novelapdf Chapter 142 Accidentally got muddy
Chapter 142 Accidentally got muddy
Jiang Mu quickly looked away and composed herself.
Do not look at what is improper.
Looking at the roasting rabbit, he suddenly had an idea and said:
"Aunt Shui, do you think that wolf demon might have dug a deep burrow like this rabbit and hidden deep underground?"
Shui Miaozheng flipped the roasted meat, pondering:
"That's possible. If it really has a nest deep underground and is consciously concealing its presence, it would be very difficult for us to find it by searching like this."
Unless... we can get help from a "miner".
"A mine monster?"
This was the first time Jiang Mu had ever heard of such a monster.
"Um,"
As Shui Miaozheng carefully adjusted the angle of the roasting rabbit to ensure even heating, she explained...
"Mineral demons are a very special kind of demon. Most of them are of low rank and have limited intelligence. They are basically harmless to humans."
They typically thrive in mineral veins rich in spiritual energy, possessing an innate sensitivity to rock, soil structure, and underground caves, allowing them to easily locate the burrows or mines where demons hide.
"Are the mine monsters easy to find?" Jiang Mu asked.
Shui Miaozheng shook her head, her tone somewhat helpless:
"Mineral demons are hard to find. Firstly, they are few in number and elusive. Secondly, they are one of the favorite foods of a type of demon called 'Earth Demon'."
Earth demons often feed on mineral demons to reproduce or enhance their own earth-based abilities.
Therefore, if we can find the lair of the Earth Demon, there's a high probability we'll discover the imprisoned Mining Demon inside.
"Earth Demon?"
Upon hearing the name, Jiang Mu's heart stirred, and her eyes lit up slightly.
Isn't that a coincidence?
When Xu Fu and that guy named Yan Zixiao were trapped before, they were surrounded by a group of earth demons.
He also burned several caves with oil from Buddhist lamps at the time.
In other words, there must be a mine monster in that place!
Jiang Mu peeked out at the rain outside; the rain curtain was as dense as a beaded curtain, and it seemed that it would not stop anytime soon.
He looked away, deciding to try searching again once the rain stopped.
After a while, the rabbit meat on the campfire was roasted.
The outer skin is golden and crispy, sizzling with oil, and the rich aroma of meat mixed with spices permeates the cave, whetting one's appetite.
"alright."
Shui Miaozheng used her small knife to cut off a piece of the most evenly roasted and succulent hind leg meat and handed it to Jiang Mu. "Try it, be careful it's hot." Jiang Mu took it, blew on it to cool it down, and took a bite.
"That's great!"
Jiang Mu exclaimed sincerely, "It tastes much better than your cooking!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong and quickly tried to salvage the situation:
"Ahem... What I mean is, Aunt Shui's cooking is already very good, but her grilling skills are absolutely amazing, she could practically open a restaurant."
Shui Miaozheng was amused by his attempt to cover up his obvious praise, and covered her mouth with a light laugh, but she wasn't angry at all:
"Alright, no need to flatter me. I know my own capabilities when it comes to cooking."
Actually, I never cooked at all before; I was completely unaccustomed to housework. It was Guixin who taught me. She said that a woman should know how to cook something simple and rustic, even if she doesn't do it often.
We went on missions together back then, often camping in the wild, and she always took care of me.
Mentioning Tang Guixin, Jiang Mu's expression softened, and he nodded, saying:
"Aunt Tang has cooked for me before. She's really good at cooking, and her home-style dishes taste especially delicious."
Mentioning Tang Guixin cast a faint shadow of sadness over the relaxed atmosphere in the cave.
The fire crackled and popped.
The reflection shone on their slightly forlorn faces.
Shui Miaozheng poked at the fire and suddenly asked, "After things are over in Yancheng, are you planning to go to the Heavenly Blade Sect?"
Jiang Mu gave a soft "hmm" and looked at the flickering flames:
"I want to send her belongings, including the letter she left for her child. That's all I can do for her."
After all, Aunt Tang had always longed to return to the Heavenly Blade Sect before her death; it was her home, and also her regret.
As Shui Miaozheng looked at Jiang Mu, the image of that day resurfaced in her mind: the boy stepping into the hall alone that day, taking out the blood-stained rag from his bosom, and the fleeting tenderness and sorrow in his eyes.
That was for Tang Guixin.
The woman who fell to her death from the cliff.
Shui Miaozheng suddenly understood why the boy had been so reckless, killing the traitor in front of the Yancheng magistrate. Because some people, once dead, can never come back.
And this person was very kind to him.
For no apparent reason, my father's image resurfaced in my mind.
The man who once stood tall and sheltered her from the storm also left, never to return, becoming an eternal pain in her heart.
The woman lowered her eyes, her long, thick eyelashes folding like two small fans, casting a soft shadow on her fair cheeks.
A thin mist had somehow appeared in those already moist eyes, blurring and moistening the emotions within them, like the mist rising suddenly from a spring pool.
Some people's gentleness is hidden in the edge of a knife.
Some people hide their sorrow in silence.
"If I were to die someday, would anyone still care about me this much?"
Shui Miaozheng murmured softly.
The sound was so soft it was almost drowned out by the crackling of the firewood.
"What?"
Jiang Mu was focused on gnawing on a rabbit leg and didn't hear clearly, so she looked up at her in confusion.
Shui Miaozheng snapped out of her daze, quickly blinking to ward off the inappropriate dampness, and a gentle smile returned to her lips:
"It's nothing. By the way, have you ever thought about moving to another place?"
"Change the location?" Jiang Mu was taken aback.
"For example... come to the city of France."
Shui Miaozheng looked at him with sincere eyes, "Auntie is over there. Although I can't say I can give you a bright future, I will definitely treat you well and never let you suffer any injustice."
OK OK.
So the fox has finally shown its tail, hasn't it?
This is blatant poaching!
Unfortunately, I still have Aunt Bai Xiang waiting to cook for me, and I haven't had enough of Little Doctor's foot-stomped pancakes, and...
Hmm, it seems like there's nothing else.
But it's hard to leave one's homeland.
Jiang Mu put down the rabbit bone in her hand and said seriously:
"I appreciate Aunt Shui's kindness and am very grateful. However..."
"Huzhou City is, after all, my hometown. Chief Ran has shown me great kindness, and Yan Fenghuo and Xu Fu are brothers who fought alongside me. The duty of the Demon Slayer Division is to protect this region. Since I entered this profession in Huzhou City, I should see it through to the end and share the hardships with my colleagues. Leaving now would be unreasonable, both morally and logically."
These words were spoken in a grand and righteous manner.
Although Shui Miaozheng had long suspected that the other party might not agree, hearing the explicit rejection still brought a wave of disappointment to her heart. In fact, given her status and connections, it wasn't entirely impossible for her to force Jiang Mu to transfer to Fazhou City; it would simply require more effort and might even offend Ran Qingshan and others.
But forced relationships are never sweet.
She hoped that Jiang Mu had come willingly, rather than being forced.
"You're right, Auntie didn't think it through."
She quickly composed herself, her smile remaining gentle.
After that, the two tacitly stopped mentioning "poaching" and instead chatted about some light and pleasant topics.
Jiang Mu even told some jokes he'd heard in his past life, making Shui Miaozheng giggle softly, and the atmosphere in the cave became harmonious again. Before they knew it, the two of them had devoured a plump wild rabbit.
Of course, most of it ended up in Jiang Mu's stomach.
The rain outside the cave showed no signs of letting up; on the contrary, it poured down harder and harder, and the rainwater gathered into streams that gurgled through the cave entrance.
During this time, the origami cranes that Shui Miaozheng had sent out also flew back, bringing news of Ming Cuicui and the others.
They also couldn't find the wolf demon's lair.
"It seems you guessed right, this wolf demon is hiding deep in the underground cave."
Shui Miaozheng put away the paper cranes, seemingly lost in thought.
Jiang Mu wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth and suddenly said, "Aunt Shui, I think I can find the mine demon."
"real?"
Shui Miaozheng was stunned for a moment, then her beautiful eyes lit up with surprise.
Jiang Mu nodded and recounted in detail how she discovered the Earth Demon's lair when she rescued Xu Fu and the others.
After listening, Shui Miaozheng frowned slightly, revealing a look of doubt:
"Strange, according to what you said, there is actually a fairly large breeding nest of earth demons in that area?"
Although these demons are skilled at burrowing, their lair features are obvious, and their demonic energy easily leaks out. Logically, they should have been easily detected and reported by the Yancheng Demon Slaying Division, which conducts regular patrols. Why was this never mentioned in the records?
Jiang Mu curled her lip, her tone carrying a hint of disdain:
"The Demon Slayer Division of Yancheng? Rely on them? They're lucky if eight out of ten pieces of information they give are wrong. With the internal situation so rotten, it's perfectly normal for them to miss one or two demon lairs."
Shui Miaozheng thought about it and agreed that it made sense, so she stopped dwelling on it and decisively said:
"There's no time to lose, I'll take you there now. At my speed, we'll get there quickly."
Jiang Mu naturally had no objections.
With the protection of Shui Miaozheng's magical artifacts and the blessing of her aerial powers, the two braved the torrential rain and quickly arrived at the desolate area where Jiang Mu had previously slain the Earth Demon.
The charred marks from the burning oil from the Buddhist lamps and the collapsed openings still remain.
Shui Miaozheng landed on the ground and carefully examined the dozen or so cave entrances of varying sizes scattered around her, her expression growing increasingly solemn:
"Generally speaking, the Earth Demon race would not open so many entrances and exits at the same time, as this is not in line with their habits. This situation... is indeed very rare."
However, this further confirms that the mineral monsters are very likely deep within this nest, being kept or imprisoned by them.
Let's go in and take a look.
Because of their small size, the cave entrances they create are mostly narrow.
The two chose a relatively large opening.
The two chose a relatively spacious opening, and Shui Miaozheng used her star power to widen the passage slightly, making it barely wide enough for one person to pass through.
Even so, the passageway is still very narrow.
At first, one could walk while bending over, but after going only about ten feet deeper, the passage narrowed sharply, becoming only wide enough for one to crawl on one's stomach. The rock wall ahead was quite hard.
Shui Miaozheng tried to expand again, but with little success.
Originally, for safety reasons, Shui Miaozheng chose to crawl at the front to scout the way.
But after climbing a few times, she began to regret it.
This crawling posture was far too ungraceful for a woman of her size and maturity.
If Jiang Mu behind her were to simply raise her head, she could probably...
But going back and rearranging the order now is quite troublesome, as the entrance is narrow and it's difficult to even turn around.
Shui Miaozheng could only console herself in silence:
The cave was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Little Jiang behind me probably couldn't see anything either... right?
She forced herself to suppress the shame and continued crawling forward.
However, what she didn't know was that Jiang Mu possessed the supernatural power of "Earthly Star Observation".
In this pitch-black cave, his eyes were like night vision goggles, allowing him to see as clearly as in daylight.
Therefore, the scene before him was completely clear to him.
Ahead, the woman is crawling.
With each step she took, her waist twisted heavily.
A wave of wheat stretched out before them.
Perhaps sensing something in the darkness, Shui Miaozheng suddenly stopped crawling, turned her head sharply, and looked at Jiang Mu behind her.
But Jiang Mu was looking down, seemingly focused on crawling forward, and wasn't even looking at her.
Because she suddenly stopped, Jiang Mu almost bumped into her.
Their faces were almost touching.
"What's wrong, Aunt Shui?"
Jiang Mu raised her head and asked with a puzzled look.
The exhaled hot air seeped through the cloth.
Shui Miaozheng's hand, which was supporting her on the ground, subconsciously twitched, and her body instinctively shrank forward, creating some distance.
She composed herself, shook her head, and said, "No...it's nothing, let's continue."
After saying that, she turned around and continued crawling forward.
The speed is much faster than before.
However, after this experience, the psychological impact is amplified infinitely.
She always felt that the gaze behind her hadn't left her, and that the face was very close to her, very close.
In a daze, it was as if he could feel the warmth of the other person's breath.
In a daze, the scene of inhaling the dragon demon's poison gas in the demon camp inexplicably appeared in Shui Miaozheng's mind.
At that time.
That kind of out-of-control scene...
Upon thinking this, the woman felt as if all the blood in her body rushed to her face.
She bit her lower lip, clenched her fists, and dug her nails into her palms, using the pain to stay awake.
I was afraid that if I couldn't control myself, something unexpected might happen in this narrow, dark cave.
To replicate the utterly shameful scene before.
Then she really shouldn't live!
The more I worried, the stronger that feeling in my heart became, like a curse that wouldn't go away.
Fortunately, this ordeal didn't last too long.
A glimmer of light suddenly appeared ahead.
The tunnel came to an end.
The two climbed out of the narrow passage and entered an underground cave that was about two zhang square.
The cave was very simple and empty.
However, a peculiar vine was growing on the surrounding rock walls.
The vines are slender, the leaves are translucent, and the veins of the leaves glow with a bright green light like fireflies.
Countless vines intertwined, illuminating the cave in a shimmering light, allowing a clear view of its interior.
"call……"
Shui Miaozheng let out a long sigh of relief, quickly stood up, and straightened her somewhat disheveled clothes to conceal her flustered state. Jiang Mu suddenly exclaimed "Huh?", her gaze falling on the back of Shui Miaozheng's skirt, and asked with some confusion:
"Aunt Shui, there seems to be water on the back of your skirt? Is it muddy water from when you were climbing?"
Shui Miaozheng spoke expressionlessly and dryly:
"I accidentally got some water on my skin while climbing, but it's nothing."
Jiang Mu didn't think much of it, assuming it was just because the environment was damp. He then looked around and asked, "Aunt Shui, are there any mineral demons here?" Shui Miaozheng didn't answer immediately.
With her back to Jiang Mu, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if trying her best to calm herself down.
Then, she raised her hands and began to rapidly interlock her fingers to form hand seals.
Jiang Mu couldn't understand what kind of hand seal she was making, so she didn't dare to make a sound and just watched quietly from the side.
However, he noticed that Shui Miaozheng's profile and neck were glowing with a rosy hue under the fluorescent light of the emerald vines.
Fine beads of sweat kept seeping from her smooth forehead.
She pressed her lips together, her breathing seemed a little more rapid than usual, and the rise and fall of her clothes was slightly more noticeable.
It seemed as if it was trying hard to restrain something.
After a long while, Shui Miaozheng finally let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
She lowered her hands, which she herself couldn't even remember making any of the random hand seals, and looked around, saying:
"There's the aura of a mine demon."
She raised her slender hand and pointed to the seemingly unremarkable stone wall on her right:
"It's in there. Smash it open."
"good!"
Jiang Mu responded, drew the sword from his waist, and with all his might, slashed at the stone wall.
"Boom!"
A loud bang, and debris flew everywhere.
A large hole was split open in the stone wall, revealing the space inside.
Inside the cave, there was a pile of stones of various shapes.
Most of them are only the size of a fist.
It was dusty and looked no different from ordinary rubble.
Jiang Mu thought they were ordinary stones and reached out to grab the nearest one.
However, just as his fingers were about to touch the stone, something unexpected happened.
The once still pile of stones seemed to come alive instantly.
Like startled sparrows, they suddenly scattered and fled in all directions, making high-pitched cries like babies crying.
Jiang Mu was startled, her hand freezing in mid-air.
"return!"
Upon seeing this, Shui Miaozheng raised her eyebrows and let out a clear shout.
The voice wasn't particularly loud, yet it seemed to possess a certain majesty, as if it held the law of heaven, and its words carried the weight of justice.
The small stones that were scattering and running away seemed to be held back by invisible ropes.
He paused for a moment.
Then, one by one, they slunk back as if their lives depended on it.
They huddled around Shui Miaozheng's feet, shivering and chattering, jostling each other like a group of chicks who had done something wrong and were waiting to be scolded. They looked both comical and adorable.
"Is this the mine demon?"
Jiang Mu squatted down, curiously examining the small stones, and exclaimed in amazement, "They look quite fun."
Shui Miaozheng bent down and picked up a mineral monster, placing it in her palm.
The little one trembled in her fair palm, too afraid to move.
"Although they are timid, they have an innate and keen sense of the earth's veins and caves."
Shui Miaozheng explained, "As long as we take them to that mountain, use some tracking techniques, and give them commands, they will automatically find the cave where the monster is hiding, and..."
She paused mid-sentence, a hint of surprise in her voice.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing that her expression was strange, Jiang Mu asked suspiciously, "Is something wrong?"