Chapter 45: Record of Raising Cranes

  These two days, cold air has been moving southward, and it's especially cold at night. The mountain wind is howling loudly, sounding very frightening.

  Song Wen had dinner and went to the backyard for a stroll. Then he slipped into his quilt, feeling that it was still more comfortable inside.

  He just can't understand that it's so cold here with just a slight cold current, while the north is snowing heavily every day, how do people live there?

  It is said that in the far north, when winter comes and you want to go outside to pee, you have to grab a stick with one hand while peeing and knock on the ground to prevent your urine from freezing into an icicle. I don't know if this is true or not. If it's true, then life must be really tough.

  He took out "Raising Cranes Record" which he bought from a street stall and started reading it since there was still plenty of time.

  The cover of "Yang He Lu" does not record who wrote it, but the host in the book has an introduction, claiming to be He Feng Old Man, who entered Fujian for self-cultivation during the Sui Kaihuang years and raised cranes as companions on He Ming Mountain.

  Song Wen's eyebrows jumped at this sight.

  I got up and went online to check, it's been over a thousand years since the Kaihuang era of the Sui dynasty until now. I don't know if this book is original or not, but if it is, then it's really an antique.

  He took the book and flipped through it, but couldn't figure out what was going on, so he had to ask someone for help later.

  In addition to the self-proclaimed "Crane Peak Old Man" preface, there is a large pile of crane-raising secrets in the book, which left Song Wen speechless.

  Why? Because the old man of He Feng said that cranes are the mounts of gods, with elegant temperament and noble character, having the demeanor of a refined gentleman. Therefore, people who raise cranes must conduct themselves properly, constantly cleansing their bodies from impurities, not allowing them to be tainted by dust and dirt. Moreover, cranes love cleanliness, so they need to be bathed frequently.

  When it dances, play the piano to accompany it; when it's feeling down, offer gentle comfort; when it soars high, send timely congratulatory words.

  Song Wen was so angry that his forehead was about to smoke, is this still raising a crane? Raising a son would be more like it.

  However, he quite liked a passage in the book about Taoist internal cultivation. Old Man He Feng said that there are countless acupoints and meridians in the human body, if one wants to break through to see the Heavenly Way, it's unknown how many years or months it would take, but rather than trying to force it, it's better to let go of everything, be vague and obscure, and harmonize with Heaven and Earth. After a long time, the barriers will naturally break open, what need is there to force anything?

  Song Wen saw this passage, delighted and leaned on the bed, according to the words above, emptying everything, without thought or desire, without self or things, blurred and unaware, he fell asleep.

  It was unknown how long it took, but Song Wen woke up feeling refreshed. However, his legs felt numb from sitting on the bed, so he got up and moved around a bit. Feeling that the weather had indeed turned colder, he thought about getting some wine to drink and warm himself up.

  Drinking, of course, requires some side dishes. He went to the kitchen to get the bamboo insects that were left over from dinner, feeling that they had cooled down and weren't good to eat, so he slightly stir-fried them in a pot of oil. Then he went to the main hall to fetch the snake wine that Song Mingde had given him last time, and returned to his room.

  After taking the snake wine from Song Mingde, he had been keeping it in the hall. Before he even got a chance to drink it, Song Hu took away half of the bottle. He didn't know what flavor it was, but today he must try it carefully.

  Back in the room, he put the fried bamboo insects on the bedside table, still stretching his feet into the quilt and leaning back on the bed, eating the bamboo insects while drinking snake wine.

  The snake wine is slightly sweet, with a medicinal flavor. As soon as it enters the mouth, it turns into a warm current that flows straight down to the abdomen, wrapping around the whole body, and suddenly warming up the body. It's truly worthy of being made from dozens of medicinal herbs.

  The little dog next to him, who was originally sleeping in the quilt, seemed to have smelled a fragrance and suddenly opened his eyes, drilled out of the quilt, sniffed with his nose, and walked to Song Wen's side, barking.

  Song Wen glanced at it and didn't bother with it, starting to eat and drink instead.

  But who knows that this little guy didn't give up at all, and kept shouting there, making him lose the mood to drink wine.

  Helpless, he could only pick up a few bamboo insects and put them on the ground for it to eat.

  The little guy took one look and immediately jumped off the bed and started eating.

  In an instant, the bamboo insects on the ground were eaten clean, and then carefully licked the place where the bamboo insects were placed, with eyes occasionally glancing at Song Wen, as if there was some regret.

  Song Wen looked at it and, with a bit of annoyance, tapped the little glutton on the head, then handed it a few more bamboo shoots.

  He didn't expect this guy wouldn't eat bamboo insects anymore, but instead stared straight at the wine bottle in his hand.

  Hey, want to drink?

  Song Wen didn't expect this small dog to want to drink wine too? Probably a reincarnated wine dog, he had no intention of giving it any, but the little guy's watery dog eyes stared at him as if he was being abused. Helpless, he could only take out a plate from beside him and pour some wine for it to drink.

  The little guy was so happy that he started wagging his tail and spinning around. Song Wen watched in silence, thinking that this world is really ridiculous, dogs are more clever than humans. The little dog loved to drink wine, if it grew up like this, it would be doomed. Looking at the remaining snake wine in his hand, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

  After a while, the puppy licked up the snake wine and barked again, as if it had become addicted.

  Song Wen didn't care, but this little dog kept barking nonstop, annoying him. He had no choice but to pour some more for it. Looking at the dwindling snake wine in his hand, he decided to drink it all in one gulp, so as not to be bothered by the little dog again.

  The little dog licked up the snake wine and saw the empty bottle on the ground. It was quite clever, didn't make any more noise, and jumped onto the bed to sleep.

  Song Wen hurriedly took a cloth to wipe its paws and mouth, this guy, now like the little hedgehog, doesn't like to stay in the Ruyi fan either, probably because it thinks the space inside is too small.

  Today, the weather is cold, and he doesn't feel at ease with it sleeping outside, so he kindly takes a cardboard box, makes a nest with some old clothes, and lets it sleep inside the house. Unexpectedly, this little guy takes advantage of his absence to sneak into the quilt, feeling that it's softer and more comfortable inside, and refuses to come out.

  Now this little guy is lying in his quilt every day and sleeping with him, making his quilt into its doghouse.

  After eating and drinking, turn off the lights and go to sleep.

  As he fell asleep, Song Wen suddenly felt his whole body burning with heat, so he got up and took off his pajamas, sleeping in his underwear. Unexpectedly, it was still hot, so he simply threw off the quilt, but it was still hot. He thought of going to open the window, when he suddenly heard a panting sound coming from beside him, turned his head to look, and saw the little guy gasping for breath with its tongue hanging out. This little guy, who told it to drink so much snake wine, serves it right.

  The window was opened and cold wind blew in.

  But Song Wen still felt hot, extremely hot, his whole body was hot, so hot that he was about to **.

  At this time, he suddenly remembered Song Mingde's words that he must not drink too much snake wine, and he couldn't help but scold Song Mingde in his heart. This old man didn't know what kind of evil spirit he was playing with, making such a strong wine.

  It's really too hot, the skin is burning, and I don't know what to do. Thinking of going out for a run might help dissipate the alcohol fumes, so I quickly opened the door and ran to the lake.

  The autumn wind is strong and fierce, with a loud whooshing sound.

  These days, cold air has been moving southward, causing a sharp drop in temperature. The outside temperature is now only around 10 degrees Celsius or so.

  But when Song Wen came outside, he didn't feel anything, just felt hot, very hot. The little dog also followed behind, panting and running with its tongue out. After a while, feeling useless, it jumped into the lake water with a splash, seemingly feeling much better, and then stuck its head out of the water, with its whole body leaning against the lakeside soaking in the water.

  Song Wen looked at it and also wanted to jump down, but suddenly thought that the Ruyi fan also had a pool of water, soaking in here was not as good as soaking inside.

  He thought of it and picked up the puppy.

  Back in the house, into the Ruyi fan, no nonsense, took off that annoying pants and jumped into the pool.

  The water in the pool was warm, but the warmth didn't make Song Wen's body feel even hotter; instead, it made him feel a kind of indescribable comfort.

  Before long, the warmth in his body dissipated, and some of it was just a warm current wrapped around him, as if giving him a massage, very comfortable. The little dog beside him was also the same, with his eyes closed, lying in the pool, and he didn't know whether he was awake or asleep.

  The spring water under the strange rock by the pool still gurgled out continuously, flowing into the pool and creating ripples. The waves surged onto Xiaohu and Song Wen's bodies, as if helping them massage, making Song Wen moan uncontrollably. It was an indescribable feeling of comfort that came from both his soul and body.

  Under the massage of the spring water, Song Wen felt comfortable and fell asleep.

  A small dog on the side was also the same, but under the push of the wave, it slowly moved towards the shore and finally stopped at the shore.

  Song Wen woke up after sleeping for an unknown amount of time and saw that he was still soaking in water. He quickly got up.

  After getting out of the pool, I felt that the heat lingering on my body had completely disappeared, and only then did I feel at ease. Seeing that my body was still wet, I quickly took out a fan and used a towel to dry myself off. Then, I picked up the little dog and wiped it down as well. Next, I used a hair dryer to blow-dry my own hair and the dog's fur before lying down on the bed and falling asleep.

  He didn't know that in the midst of this, a strange change had occurred in the Like-minded Fan. The thin mist that originally permeated the surroundings retreated somewhat, and the three-point land actually became larger.