"Don't worry, he won't die." Ling Ji's annoyance was palpable as she glanced at Mulin's sorrowful face. "I gave him a scale. With that, even if he dies, the underworld won't dare to take him."

Mulin, who had been in despair, instantly lifted his head, his eyes burning with hope. His lips trembled before he managed to say a complete sentence, "Really?"

Ling Ji raised her delicate eyebrows, her eyes taking on a fierce look. "You don't believe me?"

"No, no, that's not it." Mulin immediately shook his head vigorously. "I'm just so overjoyed that I'm a bit incoherent."

Ling Ji snorted.

At that moment, the confident Ling Ji forgot one crucial thing—she couldn't leave.

The underworld might have feared her in the past, but now that she was imprisoned on Fenglong Mountain, even if they took Mu Bai's soul, she couldn't chase them down to cause trouble.

"…Master." With hope rekindled, Mulin regained his composure. He stood up from the ground and looked at the empty basket, his eyes flickering with hesitation. "There's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Speak."

"Your offerings will have to stop for a while."

"What did you say?" Ling Ji's voice instantly rose, releasing a pressure that startled the birds outside the temple.

Mulin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and carefully explained, "There's been a flood in the north, destroying Feng County and cutting off traffic. The supply convoy can't get through for now."

Fenglong Mountain is located in Y Province, an area with many mountains and hills. The highways to other provinces are already limited, and Feng County is one of the important routes. There are other roads, but they require detours, and with the flood, it's uncertain how long it will take to reach here.

"A flood?" Ling Ji was momentarily stunned upon hearing these familiar words, her thoughts drifting back to many years ago.

There was once a young man who, seeing the flood raging and destroying homes and fields, and taking countless lives, clenched his fists and vowed to control the water.

Later, he even…

"I understand. You can go back." Ling Ji waved her hand weakly to dismiss him. Mulin bowed and walked down the mountain with his basket. As he left the temple, he couldn't help but look back, but he saw nothing.

The entire temple was shrouded in thick fog. Through the gray mist, Mulin seemed to sense a hint of sadness and nostalgia.

Ling Ji sat quietly in the main hall, not returning to the statue immediately.

After a while, she looked up sharply and suddenly soared into the sky.

"Boom."

With a loud noise, a massive and ancient runic pattern appeared in the transparent sky, full of overwhelming pressure, mercilessly pressing down the one trying to break through the seal.

When Ling Ji landed, she created a deep pit over ten meters. She clutched her now swollen and red forehead, pointing to the sky, "If you have the guts, never let me out!"

The huge runic pattern in the sky flickered, seemingly responding to her words.

Ling Ji: "..."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

So frustrating.

...

Mu Bai eventually noticed the abnormality of the elm tree under his feet. As the floodwaters collided, the trunk shook even more violently.

"Take this." Mu Bai took out a black jade piece from his chest and handed it to the little boy. "This is a talisman given by the Mountain Deity. With it, we'll be safe."

"The Mountain Deity?" The little boy instinctively took the piece and held it in his hand. It felt like neither jade nor metal. He looked up, puzzled, and asked, "Is there really a Mountain Deity?"

"There is." Mu Bai wiped the rain from his face, and as his vision cleared, he saw a new wave of water rushing towards them.

"Master Ling Ji is the best and most powerful Mountain Deity," Mu Bai said as he picked up the boy, watching the surging flood. "You must believe in her."

"Okay."

The flood waves, carrying massive splashes, hit the elm tree. The elm, which had stood tall for six days, finally reached its limit, letting out a final groan before breaking with a "crack."

Mu Bai, holding the boy, was instantly swept into the overwhelming flood, floating up and down with the current, powerless to resist.

In the face of natural disasters, human strength seemed so insignificant.

As Haizhou fell into the water, he instinctively clutched the jade piece, the hard edge cutting his tender palm and causing blood to flow.

"Master Ling Ji, please protect me and the soldier uncle and bring us safely to shore."

This was Haizhou's last conscious thought before passing out, pure, sincere, and urgent.

A faint light, invisible to the human eye, floated out from Haizhou, quickly flying into Fenglong Mountain and merging into the runic pattern in the sky.

The hidden and intricate symbols in the sky flickered as if triggered by some mechanism. Following this, one by one, the patterns lit up. If someone could see it, they would find that each lit pattern was filled with the same faint light, warm and bright.

It was the light of a thousand beliefs.

"Pop." When all the patterns were lit by the light of belief, the seal that had trapped Ling Ji for countless years instantly turned into points of light and dissipated into the air.

As Ling Ji, who had just emerged from the pit and was preparing to charge again, sensed this, she looked up abruptly. Seeing the countless points of light in the sky, her pupils shrank, and a joyful smile appeared on her face.

"Hahaha, this damned seal is finally broken."

"I, Ling Ji, am finally free."

At the moment the seal completely disappeared, on a rarely visited mountaintop in China, a girl in a blue Taoist robe looked up at the clear sky, her silver-white pupils shining with a glimmer.

"The seven stars of the Azure Dragon rise, the broken army appears, the turning point is here."

"Master, I have finally waited for the chance."

Two lines of tears slowly flowed from the corners of her eyes, and a gentle breeze caressed her pale cheeks as if comforting her.

...

At the foot of Fenglong Mountain, in Xianmiao Village, Mulin was sitting in his yard picking vegetables. At the moment the seal disappeared, he seemed to sense something, looking up at the sky for a long time.

"What's wrong? Is there something strange about the sky?" A chubby middle-aged man came out of the house, carrying a plate of freshly fried peanuts.

"Xiao Qian, don't you think the sky looks bluer and the air feels fresher?" Mulin tried to organize his words to express his thoughts clearly. "It's like there was a layer of fog before, and now it's gone."

Qian Sanduo, also known as Xiao Qian, was a chef specially hired by Bai Luan to cook for Ling Ji. He was honest and good-natured, just like his round, white, and chubby appearance.

Qian Sanduo looked up at the sky, then at the green hills not far away. "No, I think it's the same as before."

"Maybe I'm just getting old and my eyes are playing tricks on me." Mulin suppressed his doubts and stood up from his stool. "You stay home and watch. I'm going up the mountain."

His eyelid had been twitching non-stop, and the sky seemed a bit unusual, making him worry that something might have happened to Master Ling Ji.

"Oh, wait a moment. I just fried a plate of garlic pork, perfect to bring to Master Ling Ji." Qian Sanduo had come to this remote and secluded mountain village because he had been betrayed by his peers, ruining his reputation and making it impossible to stay in the culinary world. Bai Luan's generous reward was the other reason.

At first, he thought he was serving the village's elderly grandfather and grandson, but later found out it was not a person but a deity.

When he first saw Ling Ji emerge from the statue, he was shocked, completely overturning his worldview. Later, seeing that she was just a straightforward girl who loved to eat, his fear gradually turned into affection and fondness.

Chefs in this world love diners who eat all their food without leaving a bite.

Hearing that Mulin was going up the mountain, Qian Sanduo quickly went to the kitchen, packed the freshly made garlic pork into a lunch box, and added ten freshly steamed jujube buns.

"Old Mu, I've packed everything. Please take these to Master Ling Ji." Qian Sanduo came out of the kitchen with the heavy lunch box. "I don't know when this rain will stop, and I can't make much more food for Master Ling Ji with the remaining supplies."

Just as he stepped out, the lunch box was taken from his hand. Thinking it was old Mu, he didn't mind and sat down on the stone stool, wiping the sweat from his face with the towel around his neck.

"The pork is well made today." A girl's clear voice sounded, filled with satisfaction.

Qian Sanduo paused, rubbed his eyes, and exclaimed, "Master Ling Ji, why are you here!"

Having been in Xianmiao Village for almost ten years, this was the first time he saw her come down the mountain.

Not only was he shocked, but even Mulin was stunned, unable to recover.

In his sixty-plus years, this was the second time he saw her come down the mountain.

The first time was when a monster spirit came to the village and injured people. He shook the copper bell to summon her.

Ling Ji finished all the food in the lunch box in a few bites, wiped her mouth, and extended her hand to the dazed Mulin. "Give me the jade plaque."

Mulin instinctively handed it over.

"Crack." At that moment, another crack appeared on the jade plaque. Ling Ji held it carefully, afraid to exert too much force and accidentally break it.

"Master, you…." The sound of the jade plaque breaking woke Mulin up. He looked at the girl about to leave with the plaque, and an absurd thought emerged.

"You…"

"I can leave now." Ling Ji raised her voice, her cool eyebrows tinged with excitement. "You stay here. I'm going to save Mu Bai."

After speaking, she disappeared.

Mulin extended his hand towards the air, his old face full of worry.

"Old Mu, you can rest assured now. With Master Ling Ji going, your grandson will be safe."

Mulin: "..."

No, I'm not worried about my grandson now.

I'm worried about Master Ling Ji.

Times have changed.

And I haven't told her the rules outside.

An ancient demon, isolated from the world, entering modern society for the first time, facing ever-changing and completely unfamiliar things. He was very worried about the people who would interact with her.

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