After traveling through the mountains and forests for nearly two hours, Li Mu finally managed to discern the direction of human habitation by the smoke rising from chimneys seven or eight miles away.
After descending the mountain, Li Mu arrived at a village, Longtai Town.
The town of Longtai is situated in a depression in the mountains, with the town itself located slightly above the bottom of the depression. The town has a small population of less than a thousand people.
It's like a large market, yet this small town has an outdoor equipment store, Longtai Outdoor.
Judging from the condition of the store's decor, this outdoor gear shop has been in business for quite some time and should be able to support a family.
When Li Mu entered the shop, the owner was eating.
The shop owner was a man in his early thirties, of medium build, with vigorous blood and energy; he was clearly a martial artist.
The shop is run by martial artists, so it should be related to martial artists. Therefore, we can infer that half of the outdoor products sold in this shop are sold to tourists and the other half to martial artists.
By comparing the map, Li Mu realized that this place was very close to Wuliang Mountain, which meant that this shop could provide supplies to the sects on the mountain.
Before, I might not have understood how outdoor shops in the mountains could survive, but now I understand it very well.
Li Mu picked and chose a bunch of things here, including tents, hiking clothes, sleeping bags, shoes, cooking utensils, and a folding bed.
He originally had a tent and sleeping bag, but he thought they were too cumbersome and left them at the Liang sisters' place at the foot of Blue Water Mountain.
When it was time to pay, a problem arose: the owner only accepted QR code payments and cash.
Li Mu was very puzzled, and even felt that the boss was bullying people from out of town.
There was a card reader clearly displayed on the counter, but this person insisted on making things difficult for me. The total amount I bought was less than 10,000 yuan, which wasn't a lot, but it wasn't a small amount either. Yet this person wouldn't accept my card payment. The worst part was that I didn't have a mobile phone, nor did I have any cash with me.
.
Originally, Li Mu wanted to borrow the shopkeeper's stove to brew some medicinal soup and refine Qinglin Pills after he finished shopping, but now the shopkeeper was demanding cash and would rather not do business.
Holding the bank card, Li Mu felt somewhat helpless. There was money in the card, and several million yuan of pocket money given to him by Uncle Li, but he couldn't buy what he wanted, let alone borrow someone else's stove to brew medicine.
He wanted to buy, but the shopkeeper wouldn't sell. Somewhat unwillingly, Li Mu released his divine sense and scanned the back of the shop, then his expression changed.
There is indeed a home kitchen behind the shop, but three people—two adults and one child—were locked up in a room next to the kitchen.
All three of them were injured, and the seven or eight-year-old child had a dark red handprint on his face.
Seeing this, Li Mu reached out and grabbed the shop owner.
"What are you doing? Let go right now, or you'll die without even knowing how you died."
Shang Biao was a local tyrant in Longtai Town. He had been a troublemaker since childhood. A few years ago, he accidentally obtained a martial arts manual.
Unexpectedly, after several years of training, he actually reached the Yellow Realm and became a martial artist.
Shang Biao, who was eating, was suddenly grabbed by Li Mu, making him furious.
As a martial artist, how dare an outsider provoke me? This is outrageous! I'll see how I deal with this guy.
Previously, Li Mu saw a family of three being held captive in a room and arrested them without understanding the situation, which was indeed somewhat impulsive.
Li Mu didn't say anything, but casually pushed Shang Biao aside, wanting to hear what this guy had to say.
"Kid, you've got some nerve, daring to act wildly in front of your Grandpa Shang. Do you want to die?!"
After being released by Li Mu, Shang Biao spoke while simultaneously delivering a flying kick to Li Mu's chest, thinking that this kick would either kill the man or keep him bedridden for months.
.
Li Mu certainly wouldn't be kicked by someone who only knew qi and blood but didn't even know any martial arts techniques.
Ignoring the flying kick, he slapped her hard across the face.
"Smack!"
While Shang Biao was still in the air, Li Mu whipped him so hard that he spun around four or five times before landing on the ground like a rolling gourd.
Shang Biao's head was buzzing from the blow. He propped himself up on one side, touched his burning face, and stared at Li Mu in shock.
He thought to himself, "I've kicked a hornet's nest." Only by cultivating martial arts can one know the cruelty of martial arts. Not to mention the disregard for human life, he had witnessed people being killed without a word. He quickly begged for mercy.
"Brother, no, senior, I was blind and offended you. Please spare my life."
"What's the story with the person locked up behind you? Release him, I have questions for you."
"This family owes me money, so... I, I'll release them right away."
Shang Biao wanted to explain first, but seeing Li Mu staring at him like a dead man, he quickly got up to release the person.
Li Mu picked up a broken jade tablet from where Shang Biao had gotten up, and with a scan of it using his divine sense, he discovered it was actually a magical jade tablet.
After being refined, these jade tablets are generally used to record techniques, history, classic texts, and other things passed down through generations.
The jade tablet contains very little information, only a few words, and they are not even coherent, so it is impossible to know what it records.
.
When Shang Biao brought his family of three over, this guy immediately knelt down on the ground and began to talk about the grudges between the two families.
It turns out that the two families were distant relatives. Seven years ago, after Shang Biao obtained the cultivation technique, he suggested that his cousin Yu Chunpeng open this outdoor equipment store.
Five years ago, when Wuliang Mountain was going to hold a martial arts tournament, Shang Biao helped introduce many martial arts practitioners to come and attend.
Yu Chunpeng also made a fortune from this, and of course, Shang Biao also benefited.
This Shang Biao recently returned to Longtai Town, here to ask for favors.
However, the martial arts tournament is only held once every five years, and there is not much business on weekdays. Yu Chunpeng couldn't come up with the money, so they had a quarrel, and he was imprisoned here and made a fake boss.
Relatives and business dealings—this utterly ridiculous nonsense made Li Mu's teeth ache.
He just wanted to spend money to buy some things, but now he's encountered this situation. Even an upright official can't settle family disputes, so Li Mucai is too lazy to get involved.
"I want to buy these things on the ground. Can I pay by card now?"
"You can use it! Or, senior, you can just take it; it's not worth much money."
Upon hearing Li Mu say he wanted to swipe his card, Shang Biao immediately tried to fawn over Li Mu and give him the items before Yu Chunpeng could even speak.
Why would Li Mu take advantage of such a small thing? He handed the card to Yu Chunpeng and then asked Shang Biao.
.
"Where did this jade pendant come from?"
"This, this was obtained from Liaoyin Temple. If you want it, senior, then I will give it to you."
Li Mu noticed that Shang Biao's eyes were darting around as he spoke, suggesting that the brand's origins were questionable.
The jade pendant's origin was indeed illegitimate; it was obtained from two tourists a few years ago, who claimed it was a ritual object given to them by Master Liaoyin.
Shang Biao didn't mention the tourists, only the Yin Temple, which also indicated that he had the idea of having Master Yin deal with Li Mu.
He had seen that monk before; his Buddhist teachings were profound. He had also heard people say more than once that the monk was generally kind, but he would occasionally go to the tea forest to steal tea leaves from the ancient trees.
Where is Liaoyin Temple? How do I get there?
"Senior, Liaoyin Temple is located deep in the mountains. If you can find the ancient spiritual tea tree, you can continue walking forward and you will arrive soon."
Also, that head monk of Liaoyin Temple doesn't seem to be a proper monk; you should be careful, senior.
Li Mu asked about Liaoyin Temple in order to find out the origin of the broken jade tablet. Perhaps he might encounter an opportunity there.
As for whether this great monk is upright or not, it doesn't matter. Monks are human too, and they have all the same emotions and desires. Most of the great monks I've seen in my past life were not upright, so it's not surprising.
After finding out what happened at Liaoyin Temple, Li Mu casually waved his hand, sweeping Shang Biao out of the shop, and turned to discuss the matter of brewing medicinal soup with the shop owner.
Li Mu spent half a day brewing two batches of Qinglin Pills at this outdoor equipment store. He was going to pay some money to buy the medicine pot, but the owner was generous and gave it to him directly.
It's already early October, and if they want to make it to the Martial Arts Tournament, Li Mu and the others should head to Martial Arts Mountain after visiting Yin Temple.
As for the location of Martial Arts Mountain, Li Mu could ask that unorthodox monk. He thought the more unorthodox a person was, the easier they were to deal with.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com