The giant wolf handed the ring to Chu Shaoye. “Besides Thousand Stars, this Black Jade Ring is also a birthday gift Master and Mistress prepared for you, Young Master. The Black Jade Ring is a Tier Seven Storage Spirit Artifact. Not only is its space much larger than that of ordinary Storage Spirit Artifacts, but it can also hold living things.”
Chu Shaoye took the ring. Although this Black Jade Ring was a Tier Seven Spirit Artifact, its appearance was plain and unadorned, without the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Qi. It looked like an ordinary ornament.
The giant wolf said, “Young Master, like Thousand Stars, the Black Jade Ring is a high-tier Spirit Artifact. Hurry and perform Blood-Binding on it, so you won’t have to fear someone taking it away.”
Chu Shaoye nodded, drew Thousand Stars, and cut his fingertip, dripping blood onto the Black Jade Ring. The Black Jade Ring absorbed the blood, and a gleam of light rippled across its surface before it returned to its plain and unadorned appearance.
The giant wolf looked at the ring, his eyes filled with nostalgia. Originally, it had also contained many precious items prepared for the young master, but unfortunately, they had all been used up during their escape.
Chu Shaoye put the Black Jade Ring on his little finger and examined it with his mind. There were still some infant clothes and necessities inside the ring, presumably all carefully prepared by his parents.
Chu Shaoye’s eyes stung. He squeezed them tightly shut before managing to suppress the urge to cry.
The giant wolf nuzzled the boy’s forehead. “Young Master, I have some other things to give you.”
The giant wolf led Chu Shaoye to a corner of the cave. There lay a pile of over a hundred Spirit Cores of various colors.
A Spirit Core was the center of a Spirit Beast’s Spiritual Qi circulation. Only Spirit Beasts with high innate talent could nurture one; not every Spirit Beast possessed it. Among twenty or thirty Spirit Beasts, perhaps only one could condense a Spirit Core.
“These are the Spirit Cores I have accumulated over the years. Although their tiers aren’t high, they are just right for your use, Young Master.”
Even a Tier One Spirit Beast was rarely seen near Chu Family Village. With so many Spirit Cores, who knew how far Shuangyue had traveled or how much time he had spent accumulating them?
Chu Shaoye threw himself into the giant wolf’s furry ruff and said in a muffled voice, “Thank you, Shuangyue.”
The giant wolf raised a paw and gently patted his back. “Young Master, this is what I ought to do.”
Chu Shaoye shook his head but said nothing. How could this be something Shuangyue ought to do? He had long since dissolved his contract with Chu Shaoye’s father. Entrusting him to Chu Wangshan and his wife to raise had already been the utmost kindness, yet he had also silently protected him for twelve years. How could he say it was something he ought to do?
Chu Shaoye placed the small mountain of Spirit Cores into the ring one by one, counting them as he did so. The pile contained a total of one hundred and twelve Tier One Spirit Cores, twenty-four Tier Two Spirit Cores, nine Tier Three Spirit Cores, and even one Tier Four Spirit Core of the Fire Attribute.
This was no small fortune. The currencies used on the Myriad Spirits Continent were Copper Coins, Silver Coins, and Gold Coins, with an exchange rate of one hundred to one. A single Tier One Spirit Core could sell for two Silver Coins, enough to cover a household’s expenses in Chu Family Village for a year.
Chu Shaoye nodded. He knew the giant wolf had stayed in this barren place entirely for his sake. The injuries the giant wolf had suffered back then had never fully healed, and there were no spiritual medicines here capable of treating them.
Chu Shaoye threw himself against the giant wolf. “Shuangyue, I can’t bear to part with you.”
A hint of a smile flashed through the giant wolf’s eyes. No matter how steadily the young master handled things, he was still only a twelve-year-old child.
“Young Master, we will always experience many partings throughout our lives, just as Master and I did before, and you and I are doing now. As long as we keep one another in our hearts, we will meet again someday.”
Chu Shaoye nodded, and the giant wolf escorted him to the cave entrance. “Go home, Young Master. There are still many people waiting for you.”
Holding the little fox, Chu Shaoye walked away, looking back every few steps. The giant wolf sat at the cave entrance, watching him leave as he always had.
Who knew what year or month it would be when he next saw the young master?
*
It was already evening when Chu Shaoye returned home. More than a dozen women were busy in the courtyard, all of them there to help the Chu family prepare the banquet.
Seeing him, the women greeted him warmly. “Shaoye’s back! That little fellow in your arms must be your Natal Spirit Beast. What a handsome creature.”
Chu Shaoye smiled and wanted to step forward to help, but Lan Fang shooed him back inside. “You don’t need to work. This banquet is being prepared for you children. Just wait to eat.”
Chu Shaoye could only return to his room. The sounds of talking and laughter outside drifted in through the window screen, and a deep reluctance to leave suddenly welled up in his heart.
This was the place where he had lived for twelve years, filled with the people and things most familiar and dear to him.
Chu Shaoye placed the little fox on the table and tapped its damp nose. “Xuewu, from now on, you’ll be the only one who stays by my side all the time.”
The little fox let out a howl, seemingly responding to his words.
Chu Shaoye chuckled and rubbed the soft fur around its neck. “I’ll work hard to raise you to Tier Eight. Then you’ll be able to speak just like Shuangyue.”
*
Early the next morning, the women from the previous day came to help again. Many earthen stoves had been freshly built in the courtyard, and all kinds of delicious dishes were stir-fried in iron woks.
At noon, the banquet officially began. Chu Shaoye and the two girls sat at the main table. Holding a cup of wine, Chu Wangshan offered a brief toast, and everyone began eating. The source of this chapter is novelping(.)com.
The Rolling Banquet lasted a full three days. The villagers rarely had opportunities to eat meat, and not a scrap remained of the wild boar Chu Shaoye had caught.
Of course, the villagers did not eat for free. Each household gave a small monetary gift.
After the banquet finally ended, Chu Wangshan divided the monetary gifts they had received into three portions and gave them to Chu Shaoye, Chu Qingyao, and Chu Qingyu. Each portion contained around three hundred Copper Coins.
Liu Qian declined. “Village Chief, we can’t take the monetary gifts. Our family didn’t contribute anything to this banquet. Please keep the money.”
Chu Wangshan shook his head. “The villagers gave this to Qingyu. How could I take it? Although the academy doesn’t charge them tuition, they still have to pay their own living expenses. How could they manage without money?”
He pressed the money into Chu Qingyu’s hands. “Take it. Don’t listen to your mother. Study hard after you go to the academy, and help your uncle keep an eye on Yaoyao. All she thinks about is playing.”
Chu Qingyu’s eyes reddened as she agreed. “I will. Thank you, Uncle Village Chief.”
After Chu Qingyu and her mother left, Chu Shaoye returned his own share of the monetary gifts to Chu Wangshan.
“Father, you and Mother should keep this money. You’re both getting older, so do less work from now on.”
Chu Wangshan glared. “What nonsense are you talking about? Your mother and I aren’t even forty yet. What do you mean, getting older?”
“Besides, although you won’t have to worry about food and drink when you go to the Crimson Firmament Sect, you’ll still need to grease palms at every level. How could you manage without money?”
Chu Shaoye knew words alone would not persuade Chu Wangshan, so he took a Tier One Spirit Core out of the Black Jade Ring. This Spirit Core had come from a Fire Attribute Spirit Beast. A sheen flowed across its scarlet surface, and it gave off a warm aura.
“Shuangyue gave me a lot of Spirit Cores yesterday. Once I reach Zhuyu City, I’ll exchange some of them for money. I won’t be short of money.”
Chu Wangshan knew Shuangyue was that giant wolf. More than a decade had passed, but apart from their first encounter, he had never seen that giant wolf again.
Yet he still remembered the giant wolf’s horrifying injuries and could not help asking, “He was so badly injured back then. Has he recovered completely?”
Chu Shaoye pressed his lips together. “Shuangyue’s injuries have never fully healed. After I go to the Crimson Firmament Sect, Shuangyue will also leave this place and look elsewhere for medicine to treat his injuries.”
Parting was always a heavy subject. Father and son fell silent for a while before Chu Wangshan put the money away and patted his shoulder. “Since that’s the case, I’ll keep this money for you for now. If you don’t have enough to spend once you reach the Crimson Firmament Sect, write to me, and I’ll send it to you.”
Chu Shaoye nodded and murmured his agreement.