Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

Zhuang Xing witnessed this scene at the teahouse in the Monster Village. A tabby cat was brewing tea by a small stove, with a small towel draped over its head. There were no benches or square tables, only straw mats woven from cattails, and the guests all sat on the straw mats.

Although it's a shop run by demons, the customers aren't just demons. Besides Zhuang Xingyunling, there are also quite a few police officers drinking tea here.

However, there weren't many people; only a few constables and their monster friends sat and chatted.

It's not time to rest yet; the place gets most lively at dusk.

Most of the demons in the demon village have gotten used to life here, and everything has gradually become stable.

"This is cat medicine."

The black cat placed a fluffy ball on the straw mat in front of Zhuang Xing.

"If you feed this cat medicine to the tabby cat on the mountain, it will become smarter."

Zhuang Xing glanced at the "Cat's Pill" a few times, but did not touch it with his hand.

He didn't know much about alchemy, but he could still tell that this was probably an elixir made from cat demon fur and some unknown herbs.

He couldn't help but wonder how the pill was made. In his memory, cat demons didn't seem to know how to use fire, and cats had the habit of licking their fur. When the fur was crumpled up in their stomachs, they would vomit up these indigestible fur balls.

Could this "Cat's Pill" be made in this way?

He looked at Yunling with a sense of doubt.

Yunling was also examining the Cat's Nest Pill. It was unclear whether she had figured out how it was made. Zhuang Xing ultimately didn't pry, since he wasn't the one who was consuming the pill.

"Yunling, you keep this Cat's Pill safe."

Yunling is an expert in elixirs, so Zhuang Xing felt comfortable entrusting the elixir to her.

Yunling nodded, took out a black sandalwood box, wrapped it in cloth, and carefully sealed the cat's elixir inside.

Seeing that the Taoist had put away the Cat Pill, the old fox beside the cat also took out a scroll of paper.

That wasn't straw paper, but a roll of animal hide paper, which looked quite old.

"Please accept this, sir," said the old fox.

"What is this?" Zhuang Xing looked at the old fox in confusion.

"This contains the secrets of my fox clan," the old fox said. "I have no way to repay your great kindness, sir, so I can only express my gratitude with this item. Please accept it."

"This..." Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling exchanged a glance, and finally accepted the animal skin paper. "Then thank you very much, fellow Daoist."

"Are you leaving tomorrow, sir?"

"Now that this matter is settled, I should return to the mountain and meet with my superiors."

"May I ask which sacred mountain you studied under?" the old fox asked respectfully.

When they first met, the fox asked the Taoist the same question, but the Taoist did not answer it at that time.

But times have changed. Although the words are the same, the meaning behind them is completely different now.

Zhuang Xing smiled and replied softly, "It's not exactly a sacred mountain, but it's a good place for cultivation. The mountain is called Qingxuan Mountain, and the Xuanqing Temple on the mountain is where we cultivate."

"The old fox has remembered it," said the old fox.

"After I leave, if any of you encounter difficulties, please seek help from Bai Yu at the Pucao Merchants Association. I also hope that you will do more good deeds and accumulate more blessings. I will visit you again another day."

"I will follow your teachings."

...

The next day, the Taoist priest boarded a light boat and sailed away.

Passersby suddenly noticed that there were many cats and dogs standing by the reeds at the ferry crossing, watching the small boat as if they were saying goodbye.

But as the light boat left, in the blink of an eye, the cats and dogs disappeared without a trace, as if they had never appeared.

...

Several days later, at Xuanqing Temple.

Qingxuzi lay on the bamboo chair, listening to his disciple recount the monster's deeds.

"And you actually managed to get this done for you."

"This is the method that the fox clan gave me."

Zhuang Xing spread out the roll of animal hide. There were no words on it, only some totem-like pictures.

It's not hard to understand; you can immediately grasp the meaning of these patterns. It's like a children's picture book that even a little kid can understand. It simply uses simple lines to draw actions and postures, recording the methods of breathing and exhalation.

"What about Cat's Pills?"

"I've already asked the tabby cat's owner and made the tabby cat take it," Zhuang Xing said.

Er Ya is not a wild tabby cat; she is a cat kept by a seamstress in the temple.

The mother-in-law was used to things involving spirits and monsters, and she didn't object at all to her cat becoming a spirit; in fact, she was quite happy about it.

The mother-in-law only cared about one thing: "If this child eats this cat pill, will he turn into a different cat?"

"Of course not. This cat pill only helps it develop intelligence. It will still be itself and won't change. Even if it takes this pill, it won't be able to speak immediately. It will just help it learn to speak like a human."

Upon hearing this, the mother-in-law readily accepted it and fed the pill to the tabby cat at her feet this morning.

Qingxuzi fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan and sighed, "It was my preconceived notion that demons are beasts and should not be associated with."

“Master, besides the fox clan’s methods, I have also inquired about some other matters,” Zhuang Xing said. “The demon race lives in the mountains and wilderness year-round, and they are more knowledgeable about the changes in the world. They know better than we do where there is peace and where there is turmoil.”

“I also consulted with the teachers and officers who had never been to these places before, and based on the map of Chenzhou, I have compiled a rough ‘Linlu Shuize Jing’ (Forest Roads and Waterways Classic).

Zhuang Xing then took out a printed thread-bound book. The old Taoist was taken aback, then sat up from the bamboo chair, leaned back, and opened the book, "The Water and Marsh Classic," to examine it carefully.

After flipping through only a few pages, the old Taoist priest showed surprise.

The things written in this book were things he had never seen before, or rather, things that had never been written in a book before, nor had anyone written them in such detail.

Just by looking at the book's title, one can find information on the distribution of monsters throughout Chenzhou, the habits of various monsters, and so on.

The contents of this book were all obtained by Zhuang Xing from the demons themselves. They were narrated by the demons and compiled from their own experiences. The book also contains the demons' methods of dealing with danger, many of which are things that humans have never heard of.

The scope of its content was so broad that Zhuang Xing had never seen the same book in Xuanqing Temple before.

"I also asked my brother Cai Bei in Yidu to print more copies of this book and put them in his teahouse so that they can be spread to various places in Chenzhou."

During his three months in Yidu, Zhuang Xing devoted a great deal of effort to revising and correcting this book. He tried his best to make it clear, easy to understand, interesting, and vivid, so that even illiterate farmers could pass it down by word of mouth.

"Many of the regions mentioned in this book are only hearsay. I intend to spend some more time to investigate them personally and make sure that nothing is missed."

The old Taoist looked at Zhuang Xing and suddenly asked, "Do you want to use this book to fill your gaps?"

"A book can mend countless messes, but more importantly, it brings peace and well-being to the people, free from disasters and hardships."

Upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest remained silent for a moment, first sighing helplessly, then revealing a relieved smile.

The sigh was a sigh of regret, for Zhuang Xing had probably made up his mind, but how could he not be happy to have such a disciple?

"Master wishes you that your wish may come true."

"I also wish that my master could be carefree."

(End of this volume)

Overjoyed

Manggu Village, early February morning.

Before dawn, Yunling was already sitting upright in front of the bronze mirror.

The candlelight illuminated the dressing table, and Auntie held a ram's horn comb, combing Yunling's hair.

“You’ve been using this comb for many years, haven’t you?” Auntie said.

“It’s been eight years,” Yunling said.

"Eight years..."

Aunt patted Yunling's head. She stood behind Yunling, stopped what she was doing, and looked carefully at the girl in the mirror.

Yunling also secretly looked at her aunt, wondering how many eight-year periods a person could have in a lifetime.

Compared to eight years ago, my aunt has more wrinkles on her face, and she has grown up from that little child.

She suddenly thought of her father. What would he say if he saw her at this moment?

For no apparent reason, a faint pang of sadness welled up in her heart, but as she felt the ram's horn comb brushing through her hair, a warm current enveloped her.

She recalled many moments that were related to the person who had been by her side for the past eight years.

Actually, it's been more than eight years. Nine years have passed since she met Zhuang Xing when she was eight years old.

As long as he's there, I won't feel lonely.

Yunling looked at her face more carefully. Today was an important day, and she carefully did her makeup.

She didn't use rouge or eyebrow pencils before, but she put a lot of effort into studying them for today.

She opened the box of pearl powder that her senior sister Qiaoxia had given her, applied it to her face, and her aunt brought over a basin of warm water. She dipped her fingertips in rouge, mixed it with water, and applied it to her cheeks, creating a "Flying Clouds Makeup"—a light makeup, as pale as clouds, hence the name.

She tried heavy makeup, but her senior said it didn't suit her. Her senior said that she was so beautiful that she could bewitch men with just a little makeup.

After drawing her eyebrows, Yunling changed into the embroidered skirt, tightened her toes, and put her feet into the silk slippers.

When she was getting ready, she would do everything five or six times before she was satisfied.

"My nephew is so beautiful," the aunt said with a smile.

The warm sunlight shining through the window tinged the tender green willow leaves in the yard with a golden glow.

Yunling slowly stood up, pulled on the embroidered dress, and looked at it from left to right, afraid that there might be any wrinkles in the dress.

The sound of gongs came from nearby, each one closer than the last, a total of seven gongs.

Yunling stood on tiptoe and looked outside. In the distance, she could already see the procession of honor.

Seeing this, the aunt took down the bamboo stick used to prop up the window and said, "You sit inside and I'll go out to greet the guests."

Yunling nodded and said, "Auntie, you go ahead."

Auntie went out the door, it was already three quarters past Chen Shi (7:45 AM). Yunling sat down in front of the dressing table, unable to stop herself from gripping the ram's horn comb tightly. She then walked quietly to the wall, opened a crack in the window, and peeked out.

Spring peach blossoms, summer lotus, autumn chrysanthemums, and winter plum blossoms are each displayed in a pot in the courtyard. A three-foot-long red silk ribbon hangs in front of the gate, and a red felt rug stretches from the gate all the way to the entrance of the courtyard.