Ziwei Immortal Path

Chapter 24 Fishing Boat
Zhang Guanzhi looked terrified and knelt in the snow.

The previous torrential rain and quiet ancient forests all disappeared, replaced by a vast expanse of white snow. Snowflakes were flying in the sky, and a huge furnace was placed firmly in the middle of the snow.

This tripod has three holes and six eyes, and stands on eight corners. It is shaped like an exquisite palace with flying eaves and pointed corners, and is magnificent.

There was a raging flame in the furnace, the flames shot up into the sky, making it difficult to look directly at it.

The snowflakes in the sky swirled and fell into the furnace, but they did not melt. Instead, they acted like firewood, adding fuel to the fire. With each falling snowflake, the flames became brighter, and the flames burned more fiercely, with even crackling sounds.

This red furnace and this little bit of snow evoke an ancient scene where the heaven and earth are a huge furnace and nature is the great smelter.

Zhang Guanzhi knelt in front of the furnace, sweating profusely from the heat. Seeing this weird scene, he became even more terrified. He buried his head in his arms and dared not breathe.

"Where's the sword?"

The ethereal and indifferent female voice suddenly came from the furnace.

"Replying to Master Yu, that person, that person is unwilling to change."

Zhang Guanzhi was startled and opened his mouth hastily, but found that his words were still a little slurred.
"In the market, disciples dare not take it by force..."

"absurd."

A light shout came from the furnace, but a hint of anger could be heard.

"I asked you to change the sword, who told you to take it by force? How can you, a dignified Immortal Sect, act like a mean person?"

The flame in the furnace rose more than ten feet with a whoosh. Snowflakes wrapped around the flame began to dance in the sky, creating a strange scene of water and fire merging together.

"Brother, I understand, that's why I don't dare to break the rules of the city..."

"Why is he unwilling to change? But the sword you hold is too ordinary?"

Zhang Guanzhi quickly explained, "Disciple, I dare not. The sword I hold is also from the hands of a senior from the Jianyi Pavilion of the Nanhuai Immortal Sect. It is a genuine foundation-building magic weapon of the Kanshui lineage."

"That's weird."

Someone in the furnace said something softly, and after a moment, he asked again,

"You can go to the Duty Hall Manager's Office and check who is on duty today?"

Zhang Guanzhi reported, "Replying to the Taoist priest, I have checked and found that Chen Baochong is on duty in Jiangzuo today."

"It's him…"

The furnace cauldron paused for a moment and said lightly,
"I've heard of him. He's the rising leader of the Jiangzuo Wuyin Chen family. He reached the ninth level of Condensation Yuan at the age of eighteen. This kid is not bad. He has the potential to become a Foundation Establishment by the time he's twenty."

"Well, what did he say?"

Zhang Guanzhi looked at the fire in the snow in the sky gradually fading away, and his heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally relaxed. He whispered:

"Manager Chen said that one of them is from Nanhuai, from the Fei family of Dongke, Nanhuai, and his name is Fei Wenyu. The other one is a sword cultivator from the Xu family of Fengqing, Yuchuan, and his name is...Xu Boyang."

"Xu family?"

A strange voice came from the furnace, the voice was empty, and it chuckled twice, it was impossible to tell whether it was happy or angry, and it only said:
"Where is the Yuchuan Fengqing Xu family? You, a disciple of the Nanhuai Zhang family, speak incoherently and timidly. You don't have the courage of a cultivator at all. You are nothing! That's all!"

"boom!"

"Brother, brother! Wake up!"

Zhang Guanzhi woke up slowly and found himself lying on the stone steps at the entrance of the store. Junior Brother Bian was calling him. He shook his head hard, but found himself feeling dizzy and wondering:

"What's wrong with me?"

"Brother, you just went out with a sword in your hand, how come you collapsed in front of the store?"

"Sword? What sword?"

Zhang Guanzhi was startled and felt around with his hands. He found a sword hanging from his waist, and he felt even more puzzled.
"What am I doing with a sword? Where am I going?"

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out and struggled to get up.

"Brother, I'm afraid you've gotten drunk on the spirit wine. Don't drink on duty anymore. If the shopkeeper finds out, you'll be punished."

"Drinking? Did I drink?"

Zhang Guanzhi was about to explain himself when he suddenly found himself unable to speak as his mouth was filled with foreign objects.

He was immediately frightened and bent over to spit out something white.

There were bits and pieces of snow on the ground, but it was actually a bunch of snow.

Zhang Guanzhi was terrified and asked, "Where did this thing come from?"

.........

Wuyin Town, south bank of Xinyue Lake, reed marsh.

"Wow!"

A sound of water!
A blue-black osprey emerged from the water, holding a fat, golden crucian carp in its long beak, and flapped its wings above the water.

"Ouch!"

Old man Chen stood by the boat, his eyes and hands were quick, he quickly used the longbi in his hand to catch the fish, he was afraid that if he was a little slower, the fish would have gone into the osprey's belly.

The osprey, deprived of food, flew unwillingly onto the bamboo pole across the stern and chirped twice.

"Haha...alright, alright, here you go!"

Old man Chen threw the fish into the bamboo basket. When he heard the cry, he couldn't help but laugh dryly. He turned around, grabbed a handful of small white fish from a small jar next to him, and threw them over one by one.

The osprey bent its neck, opened its big mouth, and took one fish at a time. In a blink of an eye, five were swallowed. Then it flapped its wings and started chirping.

"It's getting late! Don't go, it's time to go home!"

Old man Chen cupped his hands to shield his brows, looked at the sun, and knocked on the side of the boat twice with a bamboo pole, signaling the osprey not to go into the water.

The osprey folded its wings and walked back and forth on the bamboo pole.

"Let's go! Go home and cook!"

Old man Chen pushed hard, and the small fishing boat swayed gently on the water, leaving ripples and heading towards the shore.

As the sun sets, a man, an eagle and a boat wander among the dense and sparse reeds, which is the leisurely scene of a fishing boat in the evening.

Old man Chen tied a rope to the ferry, picked up the bamboo basket and put it on his back. He pursed his lips and whistled, and the osprey flew onto his shoulder, curled up obediently, tucked its neck in, squinted its eyes and didn't move.

"Good Eagle!"

Old Man Chen looked up at the sound and saw a handsome young man in a white robe sitting cross-legged on a large rock over two meters high on the shore. He smiled and looked at him with a sharp gaze. The rock had been there for who knows how many years. It was tall and large, and the surface was slippery, making it difficult for an ordinary person to climb up without tools. Old Man Chen hadn't noticed it until he heard the sound and realized there was someone on it.

The young man was dressed in spotless white clothes, with eyebrows flying into his temples. It was obvious at first glance that he was not an ordinary person.

Old man Chen squinted his eyes and smiled, nodded and bowed as a greeting, but did not dare to say anything.

This young man was naturally Xu Boyang who came to gather energy.

He and Fei Wenyu left Fang Cun Jian and flew to the south bank of Xinyue Lake in a shuttle. They searched the sky for a while, found a relatively secluded place, and then landed.

The gas extraction process takes three months from the beginning of spring to the Grain Rain. Xu Boyang naturally couldn't let Fei Wenyu wait here in vain, so the two agreed that Fei Wenyu would come to pick him up after the Grain Rain.

Originally, Xu Boyang planned to go back by himself after picking the flowers, but Fei Wenyu insisted on picking him up. It was rare to have such concern from a fellow traveler, so Xu Boyang couldn't refuse the kindness and had to accept it.

After Fei Wenyu said goodbye, Xu Boyang searched all the way and found this huge rock on the shore. It was surrounded by dense reeds and relatively secluded, with only a dilapidated ferry on the lakeshore.

Seeing that the ferry had been in disrepair for a long time, he thought it might have been abandoned long ago, so he sat down on the big rock and began to practice.

There were only six days left until the beginning of spring, so he couldn't gather any Qi for the time being. Of course, he couldn't gather any Qi from the "Shanyin Night Snow" that he practiced. He could only study Taoism diligently and comprehend its true meaning.

Xu Boyang originally planned to go to the [Purple Star Fate Palace] to see if he could exchange for a higher level of Taoism, but on the one hand, he was short of spirit stones, and on the other hand, he was only one step away from the sixth level of Qi Condensation, so he suppressed the idea.

He was a strong-willed person, and since the Lingguan had spoken to him in person, he naturally couldn't let others look down on him.

After sitting like this for a whole day, he suddenly felt his ears move and sensed some movement. He opened his eyes and saw Old Man Chen slowly rowing his boat out from the reed marsh.

Seeing the old man with a hunched body carrying a basket full of fat fish, and the osprey with shiny feathers and well-behaved and sensible appearance, he smiled knowingly and couldn't help but praise it.

Seeing the old man Chen nodded and smiled, he pursed his lips slightly and closed his eyes again.

Seeing this, Old Man Chen quickly ran away. After walking two miles, he slowed down, took a breath, and said to himself:
"This young man has a handsome face, and his eyes are like an eagle's, piercing the eyes. Not to mention, he looks a bit like my Chong'er."

He suddenly thought of his little boy at home, and his face darkened slightly as he thought to himself:
"Chong'er has been taken away by the immortals in town for ten years. I don't know how he is doing. If you don't come back, I'm afraid I won't be able to see you anymore because I'm too old."

When I thought of this, I felt a little sad. I shook my head and walked back home.

The next morning, just after daybreak, Old Man Chen got up from home, had breakfast with his wife, and drove his pony and donkey to Wuyin Town. He saw a pile of bamboo baskets at the market and started shouting.

The fish were plump and delicious, and they were all sold out before noon. The old man counted the cloth in his bag, which was more than sixty pieces of hemp. He couldn't help but smile, and carrying the empty basket, he turned around and went to the market to buy some food and clothes.

After returning home, he put down his belongings, looked at the sun, then caught the osprey from the birdcage, took a bamboo pole and a hat, and walked towards the ancient ferry crossing by the lake.

Old man Chen has three sons, but they all live in the town. The eldest and second sons have already started their own families and careers, and the youngest son has even become an immortal. He could have gone to the town to seek blessings a long time ago, but the old man was not used to living there and still liked to wander around the reed marshes in his own reed village every day.

It only took half an hour to reach the ancient ferry.

This ferry has been abandoned for many years, and the surrounding waterways are winding and secluded, like a maze. Therefore, the young fishermen in the village are not familiar with the way and do not like to come here. Only Old Man Chen has been here for a lifetime and knows everything about it. However, he does not have enough strength, so he thinks of hiding from his young and strong colleagues, and he actually reaps a lot of rewards.

But I didn't expect that when I arrived at the ferry, I was stunned.

After a night, the young man in white clothes who was sitting on the big rock was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, motionless, standing there like a statue of a god.

Old man Chen was a little shocked. He quickly put on his hat, lowered his head and walked over quickly.

Xu Boyang had already discovered it, but at this moment he had some sudden realization in his mind and was too lazy to pay attention to it.

In the evening, Old Man Chen returned from fishing. The situation remained the same, but he saw the young man in white robe opened his eyes and smiled. The old man had no choice but to smile too and left in a hurry.

When I got home and told my wife Huang about it, she was also surprised and asked, "You haven't eaten or drunk anything for a whole day and night, so you must be very hungry, right?"

"You are talking nonsense. Try to see if you will panic if you starve for a day." Old man Chen cursed angrily, threw down the bamboo basket, and said,

"I'll go check again tomorrow. If he's still there, he might actually be an immortal!"

Huang's eyes lit up. "If it's an immortal, then it must be the immortal who took Chong'er away. Send him some fish tomorrow and ask about Chong'er's condition."

"I can take care of myself!"

Old Man Chen stamped his chopsticks, took a couple of mouthfuls of rice, and suddenly remembered something. He cursed, "I told you you're stupid, and you're still not happy. He's not eating or drinking, so what's the point of the catch? You're really stupid! Tomorrow morning, count out three hundred pieces of linen for me, and I'll deliver it to him when the boat stops tonight."

"You better watch your mouth and don't go out and yell in the village. If you're really an immortal, that could cost you your life!"

Huang glanced at him, pursed her lips, stood up and went into the inner room.

…………

The setting sun casts half of the reed marsh in red.

Old man Chen put the boat aside and stood at the ferry with a basket on his back, hesitating to go across. In his hand was a cloth bag filled with three hundred pieces of linen.

After a while, my palms were full of sweat.

"What's the matter, old man?"

The young man in white robe opened his eyes and asked with a smile.

The sound was not loud, but it reached Old Man Chen's ears clearly.

He panicked immediately, rushed over, knelt down, and said incoherently: "Immortal, Immortal, I am Old Man Chen from the nearby Reed Village. May I ask if you are the immortal on the mountain?"

Hearing this, Xu Boyang laughed dumbly because of the incoherence. He didn't know what this old man who came to fish every day was doing. His figure flashed and he landed on the ground. He gently helped him up and said:
"Please stand up. I have learned some magic skills, but I dare not call myself an immortal. I wonder what you want, old man?"

Seeing Xu Boyang's approachable attitude, Old Man Chen was delighted. He quickly opened the cloth bag in his hand, held the cloth coins in both hands, and said with a smile: "I am giving you some money. I only want to ask you one or two questions. Please accept it."

Xu Boyang was amused and pushed it back, saying, "For cultivators like us, money is just a thing outside of our body. If you have any questions, just ask. There's no need to do this."

"No, no, this is too embarrassing. I disturb the immortal's practice every day. Please accept this small token of my appreciation."

Old man Chen was a straightforward person. Seeing that Xu Boyang refused to accept it, he didn't dare to ask. He just kept stuffing the money into Xu Boyang's arms, and the two of them started to pull each other.

Xu Boyang couldn't refuse, so he said, "How about this? I see you catch a lot of fish every day, so why don't you treat me to a meal as compensation? What do you think?"

"OK!"

Old man Chen laughed heartily, then happily took the cloth coins and said happily,

"In that case, Immortal, please come home with me. I'll ask my child's mother to prepare a few dishes!"

After saying that, he quickly took two steps forward and led the way.

Xu Boyang looked at the kind-hearted old man and couldn't help but think of his father at home. His heart was filled with warmth and he said with a smile, "Thank you for bothering me."

Thanks to my book friends Baiyuedaoren, zhuoxi, and Langlangsuifengqiwanshikeqi for their monthly tickets!

There have been a lot of comments from book friends in the past two days, thank you. Because of the golden finger, the protagonist has no sect and no support from family elders, so he looks a bit stupid, haha, but there is no problem with his values. I plan to make him smarter later.

Also, the editor said this week that it can be recommended. Please recommend it and read more. Thank you!

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(End of this chapter)