The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 138 Two Comparisons
The townspeople are busy building the Taoist temple.

Zeng Daniu walked slowly through the town alone, his eyes scanning the streets and houses, hoping to find one or two children with good potential to bring back to the mountain gate.

However, after looking around, nothing seemed quite right.

"It's too early after all," he muttered to himself, a hint of helplessness flashing across his brow. "But if we don't take advantage of this now, we may never have such convenience again."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped and stared at a house by the roadside.

At first glance, the house seemed unremarkable, and the layout of the courtyard even hinted at a period of decline, suggesting that the owner had died in his prime! But a strange intuition in his heart was unusually strong—he was certain that this house was extraordinary!

After pausing for a long time, he finally took out a compass from his robes. Although it was not his natal magic weapon, it was something he had kept from his early years, and in this situation, it was particularly suitable and convenient.

He held his breath, watching the compass circle the house twice. When he finally stopped where Du Yuan had stood, the compass in his hand suddenly spun wildly, the needle spinning erratically!
"Who is this gentleman?"

A woman's voice came from behind.

Zeng Daniu was startled and turned around abruptly. He saw a woman standing by the door, with two children timidly hiding behind her.

This made Zeng Daniu's eyes light up, and his gaze instantly fell on the two children, but then turned into a barely audible sigh—their potential was only so-so, far from being good material.

“I hope this lady is well,” Zeng Daniu said, regaining his composure and nodding slightly. “I was passing by this place and noticed something unusual about this house, so I took a second look.”

The woman looked at the compass in his hand that was still trembling, and nodded as if she understood.

Zeng Daniu also bowed slightly, preparing to leave.

Just as he stepped past the two children, one of their childish voices suddenly rang out:

"Mom, look! How come a little blade of grass is sprouting out there?"

Zeng Daniu's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and he looked in the direction of the sound—

Where his eyes fell, was the very location he had just determined with his compass! A tender green seedling, emerging from the water, had quietly broken through the soil!

How come I didn't see it before?
Then he suddenly looked at the child who had witnessed this strange phenomenon.

Having arrived in search of immortality, sprouts emerge from stubborn soil—is this not destiny?

After thinking for a moment, Zeng Daniu immediately said to the woman:

"Madam, I want to take this child away and teach him cultivation!"

After saying that, he gently pressed his palm against the trunk of the jujube tree beside him. Before long, three red dates quietly fell from the tree, which had not yet borne any fruit.

"Don't worry, I'm definitely not some charlatan or swindler!"

He also presented the three red dates to the woman.

The incredulous woman hurriedly took the jujube, but after taking a bite, her heart skipped a beat.

Knowing it was true, she really wanted to say that the child was so young and couldn't be separated from his mother.

But when it actually came to mind, it turned into:

"You want to take that child away?"

Zeng Daniu looked at the child who had sprouted grass from the soil.

The other person, feeling scrutinized, hid even more closely behind their mother.

After a moment of struggle, the woman asked another question:
"Can we only take this one child?"

Zeng Daniu said after careful consideration:
"Sister, you must understand that forcing things is never as good as it seems!"

The woman's throat bobbed with difficulty, but after a moment, she suddenly awoke and said:
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

Having said that, she rushed into the house, followed by a commotion. Zeng Daniu then saw the woman carefully carrying something as she walked over.

"Miss?"

The question had barely been uttered when Zeng Daniu's pupils constricted as he saw what the woman's hand was when she opened it.

Because it was a dazzling gold copper coin!
'No wonder I stopped here!'

Looking around and seeing that no one else was nearby, the woman hurriedly placed it in Zeng Daniu's hand and said:
“I’m just a country woman with nothing of value and little knowledge, but I want to give this to you in exchange for you taking my two children with you and teaching them well!”

Parents' greatest hope is for their children to succeed so that they can live a good life in the future.

Whether you're studying or doing business, it's all for this.

She knew she couldn't afford to send her two children to school, and even raising them would be incredibly difficult. Therefore, she wanted to seize this opportunity!

Following the immortal is better than following her incompetent mother.

Looking at the gleaming gold coins in his hand, and then at the pleading woman before him.

Zeng Daniu thought of his parents in this life.

They pleaded with their master to take him away in the same way.
After a moment of silence, Zeng Daniu respectfully cupped his hands and said:

"Please rest assured, I will definitely teach these two children carefully and treat them as my own!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at the money in his palm.

After much hesitation, he finally sighed and handed it to the woman, saying:

"This is an item that embodies the power of the Great Dao, and it is indeed extremely precious, but I really cannot take it!"

He then placed it back into the woman's hand:

"Please put it back in its original place! Take good care of it!"

The woman holding the coin stood there, stunned.
-
Du Yuan, who had already traveled an unknown distance, was now standing in front of a fortified village.

He heard that this fortified village had been explicitly prohibited by the previous dynasty and ordered to be demolished.

However, with the changes in the southwest, and with the tacit approval of the imperial court, fortified villages near the southwest reappeared like ghosts. This was both a compromise by the imperial court to the local powerful families and a tacit mutual assistance between the two sides.

Therefore, seeing a fortified village means that the southwest is very close at hand.

Du Yuan glanced at the tightly closed fortress gate, pondered for a moment, and finally gave up the idea of ​​knocking on the door. He turned and looked around, trying to find another place to stay.

His gaze swept across the surroundings, and he indeed spotted a village of moderate size. But as soon as he approached, Du Yuan couldn't help but frown.

This village has about thirty or forty households.

It was the time of year when smoke was rising from chimneys, but looking around, there was only one house with smoke rising!
Looking at the rest of the houses, they were all deserted, and many were visibly dilapidated and in ruins.

Is it really this desolate just because it's near the southwest?
What kind of tragic situation must be in the southwestern hinterland?
After three years of severe drought, war broke out again...

Thinking of this, Du Yuan couldn't help but let out a low sigh. He composed himself, stepped forward, and raised his hand to knock on the only wooden door that was still inhabited.

The knocking had barely begun when a flurry of activity erupted from inside, followed by an angry shout:

"I told you not to light a fire! You mustn't light a fire! But you just wouldn't listen!"

Before the cursing had even subsided, several more muffled slapping sounds rang out.

Upon hearing this, Du Yuan spoke up:
"Please rest assured, I'm not a bad person. I just need to stay the night. Don't worry, I won't stay for free!"

(End of this chapter)