LGHTNOVELBOOK 52: Trouble at Home
A large bird flew through the air in a parabolic arc.
Mu Chihuai rubbed his eyes, realizing it wasn’t a beast invasion, but his little junior sister who hadn’t returned all night.
The next second, “Thud!” She fell from the sky, lying motionless on the ground as if she had perished.
Mu Chihuai approached and tossed her a bottle of high-grade healing pills and spirit replenishing pills, poking her and marveling, “Were you struck by heavenly lightning?”
Chu Sang raised a 90-degree thumbs up, “Correct guess.”
“You were really struck by heavenly lightning?”
Mu Chihuai was startled, belatedly noticing that her aura had become much denser. Looking carefully, he realized she had already reached the Golden Core stage.
She had been at the peak of late Foundation Establishment when she left yesterday, and in just one day she had… reached Golden Core?
He came to his senses, his expression changing slightly, “……By the way, you didn’t really go to the demon realm, did you? And undergo the Golden Core thunder tribulation there?”
Chu Sang replied weakly, “What else?”
Mu Chihuai drew in a sharp breath.
The Golden Core thunder tribulation was no small matter. Although it couldn’t compare to the Nascent Soul or Divine Transformation tribulations, as far as he knew, about half of the cultivators died during the Golden Core tribulation.
He, as a resource hog, had only successfully passed the tribulation thanks to the lightning-resisting spiritual tools given by his parents. As for that fellow Tantai Ming, although he was a bit single-minded, he was after all a once-in-a-thousand-years Innate Spirit Body, practically a son of the heavenly dao. His luck was off the charts, so it was expected that he could pass the Golden Core tribulation smoothly.
But, he remembered that his little junior sister had nothing. Could she rely on love to move heaven and earth?
“Quickly tell me, what exactly did you do in this one day?” He was dying of curiosity.
Chu Sang had no intention of hiding anything and recounted her experience in detail.
Seeing the youth’s eyes fill with a hint of horror, he remained silent for a long while before finally managing to say, “You really know how to stir up trouble.”
Usually, causing trouble for small fry was one thing, but this time she had directly tricked a Demon Lord, and even managed to escape unscathed. This was too… impressive!
The most outrageous part was:
Such an outrageous thing happening to Chu Sang, Mu Chihuai strangely felt it wasn’t outrageous at all.
“Here, Sixth Senior Brother, is this enough?” Chu Sang tossed him the storage bag. If it wasn’t enough, she could take another trip to the demon realm.
Mu Chihuai took the bag, opened it, and counted. There were nearly fifty Thousand-Li Ginseng, more than enough to refine the Reshaping Pills. He might even be able to refine several more batches, which could be sold at the Treasure Pavilion later.
After Mu Chihuai took the herbs and went into seclusion in the pill refining room, Chu Sang lay on the ground for a while, then sprang up like a carp and went to the Eastern Peak.
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Eastern Peak, bamboo house.
The great snake had successfully completed the task assigned by its master and returned home proudly. However, upon seeing the man in red robes, it instinctively lowered its head. As usual, it coiled around him, turning into a soft, flat meat pancake, motionless, acting like air.
Mu Changqing had just finished carving a puppet head. He shook his slightly sore wrist and lay back on the snake pancake, closing his eyes to rest.
The great snake thought he was asleep and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, wanting to stretch its muscles and bones. But a lazy voice came to its ears, “That Little Junior Sister, did she find the herbs?”
The great snake hurriedly nodded, saying in a childish voice, “Sister Sang found the herbs, but she was chased and injured by many demon cultivators.”
Mu Changqing opened his eyes.
That little junior sister was injured?
……She was injured while trying to find herbs for him?
When Chu Sang came to find Mu Changqing, she felt that his gaze towards her was a bit off.
Was it her imagination, or did he seem a bit gentler than yesterday?
But when someone like this madman showed signs of “gentleness,” “happiness,” or “smiling,” it definitely meant nothing good was about to happen. Who knows what evil schemes he was cooking up in his mind? Ugh, it was even more hair-raising!
Chu Sang suppressed the urge to run away, “Third Senior Brother, I’ve found the herbs to treat your legs as promised, and Sixth Senior Brother has gone to refine the pills.”
She had thought that with Mu Changqing’s capricious nature, he might suddenly come out with something like “Who made a promise with you,” “The promise is void,” or “An imperfect body, a perfect life,” or some other nonsense. But he stared at her intently for a while, then said something incomprehensible, “……It must have been painful, right?”
His eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if recalling a time when he too had experienced such pain, being driven to the brink by those people, thinking he had nowhere to turn.
Chu Sang, “……Huh?”
Was he referring to the heavenly lightning?
“That was indeed quite painful,” Chu Sang nodded.
“Do you regret it?”
Chu Sang thought for a moment, “It’s not too bad.”
She did have some small regrets. She should have used the Substitute Talisman as soon as the first bolt of heavenly lightning struck. Oh, and one of her sword techniques had gone off target, failing to hit Yan Wangxing’s chest. Otherwise, she could have at least made him cough up some blood! And the Speed Talisman needed to be improved and upgraded. Could she stack the Speed Talisman with a Strengthening Talisman to create a Strengthened Speed Talisman?
She mentally reviewed her actions, feeling more and more regretful.
If she had another chance, she could definitely make Yan Wangxing suffer even more!
“You… don’t need to do this,” Mu Changqing frowned and spoke softly. Although they were nominally fellow disciples of the same sect, anyone with eyes could see that Mu Changqing had no sense of belonging to this sect at all. He didn’t care about these so-called senior and junior brothers and sisters.
To him, she was just an unrelated outsider, and vice versa. So, there was really no need for her to go to such lengths for him.
Chu Sang shook her head firmly, “It’s necessary!”
How could it not be necessary? The heavenly dao was clearly out to eliminate her. Shouldn’t she use some tricks to secure a path of survival for herself? Although the process was a bit arduous, the outcome was quite satisfactory.
“……” Mu Changqing’s pupils trembled slightly, his gaze falling on her face. Those beautiful eyebrows and eyes seemed to lose some of their sharp, intimidating quality.
He pursed his lips, momentarily speechless, as if not knowing how to handle this situation.
After a while, he curved his lips again, “Tell me, what do you want? What do you want to get from me? Blood, or puppets?”
“I don’t want anything. I just want Third Senior Brother’s legs to be healed and for you to live more happily.” And then stay in the sect properly, without going out to cause trouble to others.
Mu Changqing’s gaze towards her became even more intriguing, “Just that? You yourself, don’t want anything else?”
He had never believed that anyone would be kind to him without reason.
On the surface, it might seem like they had no desires or demands, wanting nothing in return. But in reality, it was just that the time to make demands hadn’t arrived yet, or that the person had hidden their greatest desire too well. Often, these types were the most dangerous.
Just like those greedy people…… Mu Changqing seemed to recall something unpleasant, his expression suddenly turning cold again. He curled a lock of his long hair around his finger, chuckling lightly, “If you want to heal my legs, that’s fine, but I also have a condition. Remove the formation here.”
Listening to his tone, one might think someone else was asking a favor of him.
Chu Sang wasn’t annoyed and calmly said, “As long as you heal your legs, I’ll help you remove the formation.”
Mu Changqing raised an eyebrow, surprised at how quickly she changed her stance. He chuckled lightly, “That woman won’t remove the formation for me. What makes you so confident to say this?”
“The Sect Leader won’t remove the formation for you, but I can help you remove it. I’m also a talisman master,” Chu Sang said earnestly. “As long as I can cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage, I can remove the confinement formation here.”
She was best at making grand promises.
Let’s not even mention how difficult it was to advance from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, taking at least several years, or even decades, sometimes even hundreds of years.
Even if she miraculously cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, judging by the momentum of her Golden Core thunder tribulation, she felt there was an 80% chance she’d be struck dead during the Nascent Soul thunder tribulation…… This promise wasn’t just a grand one, it was an empty one.
However, it seemed quite effective for now.
[Villain Mu Changqing’s Corruption Value -5, Host can randomly distribute +5 attribute points!]
[Villain Mu Changqing’s current Corruption Value: 70]
[5 points remaining for free distribution]
It was getting late, and the great snake volunteered to take her down the mountain. Before leaving, Chu Sang grabbed a large handful of beast food from her storage bag and fed it to the snake, also patting its slippery head, “I almost forgot to thank you for your righteous help.”
Otherwise, with four Demon Lords surrounding her at once, there was indeed a risk of perishing.
“Sister Sang doesn’t need to thank me~ It was the master who told me to go help you.” The great snake coiled around her in a circle. It very much liked to cling to Chu Sang, putting its head in her hand and nuzzling, happily wagging its tail.
Since it gained consciousness, the only companion it had was Mu Changqing. But the master would never pat it so gently, let alone feed it. It usually had to go down the mountain to find food on its own. This was the first time it experienced being fed and petted by someone, and it was absolutely addictive.
Chu Sang, “Wow, Great Snake, you can talk!” Was it true that Third Senior Brother had actively sent the great snake to help her?
The great snake’s childish voice sounded a bit aggrieved, “I’m not called Great Snake, I have a name, it’s Fei.”
“I’m a Nascent Soul stage beast, of course I can talk. I can even transform into human form. Sister Sang, do you want to see?” It wagged its tail frantically.
Chu Sang’s mouth twitched. It was clearly a snake, how had it been raised to act like a Samoyed?
But she was quite curious.
With such a childish voice, it should be a soft and cute little boy, right?
Just as Fei was about to demonstrate its perfect transformation, it suddenly seemed to sense a dangerous aura. Its head drooped dejectedly to the ground, looking pitiful, “Master won’t let me transform……”
Chu Sang looked back, but the intimidating aura had disappeared again. Was Third Senior Brother having another episode?
“Since I gained consciousness, I’ve only known the master. So when learning to transform, I subconsciously tried to emulate the master’s appearance,” Fei said. “Because I’m too young, the form I take looks a lot like the master when he was little. And the master, he seems to not want to see what he looked like as a child……”
It felt like Third Senior Brother also had some past he didn’t want to face.
However, he was clearly avoiding this memory, and Chu Sang wasn’t interested in prying. After comforting Fei by patting its head, she left it two large bags of beast food before departing.
Mu Chihuai’s original seclusion time was supposed to be a month, but he unexpectedly emerged early.
The young man’s expression was very solemn. Chu Sang thought he had a furnace explosion and peeked into the pill refining room, but didn’t see any black smoke, “Did the pill refining fail?”
After all, it was an upper-grade pill approaching earth-grade quality, so refining it had some difficulties. And Sixth Senior Brother was only at the Golden Core stage, so failure would be understandable.
Mu Chihuai said without modesty, “Pill refining failure? That doesn’t exist.” He took out a small white jade bottle and tossed it to her. “There are five Reshaping Pills inside. It’s a one-month course of treatment. After Third Senior Brother finishes taking them, I’ll refine another batch when I have time.”
Seeing his hurried demeanor, Chu Sang asked, “Did something happen?”
“……There’s some trouble at home. I need to go back for a while.” Mu Chihuai massaged his temples, looking somewhat troubled.
If possible, he really didn’t want to return to that place.
As the foremost of the four great pill-refining families in the cultivation world, the Mu family shouldered an extraordinary responsibility. This resulted in the family’s disciples having access to cultivation resources far surpassing others, but the family’s requirements for them were also extremely strict, bordering on insane.
The family held an assessment among disciples of the same generation every three years to test the strength and skill levels of this generation of disciples, while also urging them to work harder.
Every ten years, a grand family competition was held.
Whether they were direct descendants, children of concubines, or disciples from branch families, all participated in the grand family competition. Everything was determined by strength.
The ten-year grand competition was of great significance. It wasn’t just to test the cultivation results of disciples of the same generation, but also potentially to select the next family head.
Mu Chihuai’s mother was the current Mu family head, and Mu Chihuai was a once-in-a-century pill-refining prodigy. From the moment he was born, the position of Mu family head was destined to fall to him without question.
Naturally, there were many who were envious and jealous.
Chief among them was his half-brother from the same mother but different father.
This origin story was quite deep. Years ago, there was a reckless man who coveted the Mu family’s wealth and status. Because Mu Chihuai’s mother was young and naive at the time, through a twist of fate, this scoundrel managed to climb up the branch.
After entering the family, the man’s ambitions were exposed. He not only wasn’t loyal to the Mu family head, but even secretly gathered support from many of the Mu family’s high-level elders, intending to use this to overthrow the family head and take control of the Mu family for himself.
When the Mu family head learned the truth, she immediately had this scoundrel killed.
Unfortunately, she was six months pregnant at the time. Perhaps out of mercy, the child was ultimately kept.
This was Mu Chihuai’s half-brother from the same mother but different father—Mu Tu.
Chu Sang had seen this name a few times in the original story. This person was extremely jealous of Mu Chihuai and believed that the position of Mu family head should belong to him, so he repeatedly tried to poison and assassinate Mu Chihuai.
However, unfortunately for him, when it came to scheming, Mu Chihuai was clearly superior.
Not only did Mu Tu fail to succeed, but he was even counter-schemed several times.
“Sixth Senior Brother, I’ll accompany you. You don’t mind me visiting your home as a guest, do you?” Although she couldn’t deny that Sixth Senior Brother was quite cunning, he was far from being as ruthless and vicious as in the original story.
Something else must have happened to him.
Chu Sang had a vague premonition that some unexpected events might occur during the Mu family’s grand competition held once every ten years.
“The family is full of old fogeys, there’s nothing fun about it. Every time I go back, they always grab my ear and lecture me for a couple of rounds.” Despite saying this, Mu Chihuai packed her luggage along with his own. The next day, the two set off for Xuzhou.