How did I, who just ascended to heaven, become an evil spirit?

Li Hu noticed it too, so he patted the cart and asked in confusion, "Shall we stop and rest for a while?"

"No, no!"

Ma Jiabao was terrified, thinking that Li Hu had some kind of dissatisfaction, and quickly shook his head.

"Stop the car." Li Hu knocked on the lane sign again.

"Take a break, I said."

Ma Jiabao obediently stopped, bowing repeatedly, almost banging his head on the ground, his whole body tense and uncomfortable.

He busied himself lighting the fire and diligently roasting the dry rations, doing all the work that should have been Yan Yang's, afraid that there might be something that would displease the group.

"Old man, you don't need to do this," Li Hu said.

He hadn't originally planned to get involved, but Ma Jiabao's heartbeat was getting increasingly erratic in his ears, and if Li Hu didn't intervene, he might actually die of fright.

Even though Ma Jiabao was carrying an evil spirit on his back, he was still so afraid of his group, which left Li Hu quite helpless.

"Just take us to Qingzhou. We won't charge you any less money, nor will we harm you and your son. These people aren't cannibals, so just focus on pulling the cart."

Li Hu's words made Ma Jiabao feel a little better. He forced an awkward smile at Li Hu and nervously lowered his head to attend to his own business.

At dawn, everyone was exhausted, so they sat down around the small fire to rest for a while.

Ma Jiabao baked a few pancakes and distributed them to everyone.

Li Hu didn't take it, but a few people who needed to eat took the cakes and chewed them with relish.

Ma Jiabao pulled out a salted duck egg from his pocket like a precious treasure, glanced at Li Hu, then at his son, looking somewhat troubled.

Judging from the looks of it, he only has one duck egg on him.

"Master Tiger, perhaps you find this pancake unpalatable. I also have a salted egg here, would you like to try it?" He held the duck egg in both hands, hesitated for a moment, and then respectfully presented it to Li Hu.

"No need, old man, you can keep it for yourself." Li Hu waved his hand and closed his eyes to avoid putting Ma Jiabao in a difficult position.

"Hey, thank you, Tiger Master, thank you, Tiger Master." Ma Jiabao carefully retreated to Shui Sheng's side, gently cracked the duck egg on his fist, peeled it, and handed it to Shui Sheng.

Shuisheng was too young to understand, so he took the egg and started sucking on it without thinking twice.

Ma Jiabao smiled with satisfaction as he watched his son eat heartily. He then licked the back of his hand, where a trace of salty oil still lingered from when he cracked the duck egg.

He took a bite of the biscuit, savored the taste, and sat down on the ground to eat heartily.

"Old man, I have something to ask you," Li Hu asked.

"Please speak, please speak," Ma Jiabao hurriedly put down the pancake and looked up to reply.

"How many evil spirits like us have you seen in all these years of traveling around the country?" Li Hu asked.

Ma Jiabao thought for a moment nervously, then held up two fingers and shook his head, saying, "Not many. In my whole life, I've only ever heard of evil spirits. I've encountered them twice on the road, but I've never actually seen what they look like."

Li Hu nodded, then pointed to the clay statue on Ma Jiabao's back and asked:

"And what's the deal with your... Grandpa Shenxing?"

"Oh! My apologies, my apologies."

Ma Jiabao's eyes were filled with complex emotions. He lowered his head and muttered "I'm sorry" twice, then looked up with an embarrassed smile.

"Grandpa Shenxing can't use his fingers."

"It's not an evil spirit. It's a deity passed down in our family. My family has made a living pulling carts for generations, and we all rely on Grandpa Shenxing to give us food. How could it be an evil spirit?"

"Sorry." Li Hu glanced at Ma Jiabao, and seeing his wary look, he didn't ask any further questions.

Old Man Yuan seemed to have figured out what Li Hu was thinking, and opened his mouth to say:

"Tiger Lord, people like us, who are filthy, are still quite rare in the eyes of the living."

"As you've seen on the road, basically every sizable stronghold has people from the Ghost Suppression Division, the Demon Extermination Division, and the Celestial Surveillance Division. On ordinary days, unless we're in a hurry like today, they usually keep to themselves and don't interfere with each other."

"After all, there are always people more capable than us. If we hurt too many people, it would be tantamount to us parading around in public and courting death."

Hearing this, Li Hu nodded and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ma Jiabao, saying:

"Then we'll have to work hard these next few days, old man. We'll travel along mountain paths, avoiding villages and cities along the way, and try to travel at night and rest during the day to avoid any trouble."

"Of course, of course."

Ma Jiabao waved his hand, swallowed the last bite of the biscuit, and hurriedly wiped himself down.

After dinner, it was just beginning to get light.

The distant sky began to turn yellow, looking like dusk.

As Li Hu instructed, it was time to rest. So Yan Yang and Yuan Sou found a tree root to lean against, and everyone gathered around the fire to take a nap.

This should have been a relaxing time, but Li Hu was still a little worried. If it weren't for Yuan Sou and Yan Yang in the team needing to eat and sleep, he probably would have already arrived at Blackwater Mountain.

Li Hu stared blankly at the fire, looking worried.

But at that moment, Li Hu suddenly felt a chill on his back, and a strange wind blew out.

The wind was unlike any other; it carried an eerie quality. Li Hu immediately realized something was wrong, gripped his sword hilt, and quickly turned around to look.

In the distance, a weasel emerged from the bushes behind the group, stood upright on the stones, and stared at them from afar.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the commotion, and in an instant, all eight eyes were fixed on the weasel.

"Do I look like a man or a god to you?"

The weasel suddenly spoke in human language.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, looked at each other, and except for the Ma father and son, they all suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

Even Li Hu loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

Nowadays, most of these evil spirits have some experience, so they don't need to take a weasel that hasn't yet taken human form seriously.

It's like a tiger walking in the jungle and encountering a kitten hissing at it.

Old Yuan laughed so hard he almost fell over, slapping the ground repeatedly. Huang Daxian and Yan Yang laughed more subtly, but Qi Yuehong stared at the weasel with cold eyes and an expressionless face, as if she would only feel satisfied if she killed this reckless little thing.

The weasel, somewhat bewildered by the laughter, cleared its throat again and asked with feigned seriousness:

"Do I look like a man or a god to you?"

Now everyone was too lazy to even pay attention to it anymore. They took a breath, turned their heads away, and went back to dozing off or keeping watch.

Only Ma Jiabao and his son were terrified. They lay on the ground pretending to be asleep, fearing that the weasel seeking an official title would target them.

Ma Jiabao deliberately rolled over on the ground, shielding Shui Sheng beneath him, his buttocks sticking out and his whole body trembling, muttering to himself:

"May the God of Travel protect you, may the God of Travel protect you..."

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, the weasel felt offended and bared its teeth in a fierce expression.

She quickly lowered her body, crawled forward, and assumed a posture of preparing to attack.

Even so, Li Hu and his group remained unmoved.

Finally, the weasel seemed to have reached its limit. It rushed forward and pounced on Li Hu's back, who was closest to it.

Her movements were incredibly fast, almost like a bolt of lightning.

The little paws fiercely dug up a lot of dust from the ground, only three feet away from Li Hu's back.

At this moment, Yan Yang quickly drew his sword and stepped forward. Without saying a word, he slashed at the weasel's throat without holding back.

The sound of the blade cutting through the air startled the weasel, which was still pouncing in the air. It quickly curled up and, with its extremely flexible muscles, barely managed to avoid Yan Yang's sword.

However, a small wound was still left on her abdomen.

After just one fight, the weasel immediately grabbed its tail and slunk away to a nearby tree, watching the group of people warily.

"Hehe, just started developing cognitive abilities, little guy?"

Old Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, arms crossed over his chest, a solemn expression on his face, speaking as if he were a senior.

When the weasel saw that Yuan Sou, this monkey, could actually speak, it instantly realized something and froze in shock.

When she realized what was happening, she immediately took off running.

Something's off about this group!

She quickly darted away, creating some distance between herself and the enemy, and then set off on a long journey, ready to escape far away.

As she ran, she suddenly noticed something even more amiss.

Even though its limbs were still digging forward, the surrounding scenery remained motionless.

Realizing what was happening, it quickly turned around and met Huang Daxian's smiling face.

"Help! There's a ghost!" the weasel roared, struggling frantically with all four legs, but no matter how much she thrashed about, she couldn't break free from the Weasel Immortal's palm.

"I've heard that weasel meat is similar to dog meat, except it has a stronger, more gamey smell."

Huang Daxian grabbed the weasel by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up, scrutinizing it closely from behind, making the weasel feel uneasy.

"Perfect timing, we're destined to meet, we both have the surname Huang."

Wong Tai Sin patted his body with his other hand and said, "I still have some wild Sichuan peppercorns on me, which are perfect for removing any fishy smell."

With that, Huang Daxian, a wicked grin on his face, picked up the weasel and headed back, intending to show it to Li Hu.

"It's a misunderstanding, gentlemen, it's really a misunderstanding."

The weasel gave a mocking, human-like laugh and spoke again in human language, "I, I..."

Just when Wong Tai Sin thought the weasel was going to explain something, it suddenly turned around, kicked its leg, and twisted its neck at a strange angle, biting Wong Tai Sin's wrist.

"Ouch!"

Wong Tai Sin released his grip in pain, and the weasel fell to the ground and then darted away.

But the weasel, having darted a few steps, suddenly found itself surrounded by countless tiny figures dressed in theatrical costumes, about the same height as itself, like little puppets that had jumped out of a painting.

The little figures surrounded the weasel and guarded all the paths that it could climb the trees, completely blocking its escape routes.

Huang Daxian looked at his injured hand, but he was not angry. He took out a water bag from his waist and poured it on the wound.

In the blink of an eye, the tender buds intertwined, and the bite mark, which was originally just a superficial injury, quickly healed and changed from emerald green to its normal skin color.

"You're not human either?!" the weasel exclaimed in surprise.

"Aren't you an evil spirit too? What's the big deal?" Wong Tai Sin frowned.

"Be honest, I'm not teasing you anymore. Come with me to see Brother Li. If he confirms you're not a threat, he'll let you go."

Wong Tai Sin rubbed his palms. "We can't let you fail to get a title and then take revenge on us in the future."

"fart!"

The weasel glared and bared its teeth at Huang Daxian.

"You're an evil spirit, but I'm not!"

As the weasel spoke, it rolled over on the spot, and an indescribable white mist rose from its body, distorting the light and shadow.

Before long, when Huang Daxian could see clearly, there was only a little girl curled up on the ground left in the white mist.

The girl was dressed in a smart yellow animal skin outfit, which looked like it was made of weasel skin. She was about five feet tall, with two casually tied buns on her head. She had a dagger in her arms and was staring fiercely at Huang Daxian.

Huang Daxian was also stunned. How could a little wild animal that was perfectly fine just now have turned into a living person?

Generally speaking, a weasel asks for a title because its cultivation is insufficient and it needs to transform into human form to cultivate. But if it can transform into human form at will, then what is the need for it to ask for a title?

Just as Wong Tai Sin was racking his brains trying to figure it out, Li Hu slowly walked over.

"Are you a cultivator? Not an evil spirit?" Li Hu asked.

He could see clearly that the weasel had no black aura or signs of evil; this little girl was probably its true form.

"That's right!"

The little girl nodded her head like a ball and said, "My name is Chi Yue, and I am a Yellow Cultivator. If you evil spirits dare to kill me, my grandmother will not forgive you!"

The little girl spoke with a touch of childish innocence, and Li Hu didn't question her much, but instead revealed his identity and name first.

"Have you heard of Huang Xiu?" Li Hu stroked his chin and turned to ask Huang Daxian and Yuan Sou.

"Never heard of it," Wong Tai Sin said.

"Nine thousand minor paths, how could I possibly remember that?" Old Yuan shook his head in exasperation.

"Tell me, since you are a human cultivator, how did you cultivate? What is your cultivation level now?" Li Hu asked calmly.

"The methods of cultivation are the secrets of cultivators, how could I possibly tell you!" Chi Yue gripped the dagger tightly in her hand, her face full of vigilance.

bass--

Yan Yang drew his longsword again, which he had just put away, took two steps forward, and his gaze was sharp and intimidating.

Chi Yue touched her stomach guiltily. When she had just transformed into a weasel, Yan Yang had left a long wound on it, which had frightened her quite a bit.

She swallowed nervously and said, "I'm telling you, can you spare my life?"

"Speak quickly!" Wong Tai Sin also made a gesture of baring his teeth and brandishing his claws.

These seasoned old scoundrels, when faced with a child of unknown origin, all chose to scare him.

"Say it, I'll say it."

Chi Yue nervously clutched the hem of her clothes, her head bowed. "We Huang Xiu are the opposite of what we are, imitating weasels, practicing a kind of unorthodox martial art."

"Normally, we use transformation techniques to disguise ourselves as weasels and ask passersby for blessings. You say it's not a loss for me to look like a human, but if you say it's like a god, then I'll have to do more good deeds."

"Once you've accumulated enough merit, you can ascend to immortality."