Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

The old Taoist priest personally poured him a cup of hot tea and invited him to sit down.

I didn't talk to him about anything serious, just chatted with him about everyday things, and asked him his name and life story.

The bearded man answered each question in turn, looking rather wooden.

He finally mustered his courage and said, "Master, may I...may I stay in the Taoist temple?"

"I'll do any odd jobs or tiring work for you. I don't need to be out in the public eye. I just want to see my daughter often."

The old Taoist priest laughed and said, "Your appearance might frighten ordinary people, but you have never cultivated yourself. The Taoist priests in Xuanqing Temple can tell at a glance that you are just an ordinary person. You can't frighten anyone even if you want to."

"Speaking of which, those chickens are quite fat. I've rarely seen such plump chickens. If you'd like, sir, could you come to the temple and offer some guidance?"

Upon hearing this, the bearded man immediately perked up and exclaimed, "Yes, of course I'm willing!"

Chapter 170 Ten Years Old

Three months later.

A beam of golden sunlight shone in from outside the main room, illuminating the smooth bluestone bricks.

The once dark main room now has windows on both sides.

The house was located on an open space with no obstructions around it, so after the bamboo windows were opened, the house became well-lit, and the gloomy haunted house atmosphere was gone.

The room had many more furnishings, the most eye-catching of which was the night lamp hanging from the ceiling.

Zhuang Xing had the panda climb onto the roof beam and used a rope to hang the nightlight, creating a mystical version of a light bulb.

He hung lamps in each room in the same manner.

This wasn't the first time he had used it. In the mountain city, nightlights were used as streetlights. He secretly learned how to use it from the Magic Weapon Hall, placing the demon core inside the nightlight and adding a pull-cord switch so that he could control the light's brightness at night.

When he couldn't sleep at night, he would go to his small study to further refine his "The Tale of Demon Slayer".

However, Zhuang Xing was not writing anything in the main room at this time. He was doing something very important, something he had been working on for half a month.

He took a deep breath, concentrated intently, and pieced together the last small finger bone.

Before him lay the skeleton of a child, smaller than himself—Xiao An's skeleton.

Once the skeleton is placed on it, it naturally adheres to the whole structure.

"Xiao An, try moving it."

Zhuang Xing said softly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the skeleton took a step forward.

Good, it didn't fall apart.

Zhuang Xing guided Xiao An to walk around the house and also tried to get her to hold a broom.

He succeeded. After he rearranged the skeleton in its original order, Xiao An was able to reside inside the skeleton again and touch various things.

He nodded, let out a long breath, and put the clothes that Uncle Wei had given him on Xiao An.

It's a bit strange to dress up the skeleton, but she's a girl after all, so we can't just leave her there naked.

He led Xiao An into the courtyard. In her skeletal state, Xiao An was unable to speak, but she seemed to prefer being like this, at least she could touch things.

Zhuang Xing let go of her hand, and she walked around the yard by herself. She looked a little out of place. She had been a spirit for too long, and walking had become something she was not used to.

After she walked around and stretched for a while, Zhuang Xing helped her back into the house.

She seemed a little tired, so she emerged from the bone and crawled into the Yin-Yang Stone to sleep.

Zhuang Xing put the stone in his pocket, thinking that he would be attending the old Taoist's Taoist class in the afternoon, so he asked the panda to watch the house and went out by himself.

Speaking of which, it's already summer, and the weather is scorching hot.

The pandas lay on the floor, sticking out their tongues, too lazy to move.

That summer, he became a disciple of Ako.

The matter concerning the Yin-Yang Stone was not revealed. This stone is a great treasure, and if the news were to leak out, it would inevitably bring trouble.

He lived a uneventful life on the mountain; it was peaceful, but also somewhat boring.

As summer turned to autumn, and the maple trees on the mountain turned red, one day he suddenly realized that he would soon be ten years old.

Ten years have passed; it feels both fast and slow.

He felt that he had grown up a little.

Looking back, I don't think I felt anything special on my tenth birthday.

This day was just like any other, an extremely ordinary day.

He got up and combed the panda's fur. It wasn't noticeable in winter and spring, but they started shedding like crazy from summer to autumn. Their fur was everywhere in the house. Zhuang Xing would comb it and sometimes he could comb off a whole bunch of fur. It felt like the fur he combed off could be used to make a life-size panda doll.

After combing the panda's fur, when she went into the main room, she saw Xiao An sweeping the floor with a broom. She felt that she should do something, but the white bone's fingers were very inflexible, so she could only sweep the floor.

Zhuang Xing reheated the leftover chicken soup from last night. It was chicken soup that Uncle Wei had made when he came to the house. Uncle Wei had become a professional chicken farmer in the village, and whenever he had free time, he would come to Zhuang Xing's place to see his daughter.

Yesterday, Uncle Wei used Zhuang Xing's kitchen and cooked four dishes and a soup before Zhuang Xing returned. He looked like a housekeeper. Every time he comes, he helps Zhuang Xing tidy up the house, which makes Zhuang Xing feel a little embarrassed.

Zhuang Xing used the leftover chicken broth to cook a big pot of chicken noodle soup. The pandas have now learned to slurp the noodles, but they can only slurp a small bowl at a time.

After breakfast, he would practice in the courtyard for a while, and then go out to learn Taoist magic from the old Taoist master. Taoist magic and talismans are truly profound, with all sorts of arrangements and combinations, sometimes so profound that they give people a headache.

The only difference that day was that Yunling stayed with him for a long time.

Speaking of which, Yunling is already over thirteen years old and will soon be fourteen.

It was the age when they were young and tender, like buds just beginning to bloom.

Zhuang Xing realized he hadn't been blind; Yunling was indeed very beautiful after she grew up.

When she came to see Zhuang Xing, she dressed up specially. Her washed hair was jet black and shiny, making people want to touch it.

Zhuang Xing tried it out and found it to be very nice; it was cool to the touch and soft and smooth.

Yunling used the hairpin that Zhuang Xing bought for her in Yidu to tie her hair. What Zhuang Xing didn't expect was that she still kept that cat hair tie. It was a hair tie from five years ago, and it looked a bit old, but it was very clean. The owner of the hair tie cherished it very much.

But it's still a bit old.

"I'll get you a new hair tie another day." Zhuang Xing felt that once it got old, it needed to be replaced with a new one.

But Yunling grabbed his hand, her face slightly flushed, and said, "This one is fine."

Is this referring to a hair tie, something else, or both?

When Zhuang Xing realized what was happening, he felt a warm touch on his cheek.

This is Zhuang Xing's most profound memory of his tenth birthday.

I'll probably never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

In one's life, there are always a few moments that are unforgettable.

One more of his few moments has been added.

He didn't know what the future held, but he felt that he had indeed grown a lot. He could tell from his height that he was already half a head taller than Yunling. He would grow even taller. At this rate, he probably wouldn't need to drink milk to grow into a tall person.

However, he shouldn't have too high hopes, otherwise, like Yao Ming, he would have to bend over to enter the door, which wouldn't be good.

Lying in bed at night, he quietly made a few wishes.

There are all sorts of things. I hope Yunling won't say that I only see you as a brother in the future, and I hope that when she goes home, her little sister won't forget him.

I want to eat roasted sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, and roasted corn again in my lifetime.

This must be the most difficult wish. If it's too difficult, he'll just grant the previous ones. He's never greedy.

In short, that's how he spent his tenth year.

(The second part of the youth series, the end)

Chapter 171 Visiting Relatives

The village entrance was crowded with people, and laborers in burlap clothes carried bags of wheat onto horse-drawn carts.

Soldiers were leading horses nearby, carefully checking the wheat harvest.

So much manpower and resources were spent building the official road from Yidu to Manggu Village, all for these wheat and those wheat fields.

The village was designated by the emperor, and the wheat was something that people all over the country wanted.

I heard that the wheat seeds transported to the south last year were quite successful; the wheat actually survived the winter and yielded grain.

Although the disaster is still ongoing, the presence of hope has brought much peace to the area.

Upon receiving this news, the capital city naturally issued another policy to vigorously promote wheat, and even sourced wheat seeds from other regions.

However, the wheat seeds found elsewhere were not as good as those from Manggu Village.

The wheat seeds in Manggu Village were improved by a celestial master using celestial magic. Not only is the yield per mu high, but they are also very cold-resistant and will not suffer from acclimatization problems. Wild wheat found in some places cannot even survive the winter and can only produce a little bit of fruit. Compared to them, it is truly a difference between heaven and earth.

So even the imperial decree to dig a canal was issued, ordering that a small branch canal be dug to Manggu Village by next winter.

The canal is already half-dredged, and next year we won't need to use horses to transport seeds anymore; we can use boats directly.

After the stone mill was popularized, everyone in the world knew that wheat could be ground into flour, steamed into buns, boiled into noodle soup, and baked into flatbread. This food, which was once considered a wild food that everyone disliked, became a life-saving food, and a refined one at that.

The officers and soldiers in charge dared not slack off. If any mistakes were made and they were held responsible, according to the laws of Dayu, they would be held jointly liable, and no one could escape.

They were working with their lives on the line; no one dared to risk their lives.

As Zhuang Xing led his horse, Wu Zhui, past the village entrance, he saw that the wheat fields had been further cultivated.

Da Chun stared wide-eyed at his surroundings. He stood for a while on the gravel-paved official road at the village entrance, his eyes fixed on the passing carriages and horses, his mouth agape as he swallowed hard.

He put the green tassel around his waist. After becoming a disciple of the green tassel, he finally had the opportunity to visit his family and go home. He hadn't been back for five whole years, and he couldn't believe how much the village had changed.

"Dachun, can you still find your home?" Zhuang Xing asked him with a smile.

Da Chun scratched his head, looked around, and felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He couldn't even tell which way was north, south, east, or west, and he couldn't find his hometown anywhere.

After holding it in for a while, Da Chun muttered, "Zhuang Xing, have we taken the wrong path?"

They certainly didn't go astray, it's just that the village has changed so much.

Compared to when Zhuang Xing left last time, everything has changed a lot.