inspire-indiana Chapter 158 I have a lot more to come!
Chapter 158 I have a lot more to come!
Chapter 158 I have a lot of things following me~ (First update 4200 words)
Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the petite figure below.
He was just up to his chest, wearing a light yellow short jacket, dark green trousers, and a pair of small deerskin boots.
Her hair was styled into two small buns, tightly bound with bright red silk ribbons, which swayed gently in the morning light as she raised her head.
Her face was fair and clean, and her eyes were big and round.
At this moment, her eyes were darting around, a hint of guilt mixed with even more curiosity.
Continuing the Tiger's Family?
The old man's tattered notebook flashed through Lu Yuan's mind.
One of the ten families outside the pass.
Legend has it that this family specializes in one thing—to give life and souls that are about to die a final breath.
It's not some evil method to shorten one's lifespan.
It's more like an oil lamp that's about to run out of oil, and they can find a spoonful of new oil to add to it.
The light will stay on for a while longer.
As for what they were after, the notes didn't say, only leaving the sentence, "After accomplishing their task, they left without a trace, concealing their merits and fame."
Lu Yuan never expected to encounter such a person on his own mountain path.
Look at this!
He's probably not even an adult yet.
He stepped down, and Zhou Shouzhou followed silently behind him.
As Lu Yuan approached, he saw clearly that the little girl had just been poking at the shrine of the Flower Goddess.
Before the shrine, wisps of smoke from the three incense sticks were seeping in, but when she poked them, the smoke tilted slightly.
Lu Yuan's face darkened.
Why are you poking it?
The girl named Tiger Rabbit blinked, showing no fear whatsoever, and instead puffed out her little chest.
"Let me see if it's alive."
Lu Yuan:
What kind of talk is that?
Seeing that Lu Yuan remained silent, Tiger Rabbit tilted its head and sized him up a few more times before suddenly asking, "Did you set up these shrines, Taoist priest?"
Lu Yuan nodded irritably.
"right."
"For those wild gods who are almost gone?"
"right."
Tiger Rabbit's round eyes widened even more instantly.
"But they no longer receive incense offerings, so they can no longer perform any rituals. What's the point of setting up a shrine for them?"
Lu Yuan looked at her but did not answer immediately.
Tiger Rabbit continued talking to itself, shaking its head like a little adult.
"These wild gods who have lost their incense offerings are like lamps without oil; they will go out sooner or later, and no one can stop them."
As she spoke, she glanced back at the seven brand-new little shrines, her eyes filled with pure bewilderment.
"Master, aren't you just wasting your energy doing this?"
"My father often said that Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs. What is meant to be destroyed must be destroyed, and there is no way to save it."
Listening to her solemnly recite ancient proverbs, her two little tufts of hair on her head swayed back and forth.
Lu Yuan's anger dissipated, and he was even amused.
"Your dad told you this?"
Tiger Rabbit nodded vigorously, his expression serious.
"My dad taught me everything."
A slight smile appeared on Lu Yuan's lips.
"Did your father teach you the next line after 'Heaven and Earth are ruthless'?"
Tiger Rabbit was taken aback.
Lu Yuan looked at her, his voice unhurried yet clearly reaching her ears.
"Sages are always good at saving people, therefore they have no one to abandon."
"Heaven and earth have their own rules, and humans have their own principles."
"They have protected this land for three hundred years, but now they can no longer walk, so they have come to my mountain gate seeking a place to stay."
"If I can't even do this simple thing, what difference is there between the Taoists of Zhenlong Temple and the heartless and ungrateful Heaven and Earth?"
Tiger Rabbit was stunned.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.
It seemed that this was the first time she had ever heard of or seen someone like this, or heard such words from them.
Those round eyes stared straight at Lu Yuan, as if looking at something rare and unfamiliar.
After a long while, she finally found her voice and blurted out, "Taoist Master, what's your name?"
Lu Yuan slightly raised his chin, his expression carrying a hint of the arrogance of a Daoist disciple.
"Lu Yuan!"
"Lu Yuan————Lu Yuan————"
She repeated it twice, then, as if suddenly remembering something, she clapped her hands, her face filled with shock and excitement as if she had discovered a new continent.
"Oh! You're Lu Yuan, the white-robed Taoist priest from Zhenlong Temple who brought down Shen Jizhou!"
Lu Yuan was taken aback and blinked.
Has this matter become so famous outside the Great Wall?
Come to think of it, that makes sense. After all, such a big matter would be discussed for months outside the Great Wall.
Tiger Rabbit seemed to have discovered a treasure, circling around Lu Yuan and examining him carefully from head to toe.
"I heard you could beat Shen Jizhou to the point of near death! I also heard you have a gun that can summon lightning!"
"I also heard that your master is the current Celestial Venerable! And I also heard that you married two women who are as beautiful as celestial beings!"
"I've also heard that a goddess, even more beautiful than those in paintings, lives in Zhenlong Temple!"
She got more and more excited as she spoke, her eyes shining like two little lanterns, filled with the light of admiration.
Lu Yuan was overwhelmed by her series of "hearsay" statements.
She knows quite a lot!
"Alas!!"
She let out a satisfied exclamation.
"I actually met him in person today!"
The tiger rabbit's big, bright eyes looked at Lu Yuan with excitement.
It's a bit like a fan meeting their idol on Earth.
Especially her startled manner and tone made Lu Yuan feel a little embarrassed.
Seeing that she was about to continue, Lu Yuan quickly raised his hand to interrupt her.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
"Tell me your story first. What are you doing at Zhenlong Temple?"
As soon as she finished speaking, a look of confusion appeared on Tiger Rabbit's face. She looked around and scratched the back of her head.
Then, she looked at Lu Yuan and answered very seriously, "I didn't know this was the True Dragon Temple."
Lu Yuan: "————"
"Then what are you doing here?"
Tiger Rabbit stretched out its finger and pointed to the seven shrines next to it.
"I'm here to find them!"
Looking for them?
Lu Yuan glanced at the little girl in front of him, then at the shrines, and a thought struck him—he remembered the specialization of the Xu Denghu family.
"Give them—a second chance at life?"
Tiger Rabbit waved its little hand, pointing to one of the shrines, its voice clear and crisp.
"right!"
"However, not all of them, only for the Flower Lady!"
Flower Lady?
Lu Yuan looked in the direction she was pointing, and saw the small shrine belonging to the Flower Goddess quietly bathed in the morning light.
The wisps of smoke in front of the shrine were still being continuously drawn into it.
What does this mean?
Why only seek out the Flower Goddess, or rather—
Why only keep the lamp lit for the Flower Goddess?
Instead of other gods?
Before Lu Yuan could ask any questions, Hu Tutu had already started counting on her fingers and talking to herself.
"The Sleeping Ox Stone, its original stone is still there, right at the edge of the wasteland at the foot of Mount Taiyin."
"Mother Quan, that mountain spring is still there. Although no one drinks from it anymore, the spring hasn't dried up and is still seeping water."
She suddenly stopped, and her big, round eyes looked at Lu Yuan again, with a hint of cunning.
"But why are they still scattering so quickly?"
Tiger Rabbit blinked its big, round eyes, as if testing Lu Yuan.
Seeing Tiger Rabbit's expression, Lu Yuan couldn't help but chuckle.
Hey!
This little brat actually passed the exam.
Lu Yuan pondered for a moment.
The stones are still there, the spring water is still there. Logically speaking, since the material basis for the existence of the gods has not been destroyed, they should not have declined so quickly.
unless----
"I've stopped thinking about it."
Lu Yuan uttered three words.
Tiger Rabbit clapped its hands suddenly, and the little tuft on its head jumped and nodded repeatedly.
"right!"
"The stone is still the same stone, the spring is still the same spring, but no one worships it anymore, no one remembers it anymore. When people stop remembering it, the gods have no one to rely on."
"But Lady Hua is different."
She pointed to the shrine of the Flower Goddess, her voice becoming more solemn.
"The Flower Goddess's true form is a patch of wildflowers."
"That flower patch has been dug up."
Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed.
"Was it dug up?"
Can the very body of a deity be so easily destroyed?
On second thought, although this world is strange and complex, it is ultimately still a human world, which makes sense.
"Um.
""
Tiger Rabbit nodded in confirmation: "When the village at the foot of the mountain built a road, they flattened that hillside. Even the Flower Lady's flower bushes were completely destroyed."
"But she's still here."
Tiger Rabbit tilted its head, gazing at the wisps of smoke rising from the shrine.
"She was the weakest of the seven, with the least cultivation, yet she didn't fall apart."
She suddenly winked playfully at Lu Yuan.
"Come on, let me test you again. Why is that?"
Seeing her pretentious, grown-up act, Lu Yuan was completely amused.
He pondered for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Because of—those flowers?"
Snapped!
Tiger Rabbit snapped its fingers crisply.
"right!"
Her eyes lit up instantly, as if she were praising a bright student.
"The flower patch is gone, but every spring, a few wildflowers will bloom sporadically on the hillside where it used to be."
"I don't know where the seeds came from, there were just a few of them, all alone."
"But they're open."
"As long as they bloom, the Flower Goddess can sense it."
"It is those flowers that are remembering her."
Lu Yuan felt a slight tremor in his heart and remained silent for a moment.
The Flower Goddess protected that mountain wilderness for three hundred years, causing flowers to bloom in abundance and making girls seeking marriage blush with embarrassment.
Now the flowerbeds are destroyed and the divine light is about to dissipate, but every spring, a few unnamed wildflowers still stubbornly bloom in the same spot.
They do not understand incense offerings, nor do they know the gods.
They are just blooming.
But the blooming of those flowers represents the purest and most fundamental belief in the Flower Goddess.
Tiger Rabbit's voice became deep and solemn.
"Continuing the family tradition of the Tiger Clan is not about continuing the incense offerings, it's about continuing the roots."
Only things with roots can continue.
"The root of the Sleeping Ox Stone is that stone."
"The stone is still there, but it's cracked and weathered; it won't last more than a few years."
"Even if there is a continuation, it will be for a rock that is about to break."
Tiger Rabbit shook its head.
"It cannot be continued."
"The root of the spring mother is that spring."
"The spring is still there, but a reservoir was built upstream, and the water course was changed. Now, only a little water seeps out of the spring."
"In a few more years, it will be completely dry."
"It cannot be continued."
Her gaze shifted to the shrine of the Flower Goddess, and her eyes softened considerably.
"But as long as there are flowers blooming in that place, the Flower Goddess's roots will remain."
Even if there is only one flower, even if it only blooms for a few days in spring.
"That one is still there."
Tiger Rabbit turned around, looked at Lu Yuan, and said seriously, "The continuation of the Tiger family line only continues those with roots."
"As long as the roots are there, the lineage can continue."
"If the root is gone, it's useless to try to regenerate it; no matter how much oil you add, the lamp will still go out."
Tiger Rabbit's little nose is really not keeping us in suspense.
He rambled on and on.
Unlike Tan Jiji, who always talks about secrets between ten families, things that can't be said, and so on.
It's enough to give you a headache.
Tiger Rabbit says everything.
However, saying nothing at all also has its problems.
He said too much, which made Lu Yuan, who knew nothing about Xu Denghu's family, suddenly learn too much.
My head feels a little dizzy.
However, there is one good thing at the moment, which is —
Lu Yuan seemed to have found a "like-minded person".
Of course, the meaning of "like-minded" depends on how it's phrased.
Lu Yuan's idea was to get all seven of them ashore.
But this little girl from the Xu Deng Hu family only had eyes for the Flower Lady, whose "roots" had not yet been severed.
The remaining six Durants —
She didn't even have the interest to glance at it again.
But no matter what, at the very least, this tiger and rabbit helped Lu Yuan deal with a deity.
Lu Yuan felt a slight sense of relief. He looked down at the tiny child who wasn't even as tall as his waist, and his curiosity was piqued.
"You've said so much, so how exactly do you plan to continue?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Tiger Rabbit's big, round eyes glared at him warily. She pouted, her voice clear and firm: "This is a secret of our Xu Deng family!"
"I can't let you know!"
Lu Yuan: "————"
イテ!
He finally understood.
These ten families outside the pass are all the same at heart!
Lu Yuan pouted in annoyance.
"I'd rather not know!"
He changed the subject and pointed down the mountain.
"What I mean is, if you take action now, I can help you stop the pilgrims from going up the mountain."
After all, the mountain gate is about to open, and pilgrims are flocking to it; this is the only way up the mountain.
She's just a young girl; she can't exactly cast spells in front of a crowd, can she?
Upon hearing this, Tiger Rabbit showed a hint of gratitude on its face, but still waved its hand in a mature and sophisticated manner, like a little adult.
"No rush, no rush~"
She tilted her little face up, looking very serious.
"That'll have to wait until night."
"Where would you find someone lighting lamps in broad daylight?"
Seeing her feigned seriousness, Lu Yuan found it amusing and shook his head helplessly.
Fine.
Perfect timing! He also needs to summon those seven gods tonight so they can all get together and get things done.
Lu Yuan then extended another invitation: "Do you have anywhere else to go next?"
"If you're just waiting for nightfall, why don't you stay at my Zhenlong Temple tonight?"
"Perfect timing, the vegetarian dining hall in the temple has just opened for lunch."
Tiger Rabbit wanted to imitate the adults and politely wave her hand to refuse.
But before she could even finish speaking, her stomach started growling loudly.
The sound was particularly loud on the quiet mountain path.
The little girl's face flushed red instantly. She lowered her head shyly, bowed slightly to Lu Yuan, and said in a voice barely audible, "Then—thank you so much, Daoist Master!"
Lu Yuan smiled and shook his head, saying nothing more, then turned and led Zhou Shouzhuo to continue walking up the mountain.
Tiger Rabbit immediately followed.
Her two short legs moved swiftly, hopping and skipping with boundless energy, closely following behind Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan glanced back at the energetic child, who was as lively as a little firecracker, and a thought struck him. He couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, did you go out alone?"
Upon hearing this, Tiger Rabbit immediately raised its head proudly, looked at Lu Yuan, and nodded seriously.
"right!"
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Your family really doesn't seem to care!"
He simply couldn't understand what the Xu Denghu family was thinking.
This tiny little thing, you expect her to go out and work all by herself?!
This is the area beyond the Great Wall, where evil spirits and bandits roam freely!
Forget about ghosts and evil spirits, even if you encounter a ruthless bandit—
This family is incredibly generous.
However, before Lu Yuan could say anything more, Tiger Rabbit proudly puffed out its little chest, held its chin high, and shook its head, saying, "Don't panic, don't panic~".
Her voice carried a hint of mystery and pride, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Lu Yuan.
"I have a lot of things following me."