Do you really think you can get me with just a banana?

Guan Shanyu didn't know how he ended up at Laopan Mountain.

He planned to go out today to pick some Scrophularia and Smilax glabra. These two herbs can be found on the hill behind Pingshui Town, but as he walked, he headed towards Laopan Mountain.

He has never paid much attention to the news about monsters wreaking havoc on the world. After all, apart from the demons of the past, there are very few big monsters appearing nowadays, and once they appear, they are often quickly dealt with.

But now several monsters have appeared and they have not been dealt with for several days, so it was still the Wangshuiling Sect that had to deal with them.

How powerful is this thing?

As a former disciple of the Immortal Sect and the author of this book, he felt that the possibility of a monster appearing that would be difficult for Wangshuiling to deal with was smaller than the possibility of Yan Ruchen himself becoming that monster.

Speaking of Yan Ruchen, this person often sends things but never shows up. Now that they are so close, he doesn't even come to say hello to him.

This person probably really let go of the past and moved on. The food sent to him was probably because they couldn't finish the food at Wangshuiling, so they gave it to him.

Guan Shanyu shook his head and climbed up from the edge of the cliff. A few stalks of wild yam fell from the basket on his back, but he simply ignored them. Looking at the hilltop not too far away from him, a nameless fire surged in his heart. He stomped his feet hard and walked towards that side resolutely.

Guan Shanyu couldn't wield a sword nor ride a horse, so he could only walk. It was said to be a twenty-mile journey, but the mountains surrounding Pingshui Town were rolling and continuous, with one mountain after another.

He looked up at the sky and calculated the distance. He had walked about forty-five miles.

Twenty miles is just the straight-line distance.

Guan Shanyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and finally arrived at Laopan Mountain before the sun set.

While not a truly barren mountain, Laopan Mountain is rarely visited, with only hunters occasionally setting foot there in search of prey. After sunset, a thin mist rises from the forest, interweaving with the low-hanging branches and dark blue tree trunks. From a distance, it looks like a hanging human figure, eerie and terrifying.

Few people come here during the day, and after nightfall, this place is even more lonely and silent, and no one dares to set foot here easily. Guan Shanyu really didn't expect that he would come all the way here like this.

Fortunately, although this mountain looks creepy, it is not very big. As soon as you enter the mountain, you can immediately hear the howling of wild beasts in the valley.

Guan Shanyu held on to the backpack tightly, thinking that the place where the sound came from should be the dilapidated temple where the monster Aunt Chen mentioned was imprisoned.

The silence in the mountains was heart-wrenching, with only the occasional howling of wild beasts tearing through the dull air, adding a bit of eeriness and terror.

Guan Shanyu walked slowly and carefully on the mountain road. The dead branches under his feet were gently crushed, making a subtle but clearly audible sound, which was intertwined with the roars of beasts coming from the distance from time to time, creating an indescribable tense atmosphere.

But in this atmosphere, Guan Shanyu faintly heard another voice.

Another sound of dead branches being crushed.

Guan Shanyu walked slower and slower, listening carefully to the sound.

The sound came from behind, approaching from far away. It was so faint that it was almost inaudible, as if someone was quietly following him.

After thinking about it, Guan Shanyu suddenly turned around and looked behind him vigilantly.

But all that came into view was thick fog, with low-hanging dark blue branches looming in the fog. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

Guan Shanyu took a deep breath and felt that he must have been walking for too long and was too tired to think clearly.

The sound of branches stepping on leaves could also be caused by water droplets falling from the trees onto the leaves, right? After all... the fog here is so thick.

Although he comforted himself in this way, Guan Shanyu turned around, grabbed the backpack tightly and immediately started jogging.

The sound of wind whistled past his ears. At this moment, he just wanted to run to the dilapidated temple as soon as possible. He just wanted to see someone, but he must not encounter any evil spirits!

"No, the Exploding Flame Star is useless! Do you have any more talisman paper?"

Guan Shanyu was running hard with his eyes closed when he suddenly heard a sound in his ears. After opening his eyes, he suddenly saw a brick-red, paint-fading ruined temple looming in front of him. In front of the ruined temple stood three or four young men in blue-white clothes. They should be the disciples of Wangshuiling.

But because of this distraction, he didn't look at the road and tripped over a stone, falling into a haystack on the side of the road.

"Who?"

One of the disciples heard the noise and immediately turned back to check. But the mountain path was deserted, filled with thick fog. Another disciple nearby also looked over, but saw nothing unusual and said, "I guess I heard it wrong."

The disciple who heard the voice nodded, turned around, and faced the monster that was tightly bound by the Immortal Binding Rope. He stretched out his hand and drew a seal in the air, saying, "Exploding Flame Star, break!"

As soon as the words fell, a tiny spark bounced onto the green-faced, fang-toothed monster. The monster seemed to be enraged, and roared to the sky. Then it began to exert force, as if trying to break free from the binding rope, and pulled the thin rope hard.

Seeing this, the disciples panicked and asked, "What should we do? The Exploding Flame Star is useless, and we've used up all the talisman paper. Is it going to escape?"

"Nonsense, of course not." Guan Shanyu slowly climbed up from the haystack and answered softly.

After getting up, he looked at the bottomless mountain path behind him and thought to himself that it was a good thing that he had practiced escaping a lot when he was cultivating immortality, and the muscle memory was still not clear. He clearly fell headfirst onto the stone road, but he actually fell on a haystack.

However, among the four stupid people in front of him, Yan Ruchen was not there.

For these low-level little demons, usually after being tied up with the Immortal Binding Rope, if you want to kill them directly, you can use a sword to pierce their demon patterns and kill them. If you want to influence and tame them, you can use talisman paper to draw seven small spells. If you want to take them back for research, you can draw a talisman paper to freeze them, and then find a Qiankun Bag or Linglong Tower to collect them and take them away.

But what is this Exploding Flame Star doing? It explodes and sends out small sparks that bounce back towards it, as if it is teasing it. No wonder the monster is going crazy.

Is this the extent of Yan Ruchen's current teaching? Could it be that he's been running around all day, completely neglecting the disciples in Lingzhong?

Not like him.

Guan Shanyu hid behind the haystack and continued to peek. At this time, a disciple took out a piece of red paper from his waist and said, "We don't have yellow paper. Can we use red paper for this immobilization talisman?"

Guan Shanyu immediately shook his head, thinking to himself, of course not, red paper is used for strangulation attacks, while yellow paper is used to immobilize and break curses.

But another disciple said, "It should be OK, right? They're all talisman paper, let's give it a try."

Guan Shanyu widened his eyes and was about to remind him not to do it, but the disciple holding the talisman paper immediately drew a talisman and threw it over.

Sure enough, another spark exploded on the monster, but apart from burning a small piece of its skin, it had no other attack effect.

Guan Shanyu clearly saw that not only did they use the talisman paper incorrectly, but even the talisman they drew was wrong.

The monster became violent again after being blasted. It was tied to the ground by the Immortal Binding Rope and twisted and turned, roaring as if in protest.

Guan Shanyu took a look at the monster and instantly understood its mood.

If he were this monster, and these people caught him and neither killed nor released him, and just played with him and made sparks explode on him, he would probably go berserk. Now he was lying on the ground yelling and screaming. If translated into human language, it probably meant he wanted them to kill him quickly.

Guan Shanyu couldn't stand it anymore. As a former disciple of the Immortal Sect and a founding general of Wangshuiling, he felt that he needed to come out and uphold justice.

"Good evening, fellow Taoists."

A sudden sound echoed through the pitch-black forest, startling several disciples as they turned back. They saw a young man of unknown origin emerge from the misty mountain path, carrying a backpack and waving at them in a friendly manner. One disciple quickly stepped forward and demanded sharply, "Who are you?"

Guan Shanyu replied politely, "I'm a doctor from Pingshui Town. I've learned a little bit about magic, so maybe I can help you."

"Magic?" Another disciple, half skeptical, stepped forward to examine him. Guan Shanyu was handsome, dressed simply, and appeared harmless. But his presence alone in this desolate place, so late at night, was indeed somewhat odd. Furthermore, his appearance was extraordinary; he looked more like some kind of spirit than an ordinary doctor. So, warily, he asked, "Don't you know they're exorcising demons here? Coming here without warning is highly suspicious."

At this time, another disciple used his spiritual power to detect the surrounding aura and said to his companion, "There is no evil energy."

Guan Shanyu smiled and nodded: "Yes, I'm just an ordinary person. I happened to be passing by the foot of the mountain and heard the roar of monsters in the mountains. I also heard that there were immortals here to exorcise monsters, so I couldn't help but be curious and quietly came up to take a look."

Hearing someone describe their sect as a great sect, the four disciples' expressions relaxed considerably. One of them asked, "You just said you knew how to exorcise demons?"

Guan Shanyu nodded quickly. "I once studied martial arts at the Immortal Sect, so I know a thing or two. It's said that if you want to kill this monster directly, you can write the Lengti Mantra on red paper, stick it on the monster's forehead, and chant the mantra to strangle it instantly. If you want to dispel evil thoughts, you can write the Seven Small Mantras. If you want to immobilize the monster, you can write the Immobilization Mantra. Just write it like this."

Guan Shanyu raised his finger and drew a pattern in the sky to demonstrate to them. However, several disciples frowned, "You're just trying to bluff us. Why go to such lengths? Just strangle him directly. Why bother with the curse?"

Guan Shanyu's hand stopped in mid-air, and he secretly complained in his heart: It's because you may not be able to strangle me easily, so I teach you to draw the spell.

But he changed his mind and thought, why would he bother with these youngsters? So he explained, "The advantage of using talisman paper is that it not only destroys the monster, but also dispels its resentment. If you only use spiritual power, although you can kill the physical body, the resentment may remain."

After hearing this, the disciples looked at Guan Shanyu in surprise. They hadn't expected him to be so capable. But as members of the immortal sect, they felt a little embarrassed to be lectured by a commoner. One of them said bluntly, "We have our own plans. You don't need to interfere."

Another disciple echoed, "Yes, you were sneaking around, and you said you were just passing by unintentionally. I think you look more like a demon in disguise."

As he spoke, the disciple raised the talisman paper and pointed it at Guan Shanyu. Guan Shanyu quickly waved his hands: "No, it's a misunderstanding!" As he spoke, he unconsciously stepped back, forgetting that he was standing at the edge of the mountain path. Before he could finish his words, his feet felt empty, and he lost his balance and fell backwards.

Guan Shanyu was stunned for a moment, his body falling backwards uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and tried to grab the grass beside him, but accidentally touched a person. Then, a force came from his waist, holding him firmly, and his hand was also tightly grasped.

Guan Shanyu was so scared that he opened his eyes, which had just been closed, but before he could see who was coming, his feet had already left the ground.

The person who rescued him picked him up from the ground.

"Boss!"

The disciples shouted excitedly when they saw the newcomer. Guan Shanyu's heart skipped a beat and he slowly looked up.

Yan Ruchen, dressed in black, stood tall on the mountain path like a mountain. Having not seen him for nearly a year, he had grown considerably taller, his face less childish and more angular, his chest more solid, vaguely resembling the heroic figure of his former life.

He glanced at the disciples indifferently, ignored them, lowered his head and smiled gently at Guan Shanyu in his arms.

Guan Shanyu was startled when he met those deep black eyes. After staring at each other for a moment, he realized that he had just put his arms around his neck in a hurry. He quickly let go and looked away.

Yan Ruchen slowly put Guan Shanyu down, and after stabilizing himself, he said to the four disciples expressionlessly, "You are not proficient in your own skills, and you only know how to question others. Who taught you this?"

The disciples looked at each other, their faces changed, and they knelt down and saluted: "Master, please forgive me for my ignorance."

Yan Ruchen raised his hand slightly and snapped his fingers. The struggling monster beside him instantly exploded and died, blood splattering everywhere, dyeing the entire temple red. Guan Shanyu was stunned, only to see Yan Ruchen coldly say to his disciples: "After you go down the mountain, there is no need to look back at Shuiling."

After saying that, he turned around and looked at Guan Shanyu with a smile on his face and a softer tone: "Why are you here?"

Guan Shanyu glanced at the disciples who were frozen in fear, then looked at the smiling, harmless-looking man in front of him, and pushed him in dissatisfaction: "Stop pretending, you've been with me all the way."

Yan Ruchen's face froze slightly, and Guan Shanyu continued, "I was wondering why I kept feeling like someone was following me when I was going up the mountain. It turned out to be you. Why didn't you show up earlier? You've been sneaking around all the way here, and now you're helping me, trying to be a hero saving the damsel in distress? How long have they been here? They don't even know Explosive Flame Star, yet you're asking them to exorcise the monster? You're trying to trick me again!"

Yan Ruchen was completely frozen at this point. Guan Shanyu glared at him and said angrily, "I'm going home. Don't follow me."