Chapter 617 Sudden Enlightenment

For some reason, Song Chunxue felt a lump in her throat.

He immediately squatted down and picked them up with them.

She tried to put the things she had picked up into her senior brother's pocket, but he avoided them with a look of disgust.

"Who are you trying to fool? You didn't even pick it up. Do you really think I'm drunk?" He leaned over to the spot where she had picked it up and wiped it with his hand. "There's a layer of dirt on it. You should at least wipe it off."

"..." Okay, she stood up. "Then you guys pick them up, I'll go outside and move the things."

Dongfang Xu bought a lot of things, and she spent a long time tidying them up in the kitchen.

As she came out of the kitchen, carrying a wooden basin to fetch water, she happened to run into Dongfang Xu coming out of their bedroom.

“I gave him two acupuncture needles and he fell asleep. Your senior brother is a man with a hard life. He just mentioned his family, saying that he saw his parents come to see him,” he said, shaking his head. “His life has truly lived up to the saying that he has little family and has been a wanderer all his life. I never expected to meet you all in Jincheng. It’s rare to meet again in life, so cherish the present.”

After saying that, he had already walked to the gate of the courtyard.

"I'll go feed the horses and donkeys. We'll have a drink tonight to see you off."

"Okay, thank you, Senior Brother Dongfang."

Song Chunxue went to the kitchen to make dinner on her own initiative. Luckily, she brought some alkali, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to make long noodles.

Dongfang Xu bought half a bag of flour, but she didn't touch it. She used the flour she had stored in her Qiankun bag and also scooped out a small dish of the spicy dried radish she had dried herself.

If this Qiankun bag were any bigger, she would love to put a whole kitchen inside it.

Traveling the world may be arduous, but one should not let one's mouth suffer.

She stir-fried fresh tofu and potatoes into a vegetarian soup, added color with last year's dried marigold petals, and the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and five-spice powder was particularly enticing.

"Junior Brother Song, you have excellent cooking skills! This noodle looks delicious, so I won't be polite." Dongfang Xu said mysteriously with a smile, "After you finish the noodles, I'll prepare some snacks for you to go with your drinks."

The Taoist priest, who had just woken up, looked completely dazed. He picked up his chopsticks and casually asked, "What kind of snacks are we having with the drinks?"

“Roast chicken,” Dongfang Xu smiled憨厚ly, “Although I am a vegetarian, I can’t not treat you. Even non-vegetarians need meat when drinking.”

The Taoist priest's eyes lit up. "Then hurry up and take it out. Tear off a little and put it in the noodles; it'll taste good too."

"Okay, I'll go get it."

Song Chunxue was not in a good mood and ate her noodles with her head down.

Listening to the two of them chatting happily, the senior brother even mentioned what he had seen and heard that afternoon.

Song Chunxue asked at the opportune moment, "Does Senior Brother Dongfang know who that master with profound Taoist skills is?"

"All I know is that there is an old immortal living in that mountain. He was there when I was a child. There are a lot of legendary stories about him. He is probably two or three hundred years old. I don't know how profound his realm is, whether he has attained immortality, or whether he has ascended to godhood. My master doesn't say, but my master is not far from ascending. He has long since left the world and is no longer involved in worldly affairs. I guess they are now on the same path."

It felt pointless to ask, which only proved that she was lucky to have met such an amazing master.

However, Song Chunxue was still bothered by the fact that she and her senior brother no longer shared the same master, so she wasn't very interested in asking any further questions.

After eating the noodles, Song Chunxue went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, and then went to the simple thatched shed behind the Taoist temple to fill it with fodder.

She wasn't interested in drinking, so she went back to her room to rest.

That night, she suddenly realized that they were destined to go their separate ways.

Whether it's the senior brother's attitude or the five years mentioned by the master, it all indicates that these people who met by chance and became very close will eventually go their separate ways.

Perhaps it was the same for her and Xie Zheng.

If her fate with Xie Zheng is destined to last only five years, then she must cherish it and not leave too many regrets.

If Xie Zheng is her destined love tribulation, then she will definitely be bolder and put those unnecessary self-doubts behind her.

But she couldn't accept that she and her senior brother would never see each other again, never to meet again.

...

"Take care, my fellow Daoists. If you have the chance in the future, you must come to Xumi Temple for a drink. Next time, I will prepare more good dishes for you. Xumi Temple will definitely be brand new by then, and Junior Brother Yunqing will no longer have to squeeze into a small room with me."

"You all have to come together then, it's a deal."

Dongfang Xu stood in front of the steps, rambling on and on, waving goodbye to them with reluctance.

"After you come down the mountain, don't act rashly, avoid causing trouble, and don't meddle in other people's business."

Song Chunxue smiled and waved, "I know, Senior Brother Dongfang. Go back now, don't see me off. I'll definitely come back for a drink."

She knew that the person he had told not to act impulsively was definitely her.

"I will come too. Take care, Senior Brother Dongfang. I will supervise Junior Brother's alchemy."

When the topic of alchemy came up, Dongfang Xu raised his voice again, "By the way, you must read those books several times. Once you have a thorough understanding of them, you will also see the advanced alchemy techniques that Master gave me."

"Don't worry, senior brother, I will definitely take a look." Song Chunxue lowered her voice. "I'm not cut out for that. I'd be lucky if I could even make pills for myself."

Her senior brother earnestly advised her, "Don't always underestimate yourself. What if you are a once-in-a-millennium cultivation prodigy, but your background and circumstances have buried you? In your past life, you were a piece of gold buried in the earth. In this life, you have embarked on this path with your own abilities. Don't deny yourself because of your age and past."

These words are truly refreshing and thought-provoking.

“It is indeed a difficult thing for me to change, and you are quite eloquent, senior brother. May I ask you, senior brother, what is it that is holding you back? Why do you always plan for the long term and think deeply about others, but never plan for yourself?”

"Senior brother, what are you afraid of?"

The Taoist priest paused for a moment, then snorted softly, "What could I be afraid of? Junior brother, you still don't understand me. The things I feared have already happened."

As a child, he feared his mother leaving him; later, he feared his father abandoning him; then, he feared he wouldn't gain his master's favor and would be expelled from the sect; and still later, he feared he would end up homeless and have to dig graves to get through his darkest times...

But all of them happened.

"It seems I was overthinking it. Senior Brother is indeed unfathomable, always able to overcome hurdles that ordinary people cannot. After more than two years of seclusion, your cultivation should have greatly improved. Now that the Taoist temple on Five Springs Mountain is finished, where do you plan to go for seclusion next?"

"No, not at all. My future goal is to take on many disciples on the mountain, so that they can save more suffering beings like you, and help them realize their true nature, awaken to their own enlightenment, and align themselves with the Dao..."

"I thought you wanted them to ascend to the Western Paradise as soon as possible, I almost wanted to curse you out."

“We are different from those bald monks. If everything is illusory, why do they still have so many incense offerings and why do they still want to make golden statues? Since we are in the mortal world, let’s be realistic. If we are in pain, we are in pain; if we die, we die.”

At this point, the Taoist priest sighed softly, "Perhaps I am attached to appearances, and I still cannot understand or comprehend it, so I have prejudices. Perhaps we are on the same path as those bald monks, but I just can't stand them advising people to let go and to atone for their sins."

Song Chunxue looked at him for a long time before speaking.

"What is it that you can't let go of, senior brother? Do you want to go to Mount Xuliang to see your master?"

Last night she felt there was nothing worth visiting in Jiangnan; she didn't want to see the scenery there anymore.

She shouldn't have let her senior brother take her to Jiangnan.