Around the clock

  I only felt a blackness in front of my eyes, and then an irresistible force directly knocked me down, knocking my ribs almost to the point of breaking. The mountain demon's hair was like steel needles piercing my face, making it ache, while the stench on its body made me want to vomit. However, despite looking fluffy, the mountain demon's body emitted a cold aura, like a large block of ice.

  But don't look at the mountain ghost's small head, it's extremely heavy, no matter how I push or kick, can't budge it a bit, feels like it weighs several kilograms.

  After the mountain demon knocked me down, it let out a sharp howl again, opening its bloody big mouth to reveal four sharp fangs, and its lower jaw was almost touching my chest. If this bite were to land, I'm afraid half of my face would be torn off. The stench in the mountain demon's mouth was even heavier than on its body, somewhat like the smell of stagnant dead water and muddy sediment. Anyway, I almost fainted from the smell alone.

  It's no use fighting back, and hiding is also impossible. I made a split-second decision to protect my arms in front of me, even if it means being bitten through the arm, it's better than being bitten to death directly by the mountain demon.

  But the expected severe pain did not come, the mountain demon's sharp howl only wailed halfway and was abruptly cut off, getting stuck in its throat and turning into a somewhat comical grunt. I felt my body lighten, and when I looked again, the mountain demon had been grabbed by the top of its head and was being dragged away from me.

  I was still in a state of shock: "Master, you've finally arrived, I almost got killed."

  "But even a mountain goblin can scare you like this."

  It's strange to say, but just now the mountain ghost that was out of control fell into my master's hands and became as docile as a kitten, not to mention showing off its ferocity with bared teeth and brandished claws, it didn't even dare to move.

  My master held the mountain ghost with one hand, spat out a "kill" from his mouth, and with the other hand, made a strange gesture and slapped it directly on the mountain ghost's forehead, then released his hand holding the mountain ghost.

  I subconsciously took a few steps back, but saw the mountain ghost squatting beside my master, not even giving me a glance. My master patted the mountain ghost's head, just like training a dog.

  "Little devil, take us home."

  That mountain ghost surprisingly nodded as if it understood what its master said, and then climbed directly onto the car's front cover.

  "Ri Nuo (Yunnan dialect, similar to Cao), this mountain spirit can understand human language. As soon as it was said that it would be killed, it surrendered in fear." Gou Gen stood behind and witnessed the whole process of Shifu training the mountain spirit.

  The master chuckled and said, "Hurry up and get on the car, with it leading the way, you can quickly arrive at Miao Village."

  We hadn't been driving for long when we came to a fork in the road. Before I could ask my master which way to go, I heard a commotion coming from the woods around us, and then more than a dozen pairs of glowing red eyes suddenly appeared out of the darkness, like a pack of wolves.

  "This...this can't all be mountain goblins, right?" Dog Root said with a quiver.

  This time I was sitting in the car, so my heart was still relatively calm, but I was still a bit worried. The red lights were gathering more and more, I roughly estimated that there were at least twenty or more mountain ghosts surrounding us in the center.

  "Cock-a-doodle-doo."

  The mountain goblins standing on our vehicle called out twice, then got a chattering response from around them. Before long, the mountain goblins surrounding the vehicle all dispersed and disappeared into the endless darkness.

  "What's with these mountain goblins looking a bit like monkeys?" I took a closer look at the guy crouching in front of the car, and on his purple-red butt was a small piece that looked like a tail.

  "See it now?"

  The master smiled and said that these so-called mountain ghosts were actually a kind of monkey called the Shan Gui, because they looked strange, in ancient times they were considered to be mountain gods. However, the ones we see before us are not ordinary Shan Gui, but rather special things cultivated by the Miao people in the village.

  The dog root is a bit curious, asking how the Miao people cultivate the mountain goblin, which can actually make the monkey understand human language. When I get back, I'll also raise one and take it to the street, it's definitely very cool.

  The master said it's very simple, just feed the mountain goblin dead human flesh from a young age, especially the brain of the deceased, which can open up the goblin's spiritual intelligence. After feeding for ten to twenty years, an ordinary monkey can be fed into this kind of powerful and omniscient creature that can see ghosts and spirits and understand human language.

  The dog root shivered and said, Master, don't deceive people. Killing is against the law, and the Miao people respect the dead very much. It's impossible to feed the corpse of their own ethnic group to the monkeys.

  Master said that killing people is against the law now, but what about in the past? These mountain ghosts are at least a year old, and it wasn't difficult to find a dead person to feed the monkeys a year ago.

  Monkeys can live for one year? Even I don't believe it.

  Master glared at us and said that these mountain goblins were not even considered living things. If I could open my wisdom eye, I would be able to see the black air rising from their bodies, which was no different from some old ghosts. It's not surprising that they can live for one or two years.

  The master also said that whether it's a ghost or a monster, they are all the same as humans, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Ordinary little ghosts and monsters are not even a match for these mountain imps cultivated through witchcraft. The Miao people raise mountain imps to guard their homes and villages. At night, when the yin energy is heavy in the mountains, the mountain imps will lead the way, so the Miao people who return late at night won't get lost by the jing monsters in the mountains. And those who want to take advantage of the darkness to attack the Miao village had better think twice, after all, eating humans is what mountain imps do best.

  The dog root hehe smiled and said that the mountain goblin was not necessarily very loyal, and was scared by the master to betray obediently.

  The master said that what he said was not to slaughter the monkey, but the true words of Taoism, temporarily breaking the witchcraft on the mountain goblin's body, which subdued it. However, it can only be used for a few hours and will change back later.

  The dog's eyes rolled around and he smiled at his master, saying that he wanted to learn this move. I also became interested in these ghost-repelling and demon-subduing spells, and followed him in asking to learn them.

  The master didn't scold Gougen, but instead said that I now have a thorough understanding of the pulse, and my ability to perceive yin and yang energies is as sharp as that of an infant. There's a technique in front of me that can be quickly mastered, I wonder if you want it or not.

  What else can I say? I nodded repeatedly.

  The master was very satisfied, and then taught me some of the most basic methods of Qigong. Where is the Dan Tian Qi Hai, what is called feeling the Qi mechanism, how to inhale and operate, and how to transform Qi into power, he talked a lot about it in a confusing manner.

  Master asked me to try first, so I closed my eyes, relaxed my body and tried according to his method.

  As I inhaled, I felt a small stream of energy rising from the "qi hai" area below my navel, making me feel itchy all over. But at this moment, I had to hold back, because if I made any sound with my mouth, the energy that had accumulated in the qi hai would dissipate. In my mind, I imagined the energy rising up to the top of my head, and amazingly, it really did rise from the qi hai to the xiong kou (the entrance to the chest), then dispersed and merged into the blood vessels all over my front and back torso. The sensation was like being immersed in warm water, feeling cozy and comfortable all over.

  This flow of energy finally returned again to the Dan Tian Qi Hai and disappeared.

  "Not bad."

  I opened my eyes to see Master nodding in approval, but it was Dog Root on the back seat who listened attentively without missing a single word when Master explained. Now he closed his eyes, his big face flushed bright red, and I had no idea what kind of trick he was up to.

  "The foundation of Taoist techniques is qigong. When you first practice breathing exercises, your breath can flow freely through the Ren and Du meridians, completing the Small Heavenly Cycle. This is truly a rare and precious achievement. Ordinary people would need to spend at least ten years of hard work to achieve this. The Dragon-Tiger Qigong is indeed extraordinary." The master's face was flushed with excitement.

  "What? Ren Du Er Mai?" Dog Gen's eyes immediately opened wide: "Master, you still know the Jiu Yang Zhen Jing?"

  The term "Tong Zhou Tian" is actually a Taoist term, but it was later borrowed by practitioners to enrich the theoretical framework of internal martial arts. The so-called "entering the Tao through martial arts" refers to the fact that when one practices internal fist methods and opens up the Zhou Tian, even if they don't have any Taoist skills, they can still sense the workings of the universe's yin-yang energy. Some people claim that once someone has opened up the Ren and Du meridians, or "enters the Tao through martial arts", they can become invincible in combat, which is an exaggeration.

  Ren Mai and Du Mai are two of the "Eight Extraordinary Meridians". Ren Mai is in charge of blood, running along the midline of the abdomen. Its meridian intersects with Hand and Foot Yin and Yin Wei Mai multiple times, able to govern all the Yin meridians of the body, hence it's called "Sea of Yin Meridians". Du Mai is in charge of Qi, running along the midline of the back. Its meridian intersects with Hand and Foot Yang and Yang Wei Mai multiple times, able to govern all the Yang meridians of the body, hence it's called "Sea of Yang Meridians". The two meridians are one Yin and one Yang, passing through the whole body. If the Qi generated in Dan Tian can flow throughout the entire body, then the Small Heavenly Cycle is open.

  When the two pulses are connected, the eight pulses are connected, and when the eight pulses are connected, the pulse is connected. This has great benefits for both personal physical function and Taoist practice. I was able to succeed at once, completely thanks to the blessing of Longhuang. Wuhuang Yunnan