However, when the Mountain God bowed with cupped hands in greeting Ji Yuan decided not to take advantage of his advantageous position: he also bowed with cupped hands in return at the same time. After the Mountain God had finished speaking, he immediately immediately replied.

“Please don’t blame me, Mountain God Hong. I couldn’t call you, so I had to use this method to invite you here as a last resort!”

Ji Yuan can only try to make his tone seem sincere. After all, the current situation was rather awkward, and it would be easy for the Mountain God to be left with a bad impression that he was settling the score.

Without waiting for the Mountain God of Tingqiu Mountain to overthink it, Ji Yuan continued to speak.

“Does Mountain God Hong know the rumors about Tianji Pavilion’s divination?”

The Mountain God Hong Shengting glanced at the evil old cultivator on the ground and answered truthfully.

“Of course I know of it. Does the Lord Immortal believe this person came here due to that rumor?”

Ji Yuan thought it over for a moment.

“That may not necessarily be the case. Dazhen is a peaceful country; even if there are demonic cultivators who are plotting to usurp this rumored opportunity, they would do their best to follow along the path designated by fate. If such people wished to practice evil techniques like the Ghost Mother of Nine Children, they would only bring calamity upon themselves if they aren’t careful.”

The Mountain God couldn’t help but glance at this immortal cultivator in front of him, taking in the fact that he seemed to be blind. All he could do was think to himself: ‘Lord Immortal, it was you who became his calamity.’

Ji Yuan also glanced at the man on the ground, and continued after a brief pause.

“Judging from this person’s condition, he may not know all that much about the rumors of Tianji Pavilion. Instead, don’t you think he may have been used as a pawn by others, in an attempt to test us with evil methods?”

The Mountain God frowned. Was the man on the ground truly his old acquaintance? The man had once lived in Tingqiu Mountain for over a decade, and had given him much help. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have possessed this Mountain God Stone.

However, upon returning this final time, he had actually found a place with demonic miasma to practice, and cultivated evil techniques. The inconsistency was quite strange.

Of course, from the perspective of land gods like the Mountain God of Tingqiu Mountain, who were hardly ever worshipped and barely received any incense power, they didn’t care what kind of methods people cultivated, so long as they didn’t disturb his Tingqiu Mountain. In any case, every supernatural technique had its own method, perhaps it was just something different.

If the Lord Immortal had summoned him at this time to question him, then the Mountain God would naturally reveal all of these considerations to him, but since he hadn’t asked, he wouldn’t risk appearing hypocritical and mentioning them.

With these thoughts in mind, the Mountain God could hardly wait to hear his next words, so he went ahead and asked.

“Then, Lord Immortal, you have summoned me here, is there anything you wish to ask of me?”

Ji Yuan bowed again to the Mountain God.

“I do have a presumptuous request…”

Ji Yuan accepted his bow in return¹ and looked to the north, where the Tingqiu Mountain range stretched on endlessly.

“At this time, the rumors of Tianji Pavilion are still unclear, but many people are concerned about them. If they just wanted to take a look at Dazhen, it would be fine. But it’s disgusting to see this rat-like person under your feet.”

In truth, the man on the ground was was quite skilled in cultivation. Without the Green Vine Sword, Ji Yuan would not have dared to confront him head-on. Nonetheless, it was no surprise for Ji Yuan to belittle him as a rodent.²

Ji Yuan paused for a while before continuing.

“Tingqiu Mountain is located on the northern border of Dazhen. It is an insurmountable natural barrier for mortals, and it would take a long time for cultivators to cross. It would be best if Mountain God Hong could pay attention to it, and even give a reminder to those individuals who are not on the right path.”

The Mountain God looked to the north thoughtfully.

“What do you mean, Immortal? After the power of the Immortal’s Heaven-Rending Sword today, would there still be such foolish people as the man under your feet?”

The Mountain God now assumed that the immortal had more or less intended to deter the individuals with evil intent with his display just now. As a mountain god, it was naturally impossible for him to fail to notice the Qi in the distance just now.

“Haha, the Mountain God’s words are indeed one possibility. For example, a True Demon who had suffered a great loss at my hands and the hands of the Dragon Lord of the Tongtian River would not dare show up again in Dazhen, but given his temperament, he must be extremely antagonistic. Even this evil cultivator may have the shadow of his actions behind him.”

His words left a lot to the imagination, but Ji Yuan stopped there.

The pregnant woman who was neither human nor ghost was probably a native of Dazhen. In this manner, she had cultivated the demonic ghost path at the border of Dazhen, and when she had grown strong enough, she hid in the far reaches of the country’s wilderness, so that she could act how she pleased.

This was indeed one way to get around the blood oath. However, the timing was off, as the pregnant woman had a total of seven ghost children, with another in her belly. It wasn’t possible to have achieved his level of strength in just a few years. It was only in recent years that someone had been discovered with their heart dug out and eaten, causing mass panic.

After much deliberation, it might still have been a coincidence. The old man received the evil method, and chose a favorable location to refine it. In the second half of this year, he seemed to be a little impatient due to various happenings — or perhaps the pregnant woman had a bad temperament and something went wrong, leading to the series of incidents in which Du Heng and others were ambushed in the north, followed by Ji Yuan’s arrival.

However, Ji Yuan merely considered these points to himself, and did not elaborate to the Mountain God in detail. Therefore, the Mountain God of Tingqiu Mountain was still thinking about the “truth of the Tao hidden behind the conflicts,” following the meaning indicated by Ji Yuan’s words.

The Mountain God thought about it for a while, but he still accepted it. The current situation was stronger than could be dealt with by individuals alone.

“Since the Lord Immortal has entrusted me with this task, I will sleep less and pay more attention to it.”

This kind of thing was just a verbal agreement. Ji Yuan did not truly expect this Mountain God, who utterly lacked interest in the affairs of the world outside his mountain range, to work hard, but at least it would have some small effect.

Afterwards, Ji Yuan chatted with the Mountain God a bit more about the evil old man, and then they left separately. One fled back into the mountains, while the other picked up the unconscious demonic cultivator and the pregnant woman still under the immobilization technique, and brought them to Tingshui county.

. . .

In the inn in Tingshui County, all the men and warriors were a little anxious. Even Du Heng couldn’t help but worry.

Several days had passed, and Mr. Ji had not returned yet. He had been chasing such a strange, evil creature, and he was afraid that some unexpected calamity might occur.³

The broken roof and walls of the inn had been repaired with the help of the warriors on a day when it hadn’t snowed.

The government of Tingshui County had also sent people to look at the murder case at the inn. Although the inn servant’s account made several of the constables terrified, they could only identify it as a bandit.⁴ At most, they would only make a note: the inn found someone they suspected was a demon.

Since several of the warriors said that the other party had been beaten back, while the others said it had been chased away, the constables did not want to move about in the winter. They didn’t want to stay in this unlucky inn, either, so they had already retreated. Now the entire inn consisted of its original staff, minus the one unlucky servant.

It was nighttime. Du Heng and the others, as well as the original innkeeper and servant, were eating at the tables in the lobby on the first floor. During this period of time, everyone ate and lodged right next to each other; no one wanted to be alone.

Strictly speaking, it was only evening, but it grew dark quickly along the northern border in this season. With the heavy snow, it was almost pitch black outside.

The people at the table ate absent-mindedly. The howling of the blizzard outside continued. It was likely that it would continue all night.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

The knock on the door startled everyone. Several of the warriors couldn’t help but grab their weapons.

“Young Master Du, it’s Mr. Ji, I’m back!”

Ji Yuan’s peaceful voice sounded. Many people in the inn felt relieved, but they remained vigilant.

“Brother Li, let’s open the door!”

Li Tongzhou nodded. He left the seat alongside Du Heng, walked to the door, and carefully pulled open the bolts. The door of the inn was immediately blown open by the force of the wind and snow.

“Whooooo… whooooooo…”

The strong wind blew in, carrying snowflakes inside. Ji Yuan still stood at the door in an elegant white robe. Two people were bound by some kind of transparent silk thread, lying to the left and right of his feet. One of them was the woman, who seemed to be neither human nor ghost.

“Mr. Ji! Are you alright? Come in and warm up!”

Ji Yuan waved his hand.

“I won’t come inside. I just came here to let you see these two demons, so you can rest at ease. You all recognize this woman, the one next to her is her master. There was no one else besides them.”

At this point, Ji Yuan glanced at the dishes in the hall and sniffed his nose.

Du Heng reacted quickly. Seeing that Mr. Ji did not intend to come in, he immediately ran back to the table and brought of back a jar of wine, and took out a roast chicken that no one had touched yet, alongside the plate.

“Mr. Ji, Tingshui County’s Blade Roast⁵ is not a famous wine, but it warms up the body. There is also this roast chicken, which we haven’t touched! “

The Wei family had sent a letter to Du Heng long ago, informing him that although Mr. Ji was not addicted to alcohol, he was actually a good drinker, and would not be too picky about wine.

Ji Yuan didn’t refuse. He smiled and directly held the plate with the roast chicken in one hand, and put the Blade Roast wine on the plate. If he changed his clothes, he would look like a waiter.

“Okay then. I will be taking my leave now. We will meet again if it is fated.”

As he spoke, Ji Yuan took something that looked like a green bamboo pole from beside the door. Then he casually picked up the two people on the ground, one with the big end and the other with the tapered end, and carried the whole on his shoulders. The thin bamboo rod that was being used as a pole bent greatly with the weight, but it did not break.

With one hand holding the plate of roast chicken and the wine jug, and the other holding the bamboo pole, Ji Yuan walked briskly into the night wind and snow, and quickly disappeared.

Even though it was cold at the door, the people who had gathered around waited for a long time without dispersing.

“A fishing rod!”

“Huh?”

“I said, it was a fishing rod, and those people were probably tied up with fishing line!”

Du Heng said these inexplicable words, then smiled at the others.

“It’s freezing, close the door. We’ll have a good night’s sleep tonight!”

At this point, the others returned to their senses and relaxed. As for such miraculous people like Mr. Ji traveling about on a snowy night, they obviously didn’t need to worry about it.

Their tense nerves eased, and the atmosphere in the hall changed from its recent gloomy state, becoming very warm…

1. T/n: they’re really just bowing back and forth
2. T/n: brief moment of silence for my friend’s pet rat, who is actually really really cute and we’re both sad that rats get such a bad rap
3. Lit: “three long and two short,” refers to an unexpected calamity or accident especially fatal ones. It’s theorized that it could refer to: 1) the coffin box, which is made of 2 long sides and 3 short sides; 2) incense divinations, where the most dangerous one is 3 long and 2 short (but it’s the opposite…); 3) a historical swordsman
4. T/n: LOL RIP, lady was casually destroyed by JY and then downgraded to bandit. Couldn’t be me XD But also, remember that in this world most people aren’t aware of the supernatural beyond widespread faith
5. A blade roast is the name of a cut of meat (from the shoulder of the cow), but I guess it’s also the name of this wine. A lot of translation confusion

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read