evening.
Ziyue carried pig feed home.
There were two pigs in the pigsty, one to be sold for money and the other to be kept for the New Year. Ziyue was chopping pig feed in the yard. She chopped the pig feed into small pieces with practiced ease.
"Little Yue'er, where is your senior brother?"
"My senior brother just left."
Su Rong frowned slightly. "Little Yue'er, why didn't you ask your senior brother to stay for dinner before you left?"
“Mother, my senior brother lives on the clouds and dew and does not eat human food. He must have other things to do.”
Zi Yue replied with a smile.
"All right."
Su Rong's eyes were gentle. "Xiao Yue'er, come inside and eat first. You can feed the pigs after you finish eating."
"Alright!"
Ziyue brought her younger brother into the house for dinner, and Zimu, having recovered his spirits, also came to the table.
"Wow!"
"It smells so good!"
Zi Yue swallowed hard.
There were many dishes on the table: stir-fried pork belly with garlic shoots, stewed chicken with mushrooms, cold mixed houttuynia cordata, egg drop soup, and pickled vegetables. These are dishes that can only be eaten during the Chinese New Year.
Ziyue picked up her chopsticks and put some meat into her younger brother's bowl. "Xiaofeng, you need to eat more meat so you can grow up quickly."
"Thank you, sister."
Zi Feng buried her head in her food.
Su Rong felt very sorry for her. "Little Yue'er, you've been working so hard cultivating at Longhu Temple, you must eat more."
Zi Mu chimed in, "Yes, Little Yue'er, you should eat more meat to nourish your body."
"Father, my senior brother is very good to me. He took me to a banquet and treated me to mutton soup. I'm in good health."
Ziyue didn't want her parents to worry.
The couple had met Qin Luo and knew he was reliable. They felt reassured knowing that Zi Yue had such a senior brother.
Zi Mu smiled and suggested, "Little Yue'er, when your younger brother is a bit older, why don't you send him to Longhu Temple as well?"
"Father, cultivating immortality is tiring and arduous. In the future, we should send my younger brother to school. Studying will lead to a bright future." Ziyue drinks porridge every day at Longhu Temple and doesn't want her younger brother to suffer.
...
Qin Luo walked through the mountains.
The last rays of sunset disappeared before him.
A gust of cold wind swept over him. Qin Luo looked up and saw a ball of eerie blue flame drifting over. He reached out and touched it, and could feel a faint fluctuation of divine soul within it.
"Will-o'-the-wisp".
"This is the obsession of a wandering spirit."
Qin Luo saw a blurry image, and with a wave of his hand, the will-o'-the-wisps in front of him were dispelled.
He continued walking forward.
We encountered more and more will-o'-the-wisps on the road.
Why are there so many will-o'-the-wisps here?
Qin Luo felt something was off.
Ordinary will-o'-the-wisps are harmless, but a large number of will-o'-the-wisps can easily breed evil spirits.
Qin Luo quickly formed hand seals, and golden runes appeared around his body. Light emanated from the soles of his feet, and a golden wave spread outwards. The will-o'-the-wisps in the mountains dissipated when they encountered the golden wave.
"Fortunately, no evil spirits appeared."
In the quiet valley, with the babbling of a stream, Qin Luo saw an abandoned earth god temple by the river, but there was no earth god inside.
"With the disappearance of the local deity and the proliferation of will-o'-the-wisps in the mountains, if this continues, something unclean will surely appear in the mountains."
A chilly wind blew through the valley.
Qin Luo looked into the depths of the valley.
A large number of ghosts drifted out of the valley.
During the day, the yang energy is strong, and the yin spirits will quickly dissipate outside. They can only hide in dark valleys, where the yin energy is strong, and can exist for a longer time.
Even so, ordinary ghosts can hardly last for long. They gradually turn into mindless will-o'-the-wisps as time goes by, until finally, they completely dissipate.
The ghosts that drifted out from the depths of the valley surrounded Qin Luo, their eyes filled with curiosity, yet they dared not approach.
Why do you still remain in this world?
Upon hearing Qin Luo's question, the spirits exchanged bewildered glances. An old man in a blue robe stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the Immortal Master, we do not know where to go."
"You should go to the underworld to be reincarnated."
"We can't find the way."
"Come with me."
Qin Luo didn't know where the underworld was, but he knew where the local earth god lived nearby.
The Earth God is responsible for managing the spirits of the dead.
"Thank you, Immortal Master!"
The spirits bowed to Qin Luo.
Qin Luo walked ahead at a leisurely pace, while the ghosts behind him formed a long line, one after another.
Crossing mountains and ridges.
More and more spirits are joining the group.
Late at night, Qin Luo arrived at Jinghu Village, where countless ghosts lurked behind him, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Jinghu Land God was resting in the temple when suddenly the ground shook violently outside, as if a thousand troops were attacking.
"What's going on?"
The Earth God of Mirror Lake came outside to check the situation. When he saw it was Qin Luo, he immediately bowed and greeted him, "Great Immortal!"
Qin Luo pointed to the densely packed swarms of ghosts behind him, "Senior, could you help me send them to the underworld?"
"This... is no problem."
The Earth God of Mirror Lake wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had never seen such a grand spectacle before. He immediately used his supernatural powers, and the space around the Earth God Temple distorted, revealing an ancient stone gate.
"Gate of Hell! Open!"
The Earth God of Mirror Lake roared, and as the stone gate opened, the eerie winds of heaven and earth howled and surged into it.
The surrounding spirits were swept into the stone gate.
After casting the spell, the Earth God of Mirror Lake was covered in sweat, and his appearance aged considerably in an instant. Opening the gate to the underworld was extremely taxing for him.
It is common to see a stick of incense in the incense burner in front of the local earth god temple that is only half-burned.
Qin Luo silently recited the incantation, and flames ignited at his fingertips. He walked to the incense burner and lit the half-stick of incense.
Golden clouds of smoke appeared in front of the Earth God Temple. The Earth God of Mirror Lake stared wide-eyed, never expecting that a powerful figure like Qin Luo would offer incense to a minor deity like him.
As a surge of immense energy flowed into his body, the originally weak body of the Mirror Lake Earth God was instantly filled with power.
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