Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

There was no other way. Unlike the corpse-drivers who were responsible for "delivering goods to your door," the Taoist priest started out by slaying demons and monsters. His main business was to fight in various places, so his kung fu naturally focused on how to effectively kill enemies.

The female knight-errant also travels to various places to slay demons and monsters, which is very compatible with the Xuanqing Temple.

If she frequently fights monsters, many of the elixirs and talismans in the Taoist temple will be of help to her.

However, Yan Huai'an shook his head when he heard his question.

She didn't seem to be there to buy anything; perhaps she just wanted to stroll around the mountain and see if she knew anyone.

Zhuang Xing did not forget that when he left Hundred Flowers Valley, the Valley Master gave him a piece of spruce branch, saying that if he met Yan Huai'an again, he should take the branch with him.

That spruce branch is amazing; even though it was broken, it didn't wither. To this day, it's still tender and green, with not a single leaf turning yellow.

Wherever Zhuang Xing went, he carried that spruce branch with him—on his way home, on his way down the mountain. Right now, he was on the mountain, and the spruce branch was in a ceramic jar in his house, soaking in water.

He quite liked that spruce branch, but it wasn't meant for him after all. Since he was meeting the rightful owner, he should take the spruce branch with him.

"Sister Yan, is there anything I can help you with?" Zhuang Xing asked.

Yan Huai'an shook his head: "No."

"Then come sit in my room, sister. I have something to give you," Zhuang Xing said. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, sister."

He said he visited her in Yidu last year, but Sister Yan had already passed away by then. He was very happy to see her again today.

The female warrior remained as cold and aloof as ever, her face expressionless. But she nodded, and Zhuang Xing led the way, taking her inside the house.

“My house is a bit out of the way, so you’ll have to walk a little further. There are five little demons and one ghost inside. Don’t be afraid, sister. They are all good demons. They are five red pandas that have become spirits. The ghost is just the ghost of a little girl.”

This was no illusion; walking beside Yan Huai'an, Zhuang Xing felt that the hot weather had indeed become cooler.

The female warrior seemed like a portable air conditioner, perhaps due to some kind of cooling magic. He couldn't help but move closer to her, but as he got closer, he not only felt a coolness, but the coolness even turned into a chill.

However, he didn't think much of it. The female knight had lived longer than he had in two lifetimes combined. When you live a long time, you see all sorts of things. Maybe this was a lost secret technique she learned from somewhere to resist the scorching heat.

As he walked, he talked, mainly to explain the situation of the little panda and Xiao An. The panda and Xiao An had special identities, and to ordinary people, they were both evil beings, which would inevitably frighten them.

Zhuang Xing wasn't worried that the female knight would be frightened. She was knowledgeable and experienced, having single-handedly destroyed Tiger Great Sage's mountain. There probably weren't many things in the world that could frighten her. Zhuang Xing was mainly worried that she might not understand the situation and scare the panda.

He slowly recounted how he met the red panda and how he took it in.

Now everyone in the temple recognizes the pandas, and the pandas have become familiar with the temple. Zhuang Xing doesn't usually discipline them much, and they often chase and play on the rooftops and walls. Sometimes, when Zhuang Xing is too lazy to cook, he entrusts the task of bringing food to them. The chefs in the kitchen have long been familiar with the pandas, and Zhuang Xing has seen them more than once. The little pandas roll around on the ground, acting cute, and begging for food from the chefs.

All along the way, only Zhuang Xing's voice could be heard. There were hardly any other people on the road. There would be more people on the road when the city was open on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month. At this moment, the disciples were either in class, practicing, or drawing talismans, reading scrolls, or studying their own "Dao" in quiet places.

That's Sister Qiaoxia. Every month, she works very hard to draw talismans in order to earn some pocket money in the mountain market.

Yunling was also tending to the medicinal herbs in the medicine shop. Summer was the favorite season for many medicinal herbs, suitable for sowing and harvesting.

The sun was strong today, and the monks in the temple probably didn't want to be exposed to the sun, so they all hid under the eaves, either drinking tea or fanning themselves.

The further you walk towards the house, the fewer people there are. When you reach the door, you see the vines that have grown into a fence, and a few cucumbers hanging from the vines.

The courtyard is planted with a variety of vegetables, including radishes, cucumbers, and cabbages.

This is where Zhuang Xing lives today, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it his home.

Chapter 222 She must look beautiful when she smiles.

The door was open, and as soon as you entered, you could see two pandas lazily lying on the ground.

They stick out their tongues and let their bellies touch the floor to cool off; it's just too hot that day, so hot that no one wants to move.

There seemed to be only two pandas inside the house; the other three had probably gone out to run wild. They lived in Zhuang Xing's house and did very little work. Xiao An basically took care of sweeping the floor, and washing dishes and burning firewood were only chores to do when it was time to eat. Other than that, they would go to the yard to tend to the vegetable garden. The garden wasn't big; they would water it, catch insects, and pull weeds, and it would be done in no time.

They only go to fetch water and chop firewood a few times a month, and Zhuang Xing always takes them with him. Therefore, the pandas have a lot of free time on weekdays.

When Zhuangxing was at home, they mostly preferred to stay there. But when Zhuangxing went out, they would go out and play by themselves. After staying in the Taoist temple for two years, the place was no stranger to them.

Zhuang Xing only taught the pandas not to be naughty, and they were obedient. In the past two years, they haven't caused any trouble. Usually, they would come home before mealtime, sometimes bringing some wild fruits from the mountains or small snacks given to them by others.

However, it's rare for all five pandas to go out together. Aside from going out with the Zhuang family, they usually leave one or two behind to guard the house.

Even without looking at brand names, Zhuang Xing could tell that the two brothers who stayed at home today were the third and fourth. Of the five brothers, these two were the best friends and were inseparable wherever they went.

The two brothers also have a unique ability to combine and transform. When they are stacked together, they can transform into a tiger. Recently, they have been researching new transformation techniques and trying to transform into human appearances. Unfortunately, when they do transform, their facial features are crooked and disfigured, and their noses and eyes don't match up.

To pandas, human facial features seem quite difficult to discern.

They have a hard time distinguishing one from another by appearance, but they are more sensitive to smell than dogs. One day, Zhuang Xing brought home some pears he bought, and before he even entered the door, the pandas could smell them.

They say they taste it with their tongues; pandas seem to use their tongues to sense smells instead of their noses.

When Zhuang Xing returned to the house, he heard the two bears purring like kittens. They opened their eyes groggily, saw Zhuang Xing, and immediately perked up, rolling off the ground to his feet.

"Your Majesty, you're back!"

"Okay," Zhuang Xing replied.

The pandas also looked behind Zhuang Xing, and by scent, they knew that Zhuang Xing had brought back someone they had never seen before.

The two brothers exchanged a glance, then suddenly hid behind Zhuang Xing, a little frightened.

The person behind the king had an aura that made them tremble. Having lived in the mountains for many years, they were very sensitive to danger, and that chill made them feel very uncomfortable.

Yan Huai'an glanced at the panda at Zhuang Xing's feet, his eyes revealing no emotion.

"Sister Yan, let's go inside first," Zhuang Xing said.

He led Yan Huai'an to sit down in the main room, where it was much cooler than outside.

Xiao An's bones are kept in another room. If the visitor is not someone she knows well, Xiao An is unwilling to come out to see them.

Xiao An doesn't know many people. Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling are two of them. The other two are her family's panda and her father. She is willing to show herself when the old Taoist comes, but she will hide when Da Chun and her senior sister Qiao Xia come to visit.

Clearly, Yan Huai'an was not someone Xiao An knew. Xiao An was probably hiding behind the wall, secretly listening to the conversation in the main room.

She might think that Zhuang Xing brought back a strange woman behind Yunling's back, and she's thinking about finding an opportunity to tell her sister.

Who knows?

Zhuang Xing's attention was mostly focused on Yan Huai'an, the female knight-errant who was his savior and also his idol.

Who wouldn't love a female warrior who can chop off a tiger's head with one hand?

Every time he met the female knight, he felt a rare sense of peace, as if he had returned to the time before his teeth had all grown in. He recalled the sense of security and comfort he felt when the female knight held him in her arms as a child.

Perhaps Yan Huai'an could be the one to become his mother.

In short, he felt extremely happy to be reunited with the heroine.

He went to the kitchen cabinet and took out some snacks and fruits. There were always some small snacks at home, such as pastries and cakes. He also asked the panda to take out some tea leaves and brew tea on a small stove.

When Yan Huai'an returned to the house with the tray of snacks, he was silently observing the spacious main room.

Compared to the monotonous state of the house when they first moved in, Zhuang Xing added many decorations to the house.

It wasn't anything expensive; it was just some flowerpots with plants, a few upright wooden stakes, and a climbing frame near the corner of the wall. The climbing frame was a toy for the little pandas. There were many scratch marks on the wooden stakes. Pandas like to scratch things to sharpen their claws, so Zhuang Xing prepared these things to prevent them from wreaking havoc if they ever went berserk.

Zhuang Xing placed the snacks on the table and couldn't help but share his experiences of the past two years with the female warrior.

Although his cultivation level is still far behind Yan Huai'an's, he feels that he is growing little by little, and should have grown into someone who will make Yan Huai'an feel that saving him back then was a good thing.

He slowly told Yan Huai'an about Xiao An's affairs, the panda's affairs, and his travels from Chenzhou to the capital last year.

As they were talking, the sound of boiling water came from the kitchen.

"Your Majesty, the water is boiling!"

"Coming." Zhuang Xing got up and went to the kitchen to make tea.

In the sweltering heat of summer, drinking hot tea isn't ideal, but after Yan Huai'an came in and stayed for a while, the room not only didn't feel hot, but actually became a bit chilly, making the hot tea perfect for it.

"Are you afraid of that older sister outside?" Zhuang Xing asked the panda in a low voice before serving the tea.

The panda pricked up its ears, remained silent, and simply nodded nervously.

"It's alright, come with me to see her. She's a good person, she won't turn you into jerky." Zhuang Xing patted the panda's head.

He knew the heroine's personality; she would definitely like such a cute little animal as a panda. When they met in Yidu, he saw her pet a tabby cat, but the tabby cat didn't appreciate it. Instead, its fur stood on end, and it screamed and ran away.

When the cat ran away, the female warrior looked very disappointed. She seemed to be born disliked by small animals. When the fox talked about her, he also said that she was a woman like a killing god, extremely terrifying.

Although there was nothing Zhuang Xing could do when the heroine was away, he naturally wanted to do his best to make her happy when she came to visit. He wished she could smile, as he had never seen her smile before. He knew she would look beautiful when she did.

Chapter 223 We Will Win

Under Zhuang Xing's persuasion, the two little pandas left the kitchen tremblingly.

They followed Zhuang Xing closely. Zhuang Xing put down the tea, and the third and fourth brothers were carried to the table one after the other.

He reached out and petted the panda. After two years, he knew exactly which part of the panda's body was most sensitive.

The panda purred contentedly and rubbed against Zhuang Xing's hand on the stone table. Because its limbs were short, it couldn't scratch its head and back. When these areas itched, it would usually rub against tree bark. Even when it wasn't itchy, it liked to have its head and back scratched, as it made it feel very comfortable.

The little panda rolled around comfortably, lying on its back on the stone table, its eyes half-closed.

No wonder these adorable creatures are nationally protected animals kept in zoos. Besides their outstanding cuteness, they are actually quite weak in terms of survival ability.

Compared to the most common cats, tabby cats can be seen everywhere. They not only catch mice, but can also climb walls and steal leftovers from other people's homes.

Wild red pandas are much less fortunate in this regard. They are used to living in the high mountains and can only eat bamboo leaves and berries on a daily basis. Even if they steal a bird egg, they are afraid of being pecked all over by the mother bird.

If they sneak into someone else's kitchen to steal salted fish and cured meat, their plump bodies will likely get stuck in the cracks of windows and doors before they can escape, and they'll be caught red-handed.

However, excluding these weaknesses and focusing only on its strongest point, Red Panda is terrifyingly strong.

Competing with a cat in cuteness might be a bit tricky, but if you ask if the red panda would lose, Zhuang Xing would answer without hesitation with three words:

We will win.

"Sister Yan, why don't you touch them too?" Zhuang Xing said naturally.

Yan Huai'an paused for a moment, then slowly extended his hand under Zhuang Xing's gaze.

Before her hand could touch the teddy bear, the bear's body suddenly stiffened.

When she placed her hand on the panda's back, Zhuang Xing felt the panda's fur stand up a little. As the last two of the five panda brothers, they were not as brave as their eldest brother, but they were rarely seen so uneasy.

The female warrior's aura was a bit intimidating to the naive little demon.

The female warrior seemed to realize that the panda didn't like being touched by her. Just as she was about to pull her hand back, Zhuang Xing increased the pressure and tickled the panda's itch. The little panda's stiff body immediately relaxed.

"How about we have baked flatbread tonight?" Zhuang Xing said.