Set out overnight and enter the mountain

  When I heard that the red rash could be cured in Yunnan, I immediately came to my senses and hastily promised Master that I would practice diligently and take good care of him, making Old Man Xiao delighted like a fool.

  It wasn't until later that I found out, with just one dose of herbal medicine from Master, the red rash would subside. Now saying this is simply because he was afraid that when I'm alone, I wouldn't practice my skills diligently, but all of this is a story for another time.

  At the height of intoxication, this little guy continued to flatter shamelessly, and before long, he began to beg my master to accept him as a disciple. However, my master said that his bones were not suitable for cultivation, and even if he followed him in practice, he would not be able to achieve anything remarkable.

  Gou Gen's face turned red with anger, and he slapped his chest violently, causing the fat on his chest to quiver: "Shao Shifu, don't think I'm stupid just because you see my fat body. Since I was a child, I've been known as the cleverest kid in the village. Which uncle or aunt hasn't praised me for being quick-witted?"

  I also chimed in and said that Dog's brain is indeed very clever, especially when it comes to making money ideas, one after another, even I felt inferior.

  The master smiled and asked Dog Gen why he had to make him his teacher.

  Gou Gen said that he was scared by the wasp last time, and for these two years, he didn't dare to go to the mountain, losing a lot of money. Today, it's not easy to meet an expert, so I mustn't miss this opportunity, and I have to learn some self-defense skills and also help other herb collectors who are in trouble.

  The master laughed even more and looked at Dog Root's chubby face, asking: "Is that really so?"

  "Ah!"

  He scratched his head, lifted his chest, and struck a pose like the male lead in a model play, saying with righteous indignation: "Can I cheat you? I wouldn't even dare to cheat my own mother!"

  As soon as I saw him making such a vow, I knew what was up. This little guy always looks so serious when he's making vows, it's definitely a scam.

  I've known Dog Root for two years now. Once, we went to a Yi village together to collect mountain goods. A heavy snowstorm blocked the mountain, and my brother and I had to take shelter in a Yi villager's woodshed for half a month. I know every single hair on his body. Now this little fart, I can tell what kind of crap he's going to spew just by looking at him.

  But I'm also curious, what does Gougen want to achieve with his Taoist skills? It seems that this little guy is hiding some secrets from me.

  My master seemed to be fooled by him, haha laughed and patted the shoulder of Dog Gen, saying "It just so happens that I want to take Duo Jin into the mountain to drive out the evil spirits, this time you can come with us together, if you behave well, I will accept you as my apprentice."

  The dog's ears perked up at the sound, and its head nodded like a small chick pecking at rice.

  But if Dog Root had known what was going to happen in the mountain beforehand, he would have regretted it long ago.

  Master didn't allow me to drink, so I only had that one cup to toast him and never touched it again. But he himself and Dog Root, the two of them, went cup after cup, and by the time they finished dinner, each of them had downed a jin and a half of baojiu.

  The Baogu wine in the farmhouse is used to soak up the cold wind, so it's not too strong, but after drinking more than a catty of wine, Dog Root has already started to stumble and stagger, his face red like a monkey's butt, and his mouth starting to get chatty. On the other hand, my master, except for a slight flush on his face, is steady as can be, like nothing's wrong with him at all.

  "Master, Brother Xu, our mountain doesn't have any five-star or four-star hotels. Tonight, let's just make do with the county guesthouse and spend the night there. Tomorrow morning, I'll hire a cattle cart to come pick you up and take you into the mountains." Dog Root spoke with a mouthful of wine breath.

  Different Miao villages in the mountains have different customs. For example, when our master took us to Baozhu Mountain, the Miao people inside did not allow motor vehicles from outside to enter, saying it would disturb the mountain god. To enter the mountain, only carts pulled by livestock were allowed, and of course, walking on foot was also okay. However, the Miao villages in Yan Mountain and Laojun Mountain do not have this rule.

  Who knew my master would wave his hand and say no need to bother booking a room, tonight we'll head into the mountains.

  I hastily advised him: No one is willing to drive cattle carts into Thin Bamboo Mountain at night.

  The dog root also said with a drunken look, because the old man in the village said that at midnight, the mountain was noisy and the mountain ghost would take away anyone who walked at night and dig out their internal organs to eat.

  Master glared at me and said, "No need to hire an ox cart, just drive in directly." He also said that the mountain ghosts were nonsense. Even if they were real, he could skin and dismember them in a minute.

  I thought to myself, since Master can say this, he must have a plan in mind. Moreover, I still have the timed explosive dragonfly on me, so it's better to resolve this earlier and put my mind at ease, so I didn't say anything more.

  The dog root is a wine that makes people brave, and with the momentum of wine, he nodded his head and said it was good, saying that there was a master in the real mountain ghost who didn't need to be afraid.

  But I took a look at Dog Root's Santana and knew it was a new car, driving on the mountain at night without any lights, it would be easy to scratch it, so I mentioned it.

  The dog root doesn't care, saying it's just right that Li Du Yan has a Cherokee, and the mountain road is very rugged, so they drive to borrow.

  Li Du Yan, I also know him, originally named Li Hou Hua. Because he was born with a big and small eye on his face, the smaller one almost only had an eyelid left, so he got the nickname "Du Yan". Li Du Yan often goes into the mountains to collect goods, I've been with him twice, but I don't like him because he always wears a "Gaba La" (a type of Tibetan knife) on his body and never puts it down.

  "Gabala" is Tibetan, referring to a rosary made from the crown of a person's skull. It is said that Tibetan Buddhism believes in this, and many great lamas have a dying wish to use their own skull to make a rosary for future generations, leaving behind blessings. Li Du Yan has a face full of evil aura, and he does things ruthlessly, never backing down. There are also rumors that he has killed people before, but due to insufficient evidence, he was not caught.

  This kind of person, if placed in the old era, would definitely be a bandit on the mountain, killing people and stealing goods. How could he possibly believe in Buddhism? Moreover, I've seen that string of prayer beads before, with at least 108 beads, and they're all stained with dark colors, looking like bloodstains. Just looking at such things makes me feel uneasy all over, how could it be a Buddhist relic left behind by a great lama?

  I'm doing business just for peace and harmony, as for Li Du Yan, I've always been afraid to avoid him, but Gou Gen is quite resourceful and has a good relationship with them.

  I was chatting with my master while waiting for the dog root, and I thought I'd ask him about his plans to drive out the evil spirits this time. But my social experience over the past few years seemed like a joke in front of the old Taoist priest - not only did I fail to get any useful information, but instead, I ended up revealing many things about my own family.

  The two of us waited for half an hour before Dog Root drove up in a black Cherokee, parking crookedly in front of us. It seemed like he had been drinking, but at that time there were only a few cars on the mountain road anyway, and no police came to check for drunk driving.

  "What took you so long? Is Li Du Yan not easy to talk to?" I patted Dog Root's face, afraid he would fall asleep directly.

  "Is there anything that can't be handled by me, Guo Dafu, in the mountainous border? Look at these things we've prepared, and we can live in the mountains for two months without any problem."

  The dog pointed to the back of the car, and I went over to take a look. In the back, there were two aluminum buckets, apparently filled with diesel fuel, as well as a water purification device, some dried meat and dry rations, an engineer's shovel, iron pickaxe, axe, gas stove, and many other things, filling up the entire trunk space.

  "Where did you get all this stuff from? We're just going into the mountains for a few days, not on an expedition." I was a bit curious, as I'd never heard that Dog Root had a hobby of camping.

  "This set of equipment is all Li Duanyan's, I didn't move it away, and brought it directly. The dried meat and dry rations were bought by myself, but I also have a set of outdoor camping equipment, this time if we encounter another heavy snowstorm, we won't be afraid."

  "Xu Ge, I'm really drunk, it's no problem if you drive at night, right?" Dog Gen said as he crawled onto the back seat and lay down.

  You're already drunk like this, what else can I say? Can't let the master drive, fortunately, I've been to Baozhu Mountain many times, driving slowly should be fine.

  I opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and waited for my master to sit in the passenger seat before starting the car and heading towards Mount Thin Bamboo in Shanxi suburbs. Witchcraft Yunnan