Ning Buwei reached out and patted his head.
“Ah~” Ning Xiu nestled in Ning Buwei’s arms and kicked his legs hard, “Da!”
Father~ Me da! Me da!
While the two little ones were making a fuss, Jiang Yizheng finished healing Feng Zizhang. The two huddled together, whispering something unknown. After a moment, they walked up to Ning Buwei and handed him a storage ring.
Ning Buwei raised an eyebrow, “What’s this?”
“I-I just scooped it up randomly from the sea,” Feng Zizhang scratched his head, “It’s all junk, but Xiao Jiang insists it’s good stuff. Father, you’re knowledgeable, please take a look.”
Ning Buwei poured out the contents of the storage ring and fell silent.
Feng Zizhang said helplessly. “I told you it couldn’t be treasure—”
“Golden Silk Soft Vine Spear, Snow-Refined Armor, heaven-grade treasures, Four Seas Map fragment, Easy Sky Remnant Flag, heaven-grade treasures that can be used after some repair…” Ning Buwei stared at Feng Zizhang with an indecipherable expression, “Could you be a treasure-seeking mouse reincarnated?”
There were only these few heaven-grade treasures used to anchor the Seven Killings Formation and the fortune-exchange formation, and they all ended up hanging on him. This luck, he feared, was like being the Heavenly Dao’s own son.
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng looked at each other, their faces blank.
“He-he-heaven grade!?” Feng Zizhang stuttered. “Treasures like the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud!?”
Ning Buwei looked down at the Flowing Cloud being chewed on in Ning Xiu’s arms, and after a moment of silence said, “Better than the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud.”
Although the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud was also a heaven-grade treasure, its use was quite limited. It couldn’t attack or defend, at most it could be used to calm souls. Using it for fortune exchange was a roundabout method, far inferior to these four items.
“Father, we’ve struck it rich!” Jiang Yizheng exclaimed excitedly, “We can buy lots of Yangyuan Pills by selling just one of these!”
Feng Zizhang suddenly realized, “We can even rent a bigger courtyard!”
“And buy several strings of candied haws,” Cui Yuanbai added.
“Ah~” Ning Xiu seemed to understand, threw away the Flowing Cloud in his hand, and excitedly joined the discussion, drooling.
We can buy porridge~
“Woof~ woof~” Big Yellow wagged his head, Meat bones~ Meat bones~
Ning Buwei: “……”
This is what you call lack of ambition. The four people and a dog combined couldn’t even scrape together a single high-grade spirit stone.
“The Golden Silk Soft Vine Spear is said to be made from the bones of vine demons from an ancient secret realm. It can split high mountains. The Snow-Refined Armor is the shell left behind by a divine turtle that ascended thousands of years ago. When hidden within it, even tribulation lightning can hardly penetrate… Although exaggerated, they are far more powerful than ordinary magical treasures,” Ning Buwei tried to explain to them. “The Four Seas Map can reach various parts of the seventeen states in an instant. The Easy Sky Flag is perfect for setting up formations. However, these two consume enormous amounts of spiritual power. You can use them when you reach the Fusion stage and above.”
The four people and the dog listened in a daze, obviously still not understanding his meaning.
Ning Buwei: “…Keep them. Don’t sell them.”
Due to the enhancement of the formation and talismans, the Heaven Wave Ruler’s flight speed in the high sky was extremely fast. Inside the barrier, Ning Buwei was repairing the damaged Four Seas Map and Easy Sky Flag, Jiang Yizheng was grooming Big Yellow, Feng Zizhang was counting how many things he had actually fished out of the sea, and Cui Yuanbai was lying beside Ning Xiu watching him blow saliva bubbles.
“Father, if the Venerable didn’t perish, why hasn’t he come to find us?” Jiang Yizheng suddenly asked.
Earlier, when the two of them were crying, along with Cui Yuanbai and Ning Xiu who were also crying without understanding why, the noise almost made his head explode. He could only tell them his guess.
This fragment of the Suzaku knife had always been inside the White Robe vessel. Previously, he had tried many methods to extract it without damaging the vessel. After all, although this White Robe vessel was only an avatar of Chu Jun, it was created from his own spirit and flesh. Only when the primordial spirit entered it would it be indistinguishable from the real person. If it were carelessly damaged, it would also cause considerable harm to Chu Jun’s true body.
However, this White Robe vessel contained gu, and Chu Jun’s soul was also attached with a heart demon. Carrying this vessel had become a burden… If it was this White Robe vessel that had vanished into thin air at sea back then, then his finding of the Suzaku knife fragment would not have been a coincidence.
But guesses were just guesses. Before seeing Chu Jun, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Chu Jun had vanished into thin air along with this vessel. It was just that silhouette he saw when he went to save Feng Zizhang at that time…
“Father, what are you thinking about?” Jiang Yizheng waved her hand in front of him.
Ning Buwei came back to his senses and said softly, “Thinking about finding you all a new mother.”
Jiang Yizheng: “!?”
“Father! Xiao Jiang!” Feng Zizhang, who hadn’t heard his words, shouted from the other end. “I’ve fished up a lot of spirit stones, we’re rich now—”
****
Three months later.
Banyuan Town.
This Banyuan Town was located on the southeastern edge of the swamp wilderness. The spiritual energy was sparse. If not for the teleportation formation in the town, cultivators would rarely set foot here. The vast majority of residents were ordinary people, living a life of rising at sunrise and resting at sunset.
To the north of Banyuan Town, there was a high mountain called Xiaoqiu Mountain. Legend had it that this Xiaoqiu Mountain was originally extremely barren, without a blade of grass growing. Five hundred years ago, an immortal went through tribulation here, drawing down spiritual energy. Since then, it had become full of vitality, with flowers, grass, and trees growing in succession. There were even many precious spiritual herbs and objects. For hundreds of years, it had nurtured countless ordinary people who made a living by picking spiritual herbs.
“Oh, Xiao Shan is out today, eh?” Old Man Li, who sold sugar paintings, smiled at the little baby being held in someone’s arms, his hands moving nimbly as he busied himself.
This little baby was as delicate as jade, with big beautiful eyes that sparkled. He looked like a little immortal child who had stepped out of a painting. He wore a big red cross-collared short jacket, with a red string tied around his wrist, on which hung a small silver lock that looked quite valuable. It jingled clearly as he shook his hand.
The baby wasn’t shy at all, smiling at everyone he saw. Old Man Li had liked him since the first time he saw him, wishing he could hold him in his arms and give him a good squeeze.
“Which one does Xiao Shan want to eat today?” Old Man Li asked.
Ning Xiu pointed at the little duck, “Yiya!”
“Alright! Grandpa knows you like the little duck the most!” Old Man Li skillfully drew a vivid little duck and handed it to him. “Here you go! For Xiao Shan.”
Ning Xiu grinned at him and said in a milky voice. “Ah~”
Thank you~
Old Man Li was so delighted that he played with him for quite a while more.
Ning Xiu hugged the little duck and licked it several times, then handed it to Jiang Yizheng who was holding him. “Ah~”
Sister eat~
Jiang Yizheng said quietly, “Quickly lick it a few more times now, when we get back, Father won’t let you eat it anymore.”
“Ah!” Ning Xiu happily continued to nibble. The big and small pair wound their way through the bluestone path of the formation, stopping in front of a courtyard house. Jiang Yizheng pushed open the courtyard gate and went in.
Feng Zizhang saw Ning Xiu holding a sugar painting and said helplessly, “You took Xiao Shan to secretly eat candy again.”
Jiang Yizheng took the sugar painting from Ning Xiu’s hand and ate it in a few crunchy bites. “Shh, I just let him lick it a few times secretly.”
Ning Xiu watched wide-eyed as his little duck was crushed to pieces by his sister, but he didn’t cry or fuss, just obediently chewed on his hand.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first time they had done this.
“If Father finds out, he’ll scold you again for sure,” Feng Zizhang shook his head, reaching out to take Ning Xiu and wipe the sticky sugar from his hands. “Xiao Shan, you can’t eat too much sugar, your teeth will go bad.”
Ning Xiu blinked his eyes, opened his little mouth and pointed inside, “Ah~”
I have teeth now~
Feng Zizhang looked at his newly emerged baby teeth and patted his head, “Xiao Shan is so great!”
Ning Xiu smiled very happily, the little silver lock on his hand jingling.
“Huanhuan, why did you climb onto the roof again?” Jiang Yizheng saw little legs dangling from the eaves and shouted at him.
Those legs swayed, and Cui Yuanbai jumped down from the roof, looking up at her, “Sister, candied haw.”
Jiang Yizheng helplessly took out two candied haws from her sleeve and secretly stuffed them to him, “Don’t let Father see.”
Cui Yuanbai’s eyes lit up, and he jumped onto the roof hugging the candied haws. As soon as he looked up, he saw Ning Buwei staring at him expressionlessly, and his hand trembled, almost dropping the candied haws.
An incense stick’s time later, the three of them stood in a row against the wall. Ning Xiu was held in Feng Zizhang’s arms, looking completely innocent, then secretly licked the sugar from the corner of his mouth.
Big Yellow lay under the sun, wagging its tail and watching the commotion.
Ning Buwei sat in a chair, legs crossed, holding their evidence in his hand, giving them a chilly glance.
Feng Zizhang lowered his head and humbly admitted fault, “I failed to stop them…”
Jiang Yizheng said guiltily, “Father, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have secretly taken Xiao Shan out to buy sugar paintings, nor should I have secretly brought candied haws back for Huanhuan!”
Cui Yuanbai looked longingly at the candied haws in Ning Buwei’s hand, “I should listen to Father’s words, before stabilizing the Purple Mansion, I can’t eat any misc- misc-”
He couldn’t remember the word Ning Buwei had used, his little face scrunching up like a steamed bun.
“Da-ah~” Ning Xiu smacked his lips, smiling at Ning Buwei, obviously showing no signs of repentance.
Ning Buwei leaned back in his chair, eating the candied haws one by one, pointing at them with the bare wooden skewer, threateningly saying, “If I catch you next time, you’ll all go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables for me.”
In these three months, he hadn’t practiced cultivation for more than two hours at a time. If it wasn’t one wetting the bed, it was another having problems with cultivation. It was a constant chaos without a moment’s peace.
However, his threat seemed to work this time, as that night was unusually quiet.
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng were sitting in meditation, with Big Yellow guarding beside them. Cui Yuanbai fell asleep mumbling about his candied haws, and Ning Xiu hugged the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud, yawning drowsily.
Ning Buwei stood at the desk, modifying the complex formation drawn on it, finally merging the previously temporarily altered Seven Killings Formation with his own Soul-Devouring Formation.
He couldn’t be bothered to give this new formation a name, so he simply called it Seven Killings Soul-Devouring.
The moment he put down his brush, a talisman paper casually placed at the corner of the desk suddenly began to flicker.
This talisman paper had been carelessly pressed under the desk corner three months ago and had shown no movement until now. This sudden flicker was no different from a corpse coming back to life.
Ning Buwei reached out and picked up the talisman paper, staring at the specific location displayed on it, and tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The next day.
Feng Zizhang looked at Ning Buwei in shock, “Father, are we really… really going up the mountain to dig wild vegetables?”
Ning Buwei said softly, “What, do you want me to send you off?”
