In July, the heat swept across the mountains, roads, and cities. Yan Chixia carried a wooden box and traveled through the woods. He stopped to rest. It was already the official road outside Hegu County. He put away his magic and walked into a tea stall on the side of the road. He asked the waiter for a bowl of cold tea and two steamed cakes.
It was midsummer now, and after the war, the city had regained its former prosperity. The tea sheds and open shops on the roadside were mostly populated by businessmen coming and going for business.
After sitting down to drink tea and eat cakes to fill their stomachs, they naturally talked about what they saw and heard on the journey.
"… Did you go to Qixia Mountain when you came here? Guys, when you go there to buy fish to sell later, you might as well go to the Honglian Temple outside Lujia Village."
Most businessmen believe in temples and worship incense. When they heard what that man said, the merchants and passers-by who were eating and resting around would glance over from time to time.
The person who was speaking was somewhat curious about his familiar companion opposite him.
"I heard about that temple last time I went there. What's wrong?"
"It's very popular. I heard that it was built by Lu Lang of Qixia Mountain himself. Have you heard of Mr. Liu from Wanxia Town? He had seven or eight daughters, and there was no one to inherit his huge fortune. He visited all kinds of temples, but it didn't work. Last month, he went to visit the temple in Qixia Mountain, and his concubine who was expecting gave birth to a big fat boy at the beginning of this month. He was so happy that he walked around outside every day with a birdcage."
"It's really amazing..."
Yan Chixia, with his back to the table where people were talking, picked up the herbal tea, shook his head, drank it in one gulp, ate the steamed bun in a few bites, paid the bill, and continued on his way. He had been in the south for ten years and had a general idea of the location of Mount Qixia. When he came to a fork in the road, he asked people and found out that he had passed Fushui County before dark.
The setting sun shone over the top of the mountain, running parallel to it and even a little ahead of the foothills. Among the lush greenery, the branches and leaves swayed suddenly, and the wind blew up the fallen leaves and swept them ahead.
"Sister, wait!"
Two figures, one red and one white, rode the evil wind across mountains and ridges. The red fox shadow suddenly spoke, and the evil wind that was blowing and sweeping stopped immediately. The red fox demon who spoke pushed aside a cluster of drooping branches and looked at the mountaintops outside the mountain.
"Sister, don't you think this place looks familiar?"
Beside me, a white fox came over and looked at the surrounding mountains. When it looked into the distance, its pupils suddenly shrank and its fox snout slightly cracked.
“… This is where we sisters practiced in the past.”
In the direction of her sight, in the gap between the trees and fields on the distant hillside, there stood a familiar dilapidated building.
"Why are we back here again? Did we go the wrong way?"
The red fox demon tilted her head to look at the white fox. Only in her mind did she know the message given by her grandma. The latter closed her eyes and recalled the memory that did not belong to her.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again and shook his head, saying, "It's in this direction, but we sisters have been here for many years and have never heard of Black Mountain. On the contrary, further south is Qixia Mountain, and we have never heard of any big monsters there."
The two monsters looked outside the mountain in confusion, but the grandma's order was to find the Black Mountain Old Monster. The two monsters had fled to the north in a panic and had run into obstacles everywhere. Only the grandma took them in at the Lanruo Temple. Grandma was a thousand-year-old monster, so they clung to her even more and practiced under her power. Only then did the red fox regain some of its original strength.
At the moment, naturally, no one dared to disobey.
"Qixia... Qixia... When the sun sets, it becomes dark. Sister, maybe Black Mountain is another name for Qixia Mountain. Only grandma knows it."
The white fox told his guess to his sister, and the latter thought about it more and more and felt that it was somewhat reliable. The two demons did not dare to delay any longer and once again rolled up the demon wind and rushed across the foothills.
Whoosh~~ Whoosh~~~
The evil wind made the surrounding trees shake. The two fox-shaped demons ran wildly on the rugged ground with their limbs. With the help of the evil wind, they climbed over a hill in the blink of an eye. In the distance, the setting sun hung between the tops of two huge mountains on a distant horizontal line. The two foxes stretched out their front limbs as before.
As if something was touched, a faint green spiritual halo suddenly spread out in the air. When the two demons rushed in and felt the sudden fluctuation of spiritual energy, they stopped and a wall of light composed of spiritual energy extended out.
Wrapped in evil wind, the red and white demons turned into human forms, as if caught in a trap set by a hunter. They looked around with some panic. The green spiritual energy spread straight to other farther hills, vaguely forming a triangular shape.
"What's going on?!"
"It's a magic circle!"
Just as the two demons were talking in doubt, a childish voice came, as if sensing the presence of demonic energy here.
"Where did you come from, little demon? How dare you come to Qixia Mountain!"
Erhu turned his head and saw a boy of about five or six years old standing not far ahead. He was wearing a light green dress and holding a small gourd in his hand, which he was shaking.
Faintly, Erhu could sense a demonic aura from this little guy.
"It must be the son of the Black Mountain Demon."
The red fox demon glanced at her sister, and quickly bowed to her like a human woman.
"My sister and I came here without permission. We are sorry to bother you, but we are here to find the Black Mountain Demon at the request of my grandmother."
"Black Mountain Demon?"
The little boy tilted his head and thought about it. It seemed that there was no such monster around the master. Apart from the Toad Master, there was only the old hen that was about to become a spirit, and his mother who was guarding Xiaoquan Mountain. There were no other monsters, not to mention this ugly name.
Then, the little hands waved several times.
"No, no, this is Qixia Mountain. There is no Black Mountain Demon you mentioned. If you don't leave now, I will call someone to come!"
The red and white foxes looked at each other and felt a little anxious.
"Demon boy, think about it again. What if your parents didn't tell you? You might as well inform them."
"What demon boy? My name is Mingyue, and I am my master's Taoist child!!"
Although Mingyue is a half-demon, he doesn't like others calling him like that. He raised his little finger and anger appeared on his tender and pretty face.
"Go away! If you don't leave, I'm going to get mad!"
The two sisters couldn't decide whether to leave or stay. They couldn't even run errands properly, and they would definitely be punished by their grandmother if they went back.
"Sister, why don't you just subdue this little boy first, and then go find the Black Mountain Demon."
Hearing his sister's low fox language, the white fox demon quietly bent its hind legs, and at the moment when its eyes narrowed, Mingyue over there raised the small gourd in her hand, and it seemed as if there was a stone inside, and it shook above her head with a "clang clang" sound.
He opened his little mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Uncle Donkey, someone is bullying me!"
The two monsters on the opposite side were stunned for a moment. After a moment, they heard a series of donkey braying coming from a distance, and the mountains under their feet were shaking slightly.
boom!
Crackling—
Two blue-white lightning bolts passed through the gaps between the trees and instantly descended from the sky, directly covering the red and white foxes that had no time to dodge. The lightning flashed in all directions, and the faint shadows of bones could be seen flashing.
There was a rustling sound in the dense grass, and the old donkey came out slowly, chewing some grass. He glanced at the smoking figure lying on the ground, blew out two heavy breaths from his nose and mouth, hummed a few times at the little boy, and swung his bald tail, with electric arcs appearing on his body again.
Rushing towards the two monsters on the ground.