Chapter 34#
Beneath the Begonia Flowers#
In the east of Shenjing City, the “Xiao Lai Tian Feng” restaurant, which specialized in catering to cultivators, was exceptionally busy. The waiters’ footsteps never ceased, and the calls of greeting and seeing off guests rose one after another. Even the proprietor personally came out to greet the guests.
In a private room on the second floor, a person sat alone behind a square table laden with exquisite dishes. Holding silver chopsticks, he tasted a mouthful of every dish, then smiled slightly, revealing a satisfied expression.
At this moment, with a creak of the door, someone slipped inside, knelt on one knee, lowered his eyes, and bowed to him, saying, “Report to My Lord, all those sent out to clean up are dead.”
The person behind the table was shocked. He was already fat, and as he sat on the stool, it seemed about to break. After his shock, he was furious and stomped his foot heavily, making the entire Xiao Lai Tian Feng seem to tremble: “Weren’t those two only in the Embracing Void realm? Weren’t nine in the Guarding One realm enough to deal with them?”
“They called for reinforcements.” A hint of bashfulness appeared on the kneeling person’s face, but he quickly turned serious, raised his head, and said, “Although the highest realm was only Upper Embracing Void, they were all Gushan disciples.”
“Gushan?” The fat man narrowed his eyes, seemingly somewhat skeptical.
“Yes, I have investigated. They are a batch of low-level Gushan disciples out for training, and there were Gushan teachers secretly protecting them.” The kneeling person expressed concern. “My Lord, what should be done?”
The fat man put down his silver chopsticks, pondered for a while, stood up, and said, “We cannot provoke Gushan.”
The kneeling person was worried. “But that group of low-level disciples discovered…”
“They only discovered that there is spiritual energy in the river water and linked it to the festival.” The fat man waved his hand at him. “Monitor them first. If they truly become an obstruction, it won’t be too late to act.”
His subordinate whispered a “Yes.”
The fat man paused and turned to look at him. “Is there any news of that Ancestor?”
“He can enter Shenjing City tonight,” the kneeling person replied.
“Good.” The fat man nodded and smiled with narrowed eyes. “With that Ancestor here… the grand formation of Shenjing City? Hah, it’s practically non-existent.”
The official inn.
In the small room at the end of the west wing of the guest courtyard, the screen by the bed had been put away, and the cramped feeling here finally lessened a bit. The darkness remained. As the candlelight on the table flickered, Shi Tang propped her hands behind her, sat up all at once, and smiled at the worried Xiao Man opposite her:
“I just walked for too long in Shenjing City and got heatstroke. Plus, I didn’t eat much all morning and only drank a few mouthfuls of water, so I fainted. Xiao Man, don’t worry.”
Xiao Man pursed his lips and glanced sideways at the nearby Yan Wushu.
Previously, when Shi Tang had fallen to the ground unconscious, he had settled her on the bed and was about to go out to find a doctor when Yan Wushu suddenly appeared and said to let him have a look. Thinking that this person was indeed somewhat skilled in medicine, Xiao Man handed Shi Tang over to him. This person performed acupuncture on Shi Tang, and in less than a quarter of an hour, she woke up, but she managed to say those words before Yan Wushu could speak.
At the moment, Shi Tang looked unwell and her voice was hoarse; he couldn’t help but suspect she was forcing herself.
Yan Wushu gave an “Mm,” poured a bowl of water from the table, handed it to Shi Tang, and then said to Xiao Man, “She was already a bit physically weak, and plus she suffered heatstroke from the heat, which is why she suddenly collapsed. I’ve performed acupuncture, and she’s no longer in serious danger. For the next few days, just have some light soup and porridge; don’t eat anything too greasy.”
Xiao Man’s gaze returned to Shi Tang’s face. The latter had an “as you see, since the Senior said so, I’m truly fine” expression. Though her face was pale, her smile was very sweet.
“What kind of porridge do you want to drink?” Xiao Man lowered his eyes helplessly.
Shi Tang thought for a moment. “Green vegetable and lean meat porridge? Or shrimp porridge would be fine too.”
“Alright, I’ll go to the kitchen to see.” Xiao Man nodded and glanced at Yan Wushu again, signaling for him to help look after her.
The door opened and closed, the light brightened and then dimmed. Xiao Man stepped out of the small room. Shi Tang counted a few times in her heart, and after ensuring he had walked far away, she relaxed her back and shoulders, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Then she said to Yan Wushu, “Thank you, Senior.”
Yan Wushu responded nonchalantly.
Shi Tang lowered her head, her fingers clutching the thin quilt on her body. After hesitating for a bit, she said in a low voice, “Senior asked me to store the Unheard Bell at Xijiang Yue, and I’ve done so. I placed the token Xijiang Yue gave me under the flowerpot of that begonia tree on the east side of the courtyard. If I… please ask Senior to help give it to Xiao Man.”
“You knew your body was like this long ago,” Yan Wushu said.
“Please don’t tell Xiao Man and the others,” Shi Tang’s voice became even softer.
Yan Wushu watched Shi Tang for a while, then turned to pack up the silver needles on the table. After everything was in order, he said, “I won’t tell him. I’m going to the kitchen.”
“Okay,” Shi Tang nodded immediately, then was a bit confused. “Didn’t Xiao Man already go?”
“He doesn’t know how to cook,” Yan Wushu gave an extremely light laugh.
This time it was Shi Tang’s turn to observe Yan Wushu, her gaze reflecting pure curiosity. As Yan Wushu walked toward the door, she said, “I always feel that you two are not ordinary senior and junior.”
“Huh?” Yan Wushu turned his head to look at her.
Shi Tang thought about the wording, raised her hand, and gestured as she spoke: “The way you interact is equal. When he sees you, he never performs the etiquette of a junior, and you never seem to care, taking it as a matter of course.”
“Little girl, you have a good eye,” Yan Wushu laughed again.
Shi Tang laughed as well, but as she laughed, she remembered something, and her expression became serious: “If Shenjing City truly becomes chaotic, you must protect Xiao Man well.”
“Of course,” Yan Wushu said.
He pushed the door and left.
Shi Tang took out several medicine bottles from her magical artifact, uncorked them one by one, poured a pile of pills into her palm, swallowed them with that bowl of water, and sat on the bed in a daze.
The busy mealtime had passed, and there were few people in the inn’s kitchen, only two young maids chatting and laughing as they washed dishes and cleaned the stove. Naturally, not much food was left. Xiao Man looked around inside and only saw lean meat, green vegetables, and rice; there was no green vegetable and lean meat porridge. As for shrimp porridge, there were not even shrimp here, let alone shrimp porridge.
He thought for a bit and decided to go to a food stall outside to buy it.
Compared to the morning, the stalls on the street had changed for a round. Almost all those selling breakfast, vegetables, fruits, chickens, ducks, fish, and meat had closed. General goods stalls remained, but at this moment, the most lively places were still the restaurants and eateries.
Xiao Man had walked here several times and was quite familiar with the area. Also, concerned about Shi Tang’s health, he walked very fast.
Suddenly, a voice drifted from beside him: “The beef soup at the noodle shop ahead is not bad.”
He ignored it.
The voice spoke again: “The meat pancakes across the way taste very good; it’s an old shop from decades ago.”
Xiao Man still ignored it.
“Do you want some candied haws? How about some preserved fruits and sweets?”
The voice asked, and its owner, as he spoke, raised his hand and plucked a stick of candied haws from the stand, tossed the money into the vendor’s hand, turned around, circled in front of Xiao Man, and handed the candied haws to him.
Xiao Man: “…”
The candied haws were shoved into his hand, and he couldn’t refuse. Xiao Man could only glare at Yan Wushu, who was walking backward on the street. “Didn’t I tell you to look after Shi Tang? What are you doing here?”
“The little girl didn’t think she needed me to look after her. When I said I was leaving, she agreed quite decisively,” Yan Wushu laughed. “Furthermore, even being here, I can still guarantee her safety.”
Xiao Man knew he had such ability, but his intuition told him Shi Tang’s sudden fainting wasn’t so simple. After thinking about it again and again, he finally asked, “Does she really just have heatstroke?”
“You distrust my medical skills that much?” Yan Wushu retorted.
“I don’t trust them much indeed,” Xiao Man answered concisely.
“…” Yan Wushu rubbed his nose, feeling a bit helpless for a moment.
He walked backward for a while, then turned around and walked side-by-side with Xiao Man.
Xiao Man, seeing that this man had likely made up his mind to walk with him, stopped his pace and asked, “Where is the porridge good?”
“On the next street over,” Yan Wushu answered.
Xiao Man immediately said, “Then please trouble Lord Lingguang to go buy some and bring it back. Green vegetable and lean meat porridge or shrimp porridge.”
How could Yan Wushu not see that this person was driving him away again? His eyes flickered slightly as he asked, “And you?”
“Little Mo and I haven’t had lunch yet. Miss Shi needs to eat light, but he and I don’t. So I plan to check out the eatery I passed earlier,” Xiao Man said solemnly.
Yan Wushu: “I haven’t eaten either.”
Xiao Man: “Then order a pot of porridge for yourself.”
“A pot?” Yan Wushu narrowed his eyes slightly. “In your eyes, do I deserve such a description?”
“Yes,” Xiao Man said. Having spoken, he turned and walked away decisively.
People came and went on the street. Xiao Man’s pace was very fast, and in a moment he had blended into the crowd.
What he said to Yan Wushu wasn’t entirely a lie; Xiao Man indeed had the intention to bring some food back for himself and Mo Juntian, so he walked toward the eatery.
After walking a distance, he discovered a familiar figure beneath the eaves by the roadside.
“Brother Wei?” Xiao Man called out.
Wei Chuyun walked toward him.
“What are you doing out?” Xiao Man asked.
“Fearing you’d be out alone and encounter what happened before,” Wei Chuyun said.
Xiao Man smiled slightly and thanked him.
The two walked into the eatery together. Xiao Man scanned the price list and ordered five dishes and a soup—Wei Chuyun and Qu Hanxing hadn’t had lunch either.
They didn’t sell porridge here, so Xiao Man had to order another thick soup.
It was exactly during a busy time for business. They waited for a while before receiving the food box handed over by the waiter.
Xiao Man and Wei Chuyun each carried a food box and walked out of the shop side-by-side.
The sunlight on the street was dazzling, the weather was too hot, and even the dogs had gone to the shade, squatting on the bluestone path and sticking out their tongues. Xiao Man looked at the street, frowned imperceptibly, and said to Wei Chuyun:
“Have you noticed…”
Halfway through, he paused slightly. This pause was extremely brief; if one weren’t familiar with Xiao Man, one couldn’t have sensed it at all.
“The meat pancakes ahead are especially fragrant.”
Xiao Man swallowed the words he originally intended to say. After Wei Chuyun heard them, he nodded and said, “I’ll go buy some.”
Before long, each had two more oil-paper-wrapped meat pancakes in their hands.
After returning to the inn and entering the small room at the end of the west wing, and using a sound-isolating talisman, Wei Chuyun asked in a deep voice, “What were you trying to say just now?”
“I always feel that someone is watching us on the street,” Xiao Man answered in a low voice.