Chapter 61: Ruiyang Mountain
Lin Jiang chose to live a simple and secluded life. He stopped setting up stalls at the big market and reduced his outings. He only went out every few days to sell spiritual talismans at the Yunlai Pavilion store, and also bought resources for his cultivation and daily supplies.
Zhang Ruifang introduced Lin Jiang to a small store called Yunlai Pavilion, which has been operating in Yunzhong City for five generations and has a good reputation.
Lin Jiang's spiritual talismans were of good quality. Yunlai Pavilion offered him the same price as their regular customers, which was about ten percent less than setting up stalls at the big market. Yunlai Pavilion focused on small profits and high sales, and Lin Jiang was happy with this arrangement. They cooperated several times and both parties were satisfied.
Lin Jiang specially collected maps of Yun State and gave them to Zhang Ruifang. After studying them for several days, Zhang Ruifang decided to hide away in a place called Ruiyang Mountain.
Ruiyang Mountain is located next to one of the three major sects in Yun State, the Five Elements Sect. It used to be a high-level spiritual mountain, but for some reason, its spiritual veins shattered and it was abandoned by the Five Elements Sect. Now it has become a paradise for independent cultivators, somewhat similar to the middle section of the Yunzhong Mountain Range.
About a hundred years ago, three golden core independent cultivators emerged from Ruiyang Mountain. They established a stronghold, recruited independent cultivators, and formed an organization similar to an independent cultivator alliance. They received protection from the Five Elements Sect, and in these years, many independent cultivators came to Ruiyang Mountain to seek a living.
Zhang Ruifang has reached the stage of Building Foundation in her cultivation. If she goes to Ruiyang Mountain, she should receive some support and at least have a decent status. Unlike the chaos in the Yunzhong Mountain Range, Ruiyang Mountain is more suitable for her to settle down.
Zhang Ruifang made a decision, and Lin Jiang supported her. They found time to repair the fence between their properties and rented out Zhang Ruifang's house.
"This is Cao Yang's grave. When I came, only his skeleton was left."
Before leaving, Lin Jiang took Zhang Ruifang and her mother to pay tribute to Cao Yang. It wasn't difficult for him to find Cao Yang's remains. He spent a few spirit stones and then cut down a huge tree to make a coffin to collect Cao Yang's skeleton.
But Lin Jiang has not told Zhang Ruifang how Cao Yang died. Cao Yang's death was very heroic, almost like a suicide. Being able to perform such an act was greatly admired by the people of Yunzhong City. Cao Yang's story is still being passed down today.
"Yingzi, kneel down and kowtow to your father."
"Mom, is dad sleeping inside?"
"Shut up and kowtow when I tell you to."
Zhang Ruifang became even more irritable than usual. Cao Ying pouted and reluctantly kowtowed. Being less than four years old, Cao Ying obviously didn't understand the meaning of life and death.
"Let's go, we're almost done."
Lin Jiang looked around, feeling a gloomy atmosphere. The mass grave here had probably buried countless skeletons. The atmosphere was heavy with gloom, and there were rumors of grave-robbing incidents. Of course, even if there were real zombies, they wouldn't pose any threat. A single strike from someone with a golden core or Nascent Soul in Yunzhong City could easily cleave a zombie into eighteen pieces, without missing a single one.
Zhang Ruifang picked up Cao Ying and they flew on their swords for hundreds of miles. Only then did Lin Jiang summon Aurora falcon. They each sat on one, and flew towards Ruiyang Mountain.
"Big bird, fly, fly"
"So high"
"So much fun"
Finally, Cao Ying sat on Aurora falcon, not just walking in the yard, but truly soaring in the sky.
Aurora falcon was also very happy. They were eagles in the sky, destined to soar high and not be confined to the yard.
After so many years, they finally flew.
"Don't be so noisy"
Zhang Ruifang was already in a bad mood, and Cao Ying's chatter annoyed her. She got so angry that she scolded loudly, and even released a protective aura, blowing wind in Cao Ying's face. Lin Jiang couldn't bear to watch and quickly brought Cao Ying over to his side.
Ruiyang Mountain is very far away from Yunzhong City, located on the northwest side of the clouds. Even the Aurora falcon took a whole day to reach there. But the Aurora falcon flies very high, so it didn't encounter any trouble on the way.
After arriving at Ruiyang Mountain, the two of them landed and Lin Jiang put away the Aurora falcon. They found an inn in the market at the foot of the mountain to stay.
Lin Jiang went out to investigate and then said to Zhang Ruifang, "We arrived late. Ruiyang Mountain stopped accepting people directly over ten years ago. Now, to join Ruiyang Mountain, we must first stay nearby, take on tasks issued by Ruiyang Mountain, and accumulate a certain amount of Merit Points."
"I looked at the tasks they posted, and they are all ordinary things like finding spiritual medicine, minerals, and trading resources with them. It even includes hunting down traitors and evil beings. Don't pick the difficult ones. If you spend three to five years, you can definitely do it."
Ruiyang Mountain established a base and many independent cultivators flocked there. However, they recruited enough people in just a few years, and there was no more space for newcomers. So Ruiyang Mountain set many conditions and filtered out most people. But Zhang Ruifang should be fine, after all, she is in the Building Foundation Period.
"I also inquired, the prices at Ruiyang Mountain are much lower than Yunzhong City. I have some money on me, enough to manage."
"That's good. What do you plan to do next?"
"Hunt demons. I don't know how to do anything else, and I don't want to kill people either."
Zhang Ruifang said, she had been in the Dark Night for many years, where she only learned how to kill. She doesn't know anything about doing business or farming. Now that she no longer intends to kill, the only option left is hunting demons.
"How can you hunt monsters while carrying a child?"
"Keep her at home, set up a protective formation, and make sure she doesn't wander around."
"Although Ruiyang Mountain is well-regulated, it is not safe."
"What good solution can there be?"
"Never mind, I'll stay for a while and help you stabilize your life first."
Lin Jiang sighed, he was still too kind-hearted. He originally intended to leave without a trace, but when he saw Zhang Ruifang, who was an orphan and a widow, he couldn't bear to just walk away.
In the following days, Lin Jiang and Zhang Ruifang went to rent a house together. The rent here is not like in Yunzhong City. They rented a house with hundreds of square meters for only eight hundred spirit stones a year.
Zhang Ruifang bought a defensive formation to protect the house, and Lin Jiang was busy running around, helping to buy some daily necessities.
He also accompanied Zhang Ruifang to check the mission board for Ruiyang Mountain, looking for suitable tasks to do and gathering information about the surrounding monsters.
The area around Ruiyang Mountain is mostly covered in ancient forests, but there are very few monsters left because they have been killed by cultivators. Only a few monsters hide in the deep forests. If you want to find more monsters, you need to go to the Wilderness, which is thousands of miles away from Ruiyang Mountain. It takes a day for an ordinary cultivator to go back and forth.
After some time had passed, about half a month, Lin Jiang saw that Zhang Ruifang had adapted to life here, so he wanted to say goodbye.
"Taoist Friend Lin, how do you like it here?"
On that day, Zhang Ruifang suddenly said to Lin Jiang.
She could tell that Lin Jiang wanted to leave, but she suddenly felt reluctant. She was not a strong person in life, and her personality was even a bit cowardly. At the market in the past, she was very introverted.
Although she was powerful when she was an assassin, it was because she had no other choice. Years of life in Yunzhong City had also worn away her fierce temperament. She was used to having someone to rely on in life.
And she could see that Cao Ying really liked Lin Jiang. Lin Jiang was very kind to Cao Ying, just like Cao Yang. This was the reason why Cao Ying didn't feel sad even though she lost her father. Another man had taken on the role of her father.
"Life here is pretty good, but it's not suitable for me."
Lin Jiang shook his head. He knew what Zhang Ruifang was implying, but he also knew that he didn't fit in here.
Ruiyang Mountain is too small. If he stays here for more than 30 years, he'll have to reveal his secret. When that happens, he'll have to leave. Only big cities like Yunzhong City, where people come and go, can hide his secret.
"Ruiyang Mountain is indeed too small for Taoist Friend Lin to spread his wings and fly."
Zhang Ruifang felt a little disappointed, but she didn't force herself to stay. Her heart wasn't here, so staying wouldn't make a difference.
"Hmm, I will come visit you all in the future."
Lin Jiang said decisively, ready to cut ties with Lin Yang once his identity is abandoned.
Zhang Ruifang didn't say anything anymore and silently looked down to eat. Cao Ying didn't understand anything and pestered Lin Jiang to play with Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao. Lin Jiang refused and took out snacks to appease her.
The next morning, Lin Jiang didn't follow Zhang Ruifang anymore but pondered over how to leave.
"Rather than leaving without saying anything, I should at least tell her. What if Cao Ying cries? I can't stand seeing girls cry, especially adorable little girls."
Lin Jiang was very conflicted. Leaving without a word didn't seem right, but a formal goodbye would seem too dramatic. He was afraid that he wouldn't have the heart to leave if he let himself get emotional.
"Okay, okay, let's buy some snacks and fruits for Cao Ying."
Lin Jiang thought and thought, but didn't know what to do. In the end, he decided to buy something to make Cao Ying happy. He really liked cute little children, they were so much fun.
Lin Jiang bought a lot of things and walked back to the house Zhang Ruifang rented. But right at the doorstep, Lin Jiang suddenly realized something was wrong. There was someone following them.
At that moment, Lin Jiang was really surprised. They had only been here for a short while, who would be following them? Was it the Dark Night Organization or the local group from Ruiyang Mountain?
Lin Jiang held back his anger and quickly opened the door, walking inside. Cao Ying came running to greet him, begging to play with Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao.
"Cao Ying, we can't play with big birds here, let's go outside to play."
Lin Jiang gritted his teeth and agreed. No matter who was following them, he was determined to take them down today. He wanted to see which foolish friend it was, not opening their eyes.
Translator: Volume 7 has been translated and published on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3Ju9rnB).
Volume 8 will be translated within 2-3 weeks.
