Did I have enough strength to pull chestnuts from the fire and fish up benefits for myself?
I did not.
Li Qiuchen asked himself honestly and arrived at the answer very simply.
If the government soldiers who had come to encircle and suppress the Medicine Master’s followers had been the sort who dragged their feet and merely went through the motions, fighting those Medicine Master followers back and forth on even terms, then he might have had an opportunity to exploit.
But in a one-sided crushing match like this, Li Qiuchen only watched for a short while before realizing there was no need for him to stay.
He had to run.
And he had to run a little faster.
His advantage was that he could move through the mountains and forests unhindered.
Relying on the Medicine Master’s blessing and its control over plants and trees, even if there was no path on the mountain, he could make one for himself, then restore the vegetation to its original state and conceal all traces of his movement.
As for those government cavalrymen…
You say cavalry can’t go up mountains?
Then let me ask you: would proper cavalrymen carry gourds on them and spray fire crows?
Underestimating the enemy was being irresponsible with one’s own life.
I’m still young, and the road of my life is still very long.
Of course, there was also the most important reason: this place was not Jiguan Mountain.
With no powerful thigh to cling to, Li Qiuchen felt no sense of security at all.
He sprinted all the way, crossing several ridges. By the time he saw the sun overhead begin to slant, and after hearing no movement behind him and confirming the surroundings seemed fairly safe, Li Qiuchen finally stopped, sat down, and began recovering his strength.
The stupid bird’s face was filled with contempt.
Coward!
Contempt was one thing, but it did not fly slowly at all, following closely behind Li Qiuchen.
It had no intention whatsoever of charging into Qingshi Terrace to slay demons and eliminate devils.
Perhaps it had spent too much time with him, and its thoughts and values had gradually been assimilated by his.
“Next, I’ll go back and report to the Mountain God. That will settle this matter.”
Li Qiuchen said to the white crane, “I plan to return and enter seclusion to cultivate for a while. The Mountain God said I would encounter an opportunity within half a year, so I’ll wait a few months before going down the mountain again. Calculating it, by then it should be just about winter…”
At this point, he suddenly looked toward the white crane, and a thought surfaced in his mind—one he had completely overlooked before.
“You probably don’t spend winter in the Northern Border, do you?”
Cranes were migratory birds.
“Gah!”
Nonsense. What else?
The white crane proudly stretched out its long neck and gave Li Qiuchen a huge eye roll.
“That’s good, that’s good.”
Li Qiuchen let out a long sigh. “Then I won’t have to prepare corn cobs for you to get through the winter.”
Winter was already hard enough to endure, and this stupid bird was a rice bucket besides…
“Gah—gah!”
The white crane glared fiercely at Li Qiuchen.
Beg me.
Make me happy, and I’ll take you south to play.
“I won’t beg, and I’m not going.”
Li Qiuchen refused decisively.
What a joke. I’m a country bumpkin who hasn’t even figured out which way the county town gate opens, and you want me to travel thousands upon thousands of li south with you?
“Can you carry me on your back and fly me there? If you can, I can consider it.”
Otherwise, are you expecting me to walk there on the soles of my feet?
I might be able to bear it, but could my shoes?
Besides, what if the southern map is higher level, with Nascent Souls walking everywhere and Golden Cores no better than dogs? Wouldn’t a little rookie at the Qi Refining realm like me be going there just to get beaten up?
One must not take steps that are too big, or it is easy to strain the balls.
On the road of life, it was better to be a bit more steady.
Just as Li Qiuchen sat down to rest while conveniently envisioning his future life, a faint tremor suddenly came from the earth beneath his feet.
Li Qiuchen frowned, gave the white crane a look, and quietly rose to his feet, finding a concealed corner to hide his figure.
The tremors underground grew more and more violent. All of a sudden, a thick root burst up from the ground.
From within that root crawled out a disheveled, wretched-looking man, who dropped onto the ground on his backside.
The man appeared to be around forty or fifty years old. His hair and beard were both extremely thick, and he wore a grayish-white monk’s robe, exposing one arm and shoulder. Around his neck hung a string of prayer beads the size of walnuts. He looked just like a wandering mendicant monk, his whole body scorched by smoke and fire, covered in wounds.
His vigilance was extremely strong. No sooner had he sat down and taken a breath than he abruptly turned his head, staring fixedly at the place where Li Qiuchen was hiding, and shouted sternly, “Who’s there? Come out!”
Tsk. Trouble.
Seeing that the other party’s divine sense was powerful and that he could not hide at all, Li Qiuchen braced himself and walked out from behind the tree. Cupping his fists, he smiled and said, “Greetings, Senior.”
The man said coldly, “Who are you? Why are you sneaking around and hiding here?”
Li Qiuchen spread his hands. “Senior, those words are rather unreasonable. This junior was quietly cultivating in these mountains. It was clearly Senior who suddenly appeared here. How is it that you are blaming me instead?”
The man was instantly stunned. Thinking carefully, it did seem to be true…
Then, raising his head and carefully sizing up Li Qiuchen for a moment, he said in surprise, “You are also of the Medicine Master lineage?”
Li Qiuchen nodded. “That is correct. This junior heard that a fellow Daoist expert was gathering people at Qingshi Terrace to expound the teachings. I originally planned to go there and receive the expert’s instruction. Unfortunately, my own strength is low and my traveling speed is too slow, so I don’t know if I can still make it in time for the Dharma assembly.”
“So that’s how it is. Then there’s no need for you to go!”
The man waved his hand. “That expert you speak of is me. My Dharma name is Mohe, and I have cultivated at the Northern Pole Longevity Hall since childhood. This time, I found an immortal opportunity and originally intended to exchange insights with all fellow Daoists. I never expected the news to leak and draw the government’s hawks and hounds. The firearms in those prefectural soldiers’ hands were truly formidable, and they happened to counter the methods of the Medicine Master lineage. They nearly made even me fall in there.”
Li Qiuchen was shocked. “So Senior is Perfected Mohe. This junior has long admired your great name!”
“Come here!”
Perfected Mohe beckoned, but Li Qiuchen did not advance. Instead, he retreated.
What a joke. We’re all fellow Daoists here—who doesn’t know what the other is like?
Seeing that Li Qiuchen was on guard, Perfected Mohe no longer bothered to conceal anything. With a savage laugh, he stood and charged toward Li Qiuchen.
For cultivators who had received the Medicine Master’s blessing, injuries on the body were not important. As long as they could absorb enough life energy, they could rapidly recover from their wounds and restore themselves to their most perfect state.
Either eat grass, or eat meat… or eat people!
The reason Li Qiuchen had not dared to get too close to Qingshi Terrace was, aside from worrying that the government soldiers would not distinguish friend from foe and would suppress him along with the rest, also because he was afraid someone else would secretly strike at him.
He was cautious, and he had restraint, but that did not mean others were the same.
If everyone were civilized and polite, then there would be no heretical devils and evil paths.
At this very moment, in Perfected Mohe’s eyes, Li Qiuchen was a human-shaped mobile blood pack. The life energy gained from swallowing him would definitely be far more efficient than gnawing on grass roots and tree bark.
Li Qiuchen raised his hand and shot out three palm thorns. The wooden spikes accurately struck Perfected Mohe in the face.
But they were completely useless.
The power of the wooden spikes was more than enough to kill ordinary people, but the Perfected Mohe before him was likewise of the Medicine Master lineage, a cultivator who had more or less reached the Foundation Establishment realm.
Shooting wooden spikes into his body was no different from feeding him little snacks.