Chapter 60 Su Yuyao's First Exploration of Jiujiao Mountain
Early the next morning, Bai Er got up to start a fire and cook. Su Yuyao also got up and packed her small bundle, leaving behind her cosmetics and only bringing wolf teeth, animal bones, a crescent-shaped knife, and a slingshot.
Just after breakfast, Qi Men appeared at the door with a smile, "Yao'er! How's the preparation going?"
"Uncle! We're all ready!"
"We...?" Qimen looked at Su Yuyao carrying a small bundle, Bai Er following behind Su Yuyao, Ruixue carrying luggage, and Bai Migao with a disdainful look.
"They're all going?!" Qi Men was somewhat surprised.
"Yes! Go! Let's hurry on our way! Don't waste time!" Su Yuyao ran up the hillside before Qimen could speak.
Bai Er quickly followed, standing protectively behind Su Yuyao, "Miss! Miss! Slow down! Be careful not to fall!"
Qi Men watched Su Yuyao's retreating figure, opened his mouth as if to say something, but didn't know where to begin. He then turned to look at Ruixue, "You're going too?"
Ruixue bowed slightly, "Lord Qimen, Miss Ningbao and Bai'er's luggage are with me, so..."
"Oh, and the white rice cake too..." Qimen pointed to the white rice cake.
The white rice cake proudly raised its head, chirped twice, swung its plump belly, and ran towards Su Yuyao with a thud.
Qimen smiled helplessly and said to Ruixue, "Let's go..."
"Granny Fangchun! Granny Fangchun! Are you ready? We're about to set off!"
Qimen hadn't gone far when he heard Su Yuyao knocking on the door. When he reached Feihua's courtyard gate, he saw Su Yuyao and Feihua jumping and playing together, while Fangchun stood in the group with her bundle on her back.
Qi Men chuckled, rubbing his forehead, "Yao'er! Is Fei Hua going too?"
"Of course!" Su Yuyao said excitedly, "I'm in charge of taking care of Feihua, so of course I'll bring her along!"
She ran to Qimen's side, pointed at Feihua, and whispered, "Today, Feihua seems to have become me!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Qimen looked at Feihua.
Feihua, with her hands behind her back and her belly protruding, muttered, "I want to go play in the mountains..."
"Isn't it cute?!" Su Yuyao asked, tilting her rosy cheeks up.
Looking at the team he was about to lead, Qi Men smiled wryly and said, "Yao'er! Are you bringing all your family's wealth with you?"
"Hehe, Uncle, you take care of me, and I'll take care of them!" Su Yuyao said with a grin.
Qi Men tapped Su Yuyao's forehead and said, "You can both go, but we've agreed that you have to listen to me! Stay close to me! Understand?!"
"Don't worry!" Su Yuyao replied and ran up the hillside...
The mountain road winds its way up, through dense forests, and disappears beneath your feet.
"Lord Qimen! You've come to inspect!" An older woman came down from the hillside and greeted him warmly.
"Aunt Hu, it's been a long time!"
"Oh! This must be Miss Yao'er! You've come along on the inspection too?"
"Aunt Hu! I'm just here to join in the fun!" Su Yuyao said with a smile.
Aunt Hu had a kind face. She looked Su Yuyao up and down and said warmly, "This is my branch office. Why don't you go and take a look at my branch office first!"
Su Yuyao looked at the hillside in surprise. There were no houses or courtyards. She stared at the sky and asked, "Aunt Hu... there are no houses or courtyards up here, where is your shrine?"
Qi Men stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Yao'er, would you like to visit Aunt Hu's house?"
"Yes!" Su Yuyao readily agreed.
Aunt Hu smiled, stepped aside to make way, and said softly, "Lord Qi, Miss Yao'er, please come with me!"
Su Yuyao didn't stand on ceremony and stepped forward, entering the dense thicket of trees.
Suddenly, a blinding white light struck, making Su Yuyao dizzy. She hurriedly crouched down and shielded her eyes. "Aunt Hu! What is that light?!"
"Miss Yao'er! Where is the light?" Aunt Hu said with a smile, "Open your eyes and look again!"
Su Yuyao slowly opened her eyes, stood up, and then realized that the once dense forest had turned into a gentle hill.
On the hill, the grass is lush and green, dotted with wildflowers. Nestled within the greenery are several small courtyards, where wisps of smoke rise from chimneys, the wind rustles, and people whisper among themselves.
"Chirp chirp!" White Rice Cake chirped excitedly as it trod across the grass.
Ruixue hadn't run in a spacious place in a long time. He looked at the hill, unable to contain his excitement, and looked at Su Yuyao with longing in his eyes.
Su Yuyao smiled and said, "Ruixue, take Baimi Gao for a walk! Remember! Keep an eye on Baimi Gao and don't let it wander off!"
"Yes, Miss Ningbao!"
"White Ear, you can transform back into your original form and rest in the grass for a while!"
"Thank you, miss!"
"Feihua, you stay here with Granny Fangchun and watch over them! Understand?"
"Okay!" Fei Hua nodded vigorously.
"Granny Fangchun, I'll go with Uncle Qimen to take a look. You're the oldest and most experienced here, so I'll trouble you to help look after us!" Su Yuyao said methodically.
Fangchun was somewhat surprised. Although she was older and more experienced, she was still just an outsider nanny. She hesitated, unsure how to answer.
Su Yuyao smiled and said to Bai'er and Ruixue, "Bai'er, Ruixue, you must listen to Granny Fangchun, understand?"
“Yes!” Bai Er and Rui Xue replied.
Fangchun then curtsied and said, "Please rest assured, Miss Yao'er, this old servant will certainly do my duty!"
Su Yuyao nodded, then walked over to Qi Men and said to Aunt Hu, "Auntie, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Let's go in and take a look!"
Aunt Hu and Qi Men exchanged a smile as they watched Su Yuyao, so young, make such an arrangement.
Aunt Hu stretched out her hand and led Su Yuyao forward, saying, "Miss Yuyao, please come with me!"
Aunt Hu's courtyard was very neat, with a main house, two side rooms, and a small earth god temple-like building. In the center of the main house was a red wall, on which some names were listed.
"What is this?" Su Yuyao asked, puzzled.
"This is the list of spirits in my family's shrine!" Aunt Hu said with a smile. "The people on the list are the spirits in my family's shrine!"
"Oh!" Su Yuyao looked at each layer one by one, and the person at the very top was named Hu Lingli.
"Hu Lingli? Is that you?" Su Yuyao asked.
“It’s me, I’m the King of the Monument in this hall!” Aunt Hu said, bowing her head.
"So how does your branch operate?" Su Yuyao asked again.
"I select those with affinity within the world and take them as my disciples. Through my disciples, I help the people of the world solve their problems. This not only allows us to cultivate ourselves and increase our cultivation, but also gives my disciples a real income to support us."
"Oh... then what is your ability?" Su Yuyao asked again.
"predict!"
Su Yuyao nodded, then looked at the menu again, "Where are the others?"
“Our branches here are small in size but numerous in number, so they hold positions in multiple branches. They go wherever there is work… so now…”
"So now, they're all working in other branches, right?"
“Yes…” Aunt Hu replied, bowing her head.
Su Yuyao looked at the deserted courtyard, then pointed to the small temple in the corner and asked, "What is this for?"
"This is the shrine for receiving offerings of incense from disciples..."
Su Yuyao lowered her head and smiled, saying, "Aunt Hu, you were able to predict it, so you knew we would come, and you were waiting for us at the foot of the mountain on purpose, weren't you?"
Aunt Hu didn't seem surprised by Su Yuyao's words, but instead asked with a smile, "Miss Yao'er, do you have a solution?"
Su Yuyao looked at Qi Men, who had been smiling but remained silent, and asked, "Uncle, you brought me here on purpose, didn't you? Do you want me to solve the problems here?"
"Oh? Yao'er," Qimen asked with interest, "what problem did you figure out?"
"I...I'm not sure yet, let me visit a few more branches!"
The second shrine, whose master, Bei Wang, helps people exorcise ghosts and ward off disasters, doesn't have much work, but the incense in the shrine in the courtyard is always burning brightly, and the people in the shrine chat idly in the courtyard. It's much more lively than Aunt Hu's courtyard.
The third temple had the most people seeking favors. The courtyard was filled with temple spirits waiting for orders. The Stele King sat in the main hall, facing the red wall, which reflected a world that Su Yuyao had never seen before.
In that world, everyone wore extremely simple and strange clothes. They weren't ashamed to show their bodies; many women wore tight-fitting clothes that constricted their breasts. The men all had short hair, or some were bald. They rode in large, wheeled boxes that could move around, entering very tall and strange buildings, but never came out again…
Su Yuyao was stunned. She had never seen such a world before, a world that was both bustling and gloomy...
The scene slowly came to a stop, a transparent door opened, and then the screen settled on a wooden table.
A woman with a worried look walked in, sat down across from the table, and asked, "Master, when will I be able to conceive?"
The Monument King then said, "Check—the birth register!"
Two people emerged from among the temple fairies in the courtyard and replied, "Yes!"
Having said that, he took the steed and galloped away.
"Explore—the meridians!"
Another person emerged from among the immortals and replied, "Yes!"
After saying this, he sat cross-legged on the spot, and a wisp of green smoke rose from the top of his head and drifted into the red wall.
The woman in the picture continues to recount the difficulties she faced in her quest to have a child.
Before long, the two men on horseback returned and reported, "This woman has children, but she couldn't keep them when she was young, and now there's no chance!"
The person who had been meditating and whose body was steaming opened his eyes and said, "My vital energy is severely depleted, my Yellow Court is blocked and stagnant, my strength is weak and my body is thin, resulting in no harvest!"
The King of the Monument understood and relayed the message. The woman sobbed for a while and then left.
Su Yuyao looked at it, said nothing, and silently withdrew.
Qi Men followed Su Yuyao silently, visiting each of her family's branches.
After a short day of wandering, Su Yuyao had finally visited all the different branches of the gang. Although the world she saw puzzled her, she felt neither curious nor yearning for it.
Glug glug...
She patted her belly and said to Qimen, "Uncle! I'm so hungry, what shall we eat?"
Qi Men asked with a smile, "Yao'er, tell me first, what problem did you see?"
"Um... Uncle, I need to sort this out a bit more. Let's eat first!" Su Yuyao said with a smile.
Qi Men looked at Su Yuyao, whose head was full of mischievous ideas, and laughed, "You little rascal! Let's go, your Aunt Hu should have already prepared dinner!"
Beside the octagonal table, Su Yuyao, along with Bai Er, Rui Xue, Fei Hua, and Fang Chun, stared in disbelief at the food on the table.
Roast chicken, smoked chicken, chicken soup, and yellow, trembling steamed eggs that Su Yuyao had never eaten before!
Su Yuyao, suppressing her drool, watched as Aunt Hu brought out another plate of plump, white steamed buns. She glanced at Qi Men, who smiled at Su Yuyao's eager expression and said, "Eat up!"
Upon hearing Qi Men's words, Su Yuyao immediately stood up and quickly grabbed all the chicken legs and put them into her bowl.
"Miss Ningbao! Can you really eat that much?" Ruixue looked at Su Yuyao with dissatisfaction.
"I can do it! Who told you to be so slow!" Su Yuyao was happily eating a roasted chicken leg in her left hand and a smoked chicken leg in her right.
Bai Er felt a little awkward. She usually only ate vegetables, but today's scene of a chicken meeting left her unsure where to begin. She could only take a steamed bun, scoop a few spoonfuls of egg custard, and chew slowly.
"Bai'er, don't just eat steamed buns!" Su Yuyao said, chewing on a chicken leg. "You should also get a bowl of chicken soup!"
"Ah?" Bai Er said embarrassedly, "No need..."
"Bai'er, don't be shy here. Let's do as the locals do!" Fangchun smiled as she served Bai'er chicken soup and added a few pieces of tender white chicken to it.
"This..." Bai Er still remembered the first time she tried eating barbecue, and how Qing Yue scolded her. "Is this okay?"
"What's there to be afraid of?!" Su Yuyao said, sucking on a chicken leg bone. "Empress Qingyue isn't here! Besides, Feihua has already drunk the soup!"
Watching Fei Hua slurping down the chicken soup, Bai Er shyly picked up her bowl and took a small sip. "Wow! It's so delicious!" The rich chicken soup was like fireworks exploding in Su Yuyao's mouth, and the aroma instantly lit up Bai Er's taste buds.
"Ningbao! You're so stingy! You eat the chicken leg yourself, but you make Bai'er drink the soup!" Ruixue said, gnawing on the chicken carcass.
"I'm not stingy! Bai'er! Here's a chicken leg for you!" Su Yuyao took a chicken leg from the bowl and handed it to Bai'er. Bai'er was embarrassed to accept it and said, "I don't want to eat it..."
“Look! It’s the white fungus that won’t eat it! It’s not that I don’t want to give it to her!” Su Yuyao said, looking up at her.
Ruixue looked at the chicken leg not far from her, suddenly stretched out her head, grabbed the chicken leg with her mouth, and snatched it away, saying, "If Bai'er doesn't eat it, I will!"
"Ruixue!" Su Yuyao was furious and quickly ate the chicken leg in her bowl to prevent it from being snatched away again.
Aunt Hu's courtyard hasn't been this lively in a long time!
Ruixue, transformed into a snow wolf, was being ridden by Su Yuyao, who punched her left and right. Feihua, mimicking Su Yuyao, squatted behind Ruixue and pounded its tail with her little fists. Fangchun, holding a bowl of soup, stood beside Feihua, feeding her a sip of soup when she got tired. Bai'er sat calmly at the table, savoring her chicken soup. Qimen stroked his beard, watching the chaos in the yard and laughing heartily. Aunt Hu stood helplessly beside Qimen, watching the reckless Su Yuyao, wondering, "Can this little girl really help me?"
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