Chapter 8 Construction
After Ji Er returned, he busily directed Qing Shi to build a comfortable nest for Huang Pinjie.
She squatted down beside them, watching Huang Pinjie eat some high-quality spiritual essence liquid with the children.
At night, Ji Er did not go back to her own nest to sleep. After watching Huang Pinjie fall asleep, she secretly hid the best warm jade in Huang Pinjie's nest.
The next day, Huang Pinjie got up, stretched, and then plopped down in the pile of chalcedony.
Huang Pinjie pulled down her clothes and looked down, then cried out in a mix of pain and amusement, "Damn Ji Er, are you trying to murder me?! How dare you throw so many stones on my bed!"
Ji Er watched longingly from the side, without saying a word.
Huang Pinjie actually knew what Ji Er meant, but putting in so much chalcedony was really unnecessary.
She wasn't a cub, so this thing was useless to her, but she couldn't bear to go against Ji Er's wishes, that silly old bird.
So Huang Pinjie said, "Ji Er, I'm tired of seeing your old face. Make the nest bigger and sturdier for me. I don't care how you build it, but it has to be beautiful and soft. Then call your two kids to warm the nest for me!"
Ji Er's eyes sparkled after hearing this.
Back then, when Huang Pinjie found Ji Er, she was destitute and injured. She had the appearance of a five-tailed fox, and the only treasure she had was barely enough to prolong her life. She had no money to buy a spirit herb mat.
The old fox, physically injured and with his animalistic instincts heightened, felt extremely cold in winter.
It was Ji Er who, relying on her own talent, chose the most comfortable and soft low-grade spiritual herbs from Jiming Mountain and used her own shed feathers to make a nest, which she repaired and maintained for many years.
In those years when the snow was heavy and the land was frozen, Huang Pinjie would crawl under his own belly when he was so cold that he couldn't stand it anymore.
As soon as she burrowed in, Ji Er couldn't help but scold her, because how could a perfectly good colorful chicken like her brood and give birth to a fox!
It's so wonderful that Huang Pinjie now specifically asks her kids to warm her home instead of herself!
She's now a bird cultivator at the Illusionary Transformation Realm, so what if she pecks the weakened Huang Pinjie to death?
Ji Er directly ordered Qing Shi to bring over their nest, and then plucked a handful of Qing Shi's belly fur to weave into the nest. She brushed the two cubs' heads with her wings and said, "From now on, you will sleep with Aunt Huang. You two will sleep on one side, and let your Aunt Huang sleep in the middle."
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Huang Pinjie ate and slept with her cubs and gradually regained her appetite, but her old injuries were aggravated by new ones, and she was in pain whenever she moved. She still curled up in her nest every day.
A few months later, Huang Pinjie was finally out of pain. That night, she gave Ji Er a coded message to come over.
Under the bright moonlight, Huang Pinjie spread her five tails and triumphantly poked one of them into Ji Er's face.
Ji Er's eyes instantly turned lewd, and he leaned closer with a beaming smile, lowering his voice to ask, "Sister, did you get something good again?"
Huang Pinjie looked tragic and lowered her voice as well, saying, "Of course, I made such a great sacrifice, accompanying that old guy to the Hundred Insect Feast. If the food he gave me wasn't good, why wouldn't I just die?"
The beast and the chicken stared at each other, their expressions so excited they were practically drooling. Ji Er was holding the tail, and Huang Pinjie was holding the chicken wing, both covering their mouths and chuckling.
After laughing for a while, Ji Er pulled his head out of Huang Pinjie's tail and, with practiced ease, touched the few small spirit sacks hanging at the base of the tail, asking in a low voice, "Sister Jie, what's in here?"
Huang Pinjie lowered Ji Er's wings, flicked her tail, and with a flick of her paw, delivered the bags to Ji Er's arms.
Ji Er took out the items one by one. For each item, Huang Pinjie would quietly explain its purpose. Ji Er carefully placed these items on his stomach, looking extremely pleased.
After taking everything out, Huang Pinjie looked at Ji Er with gentle affection and said, "You know how to use it now. It should be enough for you two little brats for five years. Go and hide it away."
Ji Er nodded vigorously in agreement, then asked in a worried whisper, "Sister Jie, why didn't you leave some for yourself?"
Huang Pinjie stretched out a paw and gently placed it on Ji Er's head: "You know how my body is. Even if I go to Yuxu Palace now to find a powerful person to exchange for the blood of the Eight-Tailed or Nine-Tailed Foxes and put in a Dao Pill, I still won't get better."
Besides, that's not something we can even dream of.
As he spoke, he spat out his inner elixir to the moon. Under the moonlight, the inner elixir glowed, like a piece of jade covered with fine lines.
Huang Pinjie said calmly, "My fate was already sealed before I met you. You don't need to be sad. If I hadn't met you, I would have died long ago. How could I have the strength to live until now?"
Upon hearing this, Ji Er burst into tears and silently packed her things away.
Huang Pinjie seemed to have let go of everything and said, "You're so grown up now, you should make your own decisions from now on. As for me, I'm not going to die anytime soon, so you can arrange things for me from now on."
Upon hearing this, Ji Er could no longer hold back. She hugged Huang Pinjie with her wings and cried loudly, "You said it yourself, you can't go back on your word."
Ji Er's cries woke up Qing Shi and the birds. Luckily, they were the only family living in the huge paulownia forest, so the other birds wouldn't hear them.
The next day, Ji Er summoned his two sons and stared at Ji Zhuang with swollen eyes, saying, "From now on, you will learn from your Aunt Huang. When you turn twelve, go to the Weeping Blood Slope of Luohuang Ridge. Wu Buyu, who used to work at the Crane Tower of the Heavenly Palace's Fortune Hall, lives there. He saw you last time and was willing to take you as his apprentice."
Although he's old now, he's the only one who survived to return and retire with his cohort. So you should learn from him; who knows, you might be able to take over his job at the Crane Tower someday.
Then, Ji Er said to Ji Rong, "You should also learn from your Aunt Huang from now on. You two already know what I know, but your Aunt Huang is very knowledgeable. I was also taught by your aunt when I was a child." After saying that, he looked at Huang Pinjie with longing eyes.
Huang Pinjie nodded approvingly and said, "As expected of my teacher, you've got a bit of my style."
Ji Er was overjoyed and jumped around in the treehouse. She flapped her wings, laughed heartily, and looked at Huang Pinjie expectantly, asking uncertainly, "So you agree?"
Huang Pinjie rested her chin on her hand and said, "I agree, why wouldn't I agree? I already said you can do whatever you want with me."
So Ji Er boldly called on Qing Shi to pack up the remaining things from Jiming Mountain in front of Huang Pinjie.
When she had some free time, she chose a huge paulownia tree that was only a few feet away from her, and led her children to dig holes in the tree.
Huang Pinjie looked at Ji Er, who was working hard, and said, "Stop making a fuss. Just spend some spirit crystals and spirit essence to call a few rabbit cultivators to dig a few holes."
Ji Er looked up at Huang Pinjie and shouted at the top of her lungs, "No way! There's no sunlight in the earthen cave! The tree hollow is the best!"
Huang Pinjie watched Ji Er work very well and was very happy, so she teased her, "I didn't realize you were so strong. I should have been more determined to send you to mine in Zhaoyao Mountain. The prices are really high in the mines during the winter."
Ji Er arrogantly tossed a piece of wood he had torn off at Huang Pinjie and said, "Hmph, I'm so warm, how could you bear to let me go? Back then, you probably wished I would hold you all day long!"
Ji Zhuang ignored them and pecked away rapidly like a pile driver.
Ji Rong, however, turned to watch her mother and Huang Pinjie playfully fighting, glancing at one and then at the other, her eyes sparkling with passion.
Huang Pinjie glanced at Ji Rong, who was looking around with great interest, just like those monkeys, and pursed her lips slightly.
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