Chapter 73 The longsword disappeared from Wen Mao's hand...

The longsword vanished from Wen Mao's hand. Wen Mao turned around, his gaze passing through Xie Heng and landing on the unconscious Wen Conglan:

"I will trouble you later, Immortal Master."

...

On the official road, a carriage swayed and wobbled as it headed towards Luozhou County.

The carriage had a simple appearance, and the driver was dressed in coarse cloth. The carriage looked like that of a merchant family.

A voice suddenly rang out inside the carriage:

"Xiao Bao, what's this?!"

Xie Zhuo looked on in astonishment, his eyes falling on the long knife his son had secretly taken onto the carriage.

"Hehe, Dad, it's Brother Cat!" Xie Baoqiong took out the long knife she had hidden and handed it to Xie Zhuo.

"Father knows." Xie Zhuo glanced at the long knife Xie Baoqiong was holding, which was about to pierce the roof of the car, and quickly reached out to press down the latter's hand. "But why did you take him away?"

“It was Brother Cat who wanted to come with me…” Xie Baoqiong withdrew her hand and explained the origin of the long sword to Xie Zhuo.

As Xie Heng prepared to transfer the magic, Xie Zhuo planned to wait for Wen Conglan to wake up before mentioning his departure, so he took Xie Baoqiong and lay down in the main room to wait.

Xie Baoqiong couldn't sit still, so she leaned against the door frame and looked at Wen Mao, who was standing under the eaves.

Wen Mao noticed his gaze and beckoned to him.

Xie Baoqiong turned around and glanced at Xie Zhuo. Seeing that Xie Zhuo's attention was not on him, she tiptoed across the threshold and quickly ran to Wen Mao's side.

"Xiao Bao." Wen Mao bent down and placed his hand on Xie Baoqiong's head:

"After this is over, you can take my original body with you."

"Why?" Xie Baoqiong looked up at Wen Mao's calm face.

“I killed people after I gained sentience. To avoid further trouble, the immortal sects won’t leave me here. It’s better to go with you than to be taken away by Xie Heng.”

Wen Mao's hand slid down following Xie Baoqiong's movements, stroking Xie Baoqiong's face.

Before withdrawing his hand, he touched the red mole between Xie Baoqiong's eyebrows with his fingertip, and poured a wisp of spiritual energy into it:

"That way he won't be able to take it with him."

Xie Baoqiong did not resist Wen Mao's actions and peacefully accepted Wen Mao's spiritual power.

A vague connection formed between the two.

Xie Baoqiong felt a strange, bitter taste rising in her heart. It wasn't sharp, but it lingered there and wouldn't go away.

It was an emotion he had never experienced before.

After a moment's thought, he realized that these emotions came from Wen Mao.

What is it?

Xie Baoqiong looked at Wen Mao's face, but the latter's expression was indifferent, revealing nothing of his inner feelings.

Wen Mao didn't answer his seemingly absurd question. Once again, the expectation Wen Conglan had felt when he was born surfaced in his mind, and he sighed wistfully:

"Little Bao, let me make a name for myself in your hands."

May you bring me fame throughout the world and allow me to be by my mother's side once again.

Xie Baoqiong frowned, seemingly wanting to refuse Wen Mao's request, but when he spoke, what he said was:

"Life and death are predetermined, why is Brother Cat doing so much?"

He didn't understand Amei's choice back then, but things changed too quickly, and he didn't have time to ask.

He asked Xie Zhuo about it, but Xie Zhuo said it wasn't important to him. However, he still wanted to know the answer behind it.

"Yes, life and death are predetermined." Wen Mao smiled with relief, affirming his words.

That's the logic, but how can one act according to logic all the time in life?

Seeing Xie Baoqiong's face grow increasingly contorted with his words, Wen Mao couldn't resist poking her and offering words of comfort:

"Besides, my original body is still here. If you devote yourself to cultivation and take good care of it, perhaps one day I will regain my intelligence."

"The newly born sword spirit may not necessarily be Cat Brother anymore," Xie Baoqiong corrected Wen Mao's words.

"Wen Mao, it's not too late to stop now..." Xie Heng, who appeared at the door, interrupted the two demons' conversation.

Wen Mao withdrew his hand and whispered goodbye in Xie Baoqiong's ear:

"Little Bao, may we meet again in a hundred years."

After saying that, he turned around, brushed past Xie Heng, and went into the house.

Xie Heng did not follow Wen Mao into the house; instead, he stood next to Xie Baoqiong.

"Young friend, are you also a cultivator?"

Xie Baoqiong took a step to the side without making a sound.

“Your father looks like an ordinary person.”

Xie Baoqiong stopped in her tracks, and asked warily, "What do you want to say?"

Xie Heng lowered his head and glanced at Xie Baoqiong's stern face:

“You don’t need to be so wary of me. I see that you are so young, yet you were able to break through the barrier I set up. As a rogue cultivator, you have wasted your talent. Although it is not the time for the immortal sects to accept disciples now, if you come to ask to become their disciple, few would be willing to refuse you.”

Xie Baoqiong raised her face, carefully examined Xie Heng, and after a long while uttered a sentence:

"You look like someone I know."

Xie Heng knew that Xie Baoqiong's words meant refusal. Cultivators had their own paths to follow, so he didn't try to persuade her further. Then he heard Xie Baoqiong speak again:

"If you cover your eyes with a white cloth and change your clothes, it will look even more like it."

Xie Heng paused, then asked, "Is the person you're referring to surnamed Lin?"

"You know Immortal Master Xie?" A hint of surprise appeared on Xie Baoqiong's face. Lin Zhechun seemed quite different from his impression.

"I didn't expect that Young Master Lin knew my grandmaster." Xie Heng's expression also showed a hint of surprise.

Xie Baoqiong fell silent. Lin Zhechun was indeed very different from what he remembered.

"I've met him a few times," Xie Baoqiong said truthfully.

"Our grandmaster is always traveling and rarely returns to the sect. It seems that young master Lin has a connection with our sect."

"I want to be with my dad." Xie Baoqiong manually extinguished this budding possibility.

Xie Heng naturally wouldn't insist, and turned to look at the house where the aura had disappeared:

"Let's go inside."

Inside the room, Wen Conglan remained lying motionless on the bed, except that there was now a shadow beneath her compared to a moment ago.

Beside the bed, a dull, metallic-looking bead rolled onto the floor near the long sword.

The two went forward first to check on Wen Conglan's condition.

Seeing Wen Conglan's complexion gradually regain its color, Xie Heng withdrew his spiritual power, looked at Xie Baoqiong who was stuffing the long sword into her sleeve, and bent down to pick up the inner core from the ground.

Upon closer inspection, there are several faint cracks on the surface of the inner liner, indicating that most of the spiritual energy within has dissipated.

Xie Baoqiong put away her knife and said seriously, "Brother Cat said he would come with me."

"Here you go." Xie Heng handed the beads in his hand to Xie Baoqiong.

Xie Baoqiong was somewhat surprised to see the bead handed to him. He hadn't expected to take Wen Mao's inner core, and his words referred to Wen Mao's physical body.

"The spiritual energy has dissipated; now it's just a uniquely shaped bead," Xie Heng said.

Xie Baoqiong took the beads and put them into her sleeve, then turned to look at the wooden bed: "When will Aunt Wen wake up?"

"Wen Mao transferred some of his spiritual energy to her, and she should wake up soon."

As Xie Heng had predicted, Wen Conglan woke up shortly afterward.

While she was unconscious, she felt as if she had a very long dream.

The scene in her dream was when she forged the first long sword.

The long sword is much longer than an ordinary sword, about four feet long, and is not suitable for most people.

It was something her father considered a waste of iron, something that should be recast in the furnace, but she was delighted at the sight of it; it was her first attempt at crafting a blade.

That feeling of excitement was still vivid when I woke up.

Then she seemed to become that knife, seeing her own smug expression, experiencing what she had carefully treasured, only to end up curled up in a corner gathering dust...

She got up, her gaze sweeping across the empty room, then looking out the window at the courtyard, but she couldn't find the figure she longed for.

A sense of emptiness washed over her joy; she seemed to have anticipated this outcome.

"Dr. Wen." Xie Zhuo's voice interrupted her thoughts: "Wen Mao, he..."

"There's no need for Lin Langjun to say anything more; I can roughly guess what's going on." Wen Conglan lowered his eyes, concealing the desolation in them.

"Master Xie went to inform the village chief that the matter of the demons had been resolved."

The people who were supposed to pick me up and Xiaobao have arrived. Xie Zhuo then mentioned his departure: "I must thank Dr. Wen for his help these past few days; please accept this small token of my appreciation."

Wen Conglan declined several times, but Xie Zhuo had someone leave the things on the table in the room.

"Aunt Wen." The sudden voice interrupted Wen Conglan's attempt to push him away.

"Xiao Bao, what's wrong?"

“Brother Cat is with you,” Xie Baoqiong said.

Wen Conglan glanced at the shadow at her feet: "Yes, Aunt Wen knows."

"Will Aunt Wen still be a doctor in the future?" Xie Baoqiong asked.

“I’m the only doctor around here, so I’ll have to take on the role. But the house is empty now, so I plan to find someone to get a new iron-forging furnace later.” Wen Conglan rubbed Xie Baoqiong’s head and said with a slight smile.

...

Wen Conglan insisted on not accepting any additional gifts beyond the consultation fee. After Xie Zhuo and Xie Baoqiong got into the carriage, he left one person behind to purchase iron-forging tools.

...

Xie Baoqiong did not tell Xie Zhuo everything, but only relayed part of her conversation with Wen Mao to Xie Zhuo.

After listening to Xie Baoqiong's words, Xie Zhuo's gaze fell on the long sword with strips of cloth wrapped around its blade:

"In that case, when we get home, we'll make him a scabbard."

"Will you make it for me, Father?" Xie Baoqiong asked, leaning against Xie Zhuo while holding the knife and looking up at him.

"If Xiao Bao wants one, Dad will make one for you when he has time." Xie Zhuo never refused Xie Baoqiong's small requests, but secretly he was already thinking about the books about weapons at home.

The carriage suddenly slowed down and finally came to a stop. The driver's voice came from outside the carriage:

"Sir, someone is stopping the carriage."

Xie Zhuo picked up the long knife that had fallen to the side and placed it in Xie Baoqiong's hand, his face wary and serious, and warned her:

"If there's danger outside the car, you can't rush in again this time, understand?"

Before leaving, recalling Xie Baoqiong's "rebellious" remarks, he gave her another piece of advice:

"I don't usually restrict how you behave, but you'd better be more obedient now."

After saying that, he glanced at Xie Baoqiong, then lifted the carriage curtain and walked out.

Xie Baoqiong, clutching the knife that had been shoved into his arms, stared blankly at the carriage where he was now the only one left.

The carriage was completely silent, and there was no sound coming from outside.

Xie Baoqiong hesitated whether to leave the carriage, but Xie Zhuo's expression before getting off the carriage was unusually serious.

Although he was not afraid of Xie Zhuo, the previous incident still taught him a lesson.

After a moment's thought, he decided to let his divine sense explore the way first.

Before his divine sense could even probe out of his body, Xie Zhuo's voice came from outside the car:

"Xiao Bao, come down."

-----------------------

Author's Note: In the future, Xiao Bao will compete with others:

Opponent: Sword, come!

Xiao Bao: Cat Brother, let's go!

Opponent: ? Family members aren't allowed in fights.