Chapter 249: The Obsession of the Remaining Soul on the Roadside The next morning, the three woke up in the desert. In the desert in the early morning, the scorching sun has not yet hit, and it only feels cool. The fox and the civet cat lay side by side beside the dry grass, with their backs to them, and seemed to be eating something. However, the dry food of several people was almost finished. "It's too hot here. The horses are dying of heat. There's nothing to eat. We shouldn't stay here for long." Luo Seng stretched his body. "The rat demon has been eliminated. We should leave early while the sun is not too high." "rational." "Master, are you interested in looking for the thousand-year-old snow lotus?" "Let's go back to the capital." Lin Jue thought about it all night and made a decision, "Let nature take its course." On the one hand, he refuted the seniors who had said that he had arrived early and the time had not yet come. Lin Jue naturally trusted and refuted the seniors. On the other hand, he was not coming here alone. His junior sister was willing to accompany him because of their friendship over the years, which needed no further explanation. But Mr. Luo was willing to accompany him here out of chivalrous spirit. Lin Jue couldn't drag him along to look for his thousand-year-old snow lotus, or tell him about it and make things difficult for him.
Since the senior has refuted what he said, that the thousand-year-old snow lotus is in the south, and we are heading southeast when we return to the capital, then we should just let it go. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just come again next time. By that time, all other materials will have been collected, and I will have learned other traveling spells, so it won’t be so difficult next time. "Xiaohua, Fuyao, what are you eating?" The junior sister held up the sword and brushed off the dust on her body. The two kids heard the noise, turned around, and stared at them with innocent looks. There is a small piece of snake tail in the mouth of the colorful cat. "You two won't starve to death no matter where you go." Lin Jue said to them with a smile. Not long after, the group set out on their return journey. The three horses were staggering, and the elegant white fox was surprisingly well matched with the desert dunes. While walking, Lin Jue couldn't help but glance at it. "It's probably six thousand miles from here to the capital. We can only take the trade route to get supplies along the way." Luo Seng said, "According to my estimate, it will take ten days to enter the pass." "Mr. Luo seems to be quite familiar with this place?" "My ancestors once served the imperial court in the northwest, and later settled down in the northwest, so they can be considered northwestern people." “No wonder, no wonder.” Lin Jue walked behind Luo Seng. He knew that Luo Seng couldn’t see him, but he still bowed to him. “It’s really thanks to Mr. Luo that we have come this far.” "Wandering around the world, where can I not go?" "Is the Western Region still stable now?" "It's unstable. It was unstable when I left my hometown and came to Beijing. Not only are there frequent riots on the border, but the Western Regions have long since stopped taking the Central Plains Dynasty seriously. They only obey in name, but in reality they do whatever they are told to do. They are only afraid of the dynasty's first few decades and the residual power in history." Luo Seng paused and shook his head: "It's not so bad inside the pass, but it's even more chaotic outside the pass."
"how to say?" "These small countries in the Western Regions lack laws to begin with. They attack each other based on the moods of the princes and nobles, without any regard for etiquette or laws. This is even more true for demons and monsters, and there are no gods to manage them. I heard that in some places, the people of the country obey demons instead of human kings, and even the entire country is a pasture for demons." "what?" The junior sister was petting a cat and was surprised to hear this. "But there's no need to be so surprised. Their land is vast and their population is sparse. Their countries are not big. Many countries are just a city." Luo Seng said, "These monsters are not necessarily more powerful than the crocodile. If they were not in the heart of the Central Plains, the crocodile might be more rampant than them." "So that's it." After walking for two days, we arrived at the business road. Thanks to Fuyao and Caili for hunting along the way, one caught some wild sheep and rabbits, and the other caught some lizards and gerbils, all of which were meat to fill their stomachs. After walking for another day, I finally saw someone. It was a long caravan, with camels, mules and horses, more than a dozen people and twenty or thirty animals, pulling goods from west to east. The boundless desert sand, the silent walking people, the sun at noon, the heat distorted the sky and the earth, there was a silent visual impact, it was undoubtedly a scene that the junior sister and the fox had never seen before. The three looked at them. However, this group of merchants were equally surprised when they saw them. Two Taoists in Taoist robes, a bearded knight dressed in Central Plains style, and a white fox, they all looked extraordinary no matter how you looked at them. "Everyone..." Luo Seng rode his horse slowly over. "How can we get supplies along the way? We have run out of food and water." The man did not say anything. He just took out a dry and hard biscuit from his arms and threw it to Luo Seng, while pointing forward. "Thank you." Luo Seng came back and shared the cakes with the two men, and said to them, "It is their habit not to speak easily when traveling in the desert, but there should be supplies ahead." "Ah." A group of people followed them. Not far away, we found supplies ahead. It is a large freshwater lake with sheds beside it, selling some dry and hard cakes, like the tea stalls on the official road in the Central Plains. Everyone went to replenish water and let the animals drink water. The group of merchants drank a few sips of water, and seeing that they were still around, they asked them, "Where are the two Taoist priests from?" “I’m from Huizhou.” "That's a long way to go."
"Yes." "Just you three?" "Yes." "It's not peaceful here these days," the traveling merchant kindly reminded them, "You'd better be careful." "How is it not peaceful?" Lin Jue asked. "There are often wars between small countries and bandits here. Forget about those, there are also monsters." The merchant said, "It is said that there is a monster ahead that can drive bears and wolves to hunt passers-by on the road. You'd better not spend the night on the road and walk along the road. It's best not to encounter the monster." "Drive bear wolves?" Lin Jue became interested. "Yes, there was a group of merchants from Longzhou who happened to arrive when the monster was at its most rampant. They brought some skilled warriors from the local area as their guards and thought they could complete the journey safely. However, they were still harmed by the monster on the way. Alas, their souls have gone to the frontier and cannot return home. They cannot rest in peace even after death. I heard that they turned into lonely ghosts on the roadside. Some merchants walking at night have encountered them. It is really tragic." Luo Seng, who was standing nearby, raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Is there such a thing?" "Why would I lie to you?" "He is Luo's fellow villager." said Luo Seng. "Where did the hero come from?" "Longzhou, Yubi County." "Then you are indeed from the same hometown." The merchant said, "But we were also reminded by other merchants. Since we met on the roadside, I will remind you again." "Thank you very much!" "By the way, you three didn't go shopping, so how did you get here?" Luo Seng and the little junior sister both looked at Lin Jue. Lin Jue answered truthfully: "We were chasing a monster and came here." "Chasing a demon?" The traveling merchant was stunned for a moment, looking at the two Taoists, the ferocious warrior, and the white fox that was licking the water by the lake, looking down on the horse, and pushing the horse beside it away. Then he realized that these people should not be ordinary Taoists and warriors. "The Taoist priest knows magic?" "Yes, I do." "That villain dared to ask for a talisman!" "To be honest, it's not that we don't want to, but we just don't have the ability." Lin Jue said with a smile, "But if we are lucky enough to encounter that monster and it really wants to eat people, we are willing to fight it." Not long after, the two sides separated. Although they were walking along the same road, some were walking fast and some were walking slow, so naturally one was in front and the other was behind. The Taoist priests and warriors were traveling lightly and walked in front. It wasn't long before they were out of the desert. Slowly it was approaching dusk.
The sunset every day is so gorgeous. The three did not stop to admire the scenery on horseback, nor did they follow the merchant's advice to find a supply point early, but continued to move forward in the sunset. For people these days, returning to one's roots is an obsession that cannot be erased even in death. The first money Lin Jue got when he left his hometown to seek the truth was to help two ghosts carry a letter, returning to one's roots. Luo Gong was heroic and chivalrous, and he intended to collect the bodies of his fellow warriors who died tragically outside the Great Wall. Lin Jue also intended to look for monsters. So I went forward at night, so that I could walk more distance, return to Beijing earlier, and find some fate. There was the sound of horse hooves all the way. The fox turned its head from time to time and looked around curiously, not knowing what it was looking at. The sky was getting darker and darker. Suddenly, the fox walking in front stopped, looked forward, and then turned back to look at Lin Jue. "Hey~" Lin Jue followed their gaze. I saw a small river in front of me, with gurgling water, and grass and yellow-leaf forests on the roadside. It was an autumn scene. However, there were some blurry human figures on the road, floating in the wind. None of the three men were afraid, and the horses did not stop. There is only this one road in this place. This is probably the place that the group of merchants mentioned, where traveling merchants and warriors were harmed by monsters, right? Lin Jue took a closer look—— There are more than a dozen figures in total, most of them are warriors. The reason is that warriors practice martial arts all year round, have firm wills, are brave and fierce, and have strong blood. After death, it is very easy for them to be unwilling to leave because of momentary resentment and injustice. They seemed to be ferocious, but they did not hurt anyone. Luo Seng approached them to check, but they did not attack him. "It really is the face of a person from the Central Plains. It is not easy for him to die tragically in a foreign land and his soul cannot rest in peace." Luo Seng said, rubbing his feet on the ground a few times, finding some clothes and rags in the sand, and then found some bones in the forest. "These are not lonely ghosts, but the obsession of residual souls." Lin Jue said so, took out a small bottle, and said to these residual souls, "My dear heroes, if anyone is willing to return home, please come to the bottle." The Taoist's mind and words are consistent, so he can understand ghosts and gods. Immediately, several residual souls looked towards him, drifted in the wind, flew over with difficulty, and drilled into the bottle. "what?" Lin Jue looked at the other figures, thought for a moment, and thought it was just right: "If you are harmed by a demon and want to seek revenge, you can enter the bottle and show us the way. I will find peace for you." Lin Jue's words were still calm and his heart was consistent: "From now on, you can go and rest in peace, or you can follow me. It just so happens that my bean soldier method needs some heroes to help, so join me in eradicating the demons and evil spirits in the world." “Swoosh…” The remaining souls hesitated for a moment and then went into the bottle one after another. One collected the bodies and the other comforted the souls. The ghost shadows floating around soon disappeared. This scene, which frightened ordinary merchants and travelers, not only failed to scare the Taoists and warriors, but with their simple behavior, the area quickly returned to calm, just like an ordinary grass forest by the roadside.
During this process, the Taoist did not use any magic, and the warrior did not draw his sword. To be honest, they were just following their heart. The junior sister watched from the side, seeming to be thinking about something. Then the three of them made a fire on the spot. The fox became more capable and caught fish from the nearby river. The civet cat caught a rabbit. Together with the naan they brought, they had dinner for tonight. (End of this chapter)