Regarding the River God's instructions, Su Qing naturally agreed readily.
This had been her plan all along. If not for the need to better avoid humans, she likely wouldn't have chosen to travel by water.
Although the waterway was fast, Su Qing didn't actually enjoy soaking in water all day. Summer was fine, but the water temperature in spring and autumn was rather low...
For a snake demon like Su Qing, it could be said to be very uncomfortable.
After learning from the River God how to enter the Huai River and which way to go, Su Qing didn't bother him any further.
If a snake as large as herself were to be seen here, it would be quite troublesome.
Thus, after thanking the River God, she took her leave.
Leaving the River God's temple, Su Qing plunged headfirst into the river, preparing to drift downstream...
Although this river didn't lead directly to the Huai River, it did connect to one of its tributaries.
Therefore, by following this river, she could still reach the Huai River. It just required a slight detour.
Even so, it was much faster than crossing mountains.
Flowing downstream, Su Qing didn't need to worry about getting lost... she just had to follow the current. As long as she didn't choose the wrong path at a fork in the tributaries.
Just like that, Su Qing continuously advanced along the waterway indicated by the River God, heading towards the Huai River.
Occasionally, when she reached an unfamiliar river basin, she would ask the local land god and would be able to return to the correct course.
Although she occasionally met with setbacks, most of the deities were quite friendly to Su Qing.
Su Qing didn't know the reason why. She just assumed that most deities were simply rather amicable.
The days of travel always passed quickly...
Before she knew it, it was already the height of summer.
The water temperature in midsummer was just right... not too cold, yet not as scorching as being under the sun.
For Su Qing, it was very comfortable.
Naturally, this meant she could travel in the water for longer periods.
And after traveling for so long, although she had been stopping and starting, the distance to the Huai River was no longer far.
She estimated that if she didn't take a wrong turn, she could enter the Huai River in a few more days.
At that point, she would only need to follow the Huai River to reach the Qinling Mountains range.
After another three days of travel... Su Qing finally reached the Huai River.
Su Qing poked her head out from the forest, flicking her tongue at the turbulent river water...
She sighed at the difficulty of the journey...
From Huai County to here, she had traveled along the waterways for several months, and had finally arrived.
But she knew this was just the beginning... there was still a long road ahead.
However, Su Qing was neither discouraged nor flustered.
To seek a master and learn the arts, Sun Wukong had traveled all the way from Flower-Fruit Mountain in the Aolai Kingdom on the Eastern Purvavideha Continent to the Aparagodaniya continent...
It was unknown how many years it took him...
But it was definitely far more time than Su Qing had spent.
So, what reason did Su Qing have to be discouraged or anxious?
Now that she had reached the Huai River, Su Qing was in no hurry to continue her journey.
Instead, she planned to find a place to rest for a while.
Snakes were inherently rather lazy.
Traveling for such a long time was already a challenge to her instincts.
Now that this leg of the journey was finally over, she naturally had to rest.
Su Qing searched in the forest...
Although she didn't find a ruined temple, she did find a cave.
The cave was quite spacious and had obvious man-made chisel marks...
It was unknown what it had been used for in the past. But now, it could serve as a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
There would be no problem resting here for a few days.
Su Qing found a comfortable corner, coiled her body, and closed her eyes.
Perhaps because she was so tired from traveling for so long, she quickly fell asleep.
She didn't know when it started, but a heavy rain began to fall outside.
The raindrops pattered against the leaves, making a rustling sound.
The noise was loud enough to wake her.
She raised her head, glanced at the gloomy scene outside the cave, and flicked her tongue.
She couldn't help but complain about the inopportune timing of the rain, falling while she was sleeping and waking her up. She was also thankful that she had found a hiding place before it started to rain.
"Oh well, back to sleep."
Su Qing flicked her tongue and went back to sleep.
She didn't know how long she had slept.
But as she slept, she sensed a heat source nearby.
The sudden warmth, to which she was quite sensitive, woke her from her slumber again.
She opened her eyes and discovered that there was another person in the cave.
It was an old monk dressed in gray monastic robes.
The old monk looked kind and benevolent, seemingly a master from some temple...
His robes were soaked through, likely from being caught in the rain.
At this moment, the old monk was sitting by a fire, warming himself.
The old monk was probably blind; his eyes were closed as he chanted Buddhist scriptures.
He didn't seem to have noticed Su Qing.
Su Qing looked at the old monk and flicked her tongue.
She thought she must have been truly exhausted from her journey to not have even noticed someone else entering the cave.
Su Qing felt this was a bad habit...
As she was thinking, Su Qing suddenly saw the old monk turn his head to look at her.
"Benefactor Snake, you're awake? My sincerest apologies, this old monk did not expect that lighting a fire would startle you. It is truly a transgression, a transgression!"
The old monk stood up, bowed to Su Qing, and said:
"If you are averse to the fire, Benefactor, this old monk will extinguish it at once."
Alright, it seemed this old monk had discovered her long ago.
But for some reason, he didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of Su Qing.
Even though her coiled form alone was much larger than him.
"No need... leave the fire burning!"
Su Qing looked at the old monk with some surprise. She hadn't thought that it wasn't that the old monk hadn't seen her, but simply that he wasn't afraid of her.
In response to the old monk's words, Su Qing stopped him from putting out the fire...
She was worried that the drenched old monk wouldn't survive the night without the fire.
If he died outside, it had nothing to do with her, but for him to die in front of her was absolutely unacceptable.
Su Qing flicked her tongue and asked via telepathy:
"Old monk... aren't you afraid of me? Aren't you afraid I'll swallow you in one gulp?"
The old monk was taken aback for a moment, then chanted a Buddhist phrase.
"Amitabha. Benefactor Snake, you are a naturally spiritual snake. Why should this old monk be afraid?"
"..."
This time it was Su Qing who was stunned. She retorted, "How can you tell?"
"Amitabha. Your aura, Benefactor Snake, is pure and clear, like a sprite's, and you are not entangled with vengeful spirits. You must be a spiritual snake who cultivates peacefully in the mountains."
"..." Su Qing was slightly surprised.
The old monk's words were indeed interesting...
He had judged her to be a good snake based solely on her aura.
Wasn't he afraid of being wrong?
Su Qing flicked her tongue, finding it amusing.
But before she could speak, she heard the old monk say,
"Besides, you also bear an immortal seal left by another deity."
"The deities of the Eastern Lands do not lightly leave their mark on a demon. If they do leave a mark, it means the demon has certainly received their approval..."
"Therefore, this old monk believes that as long as I do nothing untoward, you will surely not harm me!"
Su Qing was slightly startled and asked, "What immortal seal?"
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