Chu Xinghui did not know what had happened thousands of miles away. Before nightfall, he had been successfully persuaded by Xie Liufeng to return home again.

He used his spiritual power to dry the rain and moisture on himself, looked at Xie Liufeng in front of him, and then cast a spell to drive away the rain from Xie Liufeng’s body as well.

Xie Liufeng sensed his action and looked back at him.

Chu Xinghui calmly met his gaze.

Xie Liufeng could not help but laugh, ruffled his hair, handed him the umbrella in his hand, and went to open the door.

Chu Xinghui fixed his hair, which had been messed up by the ruffle, looked at him, then at the small courtyard in front of him. His thoughts took a turn, and he suddenly remembered the plot in the book.

The book said he was deceived by a candy to the point of life and death.

But looking at the hawthorn candies in his arms, he felt that he was probably not much better now.

This made him start to reflect, perhaps he really was a very gullible person.

Otherwise, why would one after another like to fool him?

Chu Xinghui pondered for a while and could not help but call out: “Xie Liufeng.”

Xie Liufeng did not know that in that short moment, Chu Xinghui’s mind had already twisted in eighty different ways. He was busy looking for the keys and casually responded with a “Hmm.”

Chu Xinghui asked anxiously: “Will you let my meridians break and my spiritual roots be damaged?”

Xie Liufeng finally found the keys and opened the door, saying: “No.”

Chu Xinghui remained very worried and asked: “Will you let me die without regrets and give me the honor of being buried in my ancestral grave?”

Xie Liufeng finally stopped what he was doing, looked back at Chu Xinghui in confusion.

“Did you…” he hesitated and finally chose a suitable phrase: “see something strange?”

This kind of unusual thinking was not something a normal person would come up with.

Chu Xinghui: …

He did not want to speak anymore and silently followed Xie Liufeng inside.

*

From that day on, Chu Xinghui lived in Xie Liufeng’s small courtyard.

Xie Liufeng mostly lived rather haphazardly, this courtyard was just a temporary place he had set up casually. Chu Xinghui took some time before he finally managed to tidy up a clean and neat corner for himself.

After organizing his room, Chu Xinghui looked through the window at the somewhat messy courtyard, and then tidied up the courtyard and main room again.

Of course, he did not touch Xie Liufeng’s private space.

Xie Liufeng was very happy since the last time he had lived somewhere so neat was a long time ago.

Both of them were very satisfied, and Chu Xinghui went back to his room to cultivate.

That day, Xie Liufeng wandered around the courtyard with a serious expression for a long time, and finally, when Chu Xinghui finished cultivating and walked out of his room, he caught him and asked confusedly: “Have you seen the teapot in the house? The white porcelain one.”

Chu Xinghui was also confused and said: “It’s just in the compartment under the table.”

Wasn’t it obvious at a glance?

The expression on Xie Liufeng’s face immediately relaxed, and he happily ran off to find it.

Chu Xinghui: …

He thought for a while and finally understood everything.

So he rolled up his sleeves and restored the tidied-up house to the messy state it had been in before.

Xie Liufeng stood aside holding his tea canister, watching Chu Xinghui busy himself and, after a moment of thought, could not help but defend himself: “…Don’t misunderstand me.”

Chu Xinghui glanced at him and put the broom back in the corner, saying: “Oh.”

Xie Liufeng: …

What did “Oh” mean?

He vaguely felt that his reputation was being harmed but had no way to explain, so he could only watch Chu Xinghui go back to his room with a hint of grievance.

*

After this incident, Chu Xinghui returned to his previous calm and routine state.

Although the housing problem was temporarily solved, life in the cultivation world always needed money. Besides cultivation, Chu Xinghui still went to Wanbao Trading Company to take on some simple commissions, mostly in Wanling Valley, occasionally in the city or other nearby places.

Every time he went out, he often encountered Xie Liufeng in various strange places. Half the time, no one knew what he was doing, the other half he was persistently fishing.

Although it had been a long time, Chu Xinghui had never seen him catch a fish.

He secretly observed several times and really could not understand what kind of strange luck Xie Liufeng had.

Until one time, unable to bear it, when Xie Liufeng went off to stroll somewhere else, Chu Xinghui hooked a crucian carp he caught from the river onto Xie Liufeng’s fishing hook.

Then he finally discovered that Xie Liufeng actually fished without bait.

… People like this catching fish was actually an insult to the fish.

Xie Liufeng came back and was very happy to see the fish. That night, he carried the fish back and cooked a pot of fish soup for Chu Xinghui.

Chu Xinghui felt a bit sorry for the fish he had forced onto the hook, so he quietly drank an extra bowl of soup.

… He had to admit, Xie Liufeng’s fish soup cooking skills were quite good.

*

Time quickly passed to late spring.

One morning, Xie Liufeng had not lost interest in fishing as an entertainment and took his fishing gear out of the door as usual. When he reached the doorway, he suddenly paused.

He raised his head and stared at a certain point in the void for a while, then indifferently withdrew his gaze.

Something unexpected happened. Xie Liufeng casually threw his fishing gear at the door and walked back into the courtyard.

So when Chu Xinghui just woke up and opened the door, he found Xie Liufeng sitting in the courtyard, staring straight at his room door.

This person often appeared and disappeared mysteriously and did not like to sleep. After Chu Xinghui woke up, he often could not see him. This time, seeing him in the courtyard was a bit rare, so he looked twice.

He followed Xie Liufeng’s gaze to look at his room door and hesitantly asked: “Looking for me?”

Xie Liufeng was thinking and gave a half-hearted excuse: “Oh, suddenly remembered, I haven’t eaten breakfast yet.”

Chu Xinghui waited a moment, seeing he seemed to have no other business, so he ignored him and went into the kitchen by himself.

Xie Liufeng kept propping his chin, thinking.

After a while, Chu Xinghui came out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of porridge.

The porridge was cooked with rice mixed with grains and had some scattered nuts inside, giving off a warm and fragrant aroma.

Xie Liufeng was drawn back by the fragrance, and his gaze fell on Chu Xinghui’s hands. He pretended to ask him: “Did you make one for me?”

Chu Xinghui placed the porridge in front of him and brought over a stack of steamed buns, not very willing to admit: “No.”

Xie Liufeng glanced at the porridge before him and coyly tried to tease: “Isn’t this made for me?”

“It’s not for you.” Chu Xinghui took two pairs of chopsticks and handed one pair to him, casually saying: “I’m young and still growing, so I can eat two portions.”

Xie Liufeng nodded and seriously took out a spirit fruit: “Alright, our little star can eat as many portions as he wants, this is for you too.”

Hearing this nickname, Chu Xinghui finally couldn’t help but look up at him.

His eyes mixed confusion, chill, and a hint of disgust.

After teasing the kid, Xie Liufeng became happy again and pushed the spirit fruit in his hand closer to him, continuing to be mischievous: “Eat it. Or since you’re young, you don’t like eating the whole thing and need an adult to peel and cut it before you’ll eat?”

Chu Xinghui looked at the spirit fruit and then at Xie Liufeng.

… He realized that just now his words of bravado had been unnecessary.

After finishing breakfast, Xie Liufeng conscientiously cleaned up the table and then ran over to sit in front of Chu Xinghui.

Chu Xinghui was flipping through a book recording common knowledge of the cultivation world. After waiting a while and seeing the person opposite him had no intention to leave, he couldn’t help but remind: “Breakfast is already finished.”

You should leave.

Although he didn’t know exactly what Xie Liufeng should be doing,

At least he shouldn’t be sitting here staring at him.

Xie Liufeng casually responded: “Mm.”

Chu Xinghui looked up at him once and seeing no intention to explain, ignored him and continued reading.

Xie Liufeng watched him for a while longer, then suddenly asked: “Do you have any enemies?”

Chu Xinghui didn’t know why he had this question, closed his book, and said: “I don’t think so.”

He had only been in the cultivation world for a short time and had come straight to Beiyue, so he probably had no time or opportunity to make enemies.

Xie Liufeng pondered for a moment: “Someone has been tracking your whereabouts.”

He thought a bit more and added: “Of course, since the other party seems to have no good intentions, an unknown well-wisher blocked them for you.”

Chu Xinghui looked at the well-wisher before him with a complicated expression: “…Please thank that well-wisher for me.”

Xie Liufeng generously accepted the thanks: “You’re welcome.”

Chu Xinghui was too lazy to reply and began thinking about the matter itself.

Tracking spells had to follow certain logic, they couldn’t track a person out of thin air. There always had to be something related to the person being tracked as a clue.

He was quite sure that since coming to the cultivation world, he hadn’t had any particularly deep connections or events to serve as such a clue.

Of course, except for the contact that Xie Liufeng had actively brought to him.

Chu Xinghui reviewed everything that had happened to him since arriving in the cultivation world from start to finish and finally found from his memory something that might be related.

Before coming to the cultivation world, he had received an invitation from Lingxiang Sect, sent to outstanding disciples, and that invitation contained tracking spells.

Although he destroyed the invitation after deciding to change his path, he did not rule out the possibility that the spells on it might still be useful.

But since he was currently not involved in Lingxiang Sect’s affairs according to the book’s plot, it seemed very strange that Lingxiang Sect members were looking for him.

Unless… during this time someone had discovered his identity and for some reason wanted to harm him.

Chu Xinghui subconsciously glanced at Xie Liufeng in front of him.

Xie Liufeng saw his expression and actively asked: “What, got some ideas?”

Chu Xinghui lowered his eyes, pressed his lips together, hid the part about his identity, and told Xie Liufeng his speculation.

Xie Liufeng frowned.

The method that person used just now… didn’t look much like Lingxiang Sect’s cultivation technique.

Although Lingxiang Sect was a big sect with countless disciples, and it was not unusual for some to have special means, he always felt the power he just saw looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen it before.

Chu Xinghui raised his head and asked Xie Liufeng: “Will there be trouble?”

Xie Liufeng came back to his senses: “Hmm?”

Chu Xinghui nervously tugged at his sleeve and spoke calmly: “…If there’s trouble, I can move.”

Xie Liufeng laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair: “What are you thinking? It’s just Lingxiang Sect.”

Not to mention the sect elders and disciples, even the current sect leader of Lingxiang Sect was his defeated opponent.

But from his impression, that sect leader was a bit sore loser, had a very difficult personality, which made him not very willing to associate with Lingxiang Sect people.

Chu Xinghui slowly tidied up the hair that Xie Liufeng had messed up and lowered his head, heavy with thoughts.

Xie Liufeng noticed his mood was off and didn’t say anything more about that issue but took a jade slip from his sleeve: “By the way, this is for you.”

Chu Xinghui was stunned for a moment: “What?”

He took the jade slip, infused it with spiritual power, and looked at its contents.

It was a sword manual.

His cultivation was limited and he couldn’t judge the level of the sword manual, but the exquisite techniques recorded in it were clearly not ordinary.

Chu Xinghui looked up at Xie Liufeng and asked: “Is this sword manual… yours?”

Xie Liufeng looked innocent, as if he knew nothing about anything: “I don’t know, maybe I picked it up.”

He pondered for a moment and added: “Of course, when I picked it up, a mysterious person told me if there was anything unclear, You could ask him through me.”

Chu Xinghui: …

It was hard to come up with such a roundabout excuse.

Xie Liufeng smiled with eyes curved, looking at him: “Anyway, I’m just a mortal without spiritual power and can’t use this, so I can only give it to you. After you learn it well, you must protect me.”

Chu Xinghui was silent for a moment, then solemnly nodded: “Okay.”

Xie Liufeng blinked, a bit puzzled.

Had he said some inappropriate request while teasing the kid just now? Otherwise, why did Chu Xinghui look like he wanted to sell himself to him?

 

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