Chapter 7

Night deepened, and a light rain began to fall, pattering softly.

The painters in the mansion had all left, and the sprawling complex, capable of housing hundreds, now held only the master and disciple huddled in the tiny alchemy chamber. Lu Xingzhou pulled out the spirit stones taken from the Danxia Gang and arranged them into a spirit gathering array beside the flickering furnace.

The master and disciple sat cross-legged in cultivation; soon, the spirit stones lost their essence and grew dim.

This was a high-quality spirit gathering array, built at great cost—yet it was drained completely in an instant.

Had an outsider observed closely, they would have noticed that Lu Xingzhou absorbed only a small portion of the spirit energy; most of it flowed into A Nuo's tiny body.

In just a few days, the large stock of spirit stones stolen from the Danxia Gang had been utterly consumed. It was true—no matter how much money he made, it wasn't enough for this gold-swallowing beast.

A Nuo opened her eyes first.

The window hadn't been shut tightly; autumn wind, carrying rain, swept into the room, bringing a chilling air.

A Nuo propped her chin on her hand, watching her master's serene, closed-eyed face as he sat cross-legged. He still looked calm and gentle, yet she always felt that since returning to Xiazhou, his heart had grown as cold and grim as the weather.

He was a demon risen from hell, returned to claim lives. No matter how composed he appeared outside, once back here, he suppressed the murderous intent that threatened to pierce the heavens.

A Nuo was not six years old this year—she was ten. The events of ten years ago? She had lived through them herself. But due to her unique constitution, no matter how much she ate, she never grew larger; she required only high-grade pills to survive, making her extraordinarily difficult to raise, and thus appearing much younger than her true age.

Lu Xingzhou exhausted himself to earn pills and money, most of which went to feed this four-legged gold-swallowing beast, and after countless hardships, he had finally raised her to this size.

A Nuo's uniqueness extended beyond her physique. Even as a newborn in swaddling clothes, she had known every detail of what had transpired.

The year she was raised, Lu Xingzhou himself was only nine.

That year, he was called Huo Qing.

Though he bore the surname Huo, it was a common village name—he had no relation to the Huo family.

Sheng Yuanyao had asked whether the Huo family had oppressed villagers and incurred grudges, yet she still focused solely on Young Master Huo VII. After all, if it was Huo Shang seeking revenge, that would be far more interesting—the kind of aristocratic feud the authorities and common folk alike delighted in, especially captivating.

Those oppressed, easily overlooked, had no story, no sensational angle, no one cared.

Even if their entire family of over ten perished, their bodies wrapped in rags and dumped down the back mountain, no one cared.

One nine-year-old child still clung to a breath—still, no one cared.

Had anyone bothered to look, they would have seen, in the ravine between the Huo mansion's back mountain and Danxia Mountain, an infant "growing" from the soil. When Huo Qing was thrown down, he rolled beside the infant, his teeth striking the baby's small head, drawing a trickle of blood into his mouth.

The dying Huo Qing inexplicably revived. Opening his eyes, he saw the tiny bundle before him wailing loudly; something within him stirred—some latent power—and he somehow clutched the child and crawled up the Danxia Mountain, collapsing at the temple's doorstep.

There was no tale of a kind old Daoist Priest taking in orphans.

The old Daoist Priest did save Huo Qing's life—but not out of compassion. He was merely intrigued that this child, who should have been dead long ago, had crawled up the mountain alive. So he used Huo Qing as a test subject, torturing him with drugs for two full years.

To satisfy official population inspections, the old Daoist Priest even registered him officially, making him a legitimate heir of Danxia Temple.

After two years of torture, Huo Qing's body was reduced to ragged ruin; his broken leg, which might have been mended with timely treatment, was now beyond all hope of recovery.

To prevent his test subject from dying too easily, the old Daoist Priest taught Huo Qing some basic cultivation.

At such a young age, with a broken leg and his constitution utterly ruined, his original path as a Wu Xiu was sealed. He could only consider switching to Daoist cultivation—but even that faced heavy obstacles.

After all, circulating Qi required the Foot Meridians; without them, the Yongquan Point could not be reached. Above, it could not connect with Heaven; below, it could not touch Earth—thus, the Great Circulation could not be achieved. Combined with his abysmal physique, spiritual cultivation would inevitably yield little success.

Moreover, Daoist cultivation demanded insight and innate talent—it was not something one could simply learn.

Yet Huo Qing treasured this chance. Though suffering as a test subject, he could not leave with A Nuo—his broken leg made escape impossible, and fleeing would surely draw the Huo family's notice. Better to endure here and learn. So, amid the endless drug trials and torture, he silently studied for two years, while hoarding his pitiful porridge to feed A Nuo.

The tiny rice dumpling, with her bright, wide eyes watching him, was the only warmth in Huo Qing's earthly hell.

At first, the old Daoist Priest thought A Nuo's stunted growth was simply malnutrition—he paid little mind, assuming she'd die within days anyway. But the little thing proved astonishingly resilient and survived. Yet two years later, her growth had completely halted, leaving the old Daoist Priest puzzled—and determined to study her.

This act enraged Huo Qing utterly.

For two years, Huo Qing had endured everything passively, erasing all suspicion from the old Daoist Priest. The old man did not know Huo Qing had possessed basic array knowledge since childhood, and over these two years, he had secretly studied and analyzed the old man's methods by stealth.

During one of the old Daoist Priest's deep meditations, Huo Qing quietly sabotaged his protective array and, with a simple kitchen knife, cleanly severed the old man's neck.

Unfortunately, though the old Daoist Priest was no powerful cultivator, he was still seventh or eighth grade—his dying counterattack was more than Huo Qing's ragged body could withstand.

Blood gushed from the severed neck, a spray so forceful it could have killed him.

At the last instant, a white, jade-like hand swept past, blocking the blood jet. A sweet, playful voice whispered in his ear: "Interesting little brother… you should have died twice already. This is your third time…"

Huo Qing turned and saw a face of fourteen or fifteen, charming and expressive.

Like a ray of light, shining into a dark hell.

Died twice? Once at the hands of the Huo family—and once… in his previous life, when he was reincarnated here?

Huo Qing took a deep breath: "Miss… who are you?"

"I am a Soul Debtor," the girl's eyes sparkled mischievously. "You were meant to be dead. I lent you a life. One day, you must repay me."

Huo Qing fell silent for a moment: "Miss saved me. My life is yours now. Take it whenever you wish."

"Mm-hmm… how long have you been on this mountain?"

"Two years."

"Have you ever heard this old Daoist Priest mention any pills?"

"He's always refining pills. Which kind do you mean?"

"Hmm… the kind of extremely high-grade pill that lets someone ascend directly to immortality."

"If he had such a pill, he wouldn't be seventh or eighth grade—and he wouldn't be dead in my hands." Huo Qing's face was expressionless. "Perhaps he dreamed of refining such a pill. Isn't everything he did meant for that?"

"Hah…" the girl laughed cheerfully. "That's true. I think the Huo family is more likely to have it. The divination must've been slightly off."

Huo Qing immediately urged: "Then why not search the Huo family?"

"Hah... the Huo family is powerful. I don't want to provoke them yet." The girl smiled. "I ran away from home to build my own career. I need people. You seem like a little adult—interesting. Want to join me?"

Seeing she had no intention of targeting the Huo family, Huo Qing sighed with regret: "Since my life is yours, I'll go wherever you command—on one condition: let me take A Nuo with me."

The girl turned to look at the swaddled rice dumpling, her eyes showing genuine fondness: "Of course."

Huo Qing nodded and began rummaging through the old Daoist Priest's belongings.

The girl watched with interest as he pulled out cultivation manuals, pills, and even a land deed.

Huo Qing handed them all to her: "I have nothing to repay you. This is my gift."

"No need. Keep them yourself… From now on, you're my little brother. I'm Yuan Muyu. What's your name?"

"……Lu Xingzhou."

Climbing a tree to seek fish, sailing a boat on land.

Sister Fish is Master's new life, but Master is A-Nuo's life.

…………

With a "Bang," the alchemy room window was shattered; A-Nuo's memories, like a broken mirror, returned to reality.

Looking up, a point of cold light flew through the autumn rain, heading straight for Lu Xingzhou, who sat by the alchemy furnace with eyes closed in meditation.

Lu Xingzhou extended two fingers, holding a talisman he had somehow grasped, which ignited without fire.

The cold light could not reach Lu Xingzhou; A-Nuo flicked his sleeve, intercepting it, yet it was merely a flying dart.

At the same time, the talisman burned out.

Thunder suddenly cracked in the night sky, and a bolt of lightning struck straight down. A black shadow outside the window was trying to flee, but how could it escape the speed of the Lei Ting?

With a "Boom," the lightning struck the shadow precisely. The shadow let out a scream: "Lu Xingzhou! You, you are not an eighth-grade Dao cultivator! You dare conceal your cultivation from the Yan Lord!"

"I concealed nothing from her; I only concealed it from you fools."

"I came by the Yan Lord's order! Dare you kill me!"

"You claim you don't even know my cultivation, yet you dare claim to be sent by her?" Lu Xingzhou said indifferently: "Falsely claiming the Yan Lord's order before me… truly like your master, stupid without knowing it."

That person rolled and screamed, voice hoarse: "You… on what basis do you claim I am falsifying? Release me quickly! Or else… ah!"

The voice grew fainter, soon inaudible; in an instant, he was on the verge of death.

At the brink of death, A-Nuo heard Lu Xingzhou's sigh: "She and I never turned against each other… my departure was not due to your master's slander and exclusion, but simply because… she does not love me."

Outside the window, all sound had ceased.

A-Nuo got up, went to the window, and peered out; the rain outside fell on the corpse, like a flesh-dissolving solution, gradually corroding the body completely, leaving not even a speck of ash.

A-Nuo did not know if the other party heard that last sentence before dying; he hoped not, for to vomit it up while dying would be pitiful.

"Master, why not send him back like before? Don't you care about the incense debt?"

"They have come all the way to Xiazhou; sending him back would only invite endless trouble. My affairs in Xiazhou are important; I have no leisure to deal with those fools whose minds are full only of male competition."

"What if Sister Fish gets angry?"

"The immortal path is vast… Yuan Muyu's gaze could not possibly fall upon us common mortals for even a moment, no matter who we are." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "Tomorrow someone will have to repair the window again, wasting money."

"Tch, boring." A-Nuo knew at a glance that this man was changing the subject again; it was just that he couldn't get a woman, yet he acted so mysterious.

Sister Fish is beautiful, yes, but her face is not as round as A-Nuo's.

The alchemy furnace trembled slightly, and the scent of pills overflowed.

Three golden pill orbs floated out, their contained spiritual energy nearly causing A-Nuo to suffer oxygen intoxication.

Seventh-grade Soul-Nourishing Pills, three pills per furnace, quality… supreme.

A-Nuo drooled.

Lu Xingzhou, however, remained deeply dissatisfied with himself, staring blankly at the waste residue inside the furnace, murmuring to himself: "Two wasted… my strength is still insufficient."

A-Nuo said: "It is already very impressive, Master. A seventh-grade alchemist refining seventh-grade pills; I have never seen one who can stably produce supreme quality, let alone multiple."

"But if I am satisfied with this, how can I break through to sixth grade?"

"Uh…"

"Seventh grade is ultimately merely lower third grade; there is still a qualitative deficiency. To truly cure my leg, I must break through to sixth grade; only then is there a glimmer of possibility…" Lu Xingzhou sighed: "As for the opportunity to break through… I hope the Huo family will not disappoint me."

(End of this chapter)