Chapter 41

Lu Yang came to the stall selling sesame seed cakes again.

The one selling sesame seed cakes was a senior sister, making dough, waking up the dough, kneading the dough, throwing it into shape, skillfully not knowing how long she had practiced.

The senior sister pinched the dough into small balls one by one, using her hands, wrists, arms, torso... using her whole body to knead the dough into a cake shape.

The movements fit some kind of truth. This doesn't seem to be just simple kneading, but also a way to exercise body coordination.

The senior sister placed the dough cake on the forging table, swung a large iron hammer and beat it violently, making a loud clanging sound, sparks splashing, burning small holes on the ground.

The cake was quenched, the cold water boiled instantly, bubbling, and soon a sesame seed cake was made.

Lu Yang felt it was an eye-opener. The Hundred-Refining Peak really has ideas, combining gourmet food and weapon refining seamlessly.

"Give me a sesame seed cake."

The food in the cafeteria is really cheap. Lu Yang saw many good things here that made his eyes shine. If it weren't for the limited contribution points, he really wanted to buy them all.

The next morning, Lu Yang met with the two at the mountain gate of the Congwendao Sect according to the agreement.

"Just waiting for you." Meng Jingzhou waved after seeing Lu Yang. A carriage was parked behind him, exactly the one that pulled them to the Congwendao Sect at the beginning, and the old horse was still that old horse.

The only difference is that the third person changed from Senior Sister Yun Zhi to Seeing Man Gu.

Seeing Man Gu studied hard and was also studying while waiting for people. The wide Confucian robe covered his muscles, looking like a tall Confucian scholar.

"Don't take the flying boat?" Lu Yang was prepared to take the flying boat. Although his ground-shrinking to an inch was convenient, it was ultimately not as fast as the flying boat.

He temporarily gave up learning ground-shrinking to an inch and specialized in shrinking the ground and becoming an inch.

Meng Jingzhou patted the carriage and said proudly: "This carriage of mine is a strange treasure, containing a space array. We feel the carriage is walking slowly inside, but in the eyes of outsiders, it is as fast as a flying boat."

Thinking about it, the Meng family is far away in the Imperial City. Meng Jingzhou couldn't have walked to the Congwendao Sect step by step with an old horse. Walking like that, he wouldn't have reached the Congwendao Sect in a year.

The carriage used the array on the way to the Congwendao Sect, flying fast, and only closed the array and slowed down when approaching the Congwendao Sect, to show respect for the Congwendao Sect.

What Lu Yang saw before was the carriage that had already slowed down.

The three sat on the carriage. The inside of the carriage was as big as ever. Until today, Lu Yang understood what kind of value this carriage had.

"Speaking of which, where are we going? What is the mission?"

"Hey, did I not tell you? We are going to a place called Qinghuai County. It is better to let Brother Gu tell you the details. After all, it is the mission he found."

Seeing Man Gu put a bookmark in the book, closed the book, and spoke slowly.

"This matter was heard from the passengers of the flying boat when I went out to do missions. He is a merchant leader and knows many things that mortals don't know. He told me a story circulating among their merchants, which has a certain credibility."

"Between Qinghuai County and Yanjiang County, there is a large area of mountains, undulating. If merchants want to cross these mountains, they must have the guidance of local hunters."

"A terrifying existence appeared in the mountains, forcing the hunters to leave the mountains they relied on for survival..."

Night fell, the branches of the wildly growing trees blocked the moonlight, the thunder was deafening, the rain was pouring, and the ground was washed into a muddy mess, leaving no place to step.

Seven or eight people tied ropes around their waists, connecting them together to prevent anyone from slipping, sliding down the mountain, and getting lost.

All around was the sound of heavy rain. Even if someone fell and shouted, it would be difficult to hear the movement.

They wore coir raincoats, leaned on mountaineering sticks, carried baskets, and every step was taken with caution, fearing to step into deep pits.

The ice-cold raindrops made them disheveled. Looking up, the dense rain curtain blocked their sight, and they could only follow the old hunter in front.

"Watch your feet, the mountain road is slippery in rainy days!"

"Don't stop even if you are tired. Work hard, we are almost there. If you stop now, it will be difficult to get the energy to hurry again!"

"I, I really can't... Save me! I fell!"

Someone slipped, and his body had nowhere to borrow force, sliding toward the cliff on the side of the mountain road.

The merchants noticed the force coming from the end of the rope and realized that someone had fallen behind, so they stopped and pulled people in a flurry.

"A-Yue, pull the rope tight, let's work together!"

"I have no strength." A-Yue was floating at the cliff, and the thick hemp rope tied around his waist kept him from falling.

He was tired and hungry now, couldn't use any strength, and it was difficult to climb up along the rope.

The old hunter was experienced, calmly commanding the crowd while personally pulling people.

"You guys hold the big tree, don't let the seven of us slide down too!"

"The rest of you wrap the rope around your wrists. I'll shout one, two, three, and everyone pull together!"

"One, two, three, pull!"

"One, two, three, pull!"

After spending a lot of effort, the crowd finally pulled A-Yue up. The crowd, who were already tired, were so tired that they couldn't even stand steady.

The old hunter didn't relax, checking A-Yue's physical condition nervously: "A-Yue, how did you slide down? Did you feel anyone push you?"

A-Yue shook his head blankly, not understanding why the old hunter asked this. Of course, he slid down himself. Could someone harm him?

"Old Sun, what do you mean?" Qi Wu asked. He was the leader of the merchants and vaguely sensed the problem from the old hunter's question.

The old hunter shook his head and pointed to the ruined temple in front: "Hurry up, we'll talk when we get to the Mountain God Temple."

The rain was pouring, not an environment for talking. Qi Wu nodded, said a few encouraging words, and let the crowd hurry to the Mountain God Temple to avoid the rain.

The crowd arrived at the Mountain God Temple, not caring about their image, took off their coir raincoats, sat on the ground, gasped for breath, and then hurriedly checked whether the things in the baskets were soaked. If they were soaked, they would have run in vain and lost everything.

"Fortunately, fortunately, luckily it was wrapped in waterproof cloth in advance. Qi Big Brother still has foresight."

The Mountain God Temple couldn't be called very good, but it was spacious. Three old and dusty Mountain God statues were located in the center, surrounded by mud and feces. The memorial tablets with the names of the Mountain Gods were missing, the offerings had been eaten by wild beasts long ago, the two big doors were gone, the windows were broken, and the cold wind was blowing in.

The crowd didn't care much. For them, any place that could avoid the rain was a good place.

Qi Wu took out some goods from the basket as offerings, offered them to the three Mountain Gods, and thanked them for lending the Mountain God Temple to them to avoid the rain.

The three Mountain Gods were clay sculptures, and the craftsmanship was not exquisite, but the differences could be seen. The middle Mountain God held a gentleman's sword, full of righteousness. The two side Mountain Gods were one civil and one martial. One wore a Confucian robe and held a book, in the civil position. One had pure Yang righteousness, in the martial position. The levels were distinct and orderly.

"Mountain God bless our journey to be safe."

Qi Wu always felt that the three Mountain Gods were very spiritual, as if they were alive.