Chapter 34: line with translation of chapter title

Li Che brought his elder uncle's family back to the Xu Family Manor, first making do for a night in his own courtyard, then the next day he went to find Steward Sun.

Because Xu You had agreed, Steward Sun didn't make things difficult, although after losing his son his attitude toward Li Che had grown much colder; but if you think about it carefully, Sun Changbiao originally had wanted to sacrifice Xixi to pray for a son.

Zhang Ya (glossary)

Chen Lao (glossary)

Recalling the oppressive feeling brought by the Spirit Infant Sect's parade on the street, Li Che couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow.

Xixi (glossary)

Sun Changbiao (personal name)

Sun steward

Of course, the one at the top must be that Spirit Infant Dharma Master; draw a circle, mark the key point!

Days passed one by one.

After the bounty on the Bull Demon was raised to five hundred taels, Li Che, aside from helping his uncle's family once, chose to stay low-key and never acted again.

Of course, during that time he also tried to find Constable Zhao Chuanxiong's whereabouts, but Zhao seemed to sense he was being hunted, becoming cautious and sneaky.

He never appeared alone; even when traveling, several constable aides followed him, and at night he didn't go home, nobody knew where he hid.

Li Che found no chance to act, so he gave up.

Perhaps because that Bone-Tempering Realm Eight Trigrams Staff martial artist died, Feilei Wai Cheng seemed calm for a while, but gradually news came of children being killed.

As long as there are people, evil will not cease.

Time is like sand between the fingers, slipping away grain by grain, marking the turn from spring to summer.

Unnoticed, half a year flashed by.

Xu Ji Mu diao Pu

Li Che drew a deep breath, blew away the wood shavings on the carving, and in the swirl a statue of "Nine Children Embracing the Lotus" sprang to life before his eyes.

Old Chen had also carved a Nine Children Embracing the Lotus wood carving before, but now Li Che's version is even more vivid than Old Chen's, revealing a unique connotation, as if the nine carved children had come alive, playing and roughhousing, audible as if right beside the ear.

This is the richer connotation brought by the Immortal Craft Dao Fruit rising to lv3.

"Ah Che, your skill has improved! In next month's assessment, you're likely to be rated a Four-Blade Woodcarver."

At the workshop's entrance, Xu You, wearing a white silk robe, leaned against the doorframe, holding a jug of wine with a gentle smile, and said.

"As a Four-Blade Woodcarver, you can freely enter and leave the inner and outer cities, Ah Che… do you have any thought of moving your whole family into the inner city?"

Xu You asked.

Upon hearing that, Li Che thought of the inner city, where experts are as numerous as clouds, and heard that the true profundity of the Spirit Infant Sect's strong ones all reside within; moving there would be too risky.

As Old Chen said, although the living conditions in the outer city are somewhat worse, being far from the vortex's center means fewer troubles, making life rather carefree and comfortable.

Seeing Li Che not respond for a long while, Xu You waved his hand: "Forget it, let's not talk about this; if you entered the inner city, finding you for a drink would become troublesome."

As an unfavored member of the family who lost the chance to compete for headship, staying in the outer city is like being exiled; basically no one bothers to return to the inner city.

Since Xu You returned from purging the Guiyi Miao Xiejwu in the outer city, he seemed to have clicked with Li Che, often coming to drink with him; at first perhaps with an intention to win him over, but over time he truly came to regard Li Che as a friend.

Frequenting Li Che's cottage for meals became ever more familiar.

After finishing work, Li Che and Xu You returned together to the cottage.

The loquat tree in the courtyard grew lush with branches and leaves, verdant and thriving.

Little Xixi, under the loquat tree, gripped a wooden stick, shouting hey-hey, ha-ha nonstop.

One-and-a-half-week-old Xixi is lively, clever, extremely intelligent, seeming like a three-week-old child, with boundless energy, jumping about; the differences of a Spirit Infant become ever more apparent.

"Daddy!"

Seeing Li Che return, Xixi's chubby little face trembled, then she barefoot pattered over, bursting with joy.

She then skidded to a halt in front of Li Che and Xu You, her sky-high ponytail almost bumping into Li Che's thigh.

"Daddy… you promised to bring candied haws for Xixi, where are they?"

Xixi blinked her big eyes, already beginning to search.

But after searching all around and finding nothing, she instantly deflated like a punctured ball, her raised chest sinking.

Li Che laughed as he picked up the disappointed Xixi, innocently saying, "That's what I promised you the day before yesterday; didn't I just bring you candied haws yesterday? You got it wrong."

Xixi blinked, tilting her head: "Really? I even forgot the taste of yesterday's candied haws..."

After speaking, she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips.

Xu You burst out laughing: "Uncle holds you, your dad didn't buy it, Uncle Xu You did."

As if performing a trick, Xu You really produced a candied haw, and Xixi instantly cheered.

Chen Lao pulled out a bamboo chair, sat under the loquat tree to cool off, seeing this he couldn't help laughing and shaking his head: "Third boss, don't indulge little stinky Xixi with candied haws every day, or her teeth will rot."

Hearing that, Xixi immediately became unhappy, pouting: "Stinky Grandpa Chen, I'm not little stinky Xixi, I'm Nuanxi, Li Nuanxi!"

Her muttered words still carried a milky tone.

This made several people unable to hold back their laughter.

Zhang Ya had just finished busy work in the kitchen and began preparing the meal.

The freeloaders Xu You and Chen Lao, together with Li Che's family, in the summer evening directly spread out tables in the courtyard and started eating.

Xu You greatly enjoyed this feeling; living alone in the outer city, he usually ate by himself, so this liveliness and ease made him cherish it deeply.

After taking a bite of pork head meat, Xu You looked at Li Che and said, "Ah Che, lately… the Spirit Infant Sect's movements have been growing larger."

"Within the inner city, the Spirit Infant Sect joined forces with the Si family… reaching out to seize the Spirit Infants and Spirit Children of the other three houses, thus falling out with the other three great clans, and several Bone-Tempering Realm cultivators have died."

"The Si family can hardly bear this wrath anymore; the instigator Si Mu Bai was expelled from the inner city, and the Spirit Infant Sect's influence there was wiped clean, most retreating to the outer city..."

Xu You said in a low voice.

Li Che took a sip of wine: "Since the three great clans of the inner city have fallen out with the Spirit Infant Sect, why not completely exterminate its forces? Why not wipe them out thoroughly?"

Chen Lao gave a cold smile: "The Spirit Infant Sect originates from the Guiyi Miao outside the city; how could it be so easily eradicated? Its followers, especially the higher-ups, basically wear masks and conceal their identities… the origins of its power are tangled and complex, how could it possibly be wiped clean?"

Perhaps the high-ranking officials of the three great clans, or rather the high-ranking officials in the government office... all have powerful cultivators of the Spirit Infant Sect.

Chen Lao seemed accustomed to such matters, his words carrying a cold tone tinged with a hint of sorrow.

If this Spirit Infant Sect matter is not handled well, Fēiléichéng... will sooner or later be doomed.

When the words fell, the dining table fell into silence.

Xu You's brows furrowed and then relaxed...

He glanced at Chen Lao, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Chen Lao gulped down a bowl of wine in one go, then slammed the bowl onto the table: 'Third Boss also knows my background; I was originally a refugee from Zhouyun City to the north, how Zhouyun City fell... I will never forget this in my life.'

Xu You sighed, said nothing more, merely looked at Li Che: 'During this time, look after Xixi, don't let her run around... Once the Spirit Infant Sect affair is over, or when next year's Spirit Child screening occurs, I will pull some strings to get her into the 'Divine Cultivation Academy' jointly established by the great clans of Fēiléichéng; then her safety will have some guarantee.'

However, I also received news that the Divine Sect will send powerful cultivators down the mountain next year to recruit disciples; unfortunately Xixi is a bit young, and I don't know if she will catch the eye of the Divine Sect's disciples. I will watch and work things out then; if she can enter the Divine Sect, Xixi will no longer need to worry about the threat of the Spirit Infant Sect.

Before such a colossal entity as the Divine Sect, the Spirit Infant Sect... is pitifully weak.

Therefore, the Spirit Infant Sect will likely go on a frenzied rampage before the Divine Sect's disciples arrive.

Li Che nodded, filled his own bowl, then raised a bowl to Xu You in a toast.

The matter of Xixi... I'll trouble you with it, Old Xu.

Xu You rolled his eyes, but still raised his bowl to return the toast.

You're being formal; Xixi and I are close.

……

……

Heeded Xu You's words, Li Che listened attentively and did not bring Xixi around recklessly.

He also deliberately observed that the outer city had indeed become much more chaotic, with the Spirit Infant Sect's followers acting more frequently; even outside Xu Ji Mu diao Pu, martial artists often leapt over roofs and scaled walls at night, eyeing opportunities without cease.

However, the militia organized by Xu You from many martial woodcarvers strengthened patrols, and after Xu You personally killed an opportunistic disciple who had reached the Perfected Meridian stage, the Spirit Infant Sect somewhat restrained itself.

But elsewhere, the Spirit Infant Sect's activities remained intense.

In the outer city of Fēiléichéng, over the past half year it had sunk into a chorus of wails, with many parents who had lost their children filing complaints at the government office.

The government office's constables organized patrols, but the effect was minimal; the Spirit Infant Sect's wicked followers often seemed to get wind of things in advance.

Amidst this chaos, half a year passed, yet the turmoil not only failed to improve, but intensified further.

A cold wind blew, and early winter arrived quietly once more.

Another half year passed unnoticed.

Xixi, two years old.

Outer city, Listening-to-Rain Lane.

Inside the courtyard rented by Li Che.

Li Che sat cross-legged; the snowflakes drifting down from the sky, as soon as they fell near him, were blown apart by the internal energy surging within him like a flood dragon, shattering into snow mist.

He slowly opened his eyes; the energy gathered inward, all returning to the Dao Fruit 【Dragon Elephant Golden Strength】.

The Snake-Meridian internal energy... has reached the third heaven; this internal energy cultivation method is also considered to have reached its upper limit.

If we want to break through to the fourth heaven of internal energy, we need to obtain a superior internal energy cultivation method.

Li Che exhaled a breath; the furious airflow shot out from his mouth like a sharp arrow.

Suddenly, within his chest, the Dao Fruits 【Immortal Craft】 and 【Dragon Elephant Golden Strength】 twitched slightly!

A familiar scene appeared before his eyes.

On the vast expanse of land, a towering treasure tree shot up from the ground, its countless leaves trembling and flashing; upon it, a seven-colored fruit slowly formed, its radiant light flickering like a fleeting glance, reflecting many scenes of Xixi's growth over the past year.

His black hair draped over his shoulders, Li Che's eyes shone brightly.

Another year's anticipation finally blossomed at this moment.

Xixi, two years old, the third Dao Fruit...

At last!

……

【Your daughter is two years old, safe and sound, free of illness and disaster; you have obtained a Dao Fruit 'Pure Heart'】

(End of chapter)