Chapter 381: New Year

Before he knew it, it was a new year again.

Waking up from sleep, several shixiong were in the courtyard, surrounding a thick piece of spiritual wood, discussing it animatedly.

The three little Daoist boys were dressed very warmly and were also among them.

Seeing Lin Jue walk out, Ji Yang immediately spoke:

"Eighth Shishu! This is the wood that blew down from the mountain last night! It's so big and so hard, it smashed the floor tiles!"

"That didn't blow down from the mountain; I asked the Mountain God for it." Lin Jue walked over with the fox to take a look. Indeed, several floor tiles were broken, which made him feel a bit of a pity. "It doesn't matter. When the fog on the mountain is blown away in the afternoon, taking advantage of the sun, I'll tell Ninth Shishu to go to the mountain to touch a few back and replace them."

As soon as he finished speaking, Little Shimei's voice came from behind:

"Leave it to me!"

Lin Jue turned his head to look and saw Little Shimei also walking over, also dressed warmly, looking a bit round. Behind her, Caili was wearing a floral cloth red coat, following behind her.

"Eh? Little Hua also has clothes to wear?"

"I was bored in the mountains, so I learned to make them myself!"

"Quite festive." Lin Jue lowered his head and said to the fox, "I'll make you one another day."

"No! It doesn't look good to wear! It's uncomfortable! Walking is disobedient!" Fuyao said, and then sold out Little Hua without hesitation, "Little Hua said so too!"

"Meow?"

Little Hua's expression froze, and it raised its head to look at Little Shimei.

"It doesn't matter!" Little Shimei's expression was serious, as if she hadn't heard Fuyao's words, "I made one for Fuyao, and I made one for all the cats, dogs, and the Cloud Leopard in the temple!"

"Ying?"

The fox froze for a moment.

At this time, Ji Yin and Ji Yang had already walked in front of them. After the two little Daoist boys adapted to life on the mountain, their courage grew, and they became more and more clever. They looked at each other and knelt on the ground.

"Happy New Year to Eighth Shishu and Ninth Shishu!"

"Wishing Eighth Shishu and Ninth Shishu a Happy New Year! May you attain the Truth and become immortal soon, and live forever!"

Second Shixiong's newly accepted disciple stood to the side, a bit dazed, until Second Shixiong pushed him, and he walked out, also kneeling and starting to kowtow.

Lin Jue and Little Shimei looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.

They had actually reached the age to give others New Year's money.

He then reached into his bosom and touched out a few strings of copper coins.

Very small strings of copper coins, strung with thin red ropes, ten coins per string, small but exquisite. A child could just hold it in one palm, and it was heavy, just right for them.

This was something the two of them had prepared long ago.

Last night, when the shixiong were cleaning up the tables and bowls, he and Shimei were sitting outside looking at the stars and had discussed this matter.

"Get up, the ground is cold."

Lin Jue gave them one string each.

Ji Yin and Ji Yang thanked them again, and then stood up happily. Little Lingxiao also followed and stood up.

Ten copper coins didn't look like much, but for ordinary children these days, it was already a huge sum of money, enough to support them to go to the market off the mountain or in the county town to "splurge." Seeing candied haws, they could buy candied haws; seeing scallion pancakes, they could buy scallion pancakes. Even a string of candied haws plus a scallion pancake wouldn't use it all up, and there would still be some left.

Adding a few ten copper coins together, it was even more.

Lin Jue spread his hands in the air, and there were still two strings of small copper coins in his hands, clinking. He lowered his head and saw the fox examining Caili's floral cloth clothes, while Caili was scratching an itch.

"Here is a share for you too."

Two strings of copper coins fell right in front of them.

The fox and Caili were both stunned.

Little Shimei followed suit and did the same.

The fox and Caili were even more confused.

They thought this was a human ritual, something only humans used. They didn't expect the fox and the cat to have a share too.

They didn't know what to do with it.

However, they looked at each other, exchanged glances, and didn't know what they chirped about, so they lowered their heads, bit the copper coins, and returned to the room.

Soon, only a few adults were left in the courtyard.

"The Mountain God is generous, actually gifting Shidi such a large piece of spiritual wood, and the spiritual aura is so dense," Fourth Shixiong said. "It seems Shidi is preparing for this chaotic world."

"You could say that."

"With such a large piece of spiritual wood, how many Bean Soldiers can you make?"

"One."

"One?"

Many shixiong were very surprised.

"Exactly."

Lin Jue smiled slightly.

This piece of spiritual wood was slightly larger than he had originally planned, but it couldn't be much larger.

Originally, Lin Jue had planned according to the normal proportion of carving Bean Soldiers and the body shape of the Long Bo remnant soul he had seen, but there was no need to be so strict. For example, most of the Bean Soldiers he made before were tall and strong, and the remnant souls of the Bean Soldiers were not all like that. Most of the Bean Soldiers made were taller and stronger than they were in life, and the proportions or body shapes were more reasonable.

This Long Bo Bean Soldier could also be made appropriately larger.

Since the Mountain God gifted such a large piece of spiritual wood, Lin Jue planned not to waste any of it and make it according to this piece of spiritual wood.

Naturally, the human body is not regular, and this piece of spiritual wood is round. If he wants to carve a Long Bo Bean Soldier, he will definitely cut off a lot of wood from it. As long as it is planned properly, the wood cut off will be enough to carve many normal Bean Soldiers. However, Lin Jue still planned to keep them. If the Long Bo has any damage in the future, he will use this wood to repair it.

As for other Bean Soldiers, there is other spiritual wood.

There is also no shortage of armor and weapons for the Long Bo.

The long-handled big knife gifted by the Leopard King is a good material, more than enough to make the Long Bo's armor and weapons. "Tsk tsk..."

For a moment, several shixiong were amazed.

Only Eldest Shixiong spoke: "Could it be Long Bo?"

"Exactly!"

"Hmm..."

Eldest Shixiong nodded and didn't say much.

Lin Jue went to cook a pot of tangyuan for breakfast.

As he said, by noon, the fog in the mountains had dissipated, only the world off the mountain was soaked in the rolling sea of clouds. The sun shone down, shining through the pine branch snow crystals, shining through the temple roof tiles, making people feel very warm.

Fuyao was also put on a tacky floral cloth red coat by Little Shimei, and the size didn't fit, so it had to actively shrink to put it on.

Not only it, but also the other cats, fine dogs, and even the Cloud Leopard in the temple didn't escape this disaster.

In the afternoon, Little Shimei went up the mountain to find stones, polished them into floor tiles, and brought them back to replace and fill them.

(No content lost!)

White egrets flew above the sea of clouds.

There were also Daoists walking on the pine branches on the mountain cliffs. In this fairyland on earth with ice and snow and rolling sea of clouds, it was like immortals hiding in the deep mountains going down the mountain to play.

There were also Daoist boys walking with donkeys.

Lin Jue stayed in the temple, stood the spiritual wood up, walked around it, and kept drawing lines on it with charcoal.

Then he took out his flying sword and started to cut.

This is the Floating Iron Wood, which is famous for being as hard as iron and has grown for ten thousand years. Ordinary carving knives no longer work.

Pieces of relatively complete wood fell to the ground.

Many wood shavings scattered and were blown away by the wind.

People came to offer incense one after another during the New Year, and Little Shimei was responsible for entertaining them.

At the same time, in the market off the mountain, two big and one small Daoist boys lined up in a row, each holding copper coins, buying candied haws from a vendor.

These few Daoist boys were unfamiliar faces, dressed very warmly, their cheeks frozen red, and they were very fair, tender, and clean. The two older ones were only seven or eight years old, and the younger one was only four or five years old. I don't know where they came from. What is even more amazing is that behind them, there was a white fox and a Caili cat.

The Daoist boys held copper coins in their hands, and the white fox and Caili cat also had copper coins in their mouths.

The Daoist boys handed over the copper coins, took the candied haws, and walked to the side. However, they saw the fox and Caili cat also walk up, lower their heads to put down the copper coins, and then extend their claws to push them forward, raising their heads to stare at the vendor.

The vendor was amazed, and the people around were the same.

Someone asked where the Daoist boys were from, and someone else answered that they seemed to have come down from Mount Yishan. Only then did everyone realize.

Mount Yishan has always had many immortal legends in Yixian, especially in recent years. The world is not peaceful, and there are many demons and ghosts causing trouble in the world. The Daoists who used to cultivate in the mountains often come down the mountain, so more stories have entered the ears of the people these days.

And these stories are now the personal experiences of many people. Perhaps they will have to wait for the next prosperous dynasty before they gradually become rumors that people half-believe.

"Mount Yishan?"

The bailiff who delivered the letter from the Qiyun Mountain Xuantian Temple to Mount Yishan that year had already become a squad leader. He was glowing with health, striding like a meteor. He was originally going to Fuqiu Temple to offer incense and passed by here. Seeing so many people, out of his usual habit of patrolling in the city, he came over to check and just happened to brush past the fox with the candied haws in its mouth.

Suddenly, he couldn't help but turn his head.

A trance appeared before his eyes, as if he saw the sky full of wind and snow when he first went up Mount Yishan to find the Daoist temple that year, and the fox that jumped lightly and carefree like an elf in the wind and snow.

It just felt like a long time had passed.

The second day of the New Year.

According to local customs, ancestors should be worshipped.

The shixiong and shidi of Mount Fuqiu, plus the younger juniors, wiped the statues for the ancestors in the Mountain-Moving Hall, offered incense and offerings, and then stood before the master's grave on the back mountain.

Clearing weeds, offering incense and lighting candles.

"Thanks to Master and Little Shidi, now except for Third Shidi who is drifting outside and cannot be contacted, we have all begun to practice the Great Yin-Yang Method.

"The disciple also went to ask Daoist Wangji Zi. Daoist Wangji Zi considered himself old and had no hope of attaining the Truth, so he didn't want to toss about, only saying that he would let the disciples in the temple come to our Fuqiu Temple after spring begins to listen to the disciple's teachings.

"If Master has a spirit in heaven, or a spirit on earth, and can hear it, please know.

"..."

Eldest Shixiong offered incense and lit candles, chanting words.

Everyone followed him to offer incense and inserted them in front of the grave.

"The other grave mounds are also the ancestors of the temple. As long as you can still see the grave mounds, clean them up and offer a few sticks of incense."

"Hmm..."

Everyone agreed.

Clearing the weeds here could not be done by burning with fire, even if winter had just passed and the grass and trees were all withered, just right for burning with fire.

That was not good.

Slowly cleaning by hand was not troublesome. It was a task that was neither very tiring nor time-consuming. It was the work Shimei liked to do most, and it was also a thing that could make Lin Jue's heart calm down.

Just like when he first went up the mountain, going up the mountain to cut firewood.

It's just that the person cutting firewood now has been replaced by Ji Yin and Ji Yang, even the four or five-year-old Little Lingxiao has to carry a small basket to go up the mountain to pick and carry.

However, for cultivators to visit graves, the process of burning paper money and setting off firecrackers is omitted. This was originally the beautiful hope of ordinary people. Cultivators see it more clearly and openly, so there is no need for this.

"I have to go home."

After clearing all the weeds, on the way back, Lin Jue said to Little Shimei and the shixiong.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 382 =====