The Long Journey to Immortality

“It’s not far,” Zhan Yujun pointed in a direction. “Just follow me. At our current speed, we should be there in about half an hour.”

"If everything goes smoothly, we can find the raccoon demon's den in a short time by following the clues. Maybe we can even make it back to the sect for dinner."

Hearing this, Han Lu nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions.

Zhan Yujun walked ahead, with Han Lu following behind, the two of them walking briskly along the mountain path in silence.

What Zhan Yujun said was true. After about half an hour, she slowed down her pace, walking and stopping frequently, as if she was recalling the events of that day.

After a while, Zhan Yujun stopped in front of a clump of grass and pointed to the footprints in the mud, saying, "Look, these are the footprints of the raccoon demon."

Han Lu looked in the direction Zhan Yujun was pointing and saw two faint cat paw prints in the grass on the ground. Only by looking closely could one find them.

Although several days have passed, the cat's paw print is still clearly visible.

Han Lu asked with some confusion, "Zhan Yujun, how did you discover the footprints hidden here that day?"

Zhan Yujun coughed and whispered, "That day, I happened to have a bit of an upset stomach when I passed by this area."

Han Lu chuckled and teased, "Looks like your diarrhea is expelling spirit stones instead."

Qi Refining cultivators are still within the realm of mortals and need to eat, drink, relieve themselves, and sleep. It is perfectly normal for them to have occasional physiological problems to solve.

Only when one reaches the Golden Core stage can one truly be called an immortal by mortals.

"Shall we split up and search for the raccoon demon's den?" Han Lu suggested.

"Don't separate," Zhan Yujun said cautiously. "There are also ferocious monsters in the Zhengyi Mountains. It's safer for us to travel together."

Having found this reasonable, Han Lu agreed with Zhan Yujun's suggestion.

The two maintained a distance of about twenty meters, slowly searching for other traces of the raccoon demon, using these two footprints as the center.

A little while later, Han Lu found other footprints on another patch of muddy ground.

A moment later, Zhan Yujun found a few strands of orange-yellow raccoon cat fur on a tree branch.

……

The faint clues guided the two and gave them a rough estimate of the size of the tanuki demon group they were tracking.

“There are at least four.” As she said this, Zhan Yujun’s eyes shone with a vastness of spirit stones.

Before long, Han Lu and Zhan Yujun found a tree hole under a large tree that was a hundred years old.

Smelling the strong cat scent in the tree hollow, Zhan Yujun made a decisive judgment: "This is the den of the raccoon demon."

[Author's Note] As always, it's a slow burn with a lot of build-up. I've deeply reflected on this and realized I've made the same old mistakes again.

Chapter Fifty-Four: Cleverly Catching the Tanuki Demon

"But where's the cat?" Han Lu asked, looking at the empty tree hole that smelled of cats but had no cats in it.

"They probably went out to forage for food," Zhan Yujun said, having made thorough preparations. She explained to Han Lu, "It is said that in addition to two main meals a day, the raccoon demon also has five snacks. It is a lazy and gluttonous monster."

“No wonder,” Han Lu thought of the few raccoon demons that the female cultivator had once barely managed to hold in her arms, “otherwise, they wouldn’t be so fat.”

"Then what should we do?" Han Lu asked again. "Should we wait here and wait for them to come to us, or should we look around and take the initiative?"

Although Han Lu is not an indecisive person, since this cat-catching operation was proposed by Zhan Yujun and the information was provided by her, Han Lu naturally follows Zhan Yujun's lead.

Zhan Yuyun pondered for a moment, then carefully crawled into the tree hole to check the condition of the cat's nest and touched the weeds lining the hole.

“It’s almost cold now, I guess…” Zhan Yujun made a judgment, “They’ve been out foraging for a long time, they should be back soon. Let’s set up the bait and traps here and wait patiently.”

"Then let's do it." Han Lu understood Zhan Yujun's actions and roughly guessed the reason for her decision.

Without wasting any time, the two quickly began setting up around the tree hole, lest the raccoon demons return before the "trap" could be prepared.

The arrangement was not complicated.

I set up two simple traps using a monster-catching net and a simple trigger restriction, and then threw a ball of yarn that smelled of food at the entrance of the tree hole.

Meanwhile, the two found a good vantage point in a nearby tree, climbed up, hid, and secretly observed and patiently waited for the raccoon demon to return from its hunt.

Fortunately, it was already autumn, and there were far fewer mosquitoes in the wild. Otherwise, the two people hiding in the tree would have been tormented for quite some time.

Zhan Yujun's judgment was correct.

After hiding in the tree for about fifteen minutes, the two heard sporadic meows coming from not far away.

Upon hearing the cat's meow, which sounded somewhat like the collision of spirit stones, Zhan Yuyun's breathing became rapid.

She gave Han Lu a look, conveying to her with her eyes, "Prepare to move out."

Han Lu understood immediately and focused her gaze on the two small traps they had set up, ready to activate them at any moment by casting a spell.

The meowing grew louder as the cat approached, and soon, a fat, orange raccoon demon appeared in their line of sight from the direction the meowing came from.

Perhaps because of the natural high level of vigilance of demons, this raccoon demon was particularly cautious when it came near the cat's den.

It sniffs around, occasionally meowing loudly, as if it's outsmarting the air and telling any potential "intruder," "Don't hide, I see you."

Han Lu and Zhan Yujun had long since erased any trace of their presence here.

Since a cat's sense of smell is not as good as a dog's, the raccoon demon ultimately failed to detect anything amiss.

After confirming there was no danger, the fat raccoon demon meowed twice more at the bushes behind it.

Seeing this, Han Lu thought to herself, "They're probably calling for their companions?"

As expected, Han Lu was right.

In the blink of an eye, four more raccoon demons emerged from the bushes.

Among these raccoon demons was one with half a headless river fish in its mouth.

This appearance definitely suggests that he has just returned from foraging for food.

Seeing so many raccoon demons, Zhan Yujun's breathing became more and more rapid, and she began to make a plan in her mind.

She carefully observed the shapes and fur colors of the several raccoon demons, converted them into spirit stones, and calculated how much money she could earn after capturing them.

"Selling all of this would get me at least twenty? No, twenty-five spirit stones!"

Just as I was calculating, there was new movement from the patch of grass where cats could grow.

A moment later, another skinny little raccoon demon emerged from the bushes.

This tanuki demon is pure black and looks sickly, no wonder it fell behind and lagged behind.

But it was this unremarkable sick cat that made Han Lu unable to look away.

Seeing that it was just a "sick cat", Zhan Yujun changed the number in her mind from 25 to 30 back to 25, thinking to herself, "This fur color, this body shape, it looks like it's sick, I guess no one will want it."

Even so, Zhan Yujun was already completely satisfied.

"I just hope that Han Lu won't be fooled by these cute monsters and forget the important matter."

Thinking of this, Zhan Yujun subconsciously looked at Han Lu beside her.

Seeing her serious expression, he no longer felt any worry about her.

She secretly praised him, "As expected, Han Lu is a reliable helper."

When Zhan Yujun turned her attention back to the raccoon demon, one of the five kittens finally discovered the ball of yarn that Zhan Yujun had placed next to the tree hole.

Seeing a ball of yarn and wanting to play with it is a cat's nature, and the raccoon demon is no exception.

Not to mention that the ball of yarn had been processed by Zhan Yujun, absorbing some of the food's flavor, making it even more tempting.

This smell was irresistible even to the tanuki demon who had just had a hearty meal.

Aside from unattractive women who are on a diet, who would mind having a dessert after a big meal?

After playing with the ball of yarn for a while, the kitten let out a happy meow.

The meow attracted the other cats, but the sick cat didn't react and returned to its tree hole alone, showing no intention of playing with its companions.

Han Lu stared wide-eyed at the raccoon demons approaching the ball of yarn, calculating the position of the demon-catching net set up in the air, ready to trigger the restriction and activate the trap at any time.

Although a ball of yarn is an inanimate object, a tanuki demon is not.

For several days, the raccoon demons have been frolicking around the ball of yarn near the two traps. Once Han Lu triggers the traps, at least two raccoon demons will be caught.

Seeing this, Zhan Yujun clenched her fists, looking somewhat nervous.

She was conflicted; she wanted Han Lu to be patient and wait a little longer, hoping that the two nets could catch more raccoon demons.

He also wanted Han Lu to act quickly and stop while she was ahead, lest the raccoon demon lose interest in the yarn ball and the trap would be set up in vain, resulting in nothing.

After all, there were only two of them. If they were to try to capture the entire litter of raccoon demons with just a demon-catching net, it would be wishful thinking.

A bountiful harvest is what Zhan Yujun hopes for.

Watching the many tanuki demons playing around the ball of yarn, Zhan Yujun's heart pounded wildly, following the rolling ball of yarn.

Although nervous, Zhan Yujun did not boss Han Lu around.

She knew that Han Lu, who held the mechanical restraints, was far more nervous than she was.

Half a minute passed, and Han Lu still didn't make a move.

A minute passed, and Han Lu did not make a move.

A minute and a half passed, and Han Lu still hadn't made a move.

Just as Zhan Yujun was wondering if Han Lu was engrossed in watching or had fallen asleep, and was thinking of reminding Han Lu,

Suddenly, two balls of yarn placed next to the cat's bed collided with each other, and just in time, they were both directly under the trap.

All five tanuki demons gathered together to play ball, and Han Lu finally got the golden opportunity she had been waiting for.

Upon seeing this, Zhan Yujun couldn't even finish the word "grab".

Han Lu naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.

With lightning-fast hand gestures, three simple hand gestures unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, and two pre-arranged demon-catching nets descended from the sky, enveloping the five raccoon demons playing below.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the tanuki demons were all trapped in the net.

Seeing this, Zhan Yujun swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue, then changed her mind and shouted excitedly, "Beautiful!"

The four kittens, whose cultivation was still shallow and who were engrossed in playing, were not vigilant at all, and were naturally all caught red-handed.

The big cat, being obese, was not very agile. Although it dodged the first monster-catching net, it couldn't dodge the second one and was caught as well.