RIIDMDR chapter 142

After Yun Yi left, Nan Xu continued to dig holes and plant trees. He moved forward step by step, and wherever he went, the saplings in the holes withered and died, one after another. It looked like a collective protest. Nan Xu would dig a few holes, then spit out sand from his nose and throat, feeling like a complete idiot.

Before he could finish his internal monologue, he heard Yun Yi call out to the little demon in the distance. Nan Xu responded and saw Yun Yi squinting as he walked toward him through the sandstorm, carrying a huge bucket. Nan Xu suddenly felt comforted. Wasn’t there someone else who looked even more like a fool?

Yun Yi, unaware of Nan Xu’s thoughts, put down the bucket—big enough to hold three or five Nan Xus—and lifted the lid for him to see. “This much water should be enough for the trees to drink!”

Puzzled, Nan Xu peeked in and asked, “Where did you get so much water? And where did you get such a big bucket?”

Yun Yi replied nonchalantly, “Haven’t you seen it before? It’s the bucket used for the tribe’s drinking water. I just brought it over.”

Nan Xu gasped in surprise and swallowed a mouthful of sand before closing his mouth again. “Then what will your tribe drink later?”

Yun Yi hesitated, clearly having not considered this question. He scratched his head, embarrassed by his inability to answer. “There will naturally be a solution. Why are you, a little demon, worrying about so much?”

Nan Xu, seeing his annoyance… He suggested, “Why don’t you carry it back? Just pretend it never happened.”

Yun Yi thought it made sense and was about to put the lid on the bucket when he noticed a layer of sand floating on the water.

Yun Yi: …

“Forget it. You should just use the water. Taking it back like this will only get you scolded,” Yun Yi said.

Seeing this, Nan Xu knew there was no other way. He carefully watered the saplings he had planted with a small bowl. Strangely, the saplings that had clearly withered quickly regained their vitality. Nan Xu could feel them struggling to take root beneath the soil.

Could his past self have been right? Could harsh environments really make saplings grow faster and become more resilient?

Nan Xu had lived in the small village for over a decade and helped countless elderly people with their farming, yet he had never heard of such a principle before.

Yunyi also found it intriguing and squatted down beside the saplings to observe. A bundle of saplings contained only thirty or forty plants, and the two of them planted them all in no time. The bucket of water was now contaminated with sand and dust, making it undrinkable. Yunyi eventually resorted to carrying the bucket to water the plants.

The sea buckthorn trees were growing at an astonishing rate. After receiving water, they grew an inch or two in just over fifteen minutes. Yunyi stood beside a row of saplings and said, “It seems like they can really block the sandstorms.”

However, even if such small saplings could stabilize the sand, their effect would be negligible. Nan Xu thought Yun Yi was putting a lot of psychological pressure on him, so he asked, “How often do sandstorms occur here?”

Without thinking, Yun Yi replied, “At least five or six times a year, sometimes as many as ninety.” But each one doesn’t last long. At this time of year, our tribe keeps all the doors and windows tightly closed. It’s stifling not being able to go out.”

“If we could plant large areas of easy-to-grow trees, that would reduce the sandstorms,” Nan Xu said.

Yun Yi glanced at the small row of saplings in front of him, acknowledging Nan Xu’s explanation. However, water was scarce in their area. They couldn’t expect him to dig irrigation ditches for years to come, could they?

Just as he was pondering this, a loud shout rang out. Yun Yi trembled visibly at the sound, instinctively wanting to cover his head and run away.

“It’s over. It’s over,” he muttered, hoisting the wooden bucket from the ground. After hesitating for a few seconds, he chose to go home instead of fleeing further away.

Nan Xu could vaguely hear the old man shouting and cursing in the wind. The old man seemed to be concerned about the tribe’s water storage. Nan Xu knew that their scheme had been exposed.

Yun Yi walked ahead with Nan Xu following behind. Halfway there, Yun Yi suddenly turned back and said, “When I confess, I’ll say it was all me. Don’t mention you gave me the idea. My grandfather doesn’t discriminate between family members and outsiders when he’s angry. Your small frame can’t withstand a single blow from his cane.”

Seeing him speak as if he were going to a heroic end, Nan Xu wondered if he should play along with this act of brotherly affection, assuming that Yun Yi was exaggerating. However, when he saw Yun Yi actually being beaten with a cane and scurrying away in fear, he realized that he was absolutely right.

From his grandfather’s intermittent shouts and curses, Nan Xu realized that the water in the bucket wasn’t ordinary drinking water but water drawn from a pool hundreds of kilometers away from the Golden Crow tribe’s territory. This pool was believed to invigorate spiritual energy, making even demons’ cultivation levels purer. Using this water to water flowers would be an utter waste, which explained why the saplings were growing so wildly.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t heartbroken. Nan Xu hadn’t tasted the invigorating water from the pool, yet he fed it to dozens of trees. However, when he saw Yun Yi being scolded, yelled at, and hit with a cane, leaving a bump on his head, each strike carrying a dull thud imbued with spiritual energy, it was undeniably painful, but Nan Xu couldn’t care less about the water’s loss. He was only thinking about how to appease Yun Yi’s grandfather.

Yun Yi, sensing Nan Xu’s thoughts, rushed in front of him and quickly said, “You absolutely mustn’t say a word. My grandfather won’t listen to advice when he’s angry. The harder you try to persuade him, the harder he beats you.”

He really had experience. Nan Xu had no choice but to keep quiet. However, the scene of his grandfather beating his grandson was too violent, so Nan Xu could only pretend to be frightened, occasionally crying out in surprise. This left Yun Yi’s grandfather at a loss for what to do.

The sky was dark, and the wind hadn’t stopped. Nan Xu leaned against the windowsill and watched as Yun Yi was still being punished by kneeling in the courtyard. Yun Yi was actually quite tall, but because of his unreliable nature, people always overlooked this fact. He knelt there with his back ramrod straight—a posture that couldn’t be learned in a day or two. It seemed he had gotten into a lot of trouble and been punished since childhood.

No matter how many times he was punished, he never changed. No wonder his grandfather never held back when disciplining him.

However, today’s incident couldn’t be blamed entirely on Yun Yi. If he hadn’t insisted on planting trees in the sandstorm, none of this would have happened. Yun Yi didn’t drag him down with him, which showed his loyalty.

“How long will you kneel?” Nan Xu asked.

After all, Yun Yi was the heir of the Golden Crow clan. No matter how much trouble he caused, he would eventually have to take on the clan’s responsibilities, which required authority. Therefore, no one else entered this spacious yet somewhat desolate courtyard, so Nan Xu didn’t need to lower his voice.

Looking at Nan Xu by the window, Yun Yi thought for a moment and said, “Grandfather’s in a bad mood today. He’ll probably punish me for about ten days.”

Nan Xu was astonished. “Ten days? Will your knees even be able to stay in bed?”

“It’s not like I’ll kneel the whole time. From my experience, Grandfather usually only checks on me around the seventh day,” said Yun Yi.

Nan Xu nodded. “Then why are you still kneeling there?”

He didn’t believe Yun Yi was such an obedient demon. Sure enough, as soon as he asked, Yun Yi smiled slyly and replied confidently, “Grandfather will come secretly tonight. I’ll get up after he’s finished so that I won’t get caught and beaten again.”

Hearing this, Nan Xu leaned against the windowsill to keep Yun Yi company. Yun Yi had been standing in the wind for several hours. His red hair had almost turned yellow, and he looked as if he had rolled around in the dirt.

“Go to sleep,” Yun Yi said. “The window’s open, and the room is full of sand.”

Nan Xu glanced at him. “You’re not sleeping in this room anyway. What are you complaining about?”

Yun Yi retorted, his neck stiff. “Which room in the Golden Crow Clan isn’t under my jurisdiction? Just listen to my instructions.”

Nan Xu rolled his eyes. “Tch.”

Yun Yi looked at Nan Xu as if he had seen a ghost. “You’ve changed so much today. Were you pretending to be obedient and easy to bully in front of Jing Yuan? If you weren’t always with me, I’d think you’d been replaced by a shape-shifting demon.”

Nan Xu felt a chill run down his spine when he realized that he hadn’t maintained his persona and had revealed his true nature. Fortunately, once Yun Yi made up his mind, he wouldn’t change it, sparing Nan Xu the trouble of making excuses.

“If I weren’t me, what would you do?” Nan Xu asked curiously.

Yun Yi chuckled arrogantly. “The winds of the Golden Crow Clan can rise from hills, and their fire can burn a demon to ashes. If you weren’t you, you’d be welcome to try my skills.”

Nan Xu had witnessed the winds of the Golden Crow Clan but had never seen the fire Yun Yi spoke of. Ancient birds and beasts that had become demons seemed to possess considerable power. Nan Xu didn’t doubt the truthfulness of his words. He figured that Yun Yi’s fight with Jing Yuan was just a brief sparring match. Otherwise, what Nan Xu had witnessed in the formation last time would have been an entirely different scene.

He didn’t want to elaborate on his identity because his memory was failing, and he was afraid he would make mistakes the more he spoke. So he changed the subject and asked, “Do you know how to get to that deep pool?”

He was simply curious, but to his surprise, Yun Yi’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Do you want to go too?”

Nan Xu hesitated slightly, then nodded. The pool’s water could activate his spiritual meridians and would be beneficial to a newly awakened demon like him.

Yun Yi smiled when he admitted this, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and said, “You’ve come to the right person. Decades ago, I went there with my fifth uncle, but the cave was too dangerous, and they wouldn’t let me in. Since you want to go, I’ll risk my life to accompany you.”

It sounded grand, but it was just an excuse. Nan Xu didn’t call him out on it. The two chatted about Yun Yi’s experiences outside the cave. Some time passed, and they both held their breath. Nan Xu carefully closed the window, not for any other reason than that they both sensed a demon approaching.

Fifteen minutes later, Nan Xu sensed the visitor leave. He then heard a knock at the window. He opened the window and saw Yun Yi standing outside, looking eager. Yun Yi whispered, “Why don’t we set off now? We’ll be stuck in the cave for another two days. We need to hurry.”

Nan Xu glanced at the howling wind, figuring it wouldn’t stop anytime soon, and nodded. “Okay.”

He didn’t have much to pack, so he could leave immediately. However, Yun Yi told him to wait in the courtyard while he went to collect some samples. He said he would be right back.

Without waiting for Nan Xu’s agreement, Yun Yi quickly slipped out. Nan Xu wondered what he was up to. He paced around the room a couple of times. Ten minutes later, Yun Yi returned empty-handed.

Nan Xu asked in confusion, “Didn’t you retrieve it?”

Yun Yi pointed to the palm-sized leather pouch hanging at his waist. “It’s this. It’s a small magical artifact from my clan. It can hold quite a bit of water. Once I bring the water back, Grandfather won’t have anything to say.”

Nan Xu felt this wasn’t right. He had secretly gone out on an adventure during his punishment without his elders’ knowledge, and yet he dared to claim so confidently that he was making amends. If the cane didn’t fall on Yun Yi again, it would be a sign of the old man’s loving heart.

The Golden Crow clan’s territory was quite large and lit up everywhere, with clansmen patrolling. Yun Yi’s courtyard was in the very center, making it difficult to leave.

They climbed over the wall, confirmed that the patrolling Golden Crow tribesmen had just passed, and quickly jumped down. They hid countless times, scaled countless walls, and used the howling wind as cover. Finally, they managed to emerge successfully.

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