Chapter 204: The New Member in the Refrigerator

Cultivating as an animal immortal is not easy; the ultimate goal is to accumulate merit and be conferred immortality.

But this path is too hard; most either fall midway or go astray.

Those who can stay true to their original heart and achieve success are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

It's obvious that the gray mouse has already strayed from its original heart.

Hui Moqiong's low spirits are certainly not due to failing to catch his opponent or the wound on his neck.

What saddens him is the gray mouse's betrayal.

I think the relationship between that gray mouse and Hui Moqiong in the past must have been extraordinary.

"He's called Hui Shuchen, my thirteenth brother, my blood brother." After a while, Hui Moqiong slowly spoke: "We were born in the Qinling Mountains; my mother gave birth to fifteen children at once, fourteen boys and the youngest was a girl."

In the Qinling, we had too many natural enemies; a disaster struck, my parents both perished, my sister went missing, and among the boys only I and little thirteen remained, we have depended on each other for many years.

My cultivation talent is better; Shuchen has some innate defects, his tail is overly short, making his cultivation slow, but he has a pair of spirit ears with exceptionally keen hearing; yet he always feels ashamed of his appearance, and though we cultivated together, his level quickly fell far behind mine.

Until one day, he left without saying goodbye.

The three of us remained silent, quietly watching Hui Moqiong and listening to his story about his brother.

"I've searched for him for a long time, but the Qinling is so vast that I'm not even sure whether he's still there or still alive.

After many more years, I met Bai Xian; we cultivated together, and you already know what happened afterward."

Later, Hui Moqiong and Bai Xian followed a monk to Wufu Town and became members of the Five Blessings Immortals.

"After the fame of the Five Blessings Immortals spread, I never expected that Shuchen would actually find me; he said, 'Fifth Brother, I don't want to wander anymore, I want to stay by your side and help manage the Hui Immortal lineage,' and I was overjoyed—he is my blood brother!

Those years, he stayed by my side, willing to endure any hardship; I also shared merit with him as much as I could. When the pawnshop ran into trouble, before I was trapped, I entrusted the entire Hui Immortal lineage and the Dou family to him.

But I never imagined that when I finally emerged, everything would have changed beyond recognition.

Saying this, Hui Moqiong looked at me with red eyes, earnestly: "Xiao Jiu'er, your grandmother died at Shuchen's hands; I have always remembered this, and one day I will make him come apologize to you. If I cannot, I will apologize to you and your grandmother in his place."

"You are you, he is he." I said without hesitation: "If I were really going to take out my anger over my grandmother on you, I wouldn't have personally invited you back to the pawnshop. Hui Fifth Lord, you treat him as a blood brother—what does he treat you as?"

Obviously, Hui Shuchen is jealous of Hui Moqiong.

He envies Hui Moqiong's cultivation talent.

He envies him obtaining the great opportunity to join the Five Blessings Immortals.

He has lurked beside Hui Moqiong for years—what for?

To one day replace him, even surpass him!

And this opportunity, Hui Shuchen has waited for.

But he is ultimately not Hui Moqiong; although he controls the Hui Immortal lineage, he has led it astray into evil ways.

Hui Moqiong clenched both hands tightly; he is so smart—how could he not understand these principles?

He simply cannot overcome the hurdle in his heart.

I also don't want to push him too hard.

How could familial affection be so easily severed?

Just like when I was nine, I didn't even hesitate to give my sister two candies.

If it weren't for that whipping from my grandmother that woke me up, I might still be unable to sever this familial bond to this day.

Even as I sank deeper, I let them exploit me.

Between Hui Moqiong and Hui Shuchen, a whipping is still needed.

Liu Junyan reached out and patted Hui Moqiong's shoulder, speaking earnestly: "In this confrontation, you too should face reality—he and you are no longer on the same path, Moqiong; you have given him a chance."

Not only did you give him a chance.

You also gave him authority.

Unfortunately, Hui Shuchen failed to seize it.

This is his fate.

Hui Moqiong nodded; Li Qingying brought the medicine box to treat his wound.

As she applied the disinfectant, Li Qingying obviously used force, causing Hui Moqiong to suck in cold air from the pain.

I then heard Li Qingying mutter under her breath: "Serves you right to be in pain! This morning when you came back, I wanted to help you treat it, but you refused; now don't even whine if you've got the guts."

Hui Moqiong gritted his teeth and didn't even draw in a breath of cold air.

I found it both infuriating and amusing—these two are a lovable quarrelsome pair!

·

In the afternoon, the refrigerator and small appliances were delivered to the door; Li Qingying watched the technician finish installation, and I scanned to pay.

The new refrigerator was placed in the side room next to Li Qingying's bedroom.

The Buddha Eye was put in the fresh-keeping compartment, and the Snow Phoenix in the freezer.

After placing them, I scratched my head and laughed: "How come it feels a bit weird?"

Who puts these things in a refrigerator!

What I didn't expect was that soon afterward, this refrigerator gained another new member.

Two days later, I first received a call from Jin Wuya.

He excitedly told me that Jiang Yingxue's matter had been resolved; she had returned to normal, terminated her contract with the filming company, and would soon be able to resume a normal life.

While I was happy for Jiang Yingxue, I also began to worry about the tea house owner, Gu Yan.

Gu Yan... she should be coming back, right?

In the evening, I specially went to the tea house; its door remained locked.

The notice of closure posted on the door was still there.

After another two days, in the evening, while I was guarding the pawnshop with Li Qingying, Gu Yan arrived.

She was dusty and weary, holding a wooden box in her hands.

I don't know if it's my imagination, but seeing her again this time, I only felt that her entire Qìchǎng had changed.

I stood up, called Gu Yan to sit on the sofa in the guest room of the annex house, Li Qingying went to pour tea, and also brought some snacks.

"The fragment of Jiang Yingxue's soul that was under control—I have come to retrieve it." Gu Yan placed the wooden box on the tea table, got straight to the point, and said, "Xiao Jiu, this time I've come back to say goodbye to you."

I said in surprise, "Then... what about the teahouse?"

Actually, I had a premonition about this outcome.

Gu Yan escaped from a small stronghold in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains; all these years of peace were essentially stolen.

From the moment Gu Die appeared in the teahouse, this peace was completely shattered.

One can escape for a moment, but not for a lifetime.

Gu Yan had only two choices: either continue to hide and flee, or return to Xiangxi to face the situation.

She chose to help me return to Xiangxi to negotiate with the corpse handlers, to retrieve Jiang Yingxue's soul—that was already her final decision.

She chose to face it.

So, Gu Yan's return to Xiangxi was inevitable.

And this farewell might very well be eternal.

I had many things I wanted to say to Gu Yan, but for a moment I didn't know where to begin.

Gu Yan seemed to understand everything; she smiled at me, pushed the wooden box on the tea table toward me, and said, "What I told you last time—the insect that can temporarily suppress the birth-sign curse in your body—I brought it back for you. It's called the ice silkworm; if you don't use it, just put it in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator to let it hibernate…"