078
[Mission world docking in progress... Unknown error encountered during docking... Teleport—]
Jiang Huali opened her eyes and found herself inside a stone statue.
Yes, it is a stone statue.
It was as if her soul was sealed inside a stone statue. She could see the outside world through the statue's eyes, but she couldn't break free from this shell and move around freely.
It looks like this is a cave.
【System? System?】 Jiang Huali called out to the system in her mind.
One second, two seconds... a minute passed.
There was no response.
What happened?
Jiang Huali discovered that her hearing had become unusually sensitive. She could hear the chirping of birds outside the cave, the sound of wild rabbits running across the grass, the wind blowing through the leaves, and the sound of dew dripping. It was as if she and nature had become one.
After failing to receive a response from the system after multiple attempts, Jiang Huali gave up for the time being.
Suddenly she heard the voices of living people coming from outside the cave.
"Find it for me!"
"He's injured, he couldn't have gone far. Let's search around here!"
Birds took flight in fright, rabbits scurried away, and even the wind seemed to have stopped.
"He ran to such a remote place, and it took me a long time to find him. The higher-ups have given us instructions to catch him at all costs, or we'll all be in deep trouble."
"Boss, it's just a little snake demon, why are they so worried about it?"
"Shh—mind your own business, you're just doing what you're paid to do, so shut your mouth."
"Yeah, I know, I know."
Snake demon?
Jiang Huali caught the words, but before she could analyze the situation, a very light rubbing sound suddenly came from the cave entrance.
A small, dying white snake crawled in along the rock wall.
The white snake was only as thin as a thumb. After struggling to climb to Jiang Huali's feet, it stopped as if it had exhausted all its strength.
The white snake laboriously tilted its head back and looked at the stone statue in front of it.
The stone statue has lowered eyes and brows, like a compassionate goddess. Flowers and plants grow at her feet, thriving in this sunless cave and emitting a faint glow, illuminating this small corner of the world.
As the grass and trees covering the cave entrance were parted and the footsteps of death drew near, the white snake wearily closed its eyes.
Jiang Huali looked at the small snake at her feet, and when she saw that it was not moving, she subconsciously reached out her hand.
In an instant, specks of white light appeared on the right hand of the stone statue and surged into the white snake's body.
Several menacing-looking thugs entered the cave and were startled when they saw the stone statues inside.
The stone statue faintly exuded an ethereal aura, and the flowers and plants beside it suddenly seemed to come alive, transforming from their originally gentle and harmless appearance into something menacing and protective around the statue.
Some people tried to attack, shooting rockets and slashing with swords, but the flowers and plants were unharmed. They even pierced through the arms and hearts of several people, and became even more bizarre after being soaked in blood.
The leading man realized something was wrong; he feared he had disturbed something unknown. He gritted his teeth, scanned his surroundings, but found no trace of the white snake. He immediately turned to his men and said, "Retreat."
The others naturally sensed something was wrong. They were ordered to hunt down the escaped snake demon and had come all the way to this deep mountain forest, a place rarely visited by humans, where there might be some potential dangers.
The group hurriedly retreated.
Jiang Huali realized she could move again. Her soul floated out of the stone statue, and the surrounding flowers and plants nuzzled her gently, returning to their harmless state.
She looked at the little white snake at her feet and bent down to place it on a nearby rock.
Just as he reached out his hand, the system's anxious voice suddenly rang in his ears: [Host, host, can you hear me? We encountered a spacetime turbulence and teleported to the wrong place. I'm teleporting you back now—]
The white snake seemed to sense something and opened its eyes. Before it was the phantom of a woman who gently touched its head. The next second, it suddenly turned into specks of light and disappeared into the air.
The light scattered like stars, falling on it and among the flowers and grass.
The flowers and plants stretched out their bodies, and outside the cave, the chirping of birds could be heard.
-
"Recently, a lot of strangers have come down the mountain, and they're so noisy."
"Did they bother you while you were in the soil?" Jiang Huali bent down to pick the newly sprouted mushrooms after the rain and threw them into her basket.
Beside her was a round potato that was half a meter tall, and this potato had sprouted hands and feet like bean sprouts.
"I was absorbing rainwater at the foot of the mountain, and their footsteps were too noisy!"
If anyone else were here, they would be terrified—the potato has come to life!
Jiang Huali patted Potato Spirit's round head and comforted him, "I'll help you move and find a better place."
Yuanyuan said dejectedly, "But I just like watching the rain at the foot of the mountain."
Jiang Huali straightened up and went back the way she came.
Yuanyuan followed behind her, chattering on and on: "What if those humans go up the mountain?"
"They're so annoying. Everyone keeps saying 'treasure hunt.' Do we even have any treasure here?"
As Jiang Huali walked, she answered it, "They can't come up. They'll leave in a few days. We don't have any treasure here."
“That’s true, they were sent down the mountain before they even got there.” Yuanyuan thought for a moment, “If there were any treasure, that ugly groundhog spirit would have found it long ago, and those humans wouldn’t have had a chance.”
Jiang Huali said helplessly, "Don't keep saying that the mouse is ugly, it will be sad to hear it."
Yuanyuan shut her mouth.
Jiang Huali returned to her small wooden cabin in the woods, picking up some wild vegetables along the way to cook some mushroom soup.
Although she doesn't need to eat, she still feels uncomfortable not eating.
Jiang Huali was cooking mushroom soup in a small pot outside the wooden house. Yuanyuan sat on a small wooden stool to the side and started chattering again: "You are the mountain god, do you know what 'live broadcast' is? And what are those little glowing cubes that humans are holding?"
It's a mobile phone.
Jiang Huali thought to herself.
"Fairies shouldn't always be curious about human affairs."
She took a wooden bowl and spoon, ladled out a bowl of steaming mushroom soup, and added wild vegetables to it.
One bite, and it's incredibly fresh and delicious.
"I've never seen a mountain god eat anything," Yuanyuan complained.
You haven't seen another mountain god besides me, have you?
Jiang Huali took another sip of mushroom soup, looked at the sunset, and slowly said, "I don't have enough spiritual energy, I'm weak, I need to eat."
“But you’ve only been awake for a short time, how could you not have enough spiritual energy?” Yuan Yuan questioned.
After a while, it touched Jiang Huali with its bean sprout paws and asked, "Will you always protect us?"
"There are many mushrooms and wild vegetables on the mountain. If you drink a little every day, you will have energy."
Jiang Huali chuckled: "Just kidding. I'm the mountain god, of course I'll always protect this place."
"What if you fall into a deep sleep?"
"Then it will awaken again."
"That's good."
"What if those people come up the mountain and arrest us all if you're not here?"
"That's why I told you not to always peek at them; humans love to eat potatoes."
"You like to eat it too."
"..."
"This potato talks a lot," the system said in Jiang Huali's mind.
The mission is simple. This place is called Ling Mountain. The original owner of this body was the guardian deity here. Due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, she fell into a deep sleep and has not been able to wake up. A wisp of her consciousness still exists, and her wish is for someone to continue to protect this mountain for her until the next mountain god is born.
The original owner has been guarding this mountain for thousands of years.
Recently, several groups of hikers have come to Lingshan to explore, having heard rumors of treasures on the mountain and coming here to dig for them.
This place is sparsely populated and lacks treasures, but it is teeming with demons.
A kingfisher suddenly landed on a nearby branch and chirped a few times.
Jiang Huali looked up at it: "Cuicui? What happened?"
The kingfisher preened its feathers and spoke: "There is a human on the mountain who is about to die."
"Up in the mountains?" Jiang Huali put down her mushroom soup and stood up. "Where? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
...
Jiang Huali followed the winding mountain path, with the kingfisher leading the way and the potato spirit following behind her, until they arrived at the place the kingfisher had indicated.
In the lush forest, a man with long white hair lay unconscious under a tree.
Jiang Huali walked over, picked up a wooden stick she had picked up, poked the man's shoulder, and turned him over.
A familiar face came into view.
He had bloodstains on many parts of his body and was breathing weakly; he certainly looked like he was about to die.
The first thought that popped into Jiang Huali's mind when she saw his face was that his eyebrows had turned white too.
Yuanyuan stood timidly behind Jiang Huali, peeking out with her potato-shaped head: "How could there be humans on the mountain?"
Even though the mountain was shrouded in Jiang Huali's spiritual power, everyone who tried to climb it would unknowingly be redirected back down the mountain by the altered path.
Jiang Huali observed the unconscious man for a moment and said, "He is not human, he is a demon."
Upon hearing this, Yuanyuan was even more terrified: "A demon that looks like a human?"
There are many demons on Mount Ling, but none of them have a human appearance.
Jiang Huali carried the man back to the wooden house, treated his wounds, and changed his clothes—her old clothes, which were large, but still too small for him.
She sat back down on the small stool in front of the cabin and picked up her mushroom soup to drink.
Yuanyuan went back down the mountain to absorb rainwater, and Cuicui also went back to her nest.
She used her spiritual power to conjure a lamp and placed it aside for illumination.
Jiang Huali has been in this world for a while now. Her daily routine consists of patrolling the mountains, playing with the mountain fairies, and cooking mushroom soup.
Thousands of years ago, this world seemed to be full of spiritual energy, and there were cultivators, demons, and ghosts. But now the spiritual energy is thin, there are no more cultivators, and demons can no longer turn into humans.
As for ghosts, she has never seen one.
There are no wandering ghosts or spirits on Ling Mountain.
Mount Ling is far removed from the secular world, a place beyond the world's reach. In the past hundred years, not a single human would appear here. Recently, for some unknown reason, many people have suddenly come here to search for treasure.
Something unusual must be going on; it seems she needs to find some time to go down the mountain and investigate.
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly heard a heavy thud coming from the wooden house behind me.
Jiang Huali stood up and walked towards the wooden house.
She went into the inner room, leaned against the door frame, and looked at the person who had fallen from the bed to the floor.
Using her spiritual power, Jiang Huali helped the person back to bed and asked, "Awake? Is anything bothering you?"
Mu Bai, slightly weak, propped himself up on the bed. Upon hearing this, he looked at Jiang Huali, revealing a pair of gentle eyes. After several seconds, he slowly asked, "Did you save me?"
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