A master of metaphysics is farming.

Midnight had arrived, and Xiang Dayong waited anxiously while weaving a bamboo basket.

With Su helping them, neither of them felt sleepy at all, standing outside the door occasionally glancing at the path.

He Sui'an, however, had already closed her eyes to rest. With a slight twitch of her ear, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced to the side, where she saw Xiang He's figure, with a huge creature behind her.

"It's back!" It was dark by then, and Su Shi ran over and saw the big cat. She was so frightened that she didn't dare to move. She pointed at Xiang He's back and exclaimed, "He, He girl! What are you carrying on your back!"

"Hmm... Big Cat."

Xiang He calmly carried the tiger to the front of the courtyard. When he put it down, a cloud of dust rose up. He patted his hands and sleeves, stretched, and looked exhausted.

Xiang Dayong was already having trouble speaking, and now he opened and closed his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

When Su saw him pointing at the big cat, she immediately understood what he meant, "You...you hit it?"

“No,” Xiang He pushed the tiger away, “someone killed it, and I brought it back.”

The two were clearly surprised, but Xiang He remained calm. "Oh, right, she's gone."

The words stuck in her throat remained unspoken. Her surprised expression turned sorrowful, and Su lowered her head, her eyes reddening. She turned her head away from Dayong so that no outsiders could see.

Everyone knows it's only a matter of time.

He Sui'an looked at the group of people calmly, wondering who they were talking about and why they were suddenly feeling sad.

A moment of silence fell. Xiang He glanced at He Suian, who, perhaps sensing her gaze, turned to meet her eyes and smiled gently. "Miss Xiang is truly remarkable. You managed to carry such a heavy cat back."

"Natural strength."

Sensing the heaviness in the air, Xiang He gently patted Su's back, "Mother, we need to take this big cat to the city to sell. Shall we go tomorrow?"

Su choked back a few sobs, "The city... is too far. We don't have a cart, and we don't know how to lift this thing..."

Now Xiang He was in a dilemma. "Does Fourth Aunt have any? I'll go borrow one tomorrow?"

"Yes, there is, but when you push the big cat around the village, I'm afraid..."

Indeed, their swaggering around pushing such a valuable cat is bound to attract attention, especially from the Xiang family, who are sure to cause trouble again.

At this moment, Xiang Dayong was thinking about his daughter, and Su Shi had no other thoughts, but Xiang He was focused on making money, so this matter had to be resolved first.

When her gaze shifted back to He Suian, her eyes darted around, and a broad smile spread across her face. He Suian immediately felt uneasy and forced a smile.

"Miss Xiang, is there something you need?"

Xiang He walked over with a fawning smile and squatted down. "Mr. Tomorrow, will you come with us too?"

Seeing through her little scheme at a glance, He Sui'an smiled helplessly, "That's naturally good. My legs are hard to walk on, and I also need to get back to the city..."

With the matter resolved, Xiang He clapped his hands.

"Alright, everyone should get some sleep tonight, we have to get up early tomorrow!"

Xiang He helped Xiang Dayong up, first taking the two into the house, then taking a change of clothes to a secluded spot to change out of his blood-stained clothes. He then went back to put on his cotton-padded clothes, covered the tiger with the soiled clothes, and then sat outside the fence, cross-legged and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing that she didn't go inside, He Suian asked in confusion, "Why don't you go inside and rest? Is someone going to come to this field?"

“Someone might come and cause trouble, and there’s only one bed inside, not enough room for everyone to sleep.”

"This house looks dilapidated to me. Have you been living here all this time?"

"They moved in yesterday, and we haven't had the money for repairs yet."

The two engaged in a question-and-answer session, which prevented the atmosphere from feeling cold.

He Sui'an pulled the thin blanket tighter around himself and looked at the tiger lying on the ground. "Why don't you skin the tiger first? If you sell the skin and meat separately, you should be able to get a better price."

"I will not kill." After a few seconds of silence, "Dead things can be bought and sold, but I will no longer harm the undead."

Whether it is a person or an object, life and death are preordained. As long as you do not harm its eggs, injure its small parts, or waste resources, that is acceptable.

Even though the tiger is dead, it still has value to her, so let's make use of that value and help this family get through this difficult time.

Hearing her words made He Suian even more puzzled. He leaned his head against the wooden board and looked up at the night sky. "How can you say that you are no different from a monk? Could it be that you are practicing self-cultivation?"

"Life itself is a journey of self-cultivation, sir, please rest."

Xiang He urged her again, and He Suian stopped talking. She carefully recalled what Xiang He had said and felt that although Xiang He was not old, she was very mature and only lacked the detachment to see through the world.

My gaze fell on her back again. She was sitting cross-legged, wearing a robe, and I really suspected that she was practicing spiritual cultivation.

Xiang He, who was being stared at, could feel the intensity of his gaze. She was also thinking about He Suian's purpose for this trip, and why there were men in black appearing after he climbed the mountain, and why there was a fight between two groups of people.

Whether those men in black were related to him, and why they came to pick herbs so late at night, are all very suspicious.

I spent the quiet night filled with speculation. When I opened my eyes again, it was getting light, and people were already working in the fields not far away.

Xiang He rubbed her eyes and stretched her limbs, "That's early enough..."

Looking back now, she used to sleep until noon unless she had to work in the mountains, and she hadn't gotten up this early in a long time.

"Don't you need to get out of bed?"

A strange yet familiar voice sounded behind her. Xiang He turned around and saw He Sui'an had already folded the quilt and was getting up while holding onto the door panel.

"I won't go to the fields today. I'll go fetch water to wash my face. You wait here for a while."

She had to start working early in the morning. She washed her face by the river, then carried two buckets of water back. Everyone was up, and the two little ones squatted beside He Suian, blinking their confused eyes and asking questions.

"What do you think of them, sir?"

He Suian nodded slightly, "Not bad, have you been to school before?"

Xiang He was slightly taken aback, and turned to look at Madam Su. "Mother taught me all the time. I can write some characters and recite poems."

"Did your aunt go to school?"

Madam Su frowned slightly and tugged at the corner of her lips, "I guess you could say... you read it..." She hurriedly took the bucket of water from Xiang He's hand, "I'll go heat up the steamed buns that Fourth Sister gave me and eat them with meat."

Seeing that she was deliberately avoiding the topic, Xiang He did not press her for details. In her memory, it was indeed Su who taught her, but she had never mentioned her family, not even Xiang Dayong.

Since she doesn't want to talk about it, then we'll wait until she does.

"Xiao Yang and Yun Ya are guarding the house today. If anyone dares to cause trouble on our land, fight them back and go find Grandpa Village Chief, do you hear me?"

The two little ones immediately stood up straight. "Understood!"

-

This morning, after they finished their last meal of meat, they packed up and put away a hundred copper coins. They went to Aunt He's house to borrow a cart. They covered the big cat with their clothes, and Aunt He knew what it was, but dared not say a word.

Xiang He pushed the cart, with Fourth Aunt and Su Shi following hand in hand, while He Sui'an limped along, leaning on a large tree branch.

When they passed through the village, everyone was curious about what was under the clothes, since there was blood on them.

One of the older women approached and asked, "Hey, what good stuff did you hunt?"

Xiang He glanced at Yu Shi, who was chatting with the women, her eyes fixed intently on them. Xiang He smiled casually, "She's no good."

That's what they say, but everyone has curiosity. That old lady had no morals and started pulling at the clothes, revealing the tiger's head, which startled her.

"Oh my god! It's a big cat!"

This shout drew everyone's attention, and Xiang He suddenly felt a headache coming on. Yu Shi then turned and ran home...