The Xiezhi scroll fell silent and did not respond. Ji Yuan thought that Xiezhi had nothing to say and was about to roll up the scroll, but Xiezhi said something again.
"Ji Yuan, do you still have two fish?"
Ji Yuan couldn't help but take another look at the Xiezhi on the scroll. Although the ink on the scroll was motionless at this moment and the Xiezhi on it was even lifeless, Ji Yuan had a weird feeling that the other party seemed to be avoiding his sight.
"Don't you always eat raw food without any preparation?"
"I can't help it. Who doesn't want to eat comfortably?"
Xiezhi had only mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect Ji Yuan, who was about to eat half a piece of rice crust so quickly, to nod and say something.
"Next time when I cook these two fish, I will let you eat them together."
"Okay, I still believe what you said about fate!"
Xiezhi's voice was clearly smiling, and he even complimented Ji Yuan in a subtle way before he really fell silent.
"Sir, the tea is ready."
Zao Niang's voice came from the yard. She had cleaned the table and made new tea. Ji Yuan returned to the yard and released the "Sword Intent Post". The little paper crane also crawled out of the brocade bag in Ji Yuan's arms. Finally, a yellow paper man also flew out of the sleeve and turned into golden armor in the yard.
Suddenly, except for Jinjia who stood still quietly after calling out "Your Majesty", the courtyard became noisy again.
In the yard, the honey tea was fragrant, even though the tea used by Zao Niang was old tea. Ji Yuan sat at the table drinking tea, while Zao Niang just sat at the table, neither reading nor tasting tea.
"How is Yaya's cultivation?"
Ji Yuan asked this, and Zao Niang answered truthfully based on her previous impression of Sun Yaya.
"The artistic conception elixir furnace has been ignited. He has magical powers and the five elements are active. He is a true immortal cultivator."
"Well, in just a few years, this achievement can be considered rapid progress. The first step of the transformation of heaven and earth is particularly important. The road ahead will be much smoother."
Seeing that the teacup in Ji Yuan's hand was empty, Zao Niang reached out and picked up the teapot to refill it for him.
"Sir, do you want to meet Sun Yaya and personally test her cultivation? When she came before, I didn't know that you would come back. I only knew that those people were coming, so I told her that you hadn't come back. She probably doesn't know it now."
"That's not necessary. Everyone has his own circumstances. No matter who practices the transformation of heaven and earth, they will not create the same heaven and earth. As long as your mind is not biased, your practice is on the right track."
As for the issue of character, being able to read the Book of Heaven and Earth and practice cultivation, there was absolutely no problem at least at that time.
"Sir, that old monk named Lian, he seems to be very respectful to you?"
Ji Yuan smiled. He was not only respectful, but even too respectful. But in this regard, Ji Yuan was more interested in Tianji Pavilion.
This was not because a long-bearded old man from the Tianji Pavilion was so respectful to Ji Yuan, but because behind this respect lay a considerable possibility. Perhaps the Tianji Pavilion knew or calculated something, and judging from the performance of the long-bearded old man Lian Baiping, it might be something that could not be explained clearly or said directly.
"Indeed, the people in Tianji Pavilion seem to think highly of Ji. Perhaps they can learn what Ji wants to know."
As he said this, Ji Yuan turned his gaze towards the direction of Niu Kui Mountain. At this moment, the sun was gradually setting, the sky was getting dark, the brilliant starry sky of late autumn had appeared in the sky, and a bright moon was hanging in the sky in the direction of Niu Kui Mountain.
"As for that kid, I wonder how his cultivation is going."
Zao Niang knew very well who that boy was referring to, so she spoke directly.
"Over the years, Hu Yun has never come to Ju'an Pavilion once. He must have been practicing hard."
"Um."
Ji Yuan nodded, counted with his fingers, and then a smile appeared on his face again. However, in the second half of the calculation, Ji Yuan's expression gradually became serious. When he finished the calculation, Ji Yuan's eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction of Niu Kuishan.
"Sir, is Hu Yun's state of mind off?"
Zao Niang also cares about Hu Yun very much. It can be said that when she was a jujube tree and her spiritual awareness was first awakened, the first people she recognized were Ji Yuan, Yin Qing and Hu Yun.
"It's not that Hu Yun's mind is out of whack, but that a demon in his heart has come to him."
"Inner demon?"
"Yes, you could say that."
Ji Yuan's words were a riddle, but Zao Niang also vaguely understood what Ji Yuan meant, and was afraid that it was not a mental demon in the conventional sense.
On Niukui Mountain, about three peaks away from the cave where Lu Shanjun originally practiced, there is a small cave only half a person's height. After entering the cave for about seventy or eighty feet, there is a relatively spacious hall in the mountain belly. There are some small stools and bamboo racks, as well as some baskets, which are filled with all kinds of miscellaneous things ranging from rattles to masks, from swords and weapons to coarse linen clothes.
In the center of the hall, there was a cushion, on which sat a red fox with two tails behind it. There was also a small incense burner in front of the cushion, but although the incense ash was thick, there was no sandalwood to light to calm the mind.
Hu Yun sat on a cushion with his front paws forming a qi-gathering seal and his eyes closed. However, his eyelids kept twitching and the expression on his face seemed to be constantly changing.
At this moment, Hu Yun was both practicing and dreaming, and this dream had lasted for a long time.
In the dream of cultivation, all I could see were mountains, endless green hills, and an ordinary red fox was running.
“Woo—”
A sharp cry sounded in the deep mountains. Upon hearing the sound, the red fox trembled all over and ran out of the mountain at an even faster speed. Its limbs were like controlling fire and stepping on clouds, and it turned into a phantom and stepped over a hundred mountaintops in a very short time.
But when the red fox jumped over the peak under its feet and leaped over a mountain, it found that there was an empty plain in the mountains. A tall woman was standing in the center of the open space. She was wearing white clothes, white hair, and a flowing dress. She was looking at the red fox with a smile.
"Little red fox, you're here again?"
"No, I don't want to see you at all. How did you get into my mind, you weird woman?"
As Hu Yun spoke, he stepped back slightly. At that moment, the moon was bright overhead in the mountain. Under the moonlight, nine tails were dancing in the shadow of the woman in white. It was obvious that he knew very well what kind of person this woman was.
"How can you call me Chuang? You led me here yourself."
The woman slowly walked a few steps towards Hu Yun, as if she wanted to reach out and touch him.
"Such a cute and talented little fox is so rare. Your fur is as bright red as fire, which is unique among red foxes. What's even more rare is that, for some reason, I feel that you have the potential to be a nine-tailed fox. You look so friendly and I liked you at first sight. I really like you..."
"I like you, you big-headed ghost. You like me but I don't like you. Get out! Get out, get out of my heart!"
Hu Yun was roaring and growling, but in the woman's eyes, she only saw a cute fox that was showing its teeth and claws, thinking it was ferocious, but in fact all its actions were like a kitten imitating a tiger, so cute.
“The more I watch it, the more I like it!”
The woman stretched out her hand, and one of her hands clearly did not grow longer, nor did her body move any further. However, Hu Yun dodged left and right, feeling that he had no way of avoiding it.
"Roar… "
A tiger roar suddenly sounded in the forest. In an instant, hundreds of birds in the mountains flew away in fright, and countless birds and beasts fled. The breath of a ferocious beast drifted from afar.
With this tiger roar, Hu Yun seemed to have broken free from the state of being controlled. He instantly jumped back several feet and landed on a large rock.
"Tiger, save me, bite her to death, bite her to death!"
"Roar-"
The tiger roar sounded again, and a terrifying tiger slowly walked out of the forest, leaped over the mountain stream, and jumped into the open space. Its tiger eyes stared at the woman in front of it, and the fangs at the corners of its mouth flashed coldly in the moonlight.
"Oh my, there is such a vicious thing hidden in your heart. You want to bite my beautiful sister to death in one go. The more I see you, little fox, the more I like you. Hahahaha..."
"Roar… "
The tiger roared once more and suddenly leaped towards the woman, carrying the mountain wind and the murderous aura straight towards her in the process.
"Kacha... Kalahala..."
The tiger missed its attack, but one of its claws swept across a tree and knocked it down.
"What a powerful tiger... I'm so scared..."
The woman had appeared on the tiger's back without her knowing. The tiger suddenly turned over and raised its head, biting the woman's leg.
"Bang... Boom..."
After a commotion, the woman's legs were intact, but the tiger was trampled into the rocks on the ground, and large mouthfuls of blood spurted out of the tiger's mouth.
"Tiger..."
Hu Yun's face was filled with horror. Although he was in a state of vague perception but not complete self-awareness at the moment, when he saw the tiger being trampled to death, he just thought that the tiger was really dead.
'Sir, sir, only you can save me...'
"Sir, save me!"
Hu Yun shouted, but just thinking about Ji Yuan at this moment, he felt a splitting headache and could only feel a vague breeze blowing. However, the more he wanted Ji Yuan to come out, the more painful it became.
"Little fox, I advise you not to visualize things beyond your abilities. It will be very uncomfortable."
The woman's voice was still gentle, and she stretched out a hand towards Hu Yun again. Hu Yun felt like he had seen a ghost. He vaguely remembered that he was caught by this hand last time and had been in a daze in her arms for a long time.
“Get lost!”
While shouting at others to get out, Hu Yun ran away.
'No, no, I can't invite the master, I can't invite the master... Yin Qing! Master Yin!'
While Hu Yun was running frantically in the mountains, he thought of Master Yin as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw. He remembered that Mr. Ji had said that Master Yin was a great scholar of the time, and his upright character was immune to all evil.
He fled quickly along a hillside, but when he came out of the dense forest again, the woman was standing on the hillside in front again.
"Little fox! Hahahaha..."
"There is a bright moon in the sky, and a lake on the ground like a mirror. Read thousands of books, walk thousands of roads, and keep your mind as clear as water and as bright as the moon, then the dust and dirt will naturally disappear..."
A calm and powerful chanting sound was heard, and the bright moon shone brightly in an instant. The moonlight on the whole mountain was like mercury pouring down. The few dark clouds in the sky were quickly dispersing. A middle-aged man who looked like a scholar, holding a book in one hand, slowly walked down the mountain path, holding a little boy beside him. He looked exactly like Master Yin.
"Master Yin, Yin Qing, this witch wants to catch me!"
When Hu Yun discovered that Master Yin appeared, he suddenly felt a lot more relaxed and immediately ran madly towards the Yin father and son. Yin Qing was still smiling at him.
"Little fox, come here!"
This voice is much more pleasant than that woman's.
At the top of the hill, the woman frowned for the first time.
"Interesting. Have you really seen such a person, or did you create him out of thin air in your mind?"
But the woman soon relaxed her brows.
"It's a pity that you, a little fox, can't comprehend the knowledge and realm of this Confucian scholar. Fake is fake after all!"
"Girl, the so-called truth and falsehood are only one-sided. Reading the books of sages, applying what you learn and integrating knowledge and practice, you have sages in your heart. Although Xiao Hu Yun doesn't like reading, he has also heard the words of sages and applied what he learned. On the contrary, you have no manners and should be punished..."
Master Yin held the book and smiled, walked to the girl, took out a ruler and waved it gently at her.
"Bang..." "Boom..."
The woman stretched out her hand to block the ruler, but her feet sank three feet into the ground. The whole mountain was rumbling and shaking, and there were signs of it gradually collapsing.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
The woman was hit by the foot and retreated rapidly. Every step she took made a deep pit on the ground and every step she took made the mountain shake. She stopped only after taking more than ten steps and looked up at the scholar on the hillside.
"Hehe, it's still fake after all!"
With a sneer, the scholar who had struck out with a ruler turned into mist and disappeared on the hillside.
"Master Yin! Master Yin! Don't go—"
Hu Yun waved his claws, but couldn't catch the dispersing mist. Only Yin Qing was left by his side. The red fox looked up at the little boy beside him.
"Yin Qing, run! I'll stop her! Go find the master, go find the master!"
The red fox jumped in front of the little boy, but this time he didn't run away.
"Hey, little fox, you're not running away anymore? That scholar really scared me just now!"
The woman came over with a smile, and at this time, little Yin Qing behind Hu Yun laughed in her clear voice.
"Looking for Mr.? Isn't Mr. right there?"
Hu Yun was stunned for a moment and turned to look to the side. A man in a wide-sleeved green shirt was standing not far away. The black jade hairpin on his head shone with jade light under the moonlight, and he was nodding at them with a smile.
"Little fox, why do you have so many messy things in your mind, hahaha..."
The woman covered her mouth and chuckled. This little fox really brought a lot of fun.
... ...
PS: My dog, who just got home two days ago, has been vomiting and having diarrhea. It’s canine coronavirus. It took a whole day to check and treat him. Today I will just have one chapter with 4K words.