April 1st, clear skies. Auspicious for opening a business, marrying, avoid wearing red.
Moo~
Han Yu lay listlessly on the back of a Big Yellow Ox, sprawled out as it swayed left and right.
On the back of the ox, Han Yu was dozing off, occasionally tugging the rope to keep the ox on track, spending the rest of the time with his eyes closed.
Though his eyes were closed, he was actually chattering continuously in his mind to the Glazed Bottle.
"Say something! Can you give me a reaction?"
"If you really can't, just move a bit so I know you can hear me, okay? Let's have a conversation?"
The Glazed Piece remained unmoved like a mountain; it quietly floated in his mind, indifferent to Han Yu's dry-mouth chatter.
This was the day Han Yu set off on his journey again after half a month of hiding... um, resting.
Since being thrown out of Yujin Prefecture, Han Yu had been taking small paths, eventually wandering into a small village.
The villagers were very hospitable, and Han Yu thought of staying there for a month until the side effects of the Nine Ox Strength Pill wore off before leaving.
From now on, any Pills he had to take would not be consumed until he thoroughly understood them word by word.
During those two-week, various strange Pills emerged, such as one he gave to a seventy-year-old lady that restored her half-lost teeth to a youthful state, but with the side effect of weakening her digestion.
Now the old lady could only look at chicken, duck, and fish, cradling a bowl of porridge, using her good teeth to chew the grains into a finer mush before swallowing.
Next door, Qiang, who sold fish, complained daily about his wife's constant sour face, resulting in barely any business at their tofu stall.
After taking a Pill, Zhen became enthusiastic with everyone she met, and the tofu business boomed, but Qiang lost his interest in selling fish. Several times he saw young Tian Ji from the neighborhood hovering around the tofu stall, making Zhen laugh gleefully.
So Qiang gave up the fish business, and the couple started selling tofu together.
One day, Han Yu obtained an Insect-Repelling Pill and, with good intentions, diluted it and threw it on the village's farmland. While it deterred grasshoppers from the crops, it made the village's chickens, ducks, and geese suffer, getting bitten daily by swarms of locusts.
The village's would-be scholar, repeatedly failing to pass the exams, was now in his forties. He still held onto the sage books at home; his elderly wife could only secretly wipe her tears facing their hard days. Once she heard about Han Yu's magic, she secretly sought out a Pill.
The scholar lost interest in books, laboring in the fields daily. To his wife's great concern, he developed an enormous interest in the plow, not pushing the ox but dismantling the plow's handle to pull it himself.
These bizarre occurrences happened by coincidence. For some peculiar items, Han Yu had to coax others into taking them.
Some gained great wisdom overnight, becoming incredibly smart, only to lose all their hair.
Some, timid as mice, suddenly gained courage, but occasionally meowed.
Some, suffering from night blindness, could suddenly thread a needle in the dark, but their vision became blurry during the day...
Over half a month, the small village gradually fell into chaos.
This morning, the villagers pooled together to provide an ox, holding various farm implements as they "enthusiastically" "escorted" Han Yu and the ox out of the village.
The Big Yellow Ox slowly ambled along the path, swishing its tail side to side, while Han Yu, jostled drowsily, decided to take a nap, soon snoring softly.
Gradually, the ox began to wander off course, drawn by the scent of grass it favored, munching as it ambled onto the official road.
Along the main road, the number of travelers increased significantly—merchants hurrying along, pedlars and vendors carrying their wares, and cultivators passing in a rush.
"Tea! Tea here!"
Beside the main road, a three-meter high flag with a large character for "tea" flapped in the wind. A wooden tea stand with a thatched top stood, and the waiter waved a cloth, calling out to passersby.
Under the tea stand, six or seven tables had been set up, but business wasn't great; only one table was occupied by three people.
"Do you think if we go there, we'll get beaten up?"
Zhang Kui forced out a smile on his thin face. Among the four at the table, he was the youngest, in his twenties, a newly initiated junior brother.
Senior brother Wang Xuannan, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, looked handsome, already a Divine Bridge Realm cultivator at only twenty-five.
Junior sister Qiu Susu, in a red pleated As You Wish dress, with bright eyes and pearly teeth, possessed exceptional beauty of the same age.
She had only joined the sect an hour before him.
Originally, they agreed that senior brother would lead everyone out for some experience, but midway, junior sister acted coy and pleaded with senior brother to help her, which brought them here.
It turned out that before entering the sect, Qiu Susu had a marriage contract, but now as a cultivator, she was naturally unwilling to marry an ordinary man and return to a mundane life. The fiancé's family had some background, so Qiu Susu wanted Wang Xuannan to intervene and annul the marriage contract.
"Don't worry, with senior brother here!"
Qiu Susu stared at Wang Xuannan with worshipful eyes, speaking affectionately.
Wang Xuannan seemed to enjoy this attention, nodding and smiling slightly, "No problem. Canceling a marriage contract is not difficult."
Qiu Susu naturally listened with great joy, covering her mouth with laughter and banter.
"Hey! Where did that ox come from, taking a stroll!"
The waiter nearby suddenly spoke out of curiosity, only to see the yellow ox had somehow wandered over here, leisurely swaying its tail and moving slowly.
"That's quite unusual, this yellow ox taking a stroll by itself."
Zhang Kui joked.
"No way, there's clearly someone on it, look closely."
Wang Xuannan looked intently, then smiled and said.
Qiu Susu also glanced up, and the moment she saw it, her chest started heaving.
"What's the matter?"
Wang Xuannan noticed Qiu Susu's unusual reaction and asked with concern.
"That person is so annoying, I want to hit him."
Qiu Susu said angrily with a frown.
"Senior sister, that's not right! He's a stranger."
Zhang Kui hurriedly advised.
But as soon as he spoke, a red figure suddenly leaped from the table.
The yellow ox was leisurely munching on some grass by the roadside, but with the red figure bouncing incessantly in front of its eyes, its eyes gradually turned red.
Moo!
The yellow ox, stirred by the red, pawed its hooves and charged with its horns lowered.
On the back of the ox, Han Yu was suddenly jolted awake. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, looking at the rapidly receding scenery in front, and hurriedly turned back in fright.
"Get out of the way!"
Han Yu shouted to stop, wondering what kind of fool wanted to try strength against the ox horns, not afraid of being gored to death?
Then he saw the bright red outfit, and instantly understood—it was his problem!
Is he nuts? Why dress so festively?
It was too late to stop it now, and Qiu Susu drew her sword, paying no heed to the horns about to ram into her chest.
Han Yu could only forcefully grasp the horns and press them sideways, but Qiu Susu was hit by the charging ox and was sent flying.
Han Yu didn't fare much better, and after the horns were forcibly twisted downward, he tumbled with the yellow ox over the side of the cliff...
"Senior sister, you seem to have caused a death."
A fearful Zhang Kui ran to the cliff's edge, looking into the deep abyss, he gulped and said.
After Han Yu fell into the ravine, Qiu Susu finally regained her senses, her face pale, "I... I didn't mean to."
"Damn it hurts!"
At the bottom of the cliff, Han Yu wobbly supported his waist as he stood up, his entire skeleton still buzzing like the sound of struck steel.
Looking down, the big yellow ox was already a bloody mess, reduced to a heap of broken meat.
The ravine was quiet, filled with the sound of chirping insects.
Surrounded by lush green trees, the sunlight was blocked by the thick foliage, making the view dim and a bit hazy.
Han Yu followed the light, slowly walking toward the outer edge, for about half a two-hour, until the path suddenly opened up, and the sunlight dazzled his eyes as it poured in.
In front of him was a stone platform, and as he moved forward, he could see terraced fields stretching for several miles down the slope below.
Han Yu realized that this must be Minzhou.
There's an old saying that goes, Quantai is so poor there's only mountains, in Yujin, all you see is wilderness, but only in Minzhou are grains piled mountain high.
This place has always been the granary of the Imperial Court, it's said that half the court's reserves come from here.
But Han Yu was frustrated because he obviously wanted to take a shortcut, yet ended up on the official road, didn't want to enter the city, yet happened upon a shortcut.
Now climbing back up was impractical, the only way was to continue downward.
When he really stood at the city gate of Minzhou Prefecture.
He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to enter or not.
Would he be thrown out again?