Edited by Ea

  Lin Shu never wanted to say that he and that girl had exchanged bodies in the Dreamscape, and he had become the “Folding Bamboo Fairy” that the elder martial brothers of Shangling Academy liked and admired very much. There was no reason other than –it was a bit humiliating, and he didn’t want to lose face in front of Cousin.

  He could only be evasive, avoiding the serious and saying lightly, “She’s a girl I met in the Martial Arts Arena. Her father was seriously injured and needs to be treated by the White Bone Flower.”

  Cousin: “And then she asked you to go to Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss to pick the White Bone Flower?”

  Lin Shu: “En.”

  “The Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss is so dangerous, yet she actually wanted you to go alone. She must have ulterior motives.”

  “She shouldn’t be a bad person.” Lin Shu seemed to be being interrogated, and touched his nose with a guilty conscience. “And we won’t meet each other. As long as I put the White Bone Flower on consignment in the Academy’s treasure house, she will give me the corresponding jade souls.”

  He found that he was actually very fluent and logically clear when speaking to Cousin. He didn’t know if it was because Cousin had a good temper and kept him from getting nervous, or because Cousin’s expression and tone were not quite right at this time, and Lin Shu’s desire to live had strengthened his language expression ability.

  “It’s good for you to know more friends,” Cousin’s tone finally eased, “but you must be careful. Especially girls — don’t be deceived by them. ”

  Lin Shu nodded: “En.”

  Cousin finally let him go. “In that case, when I get better, we will go west to the Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss together. And it just so happens that there are some materials required for tempering the Extinction Needle there too.”

  Lin Shu: “Thank you very much.”

  Ling Xiao smiled: “No need to thank me. If you make any friends in the future, please remember to tell me, lest you encounter sinister ones.”

  Lin Shu tried hard to make his voice docile: “Okay.”

  Cousin seemed very happy and said, “Let’s go down for breakfast.”

  They went downstairs together.

  Downstairs, Cang Min was sitting by the window and waved to them, “Junior Martial Brother Lin, Brother Ling!”

  Among the several girls in Phoenix Mountain Villa, Ling Baochen and Ling Baoqing had already come down from the mountain. When they saw Ling Xiao, they stepped forward to greet him, “Young Master, long time no see! Before we came to the Academy, the Villa Master was still reminiscing about you!”

  Ling Xiao said: “I will go back to visit my mother at the end of the year.”

  Ling Baochen said: “It’s just like this; we haven’t had a reunion for a long time.”

  They asked Ling Xiao about the details of the battle on Huandang Mountain yesterday. After listening, they sighed: “It’s really dangerous. It’s truly fortunate that Young Master has achieved the ‘Nirvana Life’.”

  Ling Xiao did not speak.

  They laughed and teased Lin Shu again.

  Ling Xiao: “Don’t bully him.”

  The girls said: “Young Master, you can also bully him once. You’ll see how fun it is!”

  Lin Shu: “?”

  It’s fine if you all don’t do good, but don’t lead Cousin astray.

  \r \r \r

  They finished speaking and went back to their seats to eat. In response to Cang Min’s greeting, they went to sit down opposite Cang Min.

  When they left their room, the cat was still asleep. As soon as they sat down, they saw the cat appearing at the top of the stairs. After looking around, it ran downstairs and jumped into Lin Shu’s arms.

  Cang Min said: “Younger Martial Brother Lin, in a few days, everyone will continue to descend the mountain. Where are you going?”

  Lin Shu: “Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss.”

  Cang Min: “It is definitely a good place to temper one’s martial arts.”

  Ling Xiao: “Will you go with us?”

  Cang Min: “Also possible. I think I need to go to a place where there are many fierce beasts and ghosts to practice my martial arts.”

  Ling Xiao: “Ten Thousand Ghost Abyss is feasible.”

  Cang Min: “Then let’s go together!”

  After discussing this matter, they waited for a while in their seats. The waiter in the inn came over to serve the meal. The Immortal Village Inn only served tea and the “Drunk in Peach Garden” wine, together with simple steamed spiritual rice. Although simple, the taste was mysterious, which made people feel as if they were in an immortal world.

  Lin Shu served a small plate of rice to the cat, and it actually took a few slow bites.

  Lin Shu thought of a question. The cat was now with him, so how could it open the treasury’s door for the other disciples who had reached the top of Huandang Mountain?

  He asked the cat, “You’re not going to care about the other disciples?”

  The cat looked out the window: “Meow.”

  He saw a cloud of mist rising on the mountain gate, and then it disappeared in an instant.

  Lin Shu: “.……”

  It turned out that this cat could freely control items on Huandang Mountain no matter where it was. That being the case, it still tirelessly led the disciples to the treasury by itself every single time. It really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to be stroked, huh?

  Ling Xiao also looked at the cat and asked: “Do you have a name?”

  Cat: “Meow.”

  Ling Xiao smiled and said, “If you don’t have a name, then I will call you Cat.”

  The cat gave a short “Meow.” Then, seemingly dissatisfied, it jumped down from Lin Shu’s arms with a swish and went upstairs.

  After eating, they went back to their rooms. Ling Xiao wanted to adjust his Qi to heal his injuries and went back to his room.

  Lin Shu also went to Ling Xiao’s room first, planning to take away the 《Extinction》that he had left there, then go to the next room to read— Cousin was not in a coma right now and didn’t need Lin Shu’s care, so they could use different rooms.

  He never expected that as soon as he entered the door, he saw that the cat had carried《Extinction》 to the ground and torn off three pages.

  On one page, a claw mark was scratched on one of the characters “Xie”. On the second page, the character “Qing” was marked, and “Yuan” was marked on the other page.

  ——To be able to find three characters in this book, it really was hard on the cat.

  Ling Xiao said: “Your name is Xie Qingyuan?”

  Cat: “Meow.”

  After meowing, it jumped back on the bed and curled up peacefully.

  It seems that it is really called this name.

  Lin Shu thought, in this name, Xie is the surname, so he won’t discuss it. “Yuan” is true, but “Qing” might not necessarily be true. It can be seen that it is a bit misleading; the name did not reflect reality.

  Ling Xiao, however, seemed to have some thoughts as he asked, “Emperor Ye was once your master?”

  The cat did not answer.

  Ling Xiao said: “It was rumored that Emperor Ye had raised a black cat.”

  Emperor Ye—the former owner of the Folding Bamboo Sword, the person who wrote《Endless Yearning》, and an Immortal Emperor who lived in the Floating Immortal Palace for a long time. Thousands of years had passed, and the only remaining records about him were merely rumors and a few isolated phrases whose authenticity was unclear. However, if this cat was his cat, it was no wonder that it could become the mountain keeper of Huandang Mountain.

  The cat seemed unhappy and burrowed into the quilt.

  Lin Shu touched the quilt a few times, took the book back, and said goodbye to Ling Xiao. He went back to his adjacent room.

  After reading for about an hour, the jade talisman on the side suddenly lit up.

  He took it and saw four words appearing on it: “Xiao Shao accepts battle.”

  Lin Shu: “!”

  What should he do?

  The Mantra of Truth appeared on Cousin yesterday. Lin Shu turned to any doctor he could find to cure Cousin’s critical illness. He tried to find Big Miss through Xiao Shao and sent an invitation to fight. But now that Ling Xiao was already out of danger, and the Mantra of Truth was also not due to Northern Xia, how should he explain to Xiao Shao?

  Pretend he wanted to fight?

  He squeezed the jade talisman and entered the Shangling Dreamscape. He greeted Mr. Meng outside, then entered the Martial Arts Arena.

  Xiao Shao still looked the same as when Lin Shu first saw him. He was dressed in a black robe, holding a snow jade flute with cold white fingers. His face was covered in a silver mask with complicated patterns. Lin Shu couldn’t make out his expression, but his whole person revealed a kind of superiority and aloofness that gave off an “I don’t want to talk to people” aura.

  Lin Shu landed across from him.

  Xiao Shao asked lightly: “You were looking for me?”

  “I wanted to find you before,” Lin Shu finally decided to be honest and tell the truth. “Now I no longer need to.”

  Xiao Shao: “En.”

  Lin Shu: “.……”

  The atmosphere fell into dead silence for a while, and after a while, Xiao Shao asked, “What’s the matter?”

  “I wanted to find Ling Fengxiao for a matter, but I didn’t have her contact information……” Lin Shu said, “I don’t need it now.”

  “No need?” Xiao Shao said, “Don’t you miss her?”

  Lin Shu: “.……Huh?”

  He thought about it carefully. It had been only seven or eight days since he left the Academy, and Cousin was together with him during these days. It was true that he rarely thought about Big Miss on his own initiative.

  He said: “It’s alright.”

  Xiao Shao: “Alright?”

  Lin Shu thought about it, and asked: “What is she doing these days?”

  TL’s Mini Theatre:

  Zaki: Hmnn! Cat, this made me think. Maybe Lin Shu was Emperor Ye in previous previous previous life (1000 years ago) ehh…… Folding Bamboo, Endless Yearning and now you’re the pet cat…… what do you think cat?

  Cat: Meow! *that phrase of yours “makes me think” gave me a scare, are you sure you have a brain to think?*

  Zaki: I know you’re saying I’m smart. Come, I’ll give you a rub.

  Cat: Purrr! *stoopid hooman*

  Ea: *sharpens knife*