After leaving the camp where the monks gathered, Mu Xue and his party moved forward along the Shinto.

As the Shinto deepens, the world becomes more chaotic and ignorant, the sky is filled with yellow sand, and it is difficult to distinguish the sun and the moon.

The collapsed statues of gods on the roadside gradually stopped appearing, and there were some huge shadows swimming in the sky. They had pale and dull faces and ethereal and swaying bodies.

One or two strands of spiritual consciousness left by the ancient gods in the world have been wandering in the Shinto for thousands of years, and gradually condensed into such an illusory body.

During the journey, there were occasionally three or five Taoist cultivators or demonic cultivators passing by in a hurry on the road.

The monks who can cross the sea of ​​lust and reach here are different from those who come to "experience life" from the periphery of the Shinto. Most of them are elite disciples from various sects and families with special skills, and venturing deep into the temple is no longer just for those bits and pieces.

There are only one or two spiritual grasses and spiritual minerals, but they have a more specific goal.

Therefore, most of these people move in a hurry, with a hint of caution, and have little contact with others.

Mu Xue was digging an earthen stove on a slope, preparing to build a new earthen pot for cooking dinner.

She was holding large and small clods of soil in her hands, feeling a little uneasy.

Miao Hong'er and Fu Yun, who were still in the foundation building stage, might not have noticed it, but Mu Xue, whose soul had been condensed, was vaguely aware of it. There was a familiar aura that followed them from a distance along the way.

That person's consciousness, Mu Xue, was so familiar that he could tell who it was without even checking it.

Why did Xiao Shan follow them? Maybe they happened to be traveling the same way, or maybe he just wanted to eat ground pot pot?

Thinking that she and her senior brothers and sisters were happily eating roasted potatoes while Xiao Shan could only stand and peek from afar, Mu Xue, who had always doted on her disciples, felt a little uncomfortable.

Is there any way to pretend to find him quietly and then send him some roasted potatoes?

"Ah, Xiaoxue, you actually know how to build a ground pot?" Miao Hong'er came back from looking for ingredients. When she saw Mu Xue building this, she was very interested. She rolled up her sleeves and joined in, "This thing is very common among the people in the northwest, but it is more common here.

I don’t see you often, I didn’t expect you to be able to do it at such a young age, come on, I’ll add some ingredients too.”

Miao Hong'er caught a duck from somewhere. After bleeding it and removing its feathers, she flexibly kneaded the duck's body with both hands. She didn't know how her hands moved. She just opened a small opening on the duck's neck and it actually came out.

The whole duck skeleton was pulled out.

The duck skeleton was pulled out, but the skin and flesh remained intact, like an empty bag. Miao Honger filled it with chestnuts, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and other materials, stuffing the duck until it was plump, and then sewed the bag

, add various seasonings to taste, then wrap the duck in lotus leaves, seal it with wet mud, and put it together with Mu Xue's potatoes and potatoes, ready to be roasted in the fire.

Her series of operations were like flowing water, smooth and beautiful, which made Mu Xue stunned.

The bags that others carried as gifts when entering the God's Realm contained either life-saving weapons and potions, or goods used for trading and replacement. But this senior sister's backpack was probably filled with all kinds of dry goods, seasonings and food.

When Xiao Shan was young, Mu Xue also liked to cook delicious food to make her apprentice fatter. But now, she had to give in to the skills of Miao Hong'er, an expert chef.

"This is a ground pot pot. I haven't had it in years. My wife used to cook it on the ground." An old voice sounded from not far away.

The voice was some distance away from them when it started speaking, but by the time it said the last word, the person was already in front of them.

Mu Xue looked up and saw an old man squatting on a mound not far away, looking at their pots and pans with bright eyes. The old man had white beard and hair, was thin, short in stature, and was dressed in gray clothes.

Wearing homespun clothes, he carries an erhu harp and a belt on his back. He looks like an ordinary old farmer in the countryside.

Of course, it is impossible for ordinary people to appear in the depths of Shinto.

Miao Hong'er and Fu Yun stood up and quietly blocked Mu Xue from behind.

"Don't be nervous, little kids. I just want to ask for a bite of food from you." The old man squatted on the mound, "I won't eat your food for free. Are you going to cross the road of death? I will provide you with the road.

Exchange with you."

He took out a small stack of yellow paper from his arms and shook it. There were round square holes and golden characters printed on them, which were the coins used to save the dead in the mortal world.

The Ancient God of Dongyue was once the great god in charge of the growth and development of all things in the human world. He unified the ghosts and ghosts. It is said that when someone dies, the soul returns to Dongyue. The path of crossing the dead in this Shinto is where the souls of the dead gather in transcendence. No living person can approach it.

.

If a living person wants to transition to the path of death, he must prepare such "offerings" so that he can muddle through along the way.

Fu Yun and others also inquired about the situation here before entering Shinto, so they were naturally prepared.

But the paper money that the ordinary-dressed old man in front of me took out was something extraordinary. It had a faint golden light of merit blessed by Buddhist monks, and it was most useful in the ghost world.

Fu Yun knew that he had an extraordinary background. After thinking about it, he took the yellow papers and said, "Senior, you're too polite. I just have some food. When it's ready, I'll give it to you."

The wrinkles on the old man's face wrinkled up with his smile, "Okay, I'll be waiting. My surname is Zhong, you can just call me Uncle Zhong."

Uncle Zhong untied the erhu from his back, held it in his arms, turned the strings, and said casually, "I seem to be not the only one attracted by this smell. My friend, why bother being so sneaky? Just come out."

"

Everyone turned around following Uncle Zhong's gaze and saw a cloaked figure slowly walking out of the trees in the distance.

"Brother Dao Cen?" Fu Yun greeted with fists clasped, "What a coincidence. Why is Brother Dao here too?"

Cen Qianshan didn't know how to answer this question. His eyes turned slightly in the direction of Mu Xue. Even he didn't understand. Although he also wanted to take this path, he didn't know why he followed Mu Xue inexplicably.

These people walked all the way behind,

"Is it possible that Taoist brother also wants to cross the path of death?" Fortunately, Fu Yun gave him a step down.

Cen Qianshan finally nodded silently.

Fu Yun has very complicated feelings about this demon cultivator. This person's character is really too cloudy and uncertain. When he was in the sea of ​​desire, he fought against a group of monsters, crossed the sea in a boat, laughed in the blood, was fierce and arrogant. Now he is like this

Silent and taciturn, gloomy and depressed.

But no matter what, he once saved his life. Out of the moral education he had had since childhood, Fu Yun still politely asked him to have dinner with him.

The lonely man was silent for a long time, and then he slowly walked to the stove and sat down.

A sudden turn of events fulfilled Mu Xue's wish, making Mu Xue very happy.

Perhaps because I was pretending to be excited, my hand movements were careless.

When Mu Xue knocked on the red-hot earth clod tower, all the red earth clods did not collapse into the stove as planned. Instead, a few pieces collapsed and bounced towards Mu Xue.

Before she could dodge, a bandaged arm had already appeared in front of her. The hand was extremely fast and turned into several afterimages, blocking the splashing clods of soil one by one and grabbing them in his hand.

The clods of earth had been burned by the flames for a long time, and were already red and hot. Thick smoke started to rise when they were touched, but Cen Qianshan seemed not to care at all when he grabbed them. He glanced at Mu Xue, calmly threw the clods back to the stove, and took it from her hand.

The stick that beats the tower of clods.

"I'll do it." He said calmly.

He moved quickly and seemed to be equally familiar with this matter. Even more skilled than Mu Xue, he knocked the red-hot earth clod tower into the stove in two or two, and quickly covered the stove mouth with sand.

All heat is sealed, allowing the food in the stove to be fully grilled.

While waiting for the food to be cooked, Mu Xue took a jar of burn ointment and sat next to Cen Qianshan.

"Thank you just now. Did you get burned?"

She naturally pulled up Cen Qianshan's burned right hand. The bandage on the palm was burned off by the charcoal fire and now hung down, revealing the scarred skin on the arm.

Where did all these criss-crossing scars come from!

Mu Xue frowned,

When his palm was touched, Cen Qianshan subconsciously wanted to retract his hand, but his fingers were held by a short, round hand.

"Don't move, I'll give you some medicine." The six-year-old kid held his hand and said.

She lowered her head intently, and from Cen Qianshan's perspective, only the two black buns on her head could be seen.

A little cold touch covered the burned skin on his palm. The small fingertips were dipped in cold plaster and rubbed back and forth on his palm, with a little itch.

She held her hand and applied the medicine, then gently blew on it. The cold air blew on the palm of her hand, blowing away the burning pain and blowing into a memory of the past.

At that time, Cen Qianshan had just become his master's disciple and climbed up the shelf to get a small jar of fire dragon blood.

In the past, he had always been serious about his work and had never made any mistakes. Just once, for some unknown reason, his hand slipped and he watched helplessly as the jar of precious medicine fell from the air.

He rushed forward with all his strength, trying to catch the fallen jar, but unfortunately the bottle fell to the ground with his fingertips. With a bang, it was shattered into pieces, and the red solution splashed on his hand.

The fire dragon's blood was highly corrosive. When it splashed onto your hands, it burned the skin until green smoke erupted, causing burning pain.

But at this time, he could no longer care about his own hands. He clearly knew how much energy his master had spent and how many times he had gone to the shopping mall in order to buy this bottle of fire dragon blood.

This small bit of dragon blood is enough to buy several children like him.

He desperately lay on the ground, trying to collect the remaining dragon blood.

"What are you doing!" Master's angry rebuke came from the door.

Cen Qianshan shivered. When he was young, he had made the same mistake once. At that time, his adoptive father took off his clothes and whipped him until he couldn't get out of bed for three days.

Master strode in, lifted him up from the ground, placed him on the operating table, grabbed his hand, and turned his palm over.

He thought he would receive a spanking, but only the cold liquid washed away the burning pain in his palms. The master also frowned like this, applying medicine to himself and blowing gently on the wound.

"Why are you so stupid? You dropped the dragon's blood right away, but you're stupid enough to fish it out with your hands."

After waiting for a long time, Cen Qianshan, who didn't expect any punishment, stammered and asked: "No...don't you hit me?"

"Hit him, why don't you spank him?" The master looked up at him angrily, then lowered his head to treat his wounds, "You must spank him hard, spank your ass, but you owe him first, I will remember it.

"

Such debts accumulate more and more, and they continue to be owed for months and years. There is no chance of repayment.

Later, he often went hunting in the wilderness. When he hunted dragon blood and phoenix feathers, he rushed back and gave them to his master.
To be continued...