My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

"There is a village in the Ten Thousand Mountains called Ginseng Gathering Village. I was rescued and am recuperating here."

"The person who saved me is a girl named A Luo. She's kind-hearted, so you don't need to worry. This place is very remote; the people chasing us haven't been found yet."

He stopped writing here.

He thought of A Luo, of the way she brought in the porridge, of her clumsy movements when she changed his dressing, and of her squatting by the stove to start a fire.

She's a good girl, but he can't drag her down with him.

He'll recover from his injuries here, then he has to leave.

He cannot bring the war to this village.

He continued writing.

"Don't send anyone to pick me up. I'll go back myself. What you need to do is guard those two mansions and wait for my return. You can handle things at home. I trust you."

After writing the last word, he put down his pen, picked up the letter, and blew on the ink.

The ink wasn't completely dry yet; some of the strokes still had a damp sheen.

He looked at it once, then looked at it again, then folded it up and stuffed it into the small bamboo tube.

The falcon tilted its head, its golden eyes looking at him. Zhou Yan reached out and gently stroked its back.

The feathers are smooth and warm, and you can feel the tiny heart beating inside its body.

"Thank you for your hard work," he said softly.

The falcon did not respond, but simply tilted its head again.

He lowered his head and tied the bamboo tube tightly to the falcon's leg, afraid it would fall off on the way.

The falcon's legs were tied.

Zhou Yan stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

A cool night breeze blew in, ruffling the unfinished draft on the table. The corner of the paper curled up and then fell back down.

He held the falcon in his palm and raised it to the window.

The falcon glanced at him, its golden eyes reflecting his face—pale, thin, with bluish stubble on his chin.

It spread its wings, flapped them twice, and then suddenly pushed off and flew away.

Zhou Yan stood by the window, watching the falcon fly higher and higher, farther and farther away, until it disappeared into the darkness.

He stood there for a long time before closing the window and sitting down at the table.

The draft was still lying on the table, with a few lines of text written on it, where he had stopped writing halfway through.

I couldn't help but feel a little emotional. The world of these villagers is very small, so small that it consists only of this village, these few mountains, and the ginseng dug out of the ground.

But his future path encompasses the entire world.

That's right, this chaotic world is about to begin, and he also wants to sit on that throne!

Zhou Yan picked up the draft, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the corner.

The crumpled paper landed there, rolled once, and then stopped.

He didn't look at it again.

But to truly possess this world is far more difficult than that.

When chaos is about to break out, the first to stir up trouble will be the demons and monsters. Without the help of enlightened people, he will not even be able to maintain order in the mansion.

Fortunately, his father had already established a connection with a sacred mountain while he was alive, and he naturally took over this relationship.

However, for some reason, the sage of this sacred mountain had refused to descend the mountain before.

I will definitely visit them more often after I return this time.

With the help of a wise master from the sacred mountain, his chances of success will greatly increase.

After all, he had personally witnessed the other party cleave half a mountain in half with a single sword strike.

These people in the Hundred Thousand Mountains do indeed have some skills, but they are only taking a side path. No matter how skilled they are, can they be as skilled as the masters of the immortal mountains?

I remember my father saying that this sacred mountain called itself—Shushan!

......

It was completely dark.

Several lanterns were hung in A Luo's courtyard. They were sent by the clan elder in the afternoon. They were made of red paper and had candles inside, casting a dim yellow glow.

The table wasn't big enough, so the elder had someone bring over another round table. The two tables were placed together, covered with a coarse cloth with a blue background and white flowers, and the bowls and chopsticks were arranged neatly.

The dishes were served one by one, in large bowls, steaming hot.

The first dish is braised bear paw.

Zhao Tieshan had already prepared the bear paw of that bear demon that afternoon. He removed the fur, scraped off the skin, and braised it with dark soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, and garlic for a full hour. When it was served, it was shiny with oil and fell apart with a single poke of chopsticks.

The second dish was stewed bear meat, cut into large chunks, with red dates, goji berries, and codonopsis. The soup was so clear it was like water, but one sip was so delicious it would make your eyebrows fall off.

The third dish was stir-fried bear offal, with heart, liver, stomach, and intestines finely chopped and seasoned with dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. It was so spicy that you could gasp for breath, yet you couldn't bear to put down your chopsticks.

There were also a few vegetarian dishes—stir-fried wild mushrooms, cold bracken salad, and wild vegetables with garlic sauce—all of which A-Luo picked from the mountain that afternoon; they were very tender.

Lu Yang sat at the table, looking at the dishes, and his throat bobbed several times.

He had been smelling the aroma for ages, and now his stomach was growling like a drum.

Miao Gui sat next to him, also swallowing hard.

The chubby baby squatted in A Luo's arms, his hands gripping the edge of the table, staring longingly at the plate of braised bear paws, drool dripping down his face onto the tablecloth. A Luo took a handkerchief to wipe it for him, but the drool continued to flow.

The saliva landed on the ground, and instantly everything came to life. Seeds sprouted and flowers and grasses jumped upwards.

Ye Qingfeng sat in the main seat, holding a teacup, and slowly sipped his tea.

He looked at the dishes on the table but didn't touch his chopsticks.

After waiting for a while, Lü Yang couldn't help but ask, "Immortal Master, aren't you going to eat?"

Ye Qingfeng put down his teacup, picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of stewed bear meat, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and swallowed it.

"good."

Lu Yang couldn't wait any longer. He reached out with his chopsticks, picked up a large piece of braised bear paw, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and his eyes lit up.

"Delicious!" he mumbled, picking up another piece.

Miao Gui didn't stand on ceremony and picked up a piece of stir-fried bear offal with his chopsticks. It was so spicy that he kept gasping for breath, but he kept eating.

A Luo picked up a piece of bear meat for the chubby baby, blew on it to cool it down, and put it in his bowl.

The chubby baby grabbed it with his hands, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it until his mouth was full of oil, and his eyes narrowed into slits.

After eating for a while, the clan elder led Zhao Dazhu in carrying a large plate of dishes.

That dish was also bear meat, thinly sliced ​​and neatly arranged, sprinkled with chopped green onions and minced garlic.

The elder placed the dishes on the table and said with a smile, "Daoist, these were made by Tieshan and the others. They said they wanted you to try them."

They originally wanted to deliver it themselves, but they were afraid of bothering you, so they asked me to do it for them.

Ye Qingfeng looked at the clan elder and said, "Let's eat together."

The clan elder waved his hand: "You're too kind, Daoist. Tomorrow is the grand ceremony, and I have to go to the temple to oversee things; I have a lot to do."

"Please enjoy your meal, Daoist Master. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

Zhao Dazhu waved his hand, saying that he still had to help prepare the offerings for tomorrow.

Ye Qingfeng did not linger and nodded.

The clan elder took Zhao Dazhu away.

Lu Yang picked up a piece of the newly arrived bear meat from the plate, dipped it in garlic sauce, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and nodded.

"This is delicious too. Captain Zhao's cooking is quite good."

Miao Gui also picked up a piece, didn't say anything, but just gave a thumbs up.