Chapter 76 Chapter 76 First Update
Lin Xinghuo's courtyard was to be completely renovated, encompassing the remaining unused land. The specially prepared three-kiln blue bricks from the Jin family kiln were not wasted; the original low stone wall was replaced with a nearly continuous blue brick wall.
This time it was not just a main house with a row of five medium-sized rooms, but also wing rooms on the east and west sides, a row of back houses in the front, and a back room with a back door at the back. Except for the back houses, all the other rooms were two-story buildings.
The main house had seven rooms, with six side rooms on each side. The back of the rear building, which formed the perimeter wall, was larger from east to west and contained nine rooms. Each of these rooms was two stories high, making a total of twenty-eight two-story suites. Besides Lin Xinghuo's family, there was also enough space for the other spirits in Spirit Village to make their homes.
The largest room in the main house is Lin Xinghuo's, and of course, also home to Anian the mao and the fox cubs. It's called a single room, but with its multi-treasure pavilion and half-moon floor-length shade, it's even neater and more spacious than the three-bay main house. A Luofu Butterfly and a Hundred Butterflies Flying Through Flowers screen, gifted by the Mysterious Ice Silkworm, evoke the charm of the former young lady's elegant residence.
With Wu Nian in his transformed form and the spiritual soil he'd accumulated from the vast quantities of spiritual materials he'd refined through his previous transformations, building a courtyard was no more difficult than a child's clay modeling. The most time-consuming part was meticulously carving the entire house with array patterns, a pattern resembling an intricate line drawing. Fortunately, painting on a mud wall was easier than on metal or stone.
After the formation was complete, Wu Nian used the Golden Crow Stone as a base, adding water jade, gold essence, Haozhu wood thorns, and the ashes left over from the Luofu butterfly's egg-laying burns, to refine a handful of powder resembling pearl powder. The two used their spiritual senses to apply it to the formation pattern, and the pattern shimmered with brilliant light. At noon, the spiritual soil on the Golden Crow Stone slab placed in the center of the courtyard suddenly began to knead as if by invisible hands, quickly forming a 'spiritual soil model' identical to the one in the mountain residence. The model shook as if it was about to collapse. Wu Nian tried his best to stabilize it while calling to Lin Xinghuo, "Hurry!"
Lin Xinghuo bit his tongue, spitting out his blood. It burned directly onto the stone slab, leaving a pale red mark resembling a yin-yang fish. The visible formation patterns, resembling mother-of-pearl inlays on the house, suddenly came alive, slithering back and forth across the house, the ground, and even the wooden pillars like living snakes. The formation snakes were eight colors, representing the eight gates of traditional Qi Men Dun Jia: opening, resting, birth, injury, stopping, scenery, death, and shock. The powder that formed the formation snakes contained all five elements, circulating and replenishing its depleted spiritual energy. And this small stone plate could control the mountain dwelling formation from thousands of miles away.
As the formation was completed, Wu Nian collapsed and transformed back into a macaque. Zhu Longdan also emerged from the ground with a limp, only to be chased and licked by a newly refined dark-colored startled snake. Zhu Longdan's rage flared up, and if Lin Xinghuo hadn't wrapped him with spiritual vines, he would have fought the eight formation snakes.
This was the first time that the caracal left the refining cauldron and used his own demonic power as a furnace to refine the entire courtyard. Fortunately, Zhu Longdan was used to cooperating with him. With Zhu Longdan's help, this somewhat crude formation was successful in one go.
Lin Xinghuo fed Zhu Longdan some pure wood spirit energy, and Zhu Longdan rested on the tender tip of the spirit vine on her wrist. The caracal looked with regret at the remaining empty areas around the small courtyard on the stone slab. If they could utilize all of that space, the mountain retreat could truly become a gateway to Nanshan. Only then would the valley behind the retreat and the dense forest halfway up the mountain be truly under their control. Only then would the spirit beasts and monsters dare to openly display their uniqueness.
Lin Xinghuo smiled and said, "In a few years, we'll 'contract' Nanshan." She remembered that there had been a land contracting system in place since the 1980s. She would then contract the hilltops where Nanshan and Lianhua Peak were located. She could also expand her mountain residence to the left, right, and back, forming a clover-shaped garden. She hoped that the eight "array snakes" formed by the array pattern would one day grow horns and claws and become a "Kan Jiao" representing water, a "Gen Jiao" representing mountain, and so on...
Thanks to Wu Nian's efforts, the mountain dwelling had actually managed to achieve the ultimate in spiritual artifacts, a feat he'd previously mastered through his own self-refining rituals. The entire mountain dwelling was a seamless whole, its dark gray buildings seemingly stone, each paved with pale yellow ginkgo wood. Branches sprouted from the wood at the corners and doorways, twisting into various arches or decorative ornaments. These were the only ornaments in the otherwise empty house—the unassuming ginkgo leaves dotting the branches actually served special functions, such as warning, sound transmission, and isolation. Beyond that, the empty house was left to the spirits and beasts to decorate as they pleased.
The fox cubs particularly like the row of spacious lotus-petal-shaped terraces on the south side of the second floor. There are water jade jars on each terrace, and various rare spiritual plants or plants that accompany monsters are planted in the jars. The jars are full of spiritual energy and are a perfect place to bask in the sun and take a nap.
The Water Jade Jar is Haozhu's special magical power. The Classic of Mountains and Seas records that Haozhu was born in Bamboo Mountain, home to abundant water jade and dwarf bamboo. It's a white, pig-like creature covered in long, hairpin-thick thorns. Its thorns are wood-related, and while its bloodline is the purest among spirits, it lacks combat prowess. It couldn't even keep Huahua at bay while shepherding wild boars in the old forest. Little Haozhu was once depressed for a while, but then a caracal discovered that the rocks it often slept on had become transparent, with bamboo shoots sprouting around them. This was Snow Province, and even Lin Xinghuo had never been so desperate as to plant bamboo there.
The transparent stone is Water Jade, a spiritual material with dual attributes of water and earth, available from the Yellow Rank to the Heaven Rank. It's ideal for flowerpots and cultivating spiritual plants. The white jade pot used to cultivate Jing Lian is a Mysterious Rank Water Jade. While the Water Jade Hao Zhui uses to stimulate his growth by sleeping with the stone still remains at the Yellow Rank, with the little spirit's perseverance, given the purity of his bloodline, it will reach a higher rank within a few years. Thanks to this ability, the little Hao Zhui's bed has become a series of pots, jars, and vats of varying sizes and textures. He rarely chooses to share with his companions. Every night as the moon rises, Hao Zhui happily chooses the bedding he will "favor" tonight in his large second-floor bedroom. He's so diligent that the village chief builds him a new stone nest every few days. The caracal, annoyed, has allocated a room in the back house for him to use as a storage space, filling it with stone tools. He lets him move any Water Jade vessels he tires of sleeping in there to replace them. For the past few years, he's been nurturing this batch exclusively.
The dwarf bamboo is not that special. It is just a yellow-grade, low-grade spiritual bamboo that is not tall and very thin. The bamboo poles cannot even be used to make musical instruments such as flutes and xiaos. The only advantage is that it grows very fast. It has added a new spiritual bamboo shoot vegetable to Lin Xinghuo's family, which is only as thick as a carrot.
When talking about new dishes, we have to praise Wu Nian.
Wu Nian had previously concealed from Lin Xinghuo the dangerous method of transformation. Although Lin Xinghuo understood rationally that any demon cultivator would always want to take the path of early transformation, emotionally he still could not accept this reckless approach that almost caused a disaster. Therefore, the mountain cat-shaped macaque Anian has been very well-behaved recently, while the human-shaped Wu Nian is very diligent.
Not only did he take charge of refining equipment, he also took the initiative to take on the responsibility of chef.
There are so many varieties, and they are surprisingly delicious, at least better than Lin Xinghuo.
Maybe it's because Lin Xinghuo has been inseparable from medicine and medicine in both her lives. She pays special attention to the matching of ingredients and the purity of the ingredients when cooking. The good taste is mostly the good taste of the spiritual food itself, not to mention that some spiritual foods with extremely compatible medicinal properties taste weird when put together... Ever since Wu Nian, who was eager to show off, took over the power of cooking, even the fox cubs who were most attached to Lin Xinghuo rebelled.
"Ah." Lin Xinghuo used a spoon to feed Lin Beiguo white fungus, scallion and green glutinous rice porridge. The fair and tender little girl opened her mouth into a round O shape obediently, and blinked her big eyes to stare at the beef shank that Fox Two and Fox Three were tearing into.
What's the difference between that and quenching thirst by looking at a plum, it's just eating fragrant beef shank bones with rice.
But it does smell delicious, and it's just an ordinary cow leg - a cow in Liangzigou next door fell and died, which made the Liangzigou Brigade, which was preparing for spring plowing, almost worried to death. When Captain Liang came to ask for help, Buxiantun, who had the help of Moose, agreed to lend them two strong cows in the livestock yard. At the same time, the boss unceremoniously exchanged most of the cow for rabbit meat, and sent a cow leg with most of the belly to the south slope of the mountain as a thank you gift to Moose.
It was said to be a thank-you gift for the moose, but in fact it was for the first "deer herders" such as Lin Xinghuo's caracal and fox cubs. The members had already prepared various leaves and tender shoots for the moose, and also caught a lot of new aquatic plants from the two ponds in the riverside farm.
But the deer called Big Buddy can now eat some meat. This guy especially likes vegetable soup, especially the one with some meat residue. He can lick the bowl clean.
A kitchen and dining hall were connected to the outside of the alchemy room and the instrument room built on the east wall of the backyard. Lin Xinghuo looked at the monsters and spirit beasts eating in various forms and postures, and felt that it would be a good idea to give the power of cooking to Mr. Mao.
The spirit beasts and goblins had changed; they were no longer the simple, unpretentious family members who could be satisfied with just a few pots of spirit rice. Even the seemingly docile little baby in her arms was different. To avoid the special meals Lin Xinghuo prepared for her, this little creature had mastered the art of transforming over the past few days. Yesterday and the day before yesterday, it narrowly escaped transformation back into a fox form before meals. Whether it was due to effort or greed, four tiny, milky white tips had appeared on its bare, baby gums.
Lin Beiguo was vastly different from an ordinary infant. Given her cultivation level and age, a transformed infant should be roughly the same age as a newborn, but Lin Beiguo was a little demon, so her size was comparable to that of a one-year-old, and her bones were strong enough to even support her sitting for a while. If you consider her a one-year-old child, the contradictions were even greater: in her fox form, her four little legs moved so swiftly, but in her human form, she couldn't even crawl, barely bending her arms or legs. With the introduction of the idiot Da Huang, her crawling progress became even more disastrous. Da Huang crawled swiftly on his front legs, but his hind legs dragged him backwards as if paralyzed. Lin Beiguo, imitating Da Huang's example, could now move a meter forward, much to Lin Xinghuo's dismay.
What worried him was not only her abnormality, but also the enthusiasm of the aunts and ladies in the village towards Lin Beiguo, as well as the black fox ears on the top of Lin Xinghuo's head that he could never retract.
Lin Xinghuo, who had to put on her headscarf again, heard the villagers whispering more than once about whether she was making elixirs again or whether she was bald again.
Any woman would not like to hear this.
So, after spending a few good days in Buxiantun, Lin Xinghuo prepared to return to Beijing.
Contrary to her previous plans, Lin Xinghuo planned to stay in Beijing for a few more years. This decision wasn't simply due to concerns about Master Fang and Elder Rong, but rather the result of her unique position in Buxian Village. After the movement, the nearly fixed lifestyles of the people, which had endured for years, would be shattered and overturned in just a few years. The rural areas, in particular, had to undergo the massive upheaval of land distribution to households. If Buxian Village, like countless other production teams, were starving and underfed, then the land distribution to households would undoubtedly greatly boost everyone's enthusiasm for production. However, Buxian Village's situation was too unique. The village had truly benefited from the collective cooperative, especially with the large and indivisible portion of the collective workshops involved.
Opposition versus agreement, cooperation versus division—the pros and cons of each were unclear without the test of time. As for Lin Xinghuo, while she held high prestige, she wasn't actually a native of Buxian Village. She wouldn't be in a good position to side with either. If she did, her plan to lead Buxian Village in seed improvement and spiritual seed development would be a complete failure. On the other hand, Lin Xinghuo didn't want to take advantage of the village. Forget about dividing the land. Just considering the collective workshop itself, how much should she get if the land was divided? And how much would she get if the shares were re-determined?
It would be better to do as the brigade had fooled Xiao Lanqin. Now she could just think of herself as returning to the city, and she wouldn't have to worry about the workshops and fields in Xiantun in the future. As a "returning city educated youth", she knew that the villa on the southern slope of the mountain would remain there and could be contracted back by Lin Xinghuo in the future.
Even though people's hearts are fickle, there's no need to worry about someone seizing a cultivator's spiritual weapon. A mountain retreat can be placed on the south slope as well as the north slope. Moreover, in the past two years, there have been more wild animals in the deep mountains and old forests behind South Mountain. Anyone who wants to follow her example and stake out a territory on the south slope would have to consider whether they can stop them.
Fortunately, outsiders couldn't see the changes. Only the old branch secretary, Wei Chunfeng, and other close relatives who had been inside saw the true face of the mountain residence. This somewhat comforted the hearts of the old branch secretary and others. After truly experiencing Lin Xinghuo's abilities, who wouldn't be afraid that the little fairy lady would give up and leave Buxian Village completely? The old branch secretary was especially worried. Seeing this magical and magnificent house that had taken so much effort, the old man was relieved. When Lin Xinghuo said in front of Xiao Lanqin that she would return the homestead to the team after returning to the city, the old branch secretary immediately agreed on behalf of the team and said, "Although the house is well built, it is too far from the village. Secondly, no one has your ability to withstand the wild animals coming down from the mountain. Let's keep this house for now. Just open the back door and let Da Huanghuahua and the others live there first. We still need to use them to protect Poxia Chunfeng and the other three families from other wild animals on the mountain."
Xiao Lanqin was naive and didn't really insist on settling in Buxiantun. This girl, whose mind was clouded by the beautiful dream called love, actually thought that Lin Xinghuo, who was going back to Beijing with Wunian, a single father with a child, could understand her love and was from the same country as her. Touched, she shook Lin Xinghuo's hand and recited the famous quote: "Any love that is not for the purpose of marriage is hooliganism!" Still in the brigade headquarters, she immediately turned around and said to Niu Wangshan: "Hongnong Commune is also very good, I don't mind it."
Niu Wangshan's face turned pale as he shook off Xiao Lanqin's hand that was holding his arm. Xiao Lanqin, the silly girl, still kept chasing him and asked, "What's wrong?"
What's wrong? What's wrong? This girl is not very talkative.
Wei Layue, who came to see Lin Xinghuo off with her pregnant belly, couldn't help laughing out loud.
But when they turned their attention back, they saw the expectant mother's mood swings like the weather in June, which was so shocking. She went from laughing to crying in just one glance. Zhou Liang and Wei Chunfeng, who had lost more than ten pounds in the past few months, could only cruelly work together to help her go away.
Wei Chunfeng, Wei Chunxing, and Wei Layue were Lin Xinghuo's trusted lieutenants in the capital, and he wasn't about to let them go. However, the situation was unclear, Wei Layue was pregnant with triplets, and Wei Chunxing had to shoulder the responsibility of being the brigade's barefoot doctor, so they had to put it aside for now. Before leaving, Lin Xinghuo had even brewed a gourd of elixirs for Layue to ensure her body could absorb nutrients for three fetuses... As for the birthing, Lin Xinghuo wasn't chained to the capital, so she could sneak back for a few days whenever she wanted. When she said this, even Grandma Wei, who hadn't been aware of the situation, breathed a sigh of relief.
*
What prompted Lin Xinghuo to change her mind was the "Tao" that she had gradually figured out. Since she wanted to guide and protect the smoothest possible transition among ordinary people and practitioners in the great shock that would inevitably be caused by the revival of spiritual energy in the future, she must not just stay in a remote mountain village to spend her quiet years of practice, but must try to expand her influence as much as possible.
This impact doesn't have to be political, but it must be substantial and fundamental: just as the children born in Buxian Village over the past two years have already been gifted with spiritual roots, like the unfortunate little one nicknamed "Chicken Coop" by his parents; or, for example, the elderly in the village, through consuming spiritual foods like spiritual potatoes, are increasingly experiencing a "rejuvenation." Not to mention the middle-aged and young people in their prime. Lin Xinghuo doesn't know how many villagers in the village will be born with spiritual roots, but he can foresee that Buxian Village will become a world-renowned "longevity village" within twenty years, and the starting point for the next generation and the next generation will be different.
Planting spiritual plants can indeed increase the concentration of spiritual energy in an area, and consuming them can also encourage the birth of more babies born with spiritual roots. This is what Lin Xinghuo plans to do. Once the policy is relaxed, she can contract land across the country and establish spiritual material farms, benefiting more and more ordinary people...
Maybe she has worked hard for decades, but it is just like sprinkling a handful of sesame seeds on the vast land. However, "a single spark can start a prairie fire." Lin Xinghuo has a long life ahead of her, like a prairie fire, and it may take hundreds or even thousands of years for the spiritual energy to fully recover. How can she know that this road is blocked?
At least within a few short years, Buxian Village had already produced a cultivator seedling. And Jing City, the national center, was about to become her second pilot—there was no need to wait for the contracting policy to be issued. After the rectification work began next year, many people in Jing City would receive their properties back. All Lin Xinghuo had to do was spend the gold to buy them.
Especially those abandoned houses on the outskirts of town she'd passed by last time she was digging mud for Master Fang. They were supposedly "countryside resorts" built by wealthy city dwellers imitating foreigners, scattered and unable to form a village. But the decade-long movement that stunted Beijing's population and expansion had left those distinctive houses abandoned and derelict, becoming ghost towns. Over the past decade, those in power had looked down upon these large, outlying houses, while those without money couldn't afford them. The more spacious, the higher the cost of living. Those who had once moved in with the intention of occupying a place for free didn't make it. They'd rather have three generations squeezed into a 20-square-meter apartment allocated by their work unit than live for free in a large, spacious house that needed two baskets of coal to stay warm at night.
In fact, authorities had once considered relocating several of the eight largest universities within the research and academic compound complex to this area. However, by then, the "compound culture" of government compound complexes, factory compound complexes, and university compound complexes had already taken hold within Beijing's Third Ring Road. This area, now so remote from the city center, became a tasteless wasteland. Repeated delays left these buildings like grains of rice stuck to a map, uneconomical to demolish and difficult to redistribute. They were destined for return to their former owners next year.
Master Fang had mentioned this place to Lin Xinghuo because the Fang family also had a piece of land there. Back then, when people criticized him, they used it as proof of Fang Tongjian's deep-seated capitalist tendencies: "What kind of vacation? While our proletarian brothers and sisters are living in poverty during the cold winter, these capitalist gentlemen are using such a large garden to escape the heat!" The crowd was furious, and they beat the old man down. They really did beat him down. The old man's arm, which he used to write articles, was nearly broken by the beating. Scared enough, Elder Rong quickly sent him down to the cadre school farm.
Back then, "masters" like Master Fang were quite old, likely already having numerous children and grandchildren before being sent down to the countryside or subjected to struggle. Over the years, different circumstances have led to different perspectives, and those descendants who were forced to disperse likely can no longer afford to live with their families. Some also feared that the large courtyard would be used again if the movement were repeated. If Lin Xinghuo was willing to buy it with gold, he could acquire not just one or two courtyards, but ten.
Lin Xinghuo, who was full of ambition and felt that he had found a golden road, carried a lot of bags on his back, including a water jade jar for transplanting treasure gourd vines. He and another ox cart piled high with countless gifts on his back entered the gate of the Sanheyuan, only to be greeted by the bombardment of the beloved Master Fang.
Fang Tongjian's sharp tongue, which could make him a hero in the literary circle, was so harsh that it was definitely not something a country bumpkin like Lin Xinghuo, who had never seen the world, could withstand.
The old man looked like he hadn't had a good rest in days. The middle-aged comrade guarding him even whispered to Lin Xinghuo, "On the third day after you left, Comrade Fang wanted to go out to send a telegram, but his application wasn't approved. He then wanted to make a phone call from the public phone at the entrance of the alley, but that wasn't approved either... We tried to make a call for him, but he wouldn't say what it was. He's been like this for days! I can see he's just worried about you!"
The middle-aged man looked at the young man holding a small blanket, sighed, and thought, no wonder the old man is worried! He said he was going to visit relatives in the suburban village, but it's only been a few days, and wow, he brought back a second-married grandson-in-law for the old man?
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The author has something to say: Breaking one’s promise and getting fatter, the fish gets fatter…
I will try to get up early tomorrow to make up the second update.
Note:
The eight gates of the human plate are: Kai, Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si, and Jing. Xiu is located in the first palace of Kan, Sheng in the eighth palace of Gen, Shang in the third palace of Zhen, Du in the fourth palace of Xun, Jing in the ninth palace of Li, Si in the second palace of Kun, Jing in the seventh palace of Dui, Kai in the sixth palace of Qian, and there are no gates in the fifth palace of Zhong. Qian represents heaven, Kun represents earth, Kan represents water, Li represents fire, Zhen represents thunder, Gen represents mountain, Xun represents wind, and Dui represents swamp. The colors corresponding to the eight trigrams are: Kun is yellow, Zhen is green, Kan is black, Gen is white, Li is red, Dui is dark blue, Qian is blue, and Xun is gray.
Haozhu: The Classic of Mountains and Seas records that in Bamboo Mountain, there lived a beast shaped like a piglet, with white hair as thick as a hairpin and black tips. It was called Haozhu. Translation: In Bamboo Mountain, there lived a beast shaped like a piglet, with white hair as thick as a hairpin and black tips. It was called Haozhu. Perhaps it's a white porcupine?
"Love that is not aimed at marriage is hooliganism" is a sentence from "Quotations from Chairman Mao", but it comes from the great British writer Shakespeare.
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