Chapter 206: Frequent Disturbances

A bowl of vegetable porridge, a glistening salted duck egg, and a small plate of pickled vegetables.

Such a simple breakfast, yet everyone present ate with great relish.

Seated around the stone table, Li Xunshan and the others had originally planned to chat about recent events over the meal. However, they were so engrossed in their food that they couldn’t put their chopsticks down, devouring their portions with eager mouthfuls.

It wasn’t until breakfast was finished and Gu Ning’an brewed a pot of Wishing Spring tea that they finally had the chance to talk about the latest happenings.

The first topic to come up was the “amusing incident” that occurred during the grand opening of Wei Hai’s Eternal Vintage Tavern.

On the day of the opening, Li Xunshan and the others naturally attended. Even Wen Songmo, who practically lived in the yamen, had dressed in casual attire and made a low-key appearance.

But despite his efforts to blend in with the crowd, someone still recognized him.

As a result, what was supposed to be a proper tavern opening turned into an event where local merchants eagerly flattered and tried to curry favor with the magistrate.

Then there was Round Ball. Ever since it rejoined Wen Songmo, the once-skinny dog had, in just a few months, plumped up into a round ball once again!

One time, when Li Xunshan went to visit Wen Songmo, he was shocked to find him and Round Ball surrounded by a group of female dogs, each with their own unique charms.

Only after asking did Li Xunshan learn that Round Ball was quite the “playboy.” Over the past few months, it had been running around flirting recklessly. No one knew exactly when it got into trouble, but now, all of its “girlfriends” had come knocking to settle accounts with it.

Incidents like these, which never failed to amuse, were common.

However, the one thing that left the deepest impression on Li Xunshan happened just a few days before the New Year—when he encountered a young man and a young woman.

Both of them were dressed exquisitely and had strikingly fine features.

For some reason, they took an interest in the two double happiness characters pasted on the Ren family courtyard’s entrance.

But rather than offering money for them, the young man instead produced two objects.

According to him, one was called a Changming Lantern, a lamp that, once lit, would burn for a hundred years, ensuring peace and warding off malevolent spirits.

The other was a pill sealed inside a jade bottle. The young man claimed that this pill could pull a dying person back from the gates of death.

Whether or not Li Xunshan believed him was irrelevant—he had no intention of trading away the double happiness characters written by Gu Ning’an.

When the young man was met with an outright rejection, the young woman stepped forward and warned Li Xunshan that the young man had come down from an immortal mountain. If he refused now, he would surely regret it in the future.

At a loss for words, Li Xunshan simply smiled and politely declined their kind offer once again.

Unexpectedly, the two youths turned out to be rather arrogant.

The young woman called the young man Senior Brother Shi and remarked, “I never thought I’d see the day when even you would suffer rejection…”

The young man simply responded, “This is hardly rejection. Mortals have limited vision—it’s only natural they fail to recognize true value.”

Li Xunshan was not the type to take offense easily. Even after hearing their words, he merely laughed and let it pass.

“If it were me, I would’ve pointed at that brat’s nose and asked—’Are you out of your mind?'” Wei Hai clicked his tongue.

Hearing this, Li Xunshan waved a hand dismissively. “Forget it, forget it. They were just a couple of immature kids, barely fifteen or sixteen. Why should I bother arguing with them?”

Wei Hai rolled his eyes. “That’s nonsense. Fifteen or sixteen isn’t young, and even if they were kids, they should still have basic manners. Looking down on people like that—what kind of behavior is that?”

Turning to Gu Ning’an, he added, “Right, Mr. Gu?”

Seeing Wei Hai’s resolute stance against moral coercion, Gu Ning’an couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right.”

“See? Even Mr. Gu agrees with me!” Wei Hai burst into laughter.

Just then, Gu Ning’an suddenly noticed wisps of azure smoke drifting in from the sky.

Looking closer, he realized—

That wasn’t ordinary mist.

It was incense power, floating toward them like strands of silk!

Moving rapidly, the incense power had been at the horizon just a moment ago—now, it was already descending directly above him!

Realizing that the incense power was coming straight for him, Gu Ning’an casually waved it away while pondering: Who’s offering incense for me?

As he mulled over the thought, a wisp of Worldly Qi suddenly shot out from the Hongchen Sword, trembling incessantly.

Furrowing his brow, he summoned the Worldly Qi into his palm. The moment he touched it, he immediately stood up and said, “You all sit here for a while. I have something to take care of and will be back before dinner.”

“I’ll be leaving tonight’s dinner to you all.”

Wei Hai responded, “Got it! Leave it to us!”

“Thanks!” With that, Gu Ning’an swiftly stepped out the door.

The river’s surface was as smooth as a mirror, shimmering with endless ripples.

At the heart of the river, a massive dark shadow was darting beneath the water’s surface at great speed.

Above it, in midair, a young man and a young woman stood suspended, closely pursuing the figure below.

The young man wore an embroidered robe, a jade belt fastened around his waist, and a dragon-shaped hairpin securing his hair.

The young woman was dressed in a pale white gauze dress, her waterfall-like black hair cascading freely down her back.

Their expressions were relaxed, as if the enormous shadow they were chasing posed no challenge to them.

Fixing his sharp gaze on the swiftly moving figure below, the young man formed a hand seal and spoke indifferently:

“Water Bind!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dozens of water columns erupted from the river’s surface, piercing straight into the sky like towering waterspouts!

The massive shadow caught within the pillars came to an abrupt halt!

The two figures descended until they hovered directly above it.

The young woman furrowed her brows. “Senior Brother Shi, isn’t this a bit inappropriate? After all, this is one of the rare benevolent demons we’ve encountered since leaving the mountain.”

“I’ve never seen a demon carry so much merit before… Given time, it might even use its accumulated merit to ascend as a true deity of the Xiangjiang River.”

The young man replied coolly, “A demon is a demon. There’s no such thing as benevolent or malevolent demons… Besides, I’m not trying to harm it. I just need to take it back to complete my task.”

The young woman hesitated. “But our master’s rule was to bring back a ‘marvelous object’ from our travels… This giant fish is a living being, not an object, isn’t it?”

The young man clasped his hands together, causing the towering water columns to constrict, gradually forming a prison of water around the shadow.

“A marvelous object doesn’t necessarily have to be an inanimate item. A fish demon with this much merit is extraordinary in its own right.”

“I didn’t originally plan on bringing back a living being, but that mortal refused to exchange his ‘double happiness’ calligraphy with me… And now, our deadline is fast approaching…”

“If I don’t complete this soon, who knows how many years it’ll take before I get another chance to leave the mountain…”