Chapter 8

Phoenix Lord

So-called teacher-killing, trying once is saying goodbye.

Nan Shi stared resentfully at Chi You, his mind full of thoughts about wanting to leave the sect and join another instead—Which sect excels in drawing talismans and capturing ghosts? Look for Qingyun Temple outside S City! A thousand-year-old temple standing in S City, offering four major disciplines: talisman inscriptions, ghost capturing, deity invocation, and array formations. Taught with passion by a hundred-year-old patriarch, no tuition fee, free lodging and meals…

The above is merely imagination.

Qingyun Temple outside S City is indeed a thousand-year-old Daoist temple, but recent rumors speak of some kind of professional Daoist recruitment notice. Although not as extreme as neighboring Liu Yun Temple, where monks shave their heads, observe strict diets at work, and indulge in feasting, drinking, and flirting upon return, it’s clear this temple has a strong commercial orientation.

This contradicts the principle that ‘this temple possesses genuine abilities’!

Is a temple with genuine abilities supposed to be hidden in mountain forests, detached from worldly affairs? Who knows where the incense money comes from? But in any case, they managed to survive, the Daoist priests inside freely declaring ‘Believe it or not, leave if you dare, don’t disturb my ascension’?

No matter! Fame should not fall without merit! Tomorrow, he’ll go to Qingyun Temple to find a teacher! He’ll look for those Daoist priests with white hair and a youthful face, and if they won’t accept him, he’ll cling to their thighs and refuse to leave! If he doesn’t learn a few ghost-exorcism tricks that make Chi You question his own existence, he’ll change his name from Nan to Chi!

Perhaps the Daoist priests haven’t lost their touch!

Or have they?

Chi You lifted his head and drank the wine in his cup, noticing Nan Shi staring at him with a gleaming gaze, he couldn’t help but smile slightly, “What are you looking at?”

“I’m…” Nan Shi, tasting his words on the tip of his tongue, corrected himself just in time without revealing his true thoughts, saying instead, “…I’m looking at how Shixiong is good-looking.”

Chi You was mildy taken aback, then knocked on the little table in the carriage with his knuckles, “You ah… Come in.”

Nan Shi was inwardly astonished, No way! Is Chi You really planning to call someone just because he praised him for being handsome? That’s going too far!

“Shixiong, what I meant was, your appearance is refreshing and elegant, aloof and dignified, clear and divine (1)…” Before Nan Shi could finish, he heard Chi You let out a soft snort and cast him a glance.

Nan Shi instantly closed his mouth.

“What instructions does the Mountain Lord have?” Qing He’s hushed voice drifted in from outside.

“Change the young master’s clothes,” Chi You instructed, then immediately berated, “Are you all dead? Do you think I’ll let the young master sit like this without my word?”

“Mountain Lord redress his sins, this slave knows he was wrong.” Along with the voice from outside, the bamboo curtain at the carriage door was lifted, and Qing He entered carrying clothes. The interior of the carriage had a fairly large space, at least three people inside wouldn’t seem cramped. Qing He slightly bent her knees and said, “Please dress, Young Master.”

Nan Shi: “… Hah? What for?”

Chi You shot him a glare and said irritably, “Watch out for catching a cold.”

“… Oh, many thanks for the concern, Shixiong.” Nan Shi looked down at his half-dry clothes. To tell the truth, down jackets were inherently waterproof. Even if they had been wetted by rain, after this much time, they should have dried out for the most part. At most, they might still be slightly damp, but he really didn’t notice anywhere that needed to be redressed due to catching a cold.

The clothes Qing He brought were still a whole set, Nan Shi had no choice to pick, could only obediently raise his hands and feet to change. It wasn’t until the end that he discovered it was actually a long-sleeved loose-fitting outfit, seemingly a bit large, the hem trailing down to the ground.

Qing He helped him adjust it, but without seeing her take out a needle and thread, the hem of the two-layer inner garments had been tucked in, while she paid no attention to the outer jacket. She had even brought accessories, which she used to dangle a clanging assortment of trinkets from his belt, before finally finishing her tidying up.

Qing He adjusted the hems of his clothes, bowed, and then withdrew.

Nan Shi lowered his head to look at himself and said, a bit confused, “We’re not going straight home?”

So his Senior Brother didn’t come to pick him up because he saw it was raining?!

“No,” Chi You raised his eyebrows. “How do you know?”

Nan Shi replied, “Isn’t it obvious…?”

If we were going straight home, wouldn’t it be enough to just take off his outer robe? He’s wearing a sweater underneath anyway, so it’s not particularly cold. As for putting on the full set of equipment…

“I’m taking you to see a guest,” Chi You said.

“……” Nan Shi rubbed his nose, his expression somewhat strange.

Seeing him like this, Chi You slightly raised his hand. “If you want to say something, just say it. Who are you making such a strange face for?”

“Then I’ll say it. Senior Brother, you can’t scold me… um, or hit me either.”

“Speak.”

“Then I’ll say it,” Nan Shi said softly. “Every time Senior Brother says he’s going to take me to see a guest, I feel like I’m a brothel girl being taken in by a madam…”

His voice got smaller and smaller as he spoke, and by the time he said “madam,” he was basically silent.

Chi You was so angry he laughed, Nan Shi really dared to say.

If not for these years of cultivating his mind and character, this little brat’s life would have been in danger by now.

“So this is what Mr. Nan thinks? Might as well say everything at once.”

Nan Shi thought for a moment. Since he’d already said it, he might as well go all out: “Just now, when you cursed Qing He for being dead… wasn’t she long dead?”

“And also… I usually drive when I go out. Cars are fast and stable. Shixiong, don’t you feel that the carriage is too slow? …That’s aside, maybe you’re used to it, so not changing might be fine, but can’t you really put a heater in the carriage? In the middle of winter using a bamboo curtain, are we so poor that we can’t even afford a padded hanging curtain? It’s really so cold.” Nan Shi couldn’t help but rub his arms.

Although the bamboo curtain looked good and stylish, it couldn’t block the chilly wind howling from outside! His Shixiong, an old ghost who had lived for countless years, didn’t care about this bit of temperature, but he, a living person, certainly did!

It was fine not changing clothes just now, but after changing, he was practically frozen!

If it weren’t for Nan Shi fearing his clothes would wrinkle, he would have dragged his own down jacket over right now to use as a quilt!

Chi You: “…”

It was actually fine. After hearing the ‘prostitute mistress brings girls to receive clients’ comment, Chi You instead felt that Nan Shi’s question about why there was no heating when traveling by carriage was quite reasonable. At least it was a legitimate need.

With a sweep of his long sleeve, a dense layer of boarding planks automatically surrounded the carriage, completely covering the exterior. The cold wind immediately lost its path of entry. He glanced sideways at Nan Shi. “Is there anything else you want to say?”

Chi You’s words were tactful, but Nan Shi felt that his face clearly read ‘One more push and I’ll kill you’. He immediately dared not waste any more breath. He edged closer to Chi You, obsequiously saying: “Many thanks, Shixiong! You truly dote on me.”

Chi You let out a cold snort, ignoring Nan Shi, for fear of losing control and sending him off to reincarnate.

The enclosed carriage became much warmer. Although it didn’t reach the level of heating, the absence of cold wind was already great. Nan Shi sat for a while, but still couldn’t resist playing with his phone—the carriage wasn’t actually very bumpy. He wondered what techniques were being used.

After playing for quite a while, the carriage still showed no signs of stopping.

Feeling a bit suffocated, Nan Shi reached out and pulled open the window, then asked offhandedly, “Shixiong, where are we going? How much longer until we arrive?”

Chi You didn’t make a sound, but instead, Qing He, who was in the outer perimeter, replied, “Reporting to the young master, we will arrive in approximately half a cup of tea’s time.”

Nan Shi acknowledged this, looking at the scenery outside the window with a slight daze—the outdoors are very strange, no, it should be said that they are extremely strange.

This is a world of emptiness, without moonlight, without stars, and without any scenery at all, only a straight road, very narrow, barely allowing their carriage to pass, and on both sides of the road, every ten or so meters, a white lantern hung, with no other decorations.

All the sources of light come from these lanterns.

Only now did he discover that the carriage is actually moving very quickly, those lanterns are swiftly retreating, to the point that afterimages almost appear.

Qing He is still walking beside the carriage with a lowered gaze, her steps neither hurried nor slow, with no sign of running whatsoever. “Young master, this is the ghost path.”

Nan Shi instantly froze, but before he could even retract his head, he saw a speeding carriage suddenly appear up ahead on the road, flying towards them, about to collide! He hurriedly said, “There’s a carriage ahead!”

Qing He was about to reply when he heard Chi You say indifferently from inside the carriage, “Stop the carriage.”

“Yes.”

The carriage gradually came to a stop, and the other carriage stopped as well. The windows of the two carriages just happened to face each other. Before Nan Shi could react, he felt a force come from the collar at the back of his neck, pulling him inside.

At that moment, the bamboo curtain of the opposite carriage was lifted, revealing the figure inside.

It was a young man dressed very strangely, looking very young, about twenty years old. He wore a set of bluish-gray ancient clothes, layer upon layer, looking extremely dignified.

Chi You lifted the curtain with one hand, while the other hand pressed on Nan Shi’s neck, making him lie down on the carriage seat and not allowing him to get up. Chi You nodded slightly, “Phoenix Lord.”

The young man nodded in response, which counted as a greeting. His expression was extremely cold, almost devoid of any emotion. “Mountain Lord Chi, what brings you here?”

Chi You laughed softly. “May I request a tail feather from the Phoenix Lord?”

The young man didn’t hesitate much before nodding, and an object flew over, landing in Chi You’s palm. “The compensation will be collected later.”

“Mm-hmm.”

After this brief exchange, they both simultaneously let down the curtains. The two carriages headed in opposite directions, and in almost an instant, they lost sight of each other.

It was only then that Nan Shi was let up. He clutched his neck, inwardly cursing – His shixiong’s hand is too cold!

“Shixiong, what did you press me down for!”

Chi You casually tossed the thing into Nan Shi’s arms. “Catch it… With your minuscule spiritual cultivation, you dare to gaze directly upon the Phoenix Lord’s carriage? If you don’t want your eyes anymore, you can say so – Shixiong will help you out.”

“What’s with this ‘Phoenix Lord’ business…” Nan Shi grumbled, looking down at the object in his hand.

It was a gray feather – perhaps ‘gray’ was not quite accurate, as it was composed of five colors: red, blue, yellow, white, and purple. However, because the colors were too dull, at first glance it seemed gray. A faint, indescribable luster shimmered on its surface. Magically, holding this feather in his hand, he no longer felt cold at all.

Yet it wasn’t the kind of feeling where this feather was emitting heat, but simply that he no longer felt cold.

Chi You glanced at Nan Shi’s hair, which barely reached his ears, and said: “Your hair also grows too slowly. By the time you can wear a hairpin, you’ll be able to use it… Before that, just keep it in your bosom.”

Nan Shi uttered a sound of acknowledgment: “What is this thing?”

“Didn’t you hear very clearly?” Chi You’s eyes fell on the wine cup, and Nan Shi very appropriately stepped forward to top it up. Gripping the cup, he continued: “A phoenix feather, which can ward off both cold and heat.”

“Oh, ward off both cold and heat… Wait, what phoenix? You mean the one just now was a phoenix?!”

“Yes.” Chi You lifted the cup and drained it: “Is there a problem?”

“… No.” Nan Shi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then lowered his head again to look at his chest—just now, he had really stuffed it in there casually!

This was a phoenix feather! A phoenix’s! One of those flying phoenixes!

Shouldn’t he honor it?!

He thought that about now, green smoke should be rising from his ancestors’ graves. He had made it, using a phoenix feather!

Chi You looked at Nan Shi’s flustered appearance and let out a soft scoff, but in the end, he didn’t say anything to him.

Before Nan Shi could decide whether it was three incense sticks a day or five, the carriage stopped, and Qing He reported, “Mountain Lord, Young Master, we’ve arrived.”

A hand reached into the carriage. “Young Master, please get down.”

Nan Shi stepped out of the carriage first, then fully adopted the attitude of a disciple, reaching out to help Chi You down—there was no choice, the rules were quite strict.

With icy-cold fingers lightly resting on his arm, Chi You leisurely descended from the carriage.

“Let’s go.”

Nan Shi lowered his head in response, following Chi You for two steps before he couldn’t resist secretly raising his head for a glance.

Shit! Qingyun Temple!

Did his shixiong know about his plan?! When did his shixiong develop the ability to read minds?!

Wait, Shixiong, don’t go in! He didn’t want to leave the sect now!

Staying with his shixiong seemed to have more prospects after all!

He could even get phoenix feathers!