Winter Rain

  Jinglan returned with a handful of herbal medicine, looking quite down in the dumps. Qiūqiū was leaning against the table and looked up when she heard the commotion.

  Jing Lan was slightly surprised: "You haven't slept yet?"

  "Sister, you just got back?"

  "Hmm," Jinglan said, "Never mind, I followed Master's method to the southern valley to find herbs, and after searching for half a day, I only found this one. And I even encountered a nest of wild mountain bees, what a loss."

  Wild mountain bees are not easy to provoke, and their venom is strong. Qiuqiu was a bit tense: "Sister, you've been stung?"

  "No, just a little." Jinglan obviously didn't want to say more. Qiuqiu went out to fetch water for her, and Jinglan thanked her as she rolled up her sleeves to splash water on her face.

  Qiuqiu didn't want to squeeze with Jingfei anymore, there were two beds in the room, she went to squeeze with Jinglan. Jinglan glanced at the other side and smiled knowingly: "Jingfei sleeps too unsteadily, right? You sleep with me instead."

  Jing Lan's body had a faint pleasant scent, which made Qiu Qiu dazed for a moment.

  Since she was a child, she had never been so close to anyone else again.

  I don't know how Xiao Er is doing.

  The moments of two people cultivating together, one by one, slipped away from Qiuqiu's mind.

  Although she's a poker face and rarely speaks, being with her always makes me feel exceptionally at ease.

  Qiu Qiu remembered that there was such a day, they practiced together and finished their work. Outside, the rain started to fall. Qiu Qiu pulled Xiao Er, the two of them wrapped in a quilt, leaning against each other, sitting by the window watching the rain.

  Drip, drip, the rain falls on the roof tiles, dripping from the eaves, gathering into a line, becoming a row of raindrops hanging down like a curtain.

  Shi Er's body also had a fragrance, the scent of medicine. Qing Xin Dan and Wan Miao Dan, she always carried this kind of medicine on her. Even in the sweltering heat of summer, Shi Er's body was always cool to the touch, leaning against her was like hugging a water pillow, very comfortable.

  Is she all right now?

  Why hasn't he sent her a message all this time?

  Qiu Qiu looked at the top of the canopy, she couldn't sleep.

  The master also doesn't know what's going on.

  Qiuqiu has been working hard to cultivate herself in these days. No one can guide and take care of her at all times, but she is more motivated than before.

  In the past, there was a master who spoiled her, an elder sister who protected her, and also a child by her side. Autumn's days were spent particularly leisurely and carefree, without having to think about anything, as if even if the sky fell, there would be someone tall to hold it up.

  At that time, she was busy with novelty, finding everything novel, wanting to ask about everything, and wanting to see everything. She was also busy enjoying herself, as a cultivator had many pleasures that ordinary people couldn't enjoy, such as riding tigers, digging spiritual stones, and roaming freely in the mountains...

  But when everyone was no longer by her side, Qiū Qiū only then discovered that she was so powerless.

  The next day, the sky was overcast and it started drizzling. Jingfei pushed open the window and took a look, then listlessly lowered her head: "How annoying, winter is here again."

  Qiu Qiu found it somewhat strange: "What did winter ever do to you?"

  Jing Fei forced a smile: "You're right, but you just arrived at Xiuyuan Mountain and don't know that in the winter, it's always foggy and snowy here, so it's also called Foggy Fate Mountain."

  "Will it keep raining and snowing? How long will it last?"

  Jing Fei counted on her fingers: "It snows for almost a hundred days every time, and when the snow is the heaviest, it can bury you..."

  One... hundred... days?

  Qiu Qiu was also stunned, wasn't it snowing for three consecutive months?

  Although snow and wind sound poetic, that's only occasional. If it goes on for a hundred days in a row, it's not poetic anymore.

  "Don't believe me? Just watch. It's starting from today." Jingfei sighed: "I was originally planning to go shopping in town today... What a pity, the weather is not cooperating."

  Jing Fei was right, winter rain is different from summer rain. The rain at this time is especially cold, making people feel that everything is damp and heavy.

  Jingyuan and Jinglan were caught by Zhangyang Zhenren to help with medicine, Jingfei was initially reluctant to go, but Qiūqiāo had to go. Skills are not burdensome.

  Changyang Zhenren didn't take this little fatty as a real deal to get things done. In her eyes, this fatty was at most just starting out, with good qualifications but definitely not having learned any skills, so how could she be expected to help?

  But unexpectedly she did a great job, and with Xiaotong Jin'er guiding her, Qiuqiu followed him to sort out the herbs.

  Of course, the task of grinding medicine that requires physical strength is done by Jing Yuan Shixiong. As for measuring and distributing the medicine, it's done by Jing Lan Shijie. Qiuqiu sits on a small stone stool with Jin'er to sort out the medicine. They all wear white cloth masks on their faces, afraid of sneezing or spitting on the medicine.

  After half a day's work, Qiuqiu got to know several kinds of medicinal herbs. Jin'er rarely had a companion, and it was a lovely little sister. It was much more interesting than doing such dull work alone as usual. He enthusiastically instructed Qiuqiu on how to identify the quality of medicinal herbs and make simple judgments about their properties.

  These were also understood by Qiuqiu in the past, but at that time she didn't take it so seriously.

  At noon, there were two dishes and one soup. Although Zhang Yang didn't eat grains, he also didn't eat meat or fish. Jingfei was alone in the house eating her snacks. Jinglan wanted to get her to accompany Qiuqiu to do chores together, but she shook her head like a wave drum, saying that she had been tired the day before and today she had a headache and no strength, wanting to rest more.

  Jinglan wanted to take a look at why she had a headache, but she refused to let her.

  "Hey." Jinglan poked her forehead: "You're just lazy. Look at Qiuqiu, she's younger than you and has been training for less time, but she works much harder. I heard Shifu say that last time she was tested at the school, she did exceptionally well, having both talent and a strong desire to improve. You'd better watch out or she'll surpass you."

  Jing Fei lazily lay on the bed, her whole body curled up in the quilt, and she twisted a couple of times: "If she's good, you go take care of her, don't bother with me anymore."

  Jing Lan's anger got the better of her, and she slapped her through the quilt: "You really have no conscience, you are my legitimate junior sister after all. She is also a disciple of Master Yu Xia. I am thinking of urging you to make progress for your own good, otherwise when she achieves far more than you in the future, won't you be embarrassed as her senior sister?"

  Jing Fei muffledly said from under the quilt, "I'm not shy... Ah, Master Sister, just let me be lazy for two days. On the mountain, it's been a year since we got up before dawn every day, with so many fellow disciples' eyes on us, and we can't even slack off for a bit. Now that we're down from the mountain, just let me rest for a day."

  Jinglan had no way out.

  However, what she said was also the truth. On the mountain, 365 days a year, every day had to be diligently cultivated, not to mention the master, but also many fellow disciples, and they didn't dare to slack off for a moment.

  "Okay, so you're not getting up for lunch then?"

  I ate quite a bit this morning.

  Jinglan knew she had packed a lot of snacks yesterday and wasn't worried about her.

  "You rest then, I'll go."

  Qiu Qiu stood beside Zhang Yang Zhen Ren, watching him make medicine. Most of the pills and pellets had already been refined, and Zhang Yang Zhen Ren had them put into bottles one by one, then labeled each one individually.