Chapter 735 - Little Ancestor
Thus, Yan Tianhen walked deeper into the fog with great curiosity.
Yin Chongyue lived in a comfortable-looking cave. There were many soft feathers and cushions weaved from spiritual plants. Yin Nian was currently extremely flustered as he waited upon that pouting infant who only looked one or two years old.
That baby looked quite lovely. Although his pair of eyes spun around like two black grapes, anyone who saw him would praise his appearance.
“You...” The baby was originally very excited when he saw Yin Chongyue, but when he then saw Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen following behind Yin Chongyue, he immediately became unhappy. “Why did you bring strangers here again? This is our private spot. How can you allow people to come here so casually? I don’t care, I don’t care. You must make them leave!”
Yin Chongyue felt a little helpless. He went forward, picked up the baby, and coaxed, “They found this place by themselves. Moreover, these two are my friends. Don’t worry about it.”
The baby hugged Yin Chongyue’s neck with his short hands and looked at Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen unhappily. His gaze stayed on Lin Xuanzhi for a moment. “Hm? Are you one of the Xuan clan’s descendants?”
Lin Xuanzhi answered, “Yes.”
“Never seen you before. I don’t recognize you.”
Yin Nian, however, was very excited to see Lin Xuanzhi.
“Master! Martial Aunt!” He hurriedly rushed over.
The baby buried his face in Yin Chongyue’s neck and pouted, “Hurry up and make them leave. I don’t want to see outsiders. I just want to see you.”
Yin Chongyue could only signal something to Lin Xuanzhi with his eyes.
Yin Nian blinked and pushed Yan Tianhen out while whispering, “Let’s leave now, quickly. This little ancestor can tear down the house when he starts throwing a tantrum. He’ll go to sleep in a minute. You can discuss anything you want when that happens.”
After they left the cave and found a place where Yin Chongyue couldn’t hear, Yan Tianhen finally asked, “What kind of situation is this?”
Yin Nian stretched his aching body, breathed out, and leaned against the tree. He said with lingering fear, “Who knows? Adoptive Father and I were called to the South Land. That South Sovereign’s husband suddenly gave Adoptive Father a pill cauldron. When Adoptive Father opened it, a baby actually jumped out. As soon as he saw that little baby, his entire person froze. That little brat said ‘Go east’, so he immediately took that little ancestor here without another word. If I didn’t stubbornly follow them here, Adoptive Father probably wouldn’t even remember that he still has a son.”
Yin Nian also looked depressed. A little ancestor had inexplicably appeared. At first, he thought that Yin Chongyue planned to accept this brat as a son or disciple, but who would’ve expected that as soon as he called the little ancestor “Younger Brother”, the other party released a strange fire that almost roasted him.
During this period, the little ancestor tormented Yin Nian so much that he was about to die. He felt that this was even harder than cultivation.
“I don’t know what kind of bewitchment that little ancestor cast on Adoptive Father, to actually make him obey the baby’s every word. Do you know how outrageous that little ancestor was?”
Yin Nian felt indignant and jumped down from the tree. “He insisted on eating fish, but there’s no fish in this lake at all. So Adoptive Father personally went to a town hundreds of miles away just to buy fish for him and even picked out all the bones. Shouldn’t a brat that small still be drinking milk?”
If Lin Xuanzhi still had any doubts about the baby’s identity before this, he could basically come to a conclusion now. Nine times out of ten, this was the old ancestor who made the Xuan clan lose both their throne and their empire.
Yin Chongyue lost him once and finally met him again. Let alone eating fish, he would probably even pick off the stars in the sky if that old ancestor wanted stars. But they still didn’t know why Xuan Lou became an infant spirit inside a pill cauldron, and exactly how much he remembered about the past.
Yin Nian was both excited and moved upon seeing his master again. He took Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen on a tour around this area to familiarize them with the terrain and even caught two rabbits while he was at it.
Although the little baby had a big temper, his body was delicate. Yin Chongyue coaxed him to sleep soon after.
Yin Chongyue left the cave and found Lin Xuanzhi and the others. He sat down on a rock near them.
Lin Xuanzhi raised a brow. “How does it feel to raise a child?”
Yin Chongyue rubbed his nose. “To tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel very good. If this boy didn’t have karma with me, I never would’ve even bothered with him.”
Yin Nian immediately jumped out to expose Yin Chongyue’s lies. “Adoptive Father, that’s not what you said before. When that little ancestor asked you if you thought he was annoying, you claimed that he wasn’t annoying at all, and you were perfectly willing to slave away for him.”
Yin Chongyue: “...”
Yin Chongyue felt a little ashamed, so he retorted, “It’s not like I can say I find him annoying to his face, right? It’s not like you don’t know his destructive power. Once he gets angry, the entire cave will blow up. I’m too lazy to clean that up.”
Yin Nian pouted. “I don’t believe you.”
Lin Xuanzhi swept a glance over Yin Chongyue. “What exactly is that little ancestor?”
Yin Chongyue answered, “He’s human, and I think you’ve already guessed his identity.”
Yan Tianhen said in surprise, “Didn’t you say the Xuan clan’s old ancestor entered reincarnation? How did he become a little brat? Moreover, I sense very heavy Yin Qi on his body. It’s not the kind of Yin Qi that belongs to ordinary babies.”
“In fact, his soul was already inside this cauldron a long time ago.” Yin Chongyue’s eyes sank a little. “But he doesn’t want to tell me the reason for this, and I also can’t get an answer out of him.”
Yan Tianhen blinked. “So now you’ve become his dad?”
Yin Chongyue tutted. “I told him to call me ‘Dad’, but he refused to shout that, no matter what. Plus, I’ve discovered that his temperament is a little different from before.”
Yan Tianhen asked, “Different? How so?”
Yin Chongyue said fondly, “In the past, Xuan Jiuxiao was elegant, peerless, and magnificent. His personality was also mature, steady, and reliable, nothing like this little ancestor at all — he starts to tear the house down if he can’t see me. He’s moody and temperamental, and getting more and more unbearable.”
However, although he said that, Yin Chongyue’s eyes were full of loving indulgence. Yan Tianhen felt like his teeth would fall out after this display of affection.
Lin Xuanzhi said, “A person’s temperament will naturally change after turning into a child. He will change when he grows up.”
Yin Chongyue smiled. “It’s good if he stays like this forever too. It’s rare to see him pestering me like this and acting spoiled.”
Yan Tianhen: “That won’t do ah. How can he dual cultivate with you if he stays like this forever?”
Yin Chongyue: “...”
Yan Tianhen, I feel like you’ve changed.
Lin Xuanzhi said sincerely, “In any case, congratulations.”
Yin Chongyue smiled. “It’s indeed a cause for celebration.”
No matter how things developed to this point, it was a great blessing that Xuan Lou could return to Yin Chongyue’s side. Although Yin Chongyue never said anything during these years, how could he not feel sorrow when he saw the people around him getting in pairs and displaying their love for each other? He would always think of Xuan Lou, who had now rejoined the cycle of reincarnation and would never remember him again.
It’s just that he himself chose that future for Xuan Lou, so he couldn’t blame anyone else.
Yin Chongyue asked, “Oh right, why are you looking for the Illuminating Sky Cauldron?”
Lin Xuanzhi replied, “Have you heard about evil Qi cultivators?”
Yin Chongyue nodded. “Before I entered this mountain, Reincarnation Palace’s four envoys were searching for traces of evil Qi cultivators everywhere in the Nine Lands. Of course I know about that. But I don’t know what happened after I entered the mountain.”
Ever since he started living in seclusion while raising a child, Yin Chongyue’s mind was no longer on the Nine Lands at all anymore.
So Yan Tianhen told Yin Chongyue everything that happened in the North Land.
TIme flew by quickly when they started talking. Before they knew it, it was already dark. Yan Tianhen was still giving a detailed account of what happened in the South Land when they suddenly heard an explosion.
Yan Tianhen: “!!!”
Yin Nian jumped up like he was facing a great enemy. He stared in the direction of the smoking cave. “That little ancestor is about to throw a tantrum again!”
Yin Chongyue pressed his forehead with a little headache. “He can’t find me after waking up, so he’ll blow up anything he sees.”
While saying that, he hurriedly got up and walked towards the cave.
Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen exchanged a glance, they followed Yin Chongyue to see what just happened.
Although Xuan Lou’s current temperament and state of mind were very different from that of an ordinary baby, he still wasn’t very mature at all. Acting spoiled, throwing temper tantrums, acting cute — there was nothing he dared to do, since he was taking advantage of the fact that he looked like an infant to do anything to make Yin Chongyue’s attention fall on him.
The cave had already been blown up, and there was scattered rubble everywhere. On the mat weaved with spiritual plants, a baby with a face full of unhappiness pouted as he glared at the cave entrance, looking like he was about to complain.
Yin Chongyue rushed over as soon as he entered the cave. He carefully picked up the child who had stretched an arm out to him. “Why did you blow up the house again? Are you hurt? Aiya, look, your fingers are dirty now. How can you be so careless?”
Xuan Lou said in a baby’s voice, “Where did you run to this time? Didn’t I say before that you have to always stay by my side when I sleep? You lied to me! You big liar!”
Yin Chongyue: “I swear this is the last time.”
Xuan Lou pouted. “That’s what you swore last time as well.”
Yin Chongyue: “...”
Xuan Lou snorted, then turned to Lin Xuanzhi. He frowned and said, “Why did you come here to disturb our peace and quiet? This valley is mine and Ah Yue’s. Leave quickly, or I won’t be polite.”
Lin Xuanzhi narrowed his eyes. He first cupped his hands, then said nonchalantly, “We’re here to borrow the Illuminating Sky Cauldron.”
Xuan Lou made a defensive posture as soon as he heard about the cauldron. “To think you actually have designs on the Illuminating Sky Cauldron!”
Yan Tianhen rushed to explain when he saw flames appearing around the baby, “We’re here to use it to refine a Spirit Gathering Pill that can heavily injure evil Qi cultivators. We’ll return the cauldron to you after refining the pill.”
Xuan Lou gave a Hmph. “Do you think I’m stupid? So many people want the Illuminating Sky Cauldron. I don’t believe you at all!”
Yan Tianhen looked towards Lin Xuanzhi helplessly.
Lin Xuanzhi stared at Xuan Lou and asked, “What can we do to make you believe us?”
Xuan Lou kept frowning. “I won’t believe you no matter what.”
Lin Xuanzhi: “...”
Yin Chongyue and Lin Xuanzhi were still old acquaintances, after all, so he spoke up, “Little ancestor, Xuanzhi always keeps his word. He’s different from those people who want to snatch the Illuminating Sky Cauldron.”
Yan Tianhen hurriedly nodded.
Unexpectedly, Xuan Lou merely flattened his lips and shouted in a tearful voice, “You’re actually speaking up for an outsider. Have you fallen out of love already? You definitely did. He looks so much like the past me. You two must have an illicit affair!”
Yin Chongyue: “...”
Yan Tianhen: “...”