His Good Luck Had Run Out

"Roar... splash..."

"Ah... no... it's gone..."

Lin Shisan had not merely gone numb.

His whole body had frozen stiff.

Brimming with excitement, he had been ready to receive the fortune of a Great Fortune Bearer and advance once more.

With a creak, the Jiaolong True Spirit shook its head, swished its tail, and plunged into his Dantian's sea of qi for a long nap.

It had dropped the ball at the crucial moment. Even the steady, reserved Lin Shisan felt as though claws were scratching at his heart and liver.

He really wanted to drag the Jiaolong True Spirit out and make it keep feeding power back to him so he could advance.

"I'll let it slide this time. If there's a next time, I'm dragging you out and making you jump around."

Naturally, Lin Shisan would not really drag the Jiaolong True Spirit out.

Nor could he.

He sat cross-legged and continued circulating his qi through the Greater Celestial Circuit to consolidate his cultivation gains.

Advancing three layers in a row was certainly cause for delight.

But consolidating those gains was no easy task.

It took a full six hours and five Greater Celestial Circuits before he finally stabilized his Body Tempering Third Layer cultivation.

"Father, I'm heading out. Keep an eye on the house."

When it was almost time, Lin Shisan went to the study and respectfully kowtowed three times before his father, Lin Qinghan.

After retrieving his father's memorial tablet from Feng Qingye, he had made a home for him here in this study.

He had also taken out the Little Black Cauldron again.

Ostensibly, it served as an incense burner. In reality, that was a cover for him to keep evolving fruit, food, Spirit Pills, Body Tempering Liquid, and the like.

Before leaving, he even made a point of taking two evolved apples so Feng Qingye could have a taste.

They would serve as hush money, too.

His three consecutive advances overnight were far beyond Feng Qingye's normal understanding. The old man was bound to ask all sorts of questions.

No one took offense at too many gifts. After work, he would buy two pig's trotters down the mountain and pick up a flask of liquor. That should let him bluff his way through.

After all, he had originally been in the third Body Tempering Realm. At most, this counted as recovering his former cultivation, which was a plausible explanation.

"Shisan, where did you get this fruit?"

As Feng Qingye ate the apple Lin Shisan had offered him, he kept mumbling about how delicious it was.

"Just down the mountain."

Lin Shisan made up an excuse on the spot.

"The day before yesterday, I was catching rabbits halfway up the mountain and happened to see an apple tree, so I picked a few to try."

"If you like them, Brother Ye, I'll pick some more and bring them back next time I'm catching rabbits."

"Hehe... now that sounds good... very good..."

Feng Qingye grinned from ear to ear. "But apples alone won't do..."

What a greedy little old man.

But since he still needed to seal the old man's lips, Lin Shisan could only force a smile.

"Understood, Brother Ye. After work, I'll get you two pig's trotters, two catties of braised beef, and that liquor you like."

Lin Shisan swallowed his irritation as he spoke.

What puzzled him, though, was that Feng Qingye had never brought up his cultivation.

Had he failed to notice and therefore said nothing, or had he noticed but deliberately kept it to himself so he could milk Lin Shisan for more?

"That's not what I meant."

Feng Qingye wiped the apple juice from the corner of his mouth. "Tomorrow, Uncle-Master Lei Shi from Listening Sea Peak is coming to our Tibetan Scripture Pavilion to open a mystery box."

His heart lurched.

Lin Shisan's heart gave a thump, and he nearly lost his composure.

He still vividly remembered that square-faced sucker from two days ago.

After getting nothing out of his mystery box, the man had vented all his anger on Feng Qingye and the others.

He had even come close to skewering Lin Shisan's heart with a thousand arrows.

"Hehehe..."

Feng Qingye seemed to have read Lin Shisan's thoughts.

The corners of his mouth lifted in a faint smile, and he walked over to pat Lin Shisan lightly on the shoulder.

"Shisan, did what happened the day before yesterday scare you senseless?"

"That was just an accident. Not everyone has such a bad temper. Otherwise, I'd have died eight hundred times by now."

At last, the tension in Lin Shisan's heart eased.

But the next sentence nearly shattered Lin Shisan's composure again.

"Whatever else I am, I'm an official Outer Sect Disciple. He won't do anything to me. As for a small-fry disciple like you, that's harder to say."

"I..."

Lin Shisan's face turned green.

His neck stiffened, and a chill ran down his spine.

It felt as though a Demon Beast had fixed its gaze on him.

Fear brought sweat pouring out of him.

"Hehehe... hahaha..."

Feng Qingye roared with laughter.

He patted Lin Shisan's shoulder again. "I was joking, boy. Look how scared you got."

"To tell you the truth, I know Uncle-Master Lei Shi. He's a decent man with an even temper, and he rarely gets angry."

"Even if he does, he won't go so far as to kill us. If we attend to him properly, he might even give us a reward."

"After work today, go down the mountain and buy a jar of Seven-Day Immortal. Remember, it has to be the hundred-year vintage. That's Uncle-Master Lei's favorite."

"All right. I'll buy it after work."

Lin Shisan answered respectfully.

At last, his heart settled back into his belly. If they knew each other, things would be much easier.

He stood there for ages, but Feng Qingye never handed him any money.

In the end, he could only accept his bad luck and count it as hush money for Feng Qingye.

Early the next morning, Lin Shisan finished cleaning and even rinsed the floor twice with clean water.

The day before, he had also made a special effort to trim the flowers, grass, and trees along both sides of the path.

Everything was ready. All that remained was to wait for Lei Shi to come open his mystery box.

Hopefully, his luck would hold today, and there would be no bloodshed.

"Take this."

Lin Shisan accepted the kneeling cushion Feng Qingye handed him.

The two knelt on the steps a hundred meters from the pavilion, one on either side, and waited.

The sun was already high, but there was still no sign of Lei Shi.

Their knees ached from kneeling and their bladders felt ready to burst, yet neither dared move.

At first, it was bearable. Later, the sunlight shone straight into their eyes, stinging them until tears streamed down.

"He's here..."

Feng Qingye hurriedly straightened up, his expression solemn and his back rigid.

He looked as nervous as a man meeting his mother-in-law.

His eyes darted left and right, and he did not even dare look straight at the sky.

For some reason, Lin Shisan's heart lurched again. Was this how someone acted around an acquaintance?

Why was he so nervous?

A moment later, ripples disturbed the tranquil sky.

A mass of light flashed, followed by the sound of something slicing through the air.

As it came into clearer view, it proved to be no mass of light, but the radiance of a flying sword.

Flying on a sword required at least the sixth Meridian Opening Realm-

only then did one possess such an ability. It counted as a minor Divine Ability.

That square-faced man could not even begin to compare.

At that thought, Lin Shisan's heart twisted into a braided knot again.

Lei Shi knew Feng Qingye, not him.

Not killing Feng Qingye did not mean he would refrain from killing Lin Shisan.

Although Feng Qingye had said it as a joke earlier, it was the truth.

Feng Qingye was a genuine Outer Sect Disciple. He had an iron rice bowl, so to speak, and was registered at Deer Gate Mountain.

Lin Shisan was merely a Servant Disciple. His name might not even have been submitted.

Otherwise, how could Feng Qingyue, a mere Outer Sect Disciple, have had enough clout to arrange a position for Lin Shisan so casually?

More importantly, would this sixth-realm Lei Shi notice anything unusual about him? Would he discover the mysterious Little Black Cauldron?

"Greetings... greetings, Uncle-Master Bai..."

Halfway through his greeting, Feng Qingye hurriedly changed the name.

And his expression was extremely unnatural.

The sparkle had vanished from both his eyes.

His hands fidgeted awkwardly, and even his kneeling legs trembled unnaturally.

They were done for.

His good luck had all been used up over the past two days. This time, there might really be bloodshed-or even a threat to his life.

You little old man, you've really screwed me to death this time! Lin Shisan viciously cursed the old man in his heart.