Ning Buwei looked toward the source of the sound and saw Big Yellow rushing straight toward him with his tongue hanging out.
He hesitated for a moment between reaching out to catch or raising his foot to kick, but just as he was about to lift his foot, Big Yellow conscientiously stopped right in front of him.
“Woof!” Big Yellow wagged his tail vigorously. “Laozi can finally speak now, damn it was suffocating woof!”
Ning Buwei grabbed his dog ear and said coldly, “Who are you calling ‘Laozi’ to?”
“Woof~” Big Yellow happily wagged his tail. “Chengfeng, Chengfeng, I can talk now woof! Do you remember when you used to secretly feed me bones back at the Ning Mansion? And when you were little and got scolded by Ning Xingyuan, you hugged your pillow and tried to steal my dog kennel but then—mmph woof?”
Ning Buwei grabbed his dog mouth with a cold expression. “Nonsense.”
Big Yellow nudged him with his head, his tail wagging frantically.
The sky began to drizzle fine rain again, and Chu Jun said, “Let’s talk inside.”
Ning Buwei reluctantly released the dog’s mouth.
Big Yellow trotted with small steps, muttering, “Really thank you, Venerable, for your help. Without you I wouldn’t know when I’d be able to speak. Chengfeng really found the right dao companion in you. When are you planning to hold your dao companion ceremony woof? You’re both not getting any younger, it’s time to do it, and give Ning Xiu a few more brothers and sisters mmph woof!?”
An incense stick’s time later, Big Yellow had a large bump on his head and was lying on the ground covering his head with his paws, tears in his eyes. “Why hit a dog?”
Ning Buwei examined him carefully. “Are you the gatekeeper Black Suan from the Ning Mansion all those years ago?”
“Woof! That’s right! It’s me!” Big Yellow stood up and shook himself, then transformed into a majestic large black dog, and then changed form again, revealing his original six-legged beast form. His black skin was covered with scarlet symbols, and he dragged many iron chains. Around his neck was a beast-binding collar with a cute yellow bell hanging from it.
“I still have the little bell you gave me! Woof!” Big Yellow flicked it with one paw, and the bell immediately made a crisp sound.
Regarding the foolish things he did when he was seven or eight, Ning Buwei refused to reminisce and promptly changed the subject. “When did you find me?”
“Woof~” Big Yellow scratched his chin and changed back into a yellow puppy form. His originally rough male voice became soft and tender. “My original body was destroyed with only my soul remaining. I slept for five hundred years and woke up when I smelled the scent of the green vine in Linjiang City. I happened to see you at Chengyun Tower holding a small baby and feeding him. I hid in the spoon, and somehow ended up becoming Ning Xiu’s contract beast, and even regained a physical body, woof~”
Ning Buwei picked him up by the scruff of his neck and placed him on the table. “What exactly happened to the Ning family back then?”
Big Yellow put his front paws together as he sat down and shook his head. “I’m not sure either, but during that time, Ning Xingyuan was acting strangely, and there was a very annoying person always by his side.”
“What person?” Ning Buwei asked.
“I could never see clearly what he looked like, but I remember his smell. It was foul, and it’s even fouler now.” Big Yellow said, “He was the one who killed Ning Xingyuan! And now he wants to harm Ning Xiu!”
Ning Buwei’s expression froze. “It wasn’t Dulu?”
Big Yellow shook his head. “Previously, even I could defeat Dulu. Ning Xingyuan… asked me to take care of you, but unfortunately, I couldn’t even get out of the main gate. Luckily my soul and divine consciousness survived, but I was too severely injured and fell into a deep sleep…”
****
A few days later, in the mortal realm.
“That new county magistrate from the prefecture seems quite young, he’s this year’s third-place scholar in the imperial examination!”
“Why would such a third-place scholar choose to come to this backwater place like Shuangjing where birds don’t poop?”
“Well, who knows…”
The sun was blazing at noon, and a group of laborers took shelter under the shade of trees near the official road, drinking water and eating while chatting.
“Anyway, life is getting harder. The war in the north continues. After another year, I will take my wife and children south. With the ancestral craftsmanship passed down, we won’t starve to death.” A younger man knocked the mud off his shoe soles.
“Li San, your ancestors were from Jade Spring Village, right?” someone asked him.
Li San nodded.
“Wow, the jade craftsmen from Jade Spring Village hundreds of years ago were recorded in history books. That famous Pei the Jade Craftsman in the capital also had ancestors from Jade Spring. Why didn’t you think of using this skill to make a living earlier instead of farming with us here?”
Li San shook his head. “Family precepts passed down from ancestors don’t allow it. I’ll consider it when we truly can’t make ends meet.”
“Passing it down but not allowing its use, that’s really…”
“Speaking of Jade Spring Village, wasn’t it haunted before? I heard from a relative who works at the government office that our county magistrate doesn’t believe in ghosts and spirits and plans to personally lead people to investigate and dispel the rumors during his time off.”
“A new official sets three fires upon taking office. Those large tracts of good farmland in the ghost village are left uncultivated. Previous magistrates also had ideas, but none succeeded. Li San, did your ancestors pass down any information?”
Li San’s expression changed slightly, then he scratched his head and said with a foolish smile, “Our family moved to Lianhua Village several hundred years ago. I don’t know anything.”
The group of men continued chatting idly. Some had already fallen asleep and were snoring loudly. At that moment, people on horseback came galloping along the official road and stopped in front of them.
Li San, who hadn’t fallen asleep due to what was on his mind, happened to see the two men.
These two appeared to be only twenty-four or twenty-five years old, similarly tall in stature. Their clothes were of indiscernible material but looked elegant and graceful, carrying an indescribable noble aura.
One of them wore black clothes and had exceptionally handsome features, though his face showed some impatience and didn’t look particularly friendly. The white-clothed man standing next to him had an ordinary appearance. He smiled slightly at Li San, clasped his hands, and asked, “This little friend, is Shuangjing County ahead?”
Li San hurriedly nodded, stood up, and pointed the way for him. “Go forward for another ten or so miles, pass through a grove of apricot trees, and you’ll see the city gate. Now the sun is high—”
As he spoke, he looked at the two men and found that their complexions were normal without a single drop of sweat on their faces. He smiled awkwardly and said, “The two young masters can reach there in less than half an hour on horseback.”
“Thank you.” The white-clothed man smiled at him, and then the two mounted their horses and quickly disappeared down the official road.
Li San stretched his neck and looked for quite some time. Someone next to him kicked him. “What are you doing?”
Li San didn’t mind and lay down under the tree shade to sleep.
On the official road, Ning Buwei pulled the reins, and the horse stopped. He reached for his water bottle and took several large gulps. Because he drank too quickly, the front of his clothes got quite wet.
He instinctively wanted to use a small cleaning technique, but halfway through forming the hand seal, he remembered that there was no spiritual energy in the mortal realm. Annoyed, he took two more gulps.
Chu Jun ahead of him reined in his horse, turned back to look at him, and said, “When we enter the city, let’s find an inn to rest first, and then go to Jade Spring Village tomorrow.”
A burning pain came from his inner thighs, and Ning Buwei nodded with furrowed brows.
Chu Jun asked, “Is riding uncomfortable?”
Ning Buwei shook his head, squeezed his legs against the horse’s belly, and said, “It’s fine, let’s go!”
Chu Jun had no choice but to follow.
Since birth, Ning Buwei had lived in the Seventeen States. By seven or eight years old, he could already fly on a sword. Occasionally, he rode spiritual beasts, most of which had wings for flying. Horseback riding was a completely unfamiliar and unnecessary mode of transportation for him.
Due to various circumstances, Ning Buwei had never been to the mortal realm before. Horseback riding was something he had just learned. Moreover, the mortal realm had no spiritual energy, causing all the meridians in his body to not flow smoothly, as if they were stuffed with cotton—
Previously in the cultivation world, even with his cultivation lost and meridians broken, he had never felt this kind of discomfort. This directly led to him feeling quite irritable.
By the time they reached Shuangjing County, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Ning Buwei’s body. Under the scorching sun, leading his horse and squeezed among the bustling crowd, with various gazes cast upon him from all around, he wished he could teleport immediately.
Chu Jun, a few steps behind, caught up with his horse and placed the veiled hat he was holding onto Ning Buwei’s head.
Ning Buwei tried to take it off, but Chu Jun grabbed his hand. “It can shade you from the sun, it’s a bit cooler.”
He licked his somewhat dry lips. “Had I known, I would have let you stick those things on my face too.”
Before leaving, Chu Jun had stuck some kind of skin on his face, and he had mercilessly mocked him, but now he was forced to wear a hat.
“The mask would also make you feel stuffy.” Chu Jun glanced at his sunburned face and neck, and covered the veiled hat that he had lifted. “There’s an inn ahead.”
Ning Buwei was so hot that he felt steam rising from the top of his head. His entire person felt somewhat dizzy, and he had no mood to appreciate the scenery of the mortal realm anymore. He only hoped to reach the inn quickly.
Chu Jun went to the backyard to tie up the horses. Ning Buwei followed the waiter into the room first. The moment he entered, he was hit by a face full of stuffy heat and musty smell.
When Chu Jun came upstairs, he saw the great demon who had once wreaked havoc in the cultivation world squatting dejectedly at the doorway, his face full of despair, fanning himself vigorously with his hat.
“Why aren’t you going in?” Chu Jun asked, looking down.
“Just getting some air out here.” Ning Buwei answered his question but clearly had no intention of going in.
Chu Jun pushed the door open, stayed inside for a moment, then came out and extended his hand to him. “Get up.”
Ning Buwei reluctantly took his hand and stood up. To his surprise, the entire room had become much cooler than before, and the original musty smell had been replaced by a faint fresh fragrance. He turned around in surprise and indeed found several strange talismans behind the door, at the head of the bed, and behind the windows.
“Although the mortal realm has no spiritual energy, some talismans that have stored spiritual energy can still be used.” Chu Jun said, “Is it better now?”
Ning Buwei nodded listlessly, sat down at the table, and finished the last gulp from his water bottle, feeling like a fish struggling to survive on land.
Chu Jun sat down beside him, placed talismans on several of his acupoints, and wiped away the sweat from his temple. “The higher one’s cultivation, the more suppression they feel in the mortal realm. Many cultivators choose to experience the mortal realm when they are young and have lower cultivation; otherwise, coming suddenly would be unbearable.”
For example, a Soul Transformation cultivator like Ning Buwei, who was over five hundred years old and visiting for the first time, was like a fish taken out of water without the spiritual energy of the cultivation world—decidedly uncomfortable.
Ning Buwei lay listlessly on the table, reaching out to tug at Chu Jun’s sleeve. “More.”
“Hmm?” Chu Jun allowed him to flip through his sleeve.
“Talismans.” Ning Buwei felt like his words carried a burnt smell.
Chu Jun reached out and lifted his chin. “Open your mouth.”
Ning Buwei opened his mouth with a dazed look, and a cool medicinal pill slid down his throat. Strands of spiritual energy spread unhurriedly through his eight extraordinary meridians.
He let out a long breath, finally feeling like he had come back to life. A faint bitter taste spread from his nose and mouth, almost identical to the fragrance he had often smelled on Chu Jun before.
“What kind of pill is this?” Ning Buwei lay on the table looking at Chu Jun.
Chu Jun’s gaze paused slightly, and he said, “Just an ordinary Yangyuan Pill.”
Ning Buwei narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “What are you guilty about?”
