Ch366 – Gifting a Peach

　　“Tsk.” Esteemed Huai Yu touched his chin, “I just want your Dage to learn more. Speaking of which, what has my senior martial brother been teaching you? He doesn’t cultivate the sword path, so he probably won’t be able to give you any advice?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi thought for a moment, “Although Master never taught me sword cultivation, he has given me many pointers.”

　　Esteemed Huai Yu raised his eyebrows and looked at Lin Xuanzhi with distrustful eyes, “When he takes in disciples, it’s all just for fun and that includes you as well. Which disciple has he not left them to do whatever they like and also to practice on their own?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi answered with a smile, “Master will look for me to play chess and his strategies are very profound. After playing chess with him, I would always be enlightened. The things that I could never comprehend before, I’d always be able to understand afterwards.”

　　Esteemed Huai Yu couldn’t help but purse his lips and stared at Lin Xuanzhi suspiciously, “Of all things that he could have taught you, he had to teach you tactics. Whenever you play a game of chess with him, how long do they last?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi replied, “The first game lasted for ten days while the second game lasted for fifteen days.”

　　Esteemed Huai Yu, “… So long ah. You are really too patient.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded, “I do think that it had dragged on for a little too long as well. However, unknowingly, time has always slipped by so quickly and even I didn’t realise it. So it seems that Martial Uncle has played chess with Master before.”

　　Esteemed Huai Yu’s face filled with fear and he waved his hand, “Let’s not talk about it. That year, my senior martial brother told me that in order to develop my critical thinking, he insisted on getting me to play chess with him. In the end, I had been hopelessly defeated within an hour and he even scolded me for being careless and then punished me by going up the mountain to chop bamboo… You have never seen that kind of bamboo. Who knows how long those old bamboo shoots have lived for to have grown so scarily hard.”

　　Yan Tianhen laughed, “My Dage can play chess with Martial Uncle for at least ten days while you could only play for an hour. With one look, one can tell that you weren’t putting in enough attention and wasn’t serious about it. Martial Uncle should be angry.”

　　“What do you know?” Esteemed Huai Yu squinted his eyes at Yan Tianhen, “When regular people play chess with my senior martial brother, it would take no longer than the time for one wick of incense and a cup of tea, which is roughly about two to four hours. Back then, there were only just a few people who were able to play a game with my senior martial brother for more than three days, so that’s why— “

　　Esteemed Huai Yu pointed his chin at Lin Xuanzhi, “You boy, you’re still very impressive.”

　　Even though he said that, Esteemed Huai Yu secretly muttered to himself: This boy could actually play chess with his senior martial brother for so long, which shows that he is a schemer with an unfathomable and unpredictable mind. His senior martial brother’s mind was already unpredictable enough. For him to take a step, he would have foreseen one hundred steps ahead. Even if this boy might not be as brilliant as his senior martial brother, he is definitely no worse off.

　　If this was used against an enemy, it was definitely a good thing. He was afraid that it might be used on his stupidly tender and sweet Ah Hen.

　　However…

　　Esteemed Huai Yu watched Lin Xuanzhi coldly as he flirted with Yan Tianhen and he just wanted to roll his eyes.

　　Lin Xuanzhi smiled and cupped Yan Tianhen’s little face, as he thought to himself: At any rate, I’m someone who has been involved with a soul plate for thousands of years. If I can’t even last for ten days to half a month with Esteemed Lan Yue, then these thousands of years would have all been wasted.

　　The soul plate was not only meant to craft, he was also knowledgeable and had numerous secret books. In the past, whenever Lin Xuanzhi was agitated from crafting, he would always sit and read some books.

　　“Martial Uncle.” Lin Xuanzhi asked, “How did the shifting of the peach tree go?”

　　Speaking of the peach tree that Esteemed Huai Yu had dug up from the depths of Hunting Peak, he boiled with anger, “That blasted tree! I painstakingly brought it back from the forest and even carried it all the way back here. Who knew that the peach tree couldn’t last for three days. It had already withered and no matter what I do, I just can’t seem to save it. Also I have no clue how it had been growing before, since it was actually so delicate.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi had naturally thought of this too, but he needed to find a reason to give those peaches to Esteemed Huai Yu without being suspected.

　　Of course, Esteemed Huai Yu wouldn’t have known that Lin Xuanzhi had done so much just to give him a peach. He could only pout and feel very sad for his peach. His expression looked exactly the same as when Yan Tianhen was unhappy.

　　Ever since he knew that Esteemed Huai Yu was most likely Ah Hen’s father, Lin Xuanzhi would pay more attention in finding similarities between them whenever he saw Esteemed Huai Yu.

　　The first glance did not matter, but the more he looked at them, the more he felt that their attitude was similar and even their temper was the same. It was just that the face of Esteemed Huai Yu was probably fake, while Yan Tianhen’s face… Well there was not much that needed to be said, especially when his original appearance was covered by cracks.

　　So in terms of appearances, there were absolutely no similarities between these two people.

　　“Go find me some peaches,” Esteemed Huai Yu demanded shamelessly.

　　Yan Tianhen felt it was ridiculous, “Why should my Dage look for it?”

　　Esteemed Huai Yu went poker-faced, “He and the peaches are fated. Previously, he found peaches for me and now if he were to look for them again, he would surely be able to find them.”

　　Yan Tianhen, “……”

　　That’s not how fate works. That’s some messed-up logic.

　　Lin Xuanzhi glanced lightly at Esteemed Huai Yu, “The previous time, I found it by accident. This time, I can only try my luck, so I can’t guarantee I can really find another one.”

　　Esteemed Huai Yu nodded and waved his sleeve. “Go ahead, go ahead. If you can’t find the peaches, it’s fine to search for some other fruit. This way, we can avoid you not returning at all, then I won’t have anyone to compare notes with.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “……”

　　Yan Tianhen, “……”

　　He really thought that Demon Venerable You Ming’s character was not very good.

　　You would definitely get beaten if you behave like this!

　　Although his mind was full of different scenarios, since Esteemed Huai Yu had spoken, Lin Xuanzhi could only take Yan Tianhen along to Hunting Peak.

　　Ling Chigu and Feng Jingyu soon appeared in front of them.

　　Feng Jingyu stood on Ling Chigu’s shoulder, “Good thing this king hid well, so we wouldn’t be discovered by that Huai Yu guy. You two are really too much. Just to let him come to Hunting Peak to find the peach tree— although the peaches were really delicious. I don’t know what kind of good fortune this Hunting Peak has to even produce such a lovely peach tree.”

　　Feng Jingyu had obviously eaten some peaches and gotten a lot of benefits from it. Just by talking about it, he could still taste the lingering aftertaste, so he couldn’t help snapping his beak.

　　It didn’t matter to Ling Chigu, since he could not eat anything anyways.

　　Not much luck to eat something delicious ah.

　　Yan Tianhen was speechless, “Let’s not talk about it. My master now wants Dage to find him another peach tree.”

　　Feng Jingyu tilted his head, “It’s better not to look for it. If another has been found, this Huai Yu guy will definitely be mindful of past experience and not want to move the tree again. This way, he’ll have to keep running here many times. Then sooner or later, Ling Chigu and I will be discovered by him.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded, “We definitely can’t keep searching for it anymore. Even if we do find it, we definitely can’t tell him.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi interjected, “It was already a miracle to find such a plant on this mountain. How could a second one be found so easily? If people were to know, wouldn’t this mountain be dug up thoroughly?”

　　Feng Jingyu and Yan Tianhen nodded in unison.

　　When Ling Chigu saw this, he also silently moved his head a little.

　　Feng Jingyu, “……”

　　Feng Jingyu asked, “When do you plan to travel to the Myriad Beast Demonic Forest?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi replied, “In twenty days’ time.”

　　.

　　Feng Jingyu looked at Ling Chigu, “I think you will take Ah Gu with you, so I can only follow you with great reluctance.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi stared at Feng Jingyu and did not speak for a while.

　　Feng Jingyu exploded, “Why are you staring at this king like that for? It’s creepy.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said with profound meaning, “I just didn’t think you’d stop pretending that you don’t know Ling Chigu.”

　　Feng Jingyu rolled his eyes, “You’ve already seen through the facade. I’d just be a joke if I keep going at it.”

　　Yan Tianhen looked as if he’d been enlightened, “Maomao, so you really know Ah Gu before.”

　　Feng Jingyu hissed and slapped Ling Chigu on the ear, “Not only does this king and he know each other, but we also have deep connections with each other. What it is exactly, this king will not tell you the details for now.”

　　Ling Chigu turned his head and silently stared at Feng Jingyu with a pair of black eyes. Somehow, Yan Tianhen could actually see some tenderness in Ling Chigu’s usually cold eyes.

　　Lin Xuanzhi smiled faintly, “If you were to come with us, the odds will naturally be higher.”

　　Feng Jingyu said triumphantly, “Nonsense. When this king makes a move, we’ll know if there is one there or not.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi asked, “How is your cultivation recovery coming along?”

　　Feng Jingyu supported his head with his wings, “It’s almost recovered, but it’s enough to deal with you.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded, “Then I’m relieved. At least you won’t hold us back when we enter the forest.”

　　Feng Jingyu, “……”

　　Soon, Feng Jingyu took Ling Chigu into the depths of the forest again, saying that he was going to collect today’s loot.

　　Yan Tianhen took advantage of this time to enter Lin Xuanzhi’s soul space. As soon as he entered, he could see a whole stretch of spiritual plants with various colors and forms.

　　There were two acres of spiritual plants that had already matured. However, when it came to Yan Tianhen’s spiritual field, he had planted many high-grade spiritual plants that he had stolen from Esteemed Huai Yu’s spiritual fields. Thus, there were a considerable number of them that were still in their growing period and couldn’t be used for the time being.

　　However, this was enough to surprise Yan Tianhen.

　　You have got to know that for these spiritual plants to be planted outside, some would need one or two decades to even five or six decades to mature. During the maturing period, if one were to be damaged, they would probably die instantly.

　　Yan Tianhen was overjoyed. However, when he was harvesting the spiritual herbs, he had accidentally woken up the slumbering grass-swallowing worms that were located underground. Not before long, the fat grass-swallowing worms turned up, one by one, to the surface. At first, Yan Tianhen tried to count the total number of worms, but in the end, he had lost count!

　　“Dage!”

　　Yan Tianhen was so scared that goosebumps rose all over his body. The densely packed grass-swallowing worms in the field made his scalp numb.

　　“Ah Hen, what’s the matter?” Lin Xuanzhi had not entered, but he could use his voice to communicate with Yan Tianhen through his mind.

　　Yan Tianhen couldn’t help but rub his arms, “Isn’t the number of grass-swallowing worms a bit too much?”