Chapter Nineteen: The Fat Grandma's Invitation

  The study was in a mess, the boys were lying on the floor with their heads on books, some were half asleep and half awake, others were chatting casually, only Fangfang was holding a book and reading intently.

  "The forbidden secret is really scary, I'd rather die than become a disciple of the Left Flow English." Shen Hao flipped over and adjusted the stack of books under his head, making himself more comfortable.

  The sleepless boys all nodded in agreement, and the more they thought about yesterday's madman, the more frightened they became. Now, no one had any good feelings towards the mysterious department anymore. Only Xia Qiu's view was slightly different. He lay on the floor, casually flipping through a book, not even noticing when it fell upside down. "Actually, it's not that scary. Don't you think we're... quite special?"

  "What's special about us? Apart from the village disappearing?" Shen Hao asked.

  Xiao Qiu suddenly sat up, throwing the book in her hand to the ground, startling all her drowsy companions. "We've fought against the demonic kind and not only are we fine, but we've also developed a Dao root. Master Pong Shan said that this situation has never happened before, so we're very special. Even if we enter the Forbidden Department, we won't go crazy. In the future, we'll become the most powerful Pong Shan masters, able to vanquish demons and evil with just a flick of our fingers."

  Shen Hao smiled foolishly for a while, and he was very much looking forward to the prospect described by Xiao Qiu. Since the disappearance of Ye Lin Town, without his parents as backing, Shen Hao's ambition had also been reduced to almost nothing. He rarely quarreled with Xiao Qiu anymore. "Brother Xiao Qiu is right, we are all special, who knows what will happen in the future, maybe someone will become the First Seat or something. I heard that the First Seat can live for several hundred years."

  "I don't want to enter the Secret Scripture Department either." Da Liang Shen Xiu Ming lowered his voice, as if he was sharing a great secret. "I've inquired with Zhang Dao Shi, and within our Pangshan Taoist sect, the safest cultivation path is to enter the Precept Department. Although progress may be slower, the risk of demonic possession is extremely low, less than one in a hundred. Even if you fail to achieve success in your cultivation, the prospects for those in the Precept Department are relatively good. Zhang Dao Shi is from the Precept Department, and he's in charge of the entire building."

  "I'd rather enter the Bright Mirror Department." Dazed Meng Fei Huang wiped away the saliva from the corner of his mouth, having just woken up and immediately joining the conversation. "There's a book that says the Bright Mirror Department specializes in making all sorts of precious mirrors, not only supplying the disciples on our mountain but also selling them outside. Do you guys know? Even the most ordinary precious mirror can be sold for over a thousand taels of silver in the city."

  "What book is it that says?"

  "'The Mirror of Judgement', you can't even recognize the characters, let alone understand it."

  It's like this, Da Liang Shen Xiu Ming still flipped through books everywhere, "Little Autumn Brother, how about you? Do you like the Forbidden Secret Department?"

  Xiao Qiu stood up, picked up the straw hat and put it on his head. "I'm not afraid to enter the Forbidden Department, but I must enter the Five Elements Department. I want to be a demon-slaying mage and take back Ye Lin Town from the demons' hands. If... if all the people in town are... then I'll avenge them!"

  "Me too!" Erliang Shenhuiyue jumped up and stood beside Xiaqiu.

  As soon as they mentioned Ye Lin Town, the companions were motivated and ran to Xiao Qiu's side, standing together with their heads held high and chests out, as if facing Master Pong Shan.

  Fang Fang by the window let out a snort of laughter, "You're thinking too far ahead, we need to go to Yangshen Peak for training first. We must reach the level of absorbing energy before we can learn Taoist magic, and it usually takes ordinary people five to ten years. Moreover, at that time, it's up to the masters of each department to choose their apprentices, not the apprentices choosing a certain department."

  "It's been that long? By then we'll all be grown-ups." Shen Hao said in surprise, to a young boy, five years was an extremely long period of time.

  "After five years, Little Autumn and Fangfang will be able to get married." Erliang Shenxiu added a sentence, making his partner laugh, Fangfang's face turned red, and Little Autumn pushed him hard.

  "Fang Fang, what book are you reading? You're not teaching us characters anymore." Shen Hao asked.

  " 'The Nine True Hundred Discourses of the Great Dao of Xianqing', that secret disciple who held it yesterday glanced at it a few more times, so..."

  "What a long name?" was all Da Liang Shen Xiu Ming noticed.

  "Are you reading the book that crazy guy likes?" Shen Hao was worried about her.

  Fang Fang nodded, being stared at by a group of young men, she felt a bit embarrassed, using her book to cover her mouth as she spoke, "This book has many records about the demon species, and Wildwood Town is not actually the first town that disappeared."

  The boys all gathered around, Fangfang looked a bit flustered, lowered her head and flipped through the book a few pages, "Look, it says that the demon kind was sealed in the void of the beginning, they have always wanted to create a passage to return to the human world, so every now and then they send out a small batch of demons to try their best to squeeze into the mortal world, looking for a suitable place to try to open up a big enough gap. The places chosen by them often disappear with people and objects together, so far, this kind of thing has happened at least over a hundred times."

  "Aren't there the Nine Great Dao Unions and the Longbin Association? How can you let the demonic kind do such a thing?" Shen Hao was somewhat indignant, because he felt that the disappearance of Ye Lin Town had a greater impact on him than on others, so he had more qualifications to accuse certain people of being incompetent.

  "It's not mentioned here, maybe it's recorded in another book, I'll look again."

  The whole morning, the demon seed was a topic of debate among the young people, until lunchtime when Zhang Lingsheng announced something and turned their worries around. "Starting tomorrow, you will all have to get up early to learn bone tempering fist with me."

  "Can we start practicing now?" Xia Qiu's eyes lit up, he had long been tired of the life in the temple, every day was idle and useless, and he even had to force himself to learn how to write.

  "It's still early, Bone Tempering Fist is for preparing to cultivate Taoist skills." Seeing that the young men didn't quite understand, Zhang Lingsheng cleared his throat and changed to a more serious tone: "Taoist skills are like the water of rivers, a Taoist's body is like a container. The water is right there, it can be taken but never exhausted, used but never drained. How much one can hold depends on the size of the container. Therefore, before cultivating Taoism, one must first refine their body."

  The young men seemed to understand a little now.

  "Bone Tempering Fist is just the primary method for cultivating the body." Thinking that he had been practicing only the primary method every morning, Zhang Lingshen hastily explained: "Primary is primary, but it's not easy to learn and master, and cultivating the body has no end. Many Daoists in the Cangxia realm also practice it once a day."

  The young men didn't think that much, and Xiao Qiu even suggested starting to learn boxing immediately. Zhang Lingshen shook his head, "Don't be in a hurry, everything will go according to the rules. Tomorrow at dawn, no one should sleep in late. Now everyone go eat."

  The food in the hut was provided by the village, three times a day, delivered on time by three old women. There were few meat dishes and many vegetarian ones. Xiao Qiu and Shen Jia thought they tasted extremely good and ate with gusto every time. However, Shen Hao would eat while reminiscing about the big fish and meat he used to have at home.

  The dining hall is located in the front yard, it is the largest room in the building, can accommodate twenty square tables, enough to seat over a hundred diners, at present there are only nine children from Yelin Town, they do not want to be separated, squeezed together at one table for dinner.

  Today's lunch was a bit different, with nine bowls of white rice each topped with a large piece of oily fish meat. They usually only saw small amounts of meat in their vegetables.

  "What day is this?" Shen Hao looked at the piece of fish meat, in the past he would have complained that it was too greasy, but now he couldn't help but swallow it all in one gulp. Just as he hesitated, Er Liang Shen Xiuyi had already bitten off more than half and was happily devouring it.

  Zhang Lingsheng never had meals with the young men and rarely entered the dining hall, so the young men's doubts could only be asked to those three old women who delivered food.

  Two old women were silent, and a short and stout old woman smiled and said: "I got two fish yesterday, to supplement your body, you are still young, should eat more good food."

  The boys all said words of thanks, no one paid much attention. Er Liang Shen Xiuzhuan ate the fish and meat in his bowl, feeling that the rice and vegetables were dull and tasteless. He looked at his brother's bowl, Da Liang Shen Xiuming hastily stretched out his hand to block it, so he had to find another target, and his eyes finally fell on Fangfang's bowl.

  "Fang Fang, don't you like eating fish?"

  Fangfang's chopsticks had not moved, and she had already looked up at Xiaqiu several times without getting a response. Xiaqiu was too busy eating to notice, but then said: "Fangfang, you have to be careful, Erlang is not right, Shen Xiuyi can finish your bowl in one bite."

  Everyone laughed, Fangfang pushed the bowl towards Shen Xiuyi, "Here you go." Covering her mouth with her left hand, this had almost become a habitual action of hers, never letting anyone see that she was missing two teeth. Erliang Shen Xiuyi quickly picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the fish before saying thank you.

  The young men ate quickly, and the two old women collected the bowls and chopsticks to leave. However, the short and stout old woman did not leave, standing at the door with a smile still on her face. Like all the villagers, she was filled with respect for Pang Shan's disciples, but there was an additional hint of wanting to say something but stopping herself.

  "Old lady, is there anything else?" Fang Fang was the first to notice the old woman's abnormality and walked over to ask.

  "It's nothing, it's nothing. The fish I made is still edible, right?"

  Fang Fang didn't eat a mouthful, Er Liang Shen Xiu loudly said: "Delicious, I can finish the whole thing."

  The young men walked out one after another, and the short and stout old woman seemed a bit anxious, her hands twisting back and forth, but she didn't dare to speak. Xia Qiu also noticed it, so he stopped his companions and said to her: "Old lady, you have something to say, right? Just speak up, we can't just eat your fish for nothing."

  The old woman kept bowing her head in gratitude, and after a while she said: "You like to eat, I'll make it again next time. I have no other intention, just want to invite you to my home."

  "How can this be good, just bring over the delicious food." Er Liang Shen Youwei didn't understand the old woman's meaning and thought she was inviting everyone to eat. Xiao Qiu pushed him away, "Old lady, is there any heavy work at your house that needs our help?"

  The old woman's eyes were brimming with tears, but her face was still smiling. "It wasn't a reincarnation, it was my son Mei Chuan'an. Yesterday, after he talked to you, he was extremely happy and kept telling me that he had met someone who shared his interests. So I hope you can spare some time to go see him, even if it's just a glance."

  The young men fell silent. Ever since they found out that Mei Chuan'an had gone mad from demonic possession, they all wanted to stay far away, even Shen Youwei, the gluttonous second young master, was unwilling to take risks.

  The old woman begged: "Just once will do...my son won't live much longer."

  "I'm going." Xia Qiu felt that she had to say these two words, the other boys all let out a sigh of relief, Er Liang Shen Weiyou also wanted to speak up, but was pulled back by his older brother.

  The old woman thanked her profusely, but Xia Qiu suddenly felt embarrassed. "I'll go tomorrow evening, where's your home?"

  "The third house on the left at the south end of the village, I'll be waiting for you at the gate. You don't need to eat, I've prepared delicious food for you..." The old woman bid farewell, turning back every few steps to smile at Xia Qiu.