Calabash Fairy

When the group from Jinzhi Village arrived in Xiahe Village, they had nowhere to stay. Those with relatives or friends stayed temporarily in other people's homes, while those who didn't know anyone there could make do in the woodshed.

"Xueyi, you've really worked hard these past few days."

As evening fell, in a side room of Old Mrs. Zhang's house in the east of the village, Granny Su looked at Su Xueyi across the room and sighed softly.

As she grew older, her health deteriorated, and she became weaker day by day. Her granddaughter not only had a predestined connection with the gods but was also exceptionally intelligent. Therefore, she had the idea of ​​having her granddaughter inherit the position of village chief.

As it turns out, Su Xueyi did a great job, arranging everything in an orderly manner. Those villagers who opposed her back then are now completely obedient and can't utter a single word of dissent.

However, this is too hard on my granddaughter...

Su Xueyi, who was staring blankly out the window, snapped out of her reverie, turned to look at her white-haired grandmother, and smiled:

"Grandma, we've depended on each other for so many years, why say such things?"

Her parents died early. When she was nine years old, her father went into the mountains to chop firewood and encountered a pack of starving wild dogs, who killed him.

Her mother was already in poor health, and upon hearing of her husband's death, she died of grief within six months.

After so many funerals in the family, she and her grandmother were left all alone...

When she was a child, she felt that her life was miserable and hated her own weakness and powerlessness. She often cried. But isn't that how it is in the mountains? And how many families have had such experiences?

As long as you're alive, you must be strong...

But in Xiahe Village today, it seems that this is no longer necessary.

Su Xueyi turned her head again to look out the window. The bright moonlight shone on the village's dirt road. The people, exhausted from a long day's work, still wore smiles. Occasionally, a dog barked or a few laughs could be heard. Everything seemed so peaceful and serene...

The last time she came to Qingfeng Mountain, she liked to quietly look at the village when the night was deep and quiet.

"It's just like a painting from a dream..."

Su Xueyi's eyes were glazed over as she murmured as if in a dream.

Grandma Su looked at Su Xueyi's slender back, a pang of heartache flashing in her cloudy eyes. After a long while, she said:

"Xueyi, entrust Jinzhi Village to Yang Sheng. If things continue like this, it won't be long before the six villages merge into one, with no distinction between you and me. This is bound to happen, and it's a good thing."

"You don't need to worry about me. Just go with your master and leave this place..."

Upon hearing this, Su Xueyi trembled, turned her head, blinked, and smiled:

"Don't worry, Grandma, these things are no problem for me. Everyone will be fine. I am a cultivator."

"What's more... there's also the mountain god who made Xiahe Village what it is today..."

On the rooftop, Fairy Yunhua sat quietly, facing the bright moon. Only now did she slowly open her eyes, her bright eyes revealing a gentle light.

Her disciple looks almost exactly like her back then...

............................................

Three days later, at the summit of Qingfeng Mountain.

These past few days, the villagers at the foot of the mountain have been busy, but as they cut down trees to build houses, they are constantly expanding into the forests outside the village, so they don't disturb this place. Also, since not many people come to Qingfeng Mountain to burn incense, it has become completely quiet, but the number of people burning incense here is gradually increasing.

At this moment, in Fang Yan's perception, in a corner of the village, a six or seven-year-old child was standing in front of a mud mound made of soil, which could be tentatively called a "mountain god statue," and was respectfully worshipping it, imitating the adults.

But he really could hear the little child's inner thoughts...

"Mountain God! Please! Please!! Don't let my father find the broken knife hidden under the rock in the chicken coop! I don't want to be hung up and beaten by him again!!!"

"That lousy knife! That broken knife! Dad used it for years and it was fine! It was definitely waiting for me, deliberately trying to frame me!!"

Fang Yan couldn't help but chuckle as he listened to the childish yet aggrieved cries.

"That silly boy..."

Fang Yan glanced at the Wanbao Token in his hand, which was gleaming with a bronze luster, and then hung it back up.

As the merchant from Wanbao Trading Company approached, the Wanbao Token in his hand gradually reacted, letting him know when the merchant would arrive.

Judging from Wan Baoling's reaction, although he is not far from Qingfeng Mountain, it should still be some time away.

With a flick of his wrist, Fang Yan conjured up the two broken pieces of the knife that the doll had hidden under the chicken coop rock.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll help you out, kid. But whether you escape this beating or not is up to you."

As a light blue spiritual flame ignited at Fang Yan's fingertips, the broken ends of the two blades quickly turned red and softened. Fang Yan then pressed the broken parts back together and pinched the red-hot ends a few times with his palm, quickly reconnecting and shaping them.

Once all this was over, Fang Yan gently exhaled a breath onto the blade in his hand, and the heat on the blade quickly dissipated, completely restoring it to its original state.

"That's good."

Fang Yan nodded in satisfaction, and with a casual wave of his hand, the knife in his hand instantly disappeared, returning to the ground beneath the stone.

Just then, a buzzing sound suddenly came.

"Buzz—"

Fang Yan looked down and saw the bronze token at his waist trembling incessantly. A presence also quickly appeared in the Qingfeng Mountain area, heading straight for Qingfeng Mountain; clearly, it was the arrival of merchants from the Wanbao Trading Company.

"Fellow Daoist, the merchants should have arrived by now. If needed, please feel free to call me up the mountain."

As he heard Fairy Yunhua's gentle voice, Fang Yan quickly sent a telepathic message to express his gratitude, knowing that it was she who had discovered the commotion, which put his mind at ease.

In just a few breaths, a golden streak of light flashed across the sky and landed in front of Fang Yan, revealing its form.

It was a demon with a white-haired rat's head, bright golden eyes, wearing a brocade red robe, and carrying a golden abacus at her waist.

As soon as the white-haired rat spirit appeared, it quickly surveyed its surroundings, then stepped forward with a smile, cupped its hands in greeting, and said in a slightly shrill voice:

"I am Money Rat from Wanbao Trading Company. Is this Mountain God interested in trading some treasures?"

Fang Yan returned the greeting with a cupped hand:

"Exactly."

The money rat's smile widened, and he quickly said:

"May I ask your name, sir? What treasure do you wish to trade? And could you allow me to examine it?"

Good heavens... the sun must have risen in the west today!

I thought that this trip to the Ten Thousand Mountains would bring me back to those stupid monsters who accidentally obtained the Myriad Treasures Token but didn't know how to trade it and only knew how to fight each other. But I never expected to meet a virtuous god today!

It's no wonder the Money Rat looks like this; it's because over the years, it's been tormented by the monsters on the outskirts of the Hundred Thousand Mountains who summoned it to trade, only to kill it and steal its treasure before they could even exchange three words.

According to the rules of the trading company, he couldn't not come...

Fang Yan found the overly enthusiastic smile of the money rat a little strange, but he didn't think too much about it and replied:

"You may address me as Fang Yan. As for the spiritual item I requested from your guild..."

As Fang Yan spoke, he took out a jade bottle from his sleeve and presented it to the money rat. The money rat quickly and carefully took it, uncorked it, sniffed it, and its eyes lit up immediately. It exclaimed in admiration:

"It's actually the highest quality Purple Crystal Pill, with almost no impurities. This is a real treasure. Female cultivators from immortal sects love this beauty-enhancing gem the most."