Weighted flight

After a flurry of gestures, the audience relaxed, exchanging glances.

The senior sister beckoned Meng Yan over, and when she got closer, she reached out and touched her forehead.

"How about I go and invite Junior Sister Zhang over now?"

"Senior Brother Qi and I can take Junior Sister Yan there; saving lives is the priority."

Everyone put down their work and gathered together, holding their breath and waiting for their senior sister's result.

"He doesn't feel feverish. Could he have bumped his head yesterday?"

Meng Yan felt a hand move from his forehead to the back of his head, touching his head like a ball, bringing it closer and then pushing it away, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"There are no external injuries, but it might be an internal injury. The deeper the injury, the harder it is to treat."

With just three sentences, her senior sister scared away several people, while those who remained looked at her with worry, reminding Meng Yan of the withered leaves she had mentioned earlier.

"What kind of injury could make someone talk nonsense? Can someone be possessed in broad daylight?"

Meng Yan's expression shifted slightly, and he was about to explain when he heard Senior Brother Li Li say regretfully, "It's my fault. A few days ago, I only remembered to order the talismans for the ice furnace and forgot to order some for warding off evil spirits."

She tugged at Li Li's sleeve and shook it, but before she could move her fingers, her senior sister pressed them back down under her hand. "He's just talking nonsense right now. He won't hurt anyone later, will he? You guys step back and be careful. Don't take out a hammer or anything for self-defense unless absolutely necessary."

Self-defense? Defend against whom? Me?

Meng Yan, who was stuck in place, opened his eyes wide and quickly scanned the faces of the people around him, hoping that they would notice his abnormality.

"Why is Junior Sister Yan staring like that? Did she see something she shouldn't have? Should we cover her eyes? I've heard that evil spirits can't be exposed to light."

Meng Yan: "..."

Meng Yan was only able to see the light of day again when Senior Sister Zhang arrived with a medical kit, surrounded by a group of people.

"What do you mean, Miss Zhang? Is there any hope for her medical skills?"

Could it be that they don't need medical help? Meng Yan thought to herself, but then she thought again that it wasn't impossible for them to invite a Taoist priest to perform a ritual. But she really wasn't talking nonsense. Senior Sister Zhang, you must clear my name!

"Aside from lack of sleep and hyperactivity, there are no other symptoms."

Senior Sister Zhang examined Meng Yan thoroughly, scrutinizing him from all angles, ultimately arriving at the conclusion that his condition was incurable.

"What do you mean it's beyond saving? Junior Sister Yan is in the prime of her life, how could she have to encounter such a calamity!"

When Brother Hao saw that Meng Yan hadn't moved for a long time, he opened his mouth a crack, but she suddenly covered it with her mouth. Amidst the "woo-woo" sounds, everyone hurriedly pulled the two of them apart.

"We're all from the same sect, how can we kill each other?"

Just then, Li the Cripple arrived and calmed the chaos on the scene. After listening to everyone's explanation, he paused in stroking his beard and muttered, "It shouldn't be like this. Last night, Xiao Yan even tried to sneak out of the valley with your junior brother. Only she could do something like this."

Meng Yan nodded and admitted his guilt, then seized the opportunity to explain the whole story to everyone, which elicited a series of pausing "oh" and "ah" responses.

"Senior sister, pinch me, let me see if I'm still half asleep."

Brother Hao finally let out a cry, and the confusion on everyone's faces finally disappeared, replaced by the joy of being brought back from the dead.

Overjoyed, the senior sister quietly leaned close to Meng Yan's ear and whispered something, which earned her a puzzled look: "What?"

"What did you ask Junior Sister Yan that she couldn't understand?"

The senior sister rolled her eyes, shooed away the clueless blockheads around her, patted Meng Yan heavily on the shoulder with both hands, nodded affirmatively at her, and then followed the crowd back to work.

"What? What?" Li the kidnapper was still there and asked in surprise.

"Master, you should rest. If you're not leaving now, you can stay and work with us in blacksmithing, copper smelting, and carpentry!"

Senior sister shouted lightly twice, and Li the cripple immediately slipped and slipped out the door.

"I'll brew the medicine." Sister Zhang left these three words, picked up her medical kit, and disappeared outside the courtyard.

After Meng Yan saw the person off and closed the door, he sat down in his chair and saw the wooden door shake a few times, and two heads peeked out from one side.

"Looking for Junior Sister Yan?"

Senior Brother Hao's workstation was closer to the door, and he remembered what Guai Zi Li had said. At this moment, he immediately knew what the two kids were up to. Before they could reply, he waved to Meng Yan from afar, "Let's go, Junior Sister Yan, let's finish the good deed you were secretly doing last night!"

Meng Yan pulled the mechanical kite hanging from his waist, gave his senior brother Hao a light tap on the head, and then sneaked up the mountain with the two children.

.

Under the blazing midday sun, the three birds that had returned free parted at the foot of the mountain. Meng Yan went to the small courtyard of the government office to process the talisman paper, while the young man went to the kitchen, chatting and laughing.

The sun cast a thin layer of sweat on the two of them, but it was not enough to extinguish the fire in their eyes.

They saw the mountains and rivers beyond the valley, with red and yellow vegetation flowing past their feet, birds flying by, accompanied by halos of light and the smoke of firewood.

Summer has passed and autumn has arrived. This is the first time the two children have experienced life from this perspective. They are far away, yet they are also caught up in it, becoming one of the millions of passersby who are aware of it.

"Do you think we'll have another chance like this in the future?" the one-armed boy asked, putting his arm around his companion's shoulder.

"Probably." The boy with the leg disability walked slowly, stopping from time to time to catch his breath, leaning against someone. "I believe in Senior Sister Meng Yan, and I believe in everyone in the organization. Besides, we're here too."

"Yes, and there are us too, and so many people throughout the valley. How can we possibly see it only once?"

.

In the courtyard of the government office, a corner of the wall has been cleared out, and some hastily arranged tables and cabinets are placed there solemnly. If a stone statue and a few sticks of incense were added, the peculiar feeling would be complete.

Meng Yan wiped the wood chips and dust off the surface with satisfaction, then gestured to make room for the talisman paper as soon as possible.

"Junior Sister Yan, aren't you going to eat? If you go too late, they might not have your favorite dishes."

The senior students, with pancakes and steamed buns in their mouths, pushed open the door and saw Meng Yan staring intently at the wall, deep in thought. The wind tousled her long hair, but she didn't move; the sunlight bent her shadow, but she didn't move either.

The sound of machinery turning drifted from the sky, and she suddenly came to her senses, looking up with her fellow disciples.

The little sparrow, marked with its own symbol, flapped its wings frantically. Its claws, back, and even the tip of its tail were tied with rope, making it look like a pitiful creature bound hand and foot, coming for help.

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen a delivery like this. I have to say, the quantity delivered like this is really huge."

"Why didn't we think of this great method before? The person who delivered the gift is quite clever."

Listening and watching, Meng Yan's eyes twitched. He wrapped his unlucky bird in his hands and tried to untie the stitches twice, but to no avail. He simply raised his knife and slammed the paper bag with the bird on it to the ground.

At the same time, a question flashed through her mind: Could an ordinary mechanical sparrow bear this weight?

Senior Brother Hao: "Wow." It carries a bit of personal grudge.

After exchanging a glance with him, Senior Brother Qi exclaimed, "Yeah." It was hard not to agree.

Large and small paper packets were scattered all over the ground. The senior brothers, munching on steamed buns, went to help. Inside the thick paper, stacks of talismans were neatly arranged, their quantity so great that it was hard to tell at a glance.

The steamed bun in its mouth almost fell out, but its owner stuffed it back in with his hand.

"Junior Sister Yan knew that the mechanical sparrow would return, so she didn't go to eat and waited for it on her own?"

Otherwise, given Junior Sister Yan's personality, there's no way she would have shown up in the courtyard like this.

"We saw it from afar on the road, but we were flying too fast and only caught a glimpse of it."

If Meng Yan had understood Xiao Que's predicament at the time, he would have taken a net and tried to catch it from mid-air.

"Old Li is unreliable. Couldn't he have stopped them? He could have summoned a few transport birds that travel back and forth in the valley. They were working perfectly before. Why is it all going to be on Junior Sister Yan's little birds this time?"

Li Li began to tear apart the paper, the veins on the back of his hands bulging as he did so, and Meng Yan nodded repeatedly in response.

While folding talismans, Li Li paused, pulled out a piece of white paper with mismatched color and handwriting, looked at it from both sides, realized it was useless, and handed it to Meng Yan opposite him.

The handwriting on the paper looked very familiar, still neat and pleasing to the eye, but its presence here at this moment inevitably made people a little angry.

Looking at this letter, Meng Yan could almost see that smiling face, the corners of his mouth turned up, and the pen resting on his hand.

Swallowing her anger at the person who wrote the letter, she picked up the paper and began to read.

"Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person, Miss Yan. I know that even if I didn't write this sentence, you would still remember me. But since we haven't seen each other for a day, I'm afraid you might forget such an important matter. I feel it's necessary to mention it again."

There's no need for that; how could I possibly forget?

"Oh, you might be wondering how the talismans were delivered so quickly. That must be because we've been working hard from afar. My senior brother Li and I searched through all the boxes and cabinets in the house for supplies. And wouldn't you know it, there were quite a few, though I found most of them. Perhaps this is what they call brothers working together."

Upon seeing the words "brothers united," Meng Yan gritted her teeth. Does being united mean you can treat your friend's little bird like it's nothing? It's only the size of a few palms, does it deserve to suffer like this? While refuting this, she did recall the question Yue Lang had raised. The talismans were delivered half a month earlier than planned, but the quantity was no less than expected. She wondered how many he had actually drawn.

"Years ago, I was quite prescient and guessed that I would need them in the future. So, whether I was finishing my homework or just practicing for fun, I always liked to draw a few extra. Before long, I had a lot of them. But I was all alone and didn't need them. Luckily, you solved my storage problem. On behalf of the house and Senior Brother Li, I would like to express my gratitude."

Upon reading this passage, Meng Yan glanced down and, as expected, he began rambling on about this and that again. The remaining half-page and most of the back were filled with his reflections on life. Finally, shortly before the end, he found what he wanted to read.

"I had arranged with Senior Brother Li to send out the mechanical sparrows heading to your valley tomorrow, but I was restless all night, worried that you and the sparrows would be too anxious to sleep or eat. So I came up with this good idea: I attached a lot of things to your mechanical sparrows. I was afraid of crushing the little guys, so I put weight-loss talismans on all the items. Don't worry, they won't hurt your sparrows. However, the talismans will lose their effect when they fall to the ground. I hope you can read this letter in time and not accuse me of being heartless. Where can I cry then?"

Meng Yan's expression softened considerably, and after reading the last sentence, the corners of his mouth even turned up slightly.

I had misunderstood him. He's a very thoughtful person, and he always held back his words until the very end. If I hadn't finished reading, we would have had a little argument next time we met.

As she closed the page, the image of the person in front of her, who was still reveling in the success of his scheme, was not yet gone when her senior brother Li stuffed another piece of paper into her hand.

Why are there still more?