bored, and it was mostly due to its personality. Every time a Daoist passed by here, if there was anything wrong in the conversation, it would inevitably jump out to correct it.

And it was knowledgeable, and most of what it said was very reasonable.

Just like this time—

Chaotic times lack etiquette and laws.

Gods are the same.

"The senior's life length far exceeds ours, so naturally you see more than we do." The Third Shixiong used polite words, but his expression was very casual, and he bowed casually. "I don't know when the chaotic times of the Nine Heavens are?"

"You can even ask such a simple question?"

"My knowledge is shallow."

"Heh! You helped the spirit monsters in the mountain build a temple and stabilize their divine position at the foot of the neighboring mountain a few months ago. Don't you know how most gods come about? Don't you know where the divine power of gods comes from? Haven't you read the history books and divine registers about how many times the main gods above the Nine Heavens have changed and when they changed?"

"How do you say?"

"Truly dull!" The spirit monster in the woods sighed, as if making people think of the scene where it shook its head in frustration. "Human chaotic times are divine chaotic times!"

"Reasonable..."

The Third Shixiong nodded and sighed.

The voice of the spirit monster came out of the woods again: "Where are you going? Carrying so many things, it doesn't look like you are going to the village or city at the foot of the mountain to exchange and purchase."

The Third Shixiong didn't answer, but turned to look at Lin Jue beside him.

He knew that this one only liked to argue and rarely chatted with people, and this one had no friendship with himself, so this sentence was obviously not asking him.

"We are going to Mount Mingzhou to attend the Grand Vegetarian Offering Ceremony," Lin Jue replied.

"Another Grand Vegetarian Offering Ceremony!"

"Yes."

"The road ahead is not peaceful, especially in our Huizhou area, it is very unpeaceful. There are more yaojing and ghosts, and the younger they are, the less rules they have. You must be careful."

"Many thanks, Senior."

That voice didn't sound again.

Lin Jue and the others continued to walk.

It can be said that their footsteps never stopped.

Just as Daoist Yunhe said back then, "If you meet such a spirit monster, it's actually quite good," so after many times, Lin Jue was no longer surprised, but took it as a pleasure.

"Senior Brother, where are we going today?"

"How would I know? Just walk wherever we go."

"Hmm? Senior Brother, don't you know where to go?"

"The world is so big, and Mount Mingzhou is so far away, and I haven't been there. I only know roughly how to walk for the first two days, know the general direction, so just walk first, and then ask for directions while walking."

"Then where do we stay on the road? What do we eat?"

"Didn't we bring Ta Guo? I ate one while it was hot last night, and it was delicious, and there was a lot of meat filling!"

The Third Shixiong smiled and walked forward, his expression free and easy:

"We who cultivate the Dao are naturally close to heaven and earth. We won't be blown down by the wind or ruined by the rain. Naturally, we stay in an inn if we encounter one, and stay between heaven and earth if there is no inn. If there is a restaurant, we sit in the restaurant; if there is no restaurant, we eat Ta Guo. There will be a way when the cart reaches the mountain, and it will be straight when the boat reaches the bridge.

"Why worry so much?

"Just adding trouble."

Lin Jue also seemed to be infected by him and showed a smile.

"That's fine."

It seems that the First Shixiong was right, and the Master was right, the Third Shixiong is unreliable.

Fortunately, Lin Jue didn't mind at all.

He turned his head to look at his Xiao Xiao Shimei.

His Xiao Xiao Shimei also had a calm face. She even went out to repair roads on snowy days, so naturally she didn't care about this kind of sleeping in the open.

And there was a little fox...

Forget it, it was wild itself.

"Then what if we encounter a heavy rain and the pills and heavenly materials and earthly treasures are all ruined?"

"Then your Third Shixiong will have to be scolded..."

"Haha!"

The laughter spread through the mountains, causing the fox to turn its head.

It turned its head to look, and then continued forward.

Lin Jue saw it running and jumping freely in front, like an elf in the world, jumping over streams and bridges, crossing mountains and ridges. Only when it walked on the main road and where there were many people did it become more honest and walk to Lin Jue's side.

The sun grew higher and hung to the west.

Before he knew it, it was dusk.

As expected, dusk fell on the mountain road, and no inn could be seen in front or behind the group.

"The autumn wind urges sleep, and the fallen leaves help sleep. It's just right. It's neither cold nor hot today. Isn't heaven helping me to be free in the mountains?"

The Third Shixiong found a flat ground under a tree and began to unload the bamboo baskets on the donkey's back. The three swords were simply thrown on the ground and into the pile of fallen leaves.

Lin Jue also put down the book bag.

He saw the Third Shixiong find a few stones and larger branches, and surrounded a square frame under the tree. The stones were the four corners, and the branches connected them into lines. The long swords and luggage were all in the frame.

Only then did the Third Shixiong step in.

"Senior Brother is..."

Seeing the puzzled expressions of the two, the Third Shixiong explained:

"You don't know, people have people's rules, yaojing and ghosts have yaojing and ghosts' rules, and there are rules between people and yaojing and ghosts—

"Places with roads and houses are people's territory, and places far from the road are the world of spirit monsters. The day is the time for people to be active, and the night belongs to spirit monsters. People don't stay overnight in the wild casually, and yaojing and ghosts who are particular won't invade human houses at will, so there are some spirit monsters that trick people into opening doors, and some smart wild beasts do the same.

"If people stay overnight in the wild, they can build a square frame. This way, even if this place happens to be the territory of a certain spirit monster, it will see it and won't come to find trouble with you casually.

"Nowadays the world is chaotic, and there are many yaojing and ghosts. It is easy to dodge open spears but hard to guard against hidden arrows. Besides, even if you are not afraid, it is not good to be disturbed while sleeping.

"Just for peace!"

The Third Shixiong had already sat cross-legged in the frame.

The long sword was placed beside him.

"So that's how it is."

It seems that the Third Shixiong really has some jianghu experience.

Lin Jue and the other followed and walked in.

Sitting or lying down, listening to the wind blowing through the mountains and forests, watching the fallen leaves drifting, although the weather today was average and the sun could not be seen, they quietly waited for the sky to darken bit by bit, preparing to spend the night.

It was just that before the daylight had completely disappeared, Lin Jue felt that the mountain wind blowing over seemed to have become a bit stronger, and the sound in the mountains and forests had become more noisy, and even a little bit of moisture could be felt in the wind.

Looking up at the sky, it was dark and turbid.

Lin Jue couldn't help but frown—

It seems like it's going to rain. ===== CHAPTER 86 =====