Chapter 47: Mountain God Festival, then let him scold
Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can breathed a sigh of relief.
Shi Can said that the spirits in the mountains are sometimes not so easy to get along with.
The two of them were just thinking about how they would satisfy the mountain spirit's wish if it said it hadn't eaten human flesh in years and wanted to try a bite.
"I'm sorry to disturb your peace."
Lin Zhuyue said in the most sincere tone,
"We spiritualists aren't lingering in the mountains for no reason. We're searching for something rather unsavory, and we'll leave once we're done. If you're willing to help, perhaps we can find it faster."
Shan Ling was thinking seriously about Lin Zhuyue's words. Although he had a pair of beast eyes, his temperament was not fierce, and could even be said to be peaceful. He asked:
"What are you looking for?"
"Zombies! The villagers of Shangshuang Mountain were refining zombies in the mountains, and the zombies got scared and ran away. We must catch all of them. If we leave them alone, it will cause a lot of trouble."
Lin Zhuyue tried to explain the consequences to him.
"When zombies go out of control, they'll suck blood, not just from humans, but animals as well. They might also carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans or animals in the mountains."
Shan Ling shook his head and said:
"I'm not very good at finding things..."
He turned around, took a step forward, and said:
"But this matter is not unsolvable. Follow me."
Lin Zhuyue took a step forward to catch up, but Shi Can grabbed her hand. She turned around and saw Shi Can holding her hand and shaking his head. He did not approve of Lin Zhuyue following Shan Ling.
"It's okay, he means no harm."
Lin Zhuyue grabbed Shi Can's wrist with his backhand.
"Let's go and take a look. Otherwise, with the current efficiency of capturing ancient corpses, we really will have to spend the New Year in Shangshuang Mountain."
Since they have chosen to seek the help of spirits, they must put their trust in them. If they are unwilling to put even a little bit of trust in them, they will not be able to get help and may even anger the spirits.
Shi Can sighed and said:
"Let me make it clear first, if this guy makes any rash moves, I will definitely take action."
Two people followed the mountain spirit.
A mist gradually gathered around them, white, moist, and slightly cool, mingling with the scent of mountain soil. As they walked, Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can realized they seemed to be on a road that didn't exist.
The mountain spirit continued to walk.
They crossed the mountain and climbed up the hillside, and saw a dilapidated house in the green woods. Two lanterns hung in front of the old wooden door, and the flames in the cages were a beautiful and warm bright yellow. Although the house looked shabby, both inside and outside the house were clean.
Shi Chan asked, "What is this place?"
The mountain spirit replied, "Mountain Temple."
"But you're not a mountain god, are you?"
Shi Can looked Shan Ling up and down and said,
"Land gods like mountain gods and city gods are either born in human form or are transformed from plants, trees, rocks, and hills. They rarely possess animal traits."
"I'm not a mountain god."
Shan Ling looked into the house and said,
"The mountain god is my friend. He is in here."
After saying that, he stepped over the threshold and entered the mountain temple.
Lin Zhuyue raised his foot to follow.
Shi Can pulled her behind him and walked into the mountain temple first. Although he was skeptical about whether the building in front of him was a mountain temple, he still kept his etiquette. He was very careful when he entered, knocking on the door three times without stepping on the threshold.
Lin Zhuyue followed him into the mountain temple.
The mountain temple on Shangshuang Mountain was simple, consisting of only one room. Several old cabinets filled the room, dividing it into two parts. The space immediately after the entrance served as a main room, kitchen, and dining room, while the space behind the cabinets housed the bed.
Shan Ling took Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can towards the bed.
On the bed, there was a short old man with a white beard. His body was translucent, and balls of light kept floating up and dissipating from his body. With each ball of light that floated up, he became more transparent.
Lin Zhuyue couldn't help but lower his voice:
“Is this the mountain god?”
She always felt that if she spoke a little louder, she could scare the old man lying in bed into disappearing completely.
"He is the mountain god of this area. Everyone calls him Shangshuang."
Shan Ling lowered his head and looked at the old man on the bed with his slightly fierce eyes. His voice was very low and he said,
"He's the manager of Shangshuang Mountain. He can find everything lost in the forest. But he's about to disappear. Now there's no way he can even wake up. Do you... have a way to save him?"
Shi Can looked at the weak and powerless mountain god and said:
"Many land gods possess the power to transform faith into spiritual energy, and they rely on this method to maintain their lives."
"However, this is an era lacking spiritual energy and with a sparse faith, so many land gods have been forced to die out. It's a miracle that the mountain god of Shangshuang Mountain can survive to this day."
The mountain spirit lowered his head and asked:
"You spiritual masters, don't you have any solution?"
"No, there is still a way."
Shi Can stood beside Shan Ling and asked,
"But this is something we can't accomplish with just the two of us. I need to ask my teacher and companions for help. Can you take us back first?"
Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can stayed in the mountain temple for a while.
The mountain spirit sent them back to area D6.
The two of them took the hand-drawn map and hurried back to the spiritualist's camp under the cover of night. They didn't know what had happened in the camp, and the spiritualists were being arranged for an emergency meeting.
When Fu Xingwei saw the two students, he immediately came over and asked:
"Where have you two been? You haven't come back yet. We thought something happened to you and were about to go out to look for you."
"We suddenly had some inspiration and took a detour."
Shi Can turned off the strong flashlight in his hand and said,
"Teacher, we have found a way to quickly capture the remaining ancient corpses. But before that, we need to do some preparations."
All spiritual masters were summoned to hold a meeting overnight.
As soon as it got light in the morning, they went down the mountain and returned to Shangshuang Village.
Fu Xingwei spoke with the village chief. Breakfast had just finished when they finished, and everyone ate rice porridge with delicious dishes like stir-fried bacon with garlic sprouts and fried chicken mushrooms. Then they were assigned their tasks and got busy.
Some villagers went into the mountains to pick fresh vegetables.
Some villagers took tools and repaired some items.
Some villagers were busy frying rice crackers and making snacks such as rice candy.
Lin Zhuyue was originally helping to pound the rice cakes, but because his hands were too clumsy, he was sent to play somewhere else.
She sat by the roadside, entertaining the village dog with beef balls, while watching Shi Can squatting by the canal washing the white radishes that the villagers had just brought back in baskets.
"Hey." Shi Can said to Lin Zhuyue, "Give me some."
Both of his hands were wet, making it inconvenient for him to pick up the beef cubes, so he had to ask his partner for help.
Lin Zhuyue made a request: "Say something nice."
"My beautiful partner, please be kind and peel a piece of beef for this soaking wet vegetable washer."
Shi Chan seemed to have no idea what shamelessness was, and he spoke without thinking.
"When we get back to Tiancheng, let Baguette serve you in bed."
Lin Zhuyue peeled a piece of beef and handed it to Shi Can's mouth.
Shi Can took a bite of the hard-earned beef cube.
Lin Zhuyue stuffed the snacks back into his backpack, squatted down opposite the canal, took out the vegetables picked by the villagers with mud on the roots from the basket, and washed them with the running water in the canal.
Shican had finished washing the white radish and started washing other things.
"This potato is a little small."
Shi Chan rubbed the dirt off the surface of the rhizome plants and said,
“It seems difficult to grow things you grow yourself.”
Lin Zhuyue corrected him: "This is Gastrodia elata..."
“This lettuce is good.”
Lin Zhuyue was silent for a while, and couldn't help but said:
“…This is tribute vegetable.”
Shi Can stopped talking and just lowered his head to wash the vegetables.
Because he has a slight obsession with cleanliness, Shican washes the vegetables very carefully.
Wen Miyan said that it was very simple to drive Shi Can crazy. All you had to do was give him a pot with dried food on it that you couldn't get off. Then Shi Can would fight with the pot all day, even staying up all night to fight with it.
By the evening, everything needed was basically ready.
There was a power outage in the village. Lin Zhuyue, who had just washed her hair, had no way to blow dry it, so she sat at the entrance of the village to enjoy the breeze.
"Be careful not to catch a cold."
Shi Can put the towel on Lin Zhuyue's head, rubbed Lin Zhuyue's head with some force, and wiped the hair that was still dripping with water as much as possible, and said,
"If you don't pay attention to your poor physical condition, you will get migraines when you get old."
“You don’t have to wait until you’re old.”
Lin Zhuyue raised his head slightly and said,
"I'm getting migraines now."
Shi Can muttered quietly, "You're so young, yet you have so many problems."
Shi Can wiped Lin Zhuyue's hair half dry, went back to hang the towel up, and came back with his cell phone.
There was a signal in the village, but it wasn't very good. However, it was better than nothing. After several days in the mountains, Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can cherished the little signal they had and replied to messages via social media.
Shi Chan asked, "Where are you celebrating the New Year this year?"
"Well, let's go back to Yuancheng."
Lin Zhuyue held the phone in both hands and typed quickly.
"My mother asked me to go back home for the New Year."
Lin Zhuyue initially thought she and Lin Lang were breaking up, but then Lin Lang not only didn't freeze the sub-card she had obtained, but he also gradually transferred a lot of money to her, as if he was worried she might not have enough. However, Lin Zhuyue was also quite resolute and didn't touch the card again.
Lin Zhuyue asked, "You will probably spend the New Year in Tiancheng, right?"
Shi Chan replied, "It depends on whether my mom is free. If she is, we will go to her hometown for the New Year. I don't have many relatives left on my dad's side, but I still have quite a few on my mom's side."
Lin Zhuyue was a little curious:
"Are all your relatives on your mother's side spiritualists?"
“Mostly.”
Shi Can moved his stool and moved closer to Lin Zhuyue.
"There are also some people who really don't have talent in this area, but are doing what they like."
As time grew late, the two of them huddled together listening to music.
As Lin Zhuyue listened, she fell asleep leaning on Shi Can's shoulder.
Shi Can didn't wake her up either. He planned to carry Lin Zhuyue back home if she still didn't wake up after a while.
Unexpectedly, not long after, the village was suddenly in commotion. A spiritualist went to the yard to fetch water and accidentally stepped on the head of a large pit viper. He hurriedly asked the village snake catcher to deal with it.
A venomous snake that enters the village should be killed, but with the Mountain God Festival approaching, the villagers were reluctant to kill such a spiritual creature. The snake catcher put the snake in a sack and planned to take it to a distant place to release it the next day.
Wen Miyan moved a stool and sat to the left of Lin Zhuyue.
Before Shican showed any sign of displeasure, Ye Yangjia very wickedly moved another stool and sat to Shican's right.
Shi Chan asked, "What are you two doing? Aren't you going to sleep?"
"I'm afraid I'll get bitten by a snake while I'm asleep."
Wen Miyan hugged Lin Zhuyue's arm and said,
"And it's hard to sleep when I think about the Sanjin Festival tomorrow. The last time I saw the Sanjin Festival, I had just learned to walk."
"I don't feel anything about the Mountain God Festival."
Ye Yangjia sighed and said,
"I'm just afraid of being bitten by a snake. A bite from a pit viper will rot your flesh."
"What are you doing?"
Seeing that there were many people here, Gong Yongyuan quickly moved a chair over to join in the fun. He sat down next to Ye Yangjia and said,
"You're having an affair without me and Meng Dake? You guys are such beasts!"
Shi Chan already had a headache and asked:
"Whose family has four people having an affair together?"
After a while of arguing, a few people dispersed and went back to the villagers' homes to sleep.
The village was very quiet, so I slept very well that night.
The next day, before daybreak, wisps of smoke rose from the village. Every household set up large pots and cooked food in preparation for the mountain god festival.
At first, Shangshuang Village held an annual mountain god ceremony, a ceremony comparable in scale to pig slaughtering and New Year's celebrations. But later, as young people working away from home rarely returned, leaving many elderly people in the village, it became unsuitable for them to make such a fuss. So, arrangements were simplified, and mountain god worship was no longer practiced.
Unexpectedly, there really is a mountain god in Shangshuang Mountain, and the mountain god is gradually dying out because no one believes in it.
The villagers got up early and worked hard. By dawn, they had prepared a lot of delicious food. They put the food in bowls and carefully put them in drawers.
At ten o'clock in the afternoon, the villagers lit three one-meter-high incense sticks at the village entrance. They kowtowed and knelt before the incense, each with a solemn and serious expression on their face.
"To the great mountain god of Shuangshan."
The village chief knelt on the ground and begged,
"We rely on the mountains to nourish us and grow, and we rely on the mountains to give us survival. The mountains have fed us with their milk, but we have forgotten the mountains' grace. Please forgive our foolishness, please wake up and protect us once more."
"We will serve you for generations until our bloodline dies out."
Lin Zhuyue opened his mouth slightly.
She saw a faint glow rising from the villagers, like foam, carried by the gentle mountain breeze and drifting into the mountains.
“It’s faith.”
Shi Can stretched out his hand to grab a ball of foam and said,
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Others don't seem to see this."
Lin Zhuyue looked at the spiritual masters standing around. Their gazes did not follow the light, as if, as Shi Can said, they could not see the power of faith.
After kneeling down to pay their respects, the villagers of Shangshuang Mountain carried food boxes and held paper candles, lined up in neat rows, and slowly walked into the mountains along the mountain road.
They walked on the mountain road for two hours, and the incense in their hands was almost burned out, when they finally arrived at a place called "Mountain God Temple".
There were many fallen leaves in the mountain god temple, and the ground was covered with yellow soil. It seemed that no one had been there for a long time.
The villagers knelt on the ground, inserted incense into the incense burner, laid out the offerings in order, and lit paper candles. After the paper candles burned out, they picked up tools and cleaned the mountain god temple, which had been unvisited for a long time.
The village chief spilled the wine in his cup onto the ground.
After the offerings were completed, the villagers left the mountain god temple together.
The food is first placed in the mountain god's temple. One day later, the villagers will come to the mountain god's temple again, take back the food that the mountain god has enjoyed, and share it with each other.
After Lin Zhuyue walked out the door, a picture suddenly appeared in his mind.
It seemed as if a short old man with a white beard was standing in the mountain god's shrine, quietly looking at the offerings on the table. He turned around, stroked his long beard, and looked at the departing villagers and spiritual master with a kind smile on his face.
Lin Zhuyue subconsciously turned around, but there was nothing in the mountain god temple. The image that just flashed through her mind seemed to be her illusion.
In the evening of that day, Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can stood at the entrance of the village and saw from afar a team walking on the mountain path, slowly coming down the mountain and walking into the village.
A closer look revealed that this was no ordinary group. The members were zombies, their bodies covered in various fungi and their clothes tattered.
"one two three……"
Shi Chan counted from a distance,
"Sixteen, seventeen, all together."
After the zombies entered the village, they didn't make a fuss, nor did they run away. They just lay down in the open space in the village, as quiet as if they were falling asleep.
Lin Zhuyue used golden amber fire to burn all the ancient corpses, destroying the incomplete corpse-raising techniques on them.
After the spell was destroyed, the spiritualists took out the storage bags, packed up the old corpses, and asked for support from above, hoping that they could send people and vehicles to help transport these ancient corpses out, and bury them properly after processing.
The village chief showed a heartbroken expression.
They took a lot of effort to find so many ancient corpses, but now, the ancient corpses have been taken away by Tiancheng, which also means that the magic of raising corpses will be completely lost.
"Don't feel bad."
Shi Can put his hands in his pockets and said,
"Think about how many ancient tombs you've destroyed. If it weren't for Tiancheng's mediation, you could have been sentenced to death. With the changing times, the art of corpse-raising is bound to be lost, just like the mountain gods will inevitably disappear. This is a trend that cannot be defied."
The spiritual masters stayed for another night, and after support arrived from above, they set off to return to Tiancheng.
Lin Zhuyue and Shi Can can be said to have made great contributions and should have received a substantial bonus. However, Lin Zhuyue was punished for entering the underworld without permission, and Shi Can was still under punishment for fighting on campus last semester. The Spiritual Master's Mansion commended them both by canceling their punishments and withholding the bonus for the time being.
Shi Can finished reading the text message and threw the phone aside:
"Tsk, who cares about those two cents?"
Lin Zhuyue held the baguette, his eyes dazed:
"My bonus..."
She let go of the baguette and rolled over on the carpet, lying face down.
Baguette was a little confused about what was wrong with this human. It used its chubby cat paws to touch Lin Zhuyue's head, but after trying for a long time, Lin Zhuyue didn't respond.
"Hey, don't be like this..."
Shi Can tried to coax Lin Zhuyue in a panic and said,
"Are you feeling too stressed out after taking care of your own expenses? Can I fill the bill for you?"
Lin Zhuyue said nothing.
She is not short of money, she is just upset because she can't get any benefits from the school.
After a while, Lin Zhuyue raised his head, hugged the baguette, and asked:
"Do you have any ibuprofen?"
Shi Chan asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lin Zhuyue replied: "Migraine."
"My partner, you really are..."
Shi Can put the baguette aside, pulled Lin Zhuyue up from the floor, and said,
"You're a young lady after all, and you're worrying yourself so much over these two cents? Why are you taking ibuprofen? Let's go to the clinic. If you take ibuprofen this time, you'll still feel pain next time. I'll cover your medical expenses, okay?"
Lin Zhuyue shook off Shi Can's hand:
"Who asked you to pay for the medical expenses? Ibuprofen will do."
"Okay, okay, you have some guts."
Shi Can pulled Lin Zhuyue out.
"Please be nicer to your body. I can't stand watching you abuse it like this."
Shi Can dragged Lin Zhuyue into Yunze Medical Clinic.
Lin Zhuyue happily received four IV drips.
Before she went on the mission, she was receiving an IV drip due to gastrointestinal discomfort. Now she is back in the hospital. The doctors at Yunze Medical Clinic already know her.
"What do you want for dinner?"
Shi Can reached out and rubbed Lin Zhuyue's head, and asked,
"I've harvested a lot of red cabbage sprouts from my garden recently. They're quite sweet. Would you like some? I'll have the chef fry them first. My driver isn't home today, so I'll go get them for you."
Shi Chan stood up.
He went downstairs and told the doctor who was dispensing medicine:
"I'm going home for a bit. My classmate always likes to fall asleep during injections. Please keep an eye on him and change the bottle in time to prevent him from bleeding."
"classmate?"
The doctor was surprised.
"Isn't that your girlfriend?"
Shi Can shook his head helplessly:
"...I can't help it. She's too slow. Let alone chasing her, even making her realize this is difficult."
About half an hour later, Shican came back with a thermos.
He also brought a box of sliced fruits, which contained mangoes, cantaloupes, grapes and red dragon fruits, which he could give to Lin Zhuyue as dessert after dinner.
Just as Shi Can had said, red cabbage sprouts tasted fresh and sweet. Lin Zhuyue's appetite was average at first, but as she ate, she became addicted and finished her dinner quite happily.
"Have you booked your flight? Are you leaving the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"
Shi Chan handed her the box of fruit slices and asked,
"I'll take you to the airport."
"The flight tomorrow or the day after tomorrow is at 11 o'clock."
Lin Zhuyue forked a piece of cantaloupe and said,
"Are there any Yuancheng specialties you'd like? Do you like douzhi (soy milk)? Do you want fried dough sticks?"
"I just don't know the dish. I'm not stupid."
Shi Can looked at Lin Zhuyue expressionlessly.
"Not even dogs would drink this stuff called soy milk."
Shi Can picked up a grape from Lin Zhuyue's box with a fruit fork and said:
"Let's leave early tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Before we get to the airport, let's buy some things and take them back home as souvenirs. Oh, and bring your winter vacation homework with you. You must do it. If you don't do your homework, I'll be the one who gets scolded by Master Fu."
Lin Zhuyue said in despair: "I really don't want to write."
"...Then let him scold me."
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