Chapter 38#
Chapter Thirty-Eight#
The fine drizzle was like a light veil draped over the world. Dragonflies skimmed across the water, creating ripples.
The current courtyard was beautiful and sturdy. Inside the rooms, the sound of rain was unheard—unlike the previous broken shack where a slightly stronger wind made one worry the roof would fly off.
However, after finishing his evening meal, Xue Jingci was somewhat unhappy.
In fact, in the eyes of others, Xue Jingci had always maintained this cold and indifferent appearance, but the system was too familiar with him and noticed it quickly.
Seeing him lost in thought and silent, the little kitten padded over to his feet, biting his hem and meowing, “Stop thinking for a moment. Can’t you help me dry my fur first?”
He snapped out of it and realized the system was soaking wet. Its fur was stuck together in clumps, no longer the fluffy and soft look of usual days.
It was a bit ugly.
Only then did Xue Jingci remember that Shu Mo had dipped the system into the pond for several rounds. He reached out to scoop up the kitten, lifted it by its two paws, and shook it several times. The previously wet kitten was quickly shaken dry.
Before the system could protest this drying method, it was picked up again, its soft belly rubbed vigorously.
“You’re being very disrespectful to me!”
Xue Jingci leaned in, smelling the fragrance on it, and finally smiled. “Very respectful. You’re pretty like this.”
Looking closely, Xue Jingci realized the cat seemed to have grown a bit.
The variegated colors on its body had disappeared, replaced by creamy white, with only some gold remaining on its back. The freshly dried fur was fluffy, and three red marks faintly appeared on its brow, like a floral ornament.
He knew this was a sign of accumulated power. He tapped the kitten’s brow and praised, “Very cute.”
Hearing Xue Jingci’s rare praise, the system’s irritation instantly vanished. It jumped in front of the mirror and twisted about, being quite vain.
However, it soon remembered business. Sitting down before the mirror, it asked softly, “Is there a problem with Xiao Xun’s fate?”
Xue Jingci explained, “Fate is ethereal and difficult to perceive. Just now, I only saw two streams of qi within his body.”
The kitten asked again, “What does the qi represent?”
Xue Jingci thought for a moment and said, “You know the place where I used to live, right?”
The kitten nodded. “Is there a problem?”
Xue Jingci sat down and tapped the kitten’s head. “We are different from the humans of this world. Everyone obtains power by devouring other life forms. When hunting, one determines if something is tasty by the aura on their body.”
“Those with bright red auras are the best food. Conversely, the more turbid the color, the worse it tastes.”
Speaking of this, Xue Jingci frowned. “But Xiao Xun has two streams of qi in his body—one black and one red, intertwined. This is the first time I’ve seen it.”
Hearing this, the kitten meowed nervously, “Host, are you hungry again? You can’t just devour people in this world.”
Xue Jingci looked at it steadily, pulled out a berry, and placed it by its mouth. “Eating those things before was only for survival. Compared to people, these are the truly delicious things.”
The kitten took a mouthful of red and licked its tongue contentedly. “As long as you don’t want to eat him!”
Xue Jingci’s eyes widened, and he quickly used a handkerchief to wipe it.
However, the color of the berry was hard to wipe off. The kitten, which had just been washed clean, now looked as if it had applied lip rouge used by ladies, becoming hilariously comical.
He suppressed a smile, fearing the system would be angry, and turned his head to continue. “But I need to find a way to separate the black turbid qi in Xiao Xun’s body, leaving only the red aura. This way, his fortune will change, and it won’t affect my mission.”
If Xiao Xun remained this unlucky, he would encounter many difficulties in his future cultivation, making it hard to smoothly break through realms and complete the final master-disciple mission.
The kitten tilted its head, looking at Xue Jingci and then at Xiao Xun, and spoke meaningfully, “You’ve softened your heart.”
Xue Jingci didn’t respond.
The system was right. Just now, he had said it was to avoid affecting the mission, but in reality, he felt a bit of pity for Xiao Xun.
Xiao Xun was a person of hardship. His past was difficult, and his life story was full of obstacles. Having finally made it to the present where things were starting to look up, Xue Jingci didn’t want him to suffer more calamities because of these ethereal matters.
The system looked at him seriously, its dirty cat face actually showing a seriousness rarely seen.
“Human fate cannot be interfered with. You are an outsider; acting rashly would be dangerous.”
Xue Jingci rubbed the cat’s ears and said, “What if meeting me is also his fate?”
The kitten hesitated but ultimately didn’t speak.
It couldn’t interfere too much with the host’s decisions; it could only assist. In the end, only the host themselves could make the decision.
Seeing it silent, Xue Jingci took it as agreement and rubbed his face against its soft back.
“Even now, I am grateful to Grandma for taking me back then, even though I was a monster.”
The system raised a paw and tapped Xue Jingci’s brow. “As long as you’ve decided. Don’t worry, no matter what, I’ll follow you.”
Xue Jingci leaned on the table and peacefully closed his eyes.
Early the next morning, although Lin Heng complained about the hard work, his greed still brought him over to scrounge for a meal. Before dawn, he arrived with ingredients to chat with Guanzi.
Guanzi liked his personality and specifically made some pastries for him.
Lin Heng ate happily, while secretly observing Shu Mo. Every time Shu Mo looked over, he would quickly put down his food and continue working.
Xue Jingci was sitting in a tree. Wooden boards had been installed on the giant date tree, making it much more comfortable.
Seeing Lin Heng avoiding Shu Mo, he tossed a leaf over.
Lin Heng only felt an itch on his neck. Realizing Xue Jingci was teasing him, he widened his eyes and looked up. “Why did you climb a tree too?”
Xue Jingci ignored his question and asked curiously, “Are you really that afraid of Shu Mo?”
Lin Heng immediately blustered, “Who’s afraid of him? How could I be afraid?”
The system muttered its criticism, “If this isn’t fear, what is? If I hadn’t seen his face, I would have thought a thief had entered the courtyard.”
Xue Jingci glanced at it, thinking that Guanzi had only been here for a few days, yet the kitten’s way of speaking was starting to resemble his. It was clear this person had a huge influence.
As Xue Jingci was thinking this, perhaps through some telepathy, the system also mentioned Guanzi. “Host, you’ve really found a treasure. Guanzi’s cooking is so good that even this young master Lin Heng has been won over. In the future, he might attract many people to come scrounge for food. We might get some free labor without spending a penny.”
The system finished sunning its belly and flipped over to lie on the boards. “It’s getting more and more lively here. Host, don’t you find it noisy?”
Xue Jingci watched from afar as Lin Heng picked up some dishes and followed Guanzi. He shook his head.
“It’s not noisy. I like it very much.”
Xiao Xun saw Shu Mo about to sweep away the pastry crumbs and hurriedly stopped him. He bent over to gather them and threw them into the lotus pond.
Seeing him appear, Xue Jingci jumped down from the tree and walked over. He took out the note Xiao Xun had given him yesterday and said, “Not enough.”
Xiao Xun was stunned. Having lived in pleasure houses since childhood, he was best at reading people’s expressions and always handled things properly.
He had written down everything Xue Jingci habitually used, and had even asked Guanzi and Shu Mo in detail.
There shouldn’t have been anything missing.
For a moment, he couldn’t think of anything and began to feel annoyed. If only he had been more thorough.
Seeing him silent, Xue Jingci tilted his head and looked at him. “You need to add some things for yourself as well.”
This was just a light comment, but it made Xiao Xun’s heart strangely skip a beat.
He smiled and said seriously, “I really like that brush washer in your room, Master. How about giving it to me?”
Xue Jingci nodded. “Take it if you like it.”
After nightfall, the steady drizzle still hadn’t stopped, and the entire courtyard was filled with a fresh aura.
Xue Jingci returned to his room and habitually lit a candle on the desk before remembering he had left that secret realm over a month ago.
The kitten huddled by Xue Jingci and couldn’t help meowing, asking him to tell it more interesting things about the secret realm.
Xue Jingci didn’t know what counted as interesting, but the figure of Pei Huang involuntarily surfaced in his mind. He then spoke of Pei Huang turning into a fox and showing off his tail.
Perhaps because he grew up too quickly, Xue Jingci always remembered him as a child and couldn’t help teasing him, watching him show some childishness.
The system learned that while it was away, Pei Huang had actually turned into a fox and stolen its spot. It felt somewhat dissatisfied but also thought the situation was rare. It couldn’t help asking, “Host, have you noticed that you’ve been mentioning that brat quite often lately?”
Xue Jingci was stunned by the question. Only then did he realize he had indeed been thinking of Pei Huang frequently.
This was something that had never happened before.
Normally, besides taking in disciples and eating, he didn’t care much about other people or things.
But this time, he had made a promise to Pei Huang but failed to keep it, so he couldn’t help but feel a lingering concern.
The kitten’s eyes lit up, and its tail wrapped around his wrist as it acted spoiled. “You’re not speaking, which means you’re admitting it. Host, do you miss him?”
Xue Jingci pushed its furry head away, blew out the candle, and turned over to get into bed.
“Go to sleep.”
The system flicked its tail, looking like it understood everything, and tried to squeeze into his covers.
For some reason, Xue Jingci was out of sorts and pushed it out, making the kitten jump around his pillow in anger.
Early the next morning, he rose early to go to the Hall of All Affairs. He thought Guanzi was still asleep, but he had already lit the stove and made him a bowl of green bean “chess” noodles.
After finishing, he placed the bowl in front of Xue Jingci and yawned.
Xue Jingci felt puzzled. “Why get up so early?”
Guanzi waved his hand and said, “Sleep is important, but three meals a day are more important. I decided last night—we’ll have Five Willow Fish for lunch and dumplings for dinner.”
With that, he leaned back in the bamboo chair to sleep.
Xue Jingci was quite satisfied with today’s menu. After finishing the noodles, he walked toward the Hall of All Affairs. At the entrance, he again ran into that woman with the tobacco pipe.
Today, Wan Yurǎo wore a brand new purple gauze dress, looking dignified and gentle. Seeing him, she immediately greeted him with a smile, very polite.
The system shrunk on Xue Jingci’s shoulder and asked in horror, “Is she possessed by a ghost? Why is she completely different from a few days ago?”
Xue Jingci also found it strange. Upon entering the Hall of All Affairs, he found it extremely quiet, with almost no one around.
“They’ve all gone back to rest.” Seeing Xue Jingci’s confusion, Wan Yurǎo took the initiative to explain, “Though our Hall of All Affairs is busy, when we’re free, there are no restraints. You can come and go as you please.”
Saying this, she introduced the daily tasks of a Hall of All Affairs elder to Xue Jingci.
The matters were extremely complex, ranging from the replacement of disciple uniforms to the budget for sect celebrations—everything, no matter how small.
“However, now that you’ve joined our Hall of All Affairs, you don’t need to fear anyone in the sect. Even if the Sect Master wants to eat, he has to ask us for money.”
Wan Yurǎo spoke arrogantly, not even sparing the Sect Master, with a matter-of-fact expression. She handed him a register. “But in a short while, it will be the decennial Master-Disciple Ceremony. Consider yourself unlucky—you’ve just arrived and already have much to do.”
Xue Jingci nodded and took the disciple register. He found the contents very detailed, even including everyone’s birth dates.
He then remembered that he had also reported his when he first joined the sect, seemingly for making soul lamps.
Flipping to the middle, Xue Jingci suddenly saw Xiao Xun’s name and realized his birthday was actually today.
Xue Jingci felt a strange sensation in his heart. He quickly finished reading the register and returned to his courtyard after finishing his work.
Xiao Xun had not yet officially become a disciple, so he still had to go to the Dao Discussion Platform for classes and was not in the courtyard.
Xue Jingci found Guanzi and asked if the dumplings were ready.
Guanzi thought he was hungry, casually pulled out a handful of nuts to give him, and asked, “The skins haven’t even been rolled yet. It’s early. Is the work at the Hall of All Affairs truly that hard? It’s made you this hungry by noon.”
Xue Jingci shook his head, seeming to have something to say.
Guanzi asked him, “Is something on your mind?”
Xue Jingci glanced at him and asked, “Do you know what one should prepare for someone’s birthday?”