Cultivation: Being Immortal - Chapter 110
Huangmu Village
Huangmu Village was the name given to the village by the refugees. Its inspiration came from a type of tree bark on the mountain that had a pale yellow color. This type of tree was very hard and was an excellent material for making furniture and constructing houses.
On this day, Lin Jiang, shirtless, paraded around the village carrying a wild boar weighing two to three hundred pounds. The women in the village looked at him with mouths watering, craving the wild boar meat in Lin Jiang’s hands, and also longing for Lin Jiang’s eight-pack abs.
“What are you trying to do, Third Aunt?”
If there are timid ones, there are also brave ones. Lin Jiang had only taken a few steps when a fierce old lady blocked his path. Lin Jiang looked at her and got scared, trembling.
“Lin Kai, when are you going to marry my daughter?”
“Third Aunt, your daughter doesn’t even like me. Why should I marry her?”
“No, that won’t do. You’ve already seen everything of my daughter. You can’t just not marry her.”
“Third Aunt, you can’t make things up. Your daughter went up the mountain to chop firewood. Her clothes got torn, and one arm showed. Is that considered seeing everything?”
“Seeing the arm means seeing everything, right?”
“Alright, alright, alright. If it’s just a craving for meat, come to my house later. I’ll cut you a piece of pig’s trotter, alright?”
“Haha, Lin Kai, you said it yourself.”
“I did say it, but Third Aunt, next time if you want to swindle me for something, just tell me directly. Don’t scare people with your daughter.”
Lin Jiang reluctantly said, looking at the chubby girl behind Third Aunt. Lin Jiang was truly afraid.
“I’m serious. Look at my daughter’s figure. She will definitely be able to have sons in the future. So many people want to marry her, and I am not willing.”
“I’m going first.”
As soon as Lin Jiang heard that, he quickened his pace and escaped back home. Third Aunt was really daring to pull him into her house. He would lose his innocence in this life.
“Lin Kai, you’re really lucky. You never come back empty-handed when you go into the mountains.”
“That’s necessary.”
When they reached the front door, they met Xiao Yuan, greeted him, and went fishing. Even if they went hunting in the mountains, they never came back empty-handed. Who made them have Shadiao as their cheat code?
“How should we divide the pork today?”
“I’ll keep half, and the rest will be divided. I’ll give Third Aunt a pig’s trotter as promised. Uncle Xiao will help to skin it, and we’ll exchange the skin for something else.”
Lin Jiang said, it has been the third year since Huangmu Village was established. Two and a half years ago, Lin Jiang gave up his cultivation and now he is an ordinary person. But even as an ordinary person, his physical fitness is not comparable to ordinary people. If it weren’t for his modesty, even Xiao Yuan, the Martial Arts Master, would not be as good as him.
Huangmu Village came here to seek refuge and they need to watch out for each other, so the neighbors get along very well. They would share almost anything and they stick together. Lin Jiang also really enjoys this atmosphere.
As soon as Xiao Yuan heard it, he went back to get his tools and came to help right away. Xiao Yuan is a skilled butcher. He can skillfully remove the skin of the prey. Whether it’s making clothes after tanning the skin or selling it for money, it’s all very good.
“Little Lin, don’t you consider Auntie San’s daughter? She definitely has a good figure and can surely bear sons.”
Xiao Yuan chats with Lin Jiang while working, this helps to relieve fatigue.
“No, I’m afraid that if she turns over at night, she will crush me to death.”
“You are such a funny kid. What about Xiufang? Although she is a widow, she is hardworking and capable.”
“Uncle Xiao, it’s you that Xiufang is interested in, don’t push it onto me.”
“I already have four daughters-in-law at home, I can’t afford to have more. There are capable men in the village, but you are the only one who hasn’t gotten married yet. This won’t do.”
Xiao Yuan said that their village doesn’t need to pay taxes because there is no government. So after coming here for a year, they solved the problem of having enough to eat and drink.
This mountain is very generous. They can grow crops in the fields, there are wild fruits, medicinal herbs, and even game animals on the mountain. They are not lazy and after one year, they have become completely stable.
After having enough to eat and drink, they need to consider the issue of reproduction. There are many young men and girls in the village. As long as you can support them, you can marry as many as you want. In general, all the young men have wives, except for Lin Jiang.
“Uncle Xiao, haven’t I told you before? I still have a fiance in my hometown. I got scared at that time and ran away. I don’t even know if they are alive or not. If they are alive, I can’t betray them.”
Lin Jiang brought up this excuse again, mainly because he really looked down on these village women. After they solved the problem of having enough to eat and drink, they just ate a lot. After all, strong bodies can work hard. And Lin Jiang used to be a regular customer at the “Spring Coming Tower” and “Baihua Tower”, where there were women who practiced immortality. He was used to eating delicacies from mountains and seas, how could he eat coarse grains now?
“You are a good kid, but you just won’t be open-minded. People, when they’re alive, should look forward.”
“My father also taught me that a person should keep their word. How can we give up on a promised marriage?”
“But what if your fiance dies or gets married to someone else?”
“We can talk about it when that happens. Anyway, with my skills, I won’t have trouble finding a wife, right?”
“Okay, you’re right. After removing the skin, I’ll take out the tendons and make a few more bows and arrows. Although there are no fierce beasts in this place, we still need to be cautious.”
Xiao Yuan had already removed the skin while speaking. Next, he had to prepare the tendons. The village still needed a few more bows and arrows. This place was a rare treasure spot. It had been three years, and not only were there no monsters, not even fierce beasts had visited. However, he still had to be a little cautious.
“Take the skin and exchange it for some fabric. I need to make clothes or else those women in the village will all look like fierce beasts.”
Lin Jiang said, in the village, many things couldn’t be produced, so they had to be traded. They would use the skin, dried sausage, medicinal herbs, and so on, to trade. Xiao Yuan would go out once a month.
“Third Aunt and the others really can’t do it anymore. If it were me, I would have sneaked into your bed in the middle of the night already.”
“Hehe.”
Lin Jiang rolled his eyes.
“Okay, we’re done. How should we divide the meat? You decide. Just give me the kidneys and the precious parts.”
Xiao Yuan finished the work quickly. He didn’t ask for anything else, just set his sights on the two precious parts. He was getting older, and his natural talent as a master couldn’t hold on anymore.
“Leave a bit for Fang Yuan and divide the rest equally.”
Lin Jiang said that he didn’t get close to anyone in the village except for Xiao Yuan and Fang Yuan, so it’s fine to divide things evenly.
In fact, there’s no tax at all in the village, and life is quite decent. With Xiao Yuan, Lin Jiang, and Fang Yuan around, there’s always plenty of game. Otherwise, how could those women weigh almost 100 pounds?
“Alright, I’ll go call some people to divide the meat. Come over to my house tonight for a drink, and bring Fang Yuan along. We’ll discuss inviting a fairy.”
“Uncle Xiao, are we really going to invite a fairy to protect the village?”
“Yes, we have to. There’s no way this place can go without ferocious beasts every year. I can deal with ferocious beasts, but I can’t handle demonic beasts. I still remember how we escaped from the village back then. I don’t want to go through that again.”
Xiao Yuan shook his head and said that he didn’t know why there were no ferocious beasts and demonic beasts here, but he knew they existed in the mountains. In order to prevent a tragedy from happening again, he had made a decision.
Lin Jiang didn’t say anything more. Currently, Xiao Yuan is the leader in the village because he’s the strongest, followed by him and Fang Yuan. Despite Lin Jiang losing his cultivation strength and not showing off, his body, tempered by spiritual energy, is not something an ordinary strong man can compare to.
Now, unless Lin Jiang demonstrates even stronger power to become the leader of the entire village, he can only listen to Xiao Yuan. But Lin Jiang has no interest in being the leader. There are too many problems and not much benefit.
That evening, Lin Jiang and Fang Yuan went to Xiao Yuan’ house. The meat was wild boar meat that Lin Jiang hunted today, and the wine was made from wild fruits found on the mountain. Xiao Yuan’ wife was a talented cook, and her cooking skills were excellent.
“The nearest big town to our Huangmu Village is called Qingshan Town. It’s about 360 miles away from here. In that town, there is a Zhao family who are the biggest landlords. They have several cultivators. I’ve already spoken to the people from the Zhao family, and if there are other cultivators who are willing to come to our village, we will invite them.
“What are the usual requirements for a cultivator to be stationed in a village?”
“Lin Kai, how did you invite the cultivators from your village before?”
“I don’t know. I was still young at that time and my family didn’t tell me. How about the previous cultivators in your village?”
“The previous cultivators in our village were expensive to invite. They had to be given 3,000 kilograms of grain every year, 800 kilograms of meat, unlimited vegetables, and we even had to provide women for them, preferably young and pretty ones.”
“And they also had to work in the fields, Uncle Xiao.”
Fang Yuan added from the side, which made Lin Jiang a little surprised. If we invite a cultivator back, wouldn’t that be like inviting an ancestor?
“Uncle Xiao, considering the situation in our Huangmu Village, can we afford to support such a cultivator?”
“I am also worried about this. Before, our village had over three hundred people, with over a hundred of them being young and strong. Now there are only a little over a hundred people, with less than thirty of them being young and strong. It’s going to be tough to support them like this.”
“Then let’s not invite them, we’re living quite well now.”
Lin Jiang said that he really didn’t want to invite the cultivator. It’s not because he’s afraid of the secret being exposed. Those independent cultivators at the early stage of Qi Refining wouldn’t be able to find any clues. He just didn’t want to give away his hard-earned harvest for free. That’s much worse than the harsh taxes imposed by the government.
“We can’t do without inviting one. If the demon beasts come, we’ll be wiped out. It’s already difficult to escape once. I never want to go through that again.”
Xiao Yuan said, and Fang Yuan agreed. Over three years ago, they had to flee for over two months. It was too hard, too hard. They never wanted to go through that again.
“What do we do if we can’t afford it?”
“That’s why we have to have more children, Lin Kai. You have to work harder.”
“We don’t have enough time to have them tomorrow.”
“Let’s see first. The immortal won’t arrive so quickly. Starting from tomorrow, Lin Kai and Fang Yuan will go to the mountains to hunt and gather herbs more often. I’ll make a few more trips to exchange things. We’ll also need to cultivate the fertile land outside the valley. I plan to go to other villages and recruit some homeless people to come back. With more people, we can afford to support them.”
(Translated by Gravity Tales 😠)
Xiao Yuan said that the valley has been developed, but outside the valley, there are large areas of fertile land that can be cultivated. If he can recruit seventy or eighty strong men to come back, then he can afford to support the immortal.
Lin Jiang felt helpless about this. It seemed that he couldn’t stop Xiao Yuan and the others. Lin Jiang didn’t think about it for too long and decided to just go find them. After all, a cultivator in the Qi Refining Period posed no threat to him. He just needed to hide for another seven or eight years, and then he could leave without a trace.