Journey to the West: The Mountain Shaker

Chapter 69 The Ultimate Kill 1

After a three-year wait, the fairy rock fruit that covers Huaguo Mountain has finally ripened on a large scale.

The entire Huaguo Mountain, spanning hundreds of miles, is a sea of ​​golden orange, from the seaside caves to the valleys and steep cliffs.

Upon closer inspection, the low shrubs, less than a foot in size, are densely covered with fairy rock fruits. The fruits are golden in color and shimmer in the sunlight, resembling tiny lanterns that illuminate the entire Flower and Fruit Mountain.

This fruit is not of high quality, but its value has increased dramatically because of the Great Sage – legend has it that the monkey ate the Immortal Rock Fruit every day for hundreds of years, eventually developing fiery eyes and immunity to water and fire.

With such a legendary story as its foundation, coupled with the fact that the Immortal Rock Fruit does indeed have a unique effect on fire-attribute cultivators, the Immortal Rock Fruit ultimately commanded a price far higher than other first-tier spiritual fruits.

The most exquisite ring—the one at the bottom of the mountain near the sea—was a tribute. In the past, only the Monkey King could eat it, but now, only the Ninth Heaven can enjoy it.

Of course, as the landowner, Huaguo Mountain can keep some of the fruits. The Heavenly Court requires that one million top-grade Immortal Rock Fruits be guaranteed every year, and the rest be kept for Huaguo Mountain's own use.

For this "remaining" fruit, several meetings had already been held within Huaguo Mountain before the harvest even began.

There's no way around it; it's a grand feast that only happens once every three years, a tribute-level dish that many aristocratic families would covet.

Aolai is barren and has few things to offer. Several people rely on these few things to curry favor with various people, hoping to be transferred away from Aolai one day to some lucrative place to make a fortune. So everyone is vying for it, doing their best to compete.

In fact, in previous years, this matter often caused heated arguments, and sometimes even led to physical fights over "how many more you have and how many less I have".

The pre-battle "spoils" division went awry this time, because the exorcists had already left, but when it came time to collect the spoils—four of them returned!

They hoped to do things the same way as in previous years, but the Ministry of Rites and the Academy believed that since you had resigned, you could only receive a salary like an externally hired monk.

The three parties had too many disagreements and argued for several days. As the fruit ripened day by day, and the hired mortals and cultivators arrived and the harvesting began, the number of sea beasts stealing the fruit gradually increased...

They argued until dusk, but finally reached a compromise.

—The exorcists will receive half of what they received before, and the two who didn't come will not receive a share.

Fang Yingyue was a bit of an exception. With Peng Yulang speaking up for her, she received not only the share from the exorcist but also the share from the academy teacher, so the total amount was not much different from before.

"A bunch of thieves! Thieves! They've all been dismissed and gone home, and they still have the nerve to come and claim their share of the profits? Utterly shameless!"

Everything was settled. The chief envoy of the Pacification Division smiled broadly and shook hands with the demon hunters. However, the two deputy officers in charge of the negotiations were still indignant. Among them, Peng Yulang was able to maintain his composure, but the other deputy officer, surnamed Xiang, started cursing as soon as he left the room, completely disregarding the fact that the people inside could still hear him.

Peng Yulang led this deputy sergeant straight up to the Great Sacred Stone.

"Old Xiang, this is so stuffy, let's go upstairs for some fresh air."

"You're a coward too! You can't even speak up for a little sissy, and you're even pleading for her!" The bearded deputy colonel had always disliked Peng Yulang, this self-proclaimed charming lecher. He usually maintained a polite distance, but now he was in a fit of anger and decided to curse him as well.

"Calm down, calm down!" Peng Yulang led the deputy to the stone bench and casually pulled out a bunch of things from his Qiankun bag.

Tea handle, teacup, teapot.

Within seconds, a steaming cup of Mu Ling Tea was placed in front of Deputy Commander Xiang.

"Old Xiang, this is top-grade, grown from the ancient trees on Penglai Island. I only get one or two kilograms a year." Peng Yulang smiled and gestured for him to proceed.

Then he sat down and slowly made himself another cup.

However, Xiang Fuzuo's eyes were not on the tea leaves at all. After Peng Yulang took out that pile of things, he sniffed them, turned his head, and his eyes were fixed on something and couldn't move.

Looking at it, it's a large jujube, a deep red jujube about the size of a walnut.

After brewing the tea, Peng Yulang wiped his hand, intending to put everything into his Qiankun bag.

"Wait a minute!" Deputy Colonel Xiang stopped Peng Yulang's hand, his eyes still fixed on the large jujube, his tone full of doubt, "Is this a Wenjing fruit? Such a big Wenjing fruit?"

"Hmm, it's a Wenjing fruit..." Peng Yulang replied casually, then looked at his deputy and asked with amusement, "Old Xiang, what's wrong?"

"It's so big, it must be top-quality, right?" Xiang Fuzuo couldn't believe it.

"Where did you get such a premium quality? Hehe, it's just first-grade. But it is indeed from the authentic Fuyu Mountain, so it's quite rare." Peng Yulang remained nonchalant.

"Last time I went to Fangcun Mountain to have tea with someone, I met a woman from Fuyu Mountain. She was so beautiful! I gave her a first-grade jade herb, and she insisted on giving me this. What would I do with something that cures deafness? It's only because that girl doesn't like me and doesn't want to take advantage of me that I took it and left it."

Deputy Commander Xiang was impressed: "A top-grade jade herb? As expected of a scion of a noble family, even casually giving away such a fine item."

"Not at all, not at all..." Peng Yulang said modestly, "You know my preferences, I do have some things to please women, but I don't have anything else."

After thinking for a moment, Xiang Fuzuo said, "Brother Peng, to tell you the truth, a few months ago while patrolling the sea, I encountered a demon. In a moment of greed, I tried to capture it alive, but it roared at me, and my ears have been ringing ever since. I've searched for many medicines and consulted several priests, all of whom said the Wenjing Fruit is the most effective remedy. I've also found some, and it does have some benefits, but its overall quality is too low to cure the root cause. Since you have no use for it, why not give it to me? It's a rare find; I'll give you 1000 Immortal Rock Tribute Fruits in exchange for this Wenjing Fruit, how about it?"

Peng Yulang would have made a profit from this offer, but naturally he wouldn't accept it.

"Old Xiang, you're just looking down on me!" Peng Yulang picked up the jujube with two fingers, tossed it aside casually, and laughed, "A beautiful woman can give a good thing, but a hero can't?"

With a soft "plop," the Wenjing fruit fell right into the boiling tea soup in the assistant's cup.

"This is fate between us." Peng Yulang gestured for him to drink, then said to his deputy, "This tea ear happens to be top-grade wood spirit, perfect as an adjuvant. Old Xiang, you can drink it here. I'll watch over it for you; who knows, it might cure your ear today!"

Xiang Fuzuo was stunned. He picked up the tea and looked at it. The Wenjing fruit was floating in it and its color was slowly fading. He really had to drink it right away!

"This... I won't stand on ceremony..." Even the burly man with calloused hands and a stubble-covered face felt embarrassed and stammered to his deputy.

Peng Yulang simply made a gesture of invitation and smiled in acknowledgment.

Xiang Fuzuo held the tea ear soup in both hands, channeled his energy to make his palms like furnaces, and dissolved the Wenjing fruit in a few minutes. As a dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator, he naturally didn't care about burning his tongue. He tilted his head back and drank it all in a few gulps, even chewing and swallowing the few pieces of tea ear.

Then he cupped his hands to Vice Admiral Peng Yulang, walked to the middle of the Great Sage Stone, sat down cross-legged, and casually set up an isolation array, preparing to begin circulating his energy to digest the medicinal effects.

With a "snap," a signal talisman rising in the distance exploded into a flame-shaped signal in the twilight, reporting the attack of the sea monster and requesting support—a single flame signified the lowest level of danger, and nearby cultivators would automatically go to provide assistance.

But this signal alerted Deputy Colonel Xiang.

"Look at my memory, I almost forgot the important matter!" Xiang Fuzu shook his head, took out a palm-sized token, first inputting spiritual power to unlock it, and then threw it towards Peng Yulang, "Brother, if you're going to help me out, you have to take a look at this too."

Peng Yulang accepted the token with both hands and smiled, "Of course, everyone has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the island."

This is the Flower and Fruit Token. On the palm-sized token, the entire island's terrain is miniature, complete with cliffs, caves, rocks, and vegetation.

This token can monitor the location of cultivators on the island and is also connected to the protective array that covers Huaguo Mountain. Whenever a demon or cultivator sneaks onto the island and encounters the hidden protective array, this token will sound an alarm of varying intensity depending on the intruder's cultivation level.

As the most trusted monk in the Pacification Division, Xiang Fuzuo had been in charge of the waist tokens for ten years. This was one of the reasons why he was in a hurry to seek treatment after being injured, because deafness would affect his judgment of the safety of the entire island.

However, at this moment, Xiang Fuzuo could no longer hear the alarm sound at all—for safety, he had set up a simple isolation array before entering meditation, and after he closed his eyes, Peng Yulang also quietly cast an isolation talisman to wrap the Flower Fruit Token, so that the sound emitted by the token could no longer be transmitted.

Then he took out a communication talisman and sent a short message to someone, just a few words: half an hour.