The Quest for Immortality

At this time, it was the afternoon, and the bright sunlight shone in the verdant mountains and forests.

A mossy stone step path led to the mountaintop.

Mo Hua climbed the steps with light and graceful steps, humming a tune all the while.

But when he arrived in front of the dilapidated temple, he stopped dead in his tracks.

”No one?”

The temple was desolate, with no sign of anyone, and Divine Thought detected no presence of the Mountain God.

Mo Hua looked closely and saw that the offerings on the altar table, a few steamed buns, had gone moldy and a few fruits had dried up, not knowing how long they’d been there.

There was no meat on the altar table, only a wine cup.

The cup was full, but not with wine; instead, it held rainwater that had flowed down from the eaves during the drizzling mountain rain, its surface clear but the bottom muddied with sediment.

It looked bleak.

Mo Hua felt a twinge of sympathy.

What a pitiful Mountain God.

”Lord Yellow Mountain?”

Mo Hua called out a few times, but the echo of his voice dissipated as it reverberated through the empty temple and the leaking eaves, with the voice eventually fading into the solitude of the mountains.

”Not at home?”

Mo Hua frowned, feeling a sense of loss, as if after traveling a vast distance to visit a friend, only to find the friend was out.

”But that’s not right...”

A Mountain God, where could he possibly go? Abandon his own temple?

Mo Hua looked around the temple, which was small and dilapidated on all sides, but there was still no sign of Lord Yellow Mountain.

Mo Hua narrowed his eyes, suddenly struck by inspiration.

He sensed the few strands of faint golden Blood of Divine Sense derived from refining the ”marrow” of Demon Head leaders and Sheep-Horned Enforcers, beginning to tremble within his Divine Sense Incarnation.

Mo Hua realized what was happening and followed the pull of the faint golden Blood of Divine Sense. He stepped out of the temple, circled around the ruined building, and found a small dog statue tucked away in a corner behind the temple.

The dog statue, with its gray and dirty surface, hung its head low, lying in the grass without daring to reveal the slightest breath of life.

Mo Hua squatted in front of the small dog statue, silently gazing at it with his big eyes.

The little dog did not dare to move.

”Hey—”

Mo Hua said softly.

For some reason, the clay eyes of the little dog seemed somewhat panicked.

”Mountain Lord—”

Mo Hua called out again in a low voice.

The clay dog seemed desperate to close its eyes.

”After all, you are a Mountain God, doesn’t hiding in a little dog seem shameful…” Mo Hua said.

The little dog felt ashamed in its heart but still didn’t show any reaction.

Mo Hua’s expression turned slightly unhappy, and he raised three fingers, saying sternly, ”I’m only going to count to three, and if you don’t come out, I won’t be polite…”

”Three...”

”Two...”

Before he could finish counting to three, wisps of smoke rose from the dog statue, revealing Lord Yellow Mountain’s narrow and elongated smiling face.

Seeing that Mo Hua did not look very amiable, Lord Yellow Mountain greeted him warmly and affectionately, ”Ah, there... It’s my young friend. There’s nothing happening on the mountain, I was just sunbathing, and I accidentally fell asleep. Forgive my rudeness for not welcoming you from afar...”

Mo Hua looked up at the sky, puzzled, ”This place is in the shade, what sunshine are you sunbathing in?”

Lord Yellow Mountain became stiff, forcing a smile, ”Sunbathing in the shade is both warm and cool...”

Afraid of being questioned further by Mo Hua, he quickly changed the subject:

”My young friend, did you come to see me for a reason?”

Mo Hua’s attention was indeed diverted.

”Mhm.” Mo Hua nodded and was about to speak when he looked at Lord Yellow Mountain and curiously asked, ”Are you going to stay inside this little dog forever?”

Lord Yellow Mountain muttered under his breath, ”As if I wish to...”

”If it weren’t to hide from you...”

At this thought, Lord Yellow Mountain suddenly paused and couldn’t help but ask, ”How did you know I ’hid’... no, that I was sunbathing here?”

Here he had ”stooped to a lower level,” not even caring about his dignity by dwelling within such a tiny clay dog, even hiding his Mountain God Origin, and yet he had still been found...

Mo Hua answered, ”I felt it.”

”Felt it?”

”Mhm,” Mo Hua nodded, ”I felt like you were right here, then I came to look, and sure enough, you were!”

Lord Yellow Mountain’s scalp tingled.

It was over, he couldn’t elude this little calamity...

It was utterly outrageous...

A bright little ghost wasn’t scary, but the scariest thing was a little ghost who was not only clever but also eerily intuitive.

You can’t prepare for such unpredictable behavior...

Lord Yellow Mountain sighed and slowly emerged from the clay dog statue, gesturing with his hand in invitation, ”Please come to my humble dwelling to reminisce...”

With the Mountain God leading the way, Mo Hua swaggered in, following the Mountain God into the ruins of the temple.

Lord Yellow Mountain transformed into wisps of blue smoke, still inhabiting the center of the altar, in the clay statue of the Mountain God.

Mo Hua sat at the edge of the altar table, chatting ”shoulder to shoulder” with Lord Yellow Mountain.

But Lord Yellow Mountain seemed a bit restrained, causing Mo Hua to question, ”I’m not going to ’eat’ you, so why are you so afraid?”

Lord Yellow Mountain laughed with a ”hehe,” thinking to himself, ”You think I believe that...”

But outwardly he responded with a cheerful laugh, ”You, my young friend, are clear-minded and your Taoist Heart is as transparent as a mirror, above the ordinary. I couldn’t be more eager to make your acquaintance, so why would I hide from you?”

Mo Hua obviously didn’t believe it, and glanced at Lord Yellow Mountain with curiosity, asking, ”Mountain Lord, were you very powerful in the past?”

Lord Yellow Mountain paused, his smile fading a bit, ”How did you know?”

”I guessed.”

Lord Yellow Mountain shook his head, ”Do I look powerful?”

Mo Hua’s gaze was clear as he spoke calmly, ”Body handspan long, claws seven feet, dark brown fur, divine presence shrouding the mountain, breath profound, eyes soaked in fresh blood, infinite ferocity and malevolence surrounding you...”