Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 23 Team up with Old Niu to beat up Hakimi!
Previously, Chen Xiuxian had dinner and chatted with him. Old Niu, because of livelihood issues—he didn't want to be someone's slave to earn a pittance—planned to become a "wandering knight" or "righteous man"!
The so-called "wandering knight" refers to a free spirit, an unemployed person, or a jobless youth who will do anything that makes money.
As for "righteous men," they are people like Chen Xiuxian, who have some ability and do some work for the government to earn some money.

The two are not in conflict; rather, they are compatible and can be transformed into each other.

When Chen Xiuxian was fighting goblins and tree spirits, he was a wandering knight.

Accepting missions to hunt wild boars, deal with resurrected corpses, and tackle gamblers—that makes you a hero!
Chen Xiuxian had investigated Lao Niu's information:
牢毕
Grade 16
27 years old

Identity: Wild Man, Liaodong Alien Clan, Laoniu Tribe
Blood value: 440/440
后天属性：臂力25、体质27、灵敏12、感知13、意志14
……

Evaluation: Truly a hero!
It's not surprising that Old Niu is level 16.

In the Lao Niu tribe, level 13 is reached at the age of 16!
As for his age, he looks older than his age; Chen Xiuxian thought he was in his late thirties!

Regarding his identity, Yemin stated that he did not belong to any country or power.
The Liaodong alien race needs no explanation; they are roughly similar to the Liaodong people mentioned by Chen Xiuxian. The "Laoniu tribe" refers to the specific alien race they belong to.

As for Qi and Blood, according to what I saw on the forum before, the Lao Niu tribe is born with the talent attribute of [Strong Physique (Green)].

Each level up grants an additional 10 points of health, and every two levels up grants an additional 1 point of strength and 1 point of constitution.

Just like the system's evaluation, this is definitely a brave warrior!
Chen Xiuxian felt that Lao Niu was a very qualified front-line soldier and worth cooperating with.

Anyway, Lao Niu wants living expenses, and I want experience points, so there's a lot of room for cooperation, and there's no conflict at all.

……

Two days later, Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu appeared in Mahe Village, which was under the jurisdiction of Wadang Fort.

Mahe Village is considered a border village, but unlike Dongzhigou, it has large tracts of flat and fertile land, and a tributary of the Dongzhou River—the Mahe River.

It can be said to be the most fertile land among the surrounding fortresses and a major grain producer.

The Liaodong region is quite harsh and cold. Due to various dangers, it is under military control, making grain production extremely important.

After all, if you were to transport grain from within the Great Wall or Shandong by sea, the consumption would be too great.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance to resolve the food problem locally.

It's late September now, and the autumn harvest is just around the corner.

As a result, something happened in Mahe Village. This time it wasn't anything supernatural... no, it was pretty supernatural too!
At least Chen Xiuxian felt it was very strange.

You should know that spirits and monsters are very common in this world, especially in places with fewer people, where there are more spirits and monsters.

In places like Liaodong, there's a bit of a "human-monster conflict over land" feel to it.

A century is not enough time for Liaodong to become the "peaceful land" of the Central Plains.

Especially since Mahe Village was on the edge of human settlements, all sorts of strange things happened there.

The old village chief of Mahe Village looked to be in his seventies or eighties, but he was still quite healthy. Leaning on a cane with a patina, he paused for a moment and sighed, "I felt something was wrong when we were worshipping the God of the Land this year. The firework was flickering and crackling... Sure enough, this year, first the Pig King established a kingdom and became emperor, and then all sorts of monsters started causing trouble."

“In previous years, wild boars and other pests would damage the crops during the autumn harvest. But this year is different. Cat spirits, which we used to only see occasionally, have appeared in large numbers and stolen a lot of farm tools. In the past two months, four or five people have been attacked, and one person has died…”

"The village shaman said that after the Dragon Boat Festival this year, evil spirits have increased greatly! Monsters have all come out to harm people!"

"If we don't hurry up and drive those cat spirits away, it will definitely ruin our harvest!"

Because it involved exploring and reclaiming wasteland on the frontier, there were many intricacies involved.

They need to consult the almanac, perform sacrifices, and hold folk operas and festivals, all in order to "suppress evil spirits" and turn "raw land" into "ripe land" as much as possible.

From emperors to commoners, everyone attached great importance to these rituals and sacrifices.

The most important matters of state are sacrifice and war!
As for the cat spirit the old village chief mentioned, he said that when people from within the Great Wall and Shandong came to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland in the early years, they brought some cats and civets with them to catch rats.

As a result, some of the cats later ran away to the mountains and forests and became wild.

Cats are considered to be quite spiritual creatures. When someone is mourning a death and needs to keep vigil, people usually have to be careful that cats don't get close—they're worried that the corpse might try to rise from the dead.

So after several generations of reproduction, the cat became a spirit.

This cat didn't become a demon; rather, it seems to have been infected by the evil energy of the earth's veins, turning into a monster!

A monster that moves upright and resembles a large, humanoid cat.

These cats are unlike goblins or tree spirits, which are born deep in the mountains and forests and generally cannot harm humans.

This cat is strange; it likes to "get close to humans," and sometimes it hurts people, sometimes it causes trouble, and sometimes it steals things. In short, it's quite a headache.

However, because their numbers are small and they don't cause much harm, they are usually just chased away by dog ​​owners.

But this year, something strange happened in Mahe Village. There were seven or eight strange cats of different colors that stole some iron farm tools and started to frequently injure people!

This area is a grain-producing region; large quantities of corn and potatoes are waiting to be harvested, and the surrounding three or four fortified towns rely on them for a portion of their food supply! We can't afford to let this go to waste!
Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu came for this reason.

"Old Niu, is the stinky fish ready?" Chen Xiuxian asked.

"Hey, all done! Just wait and see, it stinks horribly!" Old Niu grinned.

Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu made a stinky fish bait, specifically to lure greedy cats~
After a while, the wind changed direction, and Chen Xiuxian covered his nose and ran away!

Holy crap! It stinks! Having high perception attributes has its downsides too.

But this stinky fish is really effective.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, meows could be heard coming from the woods not far away.

The sound was like an old cat in heat, a rough and eerie feeling.

Moreover, they were coming up one after another, clearly indicating that there was more than one.

Then, Chen Xiuxian spotted his target.

The cat, standing upright, was about 1.4 to 1.5 meters tall, and it was even wearing some tattered clothes, or a strip of cloth as a belt.

They all had some tools in their hands, from hoes to rakes, from sickles to shovels!
The colors range from orange to cow, from tabby to calico... five or six of them!

Chen Xiuxian investigated:
nail rake cat
Grade 11
Monster Cat

Blood value: 275/280
后天属性：臂力14、体质13、灵敏23、感知18、意志12
……

Its sensitivity is quite high!

The others were all roughly the same, around level 11 or 12.

Perhaps it was Chen Xiuxian's investigation that alerted these highly perceptive cat monsters. The cat monsters, who were originally fighting over the few stinky fish, suddenly turned their heads, their ears twitching back and forth.

Just then, the gambler Ma Si'er circled around to the other side behind the tree and cautiously approached the cat monsters.

Although the ghosts are much weaker during the day, and the gambling ghost is not a particularly good fighting ghost, Ma Si'er is special because he can "reduce" the strength of his enemies.

It's just rolling dice!
Before he could even get close, a cat-like monster suddenly turned its head and looked at him!

"Heh~" it yelled.

Ma Si'er instinctively felt a chill and cried out, "Mom, you can see me!" and turned to run away!
It wasn't that he was cowardly, but rather that it was some of the instincts of ghosts.

Seeing this, Chen Xiuxian didn't have time to complain about Ma Si'er being useless.

He shouted, "Old Niu! Charge!" and drew his Long Rainbow Sword, charging forward.

Old Niu was even faster, rushing forward like a heavy motorcycle!
Although Old Niu wasn't very agile, he seemed to have mastered some "combat skills," such as this "charge"!
That was incredibly fast!
In every battle, he charged ahead, drawing Chen Xiuxian's hatred.

The old ox charged ahead with a burst of speed, scaring the cat monsters so much that their fur stood on end! Their backs arched and their hair stood on end!

One by one, they opened their mouths and exhaled, instantly transforming into their Spinosaurus form!
Chen Xiuxian took the opportunity to throw out two small pebbles, but unexpectedly, one of the Hakimi instinctively leaned back and dodged them in this stressful situation.

The other hawk was hit squarely on the head, causing it to bleed profusely, and its cries became even more pitiful!
……

The two cats fought fiercely for less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and then the six Hakimi cats fell peacefully asleep.

At this time, you should sing "Hakimi Oh, North and South Green Beans" to the cat to soothe the deceased's emotions.
There was another khakimi that was a bit smarter; it managed to escape, but Chen Xiuxian's scythe cut off a small section of its tail.
The creature let out a "whoosh" and leaped more than three meters into the tree, disappearing among the branches in a few swift movements.

But it doesn't matter, it probably won't dare to come back in its lifetime.

"Old Niu, are you alright?" Chen Xiuxian asked as he took out some wound ointment and applied it to Old Niu's back.

The old ox dodged the attack of the farm tools, but was eventually scratched by a crazed khakimi. Although the injury was not serious, it still drew blood.

"It's just a minor injury, nothing to worry about." The old ox stroked its horns, looking at Hakimi sleeping on the ground with a proud expression.

Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu brought back the sleeping Hakimi and several farm tools, which made the villagers of Mahe Village very happy!
"Oh my! Thank you both, sirs! When did the government office resolve this issue so quickly? It's amazing!"

According to the old village chief's opinion, it usually takes several days for the officials sent to come to eat and drink to drive these cats away.

Unlike these two, who eliminated them all in just one afternoon!

Indeed, extraordinary people are bound to have extraordinary phenomena. One of them has ox horns, an ox nose, and an ox tail, while the other looks just like the immortal in the painting. They are truly capable!
During this monster-hunting adventure, Chen Xiuxian also obtained two green cards—the cats are really good at looting!

　Explanation of female ghosts and gambling ghosts

　　I didn't expect that there would be such a strong reaction from readers about this!
　　I really didn't expect that.

　　Some readers have commented before, saying that if you're not going to accept it, then don't go on this...!

　　Actually, I wrote it in the style of classical supernatural tales such as "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" and "Notes from the Thatched Cottage of Close Observation".

　　Those stories about fox spirits or female ghosts don't really have much to say; it's just about a man and woman falling in love, spending a romantic night together, and then breaking up when their fates diverge.

　　I never imagined you people were even more feudal than the ancients!

　　As for why he doesn't take in female ghosts, that's because she's the female lead; the protagonist doesn't have any intention of following the path of ghosts—his main focus is on cultivating spirits and ghosts.

　　Later, Liu Pan'er offered herself as a form of "repayment" to the protagonist. However, she was reborn the very next day, without giving the protagonist a chance to back out.

　　Hiring a gambler is like hiring a free thug. It's not the same thing!
　　As for Liu Pan'er, there will be a small "retribution" later on, ending this karmic entanglement...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)