Chapter 113 Picnic party, just chatting idly...
As the evening glow fades, the gentle warmth of spring illuminates the scene. Looking closely, one sees the sun and moon shining together in the sky, the high heavens serene.
It's very noisy downstairs.
Beside the locust tree.
"Golden Monkey! You can't do this! You only brought peaches and strawberries! How can that fill you up?!"
"You brat, go ask around outside! At this time of year, only my Fruit Mountain has peaches; other demons can't even get their hands on any!"
As the golden monkey spoke, it patted Shui Zhu's head from the tree. Monkeys have small hands and little strength, but they are annoying, especially with their sweet monkey voices.
"I can't eat it! I can't eat it! I can't eat it!"
Shui Zhu closed his eyes briefly. The woman gently adjusted her hair, not arguing with him, but simply smiling as she spoke cold words.
"Fine, you're not allowed to eat any of the fish, shrimp, clams, or snails I brought!"
"Hehehe, that's not something I can decide, it's something my mouth decides."
"Hehehe, if Gan Gui Lake floods, that's not my decision, it's my spiritual power that decides!"
"Ugh! Annoying monkeys! Honestly, I'll have the little monkeys bring more food! Humph! You're not allowed to eat any!"
"snort!"
...
Su Xuanzhen transformed back into his youthful human form and silently walked out of the forest, tossing five or six rabbits, a few quails, and some mulberries onto the ground.
Zhang Xuan was tidying up the frame by the fire, preparing to put pots and such on it later. When the boy saw this, he looked up and asked casually, "Is he dead?"
Su Xuanzhen sat down without even lifting her eyelids, her voice very gentle, "Are you blind?"
...
Deep in the woods.
"Here, here, Sister Lin, all the wild vegetables here are edible!"
Shan Huai-ren, holding a chicken, pointed the way for Lin Fan-xiang, who followed the little tiger carrying a basket.
Cai Cai, having grown accustomed to fear, lay "peacefully" with her eyes closed in Shan Huai Ren's arms, her occasional twitches reminding everyone that the chicken was still alive.
Shan Huai-ren pointed to some mushrooms by the tree and wild vegetables not far away, "These are mushrooms. They need to be roasted over a fire or boiled in water. Anyway, they can be eaten once they are fully cooked. Those pink mushrooms over there are not edible, even if they are cooked."
"Okay, then we'll pick from here."
Lin Fanxiang smiled gently as she squatted down and gently dug with a small shovel. Shan Huai Ren felt that using manpower was too slow, so he simply transformed into the shape of a tiger.
"Let me help you, Sister Lin!"
Cai Cai: "Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle..."
Tiger Claw placed Cai Cai on its back and gently patted its head.
Cai Cai: "Hook-hook-hook..."
As Shan Huai-ren used his tiger claws to dig in the soil and pick vegetables, he thought to himself with delight, "Look how well I've raised these chicks."
...
The carriage area.
Wen Chuan handed over various large pots, spice boxes, and some eggs, green vegetables, cabbage, lotus root, bamboo shoots, etc. through the car window...
Teng Man swayed leisurely outside the window, pointing at the items with some curiosity. Qing Yu stood outside the car window, helping to hand over the items while chatting with Teng Man.
"Grandpa, bring us some locust flowers later, I want to eat locust flower pancakes... Wenchuan, can locust flowers be used in stir-fries?"
"Hmm... stir-fried locust flowers with eggs, pancakes, or cold salad are all fine."
"Wow, I want to eat! And fish soup too! Anyway, we've already brought the pot, and we can even use the stone to make pancakes... Hmm, we can make so many delicious things!"
Wen Chuan smiled, then handed Qing Yu two more pots, "Then we'll have to work on them at the same time and make a few more."
Upon hearing this, Qingyu smiled, her eyes crinkling with joy, "Okay, okay, I can make it too! Hmm, how about some cold locust flower salad? I'll make it!"
"Okay, it's very simple, I'll teach you in a bit."
"good!"
...
At the foot of Shenlan Cliff.
Qin Tianshu looked at the golden, glittering Butterfly Queen before him. In human form, she was a beautiful woman, but also an extremely violent, golden, violent woman—
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
"Move it!"
Li Huan looked at the frail scholar in front of her and pointed to the three large wooden barrels of honey on the ground, saying, "You carry them, I have more behind you."
The scholar smiled slightly, looking silently at the three large buckets of honey that nearly reached his waist, despite carrying a large bag of peach blossoms on his back.
"Actually... you don't need that many..."
Li Huan scratched his head, "Really? But Xiao Hua said I just took the initiative to make a move, and that... something..."
Qin Tianshu: "Provoking trouble..."
"Yes, yes, that's it... Hey, I just killed a giant bee demon a couple of days ago... Well, I, Li Huan, am being honest and straightforward, so drink as much honey as you want today!"
Qin Tianshu gently hefted the wooden bucket... The scholar looked up, his face contorted with extreme anguish, and said, "So, why did you make fun of Su Xuanzhen for no reason?"
Li Huan: "Why are there so many whys? I just didn't like the nine-tailed fox, so I hit him. Who knew he would turn into an eight-tailed fox?"
Qin Tianshu sighed, then took a deep breath, "Alright! Let's go! We...we'll go back and ask Grandpa Locust Tree to help us with a vine!"
Li Huan blinked, then turned and headed up the mountain path. "Oh right, why didn't you say so earlier!"
...
At the beginning of the month, everyone finally managed to get together and busied themselves with various tasks, managing to get things done in a few words and a few phrases, almost causing a huge uproar.
Wen Chuan looked at the ingredients scattered on the ground and thought for a while before finally starting a grand feast—
The water deer sisters were in charge of washing the vegetables:
Shui Bi sat by the stream, while Shui Zhu held a bamboo basket, waving vegetables—wild vegetables, bok choy, cabbage, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, locust flowers. Whatever Shui Zhu took out, Shui Bi would wave her hand and use the stream water to wash it clean.
(The water deer liked to eat vegetables and was thinking of sneaking a couple of leaves, but the golden monkey was nagging and making a racket, so they angrily washed the vegetables until they were sparkling clean!)
Zhang Xuan was in charge of cutting the meat. He had two long knives hanging from his waist and two kitchen knives in his hands. He was cutting rabbit meat and quail on the stone cutting board. His movements were so nimble that he didn't look like a chef, but like a knife expert.
(Zhang Xuan: ?)
Wen Chuan was preparing fish and snails next to him. The rabbit was going to be braised, the fish would be steamed or used to make fish soup, and the spicy stir-fried snails were ready. The young man was deep in thought as he scaled and cut the snails, occasionally giving pointers to Zhang Xuan, who was cutting meat next to him. In short, Zhang Xuan would cut the meat exactly as Wen Chuan instructed.
Lin Fanxiang was also preparing ingredients not far away, such as garlic slices, scallion segments, rock sugar, wine, and oil. She is a calm person and had previously learned many seasoning recipes for cooking from Wen Chuan. These simple seasonings were no problem for her.
Just then, Qingyu was right next to her. The woman took on the unusual task of lighting the fire and setting up the pot, boiling a lot of water. They set up three or four stone pots and slabs in total, supposedly so that they could fry and stir-fry at the same time, and simmer and cook in sections, and everything would be ready in no time.
Speaking of which, Su Xuanzhen was standing in front of the large stone slab, frying quail. The idea of stir-fried rabbit meat and pan-fried quail was his, so he was in charge of it—
A nine-tailed fox who can't cook isn't a good eight-tailed fox.
...
Amidst the noisy chatter of the surrounding area, Qin Tianshu emerged from the woods carrying a pile of bamboo tubes and stone bowls. The scholar fell silent, then sighed, "Why am I always running around?"
"Because you're handsome!"
The familiar monkey sound rang out, and the golden monkey suddenly hung upside down from the locust tree, grinning at the crowd and demons. He was quick too; with a flick of his tail, he knocked the scholar's pile of bamboo tubes, bowls, and chopsticks to the stream bank.
"I know that eating is a lot of trouble, you have to wash all that stuff!"
Shui Zhu was so angry she laughed, clutching the unexpected pile of things that had just arrived.
"You stinky monkey, just you wait."
Upon hearing this, Qingyu looked up and looked helplessly at the golden monkey. "Brother Monkey, didn't you say you were going to treat us to fruit? Where's the fruit?"
"Hey! What's the rush?"
The golden monkey was having a great time swinging in the tree, then suddenly landed on the ground, hooking its tail around the basket and carrying it in both hands. It swayed along the stream like it was on a balance beam, chanting as it went.
"Peaches, cherries, and wild strawberries—unique fruits from the fruit trees of this mountain; you can't find them anywhere else."
"Don't come this way!"
Li Huan was also by the stream, looking at the honey peach blossoms, preparing to use bamboo tubes to make honey peach blossom water.
"If your monkey hair dares to fall into my honey, I'll give you all the peaches from your Golden Fruit Mountain as payment!"
"Aaaah! You naughty girls, you naughty girls!"
The golden monkey wrinkled its monkey face and shouted, "Tomorrow I'm going to the prosperous land and eating all your flowers!"
Wow, Monkey King, can you eat flowers?
Under the locust tree swing, Shan Huai-ren held Cai Cai and asked the little boy a question, who was very curious.
"He eats everything, he doesn't eat anything!"
Xi Bian Shui Zhu snorted and said, "Monkeys are omnivorous animals; they can eat anything on the whole mountain!"
"Go! Go! Go!"
Golden Monkey waved to Shui Zhu and the others, then chuckled and placed the fruit basket by the stream, letting the water wash over it. After clapping his hands, the monkey bent down and rushed onto the swing to talk to the little tiger.
Cai Cai: "Coo coo coo".
"Oh, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now, what's the deal with this chicken, Xiaohua? I thought you brought it especially to show your respect to us!"
Qingyu raised the spatula and pointed it at the golden monkey, "It's my pet, just like your monkey offspring, you can't... Hey, stop scaring it!"
Shan Huai-ren: "No, no, don't worry, sister, I'll protect the little newbie!"
Cai Cai: "Gou Gou Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga!"
It's only scary when you're protecting me, you big tiger!!!
...
As Zhang Xuan cut the meat, he muttered to Wen Chuan, "Brother Wen, why is the demon race so different from what I expected?"
“What’s different?”
"ah!"
A ghostly male voice came from behind him, and Zhang Xuan looked at Su Xuanzhen, who had somehow appeared next to him, and exclaimed, "Why aren't you making a sound!"
Honestly, this fox has no life at all; I have no idea why he came here to eat this meal.
Su Xuanzhen raised her eyes, her voice calm yet innocent, "The quail is being fried, I'll prepare the rabbit meat."
"You can go see the fire."
Zhang Xuan glanced at him a few times, and the boy put down the knife in a bad mood and went to check on the fire. Qing Yu and Fan Xiang were over there, so he went to play there!
Wen Chuan lowered his head and smiled helplessly. The young man methodically processed the ingredients in his hands, while Su Xuanzhen stood beside him, deftly processing rabbit meat. Her face still bore scars, which did indeed seem somewhat strange.
"I didn't want to come at first, but after thinking about it, I was still a little curious."
Wen Chuan remained calm, focusing on the meat on the cutting board, and asked in a nonchalant voice, "What are you curious about?"
Su Xuanzhen smiled and said, "You are both human and demon, so how come you are so happy?"
Whether it's humans or demons, in Kyushu or Qishan, no one thinks it's bad for Qingyu and Wenchuan to be together. Even if they do, it doesn't affect their lives at all.
Wen Chuan's men had mostly finished processing the fish. The young man set them aside and began skillfully preparing the others. As Su Xuanzhen asked questions, he didn't look at anyone, focusing solely on his own task, and chuckled softly at Qing Yu's voice from not far away.
"We're both lucky, so we don't ask for anything."
“It took me a long time to meet her, so I never let go from the beginning.”
Su Xuanzhen slowly sliced the rabbit meat, her movements a few seconds slower, and chuckled softly, "How lucky."
His smile was cold, as if to say, "That's all there is to it."
"I don't know the specifics of your relationship with A-Ling, and I'm not curious,"
"However, there is one interesting point,"
The young man's voice was gentle, yet tinged with ruthlessness. He looked up at Su Xuanzhen, a faint smile masking utter indifference.
“Fox, you look down on mortals, and you look down on your wife’s mother clan.”
"Someone like you has no right to lament the difficulty of love between humans and transvestites."
...
The people and demons worked tirelessly, taking an hour or two, and finally finished everything by nightfall.
Staple food: Steamed rice in bamboo tubes.
Hot dishes: Steamed fish, spicy stir-fried snails, braised rabbit, braised fish, rabbit with bamboo shoots, pan-fried quail, quail stewed with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with locust flowers, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and braised bamboo shoots.
Cold dishes: cold wild vegetable salad, cold locust flower salad.
Soup: Fish soup, wild vegetable and tofu soup, mushroom and egg drop soup.
Oh, and there were also the dozen or so cups of honey peach blossom water that Li Huan frantically made, and the fresh fruit platter that Jin Houhou had been bragging about for ages.
A gentle night breeze carries an alluring, enticing fragrance beneath the ancient locust tree.
"Thump!"
Grandpa Huaihua generously carried a huge rock from the deep mountains, and the moment the rock hit the ground, the golden monkey instantly jumped onto the stone table.
With a flick of its tail and a grab of its long arms, the golden monkey brought out several dishes in the blink of an eye. Turning around, it chuckled and flicked its tail again, "da la da la da la," and a row of clean little bamboo tubes were neatly arranged.
Shui Zhu and Shui Bi laughed as they poured honey and peach blossom water into the bamboo tube. Their crimson skirts and emerald hues, mingled with the golden gauze of Li Huan, who trailed behind them. A cool evening breeze rustled their skirts, carrying their laughter. Forget about being enchantresses; this place around the locust tree was like a fairyland.
"Golden Monkey! You've brought out a few dishes and you're resting again!"
The monkey laughed, bent down, and jumped to a good spot, crossing its legs and sitting down. Leaning against the high-backed stone chair made of rocks, it chuckled.
"No, no, I didn't!"
"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready! Don't be shy! Slurp~"
As he spoke, he took a sip of honey water, smacked his lips a few times afterward, and then frowned, exclaiming how sweet it was.
"Mmm, Monkey King, these strawberries are delicious!"
Qingyu placed the fish soup on the table and picked up a few strawberries to eat. She praised them as she ate them. Fanxiang happened to be standing next to her, so Qingyu fed her a bite.
Qingyu smiled, "Is it delicious, Xiangxiang?"
Fan Xiang nodded, "Mm!"
"Hey, make way, make way, the mushroom soup is ready!"
Qin Tianshu leisurely carried the freshly served mushroom soup, filling it to the brim, and placed it steadily in the center of the stone table.
Wen Chuan brought over a bamboo tube filled with steamed rice. Su Xuanzhen stood beside him, helping to hand over the food, while Zhang Xuan helped set out the chopsticks.
Logically, this should be the monkey's job, but he said he was shedding fur, so Su Xuanzhen pursed her lips and took the bowls and chopsticks to set them out. Seeing this, Zhang Xuan silently came over to help.
Sigh, we've been at it all afternoon. This fox looks pretty pathetic—broken tail, being laughed at, fur on fire, water poured over his head… In the end, he seemed to get a shock while chatting with Wen Chuan, and the young man wobbled around, even flipping the rabbit meat pot over…
Anyway, Zhang Xuan, who had no worries, saw it all and sighed inwardly.
The young man finished setting out the last dish, put his hands on his hips, and laughed loudly at the crowd.
"The food is all ready! Let's eat!"
Have a good meal, get a good night's sleep, and everything will be a fresh start!
...
A gentle night breeze blew, and the moonlight shone brightly.
Qingyu leaned against Xiangxiang and watched the monkeys and deer arguing across the river. Shan Huai Ren held Cai Cai and played with chickens by the stream. Their "hooking and quacking" sounds seemed to be the background noise of tonight's feast.
Wen Chuan and Qin Tianshu were talking about something, and as they spoke, the young men began to chuckle softly. Before long, Qin Tianshu looked at Zhang Xuan, whose face was flushed red.
"Where did you get this alcohol, kid?!"
Zhang Xuan chuckled softly, pointing to the tipsy Su Xuanzhen beside him, "Fox, this fox hid some wine, and I found out!"
Wen Chuan smiled helplessly, with a hint of laziness and casualness in his expression. "What kind of wine?"
Qin Tianshu glanced at him. "You want a drink too?"
"No drinking!"
Su Xuanzhen exclaimed, "He's really secretly drunk quite a bit!" The young man slurred.
"We've already divided up one person, no, we can't divide them up anymore!"
The young man stood up, downed another gulp of liquor, stared blankly at the moon, and then said...
"I want to leave... I want to go and see what Kyushu is really like..."
He wanted to see and search for cultivators, mortals, and demons alike.
His wife is gone, but one day he will find her.
...
"Hehehe, Drunken Fruit Bar! Look how drunk the fox is!"
"It's good that you're leaving. I saw you were feeling uncomfortable staying in Qingqiu, so go out and have some fun!"
Golden Monkey leaned leisurely against a stone table in the distance, legs crossed, and laughed as he smelled the aroma of wine. "Smell this wine, it's strong, brewed by the Qingqiu fox, right? It's really potent!"
Upon seeing this, Li Huan chuckled and said, "Qingqiu? A bunch of annoying guys."
Qingyu looked at her and said, "Come to think of it, I remember you didn't hate nine-tailed foxes that much before. Why do you hate them now?"
Li Huan crossed her arms, the woman sighed with her eyes closed, "It's just that now that I've become the Butterfly King, I find the fox clan's love of chasing butterflies annoying."
The golden monkey chuckled and whispered to Shui Zhu, "I bet she has a grudge against one of the nine-tailed foxes!"
Shui Zhu glanced at him; the demon was already gossiping... really.
Li Huan opened her eyes and said to the monkey in an annoyed tone, "You can guess, I'm not telling you. You stinky monkey, besides foxes chasing butterflies, you little monkeys are the ones who love to eat flowers and play with butterflies!"
"Hehehe, tell me, tell me, did someone from Qingqiu offend you? Tell your Monkey King brother, we've been neighbors for years, I'll beat them up for you!"
Shui Bi frowned as she listened, and scoffed, "Keep it up, Huanhuan, don't tell him. If he finds out, the whole of Qishan will know!"
"Silly girl, silly girl! Tsk tsk tsk!"
"Ah! Sister! A monkey spat at me!"
Shui Zhu: "What are you doing! Are you drunk too? Are you bullying a child?!"
Li Huan: "Bullying a child! The Golden Monkey is bullying a little monster in the Mountain Lord's territory! Hahahaha!"
"Aaaaaah! Don't shout! What if the mountain god wakes up?!"
"...!"
“…!…!”
“…!…!…!”
"………………!!!"
...
Honestly, it's quite noisy...
Having been away for so long, Qingyu felt a little out of place hearing their noisy chatter. She turned to chat with Fanxiang, the woman chuckling softly.
"They were like this when they were kids, always chatting and playing around,"
Fan Xiang looked down at her; the woman was calm and gentle under the moonlight. "I really never thought that Qishan was like this."
Qingyu shook her head, then smiled and said, "It's the best, it's all here."
As she spoke, she leaned back in the stone chair, looked up at the bright moon and smiled. Amidst the endless fragrance of locust blossoms, she gently closed her eyes.
"Life in the mountains is long, and the demons are all very pure. This purity is good, and it can also be bad. Only a few naturally clever groups like to cause trouble, while the others... well, they just live their lives naturally."
"Yes, but you have to be strong, otherwise you'll be running for your life in the forest every day."
Qingyu laughed as she spoke, stretched, and then said leisurely, "Back then, I did just that... to hunt down other lesser demons."
Fan Xiang pursed her lips upon hearing this, and suddenly asked, "Don't you feel lonely?"
Are you lonely?
Qingyu opened her eyes and looked at the endless starry sky, with moonlight brushing against the mountains.
The woman finally lowered her eyes, as if enjoying the moment, or as if many years ago, the girl had been lying under the tree watching the stars.
"Yes, but you can make new friends by having a fight."
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