As Tao Taigong's voice was filled with laughter, the two guardian gods turned around and looked. At this time, the moon had already set and the sun had risen. The winter sunshine always brought with it a cool taste, shining through the mountains where some snow remained. The young man in blue shirt raised his hand to push away the pine branches, and there was still a trace of the charm of someone who had traveled dozens of miles and escaped from the ground.

Those spirit beasts all recognized the young man.

Especially the little deer, which came bounding over.

Rubbing against his legs.

The two generals looked at each other with suspicion in their eyes. They both realized at once that the young man in front of them was not very accomplished.

But the aura of a mountain god on his body was genuine and could not be faked, so they all came forward to pay their respects and called him the mountain god.

Qi Wuhuo returned the greeting: "You two are..."

The two generals were startled and moved to the sides, not daring to accept the greeting.

Tao Taigong stroked his beard and smiled, "The two of them, one is called Wu Luning, the other is called Kang Linchang, both were military commanders from two hundred years ago, and were buried here after their death. Because of their rich vitality and essence, they were summoned to be divine commanders, and connected to the earth veins, and have been protecting this place for a hundred years. Normally, they regulate the earth veins and drive away demons. If something big happens, the mountain god will come forward."

Tao Taigong introduced them one by one, then pulled Qi Wuhuo over, looked him up and down, and said with emotion:

"He really did pass on the position to you."

"You and I can get along well."

"However, given your temperament, you won't stay here for long."

The old man shook his head and sighed, looking at the token on the boy's waist, recalling his words that he did not wish to be free, and felt emotional.

Watching the mountain god disappear on the path, he thought of the young man in blue in front of him. Perhaps he would be like that in a few years, so free and easy. In comparison, although he had gained five hundred years of life, he was just huddled in one place. The so-called freedom and ease, in the eyes of these true practitioners, might just be dead bones in a tomb. Thinking of this, he felt melancholy again.

For a moment, I even had the urge to pursue the great road.

But thinking about how long and difficult the road would be, this thought only flashed through my mind before being suppressed.

Forget it, forget it.

Don't ask for the Tao.

Maybe die on the road?

It would be better to have peace for five hundred years.

The old man suppressed the occasional memories of his youthful cultivation, and just stroked his beard and smiled as he told Qi Wuhuo what the mountain gods should do. He walked slowly all the way to the edge of the mountain, pointed to the town over there, and said:

"The Mountain God Seal allows you to grasp the flow of the earth veins. You can control it in Helian Mountain, but in fact, even if it is the earth veins in other places, you can use them to perform earth escape techniques."

"Maybe you should give it a try."

Qi Wuhuo looked at his home in the distance, shook his head and said with a smile: "Why don't we go down the mountain?"

After bidding farewell to the three land lords, he rubbed the spirit beasts behind him and said, "Oh, there is one more thing."

The two guardian gods of Helian Mountain stood respectfully behind him and said:

"Mountain God, please give me your orders."

Qi Wuhuo replied: "I just took over the talisman from my friend and assumed the position of mountain god. There are still many things I am not used to, so I may need the help of the two generals."

The two generals saluted: "I don't deserve it."

"It's my job!"

Qi Wuhuo could see that the spirit beasts were simply happy that there was no evil guest as the mountain god. The two guardian gods in the mountain were somewhat skeptical about whether he was qualified to take on the duties of the mountain god. However, this was also common sense. Qi Wuhuo said:

"I have just become a mountain god. I will be giving my first lecture on Taoism in the next few days. I hope you two will come with me then."

He often chatted with several local gods about the five arts of Taoism, and also obtained Tan Tai Xuan's "Record of Becoming Immortal" and the mountain god's practice records.

Although not otherworldly, explaining the basics of cultivation to the spirit beasts in the mountains is not something that cannot be done.

The two guardian generals were stunned. Looking at his age, they looked down on him and did not care about him.

But on the surface he was still extremely respectful and bowed and said, "Yes!"

Qi Wuhuo bowed slightly, exchanged a few words with Tao Taigong and the other three earth gods, then waved goodbye to the spirit beasts. Then he turned and walked along the mountain road, with birds and beasts seeing him off as he walked farther and farther away with light steps.

Shen Hongxue stood behind Tao Taigong and said, "How strange! If you can escape, why don't you use it?"

Tao Taigong asked: "What do you know?"

"This is exactly the clever part..."

The old man sighed.

Shen Hongxue was puzzled: "Where is Gao Ming?"

Tao Taigong said: "The wisdom lies in..."

The old man paused, as if he was organizing his words, and finally said: "He understands the difference between Tao and magic. The mountain god's escape technique is just an external object, and he still remembers that he is a human being."

"Understand your true nature and don't be burdened by supernatural powers."

"Great, great."

Shen Hongxue was puzzled, but when he saw Luo Yizhen nodding his head, he

I remained silent, feeling that I couldn't lose face here.

So he nodded: "Indeed."

The three earth gods stood with their hands behind their backs in front of the guardian gods and the other spirit beasts, watching the young man walking down the mountain, and nodded in unison:

“That’s amazing!”

Qi Wuhuo looked back at the mountain gods seeing him off, and was puzzled when he saw them nod.

He shook his head and continued down the mountain. On the way, he picked up some firewood. Compared to the previous time when he had to bend down to pick up firewood, now he only needed to make a gesture to summon a gust of wind. He quickly picked up a lot of firewood and tied them into a bundle with a rope. He took out a handful of pine nuts he had just picked up, opened his hands, and let a squirrel fall into his hands.

The squirrel gave him some winter fruits. Qi Wuhuo wiped them on his clothes and took a bite. The frozen fruits tasted sweet.

"Leave one for the old man."

"If we go down the mountain, we can collect some firewood and buy some meat."

The boy in blue shirt thought.

If you haven't practiced the art of escape well, it would be a bit scary if you suddenly appear.

When Qi Wuhuo was buying meat, the rough butcher added some meat to Qi Wuhuo, then took out a bag of dried lotus leaves, threw it to Qi Wuhuo, and said: "Take it, little guy, you have some income recently, ha, you can buy meat!"

Qi Wuhuo smiled and said, "Mr. Su gave some money."

The butcher suddenly realized: "Mr. Su, haha, he is a good man."

When Qi Wuhuo was about to leave, the butcher suddenly called him and said, "By the way, boy."

"Did you have any conflict with those guys in silk? They've been saying you're rude lately, and it's made a lot of people feel like they should distance themselves from you."

The butcher stared at him: "What happened? Have you done anything wrong, boy?"

Qi Wuhuo replied: "I have not done anything wrong to anyone."

The butcher grinned and said, "That's good, haha. If you look up to the sky and bow your head to your ancestors, then nothing will happen. Because this matter has distanced us from each other. They are not your friends. Screw them! You grew up in this town, you drank the water here, so you are a local. I will keep an eye on you, don't learn bad habits."

"Give--"

The butcher threw over a lotus leaf package.

There was some minced meat in it.

"It will be Chinese New Year soon. This is for you. Eat some meat."

"Young man, you need to grow up well."

"How can you study without eating enough?"

Qi Wuhuo was stunned and said with a cupped hand: "Thank you, Uncle Zhang."

Someone came to buy something, and the butcher lowered his head and started to work. Hearing this, he just waved his hand and cursed with a smile:

"Go to hell with you, you pedantic person!"

Qi Wuhuo said goodbye with a smile and went back along the road. The old man was still making tea. When he saw the young man in blue shirt coming over with a smile, he stroked his beard and greeted him. The young man took out a package, which contained the winter fruits. They were not very pretty and had traces of being eaten by insects. The old man smiled and asked, "Where did you get them from?"

Qi Wuhuo replied: "It was sent by my squirrel friend in the mountains."

The old man laughed, took one, wiped it, took a bite, and said, "It's sweet."

"Yeah, it's very sweet. These fruits, which don't look very good, are always kept until the end."

"If you're lucky enough that it doesn't rot, it will taste even better when it's frozen by the snow in the winter."

Qi Wuhuo pointed at the package and said, "Uncle Zhang, the butcher next door, sent some meat today. You can try making steamed buns. I heard there are also dumplings and wontons, but I haven't eaten them, so I don't know how to make them. As for steamed buns, I have eaten them before."

The old man looked at Qi Wuhuo.

After he came, the boy seemed to have more enthusiasm and concentration on cooking.

There seems to be a world of difference between eating alone and eating with two people.

The old man sighed, finished his fruit, and suddenly said, "But I'm leaving soon."

Qi Wuhuo paused slightly.

The old man stroked his beard and lowered his eyes, smiling and saying, "I usually travel around the world, and I don't know where I will be. Our fate has ended."

"According to the time, it's time to go, but according to my personality, I should give you some small gifts when I leave."

The old man took a look at the fruit, smiled and waved, "Come here."

"Answer me a question."

"See what you can take from me."