Evening Primrose Dew
The group slowly arrived at Mayor Zhao's house. After the door opened, a woman wearing animal ears came out and said, "Xiao Yu is back."
She took the sleeping Xiaoyu from Mayor Zhao's arms and thanked the two of them in a low voice. Mayor Zhao smiled and introduced, "This is my wife."
Wen Zheng and Mu Qing greeted each other and then rested in the courtyard with Mayor Zhao.
Outside the courtyard wall, orange and red light shone through the gaps in the black tiles, making the white wall appear yellowish. The sweltering heat dissipated. Wen Zheng sat on a low stool, thinking of the two people in white robes, feeling a vague sense of familiarity.
She seemed to remember seeing someone wearing this kind of clothing, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall it.
Wen Zheng turned the bracelet on her wrist, intending to choose a good time to enter the dream again.
This wooden bracelet is special; it might hold some clues.
Lost in thought, Mu Qing patted her on the shoulder, saying, "Mayor Zhao is calling for you."
Wen Zheng looked in the direction he indicated and saw Mayor Zhao asking her what she wanted to eat for dinner. Wen Zheng replied, "A simple home-cooked meal will do."
Mayor Zhao nodded, wanting to go with his wife to cook, but was stopped. "You stay here to entertain the guests," his wife said before leaving, leaving the three of them staring at each other in bewilderment.
The atmosphere was thick with tension, as if enveloped by the setting sun, making it hard to breathe. Wen Zheng glanced at the silent Mu Qing, then at the awkwardly smiling Mayor Zhao, and suddenly asked, "Mayor Zhao, why was Xiao Yu taken away by those people?"
This was the question she kept thinking about on her way back. The two of them had killed a lot of demons and brought along a burden, which was completely contrary to the behavior and logic of normal people.
Unless the child has something extraordinary about him.
Wen Zheng recalled that when Mayor Zhao handed Xiao Yu over to his wife, white antlers seemed to sprout from Xiao Yu's head. Was his animal form a white deer?
After she finished asking her question, Mayor Zhao remained silent for a long time, looking at her quietly, and then said, "You know?"
"Know what?" Wen Zheng asked, puzzled.
Her blank expression made Mayor Zhao sigh and say, "If it weren't for the fact that you are good people, I really wouldn't want to say it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Zheng and Mu Qing exchanged a glance, seemingly realizing that a big secret had been revealed.
Wen Zheng whispered, "Mayor Zhao, you say it, I swear I will never tell anyone."
Mayor Zhao glanced at her speechlessly and slowly said, "Xiao Yu was born as a deer demon. When he was three years old, his fur suddenly turned white, and people realized that he had ancestral blood. His ancestors were white deer with healing power."
After speaking, he glanced warily at the two faces. Wen Zheng was still in a daze, as if she hadn't reacted yet, while Mu Qing looked indifferent, as if it was none of her business.
Mayor Zhao thought for a moment, wondering if he hadn't explained things clearly, and raised his voice, "That group of people brought Xiaoyu along mostly because of his healing power. Although Bai Lu isn't good at fighting, who wouldn't want a powerful healer, especially since Bai Lu's flesh and blood are said to be able to bring the dead back to life and heal bones?"
At this point, he looked up at the two of them again. Seeing that their expressions remained unchanged, Mayor Zhao poked the dazed Wen Zheng with his cane, "Did you hear me clearly?"
Why does he look a little dim-witted?
"I heard you right." Wen Zheng dodged the cane that was poking at her and moved the stool back a little.
Seeing that she remained calm, Mayor Zhao said anxiously, "Don't you want to try the flesh and blood of the white deer?" He said this, but his hand had already secretly drawn a weapon, ready to deal with the two of them at any time.
Wen Zheng paused for a moment, then said, "But he's in human form now. Even if he turned into a beast, he'd still have a lot of parasites. You can't just eat wild animals that aren't fully cooked."
You can eat pork, lamb, and chicken; beef is also fine if you prefer.
Her unconventional answer made the other two pause. Mu Qing looked at her with a cold face and suddenly said, "You know quite a lot."
"It's alright, it's alright."
Mayor Zhao silently put away his weapon, got up and asked his wife to cook the meat in the dinner dish more thoroughly, preferably until it was too tough to chew.
He had barely left when there was a knock on the door. The knocking was urgent, one after another, and it sounded like there were many people knocking.
Wen Zheng nodded, signaling Mu Qing to open the door. Mu Qing slowly walked to the door, and after sensing the strong demonic energy outside, she took out the Taiqing Sword, pulled the door bolt out with her free hand, and the door opened with a bang.
Caught off guard, the demons who were knocking on the door fell to the ground at Mu Qing's feet, crying out in pain.
"Ouch, get up, you're stepping on my tail."
"Move aside, move aside, whose horn is hitting my stomach?"
A group of people were piled up like a human pyramid. Wen Zheng walked to Mu Qing's side and asked, "They...are here to cause trouble?"
There were quite a few of them, and most of them looked familiar, like the ones I met when I first arrived in Bluewater Town.
"No, no, we're not here to cause trouble," said a demon with animal ears. "We're here to apologize."
He quickly got up from the ground, took something out of his storage ring and handed it to Wen Zheng, "I'm really sorry for hitting you because of the misunderstanding. Consider this our compensation to you."
He gave me a lot of different things, including unknown herbs, oddly shaped stones, and a small piece of cured meat.
Wen Zheng looked at Mu Qing in a panic, holding her things, and asked him what to do.
She has never dealt with a situation like this before, so what would be the most appropriate thing for her to say now?
Mu Qing watched as the demons eagerly offered compensation, and silently took a step back. He rarely saw such a scene; it was best to let Wen Zheng handle it.
Wen Zheng, holding her things, pursed her lips and said, "No need to be so polite. We were also wrong; we shouldn't have attacked you."
The group of demons said in unison, "No, no, no, it's all our fault. We attacked without understanding the situation."
After a conversation, the demons gradually dispersed. Wen Zheng looked down at the things placed at her feet, remained silent for a long time, and then squatted down to start tidying up.
After Mu Qing closed the door, she helped her tidy up, and the two of them sorted the things into categories.
As they were packing up, Mayor Zhao came out. Seeing the two of them busy at work, he jokingly said, "Our demon race isn't much worse than your human race, is it?"
He knew the demons were coming to deliver the goods, and fearing an awkward situation for both sides, Mayor Zhao hid and didn't come out.
"Yes, yes, yes." Wen Zheng echoed, stood up, and dusted off her clothes. "Alright, we've sorted the things. Where should we put them?"
Mayor Zhao was taken aback. "Where do you mean, 'put'?"
"Where is your storage room? Point me to a place so we can move there." Wen Zheng picked up a pile of food from the ground and looked at Mayor Zhao.
"Your things are in my warehouse?" Mayor Zhao didn't react.
“We don’t need them. Xiaoyu is staying at your house now, so let’s leave these things for him.”
After Wen Zheng finished speaking, she nudged Mu Qing with her toe, urging him to help carry things.
After hearing her words, Mayor Zhao remained silent for a long time before saying, "Xiao Yu's family is gone. My wife and I have decided to adopt him and treat him as our own child. He will definitely have no worries about food and clothing."
“Then I’ll definitely leave it to you. You’re so old, raising a child must be tough. These things aren’t very useful, but they can make his life a little better.” As Wen Zheng spoke, she saw Mayor Zhao’s wife come out. After asking for the location of the warehouse, she and Mu Qing moved the things inside.
Mayor Zhao, leaning on his cane, watched the two men put the things away and lock the warehouse door, a sense of frustration rising in his heart.
If these two humans had simply saved Xiaoyu, he wouldn't be so conflicted. But after observing them, he had come to know their true character.
Wen Zheng possesses a pure and innocent heart; her actions and thoughts are devoid of malice, which is extremely rare. The other one is almost lacking in this regard.
After thinking about Wen Zheng's character for a long time, Mayor Zhao made a decision in secret.
After a quick dinner, when the sky turned a shimmering black and the moon hung gently on the branches, Mayor Zhao stood up and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to pick evening primroses."
After waiting for so long, Wen Zheng finally got her hands on the evening primrose. Suppressing her excitement, she followed Mayor Zhao with Mu Qing.
The three walked through the town and went to the lake at the east end of the town. Under the moonlight, the lake reflected the crescent moon, and the wild grass by the water was pressed to the surface by the wind, creating ripples.
"We've arrived." Mayor Zhao stopped in his tracks.
Wen Zheng looked around. Apart from the wild grass under her feet and the lake water, she didn't see any evening primroses. She turned to Mayor Zhao and asked, "Where are the evening primroses?"
"Under your feet."
Wen Zheng carefully moved aside, crouched down to look at the grass beneath her feet, which were just ordinary weeds. Just as she was about to ask again, Mayor Zhao threw off his cane and made an ancient gesture with his hand, as if the weeds under his feet had come to life.
As the moonlight shone on them, the green grass seemed to lose its color and radiate the moon's glow.
The strange sight before her eyes amazed Wen Zheng. "Is this evening primrose?"
Mayor Zhao nodded, panting, "That's right, evening primroses don't grow naturally; only special magic can awaken them."
After he finished speaking, he coughed twice, bent over, and rested his hands on his knees.
Seeing that he was about to collapse, Wen Zheng quickly picked up the crutch he had flung away and gave it to him, saying, "You rest first, I'll go pick evening primrose."
Just as she was about to get up, Mayor Zhao stopped her, saying, "Let him go. You stay and chat with me for a while."
He gestured for Mu Qing to pick evening primroses, while insisting that Wen Zheng stay behind.
Wen Zheng glanced at Mu Qing, who had no expression on her face, and said, "Why don't you go pick some?"
Mu Qing nodded, then turned and went to the other side of the lake to pick evening primrose.
He had noticed Mayor Zhao's wariness of him, and he guessed that keeping Wen Zheng behind was to give her something alone.
Mu Qing remained unmoved by Mayor Zhao's differential treatment; he had plenty of good things in his storage bag, so he didn't need another one.
As soon as he walked away, Mayor Zhao took out a white jade porcelain bottle, filled it with water from the lake, and said, "Drink this quickly."
The white porcelain bottle was brought to Wen Zheng's lips, and she leaned back nervously, "It's not boiled yet!"
She dared not imagine how many parasites and bacteria were inside.
"This is evening primrose dew, which has wonderful effects on spiritual roots. No need to boil it, drink it quickly." Mayor Zhao forcefully placed the porcelain bottle to Wen Zheng's lips and made her drink.
Wen Zheng quickly dodged and said, "Let's wait for my junior brother to come back so we can drink together."
Mayor Zhao deliberately sent Mu Qing away so that Wen Zheng could keep the Evening Primrose Dew all to herself. Now that she said she wanted to share it with others, he said sternly, "Evening Primrose Dew is precious. It is most effective when taken from a whole bottle. I can only take out one bottle. Are you sure you want to share it with your junior brother?"
He knew Wen Zheng's pure heart, but could she really part with her interests?
Wen Zheng recalled the image of Mayor Zhao scooping water from the lake, and felt as if she were covered in parasites. She immediately nodded, "I'm willing to give half."
If it weren't useful to her spiritual roots, she would rather share it all.
Her tone didn't seem fake, so Mayor Zhao sighed and handed her the white jade porcelain bottle. "Never mind, I'm too old to sort things properly. You can take it back and sort it slowly yourself."
After the evening primrose dew was given out, Mayor Zhao stopped talking. Wen Zheng sat to the side, holding the porcelain bottle and staring blankly.
Not long after, Mu Qingcai returned with the evening primrose and said, "We can go back to Mingguang City now."
If we don't go back soon, the city lord might not make it through.
“Okay.” Wen Zheng clutched the porcelain bottle tightly in her hand and looked at Mayor Zhao.
"Let's go, let's go." Mayor Zhao waved his hand, signaling the two to leave.
Wen Zheng's lips moved as if she wanted to thank the other party, but Mayor Zhao slowly walked back with his cane.
After watching him leave, Wen Zheng took out the mechanical bird and rushed to Mingguang City as fast as she could.
On the way, she took out the porcelain bottle in her hand, "This is evening primrose dew that Mayor Zhao gave me. He said it's good for spiritual roots. I'll share half with you when we get back."
Mu Qing paused in operating the mechanical bird, and said softly, "No need, I don't need it."
Wen Zheng raised an eyebrow: "You don't cultivate using spiritual roots?"
Mu Qing was speechless: "...Yes."
“Then it will come in handy. I’ll share it with you when we get back to the inn.” Wen Zheng shook the porcelain bottle.
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