This little disturbance in Yuhuai Mountain will not affect other people at least for the time being. Even some of the immortal cultivators in Yuhuai Mountain are still unclear about the situation, so naturally it will not affect Ji Yuan for the time being.
There is no need to circle around in the sky. The straight-line distance between Desheng Prefecture and Ning'an County is more than 150 miles, which is not far for Ji Yuan who can now fly in the clouds.
Even for someone like Ji Yuan who was used to flying slowly, it only took him less than two quarters of an hour to fly over Ning'an County with his feet on the clouds and the breeze.
From afar in the sky, one could see a faint spiritual energy gathering in the corner of Tianniufang in Ning'an County. When Ji Yuan opened his Dharma eyes, he could even see a not-so-conspicuous fluorescent green light hidden in the spiritual energy.
'jujube?'
Ji Yuan was a little surprised. The breeze blew his clothes and hair. Ji Yuan slowly descended on the clouds and finally landed in the courtyard of Ju'an Pavilion.
“Rustle…rustle…”
There seemed to be a stronger wind in the yard, and the branches and leaves of the entire jujube tree began to sway. The red jujubes on it were now crystal clear and glowed with red fluorescence.
Whoosh…whoosh…whoosh…..
It's easy to remember a jujube falling down.
"Hold on!"
Ji Yuan stretched out his hand and caught the five falling dates, then raised his left hand to stop the date tree from dropping more dates.
"Just give it a try. If it all falls off at once, that's it."
The swaying of the jujube tree's branches and leaves finally subsided.
Ji Yuan placed the bag on his shoulder and four dates on the stone table. He then took one of the dates, put it to his nose and sniffed it, then opened his mouth and took a bite.
With a "slurp" sound, the juice bursts out of the fruit flesh and the sweet fragrance fills the mouth.
"Delicious, delicious, even more delicious than the dates I had before! Hehehe..."
Ji Yuan smiled and sat down at the stone table, continuing to enjoy the delicious fruits in a relaxed manner. The Green Ivy Sword was floating behind him, changing its angle from time to time, as if it was also observing Ju'an Pavilion.
After eating five dates, Ji Yuan looked up at the jujube tree in the yard, feeling deeply moved. The jujube tree was no longer blurry in his eyes, and he could see the vitality of its veins. What was even more rare was its ability to gather spiritual energy.
"Very good, peaceful and calm, without any evil spirits, it can be considered as a successful practice!"
Ji Yuan's soft exclamation caused all the branches and leaves of the jujube tree to sway rhythmically, as if it was a rhythm of branches and leaves representing joy and happiness.
However, while Ji Yuan was admiring, he was also searching carefully between the branches and leaves, but he didn't see anything for a long time.
'It didn't bloom this year, what a pity...'
Ji Yuan sat in the yard for a while, then walked towards the main room. Seeing a lock hanging on it, he was stunned for a moment before he waved his sleeves, took out his purse, and rummaged inside to take out the key.
"Luckily I kept the key in my purse and didn't throw it away with the old bag, otherwise it would have lost the sense of ceremony, haha!"
While laughing, Ji Yuan inserted the key into the keyhole and with a "click", the door lock opened.
"Squeak~"
The sound of the wooden door hinges was still so familiar, and there was no smell of mold or rot in the room.
After entering the room, Ji Yuan casually stroked the table with his finger. There was not much dust that quickly slid off from his fingers, and it seemed that it had been cleaned recently.
Although there was only a wooden board on the bed and no bedding, there were quilts and other items in the cupboard that still smelled of sunlight.
"It seems that Xiao Yinqing did not go to Wanzhou with us!"
With a flick of his sleeve, he brushed away the already tiny amount of dust on the bed, then took out the bedding and spread it out. Ji Yuan placed the Qingteng Sword beside the bed, and then lay back on his own bed which he had not seen for a long time.
"It's still comfortable at home!"
With a light sigh, Ji Yuan closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
The Qingteng Sword remained still at the bedside for a moment, then slowly floated up and flew to the front door of the main room. It pushed the door tightly which Ji Yuan had not closed before, and then flew back to the bedside.
In the courtyard of the Yin family's old house, when the branches and leaves of the jujube tree in Ju'an Pavilion were swaying violently, the red fox sleeping next to Yin Qing moved its ears and raised its head to listen.
After listening for a while, I thought it might be the strong wind, so I lay down and fell asleep.
Although Ji Yuan did not say what was in his mind, that night, the jujube tree in the Ju'an Pavilion courtyard sprouted flower buds in the second half of the night, and yellow-green jujube flowers bloomed and hung on the branches. Before dawn, the faint fragrance filled the Tianniu Pavilion.
. . .
It was an ordinary morning in Ning'an County, but this morning seemed different from usual.
When the villagers in Tianniufang and even the neighboring market get up, they can smell the refreshing fragrance.
In Shuangjingpu, Tianniufang, people were already fetching water and washing clothes and vegetables early in the morning. The sounds of slapping clothes and the voices of local women talking could be heard everywhere.
“I smelled so good when I woke up this morning!”
"Yes, yes, this fragrance is really nice, where does it come from?"
"You guys, you forgot it already. It must be the scent of the jujube tree flowers in Ju'an Pavilion. I used to sleep more comfortably when I smelled it at night!"
"Yes, yes, I remember now!"
"Wow, it's been a long time since that date tree has emitted such a strong fragrance!"
"That's great, hehe..." "Do we have dates to eat this year, hahaha..."
"Oh, you just want to eat!"
…
The woman from Shuangjinpu was laughing and joking like a clear bell, and people who came to fetch water also joined in the conversation. The residents of Tianniufang walked more briskly in the morning.
Yin Qing got up early in the morning and rushed to the school with Hu Yun. Now Yin Qing was not the only one going to school, so the red fox also followed them to the school to eavesdrop. After all, the teacher was better at teaching.
They just smelled the fragrance in the morning, so the man and the fox went to the direction of Ju'an Pavilion on purpose. Sure enough, they saw the jujube tree flowers in full bloom. They were very surprised, but they didn't think much about it. In addition, they were in a hurry to go to school, so they naturally couldn't unlock the door to take a closer look, and they ran straight to the school.
The red fox relied on a little bit of magical power to deceive the eyes and lay on Yin Qing's back to travel through the streets and alleys. But in fact, it was because the City God turned a blind eye to it, otherwise this trick would not be hidden from the God who wanders day and night.
It was more than half an hour after Yin Qing and the red fox Hu Yun went to the academy together that Ji Yuan finally stretched comfortably and came out of the house. Sleeping until noon had always been his habit in Ju'an Pavilion. As soon as he came back, he naturally returned to his usual routine.
Looking up at the jujube tree with branches full of flowers, Ji Yuan bowed to it as if he was treating a monk. Then he tidied his hair, put on a black jade hairpin, and went out.
On a street outside Tianniufang, Sun's noodle stall is still open for business. Time seems to be particularly unfair to the elderly. In just about six years, old man Sun has aged a lot.
However, when the stall cart was pushed over here today, one could smell a refreshing fragrance that uplifted one's spirits. One's hands and feet became much more nimble, and both Old Man Sun and the diners were in a good mood.
Having just cleared away the tableware from the guests, Old Man Sun scooped water from the water tank behind the stall to rinse and brush the dishes, then placed them by the stove to bake for a while.
"Old Sun, do you still have braised noodles and offal today?"
A familiar voice, but one he couldn't remember for the moment, sounded at the stall. Old man Sun stood up and looked over there. On an empty seat sat a gentle and kind gentleman in a white shirt with wide sleeves. He looked so familiar.
"You are... you are Mr. Ji?"
Old man Sun's expression changed from a puzzled frown to a look of surprise.
"Mr. Ji, you're back? I'm glad you're back! Oh, yes, you said braised noodles and offal. Yes, we have them. The only offal is mutton offal. I'll go to some surrounding villages tomorrow to ask if they have beef offal!"
"No need, no need. Lamb offal is fine. Same as always, a bowl of braised noodles and a bowl of offal! Old Sun is still so energetic!"
Ji Yuan smiled and bowed to Old Man Sun.
Old man Sun wiped his hands on his apron and bowed in return. Seeing Ji Yuan, he felt even better.
"Mr. Ji, you are the one. You haven't changed in all these years! Please wait a moment. I will make you noodles right away!"
Old Man Sun skillfully prepared the meal for Ji Yuan and carefully brought it to the table.
After watching Ji Yuan pick up the chopsticks, take a bite, then look up and praise, "It still tastes so good!", he returned to the wooden cart stall with satisfaction to organize the utensils.
Old man Sun would chat with Ji Yuan from time to time about what had happened over the years, mainly talking about family matters such as his grandson's schooling, and also asking Ji Yuan how he was doing outside.
Besides listening, Ji Yuan would usually just smile and answer with “very good”.
During this period, some villagers passed by or ate at the stalls. Occasionally, someone would suddenly recognize Ji Yuan like Old Man Sun, but most of them did not know him. However, everyone would inevitably discuss the fragrance of flowers that wafted over today.
Although Ji Yuan was a "strange man" that the villagers talked about after dinner, there were actually not many people who could recognize him at first sight. Six years or so can change a lot of things. The young have grown up and the old have grown old.
But after all, the sense of tranquility that Ning'an County gave Ji Yuan has not changed.