Para penduduk desa berjalan pulang sambil memanggul cangkul di bawah semburat jingga matahari terbenam, bayangan tubuh mereka memanjang di atas tanah.
Beberapa pemuda berlarian di antara kerumunan, tertawa, saling ejek, dan bercanda satu sama lain. Tawa mereka yang lepas dan penuh semangat melayang ke udara senja, mengusir rasa lelah yang menumpuk sepanjang hari.
Setelah berpamitan dengan warga, Lin Xiao berjalan sendirian menyusuri jalan desa. Saat melewati rumah Kepala Klan Hu, ia tiba-tiba mendengar pekikan terkejut seorang wanita dari dalam, "Ah!"
Gerbang halaman rumah itu kebetulan terbuka, jadi ia melongok ke dalam. Ia melihat menantu Kepala Klan Hu keluar dari dapur sambil memegang sebuah panci besi besar. Wanita itu mengangkat bagian bawah panci dan berkata kepada Kepala Klan Hu yang sedang menikmati udara sejuk di halaman:
"Ayah, panci besinya bocor! Padahal aku berniat menumis masakan besar malam ini supaya Jifa dan yang lainnya bisa makan lebih enak dan bergizi. Bagaimana ini? Kalau dibawa ke kota untuk ditambal, biayanya pasti tidak murah..."
Hu Deli melirik lubang di dasar panci itu. Ia teringat kejadian beberapa hari lalu saat ia sedang terburu-buru dan tak sengaja menghantam panci itu terlalu keras. Dengan canggung, ia mengelus janggutnya yang mulai memutih, hendak menjawab, namun terpotong oleh suara jernih seorang pemuda dari luar gerbang.
"Aku bisa menambal panci, Kakek Hu. Biar aku yang kerjakan, ya?"
Hu Deli dan menantunya menoleh ke arah gerbang. Begitu melihat Lin Xiao, mata Hu Deli menyipit membentuk garis lengkung karena tersenyum. Ia mengangguk dan berkata, "Anak baik, masuklah, masuklah."
Ia menoleh ke menantunya, "Berikan pancinya pada Xiao. Dia bisa memperbaikinya."
Menantu keluarga Hu sempat ragu, namun karena percaya pada ayah mertuanya, ia menyerahkan panci itu kepada Lin Xiao dengan perasaan setengah percaya. "Ayah, kalau begitu aku lanjut memasak yang lain dulu," ucapnya sebelum kembali ke dapur.
Saat itu, anggota keluarga Hu yang lain belum pulang dari ladang, menyisakan Hu Deli dan Lin Xiao berdua di halaman. Lin Xiao tidak menyembunyikan apa pun. Tepat di depan mata Kepala Klan Hu, ia menggunakan sedikit alkimia untuk memperbaiki panci besi besar tersebut.
Dulu, saat ia menciptakan berbagai mantra untuk persiapan memasuki alam rahasia, mantra Lima Elemen adalah yang pertama ia buat. Tak disangka, meski jarang terpakai di Alam Mistik Ladang Hijau, mantra-mantra itu justru sangat berguna dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.
Hu Deli terus mengamati Lin Xiao dengan tatapan teduh, seolah sedang menatap keponakannya sendiri. Saat melihat Lin Xiao mengangkat tangan dan merapal segel pada panci itu hingga bagian yang bocor kembali mulus seperti baru, ia mengelus janggutnya dan berujar pelan:
"Xiao, cuaca terkutuk itu tidak akan datang lagi, kan?"
Lin Xiao mengangguk pelan, "Tidak akan pernah lagi."
Mendengar jawaban tegas itu, Hu Deli menghela napas lega sambil menyandarkan tubuh di kursi malasnya. Ia masih merasa ngeri jika teringat perubahan cuaca mendadak beberapa hari lalu yang persis seperti kejadian sebelas tahun silam. Namun untungnya, kali ini tidak turun salju yang membekukan, melainkan suhu yang tiba-tiba menghangat.
Saat cuaca kembali normal hari itu, ia yang baru saja selesai memberi kabar dari rumah ke rumah dan hendak pulang, melihat Lin Yun berlari kencang sambil menggendong Lin Xiao yang pingsan dengan wajah membiru. Saat itulah, Hu Deli merasa seolah memahami sesuatu.
Kini, setelah mendapat jawaban dari Lin Xiao, hatinya benar-benar tenang. Cuaca terkutuk yang dulu merenggut banyak nyawa itu benar-benar tidak akan kembali.
Melihat Kepala Klan Hu melamun di kursi malasnya, Lin Xiao tidak mengeluarkan suara untuk mengganggu. Ia membungkuk sedikit, lalu pamit meninggalkan rumah keluarga Hu. Sementara itu, Hu Deli terus terbayang pemandangan salju lebat yang turun di bulan Juni bertahun-tahun lalu. Mengingat istrinya yang meninggal karena bencana itu, sudut mata pria tua itu memerah.
Setelah meninggalkan rumah Hu, Lin Xiao sempat mampir ke kediaman lama keluarga Lin untuk menunjukkan bahwa kondisinya sudah pulih sepenuhnya, sebelum akhirnya benar-benar pulang.
Sesampainya di rumah, Lin Xiao makan malam lalu mengurung diri di kamar. Ia mulai memikirkan barang apa saja yang perlu disiapkan untuk perjalanan Sun Yigao dan Qin Jianghe nanti. Pertama, ia tidak boleh membiarkan tingkat kultivasi mereka tertinggal terlalu jauh. Bagaimanapun, kepadatan energi spiritual di ruang kultivasi sekte jauh berbeda dengan dunia luar. Jadi, sumber daya kultivasi adalah keharusan.
Karena tidak tahu berapa lama mereka akan pergi, Lin Xiao mengambil dua puluh batu roh dari brankas pribadinya, berencana memberi mereka masing-masing sepuluh batu roh sebagai modal awal. Ia juga berpikir untuk mencoba membuat formasi pengumpul roh portabel nanti.
Lalu ia berpikir, meski ini dunia fana, siapa yang tahu jika ada kultivator yang bersembunyi di antara kerumunan? Jika begitu, mereka juga butuh sesuatu untuk menyembunyikan tingkat kultivasi mereka. Untuk monster tua tingkat Nascent Soul yang bisa melihat fluktuasi energi spiritual seseorang hanya dengan sekali lirik, Lin Xiao tidak terlalu memikirkannya. Mana mungkin ada monster tua yang begitu bosan sampai mau berbaur di dunia fana, apalagi memperhatikan kultivator tingkat Kondensasi Qi seperti mereka?
Ngomong-ngomong, Lin Xiao baru sadar bahwa saat ada waktu, ia juga harus mencari cara untuk menyembunyikan fluktuasi energi spiritualnya sendiri. Ia mencatat hal itu di buku kecilnya untuk dikerjakan nanti.
Sambil memikirkan cara mensintesis alat penyembunyi kultivasi dan formasi pengumpul roh portabel, jari Lin Xiao mengetuk-ngetuk tepi tempat tidur dengan ritme teratur. Formasi... bukankah biasanya bisa dibuat dengan menggambar blueprint formasi? Lin Xiao memutuskan untuk naik ke gunung sekarang juga untuk bertanya pada Senior Liao. Akan sangat bagus jika ia bisa menggambar blueprint untuk formasi pengumpul roh dan formasi penyembunyi aura.
Berbekal pengalaman sintesis sebelumnya, Lin Xiao kini jauh lebih percaya pada item synthesizer. Sepertinya selama barang yang dimasukkan tidak terlalu aneh, hasil sintesis akan tercipta sesuai dengan keinginannya.
Sesampainya di gunung, Lin Xiao langsung menuju kediaman Liao Pantu di Pondok Gunung Guiyuan. Sejujurnya, agak memalukan bahwa sampai sekarang, Liao Pantu adalah satu-satunya penghuni di sana. Meskipun yang lain antusias memiliki ruang eksklusif, mereka tetap harus pulang ke rumah setiap hari. Bagi mereka, tinggal sendirian di kamar di atas gunung masih terasa agak menakutkan.
Untuk keluarga Yang Jinshu, meski ketiganya berkultivasi di sekte, mereka masih punya sebidang lahan pertanian kecil yang harus diurus di rumah. Jadi, tinggal di gunung sangat tidak praktis. Selain itu, setelah malam tiba, penduduk desa akan pulang dalam kegelapan, yang justru memudahkan mereka untuk merapal mantra guna merawat ladang.
Namun, perlahan-lahan semua orang mulai membawa barang-barang kecil mereka untuk ditinggalkan di sana, setidaknya memenuhi sebagian fungsi rumah-rumah tersebut. Melihat Pondok Gunung Guiyuan yang hanya dihuni oleh entitas jiwa Liao Pantu dan sama sekali tidak memiliki suasana kehidupan manusia, Lin Xiao menghela napas dalam-dalam. Benar saja, prioritas utama sekte saat ini adalah uang dan makanan. Dengan dua hal itu, semua orang tidak perlu lagi terbatasi oleh kebutuhan hidup untuk tinggal di kaki gunung. Namun, benih tanaman roh sekte sudah mulai ditanam, jadi masalah sandang dan pangan cepat atau lambat pasti akan teratasi!
The villagers in the fields carried their hoes back to the village under the orange sunset, their figures casting long shadows behind them.
A few youths weaved through the crowd, laughing, scolding, chasing, and playing with each other.
Their youthful and unbridled laughter drifted into the evening glow, dispelling the fatigue the villagers had accumulated over the day.
After bidding farewell to the crowd, Lin Xiao walked alone on the village path.
Passing by Patriarch Hu's house, he suddenly heard a woman's startled cry of "Ah!" from inside.
The courtyard gate happened to be open, so he peeked inside from outside.
He saw Patriarch Hu's daughter-in-law walk out of the kitchen holding a large iron pot. She lifted the bottom of the pot and said to Patriarch Hu, who was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard:
"Dad, the iron pot is broken! I was thinking of stir-frying a big dish tonight to give Jifa and the others some extra grease and nutrition. What do we do now? Going to town to mend the pot will cost quite a few copper coins..."
Hu Deli glanced at the iron pot with a hole in the bottom, remembering how he had been in a hurry a couple of days ago and accidentally knocked a hole in it by using too much force. He embarrassedly stroked his grayish-white beard and was about to speak, but was interrupted by a clear, youthful voice from outside the courtyard gate.
"I know how to mend pots, Grandpa Hu. Let me mend it for you?"
Hu Deli and the Hu family's daughter-in-law turned their heads to look outside the courtyard gate.
Seeing it was Lin Xiao, Hu Deli's eyes narrowed into smiling slits as he nodded and said:
"Good boy, come in, come in."
Saying that, he turned back to his daughter-in-law and said:
"Give the pot to Brother Xiao. He knows how to mend it."
The Hu family's daughter-in-law hesitated a bit, but out of trust in her father-in-law, she half-believingly handed the iron pot to Lin Xiao, who was walking in.
"Dad, then I'll go make the other dishes first." With that, she turned and went back to the kitchen.
At this time, the members of the Hu family who were working outside had not yet returned, leaving only Hu Deli and Lin Xiao in the courtyard.
Lin Xiao didn't hide anything. Right in front of Patriarch Hu, he performed a bit of alchemy to repair the large iron pot.
Back when he had created a bunch of spells in preparation for the secret realm, the Five Elements spells were the first ones he created.
Unexpectedly, they hadn't been used much in the Green Field Secret Realm, but they proved quite useful in daily life.
Hu Deli watched Lin Xiao the whole time with his eyes narrowed in a continuous smile, his gaze as kind and amiable as if he were looking at his own nephew.
Watching Lin Xiao raise his hand and form a hand seal towards their iron pot, making the broken bottom look as good as new, he smoothed his beard and slowly said:
"Brother Xiao, that accursed weather won't come back again, right?"
Hearing this, Lin Xiao nodded and answered softly:
"Never again."
Receiving his affirmative answer, Hu Deli let out a long sigh of relief as he lay on his recliner.
Thinking of the sudden weather change a couple of days ago that was just like the one eleven years ago, he still felt lingering fear. But to his surprise, it didn't snow freezing snow like it did eleven years ago; instead, it suddenly warmed up again.
After the weather turned back that day, he, who had been notifying people door-to-door and had just reached the village entrance preparing to go home, saw the scene of a sweating Lin Yun sprinting back with an unconscious, blue-faced Lin Xiao on his back.
Hu Deli felt at the time that he seemed to understand something.
Now that he had Lin Xiao's answer, he completely set his mind at ease.
That accursed weather that would freeze many people to death really was never coming back again.
Seeing Patriarch Hu lying on the recliner staring off into space, Lin Xiao did not utter a sound to disturb him. He bowed slightly and silently took his leave, exiting the Hu family home.
Meanwhile, Hu Deli repeatedly recalled in his mind the scene of heavy snow flying in the June sky from back then.
Thinking of his wife who had passed away because of it, Hu Deli's aged eye sockets turned red again and again.
When the Hu family members returned, they saw their patriarch quietly wiping tears alone in the courtyard.
After leaving the Hu home, Lin Xiao went to the Lin family's old residence for a quick spin, letting the family members there see that he had fully recovered, before finally returning home.
Upon returning home, Lin Xiao ate dinner and then huddled in his room, beginning to ponder what items he should prepare for Sun Yigao and Qin Jianghe's upcoming journey.
First, he couldn't let their cultivation really fall too far behind.
After all, the density of spiritual energy in the sect's cultivation rooms was on a completely different level from the outside world.
Therefore, there had to be cultivation resources.
Not knowing how long they would be away, Lin Xiao thought for a moment and took out twenty spirit stones from his private vault, planning to give them ten each to start.
Lin Xiao also thought about trying later to see if he could create a portable spirit gathering array or something similar.
Then he thought, even though this was the mortal realm, who was to say there weren't cultivators hiding among the crowds?
In that case, they would also need something to conceal their cultivation...
As for Nascent Soul old monsters who could see through a person's cultivation just by observing the spiritual energy fluctuations around them, they were completely out of Lin Xiao's consideration.
What Nascent Soul old monster would be bored enough to mingle in the mortal realm, let alone pay attention to Qi Condensation cultivators like them?
Speaking of which, Lin Xiao suddenly realized that when he had time, he'd better figure out how to conceal his own spiritual energy fluctuations as well...
He made a mental note of this in his little notebook to deal with later.
Pondering in his mind how to synthesize something to hide cultivation and a portable spirit gathering array, Lin Xiao's fingers tapped rhythmically on the edge of the bed.
Array formations... couldn't they generally be accomplished by drawing array blueprints or something similar?
Lin Xiao decided to go up the mountain right now to ask Senior Liao. It would be great if he could draw up an array blueprint for a spirit gathering array and a concealment array to hide their cultivation.
With his previous synthesis experience, Lin Xiao now had much greater trust in the item synthesizer.
It seemed that as long as the items he put in weren't too outrageous, the synthesized items would be generated according to his thoughts.
Arriving on the mountain, Lin Xiao headed straight for Liao Pantu's residence in the Returning Garden Mountain Abode.
Truth be told, it was a bit shameful that up to now, Liao Pantu was the only resident of the Returning Garden Mountain Abode.
Although the others were excited about having their own exclusive spaces, they still had to go home on normal days.
After all, staying alone in a room on the mountain was still a little scary for them.
As for Yang Jinshu's family, although all three of them were cultivating in the sect, they still had a small piece of poor farmland to take care of at home. Thus, living on the mountain was quite inconvenient, so they also went home with everyone else at dusk.
Furthermore, after nightfall, the villagers would all go home in the dark and wouldn't be able to see, which made it convenient for them to cast spells to tend to the fields.
However, everyone had gradually brought some of their own little knick-knacks to leave here, barely fulfilling some of the functions of these houses.
Looking at the Returning Garden Mountain Abode, which housed only Liao Pantu as a soul entity and completely lacked any human liveliness, Lin Xiao sighed deeply in his heart.
Sure enough, the sect's top priorities right now were money and food.
With these two things, everyone wouldn't have to be limited by their living needs to stay at the foot of the mountain.
However, the sect's spirit grain had already begun to be planted, so the problem of food and clothing would be solved sooner or later!
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