93 Dharma Aspect

In recent days, Wang Hongzhi had been worn white with worry over his foolish son. On his way home after court that day, he happened upon a few children using Wang Yuanfeng as a horse to ride on. He chased them off, yet Wang Yuanfeng was not pleased and even turned to blame his own father, so angry that Wang Hongzhi felt smoke rising from his head.

“I must have committed some sin in a former life. How else could I have a son like this?”

Back home, Wang Hongzhi complained to his wife.

“Master, this is fate. Do not rail at Heaven, and do not blame Yuanfeng either. He is already a well-behaved child, but he is still only a child. You ask him to achieve merit and bring honor to the family line, but how could he possibly understand such things?”

Mrs. Wang comforted him from the side.

“Oh yes, Madam, have you told the kitchen to stew more pig heart for the boy to eat? These past few days at court, I have kept hearing people praise Li Xintian’s poetry and lyrics. Even the prime minister, after receiving the original text, laughs heartily every day. I do not ask for my son to be brilliant; even if he had half of Li Xintian’s talent and could simply grow up, marry, and have children like a normal man, that would be enough.”

Wang Hongzhi rose and asked.

“Yuanfeng has been eating pig heart since he was seven. Has he not eaten enough of it already? How could our Yuanfeng be compared with Li Xintian? Still, I have heard that Li Xintian knows medicine. Why not invite him here to take a look at Yuanfeng?”

Mrs. Wang also hoped that Wang Yuanfeng would marry and have children as soon as possible, and suggested that Wang Hongzhi invite Li Xintian to help him.

“Li Xintian? Though his writing is decent, what experience could he possibly have in studying medicine? I have heard that fifty miles outside the city, at Zhang Family Slope, there is a divine physician who specializes in stubborn and baffling illnesses. Tomorrow, let us take the boy there. What do you think?”

Wang Hongzhi did not accept his wife’s suggestion, and instead mentioned a rumor he had recently heard.

“I think we should forget it. For more than ten years now, we have invited all kinds of divine physicians, witch doctors, and famous doctors, and there is no telling how many. If Yuanfeng could have been cured, he would have been cured long ago. I think this is simply his fate, Master. We should accept it.”

Mrs. Wang looked sorrowful and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.

“Madam, I am not despising the child. You and I are both getting old; we cannot possibly care for him for his whole life. If one day both you and I are suddenly gone, tell me, who will look after this child?”

Seeing how much older he had grown, Wang Hongzhi could not forget what had happened to Wang Yuanfeng that very day.

“Master, of course I also hope for a wise and capable daughter-in-law who can see to Feng’er’s later years. If Heaven favors us and grants us even one son or half a daughter, I would be content.”

Over the years, Mrs. Wang had worn out her tongue going from household to household to discuss her son’s future, but none had agreed.

Who did not know Wang Yuanfeng’s reputation? He was already more than sixteen and still a fool, unable even to tell male from female. Because he was stupid, no one was willing to marry their daughter to him.

The next day.

Mount Langya, Emerald Bamboo Cave.

A lovely woman sat cross-legged with her eyes half closed. A pearl radiated a strong, pale blue glow, illuminating the gloom of the cave as it revolved around her.

The beauty opened her eyes. Above her head, a white fox phantom suddenly appeared, lifting its face to the sky in a roar, before quickly melting into her body.

She then drove demonic power through her palm, trying to draw out the spiritual energy within the pearl, but no matter what she tried, she could do nothing. Sweat poured down her face.

Suddenly her ears twitched, sensing someone approaching the cave entrance. She promptly withdrew her demonic power and gripped the pearl in her hand.

“Who is there, sneaking about like a thief?”

Her face darkened with anger as she shouted.

“Mother, it is Xiaocui.”

Hu Xiaocui had originally been hiding nearby, watching Hu Yuji practice, hoping to steal a few moves. She had not expected to be discovered.

“I only just came back and wanted to pay my respects to Mother. I saw you were practicing, so I did not dare disturb you.”

Seeing Hu Yuji angry, Hu Xiaocui hurried up to her with a smile and explained herself.

“Go mind your own business. I do not need your greetings.”

Hu Yuji’s expression softened somewhat. In cultivation, the thing to fear most was interruption; at the lightest, it could injure the body, and at the worst, it could damage one’s cultivation.

“Mother, what do you do every day with that round little thing? You practice so hard you even forget to eat and sleep. The scenery outside is beautiful.”

Hu Xiaocui took a few steps forward and waved a hand toward the view outside.

“Nosy girl. My affairs are none of your concern.”

Hu Yuji swallowed the Clear Spirit Pearl.

“In this world, it is only the two of us mother and daughter.”

Hu Xiaocui plucked a blade of grass from nearby, sniffed it, and muttered to herself.

“What are you mumbling about?”

Hu Yuji floated down from the stone dais.

“Nothing. I was just counting how many words Mother has spoken to me in the past few days. Not even ten.”

Hu Xiaocui did not dare look at Hu Yuji. She counted on her fingers as she spoke.

“You, of course you know how to make me angry. Have you collected today’s dew?”

What Hu Yuji was thinking of was the day Yao Shuang had been frightened into a panicked retreat by a scholar. She only did not know what it was that Yao Shuang feared.

“Not yet...”

The moment Hu Xiaocui heard the word dew, she became completely absorbed in her play and her face fell at once.

“Hmph. You useless little thing. The things you ought to do, you never finish; the things you ought not to meddle in, you cannot leave alone. A rotten jar grows rotten weeds indeed. What a useless creature. Why are you still standing there? Get moving!”

Hu Yuji snorted in displeasure.

Hu Xiaocui lowered her head, rendered speechless by the scolding. She could only answer with a soft, “Oh, I understand,” before leaving Emerald Bamboo Cave.

“Mother always calls me a rotten girl, says I can never do anything right, says a rotten jar grows rotten weeds, says I am a coward.”

“Heh, if Mother says I am a coward, does that not mean she is insulting herself too? And she says I am stupid. I think Mother is the stupid one, hmph.”

Hu Xiaocui carried a bamboo tube in her hand. With a small bamboo sprig, she lightly tapped the dew from the bamboo leaves while snorting in mock indignation.

She looked at the bamboo tube, shook it once, took a sip, and then spat it out.

“Bland and tasteless. It is not even as good as creek water. Such a fuss for nothing. Hmph, Mother is only afraid I will be idle!”

As she spoke, she used the little bamboo stick in her hand to knock against the tube.

Just then Hu Xiaocui saw a serpent demon dressed in black. Its legs had not yet fully recovered; below the waist it still had a snake tail.

The serpent demon then stirred its demonic power, transformed into a human form, and it was none other than Yao Shuang, who headed toward Emerald Bamboo Cave.

“Did that snake demon not come here last time? Has she not learned her lesson yet? Looks like I can steal another look at Mother’s magic.”

Hu Xiaocui dropped everything in her hands and no longer cared about the dew. She hurried after her to Emerald Bamboo Cave, choosing a good hiding place.

Back in Emerald Bamboo Cave, after Hu Xiaocui left, Hu Yuji spat out the Clear Spirit Pearl and resumed her cultivation. Demonic power whirled around her entire body.

Hu Yuji tilted her head and knew at once that Yao Shuang had come out again. She guided her demonic power and drew the Clear Spirit Pearl back into her abdomen.

“Sister, last time I was in the wrong. It has been so many years since we last met, yet you are well, are you not?”

Yao Shuang entered the cave and apologized, though there was not the least sincerity on her face.

“Yao Shuang, your false courtesy is written all over your face. Spare me the nonsense. If you have come for the Clear Spirit Pearl, then go back where you came from.”

Hu Yuji gave a cold snort and did not even look at Yao Shuang.

“The Clear Spirit Pearl belongs to the immortal realm and was never yours to begin with. You have occupied it for decades, yet you still have not fathomed its mysteries. Why not bring it out so we can share it openly and let me spar with you?”

Yao Shuang ignored whatever Hu Yuji said and simply brushed her hair back.

“Hmph. Was last time’s lesson not enough? With a talent like yours, you still want to spar with me? What a joke. Besides, who was it last time that saw a scholar and fled like a stray dog? Hahaha...”

Hu Yuji sneered and mocked Yao Shuang, while also probing her for the truth. Why had she been so afraid of that scholar? And when the scholar saw them, he showed not the slightest fear, instead standing with the thunder god and chatting as though they were old friends.

“Sister, if you truly want to know why I ran like a stray dog, there is no need to beat around the bush. Give me the Clear Spirit Pearl, and I will naturally tell you what sort of man that scholar is.”

Yao Shuang did not anger. She still wanted the pearl from Hu Yuji.

“Then I shall make you submit completely.”

Hu Yuji’s expression turned fierce. Demonic power surged through her palm and released a rainbow-hued beam.

Yao Shuang flicked her sleeve and slapped the beam down to the ground. With a thunderous crash, a deep pit appeared, smoking and blazing.

“Last time I was caught unprepared. Do you think I will be unprepared for you this time?”

Refusing to be outdone, Yao Shuang also drew on demonic power beneath her feet, leaped into the air, and charged at Hu Yuji, striking out from both palms with two purple beams of light.

By then, Hu Xiaocui had arrived as well. She hid at the cave entrance and peeped inside.

Hu Yuji invoked her demonic power, and behind her appeared the silhouette of a standing fox, which then rapidly covered her entire body.

“A manifestation!”

Yao Shuang’s eyes flew wide open. She quickly transformed into a giant serpent, but she was still firmly seized by the throat by the manifestation. She was forced back into human form and slammed hard to the ground, spitting up a mouthful of blood.

“You wretched fox, I never thought you would actually cultivate a manifestation. You might as well kill me!”

Yao Shuang knew very well that she could not defeat someone whose cultivation had reached the level of a manifestation. She buried her hatred deep in her heart.

“Kill you, you filthy snake demon? That would only dirty my Emerald Bamboo Cave. Tell me that scholar’s identity, and get out at once!”

Hu Yuji withdrew the manifestation back into her body.

“That scholar is not someone you can afford to offend. For now I only know that he possesses the noble righteous energy of Heaven and Earth!”

After saying this, Yao Shuang turned into a streak of black light and left Emerald Bamboo Cave. Before she departed, she cast a deep look at Hu Xiaocui.

“Noble righteous energy!”

The moment Hu Yuji heard those words, she immediately understood why Yao Shuang had been so frightened of that scholar.

“Wow, Mother is amazing.”

Hu Xiaocui thought this to herself and clapped her hands, not caring at all about the noble righteous energy.

“Hmph.”

Hu Yuji came back to herself, saw that Yao Shuang had left, and turned away with a cold snort.