"Yes."
Xu Yao scratched his head, thinking to himself, *Whether it's useful or not, I'll commit it to memory first. Who knows, it might come in handy later.*
Ning Weiyu looked at Chen Chong with a smile and said, "Captain Chen certainly thinks very highly of Brother Xu Yao."
Clearly, seeing Chen Chong smooth the way for Xu Yao time and again had piqued Ning Weiyu's curiosity.
Before promising to bestow a cultivation technique, it naturally would not have been proper to ask. But now that he had already agreed, asking carried no burden at all.
Chen Chong laughed. "There's no harm in being completely candid about this face-to-face. First, he's useful, and the stronger he gets, the more useful he'll be. Second, his father saved my life, and that debt of gratitude must be repaid. Third, the boy has fine character: kind yet clearheaded, clearheaded without being pedantic, with an exceptional sense of propriety, distance, and boundaries. He's naturally the calm type. A boy like him, even cast into the midst of ten thousand troops, would slowly stand out. To just have him follow me on mountain patrols, dedicating all the youth of his life to these great mountains, would truly be a pity.
"The other brothers in the squad have all taken Lion-Tiger Pills, so the limit of their lifetimes is set. Xu Yao hasn't taken one yet; he still has other possibilities.
"I hope Xu Yao can walk out into the world and see the high scenery that none of us have ever seen."
Chen Chong spoke with extraordinary bluntness.
Ning Weiyu nodded slowly.
"I see."
He said no more.
Everyone had their own calculations. Chen Chong had his, and there was nothing blameworthy in that.
"Young Master Ning, your trip this time ought to be related to the senior's skeletal remains from before, right?" Chen Chong asked. "Searching for old relics?"
"Indeed," Ning Weiyu said in a solemn voice. "Elder Bai was murdered here. Evidently she was hunted all the way to this place, maneuvered about here, and was ultimately killed. Elder Bai also carried other items with her. If they were not seized and taken by her enemies, they must certainly be hidden among these mountains. Since Elder Bai was killed here, the area she had room to maneuver within could not have been very large—it must be within a radius of two hundred li. That is why my sister and I have come this time: to search and see."
Chen Chong nodded slowly. "I see."
"Had Elder Bai not been severely wounded, she could have fled completely and would not have been killed. But having fled while badly injured and being killed here, without even a chance of escape, if she hid anything, it must be nearby."
Ning Weiyu added, "Although much time has passed and it cannot be tracked by ordinary means, anything worthy of Elder Bai's hiding must be fine goods imbued with spiritual energy. And when such things remain buried in a place for a long time, the likelihood of breeding mountain demons and wood demons is greater than anywhere else!
"Just like the three mountain demons bred from Elder Bai's skeleton last time—Elder Bai's body possessed spiritual energy of its own. That was why the mountain demons could form triplets, creatures so perilous. Ordinary mountain demons and wood demons could never possess such power."
Ning Weiyu explained in great detail.
Chen Chong nodded once more and said, "I see. This time, we will certainly do our utmost to help you two find them!"
He took a deep breath, having made up his mind. If those things could not be found, the future troubles would be far too great: with items like that breeding mountain demons and wood demons, if one formed and escaped, the lives of all the brothers would be forfeit.
Therefore, Ning Weiyu successfully finding the items and taking them away was the best outcome.
Time passed quickly amid their talk.
"Captain, the clear qi has begun to stir," Xu Yao reminded them.
"Draw your blades!"
Under the watchful eyes of the Ning siblings, just as Xu Yao finished speaking, three clusters of clear qi visible to everyone rose up from beneath the ground where there had been no sign of anomaly only a moment before. At the very instant the clear qi surged, peaches on the branches ripened with astonishing speed.
"Whoa."
Ning Wuxia's eyes went wide all at once. Watching the peaches go from blossoms to full ripeness in an instant, she couldn't help gulping down three mouthfuls of saliva in a row.
She had eaten countless spiritual fruits since childhood, every one of a higher grade than these demon peaches, but watching them ripen before her eyes like this... she was dying for a taste.
The moment the fragrance began to drift into the air—
"Strike!" Chen Chong roared.
Blade light flashed.
It fell.
Xu Yao swung his blade a second time, slaying another demon and claiming another demon peach!
Once again, this lad had given the warning in advance.
Ning Weiyu and Ning Wuxia rested their eyes on Xu Yao for a long moment.
Ning Weiyu in particular recalled Chen Chong's words about him being "naturally the calm type." Xu Yao's performance this time was calm, thorough, and flawless.
A single straw showed which way the wind blew; it fully verified Chen Chong's evaluation.
Ning Weiyu grew thoughtful.
As for Ning Wuxia, she stared longingly at the large, red demon peach in Xu Yao's hand, quietly gulping down another mouthful of saliva.
*It's so big, so red, almost translucent... It must be delicious...*
*Will Big Fatty give me some? I'm too embarrassed to ask, though...*
Then Ning Wuxia watched as Xu Yao put the demon peach away with immense care, without sparing her so much as a glance from the corner of his eye, his face beaming with satisfaction.
*Hmph!*
Ning Wuxia gulped down another mouthful of saliva, the sharp tip of a canine peeking out, and clenched her small fists again.
*Suddenly I really want to beat him till he cries just to see if he has double eyelids...*
Just as she was glaring viciously, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
It was Ning Weiyu, who knew his younger sister's foodie nature and deliberately reached out to reassure her: *Be patient.*
Ning Wuxia pouted in grievance.
After the mountain demons were slain, neither Chen Chong nor Liu Zhen lifted a hand, leaving Xu Yao alone to dig up the three demons.
The two stood to his left and right, arms folded, watching.
As he watched, satisfaction showed in Liu Zhen's eyes.
Sure enough, Xu Yao followed the steps he had described, meticulously digging out the three mountain demon rootstocks, and at the roots, he even preserved intact clumps of extremely sticky native soil.
Three Grade-A merits for the mountain patrol squad were in hand.
Even Chen Chong blurted out praise: "Well done!"
As Xu Yao dug, he kept his eyes on the rootstocks. Sure enough, three more streams of clear qi surged into his eye sockets. In an instant, his mind cleared, and an indescribable comfort spread through his limbs, bones, and internal organs.
He had originally worried that the Ning siblings might notice something, but as it turned out, others could not see it.
Even so, he remained exceedingly cautious, putting on an appearance of slight fatigue as he carefully wrapped up the three mountain demon rootstocks and handed them to Liu Zhen. "Captain! Task completed!"
"Good!"
Liu Zhen took them with both hands, tied them together, and slung them onto his back.
With that, handling the mountain demons was concluded.
What remained were the hollows in the cliff where the three roots had grown.
Chen Chong did not step in; instead, he pulled Liu Zhen and Xu Yao aside to wait out of the way.
Ning Weiyu and Ning Wuxia cupped their hands. "Thank you! Much obliged!"
Then the brother and sister began to search the hollows thoroughly.
Before long, they had cleared them completely and found nothing. But once the hollows were cleaned out, one spot inside was very damp.
Ning Weiyu said to Xu Yao, "Big Fatty, take a look at this spot. It looks just like the dirt outside, as if soaked by a downpour, but lean close and sniff it. Do you smell a delicate fragrance?"
*Big Fatty.*
Previously, Ning Weiyu had always politely addressed him as "Brother Xu Yao," polite yet tinged with distance.
This time, however, he directly used his childhood nickname, and his tone carried an unmistakable warmth.
Ning Weiyu's form of address had distinctly changed.
Chen Chong and Liu Zhen exchanged an expressionless glance, pretending they hadn't heard a thing, acting completely nonchalant.
Yet a flicker of delight flashed in both of their eyes.
Xu Yao leaned in and sniffed. "There really is a delicate fragrance, very faint."
"This is a ventilation node of the mountain range, where an opening has parted in the earth's meridians. We call it earthly spiritual energy. Though it is very thin, such a place is enough to nourish mountain demons."
Ning Weiyu instructed him with immense patience. "If you encounter a place like this in the future, don't be in a rush to leave. Dig away all the soil here and wait a moment. Some water will seep out. Catch it with a wooden cup—yes, a cup of wood, preferably locust wood—and drink it down. It has the effect of nourishing the spirit and regulating the meridians. Though the amount isn't large, for ordinary people, it's enough to prolong life."
He added with a smile, "Never use a stone cup, a fired porcelain cup, or a cup of gold, silver, copper, or iron—that would render it completely useless. It must be a wooden cup, and it cannot be hollowed out with metal tools. Do you remember that?"
"I remember!" Xu Yao said. "Thank you, Sir Ning."
"You're welcome."
With a flick of his hand, Ning Weiyu produced a wooden cup and pressed it against the damp cliff surface. Sure enough, clear, glistening drops of water fell into the cup one by one. After catching a little under half a cup, it stopped.
Then Ning Weiyu handed the cup to Xu Yao and smiled. "Big Fatty, drink it and have a taste."
"I..." Xu Yao said, "how could I accept this?"
"It's fine, go ahead and drink it,"
Ning Weiyu said with a warm smile. "This cup is one I used before, made of thousand-year locust wood. It's yours as well."
Chen Chong and Liu Zhen exchanged another glance.
The two rough men were overjoyed: *Does this count as haughty at first and humble later? It counts, right? Hehehe...*
Chapter 17