After speaking, he strode swiftly towards the distance: "Quickly follow me, those beasts start snatching food once it’s mealtime. If we go late, I’m afraid we won’t have anything to eat."
At this point, Xiaodouding’s voice was full of grievance: "Damn it, I went to steal offerings, but couldn’t compete with these beasts, so I ended up starving! Nowadays, there’s a severe drought, and the believers donating to our Daoist Temple have become fewer and fewer. Our temple’s meals have degraded from solid food to thin porridge."
Zhang Chen was astonished upon hearing this, but then he suddenly realized that with the world facing a severe drought, upheaval was imminent, everyone was cutting back, and where would they find money to donate to the temple?
The two of them sprinted all the way, yet Zhang Chen and his companion still arrived late. From a distance, they saw inside the dining hall a dozen long lines, full of young men aged eighteen to thirty, each holding a rice bowl, waiting expectantly in line for food.
Looking at those over three thousand strong men, Zhang Chen increasingly felt that Huangli Temple was not simple, but now that he was aboard this pirate ship, he feared getting off wouldn’t be easy.
With Golden Light flashing in his eyes, Zhang Chen’s Dharma Eye swept over, seeing many youths, all mere commoners, not a single one having reached a significant level.
"They’re just ordinary folks." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
Upon reflection, mysteries are so rare even the Observatory Master is just an ordinary person, not to mention this group of disciples?
Yet, many of these disciples practiced Martial Dao and those who entered Dark Force were not few and should not be underestimated.
"Damn it, late again! Still the last one." Chengyu grumbled as he looked at the long queue, pulling Zhang Chen to get in line.
"Little sister, you’re late in line again today."
"Little sister, you’re really cute today."
"Little sister, your hair bun today is so adorable."
...
As they passed by, those men seemed to tease Chengyu as if she were a child, all speaking up playfully.
Following behind Chengyu, Zhang Chen heard everyone call her "little sister," yet not a single "senior sister."
Looking at the back of Chengyu’s head, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation rising in his heart, deeply doubting Xiaodouding’s claim of being thirty years old.
Feeling somewhat self-conscious from being called by everyone, Xiaodouding glanced at Zhang Chen, and upon meeting his eyes, swiftly turned away and looked down at her rice bowl without speaking.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen was speechless, realizing he had been tricked by a child, but the Observatory Master had indeed told him to address Xiaodouding as senior sister, and her Martial Dao accomplishments were true.
Since everything was true, Zhang Chen didn’t think of changing it, besides Xiaodouding was quite amusing, small and devilish, very interesting.
The two queued for a full hour, after which the dining hall disciple vigorously scraped the bottom of the large pot clean, and poured it into Zhang Chen’s rice bucket.
Seeing the previous disciple’s bucket filled with rice porridge, then looking at his own half-bucket, Zhang Chen finally understood why Xiaodouding ran desperately, even going to steal pastries from the main hall.
Rice porridge easily leaves one hungry, let alone having only half a bucket?
Under the corridor, two figures of different heights walked with rice porridge in hand. Neither spoke, both gazing absentmindedly at the porridge in their buckets.
"Zhang Chen." This time, Xiaodouding was the first to speak, breaking the silence, her black and white eyes fixed on Zhang Chen: "Now that you know my age, are you unwilling to be my junior brother?"
"That’s impossible, you became a disciple before I did, it makes sense you’re my senior sister, this shouldn’t change because of age." Zhang Chen replied with a smile.
"Really?" Hearing this, Xiaodouding’s eyes sparkled, looking at Zhang Chen: "Bend down."
Upon hearing, Zhang Chen crouched down with rice porridge in hand, Xiaodouding gazed at his half-bucket of rice porridge, showing a hint of struggle on her face, then bit her lip and poured her own porridge into Zhang Chen’s bucket: "Since you’re my junior brother, I must take care of you, I can’t let you go hungry. From now on, you’re someone under my protection, if you can’t eat to your satisfaction, wouldn’t that be losing face for me?"
In earnest, Xiaodouding divided the porridge, but in her excitement accidentally poured too much, almost two-thirds of her porridge into Zhang Chen’s bucket, immediately withdrawing the wooden bucket, painfully looking at the little rice porridge left.
"Thank you, senior sister! From now on, I’ll stick by you." Zhang Chen’s eyes lit up as he looked at the porridge in his bucket: "Senior sister, you would rather go hungry to let me eat my fill, I’m truly moved. Don’t worry, I’ll stick by you from now on."
Though she’s young, she knows how to care for others!
Also, her Martial Dao Cultivation was high, soon he’d be seeking her advice, plus seeing the brush and ink paper setup in her room, it seemed Xiaodouding knew how to write, so if he wanted to learn in the future, he’d need her help.
Giving away some food means nothing!
"Hey, hold off on the thank you." Xiaodouding interrupted Zhang Chen’s gratitude with a conflicted expression, blushing and looking at him: "I actually poured too much, can you pour some back?"
Upon hearing, Zhang Chen was speechless, looking at Xiaodouding until she shyly lowered her head: "Forget it, forget it, since it’s given there’s no reason to take it back, you eat it yourself, I’m not hungry!"
Her voice filled with conflict and pain, Xiaodouding turned her gaze from the full bucket of porridge, hugging the wooden bucket and moving forward, muttering: "I’m not hungry! I’m really not hungry!"
Seeing this, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but smile, feeling a bit like teasing a daughter, then stepped forward to pull her wooden bucket over: "Senior sister, there’s too much porridge, I can’t eat it all, we should share and eat together."
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Xiaodouding swallowed, but pretended to be strong: "How could that be? As your senior sister, what I give mustn’t be taken back."
"Senior sister, if you don’t eat, I won’t be able to finish this whole bucket, and it’ll go to waste." Zhang Chen advised.
Hearing this, Xiaodouding’s eyes shifted, then looked at Zhang Chen somewhat nervously: "Since you said so, if I don’t help you eat some, wasting it would be an offense. It’s really hard to harvest even a little food these days!"
Saying this, Xiaodouding eagerly handed over the wooden bucket, watching Zhang Chen pour the porridge back into her basin.
"Senior sister can read, right?" Zhang Chen asked.
Xiaodouding paused, then shook her head: "I can’t read."
On Zhang Chen’s face appeared a touch of surprise: "I saw brush and ink paper in your room?"
"I’m just practicing writing! Master said, before comprehending Seeing God, it’s best not to know how to read." Xiaodouding explained.
"Why?" Zhang Chen asked in surprise.
Looking around cautiously, seeing no one around, Xiaodouding leaned in and whispered: "Our master said, if a person can’t read, they can still perceive the essence of Heaven and Earth’s God of Nature. If one can read, their thoughts are caged by words, so one mustn’t learn to read before breaking through Seeing God."
Fearful Zhang Chen wouldn’t understand, Xiaodouding pointed to the distant mountain: "See the mountain over there; it’s a vivid scene. If you can read, it becomes two cold and emotionless words ’mountain,’ shackling your mind. If someone mentions mountains, your first thought is how to write it, rather than envisioning its divine essence. Or because you read, upon seeing a mountain you’ll recall those two words, rather than its sublime beauty."
Upon hearing, Zhang Chen’s pupils narrowed, recalling a saying from his past life: Observing mountains, rivers, and the universe, can Nourish the Spirit.
"Could it be that Yellow Heaven Dao, looking down from Divine Spirit Dao, discovered the secret of Soul Nourishing?" Zhang Chen wondered.