Chapter 17: The dumpling in the peach blossom grove 🔒

Gui Ying’s gaze shifted to Lin Xi, “What do you think? About traveling together with Sect Leader Lan.”

Lin Xi glanced at Lan Xing.

She looked exactly as described in the original novel—dressed in green robes, ink-black hair, a few small bells hanging from her hair that chimed softly.

“Mm.” Lin Xi considered for a moment before replying, “I’ve always admired Sect Leader Lan’s character. I’m very happy to meet her today.”

Perhaps she could even follow the clues and meet his good neighbor Xue Mufeng.

But after studying Gui Ying’s expression, it seemed he wasn’t very willing.

So he added, “However, my cultivation level isn’t high, and my martial nephew is hot-tempered, impulsive, and timid. I’m afraid we’d only be a burden.”

Shangguan Luo immediately glared with dead-fish eyes and cursed, “Who’s your martial nephew? And what do you mean by that? You—”

Gui Ying silently tossed a Silence Talisman onto Shangguan Luo.

Shangguan Luo fell quiet instantly, though he still jumped three feet into the air.

Gui Ying smiled, “Kui Zhuo should be nearby. I sensed his aura just now, to the southwest. Jin Zhi should be there as well.”

This subtly revealed Gui Ying’s stance.

Lan Xing felt a bit regretful on one hand, but on the other, she now learned the exact location of Kui Zhuo and the others.

Not entirely a bad thing.

When Shangguan Luo’s Silence Talisman was finally torn off, he immediately started cursing again: “F*ck! What the hell is wrong with you two? Ganging up on the lonesome me? And why aren’t we traveling with that cultivator sister? I think she seemed pretty nice! You’re all acting so weird and cryptic. Suffocating, suffocating…”

Gui Ying’s smile faded: “Young Master Shangguan, do you know that your temper is exactly like Senior Brother’s when he was young?”

Shangguan Luo, “So?”

Lin Xi smiled and kindly reminded him, “So you’d better rein it in, Shangguan Luo. Be careful Sect Leader Senior Brother doesn’t take out his childhood grudges on you.”

Shangguan Luo shivered.

Take out how? What grudges?

Of course it was Gui Ying’s resentment from being beaten up in his youth by the lunatic Shangguan Shilin!

Shangguan Luo shut up, Lin Xi also quieted down, and the place instantly became much more peaceful.

Occasionally, some tactless demonic beasts charged at them. Most were dealt with by Shangguan Luo and Lin Xi.

Gui Ying couldn’t be bothered to intervene.

Except for the time one beast injured Lin Xi, and Gui Ying blew it to pieces with a talisman.

They strolled along unhurriedly, like a happy trio of good friends out for a walk.

Though there weren’t clusters of white clouds in the sky, it was blue, which made the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole feel especially wondrous.

Suddenly, a swath of peach-pink entered their view.

Lin Xi raised an eyebrow, “What’s that?”

Gui Ying took a look, “Probably a peach blossom grove.”

Lin Xi was somewhat startled.

Unexpectedly, there was a place like this inside the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole.

“Is there anything special about this peach blossom grove?”

“Nothing special.” Gui Ying looked at the expanse of pink, “Just not many demonic beasts. It’s quite suitable for dates.”

Uh…

Lin Xi felt that was unnecessary.

But Shangguan Luo was very interested in the grove, “Let’s go take a look? It must be interesting.”

Lin Xi rolled her eyes: “What, do you have a female cultivator you fancy?”

Shangguan Luo instantly bristled, “What nonsense are you spouting?! I just think appreciating peach blossoms is an elegant pastime! Don’t you understand? So unromantic—be careful you don’t find a Dao companion in the future!”

He had forcefully turned peach-blossom viewing into talk about finding a Dao companion, and he looked rather pleased with himself.

For once, he had spoken to his heart’s content.

Lin Xi laughed, “Who said anything about finding a Dao companion? I’m not into female cultivators. Long live being single.”

Gui Ying’s gaze swept subtly over the two of them. The talisman in his hand actually began to dance at his fingertips, as if he were in quite a good mood.

In the end, Lin Xi and Gui Ying were dragged into the peach blossom grove by Shangguan Luo anyway.

Sigh. Fine, fine, consider it keeping the obedient martial nephew company.

Looking at the layers upon layers of interlaced blossoms, Shangguan Luo let out a cheer.

Since childhood, there had never been any peach blossoms in their Luoyun Sect. Even if there were, Shangguan Shilin would soon go mad and smash them to pieces.

Once, he had run into an old granny selling flowers. The blossoms she carried were delicate and unique.

So he bought a few and foolishly stuck them in a vase.

Of course they couldn’t survive. Those flowers were meant to grow on trees. In less than half a month, they withered.

He tried pouring spiritual energy into them, but the flowers couldn’t bear the strain and shattered.

He had cried miserably back then, secretly biting his finger and swearing that one day he would have an entire peach blossom forest of his own.

And now, this place could finally fulfill his fantasy.

Watching the peach blossoms drifting across the sky, he found his mood unexpectedly brightening.

Lin Xi swept his gaze over the grove before them.

Petals filled the air. When the wind blew, layers upon layers rippled like interwoven waves.

There was peach pink, pale red, crimson, soft blush intertwined together like a dream.

Some demonic beasts stood quietly within, mostly drinking from the water source or resting.

Everything was very harmonious.

As if it was a hidden paradise, cut off from the rest of the world.

Lin Xi recalled an ancient prose he had once read: The Peach Blossom Spring. So this must be what a true utopia looked like.

Only, it lacked the curling smoke of cooking fires and the secluded households shut away from the world.

Gui Ying seemed thoughtful. He caught a drifting peach blossom in his palm and infused it with a strand of gentle spiritual energy.

Almost instantly, the blossom that had already fallen took root upon touching the ground. Though it was merely a flower and not even a pit, a new plant sprouted at once, leaving others astonished.

Shangguan Luo’s mouth stretched nearly to his ears: “Ah? T-T-This… how did you do that? Why can’t I?”

“You’re a fire spiritual root, of course you can’t.” Lin Xi said lazily, tapping him on the head. “But you really tried something like that before?”

“Of course! Unfortunately, I destroyed it.”

A rustling sound came from nearby. Shangguan Luo instinctively gathered spiritual energy, and Lin Xi almost drew his sword. But when a small black lump like a coal ball rolled out, both of them relaxed.

It was a pitifully tiny demonic beast, wobbling its way forward.

Round and fluffy all over.

Though it was black as coal, its pair of peach-pink eyes were especially lively.

“What cultivation level is this little coal ball?” Shangguan Luo asked bluntly.

The tiny spirit beast instantly stiffened, glaring at him with hostility as if shouting, “Don’t call me a coal ball!”

“Qi Refining stage,” Gui Ying murmured. He sounded faintly regretful: “Lin Xi, do you want a contracted beast?”

“What?” Lin Xi blinked, “This… but I’m only at Foundation Establishment, and it’s only Qi Refining.”

“It suits you precisely because it’s at Qi Refining. If you rely on a contracted beast to boost your cultivation too much, it’s bad for consolidating your foundation.”

But…

But can’t I just wait? Wait until I reach Golden Core or Nascent Soul before contracting a beast? Why does it have to be now with this little fluff ball?

Lin Xi was bewildered.

“This… maybe I should wait a bit longer.”

Gui Ying lifted his eyes slightly; a faint golden light flickered within them.

“Are you sure you want to wait? This is a rare demonic beast with ancient bloodline. Once raised, it’ll definitely be far more useful than Yue Chuyin.”

Lin Xi: “Is that so…”

I must say, Sect Leader Senior Brother, your comparison is truly brilliant…

At this moment, Yue Chuyin inexplicably sneezed: ?

Please don’t drag me into this.

“So what is this?” Shangguan Luo scooped up the beast and blurted, “I know! It’s definitely a puppy.”

The black fluff ball struggled even harder.

Gui Ying couldn’t stand it anymore and flicked a strand of spiritual energy that made Shangguan Luo stumble.

Freed from Shangguan Luo’s clutches, the little black ball immediately scampered over to Lin Xi and clung to his clothes, refusing to let go.

Oho.

Lin Xi shot Shangguan Luo a glance. An ancient bloodline—no wonder Shangguan Luo couldn’t tell its cultivation level. So his foundation was unstable and his cultivation wasn’t solid enough~

Gui Ying looked expressionlessly at the fluff ball hanging off Lin Xi’s robes, “You’re just going to let it cling to you like that?”

“I don’t want to, but it doesn’t seem like it plans to let go…”

The black beast instantly looked smug. Its peach-pink eyes curved into slits, as if saying, “Contract with me, contract with me!”

Shangguan Luo suddenly realized something: “Hey, hey, hey! Wait a minute! I was the one who suggested coming to this peach blossom grove. Shouldn’t this fluff ball be mine?”

Lin Xi had just been about to retort when Gui Ying teased from the side, “Coal ball? Dog?”

Shangguan Luo was instantly speechless.

Besides, the little fluff ball was glaring at him with obvious anger—clearly disdaining him.

In contrast, it seemed especially fond of Lin Xi.

So…

Lin Xi looked at the small creature and rubbed its fur. The texture really did feel a bit like that of a kitten or puppy. “Let’s form a contract.”

The black fluff ball’s eyes curved into slits, visibly overjoyed.

In the blink of an eye, a streak of spiritual light sank into the little ball’s body and then disappeared. A simple equal contract was completed.

“If it’s an equal contract, it might seek another master once it grows stronger.” Gui Ying said, a trace of doubt in his voice.

Lin Xi smiled, “I don’t think it will. Even if it really abandons me, then either its character is bad or I’m too useless.”

When that time comes, he could always find another. Why worry about it now?

Besides, Lin Xi instinctively felt that this little fluff ball wouldn’t do something like that.

“What should we name it?” Lin Xi looked around, his gaze brushing past Gui Ying’s Qiongyao Sword. Inspiration struck. “How about… Mutao (Peach Wood)?”

“What’s that? ‘Wood-head’ (Mutou)?”

Shangguan Luo burst out laughing, “I’ve never heard such a tacky name!”

Lin Xi corrected him, “It’s Mu-tao! Not ‘wooden head,’ you blockhead.”

Gui Ying said mildly, “If I remember correctly, didn’t Senior Brother once have a sword named Tie Zhu (Iron Pillar)?”

It had actually been called Miaoluo, but when the teenage Shangguan Shilin first saw it, he had exclaimed: “Ah! It looks like an iron pillar!”

Thus, the cultivation world’s most comical spirit sword, the Iron Pillar Sword, was born.

Shangguan Luo had nothing to say again and could only shut up resentfully.

Cast me a peach, and I’ll repay you with jade—this was a line from the Book of Songs.

Gui Ying and Shangguan Luo had never heard of it. Shangguan Luo thought it bizarre—“mutao” meant papaya. Who would name their contracted beast “Papaya”??

Mutao however was clearly delighted, bouncing along behind them.

Lin Xi observed its movements and appearance and concluded it was a juvenile raccoon dog while Shangguan Luo insisted it was a dog. The two argued endlessly over the matter.

“Raccoon dog!” Lin Xi roared.

“Dog!” Shangguan Luo screeched.

“Raccoon!” “Dog!” “Raccoon!” “Dog!” …

Gui Ying grabbed his family’s junior brother by the collar and hauled him to his side, “Stop shouting. Your faces are practically pressed together.”

Shangguan Luo coolly pulled away, muttering under his breath, “What do you do when all of your martial uncles are idiots…”