Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

She wanted to be like her father, carrying many people across the river; she thought it was a remarkable thing.

She heard voices around her; she heard many people talking, including her father and mother, as if they were calling to her.

What used to seem like huge houses and wide waterways now seem nothing special.

Looking back, she realized how far she had come.

But I'm still so unwilling to give up, I want to go even further...

She felt so cold, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably...

At that moment, two hands supported her, and two warm sensations came through, making her blurry vision clear again.

She was still on that waterway, with two exquisitely carved Taoist boys and girls beside her.

She remembered; she was driving passengers.

So she continued rowing the boat, which passed through every place she went.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she saw the sky turn a pale white, and a golden light appeared before her eyes.

Pedestrians appeared on the road, and she saw a little girl with her hair in a bun being carried onto the boat by her parents.

The girl was jumping around on the boat, hugging an oar that was much bigger than her.

Of course, that wasn't her.

But isn't that her?

She put down the oar, too weak to lift it again.

Everything around her became so blurry; all she could feel were two soft, warm masses beside her.

"Thank you..." she said with her last bit of strength.

"We should be thanking Auntie," Zhuang Xing said, brushing her eyes aside. "Thank you for showing us around Yidu."

Yunling grasped that thin wrist and finally shook her head; her heart had stopped beating.

Yunling quietly looked at that sleeping face, and finally threw herself into Zhuang Xing's arms, silently shedding tears.

Chapter 140 Spring of the thirty-seventh year of Yuanding

Five days later.

Chu Sheng and his father buried his mother together, in a place very close to their home.

There was no big funeral. The letter my mother left behind said that there was no need to hold a funeral.

We come into this world with nothing at birth, and we leave with nothing at death.

The younger siblings didn't know their mother had passed away. That day, Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling came to the house, saying they wanted to take their mother to a more distant place to rest for a while.

"When will I be able to see my mother again?"

The Taoist priest didn't speak, but simply stroked the two children's heads.

The mother left letters for her younger brother and sister, saying that she would tell them the letters when her sister got married and when her brother was ready to be a matchmaker.

My mother is illiterate, so the Taoist priest wrote the letters on her behalf.

Chu Sheng also had a letter in his hand, and he placed a bunch of cotton in front of the monument.

Officials came and took away all the cotton in the house.

He used to help his mother take care of those exotic flowers, so he accepted the government's invitation to cultivate a cotton field around Yidu.

The flowers that my mother planted to pray for blessings actually brought a lot of good fortune to the house.

"Mom, I will definitely take good care of my younger brother and sister."

He and his father left the tombstone.

Inside Yidu, Zhuang Xing patted Wuzhui's neck and fed it a steamed rice cake.

It threw a tantrum and turned its neck away.

It seems quite unhappy these past few days since returning to Yidu.

After all, it's in a crowded city, so there's no way to let it run freely.

Well, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. If it had always been kept in the stable, it certainly wouldn't be like this. But after enjoying the days of running freely in the village, it probably never wanted to be locked up again.

"Alright, alright, we're leaving soon. We'll let you run around as much as you want then, okay?" Zhuang Xing comforted him.

Wuzhui seemed to understand, lowering its head before eating the cake from Zhuang Xing's hand.

"Good black horse, good black horse, you are the best, the very best little horse." Zhuang Xing stroked its mane.

Wuzhui nuzzled his face, seemingly feeling a little better.

Afterwards, Zhuang Xing and Yunling went to the pharmacy together to buy some medicinal herbs.

Since it was a rare opportunity to visit Yidu, Zhuang Xing still took Yunling around to explore the area.

He took Yunling to try the river delicacies of Yidu and bought her a new hairpin in Beishi.

I was going to bring her a gift anyway, and now I've brought her along.

It felt like a date, but it was really hard to be happy.

Zhuang Xing recalled that night when he sat on that swaying little boat.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural order of things in the world.

Humans are born to die.

He now finally understood why the monkey in the Water Curtain Cave, upon seeing the old monkey die of old age, wanted to ask for the method of immortality.

I didn't have such a strong feeling when I watched TV series or read "Journey to the West" before.

Even when he saw those thieves being killed by white-tailed jackals a few years ago, he didn't have any particular thoughts; he just felt that the sinners deserved to die.

When my aunt passed away, there was no grand scene; she simply closed her eyes peacefully, as if she had just fallen asleep.

Such ordinariness, yet it stirred something within him.

However, I have never heard of anyone who has attained immortality while seeking the path.

Although the Taoist scriptures of Xuanqing Temple say that people can cultivate themselves into "immortals," that is something that no one can verify.

He wasn't so obsessed with seeking "immortality." He wore Taoist robes, but didn't consider himself a proper Taoist priest.

There are some teachers in the temple who have come from afar specifically to seek the Tao.

The monkey, too, single-handedly rowed his small boat, traversing mountains and seas, searching tirelessly, before finally becoming a disciple of the Bodhi Patriarch.

But Zhuang Xing's trip to Xuanqing Temple was merely a coincidence.

For many of the disciples in the temple, coming to that place was just a coincidence.

It's just a way to survive in this unstable world.

What is the Tao? And what is an immortal?

Zhuang Xing couldn't understand it; he just really wanted to go home.

He went to pick out a longevity lock for his younger sister and bought some pickled fish in the city.

Afterwards, he and Yunling visited Yan Huai'an's courtyard.

There were people in the courtyard. He opened the door and saw the female knight-errant.

The female knight-errant was actually cooking with firewood in the woodshed; this was the first time Zhuang Xing had ever seen such a thing.

The female knight was taken aback when she saw the two visitors.

She wasn't familiar with Yunling; they had only met a few times.

Yunling respected her greatly, after all, she was the benefactor who avenged her father's death.

However, despite the politeness between them, there was a growing distance between them.

That noon, Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling were taken care of by Yan Huai'an and ate the meal she cooked.

It's not exactly bad, but it's definitely not delicious either. If Zhuang Xing had to give it a rating, it would be that it wouldn't kill you.

Miss Huai'an is skilled in swordsmanship, but her cooking skills are absolutely terrible.

However, Zhuang Xing still ate every single grain of rice, praising Miss Huai'an for her delicious cooking.

It wasn't really delicious, but to say it wasn't delicious...

Miss Huai'an is emotionally fragile, so we should praise her more.

In the evening, Zhuang Xing cooked a pot of fried rice with eggs, using sesame oil he had bought.

The side dish consisted of pickled dried fish and stir-fried greens.

This cooking method is not popular in this era.

Firstly, it consumes a lot of oil; secondly, many people only know how to steam and boil, and at most, they might add baking.

Although this fried rice is simple, if you ask someone on the street what "fried rice" means, they probably wouldn't know.

You can't rely on others; the food you cook yourself is always the best.

When Zhuang Xing met Yan Huai'an, he handed over the token that Daoist Qingxuzi had entrusted to him.

"Sister Yan, Yunling and I will be going back tomorrow."

"This spring is not peaceful. I may not stay at home often and will go out more often to exorcise demons with my senior brothers and sisters."

“The village has changed a lot now, but my mother has always kept the room for my sister.”

Zhuang Xing wanted to say that his sister was welcome to come back and stay anytime, but then he remembered that with the addition of the White Rat family in the house, Yan Huai'an's sudden return might scare the White Rat family, or Yan Huai'an might be quick-witted and catch the "demon rat" in the house.

If Yan Huai'an wants to go back, he should inform Yan Huai'an in advance.

Today, he felt that he no longer needed to hide the matter of the jade slip.

Sooner or later, the white mouse will get to know Yan Huai'an.

The white mouse has reunited with its mother. It has become a house spirit, meaning it has settled down and transformed from a wild mouse into a domestic mouse. It will no longer hide from people.

He thought that Miss Huai'an would definitely like such a round and chubby thing as the Platinum Rat. Although she looked indifferent, she actually had no resistance to cute things.