12: Chapter 12 Mountain God Temple

After leaving Qingshi Town, Mo Shoutian headed north along the official road.

It is more than five hundred li from Qingshi Town to Jiuzhou City, and several villages and towns must be passed through in the middle.

The furthest place Mo Shoutian had been to before was Qingshi Town, and he was not familiar with the road ahead.

Fortunately, there were quite a few people coming and going on the official road, and if he encountered a fork in the road and asked someone, he wouldn't go the wrong way.

On the first night, he stayed in a small inn next to the official road.

On the second day, he failed to reach a lodging and could only make do for a night in a dilapidated earth god temple.

By the third day, most of the dry rations he brought had been eaten, and he bought a few large flatbreads in a village he passed by.

In the past few days, after walking for a few hours each time, Mo Shoutian would rest by the roadside for a while and practice the basic Breathing Technique taught to him by Qingli by the way.

In the past, after traveling continuously for a day, his legs were still sore and heavy when he got up the next day.

Now, after practicing for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, his physical strength could recover a lot.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, the official road entered Black Stone Ridge.

This section of the road passed through the middle of two mountains, with woods and scattered rocks on both sides, and no villages could be seen for tens of miles ahead and behind.

Mo Shoutian walked for about half an hour and found a trampled shoe on the roadside, with a few drops of blackened blood next to it.

The footprints in front were very messy, and among them were a few claw prints left by beasts.

Mo Shoutian took down the bow on his back and squatted by the roadside to examine those traces.

Besides the wheel tracks left by carriages on the ground, there were also many dirt pits dug out by horse hooves, most likely a carriage had an accident ahead.

He nocked an arrow on the string and walked forward a few dozen steps, soon seeing an overturned carriage.

The carriage had lost a wheel, several bundles of medicinal materials were scattered around, and a dead horse with its belly torn open lay nearby.

There were two people near the horse, one lying motionless on the ground, and the other leaning against the side of the carriage, holding a short blade in his hand.

Mo Shoutian did not rush over.

Because there were many footprints around the carriage left by unknown beasts, and those footprints only came and did not leave.

According to his experience, that thing was likely still hiding nearby.

He successively threw two stones into the bushes on both sides. As soon as the second stone landed, a flower-backed mountain leopard darted out from behind the trees.

This mountain leopard was a circle larger than the ones he had seen before, with a half-broken arrow stuck in its shoulder, and blood all over its mouth and front paws.

It did not pounce directly, but guarded the side of the carriage and let out a low roar at Mo Shoutian.

Mo Shoutian drew his bow and aimed at its head.

At this distance, he was confident of hitting it, but not confident of killing it with a single arrow.

Nor was he willing to risk his life with an injured mountain leopard for two strangers.

Mo Shoutian retreated to the roadside and made a torch with dead branches and pine needles.

Seeing him approach holding a torch, the mountain leopard retreated a few steps first before turning around and drilling into the woods.

He waited in place for a while, and after making sure there was no movement nearby for the time being, he came to the carriage.

The person lying on the ground was already dead, and the other still had breath. His right leg had been bitten through by the mountain leopard, and a cut had been scratched into his waist as well.

Mo Shoutian put the short blade in his hand aside, found injury medicine from his bundle, and simply bandaged him.

After the man was awakened by the pain, his first sentence was:

"Where is Lao Ding?"

"Dead."

The man turned his head to see the corpse not far away, and cursed after a long while:

"This old fellow was told to run, but he insisted on coming back to pull me."

Mo Shoutian did not comfort him and only asked:

"Can you still walk?"

The man tried to move his right leg and sucked in a breath of pain.

"Can't walk."

"We can't stay here, that mountain leopard will come back."

Mo Shoutian dismantled two wooden poles and a carriage board from the carriage, and tied them with ropes into a rack that could drag a person.

Watching him busy, the man couldn't help asking:

"Why did you save me?"

Mo Shoutian helped the person onto the wooden rack and looped the rope over his shoulders.

"Seeing that you are still breathing, I couldn't just leave you here to feed the beasts."

The man pointed ahead of the official road.

"There is a mountain god temple not far ahead, let's go there first tonight."

Mo Shoutian looked at the direction he pointed.

Then pulling him for less than two li, he indeed discovered a dilapidated temple next to the official road.

Only half of the temple gate was left, and a corner of the roof had also collapsed, but it could at least shelter from the wind.

He dragged the person inside and settled him, then picked up some firewood nearby.

After the fire started, Mo Shoutian leaned against the wall to practice the basic Breathing Technique for a while, and the fatigue on his body lessened a bit.

The man kept watching him.

"What was that you just practiced?"

"A health-preserving method learned from an old man in the past. Practicing it for a while when tired from traveling is somewhat useful."

Mo Shoutian didn't say much and asked again:

"What is your name?"

"Zhou Chengan, a person from Jiuzhou City."

"Mo Shoutian, a person from Mo Family Village of Baitou Mountain."

After Mo Shoutian finished speaking, he took out two frozen large flatbreads and placed them by the fire, then poured water into a small iron pot.

Looking at the large flatbreads, Zhou Chengan asked:

"Eat this for the night?"

"If you could walk, I would accompany you back to the carriage to look around, maybe we could dig out a roast chicken."

Hearing him say this, Zhou Chengan let out a laugh, but halfway through the laugh, he pulled on the wound on his waist.

"You really have a sharp tongue."

"It's not bad to have something to eat. When I went into the mountains to hunt, when I was extremely hungry, I even gnawed on frozen meat."

Zhou Chengan took a bite of the large flatbread, but really couldn't chew it, so he could only break it into pieces and soak it in hot water to eat.

After eating, he asked:

"Are you a hunter?"

"Mn. Are the things pulled on your carriage all medicinal materials?"

"Our Zhou Family runs a medicine shop in Jiuzhou City, and I collect medicine outside all year round. This time I heard that someone dug up a few old medicinal herbs near Qingshi Town, so I personally led people to check it out."

"Are a few medicinal herbs worth running this far?"

"Ordinary medicinal materials are naturally not worth it. Our Zhou Family has been collecting medicine for the Immortals of the Qingmu Sect year round. Some things are just a blade of grass in the eyes of ordinary people, but in the hands of Immortals, they are worth a lot of money."

Hearing the two words Immortal, Mo Shoutian's heart stirred.

The Zhou Family worked for Immortal-cultivation Sects, and perhaps they knew news about Spirit Stones.

He originally wanted to ask whether the Qingmu Sect settled accounts with Spirit Stones when collecting medicine, but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.

A hunter in a mountain village inquiring about Spirit Stones upon first meeting was very likely to make people suspicious.

Half of the archaic twin dragon jade was still hidden at home, and Xiaochuan had also begun to Cultivate, so he could not take risks for a few words of news.

Zhou Chengan did not notice his thoughts and continued:

"The Qingmu Sect is just to the east of Jiuzhou City. The people in the Sect know how to grow medicine and also know Alchemy. Our Zhou Family has collected medicine for them for decades, but the times when we can truly see those Immortals are not many."

Mo Shoutian asked:

"What kind of medicine do they want?"

"Some depend on their age, and some depend on where they grow."

"There are quite a few herbal medicines in our Baitou Mountain, but I only recognize a few that stop bleeding and reduce fever."

After hearing this, Zhou Chengan took out an old booklet from his embrace.

"This is what our Zhou Family gives to people who go out to collect medicine. It has the appearance and detailed introduction of various herbal medicines on it. My copy has been used for a few years. If you don't mind it being old, take it back and read it."

Mo Shoutian did not take it immediately.

"This is your Zhou Family's thing, wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to take it?"

"It's not some valuable treasure, and there are still many in the shop. Besides, my life was saved by you, and if we keep pushing back and forth over an old booklet, that would be meaningless."

Zhou Chengan stuffed the booklet into Mo Shoutian's hand.

"If you really dig up something you're not sure about in the future, bring it to the Zhou Family medicine shop in Jiuzhou City, and I'll help you take a look."

Mo Shoutian opened it and looked at a few pages.

The booklet was named wild herb records, and the appearance of the herbs inside was not drawn very well, but next to each herb were its name and some details.

Among them, he had seen two kinds in Baitou Mountain before, but didn't know they could also be sold for money.

"Then I will accept it."

"That's right."

Zhou Chengan talked about Lao Ding again.

When the mountain leopard rushed out, Lao Ding had already run a distance away, but seeing him pinned next to the carriage, he came back to pull him, which cost him his life.

Speaking of this, Zhou Chengan had nothing more to say.

Mo Shoutian did not mention the Qingmu Sect again, nor did he ask about Spirit Stones.

He only added a few sticks of firewood to the fire and went outside the temple to take a look around.

In the second half of the night, Zhou Chengan leaned against the wall and said:

"When my people come looking for me, we must take Lao Ding back."

"Mn."

Mo Shoutian did not answer, only pushing the firewood that was about to burn out further into the campfire.

This night, neither of the two truly fell asleep.