Chapter 5
Ji Tang mixed in with the crowd of common people and tried to get close to the man who had called her "Great Immortal" before: "This big brother."
The man fell down in shock, "Auntie, old ancestor, please don't torture me!"
Judging from appearance, the man must be about twenty years older than the girl that Jitang transformed into using the Rongyin Mirror, but one cannot judge a cultivator by appearance alone.
The man said respectfully: "You can just call me Xiao Tang, Tang Hui."
He pointed at himself.
Ji Tang followed suit and said, "Xiao Tang."
“Hey!”
Her two good brothers moved closer and asked, "What are the origins of the ghosts and gods on the mountain?"
Tang Hui bent down and said to Ji Tang, who was only as tall as his shoulders, "We don't know when the ghosts and gods moved into Zhiyuan Mountain, but since ten... ten..." He thought hard.
Jitang: "Get to the point."
"Well, anyway, about ten years ago, Uncle Niu, a carpenter from the west end of our city, went up the mountain to cut wood. He didn't come back for a whole day and a whole night. Then, a few days later, he still hadn't been seen. We thought he might have been taken away and eaten by wolves in the mountains. This has happened before, so we didn't think too much about it."
Ji Tang: "So it was the work of ghosts and gods then?"
Tang Hui nodded. "Later, more and more people went up the mountain. Some came back, and some didn't. It wasn't until a famous hunter from our area went up the mountain, encountered a ghost, and even escaped from it. He told us about it, that we finally understood what had happened!"
"What did the hunter say?" Tan Wen walked to Jitang and asked curiously.
Tang Hui clasped his fists and said, "You said you couldn't see his face clearly. It was all pitch black. How weird!"
Lang Yu also came over and said, "Maybe some evil cultivator has come to Zhiyuan Mountain. Why do you just call him a ghost?"
"We asked a monk to go up the mountain and see. That powerful being fought against the ghosts and gods, but not only was he defeated, he almost lost his life! Fortunately, he had a magic weapon with him, so he escaped and saved his life."
Tang Hui said fearfully, "The Great One said that it was either an evil cultivator or a ghost. It had no head or body, and was sometimes real and sometimes not. Just like what the hunter said, it was just a ball of black mist."
Ji Tang: "What level of cultivation is the cultivator you are looking for?"
Tang Hui: "That's the foundation-building stage!"
Ji Tang: "If your cultivation level is too low, you might not be able to distinguish between ghosts and gods and evil cultivators."
Tan Wen couldn't help but laugh: "You are only in the early stage of enlightenment, only one level higher than others, and you still think that their cultivation is low!"
Ji Tang followed with a smile: "Yes, my cultivation is also low."
She continued to inquire, "How often do you go up the mountain to worship the ghosts and gods? Do the ghosts and gods always stay in one place?"
Tang Hui: "Once a year, the place is revealed to us by a powerful being. We were originally afraid we wouldn't be able to find the spirits, but over the years, we've discovered they're right next to the waterfall. Perhaps the feng shui there is good?"
Ji Tang: "When you offer sacrifices, ghosts and gods don't harm you?"
Tang Hui shook his head: "We are going to offer sacrifices to the ghosts and gods. How could the ghosts and gods harm us?"
She: "You only offer sacrifices, but no one has ever approached ghosts and gods?"
Tang Hui waved his hands repeatedly: "Who dares!"
Ji Tang pondered for a moment and asked, "Did the monks you invited take the initiative to attack, or did the ghosts and gods take the initiative?"
Tang Hui hesitated for a long time, "We didn't ask that..."
Tan Wen came closer: "Why, do you think there's something strange here?"
Ji Tang: "In front of the ghosts and gods, they are all living people. How can the ghosts and gods distinguish who is the sacrifice and who is the one delivering the sacrifice?"
She raised her chin and said, "Look at those women. If you don't tell me, can you tell they are sacrifices?"
Tan Wen: "Of course I can't tell. Is it divided by gender?"
Ji Tang sneered: "Look, besides those dozen girls, there are other women in the crowd. I think they don't care about gender, they only care about wealth and status."
After hearing what Tan Wen said, he looked again and found that the coarse cloth clothes worn by the dozen girls were all full of patches. Although the other people were also wearing coarse cloth clothes, they obviously had fewer patches and were in much better spirits than the dozen girls.
"Damn it! You guys are going too far!" Tan Wen grabbed Tang Hui's collar.
Tang Hui was lifted up so hard that he stood on tiptoe, wailing, "Great! Great! We didn't force them to do this! Their families were short of money, so they sent their children here. We all saved and scraped together the money!"
He said: "Sacrificing to the gods is to ask for their blessings and to ensure that everyone lives a peaceful life. We will always remember the kindness of the girls!"
"Who cares about this posthumous reputation!" Tan Wen pushed Tang Hui away, and Tang Hui fell to the ground.
Ji Tang: "Ghosts and gods are a mass of black mist, so naturally they can't speak. Using living people as sacrifices is their own idea."
She pulled Tang Hui up and brushed off the dust on his body.
Every time Tang Hui was flicked, his strong body trembled three times.
"Great Immortal, please show some mercy, please show some mercy..."
Jitang had a smile on his face, which made Tang Hui feel cold all over and he stepped back unconsciously.
Jitang pulled him over, seemingly helping him move forward, but actually he was using force.
Tang Hui had to lean forward and take big steps to avoid falling to the ground.
Ji Tang: "When you came the next year, did you see the offerings from the previous year?"
Tang Hui said everything he knew: "I have seen it, I have seen it, it's all just bones."
"What is the location of the bones? Is it right where you killed someone the year before?"
Tang Hui was confused and flattered: "Great Immortal, your prediction is amazing, it's exactly right, exactly right!"
There was silence among the monks.
Only the sound of footsteps remained on the way up the mountain.
Tang Hui was confused, but didn't dare to speak.
Sang Niao looked at Su Jinzhou and saw that he lowered his eyes and remained silent, but it was obvious that he had heard what the younger generations behind him said.
The people brought the monks to the waterfall, and everyone saw the so-called ghosts and gods.
It is just as Tang Hui said, ghosts and gods are a ball of black fog.
On the land some distance away from the black fog, you can vaguely see piles of white bones.
Ji Tang looked at the black fog and found that there was a familiar breath in it.
Seeing that the Border Immortal did not move, Sang Niao took the initiative to draw his sword, and the sword was quickly covered with a layer of spiritual power.
She walked towards the black fog, and the closer she got, the stronger the spiritual power of the sword became.
She came closer to the black fog, but it remained floating as it was and did not attack her.
Sang Niao cautiously observed from close up and saw what was inside through the black fog.
"It's the Nightmare Lord's magic weapon, the Jade Tranquil Heart Bell!"
The monks were in an uproar.
"So the ghost god is the magic weapon of Nightmare Lord?"
"This great devil has been dead for four hundred years, yet he's still causing trouble for the world!"
"Doesn't that mean there are no ghosts or gods at all?"
"The Jade Meditation Bell is a magical tool for calming the mind and spirit, so why is there black mist?"
"It must be the nightmare energy of the Nightmare Lord!"
Ji Tang looked carefully and found that there was indeed a nightmare aura in the black fog.
Could the familiar aura she felt be her own nightmare aura that was stained on the Jade Meditation Bell?
She had some impression of the Green Jade Meditation Bell.
The effectiveness of this magic weapon was really average. She tried it once and then threw it into the Duobao Pavilion in Jiuming Tower.
Thinking about it this way, her Jiuming Tower was looted, and the Qingyu Jingxin Bell might have been taken away at that time. Later, for some reason, it ended up in Zhiyuan Mountain and became a ghost in the mountain.
But the black fog was not just her nightmare.
She wanted to go forward and take a look, but Lang Yu stopped her, "It's dangerous, don't get close."
Ji Tang raised his eyes and saw Su Jinzhou had already walked to the front of the black fog.
He raised his hand and asked Sang Niao to step aside.
Sang Niao nodded shyly, sheathed her sword, and obediently stepped back.
Tan Wen whispered, "Our Immortal Venerable is so protective of Senior Sang Niao."
Lang Yu: "You're too talkative."
Ning Qiyao smiled: "Senior Brother Tan Wen is right."
She looked ahead, her envy appearing and disappearing as quickly as it appeared. "My master has longed for the Immortal Venerable. The Immortal Venerable must also be pleased with my master."
Pu Yuanheng: "It seems that Fabao will soon belong to senior sister. Yuanheng congratulates senior sister in advance!" He bowed, raised his head slightly, and looked at Jitang coldly.
Ji Tang raised an eyebrow and ignored him, focusing his attention on the black fog.
Su Jinzhou stood in front of the black fog, blocking most of it.
Ji Tang couldn't see clearly, he just saw him disperse the black fog easily, his left hand hanging down and hidden in the sleeve of his black robe, while his right hand held up the green jade meditation bell.
Sang Niao then approached and said, "Thank you Immortal Venerable for your protection. I'm sorry to bother you this time. I didn't expect that even though the Nightmare Demon is dead, his nightmare aura can still persist for four hundred years. It's still harming the people today. How abhorrent and hateful!"
Su Jinzhou turned around and said, "The black fog is not caused by nightmare energy."
He raised the hand holding the Green Jade Meditation Bell slightly, and a gray mist appeared.
Sang Niao exclaimed in surprise: "Spirit-gathering mist!"
Su Jinzhou: "That's right, this fog doesn't just gather spiritual energy, it also gathers nightmare energy, demonic energy, and monster energy. It's a method used by evil cultivators."
The monks talked to each other.
"It's actually an evil cultivator!"
"The Foundation Establishment cultivator who came up the mountain earlier really wasn't up to par!"
Sang Niao replied, "So it turns out that the evil cultivators are gathering the demonic nightmare energy here. I see that the spirit-gathering mist is quite light in color. Is there nightmare energy in this mist?"
The spirit-gathering mist itself is gray. When it collects spiritual energy, the color becomes lighter. When it collects nightmare energy, demonic energy, and evil spirit, the color becomes black.
Su Jinzhou: "The nightmare has dissipated."
Sang Niao smiled sweetly, "Yes."
Su Jinzhou glanced towards Lang Yu.
Lang Yu was startled and immediately came to the two of them. He bowed to Sang Niao and said, "Senior Sang Niao, I have an unwelcome request. I would like to ask for this Jade Tranquility Bell."
Sang Niao looked at Su Jinzhou calmly, and seeing that his expression did not change, she smiled and said, "Lang Yu wants it? I see that you are in the early stages of being attracted to it. It will take some time before you can level up, right?"
Lang Yu had no other choice but to bring out the Immortal Venerable. "This time when I return, I plan to go into seclusion, and the Immortal Venerable will be there to guide me. I want to break through the heartbeat period in one fell swoop, and it might be too late to find a magic weapon by then, so I wanted to ask if you could give it up?"
Sang Niao said softly, "I see. It's not really a sacrifice. I'll find another magic weapon for Qi Yao. You can take this one."
After she finished speaking, Su Jinzhou flicked his right hand, and the Qingyu Meditation Bell appeared in front of Lang Yu.
Lang Yu put the magic weapon into the storage sachet and bowed deeply to Sang Niao: "Thank you, senior!"
He retreated to the younger generation's side and apologized to Ning Qiyao, "Fellow Daoist Qiyao, I'm truly sorry for this."
Although Ning Qiyao was unhappy, she couldn't say anything since Sang Niao had spoken. "Senior Brother Yu, it's really awkward to be so polite."
Pu Yuanheng had no right to speak and just stood in the middle staring blankly.
Ji Tang said slowly: "This magic weapon is good, it can calm your mind and spirit..."
Pu Yuanheng almost vomited blood in anger.
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