“Master, what is this?” the young girl asked with a face full of curiosity.
Jiang Tong smiled and patted his young disciple’s head. “Don’t talk. Just eat it.”
“Oh,” Gu Xianyu nodded blankly.
She tilted her head back and swallowed a pill.
Closing her eyes to feel its effects for a moment, she opened them in disbelief. “Ma — Master, I feel like…”
“Do you feel warm?” Jiang Tong looked at her with a smile. “With your current cultivation, this one pill will have no problem lasting you twenty or thirty years.”
“Really?!”
The girl was pleasantly surprised. With a sudden leap, she hugged Jiang Tong and rubbed her face against him.
“Master, you’re so good to me…”
The symptoms of her Cold Spirit Jade Body flared up from time to time, making her life miserable. Especially after entering the Foundation Establishment stage, the intensity of the flare-ups was slightly higher than before, and the pills Jiang Tong had previously given her weren’t as effective.
But now, her master actually said she wouldn’t have to worry for twenty or thirty years…
“It was nothing,” Jiang Tong said with a strained smile. His soul body was being squeezed out of shape by Gu Xianyu.
“Xianyu…”
“Hmm?”
“Could you… let go for a moment?”
“Oh, okay.”
Realizing she was hugging her master, Gu Xianyu’s cheeks turned a bit red. She let go of him under Jiang Tong’s gaze.
“My face is only red because the pill’s effect was too strong just now,” the young disciple said seriously, pointing at her cheek.
“Right.” Jiang Tong looked away, not having the heart to expose her. “Come, help your master grind some ink.”
“Coming!”
The girl happily leaned over the table to grind ink, with several long strips of red paper lying beside her.
It was the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the end of the year was approaching. Cultivators had little concept of the passage of time, but every mortal household at the foot of the mountain would celebrate the festival.
Pasting New Year couplets, hanging lanterns… Gu Xianyu used to do these things occasionally when she was a child. Since her father passed away and her mother started frequenting gambling dens, she hadn’t had a proper New Year in a long time.
Since Jiang Tong had transmigrated, the concept of the New Year had also gradually faded from his mind.
‘Celebrating the New Year? In the eyes of a cultivator, a mortal year is nothing more than a few months or weeks. What is there to commemorate?’
But after talking with his young disciple, the two of them hit it off and decided to have a proper New Year in this courtyard.
“After this New Year, we’ll be moving,” Gu Xianyu said.
“Yes.” Jiang Tong floated to the side, his eyes filled with a smile.
Compared to the lonely heights of cultivation, he still preferred the earthly atmosphere of the mortal world.
“When the time comes, Master will be able to see the stars too.”
“Yes.”
“Master has to watch them with me.” The girl looked up and thought for a moment. “Otherwise, it won’t be worth all that time I spent pulling out water weeds.”
“Of course.”
“Hmph… Alright, I’m done grinding.” Gu Xianyu was talkative; she found that whenever she was with her master, she became very chatty.
Jiang Tong approached the table, his soul body shifting as he grasped the brush and dipped it in the ink.
He thought for a moment and then began to write.
**[The Water Weed Immortal and the Soul Scoundrel Master]**
**[Building a Small Courtyard for a Perfect Reunion]**
Horizontal Scroll: **[A Round Courtyard]**
“…” Gu Xianyu stood to the side.
She had thought Jiang Tong would write something earth-shattering, but when she looked…
“Master…”
“Hmm?”
“I’m not a Water Weed Immortal,” the girl said aggrievedly.
“And I’m not a soul scoundrel master either,” Jiang Tong joked. “It’s just a couplet. As long as it’s catchy and has a good meaning, it’s fine.”
“As long as the meaning is good…”
The young disciple muttered to herself as she looked at the couplet.
Pulling water weeds, building a small courtyard, a perfect reunion.
It seemed… the meaning really was quite good.
“Master, are you tricking me?” Gu Xianyu suddenly asked.
“How could I trick you?” Jiang Tong was determined to paste the words “Water Weed Immortal” on the door. “Let’s not talk about that. Come and help me make lanterns.”
The young disciple said “oh” twice and obediently ran off to tie paper lanterns.
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month: pulling water weeds, visiting the market, and buying sugar figurines.
On the twenty-eighth day: pulling water weeds, sweeping snow, and visiting the market.
On the twenty-ninth day: pulling water weeds, buying fish, and buying pork.
On New Year’s Eve: pulling water weeds, pasting couplets, and hanging lanterns.
“Master still got his way.”
Gu Xianyu looked gloomily at Jiang Tong. The four large characters “Water Weed Immortal” were now printed on the door frame.
“Alright, perfect.” Jiang Tong pasted them in one smooth motion, admiring his masterpiece with satisfaction.
So what if he didn’t have hands? So what if he was a soul? These couplets were pasted perfectly… tsk tsk.
The two of them stayed busy until evening, decorating the small courtyard just like the ordinary people at the foot of the mountain.
Gu Xianyu loved this feeling.
Running a small home with her own hands made her feel as if… as if…
As if she were the lady of the house.
She peeked at Jiang Tong secretly, then lowered her head just as secretly, putting stir-fry ingredients into the pot and working away vigorously.
‘Then what is Master in this home?’
‘Hmph, Master wrote it correctly. He’s the scoundrel soul of this house.’
‘Soul scoundrel master.’
The girl hummed a song as she brought the dishes to the dining table one by one.
“Dinner is ready!”
Jiang Tong had originally wanted to show off his culinary skills in his soul form, but Gu Xianyu pushed him out.
She argued righteously, “This is a girl’s job. Master, go outside quickly.”
During the days Jiang Tong was away, she had gradually learned how to stir-fry.
‘Master has helped me so much; how could I let him cook the meal as well? That wouldn’t do.’
“It smells quite good.” Jiang Tong’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected this girl to have some skill.
His soul body had already become quite solid, so he could still taste things, though he couldn’t use chopsticks.
However, Gu Xianyu still stubbornly placed a bowl and chopsticks in front of him. How could a New Year’s Eve dinner only have one set of tableware?
“Of course it does.” The young disciple was very proud. She picked up a piece of shredded meat with her chopsticks, blew on it, and brought it to Jiang Tong’s lips.
“Ah — don’t swallow the chopsticks too.”
Jiang Tong hesitated for a moment before his soul body opened a small mouth, carefully swallowing the meat.
‘It’s nothing. I can’t eat on my own anyway. What’s wrong with my disciple feeding me?’
“Is it good?”
“Impressive.”
Jiang Tong only said one word, but he was slightly shocked in his heart.
It was incredible.
The food this girl made… why was it so surprisingly delicious?
“Of course!” The girl puffed out her chest proudly, her fullness swaying under her apron.
She put down those chopsticks and picked up her own pair, stuffing a mouthful into her mouth as well, squinting her eyes in satisfaction.
When people eat delicious food at a special moment, they display a kind of pure happiness.
They might not need to laugh, but their expression is simply very joyful. No smile is needed for decoration; happiness is just happiness.
“Master, drink some wine!”
“Can you even drink?” Jiang Tong smiled.
‘I hope she doesn’t end up like my own master, starting to talk nonsense after just two cups.’
“Why wouldn’t I be able to drink?” the girl muttered as she poured the wine. “Master, say ah —”
‘Actually, I can use my soul power…’
Jiang Tong really wanted to say that, but seeing his disciple’s sparkling eyes, he opened his mouth anyway.
Drinking wine and eating the dishes, both the person and the soul were a bit tipsy. Gu Xianyu had originally used two pairs of chopsticks — one to feed her master and one to feed herself.
Later on, she became dazed and couldn’t be prompted to switch back and forth. So, she used one pair to feed her master and then herself.
“Is it delicious?” she giggled, her eyes blurry with intoxication.
“It’s delicious.”
“Then have some more…” The young disciple took a bite of food and then picked up another mouthful. “Ah —”
*Whiz —*
By the shore of Leaf-Viewing Lake, the fireworks Jiang Tong had prepared long ago shot into the sky.
One after another, brilliant fireworks burst above the lake’s surface.
“Master, the fireworks are so round…”
With a slightly flushed face, Gu Xianyu leaned against the window, watching the fireworks that looked like rice balls, and chuckled. “Let’s eat tangyuan tomorrow, okay?”
Jiang Tong smiled and nodded, looking at the fireworks.
“Round fireworks…”
He looked down at his disciple, his eyes soft. The night wind toyed with her hair, and the fireworks reflected off her rosy face.
“Together… and whole.”