Chapter 144

So life is always full of surprises. No one expected you’d get hurt by accident! If you got hurt, you should’ve called me. After all, we’re both responsible for guarding the paddy field, and we only need to hold out one more day before this task ends.

Rather than fail the task, you might as well have called me to take over for a while.

“I’m sorry, I truly apologize. If I were stronger, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” Su Qingniao said.

“Even I, without using my trump cards, can’t kill a wild boar. So don’t feel bad—go get yourself some better trump cards later,” Su Jin said.

Pfft—Su Qingniao burst out laughing at that.

Su Qingniao had been wracked with guilt, but Su Jin didn’t blame her. This feeling of being trusted, of being supported, was truly nice.

No wonder Mother, despite her reservations, never outright rejected Uncle Zhang’s advances.

Since Father’s already divorced and remarried, once I return home, I’ll encourage Mother to remarry.

Worst case, I’ll visit Grandfather a few more times.

The heavy weight of anxiety that had pressed down on Su Qingniao’s heart seemed to suddenly begin crumbling.

“Go back right away. Even though you’ve treated the wound, your arm can’t support combat for now. You might as well rest for the rest of the afternoon. When your arm feels better tonight, come help out then.

After all, by then we’ll only need to hold out for one night.” Su Jin said.

The spiritual rice will mature tonight!

If a bug swarm or beast surge erupts—whether large or small—it’ll draw the attention of adult cultivators. So openly having Xue Chiluo help cheat won’t work.

Better to use Busatan directly.

After all, Busatan is right on her wrist; a single thought can activate it.

Much more discreet than Xue Chiluo.

So it’s fine to let Su Qingniao join in.

Even if she can’t help, just standing there to fill numbers is enough.

“Alright, I’ll come back for dinner and bring you some.”

“Hurry off,” Su Jin urged her.

As soon as Su Qingniao left, a green light slipped from Su Jin’s sleeve and sank beneath the spiritual field. Soon after, the entire field fell silent once more.

Su Jin walked to the damaged spiritual rice Su Qingniao had cleared and counted. In half a day, with Su Qingniao unable to move well, she’d only cleared twenty-odd stalks.

So Su Qingniao really did well. She’d picked a decent partner.

She stored the stalks in Xiao Wu Tian and left the grains and spoils for Su Qingniao. Su Jin patrolled the six mu of guarded rice—sure enough, damage was only near the forest edge.

With Xue Chiluo in the field, she didn’t need to be there. With nothing else to do, Su Jin simply sat on her cushion and cultivated.

After cultivation, she closed her eyes and slept.

When dinner time neared, she summoned Xue Chiluo back into her sleeve.

Soon after Xue Chiluo left, insects, birds, and beasts began rushing toward the field.

Su Jin pulled out the Gourd Vine and whipped them.

When Su Qingniao arrived with dinner, she saw Su Jin swiftly whipping a large guinea pig unconscious, then tossing it into her “storage ring.”

“I always wondered why I never saw you dumping spoils by the field edge—you’ve been storing them all in your storage ring?” Su Qingniao exclaimed. “But these little prey have no valuable hide or meat—why stuff them into your ring to suffocate? What’s the point? Compost?”

“Exactly—dead ones for compost. Birds, beasts, snakes—all compost. Bugs and spiritual plant roots feed the chickens. Very useful.”

Su Qingniao was utterly convinced.

“I’ll watch for a bit—you go eat.”

Su Jin looked at her arm.

“Don’t worry—after resting all afternoon, my arm’s much better.”

That afternoon, Su Qingniao had borrowed the best external wound medicine from Su Cheng.

Aside from not being able to exert too much force, her arm no longer hindered her movement.

“Alright, be careful. If you can’t handle it, call me.”

“Don’t worry.”

Now the ones coming were only insects and small beasts.

Su Jin finished eating; Su Qingniao was still effortlessly clearing bugs. But Su Jin noticed: Su Qingniao had trained in martial arts since childhood.

Her footwork and throwing techniques were clearly from some martial art.

Her foundation was stronger than hers. Su Jin’s martial arts consisted only of the accompanying body-training technique from the Ice Skin Snow Bone Art.

That technique included palm strikes, fist forms, and footwork.

But none were refined—it was just for physical conditioning.

She didn’t care much; her main attack technique was the Gourd Vine Entanglement Art. She could now control four gourd vines at once, though not as effortlessly as when controlling three.

But normally, one gourd vine was enough.

Su Jin packed away her mealbox and joined the bug-killing.

Working together was indeed much easier.

But as night fell, birds, beasts, insects, and snakes surged from the mountains like they’d gone mad.

At this point, five adult cultivators appeared.

They took away large beasts—like giant wild boars.

Large bug swarms were broken up; most were exterminated, leaving only scattered remnants for the junior cultivators to handle.

Su Jin could still hold on, but Su Qingniao couldn’t.

Su Jin immediately told her to sit and recover behind the field.

Su Qingniao knew the stakes—she had to recover now.

After all, it wasn’t even midnight yet, yet birds, beasts, and insects kept multiplying—clearly tonight was the moment the spiritual rice would fully mature.

As Su Qingniao went to recover, Su Jin summoned two gourd vines to work.

The twin vines sent visiting creatures tumbling—bugs fell like rain.

As for crawling insects above and below ground? Who cared?

Xue Chiluo opened its mouth and waited.

Su Jin collected the corpses and dumped them into Xiao Wu Tian.

Xiao Wu Tian digested anything.

Whether bug or beast, once inside, they vanished silently.

She felt Xiao Wu Tian, once utterly still, seemed to emit a strange, chittering sound—was it enjoying the feast?

Su Jin rubbed her brow in passing. Why did she feel this way?

Whatever. Let it be.

Whether Xiao Wu Tian was a living creature or just a small space, she’d keep it anyway.

After all, it had been with her since childhood—she couldn’t betray it!

When Su Qingniao regained her magic power and strength and opened her eyes, she saw Su Jin’s side in unprecedented chaos.

Su Jin faced not just birds, snakes, and insects, but also numerous small beasts—even three wild dogs had appeared not far from her.

As if planning a surprise attack.

Just as Su Qingniao rose to rush to help, the three wild dogs moved simultaneously, attacking Su Jin from three directions.