Watching Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger depart, Lin Chan felt as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders and finally relaxed completely.
They said that serving a ruler was like living beside a tiger; that alone showed how great the pressure of keeping company with a tiger was.
Leaving everything else aside, the oppressive force brought by its sheer size was enough to make one shudder.
Fortunately, it was all over.
By then, the fire they had lit earlier had long gone out, but the sky was gradually brightening.
After spending the entire night chatting nonsense with Four Eyes, Lin Chan had not had a moment to rest.
Nor was it time to rest now. Lin Chan packed up his bundle, then glanced at Little Li and Little White.
Little Li was still sleeping soundly, while Little White had already recovered and circled around Lin Chan.
"You two really had it good, gaining such a stroke of fortune for nothing."
Lin Chan looked at Little White and said enviously.
He did not know what was in the blood mist Four Eyes had spat out, but it was surely something beneficial to demons.
He picked up Little Li and set it atop the bundle on his back before walking out of the Broken Temple.
After traveling for half a day, Lin Chan came upon a settlement and stopped there to rest for a while. Having gone the whole night without sleep, he was already in poor condition.
He bought some food, ate, and was just about to rest when a ghostly figure drifted into the guest room.
"It's you!"
Lin Chan recognized him as the Daoist Robe Youth named Zu Moyan.
This Grief Ghost had come looking for him with no good intentions. Lin Chan immediately went on guard.
Little Li and Little White also stared at him like tigers eyeing their prey.
"You're going to Shu Mountain in search of immortals? There's no need for such trouble. This Daoist master will pass all his lifelong cultivation and memories on to you right now."
As Zu Moyan spoke, he charged at Lin Chan with lightning speed.
He had originally intended to secretly possess Lin Chan in the shadows, but the cat and White Dog at Lin Chan's side had remained vigilant. He could only come at him head-on.
Zu Moyan might have been a kind and decent man in life, but after becoming Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger's Grief Ghost for several years after death, devouring other spirits within its belly, and often luring people into evil, his temperament had long changed beyond recognition.
Compared with other Grief Ghosts, Zu Moyan's spirit body was much stronger. Even less willing to simply fade away, he had secretly followed Lin Chan, intending to possess him.
Seeing Zu Moyan fly at him, Lin Chan immediately circulated his blood and qi, drawing his blade in the same instant and slashing at him.
"Heh heh! This Daoist master isn't so easily bullied."
Spirit bodies moved with extreme speed, and Zu Moyan easily dodged Lin Chan's slash.
Just as Zu Moyan was about to reach for Lin Chan, Little White had already pounced in front of him, clamping its jaws around his spirit body and biting down hard.
Zu Moyan had never expected an ordinary white dog to be able to bite him. Shocked, he fled downward.
Little White refused to loosen its grip, forcibly dragging him out through the floorboards, while Little Li lunged in to tear at him as well.
Little Li was already imbued with Moonlight Essence, and with the small stroke of fortune Four Eyes had given it, it easily tore open Zu Moyan's spirit body too.
Lin Chan had been alarmed for nothing. Seeing Little White and Little Li tear Zu Moyan apart until he shrieked like a ghost, he did nothing but stand aside and watch the show.
"I was wrong, I was wrong, young sir! Spare my life!"
"Spare my life! I can reveal my cultivation technique and take you to cultivate at the Lingjing Sect."
"I am a disciple of True Person Qingxiao of the Lingjing Sect. I can beg my master to take you as his disciple!"
"..."
Not until Zu Moyan's spirit body had completely dissipated did Lin Chan so much as stir.
That man had tried to harm him more than twice. How could Lin Chan possibly believe his words?
Cultivation techniques were indeed tempting, and becoming the disciple of an immortal was indeed something people yearned for.
But there were far too many ways to tamper with such things.
A cultivation technique only needed a slight alteration to kill someone. Even if nothing went wrong on the road and he reached the Lingjing Sect, Zu Moyan could still join forces with its people to turn black into white and white into black.
Risk lurked everywhere. Lin Chan would not fall for that man's scheme.
"I did receive Four Eyes' favor, though."
Little White being able to bite Zu Moyan, that Grief Ghost, was clearly thanks to the fortune Four Eyes had bestowed upon it.
After stroking Little Li and Little White, Lin Chan walked over to the bed.
Then Lin Chan's own body lay down to sleep, while he used Little Li's body to climb onto the roof, cultivating by Absorb Moon while keeping watch over the surroundings.
Over the next month or so, Lin Chan crossed mountains and ridges until he finally reached the Shu Mountains, where he stopped at a large city by the mountains.
I'll rest properly today and eat my fill. Tomorrow, I'll enter the mountains.
Arriving before a restaurant, Lin Chan thought to himself.
"Waiter! Bring wine!"
The moment he entered, Lin Chan spoke boldly.
When he had set out this time, he had brought ten taels of gold and several dozen taels of silver. After all the food, drink, and lodging along the way, nearly all of it had been spent.
Today, he intended to spend his last tael of gold. Once he entered the mountains, these yellow and white things might no longer have any use.
Most of that money had been spent on food and drink.
At first, Lin Chan himself had eaten the most.
After encountering Four Eyes, Little Li and Little White received Four Eyes' help. Whether it had awakened their bloodline or something else, they had grown again, and their appetites had increased as well.
Little White in particular was nearly catching up with Lin Chan.
One man, one cat, and one dog—if they ate to their hearts' content, they could consume several taels of silver worth of meat in one meal.
Among eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, eating was placed first among the four great vices. That showed just how formidable it was.
But it was all worth it. Little White had not eaten all that food for nothing. It had grown from just over sixty jin at the beginning to more than a hundred jin now, enough for Lin Chan to ride it around for a bit.
Seeing such a huge dog, the waiter said fearfully:
"Guest, your dog..."
"What? Your establishment doesn't allow dogs inside?"
Lin Chan looked at the waiter. He had visited so many establishments and had never encountered one that barred dogs from entering. This was not his previous life.
"It's nothing. Your honored dog is simply so large that this little one is somewhat afraid."
The waiter forced himself to say it.
Lin Chan was not evil by nature either. He patted Little White on the head and had it obediently lie beneath the table so it would not frighten anyone.
Afterward, the waiter recited a string of dish names for Lin Chan to order from, and Lin Chan ordered more than half of the meat dishes.
"Guest! With so many dishes, can you finish them all by yourself?"
Seeing Lin Chan order nearly ten jin of food, the waiter worried. If he did not pay afterward, that would be a disaster.
"You doubt my financial means?"
Lin Chan set down the blade in his hand, took out his last bit of broken gold, and tossed it to the waiter.
"This little one will have the kitchen prepare your dishes as quickly as possible!"
Catching the gold, the waiter immediately said.
While waiting, Lin Chan took out the map and studied it carefully.
In truth, he possessed the talent of Eidetic Memory and had long committed everything on the map to memory. The map was dispensable; even if he lost it, it would not matter. But Lin Fangzheng had helped him find it, so he had always kept it carefully.
With nothing else to do, he took out the map and leafed through it.
Before long, the waiter brought over some wine and dishes.
"Guest! Please drink and have some cold dishes first. The rest will be out shortly. Here is your change in silver; please take it."
Lin Chan accepted the silver and waved the waiter away.
The wine was all sweet yellow wine, which Lin Chan drank like a sweet beverage. He even poured a bowl for Little White and Little Li.
Before all the dishes had arrived, another group entered the restaurant. At their head was a noble-looking youth, followed by a delicate book servant, while five tall, sturdy men guarded the two at their sides.
Lin Chan swept his gaze over the group a few times and noticed that the five burly men had steady, restrained auras. They all seemed to be innate realm experts.
The closer one got to the Shu Mountains, the more experts there were. Lin Chan did not make trouble, merely waiting for all the food and wine to arrive as he ate his own meal.
While waiting for his dishes, the noble youth chatted with his book servant and attendants while sizing up the surroundings. Suddenly, he noticed Little White lying on the ground, gnawing on a bone.
"I've never seen such a huge dog. Let's go over and have a look!"
As the youth spoke, he rose and walked toward Lin Chan's table, his guards immediately following behind him.
"Young hero, you certainly have quite the appetite, eating so many dishes all by yourself."
Looking at the empty plates on the table, the youth sighed in admiration.
A person like this was clearly excellent material for martial arts—able to eat so much, with such a fine physique besides.
"I was born a starving ghost. Forgive the laugh."
Lin Chan said with a smile.
"Not at all. Young hero, you look like a great talent of the martial path. By the way, your dog appears extraordinary. Where did you get it? I would like to raise one as well."
After a few words, the youth finally revealed his true intentions, the dagger finally laid bare.
"It's only a common mongrel raised at home."
"Young hero, would you be willing to part with it?"
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