MOF Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Renewing the Ghost Contract, Sharing Life and Death: I’m Not As Smart As You Think…

Liu Weiyuan paused for two seconds, then turned to bring out a pot of medicinal porridge that he had cooked. A Si very helpfully got bowls and spoons for Xie Yiling and himself.

Xie Yiling had now rebuilt his Golden Core and would no longer feel hunger, but smelling the medicinal aroma of the porridge, he still sat down. After finishing a bowl, whether it was a psychological effect or the medicinal porridge really worked, the spiritual power that was originally a little uncontrollable was suppressed, and his whole body felt lighter.

He thought that Nangong Ci was currently recuperating, and maybe eating this medicinal porridge would help him recover faster.

Xie Yiling had just put down his chopsticks when A Si eagerly said, “Brother Xie Ci, I’ll get you more rice!”

He reached out to take Xie Yiling’s bowl.

“Sit still.” Xie Yiling held him down. “I’m not eating anymore. I’ll get Nangong… my Shizun a bowl.”

“Those immortal cultivators don’t need to eat anymore.” A Si said while getting himself another bowl, “Brother Xie Ci, you don’t need to worry so much.”

“Cough, cough.” Xie Yiling whispered to him, “What do you know? Who knows what good stuff is in this porridge? Not just anyone can eat it.”

“Really?” A Si was even happier when he heard this, “Then I’ll eat two more bowls.”

Xie Yiling shook his head helplessly and suddenly thought of something, “Since Young Master Liu knows about the Seven Yangs, he probably knows that there are Yin corpses everywhere outside now, right?”

Liu Weiyuan said without changing his expression, “I know.”

Xie Yiling glanced at Liu Weiyuan and hesitated, “It is said that the current Yin corpses are exactly the same as those that attacked Mo City back then.”

“Is that so?” The wooden spoon fell from Liu Weiyuan’s hand into the bowl, but he calmly picked it up again and took a sip of the porridge as if it was none of his business, “But I have already distanced myself from the mortal world, as Young Master Xie should know.”

Xie Yiling didn’t force it, “I naturally understand Young Master Liu’s aspirations. However, I have something I want to ask. I wonder where Young Master Liu got the Soul-Returning Leaf that cures corpse poison?”

Liu Weiyuan only thought that he was concerned about Nangong Ci, and said, “The corpse poison on your Shizun has been cured, it’s just that the residual poison is causing trouble, so he needs to recuperate and recover. He will be completely healed in a few days.”

Seeing that he had misunderstood his meaning, Xie Yiling explained, “I’m asking for the antidote not for this reason. Now that the Yin corpses have appeared in the world, many people in various cities have been injured. Because the corpse poison is difficult to cure, many innocent people have lost their lives. If there is an antidote, they don’t have to die in vain.”

“It’s just a drop in the bucket.” Liu Weiyuan’s expression did not change, “One Soul-Returning Leaf can save at most two or three people. And Soul-Returning Leaves are extremely rare and cannot be distributed evenly. If they are not saved, those who originally hated the Yin corpses will turn their hatred towards you. Why bother?”

Xie Yiling was stunned after hearing this and was about to insist when a voice spoke before him, “Whether to save or not is up to me, whether to hate or not is up to them.”

Gu Huanzhi, who had been watering the herbs in the backyard all morning, strode over and bowed, “If Young Master Liu knows where there is an antidote, please tell us.”

Liu Weiyuan put down the wooden spoon, rubbed his temples for a moment, and then said, “Soul-Returning Leaves grow in winter or extremely cold places, and they melt when they encounter water, making them extremely difficult to preserve.”

He paused and continued, “However, there is an ice cliff in White Bone Mountain that is covered in snow all year round. I accidentally went there and discovered the Soul-Returning Leaves.”

As soon as Xie Yiling heard this, he stood up and said, “Even if it’s just a drop in the bucket, it’s the only way out now. Thank you, Young Master Liu. I’ll go look for it in that place.”

A Si quickly put down the bowl he had licked clean, leaving not a single grain of rice, “I want to go too, Brother Xie Ci, take me with you.”

“Let’s all go together.” Gu Huanzhi suggested, “That ice cliff sounds like it won’t be easy to find Soul-Returning Leaves. If we look together, it will be faster.”

The three decided and immediately headed towards the mountain.

Liu Weiyuan stared at their backs as they disappeared into the thick trees, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

There was no path up the mountain, so Xie Yiling and the others climbed up, grabbing the vines along the way. The higher they went, the more chilling the wind became.

When they climbed to the top of the mountain, the three of them were all shocked by the ice cliff in front of them. The other side, slightly lower than the top of the mountain, was an endless expanse of white. The jagged, sharp ice peaks were connected, making it impossible to walk.

Gu Huanzhi couldn’t help but look at Xie Yiling and asked, “Senior Brother Xie, how do we find it?”

Xie Yiling stared at the bottom of the ice cliff, “Soul-Returning Leaves have abundant spiritual energy, so they are easy to recognize if you look carefully.”

If only Soul-Returning Leaves grew on the ice cliff, it would indeed be easy to find as Xie Yiling said. However, other flowers and plants also grew there, mostly light colors that were not easy to distinguish.

A Si patted his chest and said, “Leave it to me!”

As soon as he moved, his feet didn’t touch the ground, and he was at the other end of the ice cliff in an instant.

A gust of cold wind blew, and he was back again, holding a pile of flowers and plants in his hands.

“This,” Xie Yiling looked at the various flowers and plants in A Si’s hand and thought of a crucial question, “Who knows what Soul-Returning Leaves look like?”

Gu Huanzhi and A Si fell silent together.

“Then let’s not worry about it for now.” Xie Yiling decided immediately, “Let’s take them all back and ask Young Master Liu.”

Next, A Si almost picked all the flowers and plants from everywhere on the ice cliff that he could reach and see. Xie Yiling and Gu Huanzhi picked the ones nearby. The three of them returned fully loaded.

To prevent the Soul-Returning Leaves from touching the undried dew in the forest, Gu Huanzhi took out a storage pouch and put all the herbs in.

The path they had taken when they came was long gone. Xie Yiling and the others returned by memory. On the way, A Si spotted a tree of wild fruits and grabbed Gu Huanzhi’s sleeve, wanting him to pick them.

Gu Huanzhi remembered what he had promised A Si before and glanced at Xie Yiling, who was not paying attention to them. He lowered his voice and said, “Okay, I’ll pick them for you, but don’t forget what we agreed on.”

A Si also imitated his appearance and whispered, “Don’t worry.”

Xie Yiling stared at a few unfamiliar strange flowers that were exposed in the grass due to the wind not far away. After hearing the conversation between the two without missing a word, he walked over.

The strange flowers in front of him, with pink and white colors, were as big as bowls. The petals were layered on top of each other, numerous and dense. He stretched out his index finger and touched the flower stalk, but there was no reaction. He also touched the petals, and it was still the same, so he was relieved and broke off three branches.

While picking the flowers, the short wildflowers on the ground came into view again. Xie Yiling squatted down, picked and chose, and soon, he had a bouquet in his hand with flowers of different sizes interspersed.

This was not the first time Xie Yiling had done this kind of thing. He skillfully tore off a slender weed. When he used force, his finger was cut. It wasn’t until he tied the bouquet firmly with the grass stalk that he felt a trace of almost negligible pain. He looked down and saw a bead of blood gradually congealing on his thumb.

A Si walked over holding the wild fruits. Xie Yiling glanced at them and said, “Why did you pick them so quickly?”

A Si said, “Seeing that he was stuck on the tree and it was difficult to pick them, I mercifully let him go.”

Gu Huanzhi jumped down from the tree, walking and asking, “Senior Brother Xie, what are you doing?”

Xie Yiling directly wiped away the blood bead, “Picking flowers.”

A Si wrinkled his nose and followed Xie Yiling’s withdrawn finger to smell it, “There’s a bloody smell, Brother Xie Ci, are you injured?”

“What?” As soon as Gu Huanzhi heard this, he quickly stepped forward to check the wound, “Senior Brother Xie, where did you get hurt?”

Xie Yiling rubbed his fingertips a few times, embarrassed to take them out, “I just scratched the skin while picking flowers, it’s nothing.”

A Si’s eyes turned, and he suddenly said, “I want to go back first!”

After he finished speaking, he almost disappeared from the two of them in the blink of an eye.

The “traveling” qi of the Five Ghosts was indeed well-deserved.

Xie Yiling frowned slightly. This little ghost A Si must have thought of some ghost idea again.

A Si stopped in front of the stone house, but didn’t go in immediately. Instead, he hid outside. He estimated that Xie Yiling and Gu Huanzhi were about to come back, and ran around in place vigorously until he was breathing rapidly before running into the courtyard in a panic.

Liu Weiyuan was drying herbs in the courtyard. Seeing him like this, he was a little strange, “What’s wrong?”

A Si was panting for breath, as if afraid that others wouldn’t hear him, and said loudly, “Brother Xie Ci! Brother Xie Ci, he, he’s injured! And he’s bleeding!”

Inside the bedroom, Nangong Ci stared at the medicinal porridge on the table that had only been touched by a spoonful, his Adam’s apple moved slightly, and a trace of resistance appeared on his face. It seemed that it was not a nourishing tonic, but a poison that was difficult to swallow.

The next second, A Si’s lively movements came from outside, and the sound was particularly noisy.

After hearing the sentence “injured and bleeding,” Nangong Ci immediately pushed the door open, his snow-white robes brushed past the door frame, filling his sleeves with a breeze. He rushed to the front yard and suddenly stopped.

Xie Yiling walked into the courtyard while arranging the bouquet in his hand. He looked up and saw Nangong Ci, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he smiled purely and brightly.

The autumn light was like gold, occupying the entire courtyard. White Bone Mountain was always green like jade, and the occasional autumn wind was not cold or fierce, only carrying a vitality.

“Shizun.” Xie Yiling, bathed in golden light, strode towards him against the gentle wind. The strands of hair on both sides of his forehead were blown behind his ears, adding a bit of unruliness. The sickly weakness of the beginning of his rebirth had almost dissipated. Now, looking at him, he exuded vigor from head to toe.

Xie Yiling smiled and said, “I picked them for you, are they pretty?”

Nangong Ci took it and carefully checked him from top to bottom, “Where are you injured?”

Xie Yiling turned to look at A Si, who immediately buried his head in eating the fruit, pretending not to see him.

He had no choice but to give Nangong Ci a thumbs up, “Here.”

Afraid that Nangong Ci wouldn’t see it, he deliberately pinched the soft flesh of his fingertip, trying to squeeze out a little blood to prove that he was indeed “injured.”

Unfortunately, the wound, no bigger than a needle eye, had already solidified. The flesh of his fingertip was pinched from red to white, but he didn’t succeed.

Liu Weiyuan walked over with hemostatic herbs, took a look, didn’t say a word, and turned around to continue pounding the herbs.

Seeing Nangong Ci’s expression stunned, Xie Yiling “puffed” out a laugh.

“Okay, Shizun.” He pushed Nangong Ci, “Let’s go in and find a bottle to put the flowers in.”

Nangong Ci had no objection and went into the house with him.

Gu Huanzhi took off the storage pouch, found an open space and poured out all the herbs. He grabbed a handful of herbs and walked over to ask Liu Weiyuan, who was pounding some medicine, “Young Master Liu, which of these is the Soul-Returning Leaf?”

Liu Weiyuan glanced at it and said, “The one with four emerald green leaves, pale yellow flowers, and snow-white roots and stems is the one.”

Gu Huanzhi saw that the Soul-Returning Leaf was on top, picked it out, and placed it in a clean place.

While he was picking, he said to A Si, who was gnawing on wild fruits, “A Si, do you want to come and help?”

A Si said, “I don’t want to.”

Gu Huanzhi asked Liu Weiyuan again, “Young Master Liu, what is the purpose of this medicine you are pounding?”

“To calm the mind.” Xie Yiling put the bouquet in a bottle, “Nangong Ci, come and smell it. It seems that my taste in picking flowers is as good as ever.”

“Xie Yiling.” Nangong Ci suddenly called out his full name.

“What?” Xie Yiling was inexplicably flustered by his call.

Nangong Ci’s shadow fell in front of him, and then he hugged him, “I have already learned the ghost contract. No matter how many times you untie it, I can renew it.”

Xie Yiling’s heart ached.

Nangong Ci’s voice was as light as a feather, “Just, no matter what the situation, can you tell me. I’m not as smart as you think. A truth, maybe it will take ten years, and I may not be able to find it.”