Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 42 Searching for Gold in the Treasure Mine, a Girl Flees Away at Night (5.2 thousand words)
When Fang Shu and his second uncle Yu Le met, there was a shed on the neighboring hill.

A burly man with a thick beard stood with his hands behind his back, wearing a brocade robe and a red flower in his hair, exuding a rough yet refined air.

On his left and right sides, there were fox demons, wolf demons, rabbit demons and other monsters serving him carefully.

The monsters, both male and female, were extremely obsequious, some fanning the wind, others serving wine. Their behavior seemed to have been specially trained, lacking any of the wild monster habits of the mountains and resembling that of humans.

One of the wolf-like demons, wearing a large turban, leaned on its paws, looked at Fang Shu and his nephew, and clicked its tongue in amazement:

"What a touching scene of uncle and nephew affection! It's been so long since such a good thing has happened at our mine."

"But sir, did you really let that brat take the man away so easily?"

The burly man with the thick beard sat back down in his chair with a nonchalant air. As soon as he closed his eyes slightly, a fox spirit smiled seductively and leaned against him, using her huge fox tail as a cushion and massaging his shoulders.

Without him needing to utter a sound, another rabbit demon brought him grapes and sweetly fed them to his mouth.

After thoroughly enjoying himself, the burly man with the thick beard finally spoke:
"They're a top student from the dojo, and they're offering money to promote someone. It's perfectly reasonable. What can you do if you refuse? Do you dare offend them?"

The wolf demon's eyes flickered. It leaned close to the burly man with the thick beard and scolded the other demons: "Go, go, go. Let's talk to the master."

After driving away the miscellaneous monsters, the wolf-like demon whispered:

"It's precisely because the person who came is a highly skilled disciple of the dojo that I'm afraid."

I'm afraid that the old man who came here is a spy, while the young one is here to test us.

If the precious medicinal herb mine is discovered, your peaceful days will be... If that happens, I suggest you make a fortune and run away as soon as possible!

The burly man with the thick beard first looked helpless, then his brows furrowed, clearly showing his reluctance. After a moment of contemplation:

“What Second Master Bei said makes sense. If that’s the case, we do need to make plans as soon as possible. But if that’s not the case, leaving directly would be like handing over the precious mine to someone else for nothing.”

After considering it for a moment, the man muttered in silence:
"Give me a plan. Let's test that kid's skills. Try to outsmart him. Even if we have to use force, we can't just force him. We have to lure him into the mine first before we make our move."

The burly man with the thick beard gleamed: "After all, that kid smells strange, he obviously has some kind of backup plan from the old man. If we make a move outside the mine, he'll probably get away."

Upon hearing this, the wolf demon immediately began to flatter him:
"Ah! Master is wise and decisive. He tricked that kid into the cave. No matter what tricks he has up his sleeve, we can just block the entrance and burn him to death."

The human and the demon immediately began to whisper among themselves, while constantly keeping an eye on the movements of Fang Shu and his nephew.

As the uncle and nephew walked towards the pavilion, the master and servant had already discussed their plan and summoned the other lesser demons to help serve them and set up a feast, intending to entertain them.

But Fang Shu only glanced at the fruits and vegetables in the shed before bowing to the burly man with bushy cheeks inside:
"Thank you for your help, Mine Owner Cao."

He took out one or two spirit stones from his sleeve.

Before he could hand it over, the burly man with the thick beard laughed loudly: "Why be so polite? Your uncle coming to Cao's mine is a sign of respect for us."

Now that Brother Fang has become Master Du's disciple, we haven't even sent him a congratulatory gift yet, how can we possibly accept your interest!

The other party beckoned to the wolf demon beside him, and the wolf demon hurriedly bowed and handed over a contract.

"Brother Fang, take a look. Is this the contract? If so, just accept it and don't say anything more!"

Fang Shu couldn't refuse the other party, so he smiled, checked the contract, and handed it to his second uncle.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, he planned to leave with his second uncle.

But at that moment, the mine owner surnamed Cao suddenly dismissed the monsters around him, leaving only the wolf-like demon present, and then whispered:
"Since Brother Fang has come, it must be fate."

The man pointed at the wolf-like demon beside him and said bluntly, "To be honest, these monsters are all useless. They can only serve as foremen. As for the more powerful monsters, the town won't let us keep them in the mine."

I have something I'd like to ask Brother Fang for help with; it's a good thing!

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu narrowed his eyes slightly.

He listened without showing any emotion.

After a long silence, he spoke:
"There have been treasure-hunting insects, possibly known as gold-seeking bugs, in the mine? There might be a treasure mine. Mine owner Cao wants to share in our wealth?"

"Yes, yes!" The mine owner surnamed Cao nodded, and pointed to his second uncle, Yu Le, standing beside him:
"Among the dozen or so mines in Qianshan, there are precious ores that appear from time to time. They're really good stuff. You can ask your second uncle."

Even if we don't pay the wages, we'll still pay them!

"You're from the Solitary Gu Pavilion, so at the very least, you can help us identify the traces inside the cave to see if they were left by that gold-seeking beetle."

Upon hearing this, Second Uncle Yu Le grinned but remained silent.

But secretly, Fang Shu clearly felt his second uncle step on his heel.

"Is it really just such a coincidence, or is it a search for gold worms?"

Fang Shu smiled and asked the mine owner surnamed Cao.

The other party, quite nonchalantly, said frankly, "Who can be sure? We've never been down in the mine. It's possible that one of our men is just making things up. After all, miners occasionally claim they've discovered a treasure trove, and then we have someone check it out."

Hey, nothing at all.

But Fang Shu didn't beat around the bush anymore; he directly cupped his hands in greeting.

"I am a novice, so I will not bother you any longer. Mine Master Cao, you would be better off finding someone more capable."

With a flick of his sleeve, the one or two spirit stones he had stored in his sleeve flew out and landed right on the tea table in the pavilion.

"Farewell."

Fang Shu decisively took his second uncle and headed towards the direction of Guling Town.

The mine owner, surnamed Cao, feigned concern and chased after them for a couple of steps before stopping on the hilltop, letting the uncle and nephew leave.

Seeing that Fang Shu was completely uncooperative and even became wary, the man not only didn't feel annoyed, but actually breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He jokingly said to the wolf demon beside him:
"It seems to be just a coincidence."

The wolf demon standing to the side also looked relaxed.

When the two men mentioned the existence of a treasure mine, Fang Shu was neither delighted nor pretending to be calm. Instead, he became wary and retreated immediately.

Given this behavior, it's highly likely they're not here to spy on the treasure mine. If they were, they would at least go along with it and ask a few more questions.

Even so, the wolf demon was not entirely at ease. It muttered to its master, "But we can't be sure that this guy is just pretending to retreat. We'll see if anyone goes around our mine looking for that damn gold-hunting beetle."

If so, or if any powerful figures have come looking for you in the next few days, I still suggest that you, sir, make your escape before the other martial arts schools surround you.”

Upon hearing such spineless words, the mine owner surnamed Cao did not refute them, but merely muttered:

"Don't overthink it. There aren't that many meticulous people in this world. Let's just focus on mining."

………………

And the other side.

After Fang Shu and his second uncle left the mine, they immediately affixed lightness talismans and ran back to Guling Town in a flash.

They both breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped into the market.

Fang Shu pondered the matters at the mine, his eyes flickering slightly for a moment.

Second Uncle Yu Le thought he was still thinking about the so-called treasure mine, so he immediately shook his head at him and wrote on his palm, admonishing him to forget about it completely.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Shu found a tavern to welcome his second uncle back, and his second uncle specially found paper and pen to write a message for him.

It turns out that in the mines, people often seem to have discovered traces of precious minerals, and some even fabricate stories to gain rewards from the mine owners, or to trick unsuspecting people into going to mine or open mines.

Therefore, let alone the insect traces left by so-called gold-hunting insects, even gold-hunting birds or gold-hunting fish, the miners dare to bring them out, and they'll do it in a very realistic way.

There were even miners who swore oaths, saying they saw dragons in the mine with their own eyes, which fooled the immortal sects so much that they sent people to investigate!
As for the final result, it was naturally a complete farce; not a single hair was found.

Such traces, resembling the appearance of a precious mine, are designed to trap those who are greedy or ignorant.

In particular, the treasure mines are not only found deep within the veins, but the tunnels dug are also very narrow and small.

If anyone were to go in to investigate, it would be either the son who went in while the father stayed outside to guard, or a Qi-cultivating immortal who knew the art of escape.

Otherwise, once people are inside, the people outside don't even need to throw poison gas; they can simply seal off the mine and suffocate them inside.

My second uncle gave me a stern warning:
"We absolutely must not take the risk in such a matter!"

Fang Shu nodded, also nodding seriously, and exhaled, "Understood."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be just going through the motions, Yu Le, the second uncle, felt relieved and began to eat and drink with relish.

What Fang Shu didn't tell his second uncle, Yu Le, was that what he was thinking about wasn't the precious mine that the mine owner surnamed Cao had mentioned.

Rather, it was the mineral vein map he obtained from Cheng Guanzi after killing him, based on the terrain observed today.

The mine on the ore vein map is the largest lead mine in the area, spanning hundreds of miles. Although its specific location is not in the mine owned by the Cao family, it is not far away.

After all, the dozen or so mines, large and small, are all located on the same mineral vein.

What Fang Shu was pondering was whether he should take the time to personally explore the treasure mine.

Who knows, deep within that mine, there might be a considerable amount of purple lead cloud mother milk accumulated, and he also happens to have the treasured Gu bestowed upon him by the master of the Dugu Pavilion, giving him a trump card.

However, after thinking it over silently, Fang Shu suppressed the thought.

Now that he has just entered the sect and is highly regarded, it is the time for him to be courageous and diligent in his cultivation and study of the Tao, rather than to covet precious medicines and risk his life.

If that's the case, it's putting the cart before the horse.

Moreover, even if they were to actually investigate the location of that precious medicine, they should be fully prepared, or even openly and brazenly go to mine it!
Otherwise, if anything goes wrong, yesterday's Shi Hou will become tomorrow's Shi Hou.

Fang Shu secretly became alert.

After having enough wine and food.

Fang Shu did not take his second uncle home, but instead continued to drag him around the market until they arrived at a long-established shop.

Uncle Yu Le was initially confused, but when Fang Shu pointed to the demonic tongues inside the porcelain jars, Uncle Yu Le immediately understood.

It turns out that his own nephew wanted to buy him a demon tongue so that he could refine it into a magical artifact to cure his speech disability.

In fact, it wasn't just that. Fang Shu originally asked the shopkeeper directly if they sold the Long Tongue Sword magic weapon, so that his second uncle wouldn't have to expend his essence and energy to refine it.

Unfortunately, the Long Tongue Sword is not a common magical artifact on the market. Fang Shu asked several shops but none of them had it in stock, so he had no choice but to bring his second uncle to buy the Demon Tongue Sword.

As a result, when his second uncle Yu Le saw this, he didn't even want the Demon Tongue anymore and kept refusing.

After much persuasion from Fang Shu, Second Uncle Yu Le finally agreed to buy a Demon Tongue, but only a second-hand one, resolutely refusing to spend another penny of Fang Shu's money.

This guy even had a point, writing things like "Secondhand items may be old, but they have more spiritual power" and "The most important thing about a ritual object is nurturing it, regardless of whether it's new or old."

Fang Shu had no choice but to follow his second uncle's advice. So he came up with a plan and led his second uncle to the paper meat shop they had visited before.

Next door to this shop was the store where he had previously pawned the talismanic artifact, the Soul-Suppressing Bell, after his death.

He summoned the owner of the paper meat shop and had him give a detailed introduction to the second-hand, even third-hand and fifth-hand, tongues in the shop.

My second uncle was initially quite engrossed in watching, but when he saw that the cheap and delicious tongues in the shop were actually taken from the mouths of paper dolls painted with red and green, his expression changed, and after stammering for a while, he finally gave in.

"How about...we try another one?" he wrote.
Second Uncle Yu Le began to suggest that Fang Shu find another place to get a new, cheaper tongue.

Seeing the uncle and nephew about to leave, the butcher, in a shrill, eunuch-like voice, called out:
"Hey! Gentlemen, don't go! Our tongues are guaranteed to be clean, plump and delicious, we guarantee you'll be happy!"
If you two don't believe me, why don't you just try it?

Upon hearing this, Second Uncle Yu Le felt a jolt and quickly walked outside, leaping out of the shop's threshold.

Seeing that the two were indeed not going to buy anything, the shop owner said impatiently in the shop:

"Pah! Two grown men, how dare you come to our shop and only buy tongues, and only one at that."

Aren't you two ashamed?!

Clearly, this guy completely misunderstood the intentions of the uncle and nephew.

Upon hearing this, Yu Le, the second uncle, felt a chill run down his spine.

Fang Shu, standing to the side, couldn't help but chuckle, almost bursting into laughter.

………………

After a series of purchases...

Fang Shu also forcibly bought a lot of medicinal herbs and pills for his second uncle, so that his second uncle could use them to practice magic and recuperate at home.

To prevent my second uncle's already weakened body from being further aggravated by the ritual, thus shortening his lifespan.

All of this didn't cost much money, only a few thousand.

When asked why Fang Shu had so many talisman coins and where they came from, his second uncle, Yu Le, was surprised but didn't ask any further questions. He simply patted Fang Shu's shoulder with a look of relief and gratitude.

As soon as they realized that the two of them were carrying large bags and small packages, the uncle and nephew leisurely headed back to the paper mill.

Upon returning to their dusty paper house, Second Uncle Yu Le immediately busied himself with great energy. He brought out a small stove and began to kill fish, wash vegetables, and start a fire to cook.

Whatever he said, he insisted that Fang Shu stay for a meal before leaving, and he even wrote down:

"No matter how delicious the food is at a restaurant, it's still the most comfortable thing to eat at home."

Before the meal was even cooked, people kept coming to visit them during their reunion.

"Hey! Congratulations! The two of you are having a meal together."

"We've been looking forward to your return, Master Yu!"

It turned out that the neighbors in Zhifang saw the father and son return and came to congratulate them.

And gradually, the neighbors to the east brought meat, the neighbors to the west brought fish, and the neighbors from Zhifang either brought pots and stoves or called their wives and daughters to help wash rice and cook.
Even the talisman master Li Yuan brought out a bowl of tofu from the house, intending to add it to the meal.

Neighbor Dou Sufu acted as a housekeeper, helping to organize everything.

So a simple meal between the father and son turned into a banquet in the paper mill.

At the dinner table, the neighbors either congratulated Uncle Yu on his narrow escape and safe return, or congratulated him on raising such a wonderful nephew, which was truly remarkable.

"If you ask me, I knew Fang Shu would amount to something great the moment he came to our paper mill!"

"That's right, doesn't he know who his uncle is? He's our Master Yu!!"

Fang Shu didn't feel much about it, he just thought it was a bit lively.

However, the second uncle, Yu Le, was placed in the main seat by the crowd, where he saw the neighbors on both sides vying to show their goodwill and offering a lot of auspicious words.

The man was overjoyed, his face glowing with happiness, and he couldn't stop smiling.

He deeply realized that his neighbors in Zhifang valued him, Yu Lao Er, and admired him so much; they were all good people!
It's just...why wasn't it like this before?

After a hearty meal and drinks, as night fell, the neighbors finally left.

"Take it easy, take it easy."

"No need to see me off, please rest first."

As for the leftovers from the banquet, the pots and pans, the fruit scraps and paper scraps on the ground, the uncle and nephew didn't need to clean them up; the neighbors in Zhifang had already helped clean them up long ago.

During this period, Fang Shu also got to know a lot of elders and friends, some of whom were even related by blood, calling him "nephew" and "grandson," which surprised him quite a bit.

Upon closer investigation, it turned out that they were all my second uncle's former sworn brothers who, upon hearing of this, rushed over overnight to offer their congratulations and renew their relationship.

Because it was already late at night, and Fang Shu was genuinely happy to see his second uncle today, he abandoned the idea of ​​rushing back to the dojo in the night.

Anyway, he hasn't been assigned a private room at the Taoist temple yet. If he goes there now, he'll either have to share a bed with all the other disciples who are paying tuition, or he'll have to bother Senior Sister Yu'er to get up and arrange a room and bedding for him.

Rather than doing that, it would be better to stay in the paper mill and keep my second uncle company.

As the night deepened.

Just as the uncle and nephew were about to go to bed, they suddenly saw a shadowy figure moving in front of the door, and another guest quietly arrived.

The other person didn't say anything, but didn't seem like a bad person.

Fang Shu cautiously glanced through the window and recognized the figure he had seen during the day.

Then, with a strange expression, he opened the paper door.

As soon as the door opened, a familiar face appeared, and there was a sea of ​​white in front of the door.

The person who arrived was Su Qingao, who had been quite reserved at the evening banquet, keeping her head down and not daring to look at anyone; she was the aloof woman who had arrived on the same boat as Fang Shu and the others.

The woman had come running at night, her clothes disheveled, her face smeared with white wall plaster from who-knows-where, and her lips smeared with blood—a carefully chosen yet shabby appearance.

Without saying a word, Su Qingao fell into the paper house with a thud and knelt down on the ground.

She was even more disheveled, her face tilted upwards, looking at Fang Shu with pleading and fawning eyes:

"Brother Fang, does your family need a woman?"
"Just say the word, and I'll come to you."

(End of this chapter)