After breakfast the next day, Yan Jue and others set out for the mountain where the monster appeared.
"The mountains around the village don't have names. We call them by their directions." Qi Xue walked in front, leading the way. "Like that one, we call it East Mountain."
"Dongshan is the highest. Villagers usually don't go deep into the mountains and only wander around the foothills. Therefore, the higher you go, the more difficult it becomes. There are only a few paths open to people, so you need to be careful at all times."
With Qi Xue around, they didn't hire a guide. They walked quietly for about twenty minutes before reaching the foot of East Mountain.
As they climbed, Yan Jue released his spiritual energy to explore a radius of about ten meters. It wasn't that he didn't want to expand the range, but his ability was limited. Ten meters was the most detailed distance he could perceive. Any further and his perception would be blurred, so it was better not to explore at all.
Ah Qing sat on Yan Jue's shoulder, his head swiveling from side to side, occasionally tilting his head back to sniff something before lowering it again to ponder. He and his teacher had agreed to discuss the mountain only when they were alone and away from others.
So now no matter what he discovers, he has to store it in his head first.
However, he was a little discouraged because after entering the mountain, the familiar smell was indeed stronger than the one he smelled last night, but he still couldn't remember where he had smelled it before.
Ah Qing rested his elbows on his knees dejectedly, holding his chin in his hand and thinking hard.
After walking for over half an hour, Yan Jue finally received some feedback from the spiritual energy he had released. He looked toward a tree to his right in surprise, then quickly stepped forward and looked up at the trunk.
Old Liu, Qi Xue, and the others didn't interrupt him, silently following behind him, also looking up. Without a clear target, they couldn't tell anything was wrong with the rough bark no matter how hard they looked.
Yan Jue wrapped something hanging from a tree branch with his spiritual energy and took it down. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it to everyone: "This should be the monster's hair."
On the white paper lay a strand of brownish-yellow hair, about the length of a palm. It looked very rough and dull, like ordinary silk thread. But its natural transition from thick at the base to thin at the end, characteristic of hair, remarkably confirmed to everyone that it was hair, not fabric from human clothing.
"This monster can even climb trees."
Old Liu immediately grasped the key point: "I think that branch must be at least three meters high."
This monster knows a lot, including crawling, standing upright, and climbing trees.
"No wonder our people searched the mountain and found nothing. If it hadn't moved, it would have been crouching in a tree on this mountain. It would have been strange for us to find it."
With their preconceived notions, they all thought that monsters could only move on the ground, and no one would think of looking for them in the trees. However, even if they had this awareness, they couldn't see clearly what was happening high up in some of the tall trees.
The leaves are lush in summer, unlike in winter when there are only bare branches left, making them even harder to find.
"Yan Jue, did you use your spiritual energy to discover this strand of hair?" Qi Xue asked curiously, and found a description that was more in line with her cognition: "Can you feel, demonic energy?"
Yan Jue nodded: "Yes. Demonic energy is a kind of energy that is somewhat different from spiritual energy. It's probably like different cooking methods for the same ingredient, the taste is different."
What he didn't mention was that this method of identification wasn't something that could be mastered automatically through practice, but rather required learning and memorization. The material for this study? It was naturally gathered from the corpses of the Huan Beast, Yong, and An Jin.
Qi Xue nodded thoughtfully: "Cultivation is indeed magical."
"Yes, if I hadn't detected my spiritual roots, I would have wanted to practice cultivation too." Old Liu sighed, "The future world will be even more exciting than what I experienced in the first half of my life. It's a pity that I can't participate in it personally."
"But no matter how powerful they are, they are still under my control, haha."
Yan Jue laughed: "When there are more and more cultivators in the future, sooner or later there will be alchemists who will develop elixirs that ordinary people can take. Even if they can't practice, it will be good for strengthening their bodies."
He wrapped the hair in a tissue and put it in his pocket.
After patting Ah Qing's head and receiving a whole series of encouraging gestures and caring words from him telling him not to worry about himself, Yan Jue smiled and did not pull him into a chat but worked hard according to his wishes.
"Let's keep going."
In the past, Yan Jue would have collapsed from exhaustion if he had to climb the mountain for more than half an hour without stopping. But after practicing, this distance was no longer a challenge for him, as he didn't even need to breathe heavily.
After walking for another ten minutes, Yan Jue was about to reach the spot where he first spotted the monster when he felt the monster's presence again. This time, it wasn't the monster's hair, but rather the empty space where the monster's presence remained on a large area of rocks.
The breath will dissipate over time. Based on how much remains, we can basically judge that the monster just left here not long ago.
"Our people have seen him here several times." Lao Liu analyzed: "On the other hand, with humans setting foot here so many times, the monster shouldn't feel safe here anymore, but he still passed by here today."
Yan Jue agreed: "Director Liu means, is there anything here that the monster cares about?"
"Not necessarily. It's possible that this is its territory, and the monster is determined to mark it and erase the smell of strangers."
It's all speculation, there are no answers.
Yan Jue had no choice but to release his spiritual energy and continue exploring. However, until his spiritual energy was exhausted, they still did not see any trace of the monster.
What was annoying was that the monsters seemed to be playing with them throughout the entire search process.
Whenever they sensed the presence of a demon somewhere, they would rush over to find that the demonic aura was extremely strong, as if the demon had just been there, and they were only a step late to catch or see it. So they kept running through the mountains and forests with this thought in mind, but every time, they encountered the same situation.
Yan Jue sat cross-legged on the spot, feeling depressed, trying to recover his spiritual energy.
Maybe it’s because it’s deep in the mountains, the spiritual energy here is richer than that in the mountains behind the sanatorium. It probably won’t take long for his spiritual energy to fully recover.
A group of people sat on the ground to rest and have lunch.
Open flames and flammable or explosive items were forbidden in the mountains, so they only had small packages of noodles and mineral water. The experienced Old Liu dug a packet of pickled mustard greens from his pocket, placed it on the dry plain bread, took a bite, and after swallowing, he looked at the plainclothes soldiers sitting around them, silently vigilantly protecting them, and sighed sadly.
"I'm old, old. I'm already out of breath after just one morning's walk. What am I going to do in the future?"
Qi Xue ignored him.
They all tacitly agreed not to mention the monster. They saw Yan Jue's efforts. The target was unscientific, and he had done his best. There was no need to complain at this time. On the contrary, they were all very worried about each other.
Turning her head to look at Yan Jue who was concentrating on meditating with his eyes closed, and then at the little stone man A Qing who was sitting between his legs and amusing himself, a hint of worry flashed in Qi Xue's eyes.
Old Liu continued to ramble on, and finally brought the topic to Qi Xue: "You have dual spiritual roots, which is not bad. Why don't you want to cultivate? Even if you can't achieve great enlightenment, it would be good to strengthen your body after drawing in Qi."
After the branch was established and they were able to access some secrets, they went to test their spiritual roots. In Lao Liu's view, the new world has opened the door for them. If those who are qualified don't give it a try, they will always feel a little regretful.
Qi Xue touched the little black snake on her wrist and explained with a smile: "There's no need. If I practice, I will lose my friends."
She was a Gu Master. To put it bluntly, all her power came from her Gu worms, and their lives depended entirely on her as their master. Once she cultivated, her power grew, and the mortal Gu worms, without the necessary time to adapt, would undoubtedly explode and perish, unable to withstand her power. She would then be unable to use her original power to control them.
Perhaps there is a technique that allows cultivators to control poisonous insects, but those poisonous insects are definitely not the ones that originally accompanied her.
As for the future, let's talk about it later. Now she has no intention of practicing.
Old Liu was not a fool. After hearing what Qi Xue said, he didn't say much and naturally changed the subject to talk about something else.
Occasionally, there would be a breeze blowing through the woods in the summer. Sitting in the shade under the trees, they would feel the pleasant coolness, if no one exclaimed out loud.
"What's wrong?"
When Old Liu turned around, he saw a soldier stand up and run forward. He thought something had happened, so he quickly stood up and walked over to ask questions.
"Nothing," the man sitting next to the departing soldier explained sheepishly, "A bread bag got blown away by the wind, and he yelled out in panic. Don't worry, I'll have the squad leader reprimand him when I get back and make him practice more."
All the garbage they eat is put into a bag. When they were putting it in just now, one of them accidentally fell out and was blown away by the wind.
"It's okay." Old Liu breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as nothing happens, it's fine."
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he and everyone around him smelled the smell of fire. At this moment, everyone's face changed and they ran towards the direction of the soldier who had left the team.
Qi Xue was held down by Lao Liu and asked to look after Yan Jue.
"Excuse me, is there something wrong?"
When Qi Xue heard another thin child's voice, she lowered her head in surprise: "You..."
Ah Qing tugged at Yan Jue's trouser leg and boldly asked again, "Is there something wrong? Should we wake the teacher?"
Teacher? He called Yan Jue teacher?
Qi Xue suppressed her doubts and said softly, "There's a small incident. Look, all our people have gone to check it out. I believe it will be resolved soon. There's no need to wake Yan Jue."
"Okay." Ah Qing smiled at Qi Xue: "Thank you."
After saying that, he turned his back, showing with his actions his determination not to talk to anyone.
Ah Qing patted his chest and praised himself: Ah Qing is awesome! He even takes the initiative to talk to strangers!
On the other side, Lao Liu and others were listening to the defense of the soldier who had left the team.
"I just came out to pick up a plastic bag," the soldier said, feeling extremely aggrieved. "Who knew the bag would float into the sunlight? Who knew there was a piece of glass underneath it? Who knew in just a few seconds the plastic bag would catch fire?"
He held up his coat, which was covered in dust from putting out the burning plastic bag, and pointed to the ground: "Look, there's really nothing flammable here."
As soon as Lao Liu and others arrived, they searched the surrounding area thoroughly and found nothing except the large piece of broken glass. The black marks of fire on the packaging bag clearly told them that what the soldier said just now was true and not exaggerated at all.
Is this scientific?
There are scientific elements in it, but it is not completely scientific.
After holding the piece of the only culprit and looking at it over and over again, Lao Liu could only remind everyone again to be careful about fire prevention and urged them to go back quickly.
"what happens?"
"Yan Jue?" Old Liu was surprised. "Are you okay?"
Yan Jue nodded: "I'm sorry to have worried you. Is everything okay over there?"
Lao Liu explained what happened and handed him the piece of glass. "It was this piece of glass that caused the trouble. It's okay now. Are you hungry? Have something to eat."
Yan Jue touched the ordinary glass fragments in his hand, puzzled. He had heard that convex lenses could ignite objects, but that required a long time and a specific angle. A piece of broken glass ignited a plastic bag in just a few seconds?
He carefully circled it with his spiritual energy, and also looked at the plastic bag in the soldier's hand, but found nothing unusual.
Was he really overthinking it? Or was this the work of a demon?
Out of thin air, so far away?
Yan Jue ate while thinking, but when he finished, he still hadn't figured out a solution, so he packed up and continued on with his original goal. When Lao Liu came over to ask about his next move, he pulled out a spiritual tracking talisman worth 3,000 points that he had just bought from the game and said to him, "Spiritual energy is useless, let's try using talisman paper."
At first, he planned to use his own spiritual energy to solve this task. First, it was for training, and second, it was to save points.
The talisman paper costs three thousand yuan per piece, and it must be paired with the necessary demon-locking net that costs ten thousand yuan. His points didn't come from the wind, and he doesn't necessarily need to use many pieces of paper that cost three thousand yuan per piece. Of course, he has to save as much as possible!
He used talisman paper to wrap the monster hair he had found before and then used spiritual energy to activate it. In the blink of an eye, the talisman paper and the hair spontaneously combusted without wind. After the fire was over, no ashes fell, but a thin light golden thread went straight into the forest.
Ordinary people cannot see this thin line, so Yan Jue had to take the lead and lead people to search for the golden line.
The author has something to say:
I've had some family stuff lately, so the number of words is a bit less (I'm sure it used to be more), sorry
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