Night without Borders

Chapter 268 You see, I look a bit like before

The fire spring flowed along the ditch to the large fire field outside the village, like a small stream of magma spreading, and all the crops grew very well.

The night fog was dyed red by the crimson clouds, like a fiery cloud. The houses at the entrance of the village were "outlined" with golden edges, and the roof ridges and tiles were glowing.

"It's getting close to the second-level fire spring." Qin Ming was surprised. It had only been about half a year since he left, but more fire fields had been opened up outside the village, far more than before.

Cao Qianqiu came twice, and the quality of the fire spring was obviously improved.

Many villagers were praising the "old immortal".

The few people who saw the truth were unsure, because the old immortal always left covered in blood, which must have meant he had "paid a lot".

As night falls, the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard, smoke rises from each house, and the remote village has a strong atmosphere of life.

Qin Ming returned quietly, not wanting everyone to know.

He came to a slope and looked out over Shuangshu Village.

He felt that some people in the Cui family and Fangwai had very low bottom lines. If he became too deeply involved with this place, it might bring about "storms".

A flash of red light flashed in the village and quickly came to the village entrance. It turned out to be a red squirrel with fur as smooth as silk. It suddenly stood on one of the black and white trees.

Then, it started punching, swinging its legs, swishing its tail, and then doing a side flip. Its movements were quite accurate, and it had started practicing early in the morning.

"Hum-hum-ha-hey!" It actually made such a sound.

"It's a second mutation. That's not easy." Qin Ming nodded. This is a very inspiring squirrel.

It jumped back and forth on the black and white trees, practicing its boxing and kicking techniques in great style.

Finally, it sat down again, as quiet as an old monk, meditating. Inadvertently, it glanced at the highlands in the distance and its eyes suddenly became dull.

The red squirrel left a shadow on the tree, jumped down, and rushed towards Qin Ming.

"This little guy is so enthusiastic and close to me. He still remembers me after half a year." Qin Ming smiled.

Suddenly, his smile froze, and the red squirrel jumped up with all its might, reaching a height of one person in the air, and punched him in the face.

At the same time, he sensed its emotional fluctuations.

The red squirrel possessed such a strong fighting spirit, and practiced boxing skills every day, hoping to fight with him one day and beat him up. It swore that it would rob his nest!
"After all the wind and rain, I will rise... squeak." The red squirrel's body was stiff because it fell into the opponent's hands.

Qin Ming arrived first, pinched the fur on the back of its neck with two fingers, and lifted it up.

"You are so motivated just to challenge me?" Qin Ming found it outrageous. This squirrel really holds a grudge.

The red squirrel was dumbfounded. After its second mutation, it was able to knock down the adult men in the village, but it still couldn't do anything to the boy in front of it.

It suddenly became deflated and a little wilted.

After practicing boxing with Xiao Wenrui every morning, it would go to the black and white tree at the entrance of the village to practice more, but it was still vulnerable.

Qin Ming smiled: "The martial arts you practiced are not good, they are too ordinary. I will leave a unique martial arts in the village later, and you can learn it with me."

The red squirrel was very smart. Upon hearing this, its eyes rolled around and its fighting spirit rose again. It felt that it could do it again.

"Do you know where the evil spirits are in the mountains? If you don't understand, it's okay. I'll describe it to you. It's a dangerous place. When you get close to it, your skin feels like being pricked by needles..."

A moment later, Qin Ming took the red squirrel into the mountains.

The Black and White Mountains seem a little different. The dense forests are more vibrant, and the towering mountains seem to be breathing, as if they are gradually recovering.

Although Qin Ming's Taoism had greatly improved and he had reached the middle stage of the second realm, he was still quite cautious and did not act recklessly.

Because he knew very well that the old monster in the mountain was extremely powerful. The white-haired mountain master, the old weasel, and the moon worm were definitely in the fourth realm.

He searched for a whole day but couldn't find the evil place.

Qin Ming frowned. That kind of area was very dangerous and should not be occupied by the old monster deep in the mountains.

"Are there places like dragon pools or abysses in the mountains?" he asked.

The red squirrel blinked its big eyes and shook its head, indicating that it didn't know. It had limited skills and only dared to move around in its own territory.

However, it thought about it and took Qin Ming to a place where there was a lake with dark water and reeds growing all around.

The red squirrel's ancestors told it that the water here is very dangerous.

Qin Ming became excited and used special fishing gear to fish here.

Finally, he really caught something. He hooked up a big turtle. It had mutated four times and was a spiritual creature. As soon as it showed its head, it showed its ferocious look and bit Qin Ming.

"It can be taken back to the village as a gift." Qin Ming went into the mountains with the intention of collecting some spiritual materials.

When the red squirrel saw him collecting the spiritual blood of the vicious turtle, it immediately drooled, began to bow to him, and squeaked non-stop.

"You are a very realistic guy."

As it got dark, Qin Ming hunted several more spiritual creatures.

In the past, he and Old Man Liu had used various means to break into the silver-headed ants' nest in order to obtain the spiritual substance that could give people three rebirths.

Nowadays, a creature that has mutated three or four times is nothing to him.

The only thing he had to worry about was that some of the spiritual beasts in the mountains were registered by the mountain owner.

At night, Qin Ming returned.

The night fog is very thick, so entering the village at this time will not attract attention.

"Uncle!" Wen Rui, who was almost six years old, opened his eyes wide. He couldn't believe that he suddenly saw his uncle whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

"Uncle..." Wen Hui, who was almost three years old, still had a big tongue and hugged Qin Ming's thighs.

"Xiao Qin!" Lu Ze and Liang Wanqing were extremely happy and quickly welcomed him into the house.

"Don't say anything, I'll leave soon." Qin Ming said.

He is now somewhat famous, and he doesn't want the people around him to be involved in his grievances and become a target.

Qin Ming handed a can of spiritual substance to Lu Ze and told him that he would also leave a miraculous book and that he could go to find Old Man Liu to study it together.

Finally, he touched the two children's heads and walked into the night.

"Uncle, I will come to find you someday and slowly catch up with your footsteps in the night fog world!" Xiao Wenrui whispered from behind.

In the dead of night, Qin Ming secretly sent a message to call Old Man Liu.

"Uncle Liu!"

"Oh my mountain god, is my life coming to an end? Why do I hear someone calling me? Could it be the ghost messenger coming?" Old man Liu widened his eyes, looking frightened.

Qin Ming wondered, is this person really related to the high-level god in Kunling? It doesn't seem like it at all. "Uncle Liu, it's me!" Qin Ming popped his head out of the courtyard wall.

"Hiss, you are dead, right? How can you communicate with me in my heart?" Old man Liu came to the yard, looking as if he was gasping for breath.

Qin Ming couldn't figure out his situation, so he smiled and said, "Don't curse me, old man. Is your mouth not blessed? Hurry up and tell me that you will live forever."

"It's really you!" Old man Liu opened his eyes wide, then picked up a jar of wine, took two wine glasses, and quickly walked out of the yard.

The mutant big yellow dog behind him wagged its tail and was about to follow him, but he kicked it back into its kennel.

Finally, the two came to the fire field outside the village.

"Don't want people to know that you're back?" Old Liu saw his reaction and immediately understood what was going on.

Qin Ming said: "I'm afraid of causing trouble for the village, so I'd better keep a low profile."

"It seems like you've made quite a splash out there," said Old Man Liu. His hair is now jet-black, his face is rosy, and his earlier grey hair is gone.

Qin Ming teased, "After the third rebirth, you won't really have another child in your old age, right?"

"You found out right after you got back?"

"Oh my god!" Qin Ming was stunned.

"Squeak..." The red squirrel followed and laughed while holding its belly.

Old man Liu glared and said, "What are you laughing at? You've become a spirit, but you don't even have a wife. Every night at dawn, you punch and shout on the tree in front of my house, you bachelor."

The red squirrel wanted to jump up and punch him in the old face, but obviously knew he couldn't win, having learned his lesson before.

Eventually, it became a wine pourer, carrying large jars of wine and responsible for pouring wine for the two people.

"Take it." Qin Ming gave it a jar of spiritual substance.

However, the red squirrel still did not leave, waiting eagerly to learn the miraculous skill.

"Uncle Liu, are you a god?" Qin Ming went straight to the point and asked directly.

"What did you say?" Old man Liu was stunned. He didn't expect him to ask this.

Then he stood up and said, "Wait a moment, let me think about it."

He straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, do you think I look like I did before?"

Qin Ming was startled, then, looking at the smile on his old face, he knew that the old man was imitating the legend of the yellow-skinned man and showing off.

Old Liu asked himself and answered, "Am I a god? Yes!"

Qin Ming quickly corrected him and said, "No, you are not. In this life, if you want to start over, you can't rush to become a god and enter Yujing."

As he spoke, he carefully observed the expression on Old Man Liu's face.

His appearance is exactly the same as the human skin lamp seen in the hut, especially since Old Liu now has black hair, there is really no difference between the two.

"What's wrong with you? You speak so strangely that I, an old man, am confused." Old man Liu looked at him suspiciously.

Qin Ming felt that the owner of the hut was not an evil spirit, otherwise he would not have gotten the great opportunity from there.

Regardless of whether Old Man Liu had any special background or not, he decided to tell the truth.

Afterwards, Qin Ming told in one breath everything he had seen in Kunlingshadi.

Old man Liu was dumbfounded. Is it so outrageous?

"My hair stood on end. It was too scary for me!"

Old man Liu's surprised expression did not seem fake. His whole body was covered with hair. There was a human skin lantern in the thatched cottage and he was escaping from Yujing. It was really absurd and terrifying.

He quickly drank a large bowl of wine to dispel the coldness on his back.

The red squirrel was also stunned, and then jumped onto Old Man Liu's shoulder and began to massage his shoulders.

In the blink of an eye, the inspirational mouse turned into a flattering mouse.

Old Man Liu said, "You are talking about something that happened five hundred years ago. I am just over seventy years old now, not that old!"

Qin Ming couldn't judge his true condition either. He looked like an old country man. Although he was very smart, he had nothing to do with a god-like creature.

Then, Old Man Liu frowned and said, "Five hundred years ago, the famous Black and White Mountain collapsed."

"Yes!" Qin Ming looked at him with bright eyes.

Old Liu said, "Don't look at me. It really has nothing to do with me."

He thought back to the past and lamented his bad luck. Even flying a kite would get him stained with blood. When he went hunting, his entire team was wiped out by a famous beast. He was the only one who escaped by chance. He also went to Chixia City to study under a famous teacher, but his teacher died suddenly when he encountered an enemy.

"Uncle Liu, what's going on up there?" Qin Ming pointed to the sky above the village.

"You ask me, who else should I ask?" When Old Man Liu mentioned this, he inevitably mentioned the old immortal Cao Qianqiu, saying, "He is a good man. Every time he makes trouble, our fire spring becomes brighter."

"Is it possible to train a bird to go up and take a look?" Qin Ming asked.

"I haven't tried it. Why don't you throw it up and take a look." Old Man Liu pointed at the red squirrel.

The Inspirational Mouse suddenly got angry. Although it didn't know what was going on above, it didn't want to fly.

"Why don't you massage my shoulders anymore? Why are you so angry about such a small thing?" Old man Liu has been drinking to calm himself and is now a little drunk.

He burped and said, "If I were a god, you would help me and I would give you a position as a god in the future."

The red squirrel suddenly opened its eyes wide, its fur calmed down, and it looked eager to try. Then it pointed to the night sky, indicating that it wanted to participate.

"Forget it, I'll try finding a bird later." Qin Ming shook his head.

The red squirrel wrote crookedly on the ground: "Fortune and honor are sought in danger. I am asking the gods for a title!"

Then it added: "Don't throw it in the center, just at the entrance of the village, throw it into the air, and try it carefully."

Qin Ming threw the wine jar up with great force, and finally used the soft light from the sky to dissipate its falling momentum and caught it steadily.

Finally, the red squirrel went up into the sky and disappeared into the dark night fog, far away from the key position.

There was a squeak in the night sky, and then there was no movement. The squirrel...didn’t fall down?
Qin Ming feels cold, is there really something wrong?
"It's coming down." said Old Man Liu.

The red squirrel floated and slid down like a fallen leaf.

There were thin lines wrapped around its body, and above it was a kite that seemed to be dripping blood, then falling down, and there seemed to be some faintly glowing words on it.

(End of this chapter)