Chapter 390

The cave was dim, and spring water dripped.

Passing through the deep pool's waterway, it was surprisingly a karst cave, and it lived up to the saying: "At first it was extremely narrow, only allowing one person to pass; after walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly opened up."

After passing through a narrow area, the space immediately grew larger. Looking around, it was filled with dense stalactites.

Under the illumination of the firelight, they were jagged and bizarre.

Li Yan had visited Shennongjia in his previous life and knew the terrain was complex with many karst caves, but the cave before him still shocked him.

It was staggered in height and extended in all directions, like a labyrinth. Even when he used his divine abilities to the fullest, he couldn't detect how far it went.

It seemed as if the entire mountain range was hollowed out with karst caves underneath.

The good thing was that there was someone to lead the way.

Several "Jingren" had already entered the cave ahead of time, hopping and skipping in front. Although they were all tiny, their speed was not slow at all.

They feared no darkness; in this underground cave, it was practically the same as being home, leading the group forward all the way.

Turning left, turning right, passing through one cave after another, the group couldn't even tell which area they had reached.

Li Yan raised his vigilance and gave the group a look.

Although these "Jingren" posed almost no threat to them, after all, they were in Shennongjia, so it was better to be careful.

Unknowingly, the group had walked for half an hour.

After climbing through a narrow karst cave, fresh air suddenly greeted them, and they heard the whistling of the wind.

Not only that, Li Yan also smelled a strange odor.

There was the musk of wild beasts, but more of it was the scent of incense.

Immediately, the view before them suddenly opened up.

This was a huge circular mountain cave, somewhat like a volcanic vent, with the surrounding rock walls covered in honeycomb-like holes, housing dense crowds of "Jingren."

There was no cover above the cave; there was a hundred-meter-long circular opening where one could see the bright moon in the night sky, and the mountain wind whistled, keeping the air inside the cave fresh.

Moonlight spilled down from the opening, shining on a colossal creature.

Upon seeing it, everyone felt their scalps tighten.

They saw a giant creature coiled in the center of the cave, resembling both a tiger and a leopard, with a body length reaching eight meters, covered in white fur with beautiful black markings, and a pair of long fangs.

This giant creature was clearly injured; there was a huge gash on its abdomen, oozing black pus, and it was covered in a series of potato-sized pustules.

Seeing them enter, the giant creature slowly raised its head.

Its pupils were emerald green, its gaze clear but slightly weary.

"White... White Tiger?"

Sha Lifei swallowed his saliva, stuttering slightly.

Li Yan frowned slightly, raising his vigilance.

This thing looked a bit like a saber-toothed tiger. According to Village Head Zhou, such exotic beasts existed in Shennongjia, known as "Guoshanhuang," with incredibly fast speed.

Because they didn't actively harm people, they were regarded by the surrounding villagers as the guardian beasts of Shennongjia, called "Mountain King Bodhisattva."

But "Guoshanhuang" were yellow, and this one didn't match.

Only Wang Daoxuan, not knowing what he thought of, had his eyes light up, and he said tremblingly, "It's a 'Zouyu,' a living 'Zouyu'!"

"The 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' mentions it: as big as a tiger, possessing five colors, with a tail longer than its body, named Zouyu; riding it, one can travel a thousand miles a day..."

Sha Lifei was somewhat nervous. "Is it dangerous?"

Not to mention him, even Li Yan was hearing of it for the first time.

Wang Daoxuan hurriedly shook his head. "The transformation of the Guanju and the Qilin's footprints is the virtue of a king. The virtue of the magpie's nest and the Zouyu is the virtue of a feudal lord. This is an ancient benevolent beast that does not eat living creatures; it only appears when there is supreme integrity."

Sha Lifei was confused. "What? What does that mean?"

Wang Daoxuan's eyelid twitched. "It eats grass."

Having said that, he hurriedly stepped forward, bowed openly and solemnly, and said, "Fellow Daoist, thank you for allowing us to take temporary shelter here."

Li Yan also caught the drift.

This thing was actually called an auspicious omen by the ancients; it looked fierce, but it was a herbivore, and only people with integrity could see it.

Looking at the pair of large fangs, although he was suspicious in his heart, Li Yan still led the group forward and bowed in thanks as well.

As for Wu Ba, he was even more excited; he hurriedly unloaded his luggage, ran over in a few steps, and kowtowed incessantly, his eyes filled with hot tears.

This giant "Zouyu" looked at Wu Ba with an even softer gaze, its mouth slightly open, a rumbling sound echoing in its throat, emitting a series of sounds—it was indeed the Upper Language.

Wu Ba also hurriedly raised his head and responded in the Upper Language.

Lu San whispered a translation for everyone.

"This divine beast is the mountain god protecting this area, and also one of the deities worshipped by the Renxiao tribe. It is asking Wu Ba..."

"When the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect people attacked the Renxiao tribe, it wanted to go to the rescue, but was besieged by people using firearms, and it has been nursing its wounds for a long time..."

"Roar!"

Just at this moment, the "Zouyu" suddenly let out a low roar, filled with pain, and those pustules on its abdomen all burst with a series of popping sounds.

Immediately, a large number of white, twisting nematodes crawled out.

"It's the 'Jiao Gu'!"

The group was all too familiar with this thing; the Tuoshi had been hit by it twice, nearly losing his life, and they didn't expect to see it again in Shennongjia.

Sha Lifei was thoughtful and whispered, "Brother Yan, the 'Jiao Gu' obtained by the Donghu Ancestor, couldn't it have come from Shennongjia?"

"Treat the wounds first, then ask!"

Li Yan said, signaling Lu San to step forward and communicate.

Lu San didn't talk nonsense either; after stepping forward, he muttered and communicated with it in the Upper Language, while Wu Ba also chimed in from the side to vouch for them.

The "Zouyu" looked at the group, then nodded, its body rolling with difficulty to fully expose the wound on its abdomen.

Upon seeing it, everyone felt their scalps go numb.

This wound was far deeper than imagined; one could even vaguely see the internal organs, and it was similarly covered in pustules of Gu insects.

Fortunately, this divine beast had a vigorous vitality and, not knowing what method it used, had forced the Gu insects into one spot, barely maintaining its life.

Hearing the "Zouyu's" pained groans, the dense crowds of "Jingren" on the surrounding rock walls all ran out.

Although they were somewhat afraid of outsiders, they still gathered quickly, forming three huge teams, and under the organization of a shaman wearing a jade mask, they knelt and worshipped, burning various spices and dried mushrooms.

For a time, the entire cave was shrouded in clouds and mist.

This was the most ancient form of sacrifice.

The "Rites of Zhou" mentioned: "Use Yin sacrifice to worship the Haotian Shangdi, use Shichai sacrifice to worship the sun, moon, and stars, and use Youliao sacrifice to worship the Siji, Siming, Wind Master, and Rain Master."

"Yin sacrifice," "Shichai," and "Youliao" were all forms of burning items for sacrifice, the precursors to the incense and candles in today's temples and monasteries.

The "Jingren," this ancient race, still retained this custom.

Li Yan could clearly smell the power of the incense gathering, being fully absorbed by the "Zouyu" lying on the ground, and its pain was eased accordingly.

At the same time, Lu San also finished communicating, opened the luggage behind Wu Ba, and took out a gourd from inside. The medicine inside the gourd was the "Jiao Gu Pill," refined by Li Facheng, a descendant of the Medicine Saint, specifically used to cure Gu.

After feeding the "Zouyu" several pills, the giant beast immediately curled its body, its muscles trembling from the pain, but the white nematodes inside its body also scrambled to crawl out.

Buzz!

Lu San patted the demon gourd, and a swarm of poisonous bees whistled out, eating those Gu insects, and even sucked the black pus on the "Zouyu's" wound completely clean.

After the Gu insects were eliminated, the "Zouyu's" spirit immediately improved, and the muscles on its abdomen contracted, closing the wound.

The dense crowds of "Jingren" around were similarly excited, chattering, jumping around, and bringing out gourd ladles one after another from the cave, all filled with a pasty green medicinal juice, the medicinal fragrance pungent.

They worked together and quickly applied the green medicinal juice to the "Zouyu's" wound.

Seeing this, Li Yan and the others also revealed smiles on their faces.

No wonder these "Jingren" served the gods and lived; they had a unique culture and had already formed a symbiotic relationship with the god.

In the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," every mountain peak had a mountain god; presumably, the "Jingren" tribes of that time were also very prosperous.

After applying the medicine, the "Zouyu's" spirit improved greatly, its gaze clear, and it spoke in the Upper Language, conversing with Lu San.

!.

Soon, everyone understood the cause and effect.

"Within Shennongjia, there are also divisions of territory. The Renxiao tribe was conquered, the 'Zouyu' was injured, and a vacuum appeared in this area..."

"Those Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect people have powerful experts accompanying them, and relying on firearms, they are wantonly capturing the mountain's monsters and spirits, killing them to practice evil arts..."

"The reason the Shen Kui tribe is powerful is because their leader is an exotic white Shen Kui named 'Bai Gong,' who is very powerful and is also a mountain god."

"Originally, several parties joined forces to drive away the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect's evil people, but the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect people awakened a poisonous dragon, and several mountain gods were injured as a result."

"That Shen Kui leader 'Bai Gong' snatched a powerful magic artifact from a Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect expert, and not knowing what bewitchment he suffered, he actually began to practice evil arts, secretly devouring other mountain gods; only the 'Zouyu' was alert enough to escape."

"Now, that Shen Kui leader 'Bai Gong' has become even more powerful, successively subduing several wild tribes, and fighting with the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect every night..."

Hearing this, the group finally understood the situation in Shennongjia.

Lu San also breathed a sigh of relief. "It's very dangerous over there now, and the 'Zouyu' doesn't suggest we enter, but it can tell us the specific location of that poisonous dragon."

"That's great!"

Hearing this, Sha Lifei was happy. "Anyway, our mission is to find the poisonous dragon's hiding place and tell the Zhenwu Palace so they can handle it."

Having said that, he hurriedly took out a map from his luggage.

Seeing this, Lu San shook his head directly. "The 'Zouyu' can't read maps. It says it will rest for a while and let us look for ourselves tomorrow."

Look for ourselves?

The group looked at each other, not knowing what it meant, but now that the mission had a clue, they weren't in a hurry, so they simply set up camp to rest.

This cave was not small and was well-ventilated.

The "Jingren" and the "Zouyu" didn't need it, but they needed to roast fire to keep warm and heat their food. After obtaining consent, they immediately lit a bonfire.

When entering the mountain, they had prepared dry rations, nothing more than some cakes and dried meat, as well as a bag of mooncakes that Village Head Zhou had insisted on giving them.

Just as they started roasting the cakes, many "Jingren" came over smelling the fragrance, carrying kiwis, chestnuts, walnuts, grapes, and other items.

Even the sleeping "Zouyu" opened its eyes.

Sha Lifei was happy and hurriedly roasted the extra cakes to distribute, also carrying a bag of mooncakes, running over to the "Zouyu's" side, "Mountain God, it was Mid-Autumn Festival two days ago, you should taste these mooncakes."

Knowing that the "Zouyu" was a vegetarian, his courage grew much larger, and he took the initiative to step forward and get close.

Beyond everyone's expectations, this "Zouyu" quite liked the mooncakes, eating one after another, its eyes squinting, just like a big cat.

However, after eating half the bag, it let out a low roar, letting the drooling "Jingren" share the rest, and brought out another item.

It was a piece of tree bark, wrapped with medicinal herbs inside.

Before it was even opened, Li Yan stood up, his eyes lighting up. "It's a precious medicine!"

Shennong tasted a hundred herbs; Shennongjia undoubtedly had rich resources of precious medicines. He hadn't seen any along the way, and didn't expect them to be hidden by the "Jingren."

Carefully opening the bark, inside was a whole medicinal herb, the leaves were diamond-shaped with black berries on top, like glaze, and the roots below were thick and short, wrapped in soil, looking like ginseng...

"It's a 'Pearl on the Head'!"

Sha Lifei was full of excitement and hurriedly took out a booklet from his luggage—it was the spiritual medicine collection mission given to them by the old Daoist Wang Jingxiu of Wudang Mountain.

Opening it to check, it was exactly the same as the drawing.

Sha Lifei chuckled, rubbing his bald head. "Old Daoist Wang said there are four treasures in Shennongjia: a Pearl on the Head, a Bowl of Water by the River, a Pen of King Wen, and a Seven-Leaf Single Branch Flower."

"It really was effortless to obtain..."

The herb presented by the Jingren was called "Paris polyphylla." It could be used to calm spasms, stop pain, stop bleeding, and detoxify. Because of the berries on top, it was called "Pearl on the Head."

This was a spiritual medicine, and its efficacy was naturally even more extraordinary.

For just this tiny plant, Wang Jingxiu was willing to pay twenty thousand taels; the key was that after refining it into pills, it could also be used to pay off debts.

Thinking of this, Sha Lifei's eyes rolled, and he said flatteringly, "Brother Lu San, talk to the Mountain God and give us all the spiritual medicines you find; everything is negotiable."

"If you want cakes, I'll get you a few hundred jin. Seeing it's cold and bitter here, it wouldn't be bad to find someone to build a temple..."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Lu San scolded him in a muffled voice, but still stepped forward, his expression respectful, and communicated in the Upper Language.

After some exchange, Lu San shook his head. "Don't dream of good things. How could the mountain gods let go of the precious medicines in Shennongjia? They only wait for the right time to pick them."

"The 'Zouyu' collected them over many years, but used them up when it was injured before; the others from the other mountain gods have probably already been taken by the Shen Kui leader..."

"What a waste of heaven's gifts!"

Sha Lifei was heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do.

However, the previous "Yao" meat, plus this Paris polyphylla, counted as an unexpected harvest, and with the mission about to be completed, they could be said to have gained quite a lot.

After the small interlude, the group lay down to sleep, taking turns keeping watch and burning fire for warmth, passing another night.

The next morning, the sky was slightly bright.

Sunlight shone down through the cave above, and the light and shadow inside the cave were mottled.

Looking at this long-lost sunlight, Wang Daoxuan's mood was also exceptionally good, stroking his beard. "This cave should be at the top of the mountain, so it wasn't covered by clouds and mist..."

And in the center of the cave, after a night of recuperation, the wound on the "Zouyu's" body finally closed completely.

It let out a low roar, shook its body, and climbed up, crouching on the ground. Under the sunlight, its black and white fur seemed to shimmer with golden dust, revealing the demeanor of a mountain god.

Lu San hurriedly said, "The 'Zouyu' can use the mountain god's ability to let us see into the distance. It's asking who will go first."

"I'll go first."

Li Yan was fearless and walked forward.

He had various means to protect his soul, making him the most secure.

And the "Zouyu" didn't talk nonsense, its huge head slowly lowering to touch Li Yan's forehead lightly.

In an instant, Li Yan felt as if he were flying.

Spirit Travel!

He didn't have time to be surprised before his vision changed rapidly, passing through the cave opening, through the clouds and mist, through the dense forest, seeing the surrounding mountains, rivers, and lakes...

(End of chapter)