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Chapter 286: Departing Once Again
🕑 Added 2024-10-04 05:17:25 +0000 UTCEven though Mo Yuanjiao responded quickly, the round-trip for the location talisman would still take about fifteen minutes.
Naturally, during this time, Qin Jianghe couldn’t let the guests wait idly.
After asking the necessary questions, he ignored the still-hovering location talisman, which was continuing to record, and went outside to instruct someone to escort Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang to the guest hall.
After exchanging pleasantries and names, Qin Jianghe received Mo Yuanjiao’s reply.
With his confirmation, Qin Jianghe agreed to take them in.
Fortunately, the courtyard behind the escort agency was spacious with plenty of rooms, more than enough to accommodate the two of them.
Thus, Han Weishu remained at the Lingxiao Escort Agency to care for and help Tong Jialiang recover.
At the same time, Li Zhanying had already piloted the spirit ship back to Xiushui Village, picking up Wang Goudan and Niu Xiaoxue to return to the capital.
Before leaving, he asked Wang Goudan to say goodbye to the village chief.
From that day on, small skirmishes began to flare up at the border between Pusi Country and Huanyou Country.
The undercurrents between the two countries became increasingly obvious, with frequent investigations and arrests of spies occurring in the capital.
For a time, the common folk of the capital lived in a state of constant anxiety.
However, these events had yet to affect the distant and remote Xiushui Village.
Since Lin Xiao’s return from Huanyou Country, the Lingxian Sect had returned to its usual peace.
Xiushui Village, at the foot of the mountain, became more bustling due to the opening of the inn and tavern.
Many villagers from neighboring areas saw the liveliness of Xiushui Village, with its constant flow of people, and, given the short distance, began bringing their own products to sell there during their free time.
Gradually, a small market formed around the tavern and inn, appearing intermittently.
Meanwhile, Lingxian Sect on the mountain remained both peaceful and busy.
Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao were occupied with teaching classes, especially focusing on the cultivation of character and training.
Recently, the difficulty of the Path of Heart Examination had increased significantly.
Last time, when Little Luan wanted to go down the mountain to eat some bugs, it ended up sleeping for half a month on the Path of Heart Examination before finally waking up.
Thanks to its diligent practice of pecking a bit of the Silver Frost Python’s demon core every day, its cultivation had reached the ninth layer of the Spirit Opening Realm. Despite being trapped for half a month, it didn’t starve.
Although it took a long time, at least it managed to pass.
However, just when Little Luan thought it could stroll freely on the Path of Heart Examination again, it got trapped once more after trying to enter.
This time, though, it was only trapped for seven days.
But even this left Little Luan with a deep fear of the Path of Heart Examination, never wanting to step on it for a third time.
Because of this, the disciples of the sect who hadn’t had the chance to go down the mountain recently began to fear the Path of Heart Examination, dreading the thought of being trapped for ten days or half a month and starving to death.
To prevent this from happening again, Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao took on the responsibility of rotating teaching duties for everyone.
Even Little Luan was brought to the classroom to listen.
Thus, when everyone attempted the Path of Heart Examination for the second time, though it took them much longer than their first try, they managed to pass without any major issues.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was Lin Xiao’s thirteenth birthday.
In Xiushui Village, they didn’t place much importance on children's birthdays. Lin Yun simply cooked him a bowl of longevity noodles.
Though Lin Yun’s cooking skills couldn’t compare to Jiang Youfu’s, Lin Xiao still devoured the entire bowl of noodles with satisfaction.
It was a taste he had known for many years.
When his older brother, Lin Yun, was still a child, too short to reach the stove, he would stand on a small stool to cook for him.
Similarly, every year on Lin Yun’s birthday, Lin Xiao would cook for him.
Their father, Lin Dayou, observed these moments between the brothers but never interfered.
After Lin Xiao’s birthday, the weather began to grow hotter by the day.
It was time for Lingxian Sect to prepare once again for a trip to the cultivation world’s market.
This time, they didn’t need to rush like before, when they were worried that their prolonged absence would lead Duo Bao Pavilion to believe they weren’t interested in doing business. With more time to prepare, they had accumulated far more goods than before, avoiding the situation where they barely covered the cost of the journey.
At the moment, Lin Xiao was in the affairs hall with Liu Yunan, verifying the quantity of goods they would take to the market.
Outside, Liu Chun knocked on the door.
Seeing it was him, Lin Xiao called out, "Please come in."
Entering the affairs hall, Liu Chun cupped his hands in salute and greeted the two of them, "Sect Master, Elder Liu."
By now, Liu Yunan had gone from assisting Lin Xiao and managing sect affairs while Lin Xiao was in seclusion to being formally appointed as the sect’s elder in charge of daily affairs.
Lin Xiao gestured for him to dispense with formalities and smiled, asking, "Does Elder Liu have something to discuss?"
After Lin Xiao spoke, he saw Liu Chun take out a storage pouch from his robes and hand it to the two of them.
"I know the sect isn’t wealthy at the moment. This is my contribution toward the cost of traveling to the cultivation world. Please, Sect Master, accept it."
Having spent so long in the sect, Liu Chun was well aware that using the teleportation array to travel to the cultivation world was a significant expense. Although he had asked to accompany the sect to the market, Lin Xiao had never mentioned the matter of travel costs.
Though nothing had been said, Liu Chun, fully aware of how expensive the journey was, couldn’t pretend to ignore the matter.
After all, attending the Talisman Master Conference, and other such events, were his own personal affairs.
Seeing this, Lin Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly but didn’t take the pouch. Instead, he closed the ledger in his hand and smiled at Liu Chun.
"Ah, I almost forgot to mention this to Elder Liu. Elder Liu and I had already discussed it. How about leaving this trip to the market in your capable hands? It would save us some trouble. Would Elder Liu be willing to spare some time to help the sect with this task?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Chun looked up in surprise at Lin Xiao.
Liu Yunan, too, cast a glance at him, equally taken aback.
Liu Chun was shocked because he hadn’t expected Lin Xiao to entrust such an important task to him. After all, this was currently the sect’s only source of spirit stones, and the transaction amount wasn’t small by the standards of an ordinary cultivator.
He hadn’t been with the sect for long, unlike Elder Liu or Elder Sun, who had grown up in the same village with Lin Xiao, nor did he have the deep bond that Senior Liao shared with the Sect Master.
However, he could tell Lin Xiao wasn’t joking.
After pondering for a moment, he did not refuse. Instead, he cupped his hands and bowed to Lin Xiao, saying, "There’s plenty of time. Thank you for trusting me, Sect Master. I will not fail you."
Liu Chun understood that Lin Xiao might be doing this to spare him the expense of the journey without directly refusing his offer. But since the Sect Master was showing him this trust and kindness, there was no reason not to accept.
Inwardly, Liu Chun sighed.
This sect was truly unlike any he had encountered in his decades in the cultivation world.
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