Chen Shi watched the scene unfold with envy. "If I could do that, lying in a coffin would look so cool and impressive."
Grandpa was steering the compass as the wooden cart moved forward.
"Grandpa, does Prince Xiao also need to nurture himself in a place like this?" Chen Shi asked, looking up.
Grandpa focused on the compass. "When we get to the village, don't ask about others."
Hearing this, Chen Shi stopped asking questions, but he couldn't help but glance back at the mysterious mountain estate, filled with curiosity.
This estate was built by Grandpa and a group of mysterious people. Everyone who came here never asked about each other's pasts or origins, all following some unspoken rule.
"It's like they're a bunch of criminals," Chen Shi thought, blinking. "Grandpa must have done some bad things in the past. But no matter how many bad things he did, he's still my grandpa."
The grandfather and grandson returned to Yellow Slope Village. Not long after, a loud cry came from Chen Shi's room: "Where's my candied hawthorns? My rice cake? And my sugar figurines! Who stole them? Which scoundrel took my treasures?"
Grandpa was drawing talismans when Chen Shi stormed out of his room, fuming with anger.
"It must have been the other kids in the village who took my candied hawthorns, rice cake, and sugar figurines while I was away! I couldn't bear to eat them, and now they've been stolen! I need to catch them all!"
Chen Shi was furious as he walked out, his face dark. "Time for some punishment!"
Grandpa stopped him, saying, "No one stole them. I threw them away. You slept for seven days, and they went bad."
Chen Shi's face fell, but then he perked up and pleaded, "Grandpa, the treats you bought last time, I didn't dare eat them all at once. I just had a little each day to make them last. Can you buy me more?"
"No money."
Grandpa paused his drawing, glanced at him, and said, "You went to Boxwood Village to deal with evil spirits and earned four taels of silver, didn't you? Hand it over to me, and I'll save it for you to buy a wife... I mean, for your wedding and to buy you more treats."
Chen Shi was cautious. "I didn't take any money for dealing with evil spirits in Boxwood Village."
Grandpa continued drawing, saying, "When I washed your clothes, I found four taels of silver in your sleeve pocket. If it's not yours, then it must be mine."
With a thud, Chen Shi's face turned pale, and he fell to his knees, feeling utterly hopeless, as if "life is meaningless" was written all over his face.
After a while, Grandpa, feeling a bit sorry, put down his cinnabar brush and tossed him a small piece of broken silver. "Here's one tael. Get up."
Chen Shi grabbed the silver, tears of joy streaming down his face, and quickly got up. "Thank you, Grandpa! Thank you!"
Heiguo, lying in the corner, rolled his eyes, thinking, "The young master doesn't even realize who risked their life for that silver. It was all his, and now he's grateful for just one tael. The old man has him wrapped around his finger."
"Chirp chirp, chirp chirp!"
Chen Shi held a piece of exotic beast meat in one hand, calling for the dog. Heiguo lazily got up and slowly walked over.
Chen Shi revealed a small knife hidden behind his back, grinning mischievously as he grabbed Heiguo.
Heiguo bit into the meat, resigned to his fate.
Chen Shi collected some black dog blood and hid in his room, tinkering with something.
Heiguo wasn't curious at all until Chen Shi came out with a stack of thick talismans, tying them to Heiguo's four legs with straw ropes.
Heiguo was startled and wanted to bite the talismans off, but then he saw Chen Shi tying two talismans to his own legs.
These talismans had wind symbols on them, like swirling winds, with the words "Ride the Clouds" written in the wind. In the middle was the Big Dipper symbol, and below that were the Six Ding and Six Jia symbols, combining wind and Big Dipper symbols.
This was the structure of the Armored Horse Talisman.
Chen Shi had encountered Iron Brush Elder and, relying on his speed, defeated him. But he was quite interested in the Armored Horse Talismans that Iron Brush Elder and Zhao Ming used for travel. So once he recovered, he decided to experiment with using the Armored Horse Talisman.
Chen Shi activated a wisp of fading True Qi to trigger the Armored Horse Talismans on Heiguo's legs, as well as his own.
"Heiguo, good things are meant to be shared."
Chen Shi took a step forward, smiling. "This talisman was made with your blood, so of course, you get to enjoy it too!"
With that step, he felt a gentle breeze rise beneath his feet, and he glided forward effortlessly, covering a distance of nearly two meters!
Even more amazing, before his foot touched the ground, another breeze lifted him, bouncing him forward with ease!
Chen Shi was both surprised and delighted, taking a second step.
This second step took him even farther, nearly four meters!
He was walking on the wind, sliding forward as if on ice, without any resistance. The "ice" beneath his feet felt soft and springy.
Each step was like taking six or seven steps normally!
Heiguo, usually steady, couldn't resist the fun of seeing Chen Shi gliding around, so he eagerly dashed forward on all fours.
"Whoosh—"
A black blur shot forward, kicking up a gust of wind that rattled the windows of the houses along the street in Yellow Slope Village.
In the distance, there was a thud as Chen Shi watched Heiguo crash into the earthen wall across the street, a hundred steps away.
Chen Shi was startled and quickly ran over, only to see the black dog pulling his head out of the wall, leaving a dog-head-sized hole.
The wall belonged to Old Zhou's family.
Old Zhou saw that it was the Chen family's dog that had broken through his wall, but he didn't dare say anything.
Heiguo shook his head like a rattle.
Chen Shi was worried it might be hurt, but then he saw the dog get excited, its four paws kicking up wind as it raced off.
"Bark bark bark!"
The dog's barking echoed as it sped away.
Chen Shi hurried to catch up, but the dog was running on the wind like a breeze, faster than he could manage!
"Whoosh!"
A sharp sound of something cutting through the air came from beside Chen Shi as Heiguo zipped past. Before Chen Shi could react, there was another whoosh, and Heiguo dashed into the village, circling Yellow Slope Village over and over, causing chickens and dogs to scatter in panic.
In the next moment, the dog charged out of Yellow Slope Village and into the forest. Soon, birds were startled, flying everywhere, and the trees swayed in the strong wind.
Chen Shi worried it might encounter danger, so he quickly followed, but he couldn't catch up with Heiguo.
"Four legs are definitely faster than two!"
Just as Chen Shi thought this, a gust of wind hit him, and when it cleared, Heiguo was in front of him, panting with its tongue out, wagging its tail excitedly.
Chen Shi hadn't figured out what it wanted when suddenly Heiguo disappeared with a whoosh, and a gust of wind brought it back, holding the small knife used to collect black dog blood. Then, with another whoosh, it vanished again, returning with an inkstone in its mouth.
In a short time, Heiguo had brought all the items Chen Shi used for drawing talismans.
Chen Shi understood and hesitated, "Heiguo, you just had blood drawn, and Grandpa also drew some this morning. If you lose too much blood in one day, your body won't handle it..."
"Bark bark!"
Heiguo barked excitedly, bouncing around him, urging Chen Shi to draw more Armored Horse Talismans. The talismans on its legs had already lost half their power and weren't as effective as before.
Chen Shi had no choice but to oblige, collecting black dog blood, grinding cinnabar, and drawing many Armored Horse Talismans.
Heiguo ran wildly until it disappeared from his sight. After a while, the sound of wind came from afar, getting closer quickly, and the black dog raced past like a whirlwind.
After running wildly for who knows how long, Heiguo finally tired out. Although exhausted, it was still full of energy.
Chen Shi put away the remaining Armored Horse Talismans and suddenly had an idea.
Soon, he went to Boxwood Village to visit his only living friend, Liu Fugui.
Liu Fugui had recovered a lot, but for some reason, he was now very respectful and even a bit fearful of Chen Shi, unlike before.
Chen Shi was disappointed and left feeling down.
"Fugui is afraid of me and is no longer my friend. He even wanted to kneel and bow to me, looking terrified. He's just like the other kids now."
Hillock Village.
Granny Sha was a well-known shaman in the area. People from all around knew that while Godmother could protect and bless the villagers, Granny Sha could summon the dead.
If someone missed a deceased loved one, they could seek Granny Sha to summon their spirit from the underworld.
Some families, whose elders died suddenly without revealing where their money was hidden, would also come to Granny Sha to summon the elder's spirit.
There were also those seeking revenge, who, after killing someone, still felt unsatisfied and asked Granny Sha to summon the enemy's spirit to whip, drown, or burn, to vent their anger.
That day, Granny Sha was summoning a spirit for a woman whose husband had died. The woman wanted to discuss remarrying, selling the family property, and taking her child to another village, even changing the child's surname with her late husband.
Of course, she was just asking; even if the husband disagreed, there was nothing he could do.
Suddenly, a beam of light shone through the dark room, startling the husband's spirit, causing the ghost to scream.
Granny Sha looked over and saw a small head peeking through the door crack—it was Chen Shi.
Chen Shi grinned at Granny Sha, showing his white teeth.
Granny Sha's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly dismissed the woman wanting to remarry. "Little Shi, why are you here? Where's your grandpa?"
She felt uneasy, facing Chen Shi alone, even a little scared.
Chen Shi held a basket with some green duck eggs and fruits underneath, smiling. "Grandpa's at home. I came to bring you some local specialties from our village."
Granny Sha was surprised and quickly took the basket. "Your grandpa took care of these things? That's rare for him."
"They weren't grown or raised by Grandpa. They were gifts from kind neighbors."
Chen Shi spoke sweetly, handing over a plum. "Try it, Granny. It's a bit sweet and sour!"
Granny Sha's fear of him lessened a bit, and she smiled. "Chen Yin was always a blunt man, never knowing how to say nice things. How did he have such a sweet-talking grandson like you? Truly sweet!"
She took a bite of the plum, finding it not sour at all. Of course, the plum was a bit sour, but her heart felt sweet.
But she still felt a bit wary of Chen Shi and urged him to go home quickly before it got dark.
Chen Shi laughed, "Don't worry, Granny. I have Armored Horse Talismans on my legs, so I'm really fast. I'll be home in no time. Granny, your water jar is empty. Let me fetch some water for you." With that, he grabbed a bucket and headed to the village well.
In no time, Chen Shi filled Granny Sha's water jar, swept the floor, washed and dried the dishes, and even did the laundry, being very diligent.
Granny Sha quickly stopped him. "No one does something for nothing. What are you really here for?"
Chen Shi wiped his hands on his pants, smiling and looking pleased. "Grandpa said Granny Sha loves me the most. You even held me when I was little and tried to summon my spirit when I was hurt. You saved me again this time, so I should be diligent."
Granny Sha sneered, "Chen Yin paid for my help, so I saved you. It's a fair deal, no need for you to be diligent. I don't do things based on sentiment, only business. So, what do you want?"
Seeing this, Chen Shi had to reveal his purpose. "Granny, is there any abandoned, ancient temple around Heavenly Yang Mountain? The kind that suddenly appeared from nowhere, deserted, and with no one visiting to offer incense. The older, the better!"
Granny Sha's heart stirred. "What do you need such a place for?"
Thank you to Butterfly Pea Flower and Little Immortal of the Humble Door for the support! Your generosity is appreciated!
Brothers, "On the Great Path" is still a new book and needs more promotion and votes. Thank you, Zhai Zhu!