Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

It's impossible to say for sure which is better or worse.

The Taoist priest wasn't a fortune teller who could predict everything perfectly; it was something the fox should decide for itself.

Seeing that the Taoist remained silent, the old fox paused for a moment and then said to Cai Bei, "Mr. Cai, would you allow us to discuss this further?"

"Please go ahead."

So a group of foxes gathered together and began to discuss the matter, each offering their own opinion.

There's nothing profound about it; they only care about one thing: how to ensure the survival of their species.

To put it bluntly, it's about what you need to do to have food to eat.

Nothing is more important than eating.

Only when you're full can you have the leisure to do other things.

Besides eating, their second biggest concern is their own safety.

The lower the risk, the better. If a risk can be avoided, then avoid it. Hiding and hiding is the way these little demons survive.

Therefore, they soon reached a conclusion and unanimously agreed that it was best to follow Tsai Ing-wen's lead.

Not only do they have someone to guide them, but they also don't have to worry about being caught red-handed.

"Please show us the way, Mr. Cai," the old fox replied to Cai Bei on behalf of the family.

"Great, great, great!" Cai Bei was overjoyed and slapped his thigh repeatedly.

That day, he chatted with the fox until sunset.

Aside from the matters on the stage, the teahouse's location and when it would be completed were all discussed in detail. It wasn't something that came up on the spur of the moment, showing that Cai Bei had indeed been thinking about this for a long time and had made preparations beforehand.

Zhuang Xing listened from the sidelines, sometimes offering his own suggestions.

For example, during intermission, you could help promote other restaurants and pharmacies to earn advertising fees, basically giving ideas that can make money so the teahouse doesn't lose money.

Before we knew it, it was getting late. There was still a lot to talk about, but it was time to take the fox back to the village.

“I never expected Brother Zhuang to have such insights into business matters.” Cai Bei exclaimed in front of the courtyard gate, “Brother Zhuang is truly a genius.”

"It's not actually my own opinion; I heard it from somewhere else, and after seeing it, I relayed it to Brother Cai." Zhuang Xing revealed a meaningful smile.

"Really? But with Brother Zhuang and the fox spirits' help, I have a feeling this teahouse will be a huge success." Cai Bei laughed heartily. "Brother Zhuang, don't forget to come and support us. I'll save you a seat."

"Definitely," Zhuang Xing replied.

Chapter 341 Strange Tales of Yidu

By the time they returned to the monster village, it was already night.

All the monsters returned to the village, and most of them hung the nameplates that had been given to them during the day around their necks. When they walked, the iron plates clattered together, making a clear, tinkling sound, like little bells.

A black cat came to Zhuang Xing's feet. This was not an unfamiliar black cat; for Zhuang Xing, identifying a cat was not difficult.

"Look, my name is on this!"

The black cat raised its head and revealed the nameplate with words engraved on it.

"I learned how to write my name today too!"

As it spoke, the black cat lowered its head and used its little paws to draw the words "Black Tail" crookedly on the ground.

To be honest, the handwriting is very difficult to decipher, far inferior to that of Zhuangxing's younger sister, but for a cat to write at this level on the first day, it must have taken some effort to learn.

"Congratulations, Brother Heiwei," Zhuang Xing said with a smile.

"We went to a really big place today!" the black cat said boastfully. "Someone taught us how to climb up the logs, and now I can tie knots with rope. When I tie a knot, they give me dried fish. I'm the fastest learner cat!"

"Brother Heiwei is very clever," Zhuang Xing said.

"hey-hey."

The cat was overjoyed after receiving just one word of praise from the Taoist priest.

Compared to their initial meeting when she only thought about escaping, the cat and the Taoist are now quite familiar with each other.

It was naturally outgoing and talkative. Today, after going with others to see many things it had never seen before, it couldn't wait to share what it saw and found interesting with the Taoist.

The cat and the Taoist priest are already friends, and friends should share with each other.

Zhuang Xing was also curious about what Mao'er had done today. He only knew that Bai Yu had taken the cat demon to the shipyard, but he didn't know what the specific arrangements were. Besides, listening to Mao'er tell stories was also an interesting thing, so he found a place to sit down and quietly listened to Mao'er talk.

There are many places to rest in this village. This place is close to the city wall of Yidu. It is not a front-line outpost. Apart from the watchtower, its main function is to provide a place for scouts and officials to rest. In fact, it is similar to the function of a post station. Sometimes it is also used to receive envoys and also serves as a guesthouse.

Zhuang Xing and Black Cat casually sat down on a bench in a shed, and Black Cat began to recount his experiences of the day.

It is said that people took them to a big house, made them carry ropes, climb up and down, and taught them to distinguish various small objects made of wood or iron.

Halfway through their conversation, Yunling brought an oil lamp and silently sat down next to Zhuang Xing.

She also brought two large flatbreads, piping hot, fresh out of the oven.

She didn't go with Zhuang Xing during the day, but instead went to the dog demon's place to use her physiognomy skills to judge which constable the dog might get along with.

According to Yunling, this is like judging which part of the field a wheat stalk will grow better.

Seeing Yunling sit down, the cat glanced behind it and asked, "Where's that blind cat-bear spirit who came with you last time? Didn't it come?"

“It went back to the mountain. It doesn’t come down often, and it can’t help much when it comes, so I didn’t call it.”

"Is that so? I thought it would come with you this time. It's fine that it didn't come. I was even going to treat it to some dried fish," the black cat said.

When the name Shoumu was mentioned, Zhuang Xing thought of Er Ya.

As the king of pandas, Zhuang Xing always kept the important matters of the pandas' lives in mind.

He had been planning this for a while and wanted to ask the black cat.

When the topic of guarding the eyes came up, he followed up with further questions.

"Speaking of which, there is another thing I would like to ask Brother Heiwei."

"what's up?"

"Is there a simple way to make an ordinary tabby cat as intelligent as Brother Blacktail?"

Why are you asking this?

"My red panda has fallen in love with a tabby cat, but that tabby cat is just a tabby cat, not as clever as Brother Blacktail."

"So you want that tabby cat to be a little smarter?"

"Correct."

"But aren't you afraid that the tabby cat will get smart and run away?"

"Then I can only say that my panda and it are not meant to be. Besides, I think that a panda that has become a spirit and a tabby cat that hasn't become a spirit would get along better. At least they could talk to each other and wouldn't misunderstand each other."

"Alright." Whether the cat understood or not, it simply nodded and said, "I do have a solution, but I need to ask if they can tell you."

"If there's a way, that's good. I can trade something for it," Zhuang Xing said.

"Then wait here for a while."

After saying that, the cat jumped off the table and burrowed among the furry little animals until it found an old cat. It meowed a few times, seemingly starting a conversation.

During this free time, Zhuang Xing and Yunling talked about what had happened on their respective sides during the day.

Before they could exchange more than a few words, the black cat nimbly jumped onto the table once again.

“The boss said he can help you,” Black Cat said, “but you’ll have to wait a few days until we’ve prepared the things before we give them to you.”

"What do I need to exchange for it?" Zhuang Xing asked.

"No need, it's a gift for you," the black cat said. "You helped us, so we should help you too, so you don't need to exchange anything for it."

"Then I'll accept your kind offer." Zhuang Xing didn't stand on ceremony.

The black cat wagged its tail: "I haven't finished yet, let me finish..."

Zhuang Xing smiled, eating his pancake while listening to the black cat tell stories.

The evening breeze caused the lamplight to flicker, and the shadows of the Taoist priest and the cat swayed between the wooden fence.

Behind them, the newly paired police officers and dog demons were getting to know each other, and the cats lined up to get their evening fish, creating a rare sense of tranquility.

...

Half a month later.

A new teahouse opened on Ziyun Street, east of Yidu. It was small, but it quickly gained fame because, unlike other teahouses that only hired storytellers, it had a proper stage.

On the stage, there are skilled performers who sometimes use screens to separate the stage from the guests. All you can hear are the changing winds and clouds, the sounds of various birds, and even on a clear day, there are sounds of thunder, rain, and even the roars of tigers and howls of wolves, making you feel as if you are there.

Every three days, there will be a good show on stage.

Putting aside how novel the play was, the sounds and mist on stage alone were dazzling. Every day, the teahouse was always full, and many pedestrians stood outside just to catch a glimpse inside. And everyone who saw it said that the play was exquisite.

In addition, there were changes in the city. The police officers in the capital were each assigned an official dog. Official dogs were not unheard of, but this time the official dogs wore silver tags, were not leashed, and were extremely intelligent. In just half a month, they had captured a hundred thieves. There were also official dogs stationed at the ferry. It is said that when a child in the city was lost and was about to be taken onto a pirate ship, it was the official dog that barked loudly and caught the trafficker on the spot.

There are rumors that the dog can speak human language, and is a divine dog descended from heaven. It can discern the good and evil in people's hearts. If someone does something wrong, the divine dog will smell it and catch them in jail to repent.

Besides, you can occasionally see cats with silver badges, but cats are much rarer than dogs. It's uncertain whether they even exist. I only heard a drunkard say that he was walking across the Pucao River that night and heard voices in the middle of the night saying things like "dried fish is delicious" and "pig liver is even better".

The drunkard could still hear a clanging sound above his head, like hammers hitting nails. He immediately looked around but couldn't see a single person. Startled, he sobered up and saw three cats with ropes around their waists and carrying iron hammers walking past in the darkness.

But who knows whether it's true or false.

(I stare blankly at the computer every day, but it can last for several hours at a time. I don't know why I can only type in the early hours of the morning. Maybe it's because it's quieter at night. I'm still trying to adjust and resume updates. I apologize again for not being able to update consistently.)

Chapter 342 Linlu Water Marsh Classic

In the blink of an eye, it's late summer and early autumn, and March has passed in the blink of an eye.

The weather remains hot and dry, with no sign of cooling down.

Several large dogs lay under the shade of a tree, their tongues lolling out, listlessly panting.

They were resting, their midday nap always pleasant, squinting as if about to roll over and take a nap, when suddenly someone shouted from outside the fence.

The big dog looked up helplessly, then had no choice but to leave the relatively cool shade and go to patrol the streets with its partner to change shifts.

They picked up the rope hanging from the stake, skillfully looped it around their necks, and then handed the end of the rope to the officer with the sword.