Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

The craftsmen who make thermometers don't need to understand that much.

All you need to do is make a tube that is as transparent as possible and seal the mercury inside.

Zhuangxing doesn't have high requirements for accuracy and sealing. Some errors are acceptable, as long as a general range can be measured.

Making a thermometer by hand is quite difficult, especially since glass manufacturing technology was not yet advanced. You can imagine how troublesome it would be to make a sealed tube.

As the client, it's best not to make things too difficult for the contractor.

After getting this matter settled, Zhuang Xingcai told Yunling about the white rats.

The two sat inside the tent, which was Yunling and Daoist Yuanyan's private tent, right next to the wheat field. It was fully furnished, with wool felt on both beds.

Even inside the tent, there was a field covered with wheat seeds for replacement; the tender green shoots were growing tenaciously in the freezing cold.

A charcoal fire burned in the tent, the red-hot coals crackling as they burned. Zhuang Xing sat by the fire, warming his hands, and whispered about the white rats to Yunling.

When Yunling heard that the white mouse had given birth, she was stunned for a long time; she was quite surprised.

"Even white mice have babies now..." She pursed her lips, her eyes glancing almost imperceptibly at Zhuang Xing beside her.

"If you're free today, would you like to come to my house and see it?" Zhuang Xing circled his index finger and thumb. "Its baby is only this small, it looks like it could be eaten in one bite, like a rice ball."

“You can’t eat its babies.” Yunling grabbed Zhuang Xing’s hand with a serious expression.

"I was just giving an example," Zhuang Xing laughed. "But if you go today, you might not see those two little furballs. Big White is a bit shy. I've been home for a month, and it's only now that it's willing to show its face. If it's your first time going, it'll probably hide from you."

"Oh, I see..." Yunling said with a hint of disappointment. "Then I'll go take a look tonight. I haven't seen it for many years."

"Then come to my house for dinner tonight, I'll pick you up," Zhuang Xing said.

“Okay.” Yunling nodded. “Let me see those dried fruits and hay too, I’ll see if there are any I recognize.”

"They're all here." Zhuang Xing took out a package from his pocket and placed the herbs on the table.

There are eight haystacks in total. Judging from their appearance and the shape of their leaves, they are three different kinds. There are fewer fruits, only five, which should be two kinds of dried fruits.

He handled them gently and arranged them neatly.

Yunling used a knife to cut off a few grass leaves and fruit pieces, smelled them, then soaked them separately in water to observe their color. She even dipped a little water in the water with chopsticks and tasted them.

The herbal fragrance was unique; one particular type of dried herb, once cut open, was enough to invigorate Zhuang Xing just by smelling it.

It smells like mint, but it's more invigorating.

Yunling sat down to examine the notes, quietly flipping through them. She carried a notebook with her, filled with writing and drawings, and it had many pages.

Zhuang Xing rested his chin on his hand, silently watching her profile.

A strand of soft, long hair fell beside the girl's ear. When she was serious, she looked very solemn, making people inexplicably afraid to speak.

But sometimes, you don't need to say anything; just looking at her is enough to make you happy.

When she looked at the herbs, Zhuang Xing looked at her.

Yunling watched for a while, and Zhuang Xing also watched for quite a while.

Yunling divided the hay and dried fruit into two piles, pointed to one pile and said, "I recognize these, but I'm not so sure about the others yet. I'll have to take another look. It may take two or three days before I can identify them."

"No rush, take your time," Zhuang Xing said.

"Well, let me start by talking about the ones I've already recognized."

Yunling picked up a blade of dry grass. The grass leaves were thin and long, about the width of a human finger, and the whole thing was only about three inches, or about ten centimeters.

The spiritual herbs and fruits brought by the white rat were all small in size. Its mouth was small, and it couldn't swallow them all in one bite. It probably couldn't take away the spiritual herbs and fruits that couldn't be stored.

“This is called Tiankui grass,” Yunling said. “It is cold in nature and bitter in taste. It generally grows in high mountain streams and needs to be constantly moistened and washed by snow water in order to grow.”

“There was a time when a cultivator got lost on a snow mountain. He had exhausted his true qi and food, and was almost dying. He fell into an icy river and was fortunate enough to find the Heavenly Sunflower Grass. He ate it and recovered. He walked for seven days and seven nights and found a village.”

"It is said that he did not eat anything for those seven days, and drank snow water when he was thirsty. After being helped by the villagers, he recuperated for a while and regained his strength."

"It looks like this Tiankui Grass is twenty years old. If you eat it directly, it can refresh you and keep you awake for days. It can also be used to refine some restorative pills."

"Scented iris, huh..."

Zhuang Xing pondered that he had seen this kind of spiritual herb in the jade slip. It was quite rare, after all, it grew in places that were difficult for people to reach.

The phrase "high mountain water splashes" implies that to pick it, one must climb steep cliffs and wade through rushing water.

The difficulty in harvesting makes it valuable.

"So, if I eat this, I don't need to eat rice?"

He held the Tiankui grass in his palm and looked at it.

“It’s best not to do that. The cultivator who survived from the snow mountain had his hair turn gray when he was young after eating Tiankui Grass. Although he survived, he died at a very young age,” Yunling said. “However, Tiankui Grass is water-based and has a mild medicinal effect, unlike Chiyan Grass, which is very irritating. It will not harm the body, and even ordinary people can use it as medicine.”

"After consuming it, eat a proper meal, and it won't harm your body's fundamental health."

"I see..." Zhuang Xing said, "What about the others?"

"This is dragon fruit..."

Yunling continued, while Zhuang Xing listened from the side.

In addition, Yunling also shared some of her speculations about the herbs that were not yet confirmed.

Most of them seem to be relatively rare spiritual plants, and the mountain dragon fruit is even more useful for Yunling's vitality spell. She seems to have some new ideas and is just missing a main spiritual plant.

This dragon fruit has a seed, which means that Yunling might be able to cultivate it herself.

The Platinum Mouse truly lives up to its reputation as a treasure-hunting mouse; over the past three years, it has found quite a few valuable items.

Zhuang Xing entrusted all the spiritual plants to Yunling for safekeeping and was about to leave when he suddenly heard footsteps outside.

Just as Yunling put away the spiritual plants, a corner of the tent curtain was lifted.

A wrinkled face came into view. Master Yuan Yan glanced around the tent and his eyes suddenly sharpened when he saw Zhuang Xing.

"Greetings, Daoist Yuanyan." Zhuang Xing quickly bowed as a disciple.

Master Yuan Yan nodded, taking it as an agreement, but her gaze was not on Zhuang Xing; she was still looking inside.

“Master, you’re back,” Yunling said.

"Have you checked the fields?" Master Yuanyan asked.

“I’ve seen it,” Yunling said.

"Let me see the dictionary."

"Yes," Yunling replied and went to get it.

Chapter 134 Winter Wheat and the Pig Demon (Two-in-One)

Master Yuan Yan took the paper from Yun Ling and remained expressionless.

Looking back, Zhuang Xing seemed to have never seen this elderly division commander smile.

She always seemed to have an unhappy face, making her difficult to approach.

Despite having Yunling as a connection, Zhuang Xing and she were not very familiar with each other.

After Master Yuanyan returned, Zhuang Xing felt a little uneasy, vaguely sensing that the master intended to see him off.

So, following proper etiquette, he bid farewell to Daoist Yuanyan, waved to Yunling, and left the tent.

Inside the tent, Yuan Yan carefully reviewed the wheat seedling information recorded by Yun Ling.

After turning the page, she closed it, looked up, and said.

“This wheat is a life-saving food for many people, Yunling. You should understand that there are very few people in the world who can cultivate this wheat.”

"You may have been playing for a little while, but do you know how many people go hungry and cold in this snowy weather?"

"We are saving the world, not just planting wheat."

"It's fine when you're on the mountain, but once you come down, you should put away your playful desires and not get distracted when you're doing serious work."

“Master, we weren’t playing,” Yunling said.

"Then tell me what you and he were doing?" Yuan Yan's tone became more serious. "I know you and he have known each other since you were little, but as a girl, you should know that everything should be done with a sense of priority."

“Master, we really weren’t playing around,” Yunling said stubbornly.

"I'm asking you, when did he arrive?" Yuan Yan looked into her eyes.

“He arrived shortly after Master went out,” Yunling said.

"What did you all do after he arrived?" Yuan Yan pressed.

Yunling met his gaze without flinching and recounted everything she and Zhuang Xing had done.

She said that Zhuang Xing helped her with some work in the fields, the most important of which was, of course, the thermometer.

Yuan Yan initially appeared serious, but upon hearing the rest, he became somewhat speechless.

The two children stayed together, and surprisingly, they didn't play at all.

She frowned and had Yunling explain the tool for measuring temperature in detail.

Yunling demonstrated with her master by the fire, using snow.

It's hard to believe that such a clever method was come up with by an eight-year-old child.

Moreover, he even thought of using lead concentrate to measure hot and cold, and after pondering the ingenuity of this, Yuan Yan couldn't bring himself to blame him.

“Master, Zhuang Xing is very smart,” Yunling said. “He is much smarter than me. I’ve known that since we were little.”

"He can understand many things that I can't understand."

“I can learn a lot from being with him.”

Yuan Yan was silent for a while, then asked, "So you're staying with him because you think you can learn a lot from him?"

Yunling shook her head.

Yuan Yan sighed, knowing that he could no longer dissuade the child.

She had no children of her own, and after several years of getting to know Yunling, she had come to regard her as her own daughter.

When she returned from her trip to the outside world and saw her daughter and the wild boy in her sleeping tent, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

"Never mind, it was Master's fault."