Journey to the West: The Immortal Clan Begins by Feeding Monkeys at Five Elements Mountain

Chapter 126 A Night of Spiritual Rain, Soul Manifestation
The wind rose suddenly, and so did the rain.

At first, there were only a few muffled claps of thunder rolling along the eaves, low and deep, like hidden blades, yet without revealing their edges.

In the blink of an eye, darkness descended, pressing down so heavily that even breathing felt difficult.

A figure rushed up from the old house at the foot of the mountain, against the wind and rain, with steady steps, each step sinking into the mud and water.

It's unclear whether she was thinking about the rather shabby treehouse or the equally shabby person inside.

Inside the room, Jiang Yi was sitting with his eyes closed, practicing breathing exercises and calming his mind into a state of meditation.

The wind and rain grew increasingly chaotic, eventually pulling him out of his reverie.

He opened his eyes, his brows furrowed slightly, and without saying a word, he got up, lit a lamp, put on a robe, and walked towards the door.

With a creak, the wooden door opened.

The originally raging wind and rain seemed to have been gently pressed down, suddenly stopping half a beat.

Even the noisy forests that had been bustling all night fell silent for a moment, eerily quiet.

Three figures stood silently outside the threshold.

One of them was Jiang Feng, his hair still dripping wet, his body soaked through, and he was slightly out of breath, as if he had braved the wind and rain to come up against the current from the foot of the mountain.

One of them was the little girl, dressed in plain white, her sleeves unfurled, standing quietly to one side, as if the storm had nothing to do with her.

The last person was a complete stranger.

At the tender age of twenty, dressed in a black robe and looking slender, he stood there in the middle of the rain.

He didn't use an umbrella, yet the rain couldn't get within three feet of him, making his face appear even whiter.

Between his eyebrows and eyes, he vaguely resembled that little girl by three points.

The three of them stood there like that.

The wind galloped behind them like a horse, and the rain poured down from the sky, making the shadows of the trees sway, the grass blades swirl, and even the eaves were shrouded in a gray mist.

But the hems of the black and white shirts were spotless, as if the rain had bypassed them and the wind had made way for them.

The man in black spoke first, his voice clear and cool, like jade after rain:

"I am Moang, and I have come to find my younger sister."

“My younger sister is unruly and has been a great trouble to me lately. I am deeply grateful for your kindness and care.”

His words were extremely polite, but his tone was indifferent, distant yet not intimate, and welcoming yet not cold.

Jiang Yi hurriedly waved his hand, about to say "It's alright," but before he could speak, his eyes met the other person's.

That glance, indifferent yet not cold, profound yet not somber, landed squarely on the heart, as if seeing through a person from skin to bone to the very soul.

Jiang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and the breath he had in his chest to agree vanished completely upon meeting that gaze.

Just then, a flash of lightning appeared on the horizon.

A bolt of lightning tore through the night, illuminating their faces for a fleeting moment as if snow had just fallen.

Namoang raised his eyes slightly, glanced at the surging mist on the back mountain, and then lowered his head to sweep the green mud on the hillside beneath his feet.

His expression remained unchanged, and his tone was still calm and normal, but his voice became slightly hurried, as if he dared not linger there any longer:
"My younger sister is very grateful for your kindness. I was away on a short trip and did not prepare any small gifts."

"Seeing that your spirit is about to settle and your mind is still floating, I will give you this rain."

Before he finished speaking, he casually flicked a finger from his sleeve, as if he were just casually brushing off the hem of his clothes.

But the originally overwhelming wind and rain, as if obeying a command, subsided in an instant.

The torrential rain that fell from the sky left only a fine, silky trail of raindrops, lukewarm and gentle, sprinkling only on the half of the hillside where the Jiang family lived.

The roar of the mountains subsided into silence, leaving only a gentle drizzle, carrying moisture and a sense of tranquility, as if the entire forest had fallen still.

Jiang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a warmth between his brows. It was as if a seemingly insurmountable barrier had eased slightly with the touch of the rain.

He suddenly looked up again.

The sky and earth were clear and hazy, and the figures in black and white had vanished without a trace, leaving only the mountain wind rustling the leaves and the soft sound of rain.

Da Sun Jiangfeng stood blankly in front of the eaves, water dripping from his hair, his eyes still lingering on the scene from just now, not quite recovered for a moment.

Jiang Yi stood on the threshold, his eyes unwavering, quietly pondering the phrase "the soul is about to condense."

Looking up again at the rain, so gentle and serene, with the world seemingly at peace, it truly seemed like a gift from heaven.

His gaze narrowed slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, as if he had some speculation.

Without further delay, he turned around and pulled Jiang Feng inside.

"Come in."

Before he finished speaking, he had already turned around, stepped out of the door, and headed straight down the mountain to his old house in the drizzle.

A moment later, he returned with Li Wenya and Jiang Rui.

"Rest in the new house tonight. If you can't stand it, go out and relax, but don't leave the foot of the mountain."

He spoke briefly, but his tone was firm.

One person distributed a few Qi-boosting pills, and seeing that the mother and her two children had entered the house and settled in, he said nothing more and returned to his own room.

The wooden door creaked shut, and the lamplight flickered dimly.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, a few strands of rain still clinging to the hem of his clothes, damp and sticking to the bedding.

At this moment, however, there was no time to think about anything else; he had already begun to softly recite the "Taishang Laojun's Scripture on Constant Purity and Tranquility" in his mind.

The sound and breath act as a guide, and the divine thought follows suit, the energy gradually sinking down, like ink entering a well, without causing ripples.

In a moment, his soul sank back into the still, night-like void.

This time, the scene was quite different.

Wherever the divine thought went, the two points of light became even clearer.

A beam of light, as intense as the sun, shone brightly, its fiery intent flickering, as if about to burst forth from the sky;

A restrained, moon-like aura, its clear light shining brightly, cool yet not cold, possessing a protective, serene quality.

The two no longer stare at each other in isolation, but rather, like the eyes of a yin-yang fish, slowly rotate in the void, intertwining, separating and uniting in a harmonious manner.

Heaven and earth are clear and bright, and yin and yang rotate naturally.

Before dawn, it was still that brood of spirit chickens that woke Jiang Yi.

This time, however, the rooster's crow came not only from behind the house, but from all around.

Far and near, high and low, it seemed to linger at the foot of the mountain, or perhaps emanate from the treetops, enveloping the entire room. Jiang Yi slowly opened his eyes.

As I lifted my eyelids, the morning light, like water, poured in through the window lattice and gently sprinkled on the bed.

However, the void within that divine thought, as still as night, did not dissipate with the morning light; instead, it became even more steadfast in the light.

With just a slight thought, those two points of light, one yin and one yang, seem like divine beings that have received a command, and reappear from the depths of the heart.

One movement, one stillness; one contraction, one release—like two fish playing in the water, the flow of energy turns on its own, endlessly regenerating.

Although Jiang Yi was pleased with this, he was not surprised.

When he first heard the "Taishang Laojun Shuo Chang Qingjing Jing" (Scripture of Constant Purity and Tranquility Spoken by the Supreme Lord Lao), he had only read half of those words when a Taiji diagram popped into his mind.

Now, it has fallen into the realm of the spirit and soul, which is simply a natural outcome.

He straightened his clothes, got up from the couch, and pushed open the door to the main room.

As soon as the door opened, a flurry of wings could be heard, dense and numerous, like a rain of feathers.

As soon as Jiang Yi looked up, he froze on the threshold, as if his feet were nailed to the ground.

All I could see was my own flock of pheasants, flying up and down, circling back and forth around this half of the mountain.

It wasn't jumping or leaping, but truly flying.

At first, he thought he was just seeing things because he was still in shock.

Although this third generation is well-raised and fed frequently, it is not uncommon for it to be able to leap three or five feet in a day.

But that's just "flailing around," relying on strength to crash upwards.

The creature before us is poised to take flight, its feathers clearly defined, and with a light, graceful turn, it can land steadily on a treetop and dust itself off.

Jiang Yi raised his hand to rub his eyes, then looked again.

That's right.

Those glossy feathers, those strong legs, those round bellies—they were indeed their own flock.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it wasn't just the chickens in the sky that had gone wrong.

His gaze shifted downwards, landing on the patch of land in front of the house.

Just one night later, the entire patch of herbs had grown taller, their leaves shining brightly green.

Looking at the newly planted spirit trees, their branches were thicker, their leaves were even greener, and their tips even shimmered with a faint spiritual light.

The entire new house was completely enveloped in this lush greenery.

From a distance, the eaves and corners of the walls were completely swallowed up, leaving only a dense, impenetrable expanse of green.

Jiang Yi stood at the door, his eyelids twitching, and his heart skipped a beat.

He didn't care about the chickens flying and frolicking in the sky, and turned around to disappear into the orchard behind the house.

The moment you step inside, a dense, almost dripping, spiritual energy rushes towards you, carrying a moist, warm mist.

Mist rises from the forest, branches and leaves droop low, their greenness deep and serene.

Looking up further, Jiang Yi paused, stunned for a long while.

Those spirit trees that were originally expected to bear fruit in three to five years, or even ten years, have now all blossomed and are busy bearing fruit.

Some were green, some were half-red, and a few were so plump they looked ready to burst, hanging heavily on the branches, swaying and spinning in the breeze.

The branches, still somewhat immature, were already bent over under the weight of the water droplets, which rolled down the veins of the leaves, breaking apart in the mist and spreading into a small, denser cloud of water vapor.

Jiang Yi walked silently into the woods, the fallen leaves under his feet soft and the soles of his boots sinking slightly.

The morning dew on the branches had not yet dried, and the air was still damp.

He looked them over one by one, his gaze lingering on a tree with half-red fruit before moving away.

My fingertips brushed against a glossy, green fruit, leaving my fingers covered in dew—it felt quite pleasant.

As I watched, a smile crept onto my lips.

As I walked along, I unknowingly arrived at the house built on the old tree.

This was truly the first time he had ever been so close to this place.

Standing under the branches and looking up, the house was leaning precariously on a few thick branches, the seams between the planks were not very neat, and the wood did not appear to have been polished.

But for some reason, it was firmly embedded, steady and secure, and didn't sway at all no matter how the mountain wind stirred it.

Jiang Yi's heart stirred slightly, and his feet naturally lifted up, stepping onto the few simple wooden steps.

The person had just arrived at the door and hadn't even stood still when they peeked inside.

I felt a dense, almost dripping, spiritual energy, mixed with the lingering morning mist, rush out and hit me head-on, its coolness clinging to my face.

The force was like the crashing of a tide, silent yet powerful, making his heart tremble.

He could faintly hear the sound of waves lapping against the lake of his heart, the rhythm neither too fast nor too slow, which stirred up ripples in his still-unsettled thoughts.

Jiang Yi frowned almost imperceptibly, his thoughts immediately subsided, and his mind sank slightly like a stone.

In an instant, I felt as if the Yin and Yang in my mind had gained the vitality of water, and spontaneously swung back and forth.

The surging wave of spiritual energy seemed to have crashed into a void, dissipating silently and completely.

Jiang Yi stood at the door, his feet not moving, but his gaze became calmer, and he clicked his tongue softly.

This place has truly become a treasure trove.

Located right next to the spring vein in the back mountain, it naturally has the strongest spiritual energy.

Last night's spiritual rain not only nourished the spiritual plants in the mountains and fields, but also reached this small hut perched on the treetop.

In addition, the little girl possessed pure dragon energy, which she had been lingering here for several months, breathing it in and out day and night.

This small space has long been imbued with extraordinary qualities.

Although it still looks like a rough bamboo and wood structure, they're too lazy to even smooth out the seams between the boards.

But if you stand among these branches, it no longer resembles a house, but rather a spiritual pool suspended above the treetop, dedicated to nourishing the spirit and gathering energy.

If you practice the Dharma of the Water and Wood lineage here.

It's likely that the time it takes to take a nap behind closed doors is equivalent to several days of hardship for others outside.

(End of this chapter)