Chapter Seventy Shouldering Responsibilities, Lake as Mirror

  The rain has been falling continuously for three days without stopping.

  Within three days, Ning Feng and Shu Baili traveled over mountains and across rivers, heading in the direction of the Temple of the Sun God.

  "Are we going to the Temple of the Sun God?"

  Shu Bailin asked this question for the 101st time.

  What I got was the same answer as the previous hundred times: "Maybe."

  The wind is calm and serene, with a gentle demeanor. Wearing the Three Changes Robe of the Book Immortal, he walks freely in the rainforest, yet not a speck of dust clings to him.

  Shu Bailin looked at his expression and suddenly didn't dare to make jokes or be mischievous, that feeling was indescribable.

  Three days ago, when he left Liujiacun, he vaguely felt that Ningfeng was different, but couldn't describe what it was.

  Shu Bailin swallowed her words and doubts, silently following Ning Feng's back as he walked forward.

  He muttered to himself in his heart: "The change on Ning Gongzi's body seems a bit like..."

  The scene that emerged in Shu's mind was of a man who had become a father and had his own children, with the kind of overnight maturity and change.

  If there's one comparison to be made, Ning Feng's transformation is similar to this.

  That is a kind of maturity, a kind of quietness that has shouldered something and no longer jumps out.

  After walking for more than half a day, the edge of the mountain forest could be seen far away in front. Just as Ning Feng and the others were climbing high to look into the distance, the rain that had been falling continuously for three days finally stopped.

  The clouds have dispersed and the rain has stopped. After the rain, the sky is clear for the first time, with a long rainbow stretching across the horizon, hazy yet resplendent.

  Ning Feng gazed at the rainbow, speechless for a long time.

  "Your Highness?"

  Shu Bailin asked in a low voice, not daring to raise her tone.

  "Nothing." Ning Feng shook his head and jumped down from a high place, saying: "I just remembered my senior brother."

  "Huh?"

  "If I had the magical powers of my senior brother, how could I have failed to rescue those children whose souls were trapped in the mirror?"

  Ning Feng turned around and left, with only a few voices coming from behind him.

  It seemed like three days had passed in silence, and he particularly wanted to speak, one sentence after another.

  "It's been three days. Their souls have been taken away, those children don't know how many people died of hunger and cold, how many were killed by quack doctors, and how many relatives mistakenly believed in superstition and lost their lives? How many are lacking care and on the verge of death?"

  "This is just three days, what if it's ten days, half a month?"

  "What about that noisy cat demon, and the town whose name I still don't know? How many people in the town have contracted the cat plague? How many are alive, how many dead? Is there a doctor who can cure it, or a divine doctor, or any fellow practitioners who can lend a hand?"

  "These arose because of me, yet I am powerless to do anything..."

  Suddenly——

  Ning Feng suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around to ask, "Old Shu, do you want to know if we're going back to the Sun God Palace?"

  "Huh?"

  Shu Bailin had always been curious about the Sun God Temple, one of the seven most powerful sects in the world. Normally, as a loose cultivator, he could go wherever he wanted, so why not just follow Ning Feng and take a stroll inside to broaden his horizons?

  Besides, he still has ambitions that he dare not reveal until now.

  But at this moment, looking at Ning Feng's calm expression, he couldn't utter a single word of "want".

  At the same time, Shu Bailin finally knew what Ning Feng's shoulders were carrying?

  He didn't realize that the Liu family village's battle, Ning Feng had shouldered all the sins that Mirror Gongzi had created; he also didn't know that from that day on, the four words "Exterminate Demons and Protect the Tao" were no longer a romantic fantasy for Ning Feng, but a heavy responsibility.

  Innumerable lives, life and death, hang in the balance of one person's body.

  Ning Feng didn't seem to care about Shu Bailin's answer, and continued on his own: "I'm heading in the direction of the Temple of Gods, but rather than saying I'm going back, it would be more accurate to say that I'm trying to force Mirror Young Master out."

  "As soon as I enter the divine palace, let alone a lone swordsman, even if the other six major sects of the Seven Sects come to fight with all their might, they won't be able to harm me in the slightest."

  "How can you humiliate the Temple of the Sun God?"

  "He can only appear before I return to the Temple of God."

  Ning Feng said as he looked around, seemingly searching for something.

  "We've been walking through the forest for three days, leaves absorbing water, no mirrors in the forest, even if he wanted to attack us, it's impossible."

  "Once we leave this mountain forest, it will be the time for us to bid farewell to our 'old friend'."

  "When the time comes, settle it all at once!"

  Shu Bailin was stunned, took a cold breath, and shouted in his heart: "I said so, I said it, why not take the good road, but instead go into the mountains and forests on a rainy day, originally the root is here."

  "But what's the difference between encountering him three days later and encountering him within these three days? Did Ning Gongzi not summon that certain Shixiong?"

  Shu Bailin was at a loss for what to do, when Ning Feng suddenly moved.

  He darted out like lightning, reached into the bushes, and quickly withdrew his hand, holding something that was chirping and struggling.

  "Is it a little deer?"

  Shu Bailin was stunned and then started patting his body, searching for the seasoning packet that he couldn't leave behind for a moment.

  When he rummaged through that mirror earlier, his body was too clean and scattered, and he couldn't find it for a while.

  It wasn't easy waiting for Shu Bailin to dig out the stuff, but when Ning Feng saw it, he shook his head in dissatisfaction and released the small deer again.

  "Goodness gracious, young master must be complaining about the lack of meat. This is outrageous! The venison is the most tender and fragrant, how could you just let it go?"

  Shu Bailin was just about to tell Ning Feng about the Delicious Food Scripture when Ning Feng slipped into the forest again.

  Shu Bailin hastily followed in, and in just a moment, Ning Feng had another harvest, this time it was a large deer.

  "Huh, it's a doe with fawns, and she appears to be pregnant."

  Shu Bailin began to rub his fists and palms, thinking: "The little deer that hasn't fallen to the ground is the most nourishing, just right for these few days when Lao Han's leg has been let go, following the young master will surely have meat to eat."

  One thought had barely been turned over when Ning Feng shook his head again.

  Seeing this action, Shu Bailings heart jumped, and as expected, a "don't" had not yet come out when Ning Feng loosened his hand and let go again.

  "What's all the commotion about?"

  Shu Bailin was depressed, and the seasoning packets in his hand all gave off a cumin flavor.

  Ning Feng ignored him and continued searching, after a while, another large deer fell into his hands.

  "Is this the end of Lu Wo? Or is it a family affair, taking turns to crash into his hands?" Shu Bailin didn't expect anything this time, and was lost in thought. Ning Feng nodded in satisfaction, muttering to himself: "It's you, after all."

  The sound seems to have a somewhat discordant tone.

  "Finally can eat."

  Shu Bailin was overjoyed and hurriedly asked: "Young master, would you like to eat it roasted or steamed?"

  He was about to elaborate on the differences between the two when Ning Feng gave him a sideways glance and shook his head, saying "Eat dry rations."

  As soon as he finished speaking, he handed the large deer over to Shu Bailin, repeatedly instructing him not to harm its owner, before leaving again into the forest.

  This time, Ning Feng was gone for more than half a day, and when he came back, he somehow pulled out a handful of dry grass from somewhere and started feeding the deer.

  Three consecutive days of rain, it's even harder to find dry hay in the mountains than to find Ganoderma lucidum.

  Heaven knows what Ning Feng found, but it was quite a bit, enough to sustain him on the road as he led the deer by the halter, feeding it as they walked, until they reached the edge of the mountain forest.

  Another half day has passed.

  "It's been four and a half days..."

  His face was covered with an unmistakable fatigue, but his eyes shone brightly like the stars in the sky, making it impossible for others to gaze at him directly.

  At least Shu Bailin had been dodging his gaze for several days, and even why he was holding a deer and feeding it hay, enjoying himself to the fullest, didn't dare ask.

  Beyond the mountains and forests, a horse gallops across the plain. In the distance, one can vaguely see wisps of smoke rising from cooking fires, and gradually, signs of human habitation appear.

  The wind stopped him in his tracks, one hand holding the deer, occasionally feeding it dry grass, while pointing into the distance and saying: "A hundred or so miles further ahead, we'll enter the Tian Du mountain range."

  "The Temple of the Sun God is located here, and I have lived in Chaoyang Town at the foot of the mountain for many years."

  Shu Bailin's eyes lit up when he heard this, but it wasn't because of the Sun God Temple. Knowing Ning Feng's true intentions, he no longer hoped to arrive there without any trouble. He thought: "Since Young Master Ning is familiar with this place, finding a place to fill my belly shouldn't be a problem? I've been eating dry rations for so many days that even the birds in my mouth are getting tired."

  Before he could ask, Ning Feng suddenly made a strange movement.

  He squatted down, patted the big deer's head, and then released it for the first time in a day and a half.

  The large deer first looked back in confusion, then suddenly delighted, let go of its hooves and ran extremely fast, disappearing from sight in an instant.

  "Goodness!" she exclaimed, watching his back disappear into the distance. Shu Baili swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on him as he walked away, looking only slightly better than a deer.

  "Runs really fast..."

  Shu Bailin muttered reluctantly, but knew that the deer wouldn't fly away if it didn't run. After being fed dry hay for a day and a half, his throat was almost choked, how could he not run?

  "We..."

  He was about to ask when Ning Feng waved his hand to stop him and said lightly: "Let's wait for a while, take a rest."

  Shu Bailin's two legs went soft and he sat down on the ground, taking a thorough rest.

  He was completely confused and muttered to himself: "The four of us have been riding non-stop for four days, now the sun is scorching hot, we won't rest until we're all dried up like a withered corpse, what kind of logic is this?"

  Three days of rain in front, a day and a half of scorching sun behind, the sun beating down relentlessly, making people dizzy, and this was still near dusk, one can imagine how hot it must have been at noon.

  Shu Bailin thought with relish: "If you really want to indulge, you don't need any deer. Just lie down on the ground, sprinkle some cumin, and it's a delicious roast meat."

  Under the scorching sun, the two of them stood there for nearly half an hour. As they watched the sun slowly set towards the west and dusk approaching, Ning Feng finally made a move.

  "Come on, Lao Shu."

  Ning Feng said as he took his first step in a certain direction.

  There, the sunset is like an invisible rope pulling, helpless in every way, and finally sets in the west.

  All along the way without a word, after walking for several miles, in front of Ning Fenghe and Shu Bailings, a lake jumped into view.

  The sunset was half submerged, and the remaining light dyed the lake water into a blood-red color, dazzling, with a kind of desolate beauty.

  "Whoosh... whoosh..."

  Something seems to be rolling in the water, and from time to time it rises with a splash, while on the lake shore there are also dead trees floating, increasing the feeling of desolation and serenity.

  "Doesn't something seem off?"

  Shu Bailin's heart skipped a beat, vaguely feeling that something was off, but for the time being, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. In a daze, she followed Ning Feng to the lake shore.

  The moment the figure was reflected in the lake's surface, Shu Baili understood.

  "Mirror!"

  "Isn't this lake just a natural big mirror?"

  "A mountain can be a mirror, why can't a lake?"

  "This is...the battlefield!"

  Shu Bailin had just regained his composure, while Ning Feng's face remained expressionless, staring at the lake.

  Suddenly——

  The calm lake surface curved into a sly smile, revealing an evil grin.

  "You've finally arrived!"

  PS: It's going live at midnight tonight!

  New book on shelves, new journey begins, blood is boiling.

  The east flows... I... really want to... erupt!

  Here, I'll reserve a monthly pass for everyone first, I want a monthly pass!

  Also, I'd like everyone to subscribe to Chapter 1 and see how many people are willing to pay even a few cents for this book.

  Haha ~ no matter how many times, thinking of going on sale, still blood boiling ah

  Above is Dongfeng!