Chapter 177 The Road Home "So similar, so wooden."...
The next morning, when most people were still sound asleep, the streets were already bustling with people.
Luoyang was already a prosperous city, but now it seems to be a little too prosperous.
Many people looked rushed and frowned, not like they were out for a morning stroll or to be on duty, but more like they were out working.
One of them walked up to the wonton stall and asked somewhat reservedly, "Old Zhang, your wonton stall is doing good business. Are you short-staffed lately?"
"This... I'm enough on my own, why are you suddenly asking this?"
"Recently, too many people have flooded into the city, scrambling to find work. I haven't been able to find any casual jobs for over half a month, and I'm a bit short on cash."
As the man spoke, he couldn't help but glance behind the stall owner.
Among several old wooden square tables, a richly dressed diner stood to the side. Although his face was not clearly visible, his demeanor revealed him to be no ordinary person.
He asked in a low voice, "Who is that distinguished guest? Why would they come to eat at your stall?"
The stall owner glanced back, and out of politeness, could only reply, "I don't know either. He came with the same little girl. That little girl ate ten bowls in one go. Maybe she just likes my taste."
Ru Xian, who was being whispered and discussed by the two, was sitting alone on a wooden stool at a wonton stall on the street. He had his arms crossed, leaned against the corner of the table, and casually crossed his legs. He was basking in the sunlight while observing the crowds passing by. His eyes showed a little interest, but not much enthusiasm.
He used some tricks to reduce the number of people prying at him amidst the comings and goings.
But when he heard their conversation, he still glanced at them sideways, and the two immediately fell silent.
When he woke up this morning, he and Lin Feiran originally planned to go to pay their respects after breakfast, but there were many pedestrians and Lin Feiran had some things to buy, so he asked him to wait there.
They waited for half an hour.
Ru Xian's eyes flickered slightly, and she raised her hand. The burly man then silently squatted on the wooden chair, tilting his head to look at her.
"You haven't eaten all day, aren't you hungry?"
The man's eyes lit up, as if a pie had fallen from the sky, and he nodded eagerly.
"Learn from Lin Feiran?"
As if a hailstone had tapped its head casually with its finger, the scoundrel immediately retracted its tongue, bowed its head in a salute, and only then did a handful of gold ingots appear in its palm.
With a slight movement of the wrist, several more strands of spiritual light flowed into the golden ingot.
The creature does indeed feed on gold, but almost no one knows that while gold is useful, it is merely a snack for it. What truly satisfies it is its spiritual power.
Looking at the golden ingots imbued with spiritual power, the chubby man whimpered softly before burying his head and eating.
Just then, an unmissable gaze suddenly pierced through them. The idiot stuck out his butt and turned his head to look, his eyes full of curiosity. Ru Xian, however, lowered his eyes for a moment before slowly raising them.
That person was the young man who was whispering with the stall owner.
He stared intently at the object in Ru Xian's hand, his soul almost being drawn away by the gold.
Just as he was about to step forward, he met a pair of peach blossom eyes that seemed to be smiling but not smiling. A chill suddenly ran through his heart. He immediately smiled and glanced at her again, before reluctantly leaving.
The idiot didn't understand why the man was dawdling back and forth. Seeing that he wasn't moving, he lowered his head and started eating again. But before he could swallow a few pieces, another curse came from the other side.
"Get out of here, get out of here. I'm not giving you any buns. If you sit here again, don't blame me for kicking you."
He was the owner of the steamed bun shop next door; Lin Feiran had bought quite a few there before.
As Ru Xian glanced sideways, she saw a white dog squatting in front of the steamed bun shop. Its eyes were bright black and moist, and its fur was matted, suggesting it had been a stray for a long time.
After being chased away, it let out a soft whimper, then lowered its head and left, its tail accidentally brushing against his raised toes as it passed by.
It walked to another vendor's stall, neither barking nor moving around, but sitting there quietly wagging its tail. When the stall owner shook his head, it went to the next one. It didn't linger or seem sad. It looked thin and weak, but its open mouth looked like it was smiling.
A stray dog that can't be clever.
He gave himself such a precise assessment.
He leaned against the edge of the table, his hands resting on it behind him, his legs crossed, looking more like he was sitting on a high jade throne than at a small table stall.
Such things wouldn't normally concern him, and he wouldn't bother with them, but the more he looked at the dog, the more familiar it seemed.
"It really looks like it, so wooden."
He muttered something casually, and though his voice was soft, it seemed that the white dog heard him.
It turned its head, stuck out its tongue and tilted its head at him, seemingly not understanding the meaning of his words. It took a few more steps towards him and stopped about two meters away, swishing its tail back and forth, and tilting its head again, as if asking him if he needed any help.
Ru Xian chuckled softly, leaned forward, rested her right elbow on her raised knee, supported her chin with her palm, and swayed her suspended leg slowly.
He looked the white dog up and down, his snow-white eyelashes drooping and his gaze slightly cool.
"come over."
The dog understood and walked over to him. It was so happy to be noticed that it spun around twice.
"Coming as soon as you call, you've got some nerve."
The dog, of course, couldn't understand. When it couldn't understand, it tilted its head, its watery eyes full of innocence.
Seeing this, the dog tilted its head and then barked, bringing a gold ingot to the dog's front. The dog sniffed it and took a half step back. The dog then turned to look at him.
Like a handful of sleet: "Hard goods."
With a flick of his left hand, a silver ingot appeared between his fingers. He tossed it casually, and it clattered into the steamed bun shop.
"Four meat buns, give them to him."
The shopkeeper looked at the silver ingot and hesitated for a moment before hurriedly agreeing.
He quickly wrapped four buns and presented them to Ru Xian, not forgetting to praise, "This young master is truly kind-hearted."
Ru Xian didn't answer, but just looked up at him. The boss looked back, and the atmosphere became a little tense for a moment.
He straightened up, spread his hands, and raised his eyebrows slightly; the meaning couldn't be clearer.
The shop owner put the steamed buns on the ground and kept turning back as he left, his face no longer showing the fawning expression he had just displayed.
He looks so ordinary, and has this temper. No wonder he's been sitting here all morning. Maybe that girl ran away long ago.
As he tidied up the steamer, he couldn't help but glance at it. The buns were on the ground, and although he was very tempted, the dog didn't move, as if it didn't know they were for it.
"Tsk."
Just as he thought the man was about to become impatient again, he raised his long fingers slightly, picked up a meat bun, and waved it at the white-haired dog.
"Come and eat."
The dog immediately rushed over, carefully took a bite, and was overjoyed, whimpering softly.
After the dog took a bite, he placed the bun on the oil paper, letting it bury itself in the blissful meat bun.
The boss understood: this person wasn't just bad-tempered, he had a strange temper.
Ru Xian, however, only looked at the white dog, and ate the four buns slowly, as if she were chewing them slowly.
"Her appetite doesn't seem like it, but she didn't eat much at first either."
"Who doesn't eat much?" Lin Feiran asked when she heard this after returning from shopping.
"Besides you, why would I care how much or how little anyone else eats?"
If Xue stood up, she would be half an inch taller than this haphazardly erected wonton stall.
He looked at her: "Have you finished shopping?"
Lin Feiran nodded: "We can go to the suburban cemetery now, what's this?"
She pointed to the white dog.
As if turning back, he succinctly said, "A wandering creature."
Lin Feiran fell silent for a moment, recalling what had happened when he passed by the Lin family mansion last night, and said only, "It's fate that we met. Take it to the Lin family mansion, and someone will take care of it."
She sighed softly and looked back at the hurried crowd: "When I passed by the city gate just now, there were many more troops there. People like him will probably be dispersed to the prefectures and counties near Luoyang soon."
Ru Xian wasn't as worried as she was; she simply said, "The relocation is showing some promise. It seems to be related to the northern part of Zhongzhou. I've already sent people to investigate."
Lin Feiran frowned slightly. She had a feeling that something was wrong, but she could only recall some scattered connections. However, she didn't have time to spare right now and had to go to pay her respects first.
...
In the northern suburbs of Luoyang, there is a well-maintained mausoleum where both her parents are buried.
Upon arriving at the tombstone, Lin Feiran unsheathed her Golden Wave Sword, first offering three sticks of incense, then listing her father's favorite foods. As she did so, she recounted recent events, especially her observations in the demon realm, but she only spoke of the interesting ones.
Ru Xian watched her intently from behind, as if only at times like these could she see a trace of Xiao Lin Fei Ran in her.
She was always this talkative and active when she was little.
After finishing speaking, Lin Feiran tidied up the area around the tombstone before pointing to the person beside him and speaking frankly.
"Father, his name is Ru Xian. Ru means as clear as the blue sky and water, and Xian means as dense as the haze in the forest. His name is a bit strange because he is a demon, a member of the Peacock Clan. You must have heard of his name."
He's a very capable person, but I will become just as capable as him someday.
"Is that so? I think you'll be more powerful than me in the future." Ru Xian stepped forward and lit three incense sticks like her. As the incense burned, she said, "The Divine Realm won't be your final destination."
Lin Feiran turned to look at him upon hearing this: "You won't stop at the Divine Travel Realm either."
"...Perhaps, at least for a long time, I will only be in the Divine Travel Realm."
He will not easily break through to the next realm until he is certain that he will not explode and die.
Ru Xian's tone was somewhat nonchalant, carrying a hint of something Lin Feiran couldn't understand, and she jokingly added, "If you knew my background, you would definitely be amazed that my talent is one in a million."
Lin Feiran bent down to weed and then asked, "When will you tell me your background?"
Ru Xian turned to look at her: "Didn't I say before that if you want to know, you have to exchange it for a secret?"
Lin Feiran stood up, her eyes slightly open: "Given our current relationship, would you... exchange the Human Emperor's secret for mine?"
Ru Xian shook her head: "I'm not interested in him. However, you've already told me one of your secrets."
Lin Feiran was even more puzzled: "What?"
Ru Xian didn't say it directly, but instead smiled and said, "That secret is very important to me, enough to get a corresponding answer from me... But for now, it seems we have to wait for you to realize it."
He feigned a regretful sigh, then looked at the name on the inscription, his expression shifting slightly, and suddenly spoke.
"Lin Lang? Wasn't your father once stationed near Daze Prefecture in Xizhou?"
Lin Feiran was still pondering the secret when he heard this and nodded: "Yes, when he was sixteen or seventeen, there was a rebellion in Daze Prefecture, which he devised to quell."
Lin Feiran, who was initially puzzled, couldn't help but ask, "Why are you suddenly asking about this? Have you met him before?"
As if a wisp of smoke raised her eyebrows slightly, she actually nodded in agreement: "At that time, I was still traveling in the human realm and was considered a disciple of the Langhuan Sect. I heard that a spiritual herb that I wanted was about to grow in the eastern part of Daze Prefecture, so I went to guard and wait for it."
It wasn't far from the military camp. I ran into your father there once; back then, he was just a soldier, leading a group of men to catch giant scorpions in the desert. They wandered into my territory and I chased them away.”
Lin Feiran choked up for a moment.
This was exactly what her father would do, but it was also a past she was unaware of.
"Then what?"
Ru Xian sat down on a nearby rock, seemingly trying to recall something. He didn't usually remember such trivial matters, but seeing Lin Feiran's enthusiastic expression, he still tried his best to remember.
"...Your father was very clever. Catching the giant scorpion was just a pretext. His real purpose was to enter my territory to find out the location of the spiritual spring, and then secretly come to collect water from the spring while I was away."
This happened several times, and once the burly creature discovered him and almost bit off a piece of his leg.
Lin Feiran silently turned back and glanced at the tombstone, remaining speechless for a moment.
"What does he want with the spirit spring?"
Ru Xian pondered for a moment: "He saved a cultivator in Daze Prefecture, and the spiritual spring water was used to wash his wounds."
Lin Feiran paused, a guess forming in her mind: "A female cultivator?"
He nodded as if recalling something.
"That female cultivator was of extremely high cultivation level and was severely injured, but she was still conscious. At that time, there were other cultivators who came to seek revenge, but they were all driven away by your father, a mere mortal."
...I have never seen such a cunning person.
Later, he used some method that attracted many cultivators from the Star Domain to garrison the area, and those people never attacked again.
At this point, he turned to look at Lin Feiran: "Those invading cultivators were wearing cloud-patterned Taoist robes from the Esoteric Buddhism."
Lin Feiran lowered her eyes and murmured, "There's such a past event..."
Could it be that my mother had some connection with Tantric Buddhism many years ago?
Ru Xian looked at her quietly, then slightly curved her lips, pinched her fingers together, and a long incense stick of smoky color appeared in her hand.
"This is the incense used by our clan to commemorate the dead. Burning it can keep the coffin from decaying, prevent rotting insects from entering, prevent weeds from growing, and make the fields full of flowers."
He lit incense and bowed.
"Even without their company, you still grew up to be such a good child, capable of protecting not only yourself but also others, which shows your strong will. If they knew this in the afterlife, they would be proud of you."
Lin Feiran's expression shifted slightly as she raised her hand to touch the tombstone: "...I know."
Just then, sensing something, she suddenly turned her head to look.
The spirit of the Golden Wave Sword appeared at some unknown time, sitting leaning against a tree, seemingly facing them, or perhaps facing the grave, and gazed at it for an unknown amount of time.
Seeing Lin Feiran looking over, she immediately spun around and descended, her dress billowing in the air like a bright sunset, while her leather armor appeared sharp and imposing. The shawl draped over her arm floated up and swayed past the two of them.
She stood before the tombstone, took a stick of incense, let out a long sigh, and then said.
"This is your father. Today is the anniversary of his death. If you don't feel awkward, may I offer him a stick of incense?"
Lin Feiran looked at her with some doubt in her eyes, but still said, "Senior and I have a very special relationship, so why should we be distant? Thank you for offering incense for my father."
She bowed.
The spirit of the Golden Wave Sword lit the incense and inserted it into the burner. Turning back to face Lin Feiran, it simply said, "No matter what kind of child you are, they will be proud of you."
Author's note: I'm so grateful!
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