At night, wolf howls echoed again in the distance.
Su Tangxing was awakened by the noise, wondering what was wrong with these wolves.
When is the wolves’ mating season? If she remembered correctly, it should be between January and February.
It was already June now—what were they howling about?
The little puppy beside her pillow also woke up, yawning with its mouth wide open.
Su Tangxing reached out her hand, and it licked her fingers. After listening to the wolf howls for a while, it even tried to imitate them.
Its milky, childish voice was adorable, but it was already evening.
Su Tangxing pinched its short snout. “Go to sleep.”
She got up to close the window, and the noise immediately grew much quieter. In the corner, faint ghost fires glowed like two wall lamps.
Tomorrow, she would have to go talk to these wolves.
They couldn’t keep howling like this.
It was too disturbing to the peace.
It seemed that the bamboo shoots she brought back had inspired the master chefs in the dining hall, as the next morning’s breakfast featured bamboo shoot and pork buns.
The dining hall offered both free and paid options, and the bamboo shoot and pork buns required Spirit Beads to purchase.
The pork used came from the pigs raised in the Leisurely Immortal Abode itself.
Each pig was raised clean, plump, and white. In their leisure time, disciples would even play the qin for them to cultivate their temperament.
When they grew up, they were painlessly slaughtered, and their meat was completely free of any gamey taste.
Whoever came up with such a raising method was truly a genius.
Lin Xiangqing preferred a vegetarian diet, so Su Tangxing ate the pork buns herself and brought him the free steamed buns separately.
Just as she was asking him in Tongjue what he wanted to eat by listing the dishes, laughter from a few disciples came from the doorway. “Whose puppy is this? Haha, it’s so tiny.”
“Looks like it’s only a few months old. Hey, has any big dog in the sect given birth recently?”
“No, I haven’t heard of any. Tsk tsk tsk, come here, little puppy.”
Catching the keyword, Su Tangxing turned around just in time to see the yellow puppy struggling to climb over the dining hall’s threshold.
Its front paws were clinging to the threshold while its hind legs dangled in the air, kicking desperately. Several disciples were crouched in front of it, watching.
When it saw strangers, it barked fiercely.
The disciples burst into laughter. “Oh my, so fierce?”
A shorter disciple said, “This is the Great-Grandmaster’s dog.”
When she approached, the fierce barks turned into pitiful whimpers.
Even though Su Tangxing had left it outside, it refused to stay put, wanting to follow her step by step.
Once picked up, it calmed down, staying still and obedient.
The baby-faced disciple who had spoken was the one responsible for feeding the little water buffalo, named Nan Gui.
That morning, when she went to fetch milk, she had seen him accompanying the little water buffalo as it soaked in the lake.
Upon learning she had a dog, he enthusiastically offered a set of food bowls and told her how to feed such a young puppy.
Among the group, Su Tangxing only recognized him. After greeting him, Nan Gui asked, “Great-Grandmaster, how is the senior brother doing?”
The others quieted down as well. Su Tangxing said he was fine, just had a chill.
“That’s good to hear.” Nan Gui let out a sigh of relief and took out a hollowed-out small ball from his Storage Ring. “This is a Spirit-Infused Colored Ball that a few junior sisters and I bought at the foot of the mountain. It can ward off cold and heat. Could you please deliver it to the senior brother for us?”
The junior sisters beside him nodded repeatedly. “We hope the senior brother recovers quickly. Today is already Grain in Ear, and in a few days, it will be the Demon Sealing Festival, which only happens once a year. The senior brother hasn’t been able to go for several years now… The Demon Sealing Festival is only fun when everyone goes out together to celebrate.”
The sixth day of the sixth lunar month was the day the Primal God descended to seal the Demonic Abyss Ravine. To commemorate this day, Cultivators spontaneously organized the Demon Sealing Festival, where everyone celebrated together.
Cultivators exchange gifts among themselves and go down the mountain to present gifts to ordinary people.
The unique tradition at Leisurely Immortal Abode is to travel with Spirit Beasts, exploring the vast mortal world on foot.
“Will the Great-Grandmaster be going too?”
Several female disciples looked over.
Su Tangxing nodded, and they immediately smiled, chattering excitedly about what gifts they would give to the common folk that day, inviting Su Tangxing to join them.
During the game, she often went down the mountain on this day, handing out eggs everywhere.
But now, her farm hadn’t even started preparations yet—no ranch, no chickens—so she wasn’t sure what to give.
Lost in thought, she brought Lin Xiangqing his meal and handed him the Spirit-Infused Colorful Orb.
Lin Xiangqing took it and, upon hearing Su Tangxing mention how his junior brothers and sisters were eagerly awaiting his recovery, smiled helplessly. “They’ve spent so much again.”
The weak point of Leisurely Immortal Abode lies in Artifact Refining—not that they can’t do it, but they’re not particularly skilled. For good Magical Artifacts, most have to go down the mountain to buy from the chain stores opened by Tongqi Mountain.
Now, there is an Artifact Refining master on the mountain, but no one has thought to seek him out.
This Spirit-Infused Colorful Orb is a high-grade Magical Artifact, so its price must be quite high.
When she left the dining hall, she still saw that group of people lining up for steamed buns.
Lin Xiangqing held the small orb, lost in thought. Su Tangxing, sitting a bit farther away because of the dog, waited for a while but saw no sign of him snapping out of it, so she spoke up: “Do you know the wolves from Wushi Mountain?”
Lin Xiangqing: “Hmm?”
“Recently, they’ve been howling in the middle of the night, keeping me from sleeping well. But I don’t know their Cultivation Base, so I can’t just go over there recklessly. Since you’re well-traveled and knowledgeable, I thought I’d ask you.”
“I only recognize the Spirit Beasts of our sect.” Lin Xiangqing’s attention shifted. “There is a pack of wolves, led by the Black Wolf King, a senior Demon Cultivator. Wait a moment, I’ll send her a message.”
He took out his Tongjue.
Su Tangxing: “?”
She asked, “The Black Wolf King uses Tongjue too?”
Seeing her expression, Lin Xiangqing laughed. “Yes, she does.”
A wolf using a phone to send text messages… This left Su Tangxing astonished. But then again, thinking about it, her Fox Master could speak human language and walk upright, so perhaps it wasn’t so surprising after all.
Lin Xiangqing sent a message, and after a short while, the Tongjue flashed—a reply from the Wolf King.
He read it and explained to Su Tangxing: “She gave birth to a single cub in February. The Little Wolf is lively and active, always running off at night, so the pack has to howl to communicate. I told the Wolf King, and she said from now on, she’ll use Tongjue for such matters. You can rest easy.”
Su Tangxing imagined the scene. “…Alright.”
Lin Xiangqing didn’t have much of an appetite and only ate half a steamed bun. Coincidentally, a flock of sparrows flew to the windowsill, so he tore the remaining half into small pieces and fed them.
The sparrows chirped noisily, and one even boldly perched on his head.
He tilted his head slightly, and the sparrow finally flew away.
It looked quite cute, but these creatures have straight-through digestive systems, so Lin Xiangqing didn’t dare let it stay on his head for too long.
After feeding the steamed bun and putting away the lunchbox, the sparrows hopped along the windowsill for a while, tilting their heads and seeing there was truly nothing left, before flocking noisily to the bayberry tree outside the window.
The bright red bayberries weighed down the branches slightly, with small holes pecked by birds here and there.
They liked to peck each one once but never finished them. Such a waste.
“The Great-Grandmaster has just arrived and doesn’t have anything to give yet. How about joining me this year to give out bayberries?”
Lin Xiangqing leaned forward, plucked a perfectly intact bayberry from the nearest branch, and said with a smile, “These bayberries carry a hint of Spiritual Qi. I couldn’t go last year, so would Great-Grandmaster accompany me this time?”
This meant she had agreed.
Seeing her nod, Lin Xiangqing added, “But I’m not very energetic, so I might dampen everyone’s spirits.”
Su Tangxing replied, “That’s fine. You can ride the Heavenly Horse the whole way. Measuring the distance with feet—the Heavenly Horse’s hooves count as feet too.”
Lin Xiangqing couldn’t help but laugh at this twisted logic.