I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 29 The Hunter Encounters a Fairy
The feast of ghosts and gods continued until almost dawn.

As dawn broke in the east, the guests dispersed.

Such a feast was a rare treat. Earth deities, mountain gods, snakes, pythons, tigers, jackals, red foxes, monkeys, and dwarf deer all drank and sang wildly. When they were thoroughly drunk, the mountain spirit raised his cup and sang a wild tune from the wilderness, clear and melodious, like weeping and lamenting, making people feel dazed.

Before leaving, the spirit kept glancing at the person above.

The immortal on the throne seemed to be intoxicated, his eyes closed, listening to the music, singing, and cheerful laughter.

The old deer mountain god asked, "Sir, do you enjoy such a lively atmosphere?"

Jiang She opened his eyes and looked down at the demons dancing wildly, the guests drinking and getting drunk, and Li Bai, who had drunk countless cups of wine, with his clothes disheveled, leaning against the tiger, holding a wine cup in one hand, singing and laughing loudly.

"Living towards death in this way, without any fear."

Jiang She praised:

"Great kindness."

The Earth Deity also looked at the fierce tiger. It was this tiger that had just uttered those words, the meaning of which the immortal found wonderfully virtuous.

After the three finished speaking, Jiang She was preparing to leave.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps outside and the sound of people talking and muttering. "Second Uncle, let's hurry down the mountain. I feel something is wrong in this mountain. It seemed particularly dark last night."

"If only we hadn't chased that wild boar, we would have spent the whole night in the mountains. I kept hearing people singing and laughing, and people eating meat. I didn't get a good night's sleep... Now look what happened, we didn't even hunt a pig."

"Understood. We'll head down the mountain when it's fully light."

"Alas?"

"What's that noise? Second Uncle! Second Uncle! Someone's singing! Listen—"

"Nonsense, this mountain... this mountain might be haunted, right?"

The Earth God was taken aback.

Ghosts and spirits gather here for a feast, so it is natural to keep the surroundings at bay. The reason for choosing nighttime is that the mountain is quieter at night, not because Taoist magic can only be used at night.

Tonight's banquet is not something ordinary people can witness.

These two people...

He stretched out his hand to calculate, and the Earth God apologized, saying, "It turns out that the monkey poked a hole in it, and people outside heard it. It was my oversight."

"It doesn't matter."

Jiang She beckoned to Li Bai, nodded slightly to the mountain god and the earth deity, and then walked out amidst the gazes of the guests, mountain spirits, and demons.

……

……

Chen Erniu went hunting in the mountains with his elder brother's son. He planned to supplement his family's income and let his sons and daughters taste meat so that they wouldn't all be drooling over the aroma of meat cooked by their neighbors.

He was used to going to the mountains near Xiangyang. He had been wandering in the mountains since he was twelve or thirteen years old, picking some mountain products and selling mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms to the county. He could also stew them for his own family.

He encountered a wild boar in the mountains that afternoon and chased it for a long time. He didn't know what the pig ate to grow up so big, but its skin and flesh were very plump. It could run away even with an arrow in its back.

For some reason, it got dark early tonight.

Worried that he might encounter wolves if he went down the mountain in the dark, Chen Erniu found a bamboo grove and spent the night with his nephew.

Strangely enough, not only did my nephew say he dreamed of people talking, singing, and eating, but he also vaguely dreamed of some activity, like the feast that Master Chen from their Chen family village was having.

When the two woke up, the nephew, who had slept in the field all night, was grumbling in his stomach, starving.

Suddenly.

The sound suddenly became much louder.

Chen Erniu was willing to bet that there really were people in these mountains, or that they were haunted. He could even hear and smell the plates clattering together and the aroma of the wine.

Mother...

In an instant, the hairs on his head stood on end.

Chen Erniu held his breath, stared intently for a few seconds, his heart pounding, and it took him a long time to feel his body move again. He kicked his nephew in the leg, steeled himself, and lowered his voice.

"You're going to run out of the woods in a bit, understand?"

"Second uncle..."

Chen Erniu carefully led his nephew backward, moving quietly and suppressing his fear, making the sound of his footsteps on the fallen leaves extremely faint.

Just then, he saw someone emerge from the woods. The morning light was faint, not yet fully bright; through the bamboo leaves, he saw a handsome man in blue robes. Another man was dressed in white, reeking of alcohol. In that instant, Chen Erniu's heart nearly leaped out of his throat.

Good heavens, there was no one in this forest before, and suddenly two people came out.

Fortunately, the two men showed no intention of coming over and headed north, towards Xiangyang County. Chenjia Village was to the west.

Chen Erniu knew he had been given a second chance at life.

The two ran off as fast as they could, as if a tiger were chasing them.

The boy ran after him, breathless, his mouth full of air, and kept saying, "Second Uncle, did you hear that? There was a tiger's roar! If someone can subdue a tiger, that person must be a god!"

Chen Erniu's heart pounded: "How would I know to go?"

……

……

We encountered two hunters on the road.

Jiang She didn't take it to heart.

He quickly returned home, where Yuan Danqiu was fast asleep, occasionally letting out soft snores, completely unaware of his presence. Li Bai, too, fell asleep immediately, his head resting on the bamboo pillow before drifting off to sleep.

Jiang She sat quietly at the table for a while, savoring what he had gained that evening. He opened the window and saw that the east was already turning white, like the belly of a fish.

The mountain spirit's encounter that night was quite interesting.

He grants the favor of the earth spirits and demons, but aren't these spirits and demons also granting favor to him?

Thinking about it, I drifted off to sleep fully clothed.

When Yuan Danqiu woke up, it was already broad daylight. The servants had already swept the fallen leaves from the courtyard and piled them in the garden behind the house. The decaying leaves would help the grass and plants grow better.

Yuan Danqiu yawned and first practiced his boxing routine in the courtyard. He had learned it from a Taoist priest at Qingxu Temple. Practicing it in the morning was good for blood circulation and relieved the fatigue after waking up.

I can also be more energetic during the day.

Then, he went to the pharmacy in person to ask if the cinnabar and malt he had ordered had arrived.

Half an hour later, Yuan Danqiu returned carrying two small paper packages and saw Jiang She sitting under a tree writing.

"Jiang Langjun is back."

Jiang She responded.

Yuan Danqiu pondered again, "Is Taibai still asleep?"

"I drank some alcohol."

It was almost noon; even a pig would wake up by now. No matter how much Taibai had drunk, he should be up by now, the sun high in the sky. Yuan Danqiu frowned, placed the medicine packet on the table, and turned to push open the door to the main house—

There was a particularly pleasant aroma of alcohol in the room.

This stirred up Yuan Danqiu's craving for wine.

He glanced at the bed and saw that Li Bai was still sleeping soundly. He nudged him twice, but he didn't wake up. Sleeping so soundly?

Yuan Danqiu hesitated for a moment, then placed his finger under his nose.

Fortunately, it still has gas.

He's not dead.

Yuan Danqiu simply ignored it, left the main house, sat opposite Jiang She, and muttered, "He can sleep so much..."

Jiang She smiled.

He took out the notebook he always carried with him from his sleeve, intending to record the feast of ghosts and gods last night.

Open.

But they found words inside.

……

"West of Xiangyang County lies Chen Village. One day, two hunters were chasing a wild boar and spent the night in the woods. In their dream, they heard the sounds of a banquet, with wine cups being clinked and ghosts and gods discussing the Dao. When they awoke, they could still smell the stench of wine and meat, and the roar of a tiger had not yet ceased in their ears. They were terrified."

Russia encountered a divine being, and after the banquet, the divine being subdued the fierce tiger.

Upon returning home and recounting the extraordinary event, the villagers, hearing of it, exclaimed with envy, "You've encountered an immortal!"

(End of this chapter)