Chapter 28 Since Taiqing stayed behind, it was naturally...
Since Taiqing had stayed behind, he naturally had to begin understanding the human race and fulfilling his responsibility of education. Therefore, Taiqing looked at Cangli, who was sitting on the steps, and asked:
What do you usually do?
Cang Li squinted and said:
"Go up the mountain to pick fruit, check the traps for prey, take a nap at noon, water the fields when it's not so hot, pull weeds, and go to the river to catch fish. That's all for now."
Taiqing asked, puzzled, "Since you have these things to do every day, why don't you go?"
Cang Li: "...Mind your own business. Can't I even rest?" What do you mean by "educating the human race"? Is this person just using the guise of education to urge her to go to work?
Taiqing was taken aback, then realized that Cangli was probably not happy with his words, so he explained:
"It's not that I mean to interfere with you, but I just want to understand the human race. If I have offended you in any way, please don't take offense."
Cang Li gave a mumbled "hmm," and after a few minutes, said two words:
“Cang Li”.
Taiqing didn't react at first, but quickly realized it was Cangli's name. Taiqing smiled and nodded, and readily agreed:
“I am from the same sect as my junior sister Nuwa, so you can call me senior uncle.”
Cang Li stopped moving and looked up at Tai Qing.
Taiqing, puzzled, asked, "What's wrong?"
Finally, he added a form of address: "Cang Li?"
Cang Li: "Yes, Daoist Master."
"Uncle-Master? What uncle-master? To hell with that! Let her call him uncle-master? What if she and uncle-master get together in the future? Wouldn't that be a disaster? She can't call him that. It's not that Cang Li underestimates Tai Qing, it's that she looks down on her own self-control when it comes to beauty."
Taiqing paused for a moment, but didn't say anything, just nodded: "It's just a form of address, whatever you like."
The next second, Cang Li suddenly sat up, his face solemn.
Taiqing couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
Cang Li got up and headed towards the cave without saying a word. She hadn't heard the cubs' voices for a long time. If the children were quiet, they must be up to no good. These cubs hadn't been quiet since they had eaten their fill.
Taiqing saw Cangli hurrying towards the cave and thought something had happened, so he followed to see what was going on.
Cang Li rushed into the cave but didn't see the five cubs. However, she clearly found some dry grass that had fallen on the cave floor. This dry grass was what she had dried and left aside to be replaced in the winter. Cang Li followed the trail of the fallen grass out of the cave and walked to the small cave next door that Tai Qingxin had opened.
The five children were inside, putting hay onto the stone bed. Taiqing's futon was tossed aside and placed next to a flat bamboo mat. Jihejie was spreading the hay evenly on the stone bed.
Cang Li: ...They're quite hospitable.
Taiqing's expression was somewhat blank. He had never come into contact with a cub. Even his two younger brothers, who came from the same source, had never been cubs. After transforming into human form, they gained the ability to take care of themselves and received the inheritance, so they did not need to be taken care of at all.
However, even with Taiqing's erudite mind, he couldn't understand the behavior of these five human cubs. Why would they lay dry grass on the place where he meditated and cultivated?
Cang Li glanced at Tai Qing, then quickly went inside, grabbed the youngest Yu, pulled the others along, and then called over the three older ones:
"Get out here and stop causing trouble!"
He also took the opportunity to subtly examine the cave dwelling that Taiqing had casually created.
Ji Hejie and Er Quail followed Cangli out of the cave, where a lot of dry grass was scattered around.
Cang Li had the five children stand in line and then began to ask:
"What are you doing causing trouble in someone's cave?"
Taiqing walked over, also wanting to know why they put dry grass in his cave. Was it some strange ritual of the human race?
Ji, Jie, and Er looked at each other. Jie whispered:
"The new brother has nothing in his cave. My sister said that it's more comfortable to sleep on a softer bed. So, my husband, my sister, and I wanted to bring him some hay and bamboo mats, because the stone bed is too hard."
Cang Li nodded and looked at Tai Qing. He asked this question mainly to explain to Tai Qing. Which immortal doesn't have some quirks? It wouldn't be good if Tai Qing felt that the five children had offended him.
Taiqing looked at the five children with their heads bowed and said helplessly:
"I don't blame you, don't be afraid."
The children immediately looked up, their eyes sparkling, and volunteered.
"Brother! We'll help you tidy up the cave! We're very capable; even Sister said the bed we made is very comfortable to sleep in!"
Taiqing hesitated for a moment and then declined: "There's no need for that. I usually meditate and cultivate, so I don't need a very comfortable bed to sleep on."
Jie and Ji looked like Cang Li, but Cang Li didn't care because it was none of his business.
Taiqing then corrected the way the children addressed him:
"You can call me Senior Uncle."
Ji Hejie didn't understand his master, so he could only look at Cang Li.
Cang Li felt that Tai Qing was taking advantage of her in various ways, and stared at Tai Qing, saying, "Call him Daoist Master."
Ji Hejie then looked at Taiqing.
Taiqing: ...
Taiqing compromised: "Agreed."
Cang Li was satisfied. He picked up the basket beside him and said, "Let's go see if the apples on the mountain are ripe."
Ji Hejie immediately picked up his small basket and pulled Erzhongyu to follow Cangli up the mountain. Over time, the kids had gotten used to Cangli calling out to them and following him on their own.
Taiqing followed at a leisurely pace.
Cang Li would occasionally pluck a handful of grass from the roadside and throw it into his basket. The temperature wasn't as high as before, and there were many ripe wild fruits on the mountain. Cang Li picked a lot of wild fruits from the bushes and gave them to the children to eat.
Taiqing glanced at them and saw that they were all non-poisonous fruits; Cangli was very good at picking them.
When they arrived at the chestnut grove, the apple tree next to it was laden with ripe apples, bright red and small, only about the size of Cang Li's fist. The jujubes next to it had long been picked clean by Cang Li.
Cang Li put down his basket and said to the children:
"Watch over me, I'm going to pick apples."
Ren nodded and focused on taking care of the child. Ren and Er then followed Cang Li to pick apples.
The apple tree wasn't particularly tall, so Cang Li didn't need to climb it to pick the apples. For the apples that were too tall, Cang Li would use a bamboo pole to knock them down. She brought the bamboo pole with her, and the apples were just starting to ripen. There were only seven or eight ripe ones on the tree. After picking them, Cang Li put them in her basket and then looked at the chestnut grove.
The chestnuts inside are much bigger than before. After a while, when the chestnuts fall down, we can use tongs to pick them up.
Cang Li withdrew his gaze with satisfaction, picked up his basket and said to Ji, "Let's go see if any wild boars have been caught in our trap."
These past few days, Cang Li has clearly felt that the weather is not as hot, and it's even a bit cool at night. It's probably because autumn is approaching, and Cang Li needs to start preparing for winter.
Regardless of whether she cultivates immortality or not, the plan to stockpile food for winter was already in place and would not change because of this. After all, Cang Li does not yet know her talent or whether she can truly succeed in cultivation. If she cannot succeed, life will still go on.
The trap was a deep pit that Cang Li had just dug, which took her three days to dig out. Before she even reached the edge, she heard the grunting and squealing of pigs inside. Cang Li went over with a smile and saw that it was indeed a member of a wild boar family. She knew that with her mother's blessing buff, there would definitely be prey in the trap.
Cang Li was in a good mood and was about to throw the wild boar, which was only grunting and unable to move, into her backpack, but she stopped when she touched the wild boar. She hesitated and looked back at Tai Qing. Wouldn't it be strange if she, who had never cultivated, made the wild boar disappear like that?
Taiqing noticed that Cangli was squatting by the pit, looking somewhat troubled, and even glanced back at him. He immediately realized that this human leader was asking for his help, but was too shy to ask. Taiqing went over and inquired:
Do you need my help?
While they were asking questions, they had already reached out and pulled the wild boar out of the pit.
Cang Li: "Wow~"
Taiqing was about to smile when the wild boar he had pulled up and tossed aside scrambled up and charged at the playful cub.
Cang Li: !!!
Cang Li instantly pulled an axe from his backpack and swung it at the wild boar, shouting loudly to attract its attention:
"Don't run!"
The five cubs who were digging for wild vegetables nearby stared blankly at the ferocious-looking wild boar charging towards them, unable to react in any way to run away.
The wild boar, about to send its five pups flying, suddenly stopped in its tracks, maintaining its charging posture. Taiqing leaped forward, blocking the boar's path, and smashed its head flat with a single punch. He frowned and said:
"I'm sorry, it was my fault for not handling it well."
Cang Li stopped, holding the axe, panting heavily. She was terrified, thinking that the insignificant human race was about to be wiped out.
Yu and Zhong came to their senses and burst into tears.
Cang Li, not even bothering to look at the unfortunate wild boar or the somewhat bewildered Tai Qing, ran to the crowd, hugged them, patted them and Yu on the back, and whispered:
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, your older sister is here. The wild boar is dead. Your older sister will make you braised pork later."
The group, hiccuping, said, "Okay, okay, waaaaah, big sister~"
Cang Li wiped away everyone's tears, patted their heads, and said, "Alright, alright, don't cry. Here's an apple for you."
The group stopped crying as they ate their apples. Yu, holding the apple Cang Li had given him, reached out to snatch it from the group. The group turned away from Yu, and the man, pale-faced, pulled Yu away. He glanced at the wild boar not far away and asked Cang Li:
"Sister, is the wild boar dead?"
Cang Li nodded, casually ruffled Er's hair, then stood up and said, "Let's go, I'll go to the river to deal with this pig, and I'll cook braised pork for you guys tonight so you can vent your anger."
The five children immediately nodded vigorously.
Cang Li got up and put the wild boar into her backpack. Anyway, everyone here cultivates immortality. If Tai Qing asks, she can just say it's a storage bag given to her by Hong Yun. After all, Hong Yun did give her a storage bag before she died. Come to think of it, she hasn't seen what's inside the storage bag yet.
Taiqing walked to Cangli's side and said in a low voice with apology, "I didn't know I would scare them."
Cang Li waved his hand: "Never mind, I'm not blaming you anyway. Next time you need to help, remember to tie the wild boar up with a rope."
Taiqing nodded, noting something in her mind: she would have to ask Cangli beforehand if she needed help in the future.
However, it seems that Cang Li is doing a good job as the leader of the human race. He has a wealth of life experience and has even acquired certain educational responsibilities.
Cang Li said to Ji, "We need to hurry. This pig is dead, but we haven't bled it yet. It won't taste good if we wait too long."
He quickly got up and gave the small basket to Er, while he carried Yu on his own, which would make the journey faster.
When they reached the river, Cang Li released the pig and chopped off its disfigured head with an axe. The blood inside hadn't congealed yet, so although it wasn't as clean as when she slaughtered the pig, at least it didn't ruin the taste of the meat.
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