I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#373 - Immortal News

Unfortunately, she only had eighteen copper coins left.

Hearing Xu Erniu's words, Zhang Chen couldn't help but smile: "Don't worry, when I get better, I will definitely repay you a hundred or a thousand times over."

"Take care of yourself first. If you had the ability to make money, you wouldn't have almost starved to death outside," Xu Erniu said, rolling her eyes.

Zhang Chen didn't argue with Xu Erniu upon hearing this. Once he recovered, he would naturally let her witness his abilities.

In the evening, Xu Erniu still cooked wild vegetables, but this time she took out a pancake from her bosom and handed it to Zhang Chen: "Take it and eat it."

Xu Erniu looked at the pancake in her hand, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and then reluctantly handed it to Zhang Chen, before picking up the wild vegetables beside her and gnawing on them.

The pancake was a coarse grain pancake, and even had dirty fingerprints on it, but looking at Xu Erniu gnawing on wild vegetables, Zhang Chen was very touched.

Zhang Chen held the pancake but didn't eat it. Instead, he looked at Xu Erniu: "Where did you get the pancake?"

"Of course I bought it! One pancake costs one copper coin. Eat it quickly. You're injured now and need to eat something good to nourish your body. What if you die from malnutrition? My previous money would have been wasted," Xu Erniu muttered to Zhang Chen while gnawing on the wild vegetables, "I'm telling you, kid, after you recover, you have to go to the mountains with me to gather herbs and then pay me back the money."

Zhang Chen broke the pancake in half, stuffed half into Xu Erniu's hand, and crumbled the other half into the broken bowl, soaking it in the wild vegetable soup, and then ate it slowly.

Xu Erniu was stunned when she saw the pancake Zhang Chen gave her. She turned her dark face to look at Zhang Chen, and then ate it in silence.

After eating, Xu Erniu ran to the corner again and began to carefully count her coins, a look of distress on her face. One more coin was gone from her eighteen coins.

Zhang Chen looked at Xu Erniu, who was dirty from head to toe, counting the coins in her hand over and over again, and couldn't help but find it amusing.

Xu Erniu counted the coins again and again, and then carefully hid them. She took out a small wooden sword from somewhere. The wooden sword was the size of a palm and already had a patina, looking quite decent.

"Your craftsmanship is not bad," Zhang Chen praised, looking at the wooden sword in Xu Erniu's hand.

"This is a gift I will give to my father in the future," Xu Erniu replied upon hearing this.

"You have a father?" Zhang Chen was taken aback.

Xu Erniu said unhappily, "I didn't pop out of a rock, of course I have parents."

"Then why did you become a beggar?" Zhang Chen was curious.

"My mother is dead, and my father is not here," Xu Erniu said.

Speaking of this, a trace of sorrow appeared in Xu Erniu's eyes.

"Where is your father?" Zhang Chen asked subconsciously.

"My mother said my father is a celestial being from Mount Qingcheng. It is said that he was punished to cultivate in the mountains because he made a mistake. But it doesn't matter, as long as I save up five hundred copper coins, I can buy five hundred pancakes. Then I will eat one a day and walk fifty miles a day, and I can go find my father," Xu Erniu's voice was full of expectation:

"When I find my father, I won't have to wander anymore."

Zhang Chen was stunned upon hearing this: "Mount Qingcheng? Celestial being?"

Does the spiritual world also have cultivation methods? That's right, the spiritual world possesses extraordinary power, how could there be no extraordinary cultivators?

Could he go to those mysterious forces to see if he could find a way to resolve the situation in his body? Maybe the spiritual world even has higher-level cultivation methods? Could he become a disciple and learn from a master, and obtain systematic cultivation methods?

Zhang Chen's heart was stirred at this moment, and his mind began to work. Now, the Yin and Yang energies in his body were circulating, destroying the supernatural powers in his body. If he wanted to recover, the only way was to merge the Five Elements Divine Light with the Yin and Yang energies, completing the transformation between the Five Elements and Yin and Yang.

If the transformation of the Five Elements energy and Yin and Yang energies was completed, then the power of his supernatural powers would be even greater. Therefore, he was very interested in the Mount Qingcheng that Xu Erniu mentioned.

"Don't worry, when I recover, I will earn money with you, and then I will accompany you to Mount Qingcheng," Zhang Chen said.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xu Erniu's eyes lit up: "Really? My mother told me that Mount Qingcheng is in a very, very far place. Are you really willing to accompany me there?"

"Of course! I have nothing else to do anyway," Zhang Chen said with a smile.

Xu Erniu was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Good! I knew I didn't misjudge you. Don't worry, when we get to Mount Qingcheng, I will ask my father to accept you as a disciple and make you a celestial being too."

Xu Erniu was very excited. At this time, she took the small wooden sword and sat down beside Zhang Chen, her eyes full of longing: "My mother told me that Mount Qingcheng is full of celestial beings who can turn stones into gold and live forever, and have endless wealth and glory."

"Let's go be immortal celestial beings too when we get there," Xu Erniu's voice was full of expectation.

Zhang Chen touched the little girl's dirty head: "That's right, let's go be celestial beings and have some fun when we get there."

The little girl's body was very thin, almost without any flesh, just a skeleton, like a large skeleton. Zhang Chen reached out and put his arm around the little girl's head, and the little girl fell asleep in his arms.

Zhang Chen sighed softly at this, and began to think about future plans, to see if there were any good things in this spiritual world that he could take back.

The most important thing was the cultivation method. It would be best if there was a complete immortal cultivation method, but at the very least, he had to resolve the Yin and Yang energies in his body.

Time passed slowly. The Yin and Yang energies in Zhang Chen's body automatically absorbed the spiritual energy from the outside world to grow and repair Zhang Chen's body, washing his physique.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. Zhang Chen was already able to move slowly. The injuries on his body had recovered greatly under the cleansing of the Yin and Yang energies. As long as he didn't engage in strenuous exercise, he would be fine.

The little girl sat in the corner, carefully counting her copper coins. After three days, she had lost three more coins.

"Zhang Chen, to repay you for going to Mount Qingcheng with me, today I will take you to eat a feast!" After counting the coins, the little girl carefully put the coins in the jar and buried it like a thief, and shouted to Zhang Chen.

"You're taking me to a feast? Your coins are only enough to buy pancakes. What kind of feast can we eat? Don't tell me you plan to treat me to two pancakes today?" Zhang Chen joked.

"Are you looking down on me? Today, the wealthy Jiang is holding a birthday banquet outside the city, and I'll take you to freeload," Xu Erniu said with a grin, saliva almost drooling as she spoke.

Zhang Chen was stunned upon hearing this: "Just the two of us beggars, can we freeload? Aren't you afraid of being chased out?"

Zhang Chen felt that if the two of them went to freeload, there was a high probability that they would be driven out.

"What do you know? The wealthy Jiang is a very good person, he won't mind," Xu Erniu said to Zhang Chen, "Come on, follow me to gather flowers in the mountains."

Then, Xu Erniu pulled Zhang Chen and headed towards the mountains.

Zhang Chen's body was also that of a seven or eight-year-old child, appearing to be about the same size as the petite Xu Erniu.

It was midsummer, and outside the temple gate was Daqing Mountain, with gurgling streams and various blooming flowers by the stream.

Xu Erniu pulled Zhang Chen to the stream and stepped directly into it, starting to wash and bathe.

The stream water was over her waist, and Xu Erniu splashed a few times, noticing that Zhang Chen on the bank hadn't come down, and then shouted, "What are you doing standing there? Come down quickly, we're going to a feast, how can we go without washing up?"

"You're quite particular," Zhang Chen said, stepping into the water.

He had previously mastered water control techniques and was extremely familiar with water, so he wasn't afraid of drowning.

"Little brother, let me teach you a trick today. There's a technique to freeloading. Since we're freeloading and taking advantage of the host, we can't cause them trouble. We have to wash ourselves clean and not have any strange smells, so we won't disgust the host's guests, right?" Xu Erniu said.

Zhang Chen looked at Xu Erniu in surprise, not expecting this girl to speak so eloquently.

The two soaked in the water for a while, and the dirt on their bodies began to soften and loosen. Then, they started scrubbing off the dirt.

However, without modern detergents, it wasn't easy to scrub off the hardened dirt. The two scrubbed until their skin was red, but they only managed to clean off a portion. The remaining dirt was solidified on their skin, making it difficult to scrub off.

Zhang Chen looked at the years of dirt on his body and knew that scrubbing like this wouldn't work. So, he turned his attention to his Yin-Yang energy. The Yin-Yang energy was the most domineering, and Zhang Chen wondered if he could use it to remove the dirt. But to Zhang Chen's disappointment, the Yin-Yang energy didn't have that effect.

Helpless, he could only continue soaking in the stream until the stratum corneum softened, and then he scrubbed off the clumps of mud.

The two climbed out of the stream and began to scrub their dirty clothes. But without detergent, how difficult was it to scrub their clothes?

After scrubbing for a while without any effect, Zhang Chen's eyes swept across the mountains and found a kind of green grass that common people often used for washing. So, he went over and grabbed a large handful, and began to wash his clothes.

This time the effect was very good, and large patches of black water kept seeping down from the clothes. Xu Erniu was overjoyed to see this, and also grabbed a large handful, and the two of them cleaned their clothes by the stream. Xu Erniu then jumped into the river and began to scrub her body and hair with green grass.

Zhang Chen followed suit and went into the river again, scrubbing one more time. Only then were the two considered clean.

Then, the two climbed ashore, frankly facing each other, waiting for their clothes to dry.

Xu Erniu was just a five or six-year-old child, so there was no distinction between male and female. After the two finished washing, they finally looked like humans, clean and tidy.

Zhang Chen looked at Xu Erniu. She was as thin as a rake, with no fat on her face, just like a large skeleton, looking funny and pitiful.

Zhang Chen didn't laugh, and couldn't laugh, because he was about the same.

Xu Erniu tied the strands of hair on her head behind her head with a grass rope, and then ordered Zhang Chen to pick wildflowers. She began to weave a flower basket on the side. In just an hour, the flower basket was woven, and at this time Zhang Chen had also collected a large batch of flowers. Then Xu Erniu said expectantly, "It's done!"

Immediately, she pulled Zhang Chen and walked down the mountain, all the way to a village outside Yangzhou City. At this time, the village was lively with carriages and horses coming and going, looking very bustling.

"This Jiang rich man is not simple," Zhang Chen looked at the carriages and horses outside the village, and the people coming and going were all dressed in gorgeous clothes. Looking at Xu Erniu holding the flower basket, although her clothes were clean, they were tattered and out of tune with the carriages and horses in front of her.

"Will we get beaten up if we go?" Zhang Chen expressed his concerns to Xu Erniu.

"With me here, what are you afraid of? I'll protect you," Xu Erniu patted her chest, grabbed Zhang Chen and walked into the village. From afar, they saw people coming and going outside the gate, and a group of beggars gathered outside the gate, with someone distributing pastries.

Xu Erniu pulled Zhang Chen, not going to the beggars to beg for food, but following the crowd to the place where gifts were being given. The people passing by looked at the two of them, although their expressions were strange, there was no face-slapping scene.

In fact, that kind of face-slapping plot only appears in novels. Everyone is queuing up to give gifts, and no one will stand up for the host to drive them away.

At this time, the steward kept recording the gifts and calling out the numbers. The Jiang rich man stood at the door, constantly welcoming the guests.

Zhang Chen looked closely at the Jiang rich man, who was about fifty years old, with a kind and amiable face and a slightly fat figure, chatting with the guests.

When it was Xu Erniu's turn, Xu Erniu put the flower basket on the table and shouted, "Xu Erniu wishes Master Jiang good health and a long life."

The steward recording the gifts looked at the basket of bright flowers, his eyes filled with confusion. He looked at Zhang Chen and Xu Erniu, who were wearing tattered clothes, and then turned to look at his master.

Master Jiang came over when he heard the movement, looked at the basket of flowers, and then looked at Xu Erniu: "So it's you, girl."

He turned to the servant and said, "Go hang the flower basket in my bedroom."

Then he instructed the steward: "Take these two children to the back kitchen and treat them according to the third-class standard."

The steward quickly bowed and saluted, and then said to Xu Erniu and Zhang Chen: "Please come in, you two."

Xu Erniu raised her hand to thank Master Jiang, and then pulled Zhang Chen towards the backyard.

When they arrived at the backyard, the steward ordered someone to serve six dishes and a soup, all of which were big fish and big meat, very sumptuous, and then retreated.

"Do you know Master Jiang?" Zhang Chen asked.

At this time, Xu Erniu picked up the roast chicken and started gnawing on it: "I've been in this Yangzhou City for three years, I know exactly which family can freeload, and which family is kind. This Master Jiang is a great philanthropist!"

Zhang Chen directly attacked the pork knuckle. Only the sound of gobbling was left in the room.

The two ate a full meal, their bellies were bulging, and they couldn't move while sitting on the stools.

At this time, the steward walked in with a smile and took out kraft paper: "The master has instructed that if the two guests can't finish eating, they can take it away."

While speaking, he began to pack it up for the two of them.

Zhang Chen secretly praised in his heart: "This Master Jiang is really a kind person, and Xu Erniu is also a wonderful person."