The Black Disc

After everyone devoured the food on the table like a whirlwind scattering the remaining clouds, they rubbed their bulging stomachs with satisfied expressions and let out a long breath.

Yang Jinshu had brewed a pot of tea earlier, and he was now bringing it out for everyone to drink.

At this time, Lin Xiao finally had the chance to speak with the group.

Remembering the newly built house at the foot of the mountain, he asked with some confusion:

"Whose family built that house down the mountain? Did someone new move into our village?"

Hearing this, the people at the table who were holding their teacups and taking small sips all turned their eyes to Liu Yunan, who was also sipping tea.

Lin Xiao didn't understand why, but followed their gazes and looked at him as well.

Liu Yunan gave an embarrassed chuckle and said to him:

"Brother Xiao, actually, we built that house. Didn't you come back more than half a month ago and tell us to prepare to build a house for Yigao to use as a private school? You were so busy, so we figured we might as well build it ourselves. It's just building a house, right? With Tietou here, and after asking Tietou's father for some advice, we were able to build it. This way, we didn't have to wait for you to come back and do it yourself."

Lin Xiao was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected that after he just came back to give them a heads-up to prepare some materials when they had time, they would swiftly build the house while he was away.

"So that's how it is."

"The private school is still missing some desks, chairs, bookshelves, and things like that. We ordered some from your grandfather and some from the carpenter in town. I reckon they'll all be delivered tomorrow. By then, our private school will be completely finished," Liu Yunan continued.

Suddenly thinking of something, Lin Xiao asked again:

"You guys paid for the bricks and tiles for the private school, right?"

Speaking of this, Liu Yunan quickly let out an "Oh," then pulled a small booklet from his storage bag and handed it to him:

"Brother Xiao, all the expenses for building the private school this time are in here. The bulk of it was for the materials, as well as the recent grocery money. We used the money Jianghe sent back that you gave me earlier. For the shortfall, I later took a few blocks of the pine soot ink you left us as a backup and sold them. Right now, we still have twenty-one taels left over."

Lin Xiao took the booklet, flipped through it symbolically, and handed it back to him.

"This is truly a pleasant surprise... Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Fuzi has such great culinary skills; as long as he is willing to cook, absolutely do not skimp on the grocery money!"

Although he had only flipped through it symbolically just now, he noticed that there were basically no labor costs listed. This meant that aside from buying materials, all the work for building the house was done together by everyone in the sect.

Walking up here earlier, he noticed that the mountain path had also been roughly repaired. Moreover, within the sect, there were many new scattered little items and small structures everywhere. There was even a new outhouse added in a relatively hidden and secluded spot.

Honestly, the feeling of coming back and finding that the tasks he had jotted down in his little notebook to do himself had already been perfectly resolved by his companions was incredibly good. He instantly felt a great deal of weight lifted off his shoulders.

Therefore, Lin Xiao simply handed the entire matter over to Baldy and the others, washing his hands of it completely. He only reminded them to copy down some of the sect's mental cultivation methods that were below the mid-Earth tier and place them in the private school down the mountain.

Then he said to the group:

Tomorrow I plan to go check on Jiang He, and while I am at it, I will give him this Location Transmission Talisman I recently made. Baldy, if you have time later, help me go to the Qin family and ask his parents if they have anything they want me to bring to him.

Liu Yunan nodded in agreement.

Jiang Youfu, however, let out a regretful sigh.

Brother Xiao, you just got back, and you are going out again?

Lin Xiao looked at him, amused.

Then how about you come with me tomorrow?

Liu Yunan immediately gasped.

Do not do that, Brother Xiao! If you take Fuzi away, where are we supposed to eat?

Jiang Youfu's eyes lit up, however. He waved his hand and said:

Go eat at your own homes! Tomorrow I am going out with Brother Xiao!

Hearing this, Lin Xiao smiled and nodded.

Alright, just remember to tell your family when you go home tonight.

With the serious matters out of the way, everyone started chatting about everyday things.

Seeing that his father was not around, Lin Xiao asked his brother. Lin Yun told him that recently, their father had been going down the mountain to help with work every day as soon as he finished his cultivation.

Because Old Master Lin had recently taken on the sect's custom order for tables and chairs, and the quantity was quite large, the young and old of the family were all helping out. Lin Dayou also frequently went to help, leaving only Lin Yun on the mountain to tend to the spiritual fields.

Baldy, Tietou, and the others also began asking Lin Xiao about what he had seen and heard in Guchuan Dam recently. When they heard that the Prefect of Liaoju Prefecture and his advisor had actually come up with such a scheme just to give him a gift, they were all astonished.

This also reminded Lin Xiao of the bundle he had placed in his private storage.

He immediately took it out from his storage and placed it on the stone table, which had already been cleared by the others, leaving only two pots of clear tea.

Untying the cloth wrapper revealed the item inside: a plain wooden box.

Lin Xiao reached out and opened the wooden box, and everyone saw its contents.

Inside the wooden box, there was only a single item and a letter resting beside it.

The item was a pitch-black disc made of a material that seemed like wood, yet not quite.

The onlookers were somewhat puzzled. Why would the Prefect give Brother Xiao a black disc?

Lin Xiao also did not know what this thing was, so he first picked up the letter beside it.

In the letter, Prefect Tong first expressed his gratitude, then stated that since an immortal likely would not care for worldly possessions like money, he had thought long and hard before deciding to present this item to the immortal.

According to Prefect Tong, he had acquired this item by accident when he first entered officialdom, while on his way to take up the post of county magistrate in a remote county town.

On that journey to his post, he was intercepted by mountain bandits. During his escape, he was separated from his entourage and got lost in the wilderness. Later, he hid in a cave, where he accidentally discovered a bizarre recess. He wrote that the recess looked no different from the surrounding stone wall, but his hand could pass through the stone and reach inside.

This black disc was what he had felt and pulled out from that recess.

Even more bizarrely, after taking the black disc from the recess, he could not discern anything special about it, so he casually tossed it aside and went to sleep. Who would have thought that when he opened his eyes the next day, he would find himself no longer in that cave, but outside a forest not far from the county town.

And that black disc was right underneath him.

Therefore, he believed that the black disc was definitely no ordinary item.

However, ever since that incident, he had never seen the black disc display any miraculous phenomena again.

But he believed that being able to escape that disorienting wilderness last time was already a stroke of heavenly fortune. A treasure of this caliber was simply not something a mere mortal like himself could ever hope to master, yet he dared not carelessly reveal it to the world either.

It was only now, upon encountering an immortal, that he felt this treasure should be entrusted to such an exalted being. Only then would it truly serve its purpose, rather than being a precious pearl left to languish in the shadows.