RIIDMDR chapter 157

Tingchuan led Nanxu through the winding corridors. Nanxu saw obvious signs of battle damage everywhere and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Tingchuan.

He didn’t feel sorry for Tingchuan just because he was his future lover; he felt sorry for him because he was greedy and couldn’t bear to see such destruction.

How many silver coins would it cost to restore it?!

Lost in thought, Nanxu didn’t notice the damaged fence at the corner of the corridor ahead and headed straight for the lotus pond.

His feet were already in the air when a strong hand grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him up. Tingchuan reacted quickly, and Nanxu’s feet barely touched the water.

Without Tingchuan’s rescue, Nanxu would probably be keeping company with the koi in the pond right now. Although he could swim, it would have been humiliating to fall to the bottom.

After landing back on the ground, Nanxu realized the danger and turned to smile at Tingchuan, whose face showed displeasure.

“Don’t get distracted while walking,” Tingchuan said. It was baffling enough that this little demon had so little spiritual power; he couldn’t even walk steadily.

Not daring to dwell on his thoughts any longer, Nan Xu responded and struck up a conversation with Tingchuan, asking, “Who was that man lecturing Yunyi and Jingyuan just now?”

Tingchuan didn’t turn his head, answering concisely, “My elder brother.”

Nan Xu thought that must be You’an’s father. You’an had a lively and unconventional personality, so Nan Xu had assumed his father would also be an interesting demon. However, upon meeting him, Nan Xu found him to be completely different from what he had imagined. Although he appeared kind, he exuded more intimidation than the younger Tingchuan.

“Your brother looks a bit fierce,” Nan Xu muttered softly.

Tingchuan raised an eyebrow. “Everyone says my brother is gentle and polite—a rare gentleman among the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan. How come you describe him so differently? Besides, you’ve only met him once.”

Nan Xu thought Tingchuan was upset with his description of his brother. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything bad about him.”

“It’s all right. He’s never been gentle,” Tingchuan said.

Nan Xu: ?

If Jing Yuan’s words always carried a hint of sarcasm, Tingchuan’s words now seemed to possess an unsettling natural quality, leaving one completely bewildered.

“Did Yun Yi and Jing Yuan just fight?” Nan Xu changed the subject.

Tingchuan glanced back at Nan Xu, noting his genuine curiosity, and remained silent for a moment. “Your cultivation isn’t high, yet you’re sleeping soundly.”

Nan Xu: …

This was basically saying his hearing was terrible—after all, they had fought fiercely, yet he hadn’t woken up.

Nan Xu gave up on chatting with him. Why was Tingchuan so difficult to get along with when he was younger?

Nanxu remained silent for the rest of the time, sulking. He didn’t know where Tingchuan was taking him, so he simply followed.

His sudden silence made Tingchuan uncomfortable. “Why aren’t you saying anything again?”

Nanxu couldn’t explain, so he made up a reason: “I’m worried about my two friends.”

“The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan has many dealings with the other major clans. My brother treats them like close juniors and won’t harm them,” Tingchuan said. Nan Xu felt somewhat relieved.

During his time living in the garden, he had been diligently searching for a way to break the formation. Having nearly been trapped within it before, he dared not delay any longer.

However, as the days passed, Nan Xu began to feel as if he wasn’t actually in the formation. His past memories were intact, and his current life felt completely real.

If he was right, then this memory was simply very long.

Nan Xu always felt that Tingchuan held the key, so he tried to approach him. However, Tingchuan was always busy, so Nan Xu rarely managed to find him.

Tingchuan led Nan Xu to a new courtyard and pushed open the gate. Surprisingly, the courtyard was unaffected by the fighting. “This place is tranquil,” Tingchuan said. “There’s a hot spring pool right next door. You can stay here from now on!”

Admittedly, while this courtyard wasn’t as large as the one by the lotus pond, its decorations and furnishings were much more elegant. There was only one main room, which made it more elegant than where Nan Xu had stayed before. It was almost like a place for distinguished guests.

Nan Xu asked, “What about Jing Yuan and Yun Yi?”

Tingchuan replied, “They’re naturally staying where they were before.”

Nan Xu pursed his lips, wondering why Tingchuan had brought him there. “Then I’ll continue living with them!”

Tingchuan stared at Nan Xu for a few seconds. “The roof of your house is gone.”

“It hasn’t rained in the last few days, so it should be fine,” Nan Xu said.

Tingchuan had no choice but to take him back to his previous residence and leave without a word, seemingly somewhat displeased.

Nan Xu could understand being rejected for his good intentions, but he was unwilling to accept that Jing Yuan and Yun Yi had treated him so well by letting him live alone in the courtyard while excluding them.

Nan Xu waited in the courtyard for half the afternoon. When he saw Yun Yi and Jing Yuan again that day, it was dark outside. They looked dejected, as if they had experienced a great setback. Nan Xu assumed Tingchuan’s older brother had scolded them, but he later learned that Tingchuan’s seemingly intimidating older brother had only lectured them and left the matter to Tingchuan.

Noticing Yun Yi’s displeasure, Nan Xu moved a wooden stool and sat down beside him. “You all seem quite afraid of Tingchuan’s elder brother,” he said.

Yun Yi hummed in agreement, then replied frankly, “My teacher introduced me to cultivation when I was young. I studied in the East Sea for over a decade and received many reprimands from him. Therefore, even now that I’m grown up, I still haven’t shaken the habit of trembling at the sight of him.”

Nan Xu then looked at Jing Yuan and asked, “Did you also come to the East Sea to study?”

Jing Yuan shook his head. “No, he traveled to the South Sea.”

Judging from the story, Nan Xu knew this wasn’t the time to ask, though he was curious. “You’ve ruined the garden. He must be furious, right?”

Yunyi replied, “Not at all. The master doesn’t seem to care much about this damage.”

Nanxu was astonished by Yunyi’s words. Such damage, yet he seemed unconcerned—truly a man of great wealth and power.

Tingchuan was responsible for the subsequent repairs. He instructed them to stay in the mountains and repair the damaged houses. They couldn’t build new ones, but they could certainly transport timber from the foot of the mountain.

Yun Yi and Jing Yuan were naturally unwilling, but Tingchuan said he would send a message to their clan to compensate them. Even the smallest, most inconspicuous decoration in the garden was worth a fortune. Moreover, Tingchuan claimed that his collapsed house contained priceless treasures. After removing the wood and bricks, they found broken porcelain shards buried beneath. The shards had exquisite, intricate patterns—clearly not ordinary items.

These two finally relented, which stemmed from their frustration. In the heat of the moment, they hadn’t thought things through. Had they known this would happen, they wouldn’t have fought on Donghai Mountain. The losses were far beyond what any other demon clan could afford. They were imprisoned in the mountains and forced to do hard labor.

Their courtyard was among the first to be repaired. In just two days, Nanxu’s roof was fixed, and he no longer had to lie in bed at night and gaze at the stars.

Yunyi and Jingyuan returned each day covered in dust and grime, exhausted and panting. They had no energy left for arguing or fighting and were unusually quiet. Seeing their disheveled state, Nanxu realized that spending his days leisurely in the courtyard alone wasn’t feasible for his mission. Therefore, he went to help repair the houses and gardens.

On his first day, he struggled up the mountain carrying a log thicker than himself. Only his abundant spiritual energy within the formation enabled him to move it; otherwise, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to lift it with his own strength.

On the way up the mountain, they encountered Tingchuan coming down. He frowned, staring at Nanxu and the thick logs on his shoulders. He asked, “Why are you carrying them? Where are they?”

Nanxu pointed to a bend in the winding mountain road behind him where Jingyuan appeared, carrying thicker logs.

Jingyuan wanted to revert to his original form so that carrying a hundred or so logs at a time would be no problem. However, he felt that if he did that, the Azure Dragon Clan would be like donkeys hauling goods and would lose all face. So, even though it was inefficient, they chose to carry the logs up the mountain one by one. In Nanxu’s eyes, though, Jingyuan was still disgracing the Azure Dragon Clan, whether he reverted to his original form or not.

Yun Yi, however, shared Jing Yuan’s thoughts. Their friendship, forged through battle, made their thought processes remarkably similar.

These two demons constantly compared themselves. They could argue for hours over whose log was sturdier and heavier.

After glancing at Yun Yi and Jing Yuan, Tingchuan looked away and said to Nan Xu, “They’ll handle these things. Your cultivation isn’t high, and there are many traps in the mountains, so don’t wander off.”

This wasn’t the first time he’d heard this, and he felt somewhat rejected.

Seeing the change in Nan Xu’s expression, Tingchuan paused, then said, “If you have nothing else to do, replant some flowers and plants in the garden. They can’t do that.”

Hearing this, Nan Xu’s disappointment and displeasure dissipated considerably. He patted his chest and said, “Leave it to me.”

The precious flowers and plants had all been blown away by Yunyi’s hurricane without a trace, leaving not a single seed behind. The bare flowerbed left Nanxu feeling lost.

He stopped a fox demon who was busy in the garden and asked, “Where did you get the flower seeds?”

The fox demon looked at him strangely. “Flower seeds?”

Nan Xu: “Yes.”

The fox demon thought for a moment and replied, “The flowers in the flowerbed were all transplanted from various parts of the demon realm. They can only survive if they’re watered with special spiritual water. There are no seeds.”

Nan Xu was disappointed but not surprised. After all, he had seen the flowers when he strolled around earlier. The flowers had been specially trimmed and were quite old. Many of the plants had developed sentience and couldn’t be replanted from ordinary seeds.

Without seeds, the flowerbed would be left empty. Nan Xu pondered the situation for three or four days and finally made a decision. The next day, he explored the area behind Tingchuan’s back and brought back seeds to sow in the flowerbed.

No one knew what he had planted. After watering them a few times, sprouts appeared, indicating that the seedlings had taken root.

This slight change went unnoticed, but after ten days, the seedlings in the nursery seemed different from ordinary flowers. Passing fox demons would glance at the seedlings for a moment, gossiping and speculating about the precious flower Nan Xu had planted.

Irrigated by the spiritual water, the plants in the nursery grew vigorously. One day, Tingchuan passed by and saw the tall green stalks. They looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen them before.

“What kind of flower is that?” he asked.

Nanxu: “Rapeseed flowers. Aren’t they beautiful?”

Tingchuan hadn’t heard of them before and, upon learning that they were flowers, didn’t pay much attention.

Another dozen days passed, and Nanxu still couldn’t leave the formation. Every day, he stayed by the nursery beds, busy and full of energy, digging and tending.

When the golden rapeseed flowers finally bloomed in profusion, Tingchuan noticed that something was wrong. The exquisite garden looked much rougher because of the rapeseed nurseries.

“What kind of flower is rapeseed?” he asked.

Nanxu was quite proud of the rapeseed flowers he had grown. He explained, “Rapeseed flowers can bloom and produce seeds. After they wither, the seeds can be pressed for oil. They’re beautiful and practical.”

“Pressing oil?” Tingchuan had probably never heard of such a thing.

Nanxu said excitedly, “Yes, to make rapeseed oil, which can be used for cooking.”

Tingchuan had always imagined nurseries to have only precious varieties, such as peonies, orchids, and chrysanthemums. He had never heard of a flower that could be pressed for oil. He was momentarily distracted, but didn’t leave. He listened quietly to Nanxu’s eloquent explanation.

“Actually, chives can flower, too, but I haven’t seen any around here. Of course, it would be even better if there were cauliflower seeds. Cauliflower flowers are white clumps that you can eat when they mature.”

Describing flowers and herbs as edible shattered Tingchuan’s impression of flowers. He had thought that only Yun Yi and Jingyuan were unreliable, but he finally realized that giving the nursery beds to Nanxu was the most unreliable decision he had ever made.

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