Chapter 794 - 719: The Fragrance of Osmanthus in August_2
“`
Immediately, Auntie Wang left.
Before long, the entire village was abuzz with action.
“Another feast is starting.”
“Life’s getting better and better these days, this year we’ve had our fill of meat.”
“Hurry, bring the pots and don’t forget the seasonings!”
…
As she followed along and saw the state of the village, Lin Xue Han was beyond astonished.
In this village, every blade of grass felt inscrutable to her, possessing incomparably high status.
The people here… must also be terrifying figures beyond description.
No wonder they dare to hunt Divine Beasts!
“Mom, the Great Demon King lives here.”
Eventually, they arrived in front of a small courtyard, and Yun Xi pointed at Wu’er Xianting as she spoke.
Seeing this, Lin Xue Han was even more shocked; those four words… were too extraordinary…
…
Inside the small courtyard.
The disciples were each busy with their tasks, everything in perfect order.
Nan Feng was focused on playing her zither, with a snow-white Little Wolf lying obediently at her feet.
Long Zixuan was playing with water, sitting by the pond, watching intently as he punched and palmed the water.
The koi swam through the splashing water, leaping through his palms, and Long Zixuan watched every movement with utmost seriousness!
Meanwhile, amid the koi, a small black fish was also moving along.
That black fish, already two fingers long and growing fast, swam among the group of koi, lively and spirited.
While Long Zixuan played with the water, Qing Chen’s monkey, having come over at some point, bared its teeth at the little black fish as if to challenge it; the black fish would usually swish its tail lightly and, with a splash of water, the monkey would scamper away in defeat.
“If you can’t win, don’t go looking for death, you cowardly yet cocky monkey. Come, recite this scripture. If you can’t recite it perfectly, no fruit for you today!”
Qing Chen picked up Little Gold Bull and placed him on a scripture book.
——That scripture was the “Monkey Breeding Guide” given to him by Li Fan.
After all, Li Fan considered monkeys to be such wild creatures that, if not properly tended to, could easily become nuisances.
The “Monkey Breeding Guide” included methods for feeding and training monkeys.
But, when Qing Chen opened the “Monkey Breeding Guide,” he was shocked because the book recorded the various precious arts of all the supreme monkey tribes from ancient times!
Including the Spiritual Stone Monkey, Fighting Saint Ape, Six-Eared Macaque, Heaven-Swallowing Ancient Ape, and so on.
Qing Chen was filled with admiration and decided to diligently teach the monkey these arts, making it memorize and recite the texts every day.
At the moment, upon hearing Qing Chen, the monkey pulled faces reluctantly, deflated yet obedient as it stared down at the book.
Dugu Yuqing was practicing cursive script, having moved beyond engraved tablets to practicing cursive script pastings.
What he was writing at the moment was the “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” given to him by Li Fan.
As his brush moved fluidly, his entire demeanor changed abruptly, as if unleashing sword intent that pierced through rivers, his spirit spanning across the skies.
His Little Red Bird was following a flock of Earth Chickens, becoming a little follower of the chicken flock.
Lu Rang showed an obsession with growing grass, with his research into the Way of Grass diving deeper. Every few days, he would grow a batch of experimental grass and then apply the corresponding “techniques” to his pot of grass.
“Hmm… The characteristic of this grass is its sharpness. If it’s grafted onto my grass, wouldn’t it be even quicker at beheading people?”
Lu Rang, holding a few strands of experimental grass, analyzed them with great interest, then patted Little Gold Bull next to him, saying:
“Here, you eat these grasses.”
Little Gold Bull glanced at those sharply edged grasses and gave Lu Rang a disdainful look with its bovine eyes.
Lin Jiu Zheng was drawing talismans, each stroke as if it contained the power from the Netherworld!
This was his application of the Heavenly Talisman; just with these talismans, one could invoke the power of the Yellow Springs!
It could be said that, at his level, he had already become a venerable master in the outside world, capable of founding a school or sect.
After all, the so-called ancestors of the Heavenly Masters controlled their own scriptures, and being able to let disciples borrow them, to invite the presence of deities or to paint talismans to drive away ghosts were just some of the manifestations of this power.
Once he finished drawing the talismans, Little Kirin ran over, cooing at him in a babyish voice. Lin Jiu Zheng turned around to see that on the old stump of the Kirin Fruit Tree, a new young tree had grown even more lush and was now as tall as a person.
The Kirin Fruit Tree’s true rebirth was likely not far off from bearing fruit.
Jiang Li had recently stopped playing chess.
He was reading military texts!
They were the “Yellow Stone Military Tactics” given to him by Li Fan.
There’s a point in playing Go when merely practicing techniques on the board is no longer enough to improve one’s skill.
It’s a change in strategic thinking that’s needed!
One who can win a battle is known as a great general.
One who can determine the outcome of the entire scenario is indeed a commander!
Only with an overall improvement in thinking and vision can one undergo the transformation from general to commander.
And those military books that Li Fan considered of little use were actually quite suitable for this purpose, so he gave them to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li read them with rapt attention, and although he hadn’t moved a single piece during his reading, in his mind, there were ceaseless battles with thousands of troops, and the magnificent expanse of supreme battlefields unfolded.
“`
The Little Turtle had recently been sneaky, often taking advantage of moments when no one was paying attention to run to the side of the peach tree, the pond, the ant nest, and other places, talking to itself.
“Spider Sister, why did my shell become twelve separate regions?”
“In my last life, my shell didn’t have so many pieces… Does it have something to do with the Master?”
Just now, the Little Turtle was in a corner of the wall, speaking to a black spider.
It had regained a lot of its memory, but it was still intermittent, which confused it.
The spider actually let out an extremely clear and beautiful female voice, saying:
“Don’t ask anymore… No one knows, and it wasn’t us who saved you.”
“Go nibble on your mud, eat more of it, maybe you’ll remember something eventually.”
With that, the black spider slowly crawled away, up onto Qing Chen’s bald head as if to sleep.
At the moment, Li Fan was sitting leisurely under the peach tree, sipping tea and enjoying the fragrance of the osmanthus flowers in the garden, feeling content.
——It was August, and the osmanthus flowers in the village were in bloom. Auntie Wang and others had especially picked a lot to give to Li Fan, who then had his disciples dry them.
So, the fragrance of the osmanthus flowers lingered endlessly in the small courtyard.
Li Fan couldn’t help feeling inspired and said:
“Xinning, come, I’ll teach you a new poem.”
Upon hearing this, Xinning by his side immediately said:
“Good!”
As she spoke, she looked at Little Heavenly Spirit, who was sleeping next to her, and said:
“Stop sleeping, get up and learn!”
Little Heavenly Spirit rubbed her sleepy eyes, with her big eyes looking pitifully reluctant, and said:
“Didn’t we already learn today…?”
Xinning raised an eyebrow and said:
“You don’t want to?”
Little Heavenly Spirit immediately became scared and said:
“No… I love learning.”
She promptly moved her little stool, obediently following behind Xinning and sat in front of Li Fan.
Li Fan smiled and then began to recite:
“Light yellow blossoms, soft in nature, with dispersed affection and distant traces, leaving only fragrance behind. No need for shallow greens or deep reds, it is the foremost among flowers. Even the plum must be jealous, and the chrysanthemum may feel shy, opening beside the railings, they crown the mid-autumn festival. How can a poet be devoid of feelings, why were they unseen in years gone by?”
This poem, describing the osmanthus flowers, was most fitting for the moment.
Immediately, Xinning began to read along.
Little Heavenly Spirit also read in her youthful voice, adding a touch of childlike fun to the courtyard.
After practicing several times, both of them had almost memorized it.
“Master, the osmanthus flowers are dried.”
At this moment, Zi Ling’s voice came over.
Li Fan turned his head and saw Zi Ling by the bamboo winnowing fan, picking up a handful of dried osmanthus flowers and smelling them with delight, saying:
“Even after drying, they still smell so good!”
Nan Feng, Gong Ya, Xinning, and others couldn’t help but walk over, all of them loving the osmanthus flowers immensely.
By today, they had mostly finished drying.
“Big Brother, why do the osmanthus flowers need to be dried?”
Xinning asked Li Fan with curiosity in her big eyes.
Li Fan replied with a smile:
“Because after they are dried, they can be preserved for a long time, and can be used to make many things.”
“Like sachets, osmanthus tea, and osmanthus cakes.”
He was quite fond of osmanthus himself. He had personally planted the three osmanthus trees in the village, and this year was their first bloom, finally fulfilling his expectations.
Hearing this, Nan Feng and the others had a moment of realization.
Osmanthus flowers had so many uses.
“Master, if we make them into sachets, we can smell the fragrance of osmanthus all year round… right?”
Zi Ling spoke with sparkles in her eyes, as if looking forward to it.
Li Fan said:
“Right… well, since we’re free anyway, come on, I’ll teach you how to make sachets.”
Right away, Li Fan had Gong Ya go to the room to bring out some needles, thread, and cloth.
Seeing this, Zi Ling and the others were overjoyed.
“Great Demon King, we’re back!”
At this time, outside the courtyard, Yun Xi’s voice was already rising.
Li Fan turned around, only to see Yun Xi and the others already pushing the door and entering.
…
That’s it for today’s chapter, good night.