Holy Bone

Chapter 2094 Slicing the Sword: Master, Do You Need Me to Carry the Senior Sister-in-Law?
The old Taoist priest looked at the white coffin that Jin An was carrying on his shoulder.
He stared in disbelief for a long time.
Then give a thumbs up.

"You're awesome, buddy!"

The old Taoist priest exclaimed in amazement.

After saying that, he smacked his lips, as if he felt that those six words alone could not describe the shock in his heart, and added: "It's even more awesome than a sparrow pecking at a cow's butt!"

The old Taoist priest had seen the white coffin before when he was in Chang County, so it was perfectly normal for him to recognize it at a glance as the white coffin containing the beautiful and fierce corpse.

Jin An, upon hearing the old Taoist's praise, felt a darkening on his forehead and rolled his eyes, saying, "Go away, old Taoist, are you praising me or belittling me?"

boom!
As they spoke, Jin'an put the white coffin down.

However, he had a specific method for placing the white coffin. He found two stones and placed them on the left and right sides of the ground before placing the white coffin on the stones.

There is a folk saying that a coffin should not be placed on the ground, otherwise something terrible will happen.

Therefore, Jin'an did not allow the white coffin to touch the ground, just to be on the safe side.

The old Taoist priest ignored Jin An. As soon as the coffin hit the ground, he immediately surrounded it, touching the white coffin with his hands as if it were gold or silver to ordinary people. He marveled at it, saying, "Young brother, how long has it been since we last touched this white coffin?"

Jin An said, "It's been almost three years."

The old Taoist priest sighed and said, "Yes, it's been almost three years. Damn it, the last time we saw the white coffin face to face was back in Chang County."

After saying that, the old Taoist slapped himself in the face and kept apologizing to the white coffin, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm used to using foul language. I didn't stop just now. I hope you can forgive me, senior."

Seeing the old Taoist priest treating the white coffin with such solemnity, Jin An's eyes darted around slightly, and then he said with a smile, "Old Taoist, how can you be so sure that the one inside is Senior White Coffin? Why don't you open the white coffin and verify for yourself whether it is Senior White Coffin?"

The old Taoist priest wasn't fooled. He rolled his eyes at Jin An and said, "If you want to open the coffin, then you do it, little brother. Anyway, you have the best relationship with Senior White Coffin, so he definitely won't blame you."

"Anyway, I'm quite certain that this is Senior White Coffin's white coffin, so I don't need to open it to verify its authenticity."

Jin An laughed heartily. He certainly wouldn't actually open the coffin to verify its authenticity, as that would be considered extremely disrespectful. After all, there's an old saying among the people: "The final judgment is made after the coffin is closed."

Once the coffin is closed, it will only need to be reopened in the event of a major incident or injustice. Otherwise, ordinary people would never open the coffin lightly.

Jin An had been in this world for several years and had come into contact with many folk customs. He naturally understood these simple principles, so he did not open the coffin.

Just as the old Taoist priest said, he was also certain that the white coffin containing the fierce corpse, Da Piao Liang, was buried there.

Unless the guidance given by Mr. Yi and Senior Zhong was incorrect, and the jade talisman used to activate the secret realm's restrictions was also incorrect, thus misleading him, it was possible for him to make a mistake.

But even thinking about it is impossible.

"Haha, because I'm also quite certain that she is Senior White Coffin," Jin An replied with a hearty laugh.

The old Taoist priest rolled his eyes at Jin An.

He examined the white coffin for a while, then asked curiously, "Young man, how did you manage to retrieve this white coffin all by yourself, and so quickly, in just one night?"

"According to Mr. Tingyi and Senior Zhong, this snow mountain is fraught with danger, and it took them a lot of effort to reach the permafrost layer."

Jin An did not hide anything and immediately recounted his experience from the previous night in detail, especially when he mentioned the Great Rift Valley and the Thousand Gods Cave, he spoke in great detail.

"what!"

"You've run into those weirdos again!"

"What?! Those strange people are actually the Mountain God Canine Tooth! And the Jingguan (a mound of stones) was left by these people, not by the steppe Khanate people before their kingdom's demise!"

The old Taoist priest was greatly surprised and exclaimed repeatedly.

After exclaiming in surprise, the old Taoist priest frowned, circled the white coffin in deep thought, then looked up at Jin An and said, "Young brother, was your act of taking the white coffin discovered?"

Jin An said, "No, after I got the white coffin, I immediately used the eighteenth transformation of the Seventy-Two Transformations, the Earth Travel Technique, and returned by earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic that allows one to escape through the earth) without stopping or surfacing to rest."

"but……"

"But what?" the old Taoist priest asked curiously.

Jin An continued, "However, on my way back using the Earth Travel Technique, I discovered two groups of people. They all had Han Chinese features, and they traveled in groups of several dozen, leading donkeys and mules through the snow-capped mountains, heading towards the Rakshasa Kingdom. These two groups of people were probably also merchant caravans, unable to resist the allure of wealth and fortune in the Rakshasa Kingdom, and wanted to do business and make money there."

The old Taoist priest frowned and said, "I never thought these people would be so willing to risk their lives for money that they would even dare to venture into such a deep snowy mountain."

“Young brother, you rushed back and still managed to encounter two caravans. There must be many more caravans in the snowy mountains that you didn’t encounter.”

"Indeed, wealth is a powerful motivator; it is unpredictable, unpredictable, unpredictable indeed."

The old Taoist priest was probably saying that human nature is unpredictable, and it's all because of greed.

Jin An said, "Probably, these people think that the climate in the snow mountain is warmer in summer and autumn, with less wind and snow, and less danger, so it is worth the risk."

The old Taoist priest shrugged and said, "Perhaps."

Then, the old Taoist priest's attention was drawn to the white coffin in front of him. He asked Jin An curiously, "Young brother, what do you plan to do with this white coffin next? Are we going to stay here to rest and recuperate, waiting for Mr. Yi and Senior Zhong to retrieve the Kunlun Mirror and return to meet us?"

"Or do you intend to continue deeper into the snow-capped mountains and continue your journey towards the Rakshasa Kingdom?"

Without hesitation, Jin An replied, "I intend to continue forward."

“Mr. Yi and Senior Zhong went to Kunlun Mountain to retrieve the Kunlun Mirror. I don’t know how long it will take, so I plan to continue on my way, while searching for information about the mountain god, and wait for Mr. Yi and Senior Zhong to return and meet us.”

“Mr. Anti-Justice and Senior Zhong said that they have a way to find me, so we are not afraid that they will not be able to find us afterward. Moreover, they will definitely find a way to find this white coffin. As long as we keep the white coffin with us, they will definitely be able to find us, so there is no need to worry too much.”

The old Taoist priest nodded thoughtfully and said, "That's true, they must have a way to find the location of the white coffin."

“What you said makes sense. The mountain god is about to revive and could revive at any time. We really can’t afford to waste too much time.”

Having made the decision to continue the journey with the white coffin, there was nothing more to discuss. After boiling snow water and heating up the rations, the three decided to set off again.

"Master, do you need me to carry Master's wife?" Xiao Jian asked before setting off. Uh...

Jin An, who was about to carry the white coffin on his shoulder, was suddenly asked a question by Xiao Jian. He choked on the question so badly that he coughed several times, his face turning red, before he could catch his breath.

The old Taoist priest, shameless as ever, burst into laughter.

"Xiaojian, let's not disturb your master and your master's intimate time too much. The more time they spend together, the better their relationship will be," the old Taoist priest said, winking at Xiaojian.

Xiao Jian glanced at Jin An, then at the white coffin, and said calmly, "Twilight descends, the gentle afterglow is serene and long."

The old Taoist priest was stunned for a moment, then decisively gave Xiaojian a thumbs up and praised him highly: "Goodness, Xiaojian is really amazing. He is the most knowledgeable master of human relationships and emotions."

"Don't let your quiet demeanor fool you; every time you open your mouth, you're incredibly convincing."

"For example, the eldest master's wife and the second master's wife, weren't they both so moving that your master was speechless?"

The old Taoist priest didn't say much before he started making faces and teasing Jin'an again.

Jin An curled his lip, kicked the old Taoist's butt, and said, "In this group, you're the most talkative one. Let's go, it's time to hit the road."

Hehe, the old Taoist casually patted his butt, and continued to dawdle and chatter incessantly as he made his way through the snow-covered mountains.

The first three days of their journey were uneventful. They encountered neither the Jingguan (a type of ancient Chinese structure) nor any strange or mysterious people. Everything was peaceful until the third day when they stopped at a sheltered cliff.

Because they encountered the Jingguan again.

This mound of Jingguan is none other than the newly built mound of Jingguan that Jin'an encountered a few days ago.

"Supreme Taiyi Du'e Tianzun".

"Alas, these people are pitiful. Young brother, do you know where their remains are? If we can find them, let's give them a proper burial and hope they can rest in peace and be reincarnated soon."

Jin An, carrying a white coffin on his shoulder, followed the direction in his memory to find the headless corpses that had been kicked aside by the mysterious strange man.

However, Jin An searched the vicinity but found no headless corpses, not even a single one.

He refused to give up and searched an area within a mile, but to no avail.

When the old Taoist priest learned of this, he exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that there are wild beasts like bears and wolves in the snowy mountains that ate people?"

"But that doesn't make sense either. There would be some human flesh and bone fragments, bloodstains and such left in the snow, right? Did you find any of those, young man?"

Jin An shook his head.

"This is really strange." The old Taoist priest took off the brim of his animal skin hat, scratched his greasy, tangled hair that he hadn't washed in a long time since entering the snow mountain, and said curiously.

"Yes, it is indeed strange," Jin An said, his brows furrowing slightly.

Afterwards, the three men bowed and chanted scriptures before the Jingguan (a mound of stones) and said, "Gentlemen, if we find your bodies, we will definitely come to collect them and give you a proper rest."

After saying that, the three of them continued on their journey.

Although the roads in the snow-capped mountains are difficult to travel on, with snow everywhere and making it hard to walk with deep or shallow steps, this road is much easier to travel on than other snowy roads. This is because caravans often travel to the Rakshasa Kingdom to do business in the snow-capped mountains, and as more people traveled there, a road was gradually built up.

Although the road is still difficult to travel due to excessive snow accumulation, it is much easier to walk on than other snowy areas.

About two hours after Jin An and his group left the Jingguan, they came across a small ruin.

The small ruins consisted of a temple built of piled stones, with no buildings, only the temple itself. The ruins are so old that the temple has collapsed, leaving only ruins. It's difficult to discern the entire temple complex, let alone guess what deities were worshipped within.

Even the statues were dilapidated, some missing half their bodies, others collapsed and broken into more than a dozen pieces, all covered in thick snow. Judging from the traces of history, this site had existed for at least a thousand years.

"Old Taoist, let's spend the night in this ruin." There aren't many places to spend the night in the snow-capped mountains, since snowstorms can start at any time, so the requirements for a place to stay are extremely high.

Since this site offers shelter from the wind and snow, making it suitable for spending the night, Jin'an decided to stay here for the night.

Although it was still bright outside, it was already around 7:30 pm, which is about 1:15 pm. Outside, it would be pitch black and everyone would be asleep. It's just that the altitude here is high, so it gets dark late.

However, there's no rush when traveling through the snow-capped mountains. Finding a safe place to spend the night is already extremely lucky, so finishing the journey half an hour early today isn't too early.

"Alright, young man, my legs can finally rest now."

"call."

"call."

"Outside the snow-capped mountains, I was constantly jostled around, almost losing my life."

“In the snow-capped mountains, I, an old Taoist priest, would wriggle my legs through the snow every day, sometimes sinking deep and sometimes sinking shallow, and I would lose half my life. I’m old, I’m really old.”

The old Taoist priest sat down on the ground, on the ruins of the site, and took a few deep breaths to recover from the severe lack of air due to the high altitude.

Jin An found an open space and placed the white coffin down, naturally on a stone base. After placing the coffin, Jin An smiled and said to the old Taoist priest, "When I set off to investigate the mountain god's whereabouts, I told you that the journey would be difficult, but you didn't listen and insisted on coming. Look, you've suffered for it."

"If you stayed in the capital with the Creator of Animals and the Peacock Buddha Mother, and helped me manage the Five Organs Taoist Temple, how wonderful that would be! It would save you both time and effort."

The old Taoist priest took a few deep breaths before saying, "It's just that the terrain is high and it's a snow-capped mountain. You make it sound like I've never experienced anything like this before. I spent half a year traveling through the snow-capped mountains of Tibet just two years ago. I'm already used to all this."

"If I weren't so old, young man, I could travel for seven days and seven nights without closing my eyes and still be full of energy and vigor."

Jin An looked both amused and exasperated, and said, "Yes, yes, old Taoist, you haven't slept for seven days and seven nights. You've been possessed by Erlang Shen and gained his divine eyes and supernatural powers, is that alright?"

"You rest here first. Xiaojian and I will look around and see if we can find some dry branches to start a fire and keep warm."

Jin'an instructed the old Taoist priest to take good care of the white coffin, and then he and Xiaojian went to look for withered tree branches nearby.

(End of this chapter)