Chapter 31 : Junior Brother Nan Came to Report His Safety
Chapter 31: Junior Brother Nan Came to Report His Safety
Watching Zhu Huaisu’s brisk figure disappear into the distance, Long Tao smacked his lips helplessly.
These female cultivators—whether at Foundation Establishment or Golden Core—had tempers just like June weather, changing at the drop of a hat.
He had originally wanted to properly thank her for that necklace capable of “shrinking distance to an inch,” but she had not even given him a chance to open his mouth.
That said, the frequency with which he had run into Senior Sister Zhu these past few days was indeed a bit unnervingly high.
According to those mystical, superstitious fortune-telling theories, what was this called again? Entangled fate? Long Tao felt uneasy just thinking about it.
Please, let it not really be that! When two men and women with no real ties and incompatible destinies suddenly got tangled up in this kind of “fate,” it usually led to nothing good—either bloodshed or utter chaos.
Besides, Zhu Huaisu was good-looking, and she truly was a Princess.
But… she really was not Long Tao’s type at all! Compared to this woman who flared up at the slightest provocation, even in his dreams he preferred the moonlike, delicate charm of True Person Mingzhu.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even the six-eyed Spider Sister Luo Yusi in his own courtyard looked gentler and more adorable than Zhu Huaisu.
When she eventually transformed into human form, who knew how lovely she might be!
What weighed more heavily on his mind right now, however, was that fool Nan Yuchen.
It was not that Long Tao was especially loyal or deeply concerned about this so-called Child of Destiny; the key issue was… the System Tasks still had to be done! That damn System—who knew when it might force him to “cooperate” with Nan Yuchen again.
If, because of this incident, that idiot truly severed ties with him, with affinity plummeting into the negatives, how were future tasks supposed to work? The difficulty would probably skyrocket!
At the very least, he had to let that idiot know that Senior Brother Long was not the kind of bastard who pulled up his pants and ran! He genuinely wanted to help! Whether he could actually help was another matter, but his attitude had to be there.
The problem was, if that kid had really been locked up by those formidable ladies of Moon-Washing Peak, then how exactly was he supposed to deliver this “brotherly loyalty”?
Long Tao shook his head, unable to come up with any good solution.
For now, he did not want to have even the slightest entanglement with the women of Moon-Washing Peak.
He found a seat, sat down, and began carefully reading through the senior cultivators’ notes he had gathered.
By the time he had thoroughly digested the blood-and-tears lessons recorded in those notebooks, night had long fallen outside the window.
Rubbing his sore eyes, he was just about to pack up and head back when a paper-folded crane fluttered its wings, swaying as it flew in through the window and landed precisely on the desk in front of him.
“Whoa!” Long Tao was startled.
He had heard of this thing before—message-transmitting paper cranes.
They were considered a relatively high-level communication method in the Cultivation World, something that generally had nothing to do with little Qi Refining shrimps like them.
Today was truly an eye-opener.
He watched as the paper crane automatically unfolded, returning to a flat talisman paper.
Ink quickly spread across its surface, forming a line of words:
“Senior Brother Long! It’s me, Nan Yuchen! Can you see this? If you can, just write directly on the paper to reply!”
Long Tao immediately grinned.
This thing was basically like… that diary of Voldemort’s in Harry Potter, wasn’t it? No voice transmission, but real-time written chat.
Nan Yuchen really lived up to being the Child of Destiny—he could even tinker out such a rare technique.
He did not dare delay.
Grabbing the brush beside him, dipping it in ink, he wrote at once,
“I can see it. You alright, kid? I just ran into your Senior Sister Zhu. Judging by her reaction, were you confined?”
As soon as the characters were finished, they vanished as if absorbed by the paper.
Immediately after, new writing eagerly emerged.
“Yes! I was locked up. I just heard from Senior Sister that you were at the Scripture Pavilion. Knowing you’re fine puts my mind at ease! They even lied to me before, saying they beat you half to death and threw you into the Nether Prison!”
Long Tao could not help laughing.
It seemed Zhu Huaisu still had not been able to keep her mouth shut after returning.
He shook his head and continued writing,
“Sigh, it’s all my fault for giving you that rotten idea. I was already mentally prepared for you to cut ties with me.”
“That idea really was outrageous!” Nan Yuchen’s handwriting carried a sense of seriousness.
“But… since I agreed to it myself, I can’t push the blame onto you, Senior Brother. Besides… that night, you really did keep your word. You only stared at me and didn’t sneak a look at Master.”
Seeing this, Long Tao froze for a moment.
Had he really not peeked that night? Well… that was normal enough.
Though he admired True Person Mingzhu, he treasured his own life even more and was not suicidal to that extent.
Just as he was about to lift the brush to reply, he noticed Nan Yuchen was not finished.
New words buzzed into existence on the paper, the tone clearly turning excited.
“And! Senior Brother! Your method really worked! Right after that night, my body suddenly shot up in growth! I grew several inches taller! The circulation of spiritual energy inside me became much smoother too! Although Senior Sister insists it’s because she was previously worried my foundation was unstable and used medicine to suppress it, and now the effects wore off… I know she’s lying! It must be your method taking effect!”
“Pfft—!”
Long Tao nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto the paper.
That bullshit theory he had casually made up just to complete a System Task had actually worked?! No wonder that idiot not only held no grudge, but even proactively came to report his safety.
So he had tasted the “sweetness” and gotten so excited that he tossed aside the fact that he had been instigated into wrongdoing!
He quickly took a couple of deep breaths to suppress the storm raging in his heart, then wrote with a slightly trembling brush tip,
“As long as it worked, that’s good! But just go along with what your Senior Sister says—absolutely don’t mention me! And also, my method is strong medicine.
Using it once in a special situation is enough.
Don’t ever try it again in the future!”
“I knew Senior Brother wasn’t some shallow person who only lusted after beauty! It’s just that the Senior Sisters don’t believe me… Let’s stop here for today.
I’m not very proficient with this technique yet and can’t maintain it for long.
Senior Brother, hurry up and burn the paper! Next time something comes up, I’ll use this method to contact you again!”
The writing ended there, and the spiritual light on the paper dimmed accordingly.
A small flame flared up at Long Tao’s fingertips with a “poof,” and he deftly burned the paper to ashes.
Only then did the stone weighing on his heart finally drop.
Very good.
His revolutionary friendship with this Child of Destiny was preserved, and future System Tasks at least had some foundation to build on.
Still, he pondered that his relationship with those formidable ladies of Moon-Washing Peak could not remain so stiff forever.
After all, they were all Nan Yuchen’s Senior Sisters.
Perhaps some future task would require seeking their help.
Easing the relationship could only be beneficial.
But… how exactly was he supposed to ease it? The first time he had shown up, he had instigated their most cherished Junior Brother to go peep… not being beaten to death on the spot and only having his memory wiped before being thrown down the mountain already felt like proof of their good cultivation.
If he had run into those notoriously hot-tempered female fiends in the sect, he probably would not be sitting here in one piece right now.
“Sigh…” Long Tao let out a long breath, rubbing his face.
“If only I were a bit more handsome.”
The thought was both realistic and helpless.
The Cultivation World also judged by looks! Good looks were an advantage.
For example, Lu Wenjie and Zhang Jianqi in the sect—both were publicly acknowledged as pretty but useless, with Three Spiritual Roots aptitude.
The resources piled onto them were enough for other Three Spiritual Roots cultivators to attempt Golden Core, yet those two were still dawdling in mid–Foundation Establishment.
But who told them to have good faces? Their beautiful female Master was happy to keep them around; even treating them as decorative vases was pleasing to the eye.
Compared like this… Nan Yuchen completely crushed them by sheer ability alone.
Unfortunately, Long Tao just did not have that kind of fate.