Chapter 613 Useless
It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
Song Chunxue chewed on the cornmeal porridge with some greens, feeling a sour taste in her stomach.
Before eating, she went to the kitchen and saw that there was only cornmeal in the flour bin and only coarse salt as a seasoning. The kitchen was so clean that it looked like a dog had licked it clean.
After dinner, she drew twenty lucky charms in one go.
Even if you can't keep your money, you still have to fill your stomach.
Dongfang Xu led them to the study and took down a few books from the dusty bookshelf.
"Seeing your resilient nature, you are by no means a weak woman, so I will not stand on ceremony with you. If you want to become an alchemist, you must be familiar with these introductory books. I heard that you only started learning to read six years ago, which I truly admire, and I believe that this is not difficult."
As he spoke, he placed three old, yellowed books in her hands.
“These are the ones I used before, with detailed annotations. Take a good look at them when you get back. The last two are useless to me even if I look at them. My master told me to give them to someone who is destined to receive them, and I think you are that person.”
Five books were stacked in her hands.
“Alchemy requires furnaces and cauldrons. This mountain may not have much else, but it has plenty of furnaces and cauldrons. You two can each take one.” With that, Dongfang Xu tossed two cauldrons over like sandbags.
Startled, Song Chunxue immediately threw the book into her Qiankun bag and reached out to catch the furnace cauldron.
The Taoist priest easily caught it with one hand, and his eyes lit up the moment he saw the furnace.
“Junior brother, this cauldron is quite nice. You should give us more money. We'll cover the cost of renovating this Taoist temple.”
The Taoist priest carefully stroked the patterns on the cauldron. "Fellow Daoist, you are dressed so poorly, it turns out you were just trying to deceive people. Selling one of these cauldrons could make you rich for several years."
“My master forbade me to sell the cauldron, saying it was a bad omen. He also said that I would definitely meet two benefactors soon, and it turned out to be true.” Dongfang Xu rubbed his hands together. “Few people are willing to come here to burn incense and make wishes, and since I don’t lie, there are very few fortune tellers.”
The Taoist priest smiled and said, "I can see that. Who would point at a fellow Taoist they've just met and say that the other person will suffer a bloody disaster? People who take the initiative to consult the oracle must be in trouble. They have some kind words to say to them, or they'll definitely get angry with you."
Dongfang Xu scratched the back of his head. "That makes sense, but I can't change it."
The Taoist priest has a clear mind and doesn't bottle things up. It's others who suffer because of him. No wonder he's so young. People who don't make things difficult for themselves live the longest.
Song Chunxue suppressed a laugh, "Then let's not forget about it. Selling pills will make you a little richer in the future. Do you know how to draw talismans? How about we return the favor and I'll teach you how to draw a wealth-attracting talisman?"
Dongfang Xu looked hesitant and somewhat troubled.
"To be honest, I have studied it before, but in my eyes, those convoluted rules are like scribbles, impossible to remember, much harder than alchemy. If you are willing to teach me, I will reluctantly give it a try, perhaps it is fate."
Is this even possible?
Song Chunxue looked at him with great sympathy, feeling as if she were seeing herself in her past life.
"Then I'll leave you some more lucky charms. If you ever run out of money, just take one with you and wander around. It'll always solve your problems."
Dongfang Xu's face lit up with joy. "Then thank you very much. As long as I don't starve to death, a little hardship is nothing. If I were a monk, I could only be an ascetic."
That night, Song Chunxue lay on her slightly damp bed, but her heart was filled with unease.
It's a strange feeling; people she wouldn't easily think about before now find themselves popping into her mind whenever she has free time.
My heart feels like it's filled with a piece of candy; just thinking about that person makes me feel sweet!
"Smack!"
She raised her hand and slapped herself, cursing herself for being so spineless.
How could it have turned out like this?
Could she have been bewitched?
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The Taoist priest, who was about to knock on the door, was startled by the slap. "You're not asleep, are you?"
"Not yet," she immediately corrected herself, "I'm asleep."
But her senior brother had already walked in, observing her with curiosity.
He didn't dare get too close, but peeked at her flushed cheeks from a few steps away.
"Tsk tsk, why are you hitting yourself for no reason? You haven't even taken the pills yet and you're already like this?"
His face was full of worry. "Is there a problem with Fellow Daoist Dongfang's pill?"
Song Chunxue looked at him expressionlessly. "What do you want?"
"I was worried you wouldn't dare go out to use the outhouse at night, so I left the chamber pot outside the door to let you know." He suddenly remembered something, pointed at her, and frowned. "You wouldn't have thought of Lord Xie and slapped yourself, would you?"
She was getting impatient and couldn't help rolling her eyes. "You can't let a man carry the chamber pot. You could have just told me and gotten it myself. Besides, I used to be brave, and I'm even braver now. Isn't it normal to run into a ghost in the outhouse?"
The Taoist priest chuckled, pointed at her, and shook his head. "Haha, you didn't deny it."
"Junior brother, junior brother, is it because you look down on yourself for being interested in men that you hit yourself?"
"Senior brother, do you want to fight?"
The Taoist priest walked out, saying, "What a tragedy. He just likes someone, how could a perfectly normal person suddenly go mad? Why don't we skip Jiangnan and go directly to the capital to find your sweetheart?"
Song Chunxue ran out of the room barefoot, shouting, "Senior brother, either we fight, or you stop teasing me on purpose! It's one of two!"
Seeing her roll up her sleeves, the Taoist priest crossed his arms and said, "Oh ho, you've gone too far. Just because I've never eaten pork doesn't mean I'm not allowed to ask someone who's licked it what it tastes like. Can't you at least have some sympathy for your senior brother?"
The next moment, a short sword flew towards him.
The Taoist priest was startled and leaped onto the top of the courtyard wall.
It was that sentient short sword, hovering menacingly before him.
The Taoist priest raised his hand, and a long sword appeared in his palm.
"Alright, junior brother has issued a challenge, huh? Let's give it a try!"
As he spoke, he struck the short sword straight at it.
The next moment, the short sword tilted and flew towards Song Chunxue.
She hid behind Song Chunxue, peeking out the hilt of her small sword at the Taoist priest.
"..." He must be crazy, why bother arguing with a coward.
"Alright, go to sleep." The Taoist priest lazily tossed out a sentence. "It's not shameful for a woman to think about a man. After cultivating Taoism for so long, you should understand to face your true feelings. Shame and injustice are things that imprison honest people. Don't use old ideas to teach yourself, it's so awkward."
"Love is a difficult hurdle to overcome, but don't take it too seriously. Just boldly move forward."
Song Chunxue leaned against the door, thinking to herself that her senior brother was just talking without understanding the situation!
She raised the short sword and examined it carefully. "I think you should be named Wuyou (meaning 'Worry-Free'), because you shouldn't worry about anything, especially not about this kind of thing!"
She should go back to her room and meditate.
When you meditate, you won't think about random things.
The child has already lived with us, why should he/she have to suffer like this?
She had just climbed into bed when she thought she should put on her shoes and go outside to practice her swordsmanship. She would practice for half an hour, and then go to sleep when she got tired.
Hearing the murderous intent emanating from the swordplay outside the courtyard, Dongfang Xu couldn't help but knock on Zhang Daoren's door.
"Brother Yunqing, what's wrong with your junior brother? Why isn't he sleeping after traveling all day?"
The Taoist priest sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed, and said in a very soft voice, "Don't worry about her. She hasn't experienced what she should have experienced in her teens, and now she has to go through it. It is indeed a bit difficult."
"Huh? What happened? Can't we help her?"
"There's only one person who can help with this." Towards the end, his voice was almost inaudible, "Only him."
P.S.: If you have a cold, I suggest you learn more about traditional Chinese medicine and drink less strong medicine.
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