Wonderful Elf

"Hehe~ I have legs now~ I can run so fast!" Wearing Lin Xiao's outer robe, Yaoying scampered about on her two small legs, bouncing all over the place. She wasn't used to the clothes on her body, and as she ran, they would always become loose and crooked, revealing large patches of her pale green skin. Qingchu hurried over to call her to a halt and help her adjust her clothes. Hearing Qingchu's call, Yaoying obediently stood still, chuckling as Qingchu put that uncomfortable 'outer skin' back on her, and then she was off running wildly again.

Lin Xiao lazily followed behind the two little girls, squinting at the red flowers, green grass, and sunshine before him. A warm breeze blew past, carrying the sweet scent unique to the 'Golden Silk Grass' on the opposite hillside. Lin Xiao sighed comfortably and said in a low voice, "Spring on Qi Yuan Star? Hmm, it's very pleasant!" For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to Spring Return Valley, walking aimlessly on the mountain side-by-side with Yao'er. His heart felt a slight sweetness, and Lin Xiao habitually reached out to the side, but he didn't grasp the smooth, tender little hand from his memory. Only the empty mountain wind slid lightly through his fingers. A few blades of grass were carried by the wind, twining around Lin Xiao's fingertips, and then were blown far away by the wind.

Hugging his arms with a touch of melancholy, Lin Xiao sighed softly, "You are all dead." He looked at Yaoying, who was excitedly running around in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a surge of envy, even a touch of jealousy. This happy little monster had no worries in her heart, only pure innocence and joy. She ran to the east, startling some sparrows, and then ran to the west, scaring away two rabbits in their panic. Her laughter, like silver bells, scattered across the mountain paths she ran.

Qingchu followed behind Yaoying, looking a bit disheveled, her forehead beaded with sweat. Qingchu was worried about Yaoying running around everywhere and kept a close eye on her, afraid she would cause trouble. But Qingchu also worried about Lin Xiao. After running a few steps with Yaoying, she would look back at Lin Xiao, then run a few more steps with Yaoying, making her extremely tired. Yaoying kept picking up all sorts of strange things from the ground and throwing them to Qingchu. Qingchu foolishly gathered all these things into her arms, and in a short while, her arms were full of a large pile of stones, clods of earth, roots, and sod. Carrying these burdens, Qingchu became even more disheveled as she ran.

The three of them walked along the winding mountain path of Medicine Mountain towards the valley exit for over ten li. Qingchu was already panting heavily, 'huffing and puffing'. She lost sight of Yaoying for a moment, and Yaoying suddenly let out an excited cheer, her body lightly floating up as she rushed towards a patch of tall black pine trees by the roadside. This pine forest was filled with unusual black pines, each about ten feet thick. Wisps of white mist coiled between the pines, and the spirit gathering formations densely covering the ground condensed the ethereal spiritual energy into thin layers of mist, nourishing the clusters of purple ganoderma that parasitized the pine trees.

"Purple Ganoderma~~~ Purple Ganoderma~~~ Eat!" Yaoying cheered, like a monkey curling into a ball and leaping onto a black pine. She wrapped her legs around a branch and used her hands to break off a large piece of purple ganoderma from the trunk, devouring it with big bites. With 'slurping' sounds, a piece of purple ganoderma the size of a human head was swallowed by Yaoying in two bites. She clapped her hands excitedly and then pulled off another piece of purple ganoderma as large as a washbasin from the trunk. "Delicious, delicious! Delicious, Qingchu, delicious!" Yaoying casually tossed the piece of purple ganoderma towards Qingchu.

Qingchu frantically dropped the large pile of miscellaneous items in her arms and caught the piece of purple ganoderma with one hand. She jumped up anxiously and said, "Yaoying~ Little Qing~ Hurry and come down! This is a guarded purple ganoderma forest, you can't steal and eat it!"

"Purple Ganoderma Forest?" Qingchu would have been fine if she hadn't brought it up. But as soon as the words 'Purple Ganoderma Forest' were spoken, a flash of anger crossed Yaoying's green eyes. She shouted, "Bad guys~ They chopped me with swords~ Eat it all, eat all the purple ganoderma here! Bad guys~ They chopped me with swords! Wuwu, I want to eat, I want to eat a lot, eat it all." Her entire body pulsed with green light, and Yaoying suddenly exploded, scattering into countless green light spots. Each light spot attached itself to a large mass of purple ganoderma, and the ganoderma withered at a visible rate, its spiritual energy and liquid being rapidly extracted by the light spots. As the purple ganoderma withered, the light spots gradually became radiant and full of spiritual energy.

The purple ganoderma in Qingchu's hand suddenly fell to the ground. Qingchu's small face was filled with distress as she blankly watched the rain of green light covering the purple ganoderma on dozens of black pine trees. Her mouth twitched, and it seemed like she could cry at any moment. Yaoying's reckless behavior terrified Qingchu, making her limbs go cold and her body weak. She almost sat down on the ground. She called out in a high-pitched, weak voice, "Yaoying, you can't eat this purple ganoderma~ Eating one secretly is fine, but you can't eat so much~ Wuwu, the medicinal ingredients on Medicine Mountain are all accounted for!"

"Hmph hmph! Eat it all, eat it all, eat it all!" Yaoying's triumphant voice echoed from within the green light rain. "I have legs now, I'm not afraid of them chasing me! Hehe!"

Suddenly, a roar came from the pine forest: "What demon dares to act presumptuously in the Purple Ganoderma Forest? Heavenly Thunder Subdues Demons, go!" With a muffled 'boom', a red lightning bolt as thick as a water bucket suddenly descended from the sky, striking directly at the light rain that Yaoying had transformed into. The extremely yang and extremely hard Heavenly Thunder was still dozens of feet away from Yaoying, but its vast oppressive aura already forced Yaoying's light to dim. The scattered light rain rapidly retracted, quickly condensing back into Yaoying's original form. Yaoying stared blankly at the Heavenly Thunder falling towards her, terrified and wailing.

"Hmph!" With a soft hum, Lin Xiao lightly flashed to Yaoying's side and casually reached out to block the Heavenly Thunder. With a gentle flick of his finger, he changed dozens of hand seals the moment the Heavenly Thunder reached his body. A ball of lightning faintly flickered in Lin Xiao's palm. The descending Heavenly Thunder touched the lightning, and it was like a basin of water poured into a large vat. Lin Xiao absorbed the Heavenly Thunder completely with a raise of his hand. The power of the Heavenly Thunder circulated rapidly within Lin Xiao's body, and threads of lightning spread out from his entire form. The surging lightning power eventually merged into Lin Xiao's Golden Core. A ripple of light flashed across the purple Golden Core, and the Black Tortoise Ring encircling Lin Xiao's Golden Core suddenly flashed with black light, drawing away ninety-nine percent of the pure True Essence transformed from the Heavenly Thunder.

"Fellow Daoist has exquisite lightning manipulation skills! To be able to attract Heavenly Thunder into your body to increase True Essence is truly miraculous." A voice of admiration came from deep within the dense forest. An umbrella-shaped magic treasure, radiating countless colorful rain, carried three old Daoists in yellow robes, slowly flying out from the woods. The old Daoist in the center, with a face like a silver basin and a dignified appearance, said in a deep voice, "It's just that every cluster of purple ganoderma in the Purple Ganoderma Forest is accounted for. If those little birds, beasts, or sprites occasionally pecked at it, we wouldn't make too much of a fuss. However, the one beside you acted too ruthlessly."

Lin Xiao glanced at Yaoying, who was shrinking behind him, and nodded faintly. He said calmly, "I apologize. Yaoying was wrong."

Yaoying suddenly poked her little head out, waving her fists and shouting loudly, "Yaoying is not wrong! They chopped me with treasure swords first, chopped me into many pieces, many pieces, many pieces! Hmm, Yaoying just wanted to eat a mouthful of purple ganoderma's spiritual liquid, and you chopped me with treasure swords, and didn't even kill me in one go, but chopped me into many pieces! You Daoists are all bad people!"

The three old Daoists exchanged bewildered glances. One of the old Daoists suddenly exclaimed, "You are that moss demon? How did you transform into human form? You little demon are so unreasonable. If we truly wanted to harm you, we would have struck you down with lightning the moment you came to steal the purple ganoderma. Why would we only drive you away with sword light? You, you are too greedy. You transformed into your true form once and hugged a black pine tree, eating all the hundreds of clusters of purple ganoderma on it. It's already showing leniency by not executing you with Heavenly Thunder!"

Yaoying blinked her eyes, tilted her head, and frowned, "Is that so? You didn't blast me with that kind of Heavenly Thunder last time! Hmm, Brother Lin, are they really good people?"

Lin Xiao glared at Yaoying, gently patted her head, and nodded, "The three Daoist priests are all good people. You ate so much purple ganoderma, and they only drove you away with sword light. If they had used lightning techniques or true fire against you, you little demon would have already turned into dust." Shaking his head, Lin Xiao took out the jade token representing his status as a guest official and showed it to the three old Daoists. "This junior, Lin Xiao, is a Heavenly Mechanism Guest Official of the Origin Sect. Consider the purple ganoderma Yaoying ate as medicinal ingredients allocated by this junior!"

"Guest Official Lin Xiao!" The eyes of the three old Daoists suddenly lit up. They floated down from the umbrella-shaped magic treasure and rushed eagerly to Lin Xiao's front, saying solicitously, "So it's Guest Official Lin! Ha, no wonder you can help this moss demon, who absorbs the essence of myriad spiritual medicines, transform. Hahaha, we've heard of Guest Official's great name for a long time, but we were busy with our duties and couldn't leave Medicine Mountain, otherwise, we would have come to seek guidance from Guest Official Lin long ago."

The three old Daoists surrounded Lin Xiao, asking him about methods for cultivating medicinal herbs, refining medicinal power, and condensing pills, one after another. Lin Xiao only selected a very basic part of the Great Luo Pill Scripture and offered them a couple of sentences. The old Daoists became ecstatic, almost treating Lin Xiao as their master. The old Daoists took turns asking questions, and time unknowingly passed for over an hour. Qingchu and Yaoying were so bored they squatted aside counting ants on the ground, while the three old Daoists still tightly surrounded Lin Xiao, constantly asking for knowledge about pill refinement.

After finally managing to escape the three old Daoists who insisted on inviting Lin Xiao into the black pine forest for tea, Lin Xiao, Qingchu, and Yaoying almost fled in panic from the Purple Ganoderma Forest. The three old Daoists stood on a rock, watching Lin Xiao's retreating figure, still eagerly waving their arms, "Guest Official Lin, if you have time in the future, feel free to visit the Purple Ganoderma Forest! Little girl Yaoying, these eighteen medicinal mountains within the vicinity of the Purple Ganoderma Forest are all managed by my fellow disciples. If you want to eat medicine, just come! We have millions of catties of medicinal materials that can be written off as losses each year!"

Lin Xiao and Qingchu rolled their eyes, while Yaoying looked back at the three old Daoists with deep emotion, squinting and smiling blissfully, "They are all good people! Hmm, good people!"

Qingchu looked at Yaoying with a hint of jealousy and snorted coldly with a touch of suppressed anger, "You were just chopped into pieces, and as soon as you heard there was food, you were lured away by them?"

Yaoying giggled and looked back at Qingchu, smiling, "Qingchu is also a good person! Better than them!" Yaoying's big eyes blinked, appearing exceptionally innocent and cute. Qingchu chuckled, her beautiful eyes curving like crescent moons, and she reached out to gently pat Yaoying's head. Yaoying smiled sweetly, mimicking Qingchu, and extended her hand to gently pat Qingchu's shoulder. The two little girls stuck close together, hopping and skipping behind Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao walked with his hands behind his back, turning his head slightly, observing the two little girls with the corner of his eye. An unprecedented sense of peace and warmth slowly reverberated in his heart. This comfortable peace and warmth didn't diminish even when he returned to his residence and saw the batch of failed pills. He suddenly realized that he had grown fond of these two little girls. It wasn't the same kind of fondness he had for Yao'er, but rather the affection of an elder for their juniors, or an elder brother for his younger sisters.

Looking at the dregs of the failed pills, Lin Xiao's face revealed a faint, gentle smile. The attending Daoists, standing before Lin Xiao with their heads bowed, also felt the openness and sunshine in Lin Xiao's heart. They quietly raised their heads and happened to see the gentle smile on Lin Xiao's face, who had always been as cold as a stone statue. The Daoists, who were worried about being scolded for the failed pills, were all influenced by Lin Xiao's smile and began to smile as well.

"It's just a batch of failed pills, nothing major," Lin Xiao shrugged lightly and said, "The basic spirit pills refined over the past month are sufficient. Everyone is also tired, so let's rest for a few days before opening the furnace to refine pills again."

Casually reciting a pill formula for the Daoists to record, Lin Xiao turned and walked towards his residence, saying as he walked, "Prepare the medicinal ingredients according to this formula. Next time we open the furnace, we'll try refining some higher-level spirit pills. Alchemy is also a good path to cultivation!" For others, alchemy was a laborious and mentally taxing task, but for Lin Xiao, alchemy was indeed a shortcut to increasing his cultivation—who told him he had a pure fire constitution? The surging pill fire was perfect for his nourishment.

A group of Daoists nodded obediently and dispersed. Lin Xiao had been frantically refining pills for over a month, and they were truly exhausted. It was rare for Lin Xiao to grant them a few days off, and they were happy to rest and recuperate.

The night passed without incident. After finishing his evening practice, Lin Xiao fell into a deep sleep, allowing his spirit to relax completely.

The next morning, as Lin Xiao was about to get out of bed, he found his body pressed down by a thick layer of soft material, rendering him completely unable to move. Lin Xiao was greatly surprised. He strained his head to turn and looked around with difficulty, only to discover that his entire room was covered in thick moss. No, not covered, but stuffed full. The entire room was packed with thick, large clumps of moss. The moss, carrying a faint, rich medicinal fragrance, covered him to a depth of at least half a zhang. Threads of moss interwoven into a large net, like a fishnet, firmly secured Lin Xiao to the bed.

Lin Xiao looked around blankly and struggled with his body. As if sensing Lin Xiao's movement, the moss in the room began to writhe simultaneously. A lazy voice emerged from somewhere, "Wuwu~ Sleepy~ Don't move around! Sleepy, sleepy~ Hmm, Brother Lin smells so good!"

Lin Xiao recognized it as Yaoying's voice and urgently called out, "Yaoying, quickly let me out!"

The thick moss wriggled again, and Yaoying lazily hummed, "So fragrant~~~ I really want to eat Brother Lin too~~~ Slurp, slurp, delicious, delicious!"

Even though he knew Yaoying was talking in her sleep, her words still sent shivers down Lin Xiao's spine. He struggled with all his might and shouted loudly, "Qingchu~ Qingchu~ Quickly get Yaoying out of my room! Heavens, what did this little monster eat yesterday? How did she grow so big?"

Lin Xiao clearly remembered that Yaoying in the pond yesterday was only half a finger's size. How could her true form have become so large overnight? How much of this thick, heavy, layered moss could there be?

Qingchu's panicked voice came from outside: "Wuwu~ Brother Lin, I can't move either. Yaoying has stuffed my place full too, wuwu, I can't move."

Lin Xiao was so angry his nose was practically crooked. He struggled with his body, but where could he move? Except for the area around his head, which had some space, his body was completely packed by Yaoying. After struggling for a while and finding it futile, Lin Xiao couldn't help but shout loudly, "Yaoying~ Heavenly Thunder is coming!"

Muttering a spiritual incantation, Lin Xiao concentrated his mind and condensed a small amount of Heavenly Thunder energy in the bamboo forest several zhang away from his residence.

With a loud 'boom', the Heavenly Thunder energy condensed by Lin Xiao exploded. The power of this trace of lightning was not great, only blowing up a few bamboo leaves on the ground, but the sound was astonishingly loud.

"Waaah~~~ Help~~~ Heavenly Thunder is coming!" A piercing scream echoed throughout the entire residence. Streams of green light rapidly circulated, and the moss that filled the entire residence shrank with a rustling sound. Finally, with a scream from Lin Xiao, Yaoying, completely naked, covered her ears tightly with both hands and fell into Lin Xiao's arms out of thin air.

Lin Xiao broke out in a cold sweat. He casually grabbed Yaoying by the neck and tossed her aside, then smashed through the wall of his residence. Shouting loudly, he rushed out and quickly disappeared.

Yaoying looked back at Qingchu, who was standing at the doorway, with surprise and frowned, "Qingchu~ Am I very scary?"

Qingchu tilted her head, rolled her eyes, and sighed softly towards the sky, "Yes~ Very scary!"

"Uh?" Yaoying looked at Qingchu with a wronged expression, pouted her lips, and burst into tears. (To be continued)