Chapter 121 - 114 Pig Farming Plan

Chapter 121: Chapter 114 Pig Farming PlanJing Deng waited for the response from the person inside the coffin. There was no movement inside the coffin, and the sound of incense burning in the silent room clearly reached Jing Deng’s ears. Time passed second by second, and Jing Deng was already a bit restless, but she had to wait. Finally, the person in the coffin spoke. "Did the talisman in your hand move?" "No," Jing Deng said. "Then his prediction only pushed toward Zhang Yihua’s head, not yours." "But Zhang Yihua has been dead for many days," Jing Deng said, "His prediction couldn’t have targeted someone who died so long ago, so I guess..." "No need to guess," the person in the coffin said, "The Human Turtle’s prediction only reached Zhang Yihua. Remember, Zhang Yihua is Zhang Yihua, and you are Mrs. Yu. Although in some sense you are one person... you are ultimately not." Jing Deng understood the words of the person in the coffin. When she and Zhang Yihua climbed out of the Blood Well together, they were no longer one person. "Miss, I’m saying just in case, if somehow that Bai Yang really did predict it was me? Shouldn’t we take action first?" Jing Deng was still a bit worried. "Ignore him for now, unless he comes up with a more powerful secret phrase directly pointing to you as Mrs. Yu, proving he is a significant threat... You know the current situation; any unnecessary move is dangerous." The person in the coffin gave final instructions, advising Jing Deng to adopt a wait-and-see approach and not rush to reveal herself. With the instructions received, Jing Deng began to recount the recent outside happenings to the person in the coffin. "Miss, the Human Turtle is dead. According to my sources, it perished along with Zhou Xuan, but that bastard Young Master somehow survived and even mastered Nuodai unexpectedly, not an ordinary Nuodai. I’ve heard he carries the scent of the Nuo God." "How many incense sticks does he have?" "One stick... at most two, and he has a journal he took from the Blood Well," Jing Deng said. "Then we need to reassess the importance of Zhou Xuan, and temporarily ease relations with him." "Ease?" Jing Deng said angrily, "He is one of the murderers who killed Zhang Yihua!" "Zhang Yihua was at most just an avatar of yours; think of the bigger picture." The person in the coffin reminded Jing Deng, "The Human Turtle’s prediction taught us that Nuo God descendants aren’t overly restricted by the Blood Well. Now, Zhou Xuan already has the true scent of the Nuo God, though his Incense Fire Level is too low, and the scent is weak. Over time, as his Incense Fire Level rises, the scent of the Nuo God on him will become more pronounced. At that time, he might be the key to unlocking the Blood Well!" Jing Deng, with her head down, tentatively asked, "So what should we do?" "Find someone to get close to him, earn his trust, and then secretly protect him until his Incense Fire develops..." "Fat pigs are slaughtered when they’re fattened?" Jing Deng asked, "Then why not imprison him directly and let him cultivate in captivity? We have ample experience in such matters." "Others can be, but Zhou Xuan cannot." The person in the coffin said, "The Zhou Family’s Troupe has a very special existence." "Zhou Lingyi?" "Ancestor Tree." The person in the coffin said, "If he were the Zhou Xuan of the past, one who hadn’t pledged allegiance to Tangkou, there would be no need to worry about Ancestor Tree, but now Zhou Xuan carries the scent of the Nuo God. Ancestor Tree’s connection with him would be very secure. No matter where you imprison Zhou Xuan, Ancestor Tree will awaken, and then find him! Go now, approach Zhou Xuan, protect his growth, and then kill him!" "Understood, fatten the pig!" After bowing to the coffin, Jing Deng gently exited the room. ... The train ticket for Zhou Xuan to Mingjiang Prefecture had been booked, Zhou Lingyi gathered five senior brothers to hold a farewell banquet in the inner courtyard for Zhou Xuan. "Disciple, I also want to go to Mingjiang Prefecture." Yuan Buyu was rather glum. "Master, I want you to come with me too, but your current mental state..." Yuan Buyu had woken up in Zhou Xuan’s room in the morning and then went back to his own room to sleep again, sleeping through the entire day. When the evening banquet began, it took Zhou Xuan’s best efforts to wake him. "Mingjiang Prefecture is quite far; the journey would be exhausting. I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle it." Zhou Xuan said with a smile. "I can handle it, I can handle it." Yuan Buyu also leaned toward Zhou Xuan’s ear, saying, "I heard from Lv Kunming that once you reach Mingjiang Prefecture, you’ll have to kill a Four Pillars. Your Incense Fire Level isn’t high; can you pull it off?" Zhou Xuan said, "Senior Brother Lv is also a Four Pillars. I have two. With the two of us combined, taking him down should be straightforward. If we really can’t manage, I’ll call you, and we’ll rally the troops." Yuan Buyu mulled over it and said, "If you run into trouble, make sure to call, Master will go to Mingjiang Prefecture to stand up for you." "Definitely." Zhou Xuan again persuaded, "Just stay at home and have a good nap, nurture your Incense so it’s stable. I’ll bring you a gift when I have the time in Mingjiang Prefecture." "Sure." Yuan Buyu drank a glass of wine and began to get drowsy again. At the banquet, Zhou Lingyi didn’t talk much about the ways of the martial arts world with Zhou Xuan, mostly advising him not to worry about spending money in Mingjiang Prefecture; if he ran out, he should call the Zhou Family’s Troupe. "You’ll be taking six thousand yuan, probably not enough, go find the accountant for more." "It’s enough." Zhou Xuan took out the money for two months. He got three thousand a month from the Zhou Family’s Troupe, so he took out six thousand. "Hey, why aren’t you drinking? What are you whispering about?" Zhou Xuan and his master and sister were chatting happily, but he noticed the other five senior brothers were rarely raising their glasses, mostly engrossed in whispering among themselves. "Nothing... nothing," Yu Zhengyuan raised a glass and said, "Xuanzi, you’ll leave for Mingjiang Prefecture tomorrow. As a gesture of farewell, and to thank you for bringing thriving business to the Zhou Family’s Troupe, the eldest senior brother composed a poem in your honor." "..." Zhou Xuan. ... Drinking until seven o’clock, Zhou Xuan stood up first. His "Water Seller" article had already been published, featuring a secret phrase he set up for Jing Deng. The link time was 7:10 p.m., and the secret phrase was "Completed at Yu Xueyuan’s Mansion." He sat at the bedside, tapping wooden fans together, creating a dreamscape. In the dreamscape, Zhou Xuan portrayed himself as a "young scholar in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses," and the setting was an old wooden cottage. At the same time, to disguise his voice, Zhou Xuan took a folded fan and used the voice-changing method to give himself a more neutral voice. After completing the preparations, Zhou Xuan rested for a moment. When the clock hand pointed to the appointed time, he muttered the secret phrase, "Completed at Yu Xueyuan’s Mansion, completed at Yu Xueyuan’s Mansion..." At first, he muttered it every fifteen seconds for two minutes without any response. Then, at a rate of once every half-minute, he recited it for ten minutes but still received no response. "Did Jing Deng not see my article, or did she see it but chose not to contact me yet?" Zhou Xuan thought the latter option was more likely. *Fishing required patience.* "I’ll keep publishing once I settle in Mingjiang Prefecture. She will contact me sooner or later." ... Since arriving in Jing Country, Zhou Xuan had never dressed so formally—white suit, white pants, white top hat, with a rattan suitcase at his feet. "Sister, I’m off to the train station." Zhou Xuan sat on a bamboo chair by the Ancestor Tree, bidding a brief farewell to Zhou Lingyi. Yuan Buyu was also there, managing to stay awake without dozing off. "Travel safely." Zhou Lingyi stood up, adjusted Zhou Xuan’s collar, and said, "Go now; your senior brothers are waiting for you." "Weren’t they out on work?" "They agreed to see you to the train..." Before Zhou Lingyi finished speaking, they heard Yu Zhengyuan shouting from afar, "Xuanzi, get in the car!" Zhou Xuan turned to the voice and saw Yu Zhengyuan pulling a rickshaw standing at the Zhou Family’s Troupe gate, waiting for him. "I’m leaving now. Master, I’m leaving now." Zhou Xuan picked up the rattan box, adjusted his top hat, and after bidding farewell to Zhou Lingyi and Yuan Buyu, he walked toward Yu Zhengyuan. Watching Zhou Xuan’s retreating figure, Zhou Lingyi smiled and took a sip of tea. Yuan Buyu said, "This time when the disciple goes to Mingjiang Prefecture, he’s probably entering the tiger’s den!" "Rest assured, Elder Yuan, I’ve already made arrangements." Zhou Lingyi wasn’t completely at ease about Zhou Xuan; she just hid her worries in her strategies, laid out in every move. "I’ve already informed Xia Jin of the God Traveling Department in Mingjiang Prefecture." Xia Jin was now serving as the Exorcism You Shen in Mingjiang Prefecture; with him secretly protecting Zhou Xuan, Zhou Lingyi could feel half-relieved. "Can Xia Jin be relied upon?" "We share a bond of life and death, trustworthy, but relying solely on Xia Jin is unlikely to be enough as his schedule is already busy. It still mainly depends on our own family to ensure he’s covered," Zhou Lingyi said. "Who?" Yuan Buyu asked. "Ancestor Tree." Looking at the lush Ancestor Tree, Zhou Lingyi said, "Little brother isn’t ordinary anymore and holds a Sukuna Hand. The connection between the Ancestor Tree and him is very strong. If anything happens to him, Ancestor Tree will use its power." "Can we really rely on Ancestor Tree when it’s sleepier than me?" "When the Lantern Bride came in, didn’t Ancestor Tree show signs of awakening?" Zhou Lingyi said. Yuan Buyu pondered over this and felt relieved, getting significantly less anxious as he engaged in casual chat with Zhou Lingyi, saying, "The disciple has two Secret Realms within him: Divine Revelation and Blood Well. Now there are signs these Secret Realms are merging. By the way, do you think other Blood Well Spirit Communicators can merge their Divine Revelation and Blood Well?" "Personally, I don’t think so! The merging of the little brother’s Divine Revelation and Blood Well was possible because he practiced Nu, the only Heavenly God who never truly died. Only the true Heavenly God’s Secret Realm can suppress the Blood Well. I’d say, among Blood Well Spirit Communicators, little brother is the only one capable of merging dual Secret Realms." Yuan Buyu agreed with Zhou Lingyi’s view and further asked, "In the earlier years, Divine People were called Day Patrol Deity, and Ghost were called Night Patrol Deity. Since the disciple cultivated Nu, and Blood Well involves Alien Ghost! Now that Blood Well and Nu are slowly merging, how does this count?" "He is the Day and Night Patrol Deity!" Zhou Lingyi pondered for a moment and then shook her head, saying, "But for now, his Incense Fire isn’t significant yet. If he could cultivate his Incense Fire Level high enough, then he’d truly be the Day and Night Patrol Deity!" The two exchanged smiles and did not continue the conversation. Yuan Buyu felt drowsy again, lying back on the recliner, covering himself with a blanket, and fell into a deep sleep. Zhou Lingyi closed her eyes to rest. An abrupt growth on the Ancestor Tree resembling a green vine extended towards Zhou Lingyi’s right hand, wrapping around her wrist. Meanwhile, thousands of eyes painted with cow’s blood, dog’s blood, snake’s blood, and fox’s blood on the tree’s body blinked lightly. A rickshaw image appeared in Zhou Lingyi’s mind: Zhou Xuan sitting inside with Yu Zhengyuan pulling it...