After a brief thought, Shen Luo wrapped the jade pillow with cotton cloth, walked into a forest not far away, and began to collect hay and dead branches in the forest to build a large pile of firewood. After clearing the surrounding grass and trees on the ground, he placed the jade pillow wrapped in cotton cloth on top.
His idea was simple. Since the jade pillow could not be broken by the axe, he would try to burn it with a high fire.
The fire starter he used last time was too weak and its duration was too short.
This time, I must burn it like a big pot. Anyway, ancient books say that evil things are afraid of fire. If there is really something strange in it, maybe if I burn it for a longer time, it will be burned.
Shen Luo took out a fire starter from his arms, unplugged the tube cover, put it to his mouth and blew a few times. Immediately, tiny dots of scarlet fire emerged from it, and a wisp of green smoke floated out.
Just as he bent down and was about to light the firewood, he suddenly thought of something and took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve pocket.
"If there really is evil hiding, it would be safer to use some cinnabar..." Shen Luo murmured, pulled out the cork, poured out some red powder from the bottle, and sprinkled it on the cotton bag along the gaps in the firewood.
Then he lit the firewood with a tinder.
As smoke rose, flames gradually appeared around the jade pillow and gusts of hot air came.
Shen Luo raised his head and glanced at the sky. He saw that the trees were dense and lush all around and the fire was burning very vigorously, with not much smoke coming out. He did not need to worry about attracting the attention of the brothers in the temple.
Most of the dry firewood used to build the fire was pine branches, which contained a lot of oil. They made a crackling sound when burned. Shen Luo squatted beside the fire with his hands clasped around his knees, constantly adding firewood to the fire, fearing that the fire would not be strong enough.
Soon, the layer of cotton cloth was burned to ashes, and the jade pillow inside was naturally exposed. However, there was no sign of burning on it at all, not even blackened, and it still maintained its original dark yellow color.
Shen Luo was not in a hurry. He continued to add firewood while carefully recalling what happened in his dream, trying to see if he could find some clues from it, such as where the place in the dream was.
However, he thought about the experience over and over again, but ultimately found no valuable clues.
After a full half hour, Shen Luo felt that his whole face was dry from being burned by the flames. He used up all the firewood he could pick up within a dozen feet nearby before he finally put out the fire.
He took a reserved fire stick and brushed aside the ashes that were still glowing. The jade pillow was covered with ashes and its original appearance could no longer be seen.
Seeing this, Shen Luo felt more expectant. He picked up the axe and smashed it on the jade pillow.
A muffled "bang" sound!
He hit it with such force that his arms were numb from the shock, but the jade pillow was completely unharmed. Only some of the ashes on the surface were knocked off, revealing its original color.
Shen Luo sighed, no longer feeling surprised.
He used a fire poker to pull out the jade pillow bit by bit and blew away the ashes on the pillow. He saw that the jade pillow had not changed at all compared to before, and there was not even a trace of burns on the surface.