Chapter 56: Return to Jin State

  On the same day in the afternoon, the two left Xiyang County and went upstream for several miles to cross the river on the ice.

  "Old master, do you know where Zhao Zhenren's ancestral home is?" Lao Wu followed behind Mo Wen with a bundle on his back.

  "All I know is that it's in Hanchuan County, Jiangling, Nanjun." Walking on thin ice, he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease. His past experiences had already cast a shadow over his heart.

  "That's hard to find." Lao Wu saw Mo asking and slowed down his pace, so he ran ahead to explore the way for him.

  "When entrusted with a task, one must be loyal and see it through. Even if it's not easy to find, you still have to look." Mo asked the explorer to pull Old Five back behind him. He didn't know how big Han Chuan County was, but presumably it wouldn't be too small. However, the most difficult part was that Zhao Zhenren was a person from 100 years ago, and after 100 years had passed, it would indeed be hard to find his roots.

  "Are we going to have to go door-to-door asking?" Old Five asked with a smirk.

  Mo Wen shook his head and said, "That's not necessary, Zhao Zhenren has left behind a relic, at that time I can set up an altar to perform a ritual for him to find his ancestors."

  "Master, I also want to learn how to cast spells." Lao Wu said with a sly smile, not asking about the mysterious fire talisman he had used earlier, which was truly extraordinary.

  "You should use incantations, true words and finger gestures when performing the ritual. Without a law seal, you can't draw talismans and it won't work." Mo Wu shook his head and said.

  "Let's go find someone," said Lao Wu.

  Don't ask, Wen Yanfa smiled. He is an orthodox Taoist of the Supreme Clarity sect, with the Daoist name of Tian Ting Bei Ce. Therefore, only by adding the seal of the law can the spell take effect. Lao Wu has not received the seal, even if he engraved the law seal, it would have no effect at all.

  "You've never held a brush and can't even write characters, let alone draw. How could you possibly paint?" Mo Xiang asked with a smile.

  "That's right." Lao Wu was not discouraged by the words, he was originally curious and playful, not really wanting to learn. After crossing the river, he saw a rabbit and went to chase it. There were few people here, but many wild rabbits. Lao Wu's movements while chasing the rabbit were more than enough, and soon he had a string of them on his back.

  "Old man, what's wrong?" Lao Wu asked with a puzzled expression as he saw Mo Wen frowning at him.

  "Stop when you have enough to eat, don't kill too much." Mo Wen said.

  Lao Wu nodded in agreement and then changed the subject, "Old Master, where will we settle down from now on?"

  He didn't answer immediately, his mood was calm and confused at the same time. The calmness came from avenging a great hatred, while the confusion stemmed from having nowhere to go. If he wanted to quickly advance in his cultivation, it would be best to head to the deep mountains and dense forests, where the air is clean and peaceful, allowing him to focus on practicing his Qi. Moreover, the mountains were home to many rare treasures and spiritual materials that could be used to refine elixirs and enhance his cultivation. The symbol magic he had chosen to study was subtle yet powerful, requiring a strong foundation of spiritual energy to cast effectively.

  "It's best to find a mountain town outside the world that is secluded but not isolated, seeking stability rather than prosperity." Mo asked, after hesitating for a long time, he said. He was born with a quiet nature and disliked noise, but if he completely avoided the world, he feared that Old Five would not be able to bear the loneliness.

  "Old master, those few masters all learned the same good skills, how come you didn't learn it?" As Old Five spoke, another wild rabbit jumped out from the grass beside him. He wanted to go and chase it, but thinking of Mo's words, he gave up.

  Mo Wen looked at Lao Wu and saw that he had undoubtedly heard what everyone had said when they were drinking in the wine house, otherwise he wouldn't have asked such a question.

  "You and I are like brothers, there's no harm in telling you some things. The spells and magic I've learned may seem ordinary, but they actually encompass everything and can do anything. Whatever they can do, I'll be able to do it too in the future." Mo didn't ask, he just looked up and gazed into the distance, where not far away was the ruins of the village where he and Old Fifth had escaped from the ice cave.

  "What's going on later?" Old Five was only seventeen years old at that time and heard it with great excitement.

  Don't ask about his nature being ordinary and disliking exaggerated words, so what he says is relatively conservative. "At the shortest, three years; at most, five years, there can be small achievements."

  "What's so special about Little Chengdu?" Old Five asked curiously.

  Ben didn't like idle chatter, but if the two of them didn't talk while hurrying along the road, it would be extremely dull. So he patiently explained, "The skills passed down by the six respected seniors are not connected to each other, and need time to integrate and comprehend. At this moment, I have many techniques hidden in my heart that I cannot use at will. When I reach a shallow level of integration, I will achieve small success. At that time, ordinary illnesses can be cured, ordinary ghosts and demons can be subdued, and even if we encounter powerful demons or strange beasts, we will have the power to protect ourselves."

  "What's so great about being a big shot? What kind of abilities does it take?" Lao Wu happily followed behind Mo Xiong.

  "Soaring through the air, drawing symbols to conjure tigers, summoning rain and wind, moving mountains and cutting off rivers, numerous mysteries that cannot be told. Don't ask which path he took, he went back to the ruined house where they had taken shelter before."

  "It's really great," Old Five followed Mo Xun onto the forked road, "Luckily I learned the Wind Chasing Step, otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep up with you in the future."

  Mo Wen nodded, some things are destined in the dark, Sima Feng's Wind Chasing Ghost Step seems to be tailor-made for Lao Wu, just right for him.

  After a while, the two arrived at the dilapidated house where they had taken refuge earlier. The house had completely collapsed after more than a year of wind and rain. Mo Xie stood still for a moment before turning around and leaving.

  In the late afternoon, the two saw smoke rising from cooking fires. After crossing a mountain ridge, they found that within dozens of miles in front of them, there were three mountain peaks with city walls built around them. In the flat areas, there were military camps where troops were stationed. Judging by the scale of the mountain city and the number of military camps, it was clear that this place had a large garrison, defending against the northern state of Zhao.

  "Master, what shall we do? Shall we go around?" Lao Wu looked at the endless tents in front of him with some trepidation.

  "We are the people of Jin State, not spies from Zhao State. Why should we be suspicious? If we are suspicious and discovered by soldiers, it would be even more inappropriate." Mo Xiang did not hesitate and stepped forward directly.

  Lao Wu nodded and followed, this area of troops was east-west and did not see the beginning or end, if it was surrounded, I didn't know when it would be finished.

  There were dense wooden stakes and thorns outside the camp and mountain city, about three feet high, stretching east and west. In the middle of the north, there was a camp gate, which should be the passage for exploring horses to go out and listen to news. Without asking, he took Lao Wu to the north-facing camp gate.

  To prevent enemy soldiers from launching a surprise attack, the grass and trees around were all cut down. When they were still three miles away from the gate of the stockade, Mo asked them to stop.

  He stopped not because the Jin army in the camp had discovered him, but because he saw several female corpses thrown into a pit by the side of the road. These female corpses were all naked and exposed, and since they had been abandoned for a short time, coupled with the cold winter weather, the appearance of the female corpses could still be identified, and just looking at their faces revealed that they were Hu women.

  Not far away is the Han army barracks, and the appearance of these female corpses here is naturally related to those Han soldiers stationed on the border. If there were beheaded Huren soldiers, it would not be unexpected, but these people are all women, most of whom are naked from the waist down, and even if one or two bodies have trousers, they are only hastily dressed, and it can be vaguely seen that there is no underwear inside.

  "Master, don't look at them, they are barbarians." Lao Wu saw Mo Wen's furrowed brow and spoke to comfort him.

  "They are indeed Hu people, but they are all women. What difference is there between the Jin army's actions and those of the Hu soldiers?" Mo asked, his anger rising. It was not hard to guess what these women had suffered before their deaths, and their heads, faces, and bodies were covered in wounds, indicating that they had been brutally beaten in addition to being ravished.

  "The Jin army is stronger and more numerous than the barbarians, at least they don't eat people." Old Five pulled Mo Xun forward, "Master, you shouldn't be angry about something that's not worth being angry about. The women of the Hu people are also Hu people, killing them wouldn't be unjust."

  "If you want to kill, why bother with them? Can a man of honor bully defenseless women?" Mo Xiang asked indignantly.

  "It makes sense, after a while you entered the camp and gave those soldiers and generals a lesson." Lao Wu said with a smile.

  He shot a glance at Lao Wu and didn't say another word. As the saying goes, "Reading ten thousand volumes is not as useful as traveling ten thousand miles." Having been out in the world, he had seen much of the suffering and ugliness of human society. Before this, he had only thought that the barbarians were cruel, but now it seemed that the Han people were also not benevolent. At least these border soldiers were not good people. If one was a hero, they could go and fight with those tall and powerful barbarian soldiers; bullying women who couldn't even truss up a chicken was what kind of heroism?

  The soldiers guarding the border were not vigilant, and it was not until the two men walked to within a hundred paces of the gate that they discovered them, shouting loudly from the top of the gate tower asking where they came from.

  "Wu Liang Tian Zun, we have returned to answer the official's questions. We were originally from Xiyang County, and after the city was breached, we drifted outside and only today managed to set foot back home." Mo Wen asked with his head bowed.

  Mo Wu didn't expect that the soldiers at the gate didn't inspect them again, but instead immediately allowed the two to enter. Mo Wu felt a great warmth in his heart and found that no matter how they treated foreigners, they were extremely tolerant of Han people.

  As soon as the two entered the camp, several soldiers came forward to search their luggage. Seeing that there were only Taoist objects and ashes in the luggage, they scolded them for being unlucky.

  "Little Daoist, leave some silver coins for General Wu to buy wine." A young soldier drew his sword and pointed at Mo Wen.

  Don't ask about the warmth in his heart at this moment, it has long since turned into a cold air. It turns out that the soldiers let them in to search for silver, and in anger, he couldn't say a word.

  "Don't be foolish, where did they get the silver? Now everyone is offering to Buddha, who would give money to a cow's nose?" Just as Mo was about to ask, a middle-aged soldier beside him reached out and grabbed the rabbit from behind Old Five's back, "Get lost."

  Lao Wu felt discontented and turned his head to look at Mo Wen. Mo Wen glanced around and then reached out to pull Lao Wu away quickly.

  "The dog day's robbery took our food, and they're not afraid of being choked to death." Lao Wu turned back in anger as he walked ahead. At this time, the two had no dry rations left, the rabbit was robbed away, and dinner was gone.

  "It doesn't matter, the silver is still here. Go to the village ahead and buy some food." Mo Xiong shook his head and sighed deeply. Although he was angry in his heart, he couldn't take action. Once he took action, he would be regarded as a spy of Zhao State.

  "Old master, if you're feeling suffocated, we can go back and take it by force. Anyway, they won't be able to catch up with us," said Lao Wu.

  Mo Wen heard the words and slowly shook his head. He sighed not because he was robbed by the Jin army, but because Ye Xiao had said that the Emperor of Jin and the nobles were Buddhist believers, which was also confirmed by the middle-aged soldier's previous words.

  In a country where Buddhism is widely practiced, the days of Taoist disciples will not be easy...