Chapter 23 Home isn't only when you're by my side

Zhao Chi was dumbfounded.

The sea maiden beamed with joy.

Ling Shu happily climbed up and leaned against her back. After walking for a while, Ling Shu said, "Master carries me so steadily, much more steadily than a horse."

Zhuang Jinfu: "..."

Comparing a celestial being to a horse is something no one but Ling Shu would dare to do, except for Ling Shu.

Ling Shu played with Zhuang Jin Fu's hair: "Master, your hair smells so good, and your body is so cool and comfortable to lean against." Zhuang Jin Fu didn't speak. Ling Shu let go of her hair, rested her face against her, and said softly, "Master, will I only have a home when I'm by your side from now on?"

Zhuang Jinfu: "No, you still have a mother. She's on Shangqing Mountain, waiting for you to acknowledge her."

Ling Shu's voice rose again: "Really? I have a mother?"

"Well, but now is not the time to acknowledge her?"

Why?

"Because she'll kill you when she needs your life."

"How terrible, Lingbao doesn't like this mother."

"You still need to go back to her; the home she gave you is the best place for you to be."

"No! Lingbao wants to stay with Master!"

"It's too cold here; it's not suitable for ordinary people."

"I'm not afraid of the cold; I like Master's coldness."

Zhuang Jinfu felt another pang of sadness. Even though she had lost her memory and only remembered things from when she was ten, she still said the same things, but she couldn't give her any response regarding their feelings.

The silver ring on Firebird's left ankle was a shackle that could monitor her use of magic and her movements. She couldn't escape, so she followed them. Firebird walked close to Zhao Chi, occasionally pretending to bump into him accidentally.

Zhao Chi, annoyed, walked around to avoid Hai Gu.

Hai Gu was caught between two annoying people. If she had to say who she hated more, Hai Gu hated Huo Que more. After all, Zhao Chi was saved by Ling, so he still had some value. Huo Que, on the other hand, was just an eyesore.

Therefore, Hai Gu will protect Zhao Chi to some extent, but not too much.

“If they have no interest, why force it?” Hai Gu said to Huo Que. Huo Que replied, “How will I know if I can get it if I don’t try?” Zhao Chi said, “Wishful thinking.”

The two of them went back and forth, much like a scene from a storybook about forced love. Hai Gu secretly smiled, no longer trying to persuade them. She was worried about Huo Que for Zhao Chi, but she also enjoyed watching the two of them make a scene.

Hai Gu enjoys watching other people's love stories.

However, she remained wary of those who had harmed Miss Ling. When it came to their affair, she was truly eager to watch the drama unfold. Since it wasn't her own daughter's business, she teased, "Miss Zhao, you've grown so tall for nothing. How come you can't even subdue an evil cultivator trapped by a Celestial Venerable?"

Zhao Chi's face flushed red and then turned pale, unsure how to defend himself. Hai Gu, being soft-hearted, seemed to be trying to defuse the situation but actually had a deeper meaning: "You, after all, are a proper cultivator. You've done bad things, but not thoroughly. You entered Shangqing Mountain through your own cultivation. Later, when you encountered those powerful people, you were eager to find a big tree to rely on. You didn't know that those 'benefits' that came to you all came at a price. That's why you became someone else's 'knife' to kill, and in the end, you were punished and your future was ruined."

"Miss Zhao, if there is a next time, please don't make the same mistake again."

Zhao Chi listened to her words quietly and replied in a muffled voice, "Okay."

Just then, Ling Shu turned around and waved to Hai Gu. Her smile was radiant, and her eyes were so pure and clear that it seemed as if all the suffering in the world was far away from her.

Ling Shu: "Hai Gu! We're about to fly! We're about to fly!" Everyone prepared to fly back to their sect on their swords.

Despite being just as unfortunate as her, why does she have such clear eyes, while I feel like I've been through hell, gloomy and devoid of any luster?

Ling Shu: "Wow! So high! Master, fly faster!!! Charge!!! We're number one!!!"

Zhuang Jinfu: "Behave yourself."

Ling Shu: "Mmm, Ling Bao is very obedient, don't leave Ling Bao behind."

The mountain gate had been manned by a different person. Zhao Chi and Huo Que went in, and the senior sister guarding the gate turned a blind eye.

Back at Qingxi Palace, rooms were assigned to Zhao Chi and Huo Que, and they settled in peacefully.

When Ling Shu first returned to Qingxi Mountain, she was relatively well-behaved, obediently drinking the ginseng chicken soup prepared by Hai Gu every day. After four or five days, she started to cause trouble.

The Qingxi Palace was decorated according to Zhuang Jinfu's preference for quiet, so there was nothing to do. The servants who swept and cleaned the palace were all well-behaved and didn't really entertain Ling Shu. Huo Que was lively, but she was the culprit who caused Ling Shu to become like this, and everyone in the palace was watching her and not allowed to get close to Ling Shu.

On the seventh day after returning to Qingxi Palace, Ling Shu insisted on going to the inner sect to study.

I've forgotten everyone else, but I still remember going to school.

The sea maiden marveled.

Zhuang Jinfu immediately rejected her idea.

Ling Shu insisted on going, climbing onto the roof of the main hall: "If you don't let me go, I'll tear your roof off!"

Zhuang Jinfu sighed and granted her permission to go.

On her first day of school, Ling Shu walked into the classroom, and everyone fell silent again. Some people started gossiping about her, saying things like she had caused the spiritual energy of the entire Shangqing Mountain to stop and that she had made things difficult for everyone. Most people, however, were afraid of her.

Ling Shu nearly trapped and killed twenty-three people at Bitan Mountain. This incident, once it spread, terrified those who were interested in such things.

Ling Shu seemed oblivious, simply scanning the seats to see if there were any empty ones.

She spotted a girl in an orange dress in the crowd. The girl waved to her as soon as she saw her and said, "Ling Shu! Come sit here." Ling Shu went over.

"Who are you?" Everyone was speechless.

Li Chang was completely baffled: "I am Li Chang? You're pretending not to know me? You've got guts."

"Li Chang? Do we know each other?" Everyone was shocked.

Li Chang: "We're friends, how can you not recognize me?"

Ling Shu looked confused: "Ling Bao doesn't have any human friends."

Li Chang: "?" Then Li Chang skipped a class and went to Shangqing Mountain to ask Hai Gu. Hai Gu told her the truth. After returning, Li Chang confidently patted her chest and said, "I will protect you from now on."

The news of Ling Shu's amnesia spread.

During the Beast Taming class, Li Chang accidentally disturbed a hornet's nest, causing all the students in the class to be chased by hornets. Ling Shu burned the hornets with fire, and Li Chang cried out, "Ling Shu, thank you so much."

In pharmacy class, Li Chang mistakenly refined a poisonous herb as a medicinal ingredient, and was immediately poisoned, foaming at the mouth. Ling Shu dragged her to the teacher and said expressionlessly, "She seems to have been poisoned to death." The teacher was terrified; this was the biological daughter of the third young lady of the Li family, a true heiress. Headmaster Wang valued Li Chang highly, as she might be the future successor to the Shangqing Mountain sect. This couldn't be allowed to happen! He hurriedly performed first aid, and after Li Chang woke up, she cried, "Ling Shu, thank goodness you were here."

During the magic array class, Li Chang confidently said, "Don't worry, I studied last night." Then, unsurprisingly, something went wrong. She trapped everyone in the school like beasts in a beast-trapping array. Ling Shu cleaved the array open: "Didn't you say you studied?" Li Chang laughed dryly twice: "I can't do without you, Ling Shu."

Ling Shu was speechless: "You should protect yourself first."

Li Chang: "..."

After school, Haigu came to pick up Lingshu and asked her how her day at school was. Lingshu said, "Lingbao doesn't want to have any human friends."

Why?

"Too stupid."

Li Chang: "..."

"We can't judge everyone just because one human friend is bad. Miss Ling will still meet good friends."

Li Chang immediately jumped up and down: "Hai Gu, you're criticizing me too!"

The first day passed peacefully without incident.

The next day, Ling Shu came to school again. The teacher of the afternoon martial arts class had asked for leave. Feeling bored, Ling Shu went straight back to Qingxi Palace. Hai Gu didn't know that the teacher had asked for leave and didn't come to pick her up. Li Chang came up to her and wanted to go with her.

As they walked into a small grove, Ling Shu was suddenly doused with a bucket of cold water.

Li Chang immediately burst into a tirade: "Which bastard is bullying people! Come out here!"

Three people jumped down from the tree; they were the same three cultivators who had bullied Ling Shu earlier.

Li Chang: "So it was you! You fake reconciliation but really commit evil deeds, you're incorrigible!"

The three cultivators were named Qian Yu, Sun Wang, and Zhou Qi. Qian Yu wore a silk flower in his hair, Sun Wang had a green purse at his waist, and Zhou Qi had a scar on his forehead.

Li Chang drew her sword and fought them, but her fighting skills were all show and no substance, and she was defeated in a few moves. Ling Shu didn't fight back, but grabbed her and ran away.

Qian Yu, Sun Wang, and Zhou Qi drove them toward the animal trap. They watched as the animals trampled the leaves covering the trap, fell in, and let out two screams. The three of them then happily left.

As the three walked, they suddenly realized that Zhou Qi was gone.

Without a sound or any sign of fighting, Zhou Qi had vanished.

Qian Yu trembled, "They've come to report us." Sun Wang seemed unconcerned, "They might fall into a trap, what's there to be afraid of?"

As Qian Yu walked, the strap of her sword came loose, and the sword fell to the ground. She looked at the cut; it was clean and neat. Her heart skipped a beat: This was… a cut. She bent down to pick up the sword, and when she looked up again, she found that Sun Wang was gone.

Looking around, all that could be heard was the howling wind.

"Sun...Wang, Zhou...Zhou Qi, where...where are you?"

No one responded.

Qian Yu grabbed the sword and ran.

She was bewildered and panicked. She tripped over a pebble and fell. Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name from above: "Qian Yu".

Looking up, she saw Ling Shu standing on Li Chang's sword, holding a bucket of ice water.

Ling Shu cheered, "Let's play in the water!"

A bucket of water with crushed ice was poured over Qianyu's head and face.

Qian Yu was soaking wet and shivering. She tried to get up, but her feet were held down. She turned around and saw Li Chang.

Ling Shu cheered from above, "This is so much fun! I want to play again!"

Li Chang smiled smugly: "You can't leave now!"

The two men trapped her like a nightmare.

Splash! Another bucket of ice water! Qian Yu immediately begged for mercy: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I'll never do it again! They forced me to do it, I was forced!"

Li Chang stepped on her buttocks: "Bullying others comes at a price."

Qian Yu cried out, "It's cold, so cold! I'm scared! I'll never do it again! Please let me go!"

Ling Shu dropped the bucket and jumped off the sword, saying, "Her crying was awful; I don't want to play with her anymore." Li Chang asked, "Then let her go?"

"Release her? We didn't arrest her, we were just playing with her."

Li Chang laughed and said, "Alright, alright, we won't play with her anymore." Li Chang let go of her foot, and Qian Yu got up like a dog crawling on its back, staggering and running out. When she saw the person not far ahead, she screamed "Ah!" again.

Not far away, a rope hung down from a tree branch, and Sun Wang was suspended from that rope.