The man’s face instantly turned a little dark.
This was the first time he had seen the young man take the initiative to acknowledge someone as a friend in all the years he had known him.
For a moment, he raised his eyes with a gloomy expression and scrutinized the young man the youth had embraced from head to toe.
Jing Li, looking at the person who had suddenly pounced on him, was also a little confused. He had not expected this person’s personality to be so carefree and unrestrained.
He hurriedly reached out to steady the other’s arms and helped him regain his balance. After the other person stood firmly, he politely let go and stepped aside with a faint smile, nodding at him, “Hello.”
Wang Lele, standing beside him, finally came to his senses and quickly stepped forward, partially shielding Jing Li and introducing him, “He is the owner of the Green Forest, Boss Ju1菊 (jú) – chrysanthemum, He is Mr. Chrysanthemum hehe.”
As he spoke, he glanced at the young man before him, “Boss Ju, this is the friend I mentioned to you before…”
“I know, I know.” The young man gazed at Jing Li with a radiant expression, his nostrils flaring slightly as if sniffing the other’s scent, not even sparing a glance at Wang Lele.
He casually waved his hand at Wang Lele, dismissively saying, “You want to eat, right? The first private room on the left side of the second floor. Go directly.”
Wang Lele, abruptly cut off: “…”
However, the young man, or rather Boss Ju, had no intention of paying him any attention. After saying that, he continued to stare at Jing Li, occasionally sniffing while smiling eagerly, “I feel I have quite a connection with your friend. I probably need to chat with him privately.”
With that, he didn’t care about the reactions of those present and grabbed Jing Li’s arm, about to walk inside.
Wang Lele, seeing his expression like someone eyeing a mountain of gold with greedy eyes, instinctively reached out to stop him.
However, before he could speak, he saw Jing Li turn his head and smile reassuringly at him, “It’s fine, you go to the private room first, and I’ll be right there.”
With those words, he followed Boss Ju away, his composed demeanor showing no signs of coercion.
For a moment, Wang Lele was a little confused, but since Jing Li himself didn’t say anything, he could only respond and head to the private room alone.
The remaining man glanced at the three who had left separately, about to speak, but the young man walked past him without a sideways glance, not even sparing him a look.
He paused, about to follow, but as he took a step forward, a transparent film suddenly hit him, bouncing him back.
The man: “…”
The man sighed helplessly at the empty air before him and could only turn and leave reluctantly.
*
In the backyard of the attic, Boss Ju dragged Jing Li all the way to a stone table and sat down. He then raised his hand to create a transparent barrier before directly addressing Jing Li, “You truly are handsome! I’ve never seen a spirit with such outstanding looks after transforming. Your cultivation must be very high, right?”
In the Spiritual Realm, only those with higher cultivation would have better appearances, as those required nourishment from spiritual energy.
“And I can’t even sense the aura of a spirit from you!”
Jing Li neither confirmed nor denied the other party’s guess; he merely smiled at him, then glanced at the yellow chrysanthemums that almost covered the entire backyard. Suddenly, he asked an abrupt question, “Are you a chrysanthemum spirit?”
“How did you know?!” Boss Ju widened his eyes in astonishment, then looked at him admiringly, “You really are formidable! You recognized my true form at a single glance!”
Jing Li: “……”
You didn’t even need to look?
Jing Li couldn’t help but laugh, thinking this little demon seemed quite wild, but it was rather interesting.
“Are you also cultivating down the mountain? I heard that there is a place called the Entertainment Circle there which is a good place to practice. Many spirits go there.” The little chrysanthemum spirit looked at him enviously, his tone full of yearning, “I’ve always wanted to go and take a look. Unfortunately, I can’t leave at all.”
Could not leave?
Had he not left the mountain for many years?
Jing Li glanced at him in slight surprise, then recalled the large tree he had seen in the courtyard earlier, instantly understanding.
However, he didn’t inquire further. After all, they had just met for the first time, despite being from the same demon race.
Moreover, he didn’t come here to explore the secrets of others’ tree of life.
With this thought, Jing Li looked directly at the little chrysanthemum spirit and asked the question he was concerned about.
“You said many demons have gone to the entertainment industry to cultivate?” Jing Li asked in puzzlement, “But I’ve been in the entertainment industry and have never sensed any demonic aura or heard of any abnormalities occurring.”
“Perhaps you just haven’t encountered them,” the little chrysanthemum spirit said nonchalantly. “Besides, with such sparse spiritual energy here, being able to cultivate into form is already impressive. How could you encounter so many demons, let alone accumulate the power of faith needed for tribulation transcendence?”
“Power of faith……” Jing Li carefully pondered these three words, realizing his previous assumption was indeed correct. Demons were swarming into the entertainment industry for this very purpose.
“What about that?” Jing Li suddenly looked up, gesturing towards the sky.
“I know even less about that,” the little chrysanthemum spirit shook his head. “But I’ve heard Grandpa Tree say that no demon or cultivator has ever seen it here, nor has anyone ever transcended tribulation and ascended. It’s as if this place is an overlooked gray area that doesn’t seem to exist.”
A gray area?
Jing Li pondered and nodded, suddenly having some guesses about why he ended up here, but it would obviously take some time to verify these.
Jing Li asked some miscellaneous small questions, but the little chrysanthemum spirit seemed to have never left the mountain, so the only information he could provide, aside from what humans brought in, was conversations he overheard from the plants.
Seeing he couldn’t learn anything else, Jing Li bid farewell and said he would return to the pavilion to find Wang Lele.
“Wait.” The little chrysanthemum spirit suddenly called out to him, looking at him cautiously before probing, “Could you share a bit of your spiritual energy with me?”
As if afraid Jing Li would refuse, he quickly pinched two fingers together and added, “Just a tiny bit, a really tiny bit would be enough!”
Jing Li turned back and looked at him, recalling Wang Lele’s earlier mention that dining here wasn’t too expensive, but the owner would always request a bit of the customer’s energy.
Although everyone found this request rather absurd, seeing him merely wave his hand and grab at the air near his shoulder, they assumed he was jokingly using it as a gimmick, so almost no one refused.
However, Jing Li knew that the “energy” the other party mentioned was indeed real energy.
And it seemed this energy was also the key source for him to continually replenish the tree of life’s spiritual energy.
“You can take it yourself,” Jing Li didn’t hesitate or find it improper. After all, equivalent exchange is applicable anywhere.
Moreover, this little chrysanthemum spirit didn’t conceal anything from the visiting guests; most ordinary people simply didn’t believe him.
His candid approach earned Jing Li’s favor, considering it payment for obtaining information.
Delighted to hear his agreement, the little chrysanthemum spirit nodded in gratitude. He waved his hand near Jing Li’s shoulder, grabbed a small wisp, kneaded it into a pellet, and stored it in his demon pill, intending to refine it at night.
Seeing he was done, Jing Li nodded at him and turned to leave.
The little chrysanthemum spirit watched his back, filled with joy at extracting energy from his kinsman.
But he remained completely unaware that throughout their conversation, he had nearly revealed everything about himself without even figuring out what kind of demon Jing Li was.
*
When Jing Li returned to the pavilion, Wang Lele was about to go look for him. Seeing him enter, Wang Lele was momentarily stunned before quickly approaching and inspecting him. “Why were you gone so long? Your phone wasn’t getting through either, I was about to go search for you both.”
He guessed the barrier probably blocked all outside interference, including the phone signal.
“Probably reception in the backyard is not good,” Jing Li casually excused, reassuring him, “It’s nothing, he just kept insisting there was a rainbow around me, so he took a long time studying me. Then he went to pick some fresh vegetables.”
“A rainbow? He really is getting weirder,” Wang Lele commented wryly but didn’t suspect anything, pulling Jing Li back to their seats. “I was going to take you for a stroll up the back mountain, but it’s too late now.”
“It’s alright, we can go another time,” Jing Li smiled.
As they spoke, the Boss Ju brought in the dishes, and they smelled a fragrance from afar, which made the two people who were already a little hungry even more hungry, and they immediately stopped thinking about continuing to chat.
The food was served very quickly and the dishes were quite rich.
As Wang Lele had said, they were seasonal vegetables grown on the mountain, appearing ordinary.
But their mouthwatering aroma instantly satisfied human taste buds’ cravings for food.
“Hmm, how come I feel this tastes even fresher and better than last time?” Wang Lele ate almost non-stop.
Noticing the lush, spiritually nourished vegetables, Jing Li figured the cheerful boss had likely infused more spiritual energy while cooking.
He knew demons could directly refine fellow demon’s energies, which were more potent and convenient than absorbing from ordinary humans.
So this was probably the little boss’s way of repaying his spiritual energy?
Jing Li smiled and continued eating.
After the meal, they didn’t stay long. They paid, watched the little boss grab some energy from Wang Lele’s shoulder and symbolically wave near Jing Li’s, before saying goodbye and leaving.
As they passed through the courtyard, Jing Li glanced again at the large tree in the yard. A few yellow leaves suddenly drifted down from the top, as if finally unable to bear the weariness, slowly falling to the ground.
“It’s been shedding leaves frequently lately.” The little chrysanthemum spirit had also arrived in the courtyard at some point, gazing up at the visibly aged tree of life with melancholy and heartache filling his eyes.
Perhaps it was the aura of sadness he emanated, prompting Jing Li to glance at him. Finally, unable to hold back, Jing Li gently placed a hand on his shoulder and said seriously, “Don’t worry, it will get better.”
As his words fell, a wisp of white spiritual energy gradually seeped from his palm and entered the little chrysanthemum spirit’s body.
Feeling the warmth transmitted from his shoulder, the little chrysanthemum spirit widened his eyes in astonishment, then looked at Jing Li with delighted surprise, “You, you’re actually…”
“Until next time.” Jing Li smiled, patting his shoulder to cut off his next words. He then pulled the dazed Wang Lele along and left without looking back.
Leaving the little chrysanthemum spirit excitedly standing there alone. After a long while, unable to contain himself, he rushed towards the great tree, stretching out his arms to tightly embrace its trunk, nuzzling his cheek against it affectionately and murmuring, “Grandpa Tree, we might truly be saved this time.”
The great tree gently rustled its leaves, making a swishing sound, as if expressing joy or consoling him.
The two spirits immersed themselves in the bliss of hope, never imagining that the future held even greater wonders than hope alone.
But of course, that’s another story.
*
As usual, Wang Lele sent Jing Li off at his doorstep before leaving.
After bidding farewell and watching Wang Lele drive away, Jing Li headed home.
On the way, he received a call from Sister Wang, saying a director had approached her, hoping to invite him to play the supporting male lead in his upcoming drama.
“Director Yu has a good reputation, so I’ve already asked him to send me the script,” Sister Wang said over the phone. “I’ve also had someone fax it over to you. Take a look, and if it seems feasible after reading it, you’ll need to respond to them immediately.”
“Alright, I’ll take a look,” Jing Li replied.
Sister Wang nodded and discussed some other work arrangements before hanging up.
Just as Jing Li arrived at the villa gates, he asked the housekeeper to retrieve the faxed script.
The script was titled “The Last Remnant” and was another period drama.
It depicted a martial family surnamed Han who loyally guarded the borders for their dynasty. However, during an urgent battle against the enemy, they were forced to disobey imperial orders and were unable to return for the emperor’s birthday celebration. This led to accusations from many officials, gradually sowing doubts in the emperor’s mind until the entire clan was condemned as traitors and executed.
The Han family had a young grandson who was frail and sickly since he was a child. So, he had been sent to a temple outside the city to cultivate. This allowed him to narrowly escape the calamity.
Upon learning of his family’s fate, the enraged grandson vowed to avenge the Han clan and reopen the case. The story begins from this point.
Jing Li’s role would be the close friend of the young grandson of the Han family. He was the first to realize something was amiss with the case. He takes the lead in following the clues to eventually find the young grandson of the Han family.
In the story, this character had a very full image. Not only upholding justice but also highly intelligent and resourceful, becoming the young Han’s greatest ally on his path to vengeance.
It was indeed a standout role.
Jing Li was immediately drawn in after just one read-through, and when he finally looked up, the sky outside had already darkened.
Without realizing it, he had spent the entire afternoon engrossed in the script.
Still savoring its lingering aftertaste, Jing Li unhesitatingly called Sister Wang to confirm he would accept the role.
“Good, I’ll get in touch with them right away.” Sister Wang didn’t seem surprised by his decision and immediately agreed, contacting Director Yu.
Shortly after, Jing Li received Sister Wang’s message that the details had been finalized. He could go sign the contract first thing tomorrow morning.
It was a done deal.
To leave a good impression on his new collaborators, Jing Li washed up early that evening and went to bed, sleeping soundly until daybreak.
As he was getting up to wash, his phone on the bedside table rang. Glancing at the caller ID of his little assistant, he smiled, assuming it was another wake-up call. Picking up, he teased, “Don’t worry, your young master is already up and won’t be late for today’s contract signing.”
However, as soon as the words left his lips, he heard the little assistant pause before saying, “Er Shao, there’s no need. Director Yu called to say the role has already been cast.”
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