CHAPTER 247: CHAPTER 247: CLAIRVOYANT LITTLE SPARROW

Jiang Yuan was utterly bewildered. What did I do to make them accuse me at the government office?

I neither stole nor robbed, let alone swindle or deceive. I just asked for directions, gave them food and money, and now they want to accuse me? Accuse me of harboring a monster? Do they have any evidence?

He found it somewhat unreasonable, but the other party seemed extremely anxious, and had to quickly get to the point, "Then let’s speak quickly. Old man, do you know what unusual occurrence happened on Wangting Mountain seventeen years ago?"

"Wangting Mountain?" The old beggar was stunned upon hearing this. "Oh dear, not many young folks know this name nowadays. A long time ago, nearly twenty years ago, it was indeed called by that name, but later it was renamed Thundercloud Mountain. The reason is..."

He looked around to make sure no one was listening before lowering his voice, "Because something strange happened on Thundercloud Mountain! It seemed like it was summer. Wait, no, it was just the beginning of summer, and the weather was not completely hot yet. One morning, the weather was indeed clear, but suddenly, dark thunder clouds gathered on Wangting Mountain, and there was continuous lightning and thunder.

Then thick clouds covered the sky, making it pitch black, and the raging storm was enough to scare one to death.

At the time, I still had some strength to do manual labor, working as a long-term laborer for wealthy families in the town. At that moment, I was working in the field, and from a distance, looked over to see that lightning seemed to be splitting the mountain.

Afterward, nothing too strange happened, but the government officer posted a notice the next day stating Wangting Mountain was renamed Thundercloud Mountain, and forbidding further mention of this incident."

At this point, the old beggar’s tone became mysteriously secretive, "Later, I heard rumors that there was some kind of monster in the mountain trying to cross the Thunder Tribulation. Some said it succeeded, and the monster transformed into a human and flew away; others said the tribulation failed and it was struck dead, all sorts of stories were going around. And there’s still this tale..."

He covered his mouth with his hand and lowered his voice to the minimum, "That someone found a child on the mountain, who turned into human after crossing the Thunder Tribulation!"

Jiang Yuan: ???

The system didn’t respond, probably because what he said wasn’t crucial information.

"Are you here looking for the monster?" The old beggar again scrutinized him, his voice trembling slightly, "Could it be that you are the child who was discovered back then?"

Jiang Yuan was laughing and crying at the same time, thinking, How is any of this connected? He waved his hand and laughed, "No, no, no, I just heard that there were unusual phenomena on the mountain here some years ago, and I was trying to gather information to find some... particularly unique Thunderstruck Wood."

He casually made up a lie, thinking he should look for someone more knowledgeable to inquire further.

The disciple’s interface didn’t show their race, he should be human, right?

Could he possibly be some hybrid? A string of question marks lingered in his mind, and Jiang Yuan grew more curious about the mystery of his disciple’s background.

"It’s him!"

"This kid is really bold, daring to come back, fantastic!"

"Master Li, it’s him who’s raising the monster; we all saw it, go catch him!"

......

As he was pondering where to find another person to inquire more, he heard noisy footsteps and excited shouts in the distance.

Turning his head, Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow, leading the group was a village soldier in official attire, approaching aggressively, with a long blade at his waist and a small yellow sparrow perched on his shoulder, followed by a few burly men in ragged clothes, presumably the ones who were working at the port earlier.

[Small Sparrow of Spiritual Communication: Demon Cultivators of Purple Sky Catfish at Zeyang offer small sparrows of spiritual communication to believers. Can roughly discern the aura of demon beasts and provide warnings.]

Just now, listening to that group talking about the Water Virtue Star Monarch, turns out they were worshiping a big catfish!

However, judging by the small sparrow gifted to believers, their methods seem more varied compared to the demon cultivators and ghost cultivators on a deserted island. After all, it can identify some demon beast aura, providing timely warnings to protect believers’ safety to a certain extent.

"Who are you? Show me your document of identity and official travel permit." Village soldier Old Li came to check if anyone was secretly raising a monster and letting it appear at East Lake Port, but in reality, he was extremely uneasy.

After all, the boatmen who came to report described in unison how large and majestic the blue hawk was, which made him quite apprehensive.

Unfortunately, today the village head took the squad leader to report taxes to the County Magistrate, leaving only two people in official attire at East Lake Port, the other being a newcomer who hadn’t learned how to identify divine bird warning information, hence he could only bite the bullet and come over.

Otherwise, if something really happened, he worried the village head might blame him, and he would have to take off the official attire he had managed to don, how else would he bring glory to his ancestors?

But hearing the boatmen say, the young man who raised the monster even fed roasted chicken to the old beggar, Old Li felt somewhat relieved. At worst, he could act according to the situation and say some pleasantries to send him off.

When he arrived at the port and looked around, he felt even more assured.

There wasn’t that majestic large eagle they mentioned, just a lean, tall fellow looking quite handsome and gentle, seemed not the type to kill indiscriminately, so he put on a formal tone for his inquiries, couldn’t lose the prestige of his post at the first meeting.

"I’m an outsider, without a document or travel permit. What’s your business here, officer?" Jiang Yuan focused on the small yellow sparrow, pondering how the big catfish demon cultivator could create this, granting the little sparrow the ability to communicate spiritually.

The small sparrow of spiritual communication was quite intelligent. Since it was specifically given by the higher celestial to the village head for identifying demon beasts, its treatment was often even better than the village head who managed East Lake Port, always being catered to with delicacies.

But it was a creature that has been nurtured to possess a hint of spiritual energy, able to distinguish the mundane from things infused with spiritual energy dedicated for cultivators.

A demon beast and a demon cultivator, the difference is as far apart as heaven and earth.

Having shed from the "beast" category, a demon cultivator’s body holds and circulates spiritual power. Jiang Yuan had just come into contact with the contracted mount, his body still carried some trace of Yun Mo’s aura.

"Chirp?" The small yellow sparrow tilted its head, picking up a familiar thread of spiritual energy from him, blinked its bright black eyes eagerly.

So, before Old Li could speak further, its greatest reliance went ahead and "betrayed" them.

The small sparrow fluttered its wings and flew onto Jiang Yuan’s shoulder, affectionately nuzzling his face, flapping its wings and chirping excitedly, hopping around eager to get some "goodies."

"The divine bird calls out so loudly, it must have sensed the monster’s scent!"

"Master Li, quick, seize him!"

"Hehehe, I was the first to run and report to the officials, I should get the largest reward for merit and service..."

......

The "informants" saw the small sparrow chirping loudly and clearly, assuming it was identifying the monster, each face turned red with excitement, clamoring for the village soldier to take action and capture him.

Old Li’s face turned green.

After wearing this official attire, he had participated in hundreds of actions to identify monsters, the most successful being a few years ago when a family in the town actually dared to defy the Water Virtue Star Monarch’s command, secretly raising a monster at home.

At that time, the divine bird discovered the little critter and was extremely fierce with all its feathers bristled!

Other times, even when no monsters were found, the divine bird would always have a proud demeanor, barely acknowledging the village head.

Now it actively approached with goodwill, Old Li, who had never seen the divine bird so submissive, frowned deeply, who is this young guy?

"What’s all this shouting?" He didn’t want to offend anyone, though those boatmen were hollering fiercely, so he turned and ferociously asked, "Who said this young man is raising a monster? Where’s the evidence? Where’s the monster you talked about? Accusing with no proof is slander! Slander and you’ll be getting whipped, you know?"