Chapter 2: Meng Po Tang

  The snake suddenly gained strength and immediately raised its head, staring at Ye Yun with a suspicious look, "You're just going to let me go like this? Aren't you afraid I'll change my mind and run away?"

  Run away?

  Ye Yun laughed, "You also know you can't beat me. Since you can talk, it means you've cultivated to a certain stage, and as a creature like you, shouldn't you attach great importance to promises? If you want to achieve enlightenment, with this bad record, the Bodhisattva might not necessarily appear."

  If a snake had human-like expressions, it would probably be embarrassed by now.

  "You know a lot." The snake muttered reluctantly, "Alright, just as you said, our verbal agreement has already become a contract. I'll help you fulfill your wish. Tell me, what is your wish?"

  Ye Yun sat up straight, looked at the snake with a serious expression and said: "I want to go back to my own world!"

  That's right! Ye Yun is a genuine 21st-century modern person!

  As for why she ended up in this inexplicable unknown world...

  Then ask her that the technology is so bad at home, but she insists on inventing a time machine. There are obviously many problems, but she secretly uses it to experiment with her grandfather!

  Just as she was transported over, the machine malfunctioned and lost contact.

  The only way to go back had become a useless ornament. When he insisted that she put on the bracelet in the morning, she felt strange, but at the time she was busy going out and didn't think much of it.

  Well, waiting for her unreliable grandfather to fix the machine is less reliable than her being self-sufficient.

  The snake was taken aback, shook its head, "Sorry! My ability is limited, I can't help you achieve this wish."

  Ye Yun's heart sank and she smiled bitterly: "I knew it. How could traversing through time and space be so easily done?"

  The snake looked at Ye Yun's distressed expression and said softly: "Everything is destined in the midst of fate, your arrival in this world must also be God's arrangement. I don't have the ability to manipulate time and space, but other things I can still do."

  Ye Yun took a deep breath and quickly regained her composure.

  She never let the feeling of depression stay in her heart for more than three seconds, that's always been her style.

  "Okay, then you'd better get me some water first, I'm about to die of thirst!"

  About an hour later...

  Anyway, Ye Yun felt like it had been an eternity...

  But she still walked on the yellow sandy ground with the same stumbling gait as before.

  "Hey! Why can't you just turn water out for me to drink instead of making me keep finding my own source?" Ye Yun was fed up! This snake that had sworn to fulfill her wishes didn't even have a drop of saliva to give her, and still wanted her to carry it around everywhere.

  "I won't snatch things out of thin air! But I know there's a place with water that's extremely refreshing and thirst-quenching. I'm taking you on a shortcut, we'll be there soon." The snake's voice was righteous and confident, without any hint of remorse, but instead seemed... smug?

  "How can I feel that you are dragging me out to be dried up by the sun, so as to swallow me into your belly and digest me slowly?"

  Ah! Her brain is going to be parched by this sun, isn't it? How can it be so hot?

  "I won't go back on my word!" The snake's voice was filled with a sense of being wronged, "Since I promised you, I absolutely will not regret it. This is the basic integrity of us cultivators!"

  Cultivator? Basic moral integrity? Ye Yun's mouth twitched slightly, and a cultivator could kill lives? Just now I wanted to bite her to death.

  "Alright. I'll believe you for now, but if we can't reach our destination soon, I'm going to die of thirst here. If I die, the promise between us will still be there, and you won't be able to fulfill it!"

  The snake lay on Ye Yun's left shoulder, glancing at her. This girl was really cunning, still trying to threaten it at this time.

  "Don't worry! I won't let you die. We'll arrive soon."

  After walking for a while, the snake moved slightly, raised its body and looked forward, saying: "We're here."

  Ye Yun also saw it at this time, in front of her was a not very high mountain, and at the foot of the mountain, just in front of her not far away, there was a small thatched cottage. Next to the house was a stall with a sign less than one person high, on which was written "Tea".

  Perhaps it was because of the long years, perhaps it was because the sun here was too strong, the word "tea" had become extremely blurred.

  Ye Yun walked closer and saw an old woman sitting next to a tea stall, with a teapot on the table, several clean bowls, and a small sign that read "one coin per bowl".

  Here there is nothing but yellow sand, and when the wind blows it's all sandy taste in your mouth.

  There are no people around here, and this vast desert has few passersby, but this tea bowl is spotless, which is really special.

  The old woman's clothes were very clean and tidy, with no dirt or disorder.

  Ye Yun couldn't help but look at this unique and elegant old lady with a new perspective.

  "Excuse me, old lady, could I have a bowl of water to drink? I don't have any money on me, but I'm really thirsty." Ye Yun went forward to ask for water.

  She now looks extremely disheveled, with cracked lips, a face covered in dust, and hair that is dry and messy.

  The old woman looked at Ye Yun, smiled gently, got up and poured a bowl of tea, handed it to her.

  "Alright! Drink up. It's just tea water, drink your fill."

  "Thank you!" Ye Yun took it with both hands and thanked her sincerely.

  A sip of tea water, a thread of coolness flowing into her mouth, Ye Yun had a kind of rebirth feeling.

  Although extremely thirsty, she drank very slowly, almost every mouthful was carefully savored, and not a single drop was wasted.

  After finishing, she returned the tea bowl to the old woman and said: "Old lady, your tea is really good. Drinking it down actually has a cool and refreshing feeling? The water enters with a sweet fragrance, and just a few mouthfuls can completely quench thirst."

  "Ah, you're a connoisseur indeed!" The old lady smiled and put away the tea bowl. "This water is from our ancestral well, which has been passed down for generations. Drinking it can quench your thirst. Although there's no other source of water within five miles, this well never runs dry. All the families around here rely on it to survive. Three years ago, an official road was opened up here, and I set up a stall selling tea to make a living."

  "Is anyone buying?" asked Ye Yun.

  "Yes," said the old woman, "but there are few people passing by here, so we can't make much money. The original few families have all moved away, and only my husband and I are still here."

  "Why don't you move then?" Ye Yun asked again.

  "Alas," the old woman sighed, "I'm getting older and not as strong as young people. Even if I moved, it would be a wait for death. It's better to stay here and guard that well. Life may be simple and bitter, but at least we're free." Ah, your last sentence was really good - life may be simple and bitter, but at least we're free. However, living like this must be very hard for you? This little money isn't guaranteed every day, and where would you go to buy things anyway? There's no village in front or store behind.

  "The girl saw it very clearly, the older you get, the harder it is to go out for a trip. Along this road, if you walk three miles, there's a small town. We have money now, so old man went there to buy things back. Look, he left in the morning and will be back soon." The old woman looked towards her left hand side, the official road stretched out and couldn't see the end.

  Ye Yun's heart skipped a beat as she said: "Your water is so expensive, why don't you quote a price or something?"

  The old woman sighed again, "It's easy for you to say, miss. This place was already desolate to begin with. It's not easy for anyone to come here, and if the prices are high, no one will come to drink at all."

  Ye Yun smiled and asked, "Do you have a pen and paper here?"

  "There is some, but they're all rough stuff, will it do for you, miss?"

  "It doesn't matter. Just bring it over."

  Taking advantage of the old woman's absence to fetch a pen and ink, the snake slipped out from under Ye Yun's hat and lay on her shoulder, asking: "What do you want with the pen and ink?"

  Ye Yun but smiled and didn't speak, "You'll know soon enough."

  "Still selling buttons?" The snake hissed softly and slid back into the hat.

  At this time, the old woman took out a pen and ink and a clean wooden board.

  "Girl, we're a poor family and can't afford paper. This is a used board that the old lady has wiped clean, you'll just have to make do with it."

  Ye Yun hastily took over, "Old lady, don't say that. You gave me water to drink and were willing to lend me pen and ink, I'm already very grateful."

  "It's nothing. The old lady saw that you, miss, are also a pitiful person, walking on the hot sandy ground in this scorching weather, something must have happened to you. Just use these things."

  Ye Yun smiled and nodded, "Thank you."

  After grinding the ink, she began writing on the board. The snake was curious and quietly swam to Ye Yun's shoulder to see what she was writing.

  Meng Po soup, ten cents a bowl, can also be exchanged for goods without money.

  After finishing writing, Ye Yun read it again and felt that it was still not enough, so she added another sentence next to it: "Take a sip and feel reborn."

  This is absolutely not just an advertisement, this is her real feeling right now.

  The ink dried quickly, and Ye Yun handed the wooden board to the old woman, saying: "Auntie, if you trust me, put this sign here. Although it won't bring any great wealth or honor, maybe it can improve your life a bit."

  The old woman looked and smiled happily: "Since the girl said to put it down, let's just put it down."

  Ye Yun smiled and nodded, suddenly hearing a horseshoe sound coming from afar.

  The old woman looked up and said: "A horse carriage passed by during the day, I thought it wouldn't come back today."

  Ye Yun also looked in the direction where the old woman was looking.

  Before long, a horse carriage came galloping over, and in the blink of an eye it had sped past, kicking up a cloud of dust.

  Ye Yun raised her hand to block the wind and sand, and when she put it down, she found that the old woman had already taken those bowls and was rinsing them in a wooden bucket beside the table. As she washed, she muttered: "It's windy here, and there's a lot of sand, so I often wash the bowls. Tired travelers see clean bowls and feel more comfortable, maybe they'll even buy two more."

  Ye Yun smiled and pursed her lips, but didn't say a word.

  But in her heart, she was filled with warmth. The old lady's consideration for others was truly touching.

  The sound of horseshoes came again, this time from the direction where the carriage had just passed.

  The horse carriage came galloping at a slightly slower speed, kicking up dust as it approached.

  "Huh? How did the carriage come back just now?" The old woman put down her bowl.

  The horse carriage stopped beside the tea stall, the door opened and a young nobleman stepped out. He was dressed in brocade clothes and jade robes. Just by looking at the row of jade pendants hanging from his waist, it's clear that this person... is very rich!

  "Ma Po Tofu Soup?" Murong Yu read the words on the sign with interest, "A sip and you'll feel reborn? How interesting, really interesting!"

  "Would you like a bowl of soup?" Yexun smiled slightly and said, "It's not easy to have a sip of Meng Po's soup in this life."