Lin Xiaodong bowed his hand and said, "Thank you, Miss Wu." He was invisible.
There is a Yanhang Mountain in Hongliu County, Wanzhou, which produces iron ore.
Early that morning, the mine owner Lu Mingbang and his associate Shi Chu took stock of the inventory and found that three iron ingots were missing.
Shi Chu said: "There are thieves on the mountain."
Lu Mingbang said calmly: "Don't make any noise for now, arrange for someone to watch at night."
Shi Chu arranged for people to patrol at night, and continued to check the next morning. No more were lost, so he let it go.
Unexpectedly, three days later, when the warehouse checked the goods, another three yuan was missing.
When Lu Mingbang learned this, he looked angry and summoned dozens of workers in the mine.
Shi Chu said: "In the past two days, we have lost six iron ingots in our warehouse."
Lu Mingbang looked at everyone and said, "I wouldn't believe us all. This piece of iron weighs 200 kilograms, and outsiders can't take it away even if they want to steal it."
Everyone, look at me and I look at you, there is no one suspicious.
Lu Mingbang said: "Starting tonight, everyone will take turns to keep vigil. If it is lost again, I will report it to the official. By then, don't blame me for not caring about favors."
Everyone dispersed, the lights in the mine were brightly lit at night, and people were coming and going everywhere.
They kept watch like this for two consecutive nights without incident. On the third night, iron miner Zhu Hou heard something moving in the warehouse.
Zhu Hou lit a torch and quietly walked in. He saw a huge creature in the darkness. He held two hundred kilograms of iron ingots in one hand and opened his mouth to bite off a piece.
Zhu Hou screamed in fright, and the monster turned around suddenly. When the firelight illuminated it, he could see it clearly, and he was so frightened that he almost fainted.
Then I saw how that monster was born. It had the body of an ox and the head of an ox, it was one foot tall, its body was green and black, its eyes were blood red, it held an iron ingot in its hand, one corner was missing, and its teeth marks were clearly visible.
Zhu Hou threw the torch on the ground, turned around and ran away: "There is a monster!"
Lu Mingbang, Shi Chu and everyone in the mine rushed over quickly. Seeing how ferocious the monster was, no one dared to step forward.
The monster roared, jumped up, and disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving only a bitten iron ingot on the ground.
Shi Chu's face turned pale: "What kind of monster is this?"
Lu Mingbang said blankly: "Did it eat the six iron ingots earlier?"
Zhu Houdao: "How come there are monsters that feed on iron in this world?"
Everyone was confused, discussed for a while, and then went back to sleep.
On the morning of the next day, Lu Mingbang and Shi Chu took a car to the Jingzheng Sect of Malukui Mountain.
Zheng Ming, the head of the Jingzheng Sect, and Gao Heyan, the eldest disciple, came to greet him.
Lu Mingbang said: "Daozhang Zheng, there is a monster on our Yanxing Mountain!"
Gao Heyan said: "Monster?"
Lu Mingbang nodded: "That monster has the body of a bull and the head of a cow. It is invulnerable and extremely powerful. Even the dozens of people in my mine cannot catch it!"
Zheng Ming was puzzled: "With so many people in the mine, how could a monster be born?"
Lu Mingbang said: "I don't know either. Recently, a lot of iron ingots that have been smelted on the mountain have been lost. I arranged for people to keep watch at night, and I happened to bump into the monster. It seemed to be eating iron."
Gao Heyan's teeth ached: "Eating iron?"
Shi Chu said: "Yes, there is still half of the iron ingot left, and there are still tooth marks!"
Gao Heyan said: "How can there be such a monster in the world?"
Lu Mingbang said: "This monster stole my iron ingot, what can I do? Please ask Daozhang Zheng to take action and get rid of it."
Zheng Ming agreed: "Okay, I'll go there at night."
Lu Mingbang thanked him and left.
At night, Zheng Ming, Gao Heyan, Lin You, Zhou Anyu, and Ding Zhenxin went up to Yanhang Mountain together.
Looking down from the top of the mountain, twenty miles northwest, a line of black smoke rose into the sky.
Gao Heyan said: "That's Caiyun Mountain."
Zheng Ming said: "Let's go and see the iron-eating monster."
The five masters and apprentices drove up to Caiyun Mountain in Yunguang and found a demon cave halfway up the mountain, named Pujue Cave.
Gao Heyan shouted: "Monster, die quickly!"
In Pujue Cave, Jia Xin, Xue Qing, Geng Jun, Gao Fuqi, and Xu Xingxian heard the sound and rushed out.
Xue Qing shouted sharply: "Who comes to my Pujue Cave to act so recklessly?"
Zheng Ming asked: "Are you two going to Yixing Mountain to steal iron in the middle of the night?"
Jia Xin snorted: "I'm just looking for some midnight snacks late at night!"
Zheng Ming said: "The mines are full of poor workers who earn some hard money, so you can let them go."
Jia Xin looked sideways: "If I don't steal iron to eat, how can I eat people?"
Gao Heyan shouted: "How dare you!"
Xue Qing took a step forward: "Come to my Pujue Cave to show off your power?"
Zheng Ming said: "Do you really eat iron?"
Xue Qing said: "My brother Jia Dao feeds on iron and is invulnerable to weapons and bullets. If you know the truth, get out of here!"
Ding Zhenxin came at him with his sword: "Monster, how can I allow you to wait here and cause trouble?"
Xu Xingxian glared and gnashed his teeth: "Where is the thief who is meddling in other people's business? Please tell me your name!"
Ding Zhenxin said: "Ding Zhenxin, the pure and upright sect of Malukui Mountain! Do you, a monster like you, also have a name?"
Xu Xingxian said: "I have ordered Xu Xingxian from Pujue Cave in Yunshan Mountain. If you don't want to die, please evacuate immediately!"
The two men were fighting in the same place, going back and forth and clashing for twenty rounds.
Ding Zhenxin couldn't win, so he retreated and scattered the bone mask in the air.
When Xu Xingxian saw it, he snorted and raised his hands to flick his sleeves. There was a sound of wind and thunder, and a thunderbolt came down, splitting the bone-changing shield into its original shape and falling to the ground.
Ding Zhenxin grinned and inhaled, then turned around and left when he saw that it was not good.
Xu Xing looked amused and said, "Is this the only way you, the Taoist priest of Mallow Mountain, can do this?"
Zhou Anyu stepped forward with his sword in hand: "You monster, don't show off your evil ways. I will meet you again, Zhou Anyu, the pure and upright sect!" He struck with a sword.
Xu Xingxian fought against Zhou Anyu again. The two swords crossed each other, and they moved around and around for twenty times. Then they sheathed their swords and withdrew.
Zhou Any raised his jade hand, and the Juelong jade nail flew from the bottom of his sleeve with a ray of red light.
Xu Xingxian sent a thunderbolt, but there was no thunder and he was knocked to the ground by Juelong Jade Nail.
Xu Xing obviously felt bad and jumped out of the battle circle.
Gao Fuqi came up swinging his sword and said, "That's Gao Fuqi in Pujue Cave!" He and Zhou Anyu were fighting in the same place.
The two swords intersected, circling and moving, killing for twenty rounds.
Zhou Anyu was exhausted and turned around in defeat.
Gao Fuqi brought the broken jade chain.
Zhou Anyu turned around and released the Juelong jade nail. There was a sound and the broken jade chain was dusted off.
Zhou Anyu didn't even look back and walked away.
Lin Youyue stepped forward: "Monster, how can I allow you to wait and harm the people?"
Gao Fuqi said: "Harm the people? If we really harm the people, how many dozens of people in the mine can survive to this day?" Come and fight Lin You.
The two of them killed each other twenty times, before Gao Fuqi turned around and retreated.
Lin You stretched out his hand, and a cloud-whispering chain flew from the bottom of his sleeve and hit Gao Fuqi's back.
Gao Fuqi turned around and picked up the broken jade chain, but when the chain was swept away by the clouds, the treasure was completely gone and fell to the ground.
Gao Fuqi saw something bad and jumped out of the ring.
Geng Jun raised his sword and stepped forward: "My Taoist brother eats a few iron ingots from you, why do you want to go to war like this? Do you really think that there is no one in my Pujue Cave?"
Lin You fought Geng Jun again, going back and forth, going back and forth, and there were twenty fights.
Lin You was defeated, so he retreated and brought the cloud-whisking chain. Geng Jun swung the colorful cloud whip, and the seven-colored cloud light swept away, and the cloud-whisking chain fell straight down.