Upon arriving in Ula City, Qing Xuanzi first bought two sets of light cotton clothes for Rong Jiaojiao and found a place for her to change. Only then did he take Rong Jiaojiao to buy train tickets.
Upon arriving at the ticket window, Qing Xuanzi took out his letter of introduction and said to the ticket seller inside, "Comrade, I need two sleeper tickets to the capital."
The ticket seller glanced at Qing Xuanzi with the letter of introduction, said nothing more, and gave him two sleeper tickets, saying, "Total of forty-three yuan and six jiao."
His Mandarin is a bit awkward and not standard, but it's still understandable.
Qing Xuanzi took the ticket, paid the money, and then looked at it carefully. It was for the day after tomorrow. He asked, "Comrade, are there no trains today or tomorrow?"
The ticket seller shook his head: "There's only one bus every three days here, and it just went yesterday."
"All right!"
There were no trains running that day, so the two of them had to find a place to stay in Ula for two nights.
On the way, Rong Jiaojiao asked Qing Xuanzi, "Master, aren't sleeper berths only available to leaders of government agencies or something?"
Qing Xuanzi showed the letter of introduction to Rong Jiaojiao. It clearly stated the words "Xuanqing Sect of the Snowy Immortal Mountain of the Dragon Kingdom" and was stamped with a bright red seal.
Qing Xuanzi explained, "Ula City is close to Immortal City. The staff on this train know a little about the existence of Immortal Mountain, so they use this ticket to buy tickets here. People from Immortal Mountain get preferential treatment."
"I see! So, does that mean we shouldn't use this when we come back?"
Qing Xuanzi nodded: "But you can buy tickets through special national departments and get preferential treatment. Otherwise, you can only buy seated or standing tickets."
Rong Jiaojiao understands!
Walking down the street, I saw groups of teenagers running around proudly and shouting slogans like, "Down with all old culture!"
"Destroy the Four Olds and Establish the Four News!"
"Down with all monsters and demons!" Various slogans rose and fell.
Rong Jiaojiao, who had just come down from the mountain, felt very disconnected, as if they didn't live in the same time and space. She said, "Master, they seem so energetic and a little crazy."
Qing Xuanzi frowned slightly: "This is a turmoil in the secular world. What you see is only the surface. There are many complex reasons behind it. We should not get involved and should keep a low profile."
Rong Jiaojiao nodded: "I understand, Master."
The next day, Rong Jiaojiao took out the array plate and cultivated with Ziling and Xiaojin at the inn.
Qing Xuanzi didn't go out either; he was also making the most of his time to cultivate the Soul Refining Technique and repair his sea of consciousness.
The third day was almost over when the two finally went out and arrived at the train station. The noisy environment made Rong Jiaojiao feel a little uncomfortable.
She gripped Qing Xuanzi's sleeve tightly and whispered, "Master, there are so many people here."
Qing Xuanzi gently patted her shoulder and said, "It's alright, we'll be getting on the bus soon. But you can't call me Master anymore when we're out."
"I know, I'll just call out softly. If I need to speak loudly, I'll call you 'Uncle'."
Qing Xuanzi nodded with a smile.
They arrived at the station right on time, and the staff started calling out to check tickets.
Watching the crowds rushing towards the gate, Rong Jiaojiao longed to return to her childhood, when her master would carry her wherever she went, and she didn't have to worry about anything.
Although Qing Xuanzi could not use his divine sense or magic, his own strength was still formidable, and he easily protected Rong Jiaojiao from being pushed around.
Rong Jiaojiao also used her spiritual power to form a protective shield to protect herself and her master.
The situation improved once they boarded the train; the sleeper carriage was relatively quiet, unlike the crowded hard-seat carriage.
Their berths were in the middle of the train, and Qing Xuanzi and Rong Jiaojiao quickly found their berths.
There were two opposing six-berth carriages, one upper berth, one middle berth, and one lower berth. There were already two passengers in the carriage: an elderly man wearing glasses and a young man with dark skin.
They were chatting on the lower bunk opposite Rong Jiaojiao and the others, and they seemed to be from the same group.
Upon seeing them enter, he stopped talking and scrutinized the master and apprentice with a critical look.
Qing Xuanzi and Rong Jiaojiao ignored them. Qing Xuanzi asked, "Jiaojiao, which bed do you want to sleep in?"
"I'll sleep in the middle bunk. You're tall, it'll be too uncomfortable for you."
Rong Jiaojiao winked at Qing Xuanzi and said, "Please step back, I'll make your bed first."
Qing Xuanzi smiled and nodded. The moment Rong Jiaojiao opened the quilt, she used a cleaning talisman, and the quilt, which had been emitting a strange smell, was immediately clean.
This caused the young man who had been watching them to narrow his pupils sharply, and his eyes gleamed with a strange light as he looked at them.
Rong Jiaojiao didn't care what the young man thought of her, since he couldn't catch her in the act anyway.
She smiled and gestured for him to enter. Not wanting to call him "uncle," she simply said, "Please, go ahead!"
Qing Xuanzi patted her head: "If you don't want to go up, just sit down!"
"OK."
Rong Jiaojiao sat down as instructed, but after a while, she started to feel bored, mainly because she hadn't had a moment of leisure in all these years.
He sank his consciousness into the small secret realm, trying to find something to pass the time, but after looking through it once, he couldn't find anything suitable.
Seeing her master sit down, lean against the partition, close her eyes, and pretend to doze off, Rong Jiaojiao knew that her master must have started cultivating.
Rong Jiaojiao rolled her eyes and decided to follow her master's example and start cultivating as well.
Just then, two more young men arrived. They exchanged glances with the first young man and climbed onto the upper bunk.
Before long, the train began to sway and move, and the master and apprentice seemed to fall asleep leaning against each other, remaining so for the entire day.
As evening approached, long past dinnertime, Qing Xuanzi still showed no intention of feeding Rong Jiaojiao.
The old man across from him couldn't bear to watch any longer and reached out to pat Qing Xuanzi, trying to persuade him to take the child to eat.
As soon as he reached out, before he could even touch Qing Xuanzi, he was stunned by Qing Xuanzi's suddenly opened, sharp eyes.
The young man quickly stepped in front of the old man to shield him. Qing Xuanzi blinked and said gently, "What is it, comrade?"
His tone was so gentle, as if his gaze had never been there.
As soon as Qing Xuanzi spoke, Rong Jiaojiao opened her eyes and asked Qing Xuanzi in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Qing Xuanzi didn't speak, he just looked at the person opposite him.
The old man tugged at the young man's sleeve, then smiled and said to Qing Xuanzi, "I noticed you two haven't eaten all day, and I was worried the child might be hungry, so I'm sorry to bother you!"
Qing Xuanzi smiled sheepishly. The other person meant well, and he might have scared them.
He thanked her, saying, "Thank you very much, it is indeed time to eat!"
The old man smiled faintly and shook his head, saying "You're welcome," but his eyes were filled with curiosity as he looked at them.
Qing Xuanzi said to Rong Jiaojiao, "Jiaojiao, are you hungry? Get something to eat."
Rong Jiaojiao glanced at her master with suspicion, and when she saw him look at the large cloth bag he was using to cover it up, she immediately understood.
He reached inside and rummaged around, pulling out two paper packets. Inside were a packet of steamed buns and a packet of braised meat.
Rong Jiaojiao reached into her cloth bag again and took out a small ceramic jar containing pickled cucumbers made by Qing Xuanzi.
Qing Xuanzi took the food from Rong Jiaojiao and invited with a smile, "Come on, have some with us."
The old man and the young man exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.
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