Chapter 349

Autumn passes, winter comes, the north wind carries the cold, sweeping across the Central Plains.

For the common folk now, winter is the most terrifying season.

Severe cold itself is a huge threat; lacking clothes and food, countless people freeze to death in the wind and snow.

Moreover, although the Yellow Turban rebellion's main forces have been quelled, its aftershocks remain; scattered soldiers, bandits, and oppressive taxes have not lessened with the snowfall, making this winter destined to be hard to endure.

Yet paradoxically, the peasants also fear a "bad" winter deep in their hearts—without heavy snow covering the fields, the land cannot retain moisture nor freeze pests, which will affect next year's spring planting, foreshadowing possible poor harvests and famine.

The saying "auspicious snow heralds a bumper year," a plentiful winter snow, is the simplest yet heaviest hope of the lowly farmers for barely making ends meet and surviving next year.

At this moment, in front of an ordinary courtyard gate.

Diao Chan extended her small hand, catching a gently drifting snowflake; the icy feel made her slightly curl her fingers.

She turned, lifting the slightly heavy hem of her skirt, and jogged into the courtyard, stirring a faint cold wind.

Inside the courtyard, Yu Lin was squatting on the ground, fiddling with a primitive‑looking, neither copper nor iron, peculiar furnace.

There was no ordinary charcoal beneath the furnace, yet it emitted a comfortably warm heat.

"Brother, what are we eating today?" Diao Chan hopped to Yu Lin's side, curiously watching his hand movements.

Yu Lin adjusted the heat position of the boiler he had "picked up" from the Doushuai Palace, then casually pinched a pinch of Samadhi True Fire sparks into the furnace core, and the fire instantly flared.

He only then turned his head, looking at Diao Chan's little face flushed from the cold, and casually slipped a sweet Hundred‑flavor Pill into her mouth, smiling slightly: "We're having hot pot today."

"Hot pot?" Diao Chan, with the sweet melting in her mouth, didn't understand the term, but based on absolute trust in Yu Lin's cooking, she immediately nodded vigorously and said vaguely, "Okay!"

She watched Yu Lin take out three sets of bowls and chopsticks, placing them on the small table beside him, and couldn't help tilting her head to ask: "Brother, are there guests today?"

Yu Lin nodded, his gaze seeming to pierce the courtyard wall outward: "Hmm. Go wait at the door; if later you see someone walking toward us, that will be a guest."

"Okay!" Diao Chan replied obediently, turned and ran back to the courtyard entrance, standing on tiptoe to look out.

At this time, the street had few pedestrians, appearing unusually desolate.

Most common folk were curled up at home… or rather, curled up in corners that could barely fend off the cold wind.

Many impoverished households' houses leaked wind on all sides, like ice cellars, utterly uninhabitable.

Many could only dig cellars inside the house or courtyard, squeezing the family into cramped, dark underground spaces, relying on each other's body heat for warmth. Being able to burn charcoal to chase the cold was a luxury only wealthy families could imagine.

Thus, the street was empty and desolate, with only wind and snow falling silently.

Diao Chan, with both hands supporting her cheeks, leaned against the door, sipping the sweet Hundred‑flavor Pill bite by bite, her big eyes unblinking as she stared toward the street's end.

After an unknown amount of time, at the far end of the snow‑blinded street, a figure finally appeared.

The person walked at an unhurried pace, facing the wind and snow, letting sparkling flakes cover his shoulders and hair knot, as if the biting cold mattered not to him.

His steps were composed, as if strolling in his own courtyard.

Diao Chan's eyes lit up, feeling this was the person! She instantly turned, sprinted back into the courtyard, and shouted to Yu Lin, "Brother, brother! A guest seems to have arrived!"

Yu Lin, just having set down the bowl of prepared dipping sauce, looked up at the sound, a barely noticeable doubt flashing in his eyes: "Hmm? Arrived?"

His spiritual sense had already detected an aura outside the door, but this aura…

His gaze turned outward, landing precisely on the figure who had already reached the doorway, rudely pushing open the loosely latched gate and stepping in.

The newcomer had white hair and beard, a clear ancient visage, dressed in an utterly ordinary gray Daoist robe, his face bearing a half‑smile, and his eyes first fell upon the bubbling hot pot.

"Yu Lin, eating alone is not good."

"…Lao Jun, how did you find the time to lower yourself and come to me?"

"Nothing much, just came to find you for a meal."

"Just a meal?"

"Of course." Lao Jun answered as if it were obvious, already sitting on the empty chair by himself, eyes half‑closed, as if awaiting the start of the meal.

He only looked at the furnace, pinching his long beard:

"This furnace, why does it look somehow familiar?"

Yu Lin shrugged: "Picked up by the roadside, not clear, don't know, not aware."

"Diao Chan, go get another set of bowls and chopsticks."

He changed the subject.

Diao Chan, hearing that, jogged to the kitchen.

Soon she brought out a clean set of bowls and chopsticks, placed them on the table before Lao Jun, mimicking the adults with a proper "please" gesture:

"Sir, please use them."

Lao Jun smiled warmly at her, patting Diao Chan's head: "Alright, alright, thank you."

"Here, take this candy ball and eat it."

Saying so, he flicked his wrist, produced a "candy ball", and slipped it into Diao Chan's small hand:

"Thank you, sir!" Diao Chan, feeling Lao Jun's kindness, gratefully thanked him, holding the candy ball in her palm.

She then turned and ran back to the doorway, continuing to wait for the real guest.

She wasn't foolish; she could tell that the guest Yu Lin mentioned wasn't this sir.

The Hundred‑flavor Pill Yu Lin had given her earlier was already finished, still lingering in her mouth, so she shoved the "candy ball" Lao Jun gave her into her mouth. A sweetness and warmth far richer and gentler than the Hundred‑flavor Pill instantly melted inside, making her so comfortable she squinted.

The wind and snow seemed even stronger, the street becoming increasingly empty and desolate.

Just as Diao Chan thought she would have to wait a long time, her gaze suddenly fixed—

At the street's end, amid the snow‑blurred haze, a figure slowly emerged.

The person wore a slightly worn bright‑yellow robe, standing out in the endless white snowscape like a bright yellow flame quietly burning in the biting wind without scorching.

Stepping through the snow, his figure appeared both slightly blurred and yet very clear among the swirling flakes.

Only upon reaching Diao Chan did he bow his hand and say:

"Zhang Jiao is visiting; fellow Daoist, are you here?"