Family Letter

"After eating pickled tofu soup, even the emperor himself is no match for me!"

Zhang He brought out the final dish, Sour Cabbage Fish Tofu Soup, and said with a cheerful smile.

"What a feast."

Looking at the lavish spread on the table, Lin Chan said politely.

On his eleventh new year's eve in this world, Lin Chan came to the home of his Shu Mountain friend, Zhang He, and celebrated with Zhang He's family.

Zhang He had married late, only going down the mountain to take a wife in his sixties. His wife was now under forty. Their relationship was ordinary enough, and they had four children.

His eldest son, Zhang Dashan, was sixteen this year and wanted to go up the mountain with Zhang He to Shu Mountain. But Zhang He was merely a minor Outer Sect Steward—how could he decide such a thing?

Besides, Zhang Dashan had no Spiritual Root aptitude. No one would want him even as a registered outer sect disciple.

The other three children were all still young. The youngest pair had long Phoenix Tail Pheasant feathers stuck into their hair, looking festive and jubilant.

"Uncle Lin! I'll pour you some wine."

Seeing that all the dishes had been served, Zhang Dashan immediately stepped forward and poured Lin Chan a cup of Spiritual Wine. He had wanted to pour himself a cup as well, but after catching Zhang He's look, he handed over the wine pot and poured himself an ordinary cup of sweet wine instead.

Lin Chan's little face reddened slightly at being poured wine by Zhang Dashan—and being called uncle.

This body of his was only eleven years old, after all.

But then he thought of how he had lived two lives, and that combined, he really was qualified to be Zhang Dashan's uncle. So he said nothing more, merely nodded and smiled as he praised Zhang Dashan a couple of times.

"Brother Lin, a toast to you."

Zhang He raised his cup to Lin Chan.

After downing the small cup in one gulp, Zhang He ladled Lin Chan a bowl of chicken soup and even pulled off a chicken leg for him.

"Brother Lin, I stewed this Phoenix Tail Pheasant all afternoon before it finally became tender. Give it a try."

Zhang He handed the chicken soup to Lin Chan.

"Delicious!"

Lin Chan took a bite, and it truly tasted quite good.

Zhang He had not lived all these years for nothing. His cooking had been honed to perfection; he could have gone to the kitchen and become a head chef.

But the kitchen was a lucrative place, and it was not so easy to get in.

"You all eat. Don't mind me."

Lin Chan said with a smile.

After that, everyone ate together and chatted about various matters.

Zhang He did not get many chances to return home each year. Once he was home, he had a bellyful of things to tell his family.

Naturally, he did not neglect Lin Chan either. After saying a few words, he would always turn to ask for Lin Chan's opinion.

Lin Chan instead hoped Zhang He would pay him less attention, so he could focus on eating and have a little more.

When the subject turned to Zhang Dashan's future, Zhang He planned to have him honestly farm the land and live a proper, steady life.

After all, he had no Spiritual Root talent, and Zhang He would not pass his own skills on to him.

"Father! I'm leaving Shu Mountain. I'm going out into the world to make my way!"

Hearing Zhang He's dismissive words about him, Zhang Dashan suddenly spoke up.

He had thought Zhang He would try to keep him, but instead he heard Zhang He say:

"Fine! If you want to go, then go! You're an adult now. I can't control you. I'll prepare some travel money for you. After the new year, go wherever you want. But you should know that a place like Shu Mountain, a Peach Blossom Spring, is not somewhere one can come to easily."

"I can carve out a world of my own too!"

Zhang Dashan refused to be outdone.

"As long as you don't regret it."

Zhang He did not say much more.

After all, it was a holiday. They could not let the air become too thick with gunpowder.

After dinner, Zhang He rode his sword back to Shu Mountain with Lin Chan.

"Brother Zhang, I want to send a letter home to my family. Do you know how I can send it out?"

Lin Chan had been at Shu Mountain for half a year. He felt that Shu Mountain was cut off from the outside world, and even sending a few letters home was far from simple.

"Brother Lin, isn't that unfilial son of mine leaving? Perfect—let him carry it out for you. Give me the letter in a few days."

Since Zhang He was taking Lin Chan back to Shu Mountain, he had not drunk himself into a complete stupor.

"That's wonderful. How much will it cost?"

Lin Chan's face lit up with delight.

"It's nothing, just along the way. I won't charge you much."

Zhang He tried to refuse the payment.

After some back-and-forth, Zhang He still accepted ten Bigu Pills from Lin Chan.

But there was no guarantee the letter would reach its destination.

After all, they were separated by thousands of miles.

Lin Chan did not mind too much. It would be best if it arrived, but if it did not, that was fine too.

He could simply return himself in a few years.

After returning to his Cave Dwelling, Lin Chan sealed the door and began cultivating.

After all, he had eaten so much today. He could not let it go to waste.

The next day, after getting up, Lin Chan first followed his usual routine and meditated to cultivate.

Afterward, he used the Cleaning Spell to wash his Cave Dwelling clean from top to bottom.

Now that he knew the Cleaning Spell himself, he no longer needed to arrange for registered disciples to come clean.

Thinking that he had not visited Little Li and Little White for half a year, Lin Chan took out a Thousand Mile Travel Talisman, made his way down Tianquan Peak, then climbed Yaoguang Peak to see them.

The Thousand Mile Travel Talisman roughly tripled or quadrupled Lin Chan's speed, yet it still wasted an entire hour of his time.

If he flew through the sky, he would arrive in less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense.

Sure enough, being unable to ride a sword was truly rather troublesome.

Next time, he still had to boldly ask his senior brothers, or Zhang He and the others, to give him a ride over.

Otherwise, his life would be wasted on the road.

Yaoguang Peak had many demonkind. Some even wore Shu Mountain robes, looking quite convincing.

But most were little demons with shallow cultivation. They could not even speak the language of Rong Country or the Dao language.

Lin Chan walked to the cat shelter where the cats had gathered before and spotted Little Li among them.

"Little Li, how has your cultivation been? Can you speak now?"

Lin Chan picked Little Li up. In an instant, he switched into Little Li's body, then immediately switched back.

That let him judge Little Li's level.

It still had not learned how to speak.

It would probably need at least several decades of cultivation before it could speak human words.

Still, with daily cultivation, its intelligence had improved, and it had not forgotten him either.

Walking farther in, Lin Chan saw a white cat lying lazily in a cat bed.

"Senior Brother Dian Mo! Happy New Year!"

Lin Chan stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting to the white cat.

Xu Chang had previously told him that the white cat before him possessed a century of cultivation, equivalent to a human's Foundation Establishment. It could not be underestimated.

"Human! Even if you come to offer me New Year's greetings, there won't be any red envelopes!"

Dian Mo opened his eyes warily, as though Lin Chan might covet his Talisman Coins.

"Senior Brother, you misunderstand. I only came to see Little Li and the others. Why don't I see Little White?"

Lin Chan asked.

"I think you know Yaoguang Peak has many female cultivators, and you came looking for the female disciples on Yaoguang Peak!"

Dian Mo narrowed his eyes and sprawled in his bed as he spoke.

"Senior Brother Dian Mo, you truly misunderstand. I really came to see Little Li and Little White."

Lin Chan said awkwardly.

"Fine, I'll believe you for now. But coming empty-handed like this—aren't you being a little insincere?"

Dian Mo said teasingly.

"That's right, I brought a gift."

Lin Chan took out the jade bottle he used to hold Bigu Pills and handed it to Dian Mo.

There happened to be only one pill left inside, so he would just use it to brush Dian Mo off.

Dian Mo did not stand on ceremony. He popped open the stopper, flicked out the Bigu Pill inside, caught it in his mouth, and swallowed it whole without even chewing.

"Don't be so stingy next time. Catch some Spiritual Fish or something and bring them over. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

After eating, Dian Mo still had to grumble.

"This junior understands."

Lin Chan nodded perfunctorily, but inwardly decided that unless necessary, he would not come to Yaoguang Peak again.

Afterward, Dian Mo's throat moved twice, producing a sound Lin Chan could not hear. Then he said:

"Little White will be here soon."

At the request of many readers, a VIP membership ad-free feature has now been introduced.

Click to view