Chapter 323: The Cowlick Little Taoist Master Is Also Formidable Today 18

Cheng Cinian naturally also noticed Jin Chen's gaze directed at him; seeing that Jin Chen had no intention of exposing him, he followed Fu Xizhou as he led away Cheng Luosheng's departing figure, leaving together, and he was now able to confirm his guess.

Jin Chen withdrew his gaze and turned around.

"Brother Chen." An Wuyang, who had recovered his evil soul, walked over and softly called Jin Chen.

Still feeling unwell?

Seeing the youth's complexion still pale, Jin Chen put an arm around his shoulders, his expression full of concern.

My head feels dizzy; perhaps the fusion isn't complete enough.

An Wuyang said this, shaking his head hard, feeling as if the whole world were spinning around them as its center, his head leaning straight into Jin Chen's embrace.

So dizzy.

Suddenly, his fingers grabbed Jin Chen's shoulder again, pointing behind him, "Mr. Sun is dizzy too."

If it weren't for the Dao Association's magic treasure protecting the two, Sun Daqiang and An Wuyang would likely have lost half their lives by now.

Jin Chen picked him up, took out the secret medicine he had prepared earlier, gently fed it to the youth, then took out a replenishing hundred-year ginseng pill and coaxed him to swallow it.

Feeling any better?

"Hmm…" An Wuyang carefully sensed himself, his cowlick swaying.

Now he's not just dizzy, but also very sleepy.

He smacked his lips, collapsed into Jin Chen's arms, closed his eyes and fell asleep, his breathing even.

A wisp of green smoke swept by; the two of them, together with the dizzy Sun Daqiang in the grass, vanished from the spot, and the formation was scattered by a sudden gust of wind.

Sun Daqiang had long prepared to risk his life to help guide An Wuyang's soul back.

Merely upon discovering he had awakened at home, he felt not the slightest discomfort; in fact, he was even more vigorous than before, and, puzzled, he sat up and instantly saw the porcelain bottle beside the bed.

He stared, opened the lid to find one pill left inside, and brought it close to smell.

"Human… ginseng pill?"

Now he had nothing left to misunderstand; he kowtowed toward the window outside, hot tears streaming, in the direction of An Wuyang's home street.

——

Only by evening did An Wuyang regain consciousness.

He covered his groggy head, feeling that his dizziness hadn't fully passed, sat up after getting up, and stared blankly.

After a while, he yawned again, tears welled at the corners of his eyes, he casually wiped them away, making the eye corners a bit red.

All the events of today replayed in his mind; when he looked out the window again, he felt somewhat surprised.

Could he have slept a whole day? No wonder his whole body ached from sleeping!

An Wuyang slipped into the little-bear slippers he had specially chosen, pattering out of the bedroom.

Just stepping out, he was drawn by the aroma of food; even the tea table had sliced fruit ready!

He let out a wow, biting into an apple as he headed for the kitchen, poked his head in to look, and his cowlick slipped into Jin Chen's field of view first.

"Brother Chen?"

Jin Chen served the last dish, saying, "Finally awake—how did the soul fusion go?"

This question left An Wuyang deep in thought.

He sensed carefully and replied, "Actually, I don't feel anything particularly significant."

Aside from the pain at the start of the fusion and the dizzy feeling afterward.

"The evil soul originally belongs to you; if there were other sensations, that would be bad."

Jin Chen brought the dish to the table, saying, "Come eat quickly; sleeping a whole day surely left you starving."

"Sure!"

An Wuyang sat beside Jin Chen, tucking into the meal with great delight, his mood wonderful.

A Blackening Value of 40 is already quite low; to have only that value after having one's soul sucked away, Jin Chen even thought that being absent‑minded was an innate trait of his wife, totally unrelated to the evil soul.

Probably because Jin Chen's scrutinizing, teasing gaze was too obvious, An Wuyang finally lifted his head and asked, "Brother Chen, why are you staring at me while I eat if you're not eating?"

Jin Chen replied, "You're a feast for the eyes."

Having hit his funny bone, An Wuyang giggled, nearly choking, and only after drinking several gulps of water did he recover.

He blamed Jin Chen: "Don't crack cold jokes during meals from now on."

Jin Chen: "……"

"Your sense of humor is really strange."

An Wuyang hummed twice in response, especially showing appreciation for Jin Chen's dishes, turning each piece back and forth to try to get an even coating.

"Brother Chen, may I ask you a question?" he said, mouth full of meat, his voice somewhat muffled.

Jin Chen single‑handedly pinched the back of his head, indicating he didn't need to aim his head at himself, lest he suddenly spit out food.

"Go ahead."

"Your past life… that is, before you became a minister in the netherworld, what did you do?" An Wuyang tried to phrase it fully, "My master used to say that Qinghan Temple was not only the greatest temple of old, but the founder who established Qinghan Temple was also a very remarkable figure."

"But just how remarkable he was, the details have faded through word‑of‑mouth, and later generations remember little."

Jin Chen recalled his original self's memories: "Back then it was still a monarchic system, with demons and humans coexisting in the Nine Provinces, so conflict was inevitable; my family was the renowned Exterminate Evil Clan of the Imperial Capital, and I too inherited my father's business."

He only said a few brief words.

Yet An Wuyang seemed, from those words, to recall Jin Chen's youthful vigor and lofty aspirations, and couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling.

"Brother Chen used to be an ambitious youth."

After swallowing the last bite of rice, An Wuyang asked again, "Then what is your current ambition, Brother Chen?"

He had originally expected answers like: becoming the outstanding one among the seventy‑two department heads, or adding bricks and tiles to the netherworld's business of capturing fugitive ghosts—something quite impressive.

Who would have thought that the very next second Jin Chen would speak softly, "My present ambition is to feed you well—look how thin you've become."

An Wuyang snorted, quite dissatisfied: "I'm not thin at all—I still have abs!"

He lowered his head, lifted his belly skin with both hands, and displayed it to Jin Chen.

Jin Chen lowered his gaze; the skin that came into view was so white it was slightly dazzling, and he reached out with a smile to touch it.

"Soft abs?"

An Wuyang retorted: "If it looks like abs, then it is abs!" No accepting rebuttal!

Jin Chen nodded in agreement: "Ornamental abs."

An Wuyang: "……"

He was utterly furious, reaching out to poke Jin Chen's belly, "I also want to see if you have abs……"

The motion stopped abruptly when his fingertips touched the firm, textured skin of the abdomen.

An Wuyang felt that four big characters were hanging beside him now.

Self-inflicted humiliation.

Jin Chen set down his chopsticks, pressed the boy's hand resting on his abs, "Are you still satisfied?"

"... In broad daylight, don't say lewd things."

An Wuyang silently withdrew his hand; his fingertips still retained the warm temperature, and his appearance‑obsessed little heart started thumping again.

Not knowing what nonsense he had imagined again, Jin Chen could only sigh that he truly couldn't keep up with his train of thought, merely reaching out to tug at the boy's cowlick.

"Rest well these two days; in two days I'll help you break the seal on your dantian."

"Okay!"

An Wuyang immediately shouted happily; his cowlick almost poked into Jin Chen's eyes.

His brow twitched; he pressed the boy's body, making him sit up straight.