After Lu Yang turned into a child, not only had his body shrunk, but his cultivation base was also sealed away, leaving him no different from an ordinary child.
"I don't have any clothes that fit," Lu Yang grumbled with a long, miserable face. He paced in circles around the room with his oversized robes draped over him, the hems dragging across the floor. In his current state, he didn't even dare step out into the courtyard.
Wearing his old clothes felt like wrapping himself in a quilt, and since he hadn't brought along any children's garments, he suddenly found himself with nothing to wear.
Lacking cultivation wasn't an issue—according to Elder Zhou Yulu, his cultivation base would recover on its own. For now, finding wearable clothes was the most pressing matter.
"Where am I supposed to find clothes—ouch..."
As Lu Yang circled the room, he turned around, tripped over the trailing hems, and rolled across the floor into a tangled heap with his clothes.
Poking his head out of the pile with immense effort, Lu Yang stared blankly ahead, his eyes vacant.
All right, so having cultivation was pretty important after all.
Disciples throughout the Immortal Palace faced similar dilemmas; nobody kept a stash of children's clothes lying around for no reason.
As for making clothes... unfortunately, across the vast Immortal Palace, not a single soul could be found who knew needlework.
People who could swing an axe and fell trees, on the other hand, were everywhere.
In theory, the Dao Seeking Sect had all the elders, Daoist Lord Hanhai, and Eldest Senior Sister. Pooling their strength would certainly provide a way to restore him to his original form.
That was assuming he dared to return to the sect, of course.
This was indisputable dark history. Old Meng would laugh at him over this for the rest of his life.
Fortunately, every disciple in the Immortal Palace had shrunk as well. In the face of such a humiliating predicament, everyone would tacitly keep it under wraps without uttering a word outside. There was no need to worry about leaks.
The palace's upper echelon would likewise refrain from leaking anything out of concern for their reputation.
Lu Yang's gaze settled upon the Immortal Fairy, his gentle expression gradually turning fierce.
That being the case, only one person was left who might leak the secret.
To handle the Immortal Fairy, he had to resort to some underhanded tactics!
"Fairy, you won't tell anyone about this, right? Pretty please?"
With his body shrunk, Lu Yang's voice had turned childish and sweet, making his humble begging sound utterly babyish.
The Immortal Fairy beamed, gleefully pinching Lu Yang's chubby cheeks. They were so plump and squishy, feeling quite nice. She then scooped him up onto her lap and ruffled his hair.
"Come on, say a few more sweet things for this immortal to hear."
Lu Yang leaned back and looked up at her pretty face, finding it downright terrifying.
He had no choice but to swallow his pride and use flowery words to win her favor.
"Fairy, you are so beautiful and kind-hearted. You surely wouldn't spread my embarrassing state around and let outsiders make a laughingstock of me."
The Immortal Fairy fought to keep a straight face. "How could anyone laugh at you? Everyone feels deep sympathy for you. Little Yangzi, your heart is far too cynical. You need to believe that people are fundamentally good."
"Fairy, as a subject of our Great Bean Dynasty, if outsiders were to learn of my current state, wouldn't that disgrace the dignity of our Great Bean Dynasty?"
"Then I'll only tell Little Ling and Lianyi. They're both citizens of our Great Bean Dynasty, so it won't harm the dynasty's dignity at all."
"Fairy~~ please, I beg you~~" Lu Yang nuzzled affectionately against her arm, feeling utterly humiliated.
Seeing Lu Yang acting so obediently, the Immortal Fairy broke into a delighted smile.
"All right, then. This immortal will help you keep it a secret."
Lu Yang hurriedly bowed in gratitude, terrified she might change her mind. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your immense grace! Your humble servant, Lu Yang, shall never forget it!"
Lu Yang let out a sigh of relief. Although the Immortal Fairy was unreliable in general, she was not one to break a promise. If she said she wouldn't leak it, she certainly wouldn't.
He was safe.
After being toyed with by her for so long, he had finally dealt with the Immortal Fairy.
Lu Yang felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, likely from pacing in circles earlier. Without cultivation, doing ordinary things was indeed terribly inconvenient.
Gripping the edge of a stool, Lu Yang kicked his short legs and clambered up onto the seat. He reached with effort for a spiritual fruit resting on the table. These fruits had been prepared by the Immortal Palace for their guests; in the outside world, they were priceless treasures that a thousand pieces of gold couldn't buy.
If the old Lu Yang had eaten a spiritual fruit, it would have been purely for the taste, as his cultivation was already beyond benefiting from ordinary spiritual fruits. But eating one now effectively restored his stamina.
Out of habit, he wiped the fruit's skin with his sleeve and took a crisp bite of the sweet flesh. Tasting such spiritual produce after shrinking really did offer a completely different sensation. The stamina he had burned walking laps around the room quickly replenished.
"Being small isn't so bad after all," Lu Yang remarked with a smile, cradling the fruit in his hands. It was a rare, novel experience.
In the past, he could polish off a spiritual fruit in just a few bites, but now, clutching it to nibble away, he couldn't even finish one.
***
A mysterious figure streaked through the sky, appearing above the Immortal Palace.
The grand defensive formation of the Immortal Palace was like thin air before this mysterious figure. She slipped straight through the barrier without triggering the slightest alarm.
With a clear objective, the figure headed directly toward the first guest room where Lu Yang was staying, entirely unnoticed by anyone.
Employing an unknown divine art, the mysterious figure treated the door as a mere illusion, stepping straight into the room without needing to push it open.
Lu Yang finally sensed an uninvited presence. He snapped his head up, his eyes filled with guarded vigilance.
"Who's there?!"
"Junior Brother, Senior Fairy, about the Twin River..."
Lu Yang and the mysterious figure locked eyes. Senior Sister and Junior Brother both fell utterly silent; time seemed to freeze in that instant.
Yun Zhi blinked. Looking down at the toddler whose tender little face was filled with wariness, clutching a spiritual fruit with two small bites taken out of it, the corner of her eye twitched twice.
She had seen how desperately Elder Zhu Hong wished to drink the Twin River's water to have a child. Feeling it inappropriate to keep waiting for her Junior Brother to return—since who knew how long he might linger at the Immortal Palace—
Rather than waiting for him to come back, she had decided to slip quietly into the Immortal Palace to consult the Fairy directly regarding the Twin River.
She had successfully slipped in, but what in the world was this situation before her eyes?
"Junior Brother, what happened to you...?" Yun Zhi wore a bizarre expression. Was the Immortal Palace really so nourishing? Before departing, her Junior Brother was full-grown, yet now he had turned into a tiny tot.
"I'm not Lu Yang!" Lu Yang hastily denied. While denying it before Eldest Senior Sister was entirely futile, a token attempt at a cover-up remained necessary—it was a matter of attitude.
"Nor am I Lu Yin!" Lu Yang added, as if possessed.
At this critical juncture, the Immortal Fairy remembered her promise to keep Lu Yang's shrinking a secret. She had been so preoccupied thinking about how to tease Little Yangzi that she hadn't noticed Girl Yun sneaking up on them.
Careless!
No, wouldn't this mean that this immortal had failed to keep her word? If word got out, it would ruin her reputation!
She had to help Little Yangzi protect the secret!
The Immortal Fairy flew out from the spiritual space to mend the fold after the sheep had bolted. Her mind racing at full speed, she frantically explained:
"Girl Yun, don't mistake him! Little Yangzi didn't shrink! This isn't Little Yangzi! The reason he looks so much like Little Yangzi is... is because... this is the child Little Yangzi and I had together!"
Yun Zhi: "..."
Chapter 1023