parentshiftbook Chapter 234: Black Crow City, North and South Green Beans
Chapter 234: Black Crow City, North and South Green Beans
He placed her on a flat spot sheltered from the wind by the reef, and once again placed his fingertips on her wrist pulse, carefully channeling a wisp of blood and energy into her to examine her. There were no obvious wounds on her body, but her meridians were completely empty, indicating a severe deficiency of blood and energy. It was clear that she had collapsed from exhaustion due to excessive consumption of spiritual energy.
Zhang Ping breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, with the self-healing ability of a cultivator at the Divine Harmony Realm, if he had been unconscious for too long, he should have woken up on his own long ago. It seems that he hadn't been unconscious for very long.
He took out several qi-replenishing pills from his storage space, carefully pried open her mouth and fed them to her, then sat down to watch over her. A full half hour passed before the squid, leaning against the stone wall, finally opened her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.
"Where is this...? You saved me?"
His voice was a little hoarse when he first woke up, and his eyes were initially blank, but quickly cleared.
She turned her head sharply and saw Zhang Ping sitting beside her. Her hand instinctively reached for her storage ring, but her fingertips touched the empty fabric of her clothes, and her body tensed up instantly. However, when she realized that the person was Zhang Ping, her tense vigilance gradually relaxed.
Zhang Ping nodded, then took out several jade bottles from his storage space and handed them over: "Here are some pills to strengthen your foundation and nourish your vital energy. Keep them; refining them will help you recover faster."
These pills all require self-guided refining, and their effects are much better than the quick-dissolving pills I just fed them.
Moyu glanced at him, pursed her thin lips without speaking, reached out and took the jade bottle, silently putting it into her bosom. Her storage ring originally contained quite a few pills and supplies, but those were completely used up in the desperate chase two days ago.
What surprised her even more than the elixir was Zhang Ping's act of saving her.
In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and people like Zhang Ping are extremely rare. The two are not related by blood or marriage. Although they know each other, they have no real connection. If someone else were to stumble upon a unconscious female cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage in the wilderness, they would most likely kill her and steal her treasures first, and then do something improper. There would be no reason for them to go to such lengths to save her and even give her pills.
Neither of them spoke again; only the ceaseless sound of the waves and the gentle rustling of the sea breeze remained on the rocks.
The sky remained heavy, with only a faint orange tinge peeking through the western horizon, tinting the thick clouds with a lighter edge. Zhang Ping looked at that glimmer of light and mentally calculated the time; the sun must be setting.
The lake was completely dark at night, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Every now and then, streaks of light from cultivators riding magical artifacts would flash across the sky overhead. Zhang Ping reached out his hand, intending to stop them and make a "deal," but after glancing at the inkfish beside him who was still meditating, he silently withdrew his hand.
By the next morning, the squid had mostly recovered.
She stood up, bowed respectfully to Zhang Ping, and said sincerely, "Thank you for your help, Fellow Daoist Zhang. I will remember this kindness."
"It was nothing, Captain Mo, you don't need to take it to heart." Zhang Ping smiled, showing no intention of taking credit. "Even if I didn't help, with Captain Mo's cultivation level, he would wake up on his own in a few days."
He paused, then asked, "The airship is damaged. Where do you plan to go next?"
After a moment of contemplation, the cuttlefish said, "The flying boat has run into trouble while I was in charge. As the captain, I cannot shirk my responsibility and must first go to Penglai Immortal City to report this matter."
Zhang Ping thought to himself, "As expected," and immediately replied, "What a coincidence! I'm also heading to Penglai to establish a sect, which will inevitably require a trip to Penglai Immortal City. If Captain Mo doesn't mind, why don't we travel together?"
Although he had done his homework beforehand and learned about the general geography of the Taihu Lake region, he still found it somewhat difficult to find his way to Penglai Immortal City on his own. It was certainly unrealistic to rely on flying to travel by himself; he had to find a nearby large city and take a regular passenger flying boat, which happened to be a blind spot in his knowledge.
As the captain of the Flying Pavilion, Cuttlefish was extremely familiar with the routes and schedules of the Taihu Lake area, so having her accompany us was naturally the best thing.
Mo Yu had the same thought in mind. Two days ago, she was surrounded and attacked, which exhausted most of her strength. Even if her blood and energy were restored, her strength would not be more than 70% of her peak.
Traveling with Zhang Ping will save you a lot of trouble.
The two hit it off immediately, packed their things, and set off.
"The closest major city to Dragon's Breath Lake is Black Crow City, about two thousand miles away. If we don't delay along the way, it will take a day and a half to get there," Squid replied familiarly.
……
"Candied hawthorn berries! Freshly dipped in brown sugar!"
"Northern and Southern Mung Beans! Iced Northern and Southern Mung Bean Porridge!"
"Top-quality mallow rice! It makes for a wonderfully fragrant porridge!"
The main street of Black Crow City is paved with dark bricks and stones, wide and flat, gleaming from the footsteps of passersby. Vendors carrying loads call out their wares along the street, brushing past the cultivators who come and go. Every now and then, someone stops, takes out a few spirit coins, and buys a snack or two.
Black Crow City is not a well-known large city in the Taihu Lake region, but it has two dishes that are famous far and wide.
It's a local candied hawthorn, made with traditional brown sugar from Black Crow City, paired with hawthorns grown in the cold mountains. The resulting sugar shell is crisp but not sticky, and the fruit flesh is sweet and sour, not cloying – a flavor that can't be replicated elsewhere.
Another thing is the mung bean from both the north and south. It is unknown when or by whom the variety was introduced to Black Crow City. It was praised by the Black Crow King himself and instantly became popular throughout the city, later giving rise to dozens of related dishes.
But the most classic dish is still a bowl of the simplest chilled mung bean porridge, which is smooth, sweet, refreshing, and relieves the summer heat. Every cultivator who passes through Black Crow City has to have a bowl to try it.
"Gulp gurgle—"
A small stall occupied a vacant space on the street corner, with five or six wooden tables worn smooth by the sun. Zhang Ping held a rough porcelain bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The rim of the bowl made a soft sound as it hit the table. He then picked up a spoon and filled his bowl to the brim.
"That's great!" He wiped the mung bean paste from the corner of his mouth and let out a long sigh. "No wonder Captain Mo always talked about this northern and southern mung bean porridge. The taste is truly amazing."
Under the blazing sun, a bowl of mung bean porridge with ice crystals dispelled the heat from my bones, leaving me feeling refreshed all over.
The squid across from him, drinking porridge, was nothing like the dignified manner of the Flying Pavilion captain. Holding the bowl, she gulped down the porridge, her cheeks bulging, and her speed was not much slower than Zhang Ping's. There were some mung bean crumbs stuck to the edge of the bowl, which she did not even notice.
"Black Crow City's great reputation in the Taihu Lake region is largely thanks to this bowl of mung beans." Cuttlefish put down the empty bowl, smiled, and his eyebrows and eyes were much more relaxed than when he first woke up, and even his tone was much more relaxed.
As soon as he finished speaking, a low, whistling sound came from above, carrying a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.
The two looked up at the same time and saw a huge passenger airship slowly flying overhead. The ship's emblem flashed in the sunlight, and the wind it created made their clothes flutter.