Chapter Fourteen: The Fire Maker

  Lin Xiao and Yao'er had a common secret, so the two became even closer.

  That day after being rescued by Yao'er, Lin Xiao asked Yao'er: "Since this is Yao'er Shizi's secret place, why did Shizi bring me here?"

  The young girl's answer was indeed very much in line with her character. "This, every 49 days a lotus seed is formed, and my master can't bear to miss that day's lotus seed. But my master also said I had to closely follow you, so I could only bring you along. Hmm, hmm, anyway you didn't tell anyone else about that place, isn't this better? It also saves me from wasting half a lotus seed each time."

  Lin Xiao couldn't understand what was going on with the lotus flower, the pond, and the cave. However, he could clearly feel the benefits that the lotus seeds brought him each time he took them. Every time he took a lotus seed, his increased power was minimal, probably equivalent to half a month of Lin Xiao's own bitter cultivation of true energy. But Lin Xiao could clearly perceive the changes in his body, his vitality was more abundant, his reaction was more agile, and it seemed that this lotus seed had the effect of fundamentally improving a person's innate quality.

  Of course, this is just what Lin Xiao felt, whether these lotus seeds have other magical effects, that's something Lin Xiao can't determine.

  However, after spending several months with Yao'er, Lin Xiao was gradually assimilated by Yao'er. Whatever couldn't be figured out would be put off until later, and Lin Xiao also threw all his problems to the back of his mind.

  Half a year had passed since Lin Xiao entered the Da Luo Tian Dao. On this day, Yao Er was lazily swinging an iron axe in the golden birch forest, chopping down golden birch trees. Lin Xiao squatted beside a bonfire, carefully tending to three wild chickens roasting over the flames. This was the division of labor between Lin Xiao and Yao Er for the past half year - Yao Er's cultivation was higher than Lin Xiao's, so she took care of those golden birch trees that were several times harder than refined iron; Lin Xiao's culinary skills were higher than Yao Er's, so he hunted small wild animals to cook and share with both of them.

  For half a year, the two had grown accustomed to this division of labor and didn't feel that Medicine Boy helping Lin Xiao chop firewood was cheating, nor did they think that secretly hunting and roasting wild game violated the rules of cultivation.

  She swung the iron axe wildly, chopping and hacking at random, and stuffed the herbs into the iron basket in a hurry. She ran to the edge of the bonfire, squatted down beside Lin Xiang, and drooled as she stared at the wild chicken on the wooden frame. She pinched Lin Xiang's arm skin with her fingers, "Is it done yet? Is it done yet? I'm so hungry, I'm starving! That Master is so cruel, making all the disciples of the Valley fast for their cultivation again, I'm going to starve to death!" Medicine kept licking her lips with her tongue, just like a greedy little dog.

  "Alright, alright, almost done!" Lin Xiao squeezed a wild fruit and applied the juice to three wild chickens. After carefully roasting them for a while, he quickly took down one of the golden-brown roasted chickens from the wooden rack and handed it to Yao'er.

  "Okay, okay!" Yao's eyes were shining brightly as she quickly switched the roasted chicken from her left hand to her right hand and then tossed it back into her left hand. "It's so hot, it's so hot, oh my god, I'm going to get burned to death!" Eagerly, Yao took a big bite of the chicken leg and tore off a large piece of meat. The scalding oil made her let out a sharp cry of pain, but she continued to eat the roasted chicken with reckless abandon, devouring it in an instant.

  Lin Xiao rolled his eyes and handed a roasted chicken to Yao.

  "Ah, ah, Shidi, you're a good person. Ah, you should eat too, don't always give me food to eat!" Yao'er snatched the roasted chicken from Lin Xiao's hand and still called out to Lin Xiao with a somewhat guilty conscience to hurry up and dig in. However, her gaze towards the last roasted chicken on the wooden rack looked like that of a hungry little wolf.

  "Ah, yes." Lin Xiao's eating habits were more refined than those of Yao Shiwen. He took down the roasted chicken and slowly tore off strips of meat with his fingers, elegantly putting them in his mouth to chew slowly.

  "Hmm!" Yao'er had already stuffed the second roasted chicken into her belly, and she carefully licked the oil off her fingers with her tongue. Only then did she pat her belly contentedly and turn to Lin Xiao with a smile: "Junior brother, Master should send you to the kitchen. Hmm, are you willing to be the kitchen's manager disciple?"

  Lin was stunned, a mouthful of chicken stuck in his throat, and he couldn't swallow for half a day.

  The medicine boy was lying on his side next to Lin Xiao, humming contentedly: "Now the kitchen manager, that guy, hum, I don't know where Dan Yu Shifu brought him back from, uh, the things he makes are so bad they're deadly, uh, it's ruined my appetite a lot. Hmm, hmm, fortunately there's you, Shidi, and Shijie's appetite has recovered a bit!"

  "Recovered a little", Lin Xiao's eyes jumped violently, he looked at Yao'er's flat and lean abdomen in horror, where did she put all these things?

  Shaking his head, he threw the wild chicken in his hand away, covered the bonfire with mud, and Lin Xiao also lay down on the spot, lying shoulder to shoulder with Yao Er on the ground.

  It's already early autumn, the sky is a deep blue without a single cloud. The warm sunshine shines on my body, making me feel lazy and sleepy. A few rows of big birds fly over in the sky, nearby in the forest, a large group of wild bees are busy buzzing around. On the opposite mountain slope, there is a vast expanse of blooming mountain flowers, at the top of the mountain is a wild fruit forest, with pale red mountain fruits hiding and revealing among the branches. The wind blows from that side of the mountain, bringing with it the intense fragrance of flowers and fruits.

  "Ah..." The medicine child let out a yawn, her head tilted to one side, and naturally rested on Lin Xiao's arm. Without saying another word, she sank deeply into sleep. Lin Xiao looked at the medicine child with a hint of envy and jealousy, perhaps living simply was also a kind of happiness? When hungry, eat; when tired, sleep - this too was a rare kind of carefree joy.

  Yaoyao's lovely face was right in front of him, her gentle breath lightly brushing against Lin Xiao's cheek. Lin Xiao's heart slightly sweetened, just thinking of secretly reaching out to touch Yaoyao's long hair, but the sudden surge of blood light in front of his eyes made him suddenly wake up.

  "Da da ~ Xiao Bai ~" Lin Xiao's face darkened, but his eyes were already shining brightly, like sunlight reflecting off the snow.

  Lin Xiao slightly shifted his body and distanced himself from Yao's body.

  Because Lin Xiao's arm moved slightly, the sleeping Medicine Child let out a dissatisfied hum, and with a very familiar movement, she stretched out her hand in her sleep and pinched Lin Xiao's soft ribs fiercely. The Medicine Child's movements were extremely heavy-handed in her dreams, and Lin Xiao's original cultivation was far inferior to hers; this pinch made Lin Xiao's vision go dark, and he couldn't help but tear up. Having learned his lesson, Lin Xiao didn't dare move again and could only watch Medicine Child with a bitter face. The sleeping Medicine Child suddenly laughed 'heh heh' as if she had thought of something delightful.

  "Bad egg little brother, huh? Tomorrow's roasted chicken, we'll need four legs. Three for me and one for you, peck peck, delicious."

  Lin Xiao rolled his eyes and let out a soft sigh of helplessness.

  A gentle breeze suddenly blew in. After staying in Hui Chun Valley for half a year, Lin Xiao had become familiar with the mysterious and unpredictable methods of those cultivators. As soon as he felt this breeze, he knew that an expert had arrived.

  Lin Xiao suddenly turned his head and saw Hua Feng'er, another disciple of Dan Fusheng, standing about ten feet away. Hua Feng'er smiled and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Lin Xiao and Yao'er. She suddenly raised her hand and gently stroked her cheek a few times. Lin Xiao's face flushed with embarrassment, and he instinctively withdrew his arm, stood up straight, and bowed deeply to Hua Feng'er: "Elder Sister Hua!" He withdrew his hand too quickly, causing Yao'er's head to be lifted about a foot high before it heavily hit the ground.

  He had just asked Huafeng about the etiquette, when Lin Xiao's buttocks were kicked heavily, and he flew forward in a sorry state for several feet, before falling to the ground with a thud. Dazed and confused, Lin Xiao opened his eyes and looked around, only to find himself lying right in front of Huafeng. If not for Huafeng quickly retreating two steps back, his face would have landed squarely on Huafeng's shoes.

  The extremely spoiled Medicine Boy, with a ferocious expression, shouted at Chao Lin: "Little brother! You dare to intentionally knock my head off! What if I become stupid?! Ah~~~ Sister! What are you doing here? I didn't secretly eat the roasted wild chicken." Suddenly seeing Hua Feng'er, Medicine Boy immediately became very gentle and ladylike, smiling: "These three wild chickens were all secretly roasted and eaten by Little Brother!"

  "Uh, Medicine Sister!" Lin struggled to get up, looking disheveled and wanting to reason with Medicine, but Medicine raised her right palm, ready to unleash a thunderous slap at any moment. Lin immediately looked down dejectedly and confessed to Flower Wind: "Flower Sister, this wild chicken... was indeed eaten by me, no ifs or buts, it's the honest truth."

  Yaoyao nodded in satisfaction, and with a smile, she said: "Shijie, look, he admitted it himself! Hehehe, hehehe, hehehehe!" Yaoyao was laughing so hard that she was almost crying!

  Hua Feng'er was stifling a laugh, her facial muscles almost twitching. She gently shook her head, then nodded again, and said in a low voice: "Forget it, eating a few wild things doesn't count as a big deal. The Master said that the disciples should fast and meditate, but actually... hehe..."

  Finally couldn't help but laugh, Hua Feng'er whispered with a smile: "The gatekeeper who sneaks out to eat, it's not just you two, I won't talk nonsense, sister."

  "A couple", Lin Xiao's face turned red, his head almost fell to the ground. Yao'er clapped her hands loudly: "So it wasn't just us who stole a kiss? Master sister, you scared me! Hmm, I'm not afraid of anything, three wild chickens, I ate two!"

  Lin Xiao silently stared at Yao'er, was this also what they called 'daring to take responsibility'? At the beginning, who was it that had put a black pot on Lin Xiao's head?

  Huā Fēng also twitched the corner of his mouth as he looked at Yào with a smile like a flower. After a long time, he lightly sighed and then glanced at Lín Xiǎo with extreme pity. Shaking his head, Huā Fēng smiled and said: "Lín shī dì, your trial period has already passed, the master sent me to find you, wants you to return to assign tasks and choose a cultivation method."

  "What? Has Little Brother's trial period passed already?" Yao'er looked at Hua Feng'er in confusion: "The other white-robed children, their trial periods are at least three years, and at most ten years. It's only been half a year! I haven't even had enough fun yet, how can Little Brother be assigned his duties already?"

  "We haven't had enough fun yet!" This remark again made Lin Xiao and Hua Feng'er fall silent for a moment.

  After a long time, Huafeng finally forced a smile and said: "Yao'er, Master said that this time he is preparing to let you take sole charge of a dan furnace."

  "Huh? Oh? Ah!" Yao'er was stunned for a moment, then suddenly she became excited and started dancing: "A single Dan furnace? One Dan furnace? Eldest sister? Didn't mishear? Master would be so generous?"

  Huā Fēng'er's eyes rolled around, and she smiled lightly: "Master also said that if you blow up the dan furnace under your care this time, then from now on, you will never be allowed to enter the dan room again!"

  "Will you never be able to enter the Dan room?" Medicine child's smiling face suddenly stiffened, she stared blankly at Hua Feng'er, then turned her head and looked around Lin Xiao, tears rolling down one by one. "Waaah, bad master~~~~ Medicine child is refining dan, how can the dan furnace not explode? Waaah~~~~"

  Lin Xiao and Hua Feng'er both fell silent, looking at each other before letting out a simultaneous sigh.

  An hour later, Lin Xiao, Yao Er and Hua Feng Er had already rushed back to Huichun Valley.

  Dan Qi Ling Xiao Hall, Lin Xiao and seven other young Taoists wearing white robes stood in a row, respectfully looking at the Dan Ying Taoist who was sitting cross-legged at the end of the hall.

  Dān Líng Dào rén mù guāng rú diàn, sǎo le lín xiāo děng rén yī yǎn, huǎn huǎn kāi kǒu dào: "ěr děng rù wǒ dà luó dān dào, yǐ yǒu shù nián. Duàn xīn qī jiān, ěr děng xíng zhǐ jí shì jǐn shèn xiǎo xīn, ěr děng lái lì yě shì qīng bái gān jìng, gù ér jīn rì, nǐ mén zhèng shì chéng wéi wǒ dà luó dān dào dì zǐ."

  Seven other white-robed Taoists looked at Lin Xiao in surprise, they clearly remembered that Lin Xiao was just admitted to the sect half a year ago, how did he become a formal member of the sect today, just like them? Of course, Dan Jing Taoist would not explain this question to them. He assigned tasks to several Taoists and gave them elixir formulas for cultivation according to their five-element attributes, then sent them out of the grand hall.

  Lin Xiao bowed respectfully and made a gesture of greeting towards Danfeng Dao Ren.

  Dan Jing Daoist looked at Lin Xiao, a faint smile appeared on his face.

  "Huichuntang was originally a part of my Da Luandan lineage, so your trial period is only half a year. Don't blame Shibo for intentionally using that heavy axe and basket to make things difficult for you, this is just to let you understand the difficulties of cultivating the Dao. If you don't have perseverance and determination, you might as well go back to Guiyuan City and rebuild Huichuntang."

  "Disciple understands!" Lin Xiao bowed his head to Dan Ying Dao Ren and said: "The disciple has made up his mind, wholeheartedly cultivating the Tao, no longer thinking about the mundane world."

  "Alright!" Dan Jing said with a slight smile: "You are different from the other disciples, you return to Chun Tang's lineage... Hmm, if you regret it later, come see Shifu. This 'True Fire Scripture' is just right for your attribute. Take it and study it carefully. Your duties will be in the alchemy room as a fire worker."

  Firework Taoist? Lin Xiao took over that thin 'True Fire Scripture' in a daze, responding vaguely.