Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 49 Anu's Letter
A few days after returning from the town, the craftsmen began to arrive at Jinliu Village one after another.

After Shen Yuan led them to Blackwater Pool, one of the old craftsmen paced around and observed for a long time. He couldn't help but praise, "Patriarch Shen truly has excellent taste. This place is definitely a feng shui treasure. Building a house here will surely bless the family with prosperity and many descendants."

People become better with age.

These veteran craftsmen have traveled all over the country, and in addition to their superb skills, they have also become masters of verbal communication.

These days, who doesn't like to hear some nice and auspicious words?

"Thank you for your kind words. I look forward to your hard work from now on."

Shen Yuan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, then briefly explained his requirements.

In his past life, he had dreamed countless times of exhausting nights that one day, when he retired, he would return to his hometown, find a place nestled against the mountains and by the water, build a small courtyard, plant flowers, fish, and live a leisurely retirement life.

Therefore, when he had nothing to do, he would look at renderings of Chinese courtyards online more than once.

Unfortunately, their wish ultimately failed.

Now that I've been given a second chance at life, and it just so happens that I'm building a new house, I naturally have to incorporate some of my favorite things into it.

These old craftsmen are all truly skilled, and they can easily meet most of his requests.

In short, as long as the money is there, nothing is difficult.

With the details finalized, both parties discussed and decided to locate the foundation of the new house on a slightly flat site that offered a panoramic view of the entire Blackwater Pool.

After construction began, Shen Yuan became even busier.

Every day, in addition to checking on the progress of the new house construction site, I also have to take care of weeding dozens of acres of land. After the orchard on the mountain was damaged by the refugees, some peach trees also need to be carefully pruned and straightened to ensure that they will not affect the future.

In addition, the timber from the other five acres of mountain forest also needs to be cut down as soon as possible, as it will be needed to build a new house at any time.

This time, Shen Yuan was smarter. He went to the town government office in advance to report and paid ten taels of silver in logging tax before he could cut down the trees with peace of mind.

His wife, Hu Yufen, had repeatedly urged him to find some day laborers to help him.

But when he thought about the construction of the new house and how much money would be spent every day, Shen Yuan couldn't bear to part with it.

Fortunately, he is now at the Acquired Martial Artist level, and his body is stronger than that of ordinary people; otherwise, he would have been exhausted long ago.

mid-September.

When Shen Yuan returned home from Blackwater Pool, his wife Hu Yufen excitedly stepped forward, clutching a letter in her hand.

"Anu's letter."

Shen Yuan washed his face, smiled, and accepted the letter, saying, "You brat, after being gone for months, you finally remembered your parents."

He took out the letter and read it carefully.

"At the beginning of the month of You (酉), your son respectfully bows in Lincang."

"The city of Lincang is surrounded by nine rivers and guarded by three mountains. To the east of the city, a hundred miles away, lies the Cangwu Ridge, where the great Confucian scholar Fengming built his hermitage and lectured. The mountain is steep and wind blows through it, the sound rising and falling like chanting scriptures. In front of the hermitage, on a solid stone, a hundred rhymes of the Great Dream Sutra are carved, impervious to wind and rain."

Legend has it that on the day of Lichun (the beginning of spring), the morning glow illuminates the wall and one can see the flowing characters. Unfortunately, my son was there at the wrong time and did not see the spectacle, which is a great pity!
There was also the famous city of Tianzhang, with four surnames and eight families, and twenty-seven sages who wrote masterpieces such as "Lin Shi", "Ba Hong" and "Yue Jing Bu Yi". I was fortunate enough to see them with my teacher and was greatly impressed!

The Mingquan Academy in the west of the city is a place that scholars and literati flock to. Among the seventy-two springs in the academy, the "Mohua Spring" is the most extraordinary. Every autumn equinox, the spring water turns a dark jade color. You can write on it by scooping it up, and the color will not fade over the years. The renowned scholar Zhan Tai Wujiu once used the spring to write "Suihua Lu". The ink was fragrant and attracted black birds to carry grass to it.

Today, beside the "Brush Washing Pool," one can still see the ink stains of ancient sages on the stone, displaying the wondrous colors of dragons and phoenixes in flight...

The first chapter of the letter, a lengthy hundred-word piece, was filled with his observations from the journey. Between the lines, Shen Yuan could feel his son's awe and excitement about his experiences on this study tour.

After hearing this, Hu Yufen smiled, but also pretended to be angry and said, "You brat, you're just showing off all the time, you don't even ask if we're doing well at home..."

"He's not as good as his older brother in this respect!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan couldn't help but laugh and said, "That's just how Anu is... Don't worry, there's still one more."

After handing the first letter to Hu Yufen, Shen Yuan looked at the second one.

Soon, he finished reading the second letter, which recounted his experiences at Mingquan Academy in Lincang, where he debated with scholars from all over the country and visited several sages in Lincang with Lu Zhiyuan.

Until the very end, there was only one sentence: "Words cannot express everything. Your son is doing well. Parents, please do not worry."

"Look, look!"

"This brat is not as filial as Stone."

Hu Yufen chuckled and scolded as she stuffed the letter back into the envelope. Although she was scolding, she still carefully put the letter away.

"Sigh!" "This study tour has broadened his horizons considerably. Yunzhong is remote. If he hadn't gone out, he might never have known what the Central Plains, a land of abundant resources, was like."

"It is even more difficult to see Tianzhang City, Mingquan Academy, debate with scholars from all over the world, or seek knowledge from the sages of the time."

Shen Yuan sighed.

Hu Yufen nodded slightly after hearing this. Looking at the family letter in her hand, she couldn't help but think of her eldest son, Shen Wenxing.

"Husband, it should have been a long time since the great victory in Fengxian County, and Shitou should have returned by now. Why haven't we heard from him yet?"

Shen Yuan shook his head slightly: "How would we know about matters of the imperial court?"

"But I don't think anything should happen."

"Alright, you go ahead and cook. I'm going to cultivate for a while."

……

Western Regions.

The setting sun shone like blood, and on the vast battlefield, corpses lay strewn everywhere, the neighing of warhorses and the screams of soldiers rising and falling.

The tattered banners stood crookedly, and broken spears and arrows were scattered everywhere.

"Pooh!"

Wearing tattered leather armor, with disheveled hair and a face covered in blood, Shen Wenxing spat out blood and foam from his mouth, leaning on a long staff as he looked around.

"Is anyone still breathing?!"

With a shout, several people among the corpses lying haphazardly around him shakily stood up.

"General!?"

Seeing that one of the figures resembled Zhang Bin, Shen Wenxing quickly ran over.

At this moment, Zhang Bin was covered in blood, and half of his left cheek and ear had been cut off!
The flesh was mangled and bloody, and it looked extremely gruesome and terrifying!
With Shen Wenxing's help, he staggered to a high slope.

The other hundred or so soldiers who were still able to move also gathered around.

"Stone……"

A faint sound came from the left front. Upon hearing the sound, everyone rushed over.

Beneath a giant shield pierced by a sharp spear, Zhao Jinhu, his face contorted in pain, struggled to get up, but his shoulder was pierced by the spear, pinning him firmly to the ground!

"Help!"

"Don't pull the spear out!"

Several soldiers hurriedly helped Zhao Jinhu up from the ground and removed the giant shield.

"Quickly clean up the battlefield and see if any of our brothers are still alive!"

Despite the pain on his face, Zhang Bin shouted in a hoarse voice.

After receiving their orders, dozens of soldiers began searching among the corpses scattered across the mountains and fields.

"General, have some water."

Shen Wenxing handed a blood-stained water bag to Zhang Bin.

Zhang Bin took the water pouch, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and frowned as he looked around.

"How come so many of those barbarian sons of bitches are warriors?!"

"Our elite troops outnumbered theirs by several times, yet we only achieved a pyrrhic victory in the end..."

"I wonder if the General has succeeded?"

As Zhang Bin spoke, he turned to look at Shen Wenxing: "Kid, you can ride a horse?"

Shen Wenxing patted his chest and said, "Please give your orders, General!"

Zhang Bin took out his token from his pocket and threw it over, saying, "You must go to Wuya Mountain immediately and inform the General that our left flank army is no longer able to fight. If we cannot take He County, we will have no choice but to retreat."

Shen Wenxing took the token, immediately found a good warhorse, and headed towards Wuya Mountain.

(End of this chapter)