Chapter 44: Investigating the Eight Public Mountains Inverted V

  After staying in Shouyang for several days, Xuan Zhen made some discreet inquiries and heard many rumors about the strange occurrences on the shores of Chao Lake more than ten years ago. He suspected that it might have been caused by the people from Nanjiang who were seen fighting outside the city twelve years ago, but the ignorant villagers thought they were supernatural beings, so he didn't take it seriously.

  He wandered around Chao Lake, but didn't feel even a bit familiar. Only when he thought of the woman he had met by the lake did he feel a slight pang of melancholy. Since that day, he hadn't seen her again by the lake. It seemed that after marrying, she didn't go out often. Thinking about this made him sigh inwardly, and that lingering regret lingered in his heart for a long time.

  That day, he and Zi Xuan also parted ways at the inn's entrance. Although Shouyang was a small city, its market was quite lively, which made Zi Xuan, this little girl, not satisfied with her daily stroll. Xuan Zhen had to instruct her for a while before leaving the west gate of the city.

  To the west of Shouyang City is Bagong Mountain. In the northeast of this mountain, there was a mausoleum of a former king of Huainan. According to legend, the burial objects in the tomb were extremely rich, so in order to prevent thieves from robbing the tomb, the mountain road had official soldiers guarding it and forbidding travelers from passing through. But Xuan Zhen was such a person that he naturally did not fear these ordinary people, so he bypassed the two soldiers at the intersection and walked towards the eastern mountain road of Bagong Mountain.

  The King of Huainan, in the previous generation, had a majestic and awe-inspiring presence, which gradually increased as one traveled along the road. The green stone pavement beneath his feet was unbroken, winding its way into the distance until it disappeared behind the towering mountains ahead. The trees and grasses alongside the road were lush and luxuriant, with occasional thickets of shrubs quivering and shaking, and the wild beasts that emerged from them seemed to be well aware of the proper etiquette, not daring to approach and cause a disturbance.

  As soon as he turned over a boulder, the sparse forest in front of him suddenly became bald and exposed a large patch of empty land. Xuán Zhèn's footsteps paused slightly, his eyes scanning the trees near the empty land one by one. After more than ten years of recuperation, the scars were no longer as shocking as they had been back then, but they were still quite noticeable. The broken parts were very neat and tidy, clearly not a natural disaster, so it must have been left behind by those people from the southern border that day.

  Xuan Zhen stood in the center of the empty land, looking at the large pit that had been punched out beneath his feet. The bottom of the pit even exposed a layer of rocky strata, revealing just how intense the great battle had been back then. He furrowed his brow and looked around, shaking his head and sighing softly: "Still... can't think of anything..."

  Before he could finish speaking, a loud shout came from upstairs.

  "Die, beast! Take a bullet from your grandfather!"

  A crisp sound suddenly rose, and a small grey figure suddenly jumped out from behind the mountain rocks at the end of the mountain road. Then two figures chased out from behind, both were robust men with tiger backs and bear waists, wearing armor, one of whom was holding a steel spear.

  That grey shadow was agile, darting left and right, taking advantage of its small size to deliberately provoke those mountain rocks and tree roots to escape. The two sturdy men behind were so angry that they shouted loudly, their steel guns stabbing at the grey shadow, cutting off many shrubs and vines, and even the sparks flying from the stones couldn't stop it, but instead, the grey shadow didn't care at all, and swiftly ran towards this side of the mountain road.

  Xuan Zhen's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, his feet moved swiftly, and he took a step forward, just in time to block the gray shadow's path. The gray shadow was startled as it fled to the front, but Xuan Zhen was even more agile, folding himself in mid-air and bouncing towards another side of the forest. Xuan Zhen hesitated for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and turned his body around, his feet treading on the eight trigrams pattern, leaving behind a string of residual shadows. In an instant, he had circled back to the front of the gray shadow, not giving it time to react, and with a wave of his sleeve, he had already wrapped it inside.

  When he held it in his hand and took a closer look, Xuān Zhèn's eyes widened for an instant, revealing a helpless expression. All he saw was a fluffy ball in his hand, nothing special, just an ordinary... wild rabbit.

  It was just an ordinary wild rabbit, and Xuān Zhèn wouldn't have needed to exert much effort to catch it. However, this rabbit was so swift that it forced him to use the most superior Ling Xū Bù (Spiritual Void Step) from the Qióng Huá Sect's lightness skill to capture it in his hands. It seemed that even among wild rabbits, there were rarely any lightness skill experts like this one.

  He stared at the gray rabbit, sizing it up, while the two big men had already run to the front. The one holding the gun glared at Xuan Zhen with his eyes wide open, and without saying a word, he reached out to grab the gray rabbit.

  Xuan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and with a reverse motion, he stuffed the small grey thing into his bosom. He retreated a few feet, avoiding the large palm covered in coarse hair, and said calmly: "Sir, what are you doing?"

  "What's going on?" The big man snorted twice from his nostrils and said rudely, "That beast is your grandfather's appetizer for me today, so hurry up and send it over to Laozi!"

  "Hey, Zhen Er Ge, this is not right." The big man beside him suddenly said, "You are his grandfather, how can you still be his father? This is a huge mistake!"

  The burly man with the spear was taken aback, and angrily shouted: "Whether it's Grandfather or not, it's still Grandfather! Hey, you little white-faced guy in white clothes, you turtle grandson quickly bring Grandfather's wine dishes over respectfully, otherwise I'll roast you together with that rabbit!" As he spoke, he menacingly waved the long spear in his hand.

  Who knew that the big man next to him would interrupt and say: "Hey, Zhen Ergou, your words are still not right! You're his grandfather, how can he be a turtle grandson? If so, wouldn't you become... a turtle yourself? This is really, really wrong!"

  Turtles are originally a symbol of longevity in folklore, but when applied to men, they become a great shame, implying that the man's wife is frivolous and unchaste outside. Xuán Zhèn had heard his fellow disciples mention this in hushed tones while he was meditating on the mountain, so when it happened, he couldn't help but burst out laughing with a snort.

  This smile was as refreshing as a gentle breeze rustling through pines or a bright moon reflected in a spring, and the man himself was even more handsome beyond compare, with a warm and refined demeanor like jade. The two burly men in front of him couldn't help but stare blankly for a moment.

  "Hey, Zhen Er Ge, this little white face looks... looks pretty good, even more beautiful than Chun Xiang Yuan's Yan Hong!" The big man who was stunned and stuttering said with a pat on his companion's shoulder.

  "Hmm, that's indeed... Ah, what a wonderful egg!" The big man with the gun nodded in agreement, but suddenly came back to his senses and immediately turned from embarrassment to anger. He pointed at Xuan Zhen and shouted, "You little white face, quickly return the rabbit! Otherwise, I'll stab you and that dead rabbit together with one shot of my spear!"

  Xuan Zhen's smile on his face was gone, and he looked at him with a seemingly smiling but not quite smiling expression: "Let's not say that this rabbit is not yours, even if it is yours... If I don't return it to you, what can you do?"

  Those two sturdy men were the officers and soldiers guarding the tomb of Huainan Wang in Baigong Mountain. They had been bullying around Shouyang for a long time, even the county magistrate of Shouyang City would give them some face. It was the first time they met someone who dared to be so defiant towards them, and they were stunned again. The tall man with the gun reacted first, dancing the long spear in his hand with great momentum, shouting: "Grandpa has always looked down on you little white faces, eat my spear first!" He then thrust the spear at his chest.

  Xuan Zhen didn't retreat, instead taking a step forward. With a flick of his wrist, he had already grasped the spearhead in his hand. Still with an enigmatic smile, he said: "Is this broken copper and rusty iron worth showing off?" As he spoke, he exerted force from the bottom of his hand, suddenly yanking the long spear out of the big man's hand. He raised his hand and flung it far away, only to hear the sound of clattering growing fainter and fainter until it landed at the foot of the mountain wall.

  The burly man lost his weapon and suddenly became furious, but he had exchanged blows with Xuān Zhèn once before and knew that this pale-faced young man was formidable. After some thought, he turned around and retreated a few steps, jumping out of the fighting circle before bursting into loud curses. This person's martial arts were ordinary, but their cursing skills were exceptional, with a torrent of filthy language flowing like a river, constantly changing and never repeating, truly making one sigh in amazement.

  Xuan Zhen spent 12 years on the mountain learning how to be a humble gentleman, what does he know about these things? The big Han scolded for hundreds of sentences, but Xuan Zhen only understood one or two, and even so, he knew that what came out of the dog's mouth couldn't be ivory. He was secretly angry and was about to teach the man a lesson again when suddenly the big Han slapped his forehead and shouted loudly: "Ah, Zhen Er Ge, this matter... is greatly wrong!"

  As soon as this was said, Xuān Zhèn and the big Han both looked over, the spear-wielding Han angrily saying: "What's wrong now?"

  That silly big fellow stuttered and replied: "This person... the mountain road of Ba Gong Mountain has never been allowed to be walked, and there are brothers guarding the intersection below. How could this little white face run here? This is greatly inappropriate!"

  The foolish Da Han suddenly enlightened, but for Xuan Zhen it was a great misfortune. He heard this and thought to himself "this is terrible", he didn't dare to delay any longer and quickly rose into the air, behind him the Spring Water sword flew out in perfect sync, as soon as his foot touched the sword hilt he grasped the sword's trick, then a clear ring sounded, one person and one sword transformed into a green light, instantly disappearing into the distance.

  When he returned to the inn, Zi Xuan was already sitting in the main hall drinking tea. Seeing him return so early, she looked surprised and delighted, saying: "Xuan Zhen brother, you went to Ba Gong Mountain... did you think of something?"

  Xuan Zhen shook his head and sat down opposite her, scanning the table with a glance. On it were laid out all sorts of fragrant powders and ornaments, sparkling brightly and emitting a strong fragrance that was overwhelming. He said helplessly, "You've bought so many things again, I'm afraid your purse is empty once more?"

  Zi Xuan giggled and batted her big eyes coquettishly, saying: "Isn't there Big Brother Xuán Zhèn? If I couldn't pay the money, you wouldn't just stand by and watch, would you?" Her big eyes sparkled mischievously as they rolled around, then suddenly fixed on something in Xuán Zhèn's arms, and she exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, what's that thing?"

  Xuan Zhen was taken aback, and he also lowered his head to look, only to see that the front of his chest was bulging, and a small patch of gray fluff protruded from the collar. The collar moved slightly, and two soft little paws grasped the edge of the collar. Then, two long thin ears and a small gray fluffy head emerged.

  "Little rabbit?" Zi Xuan exclaimed with delight, hastily rushing over to take the grey rabbit in her hands. "Xuanzhen gege, where did you catch it? It's so adorable!"

  Xuan Zhen suddenly remembered that he had been busy escaping and had inadvertently ridden his sword back to this place, forgetting to release the wild rabbit. His gaze lowered, but it happened to meet a pair of bright red beastly eyes.

  Those eyeballs seemed to have condensed countless fresh blood, dark red and faintly revealed a hint of purple black. At a glance, it felt eerie and profound. What made Xuan Zhen even more astonished was that when the gray rabbit looked up from Zi Xuan's arms, its small round eyes seemed to flash with a hint of astonishment and a hint of resentment.

  P.S. So I spent all day yesterday in YY listening to songs... Sorry everyone! [hiding face in shame]

  PPS. Cough, boss has indeed appeared, guess which one...?