Chapter 14: At the Foot of Wuxiang Mountain
A month later, beside a mountain stream somewhere in Dacang Kingdom.
A young man in ragged clothes and unkempt face was sitting on the grass beside the stream. His clothes were as dirty and torn as a beggar, and his original color could no longer be seen.
There was a dark iron pot on his back, and a broken bag and a sword on his waist.
It can be seen at a glance that the sword is not ordinary, but the blade is full of green and yellow colors, which should be the marks left by frequent cutting of trees and wood.
This person is Duan Qing.
His baggage was thrown out as bait to save his life during a thrilling chase between humans and animals, and that was why he was in such an embarrassing situation.
At this moment, he had mixed feelings in his heart. After this month, he realized how big the world is.
Even though Jin Xuanling has been guiding the direction, the actual walking is completely different.
There were often no roads in the direction Jin Xuanling was pointing, so he was almost always traveling in the wilderness. It was obviously difficult, and he was lucky not to risk his life on the road.
He also thought about giving up along the way, but when he thought of his infatuated brother Ma Liang, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and persevere.
He has been traveling over mountains and ridges for a month, following the direction guided by the token, and finally arrived at where he is now.
Duan Qing sat on the ground and checked twice with the Jin Xuan Ling, and found that the direction it pointed was the direction upstream of the creek.
Seeing this, he put away the token, stood up, walked over to the rocks beside the stream, and rummaged for something.
With good luck, after turning over the fifth stone, Duan Qing fished out a green-shell crab the size of a baby's fist from the small mud puddle under the stone.
He broke off the shell of the crab, washed it casually in the flowing stream, and stuffed it directly into his mouth in a very shameless manner.
He was really hungry.
He had no dry food and no money along the way. Except for one lucky day when he caught a lame pheasant, used his black pot to stew a pot of saltless and tasteless chicken soup, and had a hearty meal. My stomach is empty most of the time.
Occasionally, he could find some wild fruits to satisfy his hunger in the wild. Most of them he didn't recognize, some were fine, and some gave him diarrhea and he couldn't walk the next day.
There was even a time when he was so hungry that he couldn't help but pick some nice-looking leaves to satisfy his hunger, but it made him suffer so much that his stomach was as bloated as a ball and he didn't go to the toilet for three days!
Fortunately, a few days ago, he discovered that the flow of a creek gradually matched the direction pointed by the token, and he followed the creek.
From then on, water and food were easy to solve. When I was thirsty, I drank from the stream. When I was hungry, I rummaged under the rocks in the stream for crabs.
However, since the flint was lost along with its baggage, the crab could only eat raw.
After spitting out a crab leg and suppressing the discomfort caused by the taste of raw crab in his mouth, Duan Qing looked upstream of the stream.
Ahead, a huge and majestic mountain range shrouded in clouds and mist stood quietly.
He had seen many mountains and rivers along the way, but this one was the highest he had ever seen.
In the past month, when he passed through the mountains several times, he thought he had arrived at Wuxiang Mountain and stayed for a long time, but no one came to pick him up.
Looking at the majestic mountains in front of him, Duan Qing prayed silently in his heart, hoping that this was the Wuxiang Mountain that brother Ma Liang said, where Jin Xuanzong was located.
Otherwise, it would not be an easy task to cross such a majestic mountain.
After marching forward for another half day, they finally arrived at the foot of the mountain. Duan Qing was a little shocked when he looked at the scenery in front of him.
I saw that the end of the stream flowed out from a cave as high as one person at the foot of the mountain, forming a pool in front of the foot of the mountain.
The water in the pool was crystal clear, and from where he stood, it reflected the towering mountains above.
The top of the mountain is lush and green, like stars and the moon, covered with trees. Further up, it is surrounded by clouds and mist, making it difficult to see clearly.
Taking out Jin Xuan Ling, there is no need to point it in a certain direction, Jin Xuan Ling will always maintain a somewhat hot temperature.
Duan Qing felt a little excited. He was almost certain that this was the place where immortals like Brother Ma Liang lived, Wuxiang Mountain!
He raised his head and looked up at the scenery of the majestic mountains in front of him. He was excited but also a little worried. The mountain wall in front of him was extremely steep. After visual inspection, he felt that he would not be able to climb it.
Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind! "Little brother, can you borrow my token to take a look?"
Duan Qing suddenly turned around and saw a young man wearing a black Taoist robe with gold embroidery on the skirt and a long sword on his back, standing behind him and looking at him fiercely.
His eyes were like swords, his expression was serious, and although his words were polite, his tone was unquestionable!
Duan Qing broke out in a cold sweat. He had seen this place before, and he was definitely the only one!
Then where did this person come from, and he wanted to see the Jinxuan Order given to him by Brother Ma Liang!
Could it be that this person is a fellow sect member of Brother Ma Liang? What Brother Ma Liang said before is that someone will come to pick him up within ten miles of Wuxiang Mountain. It seems to be true!
Just when Duan Qing was thinking wildly, he saw the young man raised his right hand and waved lightly.
Duan Qing felt a strong force coming from his hand, and Jin Xuanling came out of thin air and fell into the young man's hand.
After getting the token, the young man frowned slightly and asked. "Why is Senior Brother Yanfeng Ma's Jin Xuan Ling here with you?"
His tone was very surprised.
As soon as he finished speaking, before Duan Qing could react, the young man came to him in a flash and glanced at Duan Qing condescendingly.
When his eyes swept to the sword left by Ma Liang on Duan Qing's waist, the young man's face changed and his face sank instantly.
"This is Brother Ma's Jinghong Sword. He always keeps the sword with him. How come it is in your hand? Tell me!" the black-clothed young man shouted angrily.
His words were full of surprise and anger.
Then, he saw that he stretched out two fingers of his left hand and slashed at Duan Qing. The long sword behind him flew out with a sound and slashed at Duan Qing's neck.
In the blink of an eye, the sword reached Duan Qing's neck, and when it was about to touch the skin, it suddenly stopped!
Even though it didn't touch the flesh, Duan Qing's neck was still cut by the strong wind brought by the sword. The blood slowly seeped out and flowed along Duan Qing's neck to his chest.
At this moment, Duan Qing thought he was already dead!
But why did this feeling seem almost the same as when he was alive, except for some tingling.
He reached out and touched the head, and then touched the neck, which was intact, but a little wet, and his hand was still a little sticky!
He looked sideways, and saw that the shining sword was hanging on his neck.
And he only had a little skin broken!
Realizing that he was still alive, Duan Qing immediately sat down on the ground with a pale face!
Looking up at the gloomy young man, Duan Qing secretly swallowed his saliva, thought for a while, and then trembled and told the story of his meeting with Ma Liang and the fact that Ma Liang asked him to come to Wuxiang Mountain.
However, he subconsciously skipped the matter of Ma Liang asking him to give the snow jade to his junior sister, and just said that Ma Liang and he got along well, and asked him to come to Wuxiang Mountain to find his master, Sanyan Zhenren.
In Duan Qing's view, Ma Liang's affection for his junior sister was what he valued most. Since Ma Liang never expressed his feelings to his junior sister until his death, Duan Qing naturally would not talk about it to everyone he met.