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

Chapter 1061 That Tuft of Hair

She walked down the mountain path, passed Feng Huijian—the wind wasn't strong today, so the journey was smooth—and then climbed over a low slope. In the distance, she could see the smoke rising from the chimneys of Ping Anji.

Su Wanwan quickened her pace.

She remembered that Chu Yang and the others said they would wait for her nearby, but they hadn't decided on the exact location. She had originally thought she would have to search house to house in the town, but as soon as she reached the old locust tree at the town entrance, she heard the braying of a white donkey.

The sound was very distinctive; it wasn't just an ordinary donkey's bray. It was a roar filled with strong dissatisfaction and accusation, roughly translating to "Why am I the only one without any good food?"

Su Wanwan followed the sound and found it was coming from a shop on the town's main street. She looked up at the shop's sign—"Ping An Eatery." Below the sign was a line of smaller print: "Our specialties: Roasted lamb leg, braised beef, and osmanthus wine."

Su Wanwan stood at the door, smelling the aroma of roasted meat wafting from inside, when her stomach let out a disapproving growl.

She pushed the door open and went in.

The restaurant wasn't big, with seven or eight tables. It was lunchtime, and the seating was quite full. Su Wanwan immediately spotted the table in the corner by the window—

The table was covered with plates.

The roasted lamb leg occupied the center of the table, its golden-brown, glistening skin sprinkled with cumin and chili powder. Surrounding it were a ring of braised beef, braised pig's trotters, stir-fried lamb with scallions, sweet and sour pork ribs, garlic pork belly, cucumber salad, peanuts, smashed cucumber—wait, why are there two plates of cucumber?

Three people were sitting at the table.

Chu Yang sat by the window, holding a lamb leg bone and gnawing on the last bit of meat. His eating manners weren't unseemly, but they were certainly not refined; there was a bit of cumin on the corner of his mouth, and his fingertips glistened with oil.

Sun Wukong sat opposite him, the plate piled high in front of him. He held a pig's trotter in his left hand and a chicken leg in his right, chewing on something, his cheeks bulging like a squirrel stuffed with nuts. His golden cudgel leaned against a pillar beside him, a napkin draped over its shaft.

Tang Sanzang sat next to Chu Yang, with a bowl of white rice and a small dish of green vegetables in front of him. But his expression betrayed him—he was staring at the plate of roasted lamb leg with a look that said, "I'm just glancing at it casually."

Su Wanwan stood at the door for three seconds, slowly squeezing the air out of her lungs. Finally, she forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: "You guys... are having a good time."

All three people turned their heads at the same time.

The lamb leg bone in Chu Yang's hand stopped in mid-air.

Sun Wukong almost dropped the chicken leg from his mouth.

Tang Sanzang quickly looked away from the roasted lamb leg, lowered his head, put his hands together, and pretended that he had been chanting scriptures.

"Wanwan?" Chu Yang was the first to react. He put the lamb leg bone on the plate, stood up, and asked, "Why are you here? Weren't you cultivating in the valley?"

"Cultivation." Su Wanwan repeated the two words, walked to their table, looked at the leftover food, and her lips twitched. "I'm eating dried fruit in the valley, and you're eating lamb legs here?"

Sun Wukong wiped the oil from his mouth and said matter-of-factly, "This is normal replenishment after physical labor."

"What kind of manual labor do you do?"

"I'll take care of the donkey for you," Sun Wukong said, pointing out the window. Outside, the white donkey was tied to a post, with a half-eaten bowl of rice and a few carrots in front of it. But it was clearly unhappy with this treatment and was trying to kick the bowl over with its hooves.

Su Wanwan took a deep breath and turned to Chu Yang: "You—"

"Sit down and let's talk." Chu Yang pulled up a chair next to him and poured her a cup of tea. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Shopkeeper, please bring an extra bowl and chopsticks."

The shopkeeper responded from behind the counter and soon brought over a clean set of bowls and chopsticks.

Su Wanwan looked at the bowl and chopsticks, then at the dishes on the table, and swallowed. She wanted to stay angry, but her stomach wouldn't allow it.

She sat down.

Chu Yang used clean chopsticks to pick up a piece of lamb leg for her and put it in her bowl: "Try it, this restaurant's roasted lamb leg is their signature dish."

Su Wanwan stared at the meat in the bowl, remained silent for two seconds, picked up her chopsticks, and took a bite.

Her eyes lit up for a moment, then she straightened her face and mumbled between chews, "You've gone too far."

"Hmm, that's too much." Chu Yang put another piece on her plate.

"I am practicing asceticism, while you are enjoying yourself."

"Hmm, rigorous training." Chu Yang picked up another piece.

"Have you considered my feelings?"

"Hmm, haven't considered it." Chu Yang picked up the fourth piece.

Su Wanwan finally couldn't hold back any longer and reached out to block her bowl: "That's enough, I can pick it up myself."

Chu Yang then stopped, leaned back in his chair, and watched her eat while holding his teacup.

Su Wanwan took a few bites, gradually slowing down. She looked up at Chu Yang, her expression slowly changing from "I'm very angry" to "I feel a little guilty".

"What's wrong?" Chu Yang asked.

"Um..." Su Wanwan put down her chopsticks, "Should I have told you in advance before coming out? You've been waiting for me for four days, and I haven't even—"

"Alright," Chu Yang interrupted her. "It's only four days. As long as your cultivation goes smoothly."

Su Wanwan was taken aback.

She looked at Chu Yang's face, which showed no displeasure or resentment. He looked at her very normally, as if she had only stayed in the next room for four days and had not been in seclusion in the valley.

She glanced at Sun Wukong again. Sun Wukong was engrossed in eating an ear of corn that appeared out of nowhere, completely oblivious to what she was saying.

Now look at Tang Sanzang. Tang Sanzang finally gave up resisting, reached for the plate of roasted lamb leg with his chopsticks, picked up the smallest piece, quickly stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and showed a complex expression on his face that said, "I have fallen, I am guilty, but this is really delicious."

As Su Wanwan watched this scene, she suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

It's not because I feel wronged.

It's because she misses them.

She hadn't seen them for four days, and she thought she would be like before, not caring how long she spent alone. But the moment she walked into the restaurant and saw them, a part of her heart suddenly softened, as soft as sugar doused with hot water.

"Aren't you going to ask me how the repairs are going?" She deliberately put on a more relaxed tone.

Chu Yang took a sip of tea: "How is it?"

"Very good." When Su Wanwan said these two words, she raised her chin slightly and her eyes sparkled. "So good that even the senior who taught me was taken aback."

Sun Wukong finally finished eating the corn and looked up: "Really?"

"Really." Su Wanwan briefly recounted her experiences over the past few days: the three chapters of "Moon Breath Guidance," the three exercises of Gazing at the Moon, Listening to Breath, and Concealing Form, as well as the Inner Tomb and that silvery-white skeleton. She didn't go into much detail, but her eyes brightened with each story she told, and by the end, her entire face was glowing.

Chu Yang listened attentively, and only asked after she finished speaking, "So you're going to enter that inner tomb for cultivation starting tomorrow?"

"Mm." Su Wanwan nodded. "Senior Bai Xi said that the moon energy in the inner tomb is too strong, and I can't stay there alone. I need someone to guard outside. She said that you can come together, and it would be beneficial for you to stay nearby as well."

"What are the benefits?" Sun Wukong asked.

"Moonlight has a nourishing effect on both humans and demons." Su Wanwan thought for a moment. "That's what Senior Bai tide said. I don't know the specific effects, but she probably didn't say it wrong."

Sun Wukong stroked his chin: "So, you're saying I, Old Sun, can go into that inner tomb tomorrow and soak up some moonlight?"

"That's roughly the idea."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sun Wukong slammed his hand on the table, making the plates jump. "Let's go tomorrow."

Tang Sanzang swallowed the mutton in his mouth and hesitated, saying, "This humble monk... may I go too?"

"I think it's okay," Su Wanwan said. "Senior Bai tide didn't say anyone couldn't go."

Tang Sanzang nodded thoughtfully, then reached for the plate of roasted lamb leg with his chopsticks. This time, he picked up a medium-sized piece instead of the smallest one.

Su Wanwan looked at him, and the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

Chu Yang saw all of this but said nothing. He simply poured Su Wanwan another cup of tea.

"Eat more," he said. "You'll be starting your ascetic practice again tomorrow, so fill your stomach today."

Su Wanwan glared at him: "Do you think I'm a pig?"

"Aren't you a fox?"

Even a fox couldn't eat this much!

"Who ate four pieces of lamb leg meat just now?"

Su Wanwan looked down at her bowl, which was indeed empty.

Her ears turned red, and she picked up her teacup, pretending to drink tea while hiding her face behind the steam.

Sun Wukong laughed heartily beside him, so much so that the napkin on his golden cudgel fell off.

Outside the eatery, the white donkey finally kicked over the bowl, scattering rice all over the ground. Several sparrows flew over to snatch the food. It looked at the sparrows, then glanced back at the bustling table inside the eatery, snorted, and its ears drooped down. The whole donkey looked extremely aggrieved.

But nobody noticed it.

Inside the restaurant, Su Wanwan was vividly describing the scene of Bai Xi walking out of the stone wall. When she said, "The senior stepped out of the stone like walking through a water curtain," Chu Yang raised an eyebrow, Sun Wukong's eyes widened, and Tang Seng even forgot to chew his mutton.

All three listened attentively, and none of them interrupted her.

The white donkey brayed again from outside.

Still, nobody paid any attention to it.

The next morning, before dawn, Su Wanwan was already standing at the entrance of Ping An Inn.

She didn't sleep well last night. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable with the bed; her mind was constantly preoccupied with the matter of the inner tomb. The floating bead, the silvery-white skeleton, the runes seeping from the bones—everything kept swirling in her mind, keeping her tossing and turning, unable to sleep. In the latter half of the night, she simply didn't sleep. She got up and recited the first three chapters of "Moon Breath Guide" three times from memory, until dawn broke, before finally getting up to pack her things and leave.

Ping'an Market was quiet in the early morning. Dew still clung to the stone-paved road from the night before, and the shops on both sides were not yet open, except for the breakfast stalls. Steam rose from the steamers, carrying the aroma of noodles and pickled vegetables, slowly spreading in the cool air. An old man sat behind his stall, using long chopsticks to turn the fried dough sticks in the oil. The dough sticks were fried until golden brown, sizzling in the oil.

Su Wanwan smelled the aroma, and her stomach growled. She thought of the roasted lamb leg she had eaten yesterday, and then of the dried fruit she had been munching on in the valley these past few days. Comparing the two, she felt a mix of emotions. She hesitated for a moment, then took out two coins from her sleeve and bought a fried dough stick, eating it as she walked. The fried dough stick was crispy, making a crunching sound with each bite, leaving crumbs scattered all over the ground.

She had just reached the entrance of the inn when the door opened from the inside.

Chu Yang stood inside the doorway, his hair loose and draped over his shoulders, wearing a faded gray shirt, looking as if he had just gotten out of bed. He saw Su Wanwan holding a fried dough stick, her lips still glistening with oil, and raised an eyebrow: "Eating so early in the morning?"

"What's it to you?" Su Wanwan mumbled, stuffing the last bite of the fried dough stick into her mouth.

Chu Yang didn't argue with her and stepped aside to let her in: "They're still tidying up, please have a seat."

The lobby was deserted. The innkeeper was dozing off at the counter, a small puddle of drool running down his face. Su Wanwan chose a seat by the window, wiped the grease on her sleeve, and began to look around the inn. She hadn't been inside last night, so she didn't know what it was like inside. The lobby wasn't large; the beams were blackened, and there were several cracks in the walls, from which thin, grayish-white mold grew. The stairs were narrow and steep, creaking as she stepped on them.

A commotion came from upstairs. First, there was a muffled thud, like something hitting the wall, followed by Sun Wukong's voice: "Master, hurry up! Wanwan's already here!"

"Coming, coming—" Tang Sanzang's voice came from a room further away, still groggy with sleepiness.

Then came the sound of hurried footsteps. Sun Wukong leaped down the stairs in three quick steps, his golden cudgel shrank and tucked behind his ear. He wore a slightly worn blue short jacket, and his hair was neatly combed back. He saw Su Wanwan and grinned, "Yo, you're here? Did they manage to keep you in that valley until you went crazy?"

"You're the idiot." Su Wanwan rolled her eyes at him.

Tang Sanzang followed behind, his cassock neatly worn, but a small tuft of hair still stuck up on his head, clearly indicating he hadn't had time to groom himself properly. He clasped his hands together and nodded slightly to Su Wanwan: "Good morning, Miss Su."

"Good morning, Master Tang." Su Wanwan looked at the tuft of hair on his head and refrained from pointing it out.

Chu Yang went upstairs to tie her hair, then came down, holding the white donkey's reins. The white donkey seemed to be in good spirits today, its ears perked up, and it even nuzzled Su Wanwan's hand when it saw her. Su Wanwan touched its forehead: "Oh, why are you being so well-behaved today?"

The white donkey snorted, meaning "I've always been good."

"Let's go." Chu Yang led the white donkey out the door. "Don't keep them waiting."

Ping'an Market gradually came alive in the morning. Vegetable vendors carried their loads from outside the city, with dripping greens and muddy radishes hanging from both ends; the blacksmith's shop opened, and the clanging of hammers echoed from the alley; a child chased a yellow dog from the other end of the street, the dog crawling under a table, the child following, only to be pulled out by the shopkeeper's wife by the ear.

Su Wanwan led the way, turning north as soon as they left the town. The road gradually changed from stone slabs to dirt, then to gravel, and finally to a narrow path overgrown with weeds. After walking for about half an hour, the grass was already knee-high, and the dew had soaked everyone's trousers.

"How much further?" Sun Wukong stepped forward, his feet barely touching the ground. (End of Chapter)