Chapter 50: Don't Think About Endless Matters Beyond Your Body (Seeking Monthly Votes) - The Book of Strange Tales

Two Junior Sisters stood in front of Lin Jue, one on the left and one on the right, with a gap between them. Beside each of them, an archer had already nocked an arrow, waiting for their signal.

Both Junior Sisters looked extremely serious.

"I'll ask, you answer."

Lin Jue said to them, holding his saber.

The two Junior Sisters remained silent and solemn.

"What is Master's name?"

"He Xianyu!"

The two Junior Sisters spoke simultaneously. Upon hearing each other's voice, they turned their heads at the same time and exchanged a glance.

"Cloud Crane Taoist!"

They said, almost at the same time again, with the same tone.

"Huh?"

Lin Jue found it strange and pondered the reason, but didn't stop asking: "Where did we meet?"

"On the road!"

The two Junior Sisters exchanged a glance and added simultaneously:

"At the foot of Mount Langtou!"

Exchanging another glance, the two Junior Sisters frowned deeply, their expressions growing even more serious.

"Drank the Thousand Day Wine!"

"Don't speak at the same time, answer separately. The next question will be answered by the one on the left, the second question by the one on the right," Lin Jue said thoughtfully. "Where did the Thousand Day Wine come from?"

The two Junior Sisters, however, were both greatly alarmed at the same time.

"Senior Brother, I can't tell left from right!"

"Then, whoever I point to, that person answers," Lin Jue said helplessly. "If you can't figure it out, I'll tie you both up until Third Senior Brother returns, or until morning."

"Okay!"

Lin Jue pointed to the left. "You answer first!"

"Mountain Lord!"

Lin Jue then pointed to the right. "Who did we meet later?"

"Wolf Demon!"

Lin Jue's brow furrowed even tighter.

The two Junior Sisters also fell silent, then both showed expressions of thought, and then looked up simultaneously.

"Senior Brother, it knows what we're thinking."

"Ask again."

"Don't think of the answer when you ask."

"Clever!" Lin Jue wanted to nod at his Junior Sisters, but didn't know which was which, so he withdrew his hand. He then pointed to the left and quickly thought of a question to ask, "What is Fifth Senior Brother's name?"

As soon as he finished asking, he immediately calmed his mind and cleared his thoughts.

For an ordinary person, this might be difficult, and even for someone just starting their cultivation, it wouldn't be easy. However, Lin Jue had been practicing the Qi Nourishing Method for a long time, so it was simple for him.

"Jing Qi."

The Junior Sister on the left answered seriously.

As soon as she finished speaking, she lowered her head, closed her eyes, and cleverly adopted the method of thinking wildly to prevent her thoughts from being read.

"What about Seventh Senior Brother?"

Lin Jue then pointed to the Junior Sister on the right.

"Women can't be officials but can cultivate to become Immortals. Women must marry, but if they become female Taoist priests, they don't have to. When I cultivate to become an Immortal in the future and learn the Crushing Stone, no one will dare to throw me into the river..." The Junior Sister on the right's mouth moved, and she muttered in a clear, high-pitched voice at an extremely fast speed. However, as she muttered, she gradually realized something was wrong, her voice grew lower and lower, almost continuing out of inertia.

"I wouldn't have to be called to work every day. I could work whenever I wanted... I also... wouldn't have to... be sold..."

She couldn't continue until she completely stopped speaking.

"Bang!"

The Junior Sister suddenly transformed into a monstrous bird. No injuries were visible on its body, except for a patch of crimson where Lin Jue had sprayed it with pure Yang energy.

"Swish..."

An arrow shot out, piercing it directly.

Another gout of flame spewed forth.

"Caw!!"

Amidst sharp screams, a cloud of black smoke and foul stench dispersed. The monstrous bird gradually turned into ashes and vanished without a trace.

Lin Jue waved his hand, summoning a gentle breeze.

The stench was blown out of the ancestral hall.

The crowd was still shaken, unable to recover their senses.

Lin Jue looked at the Junior Sister, frowning. "Junior Sister, what strange things were you thinking about just now?"

The Junior Sister, though shorter than him, looked up and met his gaze with a calm expression, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Lin Jue stopped asking.

After a while, Third Senior Brother returned.

Lin Jue had initially suspected he was the transformed great bird. Fortunately, now that he knew the great bird could transform and understood its methods, distinguishing it was easy. Third Senior Brother had clearly encountered the great bird when he went out. During their confrontation, he must have been deceived by it as well. The moment Lin Jue tested him, he immediately understood.

"What does Senior Brother like to do?"

"Him? He's a farmer! Naturally, he digs and plants!"

As soon as he said this, judging by the tone, it was clear that this Third Senior Brother was the real one.

"Senior Brother, please come in quickly."

"I saw the lights and heard the shouting here, so I figured it must have come back to find you," Third Senior Brother said. "How many did you encounter here?"

"Two. We killed one, and one got away."

"I didn't expect there to be three of these monstrous birds here."

"Three?"

"One lured me away, and two came back to find you. After I dealt with that one, I happened to run into the one that escaped from your place on my way back, and I took care of it too," Third Senior Brother said casually. "This thing really hasn't matured yet. It's just cunning and sly, not actually that powerful. If you're prepared and vigilant, even ordinary people can defeat it."

"We were deceived by it."

"Who wasn't?"

Third Senior Brother said this as he went to check on Zhang Da's injuries.

This man was severely wounded.

Besides the wound on his chest, his face was also torn apart and bandaged. It was unclear if he could be healed, but he was a tough man, enduring it all while constantly calling for his mother.

Third Senior Brother was helpless. He went to check his home again and found his family was all safe. Only then did Zhang Da put his mind at ease and close his eyes, falling silent.

"Sigh..."

Third Senior Brother looked at Lin Jue and the other two, sighing. "Demonic Ghosts bring disaster! When did things like this happen before? The world is becoming more chaotic. You should realize this soon, and it will be easier for you when you go down the mountain later!"

"Understood."

Afterward, everyone closed the door to the ancestral hall again and sat down, gradually feeling drowsy.

Only the fox, being lively, didn't want to sleep. It ran around the ancestral hall, occasionally taking deep breaths at the spot where the great bird had dissipated, as if trying to remember or track its scent. When it got tired, it ran back to Lin Jue and lay down.

Early the next morning, Wulong Mountain Village.

Some households had already opened their doors.

Footsteps hurried through the village lanes.

The villagers, still shaken, quickly returned home. A few black-clothed martial artists carried Zhang Da back to his home. Someone else, carrying Daoist Master Qing Xuan's token, rode off on horseback to invite the Daoists from Mount Qi Yun.

Daoist Master Qing Xuan and his companion also woke up. They now carried many magical artifacts and headed towards the grove at the village entrance.

Lin Jue and the other two were relatively relaxed, following behind them.

Passing through the village, Lin Jue couldn't help but look around.

He hadn't seen clearly last night. It was only today that he saw what Little Stream Village looked like.

In Lin Jue's opinion, villages here could be roughly divided into three types: One type was villages founded by famous scholars and great masters, like Heng Village, where clans lived together for generations. Some descendants even served as officials in the imperial court. Another type was villages with many merchants, like Shu Village. Though not prominent, they traded together and were quite prosperous. The third type was ordinary farming villages, where multiple clans might live, and most were poor.

Little Stream Village was the third type.

The houses here were smaller, older, and more dilapidated. Many lacked white walls or green tiles, being mud-walled thatched huts. Already not prosperous, they were further ravaged by natural disasters and Demonic Ghosts. The village was run-down, and even the sense of vitality was somewhat faint.

Many people opened their doors early in the morning, but they merely sat by their entrances, watching them pass by. They watched in silence, as if too weary to speak.

"The common folk suffer so. In a few years, I fear they will suffer even more," Third Senior Brother said as the villagers moved further away from him. He then glanced at his two junior disciples. "The remnant souls have all been burned away. Now we just wait for the fellow Daoists from Mount Qi Yun to set up the incense table and open the altar, inviting the power of the spirits to cleanse the Yin Qi and deathly miasma. Then, this matter will be concluded. Junior disciples, do not continue to worry."

Before the two could respond, he continued speaking to himself:

"I am thirty this year, having lived a few years longer than you. Such matters are not uncommon. If you see them, help if you can, assist if you wish. Otherwise, pretend you did not see them. In any case, do not let these things affect your state of mind.

"Thinking too much is neither beneficial for resolving affairs nor for cultivation. If you ask me, it's better to drink wine.

"Do not ponder the infinite matters beyond the self; instead, drain the finite cups of your life.

"..."

Lin Jue nodded, understanding perfectly.

This was about separating reason from emotion.

However, if it were that easy, what would be the point of cultivation?

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Don't Think About Endless Matters Beyond Your Body (Seeking Monthly Votes)