Chapter 77: Chapter 75: Fishing and Hot Spring Bath (Seeking for Follow-Up Reading)

“Take care both of you!”

As Zhao Huai and Yu Qinghan left Huachun Room, the shopkeeper saw them off with a smile.

Yu Qinghan put all the clothes she bought in her storage necklace, and then looked at Zhao Huai curiously with her eyes:

“Husband, it seems that you talked to the shopkeeper for a long time. What were you talking about?”

Zhao Huai mysteriously smiled, “Nothing much, just a little business. If successful, we won’t have to worry about spending spiritual stones in the future.”

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Yu Qinghan understood in her heart and thought that it must be a big business deal.

“Oh, I see. Where shall we go next?” “Come, let’s go fishing with your husband.” The two walked out of the inner city and arrived at the outer city, where a large number of earth-built houses appeared.

Compared to the inner city, the outer city changed dramatically, with generally low and poorly built houses, and not much vitality on the streets.

The pedestrians, dressed in simple clothes, rarely showed smiles on their faces. They sat at the wooden doors of their houses, watching Zhao Huai and Yu Qinghan pass by, and curiously observed their attire.

Zhao Huai glanced at them one by one, and most people couldn’t help but lower their gazes. He found that the people here were all very thin, and their eyes were different from those in the inner city.

That timid look was a barrier they could never cross in their lifetime.

Yu Qinghan, who was beside him, also noticed this detail, and a trace of doubt appeared in her eyes.

Noticing her reaction, Zhao Huai explained:

“There has been a great drought in the Su Lake area this year; the crops planted in the spring didn’t yield any harvest, so there is a famine.”

Yu Qinghan nodded and frowned, “The government didn’t take any action, which is absurd.’

“The government simply doesn’t have the ability to take care of this; they still have so many troops to feed; they can’t manage even if they want to.”

Zhao Huai shook his head with a smile after hearing this.

“Xia Country is ultimately ill-gotten, and people’s grievances still exist. I don’t know when the explosion will occur.”

The reason Zhao Huai said this was that Yu Qinghan was treated unfairly by the Emperor of the Xia, which led to grievances. Thus, these words were not harmful, even somewhat gratified by others’ misfortune.

Hearing his words, Yu Qinghan didn’t refute them but instead fell into deep thought.

“Let’s go. There’s a small stream ahead in the bamboo forest.”

There was a small stream flowing through the outer city, which seemed more like a huge village than a city.

The houses were mostly made of wood and clay, surrounded by dense forests.

The location was obviously well-chosen since it was by the sea and prone to typhoons. The surrounding forests provided protection, reducing the wind and rain that the village needed to withstand.

Arriving at a quiet bamboo forest, they listened to the gurgling stream. Zhao Huai took out the fishing rod he prepared earlier. Seeing Yu Qinghan lost in thought while looking at the stream, he couldn’t help but ask curiously:

“Madam, what’s wrong?”

Yu Qinghan gave a faint smile, “I was just thinking about the past. After encamping with the army, besieging, and fighting, I would hope for a small stream like this to appear before me, so I could take a bath and have a full meal. Now that I think about it, the present days feel like a dream.” Zhao Huai stuck the fishing rod in the mud and comforted her, saying:

“Xiang Yun told me everything. The past is the past, and there’s nothing worth lingering over. ”

“What did she tell you?”

Upon hearing Pei Xiangyun’s name, Yu Qinghan turned her head, her eyes flickering slightly.

“She told me some stories about your past, including the Emperor’s treatment of your family and the unfair things your two brothers did to you.”

Zhao Huai sighed and thought that although these were things Madam didn’t want to hear, they had to be faced eventually. Talking about them would help solve the problems better.

Yu Qinghan lightly smiled, “That girl, she just likes to talk.”

“There’s no such thing as grinding and unfairness. It’s just that our circumstances were beyond our control.”

“Circumstances beyond our control?” Zhao Huai muttered quietly.

Speaking solemnly, Yu Qinghan explained, “Both serving in the army and managing family affairs were never what I wanted. But being born into a family, we can’t control our lives. How can we easily break free? So it’s correct to say that.”

“Has Madam really let it go?””l’ve long let go of it; they are no longer important.” Yu Qinghan’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. “Didn’t my husband say that cultivating immortality leads to a carefree, happy life?”

“I think it makes sense. In the end, these things amount to nothing; it’s better to focus on cultivation and enjoy the happiness of living a carefree life.”

Zhao Huai nodded: “Indeed.”

He had told his wife about his Immortal Cultivation philosophy more than once, and it seemed, step by step, she had taken it to heart.

Yu Qinghan looked deeply at Zhao Huai and sighed, “Now I think I understand why you didn’t want to marry me initially. It must have been because you were worried about this, right?”

She now understood Zhao Huai’s decision-making attitude and naturally showed understanding for his actions back then.

Steer clear of worldly affairs, mind your own business, and live a long life.

That must be the experience her husband has gained from his cultivation thus far.

“My dear, you’re still bringing that up.”

Zhao Huai let out an awkward chuckle.

“Since that’s the case, let’s not talk about it anymore. Let’s go fishing.” Yu Qinghan said with a playful smile.

“However, I’m afraid there are no fish in the river. The crystal-clear water and the sediment indicate that the common people outside the city must have caught all of them.”

She pointed at the small river, her expression extremely serious.

Zhao Huai glanced at the small stream, his Divine Insight quickly sweeping through the water in front of him. He found that as his wife had said, there were no fish in the river at all—not even small fry were left.

It seemed that it was true—the fish had all been eaten due to the famine.

“Sure are unexpected troubles.” Zhao Huai gave a bitter smile, but soon cheered up again. “Don’t worry; I have other plans.”

“What?”

“Soak in a hot spring.”

Zhao Huai grinned.

“A hot spring? Are you talking about a heated spring?”

Yu Qinghan naturally knew what kind of thing he was talking about, and she, too, had heard about this so-called “hot spring”—essentially nature’s source of hot water, albeit a rare one.

“To my knowledge, there seems to be no hot spring around Jinzhou like the one you mentioned, right?”

Zhao Huai shook his head, smiling, “They just haven’t been discovered yet. Once, by chance, I found a hot spring in the mountains—it’s definitely a sacred place for relaxation.”

He had stumbled upon the hot spring when he first fled to Jinzhou, passing through the mountains. Every month, he would go there for a soak and felt quite contented.

“Shameful! Shameful!”

At this moment, a white-furred bird fluttered out, flying past his head.

“That stupid bird again…” Zhao Huai could tell without looking that it was the myna bird and couldn’t help but curl his lips.

The Treasure-seeking Myna was quite peculiar. It should bring back something good every day, but after getting some low-grade spiritual grass and panaceas, it often returned empty-beaked. It was considered fortunate to have some spiritual stones occasionally.

He speculated that all the good stuff in the vicinity had already been plucked

clean by me myna.

To find treasure, there must be treasure in the first place. Failing to find anything in just one location in Jinzhou was normal.

“That myna bird has become smarter and smarter. It can now fly out of the house by itself and find me.” Zhao Huai touched his forehead, speechless.

Yu Qinghan smiled gently: “It’s a good thing to be smart—all creatures have spirits. Maybe it will bring good luck to my husband in the future?”

The myna perched on Yu Qinghan’s jade finger, its feathers looking more lustrous and its bean-sized eyes brighter.

Yu Qinghan stroked its feathers, smiling, “Little bird, what do you say? The myna chirped innocently, “Yes, Madam is the most beautiful.”

“Heeheehee.’

Yu Qinghan couldn’t help but laugh as the bird amused her.