Chapter 33
Xiao Xiao’s cheeks felt a little hot being stared at by Wei Jie’s unrestrained gaze. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Wei Jie was not flustered even after being caught. He leisurely squatted on the cart board of the horse cart, then deliberately leaned closer and said, “Master, your face… is dirty. Do you want me to wipe it for you?”
Hmm, this shameless sophistry when caught peeping was indeed Xiao Xiao’s genuine teaching. The unfilial disciple learned it very well.
Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded by his retort and could only fiercely stuff a sour fruit into his laughing mouth to see if she could block his words!
Yu Ling’er stretched her neck from the back of the cart and saw this playful banter between the master and disciple. She felt that Xiao Xiao was too frivolous as a master!
She snorted disdainfully again, then took out the jade pendant she had in her bosom, pressed it tightly against her face, looked at the floating clouds in the sky, and continued to silently lament.
This was the love token that Young Pavilion Master Qin gave her. She just didn’t know when she could get rid of this vulgar Talisman Sect and go to Soaring Cloud Pavilion to find him…
With the help of the horse cart, the group finally arrived at their destination.
Luoyi City was the territory of Prince Can, the emperor’s most favored younger brother, and it was also an important route connecting the north and south. Every day when the city gate opened, there was an endless stream of traffic.
However, when they were near a grove by the city gate, they found a pair of identical girls standing by the road, staring straight at Wei Jie.
Xiao Xiao recognized that these twins were the two daughters of the Wei family head and also Wei Jie’s cousins.
It turned out that the two girls came to deliver a family letter to Wei Jie.
It seemed that the old matriarch of the Wei family had always been uneasy about her grandson, so she asked her two granddaughters to send some things to Wei Jie.
As for how they knew Wei Jie was here, there was some trick to it. It was said that the matriarch of the Wei family divined and found out that they would come to Luoyi City.
So the two girls had arrived early, but they didn’t expect Wei Jie and the others to come so late.
In addition to the family letter, the old matriarch also asked the two granddaughters to bring Wei Jie a whip and a small box.
This whip was the one Wei Jie originally used to tie up the corpse-eating beast. Now the body of the whip seemed to have silver threads added to it, and the whip body flashed with silver light under the sunlight.
On the long handle of the whip, the demon-subduing talisman seal of the Wei family was inlaid.
The originally ordinary whip was no longer simple with this talisman seal blessing. It had the blessing of the Wei family ancestors.
However, to have such a demon-subduing talisman seal, one had to be a disciple of the Wei family who had passed the trial.
Like Wei Jie, who had left home early and privately changed his surname, he shouldn’t have such qualifications.
But for some reason, the person in charge of the Wei family changed his mind and sent such a blessed whip to Wei Jie.
The elder sister of the twins opened her mouth to explain, “Grandmother said that Cousin, you were able to catch the corpse-eating beast, which is equivalent to passing the Wei family’s trial of subduing demons and eliminating monsters. Of course, you can get the talisman seal blessing.”
But Wei Jie obviously didn’t want to be acknowledged by the Wei family. He frowned and looked at the whip, hesitating to take it.
Seeing this, Xiao Xiao pinched Wei Jie’s waist and then smiled at Wei Jie and whispered in his ear, “Jie’er, be good. If you don’t accept it, your grandmother will definitely suspect that I, your master, instigated you to be estranged from your grandmother. It’s fine to accept a coffin nail, but don’t let your grandmother get angry and send another one…”
What a joke, if he didn’t accept it, wouldn’t the Wei family suspect her, this master possessed by the Demon Bead?
The coffin nail that the Wei family matriarch gave to Wei Jie to nail her to death in the future was still in the big wooden box used for luggage in the horse cart!
Besides, how could he refuse the kind intention of the elder? If he didn’t like this whip, he could just not use it in the future!
Wei Jie looked down at Xiao Xiao, who was winking and making faces, thought silently for a while, and finally stopped being stubborn and took the whip.
As for that box, it seemed to contain a letter personally written by the Wei family matriarch.
Xiao Xiao didn’t like to pry into other people’s family privacy. Seeing that Wei Jie didn’t have a falling out with his cousins, she tactfully walked away.
After finishing the tasks entrusted by the grandmother, the twin sisters got on their horses and left.
Wei Jie stood alone in the woods. After reading the letter, it took a long time before he came out of the woods.
Xiao Xiao found that his face didn’t look very good, so she asked him in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
Wei Jie put away the letter as if nothing had happened, then said in a deep voice, “It’s nothing… Let’s enter the city.”
But when entering the city, everyone else had gone in, but he still stood at the city gate in a daze.
Xiao Xiao looked back at him and was also silent for a moment. Although she wasn’t clear what he was hesitating about at this time, she knew that this city was really a bit… too heavy for Wei Jie’s future.
She even got distracted for a moment and thought that if he changed his mind at the last minute and didn’t want to enter the city… then forget it…
But while she was in a daze, Wei Jie had already walked to her side and very naturally pushed her slender shoulders and said, “Let’s go, let’s enter the city!”
After entering the city, the little fox Yu Ling’er, who had almost never left the mountain, couldn’t stop looking around. She pulled Tang Youshu to look east and west, wanting to buy whatever she saw.
However, Xiao Xiao and Wei Jie seemed to have lost interest and had no intention of shopping. Wei Jie found a teahouse and took the injured-armed Xiao Xiao to have a few cups of tea.
When Yu Ling’er excitedly came back with a pile of copper pots and tangram puzzles, Xiao Xiao and Wei Jie had also eaten a plate of cakes in the teahouse.
When drinking tea just now, Xiao Xiao found that Wei Jie had rarely become very quiet, drinking tea and being absent-minded.
She guessed that his unusual behavior should be related to the letter sent by the Wei family, but when she tried to ask about it, he came back to his senses and casually talked about the cakes, changing the topic.
In Wei Jie’s previous trajectory, he didn’t return to the Wei family for a meal, let alone help his uncle Wei Jingfeng catch the corpse-eating beast.
At that time, because he had stolen the Golden Core of the Four Great Sects, his reputation was ruined, and he had no connection with the Wei family.
Although it was the grandmother who ordered the twin sisters to send the letter this time, if Father Wei Jingfeng didn’t nod, the twin sisters probably wouldn’t dare to come.
It could be seen that this time, Wei Jie’s relationship with the head of the Wei family had inexplicably eased a lot.
Xiao Xiao didn’t know what the letter said that made him so mentally absent, but it seemed that Wei Jie didn’t intend to tell her.
At this moment, the two who went shopping came back. As soon as Tang Youshu came in carrying big and small bags, Wei Jie signaled his disciple to go settle the tea bill.
Tang Youshu rummaged through his cloth pocket and said to his master in a low voice, “This disciple is incompetent. The silver has all been spent by that Yu Ling’er…”
Before joining the Talisman Sect, Tang Youshu was quite well-off financially, but after entering the sect, he began to support a family.
Buying the horse cart earlier had already used up most of his travel expenses. Now encountering a fox girl who never had enough of anything, Tang Youshu spent his last copper coin in his pocket.
Wei Jie sneered, “You actually listened to her. Could it be that you’ve changed to follow the fox sect instead?”
Tang Youshu said helplessly, “If I didn’t buy it, she would just pick it up and leave, causing others to chase and scold behind us. I had no choice!”
Xiao Xiao heard Tang Youshu say this and immediately came to the rescue, “How can you blame Mr. Tang for this? He is the most kind-hearted person and won’t refuse others… Besides, why should he spend the money he earns through hard work on you? It’s just right that we don’t have money. We’ll earn it ourselves.”
Wei Jie raised his eyebrows, “How to earn it?”
Xiao Xiao had already thought of it before entering the city. She didn’t want to keep spending her master’s money either, so she pointed to an empty space at the corner of the street and said, “Our Talisman Sect is full of talents. What’s difficult about performing on the street?”
As a result, in order to pay off the tea bill, the three generations of the Talisman Sect, plus a fox girl, were ready to start performing on the prosperous streets of Luoyi City.
The owner of the teahouse was afraid that these few people would eat and run, so he specially called a waiter to keep an eye on them at the street corner.
Wei Jie seemed to find it embarrassing and refused to step forward. He first went to the nearby money exchange and came out, then sat on a stool dragged from the teahouse like a big boss, with his arms crossed, watching his master perform on the street with the crowd.
Xiao Xiao beat the copper gong borrowed from the monkey performer next to her and shouted loudly, “Ancestral magic trick! Turning people alive! Everyone come and see!”
Tang Youshu followed his grand-master’s instructions and held an eating bowl, waiting to collect copper plates on the side.
And Cui Xiao Xiao pulled Yu Ling’er to stand in the field. The two girls, as beautiful as flowers, were more effective than the copper gong. In a short while, they attracted a large group of men, women, old and young.
Yu Ling’er was not only afraid of the dark but also a little dizzy from the crowd. Seeing so many people watching her, she became a little timid, and her fox tail almost fell to the ground.
Xiao Xiao was quick-witted and pinched her waist hard, letting the fox girl hold back this breath.
She smiled and whispered in Yu Ling’er’s ear, “Mr. Tang’s silver has all been spent by you. Whether we eat big fish and meat or clear-stewed fox tonight all depends on your performance! Remember what I told you, don’t ruin my show!”
Yu Ling’er was bound by the poisonous oath with her mother and couldn’t escape Cui Xiao Xiao’s clutches. She could only put on a long face and nod in grievance.
Next, Xiao Xiao brought down a large box used for luggage from the horse cart.
Yu Ling’er danced a fancy fox dance with a bitter face, swaying her waist, and then jumped into the box.
Then Xiao Xiao closed the lid, solemnly chanted incantations, and knocked on the wooden box three times.
When the box was opened again, everyone saw that the lovely girl was gone, and only a snow-white fox poked its furry head out of the box. The fox’s eyes were even wet, which was quite cute, causing a group of children to scream.
When Xiao Xiao closed the box and knocked three times again, she opened the box, and the fox was gone. The girl was sitting in the box with red eyes.
People immediately applauded and cheered, and a few rascals even made a fuss, saying that they wanted to see the girl shake her butt and dance again.
Seeing the crowd cheering loudly, Xiao Xiao hurriedly signaled Tang Youshu to take the bowl to collect money.
Unfortunately, the people of Luoyi were all cunning. When watching the magic trick, they surrounded three layers inside and out, but when it was time to collect money, the crowd suddenly dispersed like birds and beasts, and there were not many people who gave money.
Cui Xiao Xiao looked at the pitiful few copper plates in the bowl and was momentarily speechless.
At this moment, Wei Jie said lazily, “It seems that your idea of performing on the street is not very reliable. In my opinion, it’s better to ask which nearby villages lack rain. Then, with your two water-guiding talismans, you can exchange for a large bag of incense money.”
Xiao Xiao saw that he didn’t exert any effort and still spoke sarcastically, so she said with a false smile, “Good idea! But distant water can’t quench immediate thirst. Otherwise, you can think of a way to pay this tea bill!”
Wei Jie nodded, took out a silver ingot of considerable weight from his bosom, turned around and threw it to the teahouse waiter who followed him closely, and even generously said that there was no need to give change. The rest was a tip.
After the shop attendant thanked him with a bow, Xiao Xiao walked over and asked in surprise, “Did you pick someone’s money pouch? Where did you get the silver?”
Wei Jie chuckled, “I had silver in the first place. Why would I need to steal?”
It turned out that in the brocade box brought by the two cousins, in addition to the letter, there were more than a dozen silver notes given to him by the Wei family matriarch.
The Wei family guarded the underworld, and there were silver mines everywhere at the intersection of yin and yang, but no one could approach them, so the Wei family could be said to be as rich as a country.
Just now, Wei Jie went to the money exchange next door and exchanged a silver note. In addition to small silver ingots, he also exchanged three gold bars, which were convenient to spend.
Hearing his explanation, Xiao Xiao realized that her disciple was actually so rich!
She pursed her lips and said angrily, “Since you have silver, why didn’t you say so earlier? You’ve been spending your disciple’s silver, and now that you have money, you don’t help him. Don’t you feel guilty?”
Wei Jie blinked his light purple eyes and smiled extremely handsomely, “You didn’t ask me either! And I think if you spend my money, you will definitely feel guilty, so you didn’t take it out…”
Hmm… Very reasonable. Xiao Xiao rarely lost in an argument and was once again dumbfounded by Wei Jie’s retort.
She, who was under the Gold Consuming Curse, indeed had no moral high ground when it came to spending money.
After all, she was the queen of freeloading, eating from her grand-disciple and then her disciple.
So Xiao Xiao immediately shut up and respectfully cupped her hands towards Wei Jie, saying, “Alright, it was my fault for not recognizing the God of Wealth. I’ll offer incense to you later and enshrine you!”
Wei Jie was amused by Xiao Xiao’s quick acceptance again. The God of Wealth waved his hand, and with a handful of gold and silver, he took the entire Talisman Sect to experience the prosperity of the big city.
In this prosperous capital city, it was always good to have plenty of money.
At least the people of the sect didn’t have to sleep outdoors in the suburbs at night. Instead, they booked three guest rooms in the largest inn in the city.
Since being chained together with Wei Jie, Xiao Xiao hadn’t had a good bath.
Even though they were separated later, she couldn’t touch water because of her injured arm.
Now that they had entered the inn, because Wei Jie was generous with his money, the shop attendant was not stingy at all when heating up the water.
When the wooden tub was filled with warm water, Xiao Xiao suspended her injured arm outside the tub and could finally enjoy a delightful bath.
Yu Ling’er followed her mother’s words and became Xiao Xiao’s personal maid, using a loofah to scrub Xiao Xiao’s neck and back.
However, Yu Ling’er was a bit curious and felt that it was strange for Wei Jie to open a separate room by himself. He obviously had an ambiguous relationship with Cui Xiao Xiao, so wasn’t staying in separate rooms like this just a pretense?
The little fox had simple thoughts and asked whatever she had in mind. As a result, Xiao Xiao heard it and just wanted to wash her ears, “Ah, what kind of nonsense is this? Wei Jie and I have a pure and innocent relationship. How could we have any private affairs between men and women?”
When Xiao Xiao pursued the matter further, she finally figured out that Qin Lingxiao had splashed her with a big basin of filthy dirty water.
She was so angry that she splashed water at the little fox and said, “You believe everything Qin Lingxiao says? At that time, I was clearly suffering from the yin poison attack, and Wei Jie was afraid that I would hurt myself, so he pressed me down tightly. Our master-disciple relationship is pure and innocent!”
Yu Ling’er was overwhelmed by Xiao Xiao’s imposing sect master aura. She wiped the water droplets on her face and shrank her neck slightly. She was still unwilling to give up and defended the benefactor, “With the way you two looked at that time, anyone would have misunderstood. How can you blame Young Pavilion Master Qin?”
Xiao Xiao knew that this Yu Ling’er’s heart was filled with the benefactor. If she spoke ill of Qin Lingxiao behind his back, she was afraid it would backfire.
Thinking of Qin Lingxiao’s cold and aloof appearance when he was followed by beautiful female cultivators but never showed them any affection, the little fox’s deep love would probably go to waste.
However, Xiao Xiao was more curious that in the previous trajectory, this delicate and pampered fox princess actually followed Wei Jie down the mountain.
Seeing how Wei Jie kept scaring Yu Ling’er now, threatening to skin her fox fur, Xiao Xiao really couldn’t imagine how Yu Ling’er would affectionately warm the quilt and fan the pillow for Benefactor Wei Jie, being subservient and lowly.
At night, Tang Youshu and Wei Jie each stayed in a separate guest room, while Cui Xiao Xiao and Yu Ling’er stayed in the same room.
It wasn’t that Wei Jie was stingy and unwilling to open a separate room for the fox girl. It was because Yu Ling’er had a taste of the harshness of the human world for the first time. During the day, she was forced to perform on the street and finally understood the truth that money could crush a heroic man.
Afraid that Xiao Xiao would force her to perform again, Yu Ling’er now didn’t dare to waste a single penny of these people’s money, so she refused to let Wei Jie open another room for her.
Xiao Xiao had been forced to be locked together with Wei Jie for a long time and cherished the wonderful time of sleeping alone. She tactfully told Ling’er that she was not used to sharing a bed with others.
As a result, Yu Ling’er hugged a chair cushion and said very sensibly, “I don’t need to sleep on the bed.”
After saying that, she put the chair cushion in the corner opposite the bed, then transformed into her fox form, curled up into a white ball, and prepared to sleep on the chair cushion like this.
That pitiful appearance was like a poor little thing that no one wanted.
Xiao Xiao couldn’t bear to see it and said to her, “Why don’t… you still come up and sleep on the bed with me…”
Yu Ling’er shook her head with great determination, then buried her pointed fox mouth in her fluffy big tail, closed her eyes, and fell asleep defenseless in a short while.
Xiao Xiao looked at the fox girl’s good sleep and couldn’t help but admire her again.
This was indeed a fox princess who had grown up with everyone pampering her. Where was there even a hint of vigilance? She was so ignorant of worldly affairs that she was simply like a child!
However, she obviously didn’t have the carefree attitude of the fox girl. Arriving at a new place, she always had to toss and turn for a long time before she could fall asleep reluctantly.
Since she couldn’t sleep, she simply got up and started meditating.
Since drinking the spiritual spring, her dantian was full and automatically condensed into a ball. But to refine this ball of qi into a core required a high degree of concentration and a strong foundation in establishing a foundation.
Xiao Xiao didn’t know the trick at first, but when she was free, Wei Jie actually listened to her words and explained his insights to her in detail.
Hearing the gentleman’s words was better than reading books for ten years.
With the guidance of her disciple, Master Xiao Xiao immediately grasped the trick of condensing qi into a core, and her meditation progress in the past few days could be said to be rapid.
But it was precisely because of Wei Jie’s words that Xiao Xiao suspected his cultivation. To what stage had he progressed now?
After all, a heavenly genius with his extraordinary comprehension ability could not be estimated and measured by ordinary people’s standards.
When the qi was condensed, the ancient treasure sword hanging at the head of the bed also hummed and buzzed along with Xiao Xiao’s breathing, as if responding to its owner from afar, emitting a faint glow.
The sword qi was too strong, and demons made way.
Even the little fox sleeping was disturbed by the sword light and felt uncomfortable.
In the end, the little fox got up drowsily, held the seat cushion in her mouth, and crawled under the bed in one go. After avoiding the sword light, she continued to sleep soundly.
Xiao Xiao also discovered that her qi could actually resonate with this treasure sword from afar. This feeling was extremely similar to the principle of the sword sect’s unity of person and sword.
Although she couldn’t condense qi into a sword like the sword sect, wasn’t this divine sword forged by heavenly punishment better than those qi swords?
Just as she was concentrating on practicing qi at a critical moment, melodious sounds of silk and bamboo came from the street not far from the inn.
It should have been a time of quiet night, but in a prosperous city like Luoyi, the singing and dancing had just begun.
Xiao Xiao’s room was facing the street. Although she tried to meditate with a calm mind, the silk and bamboo music disturbed her ears, making it impossible for her to be at peace.
In the end, Xiao Xiao simply got up, pushed open the door, and looked out at the street through the window along the corridor.
It turned out that not far from the inn was a tall restaurant, and under the restaurant, a luxuriously decorated carriage slowly drove up.
When it arrived at the restaurant with upturned eaves, four or five beautifully dressed maids got out of the carriage, followed by a woman wearing a long gauze veil hat and a flowing silk long dress embroidered with brocade. With the support of the maids, she slowly got out of the carriage.
Xiao Xiao saw from a distance that the woman’s long dress was like a phoenix tail, trailing on the ground, extremely luxurious!
Xiao Xiao originally just took a casual glance, but when she saw the woman gently swaying her waist and gracefully walking forward, she was deeply attracted by the silhouette of the woman in the long dress.
Although she couldn’t see her face, just the charming posture while walking was so enchanting and graceful. What kind of peerless beauty must she be to carry such elegance?
The men gathered around the carriage were obviously also attracted by the woman. They surrounded her in three layers inside and out. Some of them even had infatuated expressions and some drunkards were mumbling and crying about their lovesickness.
But soon, these people were driven away by the swordsmen who walked out of the restaurant. The leading swordsman sternly shouted at the drunkards, “Prince Can is drinking here. Riffraff are not allowed to approach!”
And that woman in luxurious clothes was also welcomed into the restaurant like a star…
After a while, the elegant silk and bamboo music in the restaurant seemed to change to a new tune. A melodious and lingering singing voice spread out from the restaurant.
When the singing reached the inn, the sound was actually not very loud, just some faint lingering echoes.
However, since condensing qi in her dantian, Xiao Xiao’s hearing had also become different from ordinary people’s and greatly improved. The faint singing, when reaching her ears, was clear word by word.
After listening to just a few sentences, Xiao Xiao actually felt her mind wandering and losing control. She just wanted to enter the restaurant quickly to listen to the singing more closely.
As a result, in a moment of distraction, she actually leaped up, intending to jump directly out of the window.
But just as she left the window sill, her wrist was firmly grasped, and then a force pulled her back.
Xiao Xiao’s arm was in pain, and she also sobered up a lot.
She looked up and saw that the one who pulled her back was Wei Jie, who should have been sleeping early.