Chapter 56: The Mountain God

Liu Jun shook his head, originally thinking the ginseng sprite had some ultimate move up its sleeve. He rushed forward leading Fatty and the others, raising his hand to fling a Five-Thunder Talisman. Though the Five-Thunder Talisman does not harm the living, it can numb them for a while, and Liu Jun still remembered that some of them were armed with guns. "Heavenly Fire Thunder God, Five Directions Divine Thunder. Earth Fire Thunder God, banish demons and subdue monsters. Demons and evils begone, heed the decree of my Emperor. Hastily, hastily, as the law commands. Descend, thunder!"

"A Maoshan Taoist!" The old Taoist wearing a Taoist robe seemed to recognize his identity through the Five-Thunder Talisman, and his hands rapidly wove incantations in continuous mudras. A white lotus first appeared above his head to block the thunder strike, and then a black bird formed of dark Qi swiftly flew toward us.

"Northern Dipper Seven Yuans, Divine Fire commanding the heavens. Tiangang Earth Fire, myriad divine radiances. Hastily, hastily, as the law commands!" Liu Jun threw out a Departing Fire Talisman, and a flash of fire wrapped around the black bird, instantly burning it to ashes before lunging toward the Taoist.

The Taoist rapidly formed another mudra with his hands, creating a curtain of water in front of him that successfully blocked the departing fire. Liu Jun thought to himself that this wouldn't do; even Cheng咬金 had three axes to his name, but he only had two talismans. Since his strongest Five-Thunder and Departing Fire talismans couldn't take down the opponent, he had no choice but to transition from ranged combat to close quarters.

"Old crafty bastard, behold this Grandmaster's Blazing Palm!" Liu Jun shouted at the top of his lungs, hurling the Heaven-Overturning Seal brick from his hand straight at the old Taoist.

A trace of a smile played on the corner of the old Taoist's mouth, seemingly mocking Liu Jun for overestimating himself by using fire attacks. But by the time he realized something was amiss, he had already been knocked flat to the ground by the Heaven-Overturning Seal brick. The old Taoist thought to himself, *To hell with your Blazing Palm, you fraudulent swindler.*

Taking advantage of the time Liu Jun spent dueling with the old Taoist, Fatty, Brother Lin, and the rest—even the little fox, which grew larger in size—joined the battle and clashed with the other men. It was fortunate they brought the little fox; with a single sweep of its tail, it sent an enemy flying, whereas Fatty and the others would have surely suffered losses.

Picking up the brick, Liu Jun went to town on the old Taoist, raining blows upon him. This old Taoist was truly formidable. Just as Liu Jun thought he had beaten him to the point of complete helplessness, the old Taoist kicked him flying. The old Taoist stood up, blood continuously streaming down his forehead.

The old Taoist glared fiercely at Liu Jun, then pulled out a glass bottle containing something mangled and bloody. He formed hand seals and struck a bizarre posture. Soon after, a wisp of black Qi coiled around the old Taoist's body, transforming into a giant black snake and a black wolf. Upon its appearance, the large snake first glanced joyfully at the bottle the old Taoist had placed on the ground, then raised its head to survey the surrounding people with greedy eyes.

This old Taoist must have used some kind of restrictive ritual. The giant snake first batted Brother Lin away with a sweep, then went straight for Fatty, jaws open. Just as it was about to bite Fatty, the little fox whipped its tail against the black serpent's body, deflecting its trajectory so that it missed Fatty.

The serpent turned around to brawl with the little fox. Unfortunately, the little fox was still young and no match for the giant snake; it was bitten all over, leaving its wounds seething with black Qi.

As for the black wolf summoned by the old Taoist, it charged straight at Liu Jun the moment it appeared. Lunging forward with a claw swipe, Liu Jun hastily rolled to the side. The wolf apparently possessed intelligence; its claws slashed along the direction of his roll, leaving several bloody gashes on Liu Jun's left shoulder.

Drawing the small wooden axe from his waist, Liu Jun swung it at the black wolf. The black wolf was extremely agile, dodging the wooden axe with a sidestep before slapping Liu Jun's hand with its paw. The wooden axe was knocked flying, and Liu Jun felt as though the bones in his hand were about to snap.

"Brother Liu, your brother is heading out first! We'll be brothers again in the next life!" Over on Fatty's side, after swatting the little fox away, the giant snake slithered slowly toward Fatty, as if wanting to toy with its prey before the kill.

Hearing Fatty's cry, Liu Jun felt immense anxiety in his heart. Damn it, if this big black wolf kept this up, he and Fatty would end up boarding the same bus to the netherworld.

"Heaven, Earth, Xuanming, sun rising in the east. First, I pay homage to the Flower Goddess; second, I pay homage to the Rain Master. I am willing to sacrifice a thousand years of cultivation, beseeching the Mountain Deity to intervene!" Amidst dodging the black wolf's attacks, Liu Jun heard the youthful and tender voice of the ginseng sprite.

A series of green radiances flashed through the surrounding space, and the black wolf and giant snake were pierced full of holes by the green light, their forms barely able to be maintained.

In the distance, an elderly figure with fluttering white robes, holding a walking stick and possessing the complexion of a child despite white hair, strolled over. Though he seemed very far away, he appeared right before them in the blink of an eye.

Mountain Deities are also graded; most Mountain Deities are temporary workers such as spirits and ghosts. The ethereal and immortal-like bigwig before them was clearly no temporary worker, but a genuine Mountain Deity with an official title.

With a wave of the Mountain Deity's hand, the green radiance wove even faster. The black wolf and giant snake let out desperate screams before being obliterated by the green light, leaving not a single trace behind.

"As a Taoist, you have committed countless evils. Die." As soon as the Mountain Deity finished speaking, a streak of green light fiercely pierced through the old Taoist's chest. The old Taoist fell backward, facing the sky.

"Stained with blood and harming countless spiritual plants of my great mountain. Die." Another streak of green light flashed swiftly through the air, piercing the chest of the pot-bellied leader. That man looked at the Mountain Deity in sheer disbelief as he slowly collapsed, likely wondering why a Mountain Deity would bother to haggle with a mere nobody like him.

Liu Jun swallowed hard; this Mountain Deity seemed to have a rather strong penchant for slaughter. When the Mountain Deity cast his gaze upon Liu Jun, Liu Jun panicked entirely, desperately racking his brain to recall if he had ever committed any grave sins.

After thinking for a long time, the worst thing he had ever done since childhood was stuffing thatch into someone's chimney. Such a trivial matter surely wouldn't get him killed.

The Mountain Deity looked at Liu Jun, nodded, and revealed a slight smile as he said, "You are special. I hope you do not walk the path of evil and that you preserve your original heart."

Preserve his original heart? This Grandmaster's original heart was to work hard and make money! Was this Mountain Deity encouraging him to study more Taoist techniques and earn more money? It was a good thing the Mountain Deity could not read Liu Jun's inner thoughts, or he probably would have slapped him flat against a cliff face so hard he wouldn't peel off.

The Mountain Deity lowered his gaze to look at the ginseng sprite, which had lost its cultivation base, could no longer maintain its human form, and had even shriveled somewhat. He sighed softly, gently cupped the ginseng sprite in his hands, and condensed a droplet of green water-like substance on his palm, letting it drip onto the ginseng sprite. At once, the ginseng sprite plumped up and regained its dewy vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Just as the Mountain Deity turned to leave, Fatty lunged forward and hugged the Mountain Deity's leg, scaring Liu Jun so badly his heart nearly leaped out of his chest, terrified that the Mountain Deity would send Fatty off with a bolt of green light.

"What is your business?" The Mountain Deity did not fly into a rage; he merely lowered his gaze to look at Fatty clutching his thigh, frowning slightly.

"Well, Mountain Deity, Brother Liu is my sworn brother, and he's special. Since he is, could you take a look and see if there's anything about me that's different from ordinary people?" Fatty looked up at the Mountain Deity with a flattering, ingratiating smile.

The Mountain Deity sized Fatty up for a long time before slowly saying, "You're fatter than ordinary people? You eat more than ordinary people?"

Fatty froze like a statue. Hearing the Mountain Deity's words, Liu Jun almost burst out laughing; there was not a single flaw in that statement.

The Mountain Deity gently shook off Fatty's bear hug and was about to leave when Fatty once again grabbed and clung to his leg. For a Mountain Deity, he remarkably failed to dodge in time. Lowering his head, he stared at Fatty clinging to his leg with a frown and an expression of utter distress—what on earth did this fatty want?

Liu Jun was no longer overly worried, because this Mountain Deity wasn't as bloodthirsty as he had imagined; it seemed he only executed those who deserved to die.

"Well, Grandfather Mountain Deity, could you arrange a romantic match for me? Look, I've been single for decades, and it's not easy running into a real, genuine immortal like you. Please grant me this tiny wish," Fatty begged, hugging the Deity's leg.

"Let go of me first. Finding a romantic match requires praying to the Matchmaker Deity; pestering me is useless." With that, the Mountain Deity tried to gently shake Fatty off, not daring to use force since Fatty, despite beginning to cultivate Buddhism, was still a mortal; if he used too much force, he might send Fatty straight to the netherworld. Yet precisely because he didn't use force, Fatty just hung right there on his leg.

"No way, I've heard that prayers to Mountain Deities are always miraculous. Don't try to fool me," Fatty said, wearing an expression that declared the Mountain Deity a fraud.

Liu Jun saw the Mountain Deity's hand clench into a fist, as if he wanted to beat Fatty up. However, being an immortal after all, his self-restraint was admirable; he forcibly suppressed the urge to trounce Fatty.

"Your romantic match will be a maiden who cherishes flowers and plants and loves small animals. She lives somewhere in the south, and... well, she is also very pretty," the Mountain Deity said helplessly as he looked at Fatty.

At that moment, Fatty entered a daydreaming mode, drool practically dripping from the corner of his mouth as if he had already embraced a beauty into his arms. Seizing the moment while Fatty was dazed, the Mountain Deity pulled his leg free and vanished in a few flickers. For some reason, Liu Jun had the distinct impression that the Mountain Deity was running away in rather ungraceful haste.