Poor Taoist Qiu Chuji

Chapter 10 Pretending to be a ghost
On the treetops, hiding in the shadows of overlapping branches and leaves, Qiu Chuji looked at the shield formation formed by the Jin soldiers. He really felt like a dog biting a hedgehog, not knowing where to start.

Although he was agile and had mastered the art of swordsmanship, his internal strength was not strong enough. Once he was trapped in an array and engaged in a fight, he would be in danger of losing his position.

After all, the iron sword in his hand hit the armor on the Jin soldiers, and its killing power was very limited. If it could not hit the throat directly, he could only rely on his internal strength to suppress it. After killing three or five people, Qiu Chuji would definitely be exhausted.

As for long-range means, throwing some locust stones is of little use unless you have a strong bow in hand.

After watching for a while, Qiu Chuji did not force himself to kill the enemy, but quietly withdrew.

He came here originally to gather intelligence, but now that he knew why the Jin soldiers came, there was no need to dwell on it.

At Tianfeng Gorge, Qiu Chuji met up with Wang Chuyi, Liu Chuxuan and others. In addition to some familiar Taoist children, Taoist Master Jingshu also followed.

"how?"

"Can you see clearly how many golden dogs there are?" Wang Chuyi asked while holding his crutch.

"I only saw the vanguard and don't know the exact number of people, but I'm afraid it's quite a lot. Those Taoist pyrotechnicians who rushed down the mountain betrayed us." Qiu Chuji said.

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have let them go down the mountain so easily." Wang Chuyi was extremely angry.

Liu Chuxuan said, "What if they don't let him go? Are they going to kill him? Or imprison him? That would make him a bandit!"

"Hey! What's the point of you telling me this at this time?"

"I just want to express my displeasure..."

Qiu Chuji turned his head and looked at Taoist Master Jingshu: "Master should have thought of this possibility in advance!"

Taoist Priest Jingshu nodded and said, "We are building a large-scale project in the mountains, so we have to hire people. We cannot guarantee that the craftsmen and porters will keep their mouths shut."

"The Grand Master has set up traps and formations at several strategic points. Once they are activated, even if countless armies cut down trees and dig through mountains, they will never be able to break in!"

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the Jin soldiers were brutal, they were still strong in archery, horse riding and shooting like most northern nomadic peoples, but these were useless once they went up the mountain.

The Quanzhen Sect was nothing more than a minor problem to the Jin people, and they would never waste a large number of elite troops here.

"Then don't worry about it. Just hide for a few days. When these golden dogs get impatient, they will naturally come down the mountain."

"We must not touch the place where we are building Chongyang Palace and destroy the already built buildings." Wang Chuyi said, patting his chest.

Qiu Chuji shook his head: "They come and go as they please. Doesn't it seem that we are afraid of them?"

"No matter how many people come, we have to kill their spirit and let them know how powerful we are."

"Hey! Brother Qiu! Don't be impulsive. The Golden Dogs have a lot of people and we shouldn't bother with them." Liu Chuxuan began to persuade Qiu Chuji.

"I'm not impulsive, I think of ways!"

"If I can't kill all these golden dogs, I'll make them shed a layer of skin first."

Qiu Chuji looked towards the mountains and forests. The sky was gloomy today and the mountains and forests seemed particularly dark. The autumn wind blew, and it seemed that countless wronged souls and evil spirits were hidden in the mountains and forests.

"There's a way!"

"Master Jingshu, are there any seniors in our Quanzhen Sect who are good at refining pills?"

Jingshu shook his head: "We Quanzhen people follow the path of inner alchemy practice, which is different from those who burn furnaces to make elixirs."

"Among the predecessors who practiced in Zhongnan Mountain before, none of them were good at this?" Qiu Chuji still didn't give up.

"If you are good at this, why do you have to sit in the mountains and practice hard?" Taoist Jingshu asked.

That hits the nail on the head!

It costs a lot of money to open a furnace to refine elixirs, and historically only the rich and powerful could afford it. Perhaps in the future when the Quanzhen Sect becomes bigger and stronger, it will be able to open a furnace to refine some better medicines, but now... it's impossible, forget it!
Most of the ascetics in the mountains can't even afford to eat, so how can they start refining elixirs?
Collecting some wild herbs and making some pills is not the real alchemy. "That's fine! Everyone, go and search for some animal bones. If that's not enough, collect everyone's urine, and get some sand and water. Remember to bring a big pot." Qiu Chuji gave orders.

"What's this?"

"Don't ask, just do it!"

······
After a night, the Jin soldiers had not yet arrived near Tianfeng Gorge. It can be seen that the Jin soldiers did not go up the mountain in the dark last night, and they were obviously afraid of being ambushed.

The sun had just risen when hundreds of Jin soldiers drove along one or two thousand militiamen forcibly recruited nearby and began to head towards Chongyang Palace along the road that the ruffians had previously directed.

The Jin soldiers carefully passed through the Yinfeng Valley where they were attacked yesterday, but did not encounter any danger.

Go further and you will reach Tianfeng Gorge.

In front of Tianfeng Gorge, the leader of the Jin army stopped the team's progress, looked up at the towering rocks and dense forests, and then said: "To prevent an ambush, split up into teams of thirty and form a battle array with archers. If anyone shows up on the mountain, just shoot them to death."

"Each team must bring at least 20 Song people. If they have the guts, they can kill them all with stones."

The Jin general deliberately amplified the voice of the last sentence.

Groups of Jin troops escorted the Song militia across the canyon.

This short stretch of road took an hour or two to cover. By the time everyone had passed the canyon, there was still nothing unusual above the canyon.

The Jin general showed a hint of sarcasm, waved his hand and was about to command the troops to move forward.

Rumble!
In an instant, sand mixed with rocks rolled down, filling up a section of Tianfeng Gorge and blocking their retreat.

The Jin soldiers raised their bows and crossbows and fired a volley of shots at the top of the mountain, but it was useless.

Although the mountain is not very high, the cliff is steep. Qiu Chuji and others only need to hide well to avoid the risk of being shot.

The Jin soldiers' retreat was blocked and they all looked panicked.

The Jin general said, "Don't panic. As long as we attack their lair, we will surely be able to capture a few of the thieves and find another way out."

Before he could finish his words, he saw several old trees fall down, blocking the way ahead.

Although the trees are blocking the road, it is certainly not completely impassable. By climbing and moving around, one can still get through with difficulty.

But once this happens, the formation will be lost, and sneak attackers can take the opportunity to kill people.

"Don't panic, let the swordsmen and shieldmen guard outside, use the Song troops to form a human wall, and then let the Song troops open the way." The Jin general obviously knew a little bit about military tactics, but not much.

Just when the formation was barely formed, a humming sound came whistling through the mountains and forests.

The cold wind makes the hair on people's body stand up.

"Ah...ghost!" someone suddenly shouted.

Then many people saw at the same time that in the deep and dark places in the forest, there were clusters of ghost lights floating around.

At the same time, several pieces of white cloth, pulled by silk threads, quickly shuttled through the mountains and forests. The Jin people instinctively shot arrows at them, but they only passed through the gaps between the white cloths and were useless.

Like the sound of ghosts crying or unknown wild animals wailing, in the shrill and terrifying sound, the will-o'-the-wisp fire was not only swaying under the blowing of the cold wind, but also seemed to be slowly approaching.

When wet grass and wood burn, they release a large amount of thick smoke. When the thick smoke covered the Jin soldiers, the frightened Jin soldiers could no longer bear it, and they abandoned their formation and began to flee.

Their formation was disrupted, and they turned from wolves into lambs to be slaughtered.

At this moment, several figures rushed into the smoky forest, with wet towels on their faces and iron swords in their hands. They ruthlessly stabbed the sharp blades into the throats of the Jin soldiers, reaping their lives.

(End of this chapter)