Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 666 Go up the mountain again

"Did you see clearly? Are you sure there's no one else around him?"

Deep in a snow-covered mountain forest, Wu Jinliang, holding the Mother-Child Talisman, shouted at a gaunt old man.

Wu Jinliang has become out of shape, tall and fat, wearing a leather hat and a fur coat, and has grown a thick beard. Even if someone who knows him walks by, they would probably have a hard time recognizing him as the Wu Jinliang of yesteryear.

The gaunt old man sighed and said, "I've looked at it, I've really looked at it repeatedly. There's no one around, and it doesn't seem to be under control."

The person they were talking about was none other than Shi Chun.

As agreed in the past, after Shi Chun dug out the mother-child talisman that was used to contact Wu Jinliang, he sent a meeting signal at the designated location. Wu Jinliang was both surprised and delighted when he discovered the signal, but he hesitated to meet with him for a long time, fearing that it was a trap. He really tried again and again.

Even though he found out that Shi Chun had indeed been released from prison, he hesitated for two days and didn't dare to get close, even though Shi Chun had already started cursing him in the Mother-Child Talisman, asking if he was just making excuses to devour his things.

Wu Jinliang stroked his beard, looking very worried, and muttered to himself, "I'm afraid of being targeted by the Sky-Gazing Mirror. They used the Sky-Gazing Mirror on the leader when they captured him before."

He heard about this from Duan Xiangmei later. Duan Xiangmei's group of people were chatting with Young Master Nan when Young Master Nan mentioned it to them.

The gaunt old man spread his hands and said, "You made him go into the water and crawl through the hole. Logically speaking, even the Sky-Gazing Mirror shouldn't know where he went, right?"

Wu Jinliang muttered to himself, "If he secretly informs someone, no matter how many holes he digs, it won't make a difference."

The gaunt old man hesitated and said, "No way, the boss wouldn't betray us, would he?"

Wu Jinliang spat, "Outsiders would never betray you. The only ones who would betray you are your own people. Wasn't the boss tricked by his own people?"

The gaunt old man pondered, "What should we do then?"

Wu Jinliang leaned closer and said, "You go and make contact first."

The gaunt old man met his eyes...

On a plain and hill a thousand miles away, Shi Chun caught the mother-child talisman and cursed Wu Jinliang for a while before resting and waiting to see what other trouble that fellow could cause.

Of course, he understood Wu Jinliang's caution, but he was eager to get his things back because there were still many things to take care of before going into battle.

After waiting and waiting, the person finally arrived.

When Wu Jinliang, that tall guy, landed beside the mound, Shi Chun's anger instantly dissipated after twenty years. He looked Wu Jinliang up and down and snorted, "You haven't changed at all."

Wu Jinliang chuckled and said, "The boss has changed. Has he not shaved since he went in?"

Shi Chun jumped down from the mound and stretched out his hand, saying, "Stop talking nonsense, where are my things?"

Although we hadn't seen each other for many years, we didn't stand on ceremony.

Wu Jinliang chuckled and said, "I didn't bring it with me, I hid it. Come on, let's go get it together."

The words sounded normal, but Shi Chun looked at him closely again and felt that something was off about this guy. First of all, his voice seemed different from what he remembered. Secondly, he wondered if the passage of time had changed his mannerisms or something else.

"Let's go then," the two of them took to the air one after the other. Wu Jinliang released wind scales, which enveloped the two of them and carried them away at high speed.

Along the way, Wu Jinliang kept looking around and asking about the situation when they came out.

As Shi Chun answered the questions, he gradually realized why the other person's demeanor was off; he lacked a certain bandit-like air, the kind of air that couldn't be completely concealed even when kneeling and begging for one's mother.

However, as I said before, so much time has passed, it's normal for things to change.

After flying for about half an hour, Wu Jinliang finally landed in a snow-covered mountain range.

The surroundings were deserted, with only the occasional sound of snow falling from the branches. Shi Chun subconsciously activated his right eye's supernatural ability to survey his surroundings, and asked, "Where is this place?"

Wu Jinliang chuckled and said, "It's where I usually hide."

This sentence suddenly alerted Shi Chun. Since there was no trace of anyone moving on the snow, he quickly fixed his gaze on Wu Jinliang and then on his source of power. He found that it was not Wu Jinliang's source of power, and the white, hazy figure was not in a normal state. It was twisted and twisted, with a large number of transparent cracks in the shape of tree roots in the background.

"They're buried in the valley below, we..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Jinliang was suddenly stabbed in the back.

Shi Chun suddenly launched a sneak attack, striking Wu Jinliang's pressure points with a single blow followed by a series of strikes, knocking him down. He then drew his knife from his waist and held it to Wu Jinliang's neck, warily asking, "Who are you?"

Wu Jin, lying on the snow, looked embarrassed and his voice changed, "Boss, no, no, no, be gentle, it's me, it's me, Xiao Sheng, it's me, Xiao Sheng."

Xiao Sheng? Shi Chun stared in surprise. He clearly looked like Wu Jinliang, but he also made a connection to the cultivation method Xiao Sheng practiced.

Seeing that he still wouldn't let go, and that the blade must have cut the skin on his neck, Wu Jinliang hurriedly explained, "After breaking through to the Human Immortal realm and achieving the Immortal Body, I can transform. It was Wu Da Ge Zi. He was worried about a trap, so he asked me to transform into his appearance to test it out. If you don't believe me, let me go, and I'll transform for you."

Having heard this far, Shi Chun believed it, because outsiders were unaware of Xiao Sheng's changes, and it also fit Wu Jinliang's despicable behavior.

He immediately released his knife, and surprisingly, he directly broke the restriction on the other party's body.

Wu Jinliang, who chuckled dryly as he got up, shook off the snow and ice on his body. With a sway, he immediately regained Xiao Sheng's energetic square face, and his clothes suddenly looked too small.

Within Shi Chun's right eye ability, the white, misty figure returned to normal, and the Dharma Source form matched Xiao Sheng's memory.

Touching the bloodstains on his neck, Xiao Sheng chuckled dryly, "Boss, how did you figure that out? Where did I give myself away?"

Shi Chun didn't waste words with him. "Where's Wu Jinliang? Tell him to get out here."

Xiao Sheng immediately took out the mother-child symbol to connect them.

Before long, a larger version of Wu Jinliang, dressed in a fluffy mink robe, descended from the sky. Before he even spoke, he greeted the crowd with a sly grin, "Oh my, Spring, your beard is quite imposing!"

That smell was right. Although the person had changed drastically, Shi Chun recognized him at a glance and looked him up and down, asking, "What are you up to?"

Wu Jin grinned from ear to ear and chuckled, “Isn’t this because I was worried that someone would set a trap for me? I had Xiao Sheng appear in my likeness, so if there was a trap, it would naturally lure him out.”

Shi Chun: "No, I'm asking you, how did you get so fat?"

Wu Jinliang patted his belly, "Sigh, I just gained weight to avoid being caught and recognized." Shi Chun was speechless for a moment, then chuckled, "You're really something, aren't you? The mother-child talisman contacts you, and you only reply to messages sporadically, depending on your mood, right?"

Wu Jinliang exclaimed, "I have no choice! Haven't we suffered enough from Jukuzhou? What if someone with ulterior motives finds my location and seals off the entire continent for a search? I'm making contacts from the Xunmen Gate. If anything seems amiss, I'll definitely slip away to avoid trouble."

Shi Chun's gaze, however, was fixed on his Dharma Source. He discovered that the scale of his Dharma Source was unusual, and that his cultivation level after re-cultivation actually surpassed his own. He immediately asked in surprise, "Your cultivation has broken through to the Upper Human Immortal realm?"

"Hehe, that's right. Don't you know who I am? Do you think I'm someone to be trifled with? You've been in prison and your cultivation has already broken through to the Human Immortal realm. How could I have wasted these twenty years?" Wu Jinliang grinned smugly with his fat face.

Xiao Sheng, standing to the side, chuckled wryly, "Boss, don't listen to his bragging. Most of his cultivation level is thanks to me..."

Wu Jinliang immediately retorted, "Just tell me, wasn't it my doing that you broke through to the Human Immortal realm? Wasn't it because I spared no expense to obtain all sorts of elixirs and miraculous medicines to help you improve quickly?"

Xiao Sheng cursed, "Damn it, if I had known you were going to turn me into a woman and make me do such disgusting things, I would have preferred to break through later."

"Become a woman?" Shi Chun muttered, glancing at Wu Jinliang's now plump body, and couldn't help but have dirty thoughts, then felt a chill.

"Yes, turning into a woman. Boss, you have no idea how I've survived these past years since I broke through to the Human Immortal realm. He's always instigating me to do swindling and deception, turning me into all sorts of beauties to use my charms to seduce all kinds of cultivators. I've encountered all sorts of scoundrels; it's disgusting. Every time I want to quit, he uses you as a pretext, saying that to get you out, I need to have the strength, that his cultivation needs to comprehend various techniques to improve quickly..."

Xiao Sheng shook his head as he spoke, looking as if he couldn't bear to recall the past, but also as if he felt relieved that he no longer had to do it.

Wu Jin spread his hands, "There's no other way. If you want to improve your cultivation quickly while hiding, you definitely have to use some methods. Besides, I'm not wrong. You need strength to bring out the boss. Hey Lao Xiao, why don't you mention how satisfying it was to transform into a handsome man and deceive women?"

Shi Chun could imagine Xiao Sheng's so-called disgusting situation and said with a bit of a laugh, "Thirty-six transformations, how many transformations have you mastered now?"

Xiao Sheng shook his head and said, "My cultivation level is still too low. For now, I can only transform into people and some livestock with simple colors and neither too big nor too small a size."

Shi Chun raised an eyebrow slightly. The ability to transform into a human was already quite useful. After nodding slightly, he reached out to Wu Jinliang, "Where are my things?"

Wu Jinliang chuckled and immediately took off a bracelet from his wrist and threw it to him. "Count it carefully in front of me. Don't blame me for taking your things later. Apart from some cultivation resources consumed over the years, I haven't touched anything else."

He said it was no use, but Shi Chun did indeed examine it carefully.

Wu Jinliang also took this opportunity to ask about the specific details of his participation in the battle. Since the communication between the mother and child talismans was unclear before, Shi Chun also explained in detail how he was rescued by Mulan Jin.

Upon hearing that Shi Chun planned to hide until the end of the battlefield, Wu Jinliang guessed what Shi Chun was up to. In particular, when he heard that Mulan Jin had also suppressed the matter of arresting him, Wu Jinliang, in the prison, he immediately said excitedly, "Then I must participate in this amnesty war. It's a rare opportunity to clean up my name and go ashore. Let's get an official position in the Heavenly Court."

Xiao Sheng still doesn't quite understand the matter of entering and leaving the underworld. He was terrified when he heard about it. Is the war of amnesty something that can be casually interfered with?
The way they looked at Wu Jinliang was almost as if they were looking at a ghost. Before, this guy was timid and cautious as hell, but as soon as the boss came back, he immediately became incredibly audacious again.

Unexpectedly, Wu Jinliang immediately pointed the finger at him, "Old Xiao, since Mulan has already promised that regardless of whether we achieve merit or not, as long as we ensure her daughter's safe release, we'll all get an official position. So let's not worry about the rank; why not take it? You can join us too."

Xiao Sheng avoided eye contact and said weakly, "I think I'll stay out of this. I really can't afford to play this amnesty war..."

Wu Jinliang said generously, "Others can't afford to play this game, but we'll definitely be fine. You'll see later."

Xiao Sheng looked at Shi Chun with a puzzled expression.

Shi Chun nodded. "I've already given instructions to the Mingshan Sect. Anyone who has broken through to the Human Immortal realm should sign up and take the opportunity to change their identity."

The boss's words were more reliable than Wu the Big Guy's, and Xiao Sheng felt a little relieved after hearing this, and nodded silently.

Having confirmed that the magical artifacts inside the bracelet were intact, and whether the other missing items were due to the exchange of cultivation resources, Shi Chun did not pursue the matter further. Having other matters to attend to, he immediately led the two away…

Not long after a man went up Wukang Mountain to pay his respects to the sect leader Bian Weiying, Bian Weiying also came down the mountain and secretly went alone to a mountain a hundred miles away, where he met Shi Chun, who had a big beard.

After confirming that it was indeed Shi Chun and seeing that no one was around, Bian Weiying dropped her aloofness and forced a smile, saying, "I heard you've come out. It's good that you're free. Aren't you supposed to be connected by the mother-child talisman? Why did you still need to send someone to deliver a message?"

Shi Chun: "I don't know if your half of the Mother-Child Talisman is still in the hands of the Eastern Victory Royal Court."

Hearing this made Bian Weiying feel quite ashamed. "What happened back then, I had no choice..."

Shi Chun raised his hand to stop him, "There's nothing to apologize for. You have your path to walk, and I have mine. If I had no other choice, I would have done the same. I'm here to secretly stay on Wukang Mountain for a while, is that alright?"

Upon hearing this, Bian Weiying felt a slight burning sensation in her earlobes. If he was secretly living on the mountain, where else could he live? Naturally, he would live with her.

After clearing his mind of distractions, he thought for a moment and said, "I heard you signed up for the Amnesty War. Are you preparing for the big battle?"

She guessed that the other party's fifth-grade immobilization talisman was related to Wukang Mountain.

Shi Chun nodded, not denying it. After all, the other party had helped with the production back then, and anyone who wasn't stupid could guess that. Besides, he still needed the other party's help this time. Wasn't that what he wanted to achieve by helping the other party rise to the top in the first place?

Bian Weiying thought for a moment and said, "I heard that after you came out, I was actually considering whether to go to you or not, since you didn't come to see me. I felt a little embarrassed about what happened back then, and I didn't know where you were. Otherwise, I would have gone to Tiandu to look for you."

Shi Chun asked in confusion, "Is something wrong?"

Bian Weiying remained relaxed in front of him, revealing her girlish demeanor. She bit her lip slightly and said, "Something has happened. Wei Mo needs to purchase 100,000 fourth-grade immobilization talismans. They need to be prepared before the Great Amnesty War. If they are not prepared, all the immortals at the Wukang Mountain level will have to participate in the war."

Shi Chun had also stayed at Wukang Mountain and knew a bit about the progress of talisman refining. He frowned and said, "Isn't this deliberately making things difficult for people? I'm afraid Wukang Mountain can't even refine 100,000 talismans a year, let alone 4th grade ones."

Bian Weiying looked exhausted. "My mother fell into someone's trap. She was invited to a banquet by a nobleman in the capital. Under the flattery, she made some boastful remarks, which Wei Mo seized upon. He wants to purchase according to this standard. If there is any delay, it will be considered a delay in the great battle, and she will be punished by being forced to participate in the war. Even if I wanted to go to the talisman-making sects in other continents to purchase, I couldn't. At this critical moment, the talisman-making sects dare not sell to other continents' war teams as assistance."

Shi Chun slowly said, "Is Wei Mo deliberately playing tricks?"

Bian Weiying sighed, "It's possible. We used to have a pretty good relationship. I don't know why he's deliberately making things difficult for us. We can't move Wukang Mountain. After thinking about it, we really have no other choice. I know you have a unique method for refining, so I wanted to ask if you could help with the refining process."

Shi Chun vaguely suspected that Wei Mo was targeting him, hoping to use the Wukang Mountain troops to his advantage in the event of a major battle. If that were the case, he couldn't just stand by and watch.

After thinking for a moment, he slowly said, "I don't know if it will work, but I'll try my best."

There was nothing else to do but give it a try, so Bian Weiying quickly arranged for him to secretly go up the mountain and take him to Wukang Mountain to wait for the right time.

That night, during a private banquet, the very thing that had caused Bian Weiying so much anxiety still happened.

After a pot of wine, seeing her radiant beauty under the lamplight, Shi Chun suddenly stood up and walked behind her, abruptly blurting out, "I haven't touched a woman in twenty years."

Bian Weiying froze, her eyes lowered and flickering, offering no response.

In a way, Shi Chun bent down, picked the person up, and carried them to the bed...

(End of this chapter)