Strange Stories

Chapter 498 Changes in the World
"The real person is back!"

Wan Xinrong and others stopped what they were doing and saluted Lin Jue.

The young man, also dirty, ran over from a distance.

"You sit there."

Lin Juexian pointed to a cushion and said to the girl, fearing that she might feel uneasy, he gently pressed her shoulder and took a step forward, then said:
"I went to Yunzhou to look for clouds this time. By chance, I found a cloud of divine thunder of heavenly punishment. This is a woman I met. I have a connection with her. She is not Han Chinese. Her name is Pumei. She also has a heart to seek the truth. I will bring her back for the time being. Please take good care of her."

"Don't dare, don't dare..."

Several people saluted the girl.

The girl was dark and thin, and she didn't know what to do, so she could only glance at Lin Jue.

"Don't be so restrained. Look over there." Lin Jue pointed to the side, "Xu Yi, come here."

The boy who was planting trees also came over.

"His name is Xu Yi, and he also wants to follow me in cultivating the Dharma and seeking the Tao. I asked him to plant flowers in the mountains, and after they were planted sparsely, I accepted him as my disciple. He is a few years younger than you." Lin Jue said with a smile, "I don't know who will come first and who will come later, who will be older and who will be younger, but in my school, there is only support for each other and no fighting. This is the tradition of my school. Since you have left home and have no parents, you should treat each other as brothers and sisters. Whether you are on the road of cultivation or on the road of life in the future, you will at least have someone to take care of you and have a bond with you."

The two looked at each other.

After all, Xu Yi came here first, and his family lived here. He often came to the outskirts of Fengshan to chop firewood, so he didn't feel so alienated and felt more stable.

But the boy is alone and always lonely.

Suddenly having a companion, I felt both nervous and happy.

Pu Mei's feelings changed much more.

If you come alone to the mountains in a foreign land to practice Taoism and learn magic, you will undoubtedly feel more at ease if you have a companion.

Then I thought that this boy was younger than me. Since he could live here freely, why couldn't I? Therefore, the remaining anxiety in my heart was much less.

"It's been three months since I left, and this place has changed a lot." Lin Jue looked at the cliffs and the surroundings.

"Replying to the Immortal. After the Immortal left, we have learned all the magic skills. I and Taoist Master Tao also learned the wall-walking skill from Thunder God, so we thought of building this house first." Wan Xinrong came out and replied to Lin Jue, "Taoist Master Tao knows some carpentry work. When we were young, we helped the villagers to repair houses more or less. We also consulted the craftsmen in the mountain and the capital. We thought that we couldn't build it too messy and ugly to bring shame to the Immortal, so after discussion, we started the construction."

"There have been a lot of changes in the world down there, right?"

"Da Jiang died in the first month of this year."

As soon as Wan Xinrong opened his mouth, a dynasty came to an end:

"At the end of last year, before the fall of the capital, the imperial court had only the capital left. The area north of Qinzhou was returned to the north, and the area south of Qinzhou was taken under the command of the King of Yue. Although they defended the city, the people's hearts were scattered. It was just that both sides were wary of each other and did not attack the city easily. It is said that ministers often went out to collude with the enemy, and the generals defending the city had no intention of fighting again. The people in the city kept fleeing, and only the emperor was willing to defend the city to the death.

"At that time, the North and South sides faced off and fought with the Wei River as the boundary.

"Before this, the imperial court focused on defending the north, and the northern army was exhausted and suffered heavy losses. In addition, the harvest in the north was poor in the past two years, and taxes could not be collected. Lord Luo also did not allow his soldiers to plunder after breaking into the city. As a result, they were defeated by the Yue King's troops, who were well-equipped with armor and accompanied by a large number of merchants."

Wan Xinrong knew the relationship between Master Lin and Mr. Luo, so he explained it in a little more detail.

"However, at the beginning of this year, in the battle of Jinping County, according to the merchants who came back with the army, Lord Luo used spears as a boundary and vowed not to retreat behind the spears, thus blocking the attack of the elite troops of King Yue. Later, he personally led his soldiers to charge into the battle formation, and in one go, he actually broke up the army of King Yue. Then, with the advantage of elite cavalry, he seized the opportunity and defeated the army of King Yue in one fell swoop, and then struck while the iron was hot and pursued them for 800 miles.

“It is said that the Weishui River was dyed red, and countless elite soldiers and extraordinary people were killed or injured.

"We followed what the Immortal said and did not interfere. We just practiced well in the mountains and built houses."

As Wan Xinrong spoke, he couldn't help but sigh.

Originally they were still somewhat attached to the secular world, but now they were thankful that they had followed Master Lin to the mountains to practice meditation. Otherwise, in such a battlefield, although the ground would be full of fame and fortune, among the corpses lying all over the ground, talented people like them might not be worth much.

Lin Jue was thinking about those gods.

I'm afraid that not only the elite soldiers and extraordinary people, but also the true masters must have suffered casualties above the rolling white clouds that cannot be seen in the mortal world.

Who can defeat the Lord of Fuchi?
"When Lord Luo was chasing south, he sent a general named Lang Zhili to attack the capital. That general is also an old acquaintance of ours. I wonder if you still remember him. He was a warrior who followed Lord Luo when he went to Jinping and the northwest. He was good at using a long-handled golden hammer and a chain flail. His name was quite elegant. The capital was captured by him with almost no effort.

"The emperor was usually tyrannical, but at this moment he showed some courage and committed suicide at the gate of the palace.

"We followed the instructions of the Immortal and entered the capital. We conveyed the Immortal's order not to allow the army to burn, kill and loot in the city. Lang Zhili knew that the Immortal was powerful, so he killed a few captains and promised to reward them after looting the palace, the treasury and the residences of the dignitaries. Only then did the situation calm down.

"But the King of Yue is lucky enough to have survived until now. Instead, he withdrew from Qinzhou and still occupies half of the south. He is currently in Zhongzhou to resist Lord Luo's army and wait for an opportunity to counterattack."

The Great Jiang Dynasty finally came to an end.

This also means that the incense burner on earth has to make a new choice. The position of the contemporary Tianweng as the co-master of the Three Realms and Nine Heavens has come to an end, and he has become the de facto previous Tianweng.

Lin Jue was sentimental for only a moment, then turned his head:
"How are your flowers growing?"

"I've planted a little, but not enough." Xu Yi lowered his head and said, "I'm not in a hurry to plant."

"Why?"

"If you plant too hastily, the trees may not survive. Also, in the previous winter, the flowers did not bloom, so it was hard to find them on the mountain. Even if you found them, you couldn't tell what kind of trees they were. Because, because they had to be planted separately, I just waited for them to bloom."

"Then do you have any insights?"

"To grow the seeds successfully and identify them accurately, you need to be careful and patient."

"continue……"

Lin Jue smiled at him and said to Pu Mei:
"They are all very easy to get along with. You don't have to worry about anything here. In the next few days, you will be responsible for fetching water and chopping wood. If they want to cook, you will be responsible for lighting the fire."

Here's how to get familiar with the place.

It was also a process of settling down. Lin Jue saw Pu Mei nod and smiled slightly:
“But there are also rules for fetching water and chopping wood.”

"what?"

"You should fetch water from upstream. When the spring comes and the snow melts, be careful of insects and snakes. If you come across a tree stump in the mountains, it may be the seat of a mountain spirit or monster. Don't sit on it lightly. This is deep in the mountains, and there are many spirits and monsters. If you accidentally encounter one, don't be afraid, just say you are my boy."

"Oh……"

"When you are cutting firewood, you can't just cut down any tree you see. If it is a small living tree, you must leave it alone to give it a chance to grow. If it is a big living tree, you can only cut the lowest side branches and prune it. If there are no side branches below, you can't cut it. It's best to find a dry dead tree, which is also easy to burn and doesn't need to be dried up."

Lin Jue spoke slowly, with a look of aftertaste in his eyes.

"I remember."

"You keep busy."

The dark clouds slowly descended, bringing with them lightning and thunder, carrying the Taoist priest upwards.

Lin Jue raised his head and took a look——

The pavilion has three floors, all with doors, windows, balconies and corridors. The doors and windows of the third floor are closed, the windows of the second floor are open, and the doors and windows of the bottom floor are wide open, allowing the mountain breeze to come and go freely.

This pavilion is good in every way, except for one thing missing.

Just as Junior Brother Ziyun said, there are no tiles on top.

But it is also windproof and rainproof.

Because it is not an ordinary house, it is carved from spiritual wood, so even though there are no tiles on the top, it is not leaking, but is made of a whole piece of wood.

However, tiles are also necessary for decoration.

How can I do such things by myself?
Naturally, it was handed over to the apprentice.

One plants flowers, the other collects tiles.

"Just right!"

Lin Jue thought about it and smiled.

Then he did not return to the pavilion, but disappeared in a flash with a thunderous sound.

View of the red leaves at Maple Mountain.

Ziyun was wearing a Taoist robe, diligently repairing the road. Her master was meditating on the top of a nearby mountain, practicing. He said that one should meditate more often in different places to be more spiritual. In her opinion, he was more like an overseer.

But this was a misunderstanding of her master.

Junior sister just thought it was interesting to watch people building roads.

Suddenly, some thunder was heard faintly.

Ziyun immediately looked up and suddenly shouted, "Master! It's going to rain! We haven't collected the clothes and bamboo shoots in our Taoist temple yet!"

The junior sister also looked up.

But she saw a man and a fox standing in the clouds, both looking down. It was her senior brother who had returned from searching for clouds and came to show off to her.

"Rumble..."

Thunderclouds descended and thunder roared.

Junior sister raised her head calmly: "This dark cloud suits Senior Brother."

"Junior sister, what you said is really like Third Senior Brother."

"Isn't what you said true, brother?" The junior sister sat still, but also looked at the clouds under his feet.

The purple clouds below also looked up.

But the thundercloud was not big, but it was exactly the same as the gloomy and dense dark clouds in the sky in summer. There were rolling clouds and mist at the edges, flashing lightning in the middle, and faint thunder, which was quite extraordinary.

"This is what I found in Yunzhou by chance. It can fly a thousand miles in half an hour, and those who have not yet achieved enlightenment can also ride it. After I have properly sacrificed and nurtured it, it can separate into another one. But if the separated cloud is to be given to others to ride, unless I personally instruct it every time, it will have to be made into a token like other immortals." Lin Jue said, "I think this is a thundercloud, and the token should be made of spiritual gold. Unfortunately, all my spiritual gold has been used for soldiers, so I came to ask, junior sister, in addition to practicing, have you sensed any unusual metal spiritual energy in the mountains?"

"I have spiritual gold here."

"Give it to me quickly." Lin Jue was not polite, "When I finish it, I will give you one too."

"Will your feet be numb from the electric shock?"

"Of course not."

"Come with me to get it."

With spiritual gold, you can make tokens.

This is also a method often used by gods.

All gods in heaven naturally have the ability to ride on clouds, but most priests, divine officials, heavenly soldiers and generals can only control ordinary clouds. Some servants and Taoist children who ascend to heaven with the Great God Zhenjun may not even have the ability to ride clouds. At this time, if the Great God Zhenjun has his own clouds, he will give his servants and Taoist children the ability to ride clouds by means of tokens or special spells, and even temporarily allocate a small cloud to them for use in special circumstances.

Lin Jue imitated this method.

(End of this chapter)