Quick Wear: Welcome to the Crazy Scene

The moon above the sandalwood forest was a full, round moon. Of course, it always was this way whenever it appeared.

Although Fentan City had issued a nighttime ban, prohibiting lingering in the sandalwood forest during moonrise, the city clearly had many more daring individuals than Baiwei City.

As Shen Jin and Fang Cun approached, they ran into a number of incense makers working in the dark, gathering sandalwood. They were carrying huge backpacks half a person's height, which, at a glance, were already two-thirds full, showing a rather swollen appearance.

The two test-takers were rather awkward when they met. If Shen Jin had put it this way, it would have been like they'd agreed to stay up all night at the internet cafe, but you'd chosen to stay up all night memorizing vocabulary. The awkwardness of running into each other was just that.

Shen Jin smiled, picked up a sandalwood branch from the ground, and handed it to Fang Cun: "The people in Fentan City are much more diligent."

"You picked up quite a lot."

Fang Cun felt a little helpless. If she also had a backpack on her back, it would be no less loaded than those people.

"I'm different from them."

Shen Jin shook his head. "I pick sandalwood for fun, but they do it for life. So I don't feel tired, but they are under a lot of pressure."

"These are the only methods of making incense."

She crushed sandalwood leaves and wood, and the powder floated in her palms, gradually mixing into a brown-yellow incense ball.

"The operator's breathing and rhythm will have a decisive impact."

"A good perfumer will preserve the true essence of sandalwood while adding his or her desired aroma. Once the two blend to create a third aroma, and with the approval of heaven and earth, the art of perfume is truly accomplished."

As soon as he finished speaking, the incense pills solidified into balls no bigger than a fingernail, each one full and lustrous, and fell quietly into Shen Jin's palm.

She refined three.

Pinch one and give it to Fang Cun, enjoy one by yourself, and the other one.

She looked at the bushes behind her and sighed, "What a shame that on this vast moonlit night, there are only you and me in the sandalwood forest. This extra star should be crushed into mud and returned to heaven and earth."

Fang Cun also glanced at the grass and echoed Shen Jin's words: "Turn mud into wood, that's also reincarnation. That's very, very good!"

Shen Jin got people's approval and nodded vigorously. The next moment he was about to crush the incense pill.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

"There's another person here!"

"God damn it, relying on your extraordinary craftsmanship, how can you squander such a gift?"

She spoke sourly, holding her chest and gasping for breath because she moved too quickly.

After stopping Shen Jin's actions and saving the incense pill, the girl stood up straight: "I saw the incense like this, and I loved it from the bottom of my heart. I heard that it was about to be crushed. I am really sorry for disturbing the two lay Buddhists."

She believed that these two people were extraordinary and were rare masters of incense making, so she respectfully called them lay Buddhists.

"Why don't you sell this one to me? Just tell me how much you want."

Shen Jin smiled and asked, "Young lady, you are very straightforward. May I know your name and what you do for a living?"

"My name is Xiangyun. I run a small sandalwood shop in the city to make ends meet. On weekdays, I do some work like finding and selling incense."

Xiangyun answered seriously. Her eyes never left the incense pill on Shen Jin's fingertips, fearing that something might happen to it.

Shen Jin: "Then this meeting can be considered as fate. If you really understand fragrance, what if I give it to you?"

Xiangyun's eyes lit up, and she felt that going out tonight was the right thing to do: "Really?!"

"Of course. But you said you usually search for fragrance, so let me test you. You've been here for many years, but have you ever seen the best tree in the sandalwood forest?"

Xiangyun understood. All incense makers are obsessed with top-grade sandalwood, and the best of all must be the legendary 10,000-year-old sandalwood.

This woman looked young, but her skills were truly extraordinary. Even the way she formed incense balls with her bare hands revealed her to be a godlike figure. The man who was barbering beside her also possessed a distinguished demeanor.

Maybe they are both figures in the Buddhist sect. It would be better to reveal the news in exchange for something better, so as to live up to the wonderful fate of tonight.

In the blink of an eye, Xiangyun figured it all out and said with a smile, "Layman, you've asked the right person this question."

"In this Fentan City, if I, Xiangyun, consider myself second best, no one can surpass me and claim to be the best at understanding the Tanmu Forest!"

She had intended to boast, but seeing Shen Jin's indifferent expression, she lost her temper. She couldn't help but think: "Well, he's just a newcomer. You're so presumptuous, dreaming of gaining the favor of these two."

"There's a rumor that there are ten-thousand-year-old sandalwood trees growing in the sandalwood forest. However, countless people have searched for them, but none have been found. So is the ten-thousand-year-old sandalwood tree just a rumor?"

"No, no, no, it's all because the opportunity hasn't arrived yet. That thousand-year-old sandalwood tree has already come to life. Not only has it transformed into a seedling, it has also grown legs and can run!"

Shen Jin praised: "Miss Xiangyun knows all this, it seems that she is quite lucky."

Xiangyun covered her face shyly: "It was quite an adventure."

He then confessed the whole story of how the thousand-year-old sandalwood tree, disguised as a seedling, had its lifeblood accidentally pinched by someone and could only flap its roots to ask for help.

"That piece of sandalwood was so pitiful. It was not even as thick as my finger, but it was picked up and thrown into the basket."

Xiangyun even stretched out her fingers to compare sizes, and then sighed, "Plants and trees are truly feeble-minded. They're ten thousand years old, but their minds are no better than a three-year-old baby."

"It's not easy for me to see it, so I can't make a promise. But I swear to the Buddha that nothing I say is a lie."

"Here."

Shen Jin was also happy and threw the incense pill in his hand to Xiangyun.

"Hey, hey, hey! Be careful! How can you throw it? What if it hits the ground and breaks?"

She quickly spread her hands and ran to catch it.

He heaved a sigh of relief when the incense ball landed safely in his palm. He looked up and was about to ask Shen Jin for advice on how to make incense when he realized that the two men had disappeared.

She pinched her arm and sniffed the incense pill again: "Oh my God, they are really masters!"

I regretted not being able to talk to him sooner, but thinking about what I had gained tonight, I pressed my chest and said, "Tonight is already a great opportunity. I can't ask for more."

……

"Xiangyun may look unconventional, but she actually has a pure heart. The sandalwood she makes must be good. If you get a chance, go and smell it."

Square inch:……

"The fragrance in the mortal world always has a little more earthy scent than the one in my hand."

The palm of a person's hand is also large enough to support the thickness of the incense ball.

Fang Cun clasped his hands together and said, "Since Fellow Daoist Shen said so, I must experience it myself."

Shen Jin considered himself a senior who had experienced the human world, and he instructed: "I didn't tell you to go experience it. It's just that they are already there, waiting for you to stop."

Fang Cun didn't say anything.

The lingering scent of sandalwood still lingered on his nose.

Shen Jin once said that incense makers would dissolve the desired aroma into sandalwood incense. So, Shen Jin, what aroma did she want to add when she made this incense pill?

He listened carefully and found that it was still the scent of sandalwood itself, distant and heavy, very much like the moon shining on green mountains.

"What's in yours?"

Shen Jin smiled slightly: "What do you smell?"

"I only smell the scent of sandalwood."

"Hahahahahaha!"

"The second fragrance I call desire. Whatever you desire, you will smell it."

"Fine wine, beautiful women, delicious food... whatever you want, it can simulate it. It's the smell that you're most reluctant to part with."

Fangcun closed his eyes slightly and chanted the Buddha's name.

"Miss Xiangyun..."

Can you bear this great gift?

"It's okay. Her mind is clear. This incense pill will be helpful for her to make incense."