Chapter 60
When Lou Yuqing and the others found Yuan Chenxing, he was currently standing beside the farmland chatting with Ruan Qingzhu.
The two had first met because of the spirit beast dealers. Later, as the little monkey and the little gray wolf grew closer, their keepers naturally became more familiar with each other as well.
The reason the two spirit beasts had become such good friends was honestly ridiculous.
Both the spirit monkey and the Silver Moon Gray Wolf specialized in illusion techniques.
One day, the two little creatures crossed paths on a narrow trail. Sparks flew instantly.
Neither side could overpower the other, so they agreed to settle it another day.
Then somehow, after fighting, they became friends instead.
And from there, their relationship only got better and better.
Several times during cultivation, Yuan Chenxing had awakened to discover that his natal spirit beast had vanished from the cave.
Every time it returned, it would proudly explain that it had gone to Qishan to play with the little monkey.
So this time, Yuan Chenxing was not particularly worried when he couldn't find the Silver Moon Wolf.
With practiced familiarity, he tracked his way here instead.
After answering several of Ruan Qingzhu's cultivation questions, he still looked somewhat unsatisfied and asked eagerly, "Junior Sister Ruan, do you have any other questions?"
The feeling of watching someone suddenly understand after a simple explanation was genuinely addictive.
As a rogue cultivator, he had stumbled through countless detours before reaching Foundation Establishment. Thinking back on those bitter days almost brought tears to his eyes.
Ruan Qingzhu smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Senior Brother Yuan, but I don't have any more questions for now."
Yuan Chenxing waved a hand carelessly. "That's fine. If anything comes up later, just ask me. Before breaking through to Foundation Establishment, I ran into every problem imaginable. I've got experience."
He paused, then added sincerely, "Don't worry about bothering me."
A warm feeling quietly spread through Ruan Qingzhu's chest.
She did not have many friends within the sect, and being looked after so openly felt... unexpectedly nice.
At the same time, Yuan Chenxing's image in her mind rose several levels.
A fellow disciple this generous and straightforward was genuinely rare.
Ruan Qingzhu suddenly felt ashamed of how quickly she had labeled him a troublemaker before.
He clearly was not a bad person at all.
If anything, he was far too kind.
Meanwhile, Yuan Chenxing noticed the shift in her gaze and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"Junior Sister Ruan, it's getting late. I should go pick up Zhizhi."
Ruan Qingzhu blinked. "Ah? Zhizhi came today? I don't think I saw it."
Yuan Chenxing froze briefly before replying instinctively, "Usually if it's not in the cave, it comes to play with Xiaoling..."
Halfway through speaking, he paused.
"Wait. Where's Xiaoling?"
Once Xiaoling's location was confirmed, Zhizhi's whereabouts would naturally be easy to deduce as well.
Ruan Qingzhu looked slightly troubled. "Xiaoling was taken away by its father earlier. He said he wanted to strengthen their father-son bond, so it probably won't be back until evening."
Understanding dawned on Yuan Chenxing's face.
"So Zhizhi went somewhere else to play?"
"Logically speaking, yes." Ruan Qingzhu tried to comfort him when she noticed his expression dim slightly. "It's still inside the sect, so it probably didn't get lost. Try thinking about where else it might've gone."
Unexpectedly, Yuan Chenxing was much calmer than she anticipated.
He simply smiled at her. "It's alright. Zhizhi and I are contracted. I can sense where it is."
Right at that moment, Lou Yuqing and the others arrived.
Steward Xie lifted the Ink Vine in his hand and called out, "Young man, no need to search anymore. Take a look—does this happen to be your natal spirit beast?"
Yuan Chenxing turned his head.
The instant he saw Zhizhi dangling from Steward Xie's grasp, a sharp viciousness flashed through his eyes.
But just as quickly, he remembered where he was.
This was the Wendao Sect.
Not the sect he used to belong to.
He slowly closed his eyes, forcefully suppressing the violent emotions surging within him before bowing respectfully.
"Disciple Yuan Chenxing greets Senior."
He lowered his head further.
"It is indeed my natal spirit beast. I don't know how Zhizhi offended Senior, but I ask for your forgiveness."
Steward Xie let out a cold snort and tossed the Ink Vine straight into Yuan Chenxing's arms.
"So you admit you're the owner."
He crossed his arms angrily.
"The debtor has his master, and the grievance has its source. Your spirit beast stole half a vat of my spirit wine! Do you know how much effort it took me to brew that?!"
Yuan Chenxing instinctively hugged the little gray wolf.
His expression turned blank.
He understood every individual word.
Yet somehow, when put together, the sentence stopped making sense.
He slowly lowered his head to stare at the little wolf in disbelief. "Zhizhi... you stole someone else's wine?"
It had never had this habit before.
Ruan Qingzhu's heart immediately tightened.
Could it be that the little monkey had led the little gray wolf astray?
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became.
Out of all the things to learn from each other, why this?
Both little troublemakers deserved a beating.
Meanwhile, the Ink Vine twisted itself dramatically into an "S" shape, clearly trying to charm Yuan Chenxing into blindly defending it.
Unfortunately, Yuan Chenxing saw straight through it.
Without hesitation, he cast a spell into the little wolf's body.
Azure light burst outward.
In the next moment, the Silver Moon Wolf appeared before everyone, the crescent mark on its forehead glowing faintly.
The little wolf immediately looked up at Yuan Chenxing with pitiful eyes.
"Awoo..."
It hadn't done it.
Yuan Chenxing's expression remained stern. "Zhizhi, you've even learned how to lie now?"
He pointed at Steward Xie. "You were caught red-handed. What you did was wrong. If you wanted spirit wine, you could've told me directly. It's not like I'm unwilling to spend money on you."
Then he sighed deeply. "What am I supposed to say to you?"
The little wolf instantly became anxious.
It circled around him while howling repeatedly, desperately trying to explain itself.
It really hadn't stolen the wine.
Someone else had.
By the time it arrived, the wine vat had already been emptied.
Lou Yuqing could not understand beast language, but even she could tell the little wolf was protesting its innocence with all its might.
Then Yuan Chenxing suddenly froze.
"What?"
His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the Silver Moon Wolf.
"You're saying you didn't steal the spirit wine? The little monkey did?"
Through Yuan Chenxing's retelling, everyone finally pieced together the full story.
A few days earlier, the little monkey had secretly gone to the dining hall to steal spirit wine. Later, when the little gray wolf went to play with it, it smelled the lingering aroma and curiously asked where the wine was hidden.
The little monkey immediately dragged it to the dining hall.
But when they opened the wine vat, it was already empty.
Right at that moment, Steward Xie happened to arrive to collect the spirit wine.
Before the little monkey could escape, it was caught on the spot.
Steward Xie: "..."
So there had actually been two thieves.
One successful.
One unsuccessful.
Ruan Qingzhu and Yuan Chenxing immediately stepped forward to apologize on behalf of their respective spirit beasts.
Watching the two of them speak with Steward Xie, Lou Yuqing suddenly felt curiosity stir in her heart.
She quietly opened the gossip panel and clicked on Yuan Chenxing's entry.
Lou Yuqing raised a brow.
That price was surprisingly high.
She glanced at Yuan Chenxing again, genuinely impressed.
This man looked honest enough, yet his gossip value was outrageously expensive.
Fortunately, she still had over five thousand gossip points left.
Without hesitation, she paid the fee and opened the entry.
Then, taking advantage of the fact that nobody could hear her thoughts—or so she believed—she mentally shouted the kind of sensational headline commonly used by shameless marketing accounts.
[Shocking! Yuan Chenxing actually became a male concubine for love!]
Everyone: "..."
Steward Xie's furious expression froze instantly.
Even his mouth subconsciously shut itself.
Ruan Qingzhu's entire body stiffened as she slowly turned toward Yuan Chenxing with an indescribable expression.
Ling Yunxiao, who had been distracted moments earlier, abruptly snapped back to attention.
For love?
That was one hell of a sacrifice.
For a brief moment, the surroundings became so silent that even a falling needle would have sounded deafening.
Yuan Chenxing's face exploded red.
He desperately wanted to scream that he was innocent and that nobody should believe this nonsense.
Unfortunately, the moment he opened his mouth, all his words jammed in his throat.
He could only bend over and cough violently.
"Cough cough cough—"
Was it just his imagination?
Why did it feel like some invisible force was suppressing him?
Yuan Chenxing looked toward Lou Yuqing in shock and suspicion.
He had clearly seen it.
Her lips had not moved at all.
Which meant—that voice had been her thoughts.
Ruan Qingzhu and Steward Xie had clearly realized the same thing.
The two exchanged alarmed glances but did not dare react rashly until Ling Yunxiao quietly transmitted a telepathic explanation, allowing them to understand the current situation.
High above in the sky, Lingzhu Zhenren and Shi Hua had originally been teasing Yuan Chenxing about his embarrassing history.
Afterward, they even planned to chat with the junior for a while.
After all, with his spirit beast getting along so well with their child, comforting him a little after such a public humiliation seemed reasonable.
Unexpectedly, the instant Lingzhu Zhenren tried to speak, a terrifying pressure descended.
It felt as though an invisible hand had clamped around her throat.
Cold sweat immediately broke out across her back.
"Lingzhu, don't speak! We can't resist that power," Shi Hua warned hurriedly.
Only then did Lingzhu Zhenren stop struggling.
"Cough—"
As soon as she obeyed, the pressure vanished.
Still shaken, she touched her throat uneasily.
"Shi Hua... what exactly is going on with that girl?"
Shi Hua carefully chose her words.
"You can think of it as Yuqing's special ability. Sometimes her thoughts reveal fragments of the past or future."
After a pause, she added softly, "The little monkey was saved because of her."
Lingzhu Zhenren finally understood.
Looking toward Lou Yuqing, her expression immediately softened.
"So that girl is our family's benefactor."
Meanwhile, completely unaware of the chaos she had caused, Lou Yuqing continued reading the gossip entry.
[Yuan Chenxing originally belonged to the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, a sect famous for controlling spirit beasts.]
[He cultivated diligently and never once considered taking shortcuts or climbing through connections.]
[Unfortunately, someone took a liking to his face.]
Hearing this, Yuan Chenxing quietly relaxed.
At least now people would stop misunderstanding him.
Still...
Thinking about the past left a sour taste in his mouth.
[The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect Leader has a son publicly known as Young Master Jin Du.]
[This man enjoys making friends—especially with handsome male cultivators.]
Ruan Qingzhu instinctively glanced at Yuan Chenxing's face.
A terrible premonition immediately rose in her heart.
Very quickly—that premonition came true.
[Why? Because Jin Du dislikes women and prefers men.]
[His so-called friendships with handsome male cultivators were simply excuses to lust after their bodies.]
[One day, while Yuan Chenxing was caring for the sect's spirit beasts, Jin Du saw his face and immediately developed improper thoughts.]
Ruan Qingzhu inhaled sharply.
Looking at Yuan Chenxing now, she suddenly felt that his life in the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect must have been extremely difficult.
Yuan Chenxing himself remained expressionless.
Those experiences had indeed disgusted him.
[But objectively speaking... Jin Du had unintentionally handed him an enormous opportunity.]
[Patient and calculating, Jin Du used Yuan Chenxing's exceptional talent for raising spirit beasts as an excuse to transfer him to his side.]
[His assigned task—was caring for an uncontracted natal spirit beast.]
[That's right.]
[This so-called natal spirit beast was the Silver Moon Wolf.]
The gloom on Yuan Chenxing's face gradually faded.
After all, in the end, he had successfully contracted Zhizhi himself.
Thinking about how all of Jin Du's scheming had ultimately amounted to nothing filled him with immense satisfaction.