The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 744 Shen Le, take it easy, don't wander off, and don't go to the rival's place and pretend to disappear! (Seeking monthly votes)

One month.

Shen Le walked steadily and practically through all the outposts we visited at altitudes above 5000 meters—Shenxianwan, Maweitan, and Tianwendian…

And those outposts at altitudes of over 4000 meters, but with extremely harsh geographical and climatic conditions. For example, the "outpost in the clouds"—Zhan Niangshe Outpost—built on a snow-capped mountain peak, surrounded by near-vertical cliffs;

For example, there's the Zhuola Outpost, a "sky outpost" situated atop a snow-capped mountain at an altitude of over 4600 meters...

We walked step by step, firmly treading the ground, treading the path that border guards had walked day after day, year after year, with their youth and lives.

On one side of the road are the plateau, the smooth road, the motherland, and the lights of thousands of homes behind us;

On the other side of the road are cliffs, abysses, adversaries, and a certain country that is determined to destroy us and wants to take a piece of our flesh at any moment.

Feel the fierce winds, extreme cold, avalanches, and all sorts of harsh weather conditions; feel the solid and majestic earth beneath your feet; feel the unwavering will to protect the land echoing along the road.

Gradually, he became more and more calm, as if he had turned into a giant rock on a high mountain.

So much so that when he returned to Zhuxi Town after this performance tour, the first thing the landlady said to him was:

"Shen Le, are you still alive?"

"what……?"

Shen Le's eyes darted around extremely slowly, taking a long time to focus and finally make out the landlady's radiant face. The landlady waved her hand dismissively in front of his eyes.

"From a distance, I thought it was some stone demon coming, it was so thick and heavy, it shook the earth! It's you! -- By the way, why have you gotten so dark?"

Shen Le blinked extremely slowly, so slowly that the proprietress was exasperated, genuinely worried he'd get dry eye syndrome. After a moment's thought, she grabbed a mirror and shoved it in front of his eyes.
"Look!"

It took Shen Le a while to react. After leaving the last outpost, he strolled along the border, not knowing how far he had walked.

He only knew that he was surrounded by the earth's energy and supported by the mountains, and that magnificent, vast, yet gentle and resilient power seemed to have become one with him.

This feeling was wonderful, so wonderful that he didn't even realize how much time had passed. He didn't react until he reached the plains, at which point he quickly teleported home.

"Ah! Why am I so dark?!"

Not only did it get darker, but it got terribly dark, with streaks all over its face, and dry, cracked skin, like the cracks on the surface of a tea egg.

Not to mention his hair, which was of varying lengths and stood up like an uneven hedgehog. At first glance, he looked like a refugee who had fled from famine!
Fortunately, he had considerable authority at Tianxiang Restaurant; the proprietress spotted him immediately and pulled him into a private room. Let's go to a restaurant we don't recognize—

"Brother, please sit down. Brother, please wait a moment. Brother, I'll make you a bowl of noodles. If it's not enough, just let me know. Everyone has their difficulties when they're traveling. It's free..."

"I'm asking you!" The landlady had already started rummaging through drawers and cabinets.
"You're at least ten shades darker. If you went to Africa like this, you wouldn't even need extra makeup to pass as a local! Not only are you dark, but your skin is also chapped and cracked! What did you do to yourself?!"

"Hehe, hehe..."

Shen Le gave an embarrassed laugh. He had walked all the way here, surrounded by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and he really didn't feel like he had gotten a tan.

It now appears that the vital energy of heaven and earth can nourish his body, prevent him from experiencing altitude sickness, and keep him from freezing, but it is clearly insufficient to protect him from ultraviolet rays.

Or rather, he didn't detect the harm from ultraviolet rays, and therefore didn't take any specific magical defenses...

"Here, this is Ningyu Dew, for moisturizing; this is Xueji Cream, for beautifying and nourishing the skin; this is Xianzhao Cream, for conditioning the skin and reducing inflammation and redness."

The proprietress tossed a bunch of bottles and jars into his arms in a flurry of activity:
"Go back and apply what you need to apply, smooth what you need to smooth, and if you need to put a layer on before bed, put it on and get a good night's sleep. Making yourself look like this will scare away any young girls—oh, and you don't have a girlfriend either..."

Shen Le: "..."

Boss lady, you're not actually pressuring me to get married, are you?!

He held the bowl of noodles and ate three large bowls of braised mutton noodles, boiled mutton noodles, and crab roe noodles. Finally, he let out a long breath and felt like he had come back to life.

He swung his arms and strolled slowly through the streets of Zhuxi Town, walking along the extraordinary version of the old street built around the houses he had rented out.

Fortunately, it was already dark, and the flickering lamplight concealed his dark face, making him inconspicuous and allowing him to leisurely observe.

As dusk settles, a father carries his young daughter on his shoulders to reach for a lantern hanging in the air, while his mother displays a payment QR code beside him.

A young girl dressed in ancient costume posed on the bridge, and a boy raised his phone to take a picture of her, then held the phone up to her, which caused a burst of screams.
Another child was playing and weaving through the crowd when suddenly a parent grabbed him, shoved a skewer of squid into his mouth, and he ate it with sauce all over his face...

Shen Le walked slowly forward, her steps becoming lighter and her smile widening with each step. Wasn't this very human warmth what those soldiers guarding the frontier were wholeheartedly protecting?

Of course, he did a little bit of work in this process—well, just a little bit, an extremely small amount, but thankfully it was something he could be proud of…

He looked around, then walked back to his mansion, quickly falling into deep thought. At the other end of Nanhua Street, the proprietress stopped cutting mutton, turning her head to look into the distance with a puzzled expression:
"what……"

So fast!

That aura, that aura as heavy as rock and as majestic as mountains, vanished, or rather, condensed, so quickly!

What exactly is Shen Le's cultivation technique? How could he gather, organize, absorb, and digest all this energy for his own use in such a short time?

Shen Le himself had no intention of actively absorbing the earth's energy. Or rather, he simply followed his own thoughts, allowing his mind and body to gradually calm down and adjust to the most comfortable state.

I lost track of how much time had passed during this meditation, and I had no idea how much progress I had made. When I finally woke up, my face was dry and itchy. I rubbed it with my hand:
"!!!"

I'm cracked!

No, I've shed my skin!
The dark skin on his face was peeling off in patches, piece by piece!
Shen Le vigorously wiped his face, only then realizing that before he entered meditation, he hadn't followed the landlady's instructions to wash his face properly and apply those lotions and creams... The best chance to repair it had passed; he was afraid he'd have to live with this egg-shaped face for a long time...

He rolled off the couch, rushed to the bathroom, and scrubbed himself vigorously. Wiping away the condensation on the mirror, he took a closer look:
"call……"

Thank goodness for my current physical condition!

Thanks to the powerful recovery ability brought about by spiritual practice!

After a single meditation session, the previously damaged skin miraculously shed, metabolized, and regenerated on its own!
Now my face is fair and rosy, as moisturized as a peeled egg!
Shen Le was overjoyed, feeling completely refreshed. He sat down at his workbench and once again took out the ceramic blocks that were half-repaired:
"what……"

A trip to a frontier outpost, which seemed to delay the restoration work, turned out to be a case of sharpening the axe before chopping wood!

Shen Le lowered his eyes slightly, his spiritual energy spreading out like mist, permeating into the ceramic block. During the previous restoration, Shen Le's perception of its aura was somewhat vague, only superficial;

However, after a month of walking along the ridge of the snow-capped mountains, Shen Le grasped its pulse at a single glance:

They share the same profound and weighty character. Like the snowy plateau, the birthplace of the Chinese dragon vein, and those outposts guarding the borders of the motherland, they have the same underlying color.

Although there was no evidence, Shen Le felt that it was the inherent character of this nation, accumulated over thousands of years of working diligently with the land and farmland.

Within that, there is the exact same expectation and cry:
Long-lasting peace, the joy of a bountiful harvest, the longing for dwelling, for continuity...

Being able to sense this aura, Shen Le didn't even need to use the copper sheet; he could naturally perceive the direction of its other fragments.
Some of it is in the sea, and some is on land. As for the part in the sea, we'll probably have to ask Yun Kun to take him out to sea and ask the sea monsters to help retrieve it.

And the land portion...

Shen Le frowned:

"Over in Taiwan... Is it really a good time to go now? Tsk, I'd better ask Gu Yulin. These kinds of questions are giving the higher-ups a headache..."

After all, Taiwan is not like Japan, a place where people can make a scene whenever they're unhappy, causing chaos and burning down temples without any psychological burden.

Things are still a bit different on the island. Shen Le asked himself, and he wasn't exactly someone who could grasp policies well—no, he was someone who was very bad at grasping policies…

"Huh, it's busy signal?"

Gu Yulin is extremely busy...

"Yes, yes, a very powerful earth elemental force... According to Shen Le, it directly summons mountain bones from the mountains to rise and form a road surface, or connects with the existing road surface..."

"He probably has superhuman reflexes, but they might be relatively weak... When he was casting the spell, I was standing right next to him, or sitting in a car about 10 meters in front of him, and I barely felt anything..."

"Road strength measurements might be subject to magical interference? Probably, but I'm not sure. It's too technical. I suggest consulting other departments in our bureau..."

Shen Le left, leaving all the trouble on his shoulders. All of it!

Shen Le visited each outpost, reinforced each road and each location, and also personally repaired a large number of maintenance points.

Of course it's good, that's not to say it's bad. In fact, the border guards are extremely grateful. But no matter how grateful they are, they still have to do their jobs.

All the roads that Shen Le repaired need to be re-investigated and reassessed. Even if it's just to determine the road's passability and the frequency of maintenance required, these roads all need to be traversed again...

As someone who followed the entire restoration process and received firsthand information, and who is also within the system so he can be easily bossed around, Gu Yulin has been extremely busy lately...

He was busy until late at night before he finally saw Shen Le's message in his missed call log. His head buzzed, he quickly drank some water, and dialed the number:
"Mr. Shen?"

Then, he was hit on the forehead again, the blow making a loud buzzing sound.
"Please, please don't act on your own! I'm begging you! Please, please!!!" He pressed the scalding phone to his ear, bowing and scraping, almost kneeling before Shen Le:
"Wait for my news! You must wait for my news! This matter could be a big or small issue. If it's small, it's just one person's problem. If it's big, it could involve national policy. Don't just make a snap decision and rush over there!"

Shen Le was indifferent at first—she was definitely going, but when to go was something that could be discussed.

At least he can find the pieces in the sea first, repair them, and then slowly work on the rest!

When he was restoring Li Xingtang, the porcelain pagoda, and the Buddhist shrine, he did it piece by piece, slowly searching and repairing...

"Okay, okay, I'm not in a rush. I estimate it will be at least another month or two before I need to go there. You can take your time to get my opinions and make the arrangements, is that alright?"

"No problem..." Gu Yulin replied, while silently breaking out in a cold sweat.

One sentence from above, and those below are running themselves ragged. You just ask to "go over there to find something," do you know how many people we have to arrange?

Some things require waiting for the right opportunity! Waiting for the right opportunity!
It's not something that can be done just by saying so!
Fortunately, he was just a messenger; he simply passed on Shen Le's request and waited for his superiors to be driven to despair. How long? Nobody knows.

What are we looking for? A few fragments of pottery, possibly artifacts. Quantity? Unknown. Detailed address? Unknown. Could it be in a sensitive location? We don't know, we'll find out when we get there…

Is this an attempt to force our special agents to their deaths?

However, he dared not ignore it. If he left it alone, Shen Le might actually teleport there and then just go wherever he wanted, even staging a disappearance—

What's next? A massive army is pressing in, searching for our missing citizens?

Thank you, but wouldn't it be better to use this tactic on a small, everyday life? It's not worth using it on the other side of the strait!
Countless lights were lit up in the dead of night, as people held meetings, held discussions, and made calculations.

As for Shen Le, after releasing the explosive news, he had no worries at all and just kept calling Yun Kun:
"When are you coming to pick me up? Take me to the seabed over there and help me look for those sea monsters again, and retrieve some things?"

"You should have said so earlier!" After spending more than a month on land, Yun Kun, who had just splashed into the sea and was happily setting off on his mission, suddenly slammed on the brakes:
"If you had told me earlier, I would have left two days later! Now, wait a bit, let me finish this supply delivery!"

Everything else is fine, but the Great Vortex Secret Realm is something he absolutely has to deliver. Only he can deliver it safely and reliably, and he won't be discovered!
(End of this chapter)