780: Chapter 510 780: Chapter 510 Cai Xiangxiang, in her childhood, lived in a village nestled in a mountainous area within the creases of the hills at the foot of a large mountain.
Her parents only appeared outside when visiting relatives or going to the market in town.
She also followed her parents to the market and to visit relatives, only remembering that it was a very long walk to the market town, taking an hour or two.
Each trip to the market to sell goods from the mountains or to buy salt meant leaving before dawn and returning home after dark.
Living in this mortal area was so difficult because they neither practiced cultivation nor knew any powerful martial arts.
Residing at the foot of the mountain, many people honed their hunting skills—passed down from generation to generation by the Veteran Hunter, with both her father and grandfather being excellent hunters.
It was precisely because of these hunting skills that the villagers, albeit poor, were able to sustain themselves.
During times when they weren’t hunting, the villagers eked out a living by mining coal to earn some pocket money for snacks.
There were also wealthy people in the village, including a family who managed the coal mine.
Cai Xiangxiang only remembered that she was the brightest and the most clever among her peers when that bad Taoist took her as his disciple when she was just a few years old.
At that time, there was also a little brother at home who could not yet walk, and she didn’t know how much he had grown up.
In the countryside, at that age, he should also be old enough to marry.
In the more than ten years since then, had her family been safe?
Cai Xiangxiang was lost in thoughts of the past, her eyes observing carefully.
Only when she saw a town she was familiar with did she remember that her parents had brought her here to the market a few times.
“My dear, I seem to have been to this town when I was little.
Our home isn’t far from here,” she said.
At Cai Xiangxiang’s words, everyone looked at her, and Ye Tian also turned to her and said,
“Oh, then you should still remember the way to your home.
Can you guide us there?”
Cai Xiangxiang nodded and said, “I remember when I was a child, my parents brought me to this town.
Many times it was because of illness that we came here to see a doctor.
The memories are hazy in my mind, but as I grew older, I could remember the paths my parents took.
It’s this road to the east of the town; you go straight ahead, passing many large mountains and small villages along the way.”
“Alright, then let’s head that way!” Ye Tian directed the Flying Ship in the direction Cai Xiangxiang indicated, following the road she described from high above.
The Flying Ship was not flying very fast, which facilitated Cai Xiangxiang in searching for her hometown village.
Although their pace was slow, Cai Xiangxiang soon found the village under the big mountain, a place imprinted in her memory.
As a child, it took her parents several hours to reach the town, but with the Flying Artifact, it took only a moment or two.
While Cai Xiangxiang marveled in her heart, she accurately confirmed that this place was indeed the village where she lived as a child.
“Your hometown looks quite nice.
The houses aren’t run down at all; they’re better than where we lived!” Yan Weiwei exclaimed as she looked down at the village below.
Convinced by Cai Xiangxiang’s tales of poverty, everyone had imagined a shabby village.
Not just Yan Weiwei and her family but Ye Tian as well had held that belief.
If Cai Xiangxiang had not pointed it out, who would have thought this place was impoverished and backward?
Cai Xiangxiang herself was only recognizing the village from the memories in her mind and now scrutinized those houses seriously.
The houses below the Flying Ship were not all made of green bricks and large tiles, but none were in disrepair.
Even the old house where she had lived had been transformed into a well-off residence with green bricks and large tiles, resembling the home of a wealthy person.
The house of the coal mine supervisor she remembered did not even compare in splendor.
Why had her own family’s house become so prosperous?
Could she have mistaken the place?
No, there was no mistake; the mountain they relied on was shaped like a windmill, and there were no such mountains nearby.
Furthermore, not only did the mountain bear the shape of a windmill, but there was also a huge stone on the mountain.
People had tried to mine it, only to discover that striking it with tools would release a thunderous explosion.
Frightened, no one dared to mine that stone, and it became known as the Thunder God Stone.
Beside this stone was a very large Feng Shui tree, a camphor tree.
It had been tapped at times for Medicine as part of secret recipes, but no one ever harmed the entire tree; they only harvested its branches and leaves.
Relying on her memory, Cai Xiangxiang confirmed the mountain was indeed the one, the giant stone was the same, and the camphor tree still stood, but the village itself had changed.
Only the snow on the tree had turned it white, and the snow on the stone concealed its original appearance.
Snow covered Windmill Mountain, only allowing a faint outline of its shape to be visible.
The deep imprints in her memory held the appearance of all four seasons.
“The village is here, but it has changed so much, the houses feel unfamiliar,” she said.
Having confirmed her hometown, Cai Xiangxiang faced the strangers among Ye Tian’s and Yan Weiwei’s families, who had not yet noticed anything unusual about the village.
After all, Cai Xiangxiang had not returned for over a decade.
It was possible for the villagers to have become wealthy, which was not unprecedented.
With a mine nearby, it could be the source of their newfound wealth.
“Then let’s go take a look.
You just find your family and ask, and then you’ll understand, right?” Yan Weiwei said to Cai Xiangxiang.
“Yes, the young mistress is right.” Cai Xiangxiang felt a surge of joy within her.
The fact that her hometown had changed so much meant that her family’s lives must have greatly improved and that their living conditions had become better.