So immortals look like him.
Up until now, Su Qiuchi still didn't quite believe that he had seen a living immortal, even though the guy was very candid during self-introduction. How could a mortal turn a cup of plain water into fine wine in the blink of an eye? To say it was sorcery, was there any monster in the whole world that looked so pure and quick-witted? However, as long as he could get good wine from him, even if he was a devil, it didn't matter — Su Qiuchi's understanding of Jiu Jue underwent twists and turns, took shape, and reached a verdict in a short period of time.
He and Li Huai clearly stayed in Jiu Jue's bamboo house outside the Wuyou Pond in the black bamboo forest of Cuiwei Mountain for a few short hours. Then why, when he returned home, did each and every member of his family rush up weeping bitter tears, saying that he had been missing for a whole three days? His family had already reported it to the officials, and his grandfather had even dispatched a team of elite fighting soldiers to look for him all over Chang'an.
A day in the mountains, a thousand years in the world? Su Qiuchi could only think of this phrase. Of course, he didn't tell anyone about his adventures in Cuiwei Mountain, just saying that he was traveling through nature and lost track of time.
This evening, Su Qiuchi unusually didn't go out to spend his time drinking and having fun. Instead, he simply held the exquisitely crafted Dancing Horse Holding Cup silver flask in his hand, propped up his chin, and sat in a daze under the bedroom window. This wine flask, originally damaged by Li Huai's bump, had its chain connecting to the lid torn, but after Jiu Jue fiddled with it a few times, it miraculously looked as good as new. That day, Jiu Jue poured half a jar of his own brewed wine into this flask, and the taste was truly a hundred times richer and mellower than the finest imperial brew bestowed by the emperor. Now, the wine was gone, but the fragrance remained, indicating that what Jiu Jue said might be the truth.
Jiu Jue said that he was the God of Wine-making in the heavenly realm. Due to his duties, he often had to descend to the mortal world to find good ingredients for making wine. The monk had a personal grudge against him and took advantage of the opportunity of his descent to the world this time to try to snatch something from him. The two fought for three days and three nights, with Jiu Jue ending up at a disadvantage. So he had no alternative but to lead the monk into the black bamboo forest, using bamboo leaves as a substitute to hide his presence. Unexpectedly, the monk still refused to give up and, using the same spell, put his body and soul into a bamboo leaf, entering the other end of the space and relentlessly pursuing Jiu Jue. While the two were fighting and locked in a stalemate in a void in the sky that was invisible to mortals, luckily Su Qiuchi, led by Li Huai, stumbled upon them. He inadvertently broke the monk's substitute, freeing Jiu Jue from the predicament. The monk had hurt his vitality due to that blow and would take at least a month to recover.
In Jiu Jue's bamboo house, Su Qiuchi and Li Huai, after hearing his explanation, were left confused. Still in a daze, they were then escorted out of the black bamboo forest by Jiu Jue, and safely returned to the vast plain outside Cuiwei Mountain.
Su Qiuchi remembered that when he got on his horse and looked back, Jiu Jue was still smiling and waving at them not far away. When he turned back again, the mesmerizing lake blue-haired figure had vanished, as if the person who had just waved and smiled at him was nothing but a phantom. Li Huai's expression mirrored Su Qiuchi's, only he seemed even more reluctant to leave, looking back thrice for every step forward. The black bamboo forest, Wuyou Pond, Jiu Jue — everything seemed unreal, like a dream. At this thought, Su Qiuchi suddenly tightened his grip on the wine flask, took out a small brocade pouch from his person, glanced at it, abruptly stood up, and rushed out of the room.
The brocade pouch was a parting gift from Jiu Jue to him and Li Huai. It contained a dragonfly made of a bamboo leaf and a small porcelain bottle with a square mouth. Jiu Jue explained that he feared being disturbed, so he had set up a barrier using Fuxi's Natural Eight-Trigram Battle Array in the black bamboo forest where he lived, separating it from the normal space. Their accidental entry was just a lucky coincidence. If they wanted to visit him again, they only needed to sprinkle the water from Wuyou Pond on the bamboo leaf dragonfly after entering the mountain, and it would guide them.
Hurrying into Cuiwei Mountain, Su Quichi opened the porcelain bottle and sprinkled water on the bamboo leaf dragonfly as per Jiu Jue's instructions. In the blink of an eye, the bamboo leaf dragonfly fluttered its wings as if alive and flew towards the depths of the mountain forest.
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