Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 277 Tortoise and Snake Talisman

Chechi Junior High School.

Many ragged, emaciated monks were carrying logs in twos and threes, kicking up clouds of dust, covered in sweat, and walking with difficulty.

"Hurry up!"

"If you walk too slowly and delay the Imperial Advisor's important business, you'll lose your heads!"

A series of arrogant and disgusted voices came from behind the group of monks. Two Taoist priests dressed in Taoist robes were escorted by several guards, holding whips and looking impatient.

This scene was not surprising to many citizens of Chechi Kingdom, after all, the enslavement of monks by Taoist priests had been commonplace in Chechi Kingdom for many years.

Most of the younger people looked normal, but occasionally an elderly person would sigh quietly upon seeing the tragic scene.

Back then, Chechi Kingdom was on the verge of destruction due to a severe drought. Buddhists and Taoists prayed together for rain. If it weren't for the three national teachers, Chechi Kingdom, which was already in dire straits, would probably have become a dead country.

However, these monks, though they did not pray for rain, should not be punished in this way.
On the other side, in the Sanqing Temple.

Since being given the scriptures in a dream by the immortal, these three have been working up a lot of energy. They have even stopped attending banquets hosted by the king, and instead focus on reciting the scriptures at the Three Pure Ones Temple to show their piety.

When the king saw that the three of them were praying for Chechi Kingdom day and night in the Sanqing Temple, without even going home, he was moved again and bestowed upon them a great deal of gold and silver treasures.

Two months later, when Tang Sanzang and his party arrived in Chechi Kingdom, they witnessed the same scene.
On Mount Wudang, in a solemn palace, Niu Ping, dressed in white robes, and Niu An, dressed in black robes, bowed to the figure at the head of the table, who was wearing a black robe with a tortoise and snake motif.

“Niu Ping and Niu An greet the Ancestral Master.”

The black-haired and black-bearded Zhenwu Emperor nodded slightly as he looked at the two people in front of him.

"The two divine generals have arrived. Is it because there is some news from Fellow Daoist Guangyi's side?"

Niu Ping stepped forward and said:
“Master, a few years ago, my leader suddenly sensed for a moment that someone in the East Sea was calculating his fate based on karma. After several deductions, the leader deduced that this matter might be related to the old man from Camel Mountain back then.”

"Then, the leader ordered my brother and me to go to the East Sea and asked the East Sea Dragon Palace to help us find the location of the old man from Camel Mountain. However, the old man was very well hidden and we were unable to find him."

"We are here today on the orders of our leader to inform our ancestor about this matter. The old man from Camel Mountain may be making some moves again soon."

The True Martial Emperor looked thoughtful, stroked his beard, stood up, and with a wave of his sleeve, two beams of light flew to Niu Ping and Niu An.

"Please go back and inform Fellow Daoist Guangyi that I will also pay close attention to this matter. If there is any news about the old man from Tuoshan, I will definitely inform you immediately. I have also ordered people to guard the black jade unicorn corpse in the Nine Netherworlds to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"Please pass on these tortoise and snake talismans to Fellow Daoist Guangyi. If you need them, simply crush these talismans and I will arrive instantly."

Niu Ping and Niu An carefully put away the two talismans that were radiating a dark light and were neither gold nor jade, and whose material was unknown.

"Master, then we two will go back to report."

"Ah."

Niu Ping and Niu An bid farewell to the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Ancestor, left the palace, and departed from Wudang Mountain. However, they did not return directly to Jindu Mountain, but instead went to a mountain peak not far from Wudang Mountain.

Looking at the deep courtyard nestled among the verdant mountains before him, Niu Ping said loudly:
“Master Zhensi, Niu Ping and Niu An have come to pay their respects.”

He Xizhilan and her husband, who were teaching their two nephews to write at home, heard the sound and flew up from the courtyard to mid-air.

"He Zhensi and Zhilan greet General Ping and General An."

He Xi and Zhi Lan were naturally aware of the guardian generals under their senior brother's command. Although these two might not be as capable as they were, as their senior brother's subordinates, they naturally had to be treated with great respect.

Furthermore, he had heard his senior brother mention that these two, along with General Feng and General Li, were like family to his senior brother.
Niu Ping and Niu An smiled at the couple in front of them, and Niu Ping also said quite warmly:
"There's no need for you two to be so formal. Since Master Zhensi is the junior brother of my family's leader, we are naturally one family."

"We are here on business and just passing through. We wanted to say hello to you both. We recently went to the East China Sea and got some interesting little trinkets, which we are giving to your children as a small gift."

As Niu Ping was speaking, Niu An took off the gold-threaded pouch from his waist and handed it to He Xi.

"This"

He Xi and his wife exchanged a glance, then he reached out and took the gold-threaded pouch, solemnly cupping his hands in greeting:
"Thank you both, generals. Please come to my villa to rest for a while, so that my wife and I can show you some hospitality."

"I'm sorry, we both have important matters to attend to and are on our way back to the mountain to report. We will definitely come to visit again when we have more free time in the future."

"In that case, I won't disturb you two any longer."

A moment later, He Xi and Zhi Lan watched from mid-air as the two of them rode away on clouds.

He Xi looked at the bag in his hand and opened it with some curiosity, only to be dazzled by a burst of precious light.

"These are just trinkets?" As Niu Ping and Niu An flew back to Jindu Mountain, they soon saw their leader drinking under the peach blossom tree and a middle-aged man with a big belly, dressed in gold and wearing precious rings on all ten fingers.

"Chief, we are back!"

Niu Ping and Niu An landed back on the mountaintop and quickly approached their leader.

Niu Yi smiled and nodded, saying:
"So, what did Fellow Daoist Zhenwu say?"

Upon hearing this, Niu Ping quickly took out the tortoise and snake talisman from his bosom, handed it to the leader, and then told the leader everything that had happened during this period.

After a while, once Niu Ping had explained everything clearly, Niu Yi nodded thoughtfully.

"I understand. You two have really worked hard this time. Now that you're back, take a good rest on the mountain. We may need you two to go and look after Tongtianjiang later."

"Yes, leader!"

Jin Fu watched Niu An and Niu Ping leave and exclaimed in admiration:
"These two little fellows have become so imposing now. Following Brother Xian is truly extraordinary. These two are much more capable than my Jin Cheng."

The story of how Daoist Guangyi helped Emperor Zhenwu and scared away Old Man Tuoshan had long been known throughout the Three Realms, so Jin Fu was not curious about the token given to his younger brother by the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Ancestor.

On the contrary, the aura emanating from Niu Ping and Niu An surprised him quite a bit.

These four calves on Golden Gourd Mountain, two of them are already so extraordinary, so the other two, given his virtuous brother's abilities, must also be extraordinary.

"It's also thanks to their hard work that they've become even more diligent in their cultivation since they became gods."

Upon hearing Niu Yi's words, Jin Fu's face once again showed envy. He sighed slightly, took out a treasure from his sleeve, and placed it in front of Niu Yi.

“My dear brother, although I know you have no connection with that old fox king, and that the old fellow did something really unethical back then, I still want to ask you to use the precious pill left behind by the old fox king to predict the future of that jade-faced fox.”

Niu Yi looked at the white demon core floating slowly in front of him. He saw that the white mist around the demon core was constantly distorting the surrounding space and the demon core itself.

This is not the power of space, but the manifestation of the rules of the Great Dao of Illusion.

It seems that this Fox King has gone very far on the Path of Illusion, and is not without hope of attaining the Dao Fruit. However, his true spirit has been damaged and his fate has run out.

It truly is a matter of timing and fate.
Niu Yi shook his head and handed the demon core back to Jin Fu, saying:
"This demon core is useless to me, Brother Jin, you should keep it. The Jade-Faced Fox isn't involved in many things, I'll just do a divination for her."

Since Brother Jin himself has spoken, it's just a matter of having a fortune told.

After all, back then, this guy could give him treasures like the Innate Kun Steel without hesitation.

After Niu Yi finished speaking, he waved his hand, and three copper coins instantly appeared in his hand, spinning around.

Lines of cause and effect appeared in Niu Yi's eyes, triggering the Great Dao of Cause and Effect, causing the Cause and Effect Divination Coin to shine brightly.

Jin Fu's expression changed slightly. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was still clear, but for some reason, he suddenly felt a sense of unease.

The Great Dao of Cause and Effect, huh? It seems my brother has made further progress since fully comprehending it.
On the other side, in Niu Yi's eyes, those wisps of causal threads triggered the Great Dao of Cause and Effect, rapidly revealing the future of the Jade-Faced Fox before him.

Soon, with the death of the Fox King, the Jade-Faced Fox's Jilei Mountain was in a state of leaderlessness, relying entirely on a few old generals to hold it up.

The Fox King, who lived for ten thousand years, died leaving behind a fortune of millions, which was coveted by various demon clans in the surrounding area, and his situation was not good.

Just then, the Jade-Faced Fox met the Bull Demon King. Admiring the powerful Bull Demon King's great abilities, she invited him to her Cloud-Piercing Cave, willing to become his concubine.

"what!!!"

Niu Yi was watching the future of the Jade-Faced Fox when, at the end, he heard a scream from the Jade-Faced Fox. The last scene of the Jade-Faced Fox's life was a rapidly falling nine-toothed rake.

Did my presence not change anything?
The lines of cause and effect in Niu Yi's eyes slowly faded, and his gaze fell upon Jin Fu, who was standing to the side with an expectant look. After a moment's thought, he slowly said:

"That Jade-Faced Fox has faced a life-threatening ordeal in recent years, one that is extremely difficult to overcome."

Jin Fu's face stiffened as he looked at his own brother.

"Brother, I promised the old fox king I would save his daughter once. I wonder if there is a way to avert this calamity?"

Looking at Jin Fu's expectant face, Niu Yi wasn't really surprised that his loyal older brother would agree to the old fox king's request to save Yu Mian once.

"It's difficult in some ways, and easy in others. All it takes is for my elder brother to rescue him when the calamity occurs in the future, but that's precisely where the difficulty lies."

“I have a treasure that might help Brother Jin save her.”

(End of this chapter)