Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 677A - Shepherds

Chapter 677A - Shepherds

Creak –

The sound of the old wooden door being pushed open interrupted the quiet reverie of the youth lying down on the bed. He opened his eyes, his gaze calm and dim, as deep as the sea.

Seeing the old woman that walked in, the youth smiled, “Granny, it must have been troubling for you taking care of me.”

The woman was very old. The skin of her face had lost its luster and moisture, and folds overlapped like layers of dead bark. She smiled and waved her hand, revealing a mouth with only a few broken teeth left in it.

This granny was a mute. The youth was already aware of this through their past several days of contact. He expressed his thanks to her again and took the bowl from her hands.

The black and white porcelain bowl was thick and heavy. It was unknown how many years it had been used for, but the lip of it was covered in small cracks. Still, the inside and outside was washed extremely cleanly. Now it was full of cooked porridge and some wood mushroom-like herbs were floating inside.

The youth sighed with emotion. He had indeed encountered a good person. Although the medicinal efficacy of the herbs in this porridge was almost nothing to him, they must be extremely precious treasures to this old woman.

He had turned it down twice, saying that he didn’t need any medicinal herbs to heal. But, he was actually scolded for some time by a spirited old man. The old man said that young people needed to care more about how they recovered. If the root of a disease was formed, it would be troublesome once he became older.

The flavor of the porridge was good. The medicinal herbs were mixed in with the scent of wood. The youth ate it all up and handed back the bowl with both hands. “Granny, once my injuries are healed I will definitely repay you.”

When he said this, he had an incomparably earnest attitude.

The granny nodded and smiled, waving her hand and gesturing for him to lie back down to rest. She took the bowl and slowly hobbled away.

Before the wooden door closed, he heard steps ringing out in the courtyard, light and vigorous.

The granny stopped and ahh’ed out a greeting. A young woman’s voice impatiently sounded back, “I’m hungry, stop interrupting my sleep!”

A figure flashed outside the wooden door. Although it passed quickly, Qin Yu could see the owner of this voice for the first time.

The thick leather vest and fur hat couldn’t fully conceal the appearance of a young girl. But, the skin that was exposed to the sun was rough and darkened, dimming her feminine qualities a little.

Outside, the granny sighed and closed the door. But the sound of her footsteps was far slower than before; it was clear she had a heavy heart.

The youth on the bed furrowed his eyebrows. In his opinion, having a kind and doting pair of grandparents was one of life’s greatest fortunes. This young girl was simply too ungrateful.

The youth shook his head and closed his eyes. He began to sort out all the information he received from this elderly couple over the past several days.

Without a doubt, he was extremely lucky. Although he had almost been killed off by the turbulent spatial flow, he actually ended up in a world suitable for cultivation.

The air was filled with a rich heaven and earth spiritual strength, one no worse than the Demonic Path’s small world. This was the best proof of that.

It had to be known that the Demonic Path’s small world was where the foundation of the entire Demonic Path was located. It had only reached its current standard after the environment there was constantly improved over countless generations of cultivators.

And what kind of place was this now? It was a desolate and barren mountain village, in the home of an old shepherd couple. There was simply no comparing the two sides.

Without a doubt, the cultivation standard of this world was far higher than the Land of Divinity and Demons. But as for what the exact level was, he couldn’t yet determine it.

That’s right, the youth lying back on a bed and recuperating from his wounds was Qin Yu, who had fallen here after being schemed against by Big Pig!

After a long time he opened his eyes and muttered, “The spiritual strength here is so rich and yet I can’t absorb any of it at all. Once a few more days pass and I recover a bit of my strength, I need to figure out a way to dispel the remaining annihilating power of space from within my body.”

When he was separated from the turbulent spatial flow, Qin Yu had lost all power to resist. A massive amount of spatial strength had intruded into his body, leaving his cultivation in tatters.

The Ancient race body had also suffered tremendous damage. If it weren’t for his potent vitality, then his body might have perished already. With such serious injuries to his mortal body, if he had no outside help and needed to rely on his own regenerative abilities, it would require an extremely long time to recover.

Qin Yu simply didn’t have time to wait.

Hu –

Letting out a breath, Qin Yu suppressed the anxiousness in his heart. In this current situation he could only take one step at a time and act accordingly. He closed his eyes and started to attempt to awaken his collapsed cultivation. Even if he could only control a small part of it, he could break this deadlock and gradually restore himself.

But what a pity, the annihilating strength of space was firm and tenacious. It stayed in Qin Yu’s body like a cage, locking his cultivation inside. After half a day’s effort he wasn’t able to achieve anything.

Qin Yu’s weakened state soon left him feeling tired. He dozed off again.

Three days later Qin Yu was finally able to step out of bed and walk around. The Demon Body slowly recovered, but as long as it restored just a little bit then it was enough for him to move.

This gave Qin Yu some confidence. As long as he could leave this room then he had a chance to find opportunities to heal his injuries.

The granny smiled at Qin Yu, expressing her surprise and acclaim at his recovery. Even after falling down from such a high place, he had only spent several days in bed before being able to walk again. This young man definitely had a great physique!

An old man with silver hair and bright eyes humphed. “In the past I also fell like that once. I was able to walk again in four days and was fully recovered after 20 days. The elders in the village all said that I had talent to cultivate, but my luck wasn’t good so I wasn’t chosen by the immortals.”

Looking at Qin Yu’s pale face, the old man furrowed his eyebrows. “Young people shouldn’t try to show off so much. If your injuries aren’t healed up then you should be resting in bed.”

Qin Yu smiled and shook his head. “I’ve been lying down so much for the last several days that I feel like a plank of wood. It’s nice to sit out in the sun.”

The old man nodded and continued to work on the wooden bowl in his hands. At his old age he was no longer able to continue shepherding, so he picked the woodworking skills he learnt as a youth back up so that he could help his family.

The granny took out a cushion for Qin Yu and then began to busy herself preparing fodder for the young black-horned sheep. This was a type of sheep that was snow white in color and had two dark black horns. Their meat was incomparably delicious and they were popular with visitors from beyond the mountains. They were the most precious wealth of the family and also their main source of income.

Qin Yu smiled and chatted with the old man, listening to him boast about the stories and experiences of his youth. At the same time, he also inquired into the situation of the surrounding region. What a pity, the furthest the old man had ever gone was to a city 300 miles away, so he couldn’t provide any useful information.

With his experience and intelligence, conversing with others was as simple and smooth as a spring breeze. The more the old man spoke, the more excited he became. The granny coughed several times, indicating for him to restrain himself, but she was selectively ignored.

Suddenly there was the sound of shouting from outside the courtyard. Perhaps because this person had spoken too much, their voice was somewhat harsh and coarse.

A herd of black-horned sheep obediently passed through the courtyard doors and walked into the great circular pen that had been swept clean. Then, there was the sound of a young girl’s voice conversing with others.

“A’li is truly fierce! Just by yourself you can actually take care of such a giant herd of black-horned sheep!”

“Once this herd of sheep is grown up you will absolutely earn a great deal of money. It’s so envious!”

“You young boys, stop drooling! If you have energy then get to work! If any of you can marry A’li in the future, you had better pray to your ancestors and thank them!”

A’li was the granddaughter of the elderly couple. She turned to the group of men and shouted, “You want to marry this old lady? Turn around and take a look in the mirror first!”

The lives of mountain people were difficult and arduous. Their words were often simple and vulgar. A’li’s shouts and curses instead caused the men to laugh out loud.

The courtyard doors were shoved open. A young girl walked in, a smile on her face. When she saw Qin Yu lying down in the courtyard, basking in the sun, her complexion immediately darkened.

“I’m tired!”

Ignoring the granny’s greetings, she strode towards her room. Then, there was a sudden pitiful cry. A pig that had been lazily lying on the ground was maliciously kicked out.

“Screw off! Go find somewhere else to sleep!”

Bang –

The door slammed shut.

The pig had teary eyes. It wondered just who it had annoyed for that young girl to be so cold and cruel to him. Hey, Qin Yu isn’t the only wounded one here! I am too! I am too!

Unfortunately, no one noticed the pig’s pained expression. The old man only sighed, the filing blade in his hand moving faster. The granny wiped her eyes, squeezing out a smile towards Qin Yu.

Although no one said anything, the relaxed atmosphere in the courtyard had completely disappeared.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes but he didn’t say anything. This was a family matter, and as an outsider it wasn’t something he should meddle in. However, when the young girl glanced around the courtyard and saw him, how come he thought that she was giving him such an ill expression?

I never provoked her, right?