County Government Office

Who else could the newcomer be but Qin Jianghe?

Seeing that his good brother, whom he had not seen for many days, had returned, Lin Xiao was in no hurry to head back up the mountain. Instead, he waited at the entrance of the mountain path.

Before long, Qin Jianghe approached.

Lin Xiao called out to him,

"Jianghe!"

Seeing Lin Xiao standing at the entrance of the path, Qin Jianghe knew he was waiting for him and immediately quickened his pace.

"Brother Xiao! Why are you here?"

"We have a telepathic connection. I sensed you were coming back, so I came here specifically to welcome you," Lin Xiao said, lying through his teeth.

Qin Jianghe chuckled, not exposing his lie. His gaze swept over and caught sight of the private school half-hidden among the bamboo grove not far away, and he smiled,

"Is that Yigao's private school over there?"

Lin Xiao nodded.

"Class is in session right now. Come on, let's head back to the sect first. You can come back down for a stroll when the school takes its noon break."

Qin Jianghe smiled and nodded. He was about to step onto the mountain path when he noticed its drastically changed appearance and hesitated.

"Is this the Path of Questioning the Heart that Baldy mentioned in his letter? Brother Xiao, do you think the current me can still make it across?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiao looked at him and said with absolute certainty,

"Do not doubt yourself. You can definitely make it across."

Hearing him say this, Qin Jianghe felt the anxiety he had carried throughout his journey ease. He then smiled as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, if you say I can cross it, Brother Xiao, then I definitely can!"

With that, he hesitated no longer, immediately lifting his leg and taking a step forward, planting one foot onto the Path of Questioning the Heart.

In the next instant, the confident expression vanished from his face, replaced by a blank, vacant look.

Lin Xiao thought for a moment and decided not to return up the mountain just yet. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground right next to Qin Jianghe, waiting for him.

Meanwhile, down in the village, the idle villagers noticed that not a single person from the old Lin family could be seen during the day. Wanting to find someone to chat with and ask questions but failing to do so, they shifted their attention and went looking for the families of the boys who were close friends with the Lin family's second son.

Bright and early, right after breakfast, several villagers began thinking of various ways to accidentally bump into the families of Fuzi, Tietou, and Qin Jianghe.

They wanted to fish for some gossip from them.

However, within those three households, although their close relatives knew what the boys were up to, they stammered when faced with everyone's inquiries, ultimately claiming they were not too sure.

As for the less close relatives in those families, they genuinely had no idea what the boys were doing.

So, in the end, the villagers failed to dig up any useful information.

Consequently, some villagers started to feel a bit disgruntled.

The truth about what those boys were up to was still up in the air.

What if they had not become immortals at all, but were instead bewitched by some mountain monster and were going to harm people?

Would that not put their village in danger?

With these thoughts in mind, a few villagers began talking among themselves, feeling that they could not just let the matter rest.

Those kids had to give everyone an explanation.

This reasoning was accepted by a number of villagers. After putting their heads together, they ran to the homes of the village chief and several clan elders, voicing their concerns and demanding that they be given a reasonable explanation.

They were all from the same village; if those boys were messing around up on the mountain, they could not keep it a secret from everyone else.

Hearing the villagers' demands, the village chief and the clan elders agreed to go and have a talk with Lin Xiao.

At the same time, however, they demanded that these villagers stop spreading nonsense everywhere and stop bothering the family members of others.

Seeing that the village chief and the elders had agreed, the villagers said no more. After giving their word, they dispersed and returned to their respective homes to wait for news.

The sun gradually moved to the middle of the sky.

It was noon.

On the North Mountain, the daily cultivation session for the members of the Lingxian Sect ended, and everyone walked out of the cultivation rooms.

As usual, Jiang Youfu headed straight for the stove the moment he came out, quickly whipping up lunch for everyone.

However, today he did not eat with the others. Instead, he picked up a piece of Silver-tail Fish meat he had set aside earlier, bid everyone farewell, and left the sect to head down the mountain.

Yesterday, his grandmother had not had a drop of water and lay in bed for most of the day. It was not until he went back at night and fed her a foundation-consolidating and vitality-nurturing pill given to him by Brother Xiao that her spirits improved a bit, allowing her to get up and drink half a bowl of rice porridge.

So today, he thought about taking some of this Silver-tail Fish meat back to cook a meal for his grandmother.

Ever since he discovered his passion for cooking, he had never actually cooked a meal at home for his family.

When Jiang Youfu excitedly carried the Silver-tail Fish to the bottom of the mountain, he spotted Lin Xiao and Qin Jianghe waiting below.

Brother Xiao? Jianghe? Oh, Jianghe, you are back?

Lin Xiao, who was meditating on the ground, opened his eyes and nodded at Jiang Youfu.

Yes, he just got back. He is currently going through the Path of the Questioning Heart.

Saying this, he remembered it was noon, so he asked.

Are you heading home?

Jiang Youfu nodded and said.

Yeah, I brought a small piece of Silver-tail Fish and plan to go back and cook it for my grandma.

Hearing this, Lin Xiao said.

Then hurry back. Grandma Jiang has not been in good spirits lately; you should use your spiritual energy to soothe her meridians more often.

Jiang Youfu nodded cheerfully.

Okay, Brother Xiao. I will be going then.

Carrying the Silver-tail Fish meat, Jiang Youfu hurried toward his home as fast as he could.

Unexpectedly, before he even reached the door, with his now sharp hearing and clear sight, he heard the sound of his mother crying from inside the house.

Jiang Youfu froze for a moment. Then, his heart tightened, and he immediately broke into a sprint, rushing into the house.

Mother! What is wrong!

In the courtyard, Mother Jiang, her eyes red, was seeing an old doctor carrying a medicine chest out of Grandma Jiang's room.

Hearing Jiang Youfu's shout, she looked up at him, then waved her hand to gesture for him to be quiet. She then turned back to the old doctor and said.

Thank you, Doctor Jiang. Please prescribe the medicine as usual. It does not matter how expensive it is; we will figure something out.

The old doctor called Doctor Jiang stroked his long white beard, sighed, and shook his head slightly, saying.

With your mother-in-law's condition, prescribing medicine is no longer of any use. It would just be a waste of money.

Sigh... It will only be a few days now. Your family should prepare yourselves. Birth, aging, illness, and death are all part of life; please do not be too sad.

After saying this, he let out another long sigh, shook his head, and left.

Mother Jiang saw him out to the courtyard gate.

Seeing this, Jiang Youfu immediately understood what was happening. He did not even bother asking his mother and ran straight into his grandmother's room.

There, he saw his grandmother lying very weakly on the bed, while his older brother sat by the bedside, feeding her white rice porridge boiled down to a rich gruel.

However, when the rice porridge was fed into her mouth, more than half of it simply trickled back out from the corners of her lips.

Holding back the tears welling up in his eyes, Brother Jiang Youfu continued to feed Grandma Jiang with even greater patience.

Grandma Jiang no longer had the strength to even open her mouth. Seeing this, Brother Jiang Youfu gently used the spoon to pry her lips apart just a little, trying his hardest to feed her the porridge.