By the riverside.
Lü the Cripple sat on the grass by the river.
"How about it? Aren't you going to tell those three little Immortal Emperors that another Ninth-Rank Immortal Emperor has come to this small town, also after the Longevity Fruit?" Cold Heart Demon Venerable asked him inside his mind.
Lü the Cripple smiled slyly. "This Ninth-Rank Immortal Emperor who appeared out of nowhere is a huge variable. We might be able to make use of him. If we let those three know in advance, their cautious personalities will inevitably put them on guard."
"Not bad. You have some brains after all. You actually came to the same conclusion as this venerable one. I'm beginning to admire you a little," Cold Heart Demon Venerable cackled.
Lü the Cripple sneered inwardly, but flattered him aloud. "My lord is wise."
"Go take a look at my Longevity Fruit," Cold Heart Demon Venerable said.
"Yes, my lord," Lü the Cripple hurriedly replied.
Inside a mud house in the small town.
Moonlight streamed through the window, shining on the little wooden bed where Dong Changsheng lay on his stomach.
Looking at the unopened begonias by the window, bathing in moonlight, Dong Changsheng grinned. "You should bloom next year, right?"
Perhaps it was only at night that the boy, busy rushing about for a living during the day, had time to voice his innermost thoughts. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what you'll look like when you bloom next year. I plan to learn a trade from the carpenter in the south of town by then and make Lü the Cripple a cane. That old man's been limping all this time. He'd rather spend money on wine than buy himself a cane. He really is a drunkard.
"The writing brush Mr. Chu uses most