Chapter 6 Leaving the County Town

  Back home, his parents were overjoyed. Yang Yun had earned eight and a half taels of silver from selling medicine, spent more than one tael on food and things in town, and after setting aside some loose change, he handed seven taels to his mother.

  The Yang family's land is small, and the annual output that can be sold is not much. Now the price of rice is low, even if occasionally selling some self-raised chickens or ducks, or wild goods picked from the mountain, the annual income is only about three or four taels of silver. These still need to be used for taxes, buying medicine, buying salt and other necessary expenses, so seven taels of silver are already a huge sum for the Yang family.

  Yang Yun bought things that were not wasteful, but everyone needed them. She had been hesitant to buy due to lack of money, but this time she bought everything at once. Additionally, there were gifts for the neighbors, which were not expensive but necessary for social etiquette. The families who had helped Yang's family before, such as the Longsheng family next door and the Wang butcher family, received more generous gifts.

  The two parents were delighted to discuss it for a night, and the eldest son Yang Shan was already at the age of marriage, but the family had never been able to afford the betrothal gifts. This time they had some money, so they had to set aside two taels for this purpose. Moreover, there really was a suitable family, and expenses such as wine and thank-you gifts would be incurred. However, in the end, the old couple only added one more tael, leaving four taels which were still given to Yang Yun to buy books and study.

  Firstly, this money was earned by Yang Yun himself, and secondly, Yang Yun's studies are the hope of the whole family, and everyone in the family has always supported him with all their might.

  Yang Yun accepted the four taels of silver without declining and told his parents about his own plans.

  "Father, mother, with this silver, I plan to go to the county town and live for two months. The county town has an official bookstore where anyone who is a scholar can enter and read. I'll find a civilian family to borrow lodging from, which is more cost-effective than buying books myself."

  Yang's father and mother both thought so, and the matter was settled in this way.

  Yang's father also went to find Wang Butcher. Although the two families were not familiar before, since Wang Butcher sent Yang Yun that piece of five-flower meat, the Yang family has been thinking about returning a gift, and they became familiar with each other after several visits.

  Wang Tuhou's face was wide, and he patted his chest to agree to help the family who had arranged for him to stay in the county town. He had received Yang Yun's guidance last time, and as a result, he had won over his mother-in-law, and with their subsequent interactions, he felt more and more that Yang Yun was not ordinary, so he had the intention of making friends with him.

  This time Yang Yun picked up the silver, ordinary people just thought Yang Yun was lucky, but Wang Butou, a thoughtful person, felt that Yang Yun had skills, and helping with such trivial matters was nothing to mention, if he had a daughter, Wang Butou would have considered marrying her off to him.

  Two days later, Wang the butcher came personally to report that he had contacted a relative in the county town and found a small independent room with three meals a day, hot water for bathing every three days, all for just thirty cents a day.

  Yang Yun didn't delay, packed a bundle, stuffed with four taels of silver, and bid farewell to his family, floating away.

  Yang Yun did not hire a carriage, nor did he travel with others. From the village to the county town was eighty miles away, and there was also a mountain road in between. Yang Yun was not in a hurry either. During the day, he started circulating the Moon Flower True Qi, and suddenly felt that his legs were nimble. Along the way, he looked at the mountains and rivers, teased birds and beasts, picked some wild fruits, and when he encountered herbs, he would pick some by hand. It was quite enjoyable.

  At night, Yang Yunfeng climbed up a tree and began to cultivate the Moon Flower True Classic.

  The more Yang Yun cultivated, the more he felt that the Moon Flower Scripture, which his dream self had looked down on, was profound and unfathomable.

  Yang Yun originally cultivated the first layer of Moonlight True Scripture to obtain the Moonlight Spirit Eye, so he could pick Moonlight Grass. After achieving this goal, he planned to give up cultivation.

  Who would have known that in order to save time, by practicing the first layer with twelve fewer Qihai holes, Yang Yun discovered another path.

  Yang Yun sat steadily on the branch of a large tree, his body swaying with the frequency of his breath, bringing the branches along with him. A silver misty glow faintly rose from Yang Yun's temples, shining in harmony with the moonlight in the sky.

  The moon gradually moved to the middle of the sky, and the silver mist on the sun acupoint gradually condensed. The faintly visible silver bright spots could already be seen. Yang Yun let out a breath and began to withdraw his energy. The Moon Flower True Qi that he had cultivated flowed like a stream into the aperture in Yang Yun's body that had already been successfully condensed, bringing with it wave after wave of coolness.

  "It seems that the method of guiding the Moon Flower True Qi to condense directly into the brain's orifices is feasible." Yang Yun thought. Normally, when cultivating the second layer of the Moon Flower True Classic, one should start condensing the orifices of the four limbs, and after the technique is mastered, the true qi can flow through the meridians in the arms and legs, allowing the true qi to exert its attacking power.

  "With twelve fewer apertures to refine, the true energy can't reach the limbs for the time being. It's better to directly ascend and condense the brain's apertures. This was originally a technique from the tenth layer of the Moon Flower True Classic. According to the records of the Moon Flower True Classic, successfully condensing the brain's apertures will greatly increase one's memory. With my newly developed ability with the Moon Flower Spirit Eye, I should be able to remember everything at a glance."

  Yang Yun pondered for several days and discovered that the ability of Yue Hua Ling Yan was not limited to sensing the concentration of moonlight. He tried adjusting the experiment, and finally obtained the legendary ability of "one glance, ten lines".

  Now Yang Yun opens a book, the entire page content will be "read" into his mind at the same time. Unfortunately, thinking can't keep up with the speed of his eyes, and reading too much content at once makes him feel dizzy. He has to control himself to read only a few lines at a time, but this has greatly accelerated Yang Yun's reading speed.

  "It seems that the 'Moon Flower True Classic' is an extraordinary cultivation technique, but for some reason, only two realms of content have been passed down. The first layer can obtain the Moon Flower Spirit Eye, and the tenth layer can memorize everything at a glance. Unfortunately, the true classic doesn't clearly state whether other layers can be achieved after practicing the divine arts. Moreover, with my own modifications, I'm now unclear about how to cultivate in the future."

  Yang Yun hesitated about giving up the Moon Flower Scripture, and finally decided to cultivate the second layer first. After all, after successfully condensing the brain's acupoints, the divine ability of photographic memory was too tempting, and he believed that any bookworm would not let go of such an opportunity.

  Although the orifices in his brain had not been fully condensed, Yang Yun had already begun to feel some effects. For example, he now felt refreshed and invigorated, without a hint of drowsiness.

  The night had not yet passed, but the moonlight was already too weak for cultivation.

  Yang Yun sat on a tree after collecting his gains, doing nothing and watching the bright moon slowly falling in the sky.

  Since waking up from that dream, Yang Yun had been staying at home all the time, and this was his first time going out. In the desolate wilderness outside, in the deep night, when all sounds were silent, the past events in the dream unknowingly appeared in his mind again, scene by scene.

  How did I get the Moon Flower Scripture? Yang Yun sat on the tree and started thinking.

  What year was that? It was also a round bright moon, carefully calculated, the scene in the dream should have occurred eighty years later, and the person in the dream didn't know if he had been born yet.

  The name of the person in the dream is Jingjing.

  Two people traveling, met a "master" who had been practicing on a deserted island for 60 years and reached the state of "qi escaping from the orifices". The master was rude to them and was slapped to death by Yang Yun. The so-called master stared with wide eyes and shouted, "Impossible! I have practiced the Moon Flower True Classic, I am invincible in the world!"

  Thinking of this, Yang Yun couldn't help but laugh out loud. Jingjing then picked up the Moon Flower Scripture that the expert had dropped, and was teased by Yang Yun for not looking like a cultivator, but rather someone who picks up trash.

  Jing Jing insisted that this kung fu was simple, but it had some doorways. In order to argue with her, Yang Yun also thoroughly read the kung fu and debated with her word by word.

  Yang Yun smiled again, but her eyes were slightly moist.

  "Alas, is there really such a person as Jingjing? Will I ever meet her again in the future? Never mind, everything will be left to fate. In my dreams, our bond was deep like the ocean, yet we still didn't end up together. Even if the dream were real, I don't need to force anything."

  Yang Yun sat quietly until the rooster crowed, the sun rose in the east, and wisps of smoke from distant farmhouses rose, before jumping down from the tree, invigorating herself to continue on her journey.

  The remaining journey is not long, after walking for about an hour, the three big characters "Jinghai County" on the city gate tower are already in sight.

  Yang Yun first went to the market in the county town, and indeed, the county town was different. The market was bustling with people coming and going, and the goods in various shops were diverse. Jinghai County has a port, and goods from Daliang in the north to Qingquan in the south, and even specialties from the southern island countries are available.

  Yang Yun spent a few pieces of silver to buy some gifts and then took them to the home of the person introduced by Wang Butou.

  After meeting the landlord, it was learned that the landlord's name is Fan Jun, who is the uncle and cousin of Wang Tuhou's wife.

  Fan Jun opened a marine goods store in the county town, specializing in various specialties brought by sea ships. His family's shop was located on the street, and behind it was the residential courtyard.

  The room arranged for Yang Yun was in the East Wing, and a servant led Yang Yun over. Yang Yun found that this place was originally where the Fan family entertained guests, with all sorts of utensils available, and currently there were no other people living in the courtyard, so Yang Yun alone occupied the entire courtyard.

  Yang Yun saw that the young man had many cracks on his hands due to hard work, and coincidentally, a medicinal herb he picked up along the way was just right for use with it, so he gave it to him and also instructed him on how to use it. The young man was extremely grateful.

  After chatting with Xiao Shuai for a while, I asked clearly about the location of the county school library, which is only two streets away from here, and it's very convenient.

  Yang Yun couldn't help but feel grateful to Wang Tuhou, the Fan family wouldn't care about the thirty cents of rent every day, it was actually because they were helping themselves by giving face to Wang Tuhou, and the rent was just an excuse.

  At noon, the same little servant brought lunch, a large bowl of white rice, a plate of stir-fried vegetables and meat shreds, a small dish of pickles, and soup. Yang Yun waved his chopsticks, and this bit of food was quickly swept away.

  After lunch, Yang Yun immediately set out for the county school.