"Where's Xiao Wu? Didn't he come back with you?"
"Brother Wu is still in seclusion and won't be able to come back for a while."
"That brat, you know you have worked so hard."
"Yes, Brother Wu and Brother Dongzhi are working hard. They are both in seclusion and practicing immortal magic."
"They worked so hard, how could you, a brat, sneak down here on your own?"
"Uncle Zong, I didn't sneak out. I was ordered by my master to go far away, so I came to see you."
"Oh, that's it." The village chief suddenly realized, "When are you leaving?"
"Let's rest for a few days."
"How many days of rest?" The village chief frowned: "Will you delay the mission given to you by Fairy Girl?"
"No, no, Uncle Zong, are you driving me away?" Lin Jingzhe said with a smile.
"You brat, what are you talking about? Why would Uncle Zong drive you away?" the village chief laughed and scolded.
"I'll just say it."
"Have you got a meal yet?"
"Not yet, then you stay here while Uncle Zong goes to get you some food."
"Okay, thank you, Uncle Zong." Lin Jingzhe suddenly remembered the old cow, so he asked, "Uncle Zong, is that old cow still there?"
"Hey, that old cow died of illness a few years ago."
"Died of illness? Where is he buried? I want to take a look."
"On the east side of the mountain, we directly cremate those who died of illness."
"Oh." Lin Jingzhe said, said goodbye to the village chief, and went to the east of the mountain.
The top of the mountain is not alone. There are dozens of graves here, which are the place of return for the ancestors of Bailu Village.
Lin Jingzhe found Lao Niu's grave and kowtowed three times.
His parents died when he was young, and he grew up sucking the milk of a cow. Therefore, this cow is his reborn parent.
His parents were not buried here. According to the village chief, he was not from Bailu Village, but moved from other places. His surname was also Lin. That day was the Jingzhe solar term, so the village chief gave him twenty The four solar terms are named after the Awakening of Insects.
Because they were not from Bailu Village, they were not buried on the east hill after their death, but on the north hill. It is said that when the two elders died, they asked the people in the village to bury them in the north, because that was where they were. home.
After Lin Jingzhe paid homage to Lao Niu, he went to the mountain in the north. Although his biological parents did not support him, they gave him a complete life, so this bow was necessary.
There were only two lonely graves on the hilltop in the north. Lin Jingzhe came to the graves and found that the grass on these graves was not high, so he knew that someone would come to sweep his grave every Qingming Festival.
He sighed and thought to himself: "Is it the village chief? Or the fat aunt next door? No matter what, I should thank them."
Lin Jingzhe bowed to the two graves, kowtowed a few times, then went down the hill and returned to the village.
"You brat, where have you been? Why did it take you so long to come back?" The village chief saw him from a distance and smiled and cursed at him.
"Uh." Lin Jingzhe found that the village chief's house was crowded with people. She couldn't help but be touched. She remembered that nine years ago, this place was also crowded with people, when the old witch was recruiting disciples in Bailu Village.
"I went to the east hills, and then to the north hills."
"Oh, come and eat quickly, the food is getting cold."
"Okay." Lin Jingzhe greeted everyone and followed the village chief into the house.
After eating a few mouthfuls of rice, Lin Jingzhe asked the village chief, "Uncle Zong, have you helped me remove the grass from the two tombs on the hilltop in the north over the years?"
"Yes." The village chief nodded, "When I went up the mountain to sweep the tomb, I took the opportunity to sweep it together."
"Thank you, Uncle Zong." Lin Jingzhe said, "I thought that since I haven't been back home in these years, the grass on the graves there would have grown at least this high."
"Bah, you brat, do you really think Uncle Zong is such a cold-blooded person?"
"No, no, if Uncle Zong was really such a cold-blooded person, that kid would have starved to death outside the door."
"Hey, you brat, why are you bringing up what happened back then?"
"If you and Fat Aunt hadn't taken such special care of me back then, I would have died a long time ago. I will certainly remember your kindness in my heart."
"You brat are really good at talking."
"Uncle Zong, here are five hundred taels of silver. Please give some to Fat Aunt for me. I don't want to see that old man next to her."
"Hey, you kid, you're too slow to come back. Your fat aunt is already gone."
"Gone?" Lin Jingzhe naturally meant "gone". In the village, apart from the village chief who was kind to him, there was also the fat aunt.
"You brat, if you don't go back a few years, I'm afraid my old bones will be gone too."
"Uncle Zong, what are you saying to be depressing? I see that your body is very strong."
"It's not like I don't know how my body is doing." The village chief sighed: "It's getting worse every year, eh."
Lin Jingzhe was silent for a while and did not speak.
"By the way, why haven't you seen Brother Dayong?"
"Dayong? That brat, except for a few replies and some silver coins a few years ago, he hasn't replied to you since. Whenever I talk about him, I get angry."
"Uncle Zong, don't be angry, can he tell you where to go?"
"I heard he said he was going to the capital to reply to the letter. Who knows if that kid didn't reply for so long and died on the road." When talking about Dayong, the village chief didn't say anything.
"Ducheng?" Lin Jingzhe frowned slightly. He knew that Dayong might be in danger. After all, he had asked the innkeeper before and he said that the old witch recommended the job in Ducheng.
"Hey, although the old witch didn't die in her own hands, she still avenged him, Dongzhi Xiaowu and the others." Lin Jingzhe thought to herself.
"You brat? The food doesn't taste good?"
“It’s delicious, it’s delicious, there’s nothing not delicious about it.”
"Okay, okay, stop trying to flatter me. After dinner, go over and greet the folks in the village and get in touch with each other. After all, you haven't been back to your hometown in nine years."
"Okay, okay."
"By the way, that brat's sister is getting married in the winter solstice, and his brother is not here. How about you act as his brother tomorrow?"
"Okay." Thinking of the Winter Solstice, Lin Jingzhe felt that the most embarrassing thing for herself and Xiao Wu was the Winter Solstice.
After dinner, Lin Jingzhe wanted to help clean up the rice bowl, but was kicked out by the village chief. In desperation, he rushed to the shelves to build relationships with these fellow villagers who had not been on good terms and hadn't seen each other in nine years.
Most of them asked questions like how it was in the mountains, whether it was hard to practice, whether they could have enough to eat, etc. Some asked for help to see if their children had the physique to cultivate immortality. In desperation, Lin Jingzhe only made up one Lie, saying that after completing the task at hand, he would go back and talk to the Immortal about the situation here.
On the second day, he naturally went to act as Dongzhi's sister's brother, and then accompanied her to the next village, and also gave her a lot of silver, which was equivalent to a dowry.
With so much silver as a dowry, Dongzhi's sister's husband's family was naturally very happy and said they would treat her well.
Back in the village, Lin Jingzhe made an extra trip to Dongzhi's house and gave the two elders a hundred taels to each other. He also told them that Dongzhi had asked her to send the two elders silver taels on his behalf.
Everyone in the village knew that the children of the village chief's family and Dongzhi's family were practicing in the mountains, so naturally they didn't dare to worry about their money.
However, Lin Jingzhe still told them not to expose their wealth to avoid attracting the attention of malicious people.
In fact, he still had hundreds of taels of gold on him, which were all rewarded by King Huai of Chu, but he did not dare to give the gold to the village chief and others. After all, silver could attract others to steal, let alone gold.
After doing all this, Lin Jingzhe wandered around the village for a day. On the fourth day, he set off on his journey. He did not leave any letters because the village chief was illiterate.
At noon, when he passed by Zhaixing Peak, he glanced at it from a distance, did not go up the mountain, and then left.
A few days later, he appeared five hundred miles away in a small city next to the Chu Kingdom and the Carp Kingdom.
He inquired about the news. It was said that there was a family in this city who had been to the ends of the earth when he was young, so he came to inquire.
After all, the name Tianya Haijiao exists in legend, because that place is so far away that no one has even heard of it.
It was a low-rise courtyard house deep in the outskirts of Xicheng City. Lin Jingzhe also found it after searching for a long time.
There are many people living in the courtyard, not just one family.
He found the house and knocked on his door. The person who opened the door was an old woman.
"Little Taoist Priest, who are you looking for?"
"Infinite Heavenly Lord, I would like to ask your male lead some questions."
"Little Taoist Priest, you came at the wrong time. My old man passed away just over a month ago." When the old woman said this, her voice was extremely depressed.
"Oh, I'm sorry to bother you." Lin Jingzhe sighed and prepared to leave.
"Mom, who is it?" A man's voice came from inside the house.
"A little Taoist priest wants to ask your father something."
"Oh, mother, let him come in. He should also want to hear the story daddy told. Since he comes alone, I will charge him half a tael of silver."
"Son, those things about your father are not stories."
"It's so mysterious, it's not even a story."
"You kid, hey, forget it, the old lady doesn't have many years to live."
"Mom, why are you saying such depressing words?" The voice inside got closer and closer, and then, a body came through the crack in the door.
When Lin Jingzhe saw this person clearly, he was stunned for a moment. This person turned out to be Lu Xiaoer who robbed him and the shopkeeper.
No wonder Lin Jingzhe felt that the voice was so familiar. It turned out that he had met an acquaintance.
Lin Jingzhe looked at the man quietly and thought to himself, how to deal with this robber.
"Come in, I know what you want to know. Isn't it the end of the world? My father has told you this so many times that calluses have grown on his ears."
"Huh?" Lin Jingzhe thought to himself that Lu Xiaoer's father had really been to the ends of the earth. It was said that the ends of the earth were thousands of miles away from here.
Na Lu Xiaoer didn't seem to recognize him, and then entered the room alone. Lin Jingzhe hesitated for a while, then followed closely.
This is a simple room that is no longer simple. There is nothing in it except a few benches!
"Sit down." Lu Xiaoer greeted, and then sat on a stool alone.
"Tell me, do you want to know about things in Tianya or Haijiao?"
Lin Jingzhe asked doubtfully: "You still need to distinguish two things? Isn't that the same place?"
"Both?" Lu Xiaoer said with a smile: "Those are two different things!"
Only then did Lu Xiaoer turn his head to look at the young Taoist priest carefully. Then when he took a closer look, his expression gradually became less calm.
"Have we met somewhere?"
"What do you think?" Lin Jingzhe smiled.
"It's really a narrow road for enemies." Lu Xiaoer suddenly stood up and was about to run away, but he thought of his elderly mother in the house, so he stopped running away and turned back.
"What do you want?"
"I didn't think anything of it, I just came here to get some information."
"Are you really not here to kill me?"
"I'm not interested in fighting or killing."
"Well, who would believe it? The way you killed people without blinking an eye back then is still frightening now."
"That's not murder, that's self-protection."
"Okay, are you really not here to kill me?"
