My Husband’s Ascension Ch 8
Chapter 8 The Woman at His Side
After reassuring her family that she was safe and sound, Zhao Zhao lay upon her bed, sunk in despair for an entire day.
Before coming here, she had longed to study at Cloudculm Abode. But now, it seemed that joining the sect itself was not the problem.
The true problem lay in the sect’s state. Its only elder was the sect master, an old man who cultivated the Divine Farmer Dao, skilled in healing yet feeble in combat. The rest were mere children, no more than six years old, looking even more like novices than she herself did.
The whole sect felt like a fragile remnant, barely lingering on, and it was utterly beyond imagination how such a place could contend with the foremost sects in the cultivation world.
Ah…
Don’t wanna move.
Don’t wanna think.
All Zhao Zhao wished was to curl up like a bug and watch the sun inch its way down into the western mountains.
“…Jiejie, are you still sleeping?”
At some point, Yao Ling had tiptoed over to Zhao Zhao’s window. She was too short to reach it properly, and after straining on her tiptoes for a long while, Zhao Zhao could just barely make out her raised little hands.
In both small palms lay a pill.
“The old man told us to bring you this hunger-warding pill. Do you want the chicken leg-flavored one, or the roast duck-flavored one?”
Her stomach gave a low growl.
Zhao Zhao fell silent for a moment before replying with honesty, “I’d rather eat actual chicken legs and roast duck.”
The little boy, Rong Yu, who was a bit taller, stretched up beside Yao Ling. Half of his pretty, childish face peeked over the window’s edge, and he grinned. “Me too.”
That said, who wouldn’t crave a fragrant, succulent chicken leg or roast duck?
Yao Ling bounced by the window and whispered conspiratorially, “Jiejie, how about we secretly sell Rong Yu, then use that money to eat chicken legs and roast duck!”
The little boy next to her, who had been grinning like a fool, instantly lost his smile.
“I’m not craving meat anymore… don’t sell me.”
Yao Ling tilted her head. “Even if you don’t crave it, we still have to sell you.”
Rong Yu was dumbfounded. “Why?!”
Watching Rong Yu about to burst into tears, Zhao Zhao sat up, rubbing her temples, and interrupted, “You two eat nothing but hunger-warding pills usually?”
Both little heads nodded vigorously.
From what Zhao Zhao had gathered, different sects followed different cultivation methods—not all of them abstained from food.
What’s more, with the Divine Farmer Sect present in the cultivation world, the grains they cultivated were unlike those of the mortal realm. Eating them in abundance did not hinder cultivation; in fact, they were nourishing and beneficial to the body.
Thus, hunger-warding pills were meant as contingencies, not something cultivators should rely on for long stretches of time.
When Zhao Zhao ‘raided’ Polaris Confucian Sect, Shi Lanyan had told her these things weren’t worth taking.
…Had she known what she knew now, it would have been far more practical to bring away a few sacks of rice from Polaris Confucian Sect.
“Jiejie, don’t you have hunger-warding pills? So you’ve been hungry all this time?” Yao Ling assumed Zhao Zhao couldn’t afford it, and a trace of pity flickered in her eyes.
“Then I’ll give you these two. Being hungry is so hard to bear, I hate being hungry the most.” She held out the dark hunger-warding pills, then added, “Jiejie, after you take it, can you stay in our sect as our mentor?”
Zhao Zhao rose to her feet and looked at the two children standing outside her window.
Compared with Rong Yu’s tender skin and soft flesh, Yao Ling was thinner and more sallow. Though Rong Yu also claimed to be an orphan, his situation was clearly not the same. Yao Ling’s black hair had turned yellow and coarse from long-term malnutrition.
Rong Yu, after all, was the prince of the Demon Clan. While it remained a mystery how he had ended up here, as Yao Ling had, he must never have suffered such hardships before.
Zhao Zhao’s thoughts drifted to the little stray cat she had once taken in, the injured crane, and the amnesiac man she had sheltered… Forget it. She would never take in another man again.
However—
She studied the two children, both barely reaching her waist.
Unaware of what fate awaited them, they lifted their little heads and stared at her in a daze.
Raising children… surely bears some likeness to tending little animals?
Zhao Zhao skirted around Yao Ling’s plea for her to become their mentor and instead said, “Jiejie indeed has no hunger-warding pills…”
Inwardly, she once again offered thanks to the generous yet grudging Shi Lanyan.
Reaching into her spatial pouch, she grasped a handful of something and smiled mischievously. “But, I do have these.”
In her open palm lay five resplendent spirit stones.
The children’s watery eyes abruptly widened.
…
“About three kilometers east of Cloudculm Abode is Small Sword Pass’s largest city. Anything one needs can be found there…”
Not only the two children, even Daoist Ming Jue was momentarily bedazzled by the glittering spirit stones in Zhao Zhao’s hand.
After a while, he finally came to his senses and asked, “What’s your purpose in going to the city?”
Yao Ling shot her hand up high. “Jiejie said to buy meat!”
Rong Yu quickly echoed, “Jiejie said to buy grains!”
Daoist Ming Jue nodded, his face lighting up with cheer. “Miss Xie is truly generous. You’ve only just arrived and already you’re buying so many things for the children… These crippled bones ask little for himself, but there is a respectable alchemy furnace shop in the East Market. The newest models are far too extravagant; one from the previous series would suffice—”
Zhao Zhao planted her hands on her hips, her expression firm as she refused. “sect master, you get nothing. As the head of a sect, you actually let your disciples live off hunger-warding pills every day! You ought to remain in the sect and take proper care of that dog yao. If you can have him sweep the fallen leaves and tidy the kitchen, all the better.”
Daoist Ming Jue’s expression stiffened, but he quickly feigned ignorance. “What’s this about taking hunger-warding pills every day? Was such a thing happening? Alas, these brittle bones’ memory isn’t what it used to be…”
From where he hung on the tree, Li Feng suddenly spoke. “Sweeping the floor? That’s far beneath my abilities, lass. Put me down! There are many cultivators in that city. With your fledgling skills, any one of them could topple you. Take me along, and I’ll protect you.”
Zhao Zhao shot back mercilessly, “I could knock you out with these so-called fledgling skills of mine, and you still claim you can protect me?”
“…You dare call that your accomplishment? You two ambushed me! And you even relied on the power of that divine artifact!”
At this, Daoist Ming Jue pondered for a moment, then smiled at Li Feng and said, “I can untie you from the ropes and let you down. I can even prepare the prescription you asked for—”
Li Feng’s eyes lit up at once, and even the pair of canine ears atop his head gave an involuntary twitch.
“But you must first pledge a yao familiar contract with Miss Xie, then and only then may I rest assured enough to allow you to leave.”
“You—!” Li Feng’s face froze, then twisted with anger. “A tiger fallen to the plains is prey to dogs! Your cruelty knows no bounds!”
Rong Yu blinked and kindly pointed out, “But… you are a dog.”
“A child shouldn’t interrupt when adults are speaking!”
Poor Rong Yu could only press his lips together and look pitiful.
Zhao Zhao reached out and ruffled his head, then lifted her chin and spread five fingers toward Li Feng. “A five-year contract. If you agree, I’ll let you go.”
The dog yao narrowed his eyes. Though reluctant, he knew this was the only way out.
He clenched his teeth. “…Five years is too long. Two years!”
Zhao Zhao, utterly unyielding, raised seven fingers instead.
The dog yao’s eyes bulged. “Didn’t you just say ‘five years’?”
“That was then,” Zhao Zhao retorted in firm momentum. “So? What do you say? Refuse, and it’ll become eight years.”
Li Feng didn’t dare haggle any further.
He may not be a real human, but this loathsome lass was a real menace*!
(TLN: This is a play on words. Li Feng is a yao, so he’s not really human. But then he proceeds to call Zhao Zhao ‘a real dog (狗)’, which in Chinese, means scumbag or scoundrel. I was tempted to use 'bitch' since it refers to a female dog and a woman who is being bothersome, but this novel doesn’t use much profanities, which is why I decided against it.)
Triumphant, Zhao Zhao felt quite pleased. Since arriving in the cultivation world, one frustration had followed another, yet some good fortune still found its way.
This dog yao might be a little dim, but for Cloudculm Abode—now reduced to only a handful of seniors and juniors—he was precisely the kind of strong arm they sorely lacked.
With that thought, Zhao Zhao turned a resentful look upon Daoist Ming Jue.
If only this sect master acted a bit more like a leader, she wouldn’t have to fret over everything herself!
“Don’t shirk your duties at home when we head out later, sect master.”
Daoist Ming Jue’s smile stiffened. “…So are these brittle bones the sect master, or you?”
“Hmm? You don’t want that alchemy furnace anymore?”
“…Don’t worry, Miss Xie. Even if it costs me every bone in my body, I’ll keep the sect in good order!”
…
The process of forming a yao familiar contract was not complicated.
Cinnabar mixed with a drop of one’s own heart’s blood, then spiritual power was used to inscribe a talisman in the air and before embedding it into the vessel of one’s soul. Once that was done, the contract was complete.
Afterward, a subtle link arose between the cultivator and the yao familiar. Li Feng, long accustomed to solitude, suddenly felt a sense of constraint that made him uncomfortable all over.
Zhao Zhao, however, was quite considerate. “If you’re feeling uncomfortable, don’t worry about me—just be yourself.”
Li Feng arched his brow, hardly believing this loathsome lass could be so kind.
Sure enough, the next moment, she blinked and continued, “If you want to change into your original form, we won’t mind.”
Li Feng: ?
“It’s not for me,” Zhao Zhao explained earnestly. “These two children have no parents and have been roaming since they were little…”
“You speak as if I had parents of my own! No! I’m not changing! I didn’t kill their parents, so why should I coax—”
“Li Feng!”
Yao Ling and Rong Yu watched as the fierce-looking dog yao suddenly froze.
Before Li Feng could react, his body moved against his will—obedient to Zhao Zhao’s command—and in the blink of an eye he had reverted to his original form: an ash-silver dog yao.
A wolf-like, imposing physique, yet his eyes held the simple, loyal look of a dog. Behind him trailed a large, fluffy tail, smooth like a fox’s.
The two children stood stunned for an instant, then dashed forward to throw their arms around him.
Rong Yu: “So cute! Huggy!”
Yao Ling: “Jiejie, can I ride on his back? Walking is so tiring!”
The ash-gray dog yao froze for quite some time before finally snapping back to himself. He bared his teeth, barking furiously, “You’re not allowed to ride me like a horse… and you’re not allowed to ride me like a dog either!”
Chasing and tumbling along the way were the two children and the dog, while the evening rice fields rolled like waves.
Zhao Zhao lingered behind, her pace unhurried, fingertips brushing against the amur silvergrass swaying gently on either side.
This scene felt familiar, like a vision she had once imagined.
In the countryside of Yunmeng Pier, she had once held that man’s hand and watched fireflies glow among the amur silvergrass on a summer night.
On their way back, the children of a tenant farmer had run ahead along the ridges, laughing and shouting, their parents trailing behind, calling for the older siblings not to bully their younger sister.
Back then, she had lowered her eyes to the clasped hands between them, watching his steady fingers envelop hers, firm and warm.
Zhao Zhao had wondered, if they continued down this course of life, would she and Xie Lanshu become like that couple?
If so, it would indeed be a life most wonderful.
Unfortunately—
“Jiejie!” Yao Ling suddenly turned with a bright smile, hopping as she called out to Zhao Zhao, who had fallen behind. “We’re almost in the city! Hurry, hurry, catch up!”
Yao Ling came to a stop, and Rong Yu—his arm still clutched by the dog yao after tugging his tail—halted as well.
As though startled awake from a dream, Zhao Zhao shook herself back to reality and quickened her steps.
She gave the dog yao a sharp smack on the head.
“If you dare bite the child again, I’ll turn you into dog meat hotpot.”
Before Li Feng could bare his teeth in protest, a sudden uproar erupted ahead.
“They’re wearing Immortal Realm of Kunwu’s uniforms! Kunwu’s immortals have arrived!”
In the lively marketplace, countless heads lifted in unison.
Small Sword Pass was considered a remote corner of the cultivation world, and cultivators from Kunwu seldom visited.
"The one with the jade crown… could it really be Kunwu’s Dao Lord Tianshu at the forefront?"
“Dao Lord Tianshu!? Wasn’t he missing?”
“You’re behind on the news. Dao Lord Tianshu returned a few days ago!”
"The fact that Dao Lord Tianshu personally came to Small Sword Pass… did something happen here?"
“Who knows…”
“Huh? That female immortal beside him doesn’t seem to be from Kunwu…”
Zhao Zhao went along with the mass, glancing upward.
The sunset bathed the horizon in a warm glow, and the immortals rode the wind, their robes billowing like drifting clouds. Though he was amid the throng, Zhao Zhao’s eyes still found that familiar figure.
Li Feng, listening to the murmurs around him, looked at the woman beside Dao Lord and muttered in a peculiar tone, “I heard that punk Dao Lord Tianshu went through tribulations in the mortal realm, lost his Primordial Yang, and now no longer needs to guard Separation’s Regret Heaven with a life of abstinence. Having a Dao companion by his side isn’t surprising… oww!"
A dull, stabbing pain suddenly shot through his heart.
The dog yao, enjoying the gossip, was caught completely off guard and let out a startled yelp.
What just happened?
…Did that loathsome lass withhold a secret ailment?
Author’s Note:
Thank you very much, everyone, for your support, I will continue to work hard!
