About a quarter of an hour later, Ji Yuan took Jin Xiu and Aze and left Jiufeng Mountain, flying towards the depths of Jiufeng Cave Heaven. Because he brought the token, the fog in the mountain would automatically avoid Ji Yuan, and the restrictions of Jiufeng Mountain's formation would not react at all.
After staying in the mountains for two months, even though Jin Xiu occasionally took Zhuang Ze for walks, he was always alone most of the time. Now when he came down the mountain, Aze was obviously in much better spirits than before.
"Mr. Ji, I have been in the mountains for more than two months. Sister Jin said that one day in the mountains is equivalent to ten days down there. Doesn't that mean I have been in Duyang for two years? My parents' graves, as well as A-Long and the others..."
Aze is in a complicated mood now, with both anticipation and uneasiness coexisting. In fact, Ji Yuan has only known about the changes in time in Jiufeng Cave Heaven not long ago. After hearing Aze's words, he had to comfort him.
"The cemetery is right over there. Nothing will happen. As for your friends, you have to believe that good things will happen to you. You all have survived the war and passed through the Qingtian Mountain while starving. You will definitely be better off in Duyang."
"Um… "
Jin Xiu on the side was looking around. She rarely had the opportunity to go down the mountain. She was even more excited than Aze. She kept talking to Zhuang Ze and discussing some human matters.
Ji Yuan was looking into the distance, thinking about the speed of time in the Nine Peaks Cave Heaven. In fact, any cave heaven could not be separated from the real outer world. After all, the sun, moon, and stars were either not real or connected from the outer world. No matter how the cave heaven was formed, it was better to say that it was part of the real world rather than a separate world. It was just that places like the cave heaven were separated from the outer world as much as possible with great magical powers, so that the influence between the two was continuously reduced as much as possible.
The same is true for Jiufeng Cave Heaven. The speed of time should be the same as on Jiufeng Mountain and the same as the outside world, but the time in the "lower world" of the cave heaven is ten times faster than that in the upper world. This is obviously the method used by the masters of Jiufeng Mountain throughout the ages, and it was done intentionally.
It is not difficult to imagine the purpose of doing this. Some precious natural materials such as exotic flowers and plants can be cultivated in a shorter time with the help of this great magical power. In addition, there are almost no monsters in the cave, and there are special mountain gods and land gods to guard it. In the long run, the benefits will be considerable.
As for the mortals in the cave, in theory, it is not affected much. In this kind of self-contained environment, they can still reproduce and live their lives without feeling any shortage. And as time goes by, there will always be some geniuses among the mortals, who can also be included in the Jiufeng Mountain to inherit the Taoist tradition. For example, Jin Changdong is a typical example.
The white clouds had already passed through the cloud layer that separated the nine peaks, and the sight of the towering Qingtian Mountain could be seen. Ji Yuan's thoughts also gradually faded away along with his sight.
Being able to change the time in the cave, Jiufeng Mountain must have a profound foundation, but doesn't this mean that it has distorted part of the time and space of the real world by borrowing the power of the cave? Even if the impact is small, it can't be nothing at all, right
"Master Ji, what are you thinking about?"
Jin Xiu's voice rang in his ears, bringing Ji Yuan back to his senses. He looked at the girl and smiled.
"Nothing, we will be out of the mountains soon. Aze, your hometown is in the north, right?"
"Well, Mr. Ji, fly lower, I will show you the way!"
This young man is really generous. If anyone else were to be carried flying in the sky like this, besides being excited, they would definitely be more afraid. Even though they know that there are immortals around who will not fall, fear of heights is human nature and they will not be very calm.
"Okay, don't take the wrong road. Also, don't keep calling me Immortal Master. Call me Mr. Ji like Aze. It sounds better."
Jin Xiu's face lit up with joy and she quickly agreed.
"Xiu'er knows, Mr. Ji!"
When he first came here, Aze traveled through mountains and rivers for several months and suffered a lot, but he still couldn't see the Nine Peaks of the Sky. But now, standing on the white clouds and leaving with Ji Yuan, it felt like less than half an hour had passed and he could already see the scenery outside the mountain.
There is actually a big difference between looking at the road when you are in the air and when you are on the ground. It is easy to see it wrong without special adaptation. At least Aze often fails to recognize the road. Fortunately, Mr. Ji seemed to know the road at all. Until Aze saw the familiar scenery of his hometown, Mr. Ji did not ask for directions.
Looking at the position of the sun, it is noon at this moment, and Jiyuan’s white clouds are setting outside the village of Aze’s hometown.
As soon as they landed, a foul smell hit their noses. Jin Xiu frowned and covered her mouth and nose subconsciously. Even Aze was obviously a little uncomfortable. On the contrary, Ji Yuan, who had the most sensitive sense of smell, looked indifferent.
"Let's go and pay respect to your family."
Ji Yuan glanced around, and although everything was basically blurry, he could tell that this was an ordinary village with low buildings. Many houses must have collapsed, and some were burned down.
At first glance, it seems that there is a vibrant scene everywhere, with weeds and green leaves everywhere, but in fact there are corpses everywhere. Some have long been turned into bones, and some have dried up. Most of the places with lush vegetation have corpses, and the lingering stench also comes from there.
The three of them walked into the village, startling a flock of crows.
"Ah ah ah ah ah… "
“Patta, patta…” “Patta, patta, patta…”
“Ah…ah…ah…” “Ah…”
…
At first there were only a few, then a small group and then a large flock. So many crows flapped their wings and flew up. Jin Xiu, a cultivator, was frightened by these crows. He subconsciously shrank back and raised his hands to block them. When he saw that Ji Yuan and A Ze were fine, he pretended to be fine with a flushed face.
The three of them walked into the village. Aze's expression began to become dazed, as if he had seen the tragic scene at that time. Jin Xiu stopped talking, and Ji Yuan was observing everywhere.
At least several hundred people died in this village. Except for the relatives buried by Aze and his friends, the rest were piled up in the original place. This village is so remote, and it was an accident like a war. I'm afraid the ghosts couldn't arrive in time when people died.
Except for those who have been buried, the rest of the dead will probably become ignorant wandering ghosts for a while. They may not know to hide from the sunlight at the beginning. It’s okay if they have their own corpses to hide from, but after the corpses have rotted away, they may not know how to hide.
Ji Yuan looked up at the sky. This sun was not the sun from the outer world, but even so, the power of the sun was real. These dead souls were killed by the war, and they might be killed by the sunlight. If they escaped, they would be wandering ghosts. There must be strong resentment around the corpses, and some evil things might breed. This is one of the origins of the saying that there must be evil spirits when there is chaos in the world.
But now, there doesn't seem to be any strong resentment. Is that really the case? Or has someone disappeared
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes, and then they opened wider and wider. The color of the world seemed to change slightly in his eyes, and the surrounding green scenery also distorted and changed into several layers of gray light.
Finally, Ji Yuan looked up at the sky, and the power of the sun swept towards the earth like wisps of fluctuating flames.
"Mr. Ji, this is the grave of my parents and grandfather."
When Aze's voice came, Ji Yuan retracted his gaze and looked forward. While walking, they had unknowingly arrived at the back of the village. There were a dozen small mounds of earth here, which should be the graves that the five people had dug for their relatives. There were even crooked wooden signs in front of the tombs, but because they were illiterate, there was no sign indicating whose grave it was.
If this incident happened online in the internet age where people could criticize anything, there would definitely be people who would criticize why they only buried their own relatives and not the whole village. But Ji Yuan would definitely understand that mental state, physical state and the danger of the surroundings are all important factors. Even if they really wanted to bury them all together, the pit for five people would not have been dug yet and the bodies would probably have rotted.
After saying this, Aze trotted over, and knelt down in front of the two mounds of earth in front.
"Dad, Mom, Grandpa! Aze is here to see you, Aze is here to see you!"
As he spoke, Aze continued to kowtow to the ground. Even though it was originally a muddy ground, there were some small stones on it. In addition, he kowtowed so hard that his forehead soon got a cut. But Aze still did not stop until he felt a little dizzy and his body was shaking, and he was forced to stop.
Ji Yuan sighed and looked towards the land temple not far away. He could tell at a glance that it was an empty temple with no land god in charge.
Jin Xiu squatted down and supported Aze, saying with relief.
"It's a good thing you buried them all, otherwise they might not have made it to the underworld."
Ji Yuan frowned in the back. In the current situation, the ghost might not come to pick him up. He secretly observed the tomb and calculated, and finally found out that there was a hidden connection between the tombs. The owner of the tomb must be in the underworld.
"Okay, let's make some offerings, light some incense and candles, and we'll go straight to the underworld to find them."
As Ji Yuan spoke, he waved his sleeves, and fruits, cakes and other items flew out of his sleeves and were neatly arranged in front of the dozen or so tombs. A few incense sticks also appeared on the side.
"Thank you, Mr. Ji!"
Aze wiped his tears and the blood from his forehead, picked up the incense and candles on the ground, Jin Xiu pinched a flame to help him light it, and then they stuck them in front of the tomb. While Aze was paying homage, Ji Yuan stood a little further away and watched, his thoughts still continuing.
Just by coming to this village, Ji Yuan had some vague ideas and guesses in his mind, but unfortunately they were just guesses without any basis.
Jiufeng Mountain developed the cave with great supernatural power, and also gave it a powerful "self-purification" ability to prevent the generation of evil spirits. Without evil spirits, there would naturally be no evil things, at most there would be some ghosts.
Perhaps this has been fine for a long time. If Aze had not appeared, Ji Yuan might have marveled at the magic of the cave's "self-purification" ability, but Aze's appearance shows that this is not a problem.