FCRCG Chapter 36

Lin Jiu received the message and immediately informed Lian Yi, also wanting to ask about his plans going forward.

From what he knew, Gu Xu’s injuries had not yet healed, and most of the celestial masters in the Inner Court were busy dealing with resentful spirits, unable to spare any attention.

Furthermore, with him keeping a timely watch on various developments, Lian Yi just needed to carefully hide his whereabouts to avoid being discovered by other celestial masters.

“Should we send the rose to the area where the earth spirit is missing?”

“I’ll ask.”

Earth spirits didn’t like humans. So to successfully send the rose there, Nan Deng would likely need to go himself.

Holding the communicator, Lin Jiu waited patiently. He actually wanted to go along; the area with the missing earth spirit was also on the plague’s spread route, and the situation there was worse.

If he could go, he might be able to help if anything happened along the way.

However, it wouldn’t be easy to explain to Weng Ping Ran, especially since he had secretly helped Lian Yi last time. Now, the directive to capture Lian Yi had just been issued, and his departure could easily arouse suspicion.

As Lin Jiu pondered, footsteps sounded behind him.

He turned and saw Weng Ping Ran.

Respectfully, Lin Jiu greeted, “Teacher.”

Weng Ping Ran was about to go to the hospital but stopped, scrutinizing Lin Jiu for a moment. “You look like you haven’t slept for days.”

Lin Jiu had dark circles and a generally poor complexion, clearly not having rested well.

He quickly explained, “I went to the hospital in the neighboring area a few times, trying to see if there were any other clues…”

In truth, he had been busy with matters concerning Nan Deng and Lian Yi these past few days.

Because of his close contact with the mountain god, Lin Jiu was indeed quite excited.

However, this was something he couldn’t let others know, leading to his sleeplessness for two whole days.

Weng Ping Ran, who knew Lin Jiu well, didn’t suspect anything. He patted Lin Jiu on the shoulder. “There’s no use rushing this. Tonight, just get a good night’s sleep and don’t worry about anything else.” Lin Jiu agreed, and Weng Ping Ran changed the subject, “Have you contacted him?”

By “him”, Weng Ping Ran meant Lian Yi.

“When he appeared in the neighboring area a few days ago, I… sent a message,” Lin Jiu said, half-true and half-false. “But he didn’t reply.”

Weng Ping Ran glared at Lin Jiu. “I knew it…”

“Never mind. Just don’t do it again,” he said with a cold snort. “Lian Yi dares to collude with resentful spirits; he is too dangerous. You must not have any further dealings with him!”

Lin Jiu bowed his head compliantly and agreed again.

He watched Weng Ping Ran’s back as he turned and walked away, his brows gradually furrowing.

Lin Jiu knew better than anyone whether Lian Yi had colluded with resentful spirits. The accusations in the directive were utterly baseless.

If they knew the real situation, that Lian Yi was actually by the mountain god’s side, who knew what their reaction would be?

For a moment, Lin Jiu even considered revealing the truth to defend Lian Yi.

But now was not the right time.

—

In the hotel room, Nan Deng sat on the sofa, opening a cup of jelly.

He held a spoon, taking a couple of bites himself, then feeding a bite to the rabbit head.

The rabbit head opened its mouth wide, catching the jelly offered.

The rose sat quietly nearby, seemingly uninterested in the snacks.

Lian Yi approached and relayed the content of Lin Jiu’s message to Nan Deng.

He only mentioned the matter concerning the earth spirit, leaving out details about himself. “Do you want to keep the flower?”

The rose, because of Nan Deng, had gained special abilities and became an earth spirit. Nan Deng had the right to decide its fate.

Keeping the flower with him would also offer protection.

Nan Deng hesitated. “That area, does it have no Earth Spirit?”

He knew that the duty of an Earth Spirit was to suppress evil energy and eliminate troublesome resentful spirits. Without an Earth Spirit, the difficulty for celestial masters to capture spirits would increase significantly.

Although Hei Mao and Ren Shi were just cute little creatures to him, he had witnessed the power of the rose the day before.

With an Earth Spirit present, the residents there would be much safer.

Lian Yi responded with a hum.

Nan Deng, feeling a bit reluctant, gently stroked the rosebud, shaking his head. “I want to send it there.”

The rose moved, lowering its bud and brushing against Nan Deng’s palm.

It was telling Nan Deng in its own way that it was willing to go along with whatever decision he made.

Since the decision to leave was made, Lian Yi planned to depart the next day.

He sent a message to Lin Jiu and began packing.

Nan Deng took out his phone and opened the map, looking at it for a while.

The place they needed to go was quite far. If they left by car the next morning, they would arrive by noon the day after tomorrow, needing to stop for a night’s rest on the way.

There was also a light red warning marker on the map, newly added, indicating the possible presence of an epidemic in the area.

Sliding the map, Nan Deng noticed many places had this marker.

He pressed his lips together and turned off his phone.

—

That evening, the hotel staff delivered another table full of food.

After filling his stomach, Nan Deng put down his bowl and ran to the sofa to watch TV.

He quietly took a bag of chips and was about to open it when he heard a cat’s meow from outside the window.

This was the sixth floor of the hotel; an ordinary cat wouldn’t be able to climb up here.

Lian Yi went to pull back the curtains and indeed saw the lion-man and the black cat outside.

Ren Shi held the sturdy Hei Mao in one hand and tapped on the glass window.

Lian Yi opened the window, and Ren Shi flew in with Hei Mao.

Hei Mao landed and dashed toward Nan Deng.

Nan Deng was both surprised and delighted, hugging the two Earth Spirits. “How did you come here?”

Hei Mao and Ren Shi seemed fine, not appearing injured or seeking Nan Deng due to any harm.

This afternoon, Nan Deng had been thinking that he would be leaving early tomorrow morning and wasn’t sure when he would see them again.

If given the chance, he hoped to thank them. Yet here they were tonight, coming on their own and together.

Ren Shi held Nan Deng’s arm and pointed to the rose on the coffee table.

It had sensed the rose’s call. It learned that Nan Deng was about to leave, so it hurriedly came here. It brought the black cat along.

Last time, Ren Shi had brought back the rose for the same reason, responding to its call. At that time, the nearest Earth Spirits were only Ren Shi and Hei Mao.

Nan Deng didn’t know about the rose’s special abilities; he thought they had come just to visit it.

“I’m going to take it away from here,” Nan Deng said as he hugged Hei Mao who had jumped into his arms. “We’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

He rubbed Hei Mao’s head, feeling very reluctant to part.

But the two Earth Spirits were understanding. Ren Shi nodded and uttered a soft “hmm”.

They had come in the night and would soon have to leave again, needing to return to patrol their area.

Ren Shi and Hei Mao also bid farewell to the rose. Ren Shi murmured something to the rosebud, its expression subtly changing as it turned to face the rabbit head beside it.

With a serious expression, it gently bowed towards the rabbit head, then left through the window with Hei Mao.

The rabbit head still sat there blankly, blinking its eyes.

Nan Deng stood by the window, watching their figures gradually disappear into the night before closing the window again.

Early the next morning, Lin Jiu rushed to the hotel.

He personally arranged a car with a driver he had selected to ensure no leakage of passenger information.

The driver, upon learning the destination was in an epidemic area, was reluctant at first. It was only after Lin Jiu added extra money and gave many ghost-repelling tools that the driver agreed, insisting on dropping them outside the city.

Lin Jiu couldn’t accompany them and hurried away after bringing the driver.

The rabbit head was tucked into Nan Deng’s pocket, while he carefully held the rose and instructed it, “You mustn’t move when strangers are around, or grow larger, or show your teeth…”

The rose obediently disguised itself as a real flower and was placed on the back seat of the car, occupying a small space.

Once the driver confirmed everything was in order, the car left the hotel.

Nan Deng wore a mask and a hat, hands protecting the rabbit head in his pocket. He leaned against Lian Yi to catch up on sleep.

The journey was somewhat dull; Nan Deng played with his phone for a while, gazing absentmindedly at the scenery outside the window.

Approaching the border of the area, there were people responsible for inspections on the roadside, checking if any sick residents were leaving the city.

Nan Deng looked ahead anxiously from a distance, not spotting anyone in the attire of a celestial master.

He quietly clasped Lian Yi’s hand, feeling somewhat nervous.

Fortunately, the inspection process was swift, and the workers only glanced at a few people’s eyes before waving them through.

As they left the intersection, Nan Deng relaxed.

Meanwhile, someone emerged from behind a tree by the roadside, staring intently at the departing sedan while taking out a communicator from his person.

“We’ve spotted someone here who looks like Lian Yi,” he spoke into the communicator, “resembles him, but not entirely certain.”

He had been fortunate to have seen Lian Yi a few times; Lian Yi’s demeanor was distinct, even with a mask on.

While ordinary people might struggle to recognize him, celestial masters practicing spiritual arts were more perceptive.

Short-staffed recently, he hesitated to approach alone, afraid of inadvertently being silenced.

Shortly after, Elder Weng Ping Ran, who had just lain down to rest, was awoken by the sound of his communicator.

He immediately got up and opened the communicator.

“Left the city? Which direction?” Weng Ping Ran pressed, “He’s accompanied by another person?”

Frowning, he added, “Why wasn’t his identity confirmed on the spot?”

In his view, Lian Yi was unlikely to travel with others unless he was coercing a resident to facilitate his escape.

Overall, Weng Ping Ran remained skeptical about this information.

After pondering for a moment, he said, “Inform Elder Gu Xu over there to find a way to confirm this.”

If they were to pursue him, they needed more precise information.

Weng Ping Ran terminated the communication, hesitated briefly, and then instructed his subordinates to alert responsible personnel in other areas to be vigilant of new residents entering the city in recent days.

On the other side, Gu Xu received the transmission, enraged enough to slam his cup to the ground.

“You want me to confirm? How am I supposed to confirm?” he seethed, “This guy surnamed Weng, taking advantage of my injury to disrespect me even more!”

His subordinates had all been reassigned by Weng Ping Ran to quickly clear up the resentful spirits, leaving him with only a few caretakers.

There had been no response from Xie Yun for several days either. Gu Xu wondered what he could possibly be busy with.

The more Gu Xu thought about it, the angrier he became, and the bandages on his back were stained with blood once again.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he swallowed a pill and muttered under his breath, “If not for this Hui Shou…”

Otherwise, he would have personally pursued Lian Yi and avenged Zhuo Qing.

Unfortunately, in his current state, he could barely step out of his room, hardly better than a ghost himself.

With a sinister expression, Gu Xu picked up the communicator he had thrown down earlier and dialed Xie Yun’s number.

This time, the call finally connected.

Xie Yun’s voice, slightly hoarse, came through, “What’s the matter?”

“You mentioned last time,” Gu Xu asked, “about a method to rapidly advance in spiritual arts. What exactly is it?”

“You want to give it a try?” Xie Yun chuckled lightly, “Alright, I’ll come see you tonight.”

“Tonight?” Gu Xu puzzled, “Aren’t you at your own place? You can make it tonight?”

But Xie Yun didn’t say more, and the call was abruptly cut off.

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