Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Zhu Yin was not being stingy. These were no ordinary fruits. If the two children had not grown up drinking Immortal Spirit Spring Water, they probably could not have endured even one.
The two had eaten fine things since infancy. The fruit truly was fragrant and sweet, but they restrained themselves and obediently followed their master’s instructions. A little less than half the cluster remained.
Yun Lie did not put his share away. He ran over to Zhu Yin with pattering steps and held out the little fruits cupped in his palms. “Master, eat.”
Zhu Yin rubbed his little head. The two children had been well nourished, and even their hair was soft. Rubbing it felt no worse than petting Barbara.
She smiled. “Barbara and I have both eaten some. This portion is for you two.”
She was no foolish master who saved every good thing for the children and denied herself.
After finishing the fruit, the two children who had not seen their master for two days vied to cling to her. Holding her hands, they chattered about everything they had done at home and how much they had missed her.
Zhu Yin reclined in her chair and listened for a while. The children talked a great deal, but they were well behaved. Their voices were neither loud nor shrill, only soft and childlike, so they never grated on the ear.
Then Zhu Yin fell asleep.
Yun Xi patted her senior brother’s arm and pointed at their master, who had fallen asleep at some point.
With the solemn care of a little adult, Yun Lie helped their master into a more comfortable position. Yun Xi went inside and brought out a small blanket and pillow.
Once everything was arranged, the children sat on little stools, propped their chins in their hands, and whispered while waiting for Zhu Yin to wake.
“I smell something delicious.”
“Uncle Heiwu’s cooking keeps getting better. Slurp… It smells so good.”
“I want to eat the bird’s wings!” Yun Lie’s eyes shone.
Yun Xi gave her senior brother, whose head was filled with nothing but food, a disdainful look. She said solemnly, “I will be five after the New Year. I will be a big child then. Next time Master goes out, she can bring me too, right?”
Every time Master went out, she brought home all sorts of fun things.
How hateful. Xixi wanted to go out and play with Master too–no, she wanted to help with important business!
Zhu Yin was awakened by wave after wave of savory fragrance.
She leaned comfortably against the bench, narrowed her eyes, and watched Heiwu lay dinner out in the courtyard.
Back then, the plot had forbidden her from finding a wet nurse for the two infants, and Zhu Yin herself had never raised children.
She possessed at least some self-awareness. She worried that if she truly did everything herself, she might accidentally raise the two fragile children of destiny to death.
Fortunately, few things could stump her. That very night, she brought back two freshly made servants.
Unfortunately, her options were limited, and she could not find any experienced-looking older women.
Heiwu was a thin, pale young man. Heipao was a little older, tall and powerfully built. In any case, neither looked like someone who knew how to raise children.
But that did not matter. They could learn.
After five years, they had become quite competent.
Heiwu in particular had probably never realized while alive that he possessed such talent for cooking.
Following Zhu Yin’s instructions, he had stewed the demon-beast meat with medicinal herbs until it was tender and flavorful, producing a soup rich with mouthwatering fragrance.
There was also a large platter of roasted meat. It had been shaved with a small knife into nearly transparent slices and wrapped in green leaves, each parcel just the right size for one bite.
Zhu Yin found it delicious.
She ate so happily that she paid little attention to the two children.
Unsurprisingly, both children ate too much.
Had it been ordinary food, overeating would have caused no more than temporary discomfort. A walk or a dose of digestive medicine would have solved the problem.
But this was the flesh of a high-ranking demon-beast lord.
The two children held their stomachs and whimpered.
They were simply too well behaved. Only when the pain became unbearable did they tug at Zhu Yin’s sleeves with reddened eyes and say that they hurt.
Zhu Yin reached out to examine them. A wave of scorching energy was racing through each child’s body, seemingly searching for a way out.
She sank into thought.
At some point, Heiwu silently appeared behind her.
“Master, the young masters’ bodies cannot absorb the vast spiritual power in the beast meat.”
Zhu Yin frowned without raising her head. “I know.”
Heiwu said softly, “You need only guide the excess spiritual power out of them.”
Ever since awakening, Heiwu had possessed no memories of his past. He knew only that he was dead and that Zhu Yin, his master, had given him a second life.
Though he remembered nothing of his former life, he instinctively knew a great deal of common knowledge about this world.
Zhu Yin stroked the children’s faces. “Master is going to send spiritual power into your bodies. Do not resist. Be good and follow my guidance–”
She did not finish.
A vortex of spiritual energy suddenly appeared above each child’s head. The scorching spiritual power within them seemed at last to have found an outlet. At the same time, the surrounding spiritual energy was drawn toward the small courtyard.
Zhu Yin’s eyes widened slightly, not in surprise, but with an inexplicable trace of guilt.
The next instant, her will stirred. Invisible darkness surged forth and enveloped the entire residence, cutting off all attempts to peer within.
Almost at the exact moment she completed the barrier, several threads of divine sense swept across the sky above the courtyard.
They did not necessarily bear ill will. Their owners had merely sensed someone successfully drawing energy into their body and stepping onto the path of cultivation nearby, and had come to investigate out of curiosity.
But if they saw that the ones who had succeeded were a pair of five-year-old children, it would likely attract a great deal of trouble.
The threads of divine sense searched the area. When they failed to find the source, they departed.
It was only a Qi Refining cultivator, after all. They had not taken the matter very seriously.
At some point, the frowns caused by the children’s pain had smoothed away. Their heads rested together as though they had fallen asleep. Only the vortices of spiritual energy above them revealed how unusual this “nap” truly was.
Without ever cultivating, their bodies had drawn in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth on their own and guided it inside.
If word spread, the great immortal sects would probably fight over these two natural cultivation prodigies.
Unfortunately, the only witnesses in the courtyard were two amnesiac soul servants who did not count as living people, an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator who knew nothing about the cultivation world’s common sense,
and a system cat that could only meow.
Thus, this sight unseen in a thousand years was destined to be taken for granted.
Once Zhu Yin confirmed that her two young disciples were in no danger and had merely entered the Qi Refining stage by accident, she relaxed.
She found nothing strange about it. They were the protagonists, children of destiny!
Was it not perfectly normal for protagonists to be unusually talented and exceptional?
That was what she believed, and what she argued to Barbara’s colleague.
The moment the two children stirred the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, a line of bright red warning text appeared on her mission screen.
Its general meaning was that the two protagonists were supposed to leave Nandu at fifteen and join an immortal sect.
Only then were they meant to formally embark upon cultivation.
Now the protagonists had begun cultivating a full ten years ahead of schedule!
Zhu Yin argued her case with righteous confidence: What does this have to do with me? I never taught them how to cultivate!
They ate, drank, and slept, then somehow drew spiritual energy into their bodies all by themselves. How can you blame me for that?