Chapter 18 Chapter 18 "The Phoenix's Rise from the Fall" Ask for your prediction...
It was successful indeed.
But Lin Xinghuo herself wasn't feeling well. Compared to the lightness and freshness she'd felt when she'd previously entered Inner Observation, now her muscles and veins were weak and aching, her limbs and bones were shackled. As the spiritual energy slowly flowed toward her Dantian Qi Sea, she could clearly feel the stagnation and difficulty.
It's not that her physical strength is worse than before the breakthrough. Lin Xinghuo understands that this is because she has a higher level of control over herself after the breakthrough, so she can see more clearly the impurities in her body and the blockages in the tiny veins.
The caracal's fur claws touched her meridians, squeezing a little spiritual energy into her. After a moment's pause, he breathed a sigh of relief: "A lucky stroke!" However, after this, he would have to endure ten times the hardship of cleansing his tendons and marrow, purifying his internal organs, bones, and flesh. And it had to be done quickly! Otherwise, if her foundation wasn't strong enough, she would risk injury with every practice.
But, "Congratulations on refining Qi!" You have officially embarked on the path of cultivating immortals and finally have the qualifications to ask for the way to achieve immortality.
"Who's talking?" Huang Dazhuang's loud voice came from outside the yard. Why did he sound like some young man talking to the fairy girl?
Wei Chunfeng rolled her eyes. How could she not hear it?
The man and the caracal in the room looked at each other in bewilderment. One had just passed the test and was not yet proficient in using his spiritual energy, so his five senses were dulled; the other was simply lazy. He had shown his true colors in front of humans before, but the caracal relied on its fast speed to escape quietly, which scared the people who heard it and made them suspicious.
"You can't run!" Lin Xinghuo held the caracal's tail, and she was afraid of leaving her alone without knowing how to explain herself.
The old Party Secretary walked at the back, his mind racing. He wondered if some scoundrel had come to court Xiaolin. He was actually in favor of the boys choosing their own marriages, as it would make their lives more harmonious. But what time was it now? Barefoot doctor training was about to begin. What if Xiaolin's advancement was hindered? The old Party Secretary had a ton of ideas for dealing with the scoundrel.
"Chunfeng, why don't you ask later?" Wei Chunfeng was embarrassed. It didn't matter whether she agreed or not. She gave Huang Dazhuang another unpleasant look.
Every time the old branch secretary came to Nanshan House, he would call her, the women's director, with him. But the team leader was so straightforward that he would tell everything. If there was really a bold young man who showed his affection, he would be scared away! What could be better than getting married and starting a family to keep someone together? Wei Chunfeng wished that the little fairy girl could stay in their village forever.
Lin Xinghuo held the caracal in one hand and came out to open the door. The caracal hung in her hand like a noodle, pretending to be dead.
"No one. I found a cat I didn't recognize, and its meowing sounded a little strange."
Lin Xinghuo poked the caracal, and the caracal lowered its voice and howled twice, feeling hopeless.
"Isn't this a lynx? Its legs are so short!" Team leader Huang Dazhuang said, "And it's quite fat. How did it manage to get so fat with such short legs?"
"Meow!" The caracal got angry and bared its teeth and claws, trying to scratch people.
The veins on Wei Chunfeng's forehead jumped: "Speak less, no one will think you are dumb!" Didn't she know that the animals raised by the fairy lady are all spiritual?
She didn't pay any attention to the strange-looking cat. Her attention was focused on Lin Xinghuo's right hand, which was holding the cat. "Is your hand okay?"
Lin Xinghuo restrained the caracal with all his might, smiling, "It's alright! It was just a twist, nothing serious." Spiritual energy was a holy elixir for healing injuries. The moment he broke through the Qi Refining stage, the injury on his right arm healed. Naturally, the wound had more dirt and impurities than other areas.
The old branch secretary personally handed the high school graduation certificate issued by the county primary school to Lin Xinghuo and instructed: "The commune training class will start next Monday. I heard that the format has been changed this year, and we need to get a feel for the situation before the class starts - you should prepare well in the next few days." Don't be distracted by the young men who are not even half-six years old.
Lin Xinghuo couldn't understand the old man's hidden meaning at all. Wei Chunfeng was probably the only one of the other three present who was obedient and capable of hearing his words. The women's director couldn't stand it any longer and urged Huang Dazhuang to help check the roof, doors, and windows. They rushed everyone out like ducks.
The old Party Secretary said, "Be steady!"
Wei Chunfeng thought to herself: "You should be more cautious. This old man thinks too much, even more trivial than the old lady!"
After seeing off the old branch secretary and his companions who were coming and going like a gust of wind, Lin Xinghuo placed a handful of hair on the red paper graduation certificate and looked at it carefully.
The fur on the caracal's neck stood up, and an ominous feeling ran down its spine to the tip of its tail.
“Hey!”
Lin Xinghuo turned his head to look at it, a smile on his face: "There seem to be a few symbols at the end of my skills?"
The caracal saw Lin Xinghuo take out the small light green wooden plaque from his neck. A light flashed in his eyes, and he could see the small words engraved on it without being soaked in blood.
"Wait—" Before Xun could finish his words, Lin Xinghuo's own spiritual energy seeped into the wooden sign. The small sign glowed with a green halo and exuded a woody fragrance. Then, the light and fragrance faded, and the green hue faded, transforming into a dark, inconspicuous wooden sign. Only the three characters "Lin Miaofa" on the side were replaced by the three seal characters "Lin Xinghuo" on the front.
"Recognize the master?" Lin Xinghuo turned slowly, staring at the caracal with burning eyes: "Then why did you trick me into being your cook?" At the beginning, the caracal used to tell her the method to comprehend the token in exchange for her being its cook... This black-hearted guy who got something for nothing.
"Don't you have to enter the Qi Refining stage before you can recognize the master?" The caracal muttered softly, "This token was passed down from your ancestors. Is it good for you, a human, to use your blood as a trigger to touch the inscription?" How much demon pork did it give up to nourish her? This human is so heartless!
The heartless human poked the caracal, who was baring his teeth and pretending to be arrogant, and said, "Then are we still going to form a pact?"
"Knot!"
The feeling of forming a contract is very wonderful. At that moment, it seems that you can touch the entity of the rules, the indescribable majestic power. The extremely complex thoughts of human beings are instantly shocked and shattered. The mind is solidified, and one can only follow the heart to conclude or reject the contract.
After the contract was signed, Lin Xinghuo and the caracal had a subtle connection. When one person was emotional, the other could pick up on some of the emotion. For example, right now, Lin Xinghuo was feeling a bit of jealousy from the caracal.
"What are you sore about?" Lin Xinghuo withdrew his hand from kneading the fox cub and looked at his training partner who had officially taken up the post.
The caracal jumped three feet high, angry and humiliated: "Who is jealous?"
"Tsk, you human, you're always greedy. It's too early for you to form a pact with those three cubs!" The catfish glanced at the injured fox with disdain, and felt that even the best fox cub was not very pleasing to the eye.
Lin Xinghuo caught Xun's thick tail, which he was deliberately swinging back and forth, and gently pulled it. Sure enough, not a single hair fell off. "Where were we talking about just now?"
"Yes! There are two types of talismans that I need right now. I just lack the tools to make them. The yellow paper used by the village sales outlet for rolling coal can temporarily replace the talisman paper. The talisman ink can be made by mixing demon pig blood with cinnabar. The only thing missing is a good talisman pen that can communicate with spiritual energy..."
"Don't even think about it!" The caracal was furious.
When the waning moon was in the sky, the caracal, feeling guilty, still contributed the brightest and most beautiful tuft of black hair on the tip of its tail to its human companion to make a "caracal hair brush".
Because of the humans' clumsiness, Xun had to swallow his anger and comb his fur himself, and also offered a treasured branch of spiritual wood - "Who told you not to use tusks as pen barrels?"
Lin Xinghuo was trying to make a dagger out of the demon pig's tusk when he casually asked, "What kind of tree is this?"
The caracal touched the branch and said, "It's a branch of the elm tree, the only tall tree where I was born." When the caracal left his hometown, he took a branch of the elm tree with him. Over time, the branch was somehow infused with spiritual energy and turned into a spiritual tree.
Lin Xinghuo stopped polishing his fangs and looked at the caracal.
The caracal immediately spoke uncomfortably: "This branch is not as valuable as my hair! You are not allowed to use pig teeth!" Are wild boar tusks worthy of being used as a pen for its hair?
The little friend is very cute. When he is angry, he likes to praise himself. She remembers that the caracal once called himself "this deity", but then Uncle Xun pretended for a while and then stopped talking because it was too awkward.
Keeping the touching feeling in mind, Lin Xinghuo polished the pig's teeth even harder, his fingers dancing and his dark eyes full of seriousness.
On the square table, the caracal licked the fur on its chest. It had twice taken objects from thin air in front of humans, yet Lin Xinghuo had never explored its secrets. She harbored no covetousness or greed, which made the petty caracal feel safe. Sure enough, the caracal was lucky; the companions it had so hastily found were so reliable!
In front of the warm stove, the man and the macaque were busy with their own things, while the fox cubs were sleeping soundly in the small basket on Lin Xinghuo's back.
This scene, which seems so heartwarming to others, is actually preparation for a tough battle.
Just two days before the commune's barefoot doctor training course started, heavy snow and howling north winds swept across half of the snow province.
Huang Dazhuang, steaming from his mouth, braved the snow and rushed to inform Lin Xinghuo: "This snow is going to be big. The old secretary told us not to go out for the next two days!"
"Don't worry about the roads being difficult to travel on. Once the snow starts, we have sleds in the village, pulled by mules, and we can go! Not to mention two people, even five or six people wouldn't be afraid, and it's still very fast."
Huang Dazhuang didn't enter the yard either. He was about to leave after saying, "We have to do an extra patrol at midnight tonight. I'll go and take a look. If someone knocks on the door at night, you don't have to open it. Just answer it so that they can hear it." Huang Dazhuang glanced at the door and thought that next time he would get a brass bell for the little fairy to hang under the door, so that he could hear it by pulling the rope if anything happened.
Lin Xinghuo said hurriedly, "There's no need to send the patrol here." She pointed at the wolf rubbing against the snow under the eaves and said, "Da Huang came down the mountain to my place to stay warm."
The captain looked at the large gray wolf, its fur thicker than ever. With this guy around, other wild animals probably wouldn't dare come down the mountain. And by not coming to South Mountain, the patrol team would save a lot of effort: the foot of South Mountain was two miles from the nearest house. Normally, it didn't seem that far, but when the weather was bad, it became apparent.
He was a straightforward person and said immediately: "Okay! I'll tell them not to patrol towards Nanshan anymore! You better be careful and don't let the snow block the door..." Huang Dazhuang swallowed his words back halfway through. With the little fairy's strength, she was not afraid of heavy snow blocking the door. Besides, there were wolves, foxes and mountain cats in the house. These wild animals were the most alert and he didn't need to worry about them at all.
Huang Dazhuang took out a wine gourd from his arms, took a sip, waved his hand, and walked away with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
Lin Xinghuo watched him walk away. Inside the room, the caracal asked her, "Are you leaving?"
"Walk!"
Lin Xinghuo donned the sheepskin-lined coat her master had given her and tucked the three fox cubs into the hood, tucking them tightly into the hood. The caracal said her spiritual energy was good for the little foxes, especially the injured big fox. It was best if he could stay with her constantly, so his injuries would heal faster. Lin Xinghuo even carried the cubs on her back while working.
She also tried it with her friends. The spiritual energy she released with all her strength was able to withstand the attacks of the caracal's tail and claws that could deflect bullets for ten minutes. Only then did she dare to bring the whimpering and coquettish fox cubs with her.
The vision was obstructed by the wind and snow. A dozen young men from Bushan Village were pulling each other, with gongs hanging from their elbows, and were patrolling the outer circle of the village.
"Why?"
"What's the matter?"
"What the hell is that? It just flashed by and jumped so high. Is it a moose that has entered the village?"
"Nonsense! Even a monkey can't jump in this heavy snow! You look so stupid, why didn't you mention that the captain in the yellow coat pointed at us and said the cattle in the barn escaped, and we got beaten up because of it?"
"I did that on purpose! Look at the way he's showing off, like he's the only one who doesn't have a wife!"
"Wang Huzi, then ask your second sister-in-law to make one for you... Well, with your second sister-in-law's craftsmanship, I'm afraid we can only rely on Caidan to be filial to her from now on."
"Get out! Such a strong wind can't stop you from talking!"
Lin Xinghuo heard Uncle Huzi arguing with his teammates from afar, and couldn't help but curl her lips. Now she had to find another Uncle Huzi to settle the score.
The howling north wind blew up the snowflakes, and in a moment it covered all the shallow footprints on the snow.
In the Xiaohezigou Production Brigade, not far from the forest farm, every one of the eighty-plus households kept their doors shut. Unlike Buxiantun, where patrols rotated, Xiaohezigou, though dominated by the Gao and He families, lacked any other surnames, and the two families struggled to unite. The branch secretary and brigade leader struggled to work together, and even the autumn harvest was handled by separate parties. The volunteer patrols were completely absent.
"Come out, everyone! Don't worry! Everyone's staying warm inside. Boss Gao even built his house next to the ditch at the end of the village, so no one's coming!" Dirty Beard spat, "Let's go ask the former sister-in-law if it's time to return the things Boss Gao stole from the brothers."
A dozen people climbed out of the ditch. The strongest among them wiped the snow off his face and said in a muffled voice, "We've been waiting for a big snowfall for so long, why don't we just go find that place? Mr. Gao's family is just here, so why don't you come over sometime?"
Dirty Beard slapped him on the head and said, "The wind is strong and the snow is heavy. Are you going to find me? I think you are afraid of dying in the snow."
"Okay! Let's settle Boss Gao's debt first, and we brothers can have a meal! After we have eaten and drunk our fill, we will go and avenge Boss Gao!" The boning knife used by Hard Point is in his hand. When the snow stops, the precious mink will be able to find the trace.
Lin Xinghuo headed straight for the forestry station. Halfway there, the caracal, which was lying on her shoulder like a fur scarf, twitched its nose and said, "Turn! Go that way!"
The tail swung towards another dirt road.
It seemed that there was no need to follow the railway to the provincial capital. Lin Xinghuo turned around, and the white fang dagger in his hand was brighter than the snow, and he leaped towards Xiaohezigou like a ghost.
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The Phoenix's Rise from the Fallen
Lin Jianlu is the granddaughter of Chou Laojiu. It is better to have a good family background than to be beautiful.
She was despised, had her engagement broken off, was framed, and coveted. In order to protect herself, Lin Jianlu had no choice but to quickly marry an older forest ranger from her grandfather's hometown.
But he unexpectedly got a treasure!
Lin Jianlu still firmly believes that knowledge is power!
She also farmed like others, but she would find ways to read agricultural books, seek help from agricultural technicians, and work tirelessly on experimental fields. The yield of her private plot was several times higher than that of other families.
She knitted sweaters like others, but she would look for knitting books, think about it, draw pictures, and improve new styles. The city's department stores all asked her to be a technician.
She cooks when others cook. This educated young woman who had never cooked before, through learning and practice, finally became a generation of... no, she finally guided others to become a generation of great chefs.
It even inspired the widow, husband, sister-in-law, and the whole family. Gradually, the poor family turned around!
From now on:
Other families plant fruit trees, but she also plants fruit trees. Other families collect herbs to supplement their household income, but she also collects herbs. Other families raise chickens and ducks, but she raises bees...
The result: Her fruit trees were so heavy with fruit that they bent their branches. The supply and marketing cooperative came to collect and sort the processed herbs. The honey was harvested again and again, and it made her sister-in-law, who had low blood sugar, have a rosy face...
The college entrance examination was resumed, my grandfather was rehabilitated, and the Lin family courtyard was returned. The neighbors in the alley couldn't help but sigh, wondering what kind of country woman the beautiful and quiet girl had become.
Old man Lin is so pitiful. He has been in poor health to begin with, and I’m afraid that his rude grandson-in-law and his family will have to suck his blood to make a living in the future.
Unexpectedly, there was no country woman or rustic guy. Lin Jianlu, her husband and sister-in-law were admitted to Beijing University. Even she, a widow in her forties, started attending night school.
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