Chapter 167: Go or Stay, Not Your Own Choice
Looking at the black cat walking out leisurely, Long Qi was surprised.
Although the journey was relatively safe, we encountered many problems. Could it be that this cat has been following us like this all the time?
Zhao Wuyang stared at Ajin, his face thoughtful. He remained silent until Ajin came closer.
Just as Ah Jin sat down in front of Zhao Wuyang, his body suddenly shone brightly, causing Long Qi to quickly close his eyes. But even in such a glaring light, Zhao Wuyang still stared at Ah Jin intently.
Also not afraid of the strong light was the mountain god who was sitting on a big rock nearby, tapping his toes leisurely.
In just a moment, all the light retreated. At this time, there was no black cat Ajin in front of Zhao Wuyang, but an eight-foot-tall man.
Long Qi opened his eyes and saw that Zhao Wuyang was so short in front of this man, just reaching his chest. But there was no fear in Zhao Wuyang's eyes. He just raised his head and looked at Ah Jin in front of him with an inexplicable expression in his eyes.
Seeing this, Long Qi was about to step forward to ask, but was hooked by the mountain god's wooden staff. Long Qi was puzzled, but the mountain god just made a hushing sound, signaling him to watch quietly.
Seeing him like this, Long Qi was even more confused. The mountain god sighed and said, "What a bad fate..."
Bad fate? What bad fate?
Long Qi was just wondering when he heard A Jin ask, "When did you find out?"
Zhao Wuyang stared at him intently. Under the illumination of Ajin's divine light, his eyes were clear and bright. "Ever since I read the 'Records of Strange Stories from Mountains and Seas' given to me by Elder Fu Cang, I have guessed it."
"You guessed it based on just one book?" Ajin frowned when he heard that.
Zhao Wuyang sighed and lowered his head. "Although Elder Fu Cang looks tough, she always has her reasons for doing things. When she first gave me the book and told me to read it carefully, I didn't understand what she meant. It wasn't until I read the chapter on Xishan Strange Tales that I understood what she was trying to tell me."
Ah Jin chuckled softly when he heard this: "So, what does she want to tell you?"
As soon as this question was asked, Zhao Wuyang remained silent. After a long while, he raised his head and asked, "Have you been following my mother for a long time?"
"Yes." Ajin replied with a smile.
After hearing his answer, Zhao Wuyang lowered his head again and didn't speak for a long time, which made Long Qi beside him feel a little strange.
But Ajin just smiled and looked at Zhao Wuyang without saying a word.
After a long while, Zhao Wuyang suddenly looked up, stared at Ajin and asked, "Later, you went to Yuanqing to look for me. Was it because of my mother's request?"
Ajin answered yes again, his expression remaining the same.
After hearing Ajin's answer, Zhao Wuyang's eyes misted: "Are you looking for me because of my mother...she..."
He couldn't say the next words, but could only stutter, with a painful expression on his face, as if he didn't want to believe it.
Seeing him like this, Ah Jin's expression froze, and without waiting for him to finish, he directly said:
"yes……"
This "yes" sounded very plain at first, but Long Qi seemed to hear a sigh in it.
After hearing the word "yes", the mist in Zhao Wuyang's eyes finally condensed into tears. The bean-sized tears rolled down, and were particularly dazzling under the illumination of Ajin's divine light.
Seeing Zhao Wuyang like this, Long Qi cursed A Jin in his heart for being unkind. He hurriedly stepped forward to comfort Zhao Wuyang, but was stopped by the mountain god with a stick.
Long Qi was very puzzled and turned his head to look inquiringly, but the mountain god shook his head and sighed, "This time, we may have to decide whether he stays or leaves." He raised his staff and pointed at Ah Jin, "Besides, the fate between the two of them is not something that outsiders can interfere with. Just watch and watch, why are you meddling in other people's affairs..."
Hearing him say this, Long Qi was confused. He had always treated Zhao Wuyang as his own brother. Now that his brother was so sad, how could it be considered as meddling in other people's affairs for him as an older brother to show some concern?
Seeing the confusion on his face, the mountain god laughed and taunted him, "I can tell you're someone who doesn't study. You know less than a child. The legend of the Western Mountain Cat Spirit has been passed down since ancient times. You call yourself a cultivator, yet you don't even know this."
Speaking of which, when Long Qi was cultivating with Ling Xiang, he really didn't enjoy reading strange anecdotes. Even at Ling Xiang's requests, he simply perfunctorily dealt with them, skimming through most of them and now completely forgetting them. Compared to these strange stories, Long Qi preferred to read books on Taoism and magic that could improve his cultivation.
Now that he was ridiculed by the mountain god, Long Qi felt a little embarrassed, but he didn't know how to refute. He could only sit down beside him in a sullen manner, looking at Zhao Wuyang without saying a word.
Zhao Wuyang cried silently for a long time before wiping away his tears and looking up at Ajin to ask about the affairs of the City Lord's wife in the City Lord's Mansion. Ajin briefly explained that Mrs. Qiao was worried about City Lord Zhao, so she found a replacement.
Hearing this, Zhao Wuyang frowned and asked, "If it was someone you liked, would you really sacrifice a tail to fulfill his wish?"
Hearing this, the Mountain God seemed extremely excited. He pulled Long Qi and whispered, "Here it comes! Finally!"
Seeing him like this, Long Qi was completely baffled. Why was he so excited about someone else's sacrifice? He truly was someone who enjoyed watching the drama.
Seeing Long Qi's disdainful look, the Mountain God cleared his throat and said, "You don't know this. Every hundred years, the West Mountain Spirit Cat will grow a tail. Once it grows nine tails, it will become a god."
"So what? Even if he cultivates for nine hundred years, that's just a blink of an eye for a divine cat like him." Long Qi really didn't understand what was so special about this. In the past, he would have been surprised, but now he was a Taoist. Although his practice was still shallow, he knew some things. Forget about a cat spirit. Even an ordinary monster in the mountains could live for a thousand or eight hundred years. Why was he so surprised?
The mountain god smacked his lips. "I told you to read more, but you're so ignorant. The West Mountain Cat Spirit was originally a favored god. They should have been the first among the twelve zodiac gods. It was only because of some personal grudge that the child god snatched the divine instruction, which resulted in them not being included in the immortal class." He nudged Long Qi and pointed at Ah Jin. "Here, this is his ancestor."
"Then what?"
The mountain god seemed to be one of the storytellers in the mortal world. He shook his body and even shook off his legs.
"Later, in order to appease them, the Taiyi God specially designated their clan as divine favored, and promised them that as long as they cultivated nine tails, they would be ranked among the ancient gods. But that is the position of the ancient gods, the same status as the great goddess Nuwa, so it is naturally not easy to achieve."
Long Qi was confused when he heard this. Nine hundred years was not a difficult thing for them, so why was it not easy?
"Whenever the Western Mountain Cat Spirit cultivates to eight tails, it must fulfill the wish of a mortal before it can grow a ninth tail. However, every time it fulfills a wish for someone, it must sacrifice a tail. If it repeats this over and over again, it will never be able to become a god." The mountain god spoke in a rhythmic manner, and even imitated the storyteller in the mortal world and knocked his leg.
What kind of practice is this? Long Qi was shocked after hearing this.
"So, they were fooled by that Taiyi God?"
Hearing this, the mountain god nearly dropped his rock. He quickly hit Long Qi, then clasped his hands together and begged to the heavens, "Children's words are innocent, children's words are innocent. Please don't be offended, Great God!" Then he hit Long Qi again, "Be careful with your words. The gods above can hear them. Don't be so careless all the time."
Long Qi rolled his eyes at him when he heard that. If the gods really showed up, they would have wiped out those demons. What kind of gods are they if they just left them there to harm the world? It's not just that they don't care about anything, but they like to eavesdrop on other people's affairs.
While Long Qi was still complaining in his heart, he saw eight tails suddenly jump out from behind Ajin. At that moment, a bright light appeared and divine light shone everywhere.
Seeing this, Long Qi finally understood what the mountain god was so excited about. This scene was truly rare to see!
Ah Jin was stroking his tail, still smiling, and said to Zhao Wuyang, "Yes, whatever wish you have, I can help you fulfill it."
Zhao Wuyang's face was covered with tears. He grabbed Ah Jin's black robe and said, "Even if it means bringing someone back to life, can you do it?"
Ah Jin sighed and reached out to wipe Zhao Wuyang's tears: "Even if it means bringing your mother back to life, it can be done."
Hearing this, the mountain god sighed, and murmured softly: "Humans, this is how it is..."
Long Qi didn't know what the mountain god was sighing about. Just as he was confused, he saw Zhao Wuyang shaking his head, pushing Ajin away, then lowering his head and being silent for a long time. After a long time, he looked up, with no tears in his eyes and a determined look on his face.
"I haven't decided what to wish for yet. How about you stay by my side for a while until I've thought it through and then I can make a wish for you?"
As soon as the words fell, Ah Jin was stunned: "You don't want to make a wish to bring your mother back to life?"
Zhao Wuyang's eyes welled with tears. He sniffed and spoke in a muffled voice, "My mother taught me since I was a child that I should never sacrifice others to satisfy my own selfish desires. I know your cultivation is not easy, but you have remained close to mortals for so many years. If I made that wish, I would not only go against my mother's teachings, but I would also be unable to justify myself. However, I really don't have any other wishes to make right now, so I might as well put it aside for now. Humph, you have to follow me anyway, so it's not too late to talk about it when I remember."
Hearing this, Ajin frowned, and after a moment he gathered his divine light, turned around and transformed into a cat, then climbed onto Zhao Wuyang's shoulder.
The mountain god was amazed by these words. "I have always believed that everyone in the world is influenced by greed, anger, ignorance and hatred. After all these years, this is the first time I have seen such a person. It is quite rare."
Hearing this, Long Qi glanced at him and was about to say something when he suddenly slapped his head. He had just been listening to the story for half a day and had actually forgotten about Xinyi and Liu Xia, who were still in the illusion! Now the two of them were standing there, and they didn't know if their minds were damaged!
He grabbed the short mountain god and brought him in front of the two of them.
"You almost got away with it just now. You'd better quickly break the spell they are using to bewitch me, otherwise..." As he said this, he slapped the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss on his back.
The mountain god sighed upon hearing this, "It's not that I refuse to help you, but the fact that you're under the spell of these two has nothing to do with me. I don't have the ability to set up such a grand formation. Even though I'm the god of a mountain, my cultivation level may not even be as high as your master's!"
Long Qi was unconvinced when he heard this: "Aren't you a descendant of the great god Pangu? How can you say your cultivation is low?"
The mountain god smiled awkwardly upon hearing this: "That's true, and it sounds quite pleasant, but in reality, the so-called followers are simply born to the mountain. What we do on a daily basis is nothing more than taking care of the mountain spirits and guarding this piece of land."
"Then shouldn't you be an ancient god? How can you say that your cultivation is low?" Long Qi was very surprised.
"Hey, what's the big deal?" The Mountain God struggled to free himself from Long Qi's grasp and circled around him. "People are divided into different classes, let alone gods? Take the dragon clan for example. Even the lowest fish dragons are eaten by others. What's so strange about that? Besides, they have fallen into an illusion. Unless they can escape on their own or eliminate the person who set up the formation, even the arrival of the Heavenly King will not be able to save them."
When Long Qi heard this, he was unwilling to believe it. He turned his head to look at A Jin on Zhao Wuyang's shoulder, who nodded slightly to him.
"If that's the case, then why are you fine in this formation?" After getting Ajin's confirmation, Long Qi asked Xiangshanshen again.
The mountain god seemed extremely proud when he heard this: "Even if my spiritual power is low, I am still an ancient god after all. This kind of soul-stealing technique is naturally powerless against me. Look at the child on his shoulder, isn't he jumping around all the time?"
Hearing him say this, Zhao Wuyang was puzzled: "If that's the case, then why was your head stolen? And who stole your head?"
The mountain god sighed, leaning on his staff and walking to a rock to sit down. "I'm also puzzled. A few days ago, I don't know what fell from the sky. It was full of demonic energy and wanted to place a lake in the mountain. It even wanted to rule the lake and become its lord. However, any changes in the mountain required my approval. Seeing that it was full of evil spirit, I refused. But who would have thought that it would take advantage of my carelessness and cut off my head. Since then, it has occupied the entire mountain and set up a maze everywhere."
After hearing this, Long Qi and Zhao Wuyang looked at each other. The thunder and lightning that the villagers talked about that day was the monster full of evil spirit that the mountain god mentioned.
It seems that they must meet the monster again.
The two nodded to each other, and then Long Qi asked the mountain god, "In that case, let's go meet the monster. If we see your head, we'll get it back for you."
The mountain god took a deep breath when he heard this, and said that he was like a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger.
"Good boy, how dare you speak so arrogantly? That monster is not something you can deal with."
Long Qi seemed unconcerned. "My two brothers are now trapped in a fantasy world. We're the only ones who can save them. We can't just watch them continue like this. If their spirits are damaged, wouldn't that be dangerous?" He turned around and was about to walk in, but just as he took a step, he stopped...
"Um... where should we go to find that monster?"
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