"F-Fairy Aunt..."
Lin Shisan hurriedly cleared his mind of stray thoughts and withdrew the Jiaolong True Spirit into his dantian.
He hastily rolled off the bed and jumped down.
Straightening his clothes and composing himself, he dropped to his knees with a thud, full of gratitude.
In the orchard, if the ice-sculpture beauty had not intervened, the languid, mature beauty might already have blasted him to death.
"This boy bows in thanks, Fairy Aunt."
"Bows in thanks?"
Before the ice-sculpture beauty could speak, the Cat-Raising Fairy spoke first.
She looked thoroughly indignant.
"Dark-skinned brat, I'm the one who healed you again and again. Shouldn't you be thanking me? Why are you thanking this icicle instead?"
"This boy bows in thanks, Fairy Aunt."
Knowing better, Lin Shisan immediately kowtowed to the Cat-Raising Fairy as well.
"Thank you for healing my injuries time and again, Fairy Aunt. I'll engrave your kindness in my heart and never forget it."
"At least you have a little conscience, you dark-skinned brat."
Perhaps because they had spent more time together, the Cat-Raising Fairy's aloof image no longer seemed quite so aloof.
Even her speech had become rather casual.
"This boy bows in thanks for saving his life, Fairy."
Lin Shisan kowtowed to the ice-sculpture beauty again.
This latest round of thanks left the Cat-Raising Fairy, and even Tiny Waist Mu Ling, utterly baffled.
Had he become addicted to kowtowing? Did he bow to everyone he met? Was he really this well-mannered?
"No need for thanks."
The ice-sculpture beauty said frostily, "Eldest Senior Sister never intended to kill you. You needn't take it to heart."
"Kill?"
Tiny Waist looked bewildered.
For a moment, he could not understand what was going on.
"Y-you... when did you find out?"
The Cat-Raising Fairy's large eyes lit up.
The sight made Lin Shisan's heart clench.
He remembered the Black Maple Bamboo Forest again. That very look had nearly cost him his life.
"He knew at the time."
The ice-sculpture beauty said frostily once more, "Since you knew at the time, you should also know that Eldest Senior Sister had no intention of killing you."
"I understand. I certainly won't take it to heart."
Lin Shisan hurriedly answered with deference.
Take it to heart? Even with ten thousand times the courage, he would never dare.
No intention of killing me?
Five lightning bolts came crashing down, and that still didn't count as trying to strike me dead?
And Li Qingfeng, who had been blown apart, probably had even more reason than the Cat-Raising Fairy to want me dead.
Was this Snow Mountain really Jade Maiden Peak, or was it Demoness Peak?
Why did every Fairy Aunt seem like a demoness who killed without blinking?
It was utterly unlike the immortal sect he had imagined, a completely different world.
"Your injuries have healed."
The ice-sculpture beauty glanced at Lin Shisan and said frostily, "You may go back."
"Yes, yes, of course..."
Lin Shisan quickly gathered his wandering thoughts.
He immediately grasped the meaning behind the ice-sculpture beauty's words.
The rumors were true. Jade Maiden Peak had no male disciples.
Allowing a male Servant Disciple like him to recover here before descending the mountain was already an extraordinary act of grace.
"Thank you both for saving my life, Fairy Aunts, and thank you, Senior Sister Mu, for the massages and care. I'll return to the Azure Cloud Lineage now."
"Return to the Azure Cloud Lineage?"
The Cat-Raising Fairy and Tiny Waist both turned to look at the ice-sculpture beauty.
"Yes, back to the Azure Cloud Lineage."
Lin Shisan answered.
His words still carried his confusion.
Wasn't a Servant Disciple supposed to return to the Azure Cloud Lineage to report after completing an assignment outside?
What was so surprising about that?
"F-Fairy Aunt..."
Lin Shisan kowtowed to the ice-sculpture beauty once again.
"Fairy Aunt, could I... could I take Li Qingfeng back with me?"
"I know this request is far too presumptuous... but..."
"There is no but."
The ice-sculpture beauty spoke abruptly.
A wave of cold swept over him at once.
Lin Shisan could not help shivering.
"For someone who overestimated himself, being smashed to pieces was a fate he brought upon himself, his ultimate destiny. What is there to say 'but' about?"
Lin Shisan's heart felt choked.
He was just about to speak when Tiny Waist beside him signaled for him to keep quiet.
He must not speak recklessly without knowing when to advance or retreat.
If he truly angered the ice-sculpture beauty, being smashed to pieces would be the least of his worries.
He would beg for death and be denied even that.
"Once again, this boy bows in thanks, Fairy Aunt. I'll return to the Azure Cloud Lineage now."
However dissatisfied Lin Shisan was, there was nothing he could do.
Both these Fairy Aunts could kill him several times over with a blink of their eyes.
In the end, he could only silently pay his respects to Li Qingfeng in his heart.
"You don't need to go back."
"I don't need to go back?"
Before Lin Shisan could react, the ice-sculpture beauty spoke again.
"Stay on the outskirts of Jade Maiden Peak and work as an orchard servant."
"Though you have no Dao Seed, you do have some affinity with the power of lightning. As it happens, the Azure Spirit Fruit orchard needs a servant."
"Th-this is..."
A little slow on the uptake, Lin Shisan finally understood after his thoughts raced like lightning.
"Thank you for looking after me, Fairy Aunt. I'll take excellent care of the fruit trees."
"Do you have something to say?"
The ice-sculpture beauty asked.
Her tone was a little gentler than before.
"I... I'd like to make a trip back to the Azure Cloud Lineage. My father's spirit tablet is still there, and I'd like to bring it here."
The ice-sculpture beauty sprang to her feet.
A wave of icy killing intent nearly froze Lin Shisan into an icicle.
Then, in a huff, she turned and strode away through the air.
"You ungrateful brat! You really don't know what's good for you. You deserve to remain a small fry for the rest of your life."
"Meow, meow..."
Holding the meowing spirit cat, the Cat-Raising Fairy shot Lin Shisan a fierce glare, then resolutely turned and left as well.
"Senior Brother Lin, what a wonderful opportunity that was! You've ruined your future with your own hands. It's just a spirit tablet. Why must you insist on bringing it?"
After reproaching Lin Shisan, Tiny Waist hurried after the two Fairy Aunts.
"Heh, heh, heh..."
Looking around the silent room, Lin Shisan gave a bitter laugh.
Without the slightest hesitation or reluctance, Lin Shisan resolutely turned and walked out of the room too.
If he could not even keep his father's spirit tablet beside him, then he might as well leave Jade Maiden Peak. What was the point of cultivating immortality?
When he reached the orchard, he still cast a glance at it.
That was where the languid, mature beauty had blown Li Qingfeng apart.
He bowed three times, then left with an aching heart.
Following the path as he remembered it, he headed down the mountain step by step.
In truth, how could he know the way back?
He had arrived aboard the Cloud-Shuttle Boat and had not seen the path at all. What remembered path could there possibly be?
He remembered only the general direction: south.
On his way down, he encountered several groups of Fairy Aunts. They stared at Lin Shisan as though he were a monster, making his skin crawl.
By the time he reached the foot of the mountain, darkness had fallen.
Light rain fell, a cold wind blew, snowflakes drifted down, and he had swallowed his last fire Spirit Pill.
Just as he was hesitating over how to walk back, a bird net caught him.
Then he was trussed up and tossed into a farmhouse courtyard.
About a quarter of an hour later, a broad-shouldered, thick-waisted fat Fairy Aunt furtively sneaked into the courtyard.
Her eyes glowed green as she looked at Lin Shisan on the ground.
"Ah..."
Lin Shisan trembled all over.
The old sows in his mountain village had looked exactly like that when they were in heat.
Sure enough, what he had imagined still happened.
Unable to wait, the fat Fairy Aunt threw herself at him and immediately began tugging and tearing at his clothes.
"... Pfft... bang!"
After the sharp sound rang out.
The fat Fairy Aunt collapsed on top of him.
She nearly crushed the breath out of Lin Shisan.
She was far too heavy-at least two hundred jin.
"Still staring? Enjoying being squashed, are you?"
While the panting Lin Shisan's mind wandered, a head appeared from behind the fat Fairy Aunt.
The face was full of gloating delight.
"Dark-skinned brat, still enjoying yourself? A big fatty weighing two hundred jin, all soft and squishy, throwing herself at you-that really hits the spot, doesn't it?"
Before you continue