Chapter 167 Kunlun

　　Wei Yuan felt a sense of desolation in his heart, yet also a feeling of resolution as this matter came to an end. He turned and strode away, seemingly without the slightest bit of lingering attachment. Seeing him approach, the demons retreated in succession, and the other two great demons held their breath, only exhaling after Wei Yuan had left. They suddenly felt a numbness in their backs.

　　Turning their heads, they saw that the aura of E Huang and Nv Ying had become stronger and more complete, having initially shaken off the influence of the declining incense offerings. The return of that wisp of true spirit sealed into the Jade Book of the *Shan Hai Jing* (Classic of Mountains and Seas) in ancient times also caused their aura to begin to rise.

　　The shrimp demon's heart panicked, and it quickly prostrated itself, saying, "Your Ladyships, spare..."

　　The sound hadn't even finished falling.

　　A vast, surging sound of waves came from the ears, almost as if the ancient Dongting Lake had reappeared.

　　Before the shrimp demon could recover, it had already been completely crushed by the boundless waves.

　　……………………

　　A moment later, the two great demons had been captured.

　　The strongest fish demon was directly killed by Wei Yuan with the Mountain God Seal, and the remaining two did not manage to struggle much in front of the two Xiang River Goddesses, whose origins had been restored to completion, especially since Wei Yuan's previous actions had left an extremely strong shadow in their hearts, greatly interfering with their strength.

　　After all, that plate of fish sashimi was still displayed in front of them.

　　No one knew whether the man who was both a cultivator and a chef would return.

　　The shadow in their hearts was deep.

　　After a while, the banquet reopened.

　　The servant girl with the double buns led in a true guest of honor.

　　It was a girl dressed in feathered clothes, with a refined and exceptional temperament, black hair falling down her waist, her feet treading on light lotus-colored shoes, the jade pendants at her waist clinking together with a crisp sound, floating like a celestial being. E Huang and Nv Ying stepped forward to greet her, seeing the girl's appearance, their eyes showed joy, and they said, "Jue, come over here."

　　When E Huang and Nv Ying got married, West Kunlun had sent a great gift.

　　After that, Jue had also met the two imperial consorts.

　　In this era, when Jue escaped from her confinement, she had told Wei Yuan that she was going to seek out old friends. Naturally, she had come to the Xiang River and met the two Xiang River Goddesses, and agreed to come and visit them at this time.

　　Jue was a celestial maiden of Kunlun Mountain, transformed from pure *qi*, and was extremely sensitive to auras.

　　She looked at E Huang and Nv Ying and said in surprise, "The auras of the two of you seem a little different."

　　"I feel that they seem to be more complete."

　　E Huang was able to restrain the emotions in her heart.

　　Nv Ying was already quite happy, and pulled Jue over, roughly recounting what had just happened, clapping her hands and laughing, "So, my sister and I can be considered free now."

　　Jue had lived in Kunlun Mountain for a long time, and only knew that King Yu of the human world led his officials to compile the *Shan Hai Jing*.

　　But she did not know who had actually compiled and inscribed it.

　　Hearing this, she was slightly surprised, and then had a good impression of this person's behavior and demeanor, praising, "Not taking advantage of others' misfortune, being forthright, there are often such people in the human world, I didn't expect to see one this time, worthy of meeting, where is he?"

　　E Huang said, "He said that our karma was exhausted, and he has already left."

　　The girl was surprised and even more admiring, nodding her head and saying, "So that's how it is, quite free and easy."

　　"It's just a pity that I couldn't meet him."

　　Her voice paused, and she greatly praised this person's behavior and style, wanting to ask who this person was, but the excitement in Nv Ying's heart subsided, and she thought of what happened two thousand years ago, when her temples were destroyed, and now she had to accept favor in return.

　　She had a direct personality and felt increasingly stifled, saying:

　　"Alright, alright, he's a good person, but it's rare to meet, why mention this outsider?"

　　Jue didn't want to speak further, and didn't take it too seriously, smiling and taking out the prepared gifts and handing them over. Then the fruits and fragrant tea were rearranged, and because of the existence of the *Shan Hai Jing*, the creatures of Shenzhou had no resistance to the meat of rare birds and animals, and the fish sashimi was offered. The girl picked up a piece with her chopsticks, and then froze.

　　She didn't know why, but she felt that this taste was a bit familiar.

　　It seemed like she had eaten it somewhere before?

　　Nv Ying said, "Jue, don't you like meat?"

　　The feeling that had just risen in the girl's mind was interrupted, and she smiled gently, "Of course not."

　　The music started again, and the guests were all happy.

　　…………………

　　Wei Yuan used his ability to control water to rush out of the Xiang River area in one breath from underwater.

　　Only then did he emerge from the water and breathe a long sigh of relief.

　　As for the reason—

　　Wei Yuan casually pulled with his right hand, and a fish head with unseeing eyes was thrown up, dropping on the river bank, emitting a burst of spiritual energy after the dissipation of magic power, and the surrounding vegetation became more lush. This was the head of the fish demon with eight hundred years of cultivation just now, who was smashed by Wei Yuan's Mountain God Seal, which consumed some of the divine power. His head was probably a mess.

　　When Wei Yuan left, he conveniently took the fish head with him.

　　Looking at such a big fish head, he didn't know how much chili he would need.

　　Besides, could the chili of the mortal world penetrate the flesh of this kind of fish demon?

　　Or should he go to the vegetable garden behind the Dragon Tiger Mountain and steal some of the old Taoist's own planting?

　　Of course, making chopped pepper fish head was just a side matter.

　　Wei Yuan said to himself in his heart.

　　His real purpose was because the fish head had the divinity of the Mountain God Seal remaining on it.

　　It was to hide his true trump card.

　　Not for eating.

　　Well, that's right.

　　Wei Yuan looked at the fish head, picked it up and put it into the Crouching Tiger Order, rode a shared bicycle, and bought all kinds of chili peppers, such as sky pepper and millet pepper, in two large plastic bags, thinking that it would be enough to cook that thing. Then he slowly returned to Quanzhou.

　　He drew out the Eight-Sided Han Sword and let the Iron Eagle Battle Soul attach to the hilt.

　　Wei Yuan stroked the spine of the sword and said with satisfaction, "Good sword!"

　　Holding the sword with both hands, his left foot in front, his spine like a dragon's tendon, he chopped the huge fish head open with a few clangs. The old fish skin was thick and the head was big. Wei Yuan took out everything from the refrigerator and barely stuffed it in. He rolled up his sleeves, tied on his apron, and picked up the kitchen knife. He originally planned to make more, but when he turned around and asked, Jue had gone out to visit friends and would probably be back in a few days.

　　So he made less.

　　He only sent a portion to the old fox Hu Ming in the bookstore next door, and Yu Ji, who opened the store.

　　Only after sending it did he realize, could a creature transformed from a plant like Yu Ji eat fish?

　　However, this fish that had grown for eight hundred years in the spiritual land was indeed different. It tasted incomparably delicious. Combined with the carefully selected chili peppers, the freshness of the fish head and the spiciness of the chopped peppers merged into one. He ate until he was covered in sweat, but he couldn't put down his chopsticks. Even the last bit of soup was not spared by Wei Yuan.

　　He directly made another portion of pulled noodles and threw them into the soup to stir. The chewy noodles absorbed the freshness, sweetness, and spiciness of the fish, similar to the way of eating chili tripe noodles. Finally, he ate to his heart's content, put down his chopsticks, and felt a warm feeling in his stomach. A burst of *qi* slowly radiated out, strengthening his muscles and bones.

　　Wei Yuan became playful, took a pen, and casually wrote a line of text:

　　"Classic of the Central Mountains, there are fish in the waters of Dongting, with eight hundred years of cultivation that can be cooked, overturning rivers and seas, mortals should not enter, the taste is fresh, eating it can strengthen bones and muscles."

　　Seeing that it was interesting, he simply took out the remaining jade talisman scraps from before.

　　He pointed his fingers together and spat out sword *qi*.

　　As in the ancient times, imitating the handwriting, he inscribed this line of words on it. The strokes of the characters were rough and ancient. When doing this, he seemed to have returned to the ancient times, as if Yu and Nv Jiao were by his side, and occasionally there was the lazy young Daoist. They were in the wild, in the tribe, just tasting the spoils that Yu had brought back.

　　The young man lazily played the leaves, and the sound mixed into the wind. King Yu looked into the distance and the world, Nv Jiao quietly looked at him, and himself beside them, writing on the jade, every word engraved in his heart.

　　Almost without realizing it, he had already engraved the text.

　　Even the habits in the details were exactly the same.

　　He held the jade book, stunned.

　　Finally, he shook his head, smiled complexly, and casually threw the jade talisman fragment onto the wooden shelf. The consciousness of the Shang King Bronze Wine Cup recovered. Seeing this scene, he casually said, "Why are you making counterfeit products again? You're not selling them, do you have a hobby of forging things?"

　　Wei Yuan raised his eyebrows, "What counterfeit products?"

　　The Bronze Wine Cup said, "I saw it with my own eyes, you carved it yourself."

　　If he were a person, he would have been blowing his beard and glaring.

　　Wei Yuan had drunk wine earlier, laughed, and said:

　　"It's true that I carved it myself, but it's not a counterfeit product."

　　He missed the past in his heart, and there was also a rare trace of unrestrainedness, even if there was no such passage in the *Shan Hai Jing*.

　　As long as I write it, then it is the *Shan Hai Jing*.

　　The Shang King Bronze Wine Cup was stunned, but Wei Yuan refused to say more, casually took an empty gourd, and stuffed all the *sarira* into it, flicked his sleeve, and let the gourd fly to the bottom layer of the wooden cabinet. The Shang King Bronze Wine Cup asked again, "What is this thing again?"

　　Wei Yuan casually said, "A pile of rotten stones."

　　He got up and walked to the refrigerator door. The taste was very good, but people without cultivation didn't have this blessing. Next time he went to Qingqiu Country, he would send some to Nv Jiao, then prepare some for Little Fish, and then go to Dragon Tiger Mountain.

　　He would take the head of the Eastern Japanese monk and send it to Kyoto.

　　When the time came, he would send some to Zhang Ruosu, and by the way, he would go to his backyard to get some chili peppers.

　　He also had to ask the old Daoist to see how much he knew about the *Shan Hai* realm.

　　Well, he would leave the remaining piece for Jue, waiting for her to come back and eat it. There was still some meat connected to the neck, the most tender, enough for a small plate of sashimi.

　　Of course, he had to throw the black cat outside a five-meter radius of the refrigerator.

　　Wei Yuan closed the refrigerator door.

　　………………

　　Time passed by.

　　In these few days, Wei Yuan practiced swordsmanship and martial arts every day, and also tried to use the *sarira* of the Pure Land Sect to heal his injuries. The injuries on his chest finally eased a little, but the Pure Land Buddhism had not sent any news, and Wei Yuan did not intend to deliberately inquire about it.

　　One night, Wei Yuan closed the door.

　　The time had already passed midnight, the road was empty, and most of the shops had closed.

　　The wind blew on the road, the sound was slightly desolate and cold.

　　Wei Yuan put a bowl of white rice in the corner of the door, with three incense sticks inserted in it, the incense rising slowly.

　　Then he carried the three-thousand-year-old Soul Nourishing Wood to the middle of the living room. At this time, in ancient times, people would not knock on the door. The leaves of the Soul Nourishing Wood were more stretched out, emitting a faint fragrance, making the entire museum fall into a quiet atmosphere, as if separated from the human world, as if close to the underworld, as if one could hear the faint sounds of the Yellow Springs.

　　Dong, dong, dong.

　　Someone knocked on the door. Wei Yuan seemed to have been prepared and asked the water ghost to open the door.

　　The fragrance emitted by the Soul Nourishing Wood became more and more intense.

　　There were no footsteps, but the person had already entered.

　　The person who walked in looked about thirty years old, wearing a Daoist robe, his face full of black *qi* entangled and twisted like a python, obviously poisoned. His footsteps were silent. If Zhang Hao and the others were here, they would be able to recognize that this was the Taiping Dao cultivator who was controlled by the Sakurajima cultivator who set up a stall that day and struggled out.

　　He had already died.

　　At this moment, *yin* was flourishing and *yang* was declining, mortals should not enter. What came was not a person, but a soul.

　　The Daoist stood here blankly, Wei Yuan said:

　　"Sit down."

　　Seven days after a person's death, the soul will briefly return to the human world, which is the night of returning home.

　　Today was the first seven days after the death of the Taiping Daoist.

　　ps: Today's second update... three thousand words, thank you to the stinky Chou Chou who was smoked to death for the ten thousand reward, thank you~

　　I'll write a little longer later. I'll save up some more, and tomorrow I'll be able to add another update more smoothly. However, because I wanted to add an update, I actually adjusted my schedule, which was completely unexpected...