Chapter 13 Spiritual mushroom
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After hearing it, Pei Jing couldn’t help but curl his lips and break into a smile.
A fragment of Chu Junyu’s cold facade shattered, and it turned out to be a good thing. These past few days, he always felt an air of unreality in his interactions with Chu Junyu. The boy he saw in the mystical water mirrors, the one who emanated danger, was definitely more complex than he initially thought.
“I won’t regret it.” Pei Jing grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth. “I have a special talent for judging people accurately. Believe me.”
Chu Junyu swiftly concealed his aggressive side, his demeanor turning impassive, and his light-colored eyes devoid of any trace of a smile. “Then remember what you said today.”
He swept his sleeve forward, took a step onto the ethereal staircase, and walked deeper into the unknown.
Pei Jing remained rooted to the spot, lowered his head, and let out a soft chuckle.
The kid certainly possessed a big temper.
However, in this world, nothing had happened that could make Pei Yuzhi feel regret.
The path through the mountains was clear, with a light mist hanging in the air.
Stepping into the refined courtyard, the wind gently blew, causing the jewels and pearls beside Chu Junyu’s headdress to chime softly.
Pei Jing questioned from behind him, “You were really harsh just now, so different from your usual self. Usually, although you’re cold and indifferent, you’re not scary. Why did you suddenly change your expression?” Regardless, he would never admit that he was the one bothering him.
Chu Junyu walked ahead, not uttering a word.
Pei Jing tried to speculate on the reason. “Based on my extensive experience in reading people, most individuals have two faces, and what they usually display is often fake. So, is that your true self?—So fierce!”
Chu Junyu responded with indifference, “Well, are you afraid or not?”
Pei Jing felt ecstatic inside and confidently replied, “I’m not afraid. Besides, you won’t harm me.”
Chu Junyu gave his assessment, “You truly have courage.”
Pei Jing chuckled and said, “As long as you have self-assurance, that’s enough.”
“You said the same thing to me before, saying that I could become part of the Inner Peaks.”
Pei Jing was momentarily dumbfounded, but then she realized and muttered, “Last time was an accident.”
“Is that right?”
The gentle mountain breeze wafted, and Chu Junyu’s voice carried a somewhat ethereal quality.
His typically distant tone held a touch of mockery, as if he had been pulled down from his pedestal, gaining a bit of popularity.
Pei Jing planned to gradually delve deeper into understanding Chu Junyu, and today was almost the day for it.
There was always a reason behind the darkness inside a person. Considering Chu Junyu’s age, it was likely that he had suffered unforgettable harm during his childhood. This harm could have come from his parents or relatives.
One day, he would help him find closure, rid himself of negative thoughts, and hopefully, he would progress further on the path of cultivation.
They boarded the spacecraft in the afternoon and would reach the mountains late at night. However, during that time, it was when wild beasts roamed for their prey, making it unsafe even in the outskirts. The Senior Brothers decided to land the spacecraft near Yunlan City, not too far from the Yunlan Mountain Range.
The Yunlan Mountain Range was renowned for two things: the ever-present dense fog and the abundant spiritual mushrooms that covered the entire mountainside. The spiritual mushrooms in the Yunlan Mountain Range had remarkable effects, providing longevity and detoxification for ordinary people, as well as being a beneficial substance for cultivators. However, these plants often attracted newly awakened intelligent demon to guard them, making it a challenging task to gather the spiritual mushrooms.
Elder Cao chose the Yunlan Mountain Range as the training location precisely because of this. The assigned task was for their group of five to collect spiritual mushrooms, and the more they gathered within the given timeframe, the better.
After hearing the task, Pei Jing felt as if she had already emerged victorious.
However, it was simply unfair to compete against a group of newbies. He decided to let them have a fourteen-day head start. He wanted to focus on other matters, experience the world, and naturally indulge in worldly pleasures. After all, he couldn’t let go of the joys of eating, drinking, and having fun.
Upon entering Yunlan City, Pei Jing bought herself a pile of candies and tucked them into his sleeve. He had always had a sweet tooth, and now he had the opportunity to satisfy his craving. With a candy in his mouth, he felt content. It had been a long time since he experienced the delightful sensation of sweetness, savoring it as it melted on his tongue.
Pei Jing, in a spirit of sharing, offered one candy to Chu Junyu, “Would you like one?”
However, Chu Junyu didn’t take it.
Pei Jing unwrapped the candy, held it close to his mouth, and smiled playfully, “Open up, I’ll feed you. It’s incredibly sweet.”
Chu Junyu pushed away his hand with a look of disgust on his face.
Pei Jing put the candy back in his mouth and followed behind him, muttering, “You are really no fun.”
The street of Yunlan City was bustling with people, and many onlookers noticed the two teenagers walking, one in front and the other behind. Both of them had remarkable appearances, but their temperaments were completely different. The one at the front, dressed in black, walked with a sword, his expression as cold as ice. The other in brown clothes behind him, however, gave off a particularly friendly vibe. When he smiled, it seemed as if his eyes could speak.
After returning to the inn to rest for a while, as the sky slowly brightened, they were called together and prepared to depart.
They were accompanied by a Senior Brother in the late Foundation Establishment stage. Before their departure, he instructed them, “You will search in the outer regions of the mountain range. No matter what happens, you must not venture deep into the mountains. You must return before nightfall. If something truly happens, crush the bead on the tassel of your sword, and I will come to your rescue. But remember, you will only have one opportunity. Do you understand?”
“Yes!”
It took one or two hours to walk from Yunlan City to the Yunlan Mountain Range. When they arrived at their destination, the sky had already dawned and become completely bright. Pei Jing had been eating candy all the way, and his cheeks were starting to ache a little.
The Yunlan Mountain Range was covered in heavy fog, shrouding the entire forest in a gray haze. With just a distant glance, Pei Jing knew why that Senior Brother had been so cautious. There was a faint glimmer of blood deep within the dense fog, very faint but oddly eerie.
Pei Jing: That’s strange, a few years ago when I passed through the Yunlan Mountain Range, it didn’t have such an ominous feeling.
Perhaps there were troublesome demons causing chaos again.
However, the blood glow was only present in the deep parts where no one lived. It probably hadn’t caused any harm yet. And since Yunxiao had already started to sense it, they would deal with it soon. Pei Jing didn’t need to worry about it now.
Although there were plenty of spiritual mushrooms in the Yunlan Mountain Range, they weren’t easily found everywhere.
The fog was so thick that they couldn’t see anything in the distance, let alone find a small spiritual mushroom.
Pei Jing was originally walking behind Chu Junyu, but a tree branch suddenly caught his sleeve, causing all the candy in his sleeve to fall out.
He bent down to pick up the candy, but when he stood up again, Chu Junyu was nowhere to be found.
“Where is he? Doesn’t he have any sense of teamwork?”
Pei Jing stuffed a sour plum candy into his mouth and called out Chu Junyu’s name, but no one responded.
The forest was filled with dense fog and distinct tree shadows, with echoes sounding from time to time, giving a somewhat chilling feeling.
Pei Jing could actually fly through the air using his sword and ignore the thick fog to find Chu Junyu, but there was no need for it.
It was because he found something more interesting to play with.
There were hardly any living creatures in the outskirts of the mountain range. It was completely quiet, and in the dim light, faint figures could be seen. Footsteps echoed from the front.
Pei Jing halted.
The tree branches looked twisted and menacing, and from inside the thick fog emerged a stooped figure.
Bent at a ninety-degree angle, it was an elderly man carrying a hoe on his back and holding a basket in his hand. His pants were rolled up, and there was some mud on his clothes. His hair was graying, and he kept his head down, focused on the path as he walked.
Pei Jing stopped him and said, “Hey, old man, can I ask you something?”
The hunched old man was startled, almost losing grip of the basket. He instinctively hugged the basket to his chest and asked in a gruff voice, “What do you want?”
Pei Jing said, “I have a friend who got lost with me, somewhere nearby. Have you seen him?”
The old man lifted his head and gave him a stern glare. His forehead was lined with deep furrows, and he was as thin as a bag of bones, wearing an expression of impatience.
Just as he was about to reject him, the old man’s nose twitched.
He leaned his head forward, contorting his neck into a somewhat eerie angle.
The old man took a deep sniff, his murky gaze turning greedy, and he looked back at Pei Jing with evident desire and excitement. He let out a chuckle, exposing yellowed teeth, and said, “What does he look like?”
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