Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

"Disciple has noted it down." Zhuang Xing accepted the spirit talisman.

Master Qingxuzi said, "After you go down the mountain, you must not be arrogant or conceited. You must humbly learn from your senior brother Linghui."

Zhuang Xing and Yunling agreed and then left the school.

After lunch, they went back to pack their bags, since they would be going down the mountain the next morning, so they didn't need to go to school in the afternoon.

When descending the mountain, you only need to bring your sword, clothes, and toiletries; the rest can be prepared in the town at the foot of the mountain.

Zhuang Xing traveled light, carrying a waist bag containing two strings of copper coins totaling two hundred coins for future use.

After that, he went to the kitchen of the canteen and found Bai Yu.

"I'm going down the mountain tomorrow and won't be back for about a month or two, so I'd like to ask you to take care of the wheat I've planted." Zhuang Xing counted out fifty copper coins and handed them over.

Bai Yu nodded and accepted the money.

This wasn't the first time the two had made a deal. On the tenth day of the second month, Zhuang Xing bought half a sheep's horn from Bai Yu.

A more accurate explanation is that Zhuang Xing, through Bai Yu's connections, learned that the kitchen would be transporting several sheep from the foot of the mountain on the first day of the second lunar month, so he asked Bai Yu to buy half a sheep horn from the kitchen staff.

He bought the sheep horns to celebrate Yunling's birthday. The tenth day of the second lunar month is Yunling's birthday, and this is the first birthday that Zhuang Xing has spent with Yunling. After thinking it over, he decided to make a comb for Yunling.

He later carved that half of a ram's horn into a ram's horn comb.

It has to be said that Bai Yu is quite reliable. Ever since she sold roasted chestnuts, her group has become more and more cohesive and knows a lot of things that Zhuang Xing usually doesn't know.

For example, what ingredients are planned for the kitchen next week? A new batch of fabric will be delivered next month. Which blacksmith's swords are the most popular?

In his interactions with Bai Yu, Zhuang Xing discovered that she had many channels for obtaining information.

Zhuang Xing would sometimes ask Bai Yu for these kinds of information. Now that he and Bai Yu were acquaintances, he asked Bai Yu to take care of the wheat seeds for him and Yunling.

In the evening, Zhuang Xing explained the matter to Yunling, and the two agreed to meet at Guankou the next morning.

When they returned to their room, Zhuang Xing said goodbye to Da Chun.

Da Chun patted his chest and said he would clean the house spotless and make sure Zhuang Xing's bed wouldn't get dusty, so he could go down the mountain without worry.

Zhuang Xing smiled, and the next day, while Da Chun was still fast asleep, he packed his bags and went to the temple gate.

Yunling got up earlier than him, and the two of them went together. They showed the documents to the Taoist priest guarding the entrance of the temple and stepped out of the threshold of Xuanqing Temple.

They arrived in autumn, and they left in autumn. The stone steps remained the same, but the two of them were very different.

A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days' absence. Zhuang Xing had spent nearly a hundred three-day periods on the mountain. It would probably take scraping the eyes of a hundred people with bamboo strips to see the changes in him.

Zhuang Xing himself felt that he had changed a lot, both in height and mentality. He was completely different from the man he was a year ago. He thought that if his mother saw him now, she would probably stare at him for a long time before daring to call his name.

Last year it took them almost a whole morning to get to the Taoist temple, but this time it took them less than half an hour to get down the mountain and into the town.

Zhuang Xing, carrying his luggage, stood at the foot of Qingxuan Mountain and took a deep breath. Looking at the white clouds and green mountains in the distance, he felt that the air was so refreshing and pleasant.

They arrived at the inn and saw a young girl with her hair in a bun and wearing a plain robe standing there.

The girl had a green tassel tied around her waist, and she was an unfamiliar face; Zhuang Xing had never seen her at the temple before.

But she seemed to recognize Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling. She moved sideways like a crab and came closer.

Zhuang Xing sensed that this senior sister was acting a bit strange, so he took a step to the side, but she followed him.

It would have been fine if she had followed, but she just stood there without saying a word, secretly glancing over out of the corner of her eye as if afraid of being discovered.

What's even stranger is that when Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling turned to look at her, she deliberately turned her head away.

Her acting was terrible; Zhuang Xing could only describe her with these four words.

"Senior sister," Yunling tried to strike up a conversation with this senior sister, "Did you need something from us?"

"Do you know Senior Sister and Senior Brother Linghui? Are you going to travel with us?" Zhuang Xing asked directly.

The senior sister flinched, and slowly turned her head like a thief caught in the act. She stared at the two of them and blinked. Zhuang Xing noticed that her gaze lingered on the white tassels on their swords. She immediately seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and relaxed a lot.

"You must be Zhuang Xing and Yunling. Senior Brother Linghui asked me to wait for you here."

"I am Qiaoxia, please follow me."

Today is not the first day of the lunar month, and according to custom, Qing Sui disciples are not allowed to go down the mountain at will. Zhuang Xing had a guess in his mind, and it turned out that it was indeed the person who was going with him.

Zhuang Xing felt that this senior sister seemed a bit unreliable, but since she was wearing a green tassel, it meant that she had completed the courses that Zhuang Xing had completed, and had at least accompanied him down the mountain to exorcise a demon once.

Let's observe a little longer. Anyway, Bai Sui's disciples' first trips are all relatively simple tasks. The professional Taoist priests of Xuanqing Temple have confirmed the type of monster and felt that there would be no danger on the trip before handing them over to Bai Sui's disciples for practice.

Zhuang Xing silently followed behind his senior sister Qiaoxia, passing through the red corridor and entering the courtyard behind the inn, which was filled with artificial mountains and water.

There was a wooden pavilion in the courtyard, and a notice board stood inside. Senior Brother Linghui was waiting there.

"Senior brother, I've brought them over!" Senior sister Qiaoxia skipped and hopped to Senior brother Linghui's side.

Senior Brother Linghui nodded and beckoned Zhuang Xing and Yunling over.

After exchanging greetings, Brother Linghui took down a notice from the notice board.

Senior Brother Linghui handed over the notice, and Zhuang Xing looked at it intently. It depicted a monster covered in long black hair, with pointed ears and monkey-like cheeks, a hunched figure, sharp teeth and claws, and a ferocious face like a demon.

"The demon we're here to eliminate is this mountain demon," Senior Brother Linghui said calmly.

Chapter 78 The Mountain Demon Who Can Wield a Sword

"Our destination is a village to the south, about three days' walk from Xuanqing Temple, not far," said Brother Linghui. "There are reports of dangerous mountain demons appearing in that village, and several families have had their children stolen at night."

“The hunters in the village set up all sorts of traps and tried many methods, but they still couldn’t catch the mandrill, so they asked us for help.”

"The reward has already been delivered. It will be distributed to you after the mountain demon is eliminated. Now that you're here, let's set off now. Let's get rid of that monster as soon as possible to prevent it from harming the villagers."

"Just follow Senior Brother Linghui's arrangements." Zhuang Xing cupped his hands in greeting.

“Okay, follow me. The villagers will guide us,” said Brother Linghui.

Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling followed their senior brother to the stable at the entrance of town.

A villager carrying a longbow was waiting there with his horse.

"Master Linghui," the villager said politely.

“Everyone’s here, let’s go,” Linghui said.

"Are you two young Taoist priests going along too?" The villager looked at Yunling and Zhuangxing. "Taoist priests, if I may be frank, that mountain demon is no benevolent creature. If we go to the village, we won't have time to take care of the children."

"Please rest assured, taking care of my fellow disciples is my duty. Besides, since our master has permitted them to descend the mountain, it means it is time for them to do so," Linghui said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"This..." The villager hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you Taoist priests."

Zhuang Xing didn't say anything. He believed in doing more and talking less. He believed that words could never compare to real ability, and only facts could silence others' doubts.

He looked toward the stables, where Senior Sister Qiaoxia went and brought over two horses. Zhuang Xing and Yunling put their satchels into the horse sacks, and at the urging of their senior brothers and sisters, they mounted the horses.

They had never learned to ride a horse, so they were just passengers on this trip.

The villager led the way on horseback, and the group headed out of town.

This was Zhuang Xing's first real experience riding a horse. He sat behind his senior brother, and amidst the sound of hooves, the scenery on both sides rushed past.

Before long, when we turned around, the town was no longer in sight, but Qingxuan Mountain was very prominent in the field of vision.

Even when they stopped to rest at night, they could still see Qingxuan Mountain.

That night, they set up camp at the foot of a downwind mound.

Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling helped insert the command flag and light the incense burner. They continued on their journey until it was completely dark before stopping to rest.

The firewood in the bonfire crackled and popped as it burned.

Zhuang Xing chewed on his dry rations. Dinner consisted of roasted cornbread and dried pork, which was a bit dry. He took out his water bag and drank a couple of sips of water.

"Is that mandrill powerful?" Zhuang Xing looked at the villager carrying a longbow and swallowed what was in his mouth.

"Young Taoist priest, have you never seen a mountain demon before?" the villager laughed.

Zhuang Xing shook his head. He had only seen pictures of mountain demons in the Compendium of Demons and Monsters, and had never seen a live one.

Anyway, judging from the layperson's diary, the mandrill seems to be quite weak and timid. The layperson has never faced the mandrill head-on. Usually, the mandrill only dares to hang on a tree far away to observe the layperson. After taking a few glances, it runs away on its own and disappears very quickly.

"Actually, the mandrill is not much different from a monkey. It's not a powerful monster. If it came at me head-on, I could shoot it dead with a bow and arrow."

The villager took down his longbow and made a shooting motion.

"However, the mandrill that came to our village was very cunning and treacherous. It only appeared at night. We tried digging holes and using nets, but we couldn't catch it. It would run away at the slightest noise. We only managed to surround it once when we didn't have torches."

"I thought we could get rid of that monster completely that time, but you might not believe it, little Taoist priest... that mountain demon actually took a sword off its back. I shot several arrows but couldn't hit any vital points. In the end, it managed to injure several of us and broke through the encirclement to escape."

"That mountain demon can wield a sword?" Senior Brother Linghui turned around when he heard this.

“Not only is he skilled with a sword, but he’s quite adept at it,” the villager said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to the Taoist priests for help.”

"After you surrounded the mountain demon and forced it back, did it reappear?" Linghui then asked.

“Yes, but it’s harder to catch than before. We can’t catch it at all,” the villager said. “There was no other way but to hide all the children in the village. That’s why I was asked by the village to come to the foot of Qingxuan Mountain to ask the Taoist priests for help.”

“Mandrills are timid by nature... how could they behave so strangely…” Linghui pondered for a moment, then asked, “Is it solitary? Have you seen any of its companions?”

“Master, that mountain demon can even use a sword. Maybe it just thinks children’s skin and flesh are delicious.” The villager sighed. “Please, Master, get rid of that mountain demon as soon as possible, so we can have peace of mind.”

“I’m asking you, have you seen any of the mandrill’s companions?” Linghui asked again. “Logically speaking, mandrills shouldn’t dare to harass human villages so frequently, especially after being wounded by arrows. Its behavior is very abnormal. If it has companions, they are likely a male and a female. It’s only because it gave birth to its offspring that it has become so agitated.”

"Well... I don't know." The villager shook his head, paused for a moment, and then added, "But I think it sounds a lot like what the Taoist priest described."

"Is that so..."

Zhuang Xing noticed that Senior Brother Linghui lowered his head and looked at the villager's horse.

“We’re tired from the journey, let’s rest early.” Linghui looked away. “Zhuang Xing, you keep watch for the first half of the night, and I’ll keep watch for the second half. We’ll continue our journey tomorrow.”

“Okay, senior brother,” Zhuang Xing replied.

"Senior brother, don't my senior sister and I have to keep watch at night?" Yunling asked softly.

"You two should get some rest tonight. You and Qiaoxia can come again tomorrow night," said Senior Brother Linghui.

“Master, I can actually keep watch too.” The villager showed off his bow and arrows.

"No need," Senior Brother Linghui refused the villager. "You have traveled day and night for three days to reach Qingxuan Mountain. Tomorrow you will need to lead the way. Please rest well."

“That’s true, it would be terrible if I got confused and went the wrong way.” The villager slapped his forehead and yawned. “Then I’ll go to sleep. I’m at ease with the Taoist priests keeping watch.”

He lay down, seemingly exhausted. Zhuang Xing saw him fall fast asleep, sleeping soundly.