The County Yamen

Who else could it be but Qin Jianghe?

Upon seeing his good brother, whom he hadn't seen for many days, return, Lin Xiao wasn't in a hurry to go back up the mountain. Instead, he waited at the entrance of the mountain path.

Before long, Qin Jianghe approached.

So Lin Xiao called out:

"Jianghe!"

When Qin Jianghe saw Lin Xiao standing at the entrance of the mountain path, he knew that Lin Xiao was waiting for him, so he immediately walked over quickly.

"Brother Xiao! What are you doing here?"

"We're on the same wavelength. I sensed you were coming back, so I came here specifically to pick you up," Lin Xiao lied through his teeth.

Qin Jianghe chuckled, not exposing his lie, and glanced at the private school half-hidden in the bamboo grove not far away, then smiled and said:

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

Lin Xiao nodded:

"It's class time now. Come on, let's go back to the sect first. You can come down for a stroll after the private school has closed for lunch."

Qin Jianghe smiled and nodded, then turned to step up the mountain, but upon seeing the drastically changed mountain path, he hesitated:

"This must be the Heart-Questioning Path' that Tuzi mentioned in his letter, right? Brother Xiao, do you think I can still get through this?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao looked at him and said with certainty:

Don't doubt yourself, you can definitely get through this.

Hearing him say this, Qin Jianghe felt his worries from the journey eased, and then he smiled as if he had breathed a sigh of relief:

"Okay, Brother Xiao, if you say it can pass, then it definitely can!"

Without further hesitation, he lifted his leg and stepped forward, entering the Heart-Questioning Road.

The next instant, his face lost its confident expression and became blank.

Lin Xiao thought for a moment, then decided not to go back up the mountain. Instead, he sat down cross-legged beside the Qin Jianghe and waited.

Meanwhile, the villagers, who had nothing to do during the day, couldn't find anyone from the Lin Household and wanted to ask them for directions, so they turned their attention to the families of the boys who were close to the second son of the Lin Household.

Early in the morning, after finishing breakfast, several villagers began trying various ways to bump into Fuzi, Tietou, and Qin Jianghe's family.

I wanted to get some gossip from them.

However, although their close relatives knew what they were doing, they all stammered when asked, saying they weren't quite sure.

Even those who weren't close to them at home had no idea what they were doing.

So in the end, the villagers couldn't find out anything.

As a result, some villagers felt slightly dissatisfied.

It's still uncertain what's really going on with these kids.

Perhaps they didn't become immortals, but were instead bewitched by some mountain spirits who wanted to harm people?

Wouldn't that put their village in danger?

Thinking this way, some villagers started discussing it and felt that the matter couldn't just be left like this.

These kids deserve an explanation from everyone.

This explanation was accepted by some villagers, so they discussed it and went to the village chief and several clan elders to express their thoughts and tell them that they needed a reasonable explanation.

We're all from the same village. They're causing trouble in the mountains; we can't keep it a secret from everyone in the village.

Upon hearing the villagers' request, the village chief and clan elders agreed to speak with Lin Xiao.

At the same time, they also demanded that these villagers stop spreading rumors and causing trouble, and stop bothering other people's families.

Seeing that the village chief and the clan elders had all agreed, the villagers said nothing more, and after agreeing, they left to go home and wait for their news.

The sun gradually moved towards the center.

It was noon.

The daily cultivation time for everyone at the Lingxian Sect on North Mountain ended, and they all came out of their cultivation rooms.

As usual, Jiang Youfu went straight to the stove as soon as he came out and quickly prepared lunch for everyone.

However, he did not eat with everyone today. Instead, he picked up a piece of Silver-Tailed Fish that he had set aside earlier, said goodbye to everyone, and left the sect and went down the mountain.

Yesterday, his grandmother didn't eat or drink anything and lay in bed for most of the day. It wasn't until he went back in the evening and gave her one of the health-strengthening pills that Brother Xiao had given him that she felt a little better and got up to drink half a bowl of rice porridge.

So today he thought he would take some of the Silver-Tailed Fish back with him to cook a meal for his grandmother.

Since discovering his love for cooking, he hasn't cooked a single meal at home for his family.

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

"Brother Xiao? Jianghe? Oh, Jianghe's back?"

Lin Xiao, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, opened his eyes and nodded to Jiang Youfu:

"Yes, he just got back and is currently going through Heart-Questioning Road."

As he spoke, he remembered it was noon, so he asked:

Are you going home?

Jiang Youfu nodded and said:

"Yes, I took a small piece of Silver-Tailed Fish to cook for my grandma when I get back."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao said:

"Then you should go back quickly. Grandma Jiang hasn't been feeling well lately. Use your Spiritual Power to help her regulate her meridians."

Jiang Youfu nodded happily and said:

"Okay Brother Xiao, I'll be going now."

Carrying the Silver-Tailed Fish, Jiang Youfu hurried home.

Before he even reached his doorstep, his hearing and sight were now sharp enough that he could hear his mother crying inside.

Jiang Youfu was stunned for a moment, then his heart tightened, and he immediately took off running and rushed into the house.

"Mother! What's wrong!"

In the courtyard, Mother Jiang, her eyes red and swollen, was seeing off an elderly doctor carrying a medicine box out of Grandma Jiang's house.

Hearing Jiang Youfu's shout, she looked up at him, then waved her hand to signal him to be quiet, before turning to the old doctor and saying:

"Thank you very much, Doctor Jiang. Please prescribe the medication as prescribed, no matter the cost. We will find a way."

Then the old doctor, whom Mother Jiang called Doctor Jiang, stroked his long, white beard, sighed, and shook his head slightly, saying:

"Given your sister-in-law's health, prescribing medicine is pointless; it's just a waste of money."

Sigh... it'll be in the next few days. Your family, be prepared. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all part of life. Don't be too sad."

After saying that, he sighed again, shook his head, and left.

Mother Jiang escorted him to the gate of the courtyard.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Youfu knew exactly what was going on. Without even asking his mother, he ran straight into his grandmother's room.

He saw his grandmother lying very weakly in bed, and his older brother was feeding her rice porridge that had been cooked until it was greasy.

But when the rice porridge was fed to her, most of it spilled out of the corners of her mouth.

While holding back tears, Brother Jiang Youfu patiently fed Grandma Jiang porridge.

Grandma Jiang didn't even have the strength to open her mouth, so Brother Jiang Youfu used a spoon to pry her mouth open a little and tried his best to feed her the rice porridge.