Chapter 91: Fierce Beast in the Mountains |
The boy lowered his head, thinking hard, and the little girl immediately got energized, "See, I told you that you didn't know!"
"I do know!"
The boy looked up with red eyes and said, "It is written in the Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns, Metal qi slays evil, dry qi overcomes wind!"
"Never heard of it. Little brats just like to spout nonsense," the little girl said.
The boy was so angry that his tears fell. He burst out crying, turned around, and ran away.
Wei Ting's face was full of helplessness as he said, "Why did you make him cry again?"
"Who asked him to act like a sissy all day long, a bookworm who only knows how to read!" The little girl didn't care at all and continued eating the steamed dish.
Sour and spicy with a hint of sweetness, delicious!
Wei Ting laughed and shook his head. Chu Xun asked, "That child just now..."
"The whole house is full of books, but they are unwilling to take the imperial examinations for an official rank. I don't know what they read them for."
"Let's not talk about him. Come, drink!"
Chu Xun picked up his wine cup, involuntarily glancing at the now-empty doorway.
He had only stopped here to rest for a night, but didn't expect to have an unexpected harvest.
It was just that whether what the child said was truly recorded in ancient texts or just fabricated nonsense still needed to be verified.
Wei Ting could both talk and drink. He drank from noon until night, only stopping when his wife couldn't bear it anymore and came to drag him away.
After sending Wei Ting off, Chu Xun lifted the courtyard door.
The walls on both sides continuously extended, and the door panel was firmly wedged in the middle, unable to move.
Returning under the old locust tree, Chu Xun looked up at the still countless locust flowers.
"I have to go."
Locust flowers fell again, piling up all over his body.
Chu Xun laughed, "No need to be so polite, there will be plenty of time in the future."
Spiritual energy surged into the tree trunk.
Wood Sprout Spell +1
Wood Sprout Spell 3/30000, Provides a small amount of help for plant growth.
Water Element Spell +1
Water Element Spell 99478/100000, Limited control over the waters of heaven and earth within a thousand zhang.
Rainwater fell, covering a radius of a hundred zhang, falling the heaviest especially in the courtyard.
The branches stretched out as much as possible, and the leaves looked even more shiny and emerald green under the washing of the rain.
Chu Xun didn't stay any longer. He went to the wall and passed through it.
Going out from the alley entrance, he could see a household lit by faint candlelight, and the sound of reading could be faintly heard.
Chu Xun walked over and knocked on the door.
Footsteps approached, the door opened, and a very gentle-looking middle-aged man looked at Chu Xun with some doubt.
Chu Xun cupped his hands and said, "I heard that your family has a large collection of books, and there is a copy of the Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns. I would like to borrow it to take a look."
The boy poked his head out from the room. Seeing it was Chu Xun, he immediately shouted happily, "I'll get it for you!"
Seeing that the child recognized him, the middle-aged man let Chu Xun come in first and asked, "Little brother looks a bit unfamiliar, you're not from Fenggu City, are you?"
"Just passing through," Chu Xun said as he entered the house.
The middle-aged man gave an "mm" and didn't ask further.
This family only liked to read and turned a deaf ear to matters outside the window. The child was already considered the most lively and outgoing.
Soon, a yellowed ancient book was handed to Chu Xun.
Although old, it was very flat. One look and you could tell it had been preserved with great care.
"You want to see 'Metal qi slays evil', right? It's in Volume Twenty-Four, I wasn't talking nonsense!" the boy said.
Chu Xun opened it as told. The text was slightly different from what was commonly used in the Jing Kingdom, but he could barely recognize it.
It was just more profound and detailed than what the child had explained.
"Face west and click the teeth seven times, inhale the white qi, and chant the incantation, Flying mystery and eight convergences, condense the qi to become true."
"Metal essence enters the vessel, dry qi overcomes wind, wield it to cut down evil spirits..."
The middle-aged man said, "I've tried it, it's useless."
Chu Xun looked up at him, closed the ancient book, handed it back, and smiled, "I'm just taking a look, thank you."
He turned to leave, but was stopped by the middle-aged man again.
He asked the boy to bring an oil-paper umbrella and said, "I don't know why it suddenly started raining, be careful of catching a cold."
He paused, and added, "Scholars all prefer to be a bit cleaner."
Chu Xun was not a scholar; he was just a farmer.
But hearing these words, he still took the oil-paper umbrella, "Thank you."
"The road is slippery on a rainy night, walk carefully and slowly," the middle-aged man said.
Watching Chu Xun leave, the boy looked up and said, "Dad, our family only has this one umbrella."
The middle-aged man closed the door and said, "Only that which can help people shelter from the wind and rain is called an umbrella."
The boy looked at him, half-understanding, and said no more.
Chu Xun held the umbrella. After passing a hundred zhang, it was no longer raining.
But it wasn't until a thousand zhang away that he put the oil-paper umbrella away.
He didn't casually discard it, but tucked it under his arm.
With one step, he covered dozens of meters.
It was still dark when he arrived at Pinecone Village.
In front of his own courtyard door, Chu Xun saw Qi Ermao leaning against the wall, asleep.
He didn't get any closer, as he still had one matter left unfinished.
The crows on the eaves had already sensed his arrival and happily flapped their wings, flying over.
Chu Xun stepped towards the south. At this time, Qi Ermao was awakened.
Looking up and seeing the flock of crows all flying south with a whoosh, he couldn't help but be stunned.
What's going on?
He stood up, looked towards the south, and vaguely saw a blurry figure.
"Is it Brother Xun?"
Qi Ermao hurriedly chased after him, but how could he possibly catch up.
Not running far, the figure ahead was already gone.
He stopped in his tracks, somewhat hopeful, yet somewhat dejected.
"I must have just seen wrong..."
"Brother Xun is so old, how could he walk so fast, sigh..."
He walked back in disappointment, thinking to himself that the grass was gone, and the crows had flown away too.
When Brother Xun comes back, how am I going to explain this to him?
Returning to the courtyard door, he finally saw that an oil-paper umbrella had appeared here at some unknown time.
Outside Pinecone Village, Chu Xun walked rapidly forward.
The crows followed closely behind. An old crow landed directly on his shoulder, affectionately leaning against his face.
Ordinary people only look at appearances; animals do not need to.
They rely on aura. The face may change, the body may change, but the aura does not.
Chu Xun smiled, raised his hand, and stroked the crow's hard feathers, "It's time to go see exactly what kind of thing was fighting with you for fruits back then."
Caw caw—
The old crow called out twice, followed by the response of the sky full of crows.
Deafening!
Heading south from Pinecone Village, after traveling a hundred and eighty miles, the sky was already getting light.
A small village appeared ahead, with faint cooking smoke rising from chimneys blackened by soot.
Further ahead was the mountain forest that the traveling merchants spoke of.
Chu Xun stepped into the village. Occasionally, early-rising villagers saw him, their doubts mixed with a bit of curiosity.
But their attention was soon drawn by the dozens of crows, and they all looked up, exclaiming in amazement.
Until he reached the foot of the mountain, the last household belonged to a blacksmith.
In front of the house stood a furnace taller than a person, built with bricks mixed with mud.
An anvil, hammers, and iron tongs stood like a forest to the side.
The middle-aged blacksmith, who was chopping wood at the door, saw Chu Xun heading up the mountain and said, "Hey, the sun hasn't risen yet, don't go up the mountain! There's an unknown fierce beast on the mountain. Several formidable martial artists who went up were all eaten."
Chu Xun turned to look. The middle-aged blacksmith sized him up and asked doubtfully, "Whose child are you? I don't think I've seen you before."
"From another village," Chu Xun answered casually, and asked in return, "Is it not dangerous once the sun rises?"
The middle-aged blacksmith nodded, "That fierce beast hides during the day and comes out at night. The brighter the sun, the safer it is. But sometimes when the fog on the mountain is heavy, it's not guaranteed to be safe either."
These villagers now didn't dare to easily go up the mountain.
Chu Xun cupped his hands, "Thank you."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the mountain.
The middle-aged blacksmith wanted to say something more, but seeing the youth disappear without a trace in just two or three steps, he couldn't help but be stunned.
They all say mountain roads are hard to travel, but for Chu Xun, it was like walking on flat ground.
The flock of crows still followed beside him, just no longer cawing, appearing much more cautious.
With them leading the way, it was naturally much more convenient.
Not long after, Chu Xun arrived in front of a valley.
It was surrounded by towering ancient trees, their branches crisscrossing, blocking the sunlight outside.
Thick morning fog surged, mixed with cold and damp moisture, tangling around the jagged black rocks and overgrown vegetation.
Strangely, there were no rotting leaves on the ground; it was so clean that one could see the stones and dark green moss.
Chu Xun walked forward, and not far away, he saw several scattered dry bones.
The bones were human, and their surfaces were covered with countless fine scratches going in the same direction.
A few old crows suddenly hopped over, poking their heads towards the deeper parts.
Chu Xun looked up and saw that two faintly discernible red lanterns had appeared in the fog at some unknown time, flying rapidly towards this side.
Whoosh—
The howling sound of wind entered his ears, and Chu Xun immediately retreated several steps.
The dirt beneath his feet flew up, turning into a stone wall nearly a meter thick blocking the front.
Boom—
A deafening crashing sound came from the stone wall. Although it didn't shatter immediately, one could feel the terrifying nature of this impact.
Chu Xun had fought with Rank 1 martial artists. From his perception, this force was not the slightest bit inferior to a Rank 1 martial artist, and might even be slightly higher.
The crows took flight, seeming to want to rush over and help.
"Retreat!"
Chu Xun ordered. His words were like an imperial decree, and the crows had no choice but to fly back.
It wasn't until they left the range of the valley that the stone wall collapsed, and the behemoth in the fog briefly revealed its figure.
Thanks to Chu Xun's excellent eyesight, he captured the other party in just an instant.
A look of astonishment appeared in his eyes, and then he felt it made sense.
"A bat."
An old bat that stood taller than a person, with a wingspan of a full two zhang when spread, having lived for an unknown number of years.
No wonder the ground in the valley was so clean. With such a huge bat flying out, no matter how many leaves there were, they would be swept clean.
What crashed into the stone wall just now was not the old bat's main body, but the astral wind it flapped out.
Associating it with the fine marks on the scattered bones in the valley, as if brushed by a brush, Chu Xun already had an idea in his heart.
The old bat seemed very wary of Chu Xun's Foundation Establishment cultivation, and coupled with the fact that the sunlight was already visible outside the valley, it did not chase out.
Seeing the old bat fade into the fog, the crows cawed again.
Chu Xun stroked the head of the old crow beside him and said, "Don't be anxious, let's go make something. Once it's done, we'll come back and kill it."
The crow blinked its round eyes, seemingly not knowing what Chu Xun was looking for.
Chu Xun didn't say much, turned around, and walked down the mountain.
In a short while, he returned to the foot of the mountain.
Seeing him safe and sound, the middle-aged blacksmith subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he didn't know him, it would be a pity if such a handsome youth died.
Chu Xun walked up to him, flipped his palm, and revealed a few ingots of silver, about twenty taels.
"I want to learn blacksmithing, can you teach me?"
The middle-aged blacksmith, who was still chopping wood, looked up in astonishment, "What do you want to learn blacksmithing for?"
Chu Xun placed the silver on the wood in front of him, "I want to forge a sword myself."
"What kind of sword?"
"A sword that can slay wind and evil."
[End of Chapter]
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