I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality

On the official road, without exception, all are travelers.

These people come and go in a hurry, earlier nibbling on the large pancake hanging at their waists, or the cold buns wrapped in cloth; those with better conditions might even have a bite of salted vegetable chunks.

When they reach a roadside inn at noon, at most they would order a bowl of thick soup, and make do with it!

The mixed grain tea brewed at tea stalls and tea huts beside the official road can already be considered a luxurious meal.

In truth, for travelers, their two legs are like the wheels of a cart—whether it's sorghum meal or thin porridge, as long as it can fill the belly, it's a blessing of the highest order. Who has the mind to crave fat chickens and tender geese?

But the person Xu Qing met at the tea stall really wouldn't eat without meat or drink without wine.

The key was, this person was a monk bound by monastic vows!

Who would want to bother with such a nonsensical, raving person?

Ordinarily, Xu Qing wouldn't have bothered either, especially since today he'd just run into a greedy, deceitful fat monk. By all rights, even if this monk pestered him again, he shouldn't agree to the other's request for wine and meat.

Why did Xu Qing go against his heart and bother with this monk? This has to start from the moment he entered the tea hut.

When Xu Qing just entered the tea hut and asked the attendant to take care of his horse, he inadvertently saw a bird startled, crashing into the tea hut signboard.

That bird fluttered on the ground, rolling over, and finally rolled into the middle of the road.

None of the passing travelers paid any attention; if left alone, perhaps in the next moment, it would be trampled to death or run over by a wheel.

Xuan Yu's eyes never left the bird. When it fluttered to the middle of the road, she tugged Xu Qing's sleeve.

Xu Qing followed Xuan Yu's gaze to the middle of the road and saw the bird.

"Do you want to catch that bird?"

"Not catch, save it."

"Save?" Xu Qing looked at the young girl beside him in surprise; it was the first time he had heard a cat say such a thing.

"You said to cherish this trip to Yunmeng Mountain. We may not come back, but if this bird is saved, it can continue to fly."

"..."

What he meant by cherishing was not that they couldn't return!

Just as Xu Qing was about to say something, he noticed that not far away, a carriage was approaching, so he temporarily held back his thoughts and let Xuan Yu step out of the tea shop to rescue the bird.

But at that moment, outside the tea hut, a scruffy monk leaning against the corner, suddenly jumped up and reached the middle of the road before Xuan Yu.

The monk picked up that pile of gray matter and, using his filthy hands, carefully brushed off the dust on the bird.

At this time, the bird was clearly frightened, its little chest heaving like a bellows, and its mouth breathing heavily hadn't closed once.

"Oh! Poor bird, you belong to the heavens, how could you land on this dusty ground? Go on, go on, this is not the place for you to stay."

Strangely, after being cradled and stroked by the poor monk for a while, the bird's frantic breathing actually calmed down!

The monk threw his hand upward, and the initially wounded bird flapped its wings and flew away without a trace!

Xu Qing saw it clearly, and heard it clearly; it was then he felt that this monk was extraordinary, at the very least, a person with some compassion and understanding of Buddhist principles.

And so, when the scruffy monk asked him for wine and meat, he didn't refuse.

It was quite a coincidence that where would there be wine and meat in these tea shops? Most passing travelers only carried some pancakes and buns.

Only Xu Qing, coming out of a banquet, brought some wine and meat with him.

Thus, a scene unfolded in front of the tea stall—

A messy, patch-covered, poor monk sat leisurely at the tea table.

In front of the monk sat a neatly dressed young man and a delicately crafted little girl.

The monk's hemp shoes had long opened their mouths, revealing two black toes, yet he didn't care about his image. One hand held a chicken missing a wing, indulging heartily, while the other reached into the broken-toed monk's shoe on the long bench, picking at his toes.

Not only Xu Qing and Xuan Yu but even the other patrons at the tea stall were drawn to the sight.

Among these people, some frowned in disdain, some shook their heads in amused disbelief, others uttered dirty words, saying unpleasant things, yet the scruffy monk paid no mind, continuing to eat as he pleased.

"He seems very hungry." Xuan Yu observed the monk in front of her.

"Xu Immortal..." Just as she was about to speak, Xuan Yu suddenly remembered Xu Qing's reminder before the trip—not to address each other by celestial titles while traveling.

So she stopped her words and instead said, "Your roast chicken is almost finished by him. If you're hungry later, Xuan Yu can give you my little fish to eat."

"Alright!" Xu Qing accepted Xuan Yu's offering.

"Now the monk shouldn't starve to death." Xuan Yu said happily, "The monk saved the bird, and the bird can continue to fly; we saved the monk, and the monk can continue to beg. Even if one day we're not here, the monk can still live for us."

"..."

Xu Qing listened as his eyelids twitched. Why is this cat so pessimistic?

It seems that the psychological shadow of losing one of her lives still affects her.

Xu Qing couldn't comfort Xuan Yu because, as long as the source of fear is not eradicated, this fear will always linger.

The zombie and the cat played a silent game, exchanging whispers only they could understand. However, when the scruffy monk heard the little girl say he was a monk begging for alms everywhere, he couldn't sit still.

"Amitabha, how can the affairs of a monk be called begging? Let's say it's seeking alms. Would the little donor like to know what seeking alms means?"