Chapter 399 The Seventh Brother Arrives
There is almost no one living outside Ziyun City.
Occasionally, someone would ride by on a stone horse, causing the earth to tremble under their feet; occasionally, someone would hold a lantern and blow out sparks like a river, burning the weeds on the ground.
Lin Jue and the others soon discovered that the straw men they had encountered in the wilderness were not specially arranged by the Queen Mother of the East, nor were they placed there by her demon soldiers and generals. Instead, they seemed to have been formed by themselves under some kind of magical power.
Even if the straw man has been destroyed, as long as the weeds are still there, it will form a straw man again within a few days or even within a day.
If the weeds are burned, they will grow rapidly, and after growing up, they will quickly dry up and form a straw man.
In this way, even if these straw men are not very powerful and can only serve as guards in the dark and shoot some cold arrows, the fact that they are naturally generated without any effort can be considered a powerful magical power.
People had to go out of the city every day to burn the weeds.
Otherwise, within a few days, or even in one day and night, the vast tracts of mountains, forests and farmlands outside the city will once again become the evil kingdom of the Queen Mother of the East.
These were handed over to Wan Xinrong.
There is a small lake outside the city, which is an important source of water for the people in the city. There are a few willow trees by the lake, which have just begun to sprout new buds in the spring breeze. There is a pavilion that has long faded and become old.
Lin Jue sat in the pavilion and listened to the fox preaching.
"...and if you do this again, you can turn into a bird!"
"What do you mean by this and that?" Lin Jue said helplessly, "I have read a lot of books for you, but why do you still talk like that?"
“It’s not something I wanted to read!”
“I read it anyway…”
“I didn’t read it!”
"..."
"You should look at the birds first! Look more! Look like the fox, look like Xiaohua. Xiaohua looks up at the birds every day!"
"Feelings?"
“Feel!”
"Enlightenment?"
“Insight!”
It's unclear who is teaching whom.
Lin Jue also had a headache.
At this moment, a egret flew over the willow tree.
"Gah..."
The egret brought him a letter.
"Thank you, fellow Taoist."
Lin Jue then stood up, ignored the serious-looking fox, and took out the letter paper.
There are two letters in total.
The first letter was from Taoist Priest Jiang.
As soon as I opened it, I saw a piece of calligraphy in small characters with a familiar handwriting, a bit of classical charm, and the fragrance of ink still lingering:
"How are fellow Daoist and Ziyun?
"We arrived at Boyu a few days ago thanks to your reminder. Although we encountered hidden arrows from straw men on the way, there was no other loss except for Qingxuan who was exploring the way ahead and accidentally got slightly injured.
"When we arrived at Boyu, the followers of the Queen Mother of the East were fighting fiercely with the soldiers defending the city. They were trying to break through the city from the inside out and take away all the people to Mount Modu. In my opinion, the Queen Mother of the East must have suffered some losses in the process of resisting the two True Lords of Guarding Saint and Protecting Saint, and she needed them to replenish her strength.
“We originally wanted to leave the common people behind and let those believers go and fend for themselves, but General Boyu, the city defender, was quite courageous and led his troops to chase after them.
"I wonder if Ziyun is the same?"
"How did you make your choice, fellow Taoist?
"Have any of the Queen Mother of the East's followers come to attack in the past few days?
"Have you found your fellow Daoist's senior brother?
"..."
Taoist Qingxuan was injured?
Lin Jue thought about it and agreed -
Those straw men hid in the dark and shot cold arrows with great power, comparable to the strong bows in the army. If the Taoists of the Lingfa School had ways to protect themselves and knew about them in advance, they might not be afraid of them. But if they were ordinary troops or warriors, or Taoists of the Fulu School who did not know magic, they would easily be harmed by them if they did not notice them in advance.
Those straw men don't move, speak or breathe, and they are hidden in the same weeds and woods as the straw men, making them very difficult to detect.
Fortunately, I reminded him in advance.
Lin Jue continued to look down——
"In the past few days, the Queen Mother of the East has been avoiding going out. The two True Lords under Tian Weng have led their troops to the lower world several times. No matter whether it is day or night, except for the gains from using celestial phenomena, they have been kept out. Ziyun County where Daoyou is located is the closest to Modu Mountain. I think you can hear the war drums and thunder from there.
“It is said that the entire Mo Du Mountain has become the Dong Wang Mu’s cave heaven demon kingdom. She has taken root and grown here for tens of thousands of years, and has been here for a thousand years since she attained enlightenment. It is difficult for the two True Lords to break through.
"According to my guess, maybe it will take until after the Waking of Insects, or even during the summer when there are many thunderstorms, for things to slowly turn around. If the two True Lords still can't win by autumn, maybe we'll have to wait until next year.
“Before that, the Queen Mother of the East will definitely try to nourish herself, and will also definitely try to weaken the incense of the gods here.
“May fellow Taoists be at peace.
"..."
Lin Jue put it away and looked at the second letter.
The second letter was sent by Master Nan Tianshi.
This place is not far from Boyu and Jiguang. The egrets can deliver the letters back and forth. It doesn't take much time as long as you are careful.
And it’s important to stay connected.
Firstly, Master Jiang was a reincarnated god, her identity and purpose were very special, and the information she had was important and reliable. Secondly, they could share what they had with each other, and they could also know the situation in various places. If they encountered a crisis that was difficult to resist, they could also provide appropriate assistance.
Taoist Priest Jiang, Tianshi Nan, and Taoist Priest Yushan in Letian County, which is opposite Ziyun County, also kept in touch. As for the method of sending letters, each of them had their own methods. Lin Jue read it carefully.
Meanwhile, the fox had left his post as "teacher," and had run away from him, to the lakeside to play and frolic with the civet cat, without a thought or worry about his own safety.
There are fish swimming in this small lake.
Then the fox jumped onto a rock by the lake, opened its mouth and blew out a puff of white smoke into the lake, and the smoke spread across the surface of the lake with a whoosh.
"Fish come!"
"Puff puff……"
Immediately, a fish jumped out of the water.
The raccoon has quick eyes and claws, while the fox has quick eyes and mouth. One stretches out its claws and grabs a fish, and the other opens its mouth and bites, also catching a fish.
Lin Jue raised his eyes and glanced at them——
I thought they would eat it themselves, but I saw the fox looking up at the sky, and when a white egret in the sky spread its wings and glided down from the willow branches, it shook its head and threw the fish in its mouth into the sky.
The egret opened its mouth and took it.
He stopped by the lake, adjusted the position of the fish a few times, tilted his head back to swallow it, and the catfish next to him threw another one.
These two little ones can always find something to play with.
Lin Jue withdrew his gaze, took out paper and pen to write a reply.
Again, no greetings, just go straight in:
"Thank you for your concern, Ziyun is fine, and we are all fine too, no one is injured.
“When my junior sister and I arrived at Ziyun, the city was the same as the Boyu described by Daoyou, but the two sides were still in a standoff and had not yet fought. Daoyou and I also made the same decision.
“It’s rare that fellow Daoist remembered me. After entering Ziyun City, we soon met my senior brother.
"In the past few days, we have occasionally heard the sound of war drums in the north, and sometimes we can see the gods leading their troops to the lower world, but no one from the Queen Mother of the East has come to attack. There are some demons and monsters hiding in the city. My junior sister and the strange people from the Juxian Mansion have spent a lot of effort to find them. Please keep an eye out, fellow Taoist.
“Also, the grass outside the city is endless and will regenerate even if it is destroyed. Please keep this in mind, fellow Taoists. We need to send people to set fire to the grass at all times and wipe it out before the straw men are formed.
"I have recently been learning the 'Feather Transformation Technique' from my fox, which allows me to transform into a bird. If you encounter any trouble, please send a message to me.
"May fellow Taoists be well."
After finishing one letter, I started writing the second one.
When both letters were finished, the egret had been fed by the fox and the civet cat, and was combing its feathers on the tree. The fox and the civet cat were playing in the air like lion dance under the willow tree, and the leftover fish bones and scales were on the ground.
"Fellow Daoist, please take a rest here for a while and then send the letter back for me. This letter is not urgent."
Lin Jue put the two letters into the letter bag.
As for the letters sent by Taoist Jiang and Master Nan, he kept them properly and did not intend to throw them away.
Not long after, the egret left with the letter.
"Would you like to listen?"
While the fox and the cat were playing, they did not forget to turn their heads and ask Lin Jue.
"No need, I'll digest and think about it first."
"Hey!"
The fox continued to pounce on the cat.
The two sides were jumping and playing, but they didn't really touch each other. If they occasionally touched each other, the force was very light. Instead, they mostly shook their heads, bluffed, opened their mouths to bite, and raised their paws to hit each other from a distance, having a lot of fun.
Suddenly both sides stopped and turned to look across the lake at the same time.
"Go this way!"
A serious voice came.
A Taoist figure appeared on the other side of the lake, with a little ghost in brown clothes floating beside him.
The kid stretched out his hand and pointed to the other side of the lake.
After he finished speaking, he realized that although he was pointing to the old pavilion on the other side of the lake, he was actually pointing to the middle of the lake. There was no way to get there, so he stretched his neck and looked around. He found a way around the lake, so he turned his hand and pointed to the side:
"Go this way!"
This is a very handsome Taoist.
Lin Jue immediately stood up and walked towards that direction.
The two sides quickly came together.
“Found it!”
Chen Niu shouted and disappeared without a trace.
"Junior brother, you are such a useful little ghost!" Senior Brother Seven said to him with a smile, "Where are Senior Brother Three and Junior Sister?"
"Inside the city, Junior Sister is helping him comprehend the Great Yin-Yang Method and learn the Divine Movement Technique." Lin Jue said to him, "Brother, did you encounter any danger on the way here? Why are you alone here? Where is Fourth Senior Brother?"
"We encountered a few monsters, but I solved them with a breath of air. The monsters here have a strong wood energy, and the flowers blooming in an instant can restrain them." The seventh brother paused and said, "I didn't go with the fourth brother, because I waited for him in my Taoist temple for two days, but he didn't come. I guess he either didn't come to find me and came directly, or he went back to the Taoist temple to borrow the Moving Mountain Mirror."
"possible……"
Lin Jue nodded, not worrying too much. He just planned to let the fox fly a few more times in the sky in the next two days to see if he could find the figure of the fourth senior brother. Then he took the seventh senior brother to the city:
"Come with me. If you see Third Brother, I'm sure he will be very surprised. Last year, Third Brother mocked you with his words in his letter. Maybe you can use them to repay him."
The two Taoists walked towards the city.
The fox and the cat stood still, turned their heads to look at them, and when they saw them walking away, they quickly trotted after them.
(End of this chapter)
