Chapter 207: Colorful Beaver and the Mountain Pressure In the barren mountains and grasslands, the road is where the grass is shallow. Two Taoists were walking in the crowd, leading donkeys. One of the donkeys had a bell hanging around its neck, and the clear sound drifted away leisurely in the early morning. The two were followed by four priests. At this time, they did not deliberately hide their whereabouts, and Taoists like Lin Jue and the little junior sister could still see them. Although they are not true gods, they are also considered as divine officials, that is, the subordinates and soldiers of the gods. They do not have their own temples, and they may not even have statues. Even if they do, they are only placed in the temples of other gods. The court on earth and the palace of the Nine Heavens do not record their names, and the incense is also distributed by the true gods. However, they are not evil demons, monsters, ghosts, and wild ghosts. It is okay for them to come out in broad daylight. They do not have to be afraid of the sun, nor do they have to be afraid of Taoists and other true gods. Lin Jue thought about it, then turned around and asked the red-robed priest: "What's your name?" "His surname was Zhang." "Priest Zhang." Lin Jue was also more polite at this time: "I heard that snake horns can become poison-absorbing stones when dried in the sun, and extremely poisonous stones when dried in the shade. Priest Zhang is knowledgeable and has just explained the use of poison-absorbing stones. However, I would like to ask Priest Zhang what the extremely poisonous stones are like."

"..." Priest Zhang glanced at him and couldn't help but say, "I have informed the Taoist priest. He won't use it to harm others. Would it be wrong for me to be implicated in karma for nothing?" "Definitely not!" "You don't look like that kind of person." Priest Zhang thought of his abilities and that he still had to rely on him to lead the way, so he calmed down a little and said, "This snake horn does have the principle of turning into a highly poisonous stone when dried in the shade." "Please give me some advice." "Firstly, this ground-horned snake belongs to the earth element and is poisonous. The snake horns grow out of its body and are naturally poisonous, a kind of earth poison. It will disappear after drying." Priest Zhang said as he walked, "Secondly, this poison-absorbing stone can absorb poison. It is hidden in the stone and will absorb whatever poison it absorbs. The more it absorbs, the more toxic it becomes. These poisons can only be eliminated in water. But you must know that earth controls water. If it is the original earth poison, it cannot be transformed into water and can only be eliminated by exposing it to the sun." “There’s a lot of truth in this.” "It's good that you know." The red-robed priest couldn't help but be a little arrogant. "Although you are very advanced in Taoism and have learned a lot of magic, you must know that if a Taoist practitioner has not become an immortal, no matter how powerful he is, his life span will only be a hundred years. The world is so big and there are so many things in the world. How much can you see and know in a hundred years?" "rational." Lin Jue smiled and didn't argue with him. That is indeed the case. Besides, he had just asked him for advice, so he could be considered as my "teacher" for a while, so there would be no harm in letting him feel that he was a little more capable for the time being. The fox in front suddenly turned around and jumped into the dry grassland. Looking closely, I saw that there was a small path in the middle. Yes, the road they had just walked on, which was overgrown with weeds and almost indistinguishable, was actually a main road. Not far away, the fox climbed over a hill and stopped, looking back at the few people, then looking ahead. "This is it." Lin Jue pointed here and said. The mountains and hills were all covered with silky wild grass, about as high as a person's knees, and there was often some reed. But there was an obvious flat open space in the valley, with no wild grass or reed growing everywhere, only a pomegranate tree.

“It was here that we met Princess Hua that evening, and she treated us to pomegranates from this tree and many delicious dishes.” The three military attachés looked around. The red-robed priest had already arrived in front of the pomegranate tree. He looked up at the tree and murmured, "The princess also loved pomegranates in the mountains." "Now that we have brought you here, we two brothers and sisters will leave." "Master, do you really not want to go back to Mount Xi with us? There is no reason for people in the world to treat messengers unfairly, and my master is even more so. I will definitely reward him handsomely." "I am just a messenger. We met by chance. There is no other purpose for me to go back to Xiyue with you. It just allows you to push the trouble to me." Lin Jue saw through their thoughts. "Besides, I have to go to Yangjia Village in Runze County to meet Luo Gong. Even if I want to go, I have to wait until I arrive in the capital." "Ugh……" The red-robed priest was helpless and could only sigh. After knowing that he could neither intimidate Lin Jue nor do anything to him, his attitude improved a lot. "Why do you have to do this, priest? I heard that the gods of the Five Mountains are wise and the gods of the Four Rivers are kind. You have done your best and reported the truth. Will the Lord of the Palace still embarrass you? Besides, didn't Princess Hua say that she would go back to see the Lord of the Palace of West Mountain?" Lin Jue wanted to find out some information. "What does the Taoist priest know?" The red-robed priest couldn't help but sigh. "There are frequent floods at the foot of Xiyue Mountain. There are droughts in the dry season and floods in the rainy season. The Weishui River God is completely useless. Every year, countless people come to burn incense and pray. Later, some arrogant people even scolded the gods. My master has been in a state of panic for a long time. Although the princess is the master's adopted daughter, she is the smartest and most capable among his many daughters. If she marries the Weishui River God, at least she can ensure that the river water at the foot of Xiyue Mountain flows smoothly. Maybe she can even..." The red-robed priest shut his mouth before he finished speaking. "But wasn't the Weishui River God killed by the Crocodile King?" "Even if she can't marry the Weishui River God, it's her parents' order and the matchmaker's words. Doesn't the Lord of the Mansion have the final say on who Princess Hua will marry?" "..." Lin Jue shook his head. I wonder if Princess Hua’s departure that night had anything to do with these people coming to this area. "I can't take care of this kind of thing. It's fate that we met. Please don't mind if there are some frictions." Lin Jue said, bowed and said, "Goodbye." After saying that, he turned around and left without looking back. The junior sister imitated him and bowed, and turned around as well. The wind blows the weeds like waves. The autumn weather was crisp and the sky was vast. In the eyes of the priests, the two men, the two donkeys and the sound of the bells gradually faded away. They were left staring at each other. …… A fox was running in front and a civet cat was chasing behind. The junior sister had a serious look on her face. As she walked, she was pondering the mysteries of magic in her mind. "The mountain is pressing down on us...

"A small stone pressing down on the top..." He couldn't help but secretly summon up his magic power and pointed forward. The colorful beaver was running happily, like a little leopard, and suddenly it felt a little more weight on its body. The weight was very light, perhaps less than one or two ounces. If it were applied to a human, it would probably be unnoticeable. However, cats are small and sensitive, and the sudden weight immediately made it crouch down. As it continued to crawl forward, it kept looking back, but saw nothing. Confusion appeared in the eyes of the colorful cat. The junior sister withdrew her hand silently, looked straight ahead, and concentrated on her journey. "Meow?" The colorful cat couldn't help but stop, shook its body, bent down, and scratched several places on its body with its hind legs to see if there was anything hidden on its body, but still found nothing. It glanced at its junior sister, then looked at the fox in front of it that had stopped and was waiting for it in confusion, so it had no choice but to continue crawling and follow. "Senior brother." The little sister then dared to look at it, and said to the brother next to her as if nothing had happened: "I think I have learned this magic." "I see it." The voice of the senior brother came faintly. "what?" The junior sister was shocked, thinking that the senior brother was indeed smart. Then he felt lucky that there was a senior brother beside him. If it was his master or senior brother, he would probably lecture him. "Brother, I saw the paper you asked 'Empress Yao Hua'. She said that the top-grade gold essence is with the Crocodile Dragon King. Brother, do you want to go and exchange it with the Crocodile Dragon King? Or what should we do?" "discuss later." "That alligator dragon king doesn't seem to be a good monster." The little sister squinted at him, "If you want to get rid of the harm for the people, you don't have to wait until you send me to the capital before coming back to find it. This kind of thing should be done sooner rather than later. Besides, I am also very powerful and can help you." "Let's see it." "Oh." The junior sister stopped talking. She noticed from the corner of her eye that the colorful cat in front of her seemed to have adapted to the extra weight on her. She thought about it, then waved her hand again and withdrew the spell. "?!" The colorful cat suddenly jumped up on the spot and looked around vigilantly. The junior sister looked normal, leading the donkey as she walked past her. When she saw that something was wrong with the donkey, she looked at her in confusion. Caili scratched his head and followed tentatively. Before I knew it, I had traveled dozens of miles.

Caili looked around as he walked. The junior sister chatted with Lin Jue as they walked, asking him for the tricks of this magic. The two of them asked and answered each other, discussing both magic practice and random things. Combined with the scenery they saw along the way and the new things that popped up from time to time, the two-day journey, with no wind or rain, gradually cleared up, and it seemed as if the journey had been over in the blink of an eye. The fox jumped into Yangjia Village first. Two Taoists and Donkey and Cat then walked in. But the fox stretched its neck, looked left and right, and sniffed the air carefully, until it heard footsteps and the sound of bells approaching behind it, then it took a step forward. The two followed it and headed straight for the center of the village. The architectural style of the villages here is obviously different from that of Huizhou. They are no longer white walls and black tiles, but they are also close to water. Most of the houses have courtyards built with bluestone bricks and earth bricks. Most of the courtyards are not small, and there are stone carvings and door plaques at the door, showing the wealth and prominence of this village. As expected, there are many talented people. Lin Jue keenly discovered that every household here had a very high threshold, with a half-person-high wooden board embedded in the threshold, tilted outwards. This is what zombie prevention means. Because many zombies in the world are transformed from dead humans, even if they are not stiff and rigid, they have difficulty moving. People believe that this tall and outward-slanting wooden board can prevent them from entering the house. Maybe it is useful, otherwise it wouldn't have been passed down for so many years. At the same time, every household had their doors closed. The whole village was silent. The sound of the donkey's hooves on the stone bricks and the ringing of the bells were very noticeable in the quiet village, but no one came to see. "no one?" "Not urgent." Until the fox led them into the center of the village. Noisy voices could be heard coming from several courtyards. The fox stopped in front of the largest courtyard, looked back at Lin Jue, then walked up along the door, raised its paw and rang the door knocker. “Hua Dang…” The door knocker suddenly made a sound. The voice inside paused. Lin Jue didn't say anything. He walked forward, took the door knocker from its claws, and knocked it rhythmically. "Dong dong dong..." Although the fox was smart and could knock on the door, and knew that the door knocker was used for knocking, its claws were inconvenient after all. When it turned the door knocker, it made a chaotic sound, which might have scared the people inside. Lin Jue’s situation was different.

Soon a voice came from inside: "Don't be afraid. The two Taoist priests who went with Luo to get the snake horn are here. Go and open the door." Then there was the sound of footsteps coming from inside. With a creak, the door opened. The person who opened the door was a young servant, with a look of vigilance and trepidation on his face. He felt relieved when he saw that it was indeed a human. Behind him, the courtyard and the rooms were all covered with mats, and many people were lying on the floor, basking in the sun. In the middle, there were several baskets of cut-up snake horns drying in the sun. Some people were sitting in the courtyard with empty faces, while others were walking around, taking care of others or turning over the snake horns. There was a foul stench in the yard. Luo Seng, leaning on a long sword, his clothes stained with black blood, sat in the corner in silence. (End of this chapter)