Torrential rain swept across, chilling winds hissed, and the river tide crashed against the shore.
The night sky was completely dark, and it was impossible to see a thing, as the towering, mile-long Black Mountain stretching across the land was shrouded in layers.
The nearby small mountain village had long lost any flickering light.
The night deepened layer by layer, making it feel incredibly oppressive.
The winter rain is particularly bone-chilling, as if the heart cools down with every sound.
Approach the second stone house near the village entrance.
Chen Yun was staring fixedly in the direction of the windows woven with rushes.
Even though he couldn't see anything, he knew in his heart that outside the window there was a desolate mountain.
Just thinking about this desolate mountain made Chen Yun's mood as oppressive as the night sky darkening, and even colder like the winter rain.
Ah, if it wasn't for the Black Mountain, relying on my memories from my previous life, I would definitely have made a difference in this time and space similar to ancient China.
Even in the worst case, I wouldn't have had to live in such dire straits where I didn't have enough to eat or anything to keep warm in winter.
Shivering from the cold, Chen Yun revealed a hint of bitterness.
At the same time, his rumbling stomach called out "gurgling" sound.
After all, he had only had a bowl of congee that was no different from plain water, so it was no wonder he was hungry.
Starving and cold.
Last life, Chen Yun didn't understand this word very deeply.
However, now, wrapped in a thin quilt patched up with cloth and stuffed with poplar and cottonwood fluff, he could only shiver to resist the cold while enduring the discomfort of hunger, truly understanding what it means to be hungry and cold.
In other words, for the past sixteen years since his body had been transported to this world, except for a few years of childhood, he had experienced this kind of situation most of the time.
If only I could leave the Black Mountain.
Chen Yun looked outside the window again, his eyes filled with longing.
At that moment, a weak and helpless voice of a young woman came from a nearby broken wooden bed, "Son, hungry?"
Chen Yun was so hungry that he couldn't be bothered to speak, and he simply replied with a monosyllabic "uh."
The young woman sighed and said, "Your father has been in the city for more than twenty days, but I don't know why he hasn't returned yet."
Chen Yun consoled her, "Mother, maybe the journey is too far, and your father has been delayed along the way."
"At home, there is no surplus grain left. If he doesn't return, you and I, and your younger brothers and sisters will all starve to death." The young woman said despondently.
Chen Yun comforted his mother in this life, saying, "Mother, don't worry. With me here, we won't starve to death."
The young woman suddenly stopped talking.
Soon, Chen Yun heard a light sobbing sound by his ear.
He wasn't sure if his mother was crying because she, like him, was suffering from hunger and cold, or if it was due to her missing her father.
Chen Yun's heart felt very unsavory.
After a moment of hesitation, he initiated the conversation, "Mother, I hid some dried meat in the autumn. I'll go outside and dig it up for you."
The sobbing stopped, and the young woman's voice contained a note of surprise, "You still had dried meat?"
"Yes, I didn't eat it in autumn."
Chen Yun casually explained, struggling to get up from the haystack.
As soon as he left the thin quilt, a cold sensation pierced his skin, causing him to chattering with cold.
The young woman was still chattering away, probably about giving the dried meat to Chen Yun to eat himself.
Chen Yun responded a few times without much thought.
He stepped over the threshold into the outer room.
He cautiously looked inside, silently repeating, "Come out."
In the next moment, his palm felt a heaviness.
Chen Yun, with the dim light, saw clearly a hand-sized copper pot materializing in his palm.
The cover of this copper pot was inscribed with complex characters in traditional Chinese, such as "Founding the Foundation in 100 Days," "Transforming Grains into Essence," "Transforming Essence into Qi," "Transforming Qi into Spirit," "Transforming Spirit into Emptiness," and "Merging Emptiness with the Tao."
Chen Yun knew that these were terms from Daoist inner alchemy.
At the time he obtained this small copper pot, he also received a book titled "Great Luo Elixir," which also detailed these inner alchemy terms.
However, the book recorded not the so-called techniques, but the names of various herbs and their dosages.
Some of the herbs he had heard of.
For example, Sichuan Aconite and Common Aconite.
There are also some herbs he has never heard of.
For example, the main herb, Yinyang Xingchen Cao.
Chen Yun didn't understand why these were inscribed on the copper pot.
The only thing he knew was that when he pressed these "buttons," the copper pot would steam things.
And after steaming, the contents inside would be preserved at a constant temperature, even if left for an extended period without any issues.
Of course, the copper pot's functions go beyond that; it can also change in size to some extent.
Moreover, if one simply mutters "retract," the copper pot will vanish without a trace.
Chen Yun knew the copper pot had not truly vanished.
It was simply in a dimension he didn't understand yet.
The book recording "Great Luo Elixir" also has a similar hidden function.
He reached out and pressed a small dot on the wall of the copper pot.
The next moment, there was a "click" sound.
A small grid, similar to a container for storing herbs, jumped out on the wall of the copper pot.
There were thousands of small grids, densely packed like ant holes.
The vast majority of the grids were empty of anything.
Only a few scattered "holes" could faintly be seen with something filling them.
Because the "holes" were too small, normal human eyes could hardly see what was stuffed inside.
Chen Yun didn't need to look to know that these "holes" held the food he had saved little by little over the years.
For example, dried meat, flour, rice, vegetables, and so on.
These "holes" also had the function of preserving and keeping things at a constant temperature.
Therefore, he had some food that could still be eaten after being stored for several years.
These foods were originally intended for him to escape the Black Mountain, and he had saved them one by one, which amounted to several meals.
The Black Mountain stretches for over a thousand miles, and the mountain path is endlessly twisting and complex.
If one were to leave impulsively without knowing the route and without enough food, they would very likely starve to death halfway.
There is enough food.
But if one eats without restraint, perhaps they would eat it all in just a few days.
Chen Yun is not hiding it and unwilling to share with his family.
Rather than hoarding it and unwilling to share with his family, he believes these foods are his hope to escape the Black Mountain.
Once he can escape the Black Mountain to earn silver, his family can live better.
But the soft sobbing of his mother just now made Chen Yun feel a bit uncomfortable in his heart.
After all, they had lived together for sixteen years. Even if he had a memory of transcending, he still had feelings for his family.
So he gritted his teeth and took out the food he had saved for years to give his mother some comfort.
"Alas, if father had taken me with him to the city, perhaps with the memories of my previous life, I could have earned more silver. It would have been much better than him toiling as a laborer for just a few coins a day. But unfortunately, he didn't take me along."
Chen Yun's heart couldn't help but feel regretful.
In the words of his father in this life, without a good son to guard the family, others would bully their mother and younger brothers and sisters.
He has two younger brothers, one seven years old and the other in a baby carriage, and his younger sister is only ten years old.
Besides their father, there seemed to be only him, the sixteen-year-old boy, who could guard the family's safety.
After all, this place is too poor. If there were no sons to protect the family, anything could happen; cannibalism is not unheard of.
Chen Yun silently whispered "dried meat come out," and the small grid emitted a Qi, and a few dried meats appeared holding it.
These dried meats in the grid were almost indiscernible in their specific appearance.
However, once they were removed from the grid, they returned to being half an inch wide and the length of a chopstick.
There are a total of three.
Chen Yun grabbed them all in his hand, then pushed the grid back, and silently whispered "retract," causing the copper pot to vanish instantly.
This copper pot was his secret, and he had never mentioned it to his family.
As the saying goes, "He who bears the gem shall bear the crime." If such a magical copper pot were known to others, it might lead to the family's annihilation.
Chen Yun was still aware of this.
Chen Yun pretended to stir the soil behind the stove and make some noises with the straw.
Subsequently, Chen Yun returned to the inner room and leaned over to the broken wooden bedside, reaching out with his hand, "Mother, eat some dried meat."
The young woman, however, rejected him a hundred times over and said that Chen Yun was growing up, and he should eat it himself.
Chen Yun knew his mother's personality in this life.
If he didn't eat it, she wouldn't eat it either.
So he took one dried meat, and then his mother only took the remaining two.
"Child, get up and eat the dried meat."
Mother gently called out to the sleeping younger brother and sister.
Chen Yun watched helplessly as his mother gave the two dried meats to his younger sister and brother respectively.
Alas, how pitiful the hearts of parents are in the world.
Without hesitation, Chen Yun tore the longer piece of the dried meat in half and placed it in his mother's hand.
Returning to the haystack in the corner of the wall.
Wrapping himself in the thin quilt.
Chen Yun chewed on the dried meat and looked towards the south again.
He really longed to walk out.
Out of this barren Black Mountain.
However, today's food is less, which will affect the escape plan.
Unexpectedly, the next day at dawn, his wish of more than ten years came true.
