The fact that Shanghuang Village had included Zhi You in its sphere of influence without warning was not without its detractors among the present yaos, but no one dared to say anything out loud, only daring to think about it in their hearts.
The long-lived yaos of the yao clan had a common advantage, which was to mind their own business if they couldn’t win a fight. If they were badly beaten, they should kneel down and beg for mercy and ask to join.
The younger generation of yaos looked at Zhi You with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Their feelings were even more complicated when they heard from the Peacock Clan that this man had voluntarily returned with Jiu Hui.
The yaos were a race that respected strength above all else, and Jiu Hui was the most formidable among their younger generation. In the past, everyone would respectfully address her as “Miss Jiu” or “Young Master Jiu” upon meeting her. Now, seeing a pretty boy clinging to her and using her to curry favor with Shanghuang Village, everyone felt a twinge of envy.
If everyone had failed to find her as a powerful backer, that would have been fine, but now someone had succeeded.
Jiu Hui was a cultivator with a high level of cultivation, and she was also the young master of Shanghuang Village. A lowly nobody like Zhi You must have seduced Young Master Jiu with his outstanding human appearance.
“I wonder which desolate mountain village that man came from. He used despicable charm to win the favor of Young Master Jiu.” A young man from the Sparrow Clan walked up to Kong Cangnan with a wine cup in his hand and whispered, “Young Master Kong, how can an outsider like that compare to you? You have noble blood, not to mention your childhood sweetheart relationship with Young Master Jiu.”
“Who had a childhood sweetheart relationship with her?” Kong Cangnan said with a cold face, “Get lost!”
The young man from the Sparrow Clan saw that Kong Cangnan was truly angry, so he quickly and wisely ran away.
Boom!carpreads.pages.dev
Kong Cangnan placed the wine cup back on the table, the wine splashing onto the back of his hand.
“What’s gotten into you again?” Village Head Kong returned from a round of socializing to find his son sitting in a chair sulking. “It’s just that you lost the competition with Jiu Hui today. You’ve lost so many times anyway, so what’s one more?”
Kong Cangnan ignored his mockery. He turned his head to look at Jiu Hui, who had brought the man named Zhi You with her. The young masters of the other clans surrounded her. In order to curry favor with Jiu Hui, these good-for-nothings had actually started to flatter Zhi You, that little pretty boy.
That pretty boy acted so obedient and sensible. He even waited for Jiu Hui to nod before taking a sip of wine, as if he couldn’t live without her.
“The young master of the White Tea Clan isn’t as pretentious as he is!” Kong Cangnan drained the wine in his cup, his heart burning with anger.
“Jiu Hui.” A thin man wearing a light-colored brocade robe and a camellia-style headdress walked up to Jiu Hui. His complexion was extremely pale, and his eyebrows and eyes carried a melancholy look. “I haven’t seen you in a year. I wonder if everything has been well with you while you’ve been away?”
“Everything is well. Little Bai, how have you been lately?” Jiu Hui clinked glasses with the melancholy man and turned to Zhi You. “This is the young village chief of Bai Village. His name is Bai Yan.”
“Greetings, Young Master Zhi.” Bai Yan smiled faintly. “Jiu Hui and I grew up together, and our friendship is different from others, so we don’t usually care about worldly etiquette. If there is any offense, please forgive me, Young Master Zhi. If you don’t mind, you can call me Little Bai, just like Jiu Hui.”
“Little Bai*,” Zhi You nodded slightly.
TN: Little Bai, xiaobai, is also slang for a total noob.
Bai Yan’s smile froze slightly. It didn’t have to be taken so seriously.
“Little Bai, you shouldn’t drink alcohol. Go sit over there.” Jiu Hui took a sip of her wine. She didn’t want to carry Bai Yan back home like she did when he was a child after he accidentally drank alcohol. Bai Yan looked thin, but he was actually very heavy. She wanted to go to bed early and wake up early to go out and play with Zhi You tomorrow.
She tugged at Zhi You’s sleeve and whispered with a chuckle, “Call you early tomorrow so you don’t miss the fun.”
“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter if we leave a little later. You’re used to waking up late, so don’t work so hard for me.” Zhi You picked up the wine pot and poured wine for Jiu Hui.
Overhearing the conversation between the two, Bai Yan’s smile faded. “You’ve been away for a year, yet you still remember my little quirks. I’ll do as you say and go sit over there.”
“Tsk.” Kong Cangnan looked away in disdain. Bai Yan only had these few tricks, and he still wanted to seduce that little garlic chive? Did he not know what he looked like? Why didn’t he look in a mirror at his own bland and boring face?
He endured and endured, but in the end, he could not endure it any longer and walked up to Jiu Hui and Zhi You.
“Jiu Hui.” Kong Cangnan looked at the two heads huddled together whispering and said with a tight mouth, “I wonder what kind of cultivation your… friend has?”
Before Jiu Hui could speak, Zhi You spoke first, “What does Young Master Kong mean by this?”
“The first time I met Young Master Zhi, I felt that Young Master Zhi had an extraordinary temperament.” Kong Cangnan took out his emerald feather fan: “I wonder if Young Master Zhi would be willing to spar with me?”
The crowd who were chatting and greeting each other fell silent in an instant. Many people looked at Village Chief Kong. They didn’t expect that Old Kong, your Peacock Clan would have such courage to publicly provoke the people of Shanghuang Village?
Village Chief Kong almost choked on the mouthful of wine in his mouth. He turned his head and smiled bitterly at Village Chief Huang*, then put down his wine cup and bowed to apologize, “Village Chief Huang, I didn’t teach my son well, please…”
TN: author is using the Huang in Shanghuang as the village chief’s name, the yaos’ names tend to indicate their true form, and huang is wilderness/desolate land, which is quite neat
“Village Chief Kong, don’t be anxious.” The village chief chuckled. “Children will be children. Let them play and fight. We adults shouldn’t take it to heart.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Village Chief Kong wiped the sweat from his forehead with a wry smile. Seeing that the other yaos were secretly looking at him, he simply collapsed on the table, pretending to be drunk.
It was Kong Cangnan who lost face, what did it have to do with him, the already drunk peacock clan leader?
“Swords and sabers have no eyes.” Zhi You glanced at Jiu Hui and saw that she had no objections, so he stood up and said, “If the young master is injured…”
“Are you afraid of getting hurt, Young Master Zhi?” Kong Cangnan walked to the open space, waving his fan to draw a protective barrier to prevent the overflowing spiritual energy from harming other guests. “Or do you not dare to compete, Young Master Zhi?”
Zhi You stepped into the barrier and said, “Then let’s just have a taste.”
“Where is your magic weapon?” Kong Cangnan saw that Zhi You was bare-handed and said, “I won’t spar with someone who is bare-handed.”
“I don’t have any adept magic weapons.” Zhi You took out a fan from his storage ring. “Since Young Master Kong uses a fan as his weapon, I’ll use a fan too.”
The young yaos who had been watching the excitement: “…”
The invisible arrogance was the most deadly.
This Young Master Zhi knew how to provoke the young master of the Peacock Clan.
“Good, very good.” Kong Cangnan’s move was the Peacock Clan’s ultimate technique: “Peacock Plume!”
Countless emerald-green spikes shot towards Zhi You, who kept his left hand behind his back and gently waved his fan with his right hand, fanning all the spikes back.
“Whoa!”
The young yaos watched the excitement and clapped their hands.
Fight, keep fighting, fight even harder.
They loved watching this!
Kong Cangnan dodged the spikes that Zhi You fanned back at him, his handsome eyebrows raised slightly. “You’ve got some skills.”
“Young Master Jiu,” a little yao who was on good terms with Jiu Hui approached her. “Aren’t you worried about them?”
“What’s there to worry about?” Jiu Hui peeled the fruit, watching the two people fighting in the enchantment with a smile. “Our family’s Zhi You will definitely win.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Yan glanced at Kong Cangnan with pity.
The three words, “our family,” had already decided the outcome.
“Swish!”
Zhi You threw out his jade fan, which flew through the air and cut off a few strands of Kong Cangnan’s hair. Zhi You transformed into a stream of light, and by the time everyone could see him clearly again, he was already holding his jade fan against Kong Cangnan’s throat.
His hair fluttered slowly in the air, finally landing on the back of Kong Cangnan’s hand holding the fan.
Zhi You glanced at the strands of hair, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly. However, when the others saw his expression clearly, he was once again the same noble young master who showed neither joy nor anger. He slowly put away his jade fan and bowed gracefully to Kong Cangnan. “Young Master Kong, thank you for letting me win.”
The entire venue fell silent.
The yaos didn’t dare to breathe too loudly. Was there a possibility that… before they stopped, they didn’t have to cut off Young Master Kong’s hair?
Kong Cangnan’s face was pale. He tightly gripped the few strands of his hair that had been cut off, and said each word slowly, “My cultivation is inferior to yours.”
He even felt that Zhi You’s cultivation was unfathomable, and that he could take his life with just one move.
“Young Master Kong is too kind.” Putting away the jade fan into his storage ring, Zhi You easily dispelled the protective formation laid down by Kong Cangnan and turned to walk in front of Jiu Hui.
“Here.” Jiu Hui stuffed the peeled fruit into Zhi You’s hand. “A reward.”
Zhi You took a bite of the fruit and his eyebrows were filled with warmth. “Sweet.”
“Don’t take the children’s squabble to heart,” Grandpa Long said, raising his wine cup. “Come, let’s all have a drink.”
The yaos: “…”
He said he didn’t take it to heart, but he asked everyone to raise their cups together.
What were you celebrating? Your village kid beating up the young master of the Peacock Clan?
The yaos raised their cups and shouted, “Cheers!”
Heh, anyway, it was not like they were the ones being beaten up, so it didn’t matter.
Kong Cangnan sat down next to Village Chief Kong with his head hanging in dejection. He saw his father lying on the table who then quietly moved to the side.
You’re not drunk, so why are you moving over?
He moved his chair and continued to lean towards his father, and Village Chief Kong continued to move away.
“Ungrateful child, stay away from me. I can’t afford to lose face because of you.”
The village chief of Sparrow Village, who had been squeezed into a ball by these father and son, was speechless.
Your Peacock Clan’s bloodline was indeed noble, but could you please stop bullying people like this? Were you trying to prevent the yaos from eating at the banquet?
After the banquet ended, everyone was more polite to Zhi You when they left, especially the younger generations. They all kept their heads down, afraid of provoking Jiu Hui and Zhi You.
After the group of yaos left Shanghuang Village, the entire yao clan learned that the Little Overlord had gained an accomplice who aided her in her evil deeds. From then on, whenever they saw her, they were sure to avoid causing trouble and quickly flee.
After everyone had dispersed, Zhi You was about to apologize to his elders, saying that he had brought trouble to the village, but the elders spoke first.
“Zhi You was kind-hearted, so he only cut off a few strands of the Kong family boy’s hair.”
“We, the people of Shanghuang Village, must have the bearing of such experts!”
“You won beautifully, but next time if someone provokes you again, at least cut off half of their hair.”
“My child, you’ve done well. I’ll reward you!”
Looking at the several top-grade magic weapons in his arms, Zhi You turned to look for Jiu Hui, but Jiu Hui had already taken the village chief to the tree to light firecrackers.
Seeing that he was looking for her, Jiu Hui waved at him. “Zhi You, come play with me.”
“Go have fun.” Grandpa Long patted his shoulder. “Go to bed early tonight, and tomorrow I’ll take you two kids to play in the sea.”
“Mm.” Zhi You hugged the magic weapon in his arms and stood up to walk towards Jiu Hui.
“Have you set off firecrackers?”
“No.”
“Come, I’ll teach you.”
Watching the two children light the firecracker and run, only to fall into a heap, Grandpa Long slapped his thigh and laughed out loud, “These two silly kids.”
Uncle Wu glanced at him and said, “It’s probably because they take after you.”
Grandpa Long didn’t get angry. He had long been used to Uncle Wu’s sarcastic remarks. “Yes, yes, yes. It’s all me.”
The village chief moved a small table and chair over, no longer playing around with the two children, and slowly savored his tea.
Grandpa Bu sat down at the table and whispered, “This is also very good.”
The village chief laughed and said, “What’s wrong with it? What kind of prophecy of destiny is not as good as living well in the present?”
Grandpa Bu stroked his beard, nodded, and smiled.
The years were long, and the world was ever-changing. It was better to enjoy life’s pleasures.
After playing for an hour, Jiu Hui was called by her elders to take Zhi You home to sleep. Jiu Hui held Zhi You’s sleeve and whispered to him, “Elders are always like this, always urging us juniors to sleep.”
This was the first time that Zhi You had been told by his elders to stop playing and go to bed with a straight face. He felt a strange novelty and… satisfaction.
“From now on, this will be your home in Shanghuang Village.” Jiu Hui pushed open the courtyard gate and turned to smile at Zhi You behind her. “If there’s anything you don’t like or want to add, let’s go to the village chief together. He has a lot of good stuff.”
Zhi You stared blankly at the mansion adorned with jade marrow lanterns. The candlelight was warm, and the entire mansion seemed to glow in the darkness of the night.
“Come, let’s go in and have a look.” Jiu Hui pulled his sleeve and stepped through the gate. “Grandpa Village Chief said that he didn’t know what style of house you liked, so he imitated the layout of my courtyard. After you come back, you can slowly remodel it according to your preferences.”
After crossing the outer courtyard and entering the inner courtyard, he bypassed the Nine-Bend Bridge, and the leaves of the tree beside the main house rustled in the night wind.
“Come.” Jiu Hui stood in front of the main house’s door. She let go of Zhi You’s sleeve. “This is your room. You open the door.”
Zhi You stretched out his hand, his fingertips gently touching the thick, carved spirit wood door. With a slight twist of his wrist, the door slowly creaked open.
A spirit jade bed that was hard to find in the world, a ten-thousand-year-old ancient wood desk, and a mermaid yarn curtain that fluttered gently in the night wind…
“Maybe Village Chief Grandpa saw your painting and thought you liked to paint, so he collected some painting supplies and put them in the study.” Jiu Hui tapped her forehead. “It’s my fault. I forgot to tell Village Chief Grandpa that you don’t really like to paint anymore.”
Zhi You looked at the carefully decorated room and shook his head. “I like these things very much.”
“Shhh,” Jiu Hui whispered in his ear. “Don’t tell them you like something in particular, or they’ll take you out to show off their painting skills.”
“When I was two or three years old, I learned a complex magic technique. Village Chief Grandpa took me to visit more than ten villages. He would say, ‘Oh my, how did you know that our little Jiu Hui knows such a difficult magic technique? Come on, little Jiu Hui, perform it for grandpas and grandmas.’”
Zhi You couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth. It seemed that this matter had greatly stimulated Jiu Hui, so she still remembered it to this day.
“That’s just how adults are. They’re always showing off their kids.” Jiu Hui sat down on a chair. “There aren’t many people within a thousand miles of us who are good at painting. Grandpa Village Chief won’t want to take you out to show you off right after you got back. But after a while, you’ll understand.”
Zhi You thought that even if that was the case, it didn’t matter.
“Get some rest.” Jiu Hui saw his expression of contentment and helplessly poked his forehead with a smile. “Remember to wake me up tomorrow morning.”
Zhi You sent Jiu Hui out of the room. Jiu Hui was too lazy to take the long way around, so she tapped her toes and flew over the wall into her own courtyard.
She waved at Zhi You from the top of the wall. “I’m going back now!”
“Alright.” Looking at Jiu Hui’s head shrinking back, Zhi You lowered his head to look at the Nine-Bend Bridge behind him, bent down, and reached out to touch the water in the pond.
The night water was cold, and the chill spread from her fingertips to her limbs and bones.
This was not a beautiful dream of the mortal world.
-—–
When Jiu Hui rushed out of her house, the sun had already risen to its zenith. She found Zhi You playing chess with Grandpa Bu under the old tree at the village entrance. “Zhi You, why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Sleeping more is good for your health.” Zhi You took out some snacks from his sleeve and gave them to her. “Eat something.”
“Every time someone calls you, when have you ever gotten up early?” Grandpa Bu put away the chess pieces. “Alright, you two go play by yourselves.”
Jiu Hui glanced at the chessboard and said, “Grandpa Bu, did you lose?”
“You stinky chess player, what do you know about chess?” Grandpa Bu knocked the chessboard over. “Go, go, go, hurry up and go.”
“Humph!” Jiu Hui snorted at Grandpa Bu and dragged Zhi You to his feet. “Let’s go then.”
Grandpa Long sat by the bridge waiting for Jiu Hui to wake up. When he finally saw her, he tapped her on the head. “When will you ever break this habit of sleeping in?”
In the instant that Grandpa Long reached out to tap Jiu Hui, Zhi You subconsciously extended his hand, then lowered his head and retracted it.
Jiu Hui clutched her head and laughed, “I’m afraid that’s a bit difficult.”
“Let’s go!” Grandpa Long reached out and grabbed Jiu Hui and Zhi You. Zhi You only felt a flash of light before his eyes, and when he came to, he was already standing on a damp beach.
The waves crashed against the reefs, making a swishing sound.
The deep blue sea stretched out as far as the eye could see, and in the distance, it seemed to merge with the sky. Zhi You gazed into the distance, lost in thought. So this was the sea.
“Zhi You, come.” Jiu Hui grabbed his wrist and walked into the giant bubble blown by Grandpa Long.
“Don’t be afraid.” Jiu Hui patted his arm. “The undercurrent is strong, but with this bubble, we just need Grandpa Long to push us, and we can play around in the sea as we like.”
A bubble extended a beam of light, and the other end of the beam was held in Grandpa Long’s hand.
“Zhi You, are you scared?” Grandpa Long asked, pressing against the bubble.
Zhi You shook his head.
“Then let’s go into the sea.” Grandpa Long led the bubble into the sea. His posture in the sea was graceful and elegant, as if nothing in the sea could cause him any trouble.
As the bubble got closer and closer to the seabed, Zhi You saw countless strange fish.
Ugly ones, beautiful ones, glowing ones, discharging ones, and ones that were cursing and clamoring all the way.
No matter how beautiful the descriptions in the book were, they could not compare to what was seen before their eyes at this moment.
“See those fish that like to curse? Not only do they like to curse at people, they also like to kick other fish around like balls.” Jiu Hui pointed at several large fish with black backs and white bellies that were swimming past them. “Grandpa Long said that they are the bullies of the sea.”
“The big clams over there, if you just compliment their shells, they’ll spit out pearls for you.” Jiu Hui pointed to the big clams under the coral stones. “But they’re very stingy, so the pearls they give you won’t be very good quality.”
Grandpa Long led the two of them for a stroll on the seabed. After returning to shore, he used a magic technique to dry the seawater on his body. “It’s still early. Xiao Jiu, you take Zhi You to play by the shore for a while. I’m going to find an old friend nearby.”
“Alright.” Jiu Hui took out a small bucket and a shovel from her storage ring and handed them to Zhi You. “Let’s go catch some crabs.”
“Crabs?” Zhi You held the small bucket, somewhat bewildered.
“There are crabs on the shore, it’s especially fun to find them.” Jiu Hui was very experienced: “Even if you can’t find crabs, the sand is also very fun to play with.”
Zhi You obediently followed behind Jiu Hui. The two of them wandered around the beach for several rounds, only finding a few half-dead sea snails.
“It must be the wrong time.” Jiu Hui coughed dryly. “Why don’t we play with sand instead?”
“Alright,”
Zhi You was playing with sand for the first time, and he seemed a little clumsy and at a loss. After piling it up for a long time, he only managed to make a small pile of sand.
“Oh, where did this little beauty come from? How dare you bring your lover to play in our Endless Sea?”
A wave crashed ashore, washing away the pavilion and gazebo that Jiu Hui had built. She widened her eyes and turned her head to look at the person floating in the sea.
The newcomer was tall and wore a black-and-white leather jacket. “My angry little beauty, you look even more delicious.”
“Who are you?” Jiu Hui stuck the shovel into the sand and stood up to look at the person.
“You haven’t even heard of my name?” The man laughed out loud. “I’m the son of the master of this sea region, the young master of the killer whale clan.”
“Killer whale clan?” Zhi You glanced at his pile of sand that looked like nothing, then turned to look at Jiu Hui.
“That’s the one with a white belly and a black back, who likes to curse and use other fish as a ball.” Jiu Hui explained in a low voice, “A bully of the sea.”
“Hmm?” The man frowned. “Nonsense, who doesn’t know that our killer whale clan is the overlord of the sea?”
“There’s no Dragon King under the sea, so the killer whales are the overlords.” Jiu Hui muttered softly, “What kind of overlord of the sea are you killer whales?”
“Little beauty, you have a sharp tongue. The last one who dared to talk back to me was a hawksbill turtle.” The man clicked his tongue and said casually, “That was hundreds of years ago. I slapped that turtle out of the sea with my tail. By now, I’m afraid there’s not even a shell left.”
“A hawksbill turtle?!”
Jiu Hui’s eyes lit up, and she exchanged a glance with Zhi You. “Zhi You, go up and beat him!”
Just when they were wondering who to beat up, someone actually came knocking on the door. Thank you to the ocean for this gift.
Zhi You put down the shovel in his hand and took out the Dragon Scale Sword that Prime Minister Wu had given him from his storage ring.
“You want to fight me?” The man looked at Jiu Hui. “I, the young master, don’t kill the unknown. Little beauty, are you really willing to let your little lover come to his death?”
Jiu Hui took two steps back and made a gesture of invitation.
The man’s expression changed as soon as the Dragon Scale Sword was unsheathed. “How come there’s dragon energy on your sword?”
Zhi You ignored his expression and flew forward with his sword. Within three moves, the man was struck by the sword and spun in the air, but he couldn’t land for a long time under the sword energy.
“Is it fun to be slapped?” Jiu Hui crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at the man. “If it’s fun, let’s keep slapping each other. Just like you usually slap other fish. It’s so much fun, isn’t it?”
“You, you all…” the man uttered with difficulty, “Who exactly are you?”
“Shanghuang Village’s Jiu Hui.” Jiu Hui spoke with a smile.
Zhi You retracted his sword energy, and the sword energy dissipated. The man fell heavily onto the beach.
Zhi You looked at his disheveled appearance and slowly said, “Shanghuang Village… Zhi You.”
“You two are the little tyrant of Shanghuang Village and her lackey?!” The man’s face changed, and he turned his head and tried to run, but Jiu Hui stepped on him and stomped him hard into the sand.
“You little punk, who are you calling a lackey?!”
The man stole a glance at Zhi You, who was holding the Dragon Scale Sword, and swallowed hard, not daring to speak.
Zhi You noticed that the Moonlit Mirror on Jiu Hui’s waist had fallen to the ground, so he stepped forward and bent down to pick it up.
“I only stepped away for a moment, how did you two start fighting again?” Grandpa Long appeared in a flash. He placed a hand on Zhi You’s shoulder and glanced at the man who was pinned down by his own little garlic chive and unable to move. “Oh, isn’t this the little brat from that old hoodlum’s family?”
Zhi You saw in the Moonlit Mirror that a giant five-fingered dragon claw was resting on his shoulder.