Chapter 4: Jiǔ Qiào Shí (Nine Orifices Stone)

  “……”

  "Roar!"

  After the Pipa fish demon transformed into its true form, it seemed to have lost its ability to speak. It was stimulated by Ning Feng's words and let out a loud roar, frantically twisting its body, its tail raised high and slapping the water repeatedly, causing the shore to become murky.

  "Why can't you speak?"

  Ning Feng shook his head, regretting their inability to communicate.

  "Achoo!"

  First came the rapids and then the whitewater, afterwards exerting strength to row, suddenly cold and suddenly hot, the scholar caught a chill.

  He let out a few loud sneezes, and Ning Feng irritably opened the bookcase with a "bang", standing beside it as he reached in to feel around.

  A search revealed a set of clothes wrapped layer upon layer in waterproof oilcloth.

  If Old Mouse Su saw this, he would definitely go "Pfft" and mock again, what is that thing, a bookcase or a treasure chest? What on earth doesn't it have inside?!

  "......What's up with you, you're not really a girl, are you?"

  Ning Feng rubbed his sore nose and muttered to himself, "I was rude."

  In front of Pipa Fish, he began to change his clothes with a flourish.

  "Slap!"

  The wet clothes were thrown on the ground, Ning Feng felt refreshed all over, raised his head to take a look, and suddenly his eyes didn't blink.

  "What about Pipa Fish Demon?"

  Several zhangs away from the riverbank, that piece of water was still murky, only the loud pipa fish didn't know when it disappeared.

  "Boom boom boom~~~~"

  Dozens of feet away from the water's surface, waves kept splashing up, supporting a huge fish undulating on the water's surface. Copper bell-like big eyes stared over, sharp teeth and claws almost sparking fire, how could one grit their teeth in anger.

  "Hmm..."

  Ning Feng glanced back and immediately turned his head to look around, checking if there was a way to retreat.

  "This fish is too fierce, if we provoke it again and it really charges up, what should we do?"

  What's the point of teasing anymore? The pufferfish is already furious beyond control.

  "Rooooaaaar~~~~ Rooooaaaar~~~~"

  The roar of the waves was incessant, tumbling and churning in the vast river like a capsized sea, the originally clear river now murky everywhere, as if even the mud and sand at the bottom of the deepest part of the river had been stirred up.

  At the same time, a dark and eerie aura, like a layer of lead clouds, emerged from the body of the pipa fish and enveloped the entire river surface.

  “……”

  Ning Feng unconsciously swallowed his saliva, thinking: "This fish demon is so cunning, first escaping from the sea to the river, and can even transform into a beauty to lure people. Now that the river is about to be covered up, there will surely be something to exorcise the demon and protect the way."

  "But... anyway, it won't be me, a bookworm with no martial skills."

  "It's better to leave while the fish demon can't get on shore."

  Ning Feng thought so and planned to do so. Exorcising demons and protecting the Tao was still not something that fell on his shoulders for the time being.

  A turn of movement was not yet completed when a loud shout came from upstream, its sound like thunder.

  "Ah!"

  "You dare to be so arrogant, you wicked monster."

  The first loud shout was still far away, but the last word seemed to be right next to his ear, shocking Ning Feng's eardrum and making it ache, causing him to involuntarily stop in his tracks, with his gaze also drawn over.

  From far upstream, the silhouette of a carefree old Taoist is everywhere, either dotting the water, or soaring through the air, or turning and twisting, each movement so swift as to fill the entire river.

  Suddenly, the old Taoist burst into the area where the evil spirit was hiding, his figure invisible, only a sword light flashed out, dispersing the wind and clouds, shattering the huge waves, and directly beheading the Pipa Fish Demon.

  "Alright!"

  An old Taoist shouted loudly, and a sword light rose into the air, then suddenly fell, "brush" sound, landed in front of Ning Feng.

  "Immortal Sword!"

  Ning Feng looked at the old Taoist priest opposite him, his gaze lingering for a moment on the whiskers that covered half of his face and the bloody mouth that had swallowed the sword pill.

  "That's the legendary Flying Sword Technique, isn't it?"

  After seeing Jian Wan being swallowed by Qiu Ruo Xian, he couldn't see him anymore. Ning Feng shook his head with some regret.

  "Don't worry, scholar, that scourge has already been put down."

  A tattered old Taoist priest shook his sleeves, which were still stained with oil, and a strong gust of wind swept across the river, dispersing the eerie atmosphere.

  On the river surface, a pipa fish monster several feet long floated up, its belly facing upwards, dead beyond death.

  "It's just one sword."

  Ning Feng couldn't help but praise, that fish demon was so demonic, this sword immortal was just as immortal, it was incredibly powerful.

  The whiskered sword immortal clasped his hands together and bowed, his voice coarse and powerful: "Old Daoist Yan Wuwang, cultivating on Qingfeng Mountain, relying on my sword to travel the world, subduing demons and suppressing evil spirits. Now that we've met, it's fate... I wonder..."

  "Halt!"

  Ning Feng stretched out both hands at the same time, with his fingertips pointing upwards and his palms facing outwards, charging straight at the old Taoist.

  Yan Wuwang's face was bewildered, unable to figure out the situation.

  "Are you looking for some help from me?"

  Swallows nodded inadvertently.

  "It must be something trivial, right?"

  Jian Xian was shocked and looked over in surprise.

  Looking at his facial expression, Ning Feng understood and felt disappointed: "It's like this again..."

  Four words later, his voice was low and inaudible, even he himself could hardly hear it clearly.

  "The monk is like this, the female ghost is like this, the Taoist priest is like this, the godly man is like this......the sword immortal, also is like this..."

  For an entire day and night, female ghosts, mouse demons, pipa fish, all sorts of things that ordinary people would never encounter in their lifetime happened one after another. Ning Feng, who had always seemed carefree, revealed a hint of depression at this moment.

  "...Yan certain all the way beheading monsters, wearing a sword was polluted by the monster gas, must re-grind and refine worship, so can only use sword pills to exorcise monsters."

  "Can a scholar be willing to whet someone's sword for a thousand days and then reveal his sharp edge?"

  Yan gazed at Ning Feng with fervent eagerness and continued: "As long as you, scholar, are willing to lend a hand, Yan will..."

  "Wait!"

  Ning Feng raised his head and interrupted with a strange tone: "No problem with sharpening the sword, can you teach me the way of the Sword Immortal?"

  "Becoming an apprentice is also no problem."

  "This...". Yan Wuwang's face showed a difficult expression, and he shook his head.

  "Don't even need to look at qualifications?" Ning Feng chuckled, "I knew it."

  "Never mind."

  Ning Feng shrugged and turned around to leave, without any intention of entanglement.

  "Hmm..."

  Swallows inadvertently made a sound, prepared explanations fell through, and words of response all landed in empty space.

  Before he could react, Ning Feng had already left and returned again.

  The swallow's eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope once again, and she looked over at him with utmost eagerness.

  Ning Feng walked up to him and stopped, saying very seriously: "I just ran away by myself, the fish demon couldn't get on shore to chase me, it wasn't you who saved me, was it?"

  Swallows have no accidental mistakes, nodding, this is a fact.

  "En, na jiu hao, wo bu qian ni shen me."

  Translation: "Well, that's good, I don't owe you anything."

  After finishing speaking, Ning Feng restored his indifferent smile, shrugged again and turned away.

  "Then sharpen your sword..."

  "Whatever, whatever..."

  Ning Feng turned around and waved his hand, gradually moving further and further away until he disappeared from Yan Wu's line of sight.

  Bidding farewell to the swallow, I passed half a day by the beautiful Mirror Lake. The gentle breeze stretched out my limbs as I lay on the grassy lakeside, muttering to myself:

  "Knock open the wooden fish, copy the Taoist scriptures, 180 times of water and land Dharma assembly."

  "Hang up the gallows, draw a divine image, take a thousand days to sharpen the sword."

  "But why is that?"

  "What else could it be?"

  "I just can't figure it out!"

  The depression of that moment had long since disappeared, Ning Feng's mouth still held a blade of green grass, as listless as the swirling breeze, and at most, there was a bit of annoyance.

  "I don't believe it."

  After a long while, Ning Feng suddenly sat up, spat out the grass stem, and clenched his fist: "I will eventually find someone willing to teach me skills, rather than crying and shouting, as if they wanted to use the entire sky to order me around for trivial matters."

  "One day I will find out the reason."

  Jumping up from the ground, with a loud and boastful speech, Ning Feng still felt a bit annoyed, and walked aimlessly to the lake shore.

  Standing on the lakeside looking back, the spring breeze blows the slanting sun to dye a layer of orange red on the lake, soft and gorgeous, delicate and magnificent.

  The lake surface underfoot reflected the calm and peaceful appearance of Ningfeng.

  A clean and neat scholar's attire, a similarly clean face, an even cleaner smile, the scholar is clearer than the lake water.

  "It's really tiring after messing around for a whole day."

  "Or else..."

  Ning Feng gazed at the clear lake water, feeling a bit stirred, "......take a bath."

  He straightened up, without any delay, and in three to five movements, he stripped off his clothes as clean and neat as a newborn baby, and stepped into the lake.

  The sunset dyed the lake water red, bringing a warm temperature. Soaking in the lake water, Ning Feng's whole body relaxed, as if there was a warm hug that deeply enveloped him.

  "Relaxing!"

  The sky is the canopy and the earth is the couch, a whole lake as a warm bed, clean and tidy, without any worries, how can one not feel comfortable?

  No, there's something else on him.

  "Whoosh!" The sound of water, Ning Feng dove head-first into the water and then suddenly stood up, standing in waist-deep water.

  As he stood up suddenly, he instinctively reached out to grab something hanging around his neck, as if afraid that a bigger movement would fling it off.

  "Hah, what's there to worry about? It's goods that can't be lost even if they're lost."

  Suddenly remembering something, he burst out laughing and let go of his hand.

  Lost control of his hands, the thing hanging from his neck swayed, and a string of water droplets fell down, reflecting a crystal-like luster in the sunset.

  It was a pale purple stone.

  The stone is round and has nine holes on it.

  Those water lines were falling from those nine holes.

  This thing is indeed hard to get rid of.

  I forgot how old I was, but it was still a young Ningfeng who picked this up by the river and brought it back because it looked pretty.

  It got weird afterwards, with various things getting lost and then running back in all sorts of ways.

  The day before yesterday, he fell into the lake while swimming, and the next day, he was found on his bed, so mysterious.

  "It's a pity you're only capable of this much, but I suppose it's good enough for a homebody like you."

  Ning Feng said with a hint of regret: "It would be great if you could teach me how to cultivate immortality."

  He himself couldn't help but laugh at what he said.

  All these years, this piece of Jiukongshi stone has been hanging there, and apart from being unable to get rid of it, nothing else strange has happened, so Ning Feng simply let it be.

  "Gurgle... gurgling..."

  It seemed that taking a bath had also consumed some physical strength, and Ning Feng's internal organs began to protest.

  It wasn't until then that he realized he hadn't eaten all day.

  "Oh, stomach, you're suffering."

  Ning Feng stroked his belly, his eyes darting towards the water below, his hands spread wide, as if he might pounce in at any moment.

  "Huh, so self-aware?"

  Without much effort, as soon as he lowered his head, he saw a beautiful fish swimming up to him, wagging its tail.

  Ning Feng was straightforward and didn't mince words, with a quick grab of both hands, he caught the fearless fish.

  "Dinner has been settled."

  After landing, he put on his clothes leisurely and lit a bonfire. Ning Feng roasted fish while gazing at the beautiful lake. As the sun set slowly, it was shrouded in a hazy thin veil, becoming indistinct.

  "How beautiful."

  The wind shook its head and sighed, "Such a good lake, such good scenery, it's no wonder that even if it has spiritual energy and becomes a monster, it's still more beautiful than some old tree or yellow mouse becoming a monster. Hmm, the lake monster."

  Desolate all around, the lake is silent, only the sound of ripples on the water, as if in response, as if with gratitude.

  The night is getting deeper and deeper.

  Ning Feng ate the roasted fish, using his hand as a pillow. He had originally planned to appreciate the night sky, but perhaps he was too tired. The stars and moon hadn't even appeared before he fell into a deep sleep.

  It's done... A dream...