Chapter 50: Laba

The twelfth lunar month.

Cold wind, light snow, late at night.

Two figures, supporting each other, walked with difficulty on the mountain, making “creaking” sounds as their feet sank into the thick snow, guided by the faint moonlight.

“Senior Brother, I can’t walk anymore!” One figure collapsed onto the snow, gasping for breath.

She was about eighteen or nineteen years old, sweat plastering her hair to her face, yet still giving her a delicate beauty like a lotus emerging from water. She wore a purple robe and a short knife hung from her waist, adding to her delicate appearance.

“Junior Sister Su, hang in there! If we don’t leave now, that lecherous monk, Wujing, will catch up!” The other was a tall, handsome young man named Li Yiyan. He wore a grayish-black robe, carried a pack on his back, and leaned on a long saber. He was also exhausted, but he gritted his teeth and said with determination.

“No! No! I’ve been walking for a day and a night! I really…” Su Yeye, who was called Junior Sister Su, paused to catch her breath and swallow before continuing, “…can’t walk anymore!”

The two of them were only at the See the Truth cultivation level, having just mastered True Qi, and were returning to their hometown of Jinyang City from Yingyin City. They had not expected that seeking lodging at a temple would lead to them being targeted by a lecherous monk from the See the Color Sect.

In the depths of winter, the monk, bored in the temple, saw the two handsome young people and his lustful heart was aroused. He declared his intention to take them as his disciples, to love and cherish them, and to help them comprehend the supreme techniques of the See the Color Sect!

The two were from the “Saber Dragon School,” a major sect in Yingyin City, and also from prominent families in Jinyang City. How could they accept such a proposition?

Immediately, a disagreement broke out, and they began to fight.

Although the monk was only at the See the Truth cultivation level, he possessed deep cultivation and was naturally strong. With a precept knife in one hand and a Buddhist staff in the other, he drove the two into a desperate flight.

“But if that monk catches up, you will be defiled! Junior Sister, do you really want to suffer such humiliation?” Li Yiyan said to Su Yeye.

“I… I really can’t walk anymore. I can only…” Su Yeye said tearfully. She had walked for a day and a night, only managing to eat a few mouthfuls of snow. At this point, she was exhausted, hungry, and had almost completely depleted her physical strength.

“But Senior Brother, I don’t want to suffer such humiliation!” Li Yiyan gritted his teeth and said, “Come, Junior Sister Su. I’ll carry you!”

That wicked See the Color Sect’s bald donkeys were known to prey on both men and women, just like the women of the Celestial Maiden Sect. They both had terrible reputations.

“Senior Brother…” Su Yeye was so moved that she didn’t know what to say.

Senior Brother could have abandoned her, but he was still willing to carry her.

Li Yiyan hung the pack from his back onto his chest, carried Su Yeye on his back, and staggered towards the distant light, his feet sinking into the snow with each step.

“Junior Sister Ye! If that monk catches up, I will kill you first and then myself! The Saber Dragon School will not suffer such humiliation!”

“…Okay, I’ll listen to Senior Brother!”

He didn’t know what the place with the light was, nor whether there would be anyone there to save them.

But he was unwilling to sit and wait for his fate, to accept it passively. Even doing something, anything, was better than doing nothing at all.

On the mountaintop not far behind them, a large monk wearing a grayish-brown monk’s robe and carrying a precept knife on his back, was watching them. The monk was Wujing, his face full of lust, patiently following them. He was just waiting for the two of them to exhaust their strength, to become weak and powerless, wouldn’t it then be easy for him to have his way with them?

Benefactors! Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. What difference is there between the form of a man and the form of a woman?

Allow this poor monk to impart the Dharma to the two benefactors and welcome you to enjoy ultimate bliss!

Thinking of this, Wujing muttered “Namo Amitabha Buddha” and slowly followed the two.

Carrying a person on his back did put a lot of pressure on Li Yiyan. But for the sake of his own behind, Li Yiyan still managed to push his potential to the limit, allowing him to inch closer to the light on the mountain.

Humans, if they don’t push themselves, they will never know how strong they truly are!

The closer they got to the light, the stronger the aroma of porridge became, along with the scent of red dates, peanuts, lotus seeds, and other foods.

“Senior Brother, what a fragrant Laba porridge!” Su Yeye, who was on Li Yiyan’s back, said.

So, today was Laba!

✿✿✿

“Senior Brother, put me down! Let’s hurry over there together and beg for a bowl of Laba porridge!” Su Yeye rested for a while, and thinking of the taste of Laba porridge, felt her strength returning.

“Okay! I still have some silver on me! I hope that monk won’t follow too closely, let’s eat our fill, rest for a bit, and then fight him to the death!” Li Yiyan said.

The light in the mountains was, naturally, the small temple of Shi Feizhe and Chong Jiuyuan.

At this moment, Shi Feizhe was sitting in the main hall, holding a bowl of Laba porridge, bragging and telling the story of 《”Ode to Gallantry”》 to the old man, Chong Jiuyuan.

“The Laba porridge on Xiake Island was made with Heartbreak Grass and one hundred and eight other herbs. So, not only was it not poisonous, but it could actually increase one’s cultivation. My cousin, Shi Potian, saw that no one was drinking it, so he…”

“That’s utter bullshit!” The old man, Chong Jiuyuan, sitting opposite him, said. He still looked the same as he did two years ago when Shi Feizhe first met him.

He didn’t look like he was about to die at all.

“Poison is poison. Even if it’s cooked with other herbs, it won’t become a tonic! This 《”Cousin’s Adventures”》 is not as good as the previous 《”Three Idiots Roam the Jianghu”》.” The old man took a sip of Laba porridge and said,

“That 《”Northern Darkness Divine Technique”》, although made up, had a certain naive charm to it.”

After spending time with Shi Feizhe, the old man also learned the word “naive charm.” In his words, True Qi was transformed from “Blood, Qi, and Spirit.” Everyone’s True Qi carried the imprint of their personal will, so how could it be easily absorbed by others?

Unless the person themselves was practicing the wrong cultivation technique!

Wouldn’t randomly absorbing other people’s True Qi turn you into an idiot? Wouldn’t you be afraid of being raped by their True Qi?

“Old man, it’s just bragging and chatting, don’t take it so seriously! You’re not like some people who have to write hundreds of words to argue if something doesn’t go their way!” Shi Feizhe said as he drank his Laba porridge.

Hmm… last year’s Laba porridge was burnt, but this year’s is not bad.

“It also has to be believable, to make sense!” The old man said with a sneer, “You can’t just decide that the world is the way you think it is! That’s too ridiculous.”

“Then do you still want to listen to 《”Cousin’s Adventures”》?” Shi Feizhe was speechless when faced with this argumentative old man.

Over the past two years, this old man really had to contradict everything.

What Chong Jiuyuan, he should be called Chong Jiugang （Chong Nine Arguments）!

“Listen! Of course I want to listen!” The old man said.

At his age, being able to peacefully tend to his flowers, plants, and vegetables, and listen to Shi Feizhe’s nonsensical stories, was already very satisfying.

Although many things in the stories didn’t align with his common sense, it was quite entertaining to listen to them as roadside tales.

“My cousin, looking at the green Laba porridge, drank a bowl, smacked his lips, and thought it tasted pretty good. It was sweet and delicious, with a grassy flavor, much better than eating fish and meat. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he drank another bowl.”

“One bowl after another, who knows how many bowls he drank, until he felt his stomach was full and round. Only then did he say, if only there were some pickled vegetables, it would be perfect.” Shi Feizhe, according to his memory of the plot, made up the rest as he went along.

“Who eats pickled vegetables with Laba porridge! You’re talking nonsense again!” The old man said.

“The world is so vast, how do you know that Laba porridge can’t be paired with pickled vegetables! You probably don’t know that in some places, people eat tofu pudding with sugar!”

“How else do you eat tofu pudding if not with sugar?”

“I…” Shi Feizhe was about to say something else when he heard a “knock, knock, knock” on the door.

Shi Feizhe: Cousin’s Adventures, it’s what my cousin told me himself.