**Chapter 24: Dumplings**
Qing Ji was once a menace around Zhenwu Mountain.
During his travels down the mountain, he forged countless enemies, which made everyone wish to eliminate him quickly.
He had experienced more backstabs of “justice” than Luxianbei had love strands tied to him.
Compared to those who wanted his life, Luxianbei’s sneak attack could already be deemed as that of a sunshine girl…
…
The whistling wind roared in his ears as his body continued to plummet.
Looking up at the figure of Luxianbei, who was pursuing him wielding a giant sword, Qing Ji’s expression darkened.
So that girl was not the great-granddaughter-in-law but an illusion formed by spirit energy items?
What a joy it was to think you had finally opened your eyes and brought a girl home to meet the parents!
Hmph, since you want to practice swordsmanship, I’ll accompany you in some good training! Qing Ji thought.
His thoughts summoned a swift response from his body.
In an instant, every inch of his muscles powered up with precision and agility.
Accompanied by a series of faint explosive sounds, Qing Ji’s figure rolled through the air in a bizarre posture, swiftly regaining balance.
The flowing sensation felt just like an ace pilot effortlessly completing a challenging maneuver known as the “leaf float.”
Then, with the surge of spirit energy, the “outer self” emerged beneath his feet.
As he stepped, explosive sounds resonated, and shockwaves spread out.
Surrounded by towering buildings, Qing Ji’s figure shot up like an arrow piercing the sky, tracing a slightly arched silver trajectory.
Like a shooting star.
He flew towards Luxianbei, whose giant sword was dragging sparks of dazzling fire.
In an instant, they were almost within reach.
“Clang—!”
The silver long sword collided fiercely with the flame-lit giant sword midair, followed by a chaotic display of sword light.
Amidst countless clashes of blades, a deafening explosion erupted.
The terrifying shockwave surged outward like a tsunami, crashing against the outer walls of the skyscrapers, tearing open numerous fissures.
Countless bricks and stones crumbled, falling downward.
After a while, the sword light faded, the waves of wind subsided, and everything returned to tranquility.
Luxianbei was sent flying backward by the residual force of the collision, her head thrown back, bl**d spraying in an arc of bright red. Then like a withered leaf, she fell from the sky, landing on the empty street below.
“Boom—!”
Disastrous!
Standing on the “outer self,” Qing Ji extended his neck to look down and, upon seeing the blob of flesh that even two or three layers of mosaics couldn’t obscure, shook his head.
“Switching swords made your level regress significantly… this won’t do at all!”
He murmured to himself, his gaze landing on the Xuan Ying Luo Fu that had fallen alongside Luxianbei. After pondering for a moment, he raised his hand and slashed with his sword.
The blade sliced through a silver arc, accompanied by a resonant “Zheng!” sound, instantly transforming into a giant sword that was nearly the same length as the Xuan Ying Luo Fu.
“Since she switched weapons, I might as well cooperate with her.”
He could also use the giant sword to perform the “Taihe Gentleman Sword Illustration.”
A true master can wield a sword even with a street lamp pole!
Qing Ji thought, a sinister smile gradually spreading across his face.
Floating down to the rooftop, two barks broke the silence.
“Awooo!”
Qing Ji turned to see the White Puppy wagging its tail and bouncing over, looking very affectionate and friendly.
“Go away…”
“Woof… woof… woof…” the White Puppy whimpered.
Qing Ji, “…”
After two seconds of silence, he crouched down and patted the White Puppy’s head.
“Don’t worry, your master will be back soon.”
He didn’t initially want to touch the White Puppy, but he couldn’t resist the round fluff ball that kept rolling back and forth in front of him, “Woo woo” non-stop.
That look reminded Qing Ji of the big yellow dog he had adopted with Luxue Bo many years ago.
It was a rare warm moment between father and son.
Just as Qing Ji was lost in his memories, the White Puppy’s eyes suddenly glinted with a crimson, savage light, and it pounced into his arms, erupting in a frantic silver blaze under its fur.
“Boom—!”
Memories are beautiful, but reality is harsh.
With a loud explosion, the entire rooftop was engulfed in a white light.
Qing Ji, “???”
Practicing swordsmanship should be a formal sword duel, right?
What’s with the dog getting involved?
Is it not possible to play fair?
In that instant, Qing Ji realized that the dogs of the past were genuinely dogs, whereas the current ones were truly “dogs.”
They all know how to act cute and “explode” to deceive!
————
In a dead silence, Luxianbei was like a piece of floating duckweed, drifting and sinking in the darkness.
The pain that seemed to completely sever her life force continuously assaulted her nerves, yet she appeared completely unconcerned.
She had long been accustomed to dying in sword practice; sometimes it even excited her.
Of course, it wasn’t some quirky preference but the joy brought by the gains.
Just as Qing Ji had said before, with every defeat, she could learn the simplest yet most important things in combat—how to k*ll the enemy and how to avoid getting killed.
Closing her eyes, clearing her mind, the scene from those few seconds before her defeat began to replay in Luxianbei’s mind…
Earlier, she had made great efforts to change the posture, force, and angle of her sword strikes to adapt to the Xuan Ying Luo Fu.
After exchanging blows with Qing Ji more than ten times, she still made a mistake.
The giant sword in her hand had veered off course.
The tip of the sword had risen less than a centimeter more than expected.
Though such a minor deviation could be disregarded when sparring with others, if the opponent were Qing Ji, and especially if he possessed full memories, it would become a critical flaw!
As he keenly sensed her moment of mistake, Qing Ji’s sword intent suddenly shifted.
The silver ridge of the long sword swept close to the Xuan Ying Luo Fu, igniting a series of sparks, with the sound of metal grinding echoing until it reached the tip of the flame-lit giant sword, then it suddenly jolted.
With exquisite muscle control techniques combined with brilliant swordsmanship, Qing Ji turned that shock into a relentless, escalating assault, unleashing a terrifying sword dance.
In fact, she caught every move he made through her foresight.
However, her swordsmanship was inherently inferior to Qing Ji’s, and having lost the initiative meant that even if she predicted his actions, she had no room to counterattack, forced only to defend clumsily, in a panic.
Thus, one misstep led to another.
Minor mistakes gradually transformed into fatal errors.
Just like a micrometer-level trajectory deviation could lead a rocket off its intended course.
Ultimately, Qing Ji’s sword dance connected into a continuous stream, like a tsunami, carrying force enough to topple trees, breaking through the hasty defense she had formed and opening a narrow gap.
Then…
The long sword shot out like a venomous serpent, driving straight in for her throat.
In that fleeting moment as her consciousness began to wane, a tinge of relief rose in Luxianbei’s heart.
Just as she had thought, switching swords indeed required time to adapt.
Even if she replaced the Xuan Ying Luo Fu with other spirit energy items of comparable size and weight to the Ling Tai Purification, the result would be the same.
After all, there was only one Ling Tai Purification in this world; it could never be exactly the same.
Any difference would lead to mistakes, and mistakes could cost lives.
So, Luxianbei felt fortunate that these mistakes were laid bare before Qing Ji, not before some enemy…
————
When Luxianbei opened her eyes again, a lingering, vivid pain remained at her throat.
Taking a few deep breaths to adapt to the discomfort of d*ath, she looked around but saw no sign of Qing Ji, only bl**d splattered across the ground.
After glancing around a bit, her gaze landed on the Xuan Ying Luo Fu at the center of the rooftop, in deep meditation. Luxianbei stepped forward, crouched, and asked, “Sister, do you know where my ancestor went?”
The White Puppy was also nowhere to be seen…
It couldn’t be that it went out for a walk, right?
Do old people really enjoy that kind of exercise?
Xuan Ying Luo Fu lifted her eyelids slightly, tilted her head, and averted her gaze from Luxianbei, looking behind her calmly, “Behind you.”
“Huh?”
Startled, Luxianbei turned to look behind her and caught sight of Qing Ji, who had a grim expression, brandishing his giant sword toward her.
Luxianbei’s pupils shrank slightly, and she hurriedly grabbed Xuan Ying Luo Fu’s wrist, instinctively swinging her arm back.
Then, a deafening explosion erupted, and a surging shockwave spread across the rooftop, knocking the White Puppy, who had just opened its eyes, off its feet.
Moments later.
“Tsk tsk! Your thrusts are weak, slashes unsteady, defenses sluggish, techniques awkward—none of your moves are up to par; a giant sword isn’t meant for you to use like this.”
“Then how is it supposed to be used?”
“Watch closely, like this!”
“Poof—!”
…
“Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, the kid’s going to be scared stupid!”
“Poof—!”
…
“You old fool, you were blown up by the White Puppy; how can you vent your anger on me? If you have the capability, go k*ll that dog!”
“Failure to teach is your fault!” Qing Ji said coldly. “Didn’t you say it was your own?”
Luxianbei, “???”
“Poof poof poof—!”
Amidst a series of muffled sounds of flesh and bl**d, Luxianbei’s fractured body collapsed on the ground like a ragged sack.
Tonight was yet another long-awaited and enjoyable teaching session…
————
The dawn shone like a spark, igniting the night veil, letting brightness sweep over the mountain ridge, illuminating the scenic area of Zhenwu Mountain.
When the morning bell of the Dachunyang Palace rang for the third time, Huasang lazily poked her head out of the covers.
Sitting on the bed, rubbing her messy long hair, she reached under her pillow to grab a strap, carelessly tying up her hair. She turned her head to look at the stacks of clothes that had piled into three small mountains.
The first pile was stuffed in a storage bag, all too dirty to wear outside; it needed to be washed on a lucky day.
The second pile was on the small sofa, not too dirty; if her master couldn’t stand it, she wouldn’t mind getting help washing it.
As for the third pile on the bedside table, they were “clean” clothes that hadn’t been worn more than a few times.
After sitting on the bed for a moment, until she fully shook off the remnants of sleep, Huasang reached out and grabbed a piece of clothing from the pile on the bedside table, casually putting it on as she got off the bed, slid into her perpetually unchanged flip-flops, took her fishing rod, and leisurely headed out, making her way to the back mountain of Dachunyang Palace.
Walking along the path from Qiaoyuan Courtyard to the back mountain, soaking up the bright sunlight filtering through the dense leaves, she took a deep breath, savoring the moment.
Every time this happened, she would think how true the saying “the morning is the key to the day” was.
In early summer, Zhenwu Mountain was too scorching at noon, and it felt dreary in the evening; only the morning sunlight was best suited for sunbathing while dozing off.
“Buzz—buzz—!”
When Huasang was about three hundred meters away from the Cold Pond in the back mountain, her phone vibrated.
Pulling out her phone and answering the call, she heard Luxianbei’s voice.
“d*mn it, why did it take you so long to answer the phone?”
“Uh…” Huasang paused for a moment, then said lightly, “Sorry, my phone is usually on silent.”
“Forget it, forget it. I need to ask you something: Do you prefer dumplings with chive filling, cabbage filling, or celery filling?”
What kind of question is that? Huasang thought for a moment, “Do I have to eat? I usually just eat one meal a day to keep it simple.”
“That’s outrageous! But if you had to pick a kind of dumpling, what would it be?”
“Oh…” Huasang thought seriously, “I prefer dumplings with mixed fillings…”
“Hiss! Are you doing this on purpose?”
“Didn’t you ask me to pick one? If not, then let’s just mix all three together.” Huasang said helplessly. “I feel like all three are similar, so mixed together would save the trouble!”
“You said it!”
“Uh-huh.” Huasang nodded.
“Alright, wait for me at the old place!”
After Luxianbei finished speaking, she hung up the phone.
————
Ten minutes later, at the back mountain of Dachunyang Palace, near the Cold Pond.
As usual, Huasang sat cross-legged on a large stone large enough for one person, deftly taking out the leftovers she had packed in a portable bag and scattered them into the Cold Pond.
Baiting was an important preparatory step before fishing, including for catching turtles.
After preparing the bait and setting up her fishing rod, she caught a whiff of a fragrant aroma wafting into her nose.
Following the scent, she saw Luxianbei approaching her with a large plate of freshly cooked dumplings and squatting down in front of her.
Huasang examined Luxianbei, her gaze sweeping over his slightly hollowed cheeks and resting on the heavy dark circles under his eyes.
“Is this the bait you’re trying today? Did you cook all night?”
Just thinking that Luxianbei had spent all night cooking made Huasang feel inexplicably impressed.
In a sense, a person who could wrap dumplings all night was more extreme than Fu Xinyi, who stayed up late…
“Of course not, just being trained by the old ancestor all night.” Luxianbei said with a pout, having nothing to hide about Qing Ji from Huasang.
“Don’t think I’m just brushing you off! I had originally prepared a pot of broth to make a precious jade and pearl soup, but that old man Zhang Hainan stole it.”
“…” Looking at Luxianbei, she fell silent for two seconds, then nodded, “It does seem like something the headmaster would do.”
“Well, dumplings will do… By the way, you still have to catch a flight back to Huacheng, right? You better hurry!”
As Huasang spoke, she reached out to take the plate of dumplings from Luxianbei’s hands.
“What are you thinking?” Luxianbei moved the plate of dumplings aside. “These are for you to eat, not for you to fish for turtles.”
“For me?” Huasang paused.
“You’re leaving, right? So these are farewell dumplings!” Luxianbei explained.
“Farewell…?” Huasang tilted her head. “Aren’t you the one leaving?”
“Even though I’m the one leaving, depending on the reference point, you could also see it as you walking away from me! It’s the same!” Luxianbei explained.
Huasang, “…”
Such a unique thought process… as expected of you!
She grumbled inwardly and silently accepted the plate of dumplings Luxianbei handed over.
Seeing this, Luxianbei stood up and stretched her joints. “Alright, I’m off now.”
“Okay, wait for you to come back.” Huasang nodded.
“Got it.”
Luxianbei replied and quickly walked toward the waiting Shuishu Beast in the woods.
Faintly, a whispering voice floated through the wind.
“Big cousin, are you interested in taking a plane to Huacheng for some fun? I can buy you a voucher…”
Huasang, “…”
————
In the morning.
After accompanying He Zhuyan to supervise the students’ morning class, Zhang Hainan returned to the Moonlit Cave in the back mountain. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a plate of dumplings still steaming on the table.
Stepping forward and sitting down at the table, he noticed a small card attached to the plate of dumplings.
The card read: [Old man, I’m leaving! I saw you supervising the early self-study session just now, so I didn’t disturb you.
Thank you for taking care of me during this time. I don’t have anything to repay you with, so please enjoy this plate of dumplings!
Left by Luxianbei.]
After reading the card left by Luxianbei, Zhang Hainan couldn’t help but chuckle, “Ha, this little brat!”
“You better not cause any more trouble; eliminating the calamity from the wanted list would be the best repayment…”
Yet, even as he said this, his gaze was still on the plate of dumplings, and he couldn’t help but swallow.
Having tasted the broth Luxianbei made yesterday, Zhang Hainan highly recognized Luxianbei’s cooking skills.
However, when he picked up a dumpling with chopsticks, dipped it in vinegar, and eagerly popped it into his mouth, his expression changed dramatically, and he let out a muffled “Mm!” as it all came back up along with breakfast.
Chives, celery, cabbage, mixed with meat filling, intertwined with some coriander, created an intensely terrible and pungent taste…
Strong enough to shake the resolve of a Cataclysm Grade!
“Hu—hu—!”
Taking several deep breaths to steady himself, Zhang Hainan sat straight, squinting at the plate of dumplings for a moment. He silently pulled out the jade mourning Gray Owl badge, infused it with spirit energy, and contacted the elders of the Dachunyang Palace.
“You all come to the Moonlit Cave for a moment; I made some dumplings…”
————
Huasang skipped breakfast and went straight to the Cold Pond, her stomach empty, so naturally, there wasn’t much she could vomit.
However, after tasting one of the dumplings made by Luxianbei, she lay on the ground for nearly an hour.
Once she regained her composure, she sat up, silently reeled in her fishing rod, hooked a dumpling on, and tossed it into the Cold Pond.
This dumpling had “poison,” so maybe it would aggravate that old turtle and reel it in?
Huasang thought this while watching the red bobber floating on the water’s surface.
Then.
Accompanied by a splash, the bobber sank into the depths of the Cold Pond, and the surface boiled vigorously, creating whirlpools and rising thick fog.
It was as if she had caught the swimming old guy’s swimming trunks while fishing in a reservoir.
On her fishing rod, an unusual and terrifying tug began to pull…
Before Huasang could even comprehend the situation, the fishing rod in her hand suddenly exploded into pieces with a loud “bang.”
Watching the Cold Pond return to its calm, she stood there for a long time, filled with a sense of loss.
(Finally finished writing! With this, the plot in the Dachunyang Palace is coming to a close, and the groundwork for the new volume has been laid, officially kicking off the narrative. I wonder how everyone feels about this interlude-like writing style? Hehe.
Also, thank you all for the blessings from my mom yesterday~)
