At the Meng Household.
Two little tots sat outside the courtyard, with a cat and a dog standing beside them. All four pairs of eyes were fixed on White Head Mountain.
Ever since the thunder had exploded in the sky, the cat and dog had refused to stay in the courtyard. If the two children hadn't been there, they probably would have charged up the mountain already.
Meng Anzhi stared ahead and rubbed her eyes. "Anci, is that Auntie?"
Meng Anci's little brows knitted together. "Mm," he said quietly. "It's definitely her. That's what she was wearing when she first came to our house. She only went up the mountain, so how did she end up like that?"
Before the two little ones could get up, the cat and dog had already rushed over, circling Jin Shanyao anxiously.
Woof... What happened? Didn't you already pass your lightning tribulation? Why did it strike you again?
Meow... Where are you hurt? Your complexion doesn't look right.
Jin Shanyao managed a smile and brushed the tangled hair from her face. "That shameless Taishang Laojun said I was abusing Spiritual Power. Then, crack, crack-two lightning bolts put cracks in my Spirit Core."
Woof... Dahuang paced anxiously around Jin Shanyao. I've never liked the look of him, with those bleary old eyes and that great scraggly beard. He waves a horsetail whisk around and wanders all over the three realms every day like a street loafer.
You could have repaid the kindness sooner, but his drinking got in the way.
Now we're holed up in the mortal world raising children. When will it ever end? Take good care of your injuries. I'll handle the hunting for the household.
When all was said and done, Taishang Laojun counted as half a master to Jin Shanyao. When she was still a little tree, he had come to see her from time to time.
He had taught her to read and write, talked with her about the Dao, and taught her Law Techniques.
Meow... That old bastard! I knew he was no good. If you'd repaid the kindness before undergoing your lightning tribulation, you'd have a divine position by now.
But look at us now. We ascended successfully, yet we have to sneak around and hole up in the mortal world to repay the kindness.
Just wait till we get back to the Heavenly Court. I'll bite his mount to death.
Taishang Laojun had an azure ox, and the cat and dog laid all their grievances against him at the ox's door.
Jin Shanyao communicated with the cat and dog through Divine Sense, so outsiders couldn't hear them at all.
Two soft little bodies pressed into Jin Shanyao's arms. The two tots looked up at her with reddened eyes. "Auntie, how did you end up like this?"
They had finally nursed Auntie from charred black back to fair and white, only for her to be knocked back to her original state in the blink of an eye.
"I accidentally got struck by lightning?"
"What? You got struck by lightning?"
Three voices rang out at once. Old Woman Li had come out to check on the children and saw Jin Shanyao looking so miserable.
She nearly burst out laughing. How had this girl managed to get struck by lightning? She pulled Jin Shanyao close and looked her over from all sides, only relaxing when she saw she wasn't hurt.
"Luckily, you're not hurt. Hurry inside and wash up."
Jin Shanyao agreed and carried the wild rabbits and pheasants into the courtyard. Meng Anzhi wouldn't let her do any work and hurried to light the fire and warm some water, while Meng Anci took a cloth and carefully wiped her face bit by bit.
Every wipe left a black streak... He stared at the cloth with a solemn expression. From now on, he would make Auntie stay far away whenever there was thunder and rain, so she wouldn't get struck again.
Thanks to Meng Hongde adding oil and vinegar to the story, word that the Meng children's aunt had been struck by lightning spread through the village in no time, and the more it spread, the closer it came to the truth.
By now, she was already a demon.
When Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci heard it, their little faces turned red with anger. To keep Auntie from being hurt, the two children hugged Jin Shanyao around the neck and assured her,
"Auntie, don't listen to their nonsense. You're not a demon."
Jin Shanyao was amused and teased them. "What if I really am one of the demons from the legends? What would you do?"
Meng Anci said solemnly, "Then I'll hide you away and make sure no one can hurt you."
Jin Shanyao burst into hearty laughter and planted a smacking kiss on each little tot's cheek.
Boom... The two little tots covered their cheeks and stared at Jin Shanyao in disbelief.
Auntie had actually kissed them. No one but their mother had ever kissed them... At that moment, they felt as though they had grown closer to Auntie.
Meng Anzhi plucked up her courage, stood on tiptoe, and kissed Jin Shanyao's cheek. Her little lips were soft, warm, and moist-a sensation Jin Shanyao had never felt before.
Her hard tree heart seemed to stir.
Meng Anci wanted a kiss too, but he was too embarrassed...
At dinnertime, Jin Shanyao took half a pheasant out of the well. Old Woman Li next door had taught her this way of storing it. The well was cool, and the pheasant had kept perfectly.
Meng Anzhi crouched by the stove, tending the fire, while Jin Shanyao stir-fried the meat. Halfway through, she heard a fight break out next door. She quickened her movements, added water, and covered the pot in one smooth motion.
She pulled Meng Anzhi up and ran outside. Meng Anci had already climbed onto the wall, and when he saw his aunt and sister coming, he hurriedly waved them over.
"Auntie, sit here."
Without wasting words, Jin Shanyao first lifted Meng Anzhi onto the wall, then pulled the Record of Admonishing Evil from her clothes. She stared at the Li Household next door, ears pricked high.
There were many people in the Li Household and many troubles. Every few days, a quarrel would break out.
This time was different. Diao Siniang had brought Meng Tietou over to pick a fight. Choudan hid behind Old Woman Li, pulling faces at them.
Diao Siniang's voice was so loud that half the village could hear her. "Li Cuiniang! What gave your Choudan the right to pull Tietou's hair? He yanked it so hard his scalp's red, and you just hide in your house and pretend you can't see!"
Jin Shanyao rubbed her ears and wrote in her book: Quarreling, rule 28: speak with plenty of breath and a loud voice. Once she had finished, she looked up at Old Woman Li.
Old Woman Li gave Diao Siniang a sidelong glance and continued sorting wild greens. "Your Tietou was the one who grabbed Choudan's slingshot first, and he pushed my Choudan too. How did it become our fault?"
Jin Shanyao immediately wrote: Quarreling, rule 28, addendum: stay calm when faced with a furious mad dog... Note: this is called cold violence.
"Even if he grabbed the slingshot, that's no reason to pull his hair!" Diao Siniang shoved Meng Tietou forward. "Look how old my child is and how old yours is. Couldn't he give way to him a little?"
Old Woman Li laughed. "He's two years older, so he has to give way? By that logic, if you steal my chicken, I should hand it over with a smile?"
Jin Shanyao quickly wrote this down. The two sides argued faster and faster, and she had no time to watch. Even with her head down and her pen flying, she couldn't keep up.
"Auntie, Auntie, I think the pot's burning."
"Oh no!" Jin Shanyao stuffed the Record of Admonishing Evil into her clothes, lifted the two children down, and turned to run to the kitchen.
She lifted the lid. The water had boiled dry, and white smoke was beginning to rise from the meat stuck to the bottom. She hurriedly scooped it out with a spatula and carried it to the main room.
"Anzhi, Anci, time to eat."
"Coming..." The two little tots ran to the kitchen, grabbed their bowls and chopsticks, and pattered into the main room.
Jin Shanyao served each of them a bowl of meat, then picked up her pen and recorded the battle she had just witnessed.
Her final summary: when quarreling, pronounce your words clearly, be quick with your tongue, and keep your voice loud. Don't discuss who's right or wrong, and don't reason with the other person, because they won't listen.
Jin Shanyao put away the booklet and took a deep breath. Hunting for money wouldn't work anymore; she had to find another way to earn it.
"What do you think I could do to make money?"
Meng Anzhi swallowed the food in her mouth. "Sell medicinal herbs. When my mother was sick, it cost fifty copper coins to have a physician come to the house, seventy for a prescription, and one hundred and fifty for the cheapest medicine. And that was only enough for four or five doses."
Meng Anzhi's voice grew quieter as she spoke. She missed her mother. To save money, her mother had always boiled the medicine until it had no color left before throwing it away.
If only she had learned to recognize medicinal herbs sooner. Maybe her mother wouldn't have died.
She wondered whether her mother had received the paper offerings burned on the seventh day and the hundredth day after her death.
Those words woke the dreamer. Of course! She could pick medicinal herbs and mushrooms to sell. She knew the plants on the mountain like the back of her hand; going there would be just like walking into her own courtyard.
She would do it right away. Jin Shanyao decided to take the two children up the mountain to gather herbs first thing tomorrow morning and teach them some medicinal principles along the way.