A Day in the Sky

Wei Xuandao's face darkened: "The guest I invited killed the elder of the sect. How do you want me to explain it?"

Xu Shulou lowered his head slightly: "Elder Wei knows that I have been poisoned by the love poison, and my temperament is unstable and I can't control myself, why are you so harsh on me?"

Wei Xuandao was so angry at her turning the tables that his eyebrows stood up: "I blame you? What did I blame you for?"

Xu Shulou wiped away the non-existent tears: "Although Elder Wei asked me to treat this place as my own, it is not my real master's house after all, so it is always different."

"..." How come you don't get held accountable if you kill someone randomly in your master's sect?

"I don't want to embarrass the elders," Xu Shulou said with a face full of grievance, "If that's the case, I'll just leave!"

"etc……"

Wei Xuandao and Xu Shulou stared at each other for a long time, as if they were so angry that they didn't know what to say.

But Xu Shulou knew that he was weighing the pros and cons.

If Fan Zhi was still alive, Wei Xuandao would definitely give priority to protecting Elder Fan.

Fan Zhi's status in the sect was largely due to her loyalty, regardless of good or evil. This unconditional loyalty was something that even someone as talented as Xu Shulou could not replace.

But now that Fan Zhi is dead, there is really no need for Wei Xuandao to fall out with Xu Shulou for her.

After all, there are still some things about Xu Shulou that are worth using. It's a pity for Fan Zhi, but his goal has not been achieved yet, and it is not yet time to completely turn against Wuchen Island.

He could only sigh: "Forget it, you have the love poison in your body, and you really can't control yourself when you meet your enemy. When the love poison is removed, I will notify your master and let them punish you according to the rules. By the way, when you fought with Elder Fan Zhi, did you... notice anything wrong?"

Xu Shulou shook his head: "No, it was easy to kill."

Wei Xuandao took another deep breath, just wanting to get this guy out of his sight immediately: "Don't announce the cause of Elder Fan's death to the public yet, you go down first."

Xu Shulou asked, "What is wrong with what you are referring to, Elder Wei?"

"Nothing, it's just that Elder Fan Zhi was punished some time ago and is injured. I want to know if it has affected her skills," Wei Xuandao evaded the question, "Go back and rest quickly. You must be tired. After all, you just... killed someone."

Wei Xuandao seemed to have absolutely no intention of continuing to stay in the same room with her. Xu Shulou didn't want to force him to stay here and irritate him, so he could only return to his room with regret.

Sure enough, in the following few days, he did not ask her to go to the main hall to take her pulse, as if he intended to adopt the strategy of out of sight, out of mind for her.

However, Xu Shulou discovered that there was always a red wind bird perched outside the door. This was a spiritual bird that could spit fire from its mouth and had fiery red feathers all over its body. It was not as beautiful as Bai Roushuang's Jiuyao, but it was much more aggressive than the Jiuyao and more practical for cultivators.

Xu Shulou knew that this was probably sent by Wei Xuandao to monitor him. Whenever she made any unusual movements, Chifeng would cry out loudly to warn her.

It was squatting on a tall maple tree, looking down at her with its head tilted.

Xu Shulou thought for a moment and took out some fish sashimi from the Qiankun bracelet to seduce it.

Wei Xuandao didn't want to see Xu Shulou, but he was still very concerned about her movements. In addition to Chi Feng, he also sent disciples to visit her every day.

On the first day, a registered disciple came to report: "Master, Miss Xu tried to lure Chifeng down with food, but as expected, she failed. As expected of your spirit bird, Chifeng didn't even move."

The next day, the disciple came again: "Chi Feng ate Miss Xu's food."

On the third day, the disciple came again: "Chi Feng was held in the arms of Miss Xu and kneaded madly, with a look of unyielding loyalty on his face!"

On the fourth day, the disciple came again: "Miss Xu wanted to cook something to eat, and asked Chifeng to help light the fire. Chifeng looked like he had lost all hope in life. Alas, he must have felt that he had made a great sacrifice for his master."

Wei Xuandao was so angry that he yelled, "I don't want to hear about the movements of that bastard Xu Shulou and the spirit bird! Don't report it unless it's something serious!"

"……yes."

The disciple left in disappointment and did not report it. Wei Xuandao did not hear any news for a few days and became a little worried. He knew that leaving Xu Shulou alone was not a solution, so when he passed by on his way to do some work, he simply turned around and took a look.

Xu Shulou was sitting under the maple tree, Chifeng was comfortably in her arms, listening to her picking up leaves and playing a little tune. Wei Xuandao cleared his throat and whistled for Chifeng to come over. The bird described by the disciple as "steadfast and unyielding, with no desire to live" and Xu Shulou turned their heads to look at him, with a sad look on their faces, as if he was a big villain who was about to beat the poor couple.

“…”

Chi Feng was taken away by Wei Xuandao in a depressed state. Xu Shulou couldn't help but ridicule his stinginess.

Perhaps Wei Xuandao felt that human resources were more reliable, so on the second day, the people responsible for closely monitoring her were replaced by two children, a boy and a girl, both of whom looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old. Their spiritual powers were low and mixed, and they were the servants of Lingxiao Sect. Wei Xuandao specifically told them that they did not need to report unless it was something important.

Wei Xuandao seldom came to see her, and he was not in a hurry. Xu Shulou also planned to wait and see what would happen. At this moment, she was happy and relaxed. She set up a small stove in the yard, and ate hot pot meals while enjoying the view of maple leaves and sunset.

With the Valley Master Wei Xuandao like this, the style of the disciples of Lingji Valley can be imagined. They believe that they have long abandoned such low-level pleasures. They have either practiced fasting or taken fasting pills every day. How could they withstand the temptation of being cheated? However, Xu Shulou killed Fan Zhi and had a bad reputation. No one dared to approach him. Everyone could only walk by hurriedly without looking around, trying to calm down.

One day, someone suddenly stopped outside the courtyard gate and asked curiously, "What are you eating?"

Xu Shulou looked up and laughed: "Miss Xiao, I haven't seen you these days. I thought you were not in the valley."

Xiao Ya shook her head: "Master didn't let me see you, probably because he was afraid that you would kill me."

Wei Xuandao naturally knew about the relationship between the Xiao Kingdom's daughter and the Xu Princess. He still had some love for his few direct disciples, not to mention that the Xiao Kingdom's royal family would send him a big gift every few years. After Xu Shulou killed Fan Zhi, he quickly sent someone to find Xiao Ya and told her to avoid this courtyard. If you accidentally meet her, don't think about fighting alone, call for help immediately.

Perhaps he was afraid that Xu Shulou would act out his "emotional instability and loss of self-control" on the spot and kill Xiao Ya as well.

"But you came anyway."

Xiao Ya folded her arms and looked at her: "Fan Zhi brought this upon herself, why should I be afraid?"

Xu Shulou smiled and said, "Come in and sit down?"

Xiao Ya did not move: "I just came to see how much the love poison affects you."

"You can't see it if you stand at the door all the time," Xu Shulou added more fire to the stove, "It's just right to have more people around to make it more lively."

Xiao Ya hesitated for a moment, but finally walked over and sat down beside her.

Xu Shulou handed her a set of bowls and chopsticks and asked, "Have you ever eaten hot pot?"

"I've eaten it several times in the palace before, but since I started practicing, I haven't eaten anything from the mortal world since." Xiao Ya had no intention of picking up her chopsticks, but Xu Shulou was so warm and hospitable that she took a piece of beef into her mouth out of politeness. Instantly, a fresh, fragrant and spicy taste burst out in her mouth. She was stunned. This was really the taste from her distant memory.

The mundane world makes people think of the time when they were young, when they hugged their mother’s legs and cried and said they didn’t want to cultivate immortality.

"Then you have more self-control than me," Xu Shulou said with a smile, "I have been practicing for so many years, but I still can't let go of these things in the mortal world."

Xiao Ya took another bite of beef: "It's okay if I can't let it go."

"Yeah, who says that spiritual practice requires cutting off worldly desires?" Xu Shulou used a serving chopstick to give her a meatball made of fresh silver carp and shrimp meat. "Try this, it's very fresh. I bought three large food boxes after taking just one bite."

Xiao Ya nodded, took a few bites, and suddenly asked, "Where did you buy it? Why does it taste better than the one in the palace that I remember?"

"Not necessarily," Xu Shulou took out a food box of mutton from the Qiankun bracelet, "but you haven't touched it for a long time, so of course you think it's delicious when you first taste it."

"That's right," Xiao Ya sighed, "Back then, when I was in the palace, I despised this and that. Who would have thought..."

Halfway through her words, she remembered the person in front of her background and swallowed her words back in time.

Xu Shulou seemed oblivious: "How about a black chicken roll? Thinly sliced ​​chicken wrapped with egg and oysters."

"Yes, thank you." Xiao Ya took a bite and suddenly asked, "Why do you only have meat?"

"I only brought meat," Xu Shulou shrugged, "How about you pick two spiritual herbs for me to taste?"

Xiao Ya thought about it and actually agreed: "Okay, I can use whatever spiritual herbs Third Brother grows. I'll pick some for you tomorrow and put them in the copper pot together."

Xu Shulou laughed: "This is really a waste of natural resources."

Xiao Ya pursed her lips, and finally a smile appeared on her face that she couldn't suppress.

"If you are free tomorrow," Xu Shulou suggested, "would you like to go to the back mountain with me to catch wild spirit pigs?"

"Catching pigs?" Xiao Ya was slightly startled. "What for?"

"Roast it and eat it." Xu Shulou said concisely.

"How do you know there are wild spirit pigs in the mountains behind Lingji Valley?"

"I saw it when I killed Fan Zhi."

"..." Killing people while staring at food, you are really something. Xiao Ya thought about it and hesitated, "Catching pigs, but I don't know how."

Xu Shulou kidnapped a good girl: "I'll teach you, it's very interesting."

After all, Xiao Ya had never caught a pig before, so her curiosity overwhelmed her desire to complain, and she nodded and said, "Okay!"

Early the next morning, they met at the back mountain.

Wei Xuandao's third disciple also came with him. He also had the surname Xiao, but he was not related to Xiao Ya. His name was Xiao Ruzhuo, and he was as handsome as jade. Standing on the top of the mountain, he was like a jade tree.

Xiao Ya looked a little embarrassed: "Third Brother heard that I was going to use his spiritual herbs to cook in the copper pot, so he was curious and wanted to come and see."

Xu Shulou knew that he was worried about Xiao Ya's safety, so he didn't expose him. The three of them quickly set their sights on their target.

The wild boar is a very difficult beast to catch. It is huge and strong, and one of them can break a tree. But it is also very agile when running. The three tried to catch it for a long time, surrounding it from all sides, but it kept running away.

At first, Xiao Ya just stood far away, waving her sleeves and using her spiritual power to block the spirit pig's way, but she soon developed a feeling of unwillingness to admit defeat. She threw away her reserve, gritted her teeth and leaped forward to pounce on the spirit pig, but was kicked away by its hind legs.

"Junior Sister!" Xiao Ruzhuo was startled, but Xiao Ya's laughter rang in his ears.

"Hahaha," Xiao Ya fell to the ground. She had spiritual power, so she was not injured. She just laughed so hard that she was out of breath. "I have never been kicked away by a pig before."

Xiao Ruzhuo shook his head and smiled helplessly.

Seeing his junior sister like this, he quickly threw himself into it, and with his wonderful body movements, he jumped up to grab the pig leg. The scene of the elegant young man flying up and holding a pig leg in one hand made Xu Shulou a little reluctant to watch.

Xiao Ruzhuo was overjoyed: "I caught it!"

Xiao Ya rushed forward to help hold him down, and said flatteringly, "Third Senior Brother is indeed very skilled!"

Being praised by his junior sister, Xiao Ruzhuo immediately said proudly: "Okay, okay."

Just as he was feeling proud, the pig struggled away again. He shouted loudly and tried to stop it again.

"...What are you doing?" A voice full of hesitation, confusion and disbelief sounded not far away.

Xiao Ya and Xiao Ruzhuo looked over stiffly: "Big, big brother?"

Lu Beichen looked at his fellow apprentices who were covered in dirt and dust, as well as Xu Shulou who was working very hard but still looked spotless, in surprise: "Are you catching pigs?"

He carefully examined the situation on the field and became even more confused: "And they haven't caught him yet?"

“…”

Xiao Ruzhuo felt deeply ashamed: "Originally, he was caught."

"..." Lu Beichen felt amused and was about to tease his fellow disciples when suddenly the wild pig rushed towards him and knocked him to the ground. If he had not reacted quickly, he would have been stepped on by the pig in the face.

Xiao Ruzhuo lowered his head out of respect, his body only trembling. However, Xu Shulou and Xiao Ya laughed out loud without any politeness.

Lu Beichen gritted his teeth and became a little annoyed: "I'll block this side, Shu Lou and Junior Sister Xiao will block the east and west sides respectively, and Junior Brother will go up from the back to catch it!"

Since everyone had no better ideas, they followed his instructions, spread out in all directions, and slowly tightened the encirclement.

Those who knew understood that they were catching pigs, while those who didn't thought they were practicing formations against the enemy.

After struggling for half an hour, the unruly wild pig was finally subdued by them.

The four of them looked at each other, and a sense of accomplishment arose in their hearts.

Lu Beichen held down the pig's buttocks and asked his fellow apprentices, "We finally caught it. What are you going to do?"

Xiao Ruzhuo knocked the pig unconscious, then dusted himself off elegantly: "They want to roast it and eat it."

Lu Beichen was surprised: "You want to eat? I thought you were just practicing your body movements. We cultivators should abandon this desire for food."

Xiao Ruzhuo lowered his voice with worry, "I don't want to eat it either, but I caught it for so long, I really don't want to let it go. Let's go over and taste it later. If it tastes bad, I'll find an excuse to drag you and my sister away with me."

“…”

Xiao Ya was looking at Xu Shulou's skirt: "How come your skirt is not stained with dust?"

"A new product from Linglong Pavilion," Xu Shulou turned around to show her, "It won't get dirty no matter how you wear it. It won't even get splattered with blood."

"That's great," Xiao Yaxin said enviously, "I'm going to buy one next time I go out."

A few people chatted about irrelevant things and carried the pig back to Xu Shulou's yard.

———

Xu Shulou set up a stove in the yard again. While making a fire, he thought about the spirit bird Chifeng. He and his junior brothers and sisters had not practiced fire-related skills, so they always had to make fire manually when they went out. If he could find a way to kidnap Chifeng and bring him back to his junior sister to raise, it would be so grand to have him and Jiuyao, one red and one white, one ice and one fire. It was a pity that Wei Xuandao would definitely not agree. If he could kill him first...

"Tsk, that's the stuff of the mortal world." A female voice interrupted her thoughts that were almost leading her down the road of crime.

Xu Shulou looked up and saw that it turned out to be an acquaintance. This girl in front of him, who had a slightly mean face, was dressed in the attire of an outer sect disciple and had a topaz hook tied around her waist. She was actually the ally who had conspired with him to harm Bai Roushuang in the storybook, and whom he had met in the ice cave in the Yuankong Secret Realm.

Xu Shulou was still hospitable: "Barbecue, want to join us?"

Huang Yinghe looked a little disgusted: "I don't eat mortals' food."

"Forget it then." Xu Shulou carefully mixed the seasoning and ignored her.

In Lingxiao Sect, outer disciples have no status. Huang Yinghe was born in a nearby village and was always afraid of others mentioning her past as a village girl. She was even more respectful of these mortal things than natural cultivators. Fortunately, her father became the purchasing manager of several nearby peaks two years ago. Sometimes even inner disciples would ask him for help, which gave her some face.

At this moment, she was sniffing the aroma of the seasoning with a bit of envy. She had been trying hard to be a "superior person", but after all, she had been chewing the fasting pills for so long that she could not stand the aroma.

She coughed lightly, but Xu Shulou didn't understand and didn't give her a way out.

Huang Yinghe stood there for a while in boredom, then suddenly asked, "When will you leave Lingji Valley?"

"Then you have to ask Elder Wei."

Huang Yinghe curled her lips and said, "You and Senior Brother Lu haven't gotten married yet, why are you so eager to move in?"

"Huang Yinghe, can you speak?" Before Xu Shulou could say anything, Xiao Ya came out of the room holding a small basket of spiritual herbs. She had just been processing the spiritual herbs when she happened to hear Huang Yinghe's rather rude words and couldn't help but speak.

Huang Yinghe was stunned: "Senior Sister Xiao? Why are you here?"

Xiao Ya frowned and looked at her: "You clearly knew that Miss Xu was infected with the love poison, how could you take the opportunity to bully her?"

"I, I didn't bully her..." Huang Yinghe stammered, pointing at Xu Shulou, "How could I bully her? With her level of cultivation, how could I... I was just joking."

Xiao Ya followed her line of sight and saw Xu Shulou, who was looking at the two of them obediently with his chin in his hand. Maybe it was because of the heat, his eyes were sparkling with tears, making him look even more delicate.

Xiao Ya frowned: "You're still saying no? Even if it's a joke, you know that the love Gu will make her value Senior Brother Lu the most, how can you use him to joke with Miss Xu?"

“I, I…”

"Junior Sister Huang," Lu Beichen also came out from the backyard, "It's really not good for you to do this."

"..." Huang Yinghe felt ashamed and embarrassed when she saw her lover for the first time.

"Yes, Junior Sister Huang, don't do this again in the future." Xiao Ruzhuo also came out. He and Lu Beichen had just stared at the spirit pig in the backyard for a long time, but they really didn't know how to start. After hearing what Huang Yinghe said, he found a way to throw the spirit pig out.

Huang Yinghe was dumbfounded. How many people are hiding in your yard?

...Next, even if Wei Xuandao came out from inside, she would not be surprised.

"How are the spirit pigs being dealt with?" Xu Shulou asked.

Xiao Ruzhuo scratched his head and carried the pig to the stove.

Xu Shulou took a closer look and realized that this was something he had never touched before. The wild pig looked the same when it was caught and when it was carried out.

Perhaps it was really too difficult for them, Xu Shulou reluctantly took out a meat cleaver from the Qiankun bracelet.

Xiao Ruzhuo quickly stopped him: "How can we let guests come for such a thing?"

He grabbed the knife, tried twice, but didn't know where to start, so he handed the knife to his eldest brother.

Lu Beichen was even more dumbfounded than him. Although he had killed many dangerous wild beasts during his training outside, he had no experience in killing pigs. If this pig was cut in half with one knife, would it still be edible?

He held the knife in his hand, pressed it against the pig's neck, then against its back, hesitating where to start.

The others looked at him in confusion.

Huang Yinghe was standing aside awkwardly, but now looking at this group of idiots in front of her, she couldn't help but roll up her sleeves and said, "Give me the knife!"

“…”

The four people stood aside obediently, giving the place to Huang Yinghe, watching her expertly cut the spirit pig into eight pieces, and pointed at the largest pieces: "This piece is best roasted, this piece can be sliced ​​thinly and shuffled in a copper pot, and this one is best stewed with some water chestnuts, do you understand?"

The four of them nodded blankly: "I understand..."

Lu Beichen and Xiao Ruzhuo didn't understand how things had developed to this point. Normally, they should have been practicing at this time. But half an hour later, they each held a bowl of pork stewed with spiritual herbs and briefly put aside their doubts.

Several girls have already eaten it. Wouldn't it be disrespectful of me if I don't try a bite?

I've already eaten it, so it doesn't matter if I take one more bite.

Anyway, I've already eaten a bowl, so another bowl of soup wouldn't be bad...

Xu Shulou looked at them and smiled slightly. No matter how high their heads the Lingxiao Sect members usually think of themselves, they mostly practice in seclusion every day. Without going through a few setbacks, they still have some youthfulness in their hearts.

———

Wei Xuandao deliberately left Xu Shulou alone for some time, wanting her to reflect on herself. When he finally planned to go see her, he heard laughter coming from the yard from a distance.

Wei Xuandao was stunned for a moment, quickened his pace, walked closer, looked into the yard, and suddenly fell silent.

There were more than ten people gathered in front of the stove in the yard. There were his direct disciples, outer disciples, and registered disciples. They were usually divided into different levels and crowded together, grabbing mutton from the copper pot.

Huang Yinghe also joined the team, she joined the team by virtue of her ability to butcher pigs. In addition, her father, who was in charge of shopping, brought her some ingredients along the way, and she also had her own understanding of the ingredients. Others had to listen to her in this regard, which led to her having a lot of fun during this period.

"Haha, I got the last seashell!" An outer disciple was shouting while holding chopsticks.

What a loser! Wei Xuandao was just thinking about it when he saw his third disciple, who had always been the pride of Lingxiao Sect with his physical skills, swoop over and take the seashell for himself.

There was also his little disciple who was born as the daughter of the emperor of the Xiao Kingdom. She looked very reserved. Just by sitting there, one could tell that she had extraordinary manners and elegant temperament. She held a large bowl in her hand and did not fight for the food, but she ate quickly.

Xiao Ruzhuo took good care of her and would grab a mantis shrimp for her from time to time.

Wei Xuandao was furious and turned to find the two servants who were sent to follow him and asked them why they didn't report the situation in time. He completely forgot that he had told them not to disturb him unless it was important.

After searching everywhere without success, he took a closer look and discovered two servants also in the crowd grabbing the meat, quietly holding their bowls and eating with relish.

The bird that was sent was captured, and the people that were sent were also captured. Wei Xuandao's forehead veins jumped, and he really wanted to rush in and overturn Xu Shulou's copper pot.