Chapter 11: Empty Millstone (2)
This person’s pupils were abnormally dark without even a single glint of starlight and gave a haunting vibe. Two dark shadows hung under his eyes and his skin was so deathly pale that one could see the faint veins of blue underneath. To come face-to-face with someone like that so suddenly was quite terrifying. If it were any normal person, as soon as he turned around and saw such a ghost, he would have immediately jumped so high in fright that he'd hit the ceiling.
However, Xuan Min and Xue Xian were obviously not just any ordinary humans.
One of them was audacious while the other was unwavering—the two probably had no idea how to spell the word “fear”.
And so, this icicle-like Baldy and the vile spawn on his waist stared at the person dead on with identical expressionless faces.
The face of the person who just arrived turned pale when he looked up, patting his own chest as he mumbled, “Why did you suddenly turn around? It scared the heck out of me.”
Xuan Min, “…”
Xue Xian, “…” Nerdy has definitely become brain dead from all that reading.
The person standing behind them was none other than Jiang Shining.
Xue Xian felt a little troubled upon seeing him. He thought, If this Nerdy would have heard everything that Advisor Liu just said, he might have rolled up his sleeves and charged right in. Who knows, maybe this man who is as thin as a stick would even be able to beat up the two old fellas.
But judging from Jiang Shining’s tone, he knew that Jiang Shining had not heard those insults about his parents.
Because of this, Xue Xian felt somewhat relieved, thinking, At least I won't have to worry about Nerdy going knocking on death's door. He hung onto the mouth of the pocket and looked at Jiang Shining with evident displeasure as he chased him off. “Turn back at once! Leave, leave!”
“Why are you in such a rush to get me to leave?” Jiang Shining would argue with Xue Xian sometimes but in reality, he had a soft temperament. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put up with Xue Xian bossing him around for so many days, having to endure complaints all the while stuffing food into his mouth to shut him up.
As Jiang Shining asked “why”, his body had already responded to Xue Xian’s words. He turned around to step over the threshold and exited through the back door. Though confused, he did not question anything.
Seeing this scene, Xuan Min was about to put down the hand he had just raised when he heard Xue Xian question him angrily, “Baldy, what were you raising your hand for? Have you finally had enough of Nerdy's idiotic look and want to give him a round of beating?”
Xuan Min, “…” By that logic, the first one to get a beating should be you.
“…” Jiang Shining asked, “Wait, what have I done to deserve a beating?”
Xue Xian urged, “ Keep walking. Stop talking nonsense.”
Xuan Min, “…” This restless thing has the nerve to reprimand another from saying nonsense.
But Xue Xian’s guess wasn’t entirely wrong. As a wandering ghost that depended on possessing items such as a paper to have a human form, he was only hanging on to it by a breath of yin energy. The Gate of Life was located in that three-inch hollow area behind the neck. If he was hacked with a hand in that area, that final breath of yin energy would disperse and he would turn back into his original form.
Xuan Min was worried that Jiang Shining would act rashly and mess things up. He wanted to smack him back into paper form, making him easy to carry. After all, there was already a lawless half-cripple to worry about. Wouldn’t a spirit that could walk around as they pleased only cause chaos?
But who would have known that he would turn out to be an obedient person. Xuan Min decided to temporarily bear with it, retracted his posed hand, and followed him through the backdoor.
He grabbed onto the back of Jiang Shining’s collar and, with a turn of his toes, hid them both in a tight gap between the corridor and the side of the house. If he didn’t want to make a sound when he walked, he could really do so without even the slightest sound of a thump. His monk robes were light and thin and the hem fluttered as they flashed past a withered tree branch, brushing against the wall’s corner as it landed back in place. However, there was not even a single speck of dirt on it and the withered tree branch remained undisturbed.
Xue Xian’s gaze swept past the unmoving withered branch, followed by the string of copper coins hanging from Xuan Min’s waist. He thought that this Baldy was quite mysterious indeed.
Xuan Min's timing was perfect, too. Just as the tip of his robes touched the ground on the other side of the wall, Advisor Liu and his old friend stepped through the backdoor. Most likely, the two were getting on in years and their hearing had been dulled. They did not notice anything strange.
Jiang Shining managed to catch a glimpse of Advisor Liu’s silhouette from between the gap. Although he was extremely unhappy to see Advisor Liu, he couldn’t help but wonder, Why did Xuan Min have to avoid Advisor Liu to such an extent as if it would be too troublesome to deal with him?
It was a good thing that he feared posing trouble for others and so he never said anything out of line, never did anything with haste, and never tried anything funny. Even if he was brimming with questions, he would hold his breath and stay behind the wall obediently. With wide eyes, he watched as Advisor Liu walked through the courtyard towards the main house with the stranger trailing behind.
When Advisor Liu was about to enter the main house, a murmur was heard. “Father?”
Xue Xian, who was behind the wall, frowned as he said, “Great. The real idiot is here. And he picked such great timing, too”.
As expected, Liu Chong appeared out of nowhere to stand right under the corridor’s roof and called for his father.
The first thing Xue Xian looked at was his robes. Back at the Gate of Death, the “Liu Chong” they met was wearing an ochre coloured robe, but this one at the corridor was wearing a thick, grey-blue robe; the exact same as the one that he wore in the spell earlier.
Xuan Min, who was hiding in the gap, stepped out. Before Advisor Liu could react, he had flashed to where Liu Chong was with a single large step and reached out to grab him before he could scream. He dragged him in a rough manner towards the narrow doorway of the house. Fortunately, the courtyard wasn’t big and could be crossed with just a few steps and so the distance between the door and the gap was closed within a blink of the eye.
Advisor Liu, who was left stunned in front of the main house, finally reacted. His face changed, and he immediately lifted his foot to charge over.
Luckily, Xuan Min reacted faster and hid behind the door with a leap and a twist.
Guang—
The narrow door of the house was slammed shut by Xuan Min while Jiang Shining instinctively barricaded the door with his hands.
But as soon as he looked up and saw the blockhead Liu Chong’s blank expression, he let out a puzzled shriek.
Once behind the door, Xuan Min let go of Liu Chong’s hand. Xue Xian discreetly looked up and thought, This Baldy looks so skinny but he actually has so freaking much strength. That Liu Chong is nothing like the paper-thin Jiang Shining and he’s also a blockhead who doesn’t know how to cooperate. To drag an entire person like that with his arms, just how much strength would one need?
Xuan Min did not have to look down to know that a certain vile spawn was staring at him. He could feel his gaze on him from the corner of his eye. Who knows what he was thinking about.
Regardless, it would definitely be nothing proper.
With an expressionless face, he moved his hand towards his waist, using it to cover up that eyesore who had an expression as if he had died with his eyes open. The hand immediately got thrown off by both of Xue Xian’s hands.
Xue Xian, Ptooey! How dare you?! Did you think that you could cover a dragon’s head as you liked? Who do you think you are?!
“Has the…the mole on his face changed places somehow?” babbled Jiang Shining as he pointed at Liu Chong with a bewildered face. As soon as he had spoken his piece, he felt that it was impolite to point at someone and so he quickly retracted his finger and looked awkwardly at Xuan Min.
Xuan Min froze after Xue Xian threw his hand off.
“Wasn’t it on the left? How did it transfer to the right?” questioned Jiang Shining softly.
Chapter 11: Empty Millstone (2)
This person’s pupils were abnormally dark without even a single glint of starlight and gave a haunting vibe. Two dark shadows hung under his eyes and his skin was so deathly pale that one could see the faint veins of blue underneath. To come face-to-face with someone like that so suddenly was quite terrifying. If it were any normal person, as soon as he turned around and saw such a ghost, he would have immediately jumped so high in fright that he'd hit the ceiling.
However, Xuan Min and Xue Xian were obviously not just any ordinary humans.
One of them was audacious while the other was unwavering—the two probably had no idea how to spell the word “fear”.
And so, this icicle-like Baldy and the vile spawn on his waist stared at the person dead on with identical expressionless faces.
The face of the person who just arrived turned pale when he looked up, patting his own chest as he mumbled, “Why did you suddenly turn around? It scared the heck out of me.”
Xuan Min, “…”
Xue Xian, “…” Nerdy has definitely become brain dead from all that reading.
The person standing behind them was none other than Jiang Shining.
Xue Xian felt a little troubled upon seeing him. He thought, If this Nerdy would have heard everything that Advisor Liu just said, he might have rolled up his sleeves and charged right in. Who knows, maybe this man who is as thin as a stick would even be able to beat up the two old fellas.
But judging from Jiang Shining’s tone, he knew that Jiang Shining had not heard those insults about his parents.
Because of this, Xue Xian felt somewhat relieved, thinking, At least I won't have to worry about Nerdy going knocking on death's door. He hung onto the mouth of the pocket and looked at Jiang Shining with evident displeasure as he chased him off. “Turn back at once! Leave, leave!”
“Why are you in such a rush to get me to leave?” Jiang Shining would argue with Xue Xian sometimes but in reality, he had a soft temperament. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put up with Xue Xian bossing him around for so many days, having to endure complaints all the while stuffing food into his mouth to shut him up.
As Jiang Shining asked “why”, his body had already responded to Xue Xian’s words. He turned around to step over the threshold and exited through the back door. Though confused, he did not question anything.
Seeing this scene, Xuan Min was about to put down the hand he had just raised when he heard Xue Xian question him angrily, “Baldy, what were you raising your hand for? Have you finally had enough of Nerdy's idiotic look and want to give him a round of beating?”
Xuan Min, “…” By that logic, the first one to get a beating should be you.
“…” Jiang Shining asked, “Wait, what have I done to deserve a beating?”
Xue Xian urged, “ Keep walking. Stop talking nonsense.”
Xuan Min, “…” This restless thing has the nerve to reprimand another from saying nonsense.
But Xue Xian’s guess wasn’t entirely wrong. As a wandering ghost that depended on possessing items such as a paper to have a human form, he was only hanging on to it by a breath of yin energy. The Gate of Life was located in that three-inch hollow area behind the neck. If he was hacked with a hand in that area, that final breath of yin energy would disperse and he would turn back into his original form.
Xuan Min was worried that Jiang Shining would act rashly and mess things up. He wanted to smack him back into paper form, making him easy to carry. After all, there was already a lawless half-cripple to worry about. Wouldn’t a spirit that could walk around as they pleased only cause chaos?
But who would have known that he would turn out to be an obedient person. Xuan Min decided to temporarily bear with it, retracted his posed hand, and followed him through the backdoor.
He grabbed onto the back of Jiang Shining’s collar and, with a turn of his toes, hid them both in a tight gap between the corridor and the side of the house. If he didn’t want to make a sound when he walked, he could really do so without even the slightest sound of a thump. His monk robes were light and thin and the hem fluttered as they flashed past a withered tree branch, brushing against the wall’s corner as it landed back in place. However, there was not even a single speck of dirt on it and the withered tree branch remained undisturbed.
Xue Xian’s gaze swept past the unmoving withered branch, followed by the string of copper coins hanging from Xuan Min’s waist. He thought that this Baldy was quite mysterious indeed.
Xuan Min's timing was perfect, too. Just as the tip of his robes touched the ground on the other side of the wall, Advisor Liu and his old friend stepped through the backdoor. Most likely, the two were getting on in years and their hearing had been dulled. They did not notice anything strange.
Jiang Shining managed to catch a glimpse of Advisor Liu’s silhouette from between the gap. Although he was extremely unhappy to see Advisor Liu, he couldn’t help but wonder, Why did Xuan Min have to avoid Advisor Liu to such an extent as if it would be too troublesome to deal with him?
It was a good thing that he feared posing trouble for others and so he never said anything out of line, never did anything with haste, and never tried anything funny. Even if he was brimming with questions, he would hold his breath and stay behind the wall obediently. With wide eyes, he watched as Advisor Liu walked through the courtyard towards the main house with the stranger trailing behind.
When Advisor Liu was about to enter the main house, a murmur was heard. “Father?”
Xue Xian, who was behind the wall, frowned as he said, “Great. The real idiot is here. And he picked such great timing, too”.
As expected, Liu Chong appeared out of nowhere to stand right under the corridor’s roof and called for his father.
The first thing Xue Xian looked at was his robes. Back at the Gate of Death, the “Liu Chong” they met was wearing an ochre coloured robe, but this one at the corridor was wearing a thick, grey-blue robe; the exact same as the one that he wore in the spell earlier.
Xuan Min, who was hiding in the gap, stepped out. Before Advisor Liu could react, he had flashed to where Liu Chong was with a single large step and reached out to grab him before he could scream. He dragged him in a rough manner towards the narrow doorway of the house. Fortunately, the courtyard wasn’t big and could be crossed with just a few steps and so the distance between the door and the gap was closed within a blink of the eye.
Advisor Liu, who was left stunned in front of the main house, finally reacted. His face changed, and he immediately lifted his foot to charge over.
Luckily, Xuan Min reacted faster and hid behind the door with a leap and a twist.
Guang—
The narrow door of the house was slammed shut by Xuan Min while Jiang Shining instinctively barricaded the door with his hands.
But as soon as he looked up and saw the blockhead Liu Chong’s blank expression, he let out a puzzled shriek.
Once behind the door, Xuan Min let go of Liu Chong’s hand. Xue Xian discreetly looked up and thought, This Baldy looks so skinny but he actually has so freaking much strength. That Liu Chong is nothing like the paper-thin Jiang Shining and he’s also a blockhead who doesn’t know how to cooperate. To drag an entire person like that with his arms, just how much strength would one need?
Xuan Min did not have to look down to know that a certain vile spawn was staring at him. He could feel his gaze on him from the corner of his eye. Who knows what he was thinking about.
Regardless, it would definitely be nothing proper.
With an expressionless face, he moved his hand towards his waist, using it to cover up that eyesore who had an expression as if he had died with his eyes open. The hand immediately got thrown off by both of Xue Xian’s hands.
Xue Xian, Ptooey! How dare you?! Did you think that you could cover a dragon’s head as you liked? Who do you think you are?!
“Has the…the mole on his face changed places somehow?” babbled Jiang Shining as he pointed at Liu Chong with a bewildered face. As soon as he had spoken his piece, he felt that it was impolite to point at someone and so he quickly retracted his finger and looked awkwardly at Xuan Min.
Xuan Min froze after Xue Xian threw his hand off.
“Wasn’t it on the left? How did it transfer to the right?” questioned Jiang Shining softly.
