Chapter 32 Harmony
Thanks to Ji Rong and Ji Zhuang's meticulous care over the years, Gu Qingqing is in pretty good condition now; although she still looks thin, her fur has become glossy, her body sometimes automatically absorbs some spiritual energy, and her claws occasionally twitch a few times.
Everyone was already used to this, and Wu Buyu's judgment on Gu Qingqing had changed from certain death to certain awakening.
But no one knows when he will wake up, so they can only continue to care for him like this.
When the rent was due, Wu Buyu and Ji Zhuang unsurprisingly failed to raise enough money. Ji Rong suggested renting back the original small cave dwelling that cost three thousand, and all the cultivators agreed.
After paying the rent and moving again, they were penniless once more, so Wu Buyu quickly took on a job delivering mail and seals to Xisai.
The messy cave was left to Ji Rong and Ji Zhuang to clean up. After everything in the cave was arranged, Ji Zhuang carried Gu Qingqing to the mat where the dust had been swept away.
As soon as he put it down and turned around, Ji Zhuang heard a rapid breathing followed by several coughs behind him. He turned around and saw Gu Qingqing with her eyes open.
Ji Zhuang hurriedly and excitedly shouted, "Sister, sister, come quick!"
The noise attracted Ji Rong, who was tidying up outside the cave. Hearing her brother's call, she rushed into the cave and saw that Gu Qingqing, whom she had been taking care of day and night, had actually woken up.
Gu Qing regained consciousness. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and she remained motionless, muttering something unintelligible.
Ji Rong and Ji Zhuang were both alarmed when they saw this, thinking that perhaps the disease hadn't been cured and that the brain had been damaged as well.
Fortunately, there is no difference between Gu Qingqing with her eyes open and Gu Qingqing with her eyes closed; she still needs to be fed and have her bottom wiped. The only difference is that this Gu Qingqing now has expressions and can occasionally make sounds. But none of that matters; she is still unable to move, just like before.
After taking care of her for more than ten days, just as Ji Zhuang was about to wipe Gu Qingqing's bottom again, Gu Qingqing suddenly raised a trembling hand, which quickly slid down in the air. She said to Ji Rong with difficulty, "You do it, don't... him."
Standing to the side, Ji Rong looked at her, then at Ji Zhuang, spread her wings and said, "I don't have claws, but my brother does. He did a good job; he used to do all the work."
Gu Qing has come to her senses and has become more demanding, but ultimately it's a good thing.
When it was time for dinner, Ji Rong habitually squeezed various juices into the minced meat she had cooked herself, and then used her little manipulation technique to feed it to Gu Qingqing. Gu Qingqing ate a few bites and then said painfully, "I've been eating this stuff for so many years, let's change it."
Ji Rong manipulated the spoon to put it into the bowl, put her wings on her hips, swept over a large bowl, and handed it to Gu Qingqing with her wings, saying, "Look, your food is not bad. This is what my brother and I ate."
Gu Qingqing glanced into the bowl and saw various unknown low-grade spiritual herb scraps mixed together, as well as unknown monster bones standing abruptly on top of the low-grade spiritual grain rice. Meanwhile, Ji Zhuang was holding a large bowl and licking a bone with his tongue, eating it with relish.
Gu Qingqing nodded resignedly, opened her mouth, and let Ji Rong pour the bowl of indescribable-tasting stuff into her mouth.
More than ten days passed like this. Wu Buyu returned and hurriedly sent back a lot of spirit crystals. He glanced at Gu Qingqing, who had woken up but was still not much different from before. He ate some low-grade spirit herbs to fill his stomach and then told Ji Rong and Ji Zhuang that he was going to Xizhou and would be gone for half a year.
Hei Daoren, a member of the Heavenly Dog Clan at the Demon Venerable Realm in Cangzhou, wanted to send his niece, Hei Luodeng, to Erduohu in Xizhou for a marriage alliance. The mountains there were steep and surrounded by swamps of poisonous insects, so he recruited cultivators in Cangzhou and Danzhou to deliver the dowry. Wu Buyu heard this news and, finding the reward to be quite substantial, volunteered.
The other party didn't even consider Wu Buyu at first and rejected her outright; after all, this bird cultivator was too old, it didn't matter whether he lived or died, but losing the dowry would be a huge loss.
However, there are few Xuanling Realm cultivators traveling between Cangzhou, Danzhou, and Chizhou and Xizhou. Although Wu Buyu is old, he had traveled to Xizhou many times when he was young. Therefore, in the end, the person in charge chose Wu Buyu, who had just returned from the land.
Ji Rong and Ji Zhuang missed him dearly. He had just returned and was about to leave again for such a long time; they were both reluctant to part with him and worried about him.
Ji Rong was worried that Wu Buyu was too old to handle it, so she asked Ji Zhuang to take the money to exchange for some good antidote pills for Wu Buyu; after hesitating for a while, she also tied the Xuan Huanmu given to Wu Buyu by Shan Zhongfeng.
Wu Buyu refused, saying that Ji Rong's cultivation level was too low. If it weren't for this token, someone like her, who guarded the city gate every day and followed behind the cultivators coming and going, would have been slapped to death by a bad-tempered man long ago.
But Ji Rong was very stubborn. She said, "My brother still has one piece. Gu Qing is sober now, so I won't go out for a while. I'll go back to work when you come back."
Wu Buyu was moved. He patted Ji Rong's head and said, "Good boy, if Grandpa Wu does this job, we can not only get our original cave back, but also buy you a good spiritual fruit to help you advance in your cultivation. From now on, the servants at Tunxiangju won't dare to call you 'mischievous hair' anymore."
Ji Zhuang returned with the pills and also wanted to pack a bag of good spirit rice for Wu Buyu. Wu Buyu had no choice but to take out his bag from under his wing and let the boy check it.
He feigned anger, saying, "I taught you everything, and now you dare to tell me how to do things!" But his heart was warm.
After seeing Wu Buyu off, Ji Rong indeed stayed in the cave every day to watch over Gu Qingqing's cultivation, while Ji Zhuang went to take on other jobs.
Gu Qingqing was more and more awake, and she gradually became able to say quite a lot of words. Lifting her paws was not so difficult for her, and she became even more resistant to Ji Zhuang wiping her bottom.
Ji Rong's wings were ultimately inconvenient to use, and Ji Zhuang broke down while cleaning Gu Qing's poop mat once again.
One day, Ji Zhuang went out with a poop mat, but came back with nothing.
But the refreshing grass mats were too expensive for them, so Ji Zhuang resigned himself to returning to the water's edge and bringing back the grass stalks that had been crumpled into a ball to dry.
Seeing this, Ji Rong discussed with her brother whether they could use two large earthenware jars to collect Gu Qingqing's excrement and urine.
Ji Zhuang was really fed up. What kind of cultivator would shovel poop every day? Only her sister was kind-hearted. If it were any other cultivator, let alone raising her for ten years, they would be considered kind if they just dug a hole and buried Gu Qingqing!
So the next day, Ji Zhuang simply didn't go to work and stayed home making jars by following Ji Rong's instructions.
Having learned from past experience, Ji Zhuang only spent some time on the shaping process this time. Ji Rong didn't want a real jar; she wanted it open at both ends and with two lids.
The two ends of the jar are also important; one end should be higher than the other.
Once the top cover is removed, Gu Qingqing can sit on the lower end; the higher part at the back should have two large ears to hold Gu Qingqing's paws, so that Gu Qingqing can exert force to support her weak waist.
The bottom of the jar also needs to be open, and a nested pot needs to be made inside. The nested pot needs to be made a little larger so that Ji Rong can fill the bottom with soil.
Then a handle needs to be made in the outer room so that Ji Rong can use her claws to grab the basin filled with excrement and urine.
After hearing the description, Ji Zhuang, accompanied by Ji Rong, made the set of jars.
After obtaining the cooled finished product, Ji Rong happily smoothed the edges with her claws and then put them on, exclaiming, "Brother's craftsmanship is so good, it fits so well on the first try." After saying that, she demonstrated it to Ji Zhuang.
Looking at the elated Ji Rong, Ji Zhuang's eyes were full of doting affection, and he happily exclaimed, "Little sister is so clever, she can even think of such an exquisite object while taking a dump."
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