Chapter 186: Should Spend the Rest of My Life Here

A pot of "blanket noodles," the soup base was mushroom and chicken soup, with salted meat added, naturally salty and fresh.

The Shixiong and Xiao Shimei had been craving it for a long time.

It wasn't that blanket noodles were truly extremely delicious, but that people's eating habits have inertia, and they can entrust people's emotions.

The first meal Lin Jue cooked on the mountain was blanket noodles, which was probably the first good meal they had eaten since practicing on the mountain, and they had eaten it often since then, so naturally, it became a habit.

If they didn't eat it for a period of time, they would think about it.

Especially the Little Xiao Shimei, who missed it the most.

At this time, she was wolfing it down.

Until she was full, wiped her mouth, and sat down to rest for a while, only then did she gradually stand up.

Now Lin Jue had almost learned the Seventh Shixiong's method of taking objects from the air, and "Flowers Blooming in an Huakai Qingke" had long been written down in his spare time. After eating this last meal, it was time to continue forward.

"Shixiong, Shidi, Xiao Shimei, leave this bowl here, leave it for me to wash when I come back." The Seventh Shixiong said with a smile, "I'll see you out."

"You've already seen us off so far, why do you need to see us off again?" The Third Shixiong said.

"See us off to the official road." The Second Shixiong said.

"The chickens and ducks gifted by the people of Cuiwei are still one of each, both are hens and ducks, and they will lay eggs, so we won't take them. This bamboo forest is suitable for raising chickens, Seventh Shixiong, raise them well, hatch more chicks, and you can boil an egg when you don't want to cook every day, and you can eat meat every once in a while." Lin Jue said, "If you can't raise them well, you can send a letter to the Fourth Shixiong to ask for some tips."

"I don't know if that Green Seedling God will come back, Shixiong, you are not good at fighting, be careful."

"I know, I know."

The Seventh Shixiong shouldered their luggage and also said to them: "I heard there are a few places ahead with some famine, but it's not serious. If you don't want to gnaw on famine-relief pills on the road, prepare more food."

"I know."

They walked all the way to the official road and put down their luggage.

There was no need for farewell words. Lin Jue gave him an envelope, they waved to each other, and then went forward.

The Seventh Shixiong watched them go, clutching the envelope.

The sound of the cart wheels creaked, and the bells jingled.

The fox didn't know worry and jumped in front, while the colored civet stood on the cart, turning its head to stare straight at him.

Not long after, the two sides could no longer see each other.

"Hey! Free!"

The Seventh Shixiong couldn't help but smile and immediately tore open the envelope.

Inside was also a letter—

"Several years on the mountain, getting along with Shixiong has been very pleasant, and I am also grateful for Shixiong's care and for teaching me magic. A few years passed so quickly, I am extremely reluctant to part.

"Knowing Shixiong likes magic tricks, and it just so happens that I have also obtained a few, I will gift them to Shixiong:

"One is the Dragon Transformation Trick, which can turn weapons and sticks into venomous snakes, which can be performed or used to bluff people;

"One is the Illusionary Silver Art, which can turn bricks and stones into white silver;

"And the 'Flowers Blooming in an Huakai Qingke' that Shixiong wanted to learn.

"This magic is not only extremely beautiful and romantic, it can be enjoyed by others, it can be used for one's own pleasure, and it can also be used for self-defense. If it can be cultivated to a deep level, even divine beings and True Lords will fear it. It's just that it's a bit harder to practice. I owe a lot to the Green Emperor, who manages spring and flowers, for giving me a stroke of good fortune, which allowed me to have a sudden enlightenment and make rapid progress, otherwise, I might not have learned it yet.

"Shixiong has excellent talent, perhaps faster than me.

"They are all attached below.

"After seeing off the Second Shixiong and Xiao Shimei, I will probably live in the capital for a while. The capital is bustling, with famous actors gathering. If Shixiong is interested, after receiving my letter, you can take time to come to the capital to play."

When the Seventh Shixiong read it, he could almost imagine his junior brother's tone.

He couldn't help but read it again.

After reading it, he looked down, and there were indeed three books below.

In addition to Flowers Blooming in an Huakai Qingke, there was also a Dragon Transformation Trick and an Illusionary Silver Art.

I don't know where this junior brother got them.

"Hehe..."

The Seventh Shixiong laughed twice, but for the time being, he didn't have the mood to think about these things.

After putting away the letters and books, he didn't return to the Daoist temple, but continued to walk forward.

Wash the dishes? Wait until tomorrow at the earliest!

The Seventh Shixiong touched his pocket, there were still a few taels of silver left, so he decided to go to the city to find some fun first.

Now that he was the temple master, he didn't need to hand over silver to his master, and all the money was his to spend freely. And there was no Shixiong to exhort him, and no need to avoid his Shidi and Xiao Shimei, so he naturally felt an unprecedented sense of freedom.

His mood was pleasant, and his steps were light.

He walked straight into the city.

Half a day listening to music, one night drinking wine.

Meeting two or three interesting people, chatting for half the night over drinks, with red sleeves adding fragrance several times, the happiness was better than an immortal.

It wasn't until the next morning, when the sky was just getting light, that he walked back to the Daoist temple, stumbling as the city gates were opening. Seeing the unfamiliar Daoist temple door, he subconsciously raised his hand to knock, but suddenly remembered and took his hand back.

No one answered when knocking, leaning against the door listening to the sound of bamboo.

Only then did he feel melancholy in his heart.

Should spend the rest of my life here.

Another morning, the scenery by the road was beautiful, the sun shone on the green flowers, the fog was like gauze, and the clouds covered the water, circling the shepherd's red clouds.

Between the winding mountain roads, two Daoist priests walked in front, leading a horse, and the horse was pulling a cart, while behind them, two Daoist priests were riding gray donkeys, one on the left and one on the right, swaying forward.

"We're almost at Qinzhou, right?"

"Hmm..."

"Sun Laoer, Sun Laoer, why don't we just buy a donkey too! Look, they are both sitting on donkeys, leisurely and content, like they are traveling through mountains and water, while we two are walking, being roasted by the sun, bitter and miserable!"

"I'm not bitter."

"Anyway, your Daoist temple is so remote that it's almost catching up to Lao Si's. When you get there, you'll have to buy a donkey when you go down the mountain to shop."

"We'll see when we get there."

"Forget it if you don't buy one, anyway, when I send you off, I'll have a horse to ride!"

The Third Shixiong was very envious of Lin Jue and the Little Xiao Shimei's paper donkeys.

Lin Jue didn't say a word.

At this time, he held a porcelain bottle in his left hand, walking on the side close to the grass forest, and pinched a magic formula with his right hand.

"Come!"

Many dewdrops flew up naturally from the forest, like countless pearls, connecting into many lines, falling into the porcelain bottle one after another.

It looked quite beautiful.

The Little Xiao Shimei turned her head to stare at him.

The Second Shixiong's voice came from the front: "Being able to collect dew from the air and seal spiritual rhyme, junior brother's method of gathering has reached another level."

"A sudden enlightenment by chance." Lin Jue said with a smile, "It's also because Shixiong taught me well."

"Your talent is indeed the best, no wonder Master made an exception to accept you. If you can calm your heart and practice alchemy, you might be able to reshape the glory of the ancient alchemy path."

"Shixiong, don't praise me randomly..."

"It's not random praise." The Second Shixiong's voice was calm. "But you must also know that those with insufficient virtue have many desires, and those with insufficient Dao have many techniques. Finding a Great Dao is more important than learning a thousand magic techniques."

"Junior brother remembers."

Lin Jue said so and continued to gather.

In this era, the world is mostly clean, and the dirt on the roadside is mostly dust, so the dew is also very clean and can be used as drinking water.

Besides that, if it is between famous mountains and beautiful scenery, in places with abundant spiritual energy, the dew born in the early morning often contains the spiritual rhyme of the mountains and water and the yin essence of the moon overnight.

Therefore, dew is also a commonly used item in alchemy.

In legends, immortals drink dew, and there are children specially collecting dew for them. Some famous monsters and even insects known for their cleanliness are also considered by people to live by drinking dew.

Not only in alchemy and legends, but people in the world also love to drink dew. An emperor in this dynasty only drank dew, and now many nobles use dew to boil tea, each with their own reasons.

It's just that the world doesn't know that although dew has spiritual rhyme, it's not something that people who haven't learned the method of eating can absorb directly. And after leaving the grass leaves, without other methods to store it, this spiritual rhyme will naturally dissipate quickly.

Lin Jue doesn't practice alchemy, he is just practicing the gathering method.

Now that he can collect dew from the air, his gathering method can be considered to have some accomplishments. If he goes up another level, he will be able to directly collect the spiritual rhyme of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon, and materialize it.

If he goes up another level...

Cloud and mist dust, morning glow qi, evening glow light.

The materials for this Golden Core, just mastering the method of collecting it, I'm afraid it will take a long time of bitter practice.

Lin Jue shook his head and continued to collect dew.

Until the sun dispelled the morning mist and the morning dew was gone, Lin Jue withdrew the porcelain bottle, stopped practicing, and then continued to sit on the donkey's back, swaying, and pondered the Second Shixiong's words again.

He couldn't remember the original words of that sentence, only remembering words like "those with insufficient virtue have many desires, those with insufficient Dao have many techniques," "those with insufficient spirit sleep a lot, those with insufficient yang have many illnesses, those with insufficient wisdom have many doubts, those with insufficient knowledge have many worries, those with insufficient ability have many troubles," and "those with insufficient prestige have much anger, those with insufficient capacity have many grievances."

Thinking carefully, many of them make sense.

Lin Jue himself couldn't distinguish whether he had learned too many magic techniques before, so it was difficult to calm his heart to specialize in a few, or because he hadn't found a Dao that suited him, so he wanted to practice every magic technique he saw.

Only knowing that if you don't learn techniques, how can you realize the Dao?

And finding the Dao is not that easy.

Fortunately, although he still learned many magic techniques, he gradually had a focus, which was the direction he liked and was good at, and perhaps it would be where the Dao was.

Thinking while walking, the trees gradually became sparse, and he had already entered the territory of Langfeng County.

Now that the autumn harvest season had passed, the fields on both sides of the road were almost barren, which was normal, but what was strange was that in the fields ahead of them, they didn't see any stubble left after harvesting.

Lin Jue sat on the donkey and couldn't help but look back.

The sunlight was bright, and behind him was the boundary marker.

But the fields behind the boundary marker had wheat and grain stubble, only in front, the fields were clean.

Lin Jue was strange while holding the water tube, raised his head, and drank the last drop of water.

His mouth was a bit dry.

But he wasn't panicked.

Unless they walked to a place with drought and water shortage, these Daoist priests didn't need to worry about water shortage. Mountain springs and rivers were all water, and if there were households, they could borrow water, and if there really wasn't, they could drink dew.

Lin Jue hadn't reached the time to drink dew, because there were a few scattered houses by the road ahead.

"I'll go borrow some water."

"I'm almost finished drinking too."

The group soon stopped in front of a house.

This household had a small courtyard with a fence, and there was an open space inside, and it could be seen that one side should have been a vegetable plot, and the other side raised chickens and ducks, but now it was vacant.

"Is anyone there?"

Lin Jue knocked lightly on the wooden door.

The fox also stood by his side, sticking its head in, curiously peering into the house.

"Is anyone there?"

Lin Jue asked again.

But there was no response from inside.

Lin Jue couldn't help but look back, exchanged glances with the Shixiong and Xiao Shimei, and felt a bit strange.

This wooden door was clearly open, and the house inside was also open, but there was no response.

"Ying~"

The fox called out.

Lin Jue understood what it meant.

"Is anyone there?"

"Let's change to another family, maybe they are taking a nap." The Third Shixiong said, "It's just the time for a nap."

"Something is not right." Lin Jue didn't think so, "Let's go in and see."

After making the decision, he walked forward.

As soon as the fox saw him enter the door, it tilted its head and thought for a moment, then followed and jumped in, arriving in the middle of the small courtyard in one step, and in another step, it entered the house.

The Daoist priests followed closely behind.

Only to see a woman sitting on the ground against the wall in the house, as thin as a stick, and although her eyes were still open, her breath was as thin as a thread.

Seeing the few people enter, her eyeballs moved.

"Huh?"

The few people didn't care about etiquette anymore and walked closer to check.

"What happened to this?"

"Looks like she's starving!"

"We don't have cooked food..."

"I have famine-relief pills here."

The Second Shixiong took out a famine-relief pill from his pocket.

"Is there water?"

"I still have a little bit here."

The few people worked together, one crushed the famine-relief pill, one took a bowl, one poured water, and they fed it to the woman.

Lin Jue smelled a bit of a foul odor.

Turning his head to look, the fox had already arrived at the door of another room, not entering, but staring straight inside.

The foul odor came from inside.

Lin Jue went over to take a look—

Someone had actually starved to death in their home here.

... ===== CHAPTER 187 =====