Twenty-seven: Fan Zhang's Chicken and Millet, Part Four
"You really don't recognize me anymore, do you?" Dao Xin asked with a hint of worry.
“No,” Mingjin said, glancing at her before turning to Xiang Wan’s tombstone. “Nothing much happened to me this year, so I didn’t think about you much.”
"How was your year?"
Dao Xin straightened up, squeezed some water droplets in mid-air, and let them fall into the gourd without leaking out a single drop.
“Very poor,” he said, folding the cloth over and wiping it again with the cleaner side. “You’re just going around in circles in the graveyard. What about you? If you don’t make any progress, I’ll kill myself and go down to the underworld to report you for being lazy and incompetent.”
"I do have good news," Dao Xin said, quickly conjuring a cloth and wiping Xiang Wan's tombstone with Ming Jin. "After all this time, I've made no progress, but I've found a helper. I can't reveal the other person's identity, but this immortal is willing to lend me a hand."
"Really?" Although Ming Jin hoped that everything Dao Xin said was true, he still found it unbelievable.
"Of course it's true, how could it be false? And why would I lie to you? We're on the same side, uh, worms," Dao Xin said. "Although the trouble was indeed caused by our Underworld, we don't want to gossip, so I won't go into details. The Immortal is highly respected and feels that all immortals are one family, so he wants to settle this case as soon as possible and has come to the Underworld to help."
"So how long will it take to get better?"
“I don’t know,” Dao Xin said truthfully. “Besides, even if the underworld solves the problem, we are definitely powerless against the evil spirits that have already escaped. We will have to rely on you to catch the last evil spirit.”
As he spoke, Dao Xin freed one hand and patted Ming Jin on the back: "Hey, you seem to have lost weight this year."
After hearing Dao Xin's words, Ming Jin was filled with thoughts, but as soon as he thought that this guy couldn't resolve the matter and that the cultivators would still have to fight the evil spirits to get it over with, he suddenly didn't want to say anything.
"That's enough," Mingjin stood up. "I said, as long as things are getting better, that's fine."
"Oh well."
Seeing that Mingjin's spirits were not as good as before, Daoxin didn't say anything more, but simply took a cloth and wiped Xiangwan's tombstone again.
"Did you know Elder Xiang before?"
"How could that be?" Dao Xin was still wiping the tombstone with his head down. "It's just that I don't feel at ease if I don't finish what I'm doing."
Mingjin didn't say anything, since her help to Zhou Wei was over. She threw the weeds into a nearby grassy area, tidied up the farm tools she had brought, and prepared to go down the mountain. During this time, Daoxin didn't say anything either, just watched her work in silence.
"I'm leaving," Dao Xin said, waving a handkerchief over Ming Jin's packed-up clothes. "Oh, by the way, I moved recently."
"I'm not going to your house to look for you," Dao Xin casually tossed the cloth aside, and it disappeared in mid-air. "I'll find you wherever you are, okay? Take care, take care. I'll definitely come to see you often when I have time."
A few days after the start of autumn, Mei Chong died in his sleep.
Her aunt wanted to take the child back to town for burial, because she couldn't come often from the mountain, so they simply added another memorial tablet in the ancestral hall. Mei Chong was a junior member of the family, so there was no funeral at home; only a few close friends came to help with the arrangements.
Since then, the mountain has been exceptionally quiet.
Kongyun Mountain is vast, but there are not many cultivators on it. It has never been noisy before, and the chirping of birds must have been louder than human voices. When the autumn wind rises, the birds scatter to who knows where, and those who have stayed here for a long time can't help but wonder where the previous liveliness has gone.
Mingjin was very curious about the aftermath of the ghostly affairs, but Pei Xuanzhen didn't hold a large meeting, and Chen Duan and Yu Qiao were engrossed in their research, not saying much, so Mingjin had no choice but to give up. However, Du Gewen and Mu Ning each called Mingjin over to speak, both instructing her to be extra careful on her cultivation and ghost-hunting journey. Mu Ning also gave Mingjin an extra spell, telling her that she could stop hunting ghosts as usual for the next few days and focus on mastering this spell first.
"Master Mu, have you seen Uncle Tingran recently?"
Having finally gained Mu Ning's approval of his hard-earned progress, Ming Jin breathed a sigh of relief and then asked another question.
"I'll tell you in a few days." Mu Ning didn't say it directly, so Ming Jin would know the extent of the matter.
But she still couldn't resist asking around, so she went to find Fu Nai and Shen Du. She often couldn't find Fu Nai on the mountain. Fu Zhang, after not seeing his mother, and then his father, started searching for people. When he saw Ming Jin, he was initially stunned before recognizing her. Because Fu Nai wasn't there, Shen Du was temporarily doing the work of two people, and Ming Jin didn't disturb him, simply continuing her cultivation as Mu Ning had instructed.
Until late autumn.
A chilly autumn wind swirled up a circle of fallen leaves at his feet, a touch of coldness that felt strangely pleasant. After lunch, Mingjin and Huang Jing were sweeping the fallen leaves in front of He Geng Tang, listening to the sound as they stepped on them, when Mingjin received a message from Mu Ning, instructing them to meet at a certain place.
"What's wrong?" Huang Jing didn't know who he was asking.
"I don't know either."
Ming Jin checked his pouch to make sure he wasn't short of anything, and then hurried over to meet up with the others.
The location Mu Ning gave was on the border between Huicheng and Juxia, almost the furthest point from Kongyun Mountain. Before even getting close, looking at the towering trees and hanging branches nearby, which did not shed their leaves despite the changing seasons, Ming Jin felt that this place was unusually familiar.
It's a complete replica of the forest where Di Huan was saved back then.
At that moment, Mingjin immediately spotted a paulownia tree artifact that Wei Jing and Meng Sheng were arranging. It was about the size of a small tree reaching a person's shoulder, with many empty spaces on its branches, presumably for placing something.
Mu Ning was talking to Guo Hao when Ming Jin came up to greet her. Then she heard Ban Rui's voice, turned around, and saw him and Heng Buwei tidying something up.
Ming Jin only started listening to Mu Ning and Guo Hao's conversation halfway through, and he understood it all.
The barrier around Yishan is nearby, and the task of everyone gathered here today is to infiltrate it.
"We finally found it, how can we not go and take a look?"
Ban Rui only said this one sentence.
After everyone arrived, two more cultivators from Huicheng and Juxia, whom Mingjin had never seen before, came from each of them. Then, Jizhen and Zhou Wei came from Kongyun Mountain.
After listening to Ban Rui's words, the group calmed down and listened to Wei Jing introduce the magical artifact whose color was enough to hide in the forest.
"This item is used to observe a cultivator's life force," Wei Jing said, taking out a handful of wicks and distributing them to everyone. After taking them, everyone was not quite clear about what was going on. "Hold the wick in your palm, silently recite your name in your heart, and then place the wick in the empty space. It will then turn into a lit candle. The candlelight corresponds to the cultivator's state."
Seeing that everyone had received their items, Ban Rui continued.
"The elder has determined the location of the barrier, but it shouldn't be moved carelessly to avoid attracting the attention of the evil spirits inside. The city has a wood magic technique. This technique is simple; it allows the wood magic to remain on each of you. This way, even if the evil spirits sense your presence, they will only perceive you as spirits. Moreover, this technique allows you to move freely between the earth like plant spirits, so there's no need to break the magic array. However, you should also be careful. When you have magic on you, it's best to only use wood magic, or water magic and wind magic. Other magic is incompatible with spirits and can easily cause the magic to break."
Although they already knew the purpose of their trip, everyone gathered in a semi-circle was still somewhat stunned after hearing Wei Jing's words. Seeing this, Wei Jing first took the wick and walked to the bronze tree. He then placed one end of the wick against a gap in the tree, and using the wick as the center, a milky white candle was born, quietly burning with a small flame.
"Don't you want to cast a spell?"
Because the elders were walking in front, Zhou Wei and Ming Jin were hiding behind Ji Zhen when people around them suddenly asked in hushed tones.
"They said to silently recite your name in your heart," Mingjin said, fiddling with the wick in her hand, but worried about breaking it, so she held it lightly and gently. After hearing Zhou Wei's soft whisper, her attention shifted slightly. "Didn't you hear me?"
"My brain is failing me, it's hard for me to remember things," Zhou Wei said helplessly. "What are you muttering? Scientific names?"
"No, you should silently recite: which family, which generation, which son at the foot of Kongyun Mountain; which family's disciple on Kongyun Mountain, which rank, their surname, given name, nickname, and pen name."
"You two, stop fooling around."
Although the two spoke softly, Ji Zhen, standing in front, still managed to hear most of it. Ji Zhen stepped aside and watched from the side. The two of them were a little quieter. They found a nearby spot under Mu Ning and Ji Zhen's candles and placed them down, then carefully stared at the words that appeared on the candles: "Ming Jin Ming Tian Guang" and "Zhou Wei Zhou Chang Qi".
“Something’s not right,” Zhou Wei noticed something and grabbed Ming Jin’s sleeve to stop her from leaving. “How come your handwriting is better than mine? Master Ji’s is beautiful, Master Mu’s is beautiful, how come mine is like this?”
Ji Zhen and Mu Ning had started discussing countermeasures, but when they found the two of them still dawdling, they came over and listened, and sure enough, it wasn't anything important.
“Those are your own words,” Mingjin said helplessly after looking them over. “It’s your own fault for not practicing your handwriting properly.”
“It’s not particularly ugly,” Ji Zhen tried to smooth things over. “Alright, stop being so serious. Come here, I have something to say to you two.”
After discussion, the arrangement for the infiltration was that each of the three families would send two people in rotation, allowing the cultivators with more proficient spells to infiltrate first. When discussing the infiltration duration, the group argued, but ultimately settled on a maximum of about half an hour. Wei Jing also brought a rare magical artifact from the capital: a pair of camellias. While they appeared to be flowers, they were actually sewn together by the capital's embroiderers.
"Leave one flower outside and bring one inside. If you encounter danger and cannot safely use the spell, quickly pluck a petal. In this way, the flower outside will think that someone is deliberately bullying its friend, and will drag that person in front of it, hit the person with a petal from the same spot, and then the petal will fall off. The two flowers are called twin flowers, but in reality they are completely identical. Only in this way can the spell take effect."
"It won't hurt too much, will it?" asked the monk from Huicheng.
“I don’t know,” Wei Jing replied. “After all, it hasn’t been used for a long time, so the records are not very clear.”
They originally thought they would go in first, but it turned out that in terms of wood magic training, Mu Ning and Ming Jin were still defeated by Ji Zhen and Zhou Wei, so they had to help Ban Rui build a resting shed first.
After the six were ready, Wei Jing gave them one last instruction, and then they used their magic under everyone's watchful eyes. Ming Jin watched from the side, and as the incantation was finished, a little bit of moss-green light floated in the air and covered the six of them.
"It seems like there's no difference."
These words were spoken by Juxia's disciple, but Mingjin believed that Zhou Wei must have wanted to say the same thing, but Jizhen had warned him not to speak carelessly, so he should obediently shut up.
"That's why I urge everyone to be extra careful," Wei Jing said with a smile. "I look forward to your return."
The mossy green was so inconspicuous in this forest that in the blink of an eye, the colors blended together and eventually disappeared completely.
Wei Jing placed a small bronze hourglass next to the bronze tree and carefully observed the state of the candle.
Zhou Wei and Meng Sheng had already gone over, and Ming Jin quickly followed Mu Ning to help Ban Rui.
The discovery was kept secret, so the three sect leaders decided to keep things simple. Besides Wei Jing, who was in charge of general affairs, Ban Rui, who was observing the barrier's movements, and Ban Rui's assistant Heng Buwei, the remaining twelve people were all trusted confidants personally chosen by the sect leaders to ensure the matter wouldn't be leaked. Therefore, due to insufficient preparation, a few people had to remain temporarily to do the work.
Mingjin thought this was fine too. Although she still had to wait, at least she wouldn't have to sit there passively. She often did investigations, but facing an enemy camp she knew almost nothing about, she finished packing up, sat on a small stool, looked in the direction the six people had disappeared, and began to worry.
The forest was located in the south and was close to Yishan Mountain. Perhaps due to the special protection of the evil spirits, the temperature was actually very pleasant, but Mingjin still felt his hands and feet getting cold.
She finally decided not to sit still, but to observe the surrounding terrain instead.
"What's wrong?" Mu Ning asked.
"I can't sit still, I want to wander around the neighborhood. I won't go far."
After listening, Mu Ning did not stop her.
Looking down from the tree trunk, their location was merely an ordinary clearing in the forest. Mingjin turned to look elsewhere; because the treetops were covered in lush, large leaves, there were practically no large branches in mid-air that could be considered an obstacle. After looking around, Mingjin suddenly had an idea. So, he hid in a branch and took out the magical artifact that Hong Jun had left him—the one used to contact Old Jiang. It was after talking with Old Jiang that Mingjin learned that this artifact could be used to contact someone at any time, but it was also related to the spirit's cultivation level.
Upon hearing the call, Lao Jiang immediately appeared, but he did not expect Ming Jin to be looking for him in mid-air. He landed on the ground and found it strange. When he looked down at the unpredictable height, his face turned pale.
What are you doing here?
The willows clung to the tree trunk.
“We were having tea. You called Old Jiang over, so I had no choice but to come along.”
Because Mingjin speaks in a low voice, and the surrounding area is dark, Shanliu also unconsciously lowers his voice.
"Is there anything wrong?"
To prevent Mingjin and Shanliu from continuing their argument, the veteran quickly changed the subject.
"Boss Jiang, there's a haunted barrier nearby, inside which is a mountain inhabited by haunted spirits, called Yi Mountain. Can you sense it?"
“I do have a feeling,” Boss Jiang said. “The barrier can only restrict the vision of spirits, because those are human eyes, but because we have human legs, we can go to any place with land. As for Yishan that you mentioned, I can go and take a look.”
"Won't the evil spirits harm you?" Mingjin asked quickly.
“No,” Shanliu interjected.
“What evil spirits want is a human’s lifespan,” Boss Jiang continued. “No matter how good a spirit’s transformation skills are, its lifespan can never be similar to a human’s. Don’t worry.”
"Don't worry," Shanliu added.
“Alright,” Mingjin nodded, hurriedly pulling out an old sheet of drawing paper from his pouch. “I hope you can help me find a place in Yishan. There’s a cliff there, and below the cliff is a dense forest. There’s a path that connects to the cliff from the outskirts of Yishan City.”
“This doesn’t sound difficult,” Boss Jiang said, taking the painting and unfolding it to look at it. “Who is this female ghost?”
Her name is Fuchsia.
The portrait was rather rudimentary, with only the facial features sketched simply with a brush. The better paintings were all given to Fu Nai, and painting one was too tiring; Ming Jin currently only had this unfinished piece. Looking at it from the side, Ming Jin suddenly felt that using this painting to identify people was rather difficult.
"Well done," Shanliu said to Boss Jiang's head.
“Indeed.” Boss Jiang nodded.
“This evil spirit always wears all black, which doesn’t seem to fit me very well,” Mingjin said, and since they both seemed to be saying this, he didn’t think much of it. “She will probably appear near that cliff, but I can’t say for sure when. I hope you can help me find that cliff and a place nearby where there are two or three small mounds like this, which are actually small lumps of mud that people roll with their hands.”
Ming Jin pointed to the small circle at the bottom of the drawing.
“This thing is very inconspicuous,” Mingjin said, somewhat troubled. “Although it’s in the woods, it’s not far from the path leading up the mountain.”
“The task is a bit difficult, and I’m afraid it will be hard for Lao Jiang to complete it alone,” Shan Liu said after looking at the painting. “But I happen to be free right now, so it’s not like I can’t go and help.”
“You definitely have to go,” Boss Jiang said bluntly.
"oh."
The willow slid to the back of the tree.
"What are your plans?" Boss Jiang asked Mingjin.
“This evil spirit is the bodyguard of the Lord of Yishan, and I need to get some information from it,” Mingjin said. “I can’t attract its attention. As long as you can find her, tell me when she will appear, and seize a moment when she is alone to obtain some of her memories, that will be enough.”
“I understand,” Boss Jiang glanced at the painting again, then folded it up and returned it to Ming Jin. “Leave this to us. I’ll contact you as soon as I find it. Shan Liu, hurry up and go.”
A golden oriole flew over, stared at Mingjin, and then disappeared.
It was Mu Ning who was looking for her.
After they went back, Meng Sheng returned.
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