When I woke up, I wanted to go home.

Chapter 299 Marriage Alliance in the Mountain Mansion

With a look of grim determination in the man's eyes, he watched Zhu Chongjiu enter the mountain step by step.

Of course, "ready to die" also meant that Zhu Chongjiu's decision was a matter of life and death.

Zhu Chongjiu understood the man's inner thoughts, but he didn't explain further, only smiled.

This mountain, where marriage is arranged, is the one that local people least want to climb.

It wasn't because of the female ghost; even before the female ghost appeared, the people were unwilling to come to this mountain.

Because the ground cover vegetation on this mountain is so dense, it is very difficult for humans to walk on it.

The villagers in the vicinity usually just gather some firewood at the foot of the mountain.

However, the plants in the ground cover layer are not fire-resistant, so unless there is a particular shortage of firewood, or people live at the foot of the mountain, they generally do not come here to marry.

"If my master finds out that I used the treasure of the temple to cut down these plants to clear a path, will he jump out of his coffin?"

I'm sorry to have made you suffer because of me. Who told you to be so sharp?

Zhu Chongjiu muttered to himself as he brandished his greatsword.

I looked up at the sky. It had been raining ever since I entered this mountain range. It must have been raining for almost half a month.

The previous village was the third village Zhu Chongjiu had passed through in this mountain range.

However, they only stayed overnight in the first two villages and left without any major incidents.

It was already past afternoon, and because of the rain, it got dark even faster.

Zhu Chongjiu took out his compass, glanced at his location, and then pinched the Little Six Ren divination stick.

After a moment, Zhu Chongjiu lowered his hand and began to ponder with a furrowed brow.

Let's eat first, then we'll have the energy to work.

Just as Zhu Chongjiu took out the dry rations prepared for him by the peasant woman from his bag, before he could even eat them, a thick fog suddenly rose up around him.

Seeing this, Zhu Chongjiu shook his head helplessly and put the dry rations back.

"Aren't you being a little too hasty to not even let people finish a full meal?"

"You should at least wait until nightfall to come looking for me!"

Just as Zhu Chongjiu finished speaking, the thick fog that had risen around them suddenly vanished without a trace.

At the same time, it wasn't just the dense fog that dissipated.

After the thick fog cleared, the scene where Zhu Chongjiu was located changed.

At this moment, Zhu Chongjiu was standing on a path paved with bluestone slabs.

One end of the path leads to a dense jungle, while the other end leads to a door.

The walls on both sides of the gate stretched into the dense forest for an unknown distance.

Look at this "gate" and "front," "Wow! A wealthy family's house!"

Zhu Chongjiu exclaimed in surprise and walked towards the gate.

"Dang, Dang, Dang!"

After three knocks, the double doors opened in response.

An old woman carrying a lantern came into Zhu Chongjiu's view.

"Young master, the master and madam have prepared wine and dishes and are waiting for you in the guest room."

After Zhu Chongjiu mentioned the "respect" of the place, he followed the old lady into the mansion.

As the old lady led Zhu Chongjiu to the door of a room, the door was suddenly opened by someone inside.

A hearty laugh immediately followed as the door opened and reached Zhu Chongjiu's ears.

"Sir, I have two more dishes."

"You and your wife can eat with this young master while you wait."

"Thank you for your hard work, Aunt Liu!"

After the man finished speaking with the old lady, also known as Liu Mama, he warmly walked up to Zhu Chongjiu and said:

"Come, come, honored guest! We have failed to greet you properly. Please come inside!"

Zhu Chongjiu didn't say much after hearing the man's invitation, and followed the man to sit down at a table that was already filled with a sumptuous feast.

A woman dressed in silk and wearing a veil was seated at the head of the table.

When the man poured wine for Zhu Chongjiu, he said, "Excuse me, I don't drink!"

This was also the first thing Zhu Chongjiu said after entering the mansion.

"How can one travel the world without drinking?"

"Yes, if you can't hold your liquor, young master, you can drink less!"

When Zhu Chongjiu said he wouldn't drink, the man and woman at the table simultaneously urged him to!

After glancing at the full wine glasses on the table, Zhu Chongjiu pondered for a moment before smiling and saying, "Let's get down to business first!"

After waiting a few breaths and seeing that neither of them spoke, Zhu Chongjiu continued:

"The villagers down the mountain say that there is a female ghost on the mountain who announces her family name when she marries him."

Moreover, the female ghost said that she would slaughter the entire village in a month, so I came here specifically to take a look.

However, upon arriving at your esteemed place today, I discovered something unusual.

The woman in question appeared to be neither human nor ghost, but neither demon nor spirit.

But you are indeed a genuine practitioner of the righteous path.

This is……?"

"Master, it's not easy for us to have a guest at our house. Let's have a chat with this young master to ease the tension between you two!"

Just as the male homeowner was feeling somewhat awkward, Liu's mother opened the door and entered the house carrying freshly cooked dishes.

Seeing that the male host was about to speak, Zhu Chongjiu quickly interrupted, "Also, please stop addressing me as 'Young Master'."

"It's worn out, that's one thing, but isn't my clothing obvious enough?"

Hearing Zhu Chongjiu make a joke, the atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably.

This also opened up the male homeowner's floodgates.

"My name is Qingfeng, and I was originally the eldest disciple among the third generation of disciples of Qingyun Mountain."

My wife is an ordinary farm girl.

As he spoke, Qingfeng reached out and grasped the hand of the woman wearing a veil, looking at her tenderly as he continued:

"During a mission for my sect, my wife and I hit it off immediately."

During the year-long mission, my wife and I were doomed to die.

The moment the mission was completed, I quickly returned to the sect and informed my master of what had happened.

Unexpectedly, during the year I was away on a mission, the sect secretly arranged a marriage for me.

The other person was also the eldest sister among the third-generation disciples of the sect, just like me.

I never imagined, even in death, that a sect-based marriage alliance would involve me.

I was extremely unwilling, and just as I was about to escape from the sect on my own, I was discovered by the people who were secretly watching over me.

Seeing that I was determined, the sect's higher-ups decided to secretly execute my wife and then stage it as an accident to completely dispel my idea.

My fellow disciples, who had always been on good terms with me, saw how pitiful I was and secretly told me about it, and helped me escape from the sect.

But when I found my wife, she had just been killed on the spot by people sent by the sect.

In a fit of rage, I killed the visitor.

Because my wife was just murdered, her soul has not yet left her body.

I then used a secret method to imprison my wife's soul within her own body.

In the days that followed, I could only nourish my wife's body with spiritual energy to prevent it from decaying and her soul from dying.

So, young master... no... young Taoist priest, this is how you see my wife now.

I am truly ashamed, truly ashamed!

As soon as Qingfeng finished speaking, the woman beside him stood up, bowed to Zhu Chongjiu, and said, "I am Honglian, please forgive my poor performance, young Taoist priest."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Chongjiu disregarded the story's veracity and instead continued to ask Qingfeng:

"What happened with making the villagers from the foot of the mountain move away that month?"

"Young Taoist priest, don't you think there's something wrong with the other four mountains surrounding the village, besides the Marriage Alliance Mountain?"

Upon hearing Qingfeng's words, Zhu Chongjiu's expression instantly changed to one of surprise.

Immediately begin to calculate with your hands.

After a moment, Zhu Chongjiu put down his hands that were calculating and muttered to himself, "No wonder I felt the village was so cold and gloomy as soon as I entered."

When the villagers said there was a female ghost, I thought it was caused by the ghostly aura left behind by the ghost.

But I didn't sense even a trace of ghostly energy in the village.

This puzzled me.

Especially when I entered this house, there was not the eerie atmosphere I had imagined, but rather some pure magical aura.

It was only after Brother Qingfeng's words that I suddenly understood.

It turns out that in half a month, apart from the mountain where you got married, the other two mountains in this area will experience landslides due to the continuous rain.

By then, the entire village will be buried by the landslide.

After saying this, Zhu Chongjiu quickly stood up and solemnly bowed to Qingfeng and Honglian, the couple, with a Taoist cupped-hand salute.

"His Taoist name is Dao Ling'er, and his Taoist title is Dao Ling."

I apologize for any offense I may have caused, Brother Qingfeng, Sister-in-law Honglian, and this old lady.

Upon seeing this, Qingfeng, Honglian, and Liu's mother all quickly got up.

Qingfeng came to Zhu Chongjiu's side and helped him to a seat, saying, "If you really want to apologize, call me 'Big Brother' and have a couple of drinks with me."

No living person has visited here for almost two hundred years.

Zhu Chongjiu refused to drink, but he couldn't resist Qingfeng's persuasion.

If you don't drink alcohol before you've grown many hairs, people will really treat you like a child when you're out in the world.

If you've had too much to drink, just sleep here. You've seen how big your brother Qingfeng's house is; he changes rooms every hour, so you won't have to stay the same one twice in a whole night.

Unfortunately, Zhu Chongjiu was a young man full of vigor and vitality at the time, and he couldn't withstand such stimulation.

After downing three large glasses in a row, the four people at the table started chatting.

“Brother Ling’er, do you know that your sister-in-law and I discovered you the moment you entered the mountain?”

It's not that I didn't want to bring you here sooner so you wouldn't suffer so much; I just wanted to see you a little longer.

Let's see if you're one of those people who cheat people out of their money and seek fame and fortune.

Huh? Brother Ling'er.

What level has your Taoist practice reached now?

"Your brother here used to be a genius in the sect, and my cultivation even reached the second level of the 'Heaven-Shaking' realm."

"me?

I don't even know what level I'm at right now.

I heard my master say this before he passed away.

At that time, my martial arts skills seemed to be at the first level of "Earth Suppression," but he never told me about my Taoist techniques.

"The Daoist method?"

"Brother Ling'er, do you mean your martial arts and Daoist techniques are separate?"

"have no idea.

"Oh, why worry about so much? Brother Qingfeng, let's have a drink!"

"Yes, come on, Brother Ling'er, let's drink!"

With a gulp, the two of them each finished off a large bowl of drinks.

After putting down his cup and bowl, Zhu Chongjiu vaguely remembered something.

"Hey? Brother Qingfeng."

Since your cultivation level is so high, how come you can't even handle this small rockfall?

They insisted on making Sister Honglian dress up as a ghost to scare the villagers!

Hearing this, Qingfeng's eyes, which had been glazed over from drunkenness, cleared up a bit.

"It was caused by the sect."

In a fit of rage, he killed a disciple of the sect. If it weren't for my master protecting me and sparing my life, I guess Brother Qingfeng would be nothing but a handful of dust by now.

However, although Hantian's cultivation level is gone, he can still exert the power of the top-level Zhendi.

Let's not talk about those troublesome things anymore.

We ran into Ling'er and his brother today, so let's drink, the kind where we don't stop until we're drunk.

"Okay, drink!"

Just as Zhu Chongjiu finished speaking, two loud thuds were heard.

Before Liu's mother could even pour wine for the two men from the wine jar she had raised, they both collapsed to the ground and fell fast asleep.

Amidst Honglian's laughter, Liu Mama watched the two who had fallen asleep on the ground, a kind smile appearing on her wrinkled face.

"Aunt Liu, please prepare a guest room. I will send Ling'er there shortly."

After Liu's mother responded, she went to the guest room to make the bed and fold the quilt for Zhu Chongjiu.

A moment later, Liu's mother's voice rang out from outside the room.

"Madam, the room is ready. Please bring it over to Ling'er!"

Just as Honglian used her magic to lift Zhu Chongjiu up, possibly because someone touched him, Zhu Chongjiu suddenly mumbled:

"The skills of a small town in the mountains are nothing to me!"