Taking away jobs is not an option.
"Where are the talismans? They've all disappeared!"
Despite the backache and soreness from searching yesterday, Li Li knocked on Yue Lang's door early in the morning, only to find the house clean and empty.
The man who opened the door for him was only wearing an undergarment. He was still yawning as he closed the door, his hair loosely spread behind his head. His mind seemed to be wandering somewhere under the covers, not yet back in his clothes.
"Huh? What talisman? Does Miss Yan need talismans again?"
He took three steps at a time, floating to the table, picked up the teapot, paused for a while, and finally slightly tilted his hand, letting the water flow from the pot into the cup.
After drinking two cups of cold tea, he opened his eyes again, said "Oh," brought Li Li a glass of ice-cold water, watched him sit down, and pointed a finger at the air.
"You mean, those fire-starting talismans that Miss Yan wanted?" Before Li Li could reply, he continued, "After they've all been sent away, use Miss Yan's unique little sparrow."
The cold water stung his throat, and Li Li almost washed his junior brother's hair. After wiping the water from the corner of his lips, he held up three fingers in front of Yue Lang and asked, "How many is this?"
“Three,” Yue Lang replied, making the same gesture.
"And what about this?" Li Li raised both hands and held them in front of him.
Yue Lang shifted his gaze from Li Li's hand to his face, remained silent for a while, and then tentatively asked, "Are you awake, Senior Brother?"
Li Li lowered his hand without speaking, looking at him expressionlessly.
"Oh, you're awake. The talismans really have all been sent away. Don't you trust me?"
In this situation, the person in front of him was clearly unreliable, making it impossible for Li Li to believe his baseless words.
Left with no other choice, Yue Lang had to count on his fingers and tell him word for word what he had done the night before, including the contents of the letter, which he recounted without missing a single word.
"Are you in such a hurry?"
"I'm not in a hurry, I'm just worried that Miss Yan will be anxious."
Li Li picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and thought to himself, "If you knew when I sent it, you'd probably throw me into Ping'an Valley to draw talismans on the spot."
"To be honest, I never imagined that you and Miss Meng Yan were so close. I thought she was a quiet person, but now it seems I was wrong."
"That's right, isn't it? She does prefer quiet places, and she has excellent hearing. She's too noisy in the city."
As the talisman warmed, the cold water in the pot gurgled. Yue Lang picked up the teapot and refilled the two empty cups.
“That’s quite rare.” Li Li twirled the small cup in his hand, his words carrying a hidden meaning.
Yue Lang curled his lips into a smile, finished his cup of hot tea, and rested his chin on his hand, toying with the small cup in his hand. "That's right, we are quite destined, like-minded, of one heart, and willing to live and die together..."
"Stop." Li Li took the empty cup from his hand, filled it with hot water, and handed it back. "Drink up, don't get thirsty."
"Are you trying to scald your junior brother to death?"
"I'm afraid you're dreaming and thinking you're living the dream life."
Yue Lang: "..."
If you don't believe it, then don't believe it. Anyway, Miss Yan knows that what she said is true.
Li Li was enjoying himself alone at the table for a while when a teapot was placed beside him, and Li Li was looking at him through the handle.
"Hmm? Senior brother, is there still something you don't understand?" Yue Lang suppressed his stiff smile and looked up to ask.
"Yes, but I don't know if I should say it." Li Li took the teapot away and clinked glasses with him. "Aren't you curious about how that mechanical kite takes off?"
"If you want to learn how to draw those two talismans, I can teach you right now. Call me 'brother' and let me hear it."
Li Li glanced at him and shoved the teapot back between the two of them.
"Who would learn your useless talisman that's been sitting around for seven or eight hundred years? I'm just curious about the mechanism on that big bird. Let alone controlling its takeoff, just the ability to shrink from large to small is enough for an ordinary person like me to study for half a lifetime. I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to find a master in the future. It's much harder than drawing talismans."
"Come on, you're something else." Yue Lang walked around the teapot, clinked glasses with him, drank it all in one gulp, and put down the teacup. "Your skill in talismans is also beyond the reach of ordinary people, yet you have a passion for those ingenious creations. Aren't you afraid of incurring people's wrath if you tell them?"
"Life and pursuits, you think everyone is as harmonious as you are? They just happen to be the same thing."
Yue Lang was stunned for a moment. This was indeed the reality. In the sect, whether due to talent or life, although everyone gathered together to cultivate the Tao, not many people truly delved into it. It is undeniable that only by combining these two factors can a perfect development be achieved. In his case, they converged on one point, which is why he always seemed much more relaxed.
Perhaps the damage from childhood, and everything lost too early, has all been compensated for here.
"Someone is probably just as lucky as me, and you know this person too." Yue Lang snapped out of his reverie and tapped the side of the cup with his index finger in boredom.
Without hesitation, Li Li answered, "Miss Meng Yan."
"So, would you willingly tell someone what you're good for? What's the difference between that and directly taking someone else's job?"
"Oh, so you're waiting for me here. You better remember this, or you'll end up exposing yourself!"
.
Meng Yan stroked the paper in his hand, unsure whether to look at it or not. After hesitating for a while, he finally opened the folded page.
He quickly skimmed through Yue Lang's greetings, well wishes, and auspicious words. At the end of the page, he finally remembered that he hadn't yet explained how to use the talisman. He painstakingly tucked a few lines of text into the corners, and the originally elegant handwriting looked somewhat comical after he arranged it.
Even so, he didn't forget to use the last blank space, about the size of a fingernail, to say goodbye.
"What's written on those two densely packed sheets? Could it be that they're trying to back out and cut ties with us?"
"If it were me, and I were tricked out of several months' worth of talismans for no reason, I would have done more than enough by not visiting them."
Regret? Someone seemed to be enjoying it, wishing they could plan for the next hundred or eighty years at once. Luckily the pages were too small, otherwise it would have been more than just these two short essays.
"Junior Sister Yan? Were the other side's words so harsh? They've shocked you so much you can't recover."
Meng Yan folded the letter in her hand and put it into her sleeve. She picked out the useful parts of the letter and explained them. After she finished speaking, she emphasized the significant role of the weight talisman in this transport and told her fellow disciples that they should not learn or imitate it. Otherwise, she would no longer be responsible for the subsequent maintenance of the mechanical sparrow.
"If anyone dares to play like this, I'll be the first to beat them up, you hear me?" Several of the older senior brothers spoke up first.
Amidst the echoes, a senior brother had already pinched a fire talisman. Following Meng Yan's instructions, he pinched it between two fingers, circled it to the left, then to the right, and then flicked it down. A flame suddenly ignited between his two fingers. Although the fire was not strong, it was not extinguished either. The two fingers next to it did not feel any burning pain, and even felt a slight coolness.
Swinging it left and right, the flames gradually died down. Perhaps because it hadn't burned for long, the talisman was no different from the beginning, leaving no ashes behind.
"Wow, that's amazing! I would never even dream of such a thing!"
A group of burly men rushed towards the talisman as if they had seen a rare treasure. Meng Yan and his senior sister, who had just entered, exchanged a glance, shook their heads, and let them make a fuss.
"That's not right. If we have to do this every time we light a fire talisman, then people will have to perform rituals at home every day. What if the children learn this and burn something?"
The bustling crowd suddenly fell silent, and everyone turned around to look for Meng Yan, only to find that she was no longer in the courtyard.
"Don't worry, these fire talismans are used the same way as those in the ice furnace. Just stick them inside the furnace and they'll work. The Taoist priest specially modified them so that they'll only ignite when they touch the furnace wall, to prevent any danger," the senior sister replied, looking up from the pile of wood. As she spoke, her hands continued to move. "Junior Sister Yan also said that she wasn't originally planning to tell you how the fire talismans spontaneously combusted, but she thought you'd like to hear it, so she'll tell you what you want to hear first, and then tell me what we actually need to use. You can ask me when you've had your fun."
The senior brothers scratched their heads or touched their faces, chuckling, "Junior Sister Yan is truly a prophet."
Having seen their silly antics so often, the senior sister couldn't be bothered to pay any more attention and lowered her head to continue with her work.
The sound of wood being cut echoed in the courtyard, sounding strangely familiar, which puzzled the senior brothers. "The construction of the ice furnace has long since stopped, and the heater hasn't even started yet. Besides, neither of them needs wood. Senior sister, why are you sawing that wood?"
"Making birds".
The word "cold" seemed to suppress the doubts of the audience, but in fact it aroused even more.
"Didn't we make quite a few mechanical sparrows before? Junior Sister Yan also said that the heaters are hardly selling. Instead of making so many birds, should we switch to raising wood carvings?"
"Or if we really want to keep one, we can keep a few live ones. Aren't there plenty of them jumping around on the wall? Why be so fixated on this piece of wood?"
The senior sister glanced at them briefly, and they immediately fell silent, blinking their eyes as they waited for her to explain.
"Or you could raise roosters next door," the senior sister said, waving a saw and pointing at the wall. "Raise them big and fat, and they can carry you all over the place."
Upon hearing her words, the stunned senior brothers suddenly realized that she was preparing for the new mechanical kite.
It must be admitted that the design and successful flight of the mechanical kite changed so much, making many things much simpler and bringing what was once a fantastical dream into reality.
It's like a pebble thrown into a dry well, which unexpectedly summons a gushing spring, bringing new creation and vitality to the valley.
Now, this large bird is starting to incubate its second offspring, and more will follow.
Even the most distant places are worth visiting and measuring in person.
After a moment of deep emotion, the senior sister tapped the wooden block in her hand, waking the group from their reverie. She then shoved a blueprint in front of them and said, "Wake up, it's time to raise birds."
.
If you miss mealtime, there aren't many people left in the kitchen. Push open the door and look into each pot. There's not much left, but the aroma is incredibly strong, and people are scrambling to get into it.
"Why are you so late today, Senior Sister Yan?"
The three senior brothers had already left the valley, leaving behind mostly younger junior brothers and sisters. Meng Yan watched them awkwardly sweep the pots and remove the firewood, hanging the kitchen utensils back in their original places, and occasionally accidentally scraping their hands. He frowned, blew out a couple of breaths, and cleaned up the mess on the stove as if nothing had happened.
"Try the leftovers, I heard they have a unique flavor."
She had no choice in what to eat; she picked up her bowl and chopsticks and filled it with whatever was available. She squatted outside the kitchen and finished her meal in a few bites, then rolled up her sleeves and went back inside.
Although she doesn't often come to the kitchen to help, her hands are still sharp. She turns the pot, pours water, and moves the cooking brush with more skill and fluency than her junior apprentices.
For some difficult details, she would slowly demonstrate and teach until everyone nodded in understanding, then turn around and find the next person to teach.
Meeting the gazes of the younger generation, Meng Yan simply smiled and said, "When I first entered the valley, I had no skills, so I learned a few basic things, which I am now teaching you. To make delicious food, the stove must be kept bright. Relax your mind, and your skills will come naturally."
Stepping outside, Meng Yan looked up at the sun in the sky, which was almost identical to that of a few days ago. He squinted and quickly thought about the past and the future.
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