Chapter 21 – A Small Price (Patreon)

Lynn Naya saw it, but the old woman only realized it after taking a few steps into the space. She quickly stopped and led Lynn Naya back to the edge of the entrance.

“There are immortals cultivating at the cold pond today. We shouldn’t disturb them. Listen to me, and if you can’t do it, get lost.” The old woman lowered her voice. “The stone platform forty steps ahead is where you’ll get the water. Any other water is either too cold or not effective. You can only use the water from there. It’s bone-chilling, so don’t touch it with your hands. The last person who didn’t listen to me and secretly washed his hands in the water had his arms frozen solid.”

The water is that powerful?

“Also, don’t wander around in there on the pretext of getting water. Don’t get any ideas about things you shouldn’t have. Do you know how your position became vacant? Someone didn’t give up and tried to find a way up the mountain, and his body still hasn’t been found.” The old woman sneered. “You must always remember your duty. If you disturb an immortal, no one will be able to save you. Even the Supervisor Zhang who recommended you will be in trouble. I hope you’re smart enough to understand.”

A guilt-by-association policy.

If she messed up, not only would she suffer the wrath of the Dao Palace, she would also have to face Supervisor Zhang’srevenge.

Lynn Naya remained silent.

At a time like this, all the promises in the world were meaningless. What mattered was what she did, not what she said.

After the old woman explained her future workflow, she quickly took her away from the cold pond.

They returned to the herb forest. The old woman carefully checked every single Cold Moon Grass and gave Lynn Naya a few pointers before finally handing her the white jade token she had used earlier. “Do a good job. If you don’t make any mistakes in the next five years, I’ll find you a better position.”

Lynn Naya didn’t think the old woman was lying, because watering the Cold Moon Grass was definitely not an easy job—the cold water was poisonous.

More accurately, it contained a cold poison.

She had only stood at the edge of the pond for a moment, but she could feel a chill seeping into her bones.

She was a cultivator, so she could just use her spiritual energy to force the chill out. But if a mortal were to stand there, the cold poison would slowly eat away at them. Over time, their bodies would be unable to take it. Eventually, their physical foundation would be damaged, and they would be sick for the rest of their lives.

The old woman said she would give her a new position in five years, which was probably the maximum a mortal could endure.

No wonder this job, which had a chance of getting close to an immortal, fell into the hands of a newcomer. It seemed everyone knew this was a life-threatening job.

Given that an intermediate medicinal farmer had a chance of becoming a servant to an immortal, it was not surprising that no one wanted to take on a job that would shorten their lifespan.

However, what others wanted to avoid might be a good thing for Lynn Naya. If she wasn’t mistaken, the Dao Palace disciples who were in the creek earlier were training their bodies.

If the cold water had a body-strengthening effect, then this was a godsend.

In the past year, her cultivation had improved, but her physical strength had not. According to the cultivation notes she had read, a strong body was one of the necessary conditions for future breakthroughs.

The human body was like a bucket. If the bucket was of poor quality, no matter how powerful the cultivation was, it would still have a weakness, and cultivation would become more and more difficult down the road.

Her cultivation was already difficult enough. If it became even harder, she would be moving slower than a snail.

Even if she didn’t have the resources, she had to create them. So she had been trying to find herbs to make a body-strengthening medicine, but the herbs were hard to find, and she still hadn’t collected all the ingredients.

If the water in the cold pond had a body-strengthening effect, it would save her a lot of trouble.

Of course, this was all just a guess. She would have to observe more. It would be even better if she could “communicate” with the young boy up close.

What was that boy’s name, anyway? I don’t think I know. I’ll have to ask around later.

As she pondered the day’s events, Lynn Naya stayed in the herb forest until dark before heading down the mountain.

When she got home, she could hear a lively chatter even before she entered the courtyard. When she pushed the door open, she saw a crowd of people in her small courtyard. Supervisor Zhang and his family, Scarface Qing, Qian Baolin, and some of the stewards who had come to give her gifts earlier. Everyone she had a little bit of a relationship with was there.

When they saw her, everyone came out to the courtyard to congratulate her. It seemed they all knew she had passed the trial.

“Thank you, thank you.” Lynn Naya didn’t put on a cold face in front of their enthusiasm. She smiled as she chatted with them and put down her basket. When she saw the pile of gifts, she immediately asked Xue Yong’s wife to cook all the meat to entertain everyone.

“All of it?” Xue Yong’s wife looked a little pained and hesitated.

Even though they were no longer living in poverty, cooking all the meat they had was still a luxury in her eyes.

Lynn Naya put an arm around her shoulder and said with a smile, “Yes, all of it. It’s not every day we have a celebration. We should make the most of it, right? Thank you for your hard work.”

On a normal day, they would have to hide any good food they had, but since the party couldn’t be kept a secret anyway, they might as well eat and drink to their heart’s content.

Xue Yong’s wife immediately said, “It’s no trouble at all. You’ve had a long day. You should go rest. I’ll take care of the rest.”

With that, Lynn Naya was pushed out of the kitchen. In the courtyard, she was surrounded by people congratulating her again. Luckily, Xue Yong knew she was a little shy and came to her rescue.

Everyone sat in the courtyard, chatting about this and that. The more they talked, the more they found in common.

Lynn Naya listened to them talk about the past and even pulled up a stool to sit on the side and listen. It felt like when she was a child, listening to her grandfather tell stories on a summer night.

The old man loved to tell his grandchildren stories about the past. Now that he had one less audience member, she wondered if he missed her.

Soon, the aroma of meat from the kitchen brought Lynn Naya back to reality.

She had to admit, Xue Yong’s wife was an amazing cook. Even with the limited ingredients and seasonings, she was able to make a meal that made most people frequently look at the kitchen.

If the adults were like that, the children in the courtyard were even more so. They had stopped playing and were all drooling, staring at the kitchen with a longing for meat.

Perhaps annoyed by their stares, Xue Yong’s wife gave each of the three children a piece of fried pork fat and waved them away.

The three children took the still-hot pieces and huddled in a corner, looking at each other. They puffed out their cheeks and blew on the pieces of fat.

When the fat cooled down, they didn’t eat it all at once but broke off small pieces with their fingers and put them in their mouths, savoring the flavor as if it were a rare delicacy.

The sight made Lynn Naya chuckle. It was worth it, if only for this.

While she was watching the children, someone was watching her. When she looked away, she heard someone say, “Healer Lynn, you’re looking at them with such envy. Do you want to have a child of your own?”

It was Supervisor Zhang’s wife.

It seemed that even in a different world, matchmaking was a popular hobby.

“I haven’t thought about that yet.” Lynn Naya said with a smile, politely refusing.

“Alright.” Supervisor Zhang’s wife sounded a little disappointed. “But it’s a good idea to wait. You never know what life will bring you. What if…” she trailed off, pursing her lips.

But from her look, Lynn Naya understood what she meant.

She was young. What if an immortal on the mountain took an interest in her and made her their concubine?

She couldn’t blame Supervisor Zhang’s wife for objectifying her. After all, for an ordinary person, male or female, to get involved with a cultivator was to leap into a new class.

In the cultivation world, strength was everything. If she became a big shot in the future, people would offer themselves to her.

Hmm, for some reason, that actually sounds kind of exciting.

The delicious smell from the kitchen lingered for half an hour before the food was finally brought out and placed on a makeshift table in the middle of the courtyard.

A dozen people gathered around the table. Although there was no alcohol, everyone got along so well that they used water as a substitute for wine, eating and chatting with great enthusiasm.

The lively meal lasted for about half an hour before everyone started to leave. After most of the guests were gone, Supervisor Zhang’s wife and Scarface Qing stayed behind to help clean up.

There wasn’t much to do. With the Xue family and her, they didn’t really need their help, but Lynn Naya appreciated their willingness.

As Supervisor Zhang’s wife was cleaning the dishes and Lynn Naya and Scarface Qing were putting the makeshift tables back, Lynn Naya took the opportunity to say, “By the way, do you think you can find me a shapeshifting techniques?”

The cold pond water had a cold poison. As a mortal, she would eventually be affected by it. She couldn’t keep her healthy appearance forever.

With a population of hundreds of thousands of mortals, some hidden treasures would eventually appear on the market for various reasons. A shapeshifting techniques was a good tool for a person on the move, and there was a chance one would appear.

One of the reasons she had given Scarface Qing money was to tie their interests together and have him help her with things that would be inconvenient for her to do herself. For example, looking for a shapeshifting techniques. ScarfaceQing’s network was definitely wider than Xue Yong’s. In the future, when she needed cultivation resources, she could also ask him to help her.

“You need that?” Scarface Qing nodded. “Alright, I’ll ask around for you.”

“Thank you.” He had said “ask around,” not “look for.” His attitude was why so many people were loyal to him.

“Also, you should try to build a relationship with Senior Xie.” Lynn Naya added. Senior Xie was a servant of an alchemist. Alchemy was one of the four arts of cultivation. If she had a chance to learn alchemy in the future, she didn’t want to miss it. Of course, she couldn’t rush these things, so she had to start planning now.

Scarface Qing thought for a moment and said, “That shouldn’t be too difficult. I’ll let you know if I make any progress.”

“Great.”

The door was already installed, and Lynn Naya wanted to start on the next one, but she saw that Xue Yong had already taken the other two to install. She went into the kitchen instead.

The greasy dishes were also cleaned quickly. When everything was done, Lynn Naya walked with Supervisor Zhang’swife and Scarface Qing to the entrance of the alley before walking back to her house.

Above, the stars stretched like a river; below, the mortal world glowed with its simple warmth. Life, in this moment, was just right.