Keeping Company with a Tiger

When Sun Yougui heard Wang Chong say he knew the place, he hurriedly put on a gentler expression and asked, "Where is it?"

Little Bug recounted the story in meticulous detail. Yet whenever he reached a crucial point, he would plead that his "memory wasn't clear," mixing up various details here and there. He often put on a suddenly enlightened look, pretending to recall something else and adding one or two minor details.

Sun Yougui was not familiar with him and did not know that the boy possessed an unmatched memory, able to remember anything at a glance. Thus, he failed to see through the trick.

At this moment, Little Bug could only pray that Xiao Nan had gone in search of the treasure but had not yet left. Though his father had taught him countless methods, every one of them required him to brave immense danger.

Little Bug had little confidence in the Heavenly Corpse Sect's Fourth Elder.

Although Sun Yougui had once claimed that he "did not lightly harm others," he had never forgotten the words that came before: born of an evil sect!

Wang Chong's father had once taught his son, "When you encounter an immortal of an evil sect who interrogates you about treasure, saying nothing will bring torture upon you, while saying everything will get you casually killed. Only by explaining the broad matters in detail while making mistakes in the minor ones, constantly adding details, and showing that you still have some use can you preserve your life..."

Little Bug could only adapt to circumstances as they came.

He was beginning to regret it now. Although Master Xiao had not wished to take on a disciple then, if I had risked trying, I might have had a chance. At worst, I would merely have been gently refused.

If I could become Master Xiao's disciple and enjoy peaceful years, how would I have fallen to struggling for survival beneath the hands of someone from an evil sect?

The next time I meet Master Xiao, I must try my hardest to become his disciple.

Sun Yougui rode the Flying Yaksha, and before long, his escaping light had left the borders of White Egret Mountain. Below stretched a vast expanse of wilderness, all desolate mountains, with inhabited settlements few and far between.

The Heavenly Corpse Sect's Fourth Elder flew for two or three hours until the sky had turned completely dark. He had the Flying Yaksha descend beside a stream, formed a hand seal, and the creature went off to gather firewood. Before long, it had built a bonfire.

Under normal circumstances, spending the dead of night beside a mountain stream made one highly likely to encounter fierce beasts and was exceedingly dangerous. But Wang Chong was now accompanied by an evil cultivator ten times fiercer than any beast, as well as a Flying Yaksha constantly coming and going. Little Bug believed that no wild beast would dare offend them.

After starting the fire, the Flying Yaksha went and killed a small deer.

To show that he was quite useful, Little Bug took the deer and set it over the bonfire. In less than half an incense stick's time, he had roasted it into charcoal. He could only say awkwardly, "May I trouble you, Senior, to have the yaksha catch another one?"

Sun Yougui had thought that, since the boy was so diligent, he would surely prepare something delicious. How could he have imagined it would end like this?

Helplessly, the old Daoist personally went to hunt several wild chickens. He did not let the yaksha lend a hand, but roasted them himself and gave one to Wang Chong.

Little Bug truly was somewhat hungry. He would ordinarily already have been asleep by this hour and would not eat anything. After being blown by cold wind in the sky for several hours, a few bites of hot wild chicken meat made him feel incomparably comfortable.

After taking a few bites, he hurriedly praised, "Senior's skill is truly exceptional. This wild chicken is extraordinarily delicious."

Sun Yougui's expression turned extremely foul. If not for the fact that the boy was still of some use and could not delay the "important matter," he would have slapped him to death long ago.

He was the dignified Fourth Elder of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, yet he had to wait on this little thing and roast wild chicken for him to eat. What a disgrace!

After Little Bug finished an entire chicken, he obediently went to sit off to one side, doing his best to make himself inconspicuous.

After eating, Sun Yougui sat cross-legged beside the fire and cultivated his true qi.

Little Bug, however, could not sleep no matter what. He secretly stroked the Black Wind Bag on his arm. Since obtaining it, he had inspected its contents several times. There were twenty-nine chests of gold, silver, pearls, and treasures in total, enough to rival a nation in wealth; more than a hundred sets of Daoist robes, together with crowns and footwear; over a thousand mundane weapons of the mortal world, including sabers, spears, swords, and halberds...

There were instead few items related to cultivation, only nine in all. Two of them were gourds containing medicinal pills. He had shown them to Zhu Ying, but Zhu Ying did not recognize them either and warned him not to eat them carelessly.

The other seven were all magic treasures. The most formidable among them was the Black-Wind Baleful Cloud.

None of these seven magic treasures had been refined through the Heaven-Mixing Talisman. They followed the path of the Myriad Demons Formula, so Wang Chong could do nothing with them.

What a pity. There's nothing I can use.

I can't escape now. Even if an opportunity arose, it would be useless. On two legs, even if I got dozens of miles away, they could ride escaping light and catch up in the time it took to sneeze. If only I could refine the Black-Wind Baleful Cloud and soar through the air like Old Demon Luo or someone like him, then I might have some hope of escaping.

What a pity that my magical power is so poor. Who knows what year or month it will be before I can successfully refine this mass of Black-Wind Baleful Cloud?

Little Bug thought for a while before drowsiness overcame him. He closed his eyes and slept for two or three hours, only to hear Sun Yougui call, "Boy, get up quickly. We must continue on our journey."

Sun Yougui did not even wait for Wang Chong to wake fully. He grabbed him up and once again rode the Flying Yaksha into the air. The Flying Yaksha spewed black smoke from its mouth, blocking the high-altitude gale winds. Aside from looking rather unsightly in flight, it was actually fairly comfortable.

Calculating the hour, Little Bug realized it was already time for lessons. He secretly sighed. I won't be able to eat breakfast with Brother Zhu today.

He and Zhu Ying did not eat or live together, so he had long been used to it. Yet with Zhu Ying absent from his side now, he felt strangely empty. He did not dare imitate Sun Yougui and stand on the Flying Yaksha's back. Instead, he carefully sat cross-legged, once again gazing out over the vast earth and enjoying the scenery as he had yesterday.

Sun Yougui suddenly asked, "Are you from Little Cold Mountain?"

Little Bug's heart gave a violent flutter, but he answered unhurriedly, "No one lives around Little Cold Mountain. The nearby villages all know that it got its name because the earth qi within the mountain is unusual. After nightfall, it becomes bitterly cold, so cold that even wild beasts cannot endure it."

Sun Yougui gave a soft "Oh" and asked no further questions.

Little Bug's face remained expressionless, but inwardly he was terrified. He feared that the Heavenly Corpse Sect's Fourth Elder might uncover the matter of how he had once been captured by that white-bearded old man and force him to describe the inscription on the stele.

By now, he also knew that the Celestial Stele possessed something uncanny. The words inscribed upon it had to be spells, and those strange characters that were longer presumably possessed greater power.

A treasure could be abandoned, but how could something remembered in one's mind possibly be discarded?

These cultivators placed particular importance on secrets held by oneself alone. To monopolize the stele inscription, they would surely have to kill someone like him, whose memory was unmatched.

Sun Yougui had not actually thought things through so carefully. He had merely recalled how they had met on the road that day, when the boy had asked about Little Cold Mountain, and casually posed the question.

What occupied the Heavenly Corpse Sect elder's mind was how to find the Red Staff Immortal's treasure. If he happened to run into Xiao Nan, he would kill this remnant of the Five-Terrace Sect.

When the Five-Terrace Sect had been powerful, it had been an orthodox school of the Mystic Gate. Not only him—even the Heavenly Corpse Sect had not dared provoke it. But now that the Five-Terrace Sect had declined, Sun Yougui naturally did not fear a mere junior of that sect.

Although Xiao Nan's swordsmanship was astonishing and he had slain Old Demon Luo, he had cultivated for only a short time. Sun Yougui reckoned that he had at least seven or eight ways to kill him.