Chapter 1957: Shadowmoon Lake
Zu An reached into his robe, where he had stowed the gifts he had received from the sects.
After meeting Guan Chouhai, he had visited the chief disciples of the other sects. Following the battle at Violet Mountain, most of the sects had some people arrested and imprisoned, except for the White Jade Sect and Jadefall Palace, which Zu An was close to.
Zu An had thus calmed them down and explained that the matter had been resolved. Those people looked up at him, their eyes filled with gratitude.
As the prodigies of their respective sects, they had acted incredibly haughtily on Violet Mountain. They had even looked down on Zu An, who was the same age as them, thinking he had only climbed to his position through bootlicking. However, the events that transpired afterward had made them realize that they weren’t on the same level. Recently, there had even begun to be rumors that their respective sect leaders weren’t a match for Zu An.
Despite their having treated him with disdain, Zu An was still willing to put aside their differences and save them while they were being beaten down! They felt both grateful and apologetic toward him, especially when some had even thought about fighting with him over Fairy Chu.
It helped that the empress and the crown princess had each been spreading word about how the other intended to cruelly deal with the sects, which made the prisoners even more thankful to Zu An. They were more than happy to use their own savings to thank him.
Zu An thought about how he had squandered most of his wealth on pill refinement as of late, so he didn’t hesitate to accept their gifts.
“I should be able to refine a few more pills with this much money,” he muttered to himself, lamenting Youzhao’s lacking aptitude. She had to consume quite a few Marrow Cleansing Pills to raise her talent.
It’s fortunate that the others are quite talented, so a single pill is enough for them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to provide for them even if I bankrupt myself.
Before Zu An knew it, he had already arrived outside Jiang Luofu’s residence. He was just about to knock on the door when it opened from the inside. His eyes lit up. Jiang Luofu had a disposition reminiscent of a career woman climbing the corporate ladder, or the teachers in a certain genre of movies, which made him feel as if he had transmigrated back to his previous world. Her well-proportioned legs look perfect in black stockings, like ham and cup noodles, cumin and lamb, or Angelina Jolie and me.
“Big sister Jiang, are you heading out?” Zu An asked.
“Mm,” Jiang Luofu said with a nod. There was a hint of worry on her face as she asked, “Were you looking for me?”
Zu An took out a small box and handed it to her, saying, “I have a Marrow Cleansing Pill in here. It can raise a person’s cultivation talent.”
Jiang Luofu was startled. She asked, “Is this what you've been doing in the pill refinement room? Is this pill that amazing?”
“Haven’t you been curious as to why I'm so talented? You can credit the pills,” Zu An explained with a chuckle.
Jiang Luofu was both moved and embarrassed, as she hadn’t expected him to reveal such an important secret. She said, “This is too valuable. I don’t know how you refined it, but I’m guessing the ingredients include rare treasures. You should keep it for Chuyan and the others.”
“I’ll refine more for them. This is for you,” Zu An said as she stuffed the container into her hand.
Jiang Luofu blushed and replied, “I can’t accept such an invaluable gift when I haven’t done anything. I’m not your… It doesn’t feel right to accept this from you.”
“Who says you haven’t done anything? I’d have never achieved what I did if not for big sister Jiang taking care of me in Brightmoon City,” Zu An said.
Jiang Luofu bit her lips and said, “I’ll accept it then, but I ought to remind you that this pill is incredibly valuable. Others will covet it if they learn about it.”
Cultivation was tough, and most people had to cultivate from a young age to temper their bodies. If it became known that a pill could rewrite their fate, especially with Zu An as a success story to prove its effectiveness, the world of cultivation would go into a frenzy over that pill. After all, anyone in possession of it could nurture an army of top-notch experts. No matter how powerful Zu An was, it wouldn’t be a wise decision for him to become the enemy of all cultivators in the world.
“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. It’s not an easy feat to refine the pill, and its ingredients are incredibly rare too. It’s impossible to produce it in large quantities,” Zu An replied with a chuckle.
Jiang Luofu was touched. He actually prepared such a valuable pill for me…
“Hurry up and eat it. It could lose its potency if left for too long,” Zu An reminded her. He had only begun refining these pills recently, so he wasn’t sure about the finer details regarding their expiry and so on; thus, it was best to consume them right away.
Jiang Luofu nodded. She opened the box, revealing a glistening pill inside. Even at a glance, the pill looked anything but ordinary. As soon as she popped it into her mouth, it dissolved into a stream of energy that flowed down her throat. At that instant, she felt an intricate connection with the world, as the ki from the world washed through her limbs and organs.
Seeing how she unhesitatingly consumed it, Zu An said teasingly, “You didn’t even test it. Aren’t you afraid of me spiking it?”
Jiang Luofu’s cold face turned slightly red as she glared at him, saying, “I wouldn’t just eat any pill from anyone. You’re different.”
Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to ask her how he was different, but it would seem as if he were flirting with her.
Just then, Jiang Luofu’s eyebrows shot up. She began squirming in discomfort, as she felt something sticky clinging onto her. Did this fellow really spike the pill?
It was then that Zu An remembered the pill’s side effects. He said, “I forgot to tell you. The pill cleanses your meridians and marrow and expels the impurities within, so you’ll get dirty.”
He recalled the situation when he had first eaten the pill. His talent had been severely lacking, and he'd had many impurities in his body, so he had ended up expelling a lot of filth. Jiang Luofu’s cultivation and talent were much higher than his own had been back then, so the amount of impurities she expelled would be much lower.
“You should have said so earlier!” Jiang Luofu exclaimed, feeling embarrassed. As she rushed into her room, her usual coldness vanished. Given her standing, it was no surprise she had a pool in her residence.
Zu An coughed awkwardly and said, “Big sister Jiang, you can take your time to wash up. I’ll take my leave first.” It wouldn’t be good for him to linger around when she was going to wash up.
“Don’t go. Come in,” Jiang Luofu said.
“???” Zu An was perplexed. He instinctively imagined the sight of Jiang Luofu taking off her black stockings by the pool, which sent a shudder through his body. He quickly composed himself and asked, “Is that a good idea?”
“What are you thinking? I need your help!” Jiang Luofu replied, although her voice carried a hint of coyness.
As he stepped into her residence, Zu An heaved a sigh of relief.
“Come closer. Over here,” Jiang Luofu said over the sound of splashing water.
Zu An made his way to the back of her residence, where he could vaguely see a steaming pool in the middle of a lush forest. Jiang Luofu was bathing in it with her fair shoulders exposed. A layer of white fog drifted above the pool, concealing the wonders hidden beneath the water. Even so, it was still possible to see the outline of her silhouette, which arguably looked even more tempting.
Zu An was taken aback. She sure strips quickly!
“Don’t look into the water. I know that given your current cultivation level, you can see right through the pool’s concealment formation,” Jiang Luofu crossed her arms in front of her breasts as she said those embarrassing words with an incredibly natural expression.
“You were the one who told me to enter,” Zu An replied in annoyance as he turned around.
This would be considered a badger game[1] in my previous life, right?
Jiang Luofu pursed her lips and said, “I was about to head out to deal with urgent business, but after taking your pill, I now have to bathe. On top of that, I’m feeling a bit weak and fatigued, so I doubt I’ll be able to cross blows with others. I have no choice but to ask for your help, but I think you’ll be happy to help me with this.”
“What is it?” Zu An asked, perplexed.
Jiang Luofu’s expression turned severe as she said, “Xiaoxi might have met with trouble.”
“What?!” Zu An exclaimed in alarm
“My senior brother recently brought Xiaoxi to Copper Gong Mountain, as she needed some ingredients there for her pill refinement. As Copper Gong Mountain is located near the capital, the army regularly cleanses the area, so there aren’t any dangerous beasts there. My senior brother thought it wouldn’t be too risky, so he gave her permission to head there herself while he visited the academy first,” Jiang Luofu said, her eyes brimming with worry as she continued, “It's already been three days since their agreed meeting date, and Xiaoxi still isn’t here yet.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me earlier?!” Zu An exclaimed anxiously.
“My senior brother might be a loafer, but he cares deeply about Xiaoxi. He’s always on the lookout for young men eyeing Xiaoxi. You have a reputation out there, so it isn’t surprising he’s guarded against you,” Jiang Luofu said. “He often says that the ones he needs to be careful of are ‘Teacher Bai’, ‘Principal Gao’[2], and you. Is that some kind of code between the two of you?”
Zu An was speechless.
Damned Ji Dengtu. I was kind enough to show you the wisdom of our predecessors, but you turned it against me!
Jiang Luofu continued, “It’s normal to get delayed for a day or two while gathering herbs, so my senior brother didn’t think much of it at the start. That being said, he's been camping at the city entrance for the past few days. In the end, he succumbed to his anxiety and headed to Copper Gong Mountain to look for Xiaoxi. He asked me to wait at the city entrance in his stead lest Xiaoxi returned and he missed her.
“I've been waiting for a few days now, and yet not only has Xiaoxi not appeared, I've even lost contact with my senior brother. I gave him one of the academy’s messenger pigeons to keep in touch. These messenger pigeons have been through strict training, and my great senior brother went a step further to place a formation on them to guard against predators and arrows. It shouldh have been unlikely for anything to happen to these messenger pigeons, but I haven’t heard from him for days now. I’m worried something might have gone awry, so I decided to take a look.”
Zu An spent a moment in contemplation before replying, “You'll experience a period of weakness after consuming the Marrow Cleansing Pill, so you should focus on integrating its medicinal energy instead. Leave this matter to me. Do you know the rough area they're in?”
Copper Gong Mountain was not small. Blindly searching for someone there was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.
“I only know that Xiaoxi was looking for Shadowmoon Grass. I asked my fourth senior brother, and he said it grows near Shadowmoon Lake,” Jiang Luofu explained, drawing a simple map in midair with her finger.
“Leave it to me,” Zu An replied with a nod. He rushed into the sky and soon vanished over the horizon.
Jiang Luofu stared at his swiftly disappearing silhouette.
There should be no problem since he’s making a move, right?
However, she couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling looming in her heart, so she decided to look for her little senior sister to make a divination about the matter.
1. Badger game is an extortion scheme where you put the victim in compromising positions so that you can blackmail them. ☜
2. Teacher Bai and Principal Gao is a meme in China, referring to likable teachers that students tend to have crushes on. ☜
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