Qingyun Crossing.

In an inconspicuous corner, a white-robed young man’s talisman paper suddenly ignited without wind and turned entirely to ashes.

Qin Yuwen failed to dodge in time and his finger was burned by the flames.

He stared at his injured hand with a grim expression.

The person opposite was very strong, the tracking spell he had painstakingly restored was completely destroyed.

The people from Lingxiang Sect were useless—unable to even find a single person—so he had no choice but to act personally.

According to the records in the Fate Book, this generation of the Heavenly Dao Child’s destiny was closely tied to Lingxiang Sect. Even if there were slight deviations, he shouldn’t have strayed too far from Lingxiang Sect.

But now, Chu Xinghui not only hadn’t come to join Lingxiang Sect as the Fate Book said, but they didn’t even know where he had gone.

Where exactly had things gone wrong?

Qin Yuwen felt some rare regret. He shouldn’t have trusted the Fate Book’s record too much. He had only focused on making arrangements inside the sect before the Heavenly Dao Child entered Lingxiang Sect, instead of controlling the person at the first moment their data appeared before him.

Now that the opportunity was lost, he couldn’t even find where the person was.

This unexpected change was enough to affect all his subsequent plans, he had to correct this mistake quickly.

Qin Yuwen wiped the ashes from his hand and turned to walk toward Lingxiang Sect.

Ordinary tracking spells couldn’t find the Heavenly Dao Child’s trail, but after all… his blood relatives were still inside Lingxiang Sect. Before the cause and effect were settled, he would inevitably have contact with Lingxiang Sect again.

Moreover, there were secret techniques related to bloodlines in the cultivation world, he would definitely find a way.

*

Within Beiyue territory.

After the morning events, Chu Xinghui felt unsettled.

He couldn’t clearly explain what the complicated feelings in his heart were about, but all day he couldn’t focus on cultivation, tossing and turning until late at night.

Unable to sleep, he got up and pushed open the window.

The moon was high in the sky, and silvery moonlight flowed like water across the ground.

It was the transition between spring and summer, faint insect sounds could be heard outside the door.

Not far away, Xie Liufeng’s room still had its light on.

After cultivators pass the Foundation Establishment stage, they can stop eating grain (fasting), and their need for sleep decreases. By the time they reach the Golden Core stage, their sleep needs are even less, except for special cases like injuries.

Chu Xinghui didn’t know exactly what level Xie Liufeng’s cultivation was but knew he was always energetic and usually didn’t sleep.

Sometimes, he wouldn’t come home even late at night.

Chu Xinghui stared at the light for a while, and when he came to his senses, he was already wearing his nightclothes and standing in front of Xie Liufeng’s door.

He hesitated for a while, unsure whether to knock.

After a moment, he sighed and finally decided to put his hand on the door — just then, the door suddenly opened from inside.

Chu Xinghui was stunned, looking at the person who suddenly appeared.

Xie Liufeng was draped in clothes, lazily leaning against the doorframe, eyes half-closed as he looked at him: “So late, wandering around outside? If you don’t sleep, you won’t grow taller.”

Chu Xinghui was silent for a moment, pressing his lips: “There was something I didn’t tell you this morning.”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment, gently reminded him: “Can you say it? If you can’t, you can keep it from me.”

He noticed Chu Xinghui was hiding something. Though inexperienced in raising apprentices, he knew it was normal for a child this age to keep some secrets.

Besides, unless it was unexpected, the secret should be about Chu Xinghui’s safety, so it was even more proper to keep it in front of him.

He was an adult, after all, and should be generous.

Chu Xinghui stubbornly said: “There will be trouble.”

Xie Liufeng sighed, lowered his head, and gently rubbed his hair, his voice soft with a little reveal: “I’m actually not very afraid of trouble.”

If trouble comes, it’s just another coffin to fill.

Of course, he only dealt with what’s inside the coffin, coffin money he wouldn’t pay.

Chu Xinghui looked up and stared at him silently.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t stand his gaze for long, immediately surrendered: “Alright, alright, say it, I’m listening.”

Chu Xinghui was silent for a while longer.

Xie Liufeng didn’t pressure him and feeling a bit cold, took off his clothes and draped them over Chu Xinghui.

Chu Xinghui clenched the clothes tightly and suddenly said: “The sect master couple of Lingxiang Sect… might be my biological parents. I don’t have anything worth coveting, but if the ones looking for me really are from Lingxiang Sect, maybe it’s related to this.”

This was a suspicious source, unproven information, and telling it did not benefit him.

But… if he didn’t say it, maybe it would cause trouble for Xie Liufeng.

At the thought of this possibility, he felt he should tell him.

Xie Liufeng pondered and hesitated: “What’s your relationship with them?”

If Chu Xinghui valued these relatives, he would have to treat Lingxiang Sect a little better in the future.

Although frankly, his relationships with some high-level figures in Lingxiang Sect weren’t ideal, and even if he had a good attitude alone, the other side probably wouldn’t accept it.

—

Chu Xinghui shook his head and honestly said: “…I don’t know them.”

Xie Liufeng roughly understood his attitude from his words and relaxed his expression: “Then it’s nothing.”

Someone like him, who was neither good at handling relationships nor eloquent, would be troubled by having an extra relative.

His reaction was too casual, so Chu Xinghui looked up at him, a bit confused: “Nothing?”

Xie Liufeng nodded and yawned: “Don’t worry, no matter what happens, unknown kind-hearted people will always have your back.”

Chu Xinghui still felt uneasy and anxiously confirmed: “How much can they cover?”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment and answered: “They can cover you even if the sky falls.”

That was a ridiculous sentence even ghosts would find unbelievable, but he looked very upright, as if it was a perfectly natural thing.

Chu Xinghui observed him carefully for a moment but still couldn’t figure anything out.

This person seemed always so perplexing that one couldn’t tell if he was talking nonsense or seriously answering questions.

In the end, Chu Xinghui could only say softly: “Thank you.”

Xie Liufeng curved his eyes and accepted the thanks very confidently: “Hmm, you’re welcome.”

Chu Xinghui: …

He began to think that coming out so late instead of sleeping was probably a mistake.

Xie Liufeng felt a bit restless again, so he reached out and messed up Chu Xinghui’s neat hair, then suddenly had a whimsical idea: “If I said there really was trouble, would you have other secrets to confess to me?”

Chu Xinghui tried to pull away his hand to fix his hair but froze for a moment.

He seriously considered whether to tell Xie Liufeng about that strange book.

But… that book was really too odd.

Xie Liufeng studied his expression and felt like he had tricked out something remarkable: “You really do?”

Chu Xinghui sensed from his teasing tone that he was being fooled again, so he looked up expressionlessly and didn’t want to speak.

Xie Liufeng’s amusement was greatly satisfied. He smiled and patted Chu Xinghui’s shoulder: “Alright, just joking. Some secrets are better kept to yourself. Those who need to know will know at the right time. So now, go back and sleep.”

Chu Xinghui looked at him for a while, confirmed that he was telling the truth this time, and obediently went back to sleep.

Xie Liufeng watched him leave with a smiling gaze, couldn’t help but touch his nose, and reflected a bit.

Maybe he should increase the amount of truth he told in the future.

… After all, some sincere kids really seemed to believe anything.

*

After summer arrived, Xie Liufeng finally let himself off and gave up fishing as entertainment.

According to him, an ordinary mortal like himself without any spiritual power, weak and unable to take care of himself, would get sick if exposed long-term to summer heat and mosquitoes outdoors.

… Although Chu Xinghui still didn’t know why he insisted on this careless persona.

After stopping fishing, Xie Liufeng stayed at home idle for two days, then quickly found a new pastime—promoting Chu Xinghui’s cultivation.

Including but not limited to capturing a few beasts to sneak attack while Chu Xinghui practiced swordsmanship, randomly modifying the already written sword manual, tricking Chu Xinghui into going down to the cold pond to pick Ice Moon Flowers, and other strange actions… all under the pretense of “guidance.”

Chu Xinghui actually felt somewhat disturbed by him, but Xie Liufeng really gave some very useful advice at critical moments, so it was hard to either shoo him away or keep him around.

So Chu Xinghui tactfully persuaded him to go fishing again, at least the fish wouldn’t be disturbed since he didn’t use bait.

After thinking for a moment, Xie Liufeng found his unused fishing rod and gave it to him, justifying himself: “You have to understand, compared to fishing—a lonely activity—people our age need some young people around to pass the time.”

Chu Xinghui: …

He could only toss the fishing rod into his storage bag and continue accepting Xie Liufeng’s “guidance.”

Fortunately, this life didn’t last long before Chu Xinghui encountered a cultivation bottleneck.

He could feel that his spiritual power was already saturated, and he would soon break through to Foundation Establishment stage without surprises.

Under such circumstances, continuing to cultivate was meaningless, so after discussing with Xie Liufeng, he temporarily stopped cultivation and turned to collecting materials for Foundation Establishment Pills.

Foundation Establishment Pills were common auxiliary pills for cultivators breaking through to Foundation Establishment, used to help broaden the meridians during breakthrough, and to calm the mind and reduce the chance of cultivation deviation. Although breakthrough didn’t necessarily require the pills, since breakthrough was full of uncertainties, having a pill was always a good precaution.

Xie Liufeng saw him going out early and returning late every day to gather materials, leaving himself at home idle and feeling increasingly lonely and desolate.

He had originally wanted to say that some unknown kind-hearted person could just refine such things for him, but seeing Chu Xinghui so diligent, he swallowed the words back.

After all, this was just a simple task, and giving young people some space to grow was also good.

 

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