Chapter 170: Seclusion in the Mountain Temple The trees along the river are so lush that it is difficult to see the sunlight. I don’t know if it was water vapor, miasma, or morning mist, but the forest was already dark and foggy. Walking into it, it felt much colder than other places. There are also some lonely ghosts who are lost in it, bewildered by the evil spirit and unable to get out. Because of the occasional sunlight coming in, they have to transform into soul beans the size of flies, hiding under the roots of trees or in shady places, waiting to be found and eaten by a monster one day. The old goat was lying and sleeping under the tree. "..." A crow glided silently over and landed on the treetop. In the sunlight, its black feathers reflected a metallic and colorful luster. The crow looked down at the goat. This goat looked much bigger than an ordinary goat, with a long beard. When it lay down with its eyes closed, it looked like an old man with a kind face. However, it was full of evil and stench. But once he opened his eyes, a shrewd and weird look appeared.
The goat sensed something was wrong and looked up. I looked left and right, but saw nothing. I thought for a moment, and for some reason, just as I was about to fall back to sleep, I suddenly looked up at the sky. The crow's bean-sized eyes looked back at it. The goat's ears moved and it stood up immediately. When he turned around, he saw that a clouded leopard as big as a golden leopard had quietly come up behind him, hunched over, staring at him with its bright yellow eyes. "Bah!" The goat felt fear at first, which was really instinctive. Then after thinking about it for a while, it became even more scared. Fortunately, it noticed something was wrong just now. If it hadn't noticed, it wouldn't even dare to imagine what the consequences would be if a leopard touched it from behind while it was sleeping. It discovered it in advance, and it did not hesitate. "Oh!" The sheep and the leopard looked at each other and burst out with their strongest strength at the same time, pushing their bodies away from this place, and for a moment they rushed out like an explosion. One runs and the other chases. It is true that the goat has become a spirit. If it encounters an ordinary clouded leopard, it will naturally not be afraid, because the clouded leopard itself is not big, and it can definitely fight it with its own strength. But if it encounters a pack of wolves or a more powerful leopard, even if it has become a spirit, it will have to think twice, and in the end it will probably choose to escape - after all, it is rare to become a spirit, and the life of a spirit is more precious. Higher wisdom sometimes brings greater courage, and sometimes also brings consideration and timidity. But this clouded leopard is already much larger than ordinary clouded leopards. The gap between it and ordinary clouded leopards is even greater than the gap between itself and ordinary goats. How dare it compete with it? So I followed my instinct and ran as fast as I could. Soon it discovered to its horror that the clouded leopard was faster than itself. The claws almost scratched its butt several times, and it even felt the sharp claws embedding into its flesh, leaving scars and bleeding on its body. However, it turned its head away without even looking, and did not care at all. It just relied on its familiarity with the terrain and ran with its head gritted and teeth gritted. The two sides chased each other back and forth in the dense forest, and several times they narrowly escaped on the verge of victory or defeat or life or death.
"Ouch~~" The howling of wolves was heard again in the distance. The goat was even more horrified to find that a pack of wolves had appeared around him at some point. These wolves were slightly larger than ordinary wild wolves, and they were chasing and blocking him together with the clouded leopard. The goat couldn't figure out the reason, nor did it have time to think about it, so it just ran away even more desperately. Suddenly he took a puff forward and exhaled yellow smoke. "puff……" Then he jumped into the yellow smoke. The terrain advantage is no longer enough, so they have to create cover themselves. The yellow smoke can block the view, and also confuse ordinary birds and beasts, ghosts. If a person has a weak mind and insufficient blood, he will also be fascinated. However, it is not effective against ferocious beasts such as tigers and leopards. After the goat jumped out and landed on the ground, it looked back and saw, as expected, the clouded leopard and the wolves also jumped out from the yellow smoke. The wolves were still a little dazed and seemed unable to stand steadily, but they were recovering quickly. The clouded leopard just shook its head and then looked up again to stare at it intently. The goat immediately blew out another puff of yellow smoke at the clouded leopard. "puff……" However, the clouded leopard was extremely agile. It used its limbs to jump sideways in a way that most animals could not do, avoiding the yellow smoke and rushing towards it close to the ground. What else can the goat do? It can only run again! Fortunately, there is a cliff ahead. So he quickened his pace and ran towards the cliff. It was an almost vertical cliff with only a few bumps and you would be able to escape by climbing up the cliff. The goat was angry at first, and wanted to turn around and butt the clouded leopard with a horn before it escaped, to vent its anger and then go up the mountain. But when it thought of the clouded leopard's sharp teeth and claws, and the scenes it had seen of such beasts pinning down other goats and biting their throats, a primitive fear arose in its heart, which easily wiped out its ferocity, making it unable to use any strength. Just rush towards the cliff quickly. Ding ding ding ding! He was already familiar with the route, and with the momentum of running, his body went almost straight up, and in a moment he was two or three feet above the ground. The clouded leopard followed it up for a while, then gritted its teeth and suddenly jumped up, grabbing the goat's butt with one claw, pulling off a few pieces of wool and a little blood. After all, it was not as familiar with this mountain as the goat, so it had to turn around, step on the cliff and jump down, landing back on the ground. "Ah~~" The clouded leopard barked angrily. The goat looked down and just when he breathed a sigh of relief, he felt something was wrong. Look up - I saw a white fox sitting upright on a small stone protrusion above. Its body size was between that of a cat and a dog. It was concentrating on licking its paws. After licking its paws, it used its paws to scratch its face frantically. As if sensing its gaze, the white fox put down its paws and looked into its eyes, its gaze clear and calm, like water. Then, on this cliff that was so steep and dangerous that even it had to walk carefully, the white fox stood up and stretched lazily. Then, it walked towards it on the vertical cliff with its head down and its tail up as if it was walking on flat ground.
"?" A look of suspicion immediately appeared in the goat's clever eyes, and there was fear in the suspicion. Looking up, he saw a fox approaching from above and a clouded leopard waiting below. The pack of wild wolves also gathered around and looked up at him. For a moment, he felt like he was neither up nor down. Fortunately, this fox is not very big. The goat thought so, became angry, and ran upwards quickly, lowering its head as if to charge. It happened that a mountain breeze blew, and in this mountain breeze, the fox above was seen growing in the wind, and suddenly grew to be almost the same size as the clouded leopard, and a second tail grew on its back. Its fur was fluffy, and it swayed softly in the wind from the cliff, and for a moment it looked like a god. But the spirit pounced on it. "Bah!" The sheep's horns hit the fox fiercely, but the fox was much more agile on the cliff. It dodged the attack with one easy step and instead slapped the fox's neck with one claw, which penetrated the fox's wool and embedded itself into its flesh. At the same time, the fangs had already bitten over. The goat struggled desperately. For a moment, yellow smoke and cold air spewed out at intervals, swirling in the air. The sheep's horns hit the cliff several times, and both sides fell down during the fight. With a bang, the goat fell to the ground, but the white fox pulled away when it was still more than half a foot above the ground, stepped on the cliff to stabilize its body, and exerted force on its limbs again, and the whole body fell lightly. At the same time, the crow also found the soul of Yan's grandson and brought it back. …… As the fourth brother said, That morning alone, the crow brought back the soul of the grandson of the Yan family. At first glance, it looked like a green-headed fly. After it was put back, the boy groaned and gradually resumed his regular breathing. The second senior brother took out another soul-calming pill and fed it to him amid the Yan family’s numerous thanks. Then Fu Yao came back and sat at Lin Jue's feet, constantly tidying up her dirty paws and face. "That's good now. The monster by the river has been eliminated by my friends, and your grandson's soul has been found. After taking the soul-soothing pill given by my second senior brother, I think his soul will be at peace in the future. Even if you have troubles again, just come to the mountain temple to find me." Fourth Senior Brother said to him. "Thank you, Masato." "I don't dare to be called a Taoist priest, just call me Taoist priest." Although the Yan family did not witness with their own eyes the process of the Taoist priest retrieving souls and exterminating the monster, seeing the Taoist priest sitting there motionless, while the monster was eliminated and the heavenly soul was retrieved during the conversation, it seemed even more shocking than seeing him use magic to exorcise the monster with their own eyes. Naturally, they had much more respect for their fourth senior brother, Lin Jue and others. After a while, the eldest son of the Yan family came up with a tray, respectfully presented them with ten taels of silver wrapped in red cloth, and invited them to stay here for lunch. In the afternoon, the Yan family really brought new bedding and mats, probably prepared for their daughter's marriage. They also brought some pots and pans, and asked the boys of the same surname in the village to carry them and send the Taoists to the mountain. This place seems to be at the foot of the mountain, but to actually reach the climbing place, there is still more than a mile to go. After reaching the real foot of the mountain, you still have to walk up some mountain road to reach the mountain temple.
The grass is deep and the forest is thick, making the road difficult to travel. I also heard from the Yan family that there were wolves and leopards on the mountain, and that some people had seen bears and tigers while chopping wood on the mountain. Several fellow disciples felt that the place was too remote, while others felt that it was quiet and conducive to spiritual practice. The fourth brother was the latter and became more and more satisfied as he walked. When he turned around and looked around, he saw that the forest was dense and leafy, with only a few patches of sunlight left. He couldn't help but smile. There were often rustling sounds in the forest, which made the Yan family's children feel uneasy. The fourth senior brother just smiled and told them that it was his good friend in the mountains. After walking for another quarter of an hour, we finally arrived at the mountain temple. The path led to a small flat area, and everyone stopped here to look at the temple. On the left is a small courtyard-style temple, with a main hall in the innermost part, two side halls on the left and right, and a ceremonial gate on the outermost part, forming a small courtyard of about ten steps square in the middle. On the right side there are two houses, one large and one small, one for living and the other for the kitchen. Although this temple was built on the mountainside, because of the uncle's experience of exorcising demons in the past, several villages at the foot of the mountain did not fool around. They raised money and materials together and built it with great care. It is almost the same size as the Sangu Temple in Shu Village and the Qingdi Temple outside Luosu City. The temple building is backed by a stone mountain. Looking up, you can see the stone mountain and Tianmen through the dense forest. One can't help but worry that rocks will roll down from the mountain on windy and rainy days and destroy the temple. But when I think about it, this is a mountain temple... "rustle……" The woods trembled again. Five clouded leopards, two large and three small, and a large group of wolves came out of the forest, and hawks, falcons and crows fell from the sky. The Yan family member who sent them here was immediately frightened. "Don't be afraid, everyone. These are my good friends from the mountain. We have a deep bond and don't want to be separated, so they came here with me to practice." The fourth elder brother said to them, "They have been following us in the dark for fear of scaring others. But since I am practicing here from now on, you will inevitably see them if you come up the mountain. I will let them out first so you can have a look. Don't be afraid from now on. Most of them are practicing and will not hurt anyone at will." Everyone looked stunned. They looked at the Fourth Senior Brother, then at the other Taoists who seemed to be used to this, and then nodded repeatedly. Not long after, the Yan family's son went down the mountain. Many Taoists did not feel tired while climbing the mountain. Instead, they were full of energy and looked at the mountain temple more carefully, commenting on it. "This place is good, with a wide view, but it's too far from the village below. It's suitable for us to practice meditation. It must be the location chosen by our uncle." The third brother stood on the edge of the cliff. From his high position, he could see several villages including Shimen Village, as well as the river in the distance. "Isn't it the same in our Yishan?" said the fifth brother. "We have a lot of people in Yishan." said the third brother. "This mountain temple is not small. It is bigger than the houses where many ordinary people live. It's just that the living space is too small. If you have free time in the future, you can build a few more houses next to it." said the seventh brother. "Junior brother, you can open up a few vegetable plots here and grow some crops in the future." The second senior brother also made plans for the fourth senior brother. "You are almost the same as the eldest brother." said the third brother. "Second Brother, what you said makes sense. But the open space in front cannot be used as a vegetable garden. We should put a stone table and a few stone benches there. You can eat here, drink tea, enjoy the scenery, and have a group of friends accompany you. Isn't it wonderful?" Seventh Brother pointed to the middle of the open space and looked at the little sister. "Why not ask her to make one for you while she is still here? There is no shortage of stones on the mountain." When the junior sister heard this, she immediately became excited. Lin Jue did not participate in it for the time being, but helped the fourth senior brother put the pots, pans, and other things into the kitchen, and then looked around to see if there was anything missing. For example, if he was short of a stone cabinet or a water or rice jar, he would ask his junior sister to find one for him before he left.
Really think it is "touch" - Now, the little junior sister's stone-crushing technique has almost reached perfection. For any stone, as long as she reaches out and touches it, she can remove a layer. Pick a big stone and make a stone cabinet or a stone table out of it in just a short while. Many Taoists were discussing excitedly and fiercely, as if they were the ones who would live here in the future. However, the clouded leopards and wolves had been hiding in the deep forest and following them all the way. They were tired in the morning and now their bodies and minds had settled down. They no longer had to hide, so they all lay on the ground and watched the conversation quietly. (End of this chapter)