Chu Weiyang carried a bamboo basket on his back, holding a long sword, walking alone in the somewhat bustling market.
It was noisy compared to the market in Heyuan, with more pedestrians and a lively atmosphere.
However, venturing deeper into the wilderness south of Yusu River, most of the people in Lingqiu Mountain Fang Market appeared more bizarre than usual.
There was a big man with a lump of flesh on his head, a boy with an old and corpse-like face, a cold woman with a mouth split to the ears...
This was a place where demonic sects and wandering cultivators were rampant.
The former's cultivation methods were domineering, often leaving irreversible costs when taking shortcuts to ascend; while the latter's cultivation methods were mysterious, involving perilous and steep meridians.
Even if they cultivated formidable powers, they would naturally bear the consequences on their bodies...
Only a small minority still maintained their ordinary appearance, but a glimpse into their eyes revealed a fierce and ruthless aura.
In such a place of demonic sects and wandering cultivator legacies, those who maintained their original appearance, no matter who looked at them, could understand the severity of their talents.
At least Chu Weiyang was just carrying a half-body bamboo basket, with the steward's pale face peeking out from inside the basket.
This combination, walking in the market, was enough to make people look and show respect.
However, facing the gazes of the crowd, Chu Weiyang did not look around, only whispered something to the steward behind him as they walked, then glanced around several times, walked straight through the crowd, and entered the Rejuvenation Pavilion in this market.
The scenery was no longer ordinary.
Behind the counter was a thin and gloomy old man, his gestures falling on Chu Weiyang almost penetrating his skin, feeling like two sharp knives piercing into his bones.
But if anyone in the entire market had seen the most gloomy demonic cultivators, witnessed those strange figures gradually numb in painful struggles, and then forgotten themselves on a certain morning, only to be surrounded by eerie things in the end, completely devoid of vitality...
Thinking of this, Chu Weiyang suddenly felt a sense of relaxation as if he had returned home.
He took small steps, slightly leaning forward, his neck raised high, a faint smile playing on his thin, bony cheeks.
His hollow and deep eyes looked at the gloomy old man, not as if observing a living person, but as if observing some evil creature, some remnants, some wandering soul...
Even the experienced shopkeeper at the Rejuvenation Pavilion couldn't help but shudder, and when he suddenly came to his senses, he found himself speechless, staring silently at Chu Weiyang for a long time.
With a difficult smile, the shopkeeper forced out an awkward smile.
"Sir, what do you need?"
Chu Weiyang flicked his wrist, took out two or three different-colored Qiankun pouches from his sleeve, and spoke as he weighed them.
"Anti-Calamity Pill, Dragon-Tiger Revitalizing Pill, how many do you have? Show me first."
"Oh, and also, Clearing Jade Lotus, Bitter Leaf Flower, Three Ding Red Elemental Grass... Let me think... and at least ten years of Wumu Qu Vine, how many of those, also show me."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper nodded and quickly fetched the items without any delay in front of Chu Weiyang.
"Please wait, sir."
As the shopkeeper spoke, he lifted the curtain and went straight to the back storeroom.
Staying by the bamboo basket, the steward naturally heard everything clearly.
"You need to think clearly, buying these things is to pave the way for the future. You don't have much talent in alchemy, even if you accidentally obtained two prescription formulas, you shouldn't spend your savings here..."
Upon hearing this, Chu Weiyang shook his head and whispered softly.
"Regardless of how many pills I buy, if I have to flee for my life, there will always be a limit. But now that I have obtained the 'Essence of the Ten Thousand Spirits Sovereign's Ministerial Duties Secret Extract' and two complete prescription formulas, as long as I slightly comprehend the principles of the ministerial duties, I may be able to use them to save my life at a critical moment on my journey in the future!"
As he spoke, Chu Weiyang's hoarse voice was filled with solemnity about life and death.
To advance, one must first retreat.
Hearing Chu Weiyang's words, the steward gritted his teeth, as if wanting to say something harsh, but in the end, he held back, remained silent, and watched Chu Weiyang take out alchemy items from the Qiankun pouches one by one, exchanging them for bottles of refining pills and boxes of precious medicinal materials.
Once the transaction was completed, Chu Weiyang rolled up his wide sleeves, lifted the long sword in his hand, ignoring the trembling face of the shopkeeper, turned around without looking back, and left with big strides.
-
Half a day passed.
When Chu Weiyang walked out of a talisman shop opened by a wandering cultivator, the spring was deepening, and the noon sun was gradually bringing a strong heat.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, Chu Weiyang stood still, showing a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face.
At the same time, the steward's slightly urgent voice sounded low in Chu Weiyang's ear.
"That's enough, do you think you're here to shop? The market is full of eyes, the longer you stay, the more dangerous it becomes! Why are you still standing here?"
Chu Weiyang still looked somewhat hesitant.
"I'm thinking about Liu Dao Ren and the other two. They are the true local tyrants of Lingqiu Mountain. If I can invite them, this matter might be easier."
"But think about it, things are not that simple."
"Before, when we met by chance, many things were done step by step to barely deceive people. But if we have to deal with the people from Tingchang Mountain, if the truth is revealed, they might kill me before anything else..."
"It would be best if there was another way to further deceive them..."
"I'm not someone who is good at scheming. Steward, you have seen and experienced a lot in the Demon-Sealing Cave. How about giving me some advice?"
In the bamboo basket, the steward patted the edge of the basket, opened his mouth, and was about to say something unpleasant, but Chu Weiyang suddenly changed the subject.
"Alright, let's go and meet Liu Dao Ren first. He told me where he lives in the market. Maybe we won't meet him, or even if we do, he might not agree to help. But these three are indeed honest people, meeting them first shouldn't hurt..."
After a moment, Chu Weiyang stood still at a street corner in the market.
Not far away, at the opposite side of the street, was the place where Liu Dao Ren had mentioned, a small courtyard with pale lanterns hanging from the eaves.
Even standing at the street corner, Chu Weiyang could still hear the faint and restrained sound of a woman sobbing sadly coming from the courtyard.
At the same time, an old man with a faltering gait passed by the street corner, looking at Chu Weiyang with surprise, then following the young man's gaze towards the courtyard.
At his age, he might no longer fear anything.
He sighed to himself.
"Ah, I saw the three of them the day before yesterday. They said they had made some money in the mountains and I wanted to invite them for a drink, but before I could say a few words, they hurriedly left."
"As soon as they left, they never returned. When people found their bodies in the mountains, the two younger ones had almost turned into black blood, and it took several shovelfuls of soil to bring them back completely."
"Later, someone found a hidden note left by the three of them in the woods, saying they were going to guide an outsider, using strange markings, with an extra Yin character and a Ming character..."
"This mountain is like a piece of heaven and earth, it's not easy to live to old age peacefully. Over the years, not many people have died at the hands of outsiders."
"A good family ruined..."
Further behind, the old man continued to mutter, but Chu Weiyang couldn't hear a word.
He stared at the pale lantern hanging under the eaves.
As if blood was needed, a blood-red color was needed to stain the pale paper.
In the next moment, Chu Weiyang suddenly shook himself out of his reverie.
He turned his head, and the old man had already walked a few steps away, leaving Chu Weiyang with a distant back view.
Almost without hesitation, Chu Weiyang called out to the old man.
"Old sir, please wait, I have an urgent matter to ask for your advice!"
As soon as the words fell, the old man turned around, his wrinkled and weathered face showing traces of wind and frost.
"Child, whether you are the Yin character or the Ming character, being able to look at him once is fate; being able to call out to him, no matter what you want to ask, he will tell you everything in detail!"
-
Night fell once again.
The steaming mist enveloped the forest, and the deep spring wind howled through, its swaying sound resembling the crashing waves of the sea.
Yan Jianming walked in the tree sea of Lingqiu Mountain, his eyes showing a sense of urgency and confusion.
Urgency because, up to this moment, his eyes were filled with endless trees; confusion because, even after looking at these trees for a long time, he couldn't distinguish one tree from the next.
It was as if the forest itself, the shadows of the forest, and even the muddy ground under his feet were all melting into the endless mist.
Even his own anger and impatience, in the vast ocean of these towering waves, were swaying, as if they were about to be extinguished in the next moment.
Those seemingly intense and rich emotions couldn't solve any problems!
Suddenly, Yan Jianming inexplicably remembered a sentence that Chu Weiyang had said.
In a daze, he seemed to hear the crisp sound near his ear again, as if Chu Weiyang's hand was slapping his cheek from a distance.
He angrily shook his arm, as if venting his embarrassment.
But in the next moment, his face suddenly changed, and he stopped abruptly, looking towards the shadows not far away with vigilance and caution.
"Who—!"
In the light footsteps, Chu Weiyang emerged from the shadows behind the trees, carrying a bamboo basket on his back.
In the hazy mist, the thin and sickly figure of the young man wandering between the mountains and forests, under the dim moonlight, looked more like a wandering soul in the wilderness.
Following this, Chu Weiyang's hoarse voice echoed in the misty forest, sounding more like the voice of a ghost.
"Friend Yan, why aren't you serving your young master at home and following me? This is not what we agreed upon in the past!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Jianming just smiled coldly.
"What we agreed upon in the past... You're not qualified to mention that! I didn't see you at Zhaiyu Tower!"
Chu Weiyang shook his head, relaxed his shoulders, and placed his hand under the basket, then slammed the basket on the ground.
"Zhaiyu Tower... Have you been to Zhaiyu Tower? Or did both of you go to Zhaiyu Tower? Why did you go to Zhaiyu Tower to find me? To kill me? If killing me fails, you come looking for me in Lingqiu Mountain? Friend Yan, if you do this, we will have a big feud!"
Saying this, Chu Weiyang drew his long sword from the scabbard, crouched halfway, stepped one foot forward and the other back, one hand placed the sword horizontally in front of him, the other hand pointing at the sword spine, lightly tapping on it.
The last layer of modesty was torn apart by Chu Weiyang's Spring Sword stance.
In response to Chu Weiyang's sword, Yan Jianming's body moved forward instead of retreating.
It was a fierceness and roar that Yan Jianming had never shown before.
"Good! Good! Good!"
"Come on—!"
As he spoke, Yan Jianming held the Mountain-Bearing Mudra with both hands, each finger holding a talisman, his hands seemed to rise towards the sky, facing the sword and the snake!