Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 574 Reading
"Hiss..." Even though Wu Jinliang had done his fair share of greedy things, he couldn't help but gasp at this moment.

He truly hadn't expected that this leader would have such a huge appetite, even wanting to get his hands on the 'Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array'.

He immediately put the matter of the woman in red out of his mind and solemnly reminded her, "In spring, we all know how important the Soul-Reversing Tree is to the Phoenix Clan. The 'Big Dipper Spirit-Repelling Array' is an important barrier for the Phoenix Clan to protect the sacred mountain. Without this array, in order to protect the sacred mountain, the Phoenix Clan's lair may even be moved to the sacred mountain. If we touch this barrier, we will touch their very foundation. How can they let this go?"

Shi Chun pointed to his head again, "You've misunderstood something. This isn't their barrier; it's ours. The original owner of the formation was Jin Zhan. We obtained Jin Zhan's will and the key he gave us. So, this formation is essentially a gift from Jin Zhan. They're just seizing it by force."

Wu Jinliang subconsciously stroked his chin, muttering to himself, "So, the Phoenix Clan seized our things? Hearing you say that, I feel a little uncomfortable too..."

Shi Chun: "Just keep it in mind. Don't worry about it now. It's no use worrying. We need to take it one step at a time. Right now, the priority is to get that batch of 'Deadly Incense'. Everything else should be put on hold for now."

Wu Jinliang nodded slightly, "Then we'll have to wait at least a few more days."

Shi Chun: "It's a good time to read a book."

Wu Jinliang was taken aback. "Reading a book?"

Shi Chun looked around and said, "Let's go. We can't stay here any longer. Let's find a safe place to stay first."

He took out the Wind Scale, quickly unfolded it, and carried the two of them into the air.

After leaving the area and finding a remote mountain peak, Wu Jinliang used his earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic that allows one to escape into the ground) to open a cave on the mountainside. After the two of them crawled inside, they used magic to heal the section of the cave entrance to a certain extent.

After striking a few gold coins on the cave wall to serve as lamps, Shi Chun shook out a large pile of books.

Wu Jinliang was a little dumbfounded. "I said, Chuntian, you actually read books?"

He felt that reading more books was beneficial, but if he really immersed himself in books, he suddenly felt that life was somewhat heavy.

Shi Chun: "Since we're going to be dealing with the underworld, how can we not learn more about what's going on there? These are all books I found at the library, all related to the underworld. I'll take advantage of this free time to learn more about them."

Faced with this pragmatic approach, Wu Jinliang didn't say anything more. He sat down, cast a spell to turn the ground into a recliner, and even took out a soft cushion to lay down. He then casually picked up a book and slowly flipped through it.

Time varies from person to person; some find it long, while others find it short.

Li Hongjiu, who had only intended to make a brief appearance at Chaoyue Pavilion, was filled with astonishment after climbing several floors of the library. The sheer volume and breadth of the collection, spanning ancient and modern times, far exceeded his previous knowledge, and he felt that many of the books might even be unique copies.

This is probably why the library has been able to continue operating.

On the second floor, he saw in Dong Liangyu the reason why the contents of those ancient books had not been lost. Dong Liangyu would personally copy out the books that were about to become old and decayed, and then re-enact them into new books to replace them.

She is quiet and refined, and her handwriting is also elegant and graceful.

She was clearly not the only one to do this.

Perhaps because they were rewritten, each book looks quite ordinary, making it difficult to appreciate the value of this collection at first glance.

What surprised him even more was that, despite the vast and complex library, Dong Liangyu was able to remember the original location of each book when organizing it.

This secretly amazed him; heaven had not given this woman a good body, but it had given her a mind more intelligent than ordinary people.

Li Hongjiu encountered Fu Que several times in the library. Li Hongjiu knew who he was and was aware of his reputation, but she did not talk to him. At most, she would just nod slightly to him when they met.

The woman in red behind the library counter still spent her days in a half-asleep, half-awake state, guarding the place from dawn till dusk. She would quickly flip through the abacus, make a few marks on the ledger, and that would be the end of her day's work.

At the dinner table, Li Hongjiu and the woman in red could eat together; the latter had wine, and the former had a mouth.

When you invite someone to teach and impart knowledge, you should naturally provide plenty of good wine.

Li Hongjiu also realized this problem, realizing that having plenty of good wine had nothing to do with that bastard Shi Chun.

In this way, it becomes that he is eyeing the other person's wine, while Shi Chun is eyeing the other person's person. Isn't that a bit too much?

The wine was not a problem. The woman in red would occasionally clink glasses with him while carrying a wine jar. After drinking, she returned to her room and immediately sent a telepathic message to Alan, informing him of Shi Chun's location and asking him to send someone to investigate the situation.

The reason was that they noticed Shi Chun was huddled in one place, not moving. Was he dead?

So someone sneaked into that area under cover of night, but the actual situation was a bit troublesome. It was a desolate wilderness, making it difficult to pinpoint the target's exact location, and it was also difficult to use magic to investigate, because the higher-ups didn't allow them to alert the enemy.

Finally, a void rift appeared out of nowhere, and the woman in red flashed out. After surveying the scene, she lightly landed on the mountaintop.

Under a sky full of stars, she closed her eyes and concentrated for a while, quickly finding the exact location of her target. However, when she opened her eyes again, there was surprise in them, as if she was afraid she had made a mistake. She then closed her eyes again and pondered for a long time. When she opened her eyes again, she muttered to herself, "Reading a book?"

She looked around and realized that whenever she encountered Shi Chun, she was prone to encountering things beyond her comprehension.

All day long, they just stayed in this quiet, secluded spot to read? Is the world of demonic cultivation really that sinister these days?
She was really curious to see what books those two were reading.

However, although she could perceive every subtle movement within her domain, she couldn't make out the words on the paper. So she used the mother-child talisman to send a message to Shi Chun, saying that she missed him again and asking where he was and what he was doing.

Shi Chun's reply was the same old routine, saying he missed her even more and that he was running around trying to help her.

Upon seeing the message, the woman in red was both angry and amused. She was leisurely hiding in the cave at her feet, and she actually had the nerve to say that she was running around for her.

If we hadn't been able to pinpoint his location, I almost would have fallen for his lies again.

She could imagine that the other person had probably lied to her in a similar way last time, and she was a little angry and itchy to bite them.

Despite her anger, she ultimately didn't alert the enemy and quietly withdrew. However, the people who were secretly keeping watch found the exact location of the target with her guidance.

Time passes undisturbed within the cave, oblivious to the ebb and flow of days outside.

The next day, around noon, Wu Jinliang, who was holding a book, suddenly sat up and exclaimed, "Spring! Look! The Wandering River of the Underworld..."

Langdangchuan? Shi Chun was naturally familiar with this term. When he went to the underworld last time, the black-faced general named Lao Xi had introduced the place as Langdangchuan.

He immediately got up and went over to take a look. Wu Jinliang pointed to the lines of text and read: "Zhu Yong Palace, the Soul Wheel's pivot is built in Langdang River..."

Even without reading these books about the underworld, the two of them knew what the 'Zhuoyong Palace' was—one of the ten palaces that controlled the underworld.

However, the contents of this book were exactly what the two of them needed to know. Shi Chun simply grabbed the book and read it carefully, while Wu Jinliang became a bystander.

This book discusses exactly where the souls of animals go after they die.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the souls of various animals go to different places after they die, with humans having their own destination and birds having their own. In total, they are divided into ten categories, each governed by one of the ten courts of the underworld.

Zhuoyong Palace is the place where the spirits of wolves, dogs, and the like go. The central authority for Zhuoyong Palace to manage these spirits is Langdangchuan.

After reading the relevant records, the two looked up at each other almost simultaneously. No wonder they went straight to Langdangchuan after killing the hyena.

Wu Jinliang looked as if he had just realized something and said, "In other words, killing a person and using the 'Death-Killing Incense' won't get you directly to Langdangchuan; it can only kill animals like wolves and dogs."

Shi Chun flipped through the pages of the book, then pointed and said, "We need to remember the destinations of the souls categorized into ten different courts; they'll be useful."

"I'll take a look after you've finished writing it down." Wu Jinliang first lay back down, crossed his legs, and casually picked up a book to read.

As the sun sets and countless stars reappear, the woman in red reappears atop the mountain through a crack in the void, once again closing her eyes and concentrating on her perception.

Her subordinates reported that no one had come out and they hadn't seen the target doing anything. She was a little skeptical, so she came to investigate herself.

As it turned out, the people below were right; the two people in the cave were indeed still there, and they weren't doing anything else but reading books.

She suspected there was something fishy about those books and wanted to know what they were reading.

The problem was, she couldn't hear what the two were talking about; those two bastards were genuinely reading. She stood there waiting for a long time, but didn't hear them utter a single word to each other.

In reality, Shi Chun and the other person would still talk occasionally, and if she stayed here, she could hear them. The problem is, she couldn't stay here personally forever.

Then, unable to resist the urge, he took out the mother-child talisman and sent a message to Shi Chun, saying that he missed him and asking where he was and what he was doing.

As a result, she was once again blatantly deceived, and in the end, she had to pretend to be ignorant even though she knew the truth, leaving with a cold smile on her lips.

She returned to the library and found the Sword Saint Fuque, hoping he could personally help keep an eye on the two people. She wanted to use Fuque's sword sense to find out what the two targets were saying without alerting them.

"I won't go. I'm not your lackey."

Fu Que refused cleanly and decisively, leaving no room for negotiation. The woman in red could only roll her eyes and leave without any anger.

As the sun and moon turned, on the third night, after receiving Alan's report that the target still hadn't been seen doing anything, the woman in red didn't personally visit the scene again, nor did she send any more messages to cause trouble.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, Shi Chun received a message from Yin Xu, the proprietress of Zhu Lang Ge, saying that she had received a letter with a message to pass on to him, saying that the dishes had been prepared and were placed in the usual place.

Shi Chun immediately recognized that the batch of deadly incense had been refined again, and happily exclaimed, "The weight is good! Granny Qi is quite fast this time. The goods are ready and have been placed in the usual place."

Wu Jinliang got up, took out the mother-child talisman and said, "Okay, I'll have Xiao Sheng go get the goods."

Shi Chun also stood up and said, "We need to get to work too. Now that we have the goods, we can continue to refine the remaining materials for her and start the experiments to and from the underworld."

He casually gathered up the pile of books on the ground. Before setting off, he habitually activated his right eye's special ability to scan his surroundings. He should have looked away, but as soon as he saw it, his expression tightened, and he urgently called out to Wu Jinliang, who was using his earth-遁术 (earth-遁术, a technique to clear a path), "Don't move, there's an ambush outside!"

(End of this chapter)