Chapter 1915
Mountain God 19
Liu Tong and Shan Qing both noticed the changes in Zong Da and Huangfu You at a glance.
Besides being blessed by the dragon's aura, the two also accumulated considerable merit.
These merits are greater than the merits accumulated by many Taoist practitioners over decades of exorcising demons and slaying ghosts.
These two killed a demon who stole the dragon's energy and brought disaster to the country.
Without this dragon energy, the world cannot be awe-inspiring, and chaos will ensue.
War is raging, monsters roam freely, and the people are suffering terribly. Countless innocent people will lose their lives.
They killed the demon and prevented the disaster from happening, and Heaven naturally bestowed great merit upon them.
Not only the two of them, but also Liu Tong and Shan Qing received a lot of merit.
Dan Qing discovered that his divine power had increased significantly.
Zongda and Huangfuyou benefited even more. With so much merit protecting them, even if they removed the Concealment Talisman, the people of the Xuanmen dared not attack them.
With merit, they will eventually cultivate into demon immortals.
Dan Qing patted Huangfu You and laughed, "So you don't have to marry the princess anymore?"
Huangfu You was overjoyed: "Really? What exactly happened in the palace?"
Could that monster have killed the emperor?
Although the old emperor did not die, his body could no longer withstand attending court and handling state affairs.
Even if he craved power and was unwilling, he had no choice but to abdicate and become the retired emperor.
When the crown prince ascended the throne, he sent the children born to the emperor's favorite concubine to a temple.
In fact, the retired emperor wanted to kill both his children.
He used to dote on them, but now he hates them just as much.
They are the children of fairies!
Everyone in the palace mistook the conqueror for a fairy.
Otherwise, how could she have maintained the appearance of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl for over twenty years, without aging, but instead becoming more and more beautiful?
Why did she suddenly turn into a woman in her fifties or sixties overnight, and become so ugly?
And why did her two children suddenly become so stupid? Their appearance also became several shades uglier.
—Because the smart drugs and beauty pills they took have lost their effectiveness.
The old emperor shifted all the blame for his downfall onto the strategist and ordered the strategist to be executed by being cut into a thousand pieces.
He even considered executing the child born to the conqueror, but was stopped by the crown prince.
The crown prince wasn't being soft-hearted; rather, he wanted to keep the two alive to demonstrate his brotherly affection.
Moreover, even if those two children were monsters, they wouldn't have the power to cause any trouble.
So the two children were sent to temples and nunneries and became monks and nuns respectively.
The princess among them was engaged to Huangfu You.
Besides this princess, two other princesses were also implicated.
The princess who was betrothed to the third-ranked scholar was the follower of the conqueror's child. Because their relationship was too close, the emperor and the crown prince suspected that she was bewitched by a demon, so they sent her out of the palace and to a nunnery to cultivate in seclusion.
The two marriage agreements with Huangfu You and the third-ranked scholar were naturally cancelled.
Only the second-place scholar managed to marry the princess, but the emperor and the crown prince, wanting to avoid seeing him, sent him out of the palace early on.
The third-ranking scholar was overjoyed and immediately married his fiancée, determined not to let anyone ruin their marriage.
Huangfu You entered the Hanlin Academy. Before officially taking office, he had a three-month leave, which was a benefit of the imperial court, allowing the successful candidates to return to their hometowns to pay respects to their ancestors and share the good news with their relatives.
Huangfu You's hometown is not in Daqingshan, but in another mountain, which is the stronghold of the fox clan.
Huangfu You's life back in his hometown wasn't very good. His talent was only average among the fox clan, and his beliefs clashed with most of them—these foxes, like the fox spirits in Liaozhai, either kept harming people and sucking their life essence to cultivate, or they wanted to have a predestined relationship with humans to overcome their tribulations. Huangfu You was isolated by the foxes and couldn't stand it anymore, so he left his hometown and eventually wandered to Daqingshan.
Now that he's in the limelight, he can't keep his glory hidden, so of course he has to go back and show it off!
He wanted to show the foxes that he could do well even without those unorthodox methods.
Huangfu You invited Shan Qing and the other two to go to the Fox Clan together, but Shan Qing refused, saying he wanted to go to Guanjiang Estuary instead.
Huangfu You had to part ways with them and travel alone.
Because he was with Shan Qingliu and the others and was used to the way ordinary people did things, Huangfu You did not use his magic. Instead, he rented a carriage to travel.
The horse wasn't afraid of the fox, so it pulled the cart smoothly.
The driver was an experienced driver, and a talkative fellow.
He chatted with Huangfu You while driving the carriage.
Because of his travels, he has been to many places and seen many things, and what he says is quite interesting.
Huangfu You had a fairly pleasant chat with him.
Suddenly, a woman called out from ahead.
As the carriage approached, a young and beautiful woman was seen sitting by the roadside, waving at the carriage.
The driver did not want to stop.
A beautiful woman appeared in this desolate wilderness; it seemed strange no matter how you looked at her. Who knows if she was a malevolent spirit?
The coachman certainly liked beautiful women, but he valued his own life even more.
But he wasn't in charge; he was worried that the scholar in the carriage would be captivated by her beauty, so he told him to stop the car.
Fortunately, the scholar was a clever man and did not make him stop the carriage to ask the woman questions; instead, he took her into the carriage.
The carriage quickly passed by the woman, leaving her behind with a ferocious expression.
Woman: How despicable! They actually fell for my good looks! I'll make them all die!
Coachman: "Scholar, you also think that woman is suspicious, don't you?"
Huangfu You: "Yes, it's strange enough for a young woman to appear in the middle of nowhere, let alone when she's dressed in fine silks and satins. How could a young lady from a wealthy family go out without servants and maids following her?"
Coachman: "Yes, that's right. Who knows, she might be a monster who wants us to take her along so she can devour us."
That's not a monster, it's a cannibal.
Although Huangfu You did not have the ability to see through various fortunes and karmic consequences like Liu Dong and Shan Qing, he could still distinguish between demonic and ghostly auras.
They were being targeted by cannibals in disguise.
Huangfu You is not afraid of cannibals; his current abilities are more than enough to deal with them.
I'm afraid the cannibals will target the coachman.
Huangfu You took out a talisman and handed it to the coachman.
This talisman wasn't drawn by Liu Dong, but rather by a member of the Xuanmen sect who went to Daqingshan to buy yellow talisman paper and experimented with the effects of the yellow talisman paper and cinnabar.
The people at the paper mill collected all these practice pieces.
These talismans are not very powerful, but they are still the work of masters of the Xuanmen (Taoist school) and therefore have some effect.
The driver thanked him repeatedly, took the talisman, and put it away.
He didn't think the talisman had any effect, but holding it gave him some psychological comfort.
The driver urged the horses on, hoping to leave the desolate mountains and enter a populated area as soon as possible.
Fortunately, they found a village before sunset and were able to find lodging. (End of Chapter)