The success of the small grass carp led to other little yaos following suit.
Yan Bo saw a fat, white cat and an ugly bird that looked like a tree stump desperately trying to squeeze inside, and his mind was a little dazed.
Weren’t these the two little yaos that Little Junior Sister Jiu Hui keep in her courtyard? Why had they come to join the fun?
Bai Qi and Linchi didn’t know what had happened yet. When they heard that Zhi You was giving out red envelopes here, they rushed over.
Squeezing into the crowd of animals, Bai Qi and Linchi finally heard words like “happy and fulfilled,” “conjugal bliss,” and “two hearts beating as one”. The two yaos looked at each other in shock. The female yao’s little junior brother actually had a Dao companion?
Seeing the other little yaos get a big pile of red envelopes, Bai Qi didn’t bother to ask any more questions and just kept pushing forward.
“May the Immortal and Boss Jiu Hui live in harmony and love forever.”
Bai Qi fell to the ground with a thud. Who with who?!
“No need to be so formal.” Zhi You grabbed a handful of red envelopes and placed them in front of Bai Qi. “These are for you.”
“Immortal, Immortal, it hasn’t said the blessing words yet!” Another cat yao said as it hopped around.
“It’s fine.” Zhi You stroked the little cat yao that was jumping around and stuffed a few more red envelopes into its arms. “It’s a little yao that Jiu Hui brought back.”
“Oh~”carpreads.pages.dev
The little yaos hooted in unison, chirping, “So the immortal is now its half-master?”
“It’s only right that the master be generous to his yao pet.”
Bai Qi and Linchi received a thick stack of red envelopes amidst the envious gazes of the other little yaos, and then they were surrounded by these little yaos with bewildered expressions.
So they were this popular in Wangshu Pavilion?
Bai Qi used a magic technique to hide all the red envelopes, and his mind slowly reacted. Zhi You and the little yao girl were together?
It stole a glance at Zhi You. Did this immortal know that Jiu Hui was the little overlord of the yao clan?
What guts! How dare he become the zhuixu of the little overlord of the yao clan?
-—–
“Strange, the little yaos on the island are usually running around making a ruckus, but why are they nowhere to be seen tonight?” Luo Yan asked Chang He in confusion after finishing her magic technique practice and not seeing a single yao along the way. “Did they all go out to fight again?”
“Weren’t they still there this afternoon?”
Most of these little yaos had poor cultivation, and some couldn’t even transform into human form. Chang He was worried about them, so he searched around the area twice, but he didn’t see a single little yao.
“Minister Wu, Minister Wu.” Helpless, he had no choice but to shout towards the lake. He waited for a long time before seeing Minister Wu swimming over from afar, beaming with joy.
“Prime Minister Wu, did you see those little yaos on the island?”
“I saw them. They’re all in the peach forest over by Ruyi Tower.” Prime Minister Wu gestured with his foreleg. “You guys hurry over there. I’m afraid if you go late, there won’t be any red envelopes left for you.”
Red envelopes?!
Their eyes lit up, and without waiting for Prime Minister Wu to elaborate, they hurriedly flew towards Ruyi Building.
The two of them rushed to the peach forest and saw their Eldest Senior Brother holding a thick stack of red envelopes, smiling more worthlessly than the sunflowers at the main entrance.
“Senior Sister Luo Yan, Senior Brother Chang He, have you also come to bless Jiu Hui and me with a long and happy life?” Zhi You turned his head to look at them with anticipation.
“Ah?”
Long and happy life?!
By the next day, even the sparrows that inadvertently flew past the main entrance of Wangshu Pavilion knew that the two most talented young disciples of Wangshu Pavilion had become a couple.
Not only did the elders, Senior Brothers, and Senior Sisters receive gifts from Zhi You, but even the puppets each had two bright red gems on their bodies.
Yu Jing looked at the joyous sect members and the newly polished sect plaque. She narrowed her eyes at the plaque for a moment. Even the plaque had been gilded overnight. Wangshu Pavilion had never been as resplendent as it was today.
Rubbing her sore neck, Yu Jing looked at Zhi You in the distance, who was hanging red lanterns on the trees with the little yaos, and shook her head helplessly, laughing out loud. She even suspected that the child hadn’t slept all night.
“Senior Sister.” Elder Mo approached Yu Jing. His eyes were aching from the golden light of the plaque. “Did that child, Zhi You, really mess around in the sect all night last night?”
“That’s right.” Yu Jing nodded and pointed at the bluestone floor. “Didn’t you see that even the ground has been washed clean?”
“No wonder Luo Yan and Chang He didn’t return to the courtyard last night. It turns out they were making a fuss with Zhi You all night.” Elder Mo couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “But with all this commotion, our Wangshu Pavilion looks a lot more lavish.”
Whoever said that being love-struck was worthless? Zhi You, this love-struck fool, was worth a lot.
“It’s good that the children are happy.” Yu Jing smiled gently. “Life’s journey is long, and happiness is hard to find.”
Jiu Hui woke up from her dream, washed up, and pushed the door open to go outside, only to find that her courtyard was hung with all sorts of beautiful lanterns.
As she walked out of the courtyard, the path she usually took was adorned with fluttering ribbons. Little birds flew overhead, scattering flower petals on her head.
At the end of the road, Zhi You stood at the very front, with his Senior Brothers and Sisters all standing behind him, their faces filled with congratulatory smiles.
“Little Junior Sister, come quickly!” Luo Yan ran to Jiu Hui’s side, took her hand, and walked to Zhi You’s side. She smiled and placed her hand in Zhi You’s palm. “May the two of you be sweet and loving, and never be separated.”
When their hands were clasped together, everyone let out a deafening cheer.
The colorful petals were tossed out by the senior brothers and sisters. Jiu Hui blinked her eyes. Zhi You used his sleeve to shield her head. Jiu Hui covered her mouth and giggled. Zhi You looked at her and smiled.
-—–
Wenxing School.
“Why would the Red Luan Star* appear between the Divine Evil Star and the Moon’s Favor Star?” The Sect Master of the Wenxing School gazed at the night sky, as if he had seen an eighty-year-old man dressed up as a beautiful young woman, his face full of confusion.
TN: associated with weddings, giving birth to children and other happy events
He and several Elders from the Wenxing School stared at the starry sky for seven days and seven nights, but they still couldn’t figure out the mystery behind it.
“Moon’s Favor and Divine Evil are close together, which is already against the normal principles of celestial phenomena. The Red Luan Star is also moving, so…” The Grand Elder held back for a long time, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words “it’s not surprising”.
When the Divine Evil Star appeared, everyone thought it was a sign of a great calamity. Later, when the Moon’s Favor and the Divine Evil drew closer and closer, they thought that the Moon’s Favor was attracted and obscured by the Divine Evil, which was why the strange phenomenon occurred.
Now…
Even the newly recruited disciples of the Wenxing School knew what the movement of the Red Luan star meant.
“Sect Master, do you think this is a case of Divine Evil following Moon’s Favor and turning from evil to good, or Moon’s Favor following Divine Evil and causing trouble?” The Second Elder looked at the increasingly bright Red Luan Star, his tone somewhat strange. “Could it be that our skills are lacking?”
Everyone fell silent. After a long while, an Elder asked, “Has Zhenxing Tower said anything?”
“Since Bu Ting was punished, Zhenxing Tower has not sent out any more messages.” The Grand Elder replied, “In recent days, I don’t know who spread the news of what happened on Fuguang Mountain. Now the entire Demon Realm and the mortal world know how harsh the environment on Fuguang Mountain is and how much torment Immortal Lord Fuguang suffers every day.”
“Our ten major sects and Zhenxing Tower have been criticized a lot. The people in many cities have been discussing after dinner how to protect the people of the world and how to save Immortal Lord Fuguang and give him his freedom.”
The Grand Elder had not expected the mortal realm to react so strongly to the matter of Immortal Lord Fuguang: “Even the incense offerings at the Fuguang Temple are more abundant than before.”
After the common people learned that Fuguang, who was known as the Immortal Lord, was not an actual immortal, but a child who had suffered from pain and torture since birth, the Fuguang Temple became lively.
Even the cities under the protection of the Wenxing School had several more Fuguang Temples.
Although he was not an immortal, he was already a deity in the hearts of the common people.
“The people are right to curse us, and the rumors outside are all true. Let them be.” The Sect Master of Wenxing School was silent for a moment before asking Bu Ting, “Bu Ting went to Manxiang City. How is the situation?”
“The people of Manxiang City already know the truth about the death of the young City Lord of Manxiang City. Wherever he appears, he will be met with the disgusted looks of the people.” An elder sighed, “The reputation of the Jiutian Sect has also plummeted, and it has been greatly affected.”
Who could have predicted that the Immortal Venerable, once revered by all cultivators, would end up like this?
“Today, one of our disciples went to Taolin City to play and saw someone who looked very similar to the Grand Elder of the Jiutian Sect.” The Second Elder whispered, “Could Zhang He really be planning to become an Elder at the Wangshu Pavilion?”
“It should be… impossible, right?”
Everyone fell silent. No wonder even the four Elders of Zhenxing Tower couldn’t calculate his fate. Who could have predicted that Zhang He would leave the Jiutian Sect?
“If Zhang He joins Wangshu Pavilion, then fate…” The Grand Elder’s mood was complicated. “Fate is an unpredictable play.”
-—–
Zhang He flew over countless cities on his sword, but he couldn’t find any trace of his disciple. When he flew over Taolin City, he saw the red lanterns that had not yet been removed from the streets of Taolin City. For some reason, he stopped in Taolin City.
The owner of the soup dumpling stall on the street was a squirrel yao. She would take out peanuts and melon seeds to coax crying children who had fallen over, and she would sit and chat with the neighbors.
The turtle yao who ferried people across the river would help the commoners retrieve their baskets that fell into the river, watch over the children playing by the river, and even help people retrieve their clothes that were washed away by the water. He was busy from morning till night.
He didn’t know if the people of Taolin City knew the identities of these little yaos, but he did know that the people got along well with them.
“Boatman.” Zhang He restrained his aura and jumped onto the turtle yao’s small boat. “I need to go to a distant place. Are you willing to take me there?”
The snapping turtle yao was just roaring “go home” at two children who were playing in the water. When he heard that someone wanted to take his boat, he quickly forced out a simple smile. “Where do you want to go, honored guest? As long as it’s within the range of Taolin City, I can take you there.”
He had lived in the moat of Taolin City for over three hundred years, growing up on the offerings of the city’s people. He had only recently taken on human form and, not knowing any other trade, had built a boat for himself and made a living ferrying people across the river.
“Can I go to Wangshu Pavilion?”
“My esteemed guest, you must be from out of town, right? It’s more cost-effective to take a carriage to Wangshu Pavilion than a boat.” The snapping turtle yao pointed at the river under the boat. “This river has nine bends and eighteen turns. If you take a boat to the lake by Wangshu Pavilion, you’ll have to take a long detour.”
“It doesn’t matter, I just want to take a boat on the lake and enjoy the beautiful scenery.” Zhang He found that this little yao mentioned Wangshu Pavilion without any fear.
“That works.” The turtle yao said happily, “Honored guest, please take a seat. We’ll set off right now.”
A little yao actually dared to lead him to Wangshu Pavilion. Was it not afraid of being killed by the cultivators of Wangshu Pavilion?
The boat paddled by the snapping turtle yao was faster than the boat of an ordinary boatman.
The scenery on both sides of the light boat was beautiful, and Zhang He couldn’t help but focus his attention on the beauty of the banks.
“It’s the first lunar month now, not the best time for the scenery.” The snapping turtle yao enthusiastically explained, “When the third and fifth lunar months arrive, all kinds of flowers will bloom on both banks. Inviting two or three friends to go boating in the mountains and rivers, that will be the best.”
“This river is connected to several large lakes and rivers. Aren’t the people afraid that a yao will cause trouble?”
“That’s not possible. There aren’t many yaos in the waters under the jurisdiction of Taolin City. Even if there were, they wouldn’t come out to harm the people.” The turtle yao pointed a finger forward. “That’s Wangshu Lake up ahead.”
The speed of the light boat increased. Zhang He looked at the gold-shining plaque at the entrance of Wangshu Pavilion and couldn’t help but squint.
Wangshu Pavilion went to Jiutian Sect for spirit stones every year, but unexpectedly, they used them to gild their own signboard.
“The signboard of Wangshu Pavilion has been broken for hundreds of years, and it has finally been replaced with a new one.” The turtle yao’s eyes were full of admiration. “The new signboard is so beautiful and so grand.”
Author Note:
Zhang He: There is always something wrong between me, the monks and yaos in Taolin City!