Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 202 No Food in the Mountains
The horse-faced demon twitched a few times in the air, then suddenly tilted its head to the side and its whole body relaxed.

He had already fainted.

The Jufu clan is naturally gifted at jumping.

Before awakening its innate supernatural abilities, this male often relied on its exceptional jumping and charging abilities to defeat its own kind and obtain more food and females.

Even after gaining supernatural powers, he still couldn't change his habits.

Chu Tianshu was unaware of his past, but the cyan internal energy had already surged into Ju Fu's body, allowing him to sense Ju Fu's physical structure.

This is a physique that is clearly very good at jumping and throwing.

However, there is no special energy such as internal force or telekinesis within his body.

It's a bit of a mystery how he so easily manipulates the soil and rocks.

After roughly figuring out his body structure, Chu Tianshu threw him to the ground and flicked his finger.

A silver needle was inserted into the center of his skull, slightly in front of him.

He won't wake up as long as the needles aren't removed.

Lu Tou Qiu had already arrived by then.

Upon seeing the corpses on the main road north of the village, the clan chief's throat tightened, and his words came out in a hoarse voice.

"What's going on? Why is this horse-faced monkey chasing you?!"

Lu Tou Qiu grabbed a villager who had returned from a long escape.

That was one of his cousins, a very shrewd person who liked to show off his strength, but at this moment his face was covered in cold sweat.

“We went into the mountains to exchange grain with the old men, and we encountered this monkey causing trouble in the mountains. It swung its knife and chopped off the monkey’s heart and ate it.”

“We helped the people in the village, and Uncle Jiao even shot and wounded the monkey, making it run away in a panic.”

"Who knew that when we came out of the mountain, the monkey suddenly jumped out from a large patch of withered grass by the roadside and chopped Uncle Jiao Er up with one stroke."

My cousin was in tears.

Lu Touqiu's lips trembled slightly.

The second son of the Jiao family was the best archer in the village. With a powerful bow, he could hit the target from 300 paces away.

Lu Touqiu and he had been friends for decades, and yet he was chopped up by the monkey!

Yes, Ma Mian Ju Fu is known for his vengeful nature; his own clan members often fight each other and refuse to back down.

Therefore, although there are many members in the tribe, those who can stay together for a long time, or even share the cave, generally do not exceed ten.

Many of the horse-faced ascetics were solitary figures.

Occasionally, a few birds will wander from the deep mountains to the edge of the mountain range, mostly because they have old grudges and want to take revenge.

The second son of the Jiao family got involved and even shot an arrow, so naturally they were resented.

My nephew was still talking: "We shouldn't have gone into the mountains. We didn't even get much food, and so many lives were lost for nothing..."

Lu Touqiu's somewhat unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened.

"You didn't get any grain?"

His eyes were like sharp knives, and his voice was heavy. "It wasn't lost on the road. It's that we didn't get enough food when we were in the mountains from the beginning?"

Most parts of Bo Ye Zhou have not had a proper rain for several months.

The fields in Luye Village were not particularly fertile land near a water source.

It's almost a certainty that next year's harvest will be reduced, or even completely lost in some areas.

If we don't plan ahead, a famine will ensue once everyone's food reserves are exhausted.

Therefore, as early as last month, Lutouqiu had already started encouraging people to "go into the mountains to carry grain" based on the experience passed down from their ancestors.

Hundreds of miles to the north, in the mountains and forests, there is a crop called "Nine-fold Root".

The part of it that is exposed above the ground looks like a short bamboo, but its underground roots are huge and divided into nine veins.

Even if eight of its veins are dug out, leaving only one root, it will still thrive and grow back to its full glory of nine veins the following year.

Although the Nine-Herb Root is not as easy to digest as the rice that the people of Luye are used to growing, it is still a good food that can help them survive a famine.

The old man in the mountains, who grows green rice, is most skilled at cultivating nine-layered roots.

This race, regardless of gender, has thick hair and beards, except that women have less mustache than men.

Similarly, regardless of gender, they all enjoy cutting cloth to make clothes, braiding cloth strips to style themselves, but they are not good at weaving.

Every household in Luye Village gathered up their cloth and even old clothes, bundling them up.

They handed it over to the most capable young men selected from the village, who carried it into the mountains.

If all goes well, they will exchange a large number of Nine-Fold Roots from Greengrass Elder's various mountain villages and carefully store them in the cellar.

That would be the life-saving food to help us survive the famine.

If these people managed to exchange their loot for grain, even if they abandoned it along the way while trying to escape, they could easily find it along the road and retrieve it.

The news from his cousin made Deerhead Cupid feel even more powerless after witnessing the villagers' tragic deaths.

“The old men wearing hats made of withered bamboo leaves said that there were several earthquakes in the deep mountains this year, which also affected their harvest.”

"The rhizomes of the nine-layered roots are relatively thin and weak, far less large and sturdy than in previous years. Some of the rhizomes are even hollow inside."

The nephew cried and complained, saying, "We were unwilling to give up, and after much pleading and persuasion, and with Uncle Jiao Er helping them drive away the monkeys, we finally got them to relent."

"But in the end, the amount of grain we received was 70% less than we had estimated."

Lu Touqiu loosened his grip, letting his nephew collapse to the ground.

When the legendary divine child appeared before him, the old patriarch did not outwardly panic.

But with these things piling up, he finally couldn't hold on any longer and stood there, stunned and at a loss.

"If we have 30%, then let's find those 30% first."

Chu Tianshu spoke, and at the same time bent the middle and ring fingers of his right hand while straightening the other two fingers, forming a hand seal.

Then it transforms into a peacock spreading its tail feathers, with the index finger and thumb pinched together and the other three fingers spread open.

Finally, it turned into a sword technique, with a raised hand and a wave.

These three hand gestures represent, firstly, submission; secondly, exoneration; and thirdly, guidance.

The surrounding air currents and the panic and confusion in people's hearts seemed to be gathered and settled by the first imprint.

The second seal caused the air to expand, which was then transformed into a cool breeze by the third seal, sweeping over everyone around.

call! !

This cool breeze covered an area of ​​several dozen meters and lasted for a good five or six seconds.

The wind that blew through people made them feel refreshed and instantly calmed them down. Chu Tianshu's Horizontal and Vertical Seal Technique had now reached a point where it could take effect instantly without explicitly uttering incantations.

Lu Touqiu came to his senses, glanced at Chu Tianshu hesitantly, not understanding the divine child's intentions, but still gave the order.

"Let's go! Everyone here, come with me and retrieve the grain."

Chu Tianshu then said, "I'll go with you on this trip too, so we don't run into any more monkeys."

Chu Tianshu had never experienced hunger since childhood, but his grandfather had told him several stories about the great famine that occurred when he was young.

Although he focused on the famine era, he went out to help people exorcise demons and cure evil diseases.

However, the words themselves revealed the cruelty and hardship of the famine era.

It was keenly observed by Chu Tianshu, who had been able to communicate with spirits since childhood.

Even after the family became wealthy, no rice grains should be left at the bottom of the bowl; one should hold the bowl with one's hand while eating, otherwise it is considered disrespectful; after finishing the meal, chopsticks should not be placed on the empty bowl, lest it be considered an ominous sign of squandering one's fortune...

The habits of the older generation, which may seem a little superstitious, actually stem from their lingering fear of famine years, whether intentional or unintentional.

I really don't want myself, or anyone around me, to ever experience that kind of thing again.

Chu Tianshu traveled with them this time and did not encounter any further unexpected events along the way.

They found the grain and the cart.

But they also brought back quite a few corpses.

Lu Tou Qiu no longer bothered to conceal his methods.

He took out dried grass leaves and applied them to the horrific wounds, silently chanting incantations.

The grass blades seemed to grow on the skin, and although the blood still shone red from the inside, it no longer flowed out so turbulently.

The villagers' bodies were all transported back intact.

As Chu Tianshu repeatedly pulled out blades of grass from his pocket, he also noticed that the ends of some of the dry grass were connected to strings of woven sparrows and woven dragons.

A sparrow is no bigger than a thumb, and a dragon is no longer than an index finger.

Chu Tianshu smelled the unique scent of the hay and suddenly remembered something.

"Isn't the incense burner at the Deer King Temple filled with straw ash instead of incense ash?"

Chu Tianshu asked, "Are you burning these dragons and sparrows in that incense burner too?"

Lu Touqiu sighed, "No, I burned the Immortal Master."

"With the divine child's keen hearing, he probably overheard the village idlers talking about the immortal master."

“There are records in the fragments left by our ancestors that straw figures can be used to worship the immortal master.”

Lu Touqiu shook the hay in his hand and said, "This skill of mine is also passed down from my ancestors. Nowadays, there are very few people in the village who can truly inherit it."

"I created many immortal masters, but I didn't quite understand what to do next, and I felt that each immortal master straw figure lacked the spirit of the character."

"Finally, like offering incense, we burned those straw figures one by one."

In many magical philosophies, fire has a pure and sacred aspect.

Burning offerings in formal ceremonies is actually a very common way to express respect.

Lu Touqiu was just trying his luck.

Chu Tianshu was certain that these methods were indeed somewhat effective.

If Chu Tianshu hadn't intervened to stabilize the soul, Master Yao's soul would probably have been trapped in the spirit world.

'But then again, they didn't make straw figures in front of me, so how did they summon me down?'

Chu Tianshu asked about the details of worshipping the immortal master again.

Lu Touqiu made no attempt to conceal or disguise his true intentions and told the whole story honestly.

Chu Tianshu listened thoughtfully.

Lu Touqiu tried hard to control himself, not even glancing at Chu Tianshu out of the corner of his eye, but some thoughts were secretly running through his mind.

"This divine child is indeed very strong, but he seems to have a pretty good temper. It's so strange."

"Given such attention to the Immortal Master, and considering his sudden appearance during the ceremony, could it be... that he is not a descendant of the gods, but rather comes from the land of immortals?"

It is mentioned in the oldest records of the people of Luye.

The land of immortals, also known as the human world.

In this world, many species call themselves human, all because they have been influenced by the messengers of the immortal realm.

Immortals are as terrifying as ghosts and gods. They can kill all the ferocious beasts in the entire mountain and take away all the treasures. They will occupy a mountain alone and not allow outsiders to set foot there.

But there are also immortals who are willing to teach the ignorant ancestors.

Immortals are far more complex than ghosts and gods.

There seems to be a rumor that ghosts and gods are enemies of the immortal realm because the immortals provoked the ghosts and gods first.

They repeatedly disrupted the sacrifices that ghosts and gods should receive, restrained them, and even killed them.

"If he really is an immortal, perhaps we can win his favor and help our village get through this year of disaster."

Lu Touqiu's mind began to stir. "Is the Divine Child interested in the ritual of worshipping the Immortal Master?"

"I can rally the whole village to do it again."

Chu Tianshu looked up at the crowd and said, "So many villagers have just died. The news is devastating, and people are filled with fear. Can the villagers still have the will to unite and complete the ceremony?"

Deer Head Hill gazes at the vast land and looks up at the sky.

The sun continued to shine cruelly on the earth.

The distant Luye Manor looked as small as a withered, curled-up hand.

"Will do."

Lu Touqiu said, "No one understands better than us grain farmers how much grain we need to eat in a year to survive."

“As soon as the carts return, every household can calculate that there is far from enough food to eat, unless there are a few good rains to make the crops grow.”

"Everyone knows that at times like this, there is nothing else that can be done but pray for rain."

Chu Tianshu nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the distance.

The houses in Luyezhuang, though large, look as small as a fist from this distance.

A solid, tightly clenched fist evoked both feelings of unfamiliarity and warmth in him.

He had never seen such a village in such a vast wilderness before, so it was naturally unfamiliar to him.

But he has always loved the feeling of clenching his fist as a human being; it feels incredibly comforting.

(End of this chapter)