On the way
"Alright, Miss Yan!"
Yue Lang strode up to her, shook the bundle on his shoulder that was tied exactly like Meng Yan's, and bowed to invite her into the courtyard. "Please make a few steps, Miss. I need to put the lock on the uninhabited hut."
Meng Yan moved away from the doorway and stood not far away waiting for his move. When the man lowered his hand, turned around, and smiled, she knew it was time to leave.
"The main gate is over there, Miss Yan!"
Based on Yue Lang's understanding of her, this person could be described as having a photographic memory, especially for directions and buildings; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to find him so easily.
He had no doubt about her memory, but felt that she had other plans, so he followed her in the opposite direction.
Unexpectedly, yet perfectly logically, the mechanical kite landed behind its house, waiting peacefully on the parched, yellow grass where the choking smoke had dissipated.
Yue Lang and the other man were both dressed in black Taoist robes. They sat down in the mechanical kite, and their posture didn't seem like they were going out for a leisurely trip, but rather...
He decisively stopped thinking about it and, prompted by Meng Yan's gaze, cleverly placed his hand on the side railing, sitting obediently and dignifiedly, waiting for the great commander in the pilot's seat to take him off.
With a few thuds, the wooden bird floated upwards, then accelerated and rushed towards the horizon. Despite having prepared himself mentally, Yue Lang couldn't help but let out a loud "Wow!" the moment he was truly overwhelmed by the wind.
"Miss Yan, there's a question you haven't answered me yet. Now that I've boarded the thief's bird, can you finally tell me the answer?"
Meng Yan didn't turn her head to look at him; she was certain that he would finish what he was saying on his own.
"You really just happened to be passing by?"
The person asking the question was staring at his face, trying to find some flaw in it, but Meng Yan only slightly moved the corner of his lips and nodded in front of his eyes.
"Oh! That means my sect has a pretty good position. Thank you for the compliment, Miss Yan!"
Regardless of what's so praiseworthy about it, in terms of its position, it falls short of "good" to some extent, but not by much. Besides, there's no way to improve in this area, so let's round it off as "good".
.
Under the blazing sun overhead, Yue Lang, seated in his chair, felt only a gentle breeze on his face. Not wanting to disturb Meng Yan, he looked around at his seat, searching for the hidden mechanism.
Worried that he might stumble and fall, Meng Yan glanced back at the opportune moment and, meeting the earnest, inquisitive gaze from next door, immediately turned her head away.
"Oh, Miss Yan, just tell me where it is. I'm just idling around anyway, and chatting with you will only distract you. Why don't you find me something to do?"
Meng Yan's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't remove his hands from the steering wheel. He simply took a step back with his right foot to relieve the numbness. Yue Lang then suddenly realized and said, "I understand, it's in the back where the goods are stored."
Meng Yan raised an eyebrow, and Yue Lang added, "Hmm, it seems you guessed right."
His seemingly random words somehow struck a chord with Meng Yan, causing her to look straight ahead and laugh.
Upon reaching the mountain gate, they heard a commotion. The two looked at each other and then simultaneously looked down.
Beside the stone pillar, two figures were jumping and shouting. They were too far apart to make their voices clear, and only common words like "senior brother" could be discerned.
"My senior brother is going out of town for a few days!"
Regardless of whether they could hear him clearly, Yue Lang shouted back to his fellow disciples at the top of his lungs.
"That's not right," he muttered, drawing the attention of Meng Yan beside him. "They shouldn't have seen the mechanical kite before, so how would they know I'm sitting on it right now?"
Meng Yan gave him a meaningful look, then looked away as if nothing had happened.
"It shouldn't be that they've communicated with you, Miss Yan. Although they are intelligent, sign language can't be understood just by guessing, let alone encountering someone like you who doesn't even use gestures but writes the words in their eyes."
Although he was picking on himself, Meng Yan seemed not to hear him, focusing intently on controlling the direction as he climbed into the unpredictable clouds.
.
The scenery changes constantly, with rocks appearing and disappearing one after another, and the trees changing from tall to short. Gradually, small bridges, flowing water, and houses come into view.
"Miss Yan, I would like to ask you a small question. You can simply answer me by nodding or shaking your head."
Yue Lang shrank back from outside the railing and peered longingly at Meng Yan's hand, hoping she would nod in a daze.
Whether he was seeing things or she had actually nodded, Yue Lang seized the opportunity and pressed on, "Is Peace Valley in this direction?"
He stretched his arm out in front of Meng Yan and pointed towards the empty cloud.
Meng Yan followed his finger and nodded.
Ping An Valley is not some hermit's abode; its existence and location have always been known to people. Even after they received order letters, they distributed Ping An Valley's contact points to various places. It's not surprising that Yue Lang would know about this place.
Is my sect located in that direction?
The finger turned around and pointed to another corner.
Meng Yan seemed to have guessed what he was going to say next, but still answered the question cooperatively and nodded.
"So, it's not on your way from your home to my sect, is it?"
He asked seriously, and she smiled seriously as well. After he repeatedly asked "Is it true?", Meng Yan nodded again.
“That proves…” Yue Lang interrupted his question, staring intently at Meng Yan, “You came to see me specifically for that reason.”
The question was not directed at Meng Yan, and she could have ignored it, but for some inexplicable reason, she nodded for the fifth time.
Not only her, but even Yue Lang was taken aback by her action; no one expected her to nod this time.
"Why?" someone pressed on.
Following the rules he had set, Meng Yan shook his head, but the smile on his lips remained unchanged.
Seeing her expression, Yue Lang remembered that the initial agreement was to "nod or shake his head," so this time, her shaking her head was quite intriguing.
Is it that they are unwilling to answer, or that they cannot answer due to rules?
It's likely that only Meng Yan knows the answer; if she doesn't tell you, you'll never come up with a solution, no matter how hard you try.
.
Time flew by silently, and when they realized the scenery below had changed again, they found themselves in a completely unfamiliar new place.
Looking out, the sea is half water and half sand. Unlike streams and lakes, which are either calm or clear, the blue-white water ripples gently, lapping against the sand. After receding with the sand, it soon comes rushing back with waves.
Further away, several fishing boats drifted leisurely, with a few water birds perched on their bows. Every now and then, nets were thrown out of the boats and pulled back up, the water birds chirping excitedly as they caught the fresh fish that their owners fed them.
Yue Lang was engrossed in watching when he was suddenly hit in the chest. Confused, he looked down and saw a piece of bread lying on his lap. Undoubtedly, it was sent by someone.
"It's already eating, how can I let you go hungry?"
Unaware that the bundle on Meng Yan's shoulder had been untied, she, like herself, was holding a sesame seed cake in her hand. She had been holding it in her mouth for a while to make hand gestures, and now that she had finished speaking, she could finally eat it with her hand.
"I wasn't very hungry. The things I saw were so new and exciting that I forgot about eating. I had only ever seen these things in books before and thought they were very far away. I never expected to be able to see them in person thanks to Miss Yan."
Yue Lang, holding the sesame seed cake, began to chatter on and on.
Meng Yan picked up his own cake again and pointed it at his hand, saying, "Want some? If not, give it back to me so as not to waste food."
Because of the pancake, she couldn't move her mouth too much, so only her eyebrows and eyes were silently protesting. She should have been serious, but faced with this sullen and forced-to-hold-back look, Yue Lang raised an undisguised smile.
"Eat, eat, eat! What Miss Yan gave us is naturally the finest in the world. How could we not eat it?"
After their banter ended, he and Meng Yan each had a pancake and admired the boundless scenery of the sea from their vantage point.
Eating only pieces of bread is a boring thing, but luckily there is a beautiful view and people around.
Meng Yan was chewing on dry noodles, his thoughts already wandering far away, when Yue Lang's shout brought him back.
"Miss Yan, there are many fishing boats over there."
The pier stands quietly on the coast, washed by the waves. The red lanterns hanging above it are old, faded and broken, swaying precariously in the fierce sea wind.
It was surrounded by dozens of small boats, swaying from side to side with the waves, tightly bound to the shore by ropes, unable to pursue the endless freedom.
Where there are boats and docks, there are people living there. Yue Lang wanted to tell her that she could prepare to land.
Without a word, Meng Yan changed direction and kept the mechanical kite on the sea surface, some distance from the dock, so as not to interfere with the fishermen's work or affect the view from the wooden bird.
"That beach is a good choice. There are no boats or people there, and it's not too far from the pier. After landing there, walk east for a short while, and you should see the local residents."
Meng Yan nodded and descended in the direction Yue Lang had indicated. Just as he was about to touch the sand, he turned back casually and asked, "What if I'm talking nonsense? Why did you believe me without even looking?"
The mechanical kite landed steadily on the ground, and Meng Yan flipped over and jumped out. Yue Lang landed at the same time as her, winking at him across the wooden strip.
The large wooden bird was retrieved by its owner in an instant and casually hung on his waist.
Two figures in dark robes walked side by side on the soft sand. One strolled leisurely with her hands empty, while the other followed closely behind her, carrying two bundles on his back.
“Miss Yan, this mechanical kite doesn’t look light at all. Even if it’s shrunk to the size of a palm, it would be difficult to tie it to your waist with ordinary means.”
Just as Yue Lang closed his mouth, he saw the shrunken version of the mechanical kite rushing towards him. He quickly caught it with both hands, afraid that the little guy would break in front of him.
The weight was still there; Yue Lang even frowned when he lifted it. But the heaviness vanished in an instant, as if the feeling from before had never existed. It was lighter than the mechanical sparrow, which was several times smaller. Holding it felt like there was nothing in his hands.
Yue Lang asked the figure in front of him hesitantly, "My talisman has this effect?"
This effect is not caused by the weight of the talisman; it can only change the amount, not make it disappear. So it must be an old talisman made by oneself.
The person who created the talisman only witnessed its effects today, and learned about it from someone else.
“Since you can float, doesn’t that mean you’re weightless? So, it doesn’t matter where you float, it’s still floating,” Meng Yan patiently explained to the genius Taoist.
"If that's the case, then if the talisman used on the mechanical kite were directly pasted onto a person, wouldn't that person be able to fly around at will?"
After his initial surprise, Yue Lang received a sharp glare from Meng Yan and secretly shut his mouth.
If a person were to actually ascend to heaven using a talisman, unable to adjust their direction, altitude, and speed, and even uncertain when the talisman would expire and they would fall back to earth, that doesn't seem like a good method.
Fortunately, I was young and ignorant and didn't have a flash of inspiration.
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