Chapter 20 The foot lifted up again

"Crystal Shrimp Dumplings!"

"You can have dinner too?"

Ling Shu looked at the dishes with a cheerful expression, as if nothing had happened.

Zhuang Jinfu pretended nothing was wrong, picked up his chopsticks and ate, then kicked the man under the table.

Seeing her happy, Hai Gu was also pleased and quickly replied, "This is a fairy..."

"Hai Gu, eat more vegetables." Zhuang Jinfu interrupted her, picked up a piece of fish belly meat, and put it in Hai Gu's bowl.

Hai Gu dared not say anything more.

Ling Shu: "What?"

Then the foot lifted up again.

The sea gu quickly replied, "This is made with fresh shrimp, it's very fresh."

Ling Shu picked up a shrimp dumpling and placed it in the sea gu's bowl: "Sea gu, you're so kind to me."

Zhuang Jinfu grabbed her thigh and used the cold water from his palm to cool her leg.

"Of course, you are the first disciple our Immortal Venerable has taken in three hundred years. If I'm not good to you, the Immortal Venerable will make fun of me."

Ling Shu shuddered.

"Are you cold?" Hai Gu asked kindly.

Ling Shu shook her head, stopped hooking him, and wedged her leg between Hai Gu's calves, pretending nothing had happened, and said to Hai Gu, "How did you know I like to eat this?"

"This...I...that..." Hai Gu glanced at Zhuang Jin Fu, but Zhuang Jin Fu seemed not to notice and continued eating his white rice. Hai Gu was sweating profusely when suddenly an idea struck her: "Last time I made breakfast for you, when I was clearing the table I found that you had finished all of this basket of shrimp dumplings, but there were leftovers of the others, so I guessed that you liked to eat these, so I made extra of them."

Zhuang Jinfu lowered the temperature of his palm in shame and indignation. When Ling Shu lowered her head to eat, she found a small and sharp ice crystal in her rice bowl. She could tell at a glance that the ice crystal was lethal. Ling Shu admitted defeat and withdrew her leg.

"Hai Gu, you're so thoughtful," Ling Shu continued to put food into her bowl. "Hai Gu, eat more. You made all these dishes. You've worked the hardest."

Zhuang Jinfu also withdrew his hand.

“I get paid, it’s not hard work.”

After the meal, Zhuang Jinfu went to the kitchen and returned with a plate of pastries and a few slices of bitter melon. He then sat in the courtyard and drank tea.

Dongli City is in the south, where it doesn't snow in winter and has a mild winter. At night, you can stay in the courtyard and watch the moon.

The tabby cat, having eaten and drunk its fill, was grooming itself in the yard when suddenly its ear twitched. It caught a whiff of catnip, got up from the ground, and went outside.

Zhao Chi dared not leave the house and sat inside feeling uneasy. Ling Shu wanted to go out for a stroll, but she was really frightened by the arrow just now, and her gaze towards Zhao Chi became increasingly hostile.

Ling Shu went to get some tea, and Zhao Chi happened to be next to the tea table. She walked over and smelled her scent. She had actually wanted to say this for a long time: "Take a bath and change your clothes."

“I…have no clothes,” Zhao Chi said softly.

Ling Shu poured tea and deliberately let it slip from Zhao Chi's hand as she handed it: "Sorry, my hand slipped." In her mind, she cursed her: "Serves you right for killing me, getting your clothes wet and freezing to death."

Zhao Chi's skirt was soaked, but she didn't dare say anything: "It's nothing, it was just that Miss Ling was careless."

Because it was a mild winter, there was no charcoal fire in the room, so Zhao Chi had no choice but to wait for his clothes to dry on their own.

Ling Shu comfortably drank her tea and went out of the hospital to look for her cat.

The kitten stopped at Zhuang Jinfu's feet and meowed a few times, as if begging for food.

Zhuang Jinfu raised an eyebrow slightly, ate a strawberry, and then picked up a slice of bitter melon and threw it on the ground. The kitten came over, took a bite, and spat it out with a grim expression, producing a lot of bubbles.

Zhuang Jinfu secretly curled the corners of his mouth, then picked up the teacup and pretended not to know anything as he drank it.

On the other side.

"Miss Ling, what are you doing on the roof? Come down quickly!" Hai Gu shouted from the ground.

Ling Shu stood on the bricks and tiles, holding a piece of tile that had just been removed in her hand: "Have you seen Ruixue?"

"Isn't it grooming itself by the door?"

"I haven't seen him!"

Zhuang Jinfu paused in his tea-drinking motion and used his magic to scan his surroundings.

Hai Gu urged, "Come down first. Your injuries haven't healed, and it's windy up here. Come down!"

Zhuang Jinfu put down his teacup and said, "The cat has gone out."

Ling Shu put the tile back in its place and jumped down: "I'll go find it." Hai Gu stopped her: "It's not safe for you to go, I'll go."

Hai Gu went out and hasn't returned after an hour. Ling Shu paced back and forth in the courtyard, muttering over and over, "Something's not right, something's not right."

"Why does it take so long to find a cat?" Ling Shu turned around and saw a flash of red light. "Master, why is the jade pendant on your waist red?"

"Something happened to Hai Gu." Zhuang Jinfu left these words, put down his teacup, and went into the house.

Zhao Chi was still wearing that dirty black robe. When he saw Zhuang Jinfu enter the room, he immediately stood up and said, "Immortal Venerable."

Zhuang Jin swept her sleeve across the table, revealing a set of dark-colored clothes. She said, "Wear this for now. The bath water is ready in the kitchen. Take a bath first, then put it on. Don't get my clothes dirty."

Zhao Chi agreed.

She touched the fabric of the clothes; it was smooth and delicate, with excellent weaving, and a faint white sheen emanated from it, warm to the touch.

She can actually wear such exquisite clothes?!

Zhuang Jinfu turned and left, and Zhao Chi watched her go.

Zhuang Jinfu set up a defensive barrier around the courtyard and instructed Ling Shu: "You must not go out under any circumstances."

Ling Shu: "That sea maiden..."

“Hai Gu won’t die,” Zhuang Jinfu said firmly.

Ling Shu: "Master, I'm scared. This is clearly a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain."

Zhuang Jinfu calmly said, "You and Zhao Chi will be fine as long as you stay in the courtyard."

Zhuang Jinfu went out.

Within half an hour, someone was challenging them outside the courtyard.

They arrived as expected.

Ling Shu didn't open the door. Zhao Chi was taking a bath inside the room. Hearing the noise, he quickly came out.

Ling Shu noticed the superior quality of her clothes and asked, "Did the Immortal Venerable give you these clothes?"

Zhao Chi nodded.

Ling Shu retorted, "I don't have any, so why should you?"

"I...I'll take it off and give it to you."

Ling Shu crossed her arms: "Fine, I'll wait for you to take it off for me. If you don't, I'll take it off myself!"

As they were talking, a voice outside the door kept saying, "Zhao Chi, I know you're in there. Don't think we don't know where you are just because you're hiding."

Zhao Chi's hands trembled as she took off her clothes. Her collar came undone, revealing burn scars on her exposed skin. Her face was deathly pale: "The Firebird Fairy has come to find me..."

Seeing her trembling and pitiful state, Ling Shu couldn't bear it: "Alright, stop taking it off!"

He rolled his eyes at the voice outside the door: "Who is she? Everyone knows that Zhuang Jinfu is the only immortal in the entire Shangqing Realm. Who is she to dare call herself an immortal?"

Zhao Chi fastened his belt, but choked as soon as he opened his mouth to speak: "This...this person's cultivation is not high; he is only a Golden Core cultivator in the early stage."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"She is a weapon refiner who has lived for over 170 years. She is skilled at capturing demons to extract their cores and forging magical artifacts. She has a magical artifact called Nightmare Fire, which she forged using the cores of a hundred demons at the Golden Core stage. It can drag people into beautiful dreams, causing them to become immersed in those dreams. People think they are entering a beautiful dream, but in reality, they are entering a great fire that will devour their cultivation. Those who become immersed in the beautiful dream will eventually be consumed by the fire."

"Then why is her cultivation level only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm?"

"Her innate talent is poor; she has a mixed spiritual root. The highest a mixed spiritual root can cultivate to is the early stage of the Golden Core realm. She encountered a bottleneck and wanted to... capture someone to exchange for a spiritual root."

"Still want to change your spiritual root?"

"It can be replaced, but the new spiritual root cannot last. It needs to be replaced every year, which means that you need to keep killing people to dig out spiritual roots."

"So she's set her sights on you?"

"No, it was because I failed in my assassination attempt on you and was handed over to her for disposal that I ended up in her hands."

"If you hadn't taken that risk back then, none of this would have happened!"

"I was wrong……"

"Get lost." Ling Shu ignored her and turned to walk to the chair.

The shouts outside are still going on: "Zhao Chi, don't be a coward!"

Ling Shu ignored the shouts outside the door, sat down in the spot where Zhuang Jinfu had been sitting, popped a strawberry into her mouth, and rocked comfortably in her rocking chair.

Suddenly, a strong smell of burning came over the door, and flames rose outside the courtyard wall. Ling Shu jumped up from her chair. Zhuang Jinfu's courtyard was in a secluded location, but there were houses all around, and people lived there.

The woman's voice outside the door was shrill and grating: "If you don't come out, I'll burn this whole street down!"

"I'm furious! I'll go kill her!" Ling Shu drew the sword from Zhao Chi's waist and was about to rush out, but Zhao Chi hurriedly went over to stop her: "The Immortal Venerable told us not to go out."

Ling Shu glared at her angrily: "But she set fire to people's houses, and so many innocent people were implicated. I can't let her do evil."

"Let it burn."

"Zhao Chi, don't you have a conscience?"

"..."

Ling Shu gripped her sword and walked toward the gate. The gate was wide open, and she saw a woman in red riding a leopard outside. Her fingernails and lips were black, and her hair was styled in a high bun with a large black peony in her hair.

She bent down and patted the leopard's head. The leopard obediently lay down. She suppressed her fierce challenge and parted her dark lips slightly: "Little demoness is here too? Hand Zhao Chi over to me, and I'll leave now."

Ling Shu stood there, staring at the Firebird Fairy without saying a word. Suddenly, she turned around and rushed forward, grabbed Zhao Chi and threw him out, then slammed the door shut with a "bang".

Zhao Chi cursed from outside: "Ling Shu! You're not a good friend!"

Ling Shu quickly jumped onto the top of the wall, stood there watching the commotion, and laughed, "I've given you the person, now put away the fire."

"No rush, let me check the goods first."

The Firebird Fairy commanded the leopard to advance. Zhao Chi retreated hastily, trying to dodge her. The Firebird Fairy raised her hand, and five black magic lines extended from her black fingernails, quickly chasing after Zhao Chi and binding her tightly in the blink of an eye.

The magic thread severed from her hand, and the Firebird Fairy walked over barefoot, her black nails sliding across her chin, hooking it up, and clicking her tongue a few times, saying, "You were already a beauty, but this face is not pretty after being burned."

"Indeed, it is the real me." The fires in the surrounding houses subsided.

Zhao Chi turned his face away, looking at her sideways: "Evil cultivator! Let me go!"

"You won't listen to reason, how can I treat you well?" Her hand went down her neck, pinched her soft curves, and then touched her waist.

"Firebird!" Zhao Chi gasped in shame and anger, "I will repay this humiliation in full one day!"

Firebird's hand slid down from her waist, along the seam of her collar, and slipped inside her front, pulling out a light pink handkerchief. "Whose is this? You don't like this pattern," she asked.

"Give it back to me!"

Ling Shu took a look and saw that the handkerchief was embroidered with white plum blossoms. All her handkerchiefs had this pattern. Wasn't this the same handkerchief she had casually taken out to wipe Zhao Chi's sword? She still kept it.

"It really was a gift from someone else." The Firebird Fairy burned it.

Zhao Chi shouted angrily, "Don't go too far!"

Firebird turned to look at Ling Shu on the wall, her eyes filled with threat: "Could it be that she gave it to you?"

Ling Shu was thoroughly enjoying the show. Since she wasn't going out and was inside the barrier, what did she have to fear? So she added fuel to the fire: "I sent it, so what?"

The Firebird was immediately enraged and set the barrier ablaze, but the barrier remained completely unmoved.

Ling Shu made a face on the wall: "Hehehe, come and kill me, come on, come on!"

Firebird still couldn't break through the barrier, so she turned around and held a knife to Zhao Chi's neck: "If you don't come out, I'll kill her."

Ling Shu sarcastically asked, "Are you willing to kill him?"

The Firebird Fairy brought the knife an inch closer. This evil cultivator was used to being lawless and unpredictable, and Zhao Chi was terrified. Being threatened with a sword to her neck twice in one day, how could her delicate neck withstand it!

She has to save herself!

Who else can she rely on?

A spirit technique imbued with a thousand years of demonic power!

Zhao Chi silently recited a few incantations.

The sword in Ling Shu's hand flew out.

"What are you doing, Zhao Chi?!"

The sword circled around Ling Shu in the air, "attacking" her. Ling Shu dodged left and right, but was finally hit hard on the back of the knee by the sword hilt. With a thud, Ling Shu fell off the wall and landed on the ground, which Zhao Chi had used his magic to create a cushioning layer for himself when he was thrown out the door.

"You son of a bitch."

Before Ling Shu could even get up, a burst of demonic power shot out from her hand, heading straight for Zhao Chi's chest, causing Zhao Chi to cough up a mouthful of blood.

When Ling Shu looked up again, she found that the world had changed.