Chapter 186 Physical Recovery
Most of the houses in the temple had fallen into disrepair, some without doors, some without roofs. The two picked a room without window paper, which was considered the best house here.
There was a low bed in the room, which looked big enough to accommodate two people. Other furniture included a table with a missing corner and a wooden cabinet.
When Song Yuzhu opened the cabinet door to check, a big rat suddenly came out from inside, scaring him so much that he almost died.
Zhao Xiao said, "How about I take you down the mountain to live, and when the Taoist priest is ready, we can come back?"
Song Yuzhu waved her hand: "We are here to ask for help, so we should at least behave like one."
"Then I'll go down the mountain tomorrow to buy some things and tidy up the house."
"good."
It was getting late and it was not convenient to pack up for today. Zhao Xiao spread the clothes in the package on the bed, and the two of them barely made it for the night.
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, Zhao Xiao went down the mountain alone to purchase things.
Song Yuzhu stretched his muscles and bones; his whole body was stiff from sleeping on the wooden bed.
I have to say that the air in ancient times was really good, especially in the deep mountains where there are few people. Taking a deep breath, you can smell the fragrance of grass and trees, which makes you feel relaxed and happy.
In the mornings in mid-April, you could still see frost flowers on the top of the mountain. He was in poor health and was afraid of the cold, so he simply put on his thickest cotton-padded clothes.
As soon as he went out, the big black dog heard footsteps and came over with a whoosh. However, it did not pounce on Song Yuzhu, but sniffed around him. Finally, after making sure that he was not dangerous, it wagged its tail and left.
Walking down the stone path, we arrived at the place where Taoist Qingyi lived last night. The old man probably didn't sleep enough, so he got up early and sat on the open ground to meditate.
Song Yuzhu didn't want to disturb him, so she walked around the gym alone.
The main hall is the largest of the three halls, and Yuanshi Tianzun is enshrined in it. Although the oil paint on the statue has fallen off a lot, you can still see how gorgeous the color was before.
There were a few dried fruits covered with a layer of dust on the altar in front. The incense burner next to it had not been used for a long time. There were also three cushions on the ground, which were probably used as doghouses by the black dog and were covered with dog hair.
Song Yuzhu picked up one and patted it, then knelt on it and clasped his hands together. Although he was an atheist in his previous life, he had a little more awe for the gods in this life.
He did not ask the Taoist to bless him with a long life, but hoped that Zhao Xiao could have a good end. Just as Taoist Qingyi said, he had committed too much killing in his life and was afraid that he would not have a good end when he got old.
After paying homage to the Taoist ancestor, I stood up and went to the two halls at the back. The middle hall was okay, although it was a bit dilapidated inside, but at least I could still walk around. The roof of the last hall had collapsed in half, and the rain had washed away half of the paint on the face of the Lord of Dao and Morality, making it look particularly desolate.
Song Yuzhu thought that when she returned, she would ask the governor of Hangzhou to send people to repair Qingfeng Temple.
When he returned to the central hall again, Taoist Qingyi had disappeared. Song Yuzhu went to look for him in his room, but found no one there either.
"Are you awake?" The voice of Taoist Master Qingyi suddenly came from behind him, which scared him.
"Yeah." Song Yuzhu nodded, wondering why this person walked without making any sound.
Qingyi poured himself a glass of water and drank it in one gulp: "Come and sit down."
Song Yuzhu walked over and sat next to him.
The two of them observed each other's hearts through their noses and mouths, and Song Yuzhu knew that he had something to say to her.
"The soul-fixing technique I told you about yesterday was a lie."
Song Yuzhu frowned slightly: "Why do you want to do this?"
"That kid is going crazy. If I don't give him some hope, he'll burn down my gym."
This old Taoist is quite cunning and can see through Zhao Xiao's character at a glance.
"But I do have a way to slow down the decline of your body. As for whether you can stay here or return to your original world, that will depend on God's will."
This time, Song Yuzhu was truly shocked by him. She didn't expect that he knew everything!
"Thank you, Taoist Priest!"
"Don't thank me. Just consider it as returning the favor for my useless apprentice."
Song Yuzhu laughed and said, "Master Chang Ming is quite capable."
"Does he have any skills? If he hadn't been so lucky as to rebel against you, I'm afraid he would have spent his whole life wandering around the streets telling fortunes for people."
Song Yuzhu couldn't help laughing. This Taoist Qingyi was indeed a wonderful person. He knew their identities but didn't show any respect to them. He treated them like ordinary juniors, and they felt much more comfortable getting along with them.
"There's nothing else. You can go back." Taoist Master Qingyi ordered him to leave.
"Junior takes his leave." Song Yuzhu returned to the house where he lived last night and sat on the wooden block at the door to play with the dog.
There was some leftover food from yesterday in his package. He grabbed a few snacks, ate two himself and threw the rest to the black dog.
Perhaps it had never eaten such delicious food in the mountains, and it was so happy that it almost shook its tail off. It wished it could treat Song Yuzhu as its second parent.
At about noon, Zhao Xiao finally came back, and with him came several porters, who brought back more than a dozen bamboo baskets of various sizes, filled with bedding, window paper, clothes, bowls and chopsticks, etc. They even bought a pot, almost like moving a palace here.
Zhao Xiao wiped his sweat and said, "I can't leave for a while anyway, so I bought everything I can use. It's just that you can't buy good things in this county town, so I don't know if you can get used to it."
"What's there to be unaccustomed to? I've used earthenware pots, coarse porcelain bowls, and large bowls in the military camp before."
Song Yuzhu paid the porter and started to pack up with Zhao Xiao.
He was too weak to do any physical work, but he could do simple cleaning.
There was a well behind the central hall, and Zhao Xiao filled several water tanks outside the door.
Song Yuzhu washed all the dishes and cut some unused clothes into rags and cleaned the house carefully.
After finishing all these tasks, Song Yuzhu was exhausted and out of breath, with an abnormal blush on her face.
Zhao Xiao quickly stopped him: "You go and rest, I'll do the rest."
Song Yuzhu didn't try to be stubborn. She sat on the tree stump and watched Zhao Xiao busying around.
The weather got hot at noon, so Zhao Xiao simply took off his shirt, wearing only a pair of pants, and climbed onto the roof to replace the broken tiles.
A lot of sweat has appeared on his strong and muscular back, which glows with a healthy luster under the sun.
He has many scars on his body, some of which were caused by being beaten by his troupe leader when he was young because he was not good at juggling, and some were left by fighting on the battlefield. These scars add to his barbaric sexiness.
Further down is a slender waistline. Song Yuzhu's old face turned red, as he was the only one who knew how amazingly strong that waist was.
Song Yuzhu silently recited the Heart Purification Mantra twice. Thinking about that kind of thing in the Taoist temple, she always felt that it was a bit blasphemous.
After repairing the roof, Zhao Xiao moved the bed out to dry it in the sun. The bed looked old, and many wooden boards were loose and needed to be nailed back on. The moldy areas were cleaned with a pig bristle brush, and it could be moved in and used after it was dried.
The floor of the room was swept several times with water, and three or four mice ran out from inside, which frightened Song Yuzhu.
The next step was to make paste and stick paper on the windows. Zhao Xiao originally planned to replace all the windows with glass, but it was too troublesome to make new window frames, so he simply gave up.
After pasting up the window paper, moving the dried bed in, and laying out the mattress and sheets, the house looked brand new and a bit like home.
At noon, the two of them had some simple snacks. In the afternoon, Zhao Xiao built a stove at the door and put an iron pot on it to cook delicious food.
Song Yuzhu rolled up her sleeves to show off her cooking skills and planned to stir-fry some shredded pork with fish flavor for Zhao Xiao. Unfortunately, she failed to control the heat of the wok well and ended up burnt the dish.
Finally, they ate the clear soup noodles cooked by the two of them with gusto.
Lying on the clean bed at night, watching the moon shining into the ground and casting a clear light.
Song Yuzhu couldn't help but sigh: "Ah Xiao, if I get better, let's find a deserted place and live like this."
Zhao Xiao's eyes lit up, "Okay! Then we can open up a few acres of land, plant food and your favorite vegetables, raise some chickens and ducks in the yard, and raise a dog, how about that?"
"We also need to raise a few more pigs and kill them for meat during the New Year," Song Yuzhu added.
"Okay, you will help me till the fields during the day, and we will go home and sleep together at night."
Song Yuzhu couldn't help laughing: "That was truly a heavenly day."
Zhao Xiao turned his head to look at him, stretched out his hand and hugged him into his arms: "I really want to live with you like this for the rest of my life."
Song Yuzhu listened to his pounding heartbeat and sighed secretly in her heart. Who wouldn't want that?
*
In the following month, the two lived a life in the mountains, working from sunrise to sunset.
Every morning Zhao Xiao took the initiative to clean the Taoist temple and repair the roofs of the three main halls.
When he had some time, he went down the mountain and bought some colored paint to repaint the statues of the three Taoist ancestors.
In fact, Zhao Xiao does not believe in gods and Buddhas. He does this for only one purpose, hoping that the Taoist immortals can keep Song Yuzhu. No matter what method it is, he will do it as long as he can do it.
Taoist Qingyi saw this and gradually began to change his opinion of him.
*
The next day, Taoist Qingyi and Song Yuzhu were playing Go in the pavilion on the top of the mountain. The black and white pieces were placed in a mess on the board, without any rules of Go at all.
"Five pieces, I win again." Song Yuzhu picked up the white piece and smiled proudly.
"No more playing, no more playing, this Gobang is not fun at all."
Song Yuzhu thought to herself: If it’s not fun, why do you drag me to play with it every day?
"Boy, how are your preparations going?" Taoist Master Qingyi suddenly spoke.
Song Yuzhu paused as she collected the chess piece: "What are you preparing for?"
"Of course I'm going to take the medicine. I've told you in advance that after taking this medicine, your body will definitely be much stronger than it is now. But if you take this medicine, you will never have children in this life, so you have to think carefully."
"Don't think about it, just give me the medicine." He thought there would be serious side effects. He had never planned to get married and have children.
Qingyi took out a pill wrapped in oil paper from his arms and handed it to him: "You can't have sex for three months after taking the medicine, and then you will be like a normal person."
Song Yuzhu peeled it and threw it directly into her mouth without thinking.
He had studied medicine for many years and was well versed in pharmacology, but after chewing it for a long time he couldn't figure out what the medicine was made of.
I just felt a spicy taste in my mouth, not like ginger or chili, and there was also a sour taste like hawthorn.
After swallowing it, the hot feeling not only did not subside but became stronger and stronger, rushing straight to the top of the head.
After a while, Song Yuzhu was sweating profusely and her clothes were damp.
"Master, I won't go astray, will I?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Take that kid down the mountain tomorrow."
Song Yuzhu was feeling so hot that she stood up, said goodbye to the Taoist priest, and ran back to her room.
After taking off his coat, he found that his skin had turned red and was steaming as if it had been steamed. The drug must be very powerful!
When Zhao Xiao came back, he saw Song Yuzhu soaking in the water tank. He was shocked and ran over to ask, "Yuzhu, what's wrong with you?"
"The Taoist priest gave me this to eat... It calmed my soul and my body suddenly became warm."
Zhao Xiao was ecstatic: "It must be that the soul-calming method is working. You will get better soon!"
(End of this chapter)
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