Chapter 58: Investigating the Mountain

  "But I'm afraid..." The village chief, despite his age, was unexpectedly timid and hid behind Master Huichen, tugging at his hem and said anxiously.

  "It's okay, just go ahead and give him two slaps."

  After listening to Master Huichen's words, the village chief thought for a moment that this was for Leizi, so he gritted his teeth and walked over, stopping three meters away from Fox Fairy. Then, according to Master Huichen's instructions, he knelt down and kowtowed twice, sincerely repenting: "Fairy, it was my fault, I... But please calm down, I'm willing to offer sacrifices to you every day, so you won't have to worry about incense..."

  "Hmm!"

  The village head had just finished speaking, when the fox spirit suddenly let out a frantic cry, its paws repeatedly slapping the snow on the ground, occasionally letting out a faint howl, as if it was still seething with resentment.

  "What should I do, Master?"

  The village head turned around in fright and sought help from Master Huichen. Master Huichen, seeing the situation, was not worried, but walked to the side of the village head, joined his hands together and bowed to the fox spirit, explaining: "Immortal, why must you be angry again? It's his fault, but good and evil will eventually be resolved through tribulation; he has already suffered for five years. Please calm down and let him go."

  Saying so, Master Huichen made the village chief kowtow three more times.

  To say that Master Huichen is a high-ranking monk, this fox spirit seems to be giving him face. After hearing what Master Huichen said, he bent his hind legs and squatted there.

  The incense had burned out, and on such a cold day Qin Feng hid behind the door, carefully watching the movements outside, not daring to make a sound. Master Hui Chen continued to bow and pay respects, silently reciting Buddhist scriptures in his mouth, quietly waiting for the Fox Fairy's verdict.

  Perhaps the fox fairy forgave the village chief, or gave face to Master Huichen. Before long, the fox walked around Master Huichen in a circle three times, then came to the front of the incense burner and lay down there.

  The village head is now very afraid, and with the fox fairy's appearance, he was stunned on the spot, not knowing what to do.

  Zhou Qin, who was hiding behind the door, also asked in confusion: "Qin Feng, what did that fox just do?"

  Qin Feng said: "Take a closer look, this should be the Fox Fairy's Soul Lock"

  。”

  "Fox Fairy Locks Soul?" Zhou Qin asked in confusion, "What does it mean?"

  "It is said that during the Song Dynasty, a young Taoist priest met a fox spirit in the mountains who had been severely bitten by a wolf. Just as the priest was about to save him, the fox spirit circled around the priest three times before dying from excessive blood loss. Years later, the priest passed through the same place again and was bitten by a venomous snake, his life hanging in the balance. However, a fox appeared and helped him gather medicine to cure his wound. Although this story is very old, the fact that the fox circled around the priest three times indicates that it was repaying a debt of gratitude."

  "Repaid kindness?" After listening to Qin Feng's explanation, Zhou Qin still looked puzzled and looked outside.

  At this time, the surroundings were no longer so terrifying. On the snowy ground, only the village elder's worries remained. Master Hui Chen seemed to have understood the fox spirit's meaning and turned around to come to its side. From his sleeve, he took out a small Buddhist altar about half the size of his palm, recited a passage in front of it, and then the fox called out twice before mysteriously disappearing.

  "Master, where is that fox?" Seeing such a strange phenomenon, Qin Feng walked out from behind the door and asked curiously.

  The master of Hui Chen closed the Buddhist shrine, and then put it back in his sleeve, "The fox fairy's soul has been placed inside this shrine by me, don't worry, everything is fine now."

  The village chief, Zhang, stood up and patted the remaining snow off his body. Although he didn't understand anything, after hearing Master Huichen's words, he finally put down his guard and thanked Master Huichen very much.

  After tidying up, they returned to the house. Looking at Zhang Dalei, his complexion and state were much better than before, breathing steadily and sleeping very quietly. Master Huichen drank a mouthful of hot tea, put down the teacup, and said: "Although the matter has been resolved, you must not do such evil things in the future. Today is the tenth day of the month, and from now on, every year on the tenth day of the lunar calendar, as well as during Qingming Festival and Yu Lan Jie, you should burn incense and worship the fox spirit, abstain from meat and eat vegetarian food to let it feel your sincerity. I hope you will be mindful of your behavior in the future and accumulate more good deeds."

  At this point, Qin Feng couldn't help but ask Huichen Shifu with some confusion: "Master, what about the fox spirit's soul?"

  "Hehe..." Huī Chén Shī Fù pulled out the Buddha shrine from his sleeve and said with a smile: "Right here, I plan to take it back to help its soul ascend to heaven and become immortal."

  Qin Feng's acting skills are indeed impressive, and it seems that this troublesome matter has been resolved.

  On the second day, early in the morning, Master Huichen bid farewell to Qin Feng and returned to Nan Shan Temple, while Qin Feng and Zhou Qin began their own real affairs.

  Early in the morning, the two of them followed the instructions on this map and wandered around on these hills, hoping to find some clues. This map did leave some clues, but with so many hills and gullies on the yellow plateau in front of us, it's really troublesome to find them. Moreover, the snow has not melted yet, and it's indeed a bit tricky to find something in the all-white mountains.

  He hadn't walked halfway up the mountain road when Qin Feng was already sweating profusely.

  "My god, what kind of place is this? Liu Qifang really knows how to find a hidden spot, it's not showing any signs from the outside, it's truly a 'lucky land'!"

  Qin Feng crouched in the snow, took a deep breath, and then carefully pulled out the drawings to study them again.

  "Hey, Brother Zhou Qin, there's no indication of east, south, west or north up there, it's really hard to find!"

  "It's hard to find but have to find, no choice, can only search based on the scenery above."

  After a moment, Qin Feng said: "Look at the top, he marked the location of the painting with a circle, surrounded by layers of hills, and there is a river flowing through this place. It seems that we need to find a place with a river."

  "There's probably no river in this desolate mountain, maybe the river marked on the map has dried up long ago, after all, it's been so many years." Zhou Qin speculated.

  "It's hard to say." Qin Feng guessed, "Look at the terrain above, it should be a place with lush vegetation, let's go take a look over there, the grass and trees over there seem denser."

  Qin Feng pointed to the area on the north side, indeed, there were more trees on the north side, and he also suspected that Liu Qi might have hidden things there. Zhou Qin took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one up, took a few puffs, and then went with Qin Feng to the other side.

  After the snow, the ground was covered with clear footprints of wild rabbits and pheasants. Every hill with overgrown grass seemed so desolate. Qin Feng walked along, carefully pondering the things on this map. This map showed not only these things, but also marked four downward arrows at the top of each hill.

  Qin Feng couldn't understand why Liu Qifang had gone to so much trouble to create so many arrowheads. Was it unnecessary? Or was there another reason? Qin Feng still couldn't be certain, and could only prepare for the worst, because after all, Liu Qifang was from the Mao Shan sect, and what he had learned far exceeded Qin Feng's imagination.