Chapter 17 I am not at fault for carrying you on my back. It is my natal spirit beast.
The man looked to be about twenty years old, with a gentle temperament like jade, very handsome, but his lips were pale, and there seemed to be a sick air lingering between his brows. He smiled slightly and said:
"Brother Xu told me a few days ago that you would come here to investigate. You should arrive today, so I've come here to wait. The weather is cold, so please come to the mansion to warm up."
Fang Zhiming bowed and said, "Senior Qi, keeping warm is a small matter. Please let us see our seriously injured fellow Taoist first."
Qi Rongli nodded and took the lead.
As soon as I stepped into the mansion, a warm breath hit me in the face. Unlike the bleak outside, the mansion was full of greenery.
The rockery is well-arranged, the water flows softly and gurgles, and the spring scenery in the garden is just like this.
"Qingzhou is like spring all year round. If it weren't for this heavy snow, the streets would be filled with scenes like this." Qi Danxuan sighed, "What a pity! If Senior Sister had come a few months earlier, we could have traveled together!"
"There will be another chance in the future." Xu Xingxing looked up at the glittering bead above the Qi Mansion and asked, "Is this the Winter-Proof Bead?"
"Yes, that's it. It looks great, doesn't it? This is the mother bead of the Winter-Proof Bead. The child beads have been distributed to the people in the city by my brother." Qi Danxuan then took Xu Xingxing's hand and said, "Senior Sister, please sleep with me today."
"Uh..." Xu Xingxing glanced at Xiao Hei beside her and declined, "No, I like to sleep alone."
After saying this, she felt guilty. The entire Spirit Beast Mountain knew who she slept with at night...
Sure enough, Fang Zhiming looked at her meaningfully, with a look of excitement on his face.
Xiao Hei didn't show any expression. He just glanced at her and then looked around.
She sighed inwardly: These few days are when I need Xiao Hei, I have to let him have a good rest...
"Ah..." Qi Danxuan was very disappointed and pouted, "Okay then, I'll ask the servants to clean up the guest room for you."
After Qi Danxuan left with his servants, Qi Rongli led everyone to the inner courtyard.
There are willows on the steps and flowers in the courtyard, and winding corridors. People walking among them feel like they are wandering in a painting.
"This cold-proof bead is really useful," Qin Feng took off his cloak and said in a very unpleasant tone, "I'm almost dying of heat."
"It's worthy of being called Zhaixing Tower," Fang Zhiming praised. "They can even find such a precious treasure."
"Zhaixing Tower? Are you talking about the Zhaixing Tower where you can find all the treasures in the world?" Qin Feng opened his eyes wide, surprised. "Zhaixing Tower is so shabby, what's with the geese? How do you read that poem?"
"In the Star-Picking Tower, I scoop up the moon, and in the brocade night, the candlelight blocks Su E." Lin Yue recited softly.
"Right, right, right! Anyway, it means that you can buy anything in the Star Picking Tower, even the Moon Palace can be picked, and even Chang'e can be married."
Xu Xingxing pondered these two lines of poetry and glanced at Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei shook his head slightly.
Before she came, she told Xiao Hei in advance that there were traces of spiritual beasts here. Xiao Hei had a very sensitive nose, but judging from his appearance, he did not detect any trace of spiritual beasts in the mansion.
"This poem was written by my father when he was drunk. He was young and frivolous at that time, so he was inevitably frivolous and arrogant. I'm sorry to make you laugh." Qi Rongli said.
Fang Zhiming praised, "Zhaixing Tower is indeed worthy of this poem. The old man donated many treasures to Kunlun during the war, including many rare treasures, which greatly benefited Kunlun. He is truly a man of great generosity."
"Where is Zhaixinglou?" Xu Xingxing asked. "It would be a shame not to visit such a great place."
"It seems that there are now ten branches across the country, one of which is in Qingzhou." Fang Zhiming paused, "But the snow is so heavy, I'm afraid Zhaixinglou will not be able to open."
"That's secondary," Qi Rongli leaned slightly sideways, his demeanor elegant. "If we can stop the snow sooner, it will be considered a good deed for the people of Qingzhou."
"Ten?" Qin Feng was surprised. "I heard that during the heyday of Zhaixing Tower, there were nearly a hundred families. Why is there such a big difference?"
"Before the Demon God descended upon the world, there were three nations in the Central Plains. The Demon God later burned one of the nations to ashes, and the Star-Picking Tower within that nation naturally vanished with it."
Qi Rongli spoke calmly, as if discussing someone else's affairs. "After the Demon-Exorcising War, the Tianqi Nation annexed Xiliang, ultimately establishing the present-day Great Xia Nation. Zhaixing Tower inevitably needed to spend some money to avoid disaster during the war. After a century of turmoil, it's truly remarkable that it's still around. I dare not expect too much."
"Ten companies are already very good, and Zhaixinglou even donated treasures during the war. They are truly a role model for businesses."
After Xu Xingxing praised it for a bit, he changed his mind and asked, "Since you can buy anything at Zhaixing Tower, do they capture spirit beasts and sell them?"
"My father will."
Qi Rongli looked at Xu Xingxing with a serious expression, "I won't do that if I take over."
"Why?" She noticed Fang Zhiming secretly pulling her clothes. Although she knew it was inappropriate, she still asked.
"After the Demon-Exorcising War, the number of spirit beasts has plummeted, making their capture more difficult. This is one reason. I was once the head of the Beast Taming Sect. This is two." Qi Rongli didn't respond perfunctorily. He paused, a trace of desolation flashing across his eyes. "The third reason is for Ningning."
Ningning was his natal spirit beast that died in battle.
She wanted to ask more, but Fang Zhiming interrupted her: "Senior Qi, haven't you arrived yet?"
"We're here. It's right in front."
When they pushed open the door, they saw a maid feeding medicine to the person on the bed. The person on the bed was half lying down. When he saw them come in, he made a move to get up, but because of the pain, he had to lie back down.
Fang Zhiming took two quick steps and walked to the bedside, his face worried: "Cheng Zhi, are you okay?"
Cheng Zhi shook his head, tears welling in his eyes: "I'm fine, but I don't know if Wu Sheng is still alive..."
Then he recounted in detail what had happened.
"Wu Sheng and I came here half a month ago to investigate, but we had no clues. Then we suddenly found traces of a demon and gave chase. We didn't find the demon, but we stumbled upon a formation's center. There was a barrier around the center. When we tried to force our way in, a strong light suddenly appeared, and I lost consciousness. When I woke up again, I was in this mansion. But there was no trace of Wu Sheng..."
After saying this, he was already in tears.
Fang Zhiming comforted him, "Don't worry, we'll take care of Wu Sheng. You just need to focus on recovering."
After a few more pleasantries, they left the room.
"Senior Qi, where did you find him?" Fang Zhiming asked after they went out.
"The one who rescued him that day was a wandering cultivator in my family. I called him here and asked him to tell you." Qi Rongli invited everyone to the hall to wait for a while. Not long after, a middle-aged man arrived in the hall.
The man had a full beard and a burly figure. He saluted the crowd with neither arrogance nor servility.
"My name is Zhang Long. Because Qingzhou City has been experiencing heavy snow for the past month, and I heard about unusual movements in the Ten Thousand Demon Cave some time ago, my master ordered me to search the city for hidden monsters. One day, I found myself in the mountains behind Qingzhou. While walking, I felt something strange under my feet. After digging through the snow, I discovered it was a person. I hurriedly reported this to my master, and you all know what happened next."
"You only found one person there?" Fang Zhiming asked.
"Yes, we searched the entire back mountain, but only found this one person."
"Is there a formation eye?"
"There's no core, but there are traces of it. Afterwards, we went to check several times, but found nothing."
There is very little useful information obtained, so I just have to take a trip.
Everyone decided to act separately. Fang Zhiming and the other two went to the back mountain to investigate, while Xu Xingxing and Xiao Hei went to the place where Cheng Zhi said there were traces of monsters.
*
The place where Cheng Zhi discovered the whereabouts of the monster was a village outside Qingzhou City.
Half a month ago, due to the heavy snow, the government moved the people outside the city to live in the city, but because Qi Rongli distributed cold-proof beads, many villagers chose to stay in the village.
Unable to wield their swords, the two arrived at the village late at night.
The sky was dark and the ground was inky, with heavy snow and strong winds. The snow was knee-deep. A barrier was opened to protect the two of them. Even so, Xu Xingxing had a hard time walking.
Seeing that she almost fell more than once, Xiao Hei mocked her:
"How come you can't even figure out the way? Where did your cultivation go?"
"No, didn't you notice?" Xu Xingxing pulled his legs out of the snow and took another laborious step forward. "Ever since just now, whenever I cleared a patch of snow, it would return after just two steps."
As he said this, he almost fell down again.
Xiao Hei helped her up, and after she stood firmly and looked around, he also found that the atmosphere around her had become different from the beginning, probably because they were about to reach the village.
He condensed fire in his hand and waved it forward. The cold air around him dissipated instantly and the snow on the ground disappeared without a trace.
Xu Xingxing applauded and praised: "Excellent! It's worthy of being my natal spirit beast!"
Xiao Hei glanced at her and asked, "Are you praising me or yourself?"
"Praise them all, haha." Xu Xingxing looked ahead and suddenly exclaimed, "Look! The snow has returned!"
I saw that on the large open space that had just been cleared, the snow gathered and rose at an extremely fast speed. After a while, the surrounding scene returned to its original state.
"Is this snow alive?" Xu Xingxing shrank his head. "It won't bite me, will it?"
"We should be almost there," Xiao Hei turned to look at her, half-smiled, and said, "Why? Are you afraid to leave?"
Xu Xingxing seemed to have thought of something disgusting, pursed his lips and said, "Are these not bugs? Will they crawl into people's clothes?" He shuddered after saying that.
Xiao Hei looked at her frightened expression and acted surprised:
"You don't know? There's a creature among the demons called snow lice. They look like snowflakes, always appearing in groups and piling up like snow. They often cling to the snow in winter. When a person approaches, they crawl into their clothes and then burrow into their orifices, starting with their internal organs. Once they've devoured all the flesh and blood, they poop out through their sweat pores."
The more Xu Xingxing listened, the more frightened and disgusted she became, as if the snowflakes on the ground had turned into snow lice and were drilling into the gaps in her clothes. She let out a scream and jumped directly onto Xiao Hei's back, hugging his neck tightly and refusing to get down no matter what.
Xiao Hei: ...
He finally understood what it meant to shoot oneself in the foot.
"Come down." Xiao Hei gritted his teeth.
"I won't!" Xu Xingxing hugged her tighter.
"...I was kidding you, this is just ordinary snow." Xiao Hei's eyes twitched.
"Then how can it restore itself?!"
"You'll probably find out when you get to the village."
Xu Xingxing was half-believing and half-doubting, so he leaned over and asked, "Really?"
The warm breath blew on Xiao Hei's ears, causing his body to stiffen. Only then did he notice the softness of the woman behind him. He stood still and dared not move.
"Really." When he spoke again, his voice had a hint of hoarseness that he himself didn't even notice.
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