The Cultivator's Reborn to 1970s
Chapter 93 - 79 second watch

Chapter 93: 79 second watch

Wu Zongyu looked at Lan Tian with a strange look in his eyes, then checked on Mr. Mo’s health. Seeing that Mr. Mo could talk, laugh, and walk, he felt somewhat relieved.

Seeing that Mr. Mo was fine, Mo Yuanle breathed a sigh of relief, still shaken, and without waiting for Mr. Mo to ask, he took the initiative to explain.

"Girl, since childhood, you’ve been learning martial arts from a master till now. I didn’t know about it before until you showed us a trick at home. We’ve been keeping it a secret from the village, and you often go to the mountains to practice under the guise of gathering herbs. Thankfully you know martial arts, otherwise, today could have ended disastrously."

What constitutes a master? One who appears and disappears without a trace. At the position of Great Grandpa Mo, having been in contact with many influential figures, he naturally heard things and understood them, waving his hand to signal Mo Yuanle to say no more, "I understand!"

No wonder the girl refuses to learn medicine, she had an extraordinary adventure!

Although Mr. Mo wanted Lan Tian to come back to Shanghai with him for a better education, if Lan Tian disagreed, he would not force her.

At this moment, Great Grandpa Mo was by the window, looking at a few plants. The girl looked at them every morning upon waking. Having nothing to busy himself with, he followed Lan Tian around. Seeing him just looking and touching occasionally and exclaiming in surprise, Lan Tian helplessly offered him a pot of Cha Hua, "If you like it, I’ll give you one."

Great Grandpa Mo didn’t refuse and happily accepted it, instructing his disciple Wu Zongyu to take good care of it and bring it back to plant in his garden in Shanghai.

Wu Zongyu held the precious variety of Cha Hua, noting that this pot would be worth at least twenty thousand yuan in the market, yet it was priceless. Mr. Mo just loved these plants and flowers, which is why he had been following her around these past few days, and she just gave it away.

The remaining few pots of plants were even rarer. If he wasn’t mistaken, one of the black ones was Black Magnolia, and the two pots of fiery red ones were unfamiliar, but they seemed extraordinary as well.

Great Grandpa Mo knew when to stop; he took a pot of flowers from the girl, feeling completely satisfied, and turned to go drink morning tea under the camphor tree.

After staying a few days, he realized the house held many incredible items, like the tea he had never seen before, specially brewed for Mo Yuanle, which made him feel particularly invigorated. The century-old ginseng used in soups, the thousand-year-old ginseng Polygonum multiflorum his sister-in-law and daughter-in-law brewed for tea.

Watching enviously, he also secretly brewed some to drink. His hair had already turned white; how could people not pity him—life is hard!

He wasn’t a tea drinker and didn’t like the bitterness, but once thirsty he accidentally drank a cup and realized he had missed many good things. After eating at Mo’s fourth son’s house, he noticed that the vegetables there were different from other households’. He wasn’t sure if his old eyes were deceiving him, but he felt like his hair was getting darker.

Great Grandpa Mo was clearly aware that many things in the house had mysterious origins which couldn’t stand up to scrutiny—not even mentioning him, the old fox, even his astute disciple might have noticed something, but they had to pretend to be unaware, creating quite the dilemma for the old man.

The family’s life was too luxurious, understandable only to the simple villagers around.

Grandma Sun, Zhao Li, thought about it for a few days and felt that what Great Grandpa Mo said made sense. Things flow downwards, people move upwards; with such circumstances at home, why not take the opportunity? The two of them tried to persuade her every day.

In the house, Lan Tian spread out some paper, concentrated deeply, picked up the brush, and waved it gracefully. She was silently copying the Tao Te Ching, her mind free of stray thoughts. She started and finished in one stroke, and the characters seemed to carry the essence of Tao.

Grandma Sun didn’t understand but felt the writing was beautiful and kept persuading Lan Tian on the side.

"Girl, you’re fifteen already, an adult now. You know what to do. Grandma’s suggestions are just for your consideration. Whether to go or not is up to you."

Lan Tian was startled; she was already fifteen! If not for Grandma Sun mentioning it, Lan Tian would have almost forgotten.

In her previous life, it was around this time that Mo Junhua suddenly came back for a visit. Her mother arranged a marriage for him at home, finding him a wife, just as Mo Junhua was breaking up with Bai Lianhua with his feelings hurt, disheartened, he married her.

Mother, she was that unfortunate bride!

Startled by this realization, Lan Tian realized that Mo Junhua was coming back. Her hand paused, and the ink pooled then dripped from the tip of her brush, spreading rapidly like blooming black plums.

Today’s practice was not happening. Lan Tian collected the papers on the table, washing her brush while speaking, "Grandma, you’re right. I’ve decided to go with Grandpa to Shanghai for school. I was reluctant before because I didn’t want to leave all of you."

"Silly girl, it’s not like you won’t come back. When you have holidays, come see us, or I’ll visit you with your uncle and aunt."

Lan Tian decided to go to Shanghai, not only to avoid Mo Junhua, but also to find some rare materials for crafting magic artifacts, as she no longer had the divine and immortal artifacts from her personal cave to protect her against the Heavenly Tribulation. The materials for magic artifacts that cultivators use are special and rare, not just ordinary mortal iron, and it’s not known whether such materials would even be available in the marketplace. If not, she might need to search from one mountaintop to another.

Why is cultivating immortality so hard?

Mo Junhua is not an easy person to deal with either. Last time in the county town, she noticed that Mo Junhua had changed, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what was different.

Back then, Mo Junhua seemed very dangerous to her. She had wanted to act against him, only to find out that Mo Junhua was protected by accumulated virtue.

Cultivators cannot attack mortals at will, because their methods are mysterious and deadly, causing mass casualties with a single move. This is why the Heavenly Dao provides a balance; killing mortals adds to one’s karmic sins, and during tribulation, the Heavenly Dao intensifies the tribulation’s fiery punishments.

To act as agents of Heaven, punishing evil and promoting good, does not increase one’s karmic sins, and cultivators should not interfere in mundane affairs unnecessarily. However, if a mortal poses a threat to a cultivator, the cultivator will still act, and this becomes a matter of karmic retribution.

Mo Junhua had great virtue, so Lan Tian dared not attack him. She had been reborn and was supposed to keep a low profile, yet here she was, practically delivering herself to be killed. Killing a mortal endowed with great virtue would lead the Heavenly Dao to extinguish her immediately.

Lan Tian felt this at the time, which is why she held back and did not act.

Compared to losing her life, putting up with Mo Junhua seemed insignificant.

Yesterday, the village chief brought a letter, sent from Shanghai. It was addressed to Great Grandpa Mo, who looked quite distressed after reading it, making Lan Tian suspect something bad had happened there.

At dinner, Great Grandpa Mo mentioned that people in Shanghai were urging him to return. He had wanted to stay for a while longer, but it seemed that was no longer possible, and he planned to return to Shanghai in a few days.

Mr. Mo told his family that he was just a doctor, but his family could tell from his daily habits and diet that he lived a life of luxury.

Mo Yuanle would have liked to spend more time with Mr. Mo, but he knew it was impractical as there were many matters awaiting Mr. Mo’s decisions back home, so he did not insist on a longer stay.

Grandma Sun mentioned to Great Grandpa Mo that Lan Tian agreed to go back to Shanghai with him, which made him very happy; he even ate an extra bowl of rice.

Zhao Li worried about what Four Mo’s reaction would be when he found out, given his temper.

Lan Tian’s decision to go to school in Shanghai was rushed, and there were many things at home that had not been done yet. She couldn’t leave immediately and needed to make thorough preparations before departing.

Days passed quickly, and two days later, when it was time to leave, Great Grandpa Mo packed as if locusts were swarming, wanting to take everything with him. He packed two sacks of local mountain goods and two big sacks of vegetables, specifically from Lan Tian’s field. Mo Yuanle’s tea leaves were half-empty, the leftover ginseng for stew was cut in half, Granny Sun’s Polygonum multiflorum tea was also packed a bit, and even a pot of Cha Hua and half a basket of peaches were taken.

Lan Tian watched him with a sidelong glance, wondering just how thick his skin was.

Great Grandpa Mo shamelessly exploited his age, not feeling a bit embarrassed, packing everything necessary and unnecessary, making Wu Zongyu’s face burn with embarrassment, wishing he could hide away.

Grandma Sun, worried Lan Tian might get angry, stayed by her side to comfort her, "Girl, look at it this way: considering his old age and poor sight, and it’s rare for him to come back, let him take some things. It might be a while before he wants more anyway, and I won’t give it to him next time."

Mo Yuanle went to the village chief’s house to borrow a bullock cart and returned to see the pile of things on the ground, his mouth twitching involuntarily as he silently loaded them onto the cart.

In the past few years, the country had issued new policies. Land was distributed to each family. Lan Tian’s family of four received slightly over three acres of land; beyond paying taxes to the state, whatever was extra belonged to the family. Each household could raise chickens, ducks, and feed pigs without restriction, as many as they could afford.

Buying things no longer required coupons, and shouting slogans was also unnecessary. Going out to do a little business wasn’t considered capitalism or undermining the state anymore.

The elderly in the village said that the heavens had finally opened their eyes, and they were living good days at last.

In Zhao Li’s household, she attentively managed the land, planting three parts of early-maturing peanuts and harvested four sacks, two parts of soybeans yielding two sacks of soy. Taking the chance of sending Mr. Mo to the county, Grandma Sun also went to check if the prices were good, taking a sack of peanuts and soybeans with her.

Lan Tian went to the village entrance and then turned back, heading straight for Taohua Valley without returning home. Going to school in Shanghai meant she could only return during the winter vacation. Some things in Taohua Valley needed to be handled; all the peaches and grapes were picked, most left for her family to eat and a small part taken by her as fruit. She needed to prepare more of her uncle’s tea leaves, as well as the medicinal teas her grandma and aunt drank, and collect the herbs from the valley. She also needed to prepare the soups for the second stage of her body training.