From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

To be honest, after witnessing Jiang Liu's methods, Hong Guniang probably realized that in order to rebuild the Moon Gate, money alone was not enough; she also needed the strength to hold her own.

Chang Shengshan is indeed powerful, but Hong Guniang can also see that as long as Chen Yulou can no longer hold the fort, it is only natural that the group will fall apart.

These kinds of bandits, warlords, and government troops lack a stable succession. Even if their numbers exceed tens of thousands, they will disintegrate within a month or two, or even faster, when they encounter problems they cannot solve.

As she is an extraordinary person, it would be best for her to join the forces established by extraordinary people. Although she has only been with Changsheng Mountain for a short time, Chen Yulou has treated her sincerely. It would be criticized for her to change allegiance so rashly. At the very least, she should repay Chen Yulou's kindness in taking her in by stealing the treasures from Pingshan for him.

Seeing that the girl in red was somewhat interested, Jiang Liu didn't press on. Instead, he abruptly stopped and changed the subject—

Continuing further would make one appear to have ulterior motives. Sometimes, when poaching talent, stopping short of the point can achieve better results.

Not long after the four entered the mountain, after passing the "Earth Gate" mountain pass that had already been filled in, they saw three figures dressed in Taoist robes.

Two men and one woman.

These three people had slightly more sunken eye sockets and slightly higher nose bridges than normal people, but overall they still had Han Chinese features. Moreover, they were all practitioners of Qi cultivation, with powerful steps and steady breathing.

When the two sides met on a narrow path, they exchanged greetings. The leader introduced them, saying, "This is my junior brother, you can call him Old Foreigner. This is my junior sister, named Hua Ling, and my name is Partridge Whistle."

"Jiang Liu" (江流).

"Li Muxuan".

"Lu Jin".

[Are these the real names of these three little ones?]

Hong Guniang, being cautious, clasped her hands in greeting and addressed the three people opposite her, saying, "Hong Guniang."

"Are you all heading into the mountains—"

Partridge Whistle glanced at the chicken coop tied together on Jiang Liu and the others' backs, and his eyelids twitched involuntarily. "Using these chickens to deal with poisonous insects?"

“That’s true.” Jiang Liu nodded.

"There are no fewer than ten million poisonous insects in these mountains. With so few chickens, we probably can't eat them all, can we?" the burly old foreigner with a full beard complained.

“We didn’t intend for them to eat up all the poisonous insects in Ping Mountain in a short period of time.”

Lu Jin said, “We take the principle of ‘endless descendants’ and aim for the future, so that they can multiply and thrive in this Bottle Mountain, and one day we will solve the Bottle Mountain insect infestation.”

"That's truly remarkable." Partridge Whistle was speechless.

"Leaving aside us, what are you doing here at Ping Mountain?"

Li Muxuan, however, thought of the Mountain-Moving Taoist that Chen Yulou had mentioned before, and a thought popped into his head: "Could it be the Mountain-Moving Taoist who goes to the tomb to retrieve the elixir?"

"Exactly."

Partridge Whistle admitted it and roughly guessed Li Muxuan and Lu Jin's identities: they came from major Xuanmen sects, but their behavior puzzled him somewhat.

They didn't seem like the orthodox Taoist figures he had met before.

"Mountain Moving Taoists? The Xuanmen doesn't recognize you as Taoists." Li Muxuan grinned and said, "Your existence will make ordinary people who don't know the specifics of the Xuanmen think that Xuanmen disciples also rob tombs."

"You're entering this Ping Mountain because you're interested in the tombs inside, aren't you?"

Hearing the slightly sarcastic tone in Li Muxuan's words, the old foreigner became somewhat angry. Although it was true that they had been robbing tombs, it was out of necessity, and they only wanted the cinnabar pearls, not money.

"We have no interest in the tomb."

Li Muxuan chuckled twice more, shook the bamboo cage on his back, startling the chickens inside, which clucked loudly. "It's to solve the insect problem in the mountains!"

Lu Jin added, "At the very least, it can still be called 'archaeology'."

The old foreigner: "..."

Seeing the two teenagers working together, Partridge Whistle did not dare to be careless. After all, any extraordinary person who dared to venture into Ping Mountain, regardless of age, must have remarkable skills. If he could explore the ancient tomb of Ping Mountain with them, it might be much easier.

"You've come to Ping Mountain to meet with General Manager Chen, right?"

At this moment, the girl in red interjected, "He once said that he invited you to rob the tomb of the Yuan Dynasty general in Ping Mountain together, but you already had a target in mind, which was to rob the tomb of the King of Yelang... Now that you have robbed the tomb of the King of Yelang, it doesn't look like it was filled with too many funerary objects."

Upon hearing this, Partridge Whistle knew he had met the right person. He cupped his hands and said, "We, the Mountain Moving Taoists, are tomb raiders only seeking the legendary Phoenix Gallbladder. We don't take any money. In addition, we are fast on our feet, so the round trip won't take too much time... We hope that Miss Hong can introduce us to Chen Yulou so that we can raid the tomb of the Yuan Dynasty general in Ping Mountain together and see if we can find the Muchen Pearl that we have been longing for."

"You Taoist priests from the Mountain Moving Sect are robbing tombs just to find a single bead?" After learning the reason, Lu Jin said speechlessly, "That bead belonged to your ancestors, but it was taken away by the emperor and used as a burial item, so you want to get it back?"

# Chapter 147 The Carp

"more or less."

Regarding the significance of the Muchen Pearl to the Mountain Moving Daoists, Partridge Whistle did not want to say too much to those who were not involved, and his words were somewhat perfunctory.

Jiang Liu, realizing this, did not intend to delve too deeply into the other party's secret of searching for the Muchen Pearl. He simply said, "Then please come with us into the mountain to eliminate the Earth Dragon King, the Black Dragon Serpent, and the Ink Pipa among the poisonous insects. Whether it's to obtain money, steal the elixir pearl, or conduct archaeological activities, those three poisonous creatures are hurdles that must be overcome. Otherwise, if we rashly enter Ping Mountain, we are very likely to fall into their trap."

"That's true!"

When it comes to eradicating evil spirits, Partridge Whistle is also excited, because he is an upright and incorruptible person, and he never shows any mercy to the mountain spirits that have harmed people.

Seeing his sincerity, Jiang Liu began to believe him to some extent.

So, the four people plus the three others made a total of seven, and they went into the mountains together.

As expected of a Mountain Moving Taoist, Partridge Whistle knew that Chen Yulou and his group had already suffered a loss at the "Bottle Shoulder" on the south side, and that many poisonous insects in the ravine were spewing poisonous mist and turning into monstrous mirages. He knew that going down there would be a dead end.

"If we don't go in from there, where should we go in from?"

Since there were "professionals" present, Jiang Liu relinquished the leadership position to them.

Seeing Jiang Liu's straightforwardness, Partridge Whistle realized that this young man was no ordinary person, but he remained calm and expressed his opinion: "I have also heard of this Bottle Mountain. It is the place where emperors of many dynasties refined lead and mercury. It is hollow inside, and poisonous insects must live in it."

Since the upward path is blocked, why not try the downward one?

"Just drill a hole."

“We don’t have enough manpower, and we didn’t bring any drilling equipment.” Red Girl thought Partridge Whistle’s words made sense.

The tomb of the Yuan Dynasty general is located in Ping Mountain. If you can get in, why insist on going down from the top?

Working from the bottom up is also an option!

As long as we don't encounter a situation like the "walled city" again, it's fine.

"It's just digging a hole, no need to go to so much trouble." The old foreigner shook the cage behind him. Unlike the chicken cages carried by Jiang Liu, Lu Jin, Li Muxuan and others, it was woven more finely, with no gaps to be seen, and it was impossible to tell what was inside.

But Jiang Liu was certain that it contained living creatures, and two of them at that.

Lu Jin also sensed the biomagnetic energy of the living creatures and asked, "Did you bring chickens too?"

"No, that's not true!"

Hua Ling patted the cage on the old foreigner's back, as if to soothe the two unknown creatures inside that had become agitated by the old foreigner shaking the cage, and said with a smile, "This is one of the two top-tier creatures in our Mountain Moving Daoist lineage's Three Nails and Four Armors."

The so-called "three nails and four armors" refers to the mechanisms and magic used by the Mountain Moving Taoists.

Among them, the Three Nails have been lost, and only three of the Four Armor types remain: the Mountain Piercing Mausoleum Armor, the Mountain Digging Armor, and the Mountain Digging Armor.

"Digging up pangolins—"

Jiang Liu noticed that Partridge Whistle was wearing black sleeve-like objects on his arms, similar to his Qi Body Xuanlong Hook. There were fine grooves on them, which were probably barbs that could be deployed for climbing mountains and rocks. He guessed, "It should be related to weapon crafting and mechanisms."

"Young man, you are indeed very perceptive."

Seeing Jiang Liu's gaze fall on his sleeve, Partridge Whistle had to admit that Jiang Liu had a sharp eye.

The pangolin digging tool is made of these sleeve hooks used for climbing!

"And the pangolin—"

Considering that the cage contained two live creatures, one large and one small, Jiang Liu guessed, "Are they mud carp?"

The so-called "lingli" is actually a pangolin.

The commentary on "Heavenly Questions" in the Chu Ci states: "Its shape resembles a carp, and it lives in caves."

Therefore, based on the habits of the shad and its scale-like outer armor, it can also be called the mountain-penetrating carp.

In the 21st century, this would be a Class I protected animal!

It's fortunate that we're still in the Republic of China era; otherwise, with Partridge Whistle and his group keeping two Chinese pangolins, they would definitely be locked up for life!

Do not!

The sheer number of tombs they've destroyed in their quest for the Phoenix Gallbladder is enough to land them in jail for life!

"Young man, you have insight!"

The old foreigner's eyes widened, and he gave Jiang Liu a thumbs up. "That's right, our Mountain Moving lineage's Cave-Piercing Armor is the Dragon Carp."

The scaly carp, also known as the dragon carp, especially when paired with the title "Mountain Moving Taoist," refers to their ability to move the earth's energy and dragon veins.

of course.

The Mountain-Moving Taoist certainly doesn't have this ability, but—

Although they are not true Taoist priests, they still care about their reputation. Otherwise, there would be no rumors that "the Mountain-Moving Taoists only take elixir pearls and do not seek money."

"The Digging Mountain Armor is a means of refining weapons and mechanisms, while the Mountain-Penetrating Cave Armor is a means of taming beasts. The Beast Master, the Mountain Moving lineage is indeed rich in heritage."

Jiang Liu praised it.

With the inheritance of both weapon crafting and beast taming, it's no wonder that the Mountain Moving Taoist can travel freely in the mountains.

"Not worth mentioning."

Partridge Whistle humbly replied, "Compared to the all-encompassing skills of the true Xuanmen, our abilities as Mountain Moving Taoists are nothing more than minor, unworthy skills."

"It certainly can't compare to the Xuanmen method!"

Li Muxuan raised his head, attracting the attention of the old foreigner and Hua Ling.

Lu Jin, however, was more adept at handling people and said, "You can't say that. Although the abilities of superhumans vary in strength, they are mostly specialized in their own fields and each has their own advantages."

As they talked and laughed, they arrived at the foot of Ping Mountain. They walked around clockwise and carefully examined the area, discovering many ancient architectural remains.

These buildings, if left unattended, are mostly unable to withstand the wind and rain, and are already rotten and will collapse at the slightest touch.

Finally, Partridge Whistle chose a crevice at the bottom of Bottle Mountain, led Jiang Liu and the others sideways through it, and arrived at a relatively spacious cave.

Because the cave was narrow, Jiang Liu, Lu Jin, and Li Muxuan had to put down the chicken coops they were carrying, except for the bamboo cage containing the Angry Sun Chicken, which Jiang Liu still carried on his back.

Upon seeing this Angry-Eyed Chicken, Partridge Whistle was stunned. He opened his mouth, exclaiming in disbelief, "A chicken with eyelids on top, and such a huge size! Could it be a Angry-Eyed Chicken of the Phoenix breed from the Angry-Eyed County area of ​​western Hunan?!"

Partridge Whistle is not his real name. Like "Red Girl," it is an elegant nickname. It is because he has mastered the songs of hundreds of birds and the cries of thousands of eagles and is good at making bird sounds with his mouth, which allows him to control the actions of flocks of birds to a certain extent.