Eating Heartily

After Xue Chengfeng finished speaking, he felt extremely nervous, fearing that the immortal would be unwilling to accept the gift prepared by Lord Tong.

This was the method Lord Tong had come up with after thinking for a long time—the best way to quietly contact this reclusive immortal without alarming the public.

At first, Lord Tong planned to come in person, but Xue Chengfeng had done everything in his power to stop him.

After all, as the local magistrate, Lord Tong's safety was paramount. Even though they were almost certain an immortal was protecting the area, as his advisor, he had to consider the worst-case scenario.

What if the immortal happened to have left today?

If that were the case, and Lord Tong jumped down, it wouldn't just be Tong Shuzheng losing his life; it would be the Prefect of Liaoju Prefecture losing his life.

Furthermore, almost all affairs, big and small, in Hufang Province currently rested on his shoulders.

Xue Chengfeng did not want him to take this risk, even if the chances of failure were one in ten thousand.

Therefore, he volunteered himself. After pleading for a long time, using both reason and emotion, Lord Tong finally relented and agreed to let him come instead.

Lin Xiao looked at the bundle in his hands, feeling quite helpless.

Although he knew that his actions of saving people would be discovered sooner or later, he never expected that, just to give him a thank-you gift, the prefect's advisor would personally risk his life by jumping off the dam just to see him and deliver the gift.

From his observations over the past few days, Lin Xiao also knew that this Prefect Tong was a good official.

Looking at Advisor Xue, who was holding up the bundle while bowing deeply, he thought for a moment and reached out to take the bundle.

"I understand Lord Tong's intentions. Don't use this method again in the future. It's too dangerous."

Seeing him accept the bundle, Xue Chengfeng was overjoyed. He didn't dare look up at Lin Xiao, only bowing his head and saying:

"The immortal is absolutely right. I will never act like this again."

Lin Xiao originally intended to leave right then, but suddenly thought of something. He took out a localized voice transmission talisman from his private storage and handed it to Xue Chengfeng, saying:

"This is a voice transmission talisman. In the future, if there is any urgent and important matter, you can take it out, activate it, and speak your situation into it. Remember, the duration cannot exceed fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, it will transmit what you said to me."

After saying this, and seeing Xue Chengfeng take the talisman, he immediately vanished in a flash.

Xue Chengfeng held the talisman with both hands and said excitedly:

"Thank you for your blessing, Immortal—"

After speaking, he felt no movement around him for a long while. Only then did he slowly straighten up. Sure enough, the immortal was already gone.

He didn't dare look around, only lowering his head to look at the talisman in his hands.

A moment later, he carefully and solemnly placed it in his robes and hurried back with quick steps.

He had to rush back and tell the lord the good news that the immortal had left them a way to communicate!

The next day, upon seeing that the newly repaired and still magnificent Guchuan Dam was completely devoid of people, and the conscripted laborers on the banks of the Guyue River were only doing some relatively safe finishing work, Lin Xiao quietly left the area and returned to Xiushui Village.

It was noon when Lin Xiao returned.

Ever since Yigao left to take his exams, he hadn't been back to take a look for many consecutive days.

After all, even with his current cultivation level, a round trip would take an entire day. Who knew how many people might accidentally lose their lives on the Guchuan Dam during that time?

Therefore, returning to the village now, he actually felt a sense of long separation.

He hadn't felt this way much the last time he went to the county town.

He figured it was probably because he was alone this time, whereas last time he had friends by his side.

Guessing that everyone was probably still on the mountain at this hour, Lin Xiao headed straight for the North Mountain.

Because he used a concealment spell, not a single person in the village noticed him.

As soon as Lin Xiao arrived at the entrance of the mountain path at the foot of the mountain, he noticed a newly built house nearby, close to the mountain stream.

The house had blue bricks and green tiles, surrounded by a tall courtyard wall. Just looking at the roof from the outside, one could tell that the house must be very spacious.

Moreover, from the tree branches poking out of the courtyard wall and the emerald green bamboo leaves surrounding the yard in the sunlight, it was evident that the house had been built with great care.

The villagers all felt that the North Mountain was too dangerous, so no one was willing to build a house near it. He wondered how such a unique house had suddenly popped up here.

Just the blue bricks and green tiles alone must have cost a lot of money.

Confused, Lin Xiao hurried up the mountain, planning to ask the others. They walked back and forth here every day, so they would surely know.

At this time, everyone on the mountain was gathered around a large stone table at the foot of Guiyuan Mountain Residence, eating together.

Seeing Lin Xiao's figure, they were pleasantly surprised and put down their bowls and chopsticks to gather around him.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao, who hadn't eaten any proper food for ten days other than occasionally catching and roasting a fish from the river to satisfy his cravings, was attracted by the aroma of the food on their table.

"What are you guys eating? It smells so good!"

His nostrils flared slightly as he greedily inhaled the enticing aroma.

Seeing him ask about this, Liu Yunan was the first to speak:

"Brother Xiao, you don't know, do you? During the days you were away from the sect, Fuzi got too bored, so he asked Tietou to help build a stove over by the mountain residence, and then he started figuring out how to cook on his own. Who would have thought he'd be quite talented in this area! He cooked for a few days and lured us all over one by one. After eating it once, we wanted to eat it every time, hahaha! Now, even if Fuzi doesn't want to cook, he has to!"

Beside him, Jiang Youfu rubbed his belly cheerfully and laughed:

"Cooking is really interesting. Why wouldn't I want to do it? I'm just happy that you all enjoy eating it."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao looked at him in surprise:

"Not bad, Fuzi! Let me try your cooking too!" Saying that, he quickly slipped over to the spot at the large stone table where Lin Yun had just been sitting, picked up his chopsticks, and grabbed a large piece of meat from the potato stew on the table, popping it into his mouth.

As soon as the bright red pork belly entered his mouth, Lin Xiao felt a rich meat aroma fill his mouth. Biting into the perfectly marbled meat, the savory juices coated his tongue. It was so delicious he almost swallowed his own tongue.

"Fuzi! Awesome!" He gave Jiang Youfu a thumbs up while his mouth kept chewing.

"Right! Look, Fuzi, Brother Xiao also says it's delicious!"

Seeing Lin Xiao swallow a bite of meat and hurriedly reach for the next piece, Jiang Youfu was thrilled. He quickly said to Lin Xiao:

"Brother Xiao, don't rush, eat slowly. If it's not enough later, I'll go stir-fry two more dishes for you!"

Seeing that Lin Xiao was too busy eating to talk to them, everyone ran back to their seats, picked up their bowls, and started digging in.

Lin Yun, now without his chopsticks, watched Lin Xiao's ravenous eating with amusement. He grabbed another pair of chopsticks and a chair, placing the chair behind Lin Xiao so he could sit down and eat.