Resurrecting Wang Ting would be the best outcome.
Yu Zaixi subconsciously looked at the child being carried by Jiang Yan. “You aren’t about to say that he has a way to do it, are you?”
Yu Zaixi lowered his head to ponder. If his memories from several hundred years ago were correct, this child looked almost exactly like he did when he was young. Perhaps he really did have some connection to Yuan Qi. Could he be as gifted as Yuan Qi?
However, no matter how gifted he might be, he was still just a child. It was obvious that he hadn’t even started cultivating yet. Wang Ting’s body had already begun to decompose; how could he possibly save her?
Then, a bizarre thought crossed Yu Zaixi’s mind: surely Jiang Yan didn’t intend for Wang Ting’s soul to inhabit this child’s body? That would be too horrifying, and wouldn’t it mean this child’s life would be over?
Out of humanitarian concern, Yu Zaixi advised, “One should still try to be kind. Even if you can’t save her, don’t use someone else’s life to do it.” Even if this was just a homeless little beggar, a life was still a life.
Yu Zaixi clicked his tongue twice and walked over, raising his hand to take the child down. But as he approached, Jiang Yan turned away, holding the child. Yu Zaixi’s nose grazed Jiang Yan’s hair, and he immediately jumped back, wiping his nose as a reflex.
Since Jiang Yan refused to hand the child over, Yu Zaixi asked, “So, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Jiang Yan glanced at him and placed the child on the ground. “He possesses the power of Withered Wood Returning to Spring. Let him restore that body.”
“Are you serious?” Yu Zaixi had never heard of such a thing in this world. It seemed too excessive. Could a body still be restored even after it had rotted?
He looked down at the child again. The boy didn’t run away after being set down; he stood between them with a cold expression, not moving closer to either of them.
Yu Zaixi squatted down, lifted his chin, and asked, “Do you have a name? What are you called?”
The child seemed to realize he couldn’t escape. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly said, “Ci Fengxue.”
Yu Zaixi gasped. “Your name is cooler than mine. In that case, I’ll call you Little Ci for now. When you grow up, I’ll use your full name.”
Yu Zaixi cared about this, mostly because “Little Ci” sounded so cool. He wondered who had given him such a nice name.
Little Ci didn’t object. He turned to look at Jiang Yan. “I don’t know how to do anything. Catching me is useless.”
Of course, he didn’t know how to do anything yet. Jiang Yan hadn’t expected him to know, so he nodded to Yu Zaixi and said, “You have to come too.”
Yu Zaixi let out a sigh and looked up at Jiang Yan from below. “Me again? I just got back. Besides, I don’t know how to do anything either.”
One adult and one child, both with the same look on their faces, stared at Jiang Yan. He lowered his eyes for a moment, then chuckled softly. The coldness in his eyes dissipated slightly as he turned and said, “Follow me.”
The two of them had no choice but to follow.
As they left, Yu Zaixi didn’t forget to tell the two young women to wait a moment, nor did he forget to tell Miao Pei to wait, though he wasn’t sure where she was.
The three walked out in a line. Yu Zaixi sauntered along, sighing, “I really don’t want to leave. Why don’t I just wait for you all there?”
Before he could finish casting his spell, Jiang Yan waved his hand, and the three of them landed steadily at the entrance of the alleyway.
Yu Zaixi dismissed his formation, very satisfied with Jiang Yan’s performance. “That’s how it should be. Take better care of the child.”
The other two looked at him simultaneously.
Yu Zaixi, face unfazed, crossed his arms and walked inside. “Come on, let’s see how to solve this. Miss Wang is waiting.”
Jiang Yan led Little Ci inside. As soon as they entered the alley, the luster of Jiang Yan’s clothes dimmed significantly. Little Ci was wearing rags, which actually looked harmonious in the dark alley, and Yu Zaixi’s gold-threaded black robes were not significantly affected. Only Jiang Yan’s clothing had visibly changed.
In any other situation, Yu Zaixi would have teased him, but considering how dark the illusion in the cave had been, where Jiang Yan’s clothes had flowed with light, it was strange that they dimmed in this alley.
Yu Zaixi reached out and put his arm around Little Ci’s shoulder to pull him closer, then subtly edged closer to Jiang Yan. His own strength wasn’t high, so it was better to rely on Jiang Yan. Besides, Little Ci was just a child and needed protection.
He wondered if the clothes were the reason he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with the alley earlier. If they helped one observe the environment, he would definitely get a set for himself when he returned.
Yu Zaixi made up his mind. He realized he had seen too little of the world, never having encountered such treasures while living at the foot of the mountain. If he were to return to the Tianji Pavilion with Jiang Yan, he would definitely have to swindle him for more treasures.
While thinking about this, he didn’t forget to protect Little Ci. He reached out and checked the boy’s meridians; he certainly did have talent. Another gifted kid.
Little Ci noticed what Yu Zaixi was doing and asked, “I heard someone talking here earlier.”
Yu Zaixi didn’t think much of it. “The walls probably don’t soundproof well.”
“He told me to look for someone named Yuan Qi,” Little Ci added.
Yu Zaixi stopped and looked down in shock. “And then?”
“I don’t know. He only told me to find Yuan Qi and didn’t tell me what else to do.” Little Ci sounded annoyed.
Yu Zaixi stared at him for a moment, patted his head, and turned to Jiang Yan. “Can you see anything here?” A Grandmaster-level cultivator should be able to.
“No,” Jiang Yan replied.
Yu Zaixi was stunned. “You can’t see it?” He checked Jiang Yan’s clothes again; they were clearly different, as if separated by a layer of black fog.
Yu Zaixi had to turn back to Little Ci. “Have you ever seen the person who spoke to you?”
Little Ci shook his head.
“Oh,” Yu Zaixi said. “It’s fine. Maybe I saw it wrong. Let’s hurry; Miss Wang is waiting.”
He feigned indifference, but his brows were furrowed. What was the connection between Yuan Qi and this child? Jiang Yan must know something, otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought the child back.
Yu Zaixi pushed Little Ci forward and gestured in the air, lifting the straw mat. Wang Ting’s body was wrapped in clothes; aside from being sunken, it was hard to tell much else, but the parts that were exposed were difficult to look at.
Unable to bear it, Yu Zaixi looked away and made small talk. “How did you find Miss Wang’s body? Did you just pick it up on the street?”
Little Ci hummed in agreement, appearing accustomed to such sights, and asked Jiang Yan, “What should I do?”
Jiang Yan said to Yu Zaixi, “Release your spiritual power through his body.”
As he spoke, he drew a spell in the air, put his two fingers together, and slowly pushed the formation toward them. Yu Zaixi gripped Little Ci’s wrist, transmitting his spiritual power while tracing the formation.
He didn’t know where Jiang Yan had found the spell, but it truly had the power to bring the dead back to life. As Yu Zaixi’s spiritual power flowed out, Wang Ting’s body began to change, slowly recovering.
While watching these changes, Yu Zaixi felt a shift within himself. For years, he had been suppressed at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, unable to break through, his spiritual power so overflowing it was bothersome. Now, as it flowed out slowly through Little Ci’s body, he felt much lighter.
Little Ci has to stay with me, Yu Zaixi thought. I can’t let him leave.
After restoring Wang Ting’s body, they opened a formation and returned to Zheng Xueran’s room. Yu Zaixi carried the body back. He was a bit repulsed—it still smelled, after all—but for humanitarian reasons, and mostly because Wang Ting’s situation was so tragic and Jiang Yan refused to help while Little Ci had no strength, he did it. Otherwise, if they had just opened the portal, she would have been dropped on the ground, which would be too disrespectful.
In any case, once back, Yu Zaixi quickly swapped their bodies and switched Miao Pei back. The group gathered their things and left the Zheng family residence.
When they arrived, Qin Nai was already sitting on the cloud ship. He had even found time to draw a defensive formation for the Wang family.
As for going to the Tianji Pavilion, only Yu Zaixi had objections, but since his life was tied to theirs, he couldn’t run.
Before boarding the cloud ship, Yu Zaixi confirmed again, “It’s a deal. You won’t expose my identity. I’m just Qin Nai’s friend who came along.”
Jiang Yan nodded and boarded the ship first.
Yu Zaixi sighed and reached out to grab Little Ci, but he wasn’t there. Turning back, he saw the boy had already run half a street away. “You can’t run away. Why are you running?”
Just as he raised his hand to use his spiritual power to catch the boy, he discovered that Little Ci suddenly had spiritual energy in his body and had waved his hand to block the attack.
Yu Zaixi was stunned, and even Jiang Yan, who had already boarded, turned back to look. It turned out that the spiritual power Yu Zaixi had just released hadn’t been wasted; it had gone into Little Ci.
Yu Zaixi laughed. He grabbed Little Ci anyway, ignoring the dirt on him, and carried him onto the ship with one hand. “Well, your cultivation will be easy now. I’ll just give you all my excess spiritual power from now on.”
He tossed the boy onto the deck. Little Ci scrambled to the edge of the ship, intending to jump off, but Jiang Yan waved his sleeve, and the cloud ship instantly rose to the high heavens. Little Ci, hanging halfway off the edge, stared in shock.
Yu Zaixi sighed. This was the power of a Grandmaster. While others had to slowly ascend, a single wave of Jiang Yan’s hand brought the ship almost to its destination.
“Just come back. It’s better to follow us; you have food, drink, and someone to protect you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll enter the Tianji Pavilion, start cultivating, and become the next prodigy. Isn’t that good?” Yu Zaixi asked from behind him.
Little Ci dropped to the deck with a dark face, staring at Yu Zaixi with hostility. “You are Yuan Qi.”
“I am Yu Zaixi. I’ll explain when there’s an opportunity. You probably wouldn’t understand it right now.” Yu Zaixi grabbed his head and brought him back. “Let’s go. We’ll change your clothes when we get there. Jiang Yan is rich; you’ll be lucky if you hug his thigh.”
Seeing Little Ci was brought back, Jiang Yan walked into a room. A moment later, he came out with two sets of clothes. Yu Zaixi exclaimed; he really didn’t have any clean clothes left, so he didn’t stand on ceremony with Jiang Yan. He took the clothes and led Little Ci to change.
As they headed to a room, Jiang Yan called out, “Little Ci.”
Yu Zaixi and Little Ci both turned back. Jiang Yan moved aside, and Little Ci walked obediently into the room behind him.
Qin Nai, who had been enjoying the show, felt Jiang Yan’s cold gaze and quickly found a room to sit in. Miao Pei was smart enough not to watch the drama at all.
The cloud ship traveled a thousand miles a day, and since Quzhou City was located at the foot of the Tianji Pavilion, they had arrived by the time the two had finished changing.
Yu Zaixi had seen the Tianji Pavilion in his dreams countless times, but this was his first time here. Unlike the grand and imposing structures of other sects, the Tianji Pavilion didn’t even have a proper gate plaque, just a rock on the roadside with no inscription. It was the only one among the countless sects on the mountain that didn’t have a gate.
Beyond the stone was the Thousand-Step Staircase. Legend has it that the path was carved from a single complete boulder into a thousand steps.
Entering the sect prohibited using magic formations or riding cloud ships, so they had to walk. This was truly a challenge for Yu Zaixi. It wasn’t that he was lazy; it was that his body was in constant pain. Every movement caused varying degrees of discomfort, especially walking. He had to walk every day, and it was driving him crazy.
Before he could stand in front of the stone and complain, Jiang Yan raised his hand, activated a formation, and said to the others, “Move.”
Yu Zaixi was the first to jump in. If Jiang Yan made a mistake, it wasn’t his fault, and even if the elders investigated, they wouldn’t find him responsible.
As for what Jiang Yan’s motive was, perhaps he was just taking care of a child.