MOF Chapter 81
by VolareTwo days later, at noon, the reply from Qingyi Sanren (Qingyi Hermit) arrived. The letter stated that Fufeng Daoren (Fufeng Taoist) should personally go to White Bone Mountain.
Upon learning this news, Xie Yiling couldn’t wait a moment longer and suggested to Nangong Ci that they set off immediately. As for what happened yesterday, they both tacitly avoided mentioning it.
Hearing that they were going to White Bone Mountain to find a divine doctor to treat their eyes, Si Wumian hurriedly came to find them.
“Senior Brother Xie, are you going to White Bone Mountain?”
Inside the room, Xie Yiling was holding a handful of dried peaches that he had saved, tossing them into A Si’s mouth.
“Your news travels fast.” He turned his head to glance at Si Wumian, who had entered the room, then turned back and tossed another one forward.
A Si licked his lips, which were covered in sugar, and jumped up on the spot to catch it steadily.
Si Wumian smiled embarrassedly, “I also heard it from others.”
After smiling, he remembered the purpose of his visit and said, “Senior Brother Xie, we’ve run into a coincidence!”
Xie Yiling stopped what he was doing and beckoned to A Si. After A Si walked over, he wiped A Si’s mouth with a handkerchief, gave him all the remaining dried peaches in his hand, and curiously asked, “What coincidence?”
“Aren’t you going to White Bone Mountain?” Si Wumian touched the teapot on the table, found that it was warm, poured himself a cup, and sat down, saying, “White Bone Mountain is in Shuo City. I happen to be going to Shuo City to exorcise evil spirits this time, so we can travel together.”
“You’re going to Shuo City to exorcise evil spirits?” Xie Yiling asked strangely, “It’s not that I don’t think it’s possible, but, don’t the disciples of Cangling Du manage the evil spirits in their own city?”
Si Wumian couldn’t help but take a deep breath, looking conflicted, and said, “That’s not the reason. Gongzi Yue told me when he sent me that there has been a minor demon causing trouble in Shuo City recently. Although its demonic power is not deep, it is insidious and cunning, and extremely good at bewitching people. The disciples of Cangling Du haven’t even seen the demon’s face, so they asked me to go over…”
“To broaden your horizons?” Xie Yiling understood.
“Yes.” Si Wumian nodded, “Not only us, but disciples from other immortal sects have also been sent over.”
Xie Yiling said, “I see.”
He and Nangong Ci didn’t need to pack luggage to go to White Bone Mountain, so Xie Yiling came back and explained to A Si, instructed him to go to bed and eat on time, and played with him for a while, and there was nothing else to do.
“Alright, A Si,” Xie Yiling pinched A Si’s face, “I’m going down the mountain again. It’s still the same as before, you know? When it rains or snows, find someone else to help you and take you to the dining hall for dinner.”
“I know, Brother Xie Ci.” A Si took a piece of dried peach from his hand and wanted to feed it to him.
Xie Yiling shook his head and refused, leaving with Si Wumian.
The three of them met in front of the pavilion of the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion, and it began to snow when they went down the mountain. Gradually, a string of shoe prints, from light to dark, was left on the stone steps.
Xie Yiling led Nangong Ci on a sword, and separated from Si Wumian at the gate of Shuo City.
Si Wumian waved to them and said, “Senior Brother Xie, be careful on the road!”
It wasn’t until they were far away that Xie Yiling belatedly realized, “Isn’t that what a senior brother says to a junior brother? Why is this kid doing it the other way around?”
Nangong Ci suddenly said, “You can say it to him next time.”
Seeing him take the initiative to respond, Xie Yiling secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was also in the mood to joke, “So you’re teaching me how to be a senior brother.”
When they arrived at White Bone Mountain, Xie Yiling’s eyes lit up.
Coming here, they were met with snowflakes, and he originally thought that White Bone Mountain must be covered in snow, but who knew that it was lush with greenery. The outermost ground was covered with a thin layer of snow, and further in, only green could be seen. Instead, there was more dense fog and dark miasma in the forest.
Xie Yiling pointed ahead and said happily, “Shizun, we’ve arrived!”
*
Shuo City.
Snow fell on the long street, and paper umbrellas overlapped on the street. Si Wumian held a demon-detecting plate in his hand, shuttling through the large and small umbrellas of various colors.
Seeing him walking in the snow, a peddler selling umbrellas called out to him, “Little Gongzi, the snow is so heavy, buy an umbrella.”
Si Wumian wanted to refuse, but seeing that the peddler was still setting up a stall outside in such cold weather, he agreed with a soft heart. He casually took a plain-colored paper umbrella and asked, “How much is this?”
“Six Wen coins each!” Seeing that Si Wumian actually wanted to buy it, the peddler smiled immediately, “These umbrellas are all made by myself. My family has been making paper umbrellas for more than ten years, and the quality is absolutely good.”
Si Wumian reached out to touch his money bag, but found that the place where the money bag was placed was empty. His face stiffened, and his first thought was that he didn’t bring a money bag, but he quickly remembered that Xie Yiling had taken a tael of silver from his money bag before they separated.
It was either dropped on the road or stolen.
Si Wumian reacted and quickly suppressed the embarrassment on his face, and said with a smile, “I’m really sorry, I accidentally lost my money bag, so I’m afraid I can’t buy this umbrella…”
“Oh, that’s terrible!” Who knew that when the peddler heard this, he was even more anxious than him, “Gongzi, I’ll give you this umbrella, you should quickly go back along the original road to find it. The snow on the ground is also getting thicker, maybe it fell in the snow and no one saw it, so you can still find it back.”
This person seemed very enthusiastic, and Si Wumian didn’t refuse his kindness. After taking the umbrella, he took the opportunity to ask, “Brother, you’ve been setting up a stall here all the time, have you heard of anything strange happening in Shuo City recently?”
The peddler answered almost without thinking, “Gongzi, do you want to ask about the monster?”
“Yes.” Si Wumian was a little surprised, “Does everyone here know?”
The peddler looked left and right, coughed, and after confirming that others couldn’t hear his voice, he said, “Gongzi, you’ve asked the right person. That monster is causing trouble in the city. Everyone says that no one has seen what it looks like, but in fact, I have.”
Si Wumian asked, “How did you see it?”
“Of course, it was by accident.” The peddler shook his shoulders, and the shadow in his heart still lingered, “After all, it’s a monster, what’s so good about it.”
Si Wumian nodded, “That’s true. Then do you remember what it looks like?”
The peddler said firmly, “I will never forget it even if I die. That thing is really terrible. It, it has no face at all! Its body is also like water, as if it’s still flowing on the ground. I just glanced at it and quickly ran away.”
“Interesting.”
After inquiring about the monster, Si Wumian returned along the original road. However, he didn’t see the money bag on the road all the way to the city gate.
He looked at the umbrella in his hand and planned to return it to the peddler. A flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he suddenly remembered something.
When he first entered Shuo City, a child as tall as his waist bumped into him because he was walking too fast. The child lowered his head and apologized repeatedly. Si Wumian didn’t have time to speak, and he didn’t even see the other person’s face clearly before he ran away.
“Could it be…” A possibility arose in Si Wumian’s heart. He didn’t feel sorry for losing the money bag, but only felt a little sad.
He stopped searching for the money bag and went back to the peddler, intending to return the umbrella.
The peddler keenly observed his expression and knew that he hadn’t found the money bag, so he kindly said, “Gongzi, you can take this umbrella and use it. The snow is getting heavier and heavier, don’t let your body freeze.”
A warm current flowed through Si Wumian’s heart. He lowered his head and rummaged through the bag of spiritual objects, took out a spiritual talisman, and handed it over with both hands.
“Brother, I can’t take your things for nothing. This is a spiritual talisman that I drew myself. I hope you don’t dislike it and accept it.”
“You, are you a member of the Immortal Sect?” The peddler’s eyes were dazed for two seconds, and his eyes fell on the spiritual talisman. He took it with some trepidation. He looked at it repeatedly and saw that the spiritual talisman was still emitting a faint light. He grinned, and his eyes narrowed into a line.
“Thank you, Immortal Lord, for giving me a treasure.” The peddler thanked him and couldn’t help but say a few more words, “If the Immortal Lord’s money bag wasn’t dropped, I’m afraid it was just taken away by someone.”
Hearing this, Si Wumian raised his eyes to look at the peddler and told him about being bumped into by the child.
After listening, the peddler was emotionally agitated and said with certainty, “That child must be a thief! Immortal Lord, you are new here, so you may not know. These people have been stealing all over Shuo City for a long time. And most of them are children, so it’s useless even if they are caught.”
“Many children?” Si Wumian frowned, “Don’t they have parents?”
“You have to be able to find them.” The peddler sighed, “They are almost all foreigners, probably abducted, and they are not approachable at all. When they are caught, they don’t say anything when asked.”
“Abducted?” Si Wumian’s expression gradually became serious, “How does Shuo City deal with these children? Don’t they care?”
“Care?” The peddler shook his head and waved his hands, “They can’t control them. Although they don’t have parents, they are raised by someone, and outsiders can’t interfere. Every time they are caught stealing, someone who claims to have adopted them will appear, scold and beat them, apologize with their heads lowered, and the people who are stolen from can’t say anything.”
“Then what about the things they steal?” Si Wumian asked, “Can they be returned?”
The peddler said, “Naturally, they are returned in public. However, it is estimated that they will be lost again soon.” Speaking of this, he raised his finger and pointed behind Si Wumian, “The direction that Immortal Lord just came from is called Dongle Street. They live in the alley there.”
Dongle Street.
Si Wumian thought for a while and said to the peddler, “Thank you, I’ll take my leave.”
He opened his umbrella and turned around to walk along the previous road again.
The peddler watched his leaving figure, retracted his gaze, and carefully put the spiritual talisman into the collar of his chest.
The winter snow had not melted, and the pedestrians on the road were rushing home because the snow was not decreasing but increasing. This time when Si Wumian went back, the street was much deserted than before.
The closest to Dongle Street was a red building called Chunfu Building. When Si Wumian passed by, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure, and felt a little familiar. Just as he was about to see it clearly, the person had already entered the restaurant.
“I probably saw it wrong.” Si Wumian muttered to himself, “How could Gongzi Wen Er appear in this kind of place?”
Before long, he saw the alley that the peddler was talking about. As soon as he entered, a stone flew towards him.
Si Wumian reacted quickly and easily dodged the stone.
“Hehehe.” A childish voice came from inside, “You’re here to find me!”
The voice sounded familiar. It was the child who bumped into him earlier. Si Wumian said, “Who taught you to steal at such a young age?”
Seeing that he was here to find something, the child said domineeringly, “I stole it with my own ability. If you have the ability, come and take it back yourself!”
Si Wumian pursed his lips, his face looking not so good. With a flick of his finger, he summoned a wisp of spiritual power to drill into the alley, and at the same time, his spiritual sense also followed in to explore.
In front of him were some dim and cold stone walls. At the end of the stone walls was a small door half a person high, and the voice came from inside the door.