Chapter 59
On a country dirt road east of the capital, a huge yellow dog appeared, walking quickly while craning its neck to sniff the air.
A yellow dog was followed by a yellow fox and a yellow cat.
The three creatures lined up in a single file and trotted along the dusty, broken road, getting themselves covered in yellow dirt so thick that their original colors were no longer visible.
Baozhu, now a yellow fox, complained from behind the abacus, "Is the boss who hired Xiaoman to transport the goods out of his mind? Is this road even passable?"
Suanpan scoffed and retorted, "This road is just a bit dirty. If we can get the goods to their destination earlier, we can sell them earlier. In this way, we can increase our profits by spending the same amount of time."
Sai Xue, who was at the back, heard this and shouted, "No wonder the boss took a liking to Xiao Man and wanted to hire her to deliver goods. Besides that big idiot, what ordinary person would be willing to do such a strenuous job!"
Calling Xiaoman foolish is an understatement, and Suanpan agrees, saying, "Exactly. If it were me, I would charge at least three times the usual price for this trip. We'll find out when we find Xiaoman and ask her. That foolish ox definitely only charged the usual price."
The three monsters walked along, muttering to themselves. Before long, they came to the end of the broken road, and a peaceful little village appeared before them.
Yellow Dog Abacus stopped and blocked Baozhu and Saixue behind him, saying warily, "Be careful, maybe Xiaoman and the others got lost in this village?"
Baozhu nodded and said, "That makes sense. This village is in such a remote location, and there's only one broken road to get out. It's easy for strange things to happen here."
The three monsters exchanged a glance, with the abacus in front and the pearl behind, and together they scurried into the waist-high weeds by the roadside, carefully making their way towards the village.
But when they sneaked into the village, they didn't encounter anything strange.
Three monsters stood by the main road in the village, looking around at the houses, not finding anything different about this place from the other villages.
The only thing that puzzled them was that after the abacus entered the village, they could no longer smell the scent of Xiaoman.
Baozhu and Saixue chattered noisily beside the abacus, discussing what was going on, which gave the abacus a headache. It angrily said, "Shut up! I can't smell anything anymore!"
“Are you listening to us with your nose?” Baozhu said.
“Exactly, they won’t even let people speak!” Sai Xue chimed in.
Suanpan simply shut up and sniffed around in the air, sweating profusely. After a while, he said in surprise, "I still can't smell it. I could smell it outside just now."
This time, he joined Baozhu and the others, and the three monsters started talking all at once, trying to figure out where Xiaoman had gone.
It was a three-talkative monster who forgot everything once he started talking. The louder he talked, the louder he became, until a peasant woman who was resting in a neighboring house pushed open the door and came out, hands on her hips, ready to scold them. But even with her mouth open, she didn't see a single person.
Only a few small animals covered in yellow dust froze, slowly turned around, and stared at her.
The peasant woman was taken aback, looking at them and muttering, "What are all these things?"
The abacus looked at the peasant woman tremblingly, then thought for a moment and opened its mouth to bark at her: "Woof!"
The farmer's wife breathed a sigh of relief and said with a sigh, "Oh, it's just dogs. Three dogs? They don't look like dogs, they do..."
Baozhu immediately opened her mouth and barked, "Woof woof!"
The peasant woman grunted, scratched her head, and was about to say something.
Sai Xue continued to open her mouth: "Woof woof woof!"
"It's really strange, how come this dog looks like both a fox and a cat?" the peasant woman muttered in a daze as she slowly walked back home.
Seeing this, the three yellow dogs quickly scurried away along the wall.
They huddled in the corner, their three heads pressed together, and Suanpan whispered, "What should we do?"
"Why don't we ask around and see if anyone in the village has seen Xiaoman? She's so strong, anyone who has seen her will definitely remember her," Baozhu suggested.
“Then who will ask?” Sai Xue asked.
Baozhu looked at the abacus, and the abacus looked at Baozhu.
“You go ahead, you’re a male demon. Only men among mortals like to go out and explore. It would be too strange for me to knock on the door,” Baozhu said.
"Alright then." Suanpan smacked his lips for a while, then turned into a middle-aged man. After brushing off the yellow dust, he looked quite scholarly.
He strolled leisurely to the door of the peasant woman who had opened the door earlier, stepped forward, and knocked, asking, "Excuse me, is anyone home?"
After asking a few times, the peasant woman slowly opened the door a crack and asked warily, "What is it?"
“I have a friend who was supposed to be transporting goods to Chaoyun County, but I’ve lost contact with him these past few days. I’m looking for him along the way,” Suanpan said politely.
The abacus's appearance was quite deceptive, and the peasant woman lowered her guard slightly, asking, "What does your friend look like?"
“He has an ordinary appearance, but he has a very strong and unforgettable attendant,” Suanpan said.
“Oh, I’ve seen those people. They passed through our village a couple of days ago and rested for a while. I heard they took a shortcut, crossing the mountain to Chaoyun County.” The peasant woman finished speaking and pointed to a small mountain to the east.
Suanpan nodded his thanks to her and turned to walk in that direction.
The peasant woman watched his retreating figure, hesitant to speak, and after a long while, she murmured, "Never mind, I heard it's already been reported to the Celestial Master, so it's probably all over now."
Suanpan didn't hear him. After leaving the village, he turned back into a big yellow dog, exchanged a glance with his two companions who were waiting outside, and headed towards the hill.
"What do you mean?" Baozhu caught up and asked.
“They said they took a shortcut, crossing the mountains to reach Chaoyun County,” Suanpan replied.
Baozhu looked up at the small hill and thought it was nothing special, neither tall nor big. Xiaoman and the others must have disappeared because of it, but what secrets could there be here?
She had been thinking for a while when, when she came to her senses, the abacus and Sai Xue had already disappeared.
Baozhu quickly chased after him, whispering, "Why are you being so impulsive? What if there are monsters in the mountains?"
Suanpan turned around and asked in surprise, "Then why don't you beat him up? How come a monster as strong as you is so timid and hesitant in your actions?"
Baozhu was taken aback, and asked somewhat uncertainly, "You mean I'm strong?"
"Otherwise what?" Suanpan's eyes widened. "The longer we monsters live, the stronger we become. I've lived for over a hundred years. How old are you? You can already beat me up with Xiaoman. Aren't you strong?"
Having said that, Suanpan stomped his foot and exclaimed, "Ouch!" He angrily said, "Miscalculation! I shouldn't have said that! You just wanted to hear me praise you!"
Fox Pearl grinned and laughed, "So we've beaten you into submission."
While looking at the abacus with exasperation, she walked ahead of her companions in high spirits and was the first to venture into the mountains.
As soon as she entered the small hill, Baozhu sensed something was wrong.
The mountains were so quiet, not even a chirp of insects or a bird could be heard; it was utterly still.
She stood alertly in place, then turned to her companions and said, "Hold your breath and concentrate."
Suanpan walked up to Baozhu, tilted his head back and sniffed, then exclaimed in surprise, "There is a strong smell of blood in the mountains. The smell is so strong that my nose is no longer sensitive. I can only faintly smell a little bit of Xiaoman."
Baozhu's heart sank, a bad premonition rising within her. As she pondered this, a panicked Saixue behind her blurted out, "Xiaoman wouldn't..."
"Don't think about these things, let's find him first." Baozhu interrupted Saixue and exchanged a glance with Suanpan.
With the abacus at the front and the pearl at the back, they carefully protected the weakest Sai Xue in the middle, struggling to track Xiao Man's scent amidst the heavy stench of blood.
Time passed slowly, and they went deeper and deeper into the mountains. The surroundings remained eerily quiet. Along the way, they did not see a single bird or insect, as if they were the only three monsters in the mountains.
This unremarkable little hill seems to have no end.
Baozhu stopped in her tracks.
The person in front of the abacus looked back at her, puzzled.
Baozhu spoke up to explain, "This mountain shouldn't be like this. I can see it clearly from the outside. It shouldn't be this high, nor should it be this deep."
Her tone was strange, and what she said about the abacus was chilling. She stammered, "So...so what?"
Baozhu then turned to Saixue and asked, "Does this feeling seem familiar to you?"
Sai Xue was taken aback, then slowly began to recall something, and said anxiously, "I think I remember now."
"That day, Chen Garden was destroyed, you and Li Zhi had a fight, and we walked in the same direction without thinking..."
Sai Xue's eyes were lifeless as she was lost in terrifying memories.
"After walking for a while, we met an old lady," Baozhu added calmly. "She said her name was Madam Ge."
Sai Xue shivered and stammered, "What should we do?"
Suanpan, who was standing nearby, was completely confused and interrupted, "What are you talking about?"
Baozhu smiled and said to the abacus, "Nothing, I was just thinking about some things from the past."
"Baozhu, why are you so calm?" The kitten Saixue approached the fox Baozhu, rubbed against her fearfully, and buried her head in Baozhu's fur.
Baozhu gently licked Saixue's head reassuringly and whispered, "Don't be afraid, I'm not the same person I used to be."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly stretched out her front claws and grabbed an insect that shouldn't have been there from thin air.
The illusion dissipated, and they heard all the sounds that should be heard in the mountains.
The abacus spun around in place, blinked, and exclaimed in surprise, "Baozhu, what did you grab?"
Baozhu stepped on the insect, and the three monsters formed a circle and bowed their heads.
“It’s a tree fly,” Baozhu said.
“This is what caused our hallucinations,” Sai Xuehen said.
"Where did it originally intend to take us?" Suanpan wondered.
“Since it’s a tree fly, it naturally wants to lead us to the base of the tree,” Baozhu said as she pondered.
She remembered the old locust tree with a spirit she had seen in Fuxia Village when she was reborn. At the foot of the old locust tree were buried Wang Lanzhen's enemies. She had carved vicious curses on her enemies and raised bloodthirsty tree flies.
Even then, the tree flies had already developed an unformed demonic form.
Baozhu crushed the tree fly, closed her eyes, twitched her ears, and listened carefully to the sounds in the air.
Buzzing, buzzing.
The more carefully you listen, the more you can feel the vibration of the tree fly's wings. The tiny insect, accompanied by a roaring sound, attacks the pearl.
Baozhu opened her eyes.
Her expression was solemn as she cautioned, "Be careful. These insects are everywhere here. It seems that once you step into this mountain, you will fall into an illusion. Xiaoman has seen this illusion before, so she might be able to tell that he is still alive."
The three monsters were now even more cautious. They had walked for so long, and only after the illusion was broken did they realize that they had only just started climbing the mountain and were going around in circles.
At this moment, the scent of Xiaoman (the 14th solar term) was more pronounced in the air than before. Suanpan breathed a sigh of relief and walked ahead, heading deeper into the area.
They walked extremely slowly, holding their breath and not letting a single breath escape, for fear of disturbing something.
But after passing through a large thicket of bushes, an accident still occurred.
Just as the abacus peeked its head out from the bushes, it unexpectedly bumped into a mortal.
This startled Suanpan so much that his hair stood on end, and he opened his mouth and barked, "Woof woof woof woof!"
Baozhu couldn't see clearly from behind, but when she heard the abacus whirring, she quickly pushed her way forward while barking, "Woof woof woof woof!"
Seeing this, Sai Xue, who was caught in the middle, also shouted, "Woof woof woof!"
For a time, their calls echoed throughout the mountains and fields, and the barking was incessant.
Until Baozhu heard a familiar voice coming from ahead and exclaimed, "Old Li, Little Pei, come quick! Why are there so many dogs in these mountains!"
It was Li Zhi and his group!
Baozhu quickly stopped talking, transformed back into human form, and emerged from the bushes, excitedly saying, "Why are you all here too!"
"Your Majesty!" Zhang He exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing here? Have you really taken over this mountain and become the mountain king?"
"No, I came with my friends to find another friend!" Baozhu quickly explained.
In the distance, Li Zhi and Pei Xuanji walked quickly over, both looking surprised.
"Baozhu, what are you doing here?" Pei Xuanji exclaimed in surprise.
Baozhu scratched her head, pulled out the yellow dog Suanpan and the kitten Saixue, and explained why they were in the mountains.
After listening, Li Zhi frowned and said, "The reason we came here is because we received a report from the surrounding villagers that something strange was happening in the mountains."
This mountain, though small, is called Tiger Roaring Mountain. It is said that many, many years ago, tigers used to roam the mountain.
But in recent decades, let alone tigers, even the larger muntjacs in the mountains have been hunted to extinction. Tigers have become a legend, and the surrounding villagers are no longer afraid of the mountain.
They often went up the mountain to hunt. Although large prey was rare, there were still plenty of small prey such as rabbits and pheasants in Tiger Roar Mountain.
However, I don't know from a few months, or how long ago.
Among the villagers who went up the mountain, some began to go missing.
At first, it was just the reclusive hunters in the village. Because they spent all day in the mountains and could not be seen for ten days or half a month, the villagers never suspected anything.
Then there are the villagers who occasionally go up the mountain to hunt.
Then, some of the merchants who didn't venture deep into the mountain but merely passed through without stopping also went missing.
At this point, the surrounding villagers finally realized that something was wrong.
They reported this strange event to the officials, asking them to bring men to investigate what was in the mountains and whether the tigers that used to roam the mountains had returned.
Upon receiving the news, the county officials led a large group of people, carrying torches, weapons, and talismans given to them by the Celestial Master, up the mountain.
They found nothing in the mountains—no tigers, no monsters.
But after descending the mountain, they suddenly discovered that one of their men was missing.
Now, the case was finally handed over to the Temple of Strange People.
Chaoyun County is too close to the capital and has no Celestial Master stationed there. After taking the case into consideration, the Yiren Temple sent it to Li Zhi and his two companions who had just arrived in the capital.
Thus, the three celestial masters and the three demons met by chance in Tiger Roar Mountain.
Baozhu suddenly realized that, in a way, they had all arrived at the same destination by different paths. She pointed to the big yellow dog on the ground and said, "This is my friend Suanpan. He works as an accountant in the capital, so it's inconvenient for you to know what he looks like."
The big yellow dog nodded politely to the three celestial masters.
The three celestial masters quickly returned the greeting.
Baozhu then pointed to the kitten on the ground and said, "This is my friend Saixue. She works as a charlatan in the capital, so it's not appropriate for you to meet her."
Sai Xue opened her mouth and barked at them.
Pei Xuanji asked curiously, "Little friend, aren't you a cat demon?"
Baozhu quickly picked up Saixue from the ground and changed the subject, saying, "They're pretty much the same."
After introducing her friends, Baozhu recounted her encounter with the tree flies to them, then asked curiously, "Weren't you all caught in an illusion?"
"Because we knew about the strange occurrences in the mountains, we prepared talismans before we came up," Li Zhi explained.
“No wonder.” Baozhu understood and repeated her guess, “Back in Fuxia Village, the four of us witnessed tree flies eating people and saw the evil method of cultivating tree demons. I’m worried that it will be like last time.”
“Indeed, Baozhu is right. Our most urgent task now is to find the tree,” Pei Xuanji said, frowning.
“In that case, I think it would be better if we split up. Whichever side finds it first can tell the other side. That would be much faster,” Baozhu suggested.
No one objected. After discussing for a while, they each went to search in that direction. Once they had confirmed it, Pei Xuanji led Zhang He and went there first.
Li Zhi lagged behind, took out a few paper cranes, placed them in Baozhu's hand, and then, taking advantage of his companions' inattention, leaned down and quietly kissed Baozhu's cheek, whispering in her ear, "Be careful."
Baozhu's eyes sparkled as she looked at Li Zhi and nodded.
After the Taoist priests left, Suanpan was the first to complain, "What's going on? Since your partner knows how to cheat on people, why doesn't he cheat on dogs?"
"So cheesy! So cheesy!" Sai Xue exclaimed in disgust.
"Alright, enough nonsense, let's get to work!" Baozhu said, her face flushed, feigning seriousness.
At this moment, there were three celestial masters and three demons in the mountains, acting separately, searching for the tree fly's true form and the missing Xiaoman.
Meanwhile, Xiaoman herself, who was being searched for, was struggling to find herself in front of a tree hole.
He stuffed the wild fruits he had found in the mountains into the tree hole, then held his breath and, as if by magic, sealed the entire entrance of the tree hole tightly.
Several mortals were crammed into the tree hollow, fitting in perfectly.
They ate the fruit that Xiaoman had painstakingly found with great difficulty, and thanked him in a voice barely audible: "Thank you, Brother Xiaoman."
Xiaoman frowned and hummed in agreement.
He looked up and saw swarms of tree flies dancing in the air. The flies' tiny eyes were red, clearly indicating they were not to be trifled with.
After Xiaoman escaped from Gejiabao, her resistance to illusions increased.
However, after he and a group of mortals entered Tiger Roar Mountain, they walked for several hours until they were deep in the heart of Tiger Roar Mountain before realizing that they had entered an illusion. When Xiaoman woke up, the mortals beside him were almost walking into a trap of tree flies.
Xiaoman went berserk and risked her life to finally rescue several mortals from the trap.
But what awaited him were even more tree flies.
Unable to rescue these mortals from Tiger Roar Mountain on his own, Xiaoman found a tree hole, hid the mortals inside, and blocked the entrance to the hole himself to prevent their presence from being detected by tree flies.
But at this rate, when will we be able to get down from the mountain?
Xiaoman looked at the tree flies that blotted out the sky and thought worriedly.
When will Sai Xue and Bao Zhu realize that he is missing?
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