“What kind of nonsense are you spouting in front of the kid,” Ji Yunzhao muttered, completely dazed.
Once he reacted, he rolled his eyes in exasperation at the smooth-talking mask. Following the line of the cold, pale fingertips resting against the gorgeous, intricate patterns of the artifact, he looked down at the youth, who had lowered his eyes in deep thought.
“Yan Fulang, are you really going to take this thing with you?” Ji Yunzhao asked.
His retirement insurance policy was agreeing way too quickly. Shouldn’t they coerce or bribe the mask first, dig out the locations of all the valuable spiritual materials and magic treasures hidden within the secret realm, and only then reluctantly take him out? What was Yan Fulang thinking? Why ask for the exit right off the bat? Wouldn’t that make this entire trip a waste of effort? Even his little fat bird disguise had been blown because of this wretched secret realm and this broken mask.
The confusion in the young man’s eyes was glaringly obvious. Furthermore, it was likely not just Yan Fulang’s imagination that those clear, watery apricot eyes carried a faint trace of displaced anger.
It was understandable, after all. If the mask hadn’t caused such a massive ruckus, he wouldn’t have seen and touched this beautiful little bird so early.
“Senior, he might be noisy, but he is a Heaven-grade magic treasure. If we put him up for consignment at the Treasure Pavilion, he should fetch a good price, just think of it as me helping with our household expenses,” the youth said.
It seemed the boy had figured out the secret to smoothing the ruffled feathers of his bird companion from their past interactions. A subtle, faint smile touched Yan Fulang’s thin lips as he offered a low-voiced explanation that the irritated little bird could accept.
“Besides, I want to leave the secret realm early. The weather is getting warm, and I wanted to make some cold lemon beef for you, Senior. I ordered a batch of the tenderest cuts from the city ahead of time, calculating the time, it should arrive right before dinner.”
There were plenty of ingredients to be found in the mountains, but there was no beef. Ji Yunzhao always found it too troublesome to make a trip into the city, especially since he usually had to keep a close eye on Yan Fulang’s diligent cultivation. Sometimes, even if he craved beef, he would drop the idea due to various circumstances. He hadn’t expected Yan Fulang to remember his preferences so perfectly.
A strange ripple of touched emotion rose in his heart over the cold lemon beef. Lured by the menu the youth laid out, Ji Yunzhao temporarily tossed his displaced anger aside. Snorting softly, he silently permitted Yan Fulang’s actions and took the lead, turning around to walk toward the cave entrance.
Yan Fulang followed closely, his pace unhurried, perfectly matching Ji Yunzhao’s stride without stepping ahead of him. As for how the mask felt, nobody cared.
Held in Yan Fulang’s hand, the mask swung back and forth with every step. He was nearly thrown into a fit of motion sickness, dangling dizzily for a long while before finally letting out a shrill shriek.
“What did you just say, you want to sell me to the Treasure Pavilion, how could you sell me to such an indecent place,” the mask cried. “Human trafficking is against the law!”
Ji Yunzhao turned around in surprise, asking, “Human trafficking? When did our Yanyan ever mention trafficking humans? Besides, look at yourself, do you even count as a person?”
When facing the main culprit who caused his disguise to drop, Ji Yunzhao didn’t mind teaming up with Yan Fulang to mock the entity, openly displaying their closeness in front of others. Even though he knew Ji Yunzhao was speaking this way on purpose, Yan Fulang still cooperated, keeping his expression cold and looking at the mask blankly.
The mask went silent. What Ji Yunzhao said made total sense, but how could he be so brutally blunt?
After whimpering and muttering for a long time, the mask choked out a single sentence, saying, “Mentally, I am still a human.”
“Yes, yes, sure,” Ji Yunzhao replied perfunctorily. “Whatever makes you happy.”
The Treasure Pavilion was actually the most reputable trading establishment available, boasting the highest standards and the most branches across the cultivation world. Aside from trading various magic treasures, spiritual resources, spiritual beasts, or demonic beasts, they also handled short-term and long-term rental services.
“I am no ordinary mask, not just anyone can wear me,” the mask grumbled under his breath. Paired with a voice that hadn’t been used in ages, he sounded like fingernails scratching across a blackboard.
Ji Yunzhao winced, his delicate brows knitting together. He absolutely despised such grating noises. Every time he heard them, his spine would shudder, goosebumps would break out across his skin, and waves of an odd, indescribable sensation would wash over him, born out of pure disgust.
Just as he was trying to find a way to shut the mask up, someone acted faster than him. A pair of large, distinctively jointed hands gently covered his ears, blocking out the harsh, unpleasant noise.
The youth performed such an intimate action with complete naturalness, so much so that Ji Yunzhao didn’t even notice anything amiss for a moment.
Behind them, Yan Fulang’s spiritual energy coalesced into a translucent bubble, enveloping the mask and physically isolating all sound. The surroundings finally fell quiet.
The spiritual energy bubble drifted along behind them with the mask inside. Ji Yunzhao held a small bowl of cooked sweet corn kernels in his hands, scooping a few into his mouth with a spoon as he walked. Yan Fulang walked beside him, checking the remaining snacks inside his storage bag.
Filled with both envy and jealousy, the mask’s eyes nearly turned red with longing, crying out, “I want to eat too, I want to eat too, I beg you to give me a bite, I will tell you whatever spiritual materials or magic treasures you want, ah, ah, ah!”
The mask crawled around gloomily inside the bubble, but to Ji Yunzhao’s ears, it was merely a series of muffled, indistinct murmurs that were entirely incomprehensible.
After stepping out of the cave and snacking for a bit longer, Ji Yunzhao finally tapped the floating spiritual energy bubble, releasing the mask.
The mask instantly screamed, “Ah, corn, it is corn, let me eat, eat, eat, eat!”
Ji Yunzhao stood speechless, and Yan Fulang remained silent as well.
Ji Yunzhao placed the remaining sweet corn kernels from the bowl onto the mask.
The mask hadn’t tasted food in a very long time. His fusion period with the magic treasure had lasted for a decade, and having just transformed into an artifact spirit, he could neither move his body nor manifest his soul outside of the mask. However, even if he couldn’t actually consume the sweet corn, it didn’t stop him from frantically sniffing the sweet aroma to satisfy his cravings.
“Food after all this time, I am so moved,” the mask sighed in intoxication over the sweet corn kernels for a long while before reluctantly steering the conversation back to business. “There aren’t many magic treasures, spiritual beasts, or demonic beasts in this secret realm, but there are plenty of spiritual materials, which type do you want to gather first?”
Since they were already here, they naturally wanted everything. Adults don’t make compromises.
An hour later, spiritual materials shaped like tea leaves were piled into a small hill on the ground. Ji Yunzhao rummaged through his storage bag, peering into it for ages without finding any space.
“My storage bag is full, do you have any room left on your end?” he asked.
Yan Fulang replied, “Yes, Senior, let me pack it.”
Seeing him grab the spiritual materials and dump them into his storage bag so quickly that his hands turned into a blur, Ji Yunzhao hastily called out to him, saying, “Hey, wait, you don’t need to pack all of it, just a reasonable amount is fine, we don’t have much space left to begin with, and there are other good things in this secret realm.”
Yan Fulang explained, “Xiao Rang mentioned that the tea brewed from this tastes very good.”
Xiao Rang was the mask’s name back when he was still a human.
Along the way, Ji Yunzhao noticed that Xiao Rang possessed an intimate knowledge of the secret realm, knowing exactly which spiritual materials could be used as food and which spiritual beasts had the most tender meat. Hearing Yan Fulang’s explanation, he hesitated visibly.
“Well, then we should pack more, but don’t take absolutely everything, leave some for the others.”
“Alright,” Yan Fulang complied. His speed in packing the materials slowed down, leaving behind a third of the tea leaf hill.
Aside from the heavenly treasures gathered from the secret realm, their storage bags also contained ingredients that couldn’t fit into their kitchen at home. Back when Ji Yunzhao took Yan Fulang to Cloud Horizon City for a shopping spree, he had specifically chosen storage bags with the largest capacities, yet he hadn’t expected them to be filled up so quickly.
“We really are accumulating more and more things at home, when we have time another day, let’s visit the Treasure Pavilion again,” Ji Yunzhao remarked, walking with Yan Fulang toward the location of the next spiritual beast.
Upon hearing the words Treasure Pavilion, Xiao Rang’s ears perked up instantly, deeply terrified that Ji Yunzhao and Yan Fulang would bring up the horrifying notion of selling him off there again. Fortunately, the duo seemed to have forgotten about the matter for the time being, never mentioning the Treasure Pavilion to scare him again until they finished gathering all the magic treasures and materials in the realm.
Though he couldn’t tell whether it was a poor joke or a serious threat, Xiao Rang, despite no longer possessing a physical heart, felt his heart dangling in suspense. He felt as if ants were crawling all over his body, making him uncomfortable all over. He wanted to ask but didn’t dare to, keeping it bottled up the entire way.
Ji Yunzhao drew a map based on all the treasure locations provided by Xiao Rang, planned a route, and searched through them one by one with Yan Fulang.
When they were halfway through the journey, laziness overtook him, and he didn’t want to walk anymore. Although this place was merely a Black-grade secret realm, its map was larger than even some Earth-grade realms.
After his disguise had been exposed, he had switched between his large and small forms quite a few times, making Ji Yunzhao highly proficient at it by now. Ignoring the presence of the artifact spirit Xiao Rang, he transformed directly back into his little fat bird form, flying toward Yan Fulang along a familiar path.
The fluffy little bird was caught in the youth’s palm and tucked into his vest.
Ji Yunzhao burrowed around inside the youth’s lapels for a moment, finding a comfortable position to settle down. Poking his round little head out, he said, “When we get back, sew a pocket inside your clothes, will you? Otherwise, I always feel like my footing isn’t secure.”
Yan Fulang let out a soft laugh, his finger gently brushing against the bird’s soft down feathers. “Senior, do you want to stay on my person all the time?”
“Of course not,” Ji Yunzhao replied with a stern face. “It’s only for occasional use during special circumstances.”
After saying that, Ji Yunzhao stole a glance at the youth. Was it just his imagination, or did Yan Fulang’s words sound a bit strange?
Suspended by Yan Fulang’s spiritual energy like a kite drifting behind them, Xiao Rang was startled by the live transformation of a person into a bird. He found it truly difficult to connect the cute, red-and-white bird before his eyes with the beautiful young man who had threatened him earlier.
After sputtering for a long while, he managed to choke out, “So you aren’t human either.”
Ji Yunzhao ignored him, and from that point on, he didn’t utter another word to Xiao Rang.
Yan Fulang proved to be an excellent mode of transport. Nestled in his chest, Ji Yunzhao felt drowsy, feeling as though he had merely taken a brief nap before the treasures in the secret realm were mostly gathered. Following Ji Yunzhao’s instructions, Yan Fulang didn’t take everything, leaving a portion behind.
The exit of a secret realm was generally located near the highest-grade heavenly resource within it. After making a full round through the realm, they ultimately had to return to the vicinity of the cave where they had picked up Xiao Rang.
Before leaving, Ji Yunzhao mentioned that he wanted to inform the cultivators at the mountain peak, so Yan Fulang carried him up there first. However, since they had been gone for so long, the people at the summit had already been organized by the Xingqiong Sect to look for the exit together, leaving the peak completely deserted.
Ji Yunzhao felt rather sleepy and lazy, unwilling to change back into his human form. Feeling hot inside the clothes, he flew up to perch on Yan Fulang’s shoulder instead.
Seeing that no one was around, he briefly whipped up his spirits, using his spiritual energy to sweep the fallen leaves on the ground into the air, shaping them into a massive arrow and the words ‘THE EXIT’. Any cultivator inside the secret realm would be able to see it just by looking up.
When they returned to the vicinity of the cave, they indeed spotted quite a few cultivators who had followed the arrow gathering before the water mirror at the exit.
Yan Fulang retrieved the floating mask, stuffing the protesting Xiao Rang into his storage bag regardless of his complaints. Shielding the little bird on his shoulder with one hand, he stepped through the water mirror, leaving the secret realm.
Outside the secret realm, quite a few young cultivators dressed in their respective sect uniforms had not yet departed, chatting to pass the time while waiting for their fellow disciples who were still inside.
“The sun hasn’t even set yet, and someone actually found the exit faster than the Xingqiong Sect, even leaving those words in the sky, it seems that besides the elders of the Xingqiong Sect, some unfortunate master was sucked in here too.”
“The master is such a good person, this secret realm is low in grade, so he didn’t have to give any hints at all, I thought I’d be stuck in this wretched place for several days.”
“Just now, I encountered several piles of gathered spiritual materials along the way, I thought it was rather bizarre and worried it was a trap, looking at it now, those spiritual materials must have been left behind by the master as well.”
“What, where were there spiritual materials, I didn’t see any at all, what a massive loss!”
The silent doer of good deeds, Master Ji Yunzhao, perched on Yan Fulang’s shoulder, unconsciously tilting his head up in pride before a cool, pale finger gently poked him.
The fingertip gently smoothed down the feathers behind his head with just the right amount of pressure, massaging the exact right spot. Ji Yunzhao couldn’t help but tilt his head back further, emitting a comfortable chirp.
At the sudden, crisp sound of the bird’s cry, several female cultivators looked over following the noise. Seeing Ji Yunzhao narrowing his eyes in pure bliss, they instantly grew excited.
“What a cute little bird, and it has a red-and-white gradient, it’s my first time seeing such a coat color!”
“This, wait, Senior Brother seems to have a spiritual pet that looks very similar to it, though its feathers aren’t as glossy as this one, and it’s as red as fire.”
“What, Senior Brother is secretly raising a bird, do you know what breed it is, it looks so well-behaved, I want to buy one to raise now too.”
Hearing this, Ji Yunzhao grew curious himself, his bead-like black eyes turning toward the female cultivators involuntarily. He wanted to know the breed of his fat bird form as well, since the entire original novel never mentioned it. It was likely because this character was merely meant to look cute in front of the male lead, so the author took a lazy shortcut on the details.
However, once the book transformed into a complete world, these minor details would be automatically filled in. He wondered what kind of bird this world had corrected his form into.
Yet before he could hear the female cultivators call out the name of the breed, a slender, strong hand suddenly appeared before his eyes, blocking the female cultivators from view completely.
Ji Yunzhao tilted his head in dissatisfaction, just about to peck at the pale knuckle when the youth pulled out a small piece of walnut like a magic trick.
“Senior,” Yan Fulang said in a low voice, offering the walnut kernel forward. “I just found this in the storage bag, the very last piece, do you want it?”
Ji Yunzhao’s eyes lit up instantly. Opening his tender yellow beak, he snatched the walnut kernel from Yan Fulang’s hand.
During lunchtime, they were still inside the secret realm and had eaten very casually. Snacks couldn’t truly fill his stomach, they only served to satisfy his cravings, so he was currently quite starved.
Unfortunately, the body of his little fat bird form was too small. Holding the walnut in his beak made it inconvenient to swallow in one bite. The piece of walnut returned to Yan Fulang’s hand, who carefully broke it into tiny pieces before feeding them back into the little bird’s mouth.
Ji Yunzhao munched happily on the sweet, fragrant walnut. As Yan Fulang fed him a tiny piece, he ate a bite, completely throwing the matter of his breed to the back of his mind.
“This walnut is excellent, it tastes best when coated with honey.”
Yan Fulang cast a calm look at the crowd gathered at the entrance of the secret realm. Gently using the pad of his finger to wipe away the crumbs clinging to the bird’s beak, he walked toward the direction of the bamboo house with the satisfied little bird.
“As long as Senior likes it, I will go buy some more.”