Seeing that there was no more excitement to be had, the crowd soon dispersed.
“That Chen Jingui is truly a shrew to the bone, a crude woman who’s spent too much time as a butcher's wife,” the man with slanting eyes said, kicking a pastry box on the ground with a vicious snarl.
“And that eldest daughter of theirs is probably no good either. How can someone who stands by and watches people suffer be anything decent? I bet all that talk about catching demons and ghosts is just a load of nonsense!”
“Exactly. That Ye-er isn't any better. Seeing her aunt and uncle at the door, she didn't even offer us tea or say a word to help us,” the woman huffed, spitting toward the gate.
“Dressing up all provocatively at such a young age, with all that powder and rouge... she looks like she belongs in a brothel. Who knows whose mistress she’ll end up being!”
The couple had intended to use the excuse of visiting relatives to force their way in. As long as they got inside and the gifts were delivered, it wouldn't matter if Chen Jingui tried to back out later.
But to their surprise, Chen Jingui hadn't even let them through the door, choosing to tear away all pretenses of civility instead.
The man brushed the dust off his clothes and grumbled at the woman, “I told you so. If you hadn't been so loose-lipped in the past and annoyed that crude, difficult woman, we wouldn't be stuck outside today.”
“Oh, is that so, Ji Wencai? I've been married to you all these years, raised your children, and now it’s my fault?”
The woman grabbed the man’s sleeve, refusing to let it go. “If it weren't for your dead father causing trouble, would I have to beg Chen Jingui? I've never gotten along with her since we were kids, yet today I had to swallow my pride and plead with her...”
“You... you... I might as well go home, hang a white silk over the rafters, and end it all. That way you can be with those little vixens in Nanqiao Ward!”
“What kind of nonsense are you spewing!”
The man glanced at the passersby, feeling as though everyone was staring at him. His pride was wounded. “If you want to fight, do it at home. Right now, we need to figure out how to solve this.”
The more the woman thought about it, the more humiliated she felt. She gave the man a hard shove and turned to leave.
“What else can we do? Other than burning more paper gold, paper clothes, and candles to appease your dead father, what other choice do you have? Are you actually going to burn a younger relative down there to keep the old man company so he stops haunting our dreams every night? Those are my own flesh and blood. You might be willing to part with them, but I certainly am not.”
Hearing this, the man with slanting eyes suddenly froze, a look of realization dawning on his face.
True, he couldn't bear to part with his own children, but someone else's child would do just fine.
The best part was that if they were related, perhaps his father would show some mercy for the sake of the family connection.
...
Nan Zhi wasn't particularly interested in what was happening outside her room.
Her game character sat cross-legged on the bed, and the experience bar above her head continued to rise steadily.
Nan Zhi noticed that as her cultivation time increased, the number of green light particles surrounding her also grew.
She opened her inventory, which contained the 《Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method》 she had obtained from the Red Fox.
【Would you like to practice the 《Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method》?】
【Practicing multiple techniques simultaneously will slow down your cultivation speed. Please consider carefully.】
Simultaneous cultivation would slow her down?
Nan Zhi was a bit surprised.
Wait.
A bold idea suddenly flashed through her mind.
【Would you like to manifest 《Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method》, Qi-Supplementing Pill x1, Qi-Supplementing Pill x1, Blood Supplementing Pill x1, and Blood Supplementing Pill x1?】
Nan Zhi quickly clicked confirm, waiting with a nervous heart for the mysterious delivery to arrive.
“Squeak, squeak.”
Corn, who had been huddled by her feet, suddenly began scratching around, its short nose twitching frantically.
“Squeak squeak squeak! Squeak squeak!”
Nan Zhi pinched its large ears.
“Corn, what’s with the reaction? You have food if you're hungry and litter if you need to go. No accidents outside the box.”
The treasure-seeking mouse had eventually become a permanent resident in her home. Thanks to the all-powerful online shopping platforms, she could buy cages, food, and even specialized grass for it. This flying rodent loved corn, which was why she had given it that somewhat lazy name.
“Squeak squeak squeak!”
Corn stood up on its hind legs, pressing its tiny paws together as if bowing to Nan Zhi, then hopped around anxiously as if trying to hint at something.
Nan Zhi followed Corn’s gaze and looked behind her. On the spot where she had just been sitting, a pile of familiar items had appeared.
A purple-covered, hand-stitched book and four delicate porcelain bottles.
Nan Zhi slowly turned her head to look at the tablet on the coffee table. “...So this game isn't even trying to hide it anymore?”
Before, it had at least pretended to put things in a delivery box. Now, it was just air-dropping them right in front of her!
...
Seeing a cultivation manual from the game appear in reality gave Nan Zhi the illusion that the dimensional wall had shattered.
Of course, that wall had never been intact to begin with.
Although the Blood Supplementing Pills and Qi-Supplementing Pills were only one word apart, they looked very different. The former were small, red, pea-sized grains that smelled faintly of osmanthus, while the latter looked like dark herbal pills with a stronger grassy scent.
Nan Zhi hadn't dared to touch the Blood-Stanching Grass or the Qi-Supplementing Pills she had manifested previously, keeping them all locked in her bedroom cabinet. Even if a thief broke in, they would never guess why she had so many medicine bottles and wild grass in her room.
As for this 《Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method》?
Nan Zhi tried to flip it open. On the first page was a drawing of a slender, majestic nine-tailed fox. Strangely, the fox was incredibly lifelike, every strand of its fur rendered in exquisite detail. Though it didn't move, its narrow, upturned fox eyes seemed to gaze at Nan Zhi with a faint smile, carrying a sense of maternal affection as if looking at a younger generation.
Nan Zhi felt as if she had been struck by something. She stared blankly at the fox for a long time, feeling as though a kaleidoscope of memories was flashing before her eyes.
In the Primordial era, the world was a battlefield for colossal creatures. The war between the dragon and phoenix clans caused the heavens to collapse and the earth to rend, bringing forth torrential floods.
Countless weak beings struggled to survive, desperately searching for a way to attain the Dao. Amidst the chaos, a great human sage emerged, holding a wooden rope in his left hand and a compass and square in his right. Accompanied by a giant nine-tailed fox, he eventually held back the raging floods and saved the common people.
That nine-tailed fox had gentle eyes and fur as pure and flawless as snow. Every time the moon was full, it would bow toward the moon from afar. With every breath, wisps of Moon Essence transformed into mist. This mist swirled around the giant fox, eventually manifesting as four additional massive tails.
A thirteen-tailed fox.
Nan Zhi snapped her eyes open, several diagrams now etched into her mind. As if it were instinctual, she now knew exactly how to breathe in the lunar light to cultivate.
At the same time, she understood the origin of this technique.
In ancient times, when Great Yu tamed the floods, the Tushan Clan accompanied him. The Tushan Clan followed Great Yu across the Nine Provinces, managing the mountains and rivers of the world, eventually attaining the Great Dao and transforming into a Thirteen-tailed Sky Fox. This breathing method was passed down from the Tushan Clan.
She just didn't know how she, a human, had managed to gain the Tushan Clan’s recognition.
“No wonder the game warned me to choose carefully. So this was the real reason.”
Nan Zhi looked at the book in her hand. As if having crossed countless eons, the book had weathered into a fragile state. With a light touch, it crumbled into dust and vanished into the air.
Outside the window, the night was deep. The moon hung high, its clear light spilling over the world, as gentle and encompassing as a mother's embrace.
Should she cultivate it?
Surely no sane person would pass up such a massive opportunity.
Nan Zhi immediately followed the instructions in the book, mimicking the white fox’s posture. Facing the bright moon, she began to slowly inhale and exhale.
At first, she felt a bit awkward, like a beginner trying yoga. But gradually, as the moonlight washed over her body, she felt as if she were soaking in warm water. Nan Zhi actually fell asleep while maintaining the moon-worshiping posture.
“Squeak squeak squeak!”
Seeing its master busy cultivating, the long-ignored Corn scratched its belly. It didn't bother her, instead stepping onto its hamster wheel and rolling familiarly into the bedroom. A moment later, it scurried out clutching a bottle of Qi-Supplementing Pills, happily nibbling on a pill with a satisfied look.
That night, both the human and the mouse were very busy.
Rate on N.U.
