Chapter 35 Welcome along the road
Pan Jun remained silent. Although she admitted that Xuan Miao and Tao Ji were better than her in some ways, she didn't think they could be her masters. It would be good for them to learn from each other as fellow disciples. She also knew a lot of things and could teach them.

After driving a mule cart eastward for two days, they entered Yushan County. From here, they did not need to go through the county town to go to Sanqing Mountain. They could reach Sanqing Mountain by walking along the mountain road for half a day.

There is a village at the foot of Sanqing Mountain. Tao Ji introduced it to her, "This is called Fenshui Village. This car can't go up the mountain. Let's find a fellow villager to store it."

The village is not small, built against the mountain and beside the water. Pan Yun can see the crowds of people stretching down along the river for several miles.

As soon as the car entered the village, people greeted Tao Jixuanmiao enthusiastically, especially Tao Ji. Even the children surrounded him, calling him Taoist Master Tao, Master Tao, and Uncle Tao.

Tao Ji took out a cloth bag from his arms and gave them a handful of candy wrapped in transparent rice paper.

The children shouted with joy and skipped around their car.

Tao Ji distributed candies as he walked. By the time he finished one bag, he had only crossed half of the village. The children called their friends and brought more children.

Tao Ji laughed and didn't care. He reached into the car and took out another bag of candy and distributed it along the way.

Pan Jun sat there staring blankly, and Xuanmiao couldn't help but smile, his expression softened a lot.

She turned her head and saw Pan Jun staring blankly at the cloth bag in Tao Ji's hand, so she reached out to Tao Ji.

Tao Ji's eyes lit up and he grabbed a handful and put them in his junior sister's hand.

Immediately, some children came over to Xuanmiao.

Xuanmiao picked up three and handed them to Pan Yun.

Pan Jun looked down at the candy in her hand, paused, then took it and watched her share the remaining candy with other children.

There was a cross bridge ahead and they needed to cross the river. Tao Ji was afraid that the children would fall into the river without paying attention, so he waved and asked them to follow behind.

After crossing the bridge, you will be at the foot of the mountain. There are fewer houses and a mountain path hidden behind the trees. After walking along the path for a while, you can see a small house built half of stone and half of mud.

There was a thatched shed on the open space next to the house, and next to the shed was a piece of cloth hung on a bamboo pole with a big word "Tea" written on it. When the wind blew, the cloth flipped over and the word "Food" was written on the other side.

As if knowing that there were guests coming, a breeze gradually blew up from the originally windless mountain, blowing the flag into the air and making it spin slowly, occasionally hitting and moving the bamboo pole.

A door not far away opened and an old man walked out. When he saw the car, he grinned, all the wrinkles on his face gathered together, and shouted: "Hey, Tao Xiaozi and Xuanmiao are back. Wait a minute, I'll make you some tea."

After saying that, he trotted towards the tea stall. Although he was old, his movements were very fast and agile.

While adding water and burning firewood, he leaned over and called out to a group of children, "Xiaojing, Xiaojing, come and light a fire—"

At the end of the crowd, a tall and strong boy responded, squeezed through the crowd and ran out.

The old man patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are already twelve years old, why are you still playing with a group of children? You should know how to work."

Wang Xiaojing wiped the sweat off his face and replied casually, "I know, great grandfather."

Tao Ji parked the car and heard this when he got closer. He laughed and said, "Wang Weng, Xiao Jing is just a child. Let him play if he wants to."

He dragged a bench over and sat on the side of the road waiting for new kids to come and get candy from him.

The children who had already received the candy did not leave or stretch out their hands. Instead, they surrounded him and asked him where he had been this time and what fun he had.

Tao Ji talked freely, "I went to Beijing this time."

"Wow!" the children exclaimed, asking again and again: "Is Beijing big? Is it bigger than Nanjing?"

Tao Ji was very pleased with the children's support. He started talking to them about how big and prosperous Beijing was. He told them where to go after entering the city, where to find a cheap and safe hotel, and what was sold on which street...

The children made various interjections like "wow" and so on to cheer Tao Ji up, and Tao Ji spoke more excitedly and in more detail.

Mr. Wang smiled and turned to look for tea leaves.

Pan Jun sat on the other side of the car, lowered his eyes to look at the candy in his hand, peeled it and put it in his mouth.

It was maltose, orange-yellow and sweet, and tasted the same as what she had eaten in her two lives.

The sweetness seemed to seep into my heart, and Tao Ji's incessant chattering no longer sounded annoying.

When the water boiled, Wang Weng first made a bowl of tea for Tao Ji, and then brought a bowl to Xuanmiao, who hurriedly got out of the car to take it.

Pan Yun turned her head to look over, and Wang Weng realized that there was a child on the other side of the car. She was completely blocked by the things in the car.

Wang Weng exclaimed, "Oh my!" When he saw that she was wearing a green Taoist robe similar to Xuanmiao's, he immediately smiled and said, "There is a little Taoist priest here. Wait a minute. I will make you a bowl of noodles."

Xuanmiao quickly refused, "We will go up the mountain after we have tea."

"Yes," Tao Ji stood up with his tea in hand and said with a smile, "Wang Weng, we brought back too many things and we can't take them all at once. We'll leave them here first and come down to get them when we're free.

The cart and mule are also with you. If anyone in the village needs them, you can give them to them. Just help me feed the mule."

Mr. Wang agreed and asked his great-grandson to come over to help move things while he went to cook noodles.

Tao Ji quickly stopped him, "Really, there's no need. We've eaten on the way."

"That's you," Wang Weng shook off his hand. "If you adults are not hungry, how can the children not be hungry? We still have a long way to go up the mountain. You can endure it, but you can't let the children endure it. You go and move your things, and I'll cook the noodles." He scooped up the flour and started kneading the dough.

Pan Jun, who was standing by, ate candy silently and watched.

Mr. Wang said that he was only making noodles for Pan Yun, but he kneaded a large basin of noodles and finally pulled out three bowls of noodles. Fortunately, the water was boiling, so he could just throw the noodles in and cook them.

While helping Tao Ji and the others move things, the children sniffed the aroma and swallowed their saliva from time to time.

The children were very curious about Pan Yun and had wanted to come over and play with her for a long time, but when they saw her sitting next to Xuan Miao and looking as cold and indifferent as Xuan Miao, the children did not dare to do so.

Seeing that she was moving things with them, everyone pushed her and finally pushed Wang Xiaojing out.

He held a cloth bag full of medicinal herbs and smiled at Pan Yun, "Sister, are you going to the mountains to become a Taoist priest too?"

Pan Yun nodded, "Yes, are you familiar with the mountain?"

Wang Xiaojing: "It's quite familiar. My father and I have been to the mountain several times. It's quite cool up there. By the way, my apricots are ready to eat. I'll pick a basket for you later. Please bring it to Miaohe for me."

Before Pan Yun had the chance to ask who Miao He was, he had already stuffed the cloth bag in his arms to Pan Yun and ran out, "I'll go pick it now, you must wait for me."

Wang Xiaojing called his friends and ran away with seven or eight older children, carrying two bamboo baskets.

Pan Yun: …

Tao Ji, who was passing by, sniffed and took the bag from her arms, "I was wondering why I couldn't find it. I need to take it up the mountain."

He and Wang Weng borrowed two large backpacks and one small backpack. They picked out the most urgent items and stuffed them into the backpacks, and put the rest in a small room in Wang's house.

This room seemed to be used specifically for storing sundries. It was padded with stones and covered with wooden boards, about a palm's height from the ground. Things placed on it could be protected from moisture and cold and preserved for a longer period of time.

Tao Ji put the things in different categories, and when he saw Pan Yun looking at them, he explained, "This is where Mr. Wang keeps his tea leaves and rice noodles. Our Taoist temple also often uses this room to store things. If you go out of the temple or come back in the future and can't take your things with you, you can leave them here."

Pan Yun took note of it.

After putting everything away, Tao Ji handed her the small backpack and said, "This is what you are going to carry. Put your luggage in as well. The mountain road is difficult to walk on, and it will be more convenient to carry the backpack."

Mr. Wang invited them to eat noodles, and it was not until they were about to leave that Wang Xiaojing and his friends came running over carrying bamboo baskets.

Tao Ji was overwhelmed when he saw so many apricots mixed with fresh leaves. Did he have to carry all of them up the mountain?
He wanted to refuse, but when he thought of Miaohe's chubby little face and those bright eyes, he couldn't bear to refuse.

Xuanmiao said: "Leave it here with me."

Tao Ji said: "No, I'll do it."

He stuffed a roll of cloth into Xuanmiao's backpack, made some space, and then found a large cloth bag and put all the apricots in it.

Wang Xiaojing didn't feel sorry for his own apricot tree at all. He didn't know how many he had picked. Tao Ji filled a cloth bag with a lot left. He picked it up and weighed it. It must be at least twenty kilograms.

Tao Ji resigned himself to his fate and put the cloth bag into his backpack.

The backpack has a large bulge, which is fixed in place with ropes tied into a net-like shape so that the things in the backpack will not fall out.

Tao Ji stood up with the backpack on his back and waved, "Let's go."

Pan Yun looked at him sympathetically and also put on his own small backpack.

The children followed behind them enthusiastically and accompanied them for a while. When the road ahead became smaller and smaller, Tao Ji drove them down the mountain.

He promised to come down to see them with some sugar in a while.

The children ran away laughing.

Wang Xiaojing ran back to his family's tea stall and found money next to Pan Yun and Xuan Miao's bowls while helping his great-grandfather collect the bowls.

He grabbed it and said, "Grandpa, look."

Wang Weng exclaimed, "Why is Taoist Xuanmiao still so polite?"

"And that little sister, she also put it on the edge of her bowl."

Mr. Wang couldn't help but grumble, "He has a similar temper to Taoist Xuanmiao. Hey, they paid for three servings of noodles, so we're the ones getting the upper hand. Xiaojing, remember this, when they come down the mountain again, you must cook three bowls of noodles for them."

Wang Xiaojing agreed.

Wang Weng still liked Tao Ji the most. He never paid for his meals and was very close to him, never treating him as an outsider.

Wang Xiaojing: "If they don't want it, I'll give Miaohe a little more noodles and cook two bowls as one."

Wang Weng: "...Don't keep feeding Miao He. What if you upset her stomach?"

"No, she is a good doctor, how could she harm herself?"

　Today's lucky number is still the number ending in 1, as shown in the screenshot
　　
　
(End of this chapter)