Chapter 39

After Chu Jinglan finished his longevity noodles, the table was finally warmed up and the others started eating.

Chu Jinglan drank the noodle soup silently, not leaving a drop.

Speaking of Xiao Mo's cooking skills, he learned them by helping out in an orphanage when he was a child, and by assisting teachers in some cooking interest classes when he was older.

It is not easy for minors to work and earn money for their studies. They cannot do most things and have to submit formalities, and the school and relevant departments will help them find work.

Fortunately, Xiao Mo himself did not spend much, and he learned a lot from working part-time.

Cakes and candied fruits were not only bought for children. Xiao Mo placed a portion on a plate in front of each person's seat. On Chu Jinglan's plate was osmanthus cake.

The osmanthus cake made by Wanyu is the sweetest, and you will never taste that flavor again, but... the osmanthus cake here tastes very good too.

Chu Jinglan quietly finished eating everything Xiao Mo handed over.

Xiao Mo can only eat spiritual food, and the taste is important. Yesterday he said he had a heart-to-heart talk with his three children, and I guess they were planning their birthday at that time.

I don't know what else he said to the children. Yan Chunchuxia and Mo Zhi had obviously adjusted their mood today, and there was a bit more determination in their eyes.

This is also something Chu Jinglan would never do.

Therefore, Chu Jinglan felt that Xiao Mo was good at many things that he was not good at, not just cooking.

After a birthday party with great fanfare, Xiao Mo was still worried and repeatedly stressed that if anyone dared to hold a birthday party for him, he would make Chu Lan so upset that he would even chant in his dreams: No birthday party, no birthday party...

You can't judge a person by his appearance. Xiao Mo complained: This kid can be really mean when he gets mean.

The Youye Tan that was pinned on the waist was made into a specimen by Chu Jinglan and carefully kept. Two days later, the weapon refiner hurriedly made the amulet, and Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan went to get it. It was time to send the three children to the academy.

The lotus pattern on the amulet was lifelike and was carefully kept by the three children. In addition, each of them had five medium-grade spirit stones, three hundred low-grade spirit stones, and three bottles of spirit medicine in their storage containers, and the communication jade token was also fully prepared.

This is much more wealthy than when Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan first came to the middle realm.

The road from the city to the academy is not far, only a few miles for the monks. Going there a little earlier can allow them to get familiar with the environment first. So even though the three children were reluctant to leave, they all obediently followed the arrangements.

At the gate of the academy, Xiao Mo patted the heads of the three children and said, "If you have any problems, just send us a message. The academy is closed on the 15th of every month. If you have nothing to do, you can go back to the house."

The three children's eyes lit up when they heard this. Chu Jinglan added ruthlessly, "We may not go back."

Very good, a basin of cold water dimmed the bright eyes.

But there was no way, this was indeed the truth, Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan really couldn't guarantee that they would be free to go back every month, Xiao Mo could only make a promise: "We will go back when we are free, and we will let you know in advance."

Children are easy to coax. The three of them perked up and nodded like chicks pecking at rice.

Xiao Mo: "Go ahead."

The three of them followed the disciple from Lin'an Academy who was leading the way and walked towards the main gate, looking back every few steps. Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan were originally prepared to watch them leave from the door, but when they saw that the children seemed to be about to cry, they changed their minds, nodded to them, and turned away.

The wide stone steps were empty, with the occasional chirping of birds and animals in the forest, and the shadows of the trees dancing. Without the three clever little birds around him, Xiao Mo asked Chu Jinglan, "It's suddenly so quiet, are you getting used to it?"

Chu Jinglan still said in the same tone: "No."

Xiao Mo snorted: "When will you stop being stubborn? It's fresh."

Chu Jinglan didn't say anything in response, but this time he really wasn't being stubborn.

As early as when he came to the Chu family, he was accustomed to being alone, often by himself. Even when Su Baimo came to see him, they would always leave after helping him, in a very businesslike manner.

Being alone was nothing new to him.

What’s more... Chu Jinglan glanced at Xiao Mo who was leisurely walking in front of him.

There is also an inner demon who can play the flute and quarrel with him. Compared with the previous days, life is really not so quiet.

A gentle breeze blew through the ancient trees outside the mountain path of Lin'an Academy, and the shadows of leaves swayed. Xiao Mo walked down the steps and turned around to find that Chu Jinglan was two or three steps away from him, looking at him from a slightly higher place.

The gaze was deep and peaceful, without any condescending look, but with a sense of distant solemnity.

The towering mountains, the vast forests, the ancient and magnificent scenery seemed to be all in his eyes, but there seemed to be only one figure imprinted on it.

Looking from Xiao Mo's position, under the blue sky and white clouds, the tall and graceful gentleman stood like an immortal with his eyes lowered, not in the world of red dust.

The floating clouds were lofty and it was a beautiful sight, but Xiao Mo's heart skipped a beat for some reason. He loosened his hands that were lazily behind his back, crossed three steps in two or three steps, and walked to the side of Chu Jinglan, with the hem of his clothes fluttering gently.

Chu Jinglan:?

He didn't understand why Xiao Mo suddenly turned around and looked at him questioningly.

Xiao Mo cleared his throat: "It's okay, let's go home."

He didn't say that although Chu Jinglan looked very beautiful standing there with an ethereal air, she still felt too lonely.

It's too cold around you, so I'll come and keep you company.

The inner demon hummed and thought to himself, I am such a good demon.

*

Five days later, Xiao Mo's jade flute came out of the oven. On the pure white flute there was indeed a nightshade flower carved, which was in perfect bloom and looked lifelike.

Xiao Mo held the new flute in his hand. It was warm and smooth to the touch. He couldn't put it down and played with it for a while. Since the bamboo flute was exchanged from the mall, he could put it directly into the small house he had built in the Sea of ​​Consciousness. So he hung the bamboo flute on the wall as decoration, and the jade flute took up its new place.

On the day they set out, the treasure snatched from the gray-clothed demon cultivator, the eggshell of the Golden Flame Flowing Fire Phoenix, moved.

Chu Jinglan took it out of the storage container in surprise. Under the gaze of the two, the golden orange eggshell slowly cracked with a crisp click, and then with a "pop", a small head popped out with the eggshell on top.

"Chiu?"

The little thing saw two figures at first sight. It looked at Xiao Mo and then at Chu Jinglan blankly, and felt that their auras were similar. But its instinct told it that there was only one Master of the Contract?

The eggshell on its head hadn't fallen off yet, and it was shaking. Xiao Mo raised his hand and lifted the eggshell off its head. He couldn't help laughing and said, "It can't tell the difference between us, right?"

That's normal. After all, he is still Chu Jinglan's inner demon. The root of his birth is still connected to his original body, which confuses the little thing.

Xiao Mo lifted the eggshell, and it rubbed Xiao Mo's fingers subconsciously.

Most birds are flesh-colored when they are born, but the Fire Phoenix is ​​different. When it breaks out of the shell, its body is covered with fluffy first feathers, but they are not golden, but dark gray, and are very inconspicuous.

As it grows and becomes more advanced, its feathers will change color several times, eventually becoming golden feathers.

Xiao Mo stroked its little head with one finger: "Alas, the name Golden Ball doesn't seem to be worthy of your name. I will call you by your nickname Ball for now."

Qiuqiu: “Chiu!”

Xiao Mo was stunned for a moment: "It says golden yellow... Can I understand what it says?"

After the monster was contracted, the master could understand what it meant, which meant that Chu Jinglan could understand what it said, but Xiao Mo also understood it?

Chu Jinglan glanced at him calmly: "Maybe it's because you are my inner demon."

He is a special cultivator who has had an inner demon in the Jindan stage. With this unique inner demon, he has to cross the river by feeling the stones in many things, and nothing that happens seems to be surprising.

Xiao Mo rubbed Xiaoniao's head again. The fluffy feel was really good. "Okay."

Qiuqiu looks gray and could be pretending to be some other kind of monster. No one would guess it to be Liuhuo Feng. Chu Jinglan took out the prepared pet bag from the storage container, made a nest for it, and put some food in it.

After opening the bag, Qiuqiu tentatively stretched out his little paws towards the dark opening, and only when he smelled the fragrance of the magical herbs did he flap his little wings and happily go in.

There is plenty of space inside, enough for it to have fun.

Welcoming new members on the day of departure was always considered a good omen. Xiao Mo entered Chu Jinglan's body and said, "Let's go."

Chu Jinglan: “Yeah.”

He put the golden mask on his face, and with Xiao Mo controlling his body, he flew directly to Yushan Sect. In order to avoid meeting other people on the way, covering his face was a must, because Chu Jinglan's identity was a cultivator who had been reduced to the initial stage of Qi training, and he must not let anyone connect him with Yuan Ying.

Yuan Ying Yu Feng's speed was much faster than walking on two legs. It didn't take long for them to reach the vicinity of Yushan Sect. They found a deserted place, landed, and split into two people. Then they continued to walk towards Yushan Sect.

The Yushan Sect has no money to occupy Jinshan Yushan. The sect is located on a small mountain. The mountain is not high and there is a village at the foot of the mountain. It is very down-to-earth. There are only about a hundred people in the entire sect.

A hundred people in the middle realm is indeed a small sect.

Small sects don't have so many requirements for recruiting people. The gatekeeper disciple at the door was dozing off at the table. When Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan stood in front of him, the disciple suddenly woke up from his doze.

His eyes lit up, and he stared at Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan from left to right, his eyes full of amazement, but not excessive, making people feel bored. He cleared his throat and showed some enthusiasm: "What can I do for you two?"

Xiao Mo: "We have long heard of the Yushan Sect. We would like to join the sect, but I wonder if it is feasible."

"You want to be my disciple?" The disciple was stunned for a moment, then he took out the test stone and registration book from under the table, "Okay, let me see your cultivation first."

There was no need for the Yushan Sect to measure age when recruiting people. Xiao Mo put his hand on it first. “Three spiritual roots, early stage of foundation building,” the disciple nodded.

Next up is Chu Jinglan.

The test stone emitted a pure white light. The disciple's eyes widened in surprise: "A person with only one spiritual root in the early stage of Qi training?"

He only has a single spiritual root, and it is a transformed ice spiritual root. Even if his spiritual root qi sea is not wide, he is definitely a good seedling for cultivation. He is not that old, so how could his cultivation be so low?

The disciple couldn't help but look at Chu Jinglan twice more and asked tentatively: "Have you just started your cultivation journey?"

Chu Jinglan withdrew his hand. Under the careful gaze of his disciple, he said directly: "I have been practicing for more than ten years. Not long ago, my Dantian was completely destroyed."

"Ah..." The disciple understood, and he said slowly, "I thought, you are here to look for Master Jing Lei, right?"

Xiao Mo bowed and said, "Is this possible?"

"Since he has been staying in his sect and not going out, there have been many who have come to see him under the pretext of becoming his disciple. You are not the first group."

The disciple shook his fingers and said, "But I advise you to forget it. It is not easy to see him."

Xiao Mo sensed the scent of his changing emotions. Understanding people's hearts really makes things easier. He took out a medium-grade spirit stone and pushed it out: "Please give me some advice, Senior Brother."

The disciple grinned, took the spirit stone and tossed it: "Okay, that's pretty good."

"But you called me too early. I can tell you that Uncle Jing Lei favors those who can endure hardships and have good perseverance, but what is considered hardship and how much hardship one has to endure is all determined by him. You two have low cultivation levels, so you are just outer disciples who are responsible for miscellaneous tasks. Your life will not be easy. You may be lucky and see him once or twice a month, but it is more likely that you will not see him for ten or eight years."

The gatekeeper disciple waved his hands: "Well, do you still want to stay?"

Chu Jinglan was not afraid of difficulties: "Since I have come here, I will give it a try no matter what. I hope you will allow me, Senior Brother."

"I have said all the things that need to be reminded. If you really want to try, then go ahead." He picked up the pen, "Name."

"Chu Jinglan."

"Xiao Mo."

The disciple exclaimed: "It sounds like a real name."

Xiao Mo smiled and said, "Brother, you are joking. We came here with sincerity, why would we use a pseudonym?"

After writing their names, the disciple stood up and took them in: "Be a good person to the end, follow me."

At this time, another disciple from the Yushan Sect came hurriedly over: "Brother Songxuan, thank you for helping me with the door for a while... Hey, who are these two?"

Song Xuan smiled like a fox, and said in front of Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan without hesitation: "I'm a new coolie who wants to see Uncle Jinglei."

There were probably quite a few people who came to shock Lei, and they were already used to it. The disciple understood: "So that's how it is."

Xiao Mo's eyes swept over them lightly. He was just thinking, since all the gatekeeper disciples were Golden Core, wasn't the threshold of Yushan Sect a bit too high? It turned out that Songxuan was just a substitute, probably because he had nothing to do, so he led the way for them.

Song Xuan seemed to have many acquaintances. All the disciples he met along the way greeted him. Of course, the living quarters for outer disciples could not be very good. Rao had been mentally prepared, but when Song Xuan took them to their residence, Xiao Mo still raised his eyebrows slightly.

This is a shabby little wooden house with most of the tiles on the roof fallen off. It has been in disrepair for many years and no one has replaced it with new tiles. It is just covered with thatch. There are no other houses around it but this one, standing alone in the deepest part. It looks very pitiful.

Xiao Mo suspected that a strong enough wind would blow the house away.

The door panel was crooked, and Songxuan picked up a branch from the ground and slowly pushed the door open, fearing that the noise would be too loud and cause the shaky door panel to fall down. As soon as the door opened, dust fell to the ground.

Song Xuan: "This is where you live. It's a little dirty, but at least it's a place to sleep. Please wait here for a while. I will ask someone to bring your disciple cards over. Someone will come and tell you what to do in the future."

After he finished speaking, he waited to see the two's reactions. Chu Jinglan showed no expression: "Thank you, Senior Brother."

Xiao Mo also said politely: "Thank you, Senior Brother."

It was as if it wasn't him who raised his eyebrows just now.

Song Xuan couldn't help but look at them twice more, then smiled and said, "You're welcome."

He waved and walked away. Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan walked into the house. The door swayed and closed by itself. Xiao Mo cast a cleansing spell on the house and sent his consciousness out. After confirming that Song Xuan had indeed gone far away, the two looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

Xiao Mo turned into a spirit and suddenly flew out of the house. In the blink of an eye, he caught up with Song Xuan who was walking away.

But Song Xuan took many turns and finally walked into a courtyard where the sound of swords could be heard. He did not even knock on the door, but walked in as if he was familiar with the place and said in a clear voice, "Master, is you practicing swordsmanship?"

A middle-aged man turned around and spat at him: "Don't you know how to knock on the door?"

Song Xuan smiled and said, "Since you didn't open the door even after I knocked, I'll just do it myself."

Man: “Bah!”

"Don't worry, I just want to tell you that someone is here to see you again. Although I haven't measured their bone age, from my eyesight, they are probably two kids around 17 or 18 years old, and one of them is disabled."

Xiao Mo, who was following behind Song Xuan, raised his eyes when he heard this: Is this a thunderclap?

Jing Lei was wearing a gray shorts, his skin was bronze, he had a sturdy build, and he looked unruly. He had a bit of stubble on his chin and a wine bottle hung around his waist. Rather than a monk, he looked more like a mortal knight.

He snorted. "Child?"

Song Xuan: "Well, she is very pretty, clean and fair. If she hadn't said that she was a waste, you wouldn't have known that she had suffered."

Jing Lei sat down on the stone bench opposite him and asked: "Which sect did you change your name to sneak in?"

"Not really. The person next to him must be related to him by blood, so he is building a foundation, not a guard. We can't let both young masters suffer for him, right?"

Xiao Mo was standing next to them and couldn't help but look at Song Xuan with admiration. He didn't expect that this seemingly greedy senior brother was actually a very capable person and had so many thoughts.

Song Xuan: "I brought them to that shabby house. Next, should I follow your request and find a group of people to give them a head start?"

Jing Lei took off the wine bottle from his waist and took a sip. When he pulled out the cork, the aroma of strong liquor filled his face. He took a big sip and wiped his mouth casually: "You know it and still come to ask me?"

"I just wanted to ask you something." Song Xuan said, sitting upright, his face showing a serious expression: "I just want to advise you to change your approach. To be honest, I think it's not that hard to find someone to bully every time. On the contrary, it's easy for outsiders to misunderstand that our Yushan Sect has a bad style."

"Although people have to explain in the end, but they are so angry, who can listen to them, right? What do you think?"

Jing Lei slapped the stone table and roared like a bull: "You have become a useless person. You are bullied and looked down upon in every corner of the cultivation world. You can't even bear this and you still want to repair your Dantian?"

Song Xuan was not scared by his yelling, and said, "When you came back, none of us looked down on you, right?"

"Do you have the guts to do that?" Jing Lei glanced at him, "I can start practicing again when I come back!"

He raised his foot and kicked Song Xuan: "Go away, just follow the old rules I gave you. I have the final say on whether a person can do it or not."

Song Xuan sighed: "I am just suggesting, but after all, only you know how difficult the process is and how much patience it requires. Of course, you have the final say."

Songxuan thought to himself, oh, my uncle has a weird temper, they will have to work harder.

He stood up and patted his clothes: "Okay, I'll find someone to 'bully' them."

But he rolled his eyes, revealing a playful look: "But the one who was abandoned, um, his name is Chu Jinglan. I think he is different from the usual people. He came to the sect without any anxiety, nor did he cry helplessly. I think the character of this kid is worth watching."

"And Xiao Mo, who came with him, showed no worries and did not urge us. If they had not said they were here to see you, I would not have known that there was a poor abandoned person among them."

Jing Lei touched his chin: "Yeah, I understand."

Xiao Mo also found it very interesting, and he sent a message to Chu Jinglan through the air with a very humorous tone.

[Chu Jinglan, the Yushan Sect is looking for someone to bully us! ]

Chu Jinglan was shocked: "..."

Chu Jinglan:.

Already read it. Why do you sound so impatient?