Outside the Funeral Shop, a paper-made Armored Horse was swaying, and on its back, an unknown child was riding happily, snot bubbling out of his nose.
As the Armored Horse shook, it even emitted a donkey's bray.
I have no idea how a paper horse could make a donkey sound, but anyway, the child was having a great time pulling on the rope hanging from the paper horse's neck.
Below that paper horse, two or three more kids were hopping around it, each shouting, "It's my turn now, my turn to ride!"
But before the child on the horse could get down, two women, fierce as tigresses, came charging with brooms and feather dusters.
"Xiao Huzi! I've only been away for a bit, and you run off to such an unlucky place again. How did I end up with such a troublesome child..."
As she spoke, the feather duster was about to greet the child's behind!
Guan Dazhuang, seeing the situation, couldn't help but chime in, "It's in a child's nature to be playful, why hit him for it?"
But, before Guan Dazhuang could finish his sentence, the woman holding the broom, her face full of killing intent, swung it as if she were about to hit Guan Dazhuang.
"Stop talking nonsense! Just look at the kind of business you're in, you can't let them play with the stuff of the dead!"
The two women, fierce and relentless with their verbal attacks, then dragged the kids by their ears and collars, leaving the Underground Street.
Guan Dazhuang kept a forced smile, appearing too timid to argue.
Beside him, Sun Erzhuang couldn't help but click his tongue, "Truly a pair of tigresses!"
Guan Dazhuang immediately corrected him, "Tigresses aren't this fierce, they must be Female Yakshas!"
"Quick, put down that donkey rope. If it lures more kids here, I'm not stepping in to argue."
A striped tiger, having survived a lightning tribulation with five hundred years of cultivation, even feared the wrath of the neighborhood women!
Sun Erzhuang indeed went to the paper horse to remove the donkey rope. The rope obediently crawled up Erzhuang's arm and onto his shoulder, finally looping around his neck as it returned to its rightful place.
Meanwhile, as Guan Dazhuang was tidying up the shop, a crow suddenly flew in from outside.
The crow spoke with human words, "The Sect Leader has commanded that all Immortal Hall Masters should immediately head to Yunmeng Mountain in Quyang County, no mistakes allowed!"
As soon as the crow's words were said, Huang Xiaoliu from the Transmission Hall dashed over in a rush, saying that Lady Qingqing had also issued a decree through the Dharma Realm, urging all the Immortals of each hall to quickly head to Quyang.
At the same time, in front of the Bao Sheng Temple on Ziyun Mountain.
The former Miss Qishan of a thousand pounds was contemplating her long-conceived weight loss plan.
"I've always had a good relationship with Bai Xiaoliu from Qingqiu Mountain, and it's hard to refuse the position of a mountain spirit; when the old peach tree of Taodu Mountain withered, it entrusted me with the authority of Taodu Mountain, and I can't go back on my word; the mountain god of Zhaoyao Mountain was jointly elected by the mountain spirits, and even though most of them are gone, it's still a thought; and then there's the Mao Woman of Danxue Mountain, the mountain spirit of Beizhao Mountain..."
Before she knew how severe the crime of stealing the authority of famous mountains and great peaks was, but after reading the texts borrowed from the Five Elders Temple by Bai Xiaoxian, she was enlightened and realized how much trouble she had caused!
However, after thinking it over, she still couldn't decide which mountain's authority to relinquish first.
After all, each of those mountains represented her memory, and once the authority over the corresponding mountain was gone, the memories she, as a mountain spirit, stored in it would also vanish.
She was unwilling to part with them, but if one day the Heaven-Reaching Road opened and the gods of heaven discovered her theft of so many mountain authorities, she would surely face the harshest punishment.
At that time, not only would the authority be forcibly taken back, but she herself might also perish.
"It's all that little white snake's fault. I was peacefully staying on the mountain, but it insisted I read those books..."
The more one knows, the more they worry, and so does a mountain spirit.
"Books? What books?"
However, just as Qishan was worrying, a man's voice suddenly came from behind her.
Startled, Qishan's hand trembled, nearly dropping her soul along with the book that flew out of her hand!
When she turned around and saw who it was, Qishan stammered:
"Books? No books, I haven't read any books! Sect Leader, why do you walk so quietly?"
Xu Qing bent down to pick up the ancient book that Qishan had dropped, it was titled "Record of Famous Mountains and Great Mountains of Blessed Lands".
On a nearby stone platform, there were several books with many leaf bookmarks in them, clearly read many times.
"Five Mountains Map, Wonders of the Great Peaks, Kaiyuan Taoist Canon, Transcriptions of Mountain Talisman..."
"You, a mountain spirit, secretly looking at other mountains' drawings? What's with all the grandeur and beauty..."
Xu Qing questioned with a soul-searching tone, "How is this different from the idle books read by human women?"
"..."
Qishan's face went from blue to red.
She couldn't imagine that this person would think of her that way. Was she really the kind of mountain spirit that couldn't move once she saw a famous mountain?
Well, actually, she was...
No, no, mountains are born from natural changes; the Sect Leader is obviously teasing me!
"Have you ever heard of Lady Taishan? Famous mountains and great peaks have always honored motherhood, how could they possibly be the filthy things Bai Xiaoxian reads?"
"Oh, it's a grindstone book."
A "grindstone" refers to companionship, those palace ladies living together were called grindstone.
Before Qishan could respond, Xu Qing grew curious, "How did you know Bai Xiaoxian reads those dirty idle books? Could it be you've read them too?"
"..."
Qishan kept silent, only moving forward to quickly gather the books on the stone platform.