Immortality: Starting from meeting the fox girl

Chapter 15 Gift of the Sword Dragon’s Song
  The snow outside the window seems to be a little lighter.

The sound of clear water kept coming from the wooden barrel behind him. Lu Chenran sat cross-legged in front of the clay sculpture of a severed head. The firelight lit up the dark room, accompanied by the howling wind and snow, which made it feel a bit quiet.

This is not the first time he has seen the severed clay sculpture in the mountain temple. Upon closer inspection, the location of the severed head of the clay sculpture in this mountain temple is the same as that of the Hushan Temple.

At first Lu Chenran thought it was caused by years of rain and snow erosion, but now it seems that it was cut off from the neck of the clay sculpture by some inexplicable force.

"Are all the mountain temples and temples in the sixteen counties under Jiamu County like this?"

"What does this county city god mean?"

"."

Allowing monsters and ghosts to occupy the temple of the righteous god of incense and fire without jurisdiction is not just a simple dereliction of duty.

If Lu Chenran's guess is correct, combined with what the pine charm said when it was burned out, demons and ghosts are probably already roaming the world in Jiamu County.

While Lu Chenran was thinking, the sound of cool water behind him gradually weakened, and then there was a soft rustling sound of clothes being put on.

After a quarter of an hour,
  Then I heard the young prince say:

"Brother Lu, I have taken a bath and can turn around now."

"."

Lu Chenran slowly turned around and looked at the man in front of him.

The clothes the general is wearing, his hair are moist but somewhat messy, and his delicate cheeks are as if water can be squeezed out from hibiscus.

Li Zijun put on his snow shirt, found some hay, put his arms around his knees, and sat silently by the bonfire, staring at the few green smoke in a daze.

There was some silence in the temple, but Lu Chenran didn't feel embarrassed.

The young prince pursed his lips, and after thinking about it for a while, he picked up the simple long sword from the ground that was always on his waist. The scabbard was made of nanmu, and there was nothing special about it.

"Clang-"

She pulled out the sword from its sheath, and there was a little glint of water, and it trembled like a dragon's roar.

The clear cold front reflected her quiet and blurred eyes. This sword was of great significance to her.

The young prince took a deep breath, gently touched the sword's edge with his hand, and then held the sword with both hands. His clear eyes were slightly narrowed, and he stood up and handed it to Lu Chenran:

"Brother Lu, there is no way I can repay you for saving my life."

"This sword is called 'Water Dragon Yin', and I have always carried it with me since I was a child."

"I would like to give you this sword as a gift, and please don't refuse, Brother Lu."

"."

Lu Chenran stared at the dragon pattern engraved on the sword.

He has seen this sword before.

A few hours ago, this swordsman was dancing in the wind and snow with the young prince, fluttering like butterflies, flying through the snow like a shuttle, like a fairy walking on the snow, and a real person singing in the wind.

He wanted to refuse, but when he raised his head, he saw the young prince's sincere eyes, the slightly curved corners of his mouth, and his cheeks, which were full of sincerity.

Instead of hesitating, it is better to make a decision quickly. Thinking of this, Lu Chenran took the sword without any tedious gratitude and said bluntly:

"Thank you Brother Li for the sword."

Stroking the dragon's chant pattern on the sword, in my mind, the title page of the golden book moved leisurely, and a line of writing slowly emerged:
  [Befriending Sword Water Dragon Yin: (0/365)]

[The sky is thousands of miles away and the autumn is clear. The water follows the sky and the autumn is boundless. I have a sword with the sound of a dragon that can cut off the water of the Cangjiang River.]

【.】

Lu Chenran was slightly startled when he saw the title page of the golden book appearing.

That's right, how can the sword accompanying the Prince of Shangjing Mansion be a mortal thing? This love can be said to be extremely precious.

Seeing Lu Chenran put away the sword, the young prince smiled, reached out and broke a few pieces of wood, put them into the fire, and then leaned against the wall, wanting to close his eyes and sleep, running around all day I should be tired, but at this moment I don't feel sleepy.

Lu Chenran suddenly asked:
  "Why did Brother Li appear near this mountain temple? This place is at least twenty miles away from where the caravan camped."      .

The snow fox on his shoulder climbed down and sniffed the water-dragon sword with its nose. The fox's head seemed to be thinking about something.

The young prince felt a little embarrassed, but he spoke sincerely:
  "In the past few days, I wanted to cook wine and enjoy the snow with Brother Lu as a show of goodwill, but Brother Lu always refused politely. Later, when I saw Brother Lu going up the mountain alone, I was afraid that Brother Lu would be in danger, so I followed Brother Lu all the time. I almost died trying to be seduced by the pine demon.”

"."

Lu Chenran blinked his eyes, and then looked at the clay sculpture with the severed head in a daze:

"Brother Li, since the royal family's caravan entered Jiamu County, have you paid attention to the temples of the mountain gods and earth along the road?"

"."

Li Zijun blinked and followed Lu Chenran's gaze towards the severed clay sculpture.

She was so smart that she guessed Lu Chenran's confusion with just a little analysis, but this was exactly what she was puzzled about:
  "Brother Lu, the royal family's caravan started from Sanjiang County, and stopped at this mountain temple several times during the journey to reorganize it. However, since entering Jiamu County, the gods enshrined in the mountain temples along the way are indeed like this. The head clay sculptures are generally the same.”

"In the mountain temple in the same county, there was a spider demon that had been entrenched for an unknown period of time. Fortunately, there were enough bodyguards in the group and they worked together to get rid of it."

"."

Lu Chenran narrowed his eyes and confirmed with her:

"Only Jiamu County?"

"."

"That's how it should be."

Seeing Lu Chenran's confusion, Li Zijun reminded him:
  "Brother Lu, the caravan is not far from Jiamu County. If the snow is lighter tomorrow morning, we can follow the caravan and set out in Jiamu County for a few days. Then we can go to the City God's Temple to find out the news."

"."

"Alright."

Lu Chenran nodded.

The next morning, the sky was as clear as water.

The young prince slowly opened his eyes and yawned.

Last night, I talked with Brother Lu all night long. The two of them talked happily, and then fell asleep without realizing it. This sleep lasted until noon.

The body was still covered with the snow-white fox fur, which was fluffy and very warm.

"Brother Lu?"

The bonfire was still burning brightly, and it was obvious that someone had filled it with new firewood, but Brother Lu was not seen in the temple.

She folded the fox fur carefully, lest it stain the white fox fur, then stood up and pushed open the old wooden door.

There is still light snow dancing in the sky, and a slight cold wind blows on my face, but I don't feel cold at all.

There was a long series of footprints left on the thick snow. The marks were large and small. It was obvious that they were plum blossom prints left by foxes.

Following the footprints, Li Zijun stepped on the soft snow, making a "crunching" sound, and walked about half a mile of the mountain road.

There seems to be the sound of spring water in the mountains, making a cool sound.

A large field of wintersweet blooms in the cold weather, like frost and snow in the white clouds, blooming in the corner of the cliff. Spring water covered with ice crystals falls from the top of the cliff along the snow to a lake below.

The elegant fragrance of plum blossoms danced. Against the backdrop of the sun, a man in white sat quietly on a stone, his figure blending into the plum blossoms there.

Occasionally, birds swooped down and made ripples on the lake.

Snowy mountains, clear water, flying snow, and birds.

There is a frozen lake with willow branches for fishing.

(End of this chapter)