I just became the Pirate King, and you're telling me I also time-traveled at the same time.

Chapter 1059 My memory is alright

Xiao Cui's hand slid down a few inches, reaching her lower back. She applied some pressure, pressing her thumb around her waist.

Tang Sanzang hissed and sat up abruptly as if he had been scalded.

Xiao Cui was startled, her hand freezing in mid-air: "Master? Did you hurt yourself?"

"No...no." Tang Sanzang's ears were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, his face was red all the way to the roots of his neck, and even the collarbone exposed at the neckline of his cassock was pink. "This humble monk...this humble monk thinks...that's about right."

"Almost there?" Xiao Cui blinked, looking confused. "It's only just begun, not even half an incense stick's time yet."

"That's enough, that's enough." Tang Sanzang got off the couch and hurriedly reached for the cassock. He reached for it twice but couldn't reach it, so Xiao Cui helped him get it. When he took the cassock, he didn't dare to touch Xiao Cui's hand with his fingers. He took it from a distance, put it on, and tried to tie the belt, but he couldn't tie it correctly even after two tries.

Xiao Cui stood beside him, her hands clasped in front of her, tilting her head to look at him, her lips curving into a smile, her eyes conveying the message, "This person is quite interesting."

Tang Sanzang finally finished tying his cassock and hurriedly put his palms together in a gesture of respect to Xiao Cui: "Thank you, benefactor. This humble monk will now... take his leave."

After saying that, he turned and left, lifting the curtain so abruptly that he almost tripped over the threshold.

When he returned to the hall through the corridor, Chu Yang and Sun Wukong hadn't come out yet. Only the woman was wiping the table in the hall. Seeing him run out alone, his face flushed, she paused, surprised: "Master, why are you so fast?"

"This humble monk... is not feeling well today," Tang Sanzang said, bowing his head.

The woman nodded knowingly and didn't ask any more questions.

Tang Sanzang hesitated in the hall, unsure whether to stand or sit. Finally, he walked to the door, pushed it open, and stood in the street, letting the breeze cool him down. The cool night wind finally cooled his flushed face. He looked up at the moon, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"Amitabha," he murmured, his tone filled with a sense of relief at surviving a calamity.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chu Yang and Sun Wukong came out.

Chu Yang's shoulders felt much more relaxed, and he stretched his neck as he walked, looking quite pleased. Sun Wukong followed behind him with a calm expression, while his short, stout master behind him was covered in sweat, as if he had just finished a tough battle.

As soon as Chu Yang stepped outside, he saw Tang Seng standing by the roadside in the wind. The moonlight shone on his bright red cassock, making his face appear as white as paper.

"Master, you're here so quickly?"

Tang Sanzang didn't turn around: "Hmm."

"Is Miss Xiao Cui's cooking not good?"

Tang Sanzang was silent for two seconds: "...Very good cooking skills."

"Then what did you do—"

"Yang'er." Tang Seng turned around, the redness on his face had mostly faded, but there was still a trace of pink at the base of his ears. "Could you please not always... always like this?"

Chu Yang looked completely innocent: "What did I do?"

"You know perfectly well that this humble monk is not used to these things," Tang Sanzang said in a low voice, with a hint of helplessness, "yet you still deliberately sent Miss Xiao Cui."

Chu Yang looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Master, didn't you say you wanted to experience all aspects of human life? Isn't this one of those aspects?"

Tang Sanzang opened his mouth, only to find himself trapped in Tang Sanzang's trap once again.

Sun Wukong, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't hold back anymore. He clutched his stomach and laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight: "Master, didn't you just... didn't you run away before half an incense stick had burned?"

Tang Sanzang did not answer.

"I told you, Master, you definitely wouldn't be able to hold on." Sun Wukong laughed until tears streamed down his face. He could barely hold onto his golden cudgel, leaning against the wall and slapping his thigh. "If Miss Xiao Cui's hand touched you, wouldn't you bounce right up?"

Tang Sanzang finally spoke, his tone somewhat annoyed: "Wukong, don't talk nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense. Look, your face is still red." Sun Wukong pointed at him.

Tang Sanzang subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, then quickly lowered it, his face turning even redder.

Chu Yang watched from the side, unable to suppress the smirk on his face.

He walked up to Tang Sanzang, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Master, you need to practice. This is just the beginning; there will be many more situations to face in the future."

Tang Sanzang glared at him: "This humble monk is a monk."

"Monks are human too," Chu Yang said. "Humans will have things they're not used to. It's okay if you're not used to it; you'll get used to it after trying more."

"This humble monk does not wish to get used to this."

"So you'll run away again next time?"

Tang Sanzang remained silent.

Because he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't run away next time.

The three walked back along the alley, their shadows stretched long by the moonlight. There were hardly any people left on the street; the shops on both sides were closed. Only the old night watchman came from the opposite side carrying a gong, struck it three times, and called out, "The weather is dry; be careful with fire."

Sun Wukong walked at the front, still laughing, laughing so hard his stomach hurt, and he walked with a stoop. Chu Yang walked in the middle, a smile on his lips, his steps slow. Tang Sanzang walked at the back, his hands tucked into his sleeves, the redness on his face finally completely gone, but the tips of his ears were still burning.

Back at the inn, the innkeeper was still doing accounts in the lobby. Seeing them return, he smiled and asked, "Gentlemen, how was Yunlai Inn? Were you comfortable?"

"That feels good," Chu Yang said.

"That's right." The shopkeeper stroked his non-existent beard with a smug look. "Our Yunlai Residence in Ping'an Town is famous for miles around."

Tang Sanzang quickly walked through the main hall and went upstairs.

The shopkeeper watched his retreating figure, somewhat puzzled: "What's wrong with this chef? Why is his face so red?"

Chu Yang remained expressionless: "It's massage, it helps improve blood circulation."

"Oh, that's true." The shopkeeper nodded and continued calculating the accounts.

Sun Wukong reached the top of the stairs, then suddenly stopped, turned back to the innkeeper, and said, "Innkeeper, I have a question for you."

"Please speak."

"Will Yunlaiju Restaurant be open tomorrow?"

"Keep it running, keep it running every day."

Sun Wukong nodded and muttered to himself, "Then I'll go again tomorrow."

Tang Sanzang's voice came from upstairs: "Wukong!"

"Coming, coming!" Sun Wukong went upstairs with a grin.

Chu Yang stood in the lobby, watching Sun Wukong's hopping and skipping figure, and shook his head.

Just as he was about to go upstairs, the innkeeper suddenly called out to him, "Sir, would you like some extra hay for that...that donkey tonight? I've seen it braying in the backyard."

Chu Yang thought for a moment and said, "Add it, but don't add too much, it'll make you fat."

The shopkeeper: "..."

the other side.

Su Wanwan was awakened by a flash of silvery-white light.

When she opened her eyes, she thought she was still dreaming. Above her was not the sky, but a dense thicket of moon-reflecting branches. The silvery leaves swayed gently in the morning breeze, each leaf's underside gleaming with a cool light, like countless tiny mirrors, shattering and gathering the sunlight, which fell onto her face, body, and blanket.

She blinked a few times, and her mind slowly emerged from the fog.

An old tree. A stone platform. An old blanket. A blanket embroidered with a little silver fox.

Qiyue Ridge.

She wasn't dreaming.

Su Wanwan sat up, wrapped in a blanket, and noticed that her blue robe was wrinkled from sleeping on it, with the seam on the left shoulder even coming undone. She looked down, pinched off the loose thread with her fingernail, and thought she would borrow a needle from Bai tide later.

There was no one under the old tree.

There was none on the stone platform.

The extinguished lamp remained in its original place, the runes around the lamp base appearing faint in the morning light, like ink marks drawn stroke by stroke, faded over time.

Su Wanwan stood up, folded the blanket, and placed it beside the stone platform. Dew dampened her shoes, and the fine white pebbles on the ground crunched under her feet, the sound echoing through the valley, making it seem exceptionally spacious.

She looked around but couldn't see Bai tide anywhere.

"Senior?" she called out tentatively.

no respond.

"Senior Bai?"

still none.

The valley wasn't large, with stone walls on all four sides, an old tree, a stone platform, and a lamp. There was practically no place to hide. Su Wanwan went around to look behind the old tree; there was only a narrow gap between the trunk and the stone wall, too narrow for even a hand to fit through, making it impossible for someone to stand there.

As she was wondering, a voice suddenly came from above her head.

"Where should we look?"

Su Wanwan suddenly looked up.

Bai tide sat on a branch of the old tree.

She sat cross-legged, one hand supporting her chin, the other hanging at her side, her fingertips slowly twirling a leaf from a moon-reflecting branch. Her long hair, unbound, cascaded down from the branches like a black waterfall. Morning light filtered through the gaps in the branches, casting a thin halo of light on her blue robe.

She looked like she had been sitting in the tree all night.

"Senior," Su Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief, "what are you doing up in the tree?"

"It's high up here," Bai tide said.

"High what?"

"You can see far." Bai tide released the leaf in her hand, and it floated down, landing right on Su Wanwan's head. She flipped down from the tree, her movements as light as a leaf falling to the ground on its own, her green dress fluttering without making a sound.

Su Wanwan plucked the leaves from her head and watched Bai Xi land gracefully, her heart itching with curiosity: "What... was that just now?"

"What is what?"

"It was when you came down from the tree," Su Wanwan gestured, "no sound, no wind, like..."

"Like what?"

"Like a shadow falling down."

Bai tide glanced at her, her expression unchanged, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly: "That's 'Shadowfall.' A type of lightness technique. Foxes use it to approach prey silently or escape pursuit."

Is it difficult to learn?

"It's not difficult." Bai tide walked past her, her tone flat. "But you need to catch your breath before you touch this. Otherwise, when you climb down from the tree, you'll be silent, but you'll break your leg."

Su Wanwan: "..."

She followed silently.

Bai tide walked to the stone platform, picked up the blanket that Su Wanwan had folded, and glanced at it. It wasn't folded very neatly, but it wasn't a complete mess either. She put the blanket back in its place, and then pulled out a wooden box from under the stone platform. The box wasn't big, the wood was old and blackened, and the corners were covered with copper sheets, which were covered with green rust.

The box was opened, and inside were several items neatly arranged: several old bamboo scrolls, a pottery jar, a wooden comb with broken teeth, and a bronze mirror the size of a palm.

Bai tide took out the bamboo slips, flipped through them, picked out one scroll, and handed it to Su Wanwan.

"Look at this first."

Su Wanwan took the bamboo slip. It was very light, and its surface was smooth and shiny from being rubbed. Some of the writing had been worn away and become blurred. She carefully unfolded it. It contained small characters engraved with a very fine brush, the characters were neat and each stroke was meticulous.

"The Lunar Breath Guide?" Su Wanwan read out the first three characters of the bamboo slip.

"The fundamentals of fox clan cultivation." Bai tide sat by the stone platform, casually picking up a broken wooden comb and slowly combing her drooping hair. "Your problem isn't that you don't know magic, it's that your foundation is too weak. Without a solid foundation, anything you learn is just castles in the air. This bamboo scroll teaches how to draw lunar energy into your body, transform that energy into breath, and use that breath to nourish your form. Memorize the first three chapters until you know them by heart, and then start practicing."

Su Wanwan looked down at the words on the bamboo slip, a surge of inexplicable warmth welling up inside her. She had never touched anything like this before. The cultivation of a wandering fox relied entirely on self-enlightenment; if her understanding was right, it was right; if it was wrong, it was wrong. No one told her where she went wrong, nor how to correct it. She was like someone walking in the dark, groping, stumbling, falling countless times, getting up and continuing on. After so many years, looking back, she was still going in circles.

Now someone has given her a lamp.

It wasn't the extinguished lamp, but this bamboo scroll.

"Senior." Su Wanwan raised her head.

Bai tide was combing her hair, not looking at her, and said, "Mm."

"Thank you."

Bai tide paused in combing her hair, then continued. After a few moments, she spoke, "Thank me after you've mastered it. If you haven't, thanking me won't help."

Su Wanwan hugged the bamboo slips and nodded vigorously.

That morning, Su Wanwan did not eat breakfast.

Bai tide didn't ask if she was hungry. She simply took two dried fruits from the earthenware jar and placed them on the stone platform before leaning against the old tree and closing her eyes to rest. Su Wanwan glanced at the dried fruits; they were dark, wrinkled, and didn't look very appealing. She picked one up and took a bite. The sourness made her face scrunch up, but after swallowing, a faint sweet aftertaste slowly rose on her tongue, like drinking a sip of fine tea.

With the lingering sweetness, she opened the bamboo slips and began to memorize them.

The first three chapters of "Moon Breath Guide" aren't long, totaling only a little over a thousand characters. However, the characters are archaic, and the sentence structure is awkward, so Su Wanwan had to read them several times to roughly guess their meaning. Fortunately, although Bai Xi was leaning against the tree with her eyes closed, she would suddenly speak up whenever Su Wanwan got stuck, adding an explanation in a calm and even tone, just enough for Su Wanwan to understand.

I memorized it for the entire morning.

By noon, Su Wanwan had memorized most of the first three chapters. Although she still stumbled a bit, the general framework was already in her mind.

Bai tide opened her eyes, looked at the sun, and then at her: "You memorized it quickly."

"My memory is pretty good," Su Wanwan said honestly.

"Having a good memory isn't a skill." Bai tide stood up and walked to the open space in the center of the valley. "There are plenty of people with good memories, but very few can actually develop one. Come on, stand here."

Su Wanwan walked over, carrying the bamboo slips.

"lay down."

She placed the bamboo slips on the ground.

"Face that stone wall," Bai tide pointed to the stone wall opposite the old tree, "Sit cross-legged." (End of Chapter)