Chapter Sixteen: Geese Crossing the Hair-Pulling River

  The battle between the two sides lasted for more than an hour, and the bloodthirsty bees were almost wiped out by the fire-red snake, while the snake itself was not in good shape either, with its body covered in blood, and its originally shiny scales scattered all over the ground.

  Watching the corpses of their dead companions, the remaining bloodthirsty bees went mad and charged upwards with all their might. The fire-red giant snake was already at its last gasp, and after spitting out one final fireball, it finally collapsed to the ground. The dozen or so remaining bloodthirsty bees swarmed up in an instant, and in just a short span of time, they sucked dry the vital energy of the fire-red giant snake, leaving behind only a layer of snakeskin spread across the ground.

  Tang Lin hid in the water from start to finish, and everything that happened on the shore was seen by him. The frenzied bloodthirsty bees made his heart skip a beat, and he didn't dare imagine what would happen if there wasn't this pool of water - it would definitely be himself who had been drained of blood. After killing the fiery red snake, the remaining dozen or so bloodthirsty bees seemed very excited, and after circling around their companion's corpse for a while, they finally flew away. They seemed to have already forgotten the mastermind behind all this, that human existence.

  Seeing the Blood Bee leave, Tang Lin took a deep breath and looked towards the shore, at the still smoking corpse of the Blood Bee and the scarlet python's skin pouch. His body hair stood on end as he thought about what had just happened, and Tang Lin was overcome with fear.

  He waited in the water for another half an hour, and when everything around him had completely quieted down, Tang Lin finally climbed ashore. He looked up at the sun to determine his direction, and was about to leave when he seemed to have thought of something. He turned around and headed towards that cave.

  In the small pool, Tang Lin suddenly found that this cave seemed to have something shining inside. At that time, the red fire snake and the bloodthirsty bee were fighting enthusiastically, so he forgot about it. Now that they are going to leave, he remembered it again.

  After entering the cave, Tang Lin was stunned. The cave wasn't big, but there were many things inside, including Tianling Grass and Tianling Fruit. However, they were somewhat different. Take the Tianling Grass for example - the ones in this cave were vastly different from those grown by Zhang Dapeng. Each strand of Tianling Grass here emitted a faint blue glow, and their size was also larger than those grown by Zhang Dapeng. Apparently, these Tianling Grass were not young.

  It's not just the heavenly grass and heavenly fruit, but also many other strange flowers and weeds that Tang Lin didn't recognize, with over a dozen varieties. Seeing these, Tang Lin burst out laughing.

  "Damn it, I'm gonna get rich this time! So many spiritual flowers and grasses, I can exchange them for a lot of good stuff. Hehe, my heart's delight!"

  After rummaging through the cave for more than an hour, Tang Lin had cleaned out the entire place. All sorts of rare flowers and herbs were picked, some even being pulled up by their roots. Some unripe spiritual grasses were also plucked down by Tang Lin and thrown into his storage bag.

  Looking at the empty cave, Tang Lin was very satisfied and was about to leave when he found a red stone exposed in one corner of the cave. This kind of colored stone is not uncommon, and Tang Xinyi likes to collect them. In the Tang family home, Tang Xinyi's room is full of these stones everywhere.

  "Hmm, the red stone is quite nice, I'll keep it for now and give it to that kid later!"

  Tang Lin crouched down and started digging the soil around the stone. After two digs, he felt something was off. Around the stone, Tang Lin dug out a piece of human bone. This startled him, and he considered giving up, but the red stone was really beautiful. If he gave it to Xinyi, she would definitely be overjoyed.

  "To hell with it, what's there to be afraid of? I've killed people before, and still care about these trifles?"

  As the excavation continued, a complete skeleton appeared before Tang Lin's eyes. The red stone was clutched in its hand, and at the same time, Tang Lin discovered a package. When he opened it, there was a letter inside, as well as a book with only two words written on it: "Divine Movement".

  Tang Lin didn't flip through the book, but instead opened the letter.

  "I am Ling Muhua, the first guardian of the Temple of Gods and Demons. After being ambushed, I escaped here and fought against a ninth-level great demon, exhausting my spiritual energy. Although I finally killed it, my injuries are too severe, and I have no strength to return to heaven. I leave this letter in the hope that someone with fate will obtain it and inherit my mantle, returning to the Temple of Gods and Demons to avenge me. Specifically, I leave behind 'Shen Xing' for later generations to study. - Ling Muhua"

  "Ling Muhua? Shenmodian? What a mess! I'm not interested in helping you take revenge, my own vengeance hasn't been fulfilled yet!"

  After finishing speaking, Tang Lin picked up the red stone and took it away. As soon as the red stone was removed, Ling Muhua's skeleton made a "cracking" sound, and then the entire skeleton turned into powder and piled up together.

  Looking at the skeleton that had turned to dust, Tang Lin couldn't bear it and used his hands to gather them together, covered them with soil. Then he found a piece of bark, stood in front of the mound, carved Ling Muhua's name on it, and said to this simple tombstone:

  "Uncle Ling, it wasn't intentional, don't blame me. I, Tang Lin, have taken note of your grudge. If one day I get the chance and my cultivation improves, I'd be willing to help you avenge yourself. But before that, I must first settle my own scores. If I'm still alive by then, I'll definitely help you with this matter. You can rest assured, Uncle, I keep my word. You can leave in peace!"

  After finishing, he also gave the other party three kowtows, and only then did he walk out of the cave entrance. After walking a few steps, Tang Lin came back again. Following the principle of "the wind blows and leaves a mark, the wild goose flies and plucks its feathers", he collected all the scattered snake scales on the ground and threw them into his storage bag. Only then was he satisfied and left.

  After walking and circling for more than two hours, Tang Lin finally walked out of the back mountain. During this time, he also encountered several demon beasts, but they were all first-class, and Tang Lin didn't provoke them. He managed to return to his residence safely without any mishaps.

  He hid the storage bag, Tang Lin carried the fish and picked a piece of Tianling grass with the worst quality. He came to Zhang Dapeng's medicine garden and found that he was cultivating. Without disturbing him, he set up a fire on the side and roasted the fish.

  Perhaps it was the aroma that woke him up, Zhang Dapeng opened his eyes and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

  "Tang Shidi, today I had roasted fish again. Your skills in roasting fish are truly exceptional! Ever since I had it last time, my taste buds have been hooked by you, the flavor is really great!"

  "Big brother, these are just some small tricks that can't be shown to others. Today I found a Tianlingcao in the back mountain, its quality is not bad, bring it here for you to see, take a look at what year it is."

  After finishing speaking, he threw the heavenly spirit grass to Zhan Dapeng and continued roasting the fish.

  Zhan Dapeng took over the Tianlingcao and looked at it, almost jumping up, carefully holding it for half a day before speaking to Tang Lin:

  "Tang Shidi, what good luck! This is a three-year-old Tianling grass, its value is higher than all the Tianling grass in my garden. I can assure you that with just this one plant, you can exchange it for a Tianling pill, you're really lucky!"

  "Ah, this is so valuable, it can be exchanged for a Heavenly Spirit Dan. I'm really quite lucky, Zhang Shixiong, I see you're always surrounded by these Heavenly Spirit Grasses, it's hard work indeed. This grass, I'll give it to you, the Tianjian Sect only has us two with compatible temperaments. I just arrived, nobody knows me, this grass will probably stay with me, but I won't be able to keep it safe, might as well give it to you!"

  When Tang Lin said that, Zhan Dapeng's jaw dropped to the ground. He didn't expect that this new junior brother would be so generous. The three-year-old Tianling grass was given away just like that, and from the other person's expression, it wasn't a joke. Moreover, after understanding the value of this Tianling grass, he gave it to himself without any hesitation or regret. This kind of generosity is not something an ordinary person can do.

  "Brother Tang, this Tianlingcao is too valuable, I don't want it, you'd better take it back."

  Zhan Dapeng said so, but he didn't intend to return the Tianling grass to Tang Lin. Instead, he held it tightly in his arms, as if afraid someone would snatch it away.