Zhang Qiling-brand Little Sprite

With his eyes closed, Yu Zhi rapidly absorbed the energy around him, circulating it through one greater and lesser cycle after another. There were no bottlenecks for now, so he simply poured spiritual energy into his dantian without a second thought. His entire body was wrapped in a cocoon of green energy.

People said cultivators lost track of the years when they cultivated, and in the blink of an eye, the next day had arrived. Although he still hadn't broken through to the Qi Refining First Layer, he had made some progress and could use a few ordinary spiritual techniques, such as the Lesser Fireball Technique and Water Purification Formula.

Thinking of Zhang Qiling, who was probably hungry too, Yu Zhi hurried off to hunt. The pheasant he encountered the moment he stepped out was just asking to be eaten. With a wave of spiritual energy, he killed it deader than dead. Then he formed the hand seal for the Water Purification Art with his spiritual energy and cleaned it quickly and thoroughly. Spiritual energy really was indispensable at home and on the road.

Back in the cave, he looked into the space with his mental power and saw that Zhang Qiling was still lying flat on the bed. Yu Zhi decided to see whether he could use his mental power to bring the bed directly out.

Zhang Qiling had just felt someone watching him when he found himself in the cave. He knew Yu Zhi had brought him out.

He got out of bed and quietly watched Yu Zhi.

Only then did Yu Zhi notice that Zhang Qiling was barefoot. Uh, had he gone outside barefoot yesterday too? What a beast. At least Yu Zhi had managed to get himself some shoes. It was his own carelessness too; he really hadn't thought of these things.

"Zhang Qiling, sit on the bed," Yu Zhi said, pushing him back onto it.

Zhang Qiling looked at Yu Zhi in puzzlement, asking what was wrong with his expression.

Yu Zhi actually understood him. "You don't have shoes. I didn't notice yesterday. Sit there and I'll take care of it; just wait for the food."

Zhang Qiling's expression froze for a moment, as if to say, "That's it?"

Yu Zhi paid no attention to his expression.

"After we eat today, we need to get moving. Look at us, we're like savages with nothing to our names. This won't do. We need to get back to human society."

As he spoke, he formed a hand seal for the Lesser Fireball Technique and lit the firewood.

Zhang Qiling watched Yu Zhi move his fingers a couple of times and flames appear at his fingertips. His expression froze. He knew this man had many secrets, but the way he hid nothing from him showed far too little caution. If anyone else found out, he would definitely be caught and subjected to human experimentation.

No, this man was a test subject just like him. He wore the same test-subject clothes as him, so he must have been caught before because he had let his guard down around others.

"Yu Zhi, don't let anyone else see you do these things in the future." Zhang Qiling's expression was unusually serious.

Yu Zhi looked at him in bewilderment, a question mark written all over his face. What things?

Without speaking, Zhang Qiling pointed at the fire.

Only then did Yu Zhi understand. He was touched; he really hadn't been good to him for nothing.

"It's fine. No one else knows, only you do, and you'll be the only one who knows in the future too." Yu Zhi beamed at him.

Looking at that smiling face, Zhang Qiling suddenly felt that it had come alive. It was very handsome! The kind of handsome that put people at ease and made them trust him without realizing it.

Yu Zhi focused on roasting the chicken and said nothing more. The firelight illuminated his profile: a high, straight nose, deep-set brows and eyes, a pair of peach blossom eyes, and petal-shaped lips that looked very kissable. His complexion was fair and clear.

Yu Zhi suddenly remembered something and turned his head sharply, only for the words to catch in his throat. The other man was staring intently at him-uh, at the roast chicken in his hands.

"Um, how much do you remember now?"

"Not much." Zhang Qiling was as taciturn as ever.

Yu Zhi hesitated, unsure whether he should tell Zhang Qiling what he knew, because he had originally planned to stand by and watch and didn't want to change anything.

But this was Zhang Qiling. Yu Zhi couldn't make up his mind for the moment and thought he would wait and see.

Zhang Qiling watched the man who seemed about to speak but stopped himself. He seemed to sense that this man knew something about him and was considering whether to tell him, but he didn't ask.

For a moment, Yu Zhi didn't quite dare meet his eyes and changed the subject.

"Zhang Qiling, you'd better go into the space. I'll take you away from here. You don't have shoes, so it's hard for you to walk, and you haven't recovered yet, so you can't keep up with me. If those people come after us, it'll be easier for me to move on my own."

"Okay."

Zhang Qiling gave a calm reply as he watched Yu Zhi avert his eyes. His instincts told him this man should be trustworthy.

After putting Zhang Qiling away, Yu Zhi put the wooden bowl away as well. Zhang Qiling had made it, so he had to keep it. Thinking of the person he had put away, he felt he was a bit like his own little sprite. This feeling was wonderful! He thought, I want a Zhang Qiling-brand little sprite.

He set out on his journey back to human society. Along the way, he traveled by day and cultivated while sitting cross-legged in ancient trees at night. He picked wild fruit on the road, and whenever he caught prey and roasted it, he would call Zhang Qiling out to move around a little. Sometimes the two of them barely exchanged two sentences in a day.

After half a month of this, Yu Zhi finally felt his way to the foot of the mountain and saw a packed dirt road. He never wanted to eat anything roasted again; the thought of food without salt was enough to make him want to throw up. He truly admired how the other man could finish it every time without a change of expression. Toward the end, he would rather gnaw on some bad-tasting wild fruit than eat roast meat.

He needed to return to human society as soon as possible and eat some food fit for people. Although he had eaten things that tasted worse and were more disgusting before, he wasn't on a mission now and no longer wanted to put himself through that.

Following the road, he soon reached a county town. He hadn't expected that crossing mountains and ridges along the way would bring him all the way to Qinghai Province. Penniless and accompanied by his little sprite, was he going to have to sleep on the streets?

For all his spiritual power, he had no money. As the saying went, a single coin could stump a hero. Fortunately, he had dug up a seven-leaf ginseng plant in the mountains, which Zhang Qiling had spotted. It was definitely at least a hundred years old and could be exchanged for some money.

His hard cultivation along the way hadn't been in vain either. He now had the strength of the Qi Refining First Layer. He didn't know whether anyone in this county town would buy the ginseng. He wasn't asking for much; fifty thousand yuan would do. He had discussed the price with Zhang Qiling.

Yu Zhi still felt some reluctance. A hundred-year-old ginseng plant like this would definitely sell for several million in later years. Even if he didn't sell it, it would be good to keep it to help Zhang Qiling recover his health. But it was the seventies, and he needed money urgently. A single coin really could stump a hero.

Forget it. He could also use spiritual energy to treat Zhang Qiling, and there were plenty of good things deep in the mountains in this era. Next time, he could use his spiritual energy to sense them and would surely find something better. He could only console himself with these thoughts.

He passed a pharmacy, but unfortunately it only sold Western medicine and didn't buy ginseng. The owner was kind enough to point him toward a pawnshop and suggest he try there.

After turning left and right, he finally found the pawnshop. Following a round of haggling, he sold it for fifty thousand yuan. Both sides were satisfied.

He clutched the fifty thousand yuan wrapped in newspaper. It was as conspicuous as two bricks. Paying no heed to other people's looks, he hurried away. He could feel someone following him. Although he wasn't afraid of robbers, he didn't want to stir up more trouble.

As he ran, he put the money into the space. Then he ran like the wind down the main road and out of the county town, racing straight for the mountain he had just descended.

"Fuck, boss, that little bastard got away. We couldn't catch him. He went into the mountains," a young thug said, cursing.

"Come on, let's get more people to block the road. I don't believe that little bastard won't come out," said a man with a face full of hard flesh.

If he hadn't wanted to expose his inhuman abilities, he would have simply moved so fast that he vanished in the blink of an eye. He used the Light Body Technique to travel through the mountain forest and soon reached another peak. Looking at the road before him, he returned to the space and told Zhang Qiling what had just happened.

"I'm going to another town now to buy us a change of clothes. Then I'll buy some food and find an inn. You can come out after that."

"Mm." When Zhang Qiling saw the two stacks wrapped in newspaper just now, he had known Yu Zhi had successfully exchanged the ginseng for money.

After going out, Yu Zhi quickly took care of everything. He found an inn, paid for one day, took the key, and entered the room. He couldn't wait to bring Zhang Qiling out.