I made the entire cultivation world cry

Chapter 557 Dreaming Back to the Small Village (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Lying in the tea room on the second floor of the bamboo-fenced courtyard in Youxian Ferry, Jiang Yi drank a small jar of Huimeng Yizui, which Huagu had just brewed, using peaches from the peach tree in the courtyard as a starter.

To brew this wine well, it needs to be aged in a cellar for a hundred years. Fortunately, she has a green wooden tripod, and burying it in the tripod for a few days is enough.

Jiang Yi only remembered the Green Wood Cauldron today when he went to get the wine. There was a heretical cultivator inside who was used for experiments. He had been inside the cauldron for several months and had already developed white hair and obvious signs of aging.

This means that the time acceleration inside the cauldron will affect the living beings inside, and perhaps only by advancing to become a true Creation Longevity Cauldron can this effect be eliminated.

The intoxication came quickly. Jiang Yi arranged the mayfly pillow, lay down, and fell asleep.

……

"Cousin, come down for dinner!"

The distant sound echoed in her ears. Jiang Yi slowly opened her eyes and saw the rough wooden roof beams.

It's still the scene on the second floor of the bamboo fence courtyard.

The afternoon sun shone through the open door, casting slanted spots of light on the bamboo mat, while dust motes danced in the air.

Jiang Yi was somewhat stunned. She thought she would enter Xiao Wujiu's perspective and experience the last period of his life, but she did not expect to dream back to the moment when she was going through a heart-wrenching tribulation in this small mountain village.

Jiang Yi got up and walked to the second-floor platform. The courtyard remained the same.

The morning glories under the fence were in full bloom, and several lush green vegetables stretched out in the vegetable patch.

On the low, old wooden table in the center of the courtyard, there were two bowls of steaming brown rice, a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and two cornbread buns.

Sunlight shines on the rising steam from the food, creating a simple yet warm atmosphere.

Xiao Wujiu was still wearing his patched short cloth clothes, with the cuffs rolled up, and he was bending down to put a steamed bun back into the plate.

At his feet, a large white goose with white feathers stretched its neck, flapping its wings and raising a little dust, its beak constantly reaching for the cornbread on the table, making urgent 'quack quack' sounds.

"Oh my god!" Xiao Wujiu blocked Bai Yu with his body. "What's the rush? This cornbread is for people, not for you, you greedy goose. I'll mix some wild vegetables and bran for you later."

Bai Yu was pushed aside, flapping its wings in dissatisfaction, its black bean-like eyes filled with accusations of 'I don't believe you, you just want to eat it all by yourself'.

Jiang Yi quietly watched the daily interaction between the person and the goose downstairs, and time seemed to flow backward in this small courtyard.

That figure who calmly faced death on the eve of the Cold Dew solar term now stands vividly in the bright sunlight, with a lazy smile and a lively, down-to-earth feel.

Bai Yu was still as spirited as ever, daring to challenge his master for a bite to eat.

A complex emotion, difficult to describe, spread through her heart, like an echo in a deep valley, carrying an undeniable sigh.

Jiang Yi took a breath and went downstairs.

When Xiao Wujiu saw her come down, he grinned and said, "Cousin, please sit down. The food is freshly cooked, eat it while it's hot. These wild vegetables were picked fresh from the back mountain today, they're very tender."

Jiang Yi nodded, quietly sat down at the low table, and savored the simple pleasures of life.

Xiao Wujiu paid no attention to her silence, and while pouring the mixed bran and wild vegetables into Bai Yu's food bowl, he kept babbling on and on.

"You wouldn't believe how lively it was at the village entrance this morning! Aunt Wang and Butcher Li got into another argument, this time over a scallion! Aunt Wang said Butcher Li borrowed a scallion from her and hasn't returned it, while Butcher Li said he didn't take it at all, and that Aunt Wang's old eyes are playing tricks on her..."

He broke off half a cornbread, took a bite, and continued speaking indistinctly.

"In the end, it was Old Liu who happened to pass by and said he saw it was Old Zhang's chicken that took it away yesterday... Oh my, I laughed so hard, both of them were so embarrassed, and Aunt Wang's shoe almost hit Butcher Li's back..."

As he spoke, he shook his head and swayed his body, his eyes filled with a mischievous smile that seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold.

Xiao Wujiu raised his voice as his gaze fell on Bai Yu, who was pecking at the food bowl with a clinking sound.

"You silly goose, you eat like you're fighting for food, as if you haven't eaten in eight lifetimes! Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you!"

Jiang Yi ate quietly while listening to Xiao Wujiu ramble on from one end of the village to the other, listening to his teasing of Bai Yu, and listening to Bai Yu's dissatisfied 'caw caw' sounds.

These ordinary, mundane, even trivial, aspects of everyday life sounded to her better than the most beautiful celestial music.

If she weren't a cultivator, this kind of life in the mountains would be what she longed for most.

After dinner, Xiao Wujiu tidied the table and brought out his paulownia wood zither.

"You've mastered the fingering techniques from yesterday; today I'll teach you to play a piece."

He placed the zither on the low table, gesturing for Jiang Yi to sit down, his usual relaxed smile playing on his lips. "Playing the same few notes over and over again, even I'm getting tired of it, let alone Bai Yu. We need to try something new, like..."

Before his words had even finished, Jiang Yi's finger had already fallen.

Zheng——

The very first note was like a clear spring striking a rock, ethereal and pure.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Yi's fingertips flew across the seven strings, and a series of smooth and clear sounds flowed out. Sometimes they were like the cry of a crane in the clouds, clear and high-pitched; sometimes they were like the shadow of a crane skimming the water, agile and graceful; and sometimes they were like the churning of the sea of ​​clouds, ever-changing in their grandeur.

She played the entire piece with a free and unrestrained spirit, as if the crane had broken free from the shackles of the mortal world and was soaring in the boundless blue sky.

The last note faded into the twilight, and the courtyard fell silent; even Bai Yu forgot to hiccup.

"You... this piece of music..."

Xiao Wujiu's smile froze before he even finished the first section.

Having taught Jiang Yi for over a month, Xiao Wujiu knew Jiang Yi's skill level all too well. Even a cultivator couldn't become a master of the zither overnight, could they?
Jiang Yi's fingering is precise and smooth, and his breath control is consistent throughout. What is even more remarkable is the carefree and unrestrained artistic conception in the music, which almost surpasses that of the composer!
Yes, creators!
Xiao Wujiu had just finished composing this piece the day before yesterday, and he wanted to give it to Jiang Yi after she learned to play the piano.

He hadn't even given it to her yet, but she had already learned how to do it.

Jiang Yi pressed down on the strings, stopping the lingering melody.

She raised her eyes, those eyes unfathomable. "Xiao Wujiu, you are dead!"

Xiao Wujiu's pupils contracted sharply, and the color drained from his face instantly, as if all his vitality had been drained by that casual remark.

He stared blankly at Jiang Yi, then looked down at his outstretched palm, where the calluses left from years of holding a hoe and playing the zither on his slender fingertips were clearly visible.

Is he dead?
Jiang Yi continued, "All of this is a dream that I created using a secret technique."

In a few breaths, the turbulent waves in Xiao Wujiu's eyes gradually subsided, and he slowly tugged at the corners of his mouth, curving into a relieved smile.

"It's wonderful that I can still be remembered so fondly by my senior after death, and to be able to 'live' so vividly in my senior's dream... It is my good fortune, Xiao Wujiu."

He paused, then looked at Jiang Yi.

"Senior, you went to such lengths to find me in your dreams. Is there something you wish to ask of me?"

Jiang Yi was silent for a moment before saying, "Indeed, there are two things. After you left, I found out the origin of your family and the root of the Heavenly Dao Curse. If you want to know, I can tell you."

“No need.” His voice was low. “The outcome is already decided. Under the yellow earth, I, Xiao Wujiu, am nothing but a handful of bones. What can knowing more about the causes and consequences change? Besides, this is just a dream.”

Jiang Yi looked at him and seemed to see again the man whose tombstone was inscribed with "Mr. Xiao who grows radishes," who took life and death lightly and only cherished the present moment.

Jiang Yi nodded. "The second thing isn't urgent. Since it's in my dream, would you like to cast aside this mortal body and truly experience the feeling of soaring through the sky on a sword?"

Xiao Wujiu's eyes instantly lit up with an astonishing light. The obsession and longing that had been buried deep in his family's bloodline and had been lured by the legend of his ancestors' mastery of both the zither and the sword for half his life was completely ignited at this moment.

He blurted out almost without thinking, with the hope of a young boy, "Is...is it really possible?"

"Why not a dream world?"

Jiang Yi smiled slightly and made a fist in the air with her right hand.

In an instant, the air in the courtyard seemed to be sucked away by an invisible force, and starlight fell from the sky, rapidly condensing into a long sword flowing with faint starlight in her palm.

With a flick of her wrist, she handed the longsword to Xiao Wujiu.

Xiao Wujiu took the sword with trembling hands. The moment his fingers touched the hilt, a strange power instantly flowed through his limbs and bones, cleansing his mortal meridians.

An unprecedented sense of lightness filled my entire body, as if I had broken free from invisible, heavy shackles. Every pore seemed to be cheering, and my senses became sharper than ever before.

He could 'hear' the subtle trembling of the leaves in the wind, 'see' the trails of dust falling in the night, and even vaguely sense the immense vitality hidden deep within the earth beneath his feet!

Gah!
Bai Yu seemed to sense the dramatic change in its master's aura and excitedly flapped its wings.

Jiang Yi stood up, drew a sword, and with a light touch of her toes, she moved like a flowing cloud, steadily stepping onto the ten-foot-long cyan sword light.

"follow me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yi rode his sword swiftly through the air, heading towards the sunset.

(End of this chapter)