RIIDMDR chapter 136

 

During the six months he had lived in the mountains, he had explored every part of the main peak of Zhu Yu Mountain and its surrounding ranges. He had discovered that each peak’s cliffs had patterns that he couldn’t quite understand. There were especially many on the main peak. Though he had never seen them before, he could vaguely sense that the little demon had drawn them.

He tried to find common features among the patterns to understand the little demon’s purpose, but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time to figure it out.

The thing Nan Xu had worried about didn’t happen. After a good sleep, he woke at dawn. The dimmed candle in the room cast only a faint, hazy glow through the lampshade, allowing him to see the rough outline of the room.

The familiar furnishings put Nan Xu at ease. Beside him, Tingchuan hadn’t changed into his sleepwear. He leaned against the headboard with one hand on Nan Xu’s waist and abdomen. He seemed to have just fallen asleep. When Nan Xu moved slightly, Tingchuan lightly patted him a few times, not forgetting to soothe him even in his sleep.

Nan Xu stopped moving and looked up at him from his current position. Under the dim yellow light, Nan Xu could see that Tingchuan’s features were sharper than before. Even with his eyes closed, the tight press of his lips conveyed a sense of calm strength.

—

Dan Yin arrived two days later. He carried a bundle on his back and held the reins in his hand. The hem of his robe was muddy, and a dirt-covered serow followed him. The two made quite a sight as they walked into the courtyard. Seeing them while basking in the sun, Nan Xu was stunned for a moment before asking, “Did you go help people plant rice seedlings?”

“Plant seedlings?” Dan Yin blurted out instinctively, then came to his senses and was surprised. “You woke up? When did that happen?”

“Two days ago.” Nan Xu yawned lazily. Guan’er, the dog lying by his feet, yawned as well — their expressions were identical.

Dan Yin casually tied the reins to the loquat tree, then sat down beside Nan Xu. Not seeing any chairs around, he simply lifted his robe and sat on the ground. His clothes were already so dirty that the dust didn’t matter anymore.

“You were vomiting blood while you were unconscious these past few days. Senior Tingchuan was scared out of his wits. Even the head of the Xishan Bai clan tried many remedies, but there was no improvement. How did you recover after returning to the mountains? Did you hide a miraculous elixir there?” Dan Yin asked.

But Nan Xu’s gaze had been fixed on Dan Yin’s head. Sitting nearby, Nan Xu could see that Dan Yin’s hair had noticeably thinned.

“What happened to your hair? It seems like you lost quite a bit,” Nan Xu said.

Dan Yin: “…”

His expression shifted visibly — from anger to a grimace to despair — finally turning into a look of deep sorrow.

Nan Xu: “?”

Did he touch on something painful?

Dan Yin raised a hand and rubbed his head. “All the hair I lost ended up in the medicine you spat out.”

Nan Xu sat up straight in shock with a disgusted look on his face. “How did your hair end up in my medicine?!”

At those words, Dan Yin jumped up from the ground without brushing off the dust, swung his arms in fury, and stormed into the house, ignoring Nan Xu.

Nan Xu watched him leave, confused. Then he lay back down, spreading himself lazily under the sun like a salted fish.

His energy was still weak, so he didn’t want to think too hard. On the day he woke up, he was already able to control the spiritual energy in his body. However, since his spiritual consciousness space had just merged with his body, the untamed energy within kept acting up. The integration and suppression processes continuously drained his mental strength.

It was as if he had a treasure mountain behind his house, but a beast guarded it. He didn’t know how to mine the treasure, and the beast came down occasionally to wreak havoc, leaving him exhausted.

Tingchuan broke down the most basic cultivation principles and taught him carefully. Relying on his own understanding, Nan Xu practiced little by little. After several days, there were visible results, though the process consumed a great deal of energy.

Zhixing and Tingchuan managed everything inside and outside the courtyard, not letting Nan Xu do anything. The Zhuang brothers, Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu, tended the fields. Once diligent, Nan Xu had now become the only idle person on the main peak. He had thought Dan Yin would chat with him, but he stormed off after just two sentences.

Feeling regretful, Nan Xu turned his gaze toward the serow under the loquat tree. When their “wise and intelligent” eyes met, Nan Xu couldn’t help but laugh. Its fur had clumped together from the mud and water, making it look hideously funny.

“Want a bath?” Nan Xu asked.

The serow grunted twice and tilted its neck, waiting for Nan Xu to scrub its back.

Unwilling to move, Nan Xu sat on the recliner. From a distance, he used his spiritual power to lift a gourd ladle from the well. He scooped a dipper of water and poured it over the serow.

The drenched serow shook its head and glared angrily at Nan Xu. Nan Xu smiled awkwardly and said, “Sorry, I’m still not used to it. Let me try again.”

He tried to continue, but he lost control of the ladle while returning it to the bucket. It fell to the ground with a “pa!” Nan Xu leaned back with a sigh. “I’m out of strength. I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Serow: “?”

The serow felt like it was being toyed with, so it brayed loudly in the yard. The unpleasant sound made Guan’er cover his ears with his paws, and then he ran away when that didn’t help. Dan Yin slammed the upstairs window shut to block the noise. Meanwhile, Nan Xu, the true culprit, quietly sealed his ears and pretended to be dead.

When Tingchuan returned from cleaning the chicken coop, leaves were scattered under the loquat tree. Restricted by its reins, the serow lifted its front hooves in the air and stretched its neck to bray at Nan Xu — quite a spectacle.

Seeing Tingchuan, Nan Xu put on a teary, pitiful look and complained, making the serow howl louder. Tingchuan merely glanced over, and the braying stopped immediately. The serow dropped its front legs, its face full of grievance.

Tingchuan picked up the ladle from the ground, scolded the serow a few times as Nan Xu had described, and then untied the reins, freeing the poor loquat tree.

“Go wash in the stream,” Tingchuan said.

The moment the serow was freed, it ran to Nan Xu, bleating twice near his ear before trotting away.

Nan Xu had just unsealed his hearing, and the two loud bleats almost made his ears ring. Watching the serow run off, he couldn’t help but laugh.

……

After resting for more than half a month, Nan Xu’s fusion with his spiritual space went smoothly. His mind had recovered, and the once unruly energy was gradually being absorbed. He no longer ran out of energy halfway through lifting a ladle.

Everything seemed to return to their usual mountain life—except now, when cooking, he could use spiritual power to fan the fire. This gave him perfect control over the heat, unlike before.

Having stayed cooped up in the courtyard for too long, Nan Xu went for a walk nearby. Zhixing had already sown the seeds bought last year and those saved by Nan Xu during spring. Some had already sprouted. After planting the dry rice, the Zhuang brothers hurried to the creek to grow Chinese cabbage. From a high spot, Nan Xu looked down at the vast new fields and sighed. Wild boar demons truly had a deep affection for cabbage.

He collected a few eggs in a basket from the chicken coop. When passing the empty pigpen, he stopped.

The taste of castrated domestic pigs differs greatly from that of wild boars. Last winter, Nan Xu had planned to raise piglets once spring turned warm again. But then he went south, changed his identity, and before he knew it, it was April. He had nearly forgotten all about it.

He sat by the pigpen and browsed the marketplace, ordering two piglets. Returning to the cabin, he took them out of storage. The two little pigs, pink and tender at about forty days old, looked absolutely adorable. He tucked one under each arm and headed toward the pigpen.

On the way, he ran into Zhuang Wu, who was returning from watering the cabbage and carrying two buckets. When Zhuang Wu saw Nan Xu, he froze. A few days ago, while fetching tools, he had seen Nan Xu sunbathing in the courtyard while Tingchuan and Zhixing worked. Rumor had it that the owner was breaking through his cultivation.

The Zhuang brothers had lived for nearly a thousand years without making significant progress because the demon realm’s spiritual energy was too weak. Cultivation was hard. But the owner was quietly and without a word about to break through. Indeed, the fate of a great demon was different.

Zhuang Wu stared at Nan Xu for a long time but didn’t see any visible difference. Then, his gaze dropped to the two piglets in Nan Xu’s arms. His eyes widened.
“Boss, where did those pigs come from?” he asked hurriedly.

Nan Xu looked down at the two quiet little pigs. “I got them elsewhere. Why?”

When he looked up again, he was startled by the sparkling eyes of Zhuang Wu. “What’s wrong?”

“Such beautiful pigs! If they grow up and turn into demons, every pig clan will want them,” Zhuang Wu said earnestly.

Nan Xu: “…”

He was speechless.

“These are for eating,” Nan Xu quickly said. “Don’t even think about teaching them to cultivate.”

Zhuang Wu looked disappointed and asked, “Boss, do you have any more piglets? My brother and I want to raise some, too.”

Nan Xu squinted at him. Raising pigs was normally a reasonable request, but after seeing the sparkle in his eyes—
No, he’d better not think too much.

“Yes, do you want castrated or uncastrated ones?” Nan Xu asked.

Zhuang Wu scratched his head. “Uncastrated.”

“All right, I’ll get them for you later,” Nan Xu said as he walked toward the pigpen.

Zhuang Wu followed close behind, his eyes glued to the piglets. In all his years as a pig demon, he had only seen rough, bristly pigs with hard skin.

Nan Xu placed the two piglets in the pen, then led Zhuang Wu back to the courtyard and ordered two uncastrated male piglets. Once they arrived, Nan Xu fetched the piglets from storage.

Handing them to Zhuang Wu, knowing the brothers were broke, Nan Xu said, “I’ll note down three thousand silver coins. Remember to pay me back someday.”

Zhuang Wu accepted them with a grin, which froze the next second. “M-male pigs?”

Nan Xu smiled. “Yes, uncastrated males.”

Zhuang Wu trudged back home with a mournful face, holding two boar piglets and owing another three thousand coins.

Seeing his brother return with two unusually delicate-looking piglets, Zhuang Si asked, “What’s this for?”

“I bought them from the boss,” said Zhuang Wu gloomily. “Three thousand silver coins. I figured that since pink pigs are rare in the demon realm, maybe we can raise them and get rich like the boss!”

Zhuang Si stared at him, speechless. “You bought two male piglets. How do you expect to make money from them? Can they give birth?”

Mentioning their gender made Zhuang Wu even sadder. He had wanted to buy the sows he saw with the boss, thinking that he could raise and teach them cultivation. Zhu Yu Mountain had the richest spiritual energy in the demon realm. Maybe after three or five hundred years, one of them might gain sentience! But now, with two male piglets… Was he supposed to teach them to cultivate?

Impossible! He and his brother were already broke bachelors. If these two became male pig demons, too, they’d never find wives!

 

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Author’s Note:

—Nonsense Skit—

Zhuang Si: “Can two boars give birth?!”

Dan Yin: “The boss can have Tingchuan’s child…”

Zhuang Wu: “What? Did the boss have dragon-phoenix twins?!”

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