Chapter 49 The two of them, Ji and Er...
Both Ji and Er looked on in disbelief.
Master Taiqing doesn't accept disciples, does he?
Jie still remembered when Cang Li tried to get them to become his disciples, Tai Qing said that he had no affinity with the five of them as master and disciple. Jie walked up to Cang Li and whispered:
"Sister, is this the person who has a master-disciple relationship with the Taoist priest?"
Cang Li nodded: "His name is Xuan Du."
Ji and Er watched longingly. They knew the difference between being taught a few times and being a direct disciple. Xuandu was a direct disciple of Taiqing, which made them extremely envious.
Cang Li checked the time, stood up, and said:
"Alright, alright, stop surrounding Xuan Du. Didn't you say you wanted to go fishing yesterday?"
Jie and Zhong held Cang Li's hand, and Ji and Er hurriedly followed:
"Catch fish!" It had been a long time since they had caught fish with Cang Li.
The two immediately put on their small baskets. Cang Li bent down to pick up Yu and turned to ask Tai Qing:
"Taoist Master, are you going or not?"
Taiqing was still pondering the words he had just blurted out when he heard Cangli ask him a question. He immediately nodded and followed him.
Xuandu saw that Taiqing had left, so he naturally followed.
The group arrived at the riverbank. The sun was still very strong at this time of year. Cang Li put on his self-woven straw hat and glanced at the fields on the opposite bank across the river. Those fields were allocated to Tribes No. 1 and No. 2. The crops in the fields were growing quite well. Cang Li looked away, threw the fish trap into the river, took a bamboo pole, tied a hemp rope to it, hung up the bait, set up a shade, laid out a bamboo mat, and began to fish with an air of nonchalance.
Fishing is great, it's easy, and you can sit there and relax comfortably.
It doesn't matter if she can't catch any fish, she still has fish traps to catch fish.
Ji Hejie and the others played in the water nearby.
Taiqing walked to Cangli's pavilion and sat down on the ground. Cangli glanced at him, then continued to stare at the water while chewing on a blade of grass. After a while, he lay down on his back, crossed his legs, and put his hands behind his head, looking very comfortable.
The two were quiet and peaceful, exuding a sense of harmony.
Xuandu then realized that the relationship between his master and the Great Leader was better than he had thought.
Cang Li listened quietly to the children playing around, and thought to herself, "How wonderful! Just a year ago, I was struggling to survive, and now I can leisurely go fishing."
"Master, after we finish harvesting the rice in the fields, I'm going to lead a group of my people to the seaside to find our way. Will you leave by then?"
Taiqing opened his eyes and looked at Cangli. After a while, he said, "The sage cannot stay in the mortal world for long until that time comes."
Cang Li asked in confusion, "Then my mother stayed there for a long time before leaving."
Taiqing: "The laws of heaven and earth are being perfected. Now, my junior sister Nuwa lives in the Nuwa Palace and cannot easily go out. I will return to Kunlun in a few days. Perhaps after a while, even Kunlun will become uninhabitable."
Cang Li's almond-shaped eyes widened: "Then becoming a saint wouldn't bring any benefits!?"
Taiqing explained helplessly, "That's not the case. It's just that the power of the sage is too great for this place to contain. There are many living beings in the primordial world. If the sage stays on the earth and steals the spiritual energy that belongs to all living beings, it will not be tolerated by the Heavenly Dao."
Cang Li suddenly realized, and muttered softly, "No wonder my mom didn't come back. I thought she forgot..."
It turns out they can't come back; the power is too great. If they came back, they might accidentally hurt the little people they painstakingly created.
Taiqing suddenly asked:
"Cang Li, do you... want to come back to Kunlun with me?"
Cang Li was taken aback: "Go to Kunlun Mountain with you?"
Taiqing nodded: "Yes, your talent should not be buried here. The human race has already gotten on the right track. You should not spend all your time here. Returning to Kunlun Mountain with me to cultivate is the most suitable choice for you."
Cang Li laughed heartily: "What nonsense are you talking about, Daoist Master? I'll definitely come to Kunlun Mountain to visit you when I have time!"
Taiqing was taken aback: "Why don't you want to go to Kunlun Mountain with me to cultivate?" Taiqing didn't understand.
Cang Li said, "Master, isn't your doctrine of non-interference? Then why are you interfering with my decision to stay here? Wouldn't your actions be contrary to your principles?"
Taiqing remained silent. It was indeed his own selfish reason for asking Cangli to go to Kunlun Mountain with him.
Cang Li looked at Tai Qing with a smile and said:
"Daoist Master, don't worry about it. I don't want to go to Kunlun Mountain and have you nagging me to sit down and discuss Dao all day long. Going to Kunlun Mountain is nothing like being here."
Taiqing sighed. He had forgotten that Cangli was extremely averse to studying and that his current level of cultivation was entirely due to the favor of Heaven.
Cang Li then said, "Alright, Daoist, don't worry about me. I'm very happy here. If you have time, why don't you teach me some practical spells, like how to cut down trees, build bridges, and construct houses?"
Taiqing was speechless. He had thought of teaching Cangli attack or defense techniques before, but Cangli only learned them so-so. Only when he taught techniques like telekinesis would Cangli learn them seriously.
Three days later, Taiqing bid farewell to Cangli and left the human race with Xuandu.
Cang Li watched Tai Qing disappear into the horizon, then withdrew his gaze with a touch of melancholy. Nuwa had left and never returned, and now Tai Qing was gone too. Cang Li felt a pang of sadness.
Jie held Cang Li's hand and said:
"Sister, we will always be with you."
Cang Li smiled and patted Jie's head: "Okay, let's go and tell the clansmen to prepare to harvest the crops in the fields."
Jie nodded immediately and ran to inform Dashan Baiyun and the others.
Both banks of the river are covered with golden rice and wheat. After the harvest, the wheat can be planted in a while. However, Cang Li plans to take a group of people to the seaside after harvesting the grain, so he has to finish this before the weather gets cold.
Cang Li led the entire human race to begin the busy farming season and expanded the cave for storing grain. Cang Li felt that the original cave was a bit too low-lying, so he went to the top of the mountain and opened a new cave to store grain.
The harvested grain was plentiful, enough for the human race to escape poverty. Cang Li was very satisfied and decreed that each tribe should leave enough grain, and the rest should be stored in the mountain caves on the mountaintop for emergencies. No one objected. In the eyes of all the human races, their great chief was very powerful and would lead them to live well on this land.
Therefore, they will obey the chief unconditionally.
Ten days later, all the grain was harvested. Cang Li didn't need to worry about the work of threshing and drying. Taking advantage of the two difficult days, Cang Li arranged the rest of the work and sent Da Shan Shi Tou to lead thirty men and women who had learned how to use the slanted loom and process fire grass and hemp to various tribes to teach them how to weave and spin.
They then arranged for people to dry the grains, turn over the soil, and plant wheat and rapeseed when the weather turned cold.
After making the arrangements, Cang Li led more than two hundred people to set off. These two hundred people were a team composed of the leaders of each tribe and the fastest members of their tribe. Before setting off, Cang Li explained the dangers of the journey. Everyone carried spears made of bamboo and stone and dry rations.
Having learned from the previous experience, although Yu Hezhong still left with tears in his eyes and reluctance, he was very sensible and did not make a fuss.
Cang Li waved his hand and led the humans, who were venturing far from home for the first time, to the seaside to collect salt.
The journey took more than a month. The mountain roads were difficult to traverse, and there were ferocious beasts at night. When Cang Li was alone, he could travel quickly, but when there were more humans, the beasts would come after smelling his scent. Cang Li was forced to organize the humans to learn how to hunt on the spot.
Even so, two people were dragged away by wild beasts. Cang Li's expression was not good, and the tribesmen were somewhat frightened. The 100th chieftain, holding a spear, said to Cang Li:
“Great Chief, you don’t need to blame yourself. They were prepared when they came out with you, and now they are simply returning to the earth.”
Cang Li took a deep breath: "Okay, I understand. Amu, pass the word down and continue on our way. We're not far from the sea. Speed up and we should be there before dark."
Amu, the number 100 leader, quickly relayed Cangli's words, and the group arrived at the seaside before sunset.
The humans who saw the boundless blue sea for the first time exclaimed in amazement. The coastline under the setting sun was breathtaking. The salt fields left by Cang Li before he left seemed to have been filled with new seawater, and piles of coarse salt were piled up beside the salt fields.
Cang Li paused for a moment, then quickly realized that it was probably Fu Qu who made it. Cang Li turned around and gave the order:
"Make a fire and rest here. We'll stay for half a month and take the salt back with us."
People immediately gathered firewood and started a fire, then took out their dry rations and the meat they had hunted along the way to roast.
After settling his people in, Cang Li went to inspect the salt fields. The salt fields had not been damaged during this time and were very durable.
The pile next to it looks like there are about sixty or seventy crates, and there's another batch drying in the salt pond, which could be about a hundred crates. This batch can be used until next year.
"Chief! Dinner's ready!"
Amu called out to Cangli from a short distance away that it was time to eat, and Cangli dropped the salt in his hand and walked back.
After the meal, everyone huddled together in twos and threes under the tree to sleep.
The next morning, Cang Li began instructing everyone to pack up the salt. She didn't plan to put the salt back in her backpack and take it back easily. Instead, she wanted the more than two hundred people who came with her to carry it back. She couldn't come every time, so she wanted people to get used to this.
Seeing that his people had quickly filled the salt containers, Cangli led them to the seaside to catch fish. This time, Cangli brought fishing nets woven from bamboo strips and yarn, which were much more durable than the ones they had hastily made last time.
After catching the first batch of fish, Cang Li said to everyone:
“Every year from now on, you will come to the seaside to bring back salt and catch some fish. The fish you catch cannot be stored for a long time, so you need to clean the internal organs, wash them, and hang them up to dry into dried fish so that they can be taken back.”
For humans, this was also a survival lesson, and everyone wrote it down.
Not long after Cang Li finished speaking, Fu Qu surfaced from the sea and greeted him happily:
"Immortal Master!"
Upon hearing this, Cang Li's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he turned around to greet him:
"Lotus".
Fuqu trotted over, then stopped when she saw a large group of people behind Cangli, curiously observing this unfamiliar group.
Cang Li took the initiative to introduce:
“Fuqu, these are all my people. I brought them here to familiarize themselves with the route so they can come and collect salt in the future.”
Cang Li also had his own selfish motives. Behind Fu Qu was that black dragon with a rather bad temper. If he greeted Fu Qu, the human race wouldn't have to clash with the dragon race if they came alone in the future, and might even be able to get protection.
Fuqu asked anxiously, "Immortal Master, are you not coming here anymore?"
Cang Li shook his head: "How could that be? I'll definitely come back when I have time, don't worry."
Fuqu breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he came; she would have been really sad if he hadn't.
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Author's Note: I'll be updating twice a month starting this month. _(:з」∠)_ I promised you all I would stick to it; otherwise I'd slack off...
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