Chapter 46: Night Road Several villagers were middle-aged, dark, short and thin, like the typical image of farmers in this era. I don’t know if it was because of the summer heat or because they were really poor, but their clothes were rough and barely covered their bodies. The eldest brother politely welcomed them out. "Dear believers, this is my third junior brother, who has some magic skills. These are my junior brothers and sisters, who have only just started practicing Taoism but are very talented. Since these are just some residual souls of evil spirits, it is not a big deal. I will let my three junior brothers and sisters accompany you on this journey, hoping to relieve your village's worries." "Thank you very much." Several villagers thanked them repeatedly and looked at Lin Jue and the other two. The third brother has always loved drinking and was quite carefree in enjoying life. At this time, facing them, he was also serious and bowed and said, "I am Li Miaolin, since you have found us, I will do my best to help you." "It's a bit far..." The villagers lowered their heads and said that they felt embarrassed because they felt humble in front of the master, but also worried that the master might find the journey too far and refuse to go. "This year's harvest is bad, and the village has no harvest. We didn't hire a car for the real person, so it may take some effort to walk. We may not be able to get there until tomorrow night or the morning after tomorrow."

"It's time to see the mountains and rivers." The third brother said sleepily and seriously, "Let us pack up and take some things with us and leave." "Good good..." Several villagers nodded repeatedly, with a humble attitude and dared not say much. They guessed that they were going to bring some magical tools to exorcise demons. However, the third senior brother only went to wash his face and took a wine pot and some wild fruits from the mountains. Lin Jue walked back to the house and thought about what to bring, but found that there was almost nothing to bring. In the end, he had to pick up a hatchet and a stick at the foot of the wall, which could be used to clear the way and chop wood, and could also be used as a walking stick, which was really useful. "Will you come with me?" Lin Jue finally looked at the fox in the house. Upon hearing this, the little fox just tilted its head and stared at him with bright eyes, as if it didn't understand what he was saying. "Let's go then." The little fox immediately trotted towards him. Lin Jue looked at the fox that was gradually growing and becoming more beautiful, and couldn't help but think: "I should give you a name, but I don't know what to call you... “The ancients named animals according to their cry. You make these sounds every day, so forget it. "Then there's the saying of naming after where you come from. Since you came from the mountains, why not just call yourself... "Tsk... "Oh, right! When I saw you, the mountain was full of wind, as if you came from the wind. Wind also has another name, Fuyao, so why don't we call you Fuyao for now? If your parents come to visit you someday, you can change your name back." Fuyao means Fu, coming up from Fuqiu Peak, Fu means Fu, and it just happens to be a fox... Lin Jue felt that this name was a good one as it achieved three goals at once. "Just call me Fuyao!" As he spoke, he had already walked to the outer courtyard.

The fox behind him looked up and stared at him blankly. A group of people went down the mountain. …… "I don't know what happened in the past few years. Maybe I offended the gods in heaven? Originally, there was only a small ditch flowing into the village, and it was just enough for water use during the busy farming season. A few years ago, there was a flood that damaged many fields. Although I was hungry that day, I thought that the small ditch might become a big ditch and the village might not lack water. Unexpectedly, not only did it not go as I wished, but the small ditch also broke off, and there was no water in the well. Without water, the crops did not grow well, and the harvest was getting worse every year." A group of people walked down the mountain, and the villager walking in front said. At first, he was a little nervous when he saw that the Taoists were quite young, and two of them even looked to be only in their teens. But then he saw a fox following them - there were always all kinds of rumors about foxes in cities and towns, and the government and the public these days. It was obvious that a Taoist monk traveling with a fox was extraordinary, so he felt more at ease. "There was not enough food to eat, and illness was hard to treat. Some of the old people in the village died one after another, and some of the young people could not hold on either. There were fewer and fewer people, but more and more graves. "Since the beginning of this spring, the two graveyards at the head and tail of the village have always been emitting black air in the evening, and at night there are shadows moving around in them. Some people recognized them as people who died in the village. Although we were scared at first, we just didn't pass by there at night. We were all villagers, so what difference did we make between being alive and dead? We didn't think about what would happen to them. "But after two months, those shadows started to approach the village, and some even came to the village. Some people saw ghosts at home, some became sick, and some were murdered. They all said that those people died of illness or starvation, and they felt uncomfortable before they died, were unwilling to die, or were very lonely and wanted to drag some people down to accompany them." As the villagers spoke, they couldn't help but look at the Taoist priest behind them. Lin Jue and his junior sister both looked at the third senior brother. "What are you looking at me for? Master asked me to go down the mountain with you. Although he didn't say it, I know that he wanted me to escort you. He originally planned to let you go alone. You can handle everything by yourselves. I don't bother to care about it." The junior sister then looked at Lin Jue again. Lin Jue thought for a moment and asked, "Have any villagers heard those ghosts talking?" "Almost nothing. Even if there is, they sometimes say yes and sometimes say no. I think they are probably scared out of their wits, or they are just talking nonsense." "Have you invited anyone else?" "How can we afford it in our village? At most, Muramasa's eldest son has been practicing martial arts in the mountains since he was young. He is very brave. When he came back last month, he saw ghosts coming to the village. He drew his knife and chopped them apart. Then he called a few young men, rushed to the grave dam and chopped them apart. He actually chopped all the shadows apart." "and then?" "It was useless. They came out the next day. The old people in the village said that ghosts are afraid of strong qi. They have strong blood and qi. A knife attack did disrupt the ghost qi, but they gathered again the next day. Or we heard someone say that there is a Fuqiu Temple in Yishan Mountain. The Taoists in the Taoist temple are all powerful and kind-hearted. That's why we asked along the way and invited the Taoists to come." After hearing this, Lin Jue almost understood. After spending more than a month in the mountains, I also learned a lot about spirits and ghosts. The ghosts in this village are probably not real ghosts, but residual souls. The remaining soul is weak, like a candle in the wind. The warriors were brave and valiant, and they could certainly disperse the remaining souls with one strike of their swords. However, warriors might be able to deal with monsters, but they were always powerless against ghosts and spirits, mainly because the swords could not cut anything. Before I knew it, I had reached the foot of the mountain again. There was heat rising in the distance, as if someone had set a fire. But Lin Jue knew that it was actually a hot spring. They thought of the hot springs at the foot of the mountain, and also of the voice that came out of the woods and interrupted them.

Later, Lin Jue learned that there were many spirits in Yishan Mountain who had been spirits for many years. Under the control of the mountain god, they dared not make trouble. Most of them just practiced or lived in the mountain. Many of them felt bored. They dared not talk to the woodcutters who came up the mountain to chop wood, for fear of scaring them, or because of their guilty conscience, or because of fear of being punished by the mountain god. When they met Taoist priests, they knew they were not ordinary people and had a lot to say, so they loved to talk to them. That guy is probably the same. Just as I thought of this, another sound came from the forest. "It's you two again?" It was the same voice, but it didn't sound human at all. The villagers who were just walking on their way were startled. Fortunately, there were Taoists around, so they looked at each other and did not run away in panic. "Who is speaking?" Someone couldn't help but ask in a low voice. "Senior, it's fate." Lin Jue just bowed towards the source of the voice. "Today I changed the place and met you again. Could it be that this is really fate?" the voice said. "Where is the senior?" "Why do you care where I am?" "..." "If I see you or hear you, I'll remind you. From what you say, you must have come down the mountain to exorcise demons. Ancient books record that where streams are cut off, there are a lot of graves, foxes, and insects gathered together, and that's where the death aura hides. The place you're talking about is probably also where the death aura hides. If that's the case, it's very similar to Yin Qi and ghost aura, but also different. You have to be careful." "Thank you, senior." Lin Jue was not afraid, and just replied, "May I know your name, senior?" There was no more sound from the other end. After waiting for a while, no one spoke. "..." Lin Jue had no choice but to bow slightly as a token of gratitude for the reminder. Then continue down the mountain. Gradually I understood why a few middle-aged villagers came to invite them. The journey was long, and young people, lacking experience, would probably not be able to find the way. Old people, weak in body, could not walk so far. These middle-aged villagers were probably the ones who were chosen by the village to have both physical strength and some "ability", so they could ask all the way. Just as they said, it would take two days. The second night after descending the mountain—— When they were still more than ten miles away from the village, it was almost dark. Although there was a way to bypass the two tomb dams at the head and end of the village, several villagers, who were all middle-aged, were still a little nervous and kept looking back at Lin Jue. "Let's go, don't be afraid." The purpose of coming here is to exorcise these evil spirits and residual souls, so we have to meet them anyway. There is no need to pick another time and waste this day, which may even make us lose our courage.

It’s better to just go there, it’s just right to meet you. Lin Jue had already started to learn fire magic from his second senior brother. Although he had not yet mastered it completely, he had directly upgraded his fire-repelling skills from "medium" to "superior". Now, when he spit fire, he no longer needed to absorb the fire energy from the flames to store it, but generated it from his body. Not only was it much more convenient, but he would not exhaust his fire energy after just a few spittings. With this skill, if he meets the dog demon on the road again, even if it refuses to surrender, Lin Jue will have more confidence in fighting it and winning. In addition, he also began to practice Yin-Yang spiritual magic. The spiritual power in his body was divided into Yin and Yang. He naturally had a strong resistance to the Yin energy and harmful methods exhaled by ghosts, while the Yang energy in his body restrained the Yin ghosts. I naturally feel much more at ease. As for the monsters on the road, they might be death energy, but the difference between death energy and yin energy and ghost energy is not that big. Plus, with my third senior brother by my side, there is really nothing to be afraid of. If we go further, it will be completely dark. A waxing moon hangs in the sky. When there is moon, there is light, and with light, people can see the road. However, the villagers still couldn't see clearly and felt scared, so they made two torches, lit them, and walked in front and behind the team. The fire lit up the country road. There are often pine and cypress trees on the roadside, with branches and leaves that are so dark that neither firelight nor moonlight can penetrate. There are often grass forests that look like people at first glance, and there are many graves, which inevitably make people feel uneasy. Lin Jue couldn't help but look at the junior sister beside him. Although this little girl has already started practicing, she has just learned how to draw spiritual energy into her body and does not know any magic. Even how to expel the yin and yang energy in her body was taught to her by her senior brothers after dinner last night. Naturally, she is a little scared at this time, but her fear is not reflected. She just has a serious face, staring at the road, and walks without looking away. Just then, a voice was heard. "Boo?" In the night when the only sounds were footsteps and burning torches, the voice seemed unusually clear. But it did not come from the roadside, around or anywhere else, but from among the crowd. It was the little fox walking in front of Lin Jue. Even Lin Jue was a little surprised. Because the fox was really well-behaved, except for the first few days when it couldn't find him, it never barked. Later, perhaps because it could always find Lin Jue no matter where he was, or perhaps because it had grown up and become more confident, and was no longer as weak and helpless as before, it rarely barked anymore. At this time, it not only barked, but also stopped and tilted its head to look forward. The villager holding the torch in front continued to take a few steps forward. Just these few steps pushed the torch light forward, illuminating a large tree that suddenly appeared on the road. "This……" The villagers hurriedly stopped and looked frightened. Because this big tree grows right on the road. How wide is a country road? It can only accommodate one person. If two people come from both sides, they have to move aside to let them pass. But this tree is as thick as a person and grows right in the middle of the road. How is this possible? What kind of road would be built like this? Who would leave like this? Everyone looked at Lin Jue and the third senior brother.

"A tree growing halfway must be something special, but it didn't do anything to us. It may have thought that there was no one here at night and came here by chance, or it may have practiced here and didn't have time to leave. We can just go around it." Lin Jue thought for a moment and said. By the way, he lowered his head and looked at the little fox who was looking back at him, and nodded to it as a token of his affirmation. This little thing's eyes are better than humans'. So everyone walked away. These country roads are flanked by fields, and where there are fields there are paths that you can easily go around. But after taking only two steps, the little fox cried again. "Mmmmm~" The sound was very light and soft, because the night was too quiet. They took two steps forward and, with the help of the torchlight, saw a huge rock on the path ahead. "!" The villagers walking in front were shocked again and felt a little frightened. Seeing this, Lin Jue hurried forward. looked down- I saw that the stone was about ten feet high and half a foot wide, and I didn't know how many pounds it weighed, but it was placed on a field path that was only a foot wide. It was suspended on both sides, but it did not crush the path. It's obviously not normal. And he also understood that this little fox was probably not better than them in eyesight, but it was really strange. Of course, this was also the conclusion that the senior brothers in the mountains had already reached. (End of this chapter)