Chapter 78 "Hound" Hunting: What Kind of Dog Am I Best Fit to Be? ...
Bitao returned to the assigned farmhouse, where oil lamps were already lit. Smoke curled from the chimney, and the aroma of food wafted from the house from afar.
The dim light illuminated the tall figure moving about in the kitchen. Bitao placed her hand on the wooden door, not rushing in, but standing at the door, staring at the figure for a long time.
This scene reminded Bitao of the first competition. Whenever she returned from playing wildly in the mountains, or after a fierce fight with the kids in the village and returning home covered in "victory medals," there was always a dim but very warm light waiting for her.
Back then it was her mother-in-law; now it's Wei Danxin.
In the mortal world, amidst the everyday hustle and bustle, the most ordinary experience in a mortal's life is the warmth that Bitao, a celestial being who can dominate heaven and earth, always finds herself deeply mired and unable to extricate herself from.
"Is the gate locked?"
Because Wei Danxin had a higher level of cultivation, her five senses were more acute than Bitao's, and she had already sensed it when Bitao was returning.
Bitao stood at the door for too long, so Wei Danxin pushed the door open, holding half a broken rice ladle in her hand. She greeted Bitao from behind the warm light at the doorway, "Come in quickly."
“We’ve been eating dry rations all this way, they’re so dry and hard, and you don’t seem to have much of an appetite.” Wei Danxin was tall and had long legs, and since the courtyard wasn’t very big, he took a few steps from the doorway to the front gate and opened the door for Bitao.
He mumbled softly, "I found some empty houses in the village and some rice. Although it was old rice, it was washed several times and smelled very good after being boiled in water."
Wei Danxin pulled Bitao towards the house, but halfway there she pushed Bitao's shoulder and pointed to the well in the yard, saying, "I've drawn water. Go wash your hands and then come in to eat rice porridge."
Like a puppet, Bitao followed Wei Danxin's instructions, squatted beside the well, and reached into the wooden bucket to scoop water to wash her hands.
In fact, she was feeling dizzy at that moment, as if she were floating on clouds, trapped in the mortal world, and her heart was pounding uncontrollably.
She always knew exactly what she wanted, and she planned ten steps ahead for every one step she took. She would constantly calculate and rehearse in her mind before anything happened.
She had been scheming against Mingguang step by step to get to where she was now.
She even foresaw all the possible changes the two of them might encounter later. How to deal with them, how to use everything that happened in this competition to press Mingguang step by step, leaving him with no choice but her.
But despite all her calculations, Bitao never anticipated that, like Mingguang, she would value these small, tender details more than romantic love.
After washing her hands, Bitao sat on a small stool in front of her. In front of her was a low table with mottled marks of time and a limp leg, propped up with bricks.
On top are steamed and softened dry food, and two bowls of thick rice porridge.
"There aren't any side dishes. There might be some wild vegetables in the mountains, but it's too late to dig them up."
Wei Danxin washed his hands and dried them with a clean cloth. His elegant robes were tied up at the hem to prevent fire, and the cuffs were wrapped with strips of cloth to cook rice, making them look quite incongruous.
But Bitao stared blankly at his clean hands, which were not stained with the fluids of love and desire, but with the water from washing his hands and cooking.
"So I put some coarse salt in the rice porridge, and I just tasted it and it's perfect to eat with dry food..." Actually, it was a bit salty, and Wei Danxin wasn't good at cooking.
If it weren't for the fact that his junior sister hadn't eaten much during their days of travel, he would never have bothered with the farmhouse stove and ended up covered in soot.
Bitao remained silent, lowering her head to take a sip of porridge.
Honestly, the taste wasn't very good. But this ordinary bowl of porridge, with its homely aroma, stirred her emotions more deeply than any romantic relationship, leaving her heart pounding.
"How is it?" Wei Danxin was cooking for the first time in her life, and she stared at Bitao with anticipation, hoping to receive her praise.
Bitao swallowed the peach, nodded, and said, "Delicious."
Wei Danxin keenly sensed that Bitao seemed a little lost in thought, so she reached out and touched her cheek across the low table: "What's wrong? Why are you looking a little dazed?"
"Wasn't he going to ask Meteor about the whereabouts of the Two-Faced Taoist? What did he say?"
Wei Danxin looked concerned and didn't even have time to drink a sip of porridge.
Seeing that Bitao was still in a daze, he frowned and made to get up: "I'm going to go and ask him properly."
Bitao grabbed his hand as he tried to pull it back, tilted her head and rested it on Wei Danxin's palm, burying half of her face in his damp palm.
"I'm fine, senior brother. Mother should be back soon."
“It’s not because of what the meteor said, I just feel…” Bitao looked at him, her peach blossom eyes rippling like waves on a lake.
"I just think that if you and I were an ordinary couple, living our lives like this would be fine too."
Whether one is an immortal, a human, or a ghost, isn't what one ultimately seeks this lamp that lights someone waiting to return home to?
During the first competition, Bitao's soul was damaged and she forgot everything. She also thought that after her mortal life ended, she could reunite with her mother-in-law because of a lamp lit for her by her mother-in-law. It was really beautiful.
Therefore, even after learning that he was a celestial being who had descended to earth, he still considered never returning to heaven.
Now, this idea has resurfaced at an inopportune time.
What disturbed her mind was not the shooting star, nor the uncertain and seemingly fraught road ahead, but Wei Danxin, who had lit a beacon of light for her.
It's like walking along a completely dark road, stumbling but never going in the wrong direction, when suddenly a light comes on at a fork in the road.
The bright and warm light drew her in like a moth to a flame.
Bi Tao's thoughts moved with her heart. The moment this idea arose, several ways were born that would make Wei Danxin forget who she was for the rest of her life, sink into the mortal world with her, and even be unable to return to heaven.
In this way, they wouldn't have to go through any of the twists and turns and struggles she had predicted...
Upon hearing Bitao's explanation, Wei Danxin's golden eyes instantly became several times brighter than an oil lamp.
What could be more heartwarming than having your lover's cheek resting in your palm, gazing at you with such tender affection?
But he said, "But Tao Tao, have you forgotten? What you promised me wasn't just one lifetime as husband and wife. You said we would be together for all eternity."
It was as if a small bell rang in Bitao's heart because of Wei Danxin's words.
She suddenly came to her senses, and this brief period of confusion and bewilderment was cleared by the trembling of the bell in her heart.
Yes, a lifetime is too short. The warmth of a life lived in the morning and dying at dusk is like a flame that survives a storm; there's always the fear that it will be extinguished in the next instant.
What she wanted was not the flickering light of a candle in the human world, but the radiant glow of the golden crow that would accompany her on her journey through countless lifetimes.
Bitao slowly smiled and said to Wei Danxin, "Senior brother is right. No matter how wonderful a life is, it is ultimately too short."
Bitao lowered her head and drank her porridge, and Wei Danxin also picked up her bowl and drank her porridge.
After dinner, Bitao said to Wei Danxin, "On my way back, I called a few people over. Let's discuss forming a team to hunt the Changgui in the mountains tomorrow."
"Okay." Wei Danxin cleaned up the leftovers from the two of them, and responded gently with her back to Bitao.
Before long, Zhan Kui arrived first among the people Bi Tao had summoned, followed by Guang Han.
Today he wore a particularly conservative robe with the collar overlapping his chin.
Wei Danxin disliked Zhan Kui and inexplicably also disliked this array cultivator from Taixu Tower, but out of consideration for his junior sister, he pretended to be very polite.
Specifically, he poured coarse tea for Bitao and himself, and made a cup of plain water for each of the other two.
Zhan Kui was oblivious to this differential treatment, but Guang Han looked down at the water bowl and sighed imperceptibly.
It seems that changing his clothes didn't help; Mingguang just doesn't like him.
After Zhan Kui arrived, Bing Jing and her husband came. As soon as Bing Jing entered, she saw Bi Tao and felt a sense of déjà vu. She went up and hugged Bi Tao tightly.
She didn't have any female friends she could confide in normally, and when she saw Bitao, she couldn't help but choke up, saying, "Everyone in my village... has been arrested, and we don't know if they're alive or dead."
Bitao stroked the back of her long hair and nodded politely to Bingjing's husband.
Bingjing's husband stood at the door. He wasn't as sorrowful as Bingjing, but he also looked melancholy. His linen clothes were rolled up to his elbows, and his skin glowed with a honey-like color under the warm yellow light.
After Bingjing finished venting her emotions, he put his strong, long arm around her shoulder and back, half-encircling her in his arms, his possessiveness silent yet overflowing.
Finally, Zhang Yuluan and Lin Xuantu arrived, living right next to Bitao and Wei Danxin's farmhouse.
Once everyone arrived, the room was almost overflowing.
The group carried oil lamps and went outside, gathering around the small table where Bitao and Wei Danxin had just eaten to talk.
Bitao spoke first: "When forming a team, it's not about the quantity of people, but the quality."
"Besides what the Meteor Pavilion Master mentioned, I also know another characteristic of the Changgui that can be used as a reference to determine whether the people we encounter in the mountains are Changgui or ordinary people."
Bitao said, "The 'Changgui' is the ghost that was devoured by the tiger. The ghost with an incomplete soul cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation. Therefore, the tiger needs to use a part of the ghost as a 'blackmail' to control the ghost and make it work for it."
"Usually, the little finger of a male ghost is shorter on his left hand, while the little finger of a female ghost is shorter on his right hand."
Bi Tao had barely finished speaking when Zhang Yu Luan, who was leaning against the window with a long sword in her arms instead of sitting down at the table, interrupted, pointing rather rudely at the tall man next to Bing Jing with the hilt of her sword, and said, "Why are you wearing a glove on your left hand in the middle of summer?"
"My junior sister said that the little finger on the left hand of a male ghost is shorter than a piece. You're not a ghost, are you?"
Everyone looked toward Bingjing's...her husband.
The man's expression was already not good, and upon hearing this, it became even more gloomy. He glanced at Zhang Yuluan but did not say anything.
Bingjing quickly stood up and said, "No, no! This is my husband... He is wearing gloves because he was injured in his left hand while protecting me during a demonic invasion several years ago."
Bingjing reached out and pressed down on the man's thick, taut arm beside her: "Husband, don't worry. We're teaming up to search for the missing people in the village. Fellow Daoist Zhang means no harm."
Zhang Yuluan was extremely malicious; she had no "good intentions" towards Bitao, the organizer. If she didn't distrust others, she wouldn't have teamed up with those "cheating couple."
She didn't let Bingjing's attempt to smooth things over stop her questioning, and continued, "Since that's not the case, take off your gloves and let us see. The most important thing in a team is trust within the team; otherwise, how can we fight side by side?"
Bitao didn't speak, but reached out and scratched her chin.
She was also a little curious as to why Bingjing's husband was wearing gloves.
It's clear that when they first met at Wenxin Pavilion, he was inspecting the cakes in front of Bitao. Although he looked at people with a gloomy expression back then, Bitao's memory of him was still quite clear. He wasn't wearing gloves at that time.
From the second time they met, after the evil spirit Xi was killed, when they met again, this "Kang Ping'an" was wearing gloves.
At that time, Bitao thought he had just finished his farm work and was rushing over.
Now that I think about it, ordinary people don't wear gloves when doing farm work.
It's a bit suspicious that he was still wearing it during this meeting.
Bitao needed to win over everyone, so she couldn't directly point it out. Zhang Yuluan didn't need Bitao's hints; she took the initiative to question him, which was really great.
She grew to like her second senior sister, who was sharp-tongued and meticulous.
The atmosphere froze for a moment, Bingjing fearing that her husband, who already had a bad temper, would slam the table and leave.
Although her husband had a bad temper, he always suppressed it when he was with Bingjing. Now that these people were Bingjing's comrades-in-arms, he couldn't really lose his temper with them.
He placed his hands on the table and took off the glove on his left hand.
At first glance, his left hand appears to be intact.
Bitao let out a soft "hmm" in her heart.
However, as Kang Ping'an peeled off a layer of skin tightly attached to the back of his hand, along with three fingers, everyone discovered that his left hand had severe burns, and with the missing finger, it looked shocking.
Bingjing quickly helped her husband put the skin back on.
Then she said, "In Shenghui Town of Wenchang Kingdom, there is a leather merchant who is extremely skilled at tanning leather. This leather is custom-made and cannot be exposed to water or fire. If it is rubbed too much, it will become more and more different in color from the skin, which is why my husband always wears gloves."
Bitao realized that Kang Ping'an had also been wearing "gloves" when they first met.
After the brief commotion subsided, Bitao spoke up, "Everyone can speak frankly about any doubts they may have. My second senior sister is right. From now on, we will fight side by side, and at least there should be no doubts within the team."
"Moreover, as you have all witnessed, my second senior sister's abilities are not only superb in swordsmanship, but also in the ability to 'see the true nature' of all things. Tomorrow, when we enter the mountain, we will rely entirely on my second senior sister to distinguish between living people and evil spirits."
Zhang Yuluan: "..." She was caught off guard by the praise and wanted to retort, but when everyone's eyes were on her, she straightened her neck and changed her posture, like a fighting rooster about to enter the arena, without saying "I can't do it".
Her heart was pounding with anxiety. Her swordsmanship was indeed superb, but where did she get the ability to understand the mind and see one's true nature?!
She was happy to be praised, but what if she made a mistake later?
Zhang Yuluan felt immense pressure and frowned, remaining silent.
"Moreover, after this experience, you should all understand that the characteristics of the changgui I mentioned can only serve as an aid in judging the changgui, not a necessary condition."
Bitao said, "Now let's discuss tactics. Do you all know about the traditional hunting methods using hunting dogs?"
Bitao said, "Some hunters keep hunting dogs for hunting. From small rabbits to wild boars, and even wolves, they can be easily taken down when the hunting dogs work in a team."
"Hunting dogs are divided into several types: lead dogs, drag dogs, heavy-duty dogs, guard dogs, and command dogs, etc."
"The head dog must be strong enough in terms of stamina and speed, and also have a certain level of combat strength."
"The drag dog is responsible for controlling and dragging the prey during the hunt, which requires a high level of endurance and strength."
"The important task is to, with the assistance of the drag dog, tear at the prey's vital points in order to subdue and kill it."
"Watchdogs are always on alert for other prey in the vicinity, preventing other prey from attempting to rescue their prey."
"The command dog is responsible for standing at a high vantage point, having a comprehensive view of the situation, and directing and adjusting tactics as needed. In a hunting dog team, the command dog usually represents the hunter himself."
"Besides being able to transform into a tiger, the Changgui does not possess the ability to create illusions or affect people's minds like other evil spirits. If you avoid the range of its Yin energy attacks, it is no different from a large ferocious beast."
"Once the changgui is forced to turn into a tiger, it cannot maintain its form for long without replenishing its soul. In my opinion, the changgui is not even as stamina and aggressive as a wild boar."
“We can emulate the hunters’ method of using hunting dogs. With the help of talismans, array plates, and formations, we can deal with single or even small groups of xiang ghosts.”
Bitao asked Wei Danxin to get her a piece of burnt charcoal, and on the small table, she demonstrated the battle process to everyone.
From their initial confusion upon hearing about the hound-style combat method, everyone showed great curiosity after understanding Bitao's deductions.
Lin Xuantu stared at the charcoal ash lines that had been practiced on the table and exclaimed, "This method... is very similar to the tactics used by a pack of wolves when hunting large livestock. It's extremely efficient!"
He was a candidate for the Nine Heavens Thunder Emperor, and his training was to lead thunder generals to break formations and to lead guardian celestial masters to kill and attack demons and evil spirits.
Although Lin Xuantu currently lacks Binglun's memories, seeing Bitao's simple, brutal, and beastly hunting methods ignite the passion buried deep within her bones.
"Third Senior Sister," he looked at Bitao with eyes that shone intensely, "what kind of dog am I suited to be?"
Zhan Kui couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Oh my god! Look! Everyone, look!
The candidate for the Nine Heavens Thunder Emperor is eager to be Bi Tao's dog!
If Hyōrin regained her memories, she'd probably die of shame, wouldn't she?!
Bitao smiled and said, "Your combat power, explosiveness, sense of direction, and ability to lead a team are all very strong. You are also a fire elementalist born to suppress evil spirits, so you are suitable to be the leader."
"Alright! I'll be the lead dog!" Lin Xuantu slammed his hand on the table, so excited that he wanted to try out these tactics right now.
The lead dog is like the vanguard in an army, commonly known as the "suicide squad." Seeing Binglun so happy being assigned to the suicide squad by Bitao, Zhan Kui decided to stay away from him.
This person is indeed very handsome, but stupidity is probably contagious.
Bitao asked, "Does anyone have any objections to this fighting method?"
Wei Danxin also stared at the table for a few moments, then at Bitao for a few moments, her eyes filled with admiration and pride, without the slightest objection.
He asked Bitao, "What about me?"
"A heavy responsibility," Bitao said. "Senior Brother is the only one with the Earthly Realm cultivation level, and he is responsible for killing the prey."
"Since no one has any objections, I will begin the distribution."
"Since you all know each other but are not familiar with one another, you may each choose a code name according to your own wishes."
"Firstly, code names are simpler and easier for tactical deployment. Secondly, since we're venturing deep into the heart of a place teeming with ghosts and monsters, it's inappropriate to use our own names, or at least not our full names. Who knows if there are other ghosts and monsters in these mountains besides the 'Chang Gui'?"
“There is a kind of ghost in this world called the ‘soul-calling ghost.’ If you reveal your real name, it will imitate a close person and call your name. Once you respond, your soul will leave your body. That’s why we use nicknames for each other.”
"Tianbao, what do you want to call him?"
“Zhan Kui!” Zhan Kui replied in perfect harmony with Bi Tao.
Bitao winked at her; best friends have such great chemistry.
Zhan Kui nudged Guang Han beside him, and Guang Han then said, "I want to be called Guang Han."
"Okay, Guanghan."
Bitao looked at Wei Danxin: "Senior brother, I've already thought of a nickname for you."
As she pondered, Wei Danxin's lips curled slightly: "What do you want me to be called?"
“Mingguang,” Bitao said, “Mingguang is the sun, shining warmly, which suits you perfectly, Senior Brother.”
For some reason, Wei Danxin was momentarily stunned, as if... these two words were closer and more fitting to him than Wei Danxin himself.
He said happily, "Then it's your choice, let's call him Mingguang."
"I want to call..."
“Your name is Binglun,” Bitao interrupted the excited Lin Xuantu. “Binglun means full moon. A full moon shines and wards off evil spirits, which suits you perfectly, Junior Brother.”
"Shouldn't I be called Fire Wheel?" Lin Xuan Tu said. "I'm of the fire element, so I think Fire Wheel is more suitable!"
Bitao thought to herself, "You look like a ring of fire to me."
She refused: "It's hard to remember, so I'll just call it Binglun."
Lin Xuantu opened his mouth, but ultimately acquiesced.
Bitao then looked at the other people and said to Bingjing, "Manman, I think you should be called Bingjing."
"A clear mirror like the moon, hanging high in the sky, your lightning spirit is silvery and dazzling, perfectly matching the name 'Ice Mirror'."
Bingjing glanced at Bitao, finding it difficult to refuse after hearing her explanation. Besides, she also thought the name Bingjing sounded pleasant and easy to pronounce.
He nodded and said, "Okay."
Bitao patted herself and said, "My name is Bitao. My clothes are all the color of peach blossoms. The peach tree is in full bloom. Bitao is the easiest to remember."
Then Bitao looked at the last two people.
As for the claim that the soul-summoning ghosts leave their bodies, it does exist in the Hundred Ghost Records, but these ghosts appear at night, while the hunters only hunt during the day, so there is no possibility of encountering them.
Let everyone use their own names again. This was just a convenient way for Bitao to avoid mispronouncing names in the heat of battle and making things difficult to gloss over.
But Bitao remembered the lesson she learned from the previous competition when she randomly named people, resulting in three servants flying into the sky.
Therefore, when Bitao met Kang Ping'an's somewhat resistant gaze, she said, "Brother Kang, you can just call yourself Ping'an. The soul-summoning ghost needs to know the name in order to separate the soul. It doesn't matter if you only have the name."
"Peace is our ultimate goal and expectation in exorcising evil. There is no better name than this."
Kang Pingan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Bitao then looked at Zhang Yuluan, whose eyes held both expectation and conflicted resistance.
He said, "Second Senior Sister is called Yu Luan. Yu Luan is a phoenix, a divine bird that symbolizes intelligence, wealth, and beauty. It is an auspicious name in itself, and there is no better name than this."
Zhang Yuluan felt refreshed and invigorated by the praise.
Hearing this, she nodded restrainedly and coughed lightly: "Yes, this name was given by my mother." Although her mother had passed away many years ago, she only had a father who did not love her.
But Zhang Yuluan always thought her name sounded nice.
"Then your mother must love you very much." Bitao wanted to coax someone into working for her, and it was really hard for that person not to fall for her tricks.
Zhang Yuluan gave a soft hum and did not answer, but the "phoenix's" tail was so beautiful it was almost sticking up.
After deciding on everyone's "titles," Bitao said, "Let's get to know each other first. From this moment on, we'll use nicknames to address each other."
Then they continued to be assigned their combat positions.
"Ice Wheel, Head Dog".
"Mingguang, I have a great responsibility."
"Ice Mirror, a heavy responsibility."
"Zhan Kui, drag the dog."
"Yu Luan, drag the dog."
"Guanghan, drag the dog."
"Peace, watchdog."
"Bitao, the command dog and a person entrusted with important responsibilities."
“Wait a minute,” Zhang Yuluan asked again, “It’s one thing for you to be the commander and entrusted with a heavy responsibility, but we don’t understand this hunting method either. Why is Ice…Mirror also entrusted with a heavy responsibility?”
"She's not even a disciple of the Seven Star Palace, and her cultivation isn't high enough. Shouldn't the important task be to have someone as capable as Senior Brother... or Mingguang?"
Bitao said, "Because she is Lei Ling."
Bitao took out a stack of talismans from her bosom and summoned Zhang Yuluan to take a look.
"These are the Five Thunder Talismans that Bingjing drew over the past two months, which he just gave me. You can also entrust them with important tasks, but Yu Luan, do you think your attributes are as powerful as the Five Thunders summoned by Lei Ling using talismans he drew himself?"
Looking at the high-quality Five Thunder Talismans, Zhang Yuluan was impressed with the Ice Mirror's arrangements.
But she questioned Zhan Kui: "What about her? You don't know she has a nickname, Long Banfan? She hasn't formally entered the Daoist path yet."
“Ping An is a watchdog because he is a mortal and should not get too close to the ghosts. How can Long Zhan Kui be a drag dog?”
Bitao: "...Hmm, this is hard to explain for now. How about this, we'll try a hunt tomorrow. If Zhan Kui can't hold off the prey, I'll replace her as a guard dog, okay?"
"Does anyone have any other concerns?"
Everyone shook their heads, taking some time to familiarize themselves with each other's nicknames and their respective "dog positions".
Bitao then led everyone in rehearsing the hunting process several times using deduction techniques.
The process involved using pseudonyms, and everyone quickly got into character.
What's amazing is that, apart from Zhang Yuluan and Kang Pingan pausing when addressing others and sometimes even having to think for a while to remember what the other person's name is, the others address each other by their nicknames without any hesitation and have a strong sense of self-identity.
It's almost as if... as if these were their original names.
High above, the immortals watching this scene through the Milky Way were all filled with admiration.
"Is this team composition too much of a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"
"Hahahaha... I'm impressed. Did Fairy Bitao just smoothly put everyone's names back in their places?"
"And they're all her 'dogs,' and they're all very happy. What can I say? Only admiration..."
"This hunting method using hounds isn't exactly novel, but just practicing it looks like a lot of fun! I'm actually starting to feel a little tempted to become a 'dog' myself."
"Peach Blossom Fairy, look at me! Woof woof woof!"
"Hahahaha... The Koi Fairy is acting as a drag dog. I just want to know if the prey dares to move. If it moves and hurts the Koi Fairy, the Heavenly Dao might send down lightning to strike it down!"
"Ahhh, I can't wait for tomorrow, it looks like so much fun!"
...
Zhu Ming, who happened to be watching the Silver River Net, silently turned his head to look at the Eastern King Duke beside him.
He humbly inquired, "If someone already has that name, and we just inform them beforehand, does that count as giving them a random name?"
Zhu Ming chuckled dryly twice and said, "It can't be that Bi Tao told them their names in advance, and when they passed away, they all became Bi Tao's servants, can it?"
The Eastern King remained silent, pondering. In all his years of life, he had never encountered anything like this... There had never been a precedent in the entire Nine Heavens.
How would he know how to calculate it? I reckon even the Immortal Emperor Qingming wouldn't know how to calculate it.
He couldn't help but conjure up his hands and scratch his head.
She asked Zhu Ming, utterly perplexed, "Haven't she and Mingguang already given birth to so many 'celestial children' with their mouths? Why is she so insistent on naming other people's children?"
Zhu Ming: "..."
Mentioning this makes Zhu Ming's face twitch; he is also one of Bi Tao's "children."
Whatever, I don't care! Do whatever you want!
Bitao clearly didn't realize that her actions might cause unpredictable consequences.
She was quite satisfied with the team she had assembled.
The next day, all the teams entered the mountain one after another.
The teams agreed to keep a distance and help each other—they would only gather together when they encountered a large group of cougars.
Without a large number of cougars, everyone maintained a state where they could see each other but did not interfere with each other.
Other teams saw a "person" appear in the mountains, but they couldn't determine if it was a ghost or a demon, so they had to risk getting close to confirm it using talismans for identifying yin energy.
Moreover, they had no idea whether they would encounter demons or civilians next, or how many there were. They were running around like headless flies, everyone in the group on edge, not daring to relax for even a moment.
Bitao's group, however, seemed to be on a spring outing in the mountains.
She would occasionally ask Guanghan to adjust her direction: "Which way should we go next?"
Guanghan quickly raised her hand to calculate: "The Kan position is due north, which is inauspicious, but it can be turned into good fortune."
In reality, even if he himself wanted to avoid danger, it was impossible for him to avoid it all.
Fortunately, Bitao didn't want him to avoid all of them; she just wanted him to calculate the less "inauspicious" directions.
They had only just begun to cooperate, starting with simple combat and teamwork.
As a descendant of the Southern Dipper Star Lord, it was quite easy for Guanghan to calculate a roughly less ominous direction.
Sure enough, not far away, after crossing a small mountain pass, they saw a thin and frail-looking woman.
Her leg was injured, and upon seeing the crowd, she frantically waved, crying, "Help! Help..."
She lay half-reclined on the hillside, looking utterly harmless, barely alive.
Everyone immediately went on high alert.
Binglun, as the leader of the dogs, held a talisman for detecting Yin energy in her hand and volunteered, "I'll go test her!"
Bitao grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled Binglun back from its dashing position.
Binglun had been "choked" by Bitao countless times and had gotten used to it. She rubbed her neck and saw that Bitao's expression was even a little aggrieved.
Bitao smiled and said, "Don't rush, we don't need to use such a dangerous method to judge the changgui."
Wei Danxin drew his sword and said, "That's right. You all stay far away. I will use my Golden Spirit to shatter the stone beside her. If she is a ghost, she will definitely be unable to resist transforming."
As Wei Danxin spoke, he drew his longsword.
Bitao pressed down on his wrist again: "Senior brother, wait a minute. We don't have many spirit stones to replenish our strength. It's a whole day. This kind of probing is too wasteful of spiritual energy."
"Then how do we test them?" Bingjing always had a natural compassion for the weak. Although she knew that the other party might be a ghost, she still looked somewhat reluctant.
Bitao patted Bingjing on the shoulder, turned around and asked Zhang Yuluan, who was holding a sword and staring intently at the girl pleading for help, "Yuluan, do you think this person is a vengeful spirit or a commoner?"
Zhang Yuluan had not yet realized the "seriousness" of the matter. Ever since she gave up pretending to be a weak and gentle second senior sister, she had always spoken her mind when she encountered problems.
Hearing Bitao's question, she scoffed and said, "This mountain is teeming with tigers and countless vengeful spirits. How could a woman who ran in here have survived until now?"
"Besides, even if she's lucky enough to have survived until now, after suffering such severe injuries, she should know that ghosts are just as hard to distinguish as humans, and her first reaction upon seeing us should be fear rather than seeking help."
“When I entered the mountain this morning, I asked Senior Brother Meteor. Most of the people who rushed into the mountain to search for their relatives were strong men, so this woman could not possibly be a living person.”
As soon as Zhang Yuluan finished speaking, Bitao nodded and slapped the back of Binglun's neck, which she had just pulled back: "Go, head dog, launch an attack first, draw the prey's aggro, and keep an eye on things. Once the changgui transforms, immediately retreat to a distance of three zhang."
"Obtaining the tiger's body, the Jade Phoenix of the Moon Palace prepares to drag the dog. After the courier transforms and chases the Ice Wheel, it immediately grabs the tiger's body from the side and rear, focusing on controlling the tiger's head, waiting for the important task of 'bleeding' it out!"
"superior!"
Just like the rehearsal last night, after giving a series of orders, Bitao made everyone instinctively rush forward two steps, and then hesitated and looked back at Bitao.
Wei Danxin couldn't help but speak up: "Junior Sister... Bitao, isn't it a bit too hasty to judge the other party as a ghost based on just a few words from Yu Luan?"
Even Zhang Yuluan nudged Bitao: "I was just talking nonsense, don't... actually do it. What if the other person is human? Binglun would kill them in an instant!"
The others also looked conflicted.
Bitao looked around at everyone, knowing that there was a difference between theoretical discussions and facing real people.
He laughed and said, "Alright, if you're afraid of accidentally hurting each other, then wait. The other side will launch an attack when they get impatient."
Zhan Kui, who had been waiting for this moment, said, "Tsk, what are you waiting for!"
"Guanghan, let's go first!"
As he spoke, he pulled Guanghan forward—
Zhan Kui drew his sword, went to the woman who was pleading for help, and without saying a word, stabbed her in the chest.
"Help……"
Zhan Kui plunged his white knife in and pulled it out red; the woman collapsed limply to the ground and quickly died.
Everyone: "..."
"You killed the wrong person..." Binglun's voice trembled.
Wei Danxin's expression was also very solemn.
Only Zhan Kui, after stabbing her and discovering she was feigning death and not transforming, showed no panic. He grabbed his sword again and slashed at the woman's bleeding neck—
"Ugh!" Zhang Yuluan felt that Zhan Kui's cruelty was simply outrageous!
It's one thing to kill someone by mistake, but why make someone die a gruesome death?
Just as Zhan Kui's sword was about to strike the woman's neck, a roar resounded through the mountains and forests.
The woman's body grew taller on the spot, her weak limbs rapidly grew longer and longer, covered with hair, and in the blink of an eye she transformed into a huge tiger.
Enraged by Zhan Kui, the tiger roared in his direction, spewing out invisible arrows of yin energy that flew straight towards Zhan Kui.
Zhan Kui was a semi-mortal, so there was no way he could have escaped.
Guanghan, who was beside her, reacted relatively quickly, but while he was able to dodge on his own, he couldn't dodge while pulling Zhankui along.
Despite the risk of injury, he half-circled Zhan Kui, preparing to use his arm to withstand the "arrow".
Zhan Kui frowned at the tiger's gaping maw and shouted, "Shut up, you have bad breath!"
Then, suffocated by the fumes, he took a step back and stepped into a sunken sand pit.
Then, she fell straight backward, not only dodging the arrow of yin energy, but also taking Guanghan, who was preparing to withstand it, down with her and slamming her onto the soft sand.
Everyone: "..."
At this moment, everyone reacted quickly. Although their formation was in disarray, they rushed forward and quickly subdued the evil spirit.
Originally entrusted with a heavy responsibility, Mingguang became a dog-dragging dog. He leaned forward, mobilized his golden spirit, rode on the tiger's back, pressed his arms against the tiger's neck, and used his body as a weight to bury the tiger's head in the sand pit, preventing it from raising its head to spew out arrows of yin energy.
The others then restrained the tiger's struggling body and hind legs.
Even Kang Ping'an ran over and stepped on the tiger's tail.
Wei Danxin turned to Bitao and said, "Draw blood!"
Bleeding is not literally "bleeding out" but rather a euphemism for killing the prey.
Bitao picked up the longsword that Wei Danxin had dropped, walked to the tiger's side, and swiftly brought the sword down—
A tiger's roar, muffled in the chest, abruptly ceased as the head was severed.
After the tiger's head hit the ground, its body quickly shrank to human form.
As everyone stood up, the ghost that had transformed into the tragically deceased woman began to dissipate like sand blown by the wind under the sunlight.
The group's first battle was completed amidst chaos, but their teamwork was still fairly good.
There was a minor incident, but no one was injured, so it was a happy ending.
Bitao put her sword back into the scabbard at Wei Danxin's waist before speaking softly to the crowd: "Therefore, in battle, no matter the situation, all the hunting dogs must blindly obey the command dog."
After this, no one raised any further objections.
Zhan Kui and Guang Han watched as the merit fireflies on the dissipated female figure rose up in groups and flew in a line towards Bi Tao's merit storage bag.
The two of them were so hungry their eyes were practically popping out.
If a mere ghost has accumulated so much merit, just how many people have died in these mountains?
Zhan Kui raised his head, his eyes shining, and asked Bi Tao, "Can I entrust this important task to you?"
Bitao glanced at her and said, "No. But we can take turns bleeding."
The group gathered again, and Bitao asked Guanghan, "Which direction should we go next?"
Guanghan was unusually excited. In the second competition, he still hadn't accumulated twenty merits, which was really pitiful.
Five hundred thousand merits and forty years of competition time, it sounds like plenty of time.
However, life here is desolate, and apart from going on missions to rescue people, there's not even a lame bird to save!
Killing a ghost brings so much merit... and the bloodletting is done in turns!
Following Bitao really does bring "meat" (benefits)!
Guanghan quickly calculated and then said, "The Xun position is in the southeast."
"Let's go!" Bitao and the others followed the directions calculated by Guanghan.
Not long after, they encountered two more toddlers calling for help.
The courier ghost is driven by the tiger and has been dead for a long time. It has little wisdom and usually pretends to be weak to ask for help, but it does not know how to adapt.
Bitao turned to look at Zhang Yuluan: "Yuluan, is it true?"
Zhang Yuluan felt completely lost and dared not speak easily.
He squinted at it for a long time, then swallowed hard.
The two children were almost in front of the group.
She called out, "Uncle and Aunt, my brother and I are lost..."
Everyone looked at Zhang Yuluan, and Bitao said with a smile, "You don't need to worry, I am the command dog. I have judgment too."
"Besides, cultivators risk their own lives to bring peace to the people. Accidental injuries are inevitable. If someone is accidentally killed, let the meteor send them into reincarnation. There is no need to feel guilty."
Zhang Yuluan took a deep breath before speaking, "It's fake."
As soon as she finished speaking, Bitao issued a series of commands.
Binglun rushed out to launch an attack. After the two cougars transformed, Tuogou Guanghan Zhankui and Zhang Yuluan entered the fray.
Neither of the two vengeful spirits was easy to control, but Zhang Yuluan had seen Zhan Kui escape from danger by sheer luck more than once.
He could even observe with ease: "These two little brats are quite big after they transform!"
Zhang Yuluan finally understood why Zhan Kui was a traitor.
She had just watched as a tiger was about to bite Zhan Kui's head; she had even thrust her sword out to save him, but then the tiger was knocked down by one of its own companions...
What incredible luck!
Two tigers are not easy to control; Zhan Kui is lucky, but not strong enough.
Bitao and Wei Danxin rushed forward to help restrain the two tigers. Once they were under control, Bitao said to the ice mirror, "Summon lightning to bleed them out!"
In her panic, Bingjing pulled out several talismans, then stuffed a few back into her hand, leaving only two in her hand.
He chanted incantations: "Thunder rumbles in the sky, thunder roars on the ground, [unclear] surges, fire and thunder blaze, wind and thunder rage. Five thunders, heed my command, quickly descend, true spirit!"①
Bitao turned to look at the ice mirror, not even bothering to form the hand seals for summoning lightning. The incantation fell, the talisman burned, and then thunder roared across the clear sky—
The lightning bolts, as thick as giant pillars, descended with overwhelming force, instantly enveloping everyone in their flashes of light.
It was earth-shattering and unstoppable.
Bitao felt as if she had lost consciousness for a moment.
Fortunately, the lightning was intense, but brief.
When the lightning subsided, the ground was scorched.
The two vengeful spirits vanished into thin air, and the crowd... lay sprawled across the mountains and fields, their hair charred, their appearance disheveled, and their faces blank.
Bitao: "..."
She sat up, reached out and tidied her messy long hair, pretending that everything was under control.
In reality, she misjudged Bingjing's strength.
The "disciple" personally trained by the Heavenly Dao of Myriad Realms, Kunyi, is indeed extraordinary...
Ice Mirror was also terrified by the lightning it had attracted.
She was in the center of the Five Thunderbolts, her bangs were slightly singed. She sat there touching her bangs, combing them with her fingers, her expression blank.
As a guard dog, Kang Ping'an was not within the range of the Five Thunderbolts, but he was still blasted away by the immense thunder and fell unconscious in a distant place, where he has not yet woken up.
Zhan Kui got up and muttered, "Holy crap..." Thunder Emperor.
Zhang Yuluan looked up at the sky, at the cloudless blue sky. Her once proud cultivation level seemed utterly worthless in comparison to the ice mirror, and she began to doubt whether she was suited for cultivation.
Binglun was not far from Zhang Yuluan, lying face down with half her face buried in the sand, looking at the ice mirror.
A strange feeling of pride for Bingjing welled up in his chest.
He had been trying to control himself, but every time he saw Bingjing, he felt a sense of familiarity with her and disliked her mortal husband.
But he knew very well that this had nothing to do with romantic love, and he did not want to replace Bingjing's husband.
Rather, it was a feeling of closeness like that towards...his deceased mother.
He was tormented by his own emotions and buried his face in the sand. The smell of the scorched earth after the thunderbolt seemed strangely familiar.
Bitao looked around at everyone to make sure they were all alright.
After all, the five thunderbolts summoned by talismans are lightning condensed from the surrounding five elements, unlike the five thunderbolts that descend from the sky when a cultivator advances in their cultivation. The five thunderbolts summoned by talismans do not kill cultivators who possess pure energy...
But when Bitao saw the disheveled crowd, she hugged Wei Danxin, who rushed to her side to check if she was hurt. She thought through all the sad things in her life before she could suppress the urge to laugh.
She coughed lightly, patted the dirt off her clothes, and asked Guanghan, who was spitting out sand, with utmost composure.
"Which direction should we go next?"
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