The story afterward
"Cultivation techniques..."
Lu Ye was taken aback, then fell into deep thought, as if flipping through old memories.
The noisy voices, filtered through the glass, became a faint buzzing sound, amplified hundreds of times in Yu Miaomiao's ears, causing her headache, dizziness, and blurred vision. She gritted her teeth, trying to remain calm amidst the turmoil, staring intently at Lu Ye, awaiting his answer—whether it was yes or no, this was the final verdict.
After a long silence, Lu Ye slowly said, "I...maybe I know."
He sat down and recalled, "My master... before he passed away, he left me a box, saying that it contained his life's work and that he hoped I could help him find a successor to pass on their lineage."
He shook his head. “It’s a pity that the spiritual energy in the world is declining. I traveled everywhere but could not find a suitable person, so I buried the box in front of his grave.”
Yu Miaomiao leaned forward and pressed, "Where is his grave?"
"On a barren mountain at the border of Hanyang Prefecture and Nanyang Prefecture, now about 120 kilometers north of City A."
She stood up abruptly, her voice urgent: "Take me there."
Lu Ye could see his daughter's seriousness and anxiety. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately decided not to say that it was too late and that they should go tomorrow.
He nodded: "Okay."
"I'm going too."
As the doorbell rang, a low, crisp voice sounded.
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Yu Miaomiao's pupils contracted slightly. She turned around and saw Jiang Cheng standing at the door, his face calm.
-
Lu Ye drove ahead, with Jiang Chengyi and Yu Miaomiao following behind. They set off under the cover of night, heading out of the city.
When they were alone, Yu Miaomiao finally spoke, her voice very soft, "You... heard everything?"
Because she was so focused, she didn't even notice when Jiang Chengyi had been standing outside the door.
"Hmm." Jiang Cheng said, "I need to apologize to Miao Miao. I looked at your computer and found out what you've been doing over the past month."
Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw the other person's anxious expression and said helplessly, "Miaomiao, you've done so much, why didn't you tell me? We could have looked for it together, and you wouldn't have had to work so hard."
Yu Miaomiao lowered her gaze. "I can't guarantee that I'll find it. If I fail, I'll just pretend this never happened."
Her tone was very calm, because she had already thought about it countless times in her mind.
Let her experience the bitterness of shattered hope alone.
Jiang Chengyi's hands gripping the steering wheel bulged with veins. After a long while, he sighed softly, his eyes filled with deep love and guilt.
"Miaomiao, you don't need to worry about me..."
-
Two and a half hours later, the car stopped at the foot of a barren mountain.
After a moment's thought, Lu Ye said definitively, "This is it."
The three then went up the mountain.
This was an undeveloped, wild mountain, and the group struggled to traverse it. The first half had some small paths worn down by local residents, but the second half was pure hacking and shoving. Fortunately, the two monsters and one human were all in good physical condition, and they finally reached the summit as dawn broke.
After walking for a while on the mountaintop, they saw a dilapidated Taoist temple. Because it had been uninhabited and unmaintained for many years, it was almost in ruins.
Passing the Taoist temple, there is a "grave," though calling it a grave is a bit of a stretch. The raised mound of earth has long been worn smooth by wind and rain, with only a stone tablet serving as a marker.
Lu Ye walked to the monument, knelt down solemnly, and kowtowed three times.
He said in a low voice, "Old Taoist, I'm sorry that this worship ceremony has been held thirty years later."
“You’re right. I have not yet severed my ties with this world. I have done many wrong things and harmed many people. If there were no other reason, I might still be ashamed to see you.”
Although Yu Miaomiao was anxious, she did not urge him at this moment.
A few minutes later, Lu Ye stood up, took out the shovel he had prepared beforehand, and began digging on the east side of the tombstone. Before long, he dug out a pit half a meter deep, and sure enough, there was a box inside.
He took out the box, blew away the thin layer of soil on the surface, revealing a glossy black surface. Buried underground for hundreds of years, it showed no signs of decay.
Lu Ye opened the box, and the thick stack of books inside showed no signs of decay. He pulled out a thin booklet from the bottom and handed it to Yu Miaomiao.
“I often see the old Taoist priest holding this booklet and studying the markings. It should be the cultivation method you want.”
Yu Miaomiao took it, eagerly. Her eyes were met with obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient text, interspersed with meticulous red annotations. She frowned and browsed through a few pages, finding that they contained some mysterious and esoteric words, unlike cultivation techniques, but rather some kind of scripture.
Jiang Cheng looked at it with her and said, "Just by looking at these, we can't tell whether it's a cultivation technique or not."
Yu Miaomiao thought so too.
No problem, she took out her phone, took a few photos of the booklet, and sent them to the online friend at the archaeological institute.
Two minutes later, netizens sent a series of exclamation marks.
[What is this?! Where did you see this?!!!!]
The photo is too blurry, please take a clearer one!
No, you should send a video instead!
Hurry, hurry, hurry!!!
Yu Miaomiao was dazzled by his exclamation mark and replied: 【First, tell me if it's a cultivation technique.】
A netizen replied instantly: "There's a high probability, but it's not 100% certain."
[Film a video of yourself flipping through the entire booklet page by page.]
I'll go to the institute right away to consult my teacher.
Yu Miaomiao sent the video as he requested.
They waited another hour before receiving a call from their online friend.
Netizens were extremely excited: "It's confirmed, it really is a martial arts technique, but we haven't been able to touch the actual object, so we can't determine which school it belongs to yet."
Yu Miaomiao asked the question that concerned her most: "Can humans really cultivate using this technique?"
One netizen confidently stated, "Very likely!"
"But we are only doing archaeological work. The analysis of the specific content of the exercise still needs to rely on experts from other fields. My teacher has already reported it to his superiors."
After saying so much in one breath, the netizens' excitement subsided slightly, but their elation was still palpable. "YM, do you know, the archaeological community has been working hard for fifty years, and we thought we would never find the historical techniques again. We never expected you to give us such a huge surprise!"
His words resonated deeply: "Even if only one in ten thousand humans can cultivate, you have still changed the entire world!"
A little while later, the phone was handed over to the netizen's teacher.
The voice, though aged, couldn't hide its excitement: "The higher-ups have replied. They will draw experts from all over the country to form a project team specifically to interpret this ancient book."
She made a request: "Ms. Yu, would you be willing to lend us this ancient book for a period of time? The results of our research will eventually be made public."
Upon hearing this, Yu Miaomiao glanced at Lu Ye, who nodded slightly, and she replied, "Okay."
A cheer came from the other end of the phone.
After hanging up, Yu Miaomiao looked at Lu Ye, and the two remained silent for a moment.
She was the first to speak, "...Thank you."
The thank you was delivered stiffly, but it came from the heart.
"Whatever you want, I will do my best to repay you as long as it is within my power."
Lu Ye's smile, which had just begun to form, froze on his face, turning into a bitter smile.
"No need for rewards."
He said, "The old Taoist originally wanted to find a successor to spread his skills, so this fulfilled his wish."
Before descending the mountain, he knelt down in front of the tombstone again.
"Old Taoist, before you died, you left me your life's work, hoping to find a successor to punish evil and bring peace to the world. For hundreds of years, I have searched everywhere but to no avail, so I had to bury that box underground. Now that times have changed, it is time to dig it up and see if I can find the successor you want."
"But now that the world is at peace and society is stable, there is not much need to punish evildoers. However, it can be considered as spreading the lineage of your Duling Mountain."
After saying this, he kowtowed again before standing up.
"Let's go."
-
On their way down the mountain, they found a small path that was used by many people, which made the journey much smoother. Halfway down the mountain, they bumped into an elderly couple and a child who were offering incense in front of a shrine.
The old man was very helpful. “You’re hiking, right? Follow this road for another two hours and you’ll see the highway.”
Lu Ye gazed at the shrine and asked, "Old man, who are you worshipping?"
The old man chuckled and said, "They are our ancestors' benefactors."
He spoke as if to Lu Ye, or perhaps to a child: “Back then, the world was in chaos. Our ancestors fled from the north to this place to avoid disaster. They were stopped by a group of bandits and thought they were doomed. But then a Taoist priest, who looked like a god, descended from the sky, saved us, and took us in to live on the mountain and protect us.”
"After the war ended, we refugees settled down at the foot of the mountain and formed villages. Every household worships this benefactor, and we still do so today."
The old man patted the child's head and said, "Little Bao, remember this: people should be grateful and repay kindness. We must never forget his great kindness and virtue, and we must remember it for generations to come."
The child nodded, held up the incense sticks, and bowed three times respectfully. The two then slowly descended the mountain via another path.
After the two left, Yu Miaomiao and Jiang Cheng went over to take a look. The shrine was old but very clean. Inside was a statue with a blurred face, but it could be seen that it was an old man with a long beard holding a large cat. The incense burner was covered with dust, and the gold characters on the plaque were faintly visible.
Jiang Chengyi barely managed to make out the characters: "Zhang Baopu?"
Hearing this, Lu Ye chuckled, "That's his name."
“Four hundred years ago, the old Taoist priest and I took in refugees on the mountain, treated the sick and saved lives. Afterwards, these people cleared land and built houses at the foot of the mountain, saying they wanted to build a temple for us to offer incense.”
"I thought it was just a joke, but I didn't expect it to be true. People still worship it to this day."
He smiled, but his eyes reddened. "It's good that I'm not the only one who remembers him."
-
They returned to Lu Ye's bakery, and Yu Miaomiao placed the black wooden box on the table.
"This was left to you by someone else; you should donate it to an organization."
Lu Ye shook his head and pushed the box to the other person, "If it weren't for Miao Miao, I wouldn't have thought of digging it out."
Seeing Lu Ye's insistent expression, Yu Miaomiao had no choice but to accept it.
She picked up the box, not wanting to stay any longer, and said, "I'm leaving."
Lu Ye's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something and keep the person a little longer, but what came out was: "Be careful on the road."
He watched Yu Miaomiao leave.
The two had only walked a dozen meters when they heard hurried footsteps behind them. They turned around and saw Lu Ye catching up.
He handed her a paper bag. "Miaomiao, you've been busy all night and haven't had breakfast yet. Take these with you."
Yu Miaomiao stared at the paper bag full of bread, then glanced at Lu Ye's almost pleading expression, and finally did not refuse.
She took the paper bag as Lu Ye's eyes slowly brightened, but without saying a word to him, she turned to Jiang Cheng and said, "Let's go."
-
In the car, Jiang Cheng said, "After handing over the cultivation technique, we won't be needed for the rest of the work. Miao Miao, you should rest for a few days. You've been exhausted lately."
Yu Miaomiao closed her eyes slightly and softly hummed in agreement.
With the biggest weight lifted from her heart and the suppression of her will gone, exhaustion almost overwhelmed her.
But she opened her eyes after only a short rest.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Yu Miaomiao only said one word: "Hungry".
Adding to the feeling of fatigue is an intense feeling of hunger.
"Shall I find a breakfast stall to park at, and we'll eat first?"
She shook her head. "I want to eat what you make."
Jiang Cheng chuckled, "Okay."
He took the bag of bread from the back seat. "We still have an hour's drive ahead. Let's eat something to tide us over."
After thinking for a long time, Yu Miaomiao opened the bag and took out a ham croissant.
The croissant was warm and had a sweet buttery aroma. She hesitated for a moment before taking a bite.
The next moment, he froze.
She took another bite, then slowly lowered her head and remained motionless for a long time.
Jiang Cheng noticed her unusual behavior and asked, "Miaomiao, what's wrong?"
After several unanswered calls, he simply pulled over to the side of the road, leaned into the passenger seat, and cupped her face in his hands.
"Miaomiao, what happened?"
Upon seeing the other person's face, Jiang Cheng was taken aback.
Yu Miaomiao closed her eyes, her expression calm, but large tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Exactly the same."
She chewed the bread very slowly, as if reluctant to swallow it.
She said, "It tastes exactly the same as what my mom makes."
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