Yan Tianhen took Lin Xuanzhi’s hand outside the Flowing Moon Pavilion’s gate and asked, “Dage, what are we going to do now?”
“You haven’t seen Ah Gu in a long time, right?”
Yan Tianhen nodded, “Where is he?”
“I asked Qing Zhu to help settle him in the residential building nearest to the barren mountain.”
Yan Tianhen eagerly said, “Dage, let’s go see Ah Gu.”
As soon as the Lin Family arrived in Profound City, Lin Xuanzhi asked Qing Zhu to secretly find a place suitable for Ling Chigu to hide and live in. Qing Zhu was very efficient and soon found a house at the foot of a barren mountain. He heard that there was an abundance of Yin Qi because people had died there, making it too gloomy for cultivators to live in for a long time.
The original owner of the house no longer wanted this “haunted house” so he sold it to Qing Zhu at a rather low price.
Qing Zhu was happy to find a bargain. He was not afraid of Ling Chigu either. Because it was convenient for him to get in and out, he lived with Ling Chigu in this three-in and three-out residence. Lin Xuanzhi also planned to take it as his current “residence” in Profound City.
Lin Xuanzhi took Yan Tianhen with him to the door, but Qing Zhu was not at home.
The one who let them in was Ling Chigu. He was wearing black from head to toe. Under broad daylight, his appearance suddenly made the morning seem dreary and dark. Because of his contractual bond with Yan Tianhen, Ling Chigu had known to open the door. If someone else came, Ling Chigu would not have made any sound at all, pretending that there was no one at home.
Ah Bai and Hu Po were still afraid of him and carefully followed behind Yan Tianhen before they dared to enter the house. On the other hand, Feng Jingyu was unable to contain his excitement upon seeing Ling Chigu. He flew out and slapped Ling Chigu’s face with a wave of his wings.
Ling Chigu seemed to be a bit puzzled. A pair of dark eyes stared at Feng Jingyu, giving him a dead look that only Ling Chigu possessed.
Yan Tianhen frowned and stared at the Feng Jingyu flying excitedly like he had a dose of some drug after hitting Ling Chigu. “Maomao, why did you hit my Ah Gu?”
Feng Jingyu chirped twice and landed on Ling Chigu’s head, tucking his wings closed. The two feathers on his head fluttered in the wind as the bird looked especially proud.
“You won’t understand this. In the past, where could this King get the chance to swipe at this coffin face? I have to take the opportunity now while I can, no?”
Yan Tianhen drew out the corner of his mouth, “You are so childish.”
Feng Jingyu rolled around atop Ling Chigu’s head, personifying the word “unbridled” to its fullest extent. That youthful voice cried out, “I’m still a baby phoenix so it’s only right to be childish. If you’re angry, bite me. Bite me, ah! Lalala!” Yan Tianhen rolled his eyes and with a huff, commanded “Ah Gu, bite him!”
Feng Jingyu was still rolling on Ling Chigu’s head when his fat little body was suddenly gripped by a big cold hand.
Feng Jingyu, “!!!”
Ling Chigu took Feng Jingyu from the top of his head, held him before his eyes, and stared.
Feng Jingyu was so scared that he didn’t dare move. He was afraid that the hand holding him would suddenly squeeze and knead him into a dead phoenix.
Of course, he probably wouldn’t be squeezed to death, but even if he wouldn’t die, it would still hurt!
Feng Jingyu weakly chirped twice in an attempt to soften Ling Chigu’s heart.
But Ling Chigu was incredibly silent… no, he gazed at him with deathly stillness, his raised hand unmoving. Everything seemed to be still for a moment.
Feng Jingyu’s heart was palpitating from being stared at by those eyes, trembling for a while. Then he summoned up the courage to softly chirp twice and say, “Are you really going to bite me? I don’t have much meat. I’m not enough to eat. Why don’t you wait for me to grow up a little more and grow a few more layers of meat before considering eating me?”
He, the great West Monarch Phoenix, had always been a big hero able to adapt to any situation!
Ling Chigu was still motionless, like a puppet without consciousness, although he indeed didn’t have the sense of being a human being either.
Yan Tianhen also felt a little creeped out. He was afraid that Ling Chigu would really clench his fist and crush Feng Jingyu. He cleared his throat, “About that, I was just joking earlier. Don’t get so agitated. Ah Gu, why don’t you release Maomao and let him apologize to you, okay?”
Ling Chigu looked down at Feng Jingyu, who dared not to do more in this situation. He regretted being so presumptuous earlier, forgetting that Ling Chigu was not what he used to be. Suddenly, Ling Chigu moved.
He held up the smaller bird in his hand, placed him close to his eyes, and then a pair of black eyes suddenly overflowed with inexplicable sadness, as though he had been through endless sorrow.
Feng Jingyu froze, and then he was hit by a huge drop of water on his head.
Yan Tianhen was also stunned. He couldn’t help shouting, “Dage, Ah Gu cried!”
Lin Xuanzhi stared at Ling Chigu’s eyes, his gaze deepening a little, “I saw.”
Feng Jingyu was startled. “This, this has nothing to do with me. I didn’t bully him. It’s not my fault ah!”
Ling Chigu unclenched his hand. Feng Jingyu suddenly lost his shackles and fell straight to the ground. However, he responded quickly. After some initial weightlessness, he flapped his wings and flew to Yan Tianhen’s head. He beat his chest with his wings in shock, “My gosh, scared this King to death. I thought my little life was over!”
Ling Chigu shed only a single teardrop, then continued maintaining his usual silence and stood still without saying a word. Without instructions, he would not even move.
Yan Tianhen asked in shock, “Dage, why did Ah Gu cry just now?”
Lin Xuanzhi looked at Feng Jingyu.
Feng Jingyu shouted, “Why are you looking at me like that? This King is the one who should be crying, okay!? Who knows if he was brought to tears because he saw how handsome this King was.”
Lin Xuanzhi said sarcastically, “It can’t be that he’s blind, to actually compete with a bird like you over who’s more handsome?”
Feng Jingyu choked for a moment and held his chest, “Even if I’m a bird, I am still the most handsome bird!”
Lin Xuanzhi looked at Feng Jingyu suspiciously, “You really didn’t know Ling Chigu before?”
Feng Jingyu also looked puzzled, “He’s in the north and I’m in the south. I don’t even know how far apart that is. How could I possibly know him? At most, I’ve seen him a few times. Although, I’ve heard a lot of stories about him.”
As soon as he said that, Feng Jingyu suddenly looked enlightened, “I know!”
Yan Tianhen’s eyes brightened, “What is it?”
Feng Jingyu happily said, “This fellow must have had a crush on me when he was alive and it should be of the unrequited love kind, so he never forgot me even after he died. As soon as he saw me, he remembered his tragic past, so he couldn’t help but cry…Ay, there’s nothing that can be done about it. The charm of this King is just this great.”
Yan Tianhen, “….”
Lin Xuanzhi, “…..”
The ignorant Ling Chigu was expressionless.
Ling Chigu’s cry was quite inexplicable; it was not crying but just a drop of tear. However, no one could understand why he suddenly shed it, and no one knew whether it was due to residual consciousness or a purely physiological reaction.
Qing Zhu, who was out on business, came back just in time and smiled, “I heard your voice just outside the door. I thought it might be you.”
“Brother Zhuzi.” Yan Tianhen affectionately called out.
“Call him uncle.” Lin Xuanzhi corrected.
Yan Tianhen pouted, “But since I was a child, I have always called him Brother Zhuzhi ah.”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled. “I call him uncle, and you call him brother. Aren’t we going to be in the wrong generation?”
Yan Tianhen thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead, “That’s right! In this way, you’d have to call me uncle.”
Lin Xuanzhi was about to nod when he heard Yan Tianhen say, “Dage, why don’t you call me uncle once?”
Lin Xuanzhi, “….”
Why was it that in the few days he hadn’t seen him, Ah Hen had gone bad?
Qing Zhu laughed for a while, “How are you two in the sect? Did anyone bully you?”
Lin Xuanzhi said, “I get along well with my fellow disciples, and all my senior martial brothers and sister take care of me.”
Yan Tianhen sighed, “My master is really capable and willing to teach me, but his character… it’s a long story.”
Qing Zhu had grown up watching over Yan Tianhen. Hearing this, he immediately asked with concern, “Did Esteemed Huai Yu do something bad to you?”
Yan Tianhen nodded bitterly and said gloomily, “He had me raise chickens, feed ducks, and cook for him; fine. It’s also reasonable for him to ask my Dage to compensate for the spiritual plants I destroyed. But he still wants to completely drain my Dage dry. That’s really too much.”
Qing Zhu frowned when he heard this, “I’ve never heard of Esteemed Huai Yu being so mean and harsh, and taking advantage of others.”
To be honest, when Lin Xuanzhi first saw the list, he was startled by Esteemed Huai Yu demanding a lion’s share of the compensation. However, on the way down the mountain, he heard Yan Tianhen telling him about the amazing 《Profound Book of Poisons》 method and felt that if that was the case, Esteemed Huai Yu wasn’t asking for much.
After all, the things that Esteemed Huai Yu wanted could be bought with money, with the only problem having more or less of it, while what he taught Yan Tianhen were things people could only acquire by great fortune.
Whether it was worth it or not was obvious at a glance.
Although Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t remember what rank this 《Profound Book of Poisons》 was exactly and in whose hands it came from, he could be sure that it was definitely a high-level secret method that could cause a sensation even if it was placed in the Nine Lands.
More importantly, Yan Tianhen’s Yin fire attribute in his body was completely compatible with this secret method. He should be able to practice at a speed of thousands of miles a day. The danger of exploding the furnace that he had worried about before would also be greatly reduced, or even eliminated completely.
As for the《Divine Jun Alchemy Arts》, naturally, Yan Tianhen could also practice it. He just needed to raise his cultivation to a certain level to have better control of it.
One book to cultivate poisons and the other book to cultivate medicines. Perhaps Yan Tianhen could cultivate both pills and poisons in the future.
Thinking about this, Lin Xuanzhi smiled and said lightly, “Since he’s following Esteemed Huai Yu as a master, this kind of filial piety is not so rare. Perhaps he wants these things by name and has other important uses for them.”
Qing Zhu was anxious and still slightly dissatisfied. “How could a master take advantage of his disciple like that? Otherwise, Ah Hen and I will go up the mountain tomorrow to find this Esteemed Huai Yu. I’d like to see with my own eyes what kind of person this Esteemed Huai Yu is.”
Yan Tianhen was originally complaining in a pettish manner. Unexpectedly, Qing Zhu was lit up with anger. He hurriedly said, “That’s not necessary. My master is a bit strict, but he’s good to me. He even allowed me to practice with his spiritual plant fields. Moreover, he could point out exactly what I did wrong.”
“As a master, shouldn’t it be right to do so?” Qing Zhu said with a dark expression.
Yan Tianhen stuck out his tongue and thought for a moment, “My master got up in the middle of the night to cover the quilt for me just like my Daddy.”
Both Qing Zhu and Lin Xuanzhi were surprised. Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes sank, “Covered you with a quilt in the middle of the night? He didn’t do anything else but cover the quilt, did he?
For example, a weird action?
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