Chapter 26

Lin SuCi stiffened.

Fixed on him, Yan Boshen’s gaze was clear, yet profound. In the night, his gentle voice made Lin SuCi’s skin tingle.

Was he going to say that he was taking revenge in the middle of the night, removing his clothes to tickle him? No way no way, Yan Boshen would definitely teach him a lesson.

The light in Lin SuCi’s eyes wavered a little, his facefull of concern and innocence mixed together. Hesitating, he spoke, “I just want to see if your wound has healed…”

Yan Boshen’s eyes darkened. “… Is that true?”

Lin SuCi nodded his head firmly, cooperatively stroking Yan Boshen’s bare chest with his hand again. The tip of his finger touched the edge of Yan Boshen’s wound, and his eyebrows drew closer with anxiety. “I’m worried about you.”

The man on top of him did not speak.

A moment later, Yan Boshen rolled and lay down next to Lin SuCi, raising his hand and ruffling Lin SuCi’s soft and silky hair.

“Mn.”

He responded vaguely.

Lin SuCi turned to watch Yan Boshen fixing his clothes up. He paused, and decided that he must play his role to the end. Affectionately, he spoke, “Boshen, what should I do so that your injury can heal faster?”

“Well…”

Yan Boshen seemed to be moved. After a pause, he said, “Your spiritual energy is abundant and pure…”

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Lin SuCi pounced onto him.

The next moment, a palm-sized kitten was squatting on Yan Boshen’s chest, waving his raised tail.

“I’ll just lie here and sleep! I’ll give you spiritual energy!”

Yan Boshen was a little astonished, but the corner of his mouth secretly curved up.

He raised his hand, wrapping it around the little kitten and whispered, “Alright.”

Lin SuCi’s cat form was small, and he was mischievous. His paws scrabbled against Yan Boshen, forcing his way into Yan Boshen’s clothes. Plastered against Yan Boshen’s bare chest, he turned in a circle, and found the most comfortable spot and sprawled down like a pancake.

The kitten’s fine, soft fur was a little ticklish, and his little tail was very naughty as well. Swinging about, it was brushing against Yan Boshen’s body.

The spiritual energy in Lin SuCi was pure and rich. Generously, he learned from how Yan Boshen had treated him in the past, through the connection of their bodies, he transmitted his spiritual energy to him.

The kitten’s body temperature was slightly higher than Yan Boshen. When Yan Boshen looked down, he saw the kitten lying lazily on his chest with his eyes closed.

Yan Boshen endured the tickling of his body, allowing Lin SuCi’s sneaky actions.

As such, a few days gone by. Lin SuCi discovered that the bruise on Yan Boshen’s body was fading. Waking up in the morning, he waved his tail in delight, raising his head and paws as he sprawled on Yan Boshen’s shoulder, his paws drawing in the air. “I’m super incredible right?! I’ve healed you!”

Yan Boshen pulled the kitten into his arms, answering perfunctorily, “Mn, you’re incredible.”

Struggling, Lin SuCi poked his head out from Yan Boshen’s collar, his paws placed on his lapel.

“Why is Shifu forbidding me from turning into my human form?”

Early this morning, Qing Fou had sent a paper crane over to them, and asked Yan Boshen to bring Lin SuCi along to meet the guests. There was only one thing to note, that he was not allowed to turn into his human form, and it would be best for him to act a little feeble and haggard.

In Yan Boshen’s arms was a cat, and they exited the cave, heading down the mountain. His tone sounded as though he was deep in thought, “… He may have a plan.”

Staying in his kitten form was not a problem, but to look haggard and feeble, this was causing Lin SuCi difficulties.

He had been dealt a suffering out of nowhere, and the entire sect was concerned about him. Having been back for a while, other than being tickled, everything tasty and delicious had been given to him. He was allowed to do nothing, and he could play to his heart’s content. When Zhongli Haiming and Xiaolan came back from the market, they even always brought back quite a lot of dried fish they exchanged for him, and fattened him up.

The kitten was now fat and sleek, his fur shiny. Whoever who looked at him would not have thought that he was suffering.

In the courtyard, there were a few strangers.

Lin SuCi immediately saw an old man standing across Qing Fou.

Wasn’t that Zhao-zhangmen 1 of the Chongyun Sect?

Puzzlement flashed past his eyes.

Why did he come here?

”Is this that disciple who was captured by that savage beast?”

Zhao-zhangmen first exchanged a nod and a greeting with Yan Boshen, and his eyes fell onto the kitten emerging from Yan Boshen’s collar. With a face of sincerity, he walked over, reaching out to stroke Lin SuCi’s head.

As soon as Lin SuCi caught sight of this action, his head immediately turned to avoid it.

However, something was faster than him. It was Yan Boshen’s hand, catching a firm hold on Zhao-zhangmen’s hand that was raised towards Lin SuCi.

“It’s him,” Yan Boshen said indifferently.

Zhao-zhangmen pulled his hand back. Not offended, he only sighed. “This child has suffered a grievance.”

“Exactly.”

Qing Fou walked over, holding his hands on to Lin SuCi.

Uptil now, Lin SuCi had only allowed these two people, Qing Fou and Yan Boshen, to carry him. Seeing his shifu’s hands stretching out to him, he leaped lightly into his palms.

Holding onto Lin SuCi, Qing Fou raised his sleeve to hide his round little buttocks, looking bleak. “Zhao-shizhi2, this little disciple of mine is not even a year old! That was an ancient savage beast! This little child of mine barely managed to escape, it really wasn’t easy! He’s still so young, and suffered a shock, and still can’t turn back to his human form now… If not for the timely arrival of my eldest disciple, I might have to be attending my junior’s funeral as an elder.”

Lin SuCi’s little claws happened to hook onto a strand of Qing Fou’s white hair, and tugged on it accidentally.

Qing Fou gave him a warning glance.

Lin SuCi clicked his tongue. He finally understood what was going on. Zhao-zhangmen was probably here to ask after him, the victim. His shifu’s attitude was very obvious, he most likely wanted to scam him out of something.

He liked it!

Lin SuCi’s ears drooped. His little paws covered his mouth, and he choked on a few sobs.

Surprised, Qing Fou raised a brow.

This little fellow was… playing along very well.

“Ah, my poor little disciple, suffering all this for nothing. He has truly been frightened.” Qing Fou looked as though his heart was aching. “Look, a kitten that was growing so well, is now so thin that he’s all left with bones!”

As Qing Fou spoke, he used his sleeve to cover Lin SuCi, only revealing his head.

Fulfilling his role, Lin SuCi meowed feebly.

Zhao-zhangmen had never seen Lin SuCi’s original cat form before. He could only say, “It’s all my fault, causing this child to suffer.”

“Senior, if you don’t mind, I’ve prepared some gifts in apology, all as compensation for this child.”

Under his very eyes, Li Wen had hurt people and ran away. It was hard for Zhao-zhangmen to absolve himself from blame, and so he put away his dignity, coming to apologize personally, his attitude very humble.

Hearing this, Qing Fou signalled Yan Boshen with a look.

With awareness, Yan Boshen took the prop, Lin SuCi, from his hands.

“Come come come, this way, we’ll talk over this slowly.”

Qing Fou welcomed Zhao-zhangmen warmly, his tone extremely cordial.

Lin SuCi had once again returned to Yan Boshen’s arms. He waved his tail, watching his shifu and that Zhao-zhangmen going inside. He asked curiously, “What sort of benefits does shifu want?”

Yan Boshen did not reply, only patting him on the head. “There’s no need for you to worry.”

This matter truly did not Lin SuCi to worry over. He went to the kitchen, and got another plate of milk cakes from Huilian, enjoying them in delight.

Only after Zhao-zhangmen left did Lin SuCi transform. Chewing on some dried fish, he swaggered his way into the main hall.

In the main hall, Qing Fou was bent over the table, grinning hard. When he saw Lin SuCi, he waved him over warmly. “Come here, little kitty.”

Lin SuCi sat cross-legged, opposite him, and handed a stick of dried fish to him.

“Zhao-zhangmen has compensated our sect with 5000 spiritual gems, a high-level spiritual energy gathering plate, charm paper and cinnabar, as well as refined materials. All these are for you.”

Lin SuCi was stunned, and the little dried fish in his mouth almost fell out.

“I don’t need them.”

Qing Fou was very firm. “I’ve already said that they’re for you, just accept it. Buy what you need to buy, and get the energy collecting plate ready. You may need it in the future. Your store of charm paper and cinnabar is nearly emptied, and these can replace them. As for the materials… it’s also time for you to forge a weapon for yourself.”

Before Lin SuCi could even react, Qing Fou had pushed a dimension ring at him.

Lin SuCi thought over it, and decided to accept it.

This ring had yet to recognise an owner. On his little finger, it gave a sudden flash, and his spiritual aura was carved onto it.

Lin SuCi took a look. He first shoved the charm paper and cinnabar at Huilian without thinking, then pushed the refined materials at Ruan Linggu, tossing the energy-gathering plate to Xiaolan, and finally those 5000 spiritual gems, he poured them all out in a pile, nearly crushing Zhongli Haiming to death.

“Little shidi?”

Wearing an empty ring, Lin SuCi slowly moved over to Yan Boshen and plonked himself down.

“I feel that these items are better with you than me, I don’t have much time to use them.” He shoved a milk cake into Yan Boshen’s hand, he himself eating another, and his words were muffled and unclear.

Zhongli Haiming climbed out from the pile of spiritual gems, angry.

“Why did you give me all the spiritual gems?!”

“Little shixiong, aren’t you good at making money? I’m going to rely on you to support the family.” Lin SuCi threw a wink at Zhongli Haiming.

Zhongli Haiming raised his Chin proudly, unable to disguise his pride. “Hmph, supporting the family is not at all an issue for me. I’ll take your 5000 spiritual gems for now, and I’ll return you 50,000 at the end of the year!”

Lin SuCi clapped his hands loudly together. “Little shixiong is impressive!”

“Xiao-ci.” Ruan Linggu studied those materials and asked him, “Are there any weapons you want? I’ll forge them for you.”

“I don’t know anything, and I’m going to learn about talismans from Huilian-shixiong now. I won’t be able to use any weapon.”

“Alright then, I’ll hold on to them first. Later on, I’ll let you look at them, and make you a top of the line weapon.”

“No need.”

The person who replied was Yan Boshen.

He continued indifferently, “I’ll be the one to seek his weapon.”

“Wow! Since Eldest shixiong is doing it himself, our little shidi will definitely not have to worry!” Copying Lin SuCi, Xiao Lan clapped his hands together, smiling brightly. “As family, I won’t be standing on ceremony. I’m also about to reach my next breakthrough, and so I’ll use the energy gathering plate first. When I’ve broken through, I’ll be at Little shidi’s service.”

Lin SuCi’s eyes brightened. “Great! Fifth shixiong, you must remember what you just said!”

The smile on Xiao Lan’s face stiffened. He suddenly felt a cold gloom behind him.

Did he… say something wrong?

Qing Fou watched his disciples behaving harmoniously. Ignoring the thunderstruck expression on his fifth disciple’s face, he knocked on the table. “Other than this, Zhao-zhangmen had also promised something.”

“During the event of Scatter of Flowers and Leaves, the disciples of Chongyun Sect will be allied with us.”

This, out of all the promises, could be considered the one that Qing Fou most valued.

Lin SuCi was curious. “Their sect disciples are better than us?”

If it was the past, he had thought himself from a small little sect, and anyone could destroy them. Ever since Yan Boshen and Li Wen had exchanged blows, Lin SuCi was now filled with confidence.

His eldest shixiong was like a Shaolin sweeper monk, so what did this mean?

There were hidden talents in Cardinal Sect, they were not idling about!

“… Not really,” Qing Fou said. “Amongst my disciples, you’re currently the one with the lowest cultivation, but you reached a breakthrough in one go, and it’s also very impressive. Chongyun Sect has thousands of disciples, and disciples in your generation who broke through like you are only a handful.”

“The alliance I created with Zhao-zhangmen is also not to let them take charge of you all. It’s only to let their disciples, if they see you in danger, lend a helping hand only.”

Lin SuCi listened, and finally asked something he had always been secretly wondering about. “Shifu, exactly how many enemies do our family have?”

Why else was there a need to be so anxious about a secret realm?

Qing Fou’s smile stiffened.

Ruan Linggu silently covered her face.

Xiao Lan held his fingers up, doing some calculations.

Zhongli Haiming sneered.

Yan Boshen knocked him on his head gently, his voice sounding amused. “You reckless child.”

Was asking this sort of question being reckless?

Lin SuCi sucked on his teeth.

Qing Fou coughed dryly, skipping over Lin SuCi’s question directly. As though nothing happened, he continued, “By the way, about the Scattering of Flowers and Leaves event, we can have five disciples participating, and these five people are…”

“I’m not going!”

Ruan Linggu was the first to jump up, shaking her head and waving her hands. “Shifu, you know how I’m like. I’ve always been kind, and dare not even step on an ant. That sort of place, filled with the scent of blood, shouldn’t be a place where a weak girl like me should go.”

Always been kind? Dared not step on ants? Lin SuCi stretched his neck to look at his fourth shijie, but could not detect a trace of a weak girl from her fierce temperament.

Qing Fou, “Linggu, you can’t always avoid…”

“Shifu,” Ruan Linggu responded decisively. “If I went, who will bear the consequences of whatever that happens?”

Qing Fou fell silent for a moment. “… Alright, I won’t force you.”

“If Linggu’s not going, then you all will have to go.” Qing Fou rubbed his temple. “Ah, if Wuwang was here, he would have been able to replace one of you.”

Xu Wuwang, Second shixiong, very good at fighting.

Lin SuCi recalled the information of this shixiong he had never met from his memories.

“Second shixiong is at the other end of the Sapphire Sea Continent, and it’ll probably be a while before he’s back,” Zhongli Haiming said.

Sapphire Sea Continent…Lin SuCi froze. Wasn’t that the place that the little fool suffered many setbacks, trying over and over again to conquer but failed to do so?

He remembered that there seemed to be some great immortal there. However, he had no quarrels with the protagonist, and other than appearing to provide Bai Qingkong with some medicinal ingredients, there was nothing else.

Second shixiong was at Sapphire Sea Continent, who knew if he would meet that mysterious immortal from the book.

Tilting his head, Lin SuCi pondered over it. Finally, when he dragged himself away from the Sapphire Sea Continent, only then did he realise the meaning of Qing Fou’s words.

Second shixiong was not home, and Fourth shijie refused to leave home. The five people, which meant that… he was going too?

His eyes brightened, and in his excitement, he waved his tail.

He was about to be one year old! Finally! He could go to a unique landmark in the world of cultivation!

The Scattering of Flowers and Leaves, although it did not even have a name in the book, it was still a big step in his, Lin SuCi’s, life!

A month later, Cardinal Sect was all prepared and ready to go.

As he was about to represent his sect, Lin SuCi finally wore the uniform of Cardinal Sect.

A set of… black clothing.

Lin SuCi and Zhongli Haiming were tiny, and despite the black clothes, they still had a youthful aura.

But the rest…

Huilian looked mean and harsh, like an insidious, cunning person. Xiao Lan was carrying a huge sword on his back, and despite his adorable smile, he looked like a cold-blooded killer.

As for Yan Boshen…

When Lin SuCi’s eyes fell on him, he could barely drag them away again.

Yan Boshen looked indifferent, his eyes lowered and his lips tight. In his black uniform, he looked as though he was surrounded by fog, and when he looked up, his eyes were dark like a starry abyss.

Lin SuCi’s mouth fell open.

His Boshen really looked like… a cold and ruthless villain.

“Come here.” Yan Boshen’s gaze fell on him. In an instant, a low voice was calling him, and there was a trace of gentleness in it that was hard to detect.

Lin SuCi’s vision wavered. That terrifying and suffocating image had disappeared. Standing in front of him was still his official keeper that pampered him.

What was he thinking? There was a huge divide between that terrible villain who killed like a devil and his gentle and good Boshen!

Just now, he must have been blind.

With a wave of his tail, Lin SuCi bounced into Yan Boshen’s arms.

The sea of clouds moved rapidly, and they travelled miles in a flash.

The enormous sword landed.

Birds were calling out to each other in the valley, and flowers were everywhere.

In the bustling valley, there were countless people gathered there.

Lin SuCi stuck his tongue out, following Yan Boshen closely.

Everywhere were disciples sent by various important sects. They were instructing their disciples at the top of their voices, and everyone was talking. It was extremely noisy.

A golden light appeared in the sky.

Up in the air of the valley, there seemed to be a pen. One stroke at a time, a row of golden words were written.

Lin SuCi looked up, leaning back in Yan Boshen’s arms. He pointed at those words, reading them out loud. “Purple – Gold – Glaze – The – Door – Opens”

Lin SuCi read them word by word, and fell into an incredulous silence.

“Boshen…” He grabbed Yan Boshen’s sleeve, speaking uncertainly, “Aren’t we here for the Scattering of Flowers and Leaves? Why… why is it written… Purple Gold Glaze?”

In <Soaring Sword>, Scattering of Flowers and Leaves had no name. However, the Purple Gold Glaze, wasn’t that the little instance where the little fool Bai Qingkong was schemed against, chased, the one where he finally conquered the secret realm?

“Little shidi, you don’t know this. Scattering of Flowers and Leaves is the name that older sects like ours use. It had been changed to Purple Gold Glaze,” Huilian explained.

Lin SuCi sucked in a breath.

He… was participating in the main plot?!

Before his astonishment ended, amidst the noise behind him, came a sudden cry of joy and excitement. “Xingchen!!”

Lin SuCi blinked, slowly turning around.

Not far away, in the crowd, he saw the little fool Bai Qingkong dressed in green. Standing in the middle of a sect, he was waving his hand madly at him in delight.

“Ye Xingchen!”

Lin SuCi smiled, waving at Bai Qingkong.

After reflexively greeting the little fool, Lin SuCi shrunk back. He suddenly felt that his back was a little cold, and his hair stood on end.

“Ye Xingchen, what an interesting name…”

Lin SuCi stiffened.

Yan Boshen’s low, magnetic and soft voice rang in Lin SuCi’s ears.

“… Come, explain to me, why did he call you Ye Xingchen?”