Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

This land is like a dried-up riverbed.

Near the fields is a babbling brook. Zhuangxing once attended a funeral by the brook. The village is built along the water and has a very advantageous location.

Looking towards the source of the stream, one can see mountains shrouded in mist. It must have been the melting snow on the mountains that created this vibrant stream. In the blink of an eye, he saw two small fish dart across the water.

The last time I came to this place was in winter when the tiger spirit was beheaded by Miss Huai'an. At that time, the fields were covered with snow, and all that could be seen was desolation.

But at this moment, the fields are full of life.

Spring has arrived, all things are coming back to life, and it's time for the animals to...

Zhuang Xing wouldn't mind watching the animals' breeding process, but unfortunately, he didn't see any animals in the field, only wildly growing weeds.

The weeds are incredibly vigorous, some even too vigorous. The snow had barely melted when they grew into this rampant state, displaying their boundless vitality.

Many people were cutting grass in the fields with sickles. Some of them had already finished cutting the grass and were now driving their oxen to plow the land in preparation for sowing.

Zhuang Xing rode on his father's shoulders to observe the yellow ox. The ox silently pulled the wooden plow, loosening the soil underneath and exposing the roots of weeds in the mud, making it look somewhat messy.

That cow should be the village's public property, just like a bus, which anyone can use.

Before long, the father put Zhuang Xing down and stopped in front of a field where most of the weeds had already been cut.

"Father, is this our family's land?" Zhuang Xing asked.

He wanted to know whether his father only had the right to use the land, or whether he owned the land.

The difference between the two is significant; one can basically tell what the world is like by examining the ownership of the land.

If this land belongs to a landlord or government official, and the father is only renting it to cultivate, and in addition to paying the autumn tax every year, he also has to pay rent regularly, then it means that the current world is very unfriendly to the poor, and it is likely that it is a situation where "the rich feast while the poor freeze to death on the streets."

The more concentrated the land is in the hands of the powerful and wealthy, the more difficult life becomes for ordinary people. According to the course of history, at this time, another great famine often occurs, and the peasants, driven to the brink of despair, will begin to rebel.

Of course, that's according to the general course of history; in this world, there are many more variables to consider.

Zhuang Xing was still unclear about the level of cultivation that a cultivator like Miss Huai'an could reach. If a top expert could defeat an army of ten thousand, then the common sense that Zhuang Xing knew would no longer apply.

"Yes," the father replied, patting Zhuang Xing's head. "These fifty acres of land all belong to our family."

As he spoke, his father pointed from one end to the other.

One mu of land is about the size of a basketball court. Fifty basketball courts stacked together would be a considerable amount of land.

My father cleared most of the weeds from such a large plot of land; he worked incredibly hard.

"Wow, amazing!" Zhuang Xing's eyes lit up as he scanned the farmland.

He genuinely felt that his father was amazing. Last year, his father single-handedly took care of such a large field, grew enough grain to feed the family, and even paid the taxes.

“We’ll have even more land in the future,” the father smiled. “When you grow up, you’ll be allocated land, and my land will be yours too.”

His father beamed with joy, and Zhuang Xing gleaned a wealth of information from his words.

If the father's statement is correct, then it means that he, as a farmer's child, does not need any special conditions; he only needs to grow to a certain age to be allocated land.

Secondly, it seems he can also inherit his father's land.

From this perspective, the current ruler can be considered a "wise ruler".

If this policy is strictly enforced, and officials and powerful figures do not engage in private land sales or infringe upon the rights of farmers, then the current world can be called a "prosperous and peaceful era."

This aligns with Zhuang Xing's impression. His family is just a bit poor and lives a frugal life, but otherwise they are doing quite well. Apart from the tiger spirit that suddenly broke in that night, they have never been robbed. The funerals they attended last year were all for elderly people who had reached a certain age.

He hadn't heard of anything like arson, murder, looting, or plunder yet.

This relieved him. He believed it was better to be a dog in times of peace than a human in times of chaos. Although he had some yearning for this world, he also knew that reality was often cruel.

Even if he had a vision ahead of his time, who knows what form the accident might take?

Just like when he got up to urinate that night, he never imagined that he would attract a tiger spirit that kills without hesitation.

He knew very well that he was not capable of guaranteeing his own safety.

The village's safety is basically protected by the old hunter and his team. Under normal circumstances, the old hunter can handle it, but if it's someone like the tiger spirit, the village will probably be stained with blood.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xing grasped the talisman that Miss Huai'an had left him.

The cool touch from his palm gave him a sense of security, and his anxiety and confusion about the future vanished as he held the talisman.

Just as he was about to let go and ask his father for more information, he suddenly felt the amulet vibrate.

Hmm, my badge is vibrating? Is there a sorceress nearby?

Is it just my imagination?

As if in response to him, the amulet vibrated again, and this time the sensation was even stronger.

What's going on? Is there a monster nearby? Did the amulet work?

He gripped the amulet tightly and looked around warily.

He suddenly froze as he looked into the middle of the stream.

There appeared a snow-white lotus flower, with lotus-shaped leaves supporting its stem. The lotus petals were distinct, totaling twenty-four, surrounding the pale yellow stamens.

Zhuang Xing quickly took out the amulet to examine it. The lotus flower was exactly the same as the pattern engraved on the amulet, as if it had been carved from the lotus flower itself.

This is completely illogical. First of all, a lotus flower shouldn't be standing alone in that kind of place. Moreover, Zhuang Xing remembers very clearly that when he first looked at the stream, there was no lotus flower at all; it appeared suddenly.

But when he looked up again, the lotus flower had vanished.

Like a mirage, dreamlike and illusory, only flowing water remains there.

Chapter 26 Lotus

The lotus flower disappeared. I have no idea why it appeared or why it disappeared.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that the lotus flower is probably related to the amulet that Miss Huai'an gave him.

After all, the two were too similar. Just as the amulet vibrated, the lotus appeared before his eyes. How could there be such a coincidence?

To be honest, none of the people drawing water from the waterwheels by the stream reacted.

Am I the only one who can see this?

Zhuang Xing was full of questions. He subtly inquired with his father whether anything strange had happened in the river, such as white lotuses growing there, but he did not receive any useful information.

Zhuang Xing sat at the edge of the field, resting his chin on his hand, looking at the water not far away.

That river is an important water source for the village; they rely on it to fetch water and irrigate the fields. If there were anything unusual, the villagers should have noticed it long ago.

Judging from his own opinion, it seemed like some kind of hint, like when an NPC with a golden exclamation mark above their head appears on the screen while playing a game.

Is this some kind of signal?

What's in that river?

Or did he trigger some kind of switch, and the appearance of that lotus flower was actually related to the strength and angle at which he held the amulet?

He took out the amulet and tried to recreate the scene, but nothing happened.

We really need to do an on-site investigation. Let's go take a look over there.

He stood up and walked a few steps towards the river.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed him.

“We can’t go there,” the father said.

"Daddy, I want to drink water." Zhuang Xing tried to get away with it by being cute.

The father squatted down, took a water bag from his waist, and uncorked it.

"Drink Father's water."

The plan failed, and his father kept a very close watch on him, never letting him out of his sight.

Helpless, he tilted his head back and drank two mouthfuls of water, then could only continue to follow his father, walking back and forth in the fields.

However, his gaze remained fixed on the other side of the river.

He saw the back of a girl; a little girl with braided pigtails was standing by the river. The focus of their gazes and Zhuang Xing's focus were on the same point.

The little girl, just like him, was looking at the place where the white lotus appeared.

I felt that the figure looked very familiar.

Riverside, a little girl's back view...

The little girl turned her head, and Zhuang Xing saw her face.

Zhuang Xing remembered that they had met before; they had met briefly at a funeral a year ago.

It was that child who didn't cry or make a fuss at the funeral.

Why is she staring at the same spot as me? Did she also see the white lotus?

Before I could think much of it, the little girl was already heading into the village. She was carrying a small wooden basin containing several pieces of children's clothes that were soaked with water. It seemed that she had been washing clothes by the river alone.

Zhuang Xing noticed something strange: when the little girl came over, the villagers deliberately avoided her.

The woman carrying the wooden basin lowered her head and hurried past her. The man tilling the fields by the roadside put down his hoe and only resumed his work after she had gone far away.

Even the father behaved strangely when the little girl passed by.

His father, as if protecting him, held him in his arms.

You could clearly feel an atmosphere of exclusion; everyone was trying to keep their distance from her.

The little girl seemed to know she was unwelcome; she kept her head down and hurried away with small, quick steps.

"Father, why is everyone avoiding her?" Zhuang Xing asked bluntly.

The father did not answer the question. He remained silent about the little girl, as if speaking of it would bring him great misfortune.

Well, Zhuang Xing does know that backward times can have some bad habits.

For example, relatives of those who died in an accident are considered unlucky during and for a period of time after the funeral, because a death in the family is an omen of misfortune and bad luck, and associating with them may bring bad luck.

She's just a little girl, only a few years old. Is it really necessary to treat her with such cold violence?

Ugh...

This child is only a few years old, yet he has already experienced the coldness and warmth of human relationships.

But Zhuang Xing didn't have any good ideas either; he was still just a child himself.