Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

However, it is difficult to maintain the gathering of true qi for a long time. It feels like holding your breath. It is okay for a short time, but if it lasts for a long time, you will feel uncomfortable all over. Holding your breath for too long will also cause the true qi to flow backward and damage the internal organs.

Zhuang Xing rarely did this, but in order to avoid letting these Taoist priests discover his special qualities, he still carefully made himself appear more ordinary.

Upon arriving before the village chief, to Zhuang Xing's surprise, even his mother bowed to the old Taoist priest.

"Master Qingxu, it's been many years since we last met." Mother bowed respectfully.

“It’s Zhu He…” the old Taoist priest said.

Mother was taken aback: "The Taoist priest still remembers me..."

“How could I forget? I was the one who brought you up the mountain back then.” The old Taoist smiled and looked at Zhuang Xing. “This is…?”

“This is my son, Zhuang Xing.” The mother pushed Zhuang Xing to the front.

"Greetings, Daoist Master." Zhuang Xing greeted the Daoist Master politely.

"Hello, hello." The old Taoist priest was very approachable. Instead, he took out a wrapped piece of maltose from his pocket and placed it in Zhuang Xing's hand.

The old Taoist priest had a special bag for storing candy, and Zhuang Xing saw that it contained many pre-packaged candied fruits and maltose.

"Thank you, Daoist Master." Zhuang Xing smelled the sweet aroma and accepted the piece of maltose.

The old Taoist patted Zhuang Xing's head, then spoke to his mother: "Twelve years have passed since we parted. Zhu He, you've gotten married and had children. Do I know who your husband is?"

“It’s Zhuang Liangqing,” Mother said. “He came up the mountain with me back then. We were both alone. After returning to the village, we got married not long after. We’ve supported each other all these years.”

"It's him," the old Taoist priest nodded. "Although he's a bit slow at times, he's a good boy."

“I will pass this message on to him,” Mother said with a smile.

"However, I never expected that you would actually encounter Miss Yan Huai'an." The old Taoist took out a letter from his pocket. "I have already heard about your encounter with the tiger demon. That tiger demon is highly skilled, and three villages along the way have suffered at its hands. Even my fellow disciples died tragically at its hands. You are truly blessed to have escaped from the tiger's mouth."

"Thanks to Miss Yan, my son and I were able to escape death." The mother patted Zhuang Xing's head.

"I heard that Miss Yan stayed at your house for a winter. Is that true?" the old Taoist priest asked.

"That's true." Mother nodded.

"This is truly..." The old Taoist stroked his beard and managed to utter three words, "Rare indeed..."

"Are the Taoist priest and Miss Yan old acquaintances?" Mother asked.

"We weren't old acquaintances, but I was fortunate enough to receive Miss Yan's kindness in the past," the old Taoist priest said nostalgically. "That was fifty years ago..."

Fifty years ago? Zhuang Xing raised his head upon hearing the old Taoist's words.

The mother looked equally surprised and asked, "Did the Taoist priest meet Miss Yan fifty years ago?"

"Isn't it amazing?" the old Taoist smiled. "I've always felt that Miss Yan is the real immortal. The first time I met her was during a heavy snowfall. At that time, I was in the countryside with my fellow disciples to exorcise demons, but we were in trouble because of our shallow cultivation."

"It was Miss Yan who saved us, but my fellow disciples and I left before we could thank her."

"To thank Miss Yan for saving our lives, we sold the valuables on that monster and searched far and wide before finally finding her and returning the valuables to her."

"Later, after we introduced ourselves, Miss Yan would come to the mountain every few years to sell me some demon materials in exchange for money, pills and talismans. Fifty years have passed and her appearance has not changed. Her white hair has even turned black, while I have aged so much."

The old Taoist priest looked at the wrinkles on the back of his hand with a sigh.

"In the past fifty years, I have tried many times to persuade Miss Yan to stay in the guest room for a while, wanting to treat her well, but she always came and went in a hurry, without even saying a few words."

"This is the first time I've seen Miss Yan linger in one place for so long. Perhaps it's fate..."

The old Taoist priest placed the envelope in Zhu He's hand and said, "Zhu He, this is a letter that Miss Yan asked me to give you last month. Take a good look at it when you get back. If Miss Yan has any instructions, be sure to take them seriously. If you encounter any difficulties, we will need to stay in the village for a few more days to reorganize. You can come to me anytime before we set off."

"I understand, Daoist Qingxuzi."

With that, Mother stretched out her hands, took the envelope, and led Zhuang Xing away.

Zhuang Xing glanced back and saw Daoist Qingxuzi smiling and waving to the child.

The Taoist priest winked and made a funny face, like a kind old grandfather next door trying to make his grandson laugh.

Chapter 49 Painting

Zhuang Xing followed his mother back to the edge of the field. His father was settling the wages of the villagers, counting the copper coins with his muddy hands.

The mother was there to greet them. The villagers took the money, exchanged a few polite words, and left. The crops had all been harvested and stored at home. It was getting late, so the family went home.

"Husband, Master Qingxuzi has arrived," the mother said to the father.

The father paused, then suddenly asked, "Does the Taoist priest still carry candy with him wherever he goes, just like before?"

"He brought it with him," the mother nodded. "He even gave his son a piece of candy."

"Haha." The father chuckled and ruffled Zhuang Xing's hair. "The Daoist Master hasn't changed at all."

Zhuang Xing looked up and asked, "Father, are you very familiar with Daoist Qingxuzi?"

The father shook his head: "It's just that I was taken care of by the Taoist priest for a period of time before."

"Then what about Mother? How did Mother get to know Master Qingxuzi?" Zhuang Xing tugged at his mother's hand.

He was genuinely curious. From the conversation just now, he could tell that his mother and father seemed to have stayed on the mountain with Daoist Qingxuzi for a period of time before.

But why? What were the reasons they were taken away?

You should know that neither my father nor my mother had any cultivation aura. If they weren't brought up the mountain because they had a talent for cultivation, then what was the purpose?

Did they pay the money? But my mother said that she and my father were all alone. Twelve years ago, they were just children. Where would children get money to pay for tuition to go up the mountain?

What criteria did those Taoist priests use to select their children?

Zhuang Xing became increasingly curious about the behavior of these Taoist priests, and he wanted to know how this world really worked.

However, the mother did not answer the question immediately. She exchanged a glance with the father and made a face-to-face exchange.

“Let’s go back and eat first. After we eat, we can talk to Zhuang’er, okay?” Mother said.

It seems they had planned to do this beforehand.

Zhuang Xing was puzzled, but not in a hurry, so he nodded and agreed: "Okay."

Back home, the father started a fire to gather firewood.

Today, Mother handed over the cooking to Father. The villager ate lunch at home, so there were leftovers that could be heated up and eaten.

Mother sat on the table and took out scissors to open the envelope.

Zhuang Xing leaned over the table, looking at the letter.

The letter looked rather bulky, as if it were stuffed with a thick stack of papers.

Although five years have passed, it is hard to imagine that Miss Huai'an, who is usually very sparing with words, would write so many long articles.

What exactly was written on the letter? Zhuang Xing couldn't imagine.

But as his mother opened the letter, he suddenly realized that this was indeed something Miss Huai'an would do.

“These… are all drawings…” Mother slowly unfolded the folded drawings.

"What does Miss Yan mean by this?" Mother frowned. "Does she want me to help her put these paintings away?"

Mother carefully spread out the drawing papers, rested her face on her hand, and pondered them intently.

There are about five or six paintings. At a glance, you can tell that some of them depict monsters, while others are just simple landscape paintings.

It's not a particularly detailed painting, but it was painted with great care.

Unfortunately, not a single word was written on these paintings.

Zhuang Xing moved a stool over and reached out to touch the drawing paper. The paper was of very good quality, thick to the touch, and seemed to have been soaked in oil, which would preserve it for a long time.

Some of the drawings are yellowed, while others are still new, showing that they were created at different times.

Although her mother didn't understand Miss Huai'an's thoughts, Zhuang Xing immediately understood that Miss Huai'an must have drawn what she wanted to share.

Looking at these paintings, one can understand to some extent where she went and what she did during those five years.

One painting depicts the bright moon and gentle breeze, while another shows villagers raising pitchforks and hoes at a half-human, half-beast creature.

She killed some monsters, went to many places, and encountered many new people and new things.

Although nothing was written, it felt as if everything was written.

She was never a very talkative person, so she probably couldn't think of anything touching. Besides, five years had passed, and that chubby little baby should have grown into a toddler who could walk and jump by now.

How could a child remember things from when they were a baby? She probably thought that even if she wrote something down, the child wouldn't understand it.

So he painted these pictures and asked Daoist Qingxuzi to send them back to him.

Zhuang Xing looked at the paintings carefully, feeling as if Miss Huai'an was telling him a story.

Miss Huai'an is somewhere now, going through all sorts of things. She doesn't seem to have any free time to come back and rest, or perhaps she's embarrassed to come back, feeling that if she did, the baby from back then wouldn't recognize her, she would be very sad.

This was the first time Zhuang Xing had ever felt so excited. Even the night he stayed up reading Bai Lian Jushi's demon-slaying diary, he had never felt this excited.

He didn't know the White Lotus Hermit. When he read the hermit's diary, he only felt that it was like a story in a book. But he had spent some time with Yan Huai'an in person, so the story was no longer just a story.

He admired these paintings as if they were priceless treasures; in his eyes, they were among the most precious things in the world.

"Does Zhuang'er really like these paintings?" Mother asked softly.

"Yes!" Zhuang Xing nodded.

Mother smiled and took out Zhuang Xing's amulet. "Do you know? Your amulet was given to you by Miss Yan Huai'an, who sent the painting. When you were six months old, Miss Yan stayed at our house. You were very attached to Miss Yan back then."

Zhuang Xingxin said, "How could I forget? That was the time when I slept most peacefully. Just thinking about Miss Huai'an at home made me fall asleep without any burden."

"Let's hang these paintings in the innermost room," Mother said. "Miss Yan might come back anytime, so we must make sure her room is tidy."

Five years have passed, and my mother still cleans that room every day. Although no one lives there, the quilts and pillows are still there.

Zhuang Xing and his mother hung the paintings on the wall of the spacious room together.

When they finished, the father's shouts came from the kitchen.

"Dinner's ready!"

I was so busy today that it was already dark by the time I ate dinner.

Mother lit the lamp oil and placed it on the table, and the family ate the steaming hot meal.

After the meal, Mother put away the bowls and chopsticks and placed them in the wood-fired stove, then waved to Zhuang Xing.

"Zhuang'er, your mother and father want to discuss something with you."