Open Your Fish Mouth

Ling Hezhou sighed. "That's true."

He also knew that the Tianyan Sect was in turmoil. He had asked Chi Yu to take him back because Ling Tian was there, and Ling Tian could arrange his funeral.

Chi Yu said, "At this point, let's eat first."

Ling Hezhou said, "...You really do love eating."

Chi Yu normally ate three meals a day, sometimes five, with morning and afternoon snacks. He was very particular about it.

Chi Yu said, "In this world, the one thing

good food

must never be let down."

Mostly, after returning to the age of fourteen, his appetite had grown too. He dared not shortchange himself on that front. It would be bad if he failed to grow taller.

Come back to life, my 180/18/17 (x

Chi Yu went downstairs and ordered a tableful of dishes.

The staff were already very familiar with him. Chi Yu spent generously and left large tips, so several servers competed to greet him the moment he came downstairs.

Ling Hezhou had asked why he tipped so much. After all, Chi Yu was a penny-pincher who haggled over everything even at Jinxiu Pavilion, yet he was very generous with these servers. Chi Yu had answered, "A few spirit stones from me can make them happy all day. That's enough."

Ling Hezhou found it rather incredible that this was his only reason.

But it was indeed this pure kindness that had made him trust Chi Yu in the first place.

Chi Yu told him, "Don't worry. I'll definitely take all of you back."

Ling Hezhou believed him, so he was in no hurry. Although Chi Yu was very weak, this very weak person had somehow survived at the fiend's side.

Ling Hezhou trusted him.

The food arrived, and Chi Yu began eating.

His table manners were excellent, taught to him by his grandparents from childhood. He chewed slowly and treated every grain of rice seriously, so eating was a major undertaking for him.

He had finished one bowl of rice and was starting on his second when a black-robed cultivator entered the restaurant. He was exceptionally tall and wore a black hooded cloak that hid most of his face, revealing only a beautiful jawline.

He looked around, and his gaze stopped abruptly on Chi Yu. Then he strode over and sat down opposite him.

Chi Yu looked up at him, hesitated, and asked, "Can I help you?"

The black-robed cultivator asked, "What's your name?"

Chi Yu: "?"

He replied shrewdly, "If you're asking my name, shouldn't you introduce yourself first, as a show of courtesy and sincerity?"

The black-robed cultivator paused. "My surname is Wu. My name is Yunsu."

Unable to tell what he wanted, Chi Yu answered naturally, "Hello, my name is Chi Yu."

The black-robed cultivator asked, "Chi Yu? Are you sure that's your name?"

Chi Yu nodded. "That's my name. Why?"

The black-robed cultivator said nothing. He stood up and said, "Nothing."

He turned to leave, but as he shifted his feet, he stopped and asked Chi Yu, "How old are you?"

"Uh, I'm thirteen this year," Chi Yu said.

The black-robed cultivator said nothing more and walked toward the stairs.

Ling Tian suddenly spoke beside Chi Yu's ear. "Wu Yunsu. He's from the Xuanxiao Immortal Sect."

Ling Hezhou said gravely, "So it's him. I remember he's only at Nascent Soul too, isn't he?"

Ling Tian said, "He's no match for the fiend. Young friend Chi Yu, sorry for the trouble, but could you warn Wu Yunsu not to confront the fiend and sacrifice himself for nothing?"

Chi Yu immediately put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and said, "All right. I'll go right away."

Just as he was about to head upstairs, an enormous crash came from above. More than half the restaurant was sheared away. The sounds of fighting drifted down, cultivators' furious roars mingling with the proprietor's wails. It was utter chaos.

Chi Yu rushed upstairs and saw that the black-robed cultivator and Xie Xiyi had indeed started fighting, exchanging blows in midair.

Chi Yu: "..."

Between rushing over to shout "Stop fighting, stop fighting!" and standing around doing nothing, Chi Yu chose to open his panel and record a video.

Things have come to this. Might as well record some footage.

A combat-edit video creator's dutiful smile.jpg

Author's note:

Puppy Fish: Things have come to this. Time to prepare to collect this powerhouse's corpse.

Chapter 16: Open Your Fish Mouth

Fighting was forbidden in cultivator cities, but once a battle reached the Nascent Soul level, the law enforcement system ground to a halt.

The Black Armor Guards rushed over, spotted a Nascent Soul cultivator, and immediately turned around to fetch the resident cultivator.

But when the resident Nascent Soul cultivator saw the scale of Xie Xiyi and Wu Yunsu's fight, he stayed out of it too-at the Nascent Soul level, most people still willing to serve as a city's resident cultivator valued their lives dearly.

Chaos broke out in the city. Wave after wave of cultivators fled, while wave after wave of others watched the spectacle despite the high risk of becoming collateral damage.

Spectator instincts awakened.jpg

The cultivators' gossip drifted over. "Is that black-clad masked cultivator the fiend who's been massacring cities lately? He's actually come to our Suyi City?"

"Surely not. If it were him, we'd already be dead."

"Ever since that ghost-masked fiend became famous, plenty of demonic cultivators have started wearing ghost masks like his. It's hard to tell."

"They say that fiend is in the Golden Core Realm, and so is this one. Still, I never expected a Golden Core cultivator to hold his own against a Nascent Soul."

"The Nascent Soul is even starting to fall behind!"

"No, that Golden Core is clearly still holding back. From what I can see, the Nascent Soul is going to lose!"

As Chi Yu listened to them risk their lives to gossip, he also listened to Ling Hezhou explain Wu Yunsu's background. "He's quite famous in the Xuanxiao Immortal Sect. Supposedly, he's the sect master's adopted son, but he's very much out of favor, and his name isn't even on the disciple register, so he can't study the sect's cultivation method. He's made his own way out in the world all this time, yet somehow reached Nascent Soul. His abilities are very strange too. They say he's immortal, though that's probably just a rumor. We don't know the details. We've never seen him fight."

Ling Tian said, "I fought him once and lost without understanding how."

As Chi Yu recorded, making sure his camera angle captured the clearest possible footage, he listened to their explanations and couldn't help saying, "Immortality-is it a dime a dozen now?"

Xie Xiyi had said he wouldn't die, Chi Yu couldn't die either, and now there was an immortal Wu Yunsu.

As they chatted, Xie Xiyi wielded Phantom Lightning and slashed open the clothing over Wu Yunsu's upper body. His black robe slipped off, revealing a handsome face and a scantily clad body adorned with silver jewelry and armlets.

But a moment later, his body turned into a dense black swarm of insects that scattered in every direction.

At the sight, Xie Xiyi chuckled softly. Several black runes flew over and sucked most of the swarm into a runic sphere.

But there were too many insects, and a small portion still escaped.

He had actually escaped that way.

Xie Xiyi softly hummed a new tune. The fresh melody filled him with heartfelt joy, and he did not bother with the vermin that had escaped.

The runic sphere spun and compressed, squeezing the dense black mass of insects into a thick black liquid.

But a moment later, Xie Xiyi froze.

He looked toward the spot where Chi Yu had just been. It was empty.

Xie Xiyi suddenly chuckled, murmuring in disbelief, "Abducting my person right in front of me?"

That vermin. Very good.

Yes, that was right. Chi Yu had actually been swept away and kidnapped by a gang of insect bandits!

The moment Chi Yu opened his eyes, he saw multicolored centipedes, venomous snakes, scorpions, and all sorts of other creepy-crawlies. He nearly fainted from fright.

The audacious Chi Yu feared nothing in heaven or earth except bugs-who wouldn't be afraid of bugs! Those were bugs! So many bugs! At maximum volume.jpg

Chi Yu closed his eyes, hoping it was a hallucination, but when he opened them again, a venomous snake brought its snout over and nudged his cheek.

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu closed his eyes with a serene expression.

He had no idea how much time passed before warmth spread over him and red light shone through his eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes to warm sunlight.

He lay on a reclining chair, wisps of cloud drifting past him from time to time. Clearly, he was aboard a flying artifact.

Ling Tian spoke beside his ear. "Wu Yunsu kidnapped you. I'm somewhat acquainted with him. I'll talk to him in a moment."

Ling Hezhou said in some shock, "I never imagined Wu Yunsu handled bugs."

With the two of them keeping him company, Chi Yu felt much better. Although the chilling sensation of venomous creatures crawling over him still lingered, brushing things off was what Chi Yu did best, so he bounced right back.

He climbed off the reclining chair and began exploring the flying artifact as though it were his own home.

The flying artifact took the shape of a lavish palace, with painted pillars, carved beams, and glazed green tiles. Inside was another world entirely, heaped with gold, silver, and jade. All kinds of spirit treasures and magical artifacts lay scattered across the floor as though they cost nothing, like a dragon's hoard.

Even Ling Hezhou, who came from a wealthy family, was startled by the spirit treasures covering the floor. "Wu Yunsu is this rich?"

Ling Tian said, "It seems the rumors are false. The Xuanxiao Immortal Sect's master must dote on him."

He had barely finished when a voice rang out. "What rumors?"

Chi Yu turned and saw Wu Yunsu in full. He was actually a beauty in a skirt, covered in silver ornaments, with two silver armlets on each lightly muscled arm. Colored cords and silver beads wove his long hair into exquisite braids. His upper body showed plenty of skin, his clothing light and airy. A silver necklace adorned with red cords rested around his neck, giving him a distinctly exotic air.

He was beautiful too, with delicate, well-defined features and a somewhat feminine face. His pupils had a purplish tint, lending him an unusual gentleness.

Before Chi Yu spoke, Ling Tian spoke from the Soul-Guarding Pearl. "Senior Brother Wu, I'm Ling Tian. I know you came to subdue the ghost-masked cultivator, but this young friend is innocent. The ghost-masked cultivator abducted him and kept him at his side. He's never done anything evil, and he even saved us fellow disciples. Could you please show mercy and let him go?"

Wu Yunsu did not answer. He only asked, "What rumors were you talking about?"