Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

“My senior brother went up the mountain this afternoon to pick up Senior Sister Qiaoxia and the other children. He should be back soon. He said we’ll rest in the village for now, and you need to recuperate too.” Yunling took out a water bag. “Drink some water first. I’ve cooked some porridge, I’ll heat it up right away.”

"Thank you for your trouble, Yunling." Zhuang Xing took the water bag and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

Yunling nodded and went to the next room.

Zhuang Xing finally had time to observe where he was sleeping. It looked quite simple, similar to his previous room, just a clean mud house. He was lying on a wooden bed, covered with a quilt. The sky outside was dark, and the sun was about to set.

The sound of burning firewood came from the next room. Zhuang Xing got out of bed and stretched his stiff body.

Feeling unsteady and weak when walking, he found a bamboo pole used to hang clothes, and used the last bit of his true qi to cut it to a suitable length, making it into a cane to support himself.

He used three spirit talismans in one day, and his senior brother said he would need at least seven days to recuperate.

Fortunately, the children were all safe. The thieves who rode horses and sat in carriages were all killed by the white-tailed jackals. The only survivor, a villager, was half-dead. On the other hand, the children who were stuffed into the wooden boxes were mostly unharmed.

Zhuang Xing felt that this was a case of reaping what one sows.

Zhuang Xing, leaning on his cane, walked out of the bedroom. Outside was the woodshed, where Yunling was heating porridge by the stove.

Seeing that he needed a cane to walk, Yunling quickly came over to help him.

"You've just woken up, you should go lie down in bed." Yunling took his hand.

"I'm fine," Zhuang Xing said with a slight flex of his muscles and a smile.

He thought that as long as he made a joke, Yunling would let him off the hook, but today Yunling was not as easy to talk to as usual. She stared straight at Zhuang Xing, and that look made Zhuang Xing feel a little uneasy.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside. It was Senior Brother Linghui; he had returned.

"You're awake, Zhuang Xing." His senior brother smiled slightly. "How are you feeling? Besides feeling weak all over, is there anything else that's bothering you?"

"I feel fine," Zhuang Xing said, "it's just that my true qi is recovering a bit slowly."

“You have indeed overdrawn your true qi.” His senior brother walked over and patted his head. “Don’t worry, it won’t damage your core. Just rest for a few days and you’ll recover.”

"Qiaoxia's horse has already returned to the temple with the message. We'll wait in this village for now. If all goes well, the temple will send someone over to help us in a while, and then we can go back."

"Did Senior Sister Qiaoxia go back alone?" Zhuang Xing asked.

"I just sent her horse back. The horses at Xuanqing Temple all know the way and can get back to the mountain on their own," the senior brother said. "As for Qiaoxia, I sent her to take care of the children. You can rest and recuperate. Qiaoxia and I will handle the rest."

Zhuang Xingxin thought that having a reliable senior team leader made him feel at ease.

He chatted with his senior brother for a while and then drank some hot porridge.

The voice of Sister Qiaoxia could be heard outside the house; she seemed to be demonstrating Taoist magic to the children.

After eating something, Zhuang Xing, supported by Yunling, went outside.

The children carried small stools and sat in the open space. Sister Qiaoxia was surrounded by them in the center. She waved her sleeve and conjured a ball of fire. The flame changed with her movements, and the children clapped and cheered in amazement.

Zhuang Xing thought to himself that since his senior sister no longer wanted to be a Taoist priest, she could become a star performer in a circus troupe. Her skills would definitely be very popular.

Zhuang Xing didn't disturb his senior sister. Led by his senior brother, he arrived at a locked house.

Looking up, you can see the old mandrill sitting on the roof, gazing at the distant sunset, like a stone sculpture.

The senior student took out the key and unlocked the door.

Inside the door was a small bed, and on the bed lay the crippled villager.

The senior apprentice lit the oil lamp, and the villager blinked one eye and looked over.

“We’re here to ask you some questions. Whether you answer or not, we won’t use any vigilante justice on you. The authorities will deal with you,” the senior apprentice said to the villager.

Xuanqing Temple has frequent dealings with the government. This matter involves more than just demons; it concerns this criminal gang and a group of abducted children. These are matters that the government should handle, so a group of government officials and people from the temple will definitely come together.

The villager's eyes were fixed on Zhuang Xing's face. He suddenly spoke up, "Let this young Taoist priest ask the questions. I'd like to have a word with him."

"Zhuang Xing, come on over." His senior brother patted Zhuang Xing on the shoulder.

Zhuang Xing glanced at his senior brother and took a step forward: "I understand, senior brother."

Yunling brought over a stool and helped Zhuangxing sit down.

Zhuang Xing asked some key questions, such as where they usually traffic children and who their buyers are.

Surprisingly, the villager was extremely cooperative, explaining the details in great detail, even specifying the exact buyer.

The senior student wrote these things down on a piece of paper.

However, he seemed to have no idea where those children came from. According to him, they would abduct one and move on to a new place, never staying in one place for too long. Moreover, he was not in charge of this matter; the skinny monkey who was in charge of abducting children was already dead.

"Have you finished asking your questions, young Taoist priest?"

"I'm done asking."

"May I ask you a question?"

"go ahead."

"Why would the black ghost help you?" the villager asked. "I've raised it for five years. Five years ago, when I was building this village, I saw it and took it in. I fed it meat and built it a house. It clearly remembers me. But when I left the village, it didn't stop me. I've raised it for five whole years, while you've only known it for one day. Why would it be willing to help you fight against me?"

"Why? What makes it so obedient?"

"Obedience? In your eyes, does it really obey us?" Zhuang Xing asked.

“Isn’t that right?” the villager said. “Blackie used to listen to me a lot. He would help me catch the escaped goods, and he would guard my house and drive away wild animals. I was so good to him, but in the end, I was ruined by him.”

Zhuang Xing shook his head: "It doesn't listen to us, and we've never ordered it to do anything. We just treat it as an equal friend and have communicated with it for a while."

"On the contrary, it's you who, after five years with it, still doesn't understand that it's not a dog you keep, and it has never considered itself a dog you keep. It helps you guard the house and drive away wild animals only because it considers you its friend. It doesn't know that you kidnap those children to sell them. In its understanding, there is no concept of human traffickers. It helps you kidnap children only because it thinks that those children will be in danger if they run outside the village, that's all."

The villager was stunned. Friend, he had never imagined that the black man would consider him a friend.

"You know what? It's right there on your roof right now," Zhuang Xing said, pointing upwards.

The villager looked up at the roof beams and black tiles; that was all he could see. He couldn't see the old mandrill guarding him through the roof.

That pitifully thick barrier separated him from the old mandrill.

He suddenly remembered the first time he met the old mountain demon; he had seen that hunched figure on the mountain road.

He didn't let the skinny monkey shoot the arrow; he just tossed a piece of meat to the mandrill, hoping to get rid of the creature. Later... the mandrill always followed him around.

For many days, it stood behind him, on the roof of his house, keeping watch for him.

Zhuang Xing stood up and left the room with his senior brother Yunling.

The door was locked, and night fell, plunging the room into darkness.

The villager was locked alone in this dark room. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time.

Chapter 95 Reencounter with the White Rat

After interrogating the villager, the senior apprentice handed a small bag to Zhuang Xing.

"What is this?" Zhuang Xing asked in confusion.

“It’s the core of a white-tailed jackal,” Linghui said. “Your spoils.”

Zhuang Xing opened the small bag and saw that it contained several demon cores, all of which were cleaned and looked like small walnuts.

This was the second time Zhuang Xing had seen a finished demon core. The last time he saw a demon core was back when he was with the tiger spirit. Compared to the tiger spirit's fist-sized, solid demon core with a metallic sheen, the white-tailed jackal's demon core seemed malnourished and several levels below.

However, the tiger spirit is, after all, a powerful demon that can transform, change shape, and speak, so it's only natural that there's a difference.

Zhuang Xing never expected to have spoils of war. He killed those white-tailed jackals not to make money, but to save people, so this was an unexpected bonus.

"Knowledge about demon cores will only be taught to you when you become disciples of Qing Sui," Ling Hui said. "These things have many uses; they can be used in alchemy, talisman drawing, weapon crafting, and cultivation. Among cultivators, demon cores are one of the few forms of hard currency, as they are not traded for worldly money."

"Don't underestimate them, they are quite valuable."

"Thank you, senior brother." Zhuang Xing happily tucked the small pouch into his pocket. Who wouldn't like money?

“Actually, there are still many materials on the white-tailed jackal, but the conditions were limited at the time, and there were too many things that couldn’t be taken care of. Don’t blame your senior brother for not getting them for you,” Linghui said with a smile.

“How could that be, Senior Brother?” Zhuang Xing said. “I’m overjoyed.”

Linghui nodded: "There are seven demon cores inside. The four white-tailed jackals you killed with the Xuanhuo Talisman had incomplete corpses, so their demon cores were likely shattered and melted. I didn't search for them carefully. I dug out the demon cores from the other seven white-tailed jackals. Keep them safe and try not to take them out unless you need to use them, so as not to cause trouble."

"Understood," Zhuang Xing said.

"Alright, Yunling, take Zhuang Xing back to rest. We'll stay in this village for the next few days and wait for news from the temple."

"Okay," Yunling replied, helping Zhuang Xing back to his room.

When they returned, Sister Qiaoxia's performance had already ended. She seemed to have just settled the children in and came out of the house, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Junior brother, you're awake!" Senior Sister Qiaoxia rushed over and gave Zhuang Xing a hug. "I thought you weren't going to get up, sob sob..."

Although my senior sister isn't very bright, she is indeed warm-hearted and kind.

Before returning to his room, Zhuang Xing exchanged a few pleasantries with his senior sister. She asked him with great curiosity about the details of his battle with the white-tailed jackal. When she heard about the danger, she couldn't help but clutch the hem of her clothes tightly.

"You really wiped out the entire white-tailed jackal clan all by yourself..." Qiaoxia gasped. "I thought my senior brother was joking..."

“It wasn’t just me; the mandrill helped me a lot too,” Zhuang Xing said. “Without it, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to manage on my own.”

“But that’s still amazing…” Qiaoxia said, “You’re just Bai Sui’s disciple, you’ve never even heard of something like this before…”

"Didn't my senior sister hear about it today?"

Qiaoxia paused for a moment, then suddenly looked completely bewildered.

But a few seconds later, she returned to her usual self.

"Forget it, let's not think about it anymore. Go and rest. When I came down the mountain, I saw a river. I'll catch some fish tomorrow and make soup for you."

She patted her chest, looking quite smug.

"Once you're healed, your senior sister will teach you how to catch fish."

"Then I'll look forward to that day." Zhuang Xing smiled, thinking to himself that he and Yunling had caught countless fish.

Let's not discourage my senior's confidence; let her enjoy herself on her own.

-

Afterwards, Zhuang Xing recuperated in the village for three days. There was still no news from Xuanqing Temple. It would take at least six days to travel from this mountain village to the temple and back. Judging by the time, the temple had probably just received the news and was arranging for people to come over.

They weren't in a hurry, since they had enough food. Children don't eat much anyway, and Sister Qiaoxia was very enthusiastic about catching fish in the river.

Autumn is the time when fish are at their fattest. She goes out every morning and always catches several big, fat grass carp when she comes back.

Zhuang Xing couldn't stand it in the room any longer. He told Yunling that he had lost the iron box containing the jade slip. Before he was exhausted, the lava in the cave was flowing, so he was unable to retrieve the iron box and the jade slip.