Chapter 42 The Towering Stone (Second Update) "I've never seen you before, you are..."

(42)

West Courtyard.

The servant went in to ask for permission, while Shang Xinglan and Chu Lili stood in the courtyard playing with the cub.

"See that persimmon tree? When I was a kid, I could stand here and knock down the highest persimmon from the top of the tree with pebbles."

Chu Li looked up and saw that the persimmon tree was somehow taller than the roof, and the crown was almost invisible.

The little boy crossed his arms, muttering under his breath, "That must be because the tree was much shorter when you were a child."

Upon hearing this, Shang Xinglan pinched his cheek and tugged at it, "I'm sorry, this tree was already this tall when I was a child, and I had just started cultivating back then, about the same height as you. You're only saying this because you can't do it yourself."

The little boy was provoked by his words, picked up a small stone from the ground, aimed at the highest persimmon on the treetop, and threw it with all his might.

The pebble didn't even touch the treetop before falling down halfway.

The little one immediately wilted.

He's too weak; the tree is so tall, how could he possibly do that?

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw Chu Li pick up a pebble from the ground. She threw it at the roundest and largest persimmon on the tree canopy. A moment later, with a thud, the persimmon fell to the ground and smashed.

The little boy stared wide-eyed, exclaiming incredulously, "Amazing!"

Shang Xinglan was also somewhat surprised; even the servant who played with him when he was a child couldn't do that.

"What's so difficult about that?"

Chu Li clapped her hands, picked up the persimmon from the ground, peeled off the damaged and dusty skin, and took a bite without any disgust. It was indeed sweet. "When I was a child, I often went to the mountains to pick fruit."

Hearing her words, the little boy became even more adoring, "Mother, teach me, I want to pick fruit too."

As Shang Xinglan watched her patiently instructing the cub, a strange pang of sorrow welled up in her heart.

They went to the mountains to pick fruit because they had no food to eat.

For Chu Li, this was her survival skill.

Inside the room, a servant pushed open the door and said respectfully, "The old lady has woken up. Young master, please come in."

Chu Li turned around and quickly pulled the little boy, who was still throwing stones, to her side, whispering, "You must be polite. Do you remember what your mother taught you before?"

The little boy reluctantly put the pebbles into his pocket, nodded, and said, "I remember, I have to greet Great-Grandma, I have to let Great-Grandma eat first, I can't make a lot of noise, and..."

Shang Xinglan frowned slightly as she listened to their conversation, and said in a low voice, "It's alright, let him do whatever makes him comfortable. Grandmother won't mind."

“That won’t do either,” Chu Li said seriously. “Even if Grandmother doesn’t care, other people will still gossip.”

Shang Xinglan watched her lead the little cub through the door, sighed softly, and followed them.

As soon as Chu Li entered, she smelled the familiar scent of sandalwood. Shang Xinglan used to have this scent, but it was lighter.

The servants led them to the bedside and then left. Shang Xinglan looked at her elderly grandmother, her lips devoid of color. When she saw them come in, her eyes lit up, and she excitedly tried to sit up.

"Xinglan..."

Shang Xinglan's breath hitched slightly. She bent down to help her sit up and called softly, "Grandmother, I'm late."

"What kind of talk is that? I wasn't waiting for you, so how can you say I'm late?" The grandmother looked at Chu Li and the little boy beside him, and her eyes lit up again. "This is...Ah Chu?"

She reached out and pulled Chu Li in front of her, examining him closely. "On your wedding day, Grandmother was sick and couldn't attend. Did you like the gift I gave you? It was that gold mirror box."

Chu Li felt a little uncomfortable as she held her hand. She couldn't remember when the golden mirror box was placed there. She had received so many gifts that day that she hadn't had time to look at most of them carefully before the servants put them in the storeroom.

She lowered her eyelashes and whispered, "I like it. I use that little mirror all the time."

Grandmother paused slightly, gently stroked the top of her head, and said softly, "Good child."

That gold mirror box didn't contain a mirror; it was only used to store rouge and hairpins. Poor thing, she never used it even once. Alas.

"Is this your and Xinglan's child?" The grandmother eagerly pulled the little boy in front of her, touching his face. "He's so handsome, he looks a lot like your father when he was little, but even more like your mother. What's your name?"

Chu Li choked abruptly, glancing at Shang Xinglan with a guilty conscience.

The little boy, however, pronounced his name without any hesitation, saying softly, "Grandma, my name is Chu Tanyin. Chu is Chu Li, Tan is Tan, and Yin is Yin."

A hint of undisguised surprise flashed across Grandmother's eyes as she lovingly cupped his little face in her hands. "You even know about sandalwood incense? How many books have you read?"

When the conversation turned to books, the little boy became even more talkative, counting on his fingers, "I've read Xishan Suishi Ji, Liweng Ouji, Tanuki Elder... Oh right, and Junzi Jiu Rong."

Chu Li let out a soft breath. She thought her grandmother would ask why the little boy had taken her surname, but she hadn't noticed at all.

"Just like your father when he was a kid, he's always immersed in books, and you couldn't get him out of there even if you tried ten oxen."

Grandmother smiled and asked Shang Xinglan to bring some snacks for the little boy. The little boy sat obediently beside her and ate the snacks in small bites.

“You’re too polite, child. This pastry is called ‘One-Bite Pastry.’ You have to eat it in big bites to enjoy it.”

But... eating big bites of food doesn't look good.

The little boy paused, then looked up at Chu Li.

Chu Li blushed under his gaze and said softly, "Eat."

It turns out that Grandmother really didn't care about these formalities; she was just overthinking it.

Shang Xinglan's gaze fell gently on them. She brought a stool for Chu Li, and the two sat down together, watching the little boy and his grandmother chat and laugh.

"See, I told you, she'll like you guys a lot, and you'll like her too." Shang Xinglan whispered in Chu Li's ear, "I was right again, Chu."

Chu Li gave a soft hum, "Yes, you're always right."

She never said Shang Xinglan was wrong, did she?

As the two whispered intimately, the grandmother quietly looked up, glanced at them, and quickly looked away, tentatively asking in a soft voice, "How have you been feeling lately?"

Shang Xinglan and Chu Li immediately looked up and separated.

“I’m fine, Grandma, don’t worry.”

His grandmother looked at him hesitantly, still somewhat worried, "Xinglan, you'll be twenty-five soon."

Chu Li lowered her head, her fingers, hidden inside her sleeve, clenched the cuff tightly, twisting it forcefully.

"I know." Shang Xinglan smiled calmly. "Don't worry, why would I lie to my grandmother about something like that? Besides, I'm a married man now."

Even if not for myself, I must live on for Chu Li and Yin Yin.

Sensing the implication in his words, the grandmother nodded knowingly and whispered, "Without immortal bones, cultivation will certainly be extremely difficult... The patriarch has already passed away."

Shang Xinglan was stunned for a moment, and after a long while, he said calmly, "Grandmother, I understand what you mean, but I have my reasons."

When he left the merchant, he had already sworn a solemn oath to return the immortal bone, sever all ties, and never have any connection with the merchant again. The merchant would no longer have the right to control who he wanted to marry or spend the rest of his life with.

Even if the patriarch passes away, he will never retrieve that immortal bone.

Upon hearing the words "immortal bones," Chu Li couldn't help but raise her head.

Seeing her interest, her grandmother quickly bypassed Shang Xinglan and said softly, "Possessing immortal bones will definitely make cultivation twice as effective. After the patriarch passed away, those immortal bones were sealed in the Linshui Pavilion. Why not make use of them? Don't you think so, Achu..."

“Yes!” Chu Li nodded emphatically, leaning forward slightly and looking at her grandmother with expectant eyes. “Why not use it? After all, it originally belonged to him. Grandmother, why don’t you have someone return that immortal bone to him…”

“Achu.”

Shang Xinglan suddenly interrupted her.

Chu Li understood his implication, so she could only purse her lips and sit back down next to him.

Stubborn.

She cursed him silently in her heart.

Grandma just said that the immortal bone was sealed somewhere.

Linshui Pavilion, I think that's the name.

"Xinglan, how can you speak to Achu like that? Your attitude is becoming more and more like that of the head of the family. You must not do that." Grandmother's gaze swept over Chu Li and raised an eyebrow. "Achu, go to the storeroom and find a longevity gold lock. I'll give it to Yinyin as a gift when we meet."

Shang Xinglan followed her gaze to Chu Li and immediately understood what the two of them were planning to do. He had a headache and reached out to grab Chu Li, saying, "You can't."

Chu Li pulled his hand away and said with a smile, "What do you mean you can't? I'll go get the longevity lock for Yin Yin. You wait here and don't go anywhere. Keep Grandmother company."

Seeing that she was about to run out, Shang Xinglan wanted to stop her again, but her grandmother held her back.

Grandmother coughed twice and raised her voice, "Achu, if you don't know where the storeroom is, go ask the servants. Just say I sent you there."

"Yes, ma'am."

Shang Xinglan sat back down beside her helplessly. She knew all too well what Chu Li was going to do—he was definitely going to steal his immortal bones.

"Oh, right, there's also a towering stone in the Linshui Pavilion." Grandmother said with a smile as she saw Shang Xinglan's face growing increasingly pale. "I forgot to mention it. I just hope Achu doesn't touch anything else."

A towering stone? That would be...

Shang Xinglan gritted her teeth and pinched her forehead. "Grandmother...you have really ruined me."

Chu Li will definitely make a move!

*

"Linshui Pavilion?" The maid, carrying a basin of water, looked at Chu Li with curiosity. She was only fifteen years old and had just arrived at the main family. This mistress was a stranger, so she assumed she was a guest. Therefore, she politely reminded her, "Only direct descendants can enter there, and they must obtain the head of the family's permission."

Chu Li pointed to her grandmother's room, "I just came from the old lady's place. She asked me to go there."

The maid looked at her suspiciously, and after a long while, put down the basin of water in her hand. "Just a verbal order?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Li pulled a piece of jade from his waist and handed it to her, saying, "The old lady returned this piece of jade to me."

Upon closer inspection, the maid realized it was indeed the jade pendant belonging to the direct lineage, instantly dispelling her doubts. She then led Chu Li towards the Linshui Pavilion.

Before long, Chu Li pushed open the door of the Linshui Pavilion and carefully walked in.

There was no one inside, not even a guard, as if someone had arranged everything for her in advance, just waiting for her to come and collect that immortal bone.

Chu Li looked around curiously, even suspecting there might be some kind of trap or mechanism on the ground—that's what they always wrote in storybooks.

When she slowly and reluctantly walked along the wall to the bookshelf where the items were placed, Chu Li found nothing; there were no mechanisms or traps.

She mustered her courage and began to grope around, turning the bookshelf upside down until she found a delicate little box.

Chu Li took the box down in confusion. The immortal bone shouldn't be this small. She opened it and saw that inside was a small, round, pearl-like stone that shimmered with light.

What kind of stone is so precious that it needs to be placed in this kind of box and hidden in the Linshui Pavilion?

Curious, she reached out to touch it, and in an instant, white mist rose up in front of her, enveloping her entirely.

Chu Li coughed from the icy mist, and when she opened her eyes again, the stone was gone.

Where did they go?

Unable to understand, she simply threw away the box and continued searching for the immortal bone.

Since there was no one else around, she became even more reckless, making a racket and searching aimlessly.

Chu Li was so engrossed in the search that she didn't even look up, not even noticing that the door behind her was slightly ajar.

Where did they hide it?

It's just a broken bone, why hide it so well?

Chu Li stood with her hands on her hips, a surge of anger rising in her heart.

She refused to believe it; there was nothing in this world she couldn't steal!

Suddenly, someone gently poked my waist.

Chu Li irritably shook off the hand, and suddenly her face turned deathly pale.

She turned her head stiffly, but saw no one. Her gaze slowly moved downwards.

I saw it this time.

Chu Li gasped and pressed herself against the bookshelf behind her.

"Who are you?"

A child who appeared out of nowhere, looking about the same age as Yinyin, held a knife in his hand, tilted his head and looked at her, his eyes seemingly smiling, "I've never seen you before, are you a thief?"

That face instantly reminded her of someone.

But... how is this possible?

Shang Xinglan has shrunk?