Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 71

Using cultivator fire to roast mortal-world ingredients was undoubtedly using a great talent for a small task.
By the time a new batch of round, plump little wontons gathered in a circle beside Yuan Zhaoyang’s hands, the foods roasting in the courtyard were also mostly cooked.
The sun gradually rose into the sky. Yuan Zhaoyang took out a box and put the newly wrapped little wontons in front of her inside. Then she raised her head and looked around the courtyard. With a lift of her hand, she withdrew the fire around the roast chickens and chicken legs, gathered it into one big fireball, and rolled it a few more times over the roast suckling pigs.
“All right. Pack them yourself.” Yuan Zhaoyang waved her hand, and all the fireballs in the courtyard scattered, leaving only a garden full of hot, fragrant meat.
“This… mmph… is done already?” A-Bai poked her head out from the kitchen on the side. In her mouth, she was still holding a pig trotter about the same size as herself, so her words were rather muffled.
“Done.” Yuan Zhaoyang tapped the stone table full of wontons in front of her. “When you eat these, will you boil them yourself, or should I boil them for you now?”
The pot of pig trotters Yuan Zhaoyang had braised was excellent. The juice was full, and the skin and meat were soft and falling apart. With just a curl of the tongue, the skin and meat separated and melted in the mouth. A-Bai, still holding the trotter, reluctantly gnawed another big bite before forming an ice fork and skewering the trotter away from her mouth in midair.
After quickly swallowing the delicious food in her mouth, A-Bai wiped her mouth and waved a little paw. “You boil them. Do you not have that Moon Rock Sand food box? Anyway, when food is placed in that kind of food box, it can keep the state it had when it was put in for a period of time. I can finish all of them in a few days. They will not turn mushy, and it saves me from cooking them myself. I am only a little rabbit. I cannot cook well.”
Yuan Zhaoyang patted her storage bag, and a gray-white stone box about two cubic meters in size appeared beside the stone table.
“So the roasted, braised, and boiled foods will all go in one box?” Yuan Zhaoyang frowned slightly. “This food box does not automatically separate foods. If everything you put in later mixes together, do not regret it.”
As she spoke, Yuan Zhaoyang prepared to begin collecting the chicken legs into it.
“Wait!” A-Bai, who had been about to continue gnawing the pig trotter, shivered. “Spare the legs! How is there only one food box? Did you not prepare several? Aren’t you always stuffing Clear Heart Hall stewed meat into them for me?”
“…” Yuan Zhaoyang, who had been looking at the rabbit, tilted her head slightly and avoided the little bunny’s questioning gaze. “I put some things in the other boxes.”
“Have you not practiced inedia?” The little white rabbit looked baffled. “What did you put in them?”
This Moon Rock Sand box had a freshness-preserving effect, just like spirit jade boxes. Only, the effect of Moon Rock Sand was far inferior to spirit jade, which could preserve spiritual plants and spiritual liquids for years, decades, or even centuries.
Moon Rock Sand boxes were generally used to keep food fresh. If food from the cultivation world was placed inside, it could remain almost the same as when it was first put in for about a month.
On top of that, Moon Rock Sand was easy to draw spatial talisman arrays on, so one box’s capacity was far larger than it looked. Although it could not compare with the exaggerated capacity of a storage bag, reaching a ratio of one to several dozen was very easy.
The Five Elements Sect’s Clear Heart Hall had many huge Moon Rock Sand boxes, used to store and arrange the disciples’ meals.
Moon Rock Sand counted as a specialty of Nanhe. In A-Bai’s view, this Moon Rock Sand food box truly counted as the greatest gain she had received after coming to the Five Elements Sect. Although this box could only preserve cultivation-world ingredients for several months, if mortal-world food was placed inside, it would not spoil for more than ten years.
For a food lover living in a place with only plain boiled meat, what could be better than this Moon Rock Sand food box? After one trip around the mortal world, she could have more than ten years of food stored up.
Unfortunately, at the time, A-Bai had just gotten one and had not yet had time to go to the mortal world to stock food before Yuan Zhaoyang took it away and stuffed it full of plain boiled meat for her. Not only that, the bad cat, in order to make A-Bai eat more plain boiled meat, had bought several more boxes and went to Clear Heart Hall now and then to fill them with meat, then used threats and bribes to make the cute little bunny eat, eat, eat.
But how could a smart, cute little bunny admit defeat just like that?
A-Bai estimated the Moon Rock Sand food boxes she could free up inside her golden bell. If she moved things around, taking out two or three empty boxes was not impossible.
But the question was, what would a cat who had basically practiced inedia need several Moon Rock Sand boxes for? It was not very reasonable…
“You…” The little white rabbit’s dark little eyes spun and spun. Hesitantly, she rubbed her paws. “Did you also make several boxes of food for Lin Mianmian?”
“You are thinking too much.” Yuan Zhaoyang took a wooden board about the same size as the stone table and pushed the wontons on the table onto it. “I am going to boil them. All right, stop pretending. Do not think I do not know you have plenty of Moon Rock Sand boxes. Hurry and pack everything.”
Yuan Zhaoyang did want to make food for Lin Mianmian, but Lin Mianmian was not foolish either. With their current relationship, one or two meals of fresh food was fine. If Yuan Zhaoyang was too attentive, Lin Mianmian might retreat even farther.
“Hey, did you not take all of mine? Where would I…” A-Bai guiltily picked at the fur on her paws.
“You do not have any? If you do not, then do not eat.” Yuan Zhaoyang carried the wooden board and flashed into the kitchen.
Could friends not have a few little secrets between them?
A-Bai turned her head and looked at the kitchen door. Yuan Zhaoyang’s figure was already gone. A-Bai patted her golden bell, and a row of Moon Rock Sand boxes stood neatly in the courtyard.
So, what delicious things had Yuan Zhaoyang secretly hidden in those missing food boxes?
A-Bai moved quickly, taking advantage of the heat and freshness to pack the food in the courtyard, but she still could not help thinking about this question.
By the time everything that needed packing was packed, and everything that needed putting away was put away, the little bunny had tugged out several strands of head fur and still had not figured anything out.
On the road to the outer valley, curious baby A-Bai casually brought it up twice more, pretending not to care. But Yuan Zhaoyang either talked about something else, or simply pretended not to hear and did not answer at all.
If one asked who was best at pushing aside a question, today it was definitely Yuan Zhaoyang.
Only when the large patches of spiritual fields and the scattered houses standing among them drew near did A-Bai stop having time to think about those Moon Rock Sand boxes.
The problem now was, mm… Yuan Zhaoyang probably would not notice that Lin Mianmian had been knocked unconscious by A-Bai, right?
Although the starting point had been good, and A-Bai’s strike had been light and accurate, with absolutely no harm done, still, for some reason, A-Bai suddenly felt a little guilty. Especially when she thought of how, before they left, Yuan Zhaoyang had gently asked her for a smaller Moon Rock Sand food box to pack a bowl of wontons for Lin Mianmian…
Fortunately, none of the things the little white rabbit imagined happened. Lin Mianmian did not lie unconscious and unable to wake. Yuan Zhaoyang did not discover the truth. The little bunny was not tied up and tortured.
When the cat and rabbit reached Lin Mianmian’s place, Lin Mianmian was by the courtyard gate, fiddling with the paper bird A-Bai had originally left for the task disciple to explain the delay.
While Yuan Zhaoyang greeted Lin Mianmian and told her to eat breakfast, A-Bai quickly put away the paper bird. She also looked at Lin Mianmian, who seemed completely unaware of what had happened that morning. Guiltily, A-Bai scratched the ground. Then, with mud under her feet, she slipped away.
Lin Mianmian accepted the wonton bowl from Yuan Zhaoyang with some flattered surprise. In only the time it took to receive the bowl, when she looked toward the courtyard gate again, among the wide fields there was only a white dot that might be A-Bai’s back.
For some reason, she grew a bit more nervous.
The sensitive Yuan Zhaoyang noticed Lin Mianmian’s glance and sudden stillness. She asked, “What is it? Do you need A-Bai for something?”
Lin Mianmian shook her head.
The two sat down in the courtyard. Without A-Bai, who always chattered more than a bird, no one spoke for a while.
There was nothing more frightening than the air suddenly going quiet…
“Many thanks, Senior Sister Yuan.” Lin Mianmian lowered her head and stirred the wontons in the bowl, breaking the courtyard’s silence.
“No need.” Yuan Zhaoyang looked at the wontons being stirred into circles in the bowl and quickly replied.
Another patch of… silence…
Only the tiny sound of Lin Mianmian eating wontons in small bites remained.
At first, Lin Mianmian was still a little nervous. After all, counting everything, although she and Yuan Zhaoyang had met several times, the only time the two of them had been alone together was the day before, when they walked through the forest from the outermost part of the outer valley.
For some reason, by logic, Yuan Zhaoyang, A-Bai, and Zihui were all seniors by status. But only when facing Yuan Zhaoyang would Lin Mianmian always feel a little nervous. Even though they could count as having known each other for more than half a year, this little nervousness was still there.
Lin Mianmian blamed it on the astonishing glimpse she had of Yuan Zhaoyang when they first met in Yingxian City. The look Yuan Zhaoyang gave her then was something she still did not understand and could not forget.
Yuan Zhaoyang, who was watching Lin Mianmian eat wontons, had no idea that the little person in front of her, like a white sugar cake, still remembered Yuan Zhaoyang’s loss of control when Lin Mianmian had wanted to look at other sects’ recruitment spots and Yuan Zhaoyang had been affected by her scent.
On an early summer morning, the day had not yet fully warmed. A light wind blew through the open fields all around. Sitting in the courtyard with the wind, looking at the fields, and eating hot little wontons was truly more comfortable than anything.
Each wonton had thin skin and lots of filling. They were fresh, fragrant, and delicious. Eat two, then drink a mouthful of soup, and the fragrance filled the mouth with endless aftertaste.
Lin Mianmian seriously ate the wontons in her bowl, silently sighing that Senior Sister Yuan’s cooking was truly good. Her bit of discomfort and nervousness did not affect the flavor of the wontons at all.
Counting it, after coming to the Five Elements Sect, she had not met Senior Sister Yuan many times. But every time they met, the other person either came to give this or came to give that…
Lin Mianmian thought of the words Xiong Lanlan had told her the day before while they ate at Clear Heart Hall.
The bowl of wontons was full to the brim, but for a grass demon who could eat and drink, it was no problem at all.
After drinking the last drop of soup in the bowl, Lin Mianmian put the bowl down. In the end, she could not hold back. She looked at Yuan Zhaoyang and asked the question that had circled several times in her heart.
“Senior Sister Yuan… why… are you so good to me…”
Lin Mianmian was fair and clean, a person like white sugar cake. She looked delicate and soft, so the dark circles under her eyes today were especially clear.
Yuan Zhaoyang had been stealing glances at those bluish-black circles while Lin Mianmian ate, thinking about what had happened the day before. As a result, the moment Lin Mianmian put down her bowl, she suddenly threw out this question. Yuan Zhaoyang was left a little stunned.
Fortunately, Yuan Zhaoyang quickly steadied herself. Although she had not yet organized in her heart how to answer such a question, her mouth still quickly kicked the ball back.
“What do you think?”
Yuan Zhaoyang originally thought that this time, it should be Lin Mianmian’s turn to be stunned, and Yuan Zhaoyang could then think carefully about how to answer in a way that was reasonable, grounded, and not exaggerated.
In the end, Lin Mianmian caught the ball and answered as soon as she opened her mouth. “I cannot think of it either… Does Senior Sister Yuan want to accept me as a disciple? But my spiritual root aptitude is not good at all…”
Yuan Zhaoyang had not expected Lin Mianmian to pull the matter toward accepting disciples. At first hearing it, she was actually a little tempted.
If Lin Mianmian became her disciple, then in the future, wouldn’t Yuan Zhaoyang be able to properly keep her under her eyes and look after her?
But thinking again, Yuan Zhaoyang was now only a guest elder. Having Lin Mianmian leave the Five Elements Sect was also not an easy matter. On top of that, the four lands were now separated, and no one knew what the future situation would be. In the end, the little spark that had suddenly lit was extinguished in an instant.
“You should know that I am only temporarily serving as a guest elder in the Five Elements Sect. Even if I reach Core Formation in the future, I do not have the right to accept a personal disciple in the Five Elements Sect,” Yuan Zhaoyang said honestly.
Lin Mianmian nodded. “I thought so too. But aside from that, I cannot think what virtue or ability I have that could make Senior Sister Yuan treat me like this…”
The day before, Xiong Lanlan had casually asked whether Lin Mianmian had known Yuan Zhaoyang and A-Bai before entering the Five Elements Sect. Xiong Lanlan kept feeling that Lin Mianmian was receiving special treatment from that person and rabbit.
Actually, Xiong Lanlan had only been chatting casually, but that question had indeed appeared several times in Lin Mianmian’s heart too.
Putting aside A-Bai, who played closer with her, just looking at Senior Sister Yuan, there was the potion for drawing spiritual energy into her body, the storage bag made from hair as its main body, those pills that looked very impressive, and the several times Yuan Zhaoyang had put thought into food for her… Lin Mianmian truly felt unworthy of receiving them.
Later, after chatting with Xiong Lanlan for a while, in the end, they could only come up with one not very reliable possibility. But when she mentioned it just now, Yuan Zhaoyang had denied it.
So, what was the reason?
Lin Mianmian looked at Yuan Zhaoyang, waiting for an answer.
It was only apology and thanks, that was all…
Yuan Zhaoyang ignored the unclear thread of emotion at the bottom of her heart. Only, this answer she believed to be true was also one she could not say.
“It is not that complicated. We just have affinity.” Yuan Zhaoyang could not make up a reasonable lie. This sentence, however, was sincere. That scent that benefited her cultivation, and Lin Mianmian’s love for her calico true body, could count as a kind of fate.
The woman before Lin Mianmian wore plain clothes. In the light wind, she was as startlingly immortal-like as when they first met. She was clearly saying something that sounded like a joke, yet her brows and eyes were full of gentle sincerity.
Leaving aside whether that reason was true or not, Lin Mianmian could tell that Yuan Zhaoyang’s words were true.
She felt… she and Lin Mianmian… had affinity?
Clearly, Lin Mianmian had done nothing. It had always been Yuan Zhaoyang treating her well…
Lin Mianmian’s heart was a little chaotic, but Yuan Zhaoyang’s gaze was serious and focused.
How should she answer… She should answer, right… Yuan Zhaoyang was looking at her like this…
“Mm… Uh… Mm… I… I…” Lin Mianmian worked hard to organize her words. She did like this senior sister quite a bit. At first sight, Yuan Zhaoyang had amazed her. But for some reason, when she opened her mouth, she stammered a little. The more she wanted to speak, the less clearly she could. For a time, she grew so nervous that blood rushed upward and her face heated.
Seeing the white sugar cake turn into brown sugar cake, Yuan Zhaoyang could not help curving the corners of her mouth.
“I… I like Senior Sister too…” Lin Mianmian finally straightened her tongue, but the words she said were not quite right.
Clearly, what she wanted to say was that she also felt she had affinity with Senior Sister, right? How had she spoken the later words she had only thought to herself? And there was even a “too” in it… What nerve! Had Yuan Zhaoyang said she liked her? She had only said affinity!
Lin Mianmian hurriedly added, “What I mean is, I also feel I have affinity with Senior Sister. Many thanks for Senior Sister’s… favor…”
It seemed… something was still not right… Was favor used like this? Appreciation? Regard?
Lin Mianmian’s face burned as she quickly searched her word bank.
But before she could organize her words again, she saw the immortal-like person before her, who had just been as calm as wind and clouds, redden at the tips of her ears.
Lin Mianmian was lost.