Chapter Thirty: Green Wolf

  Wu Mu Dao Ren chuckled and raised his hand, a small booklet flew towards Shui Sheng, saying: "Within half a month, memorize and recite this 'Control Technique' by heart, then refine this artifact with your mind." Upon hearing these words, Shui Sheng couldn't help but secretly grumble to himself. At this time, the flying sword was bestowed upon him, which was clearly not for his own relaxation and play, but rather to lock himself firmly indoors, not even allowing him to go out and have fun during the New Year. However, looking at the golden light shining from the small sword in his hand, he felt a wave of wild joy once again.

  Except for Xiye, the firecrackers' sounds rose and fell at the foot of the mountain. In the Cloud Platform Temple, other little boys had already finished worshiping various gods under the leadership of Jing Shan, and started to celebrate and play happily. Even the four big cows gathered together with Xiao Dao Tong Jing Xin, playing very happily. However, Shui Sheng was still fiddling with that flying sword, no matter how hard he tried, the small sword just couldn't fly up, not even for a moment while floating in mid-air.

  Time and time again, he made an effort, only to fall once more. Just then, the sound of laughter and cheering drifted in from outside, making Shuǐ Shēng even more frustrated and annoyed. He put away his flying sword, jumped down from the cloud bed, and prepared to join Dà Niú and the others for a good time. But just as he opened the door, he caught sight of Wū Mù Dào Rén standing in the doorway of the hall, staring at him with an ambiguous smile. Shuǐ Shēng's enthusiasm vanished instantly; he scratched his head, forced a smile, and turned back to walk into the room once more.

  More than five months later, General Tie Wing came to Yun Tai Temple again. At this time, there was only a little more than a month left before the grand recruitment of disciples at Yu Ding Gate on July 13th. The distance from Longyang City to the main peak of Taishan Mountain Range, Yuding Mountain, is nearly a thousand miles away. Among them, more than 700 miles are official roads that can be driven, and more than 200 miles are steep mountain trails. This little more than a month's time was just right for not rushing or hurrying to Yu Ding Mountain.

  This time, Wu Mu Dao broke the precedent and did not slow down General Tie Yi as he had in the past two times. Not only was his complexion much better, but he also personally welcomed him into Song Tao's residence for a secret conversation that lasted for over an hour.

  However, when Wumudao saw Shuǐshēng and the others get into the carriage brought by Tiěyì Jiāngjūn one after another, a dark cloud suddenly condensed on his originally calm face, causing Jìngshàn, Jìngxīn, and the little boy who was about to get on the carriage to secretly guess that Wumudao had become addicted to punishing Shuǐshēng and the others? Was he feeling uncomfortable seeing them leave?

  Unlike Wumeng Daoist's lonely figure, Jing Shandaoist was surrounded by a large group of reluctant little children, calling out to their elder brothers and sisters, Jing Shan smiled and sent the children one by one onto the horse carriage.

  The fifty black iron soldiers guarding the Yun Tai Temple, and more than a dozen personal attendants brought by General Tie Yi, were already ready to depart. They watched as the three small children boarded ten horse-drawn carriages in groups of three, and then quickly mounted their horses. General Tie Yi bowed his hands to Wu Mu Dao Ren, turned around, and shouted: "Depart!"

  As soon as the words fell, a young lieutenant flashed out from behind him, lightly tapping the toe of his horse, and galloping out, he swung a black flag held high in his hand, leading the way forward. Twenty iron-clad cavalrymen urged their horses to follow closely behind.

  The whip cracked, and the carriage began to move slowly. Shuǐ shēng lifted the curtain on the window, poking his head out to look at Wū Mù Dào rén, who seemed to sense it and turned around, looking back at Shuǐ shēng and the big cow, Wáng Lóng, beside him, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. The sunlight cast an unflattering glow on Wū Mù Dào rén's ugly face, yet in this moment, the three people somehow found this ugly face endearing, feeling a pang of reluctance to part with it deep within their hearts.

  Seeing Shui Sheng Zhang's mouth open as if to speak, Wu Mu Dao's face turned stern and he turned around, walking quickly towards the inner chamber. The three of them had long been accustomed to Wu Mu Dao's eccentric behavior, so they just exchanged a wry smile with each other. Just as they were about to put down the curtain, they simultaneously heard Wu Mu Dao's transmission in their ears: "Remember, unless it's a matter of life and death, you must not intentionally reveal your magical abilities in front of others."

  In another carriage, Huatianyu also put down the curtain and took a deep look at the three big characters "Yuntai Temple" on the signboard. However, there was a faint cold light flashing in his eyes that was hard to detect.

  At first, the children were curious about the scenery outside the window, but as time went on, they lost interest and fell asleep one by one in the carriage. A month had passed, and they had only traveled more than 600 miles, which was a speed that the three of them couldn't understand, like a snail's pace.

  For the past month, all they did was eat and sleep, the children had lost their enthusiasm for this dull journey. Fortunately, they had spent nearly two years in YunTaiGuan which was even more boring, so no one complained about it.

  Along the way, there were also many villagers who felt strange about this group of soldiers in bright armor escorting dozens of children as if they were precious porcelain. However, seeing the cold expressions on the faces of the Black Iron Army, no one dared to approach and ask questions. Some literate villagers saw the large "Iron" character on the black flag, looked at the majestic appearance of the Black Iron Army in their black armor and guns, and thought of the military exploits of the Protector General of Longyang City in Nanyang County and his Black Iron Army, and they were even more fearful, each keeping a safe distance away.

  It was in the midst of summer, on this day at noon, just when lunchtime arrived, the scorching sun in the sky grew even more intense. As there were no villages or towns for tens of miles before and after the official road, General Tie Wing had to order his soldiers to drive the horse carriage to a nearby dense forest with lush branches to rest and have a snack.

  A group of children climbed out of the horse-drawn carriage, ate some dry rations, and gathered under a large toon tree. With great interest, they began to catch the toon caterpillars and flower nymphs (two kinds of small pests on the toon tree) that were crawling around.

  Shuǐ shēng, dà niú, wáng lóng sān rén yuǎn yuǎn lí kāi zhòng rén, tǎ zài dì shàng, dà hū xiǎo jiào de cuī cù zhe sān zhī tuó xiàng jiā yóu kuài pǎo, sān zhī tuó xiàng zhèng qián fāng, yǒu yī tiáo yòng shù zhī huà chū lái de héng xiàn, kàn yàng zǐ zhēng shì zhōng diǎn.

  Xiao Juan had the urge to run over and take a look, but Tie Xintang curled her lip and said: "Three boring guys, so old yet still playing with things kids play with, let's not bother them!" Xiao Juan gave her a white eye and said: "Then what do we play? Can't just sleep in the carriage every day! How about we climb up this tree and catch those noisy little birds to give them a beating?"

  Tie Xin Tang stared at Xiao Juan like a monster, shrieking: "Are you a girl? Come on, come on, sister will draw your eyebrows for you. Look at your face, it's just like a little flower cat! What a waste of my good rouge and powder! This was specially brought by my mother for my father to bring back! How precious!" She dragged Xiao Juan towards the carriage. Tie Xin Tang is already fourteen years old this year, not big or small, but exactly at the age when she loves beauty, while Xiao Juan is only nine years old, naturally with different thoughts.

  Three small elephants slowly crawled on the ground, ignoring the commands of the three people in charge. No matter how loudly they shouted, it had no effect. Just as the elephant belonging to Big Cow had crossed the line, Wang Long's suddenly stopped, and Shuisheng's turned around and crawled in another direction. Big Cow burst out laughing and said: "You guys lost again, come on and stick your noses out so I can scratch them again."

  Shui Sheng and Wang Long were both crestfallen, unable to understand why Dà Niú's elephant was so formidable and always won. They could only helplessly let Dà Niú take a swipe at their nose. In his anger, Wang Long yanked off the trunk of the elephant in his hand and went to catch another one that looked even sturdier, urging them to compete again.

  At this moment, Shui Sheng suddenly pulled Wang Long and whispered: "It's not good, there are wild beasts coming towards us, it seems to be a pack of ferocious wolves." Wang Long was startled in his heart, threw away the bamboo pole in his hand, and listened carefully with his ears. Two months ago, Wang Long finally also entered the third layer of the Qi Refining stage, able to condense some weak divine sense, his senses were much stronger than when he was at the second layer of the Qi Refining stage.

  The Iron Wing General, who was meditating under a large tree, suddenly stood up and looked into the distance. Although the Iron Wing General was a discarded spirit root and could only stop at the third layer of Qi Refining, after years of accumulation, his magical powers were far superior to those of Wang Long, who had just entered the third layer of Qi Refining, and he also discovered the anomaly.

  Shui Sheng's complexion became increasingly unsightly, and he whispered to Wang Long and Da Niu: "It's not good, we're surrounded by this pack of vicious wolves." As they spoke, Wang Long had already discovered that as many as three or four hundred vicious wolves were closing in on them from all sides.

  Several war horses also sensed the potential danger, restlessly stirring and neighing loudly.

  General Iron Wing's eyes flashed with a scorching light, and he said in a low voice: "Everyone, cheer up! We are surrounded by wolves. Protect the children and horses well, prepare for battle!"

  Upon hearing this, the Black Iron Army suddenly stood up in unison, with those holding knives holding knives and those holding guns holding guns. They quickly formed a circular formation without any chaos. Several dozen military horses and ten horse-drawn carriages were surrounded at the center, while the soldiers driving the carriages gathered the children and had them get inside the carriages, where they stood guard with knives in hand. Twenty Black Iron Army soldiers grasped steel knives, two by two, also standing guard beside the carriages. Another thirty Black Iron Army soldiers stood at intervals of two zhang, forming a circle around the outside, each holding a black long spear that was one zhang in length.

  Behind General Iron Wing, a dozen or so school lieutenants held guns and bows at the ready. As soon as they formed their battle array, several large grey wolves emerged silently from the dense grass around them. The three leading wolves were enormous, with bodies over six feet long, their sleek coats a deep blue color unlike any ordinary grey wolf, their heads larger than usual, tongues lolling in and out of their mouths, fangs bared, eyes gleaming with a cold, sinister light.

  General Iron Wing's expression changed slightly, and others didn't know that he was well aware that these three green wolves were rare first-class demon beasts. Compared to ordinary ferocious wolves, their intelligence had greatly increased, and the sharpness of their claws and teeth could rival a cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining. The reason why this group of ferocious wolves could quietly approach everyone without making a sound, suddenly killing them and surrounding them, was certainly because they were under the command of these three green wolf demon beasts.

  This chapter is over, your support is my greatest motivation!