The Hour of the Rat

Tong Shuzheng, who was pacing back and forth in front of the desk with his hands behind his back, nodded and said:

"That should be the case. As for the specifics of the imperial court, we'll observe further. But we can maintain a friendly relationship with the Lingxian Sect."

Xue Chengfeng was very pleased, after all, they had a good impression of Immortal Lin, so they also had a certain fondness for the Lingxian Sect.

He stroked his grown beard and said with pleasure:

"I will prepare the New Year's gifts overnight and personally deliver them to the Lingxian Sect the day after tomorrow morning."

Tong Shuzheng stopped his stroll, stood still, and said to him:

"I'll go with you. It's New Year's greetings, the more the merrier."

--

Tonight, unlike the usual frugality, every household in Xiushui Village is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.

The small village, which is usually pitch black at night, was brightly lit tonight.

Even near Lingxian Dining Seat, a very simple lantern was hung by someone with good intentions.

By this time, most families had already finished eating, but the dining table was not removed; it remained so that family members could continue to sit around the table, eat meat, drink wine, and chat.

Firecrackers occasionally popped from various places throughout the village, followed by the screams and laughter of children.

Every door is adorned with auspicious Spring Festival couplets.

These were all recently written by children who were studying at Sun Yigao's private school, and the villagers found them.

The villagers dared not disturb Sun Yigao, and it was difficult to find him on ordinary days.

However, some of his students in his private school were from the village, and the villagers thought that if no scholar wrote for them, it would be just as good if the scholar's disciples wrote for them.

Thus, Sun Yigao's students earned their first money through this incident.

Although they were all from the same village, they knew that he had only been in school for a short time and his handwriting was not very good, so they were embarrassed to accept money.

But that didn't stop the villagers from stuffing them with all sorts of fruits and candies.

The total number of households in the village is quite large.

This made the students extremely happy.

He carried home a huge pile of snacks he had earned to show off to his family.

Their family members did not complain about the lack of money; instead, they all praised their child for being so capable.

Meanwhile, inside the Lingxian Sect on the mountain, after all the dishes on the table had been devoured, everyone patted their full bellies and sat back in their chairs, contentedly beginning their usual post-meal chat.

The snow stopped as night fell.

The night sky is now full of stars.

Under the starlit night sky, women gathered in groups of women, and men in groups of men, their conversations seemingly endless.

After clearing away the dishes, the children huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, their heads tucked in mysteriously.

Mo Que didn't seem to fit into any of those categories, so he obediently let Mo Yuanjiao pull him into the group of young people.

Seeing this Liu Shengsheng and Lin Ying, the two little girls, pulled Lin Yan, who was sitting quietly next to Eldest Uncle Lin's Wife listening to the elders chat about everything from family matters to life's sentiments, and slipped over to their brothers to see what they were whispering about.

As soon as the three girls approached, they heard Lin Xiao say to them:

"Go practice quickly in a bit. This Law Technique is very simple. We must try to finish it before midnight, understand?"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, then turned around to quickly find an open space to learn the new Law Technique, only to see three pairs of bright, black eyes staring at them from behind.

Lin Ying asked curiously:

What new Law Technique are you planning to learn? Is it fun?

Liu Shengsheng looked at her brother Liu Yunan and said:

"Brother, can we learn together?"

Only Lin Yan felt embarrassed about being caught eavesdropping, her head hanging low and her face flushed.

Lin Xiao was pleased to see the three of them arrive and said:

"You've come at the perfect time! Come on, come on, you should all learn this new Law Technique together. It'll be more fun with more people!"

With that, Lin Xiao pulled Lin Yan and Lin Ying along and led the way forward.

Liu Yunan then grabbed his sister and led his men forward, following Lin Xiao, saying:

"Come on, let's go together! Hehe, you guys came just in time, Brother Xiao said there's something fun going on!"

The elders had already noticed the situation here, but they didn't bother with them.

Liao Pantu was initially too lazy to hang out with Lin Xiao and his group of kids, and he also thought that it was no fun going back to his room early during the New Year, so he stayed at the table and listened to the men, women and old folks chatting idly.

But as he listened, his own desire to express himself was awakened.

Gradually, he became unwilling to remain a quiet listener and began to participate.

Everyone was naturally delighted to see him join the group chat.

This person lived for over five hundred years!

No matter what people were saying, he could always chime in with a few words, and every now and then he would bring up something like, "Back in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, there were quite a few things like this, let me tell you—"

Before long, Liao Pantu had completely taken control of the conversation.

He began to recount his cultivation experiences from the very beginning of his practice, with great intonation and rhythm.

Unbeknownst to him, Liao Pantu had become the central figure in the group chat at the dinner table.

Everyone was captivated by the cultivation path he described.

General Mo of many battles, listened with great interest, as did Liu Chun.

This is Nascent Soul Venerable recounting his cultivation experience; it's not something easily heard outside.

As Liao Pantu narrated, everyone seemed to see along with him, witnessing the young boy who left home to join the sect, and how he grew up step by step after experiencing all sorts of human warmth and coldness, and strange and wonderful things.

This New Year's Eve in the cold winter seems to have become both melancholic and poignant.

On the other end.

The once-empty training room was now brightly lit, and a group of children, ranging from a few years old to teenagers, were diligently studying something.

Lin Xiao would occasionally explain and demonstrate to everyone.

Finally, with just fifteen minutes to go until midnight, everyone in the training room had completely mastered the Law Technique.

They immediately turned off the lights in the training room and ran happily down the mountain.

Before descending the mountain, Lin Xiao made a detour to the foot of Returning to the Garden Mountain Dwelling, interrupting Senior Liao's eloquent speech, and addressed the elders:

"Dear grandparents, uncles, aunts, elders, and seniors, please do us the honor of glancing towards the village at midnight!"

After saying that, he immediately slipped away and ran down the mountain.

A group of elders were left behind, their stories interrupted and their understanding unclear.

Before long, the young people who had come down the mountain were in the village, each in their pre-arranged positions, ready to go.

I'm just waiting for midnight to arrive.

As midnight approached, the large bronze gong in Village Chief Du's house resounded through the night sky of Xiushui Village with a loud clang.