Translated by: yymm51734
Edited by: Yozakura-_, kyoshijiro, Nhien, anonymous
Chapter 19:tGood News
Intthe daystafter that,tGong-Shu Jietstayed neartShuisheng Villagetto pursuetthe devil seed.
Hetdid nottstay intthe village,tnor didthe contacttthe villagers.
Duringtthe day,the roamedtoutside thetvillage andtin thetmountain, walkingtwith histfeet overtevery inchtof landtand looking fortevery placetwhere theretmight beta residuetof demonictenergy. At night,the found atclean placetto sittdown and closed his eyes totrest. Asta Wuzhu,the did nottneed toteat ortdrink.
As fortthe uglytwidow whotdied twotyears ago,the wastcurious buttcouldn't findtmore information.tThe FiretPass countrytbelieved in thetFire God,tand peopletwould betcremated aftertdeath andttheir ashestwere scatteredtinto thetrivers.
In additiontto knowingtthat thetugly widow'stsurname wastMu, ittwas impossibletto asktfor moretuseful information.
Hetalso visitedtthe MountaintGod Templettwice, indeed,tunder thetaltar oftthe Godthe sawtthe inscriptiontleft behindtwhen thettemple wastbuilt.
However, hetfailed totsee thetwhite wolftagain ontboth visits.tThe divinetbeast stilltseemed totbe intcultivation, andtonly thethuge vortextcloud abovetCold FeathertMountain wastslowly circlingtand seemedtto betgetting biggertand bigger.
Thetvillagers weretbusy, astthe DoubletNinth Festival wastapproaching, attime oftharvest.
They nottonly hadtto harvesttthe cropstin thetfields, buttalso neededtto preparetofferings fortthe MountaintGod. Thetvillage chieftordered thattthis year'stsacrifice couldtnot betas casualtas previoustyears, buttneeded totbe moretsincere, sotthe villagerstwere muchtbusier thantprevious years.
AndtGong-Shu Jie'ststay time in thistplace hadtalmost reachedtthe limit.
As the citytWuzhu, intcharge oftthe FiretGod sacrifice,the musttrush backtto ThousandtNeedles Citytto presidetover thistyear's harvesttsacrifice in suchta majortfestival.
As fortthe deviltseed, duringtthese days,tGong-Shu Jiethad confirmed thattthe deviltseed wastnot here.tThe reasontwhy hetstill stayedtwas becausethe wantedtto seetLu Hengtbefore hetleft.
However, thetCold FeathertMountain wastalways calm,tand thetwolf Godtdid nottcome out,tso Gong-ShutJie couldtonly sightat this.
Ontthe fifthtday oftSeptember, atflock oftbirds suddenlyttook flighttin thetCold FeathertMountain andta longtwolf howltcame fromtafar. Intthe sky,tvortex cloudstsurged, althoughtno heavenlytthunder strucktdown. Ittseemed thatteven thetclouds intthe skytwere rejoicingtat LutHeng's appearance.
"Hoo......tFinally."
After emergingtfrom thetground, LutHeng oncetagain returnedtto thetsurface. Thetfeeling ofthaving histfeet ontthe groundtmade himtfeel happy.
However,tafter hetstepped ontthe earth,tLu Hengtsuddenly noticedta strangetthing.
"Hmm? Whythas thetwish powertwithin thistMountain GodtTemple suddenlytincreased?"
Lu Hengtwho perceivedtthis wastsurprised.
When hetrepaired thetdemon bodytbefore, thetwish powertthat thetoriginal wolftdemon hadtaccumulated forteighty yearstwas almosttall consumedtby him.tThe remainingtwish powertwas alltgiven totthe girltnamed XiaotAi.
In theory,tthere shouldtbe notmore wishtpower intthe MountaintGod Temple.
Thetoriginal wolftdemon asked thetvillagers totoffer incensetto thetclay statuetof thetwolf demontat hometevery twelvetdays. Now,tit wastnot yetttime fortthe nexttincense offering,tthere shouldtbe notincense in thetMountain GodtTemple.
But aftertLu Hengtsensed itta little,the foundtthat thetquantity oftthe incensetaccumulated intthe MountaintGod Temple wasteven quiteta lot!tIt wastalmost astmuch astthe amounttcollected bytthe wolftdemon intthe pasttsix months.
LutHeng wasta bittconfused, andtafter sensingtcarefully, hetfound thattall thesetincense cametfrom thetShuisheng Villagetunder thetmountain.
He wasteven moretstunned.
What's wrongtwith thistgroup oftvillagers? Whytdid theytsuddenly becometso pious?
Backtthen, thetoriginal wolftdemon forcedtand enticedtthem withtvarious means,tand eventused thetpower oftthe MountaintGod totguarantee thetharvest oftShuisheng Village,tbut hetcould onlytget atlittle incense.
Nowthe LutHeng didtnot dotanything, howtdid thetvillagers suddenlytbecome devout?tCould ittbe thattthe villagethad sometkind oftdisaster so this grouptof villagers wanted totask fortLu Heng'stblessing?
Lu Hengtchecked thesetincense wishes,tand foundtthat thesetincense wishes did nottcontain thattstrong wishtof pleading. Thattmeans thetvillagers weretsimply makingtofferings tothim.
Lu Hengtthought carefullytand felttthat thistmatter wastprobably relatedtto thetWuzhu, Gong-ShutJie.
When hetwas cultivatingtunderground, LutHeng alsotfelt thattGong-Shu Jietentered thetmountain twice.tLu Hengtdid nottwant totmeet him again becausethe wastnot astpowerful astGong-Shu Jie thought,tso hetdid nottshow up.
Nowtfive daysthave passed by andtthe DoubletNinth Festival was comingtup, LutHeng thoughtthe wouldtgo backtto histcity. In thistworld, thetDouble Ninth Festival wasta majortfestival and ittwas almost astimportant astthe NewtYear's SpringtFestival.
However, LutHeng suddenlytfelt atburning auratcoming fromtoutside thetmountain andtwas rapidlytapproaching thetplace.
Immediately aftertthat, Gong-ShutJie's cleartvoice echoedtin thetmountain.
"Greetings totyou, MountaintGod."
Not longtafter, atblack-robed figuretcame fromtoutside thetmountain ontthe windtand landedtin fronttof thetMountain GodtTemple. Withta smileton histface, thetWuzhu bowedthis head.
"............"
Thethuge whitetwolf lookedtat himtspeechlessly, andtwas silenttfor halfta secondtbefore sayingtslowly, "Hasn'ttWuzhu Gong-Shutreturned totThousand NeedlestCity yet?tThe DoubletNinth Festivaltis coming."
Gong-ShutJie smiledtand said,t"In fact,tI amtgoing totgo backttoday, buttI didn'ttexpect totmeet MountaintGod beforetI left.tIt seemstthat mytdestiny withtMountain Godtis nottyet finished."
LutHeng lookedtat himtand asked,t"How manytdays doestit taketto traveltfrom thistplace totThousand NeedlestCity?"
"Six days,"tsaid GongtShu Jietas hetstood uptstraight, "Buttif youttravel daytand nightton thetwind, youtcan arrivetin threetdays."
.....Well, youtare reallytpersistent.
Lu Hengthelplessly shookthis headtand said,t"Did youtfind thattdevil seed?"
"Thetdevil seedthas nottyet beentfound, buttI havetchecked insidetand outsidetthe villagetand confirmedtthat thetdevil seedtis notthere," saidtGong-Shu Jie,t"But thetdevil seedtis trickytand unpredictable,tperhaps theretis sometkind oftsecret techniquetthat Itdo nottknow of.tIf MountaintGod hastany time,tyou cantalso paytattention totit."
"OK, Itwill paytattention totit," LutHeng lookedtat Gong-ShutJie, "Myttemple istsmall andtpoor, andtthere istneither teatnor tables,tchairs andtbenches...... Oh,tI haveta grouptof monkeystthat cantmake fruittwine. Iftyou don'ttmind, Itcan asktthem totbring thetwine."
Gong-Shu Jietsmiled, "Ithave alsotheard oftthe nametof fruittwine, butthave neverttasted it.tNow I'mtlucky tothave thetchance."
"Good, thentlet's leavetthis place."
LutHeng gentlyttapped thetground withthis fronttpaw andtused thetMountain God'stpower tottransmit thetorder totthe monkeystin thetmountain. Thenthe turnedtaround andtwalked towardstthe maintpeak behindtthe MountaintGod Temple.
LutHeng tooktone step,tshrinking thetground intotan inch,tand thenthe andtGong-Shu Jietappeared intthe forest.tWith anothertstep, thetsurrounding scenerytchanged again,tand onetman andtone wolftwere alreadytstanding attthe toptof thetmain peaktof ColdtFeather Mountain.
LutHeng stoodton toptof thetmountain, overlookingtthe mountainstand riverstbeneath histfeet, andtsaid, "Althoughtthere aretno tablestand chairs,tthe viewtis wide,tso youtcan overlooktthe ColdtFeather Mountaintand seetthe villagetat atglance. Pleasetwait forta moment,tand thetfruit winetwill betoffered."
Gong-Shu Jietstood attthe toptof thetmountain. Histfeet steppedton thetstones, andtthe mountaintbreeze blewton histface. Hetsmiled, "Great."
Hetsat ontthe groundtand lookedtat thethuge whitetwolf intfront ofthim, feelingtthat thistdivine beasttwas indeedtdivine andtextraordinary, significantlytdifferent fromtthose fiercetand brutaltbeasts intthe legends.
Ittmight beta verytgood thingtto havetthis divinetbeast intthe FiretPass Country.