It wasn't planting season yet, so he wasn't in a hurry. He planned to use his magic to cultivate about half an acre of land every day, and then start planting when it got a little warmer.
Take Rong Jiaojiao to the wasteland, clear a piece of land, lay out a blanket, and let Rong Jiaojiao play on it while you start preparing to clean the land.
He took out a pale yellow talisman from his sleeve, gave it a gentle shake, and the talisman fluttered to the ground.
Qing Xuanzi chanted incantations, formed hand seals, and gently pushed the talisman. Instantly, a soft halo of light ignited, as if a suction force was drawing away the vitality of the surrounding weeds and shrubs.
Under the halo of sunlight, the weeds and shrubs began to wither rapidly, their leaves curling up and losing their former vitality.
They seemed to be bound by an invisible force, falling to the ground one after another. Their once lush branches and leaves became dry and fragile, turning into powder at the slightest touch.
Qing Xuanzi was somewhat smug. This withering and flourishing talisman was ineffective against large trees, but it was perfect for dealing with these weeds and shrubs.
With a gentle wave of his hand, the halo slowly dissipated, and the originally messy weeds and shrubs were transformed into nutrients that fell to the ground.
Next, Qing Xuanzi formed a hand seal and softly chanted, "Earth Spirit Guide, Turn the Earth and Give Birth."
He gently patted the ground with his palm, and as he did so, the earth began to tremble slightly, as if awakened by an invisible force.
The once hard ground gradually softened, and the soil began to tumble, as if gently turned over by an invisible hand.
A few beads of sweat appeared on Qing Xuanzi's forehead, but his hands moved methodically.
He slowly infused spiritual energy into the land, making every inch of soil suitable for planting.
Rong Jiaojiao didn't know what Qing Xuanzi was doing, so her divine sense kept wandering over the churning earth.
Qing Xuanzi found it amusing; children are always curious about everything.
After clearing one plot of land, he began clearing the next. By the time his spiritual energy was exhausted, he had cleared more land than he had expected, which looked to be nearly an acre in size.
Qing Xuanzi clapped his hands and said, "That's enough for today. I'm almost out of talismans. I won't be coming this afternoon; I'll stay home and draw more talismans."
I feel like my talisman usage has increased dramatically since I took on Rong Jiaojiao, and I'm almost out of money. I need to prepare more this time.
Thinking this, he picked up Rong Jiaojiao and went home.
Back at the entrance of the courtyard, they cast a cleansing spell on themselves and Rong Jiaojiao before entering the house.
He put Rong Jiaojiao on the carpet and let her play by herself while he went to cook.
After eating, I took Rong Jiaojiao to the yard, put her on a blanket, patted her little head, and said to her, "You have to be a good girl and play by yourself. Master will draw talismans this afternoon, and I'll make sure you have a big meal of meat tonight."
Rong Jiaojiao grabbed his sleeve and wouldn't let go, making little noises as she tried to get up and walk along his arm.
Qing Xuanzi took out all her toys and put them on the blanket, which diverted her attention.
Qing Xuanzi placed a low couch next to the blanket and laid out all the tools for drawing talismans: talisman paper, wolf howl talisman brush, jade inkstone, cinnabar, and spirit-guiding grass powder, all neatly arranged on the table.
Take out the sealed spiritual spring water, pour cinnabar and spirit-guiding grass powder into the inkstone at a ratio of 10 to 1, add spiritual spring water and stir well to make talisman ink.
The talisman ink, mixed with the spiritual spring water, took on a thick, deep red color, emitting faint fluctuations of spiritual energy.
Take out a piece of talisman paper, pick up the talisman brush, and dip it into the talisman ink in the inkstone.
"Purifying talisman, to remove impurities and impurities," Qing Xuanzi murmured, the tip of his brush gently touching the talisman paper.
The talisman brush seemed to come alive, its nimble strokes drawing intricate runes on the talisman paper.
These runes may seem simple, but they contain the purest spiritual power in the world.
As the last stroke was completed, the talisman emitted a faint red light, which flashed and disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a perfect cleansing talisman.
Qing Xuanzi nodded slightly. Although he hadn't drawn talismans for a long time, he was still as skilled as ever.
He set the talisman aside to dry, picked up the second one, and continued drawing. His movements were fluid and natural. Apart from consuming his spiritual power, drawing talismans was as easy and effortless for him as drawing a painting.
He drew two dozen dust-cleansing talismans, then drew soil-turning talismans, withering and flourishing talismans, cold-proof talismans, and lightness talismans...
He drew over a hundred pictures in a row, and Rong Jiaojiao had somehow climbed to the side of the low couch, her eyes following the movement of his pen.
Over time, he also felt Rong Jiaojiao's spiritual power attached to his talisman brush, moving with the brush.
Qing Xuanzi had an idea. He took out a talisman brush and some ordinary paper and placed them in front of her. He also put an inkstone in the inkstone, poured some ink into it, and said softly, "Jiaojiao, try it. Draw on the paper with the brush, just like your master."
Rong Jiaojiao's eyes lit up. She looked curiously at the talisman pen and paper in front of her. Qing Xuanzi took her little hand, guided her, dipped it in the ink from the inkstone, and then drew a very simple dust-removing talisman on the paper.
The talisman brush left crooked lines on the paper. Although they were not well-defined, after a few tries, she knew that she needed to dip the brush in ink on the inkstone before drawing again.
Qing Xuanzi watched her scribble haphazardly, smiled, and then ignored her.
Over the next few days, Qing Xuanzi continued to clear the wasteland with talisman paper in the morning and draw talismans in the afternoon. Half a month later, he ran out of talisman paper and had only cleared a dozen acres of wasteland.
He felt he needed to prepare more talismans, otherwise it wouldn't be enough for his land reclamation. So he packed up and took Rong Jiaojiao to Bing City.
Meanwhile, in the military family compound, Rong Lianhu finally received another letter of appeal from his hometown. Unlike the previous letters, this one did not begin with insults such as calling them inhuman, heartless, and treacherous.
Instead, he complained the whole time, saying that the eldest son's family would go to the canteen early every day to bring home the family's food, and then they would eat first, leaving only a little bit for the elderly couple, who were about to starve to death. He begged Rong Lianhu to send them some food out of consideration for their upbringing.
Rong Lianhu looked at the different handwriting and guessed that the previous letter must have been written by one of the eldest son's children.
Thanks to the possessions they left behind before going to war, all of the elderly family's children, including the girls, were able to go to school.
The letter did not mention asking Rong Lianhu to send them money, because they knew that even if they did, he would not give it. Moreover, the money and coupons could not buy food in their hometown, so they kept thinking that the old people would starve to death.
When Rong Lianhu saw that the signature at the end was written by the brigade leader Wang Dazhu, he had an idea.
I took half a day off and, during the time when people were returning from breakfast at the family compound, I set off on my bicycle carrying two small sacks of coarse grains.
Just as he stepped out, he ran into Xiang Lan, who was out on patrol, accompanied by two military wives who had nothing else to do.
As soon as she saw Rong Lianhu carrying two bags, she asked, "Commander Rong, are you carrying grain?"
Rong Lianhu nodded: "Yes."
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