Chapter 315: Shut Up
Daybreak is about to begin, and the sound of horse hooves can be heard on the mountain road.
The duck herder was sleeping soundly in the duck shed. When he suddenly woke up, he saw several Taoists and martial artists standing around the duck shed.
Most of the Taoists carried long swords, the short and thin martial artists carried big knives, and the tall martial artists looked murderous. When you opened your eyes, you would see donkey legs and horse hooves everywhere, as dense as a forest, which was frightening.
"hiss!"
The duck herder was suddenly awakened.
"Don't be afraid, believers. We are just wanderers who have lost their way." Taoist Qingxuan spoke first, smiling, "We saw the villagers herding ducks here, so we came to ask, where is this?"
In the past, this kind of thing was mostly done by Luo Seng. Although Luo Gong was good at dealing with people, he was too tall, and his chivalrous and murderous aura was too scary. After all, he was not as friendly as Taoist Qingxuan.
"This is in Jinping County. You, Taoist priests, heroes of the martial arts world, where are you going?"
The duck herder was frightened. Although he sat up, he huddled in the duck shed. He looked at them timidly and answered stumblingly.
"..."
A little ghost in brown clothes suddenly appeared, looked at the duck herder, then turned his head to look around and nodded seriously.
I wrote it down, this is Jinping County.
The duck herder was startled again.
The others also had different reactions, some were startled, some became alert, but before they could do anything, the brown-clothed little ghost disappeared again.
"Don't be nervous. This is the little ghost raised by Fellow Daoist Lin. It has a very naughty temperament." Taoist Qingxuan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the duck herder. "Don't be afraid. We are just here to ask for directions. We are not going to hurt anyone."
"Who are you?"
"Ask the passers-by."
The mountains were quiet in the early morning, and the voices of a few people talking were extremely clear, accompanied only by the occasional snorting of horses and the quacking of ducks in the back.
Lin Jue and Luo Gong listened to their conversation while looking at the duck shed and its surroundings.
Duck herder is an ancient profession.
These people often travel around with a shed that is about the same length and width as a small bed, with a curved roof, like the shed of a boat, which can shelter from wind and rain.
During the day, the duck herders carry a shed as they walk around. There are pots, pans, mats and bedding in the shed. At night, they put down the shed and sleep in it.
The ducklings are set out when they are small. Wherever they go, weeds, fish, shrimps and insects are their food. The duck herders exchange their food with ducks or duck eggs. By the time they return home, the ducklings have grown into adults. It seems that there is no cost, but it is actually very hard work.
Lin Jue saw the group of grown-up ducks gathered together, huddled obediently behind the duck shed, staring at them.
At the same time, I also saw the pots and pans next to the duck shed.
"What do you want to ask?"
"I want to ask how to get to Jinping County." Taoist Qingxuan smiled.
"Jinping County? Isn't it just along this road? There is no other way." The duck herder answered fearfully.
"I heard that there's a monster going on in Jinping County?"
"Ah? Yes, yes, there's a monster causing trouble!" The duck herder nodded immediately, his eyes showing fear, and described it to them, "I heard that the monster is very powerful. It entered the county town and ate all the officials in the city!"
"so smart?"
"Yes."
"That's really mean of you!" Wan Xinrong said from behind, "There's such a powerful monster in Jinping County, and you didn't even warn us when you heard we were going to Jinping County!"
"This……"
The duck herder was confused by him and became even more panicked.
"I just woke up, my mind is still a mess, and I'm timid. When I woke up, I saw all the gods and masters. I was scared and didn't know what to say. Please spare my life, spare my life..."
As the duck herder said this, he wanted to kowtow to him.
Taoist Qingxuan quickly bent down to stop him.
Lin Jue stood nearby, lowered his head and looked into the fox's eyes, and whispered to it, "He has you in his mind, stubborn fox..."
The fox shook its ears to shake off the filth.
"You don't have to do this, believer! It's just a joke! This Taoist friend next to me just saw that the believer was too nervous and scared, and wanted to make you laugh, but it had the opposite effect!" Taoist Qingxuan said with a smile, "I want to ask what the situation is like in Jinping County now. Is the monster still in the city? How many people did it eat? How many subordinates does it have?"
"How can I know these things..."
The duck herder went from sitting in the duck shed to lying down in the duck shed and answered respectfully and fearfully.
"How did the believer know that there was a monster in the city?"
"I came here a few days ago while herding ducks. I met a group of people on the roadside. They told me what happened and advised me to leave quickly."
"Why haven't the believers left yet?"
"That was just a few days ago. How could I walk so fast with so many ducks? If I lost these ducks, I would starve to death when I return. What's the difference between that and being eaten by monsters?"
"That makes sense." Taoist Qingxuan said, "So did the believers encounter any monsters along the way?"
"I am herding ducks. I have to avoid deep mountains to avoid monsters, and I have to avoid villages to avoid eating people's crops. Maybe that's why I didn't encounter monsters. Today, I thought I had reached the edge of Jinping County, and there was only one day left to get out. That's why I came to sleep by the road, thinking of getting out early in the morning."
"So that's it."
Taoist Qingxuan's expression remained gentle, and he finally asked, "Does the believer really know nothing about what's happening in the city? Didn't those who informed the believer of the danger warn him at all?"
"That was a few days ago. They said the monsters ate all the officials in the city and destroyed the Taoist temples and monasteries in the city. They also captured many people and said they would take them back to raise them." The duck herder trembled, "The monsters should still be in the city at that time, but I don't know now."
"Thank you for your kindness."
"No thanks, no thanks."
"Farewell."
"How many of you are going to Jinping County?"
"We are Taoists from the Capital's Stargazing Palace. We are going to Jinping County to do some work on the orders of the temple master." Taoist Qingxuan said.
"Then be very careful."
"Thank you."
Taoist Qingxuan stood up and saluted him.
Several people turned around, either riding donkeys or getting on horses, and left. The sound of hooves faded away, and the figures soon disappeared into the forest.
The duck herder was still trembling, as if he had been frightened. He even shivered a little before he gradually relaxed.
This is normal——
There are monsters everywhere here, so he has to be extra careful when walking here. It's early in the morning, before daybreak, and anyone would be scared if there's a group of people like this around him.
The duck herder quickly packed up and prepared to leave.
About an incense stick later, he came out of the duck shed.
By removing the partition under the duck shed, there was a hole that was just big enough for a person to stand in. He stood in it, lifted up the duck shed, and could walk around carrying it.
He stretched out his hand and picked up the whip.
"Hoo-hoo!"
The duck immediately started walking.
He just looked left and right, then stretched out his left hand and pointed at the flock of ducks.
"Gah..."
A duck flew out.
This duck is thinner than ordinary ducks, its color is more colorful, and it flies more easily, just like a wild duck.
The wild duck landed in the duck shed.
The duck herder carried the duck shed, turned around, and looked around. Then he lowered his head and whispered to the wild duck, "Go tell General Wolf quickly that a Taoist priest has come, claiming to be from the Astronomical Observatory. I think he is more fake than real. Please ask him to be prepared."
"Gah..."
The wild duck answered, flapped its wings, and immediately flew into the sky.
But unexpectedly, a black line flashed in the air.
It was an arrow that connected the forest and the wild duck in an instant, pierced the wild duck and fell down.
"hiss!"
The duck herder was immediately shocked.
As if he had realized something, or perhaps it was due to his experience, he almost did not hesitate, threw the load with his hand, swung the duck shed backwards, and jumped forward immediately.
The duck shed was closed on three sides except for a door in the front. He bent down and rushed out of the door.
The next moment——
"boom!"
A golden flame surged over and hit the duck shed like a river hitting a rock. The flames surged, flowing back and forth, and engulfed and covered the duck shed from all directions.
The scorching heat could be felt from a distance, like a bucket of boiling water poured on his back.
The duck shed itself was made of woven bamboo, with only a thin layer of fabric, and had almost no ability to withstand the raging flames.
It only lasted for less than a breath.
In just a moment, the duck herder had already gotten out of the duck shed, and taking advantage of the duck shed's brief resistance to the flames, he quickly rolled forward.
The flames smashed the duck shed, broke through the blockade, and continued to hit the ground, spreading along the ground like flowers. The skinny duck herder in front barely avoided the flames, but he didn't stop at all. As soon as he stood up, he continued to run forward.
When the flames dissipated, only the base of the duck shed remained, with the edges still glowing scarlet and emitting black smoke.
The rear was empty.
It was as if the flames came out of nowhere.
But if you look closely, you can see that there is a small patch of land on the ground that is not flat, about the size of a bowl, as if something has drilled in here.
The duck herder is still running for his life.
When running through a patch of dense thorns, he suddenly saw a gray-black shadow flash behind the thorns. When the duck herder realized something was wrong, it was too late.
A long spear came through the air and swept through the army.
All the force was exerted on him.
"Canopy!"
A cloud of dust suddenly spread out from my chest.
The duck herder was immediately knocked flying, and he was vomiting blood while still in the air.
But he kept flying backwards and hit a big tree behind him. Then he stopped, bounced back and fell to the ground.
"puff……"
The duck herder spat out another mouthful of blood.
But his vitality was so strong that he got up again and prepared to run in another direction.
However, he never expected that the soil in front of him became loose, revealing an area about the size of a bowl or plate. Then a white shadow flashed, and what appeared in front of him was a four-tailed white fox that was several times larger than a mountain tiger.
The white fox was so huge that its mouth seemed able to bite his entire head. It stretched out its palm and easily pinned him to the ground, just like an ordinary fox pinning a duck.
"Yin Yang..."
The duck herder opened his mouth and struggled to chant a spell.
Snap!
He was interrupted by a fox's slap, and a breath of cold air enveloped him, instantly freezing his entire body, making him shiver and unable to speak.
The fox will also advise you to shut up.
Fuyao stared down at him, thinking so.
Then Luo Gong came out of the forest with a gun, the tip of the gun dragging on the ground, leaving a mark. Then a soldier holding a bow came out from the other side, his armor was heavy and made a sound of collision.
"Thank you, my good man!" The fox imitated his own Taoist priest and said so, and shouted clearly, "Return to Lingdou and the soldiers to the Great Wall!"
The soldier immediately turned back into a bean and was picked up by the warrior.
(End of this chapter)
