Carrying Wine and Singing Long Songs

Volume I: Carrying Wine and Singing Long Songs, Chapter 6: Entering Mang Mountain

On the roads of the Shangxuan Kingdom, two men were riding horses, one behind the other. The man in front, while not a master of horsemanship, clearly had specialized training and knew how to travel on horseback. The man behind him, however, looked rather clumsy; he seemed extremely unaccustomed to the saddle, did not know how to control the horse with the reins, and dared not let the horse run, only daring to walk it slowly. He was clearly a novice who had just started riding.

"I thought you knew how to ride since you brought a horse with you," Tang Wei said, his face full of helplessness as he slowed his mount to ride alongside Bai Qiuran.

Bai Qiuran laughed with a touch of embarrassment. "This... I usually just walk when I travel."

"Then why did you buy a horse?" Tang Wei asked.

"I was just in a good mood, so I bought one."

Tang Wei sighed. "A journey that should have taken three days has been dragged out to five because of you."

The two had traveled from the border of the Shangxuan Kingdom near the Azure Nether Sword Sect deep into the interior. After five days of travel, they finally arrived near Mang Mountain.

"I'm starting to regret agreeing to travel with you," Tang Wei said.

"My apologies, my apologies. I'm getting on in years, so I've become a bit sluggish," Bai Qiuran said, feeling somewhat sheepish.

"You have too much money and nowhere to spend it?" Tang Wei asked.

"Brother Tang," Bai Qiuran said, raising his wine cup to toast him. "I'm very happy to have met a friend like you on this trip. If fate allows, we shall meet again."

Tang Wei returned to the table in silence. Bai Qiuran, who was pouring the wine, saw his expression and asked, "What's wrong? Brother Tang, you don't look very well. Is that Yao Mo very powerful?"

Tang Wei regained his composure. He didn't mention the government to him, but instead said, "Bai Qiuran, tomorrow, after I take you to the horse market to sell your horse, we shall go our separate ways."

"Is it that powerful?" Bai Qiuran asked.

"Very powerful," Tang Wei replied. "Bai Qiuran, take my advice: you are only going in to gather herbs. Once you've gathered them, leave quickly. The Yao Mo in the mountain is extremely dangerous even for Martial Arts Grandmasters like us. Don't go looking for trouble if you don't have to."

Bai Qiuran was not a pretentious man. He had only asked to travel together for the sake of having company along the way. Since the other party had made it clear he wanted him to leave, he certainly wouldn't cling to him.

"Then let's do that," Bai Qiuran said.

"I'm going to handle some serious business," Tang Wei said.

"Oh?"

"Because I don't need them to intervene."

"What do you mean?"

"We mortals will handle it ourselves."

"Brother Tang," Bai Qiuran said, "I'm also going into Mang Mountain."

Tang Wei said, "Since you don't know how to ride anyway, given your cultivation, it would be faster to just walk."

"Then why are you buying a horse?"

"I'm not."

The two arrived at the small town before Mang Mountain before dark. Tang Wei found an inn with vacancies, and they settled in for the time being. Although he didn't feel particularly tired, Bai Qiuran immediately ordered a table full of fine wine and food to reward his stomach, while Tang Wei ran to the innkeeper to ask about the Yao Mo of Mang Mountain.

Speaking of this, the innkeeper's face immediately turned miserable. "Why ask? The current Emperor of Shangxuan is obsessed with immortality and has no heart for the lives of us commoners. The government officials are all busy sending money to the Imperial Advisor for alchemy; they are already squeezing the common people dry, so how could they possibly be willing to spend money to hire someone to eliminate the Yao Mo? We have long since given up hope on the Shangxuan government."

"Hasn't the local government issued a bounty for the demon?" Bai Qiuran put down his wine pot and asked.

"What bounty? The officials are busy enough as it is," the innkeeper said, pointing to a few tables in the inn where some people who looked like martial artists were sitting. "I suggest you discuss it with those martial artists. Walking the world, one seeks fame, the other profit. If you can provide the money, plus the reputation of being a hero who slays demons, I think they would agree to go with you. That Yao Mo is very dangerous; you shouldn't go there to throw your life away."

"Ah, it has indeed been very fierce lately. Several nearby villages and towns have suffered many casualties. People say the Yao Mo moves extremely fast. When it attacks, others only see a black shadow. Those it attacks are left without a complete corpse—it's truly miserable. It isn't afraid of people at all, appearing both day and night. It's incredibly rampant. Many martial artists have formed groups to hunt it down, but none have returned. We don't know when it will come to our town to snatch people. We just hope those Immortal masters living on the mountain can do something about it."

Bai Qiuran smiled. "Any problems?"

"The Yao Mo of Mang Mountain?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to deal with it."

"You?"

"Yes."

"Don't go to your death."

The next morning, after Tang Wei took Bai Qiuran to the horse market to sell their horses, the two officially went their separate ways.

Tang Wei remained in town, unsure of what to do, while Bai Qiuran, with a relaxed mood, stepped into the now perilous Mang Mountain as if he were on a spring outing.

Mang Mountain was a place where Spirit Qi gathered, and it grew many materials needed by cultivators for alchemy. Consequently, the wild beasts here were more ferocious than elsewhere, and there even existed spirit beasts that had opened their wisdom and could manipulate simple divine abilities.

After half a day of travel, once he entered the range of Mang Mountain, Bai Qiuran immediately released his Spiritual Sense to search for the medicinal herbs he needed.

He had come here simply to find a few auxiliary herbs that were rarely used in the Foundation Establishment Pill. Bai Qiuran's Foundation Establishment Pill had long since deviated from the standard form used in the Cultivation World. To cope with his own special situation, the pill he refined had many "private additions" and had become unrecognizable. If an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator were to use his Foundation Establishment Pill to break through, they would likely be unable to withstand the medicinal power and would die on the spot.

And now, as he approached another breakthrough, his pill formula happened to be missing a few medicinal ingredients. Although these ingredients were rare, their grade was not very high, and their uses were not widespread. Sometimes, even if cultivators saw them, they wouldn't pay them any mind, so the Azure Nether Sword Sect's warehouse didn't keep them in stock. Bai Qiuran had no choice but to come down the mountain to retrieve them himself.

Of course, these things were not a problem for Bai Qiuran to worry about. Although his realm was in an awkward state, in three thousand years, he had long since moved past such low-level "newbie zones." He had once trained in the dangerous places of the Ten Lands of Jiuzhou, and even in the far more dangerous and terrifying Wildlands and the Vast Seas.

In Mang Mountain, the dangers were not just the rampaging Yao Mo, but also many ferocious wild beasts.

"Wait for me," called out Bai Qiuran, who had fallen behind.

Tang Wei raised an eyebrow. "Since Brother Tang insists on this, then so be it."

"Heh."