Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Bald Thief
Since Juan Bu could almost certainly dig up an evil art like that—and even if he couldn’t, Hu Qing could always invent a “Heaven-and-Earth Ageless Art” herself—she confidently told everyone the unified story: qi deviation caused their bodies to shrink and their minds to regress.
Everyone wore the same face: Ah… what a wonderful idea.
Hu Qing made one last attempt. “You really won’t go home with Mom?”
Hu Nuan’s eyes drifted left and right. “I’ll listen to Master.”
Qiao Yu felt a chill crawl up the back of his neck.
True disciple behavior: pushing your master into the pit without hesitation.
Luckily, Hu Qing didn’t look at him. She narrowed her eyes and threatened the four—Jin Xin, Xiao Ou, Lan Jiu, and Leng Ruo. “You—none of you want to go home?”
If their mental ages were even one or two years older, she might’ve gotten somewhere. Unfortunately, the regression made them fearless.
“Nope. Home isn’t fun.”
“I’m sick of it.”
“Outside is better.”
“Senior Sister is right.”
One, two, three, four—tiny throats, big attitudes, and not a single glance at the elders’ faces.
Hu Qing bared her teeth in a smile and turned to Hu Hua Hua.
Hu Hua Hua flopped over dramatically. “Ow, my foot hurts. I definitely can’t walk.”
Great.
Hu Qing went expressionless and looked at Hu Zhu Zhu.
When Hu Zhu Zhu transformed into human form, he’d been a teenage boy. He’d even regretted looking older than Boss. Now it was perfect—he and Boss were both two years old.
Two-year-old Hu Zhu Zhu was still arrogant. He raked a hand through his silver-gray buzzcut with a hint of blue. “I’m following Boss.”
Hu Qing sneered. Why don’t you say you’re following your dad?
She softened her voice. “Yu Zi? Do you want to come home with Auntie and wait for your Master?”
Everyone else: Why does Tang Yu Zi get gentle treatment?
Hu Qing: Because he always listens.
Tang Yu Zi’s soft tofu face flushed pink. “Auntie, can we play a little longer? Please?”
That sweet, soft voice melted her on the spot.
Hu Qing’s eyes softened. “Of course.”
Hu Nuan and Hu Hua Hua exchanged a look: That little temptress.
As for Xuan Yao—he was clinging to Hu Qing’s thigh.
“Boss, I’m coming with you. We’ll never be apart again.”
Hu Qing wanted that too. Xuan Yao was the one who could truly help her, her best little partner.
But before she could speak, the “my foot hurts” Hu Hua Hua shot over. Both stubby hands grabbed Xuan Yao and ripped him right off.
“Stay on standby at all times.”
Young Master was cold-blooded.
Brat bullying, too.
Hu Qing grabbed Hu Hua Hua by the back of his collar, dropped him beside Hu Nuan, and glared at Hu Nuan. Keep your brother under control.
Then she crouched and hugged Xuan Yao. “My Xuan Yao is still so little. How could Boss bear to make you work hard?
Be good and stay here with your brothers and sisters. Learn well from the masters. When Boss is done, I’ll come pick you up.”
Hu Nuan and Hu Hua Hua both thought the same thing: Is he the real biological one? Mom doesn’t love me at all.
Hu Qing turned to Shui Xin with a very different face. She waved her fist. Watch the kids properly, or I’ll kill you.
Shui Xin calmly pressed her fist down. “You forgot. I’m leaving with you.”
Hu Qing immediately went to Shui Cong, grabbed his hands, and shook them like she was clinging to family. “Senior Brother, please watch them!”
Shui Cong, carrying a mountain of responsibility, nodded. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
Hu Qing thought, I’ll believe that when pigs fly.
She went to Qiao Yu, Shuang Hua, Di Yuan, and Lin Yin one by one and hammered the same message into their skulls: keep your eyes on them. No more accidents.
Shuang Hua laughed at her. “Fussy. Go already. Sect Master has urged you several times.”
Hu Qing turned back to Chan Ming. “Dad, in the immortal realm it’s normal for different clans to marry—”
Chan Ming grabbed her by the arm and tossed her a thousand miles away. “Enough. Go.”
Hu Qing glanced him over. “Dad, where’s Uncle Bai? I haven’t seen him since I got back.”
Bai Xun was Chan Ming’s spirit pet. By the time Hu Qing met him, Bai Xun already had a human form.
“Stop asking. Hurry back and help your Senior Brother.”
So many people, and not one tried to keep her. Was her popularity good or terrible?
Hu Qing released her spirit skiff and prepared to leave.
Chan Ming called after her, “Tell me in advance wherever you’re going next.”
Hu Qing nodded. “Of course.”
Then Chan Ming slapped a palm out, and the spirit skiff shot forward at full speed.
Hu Qing’s forehead twitched. He was in that much of a hurry. Well, hopefully he got what he wanted and brought back a wife.
Half a day later, Shui Xin finally caught up. “You didn’t wait for me?”
Hu Qing sneered. “Everyone wants me gone faster.”
Shui Xin chuckled. “You’re a lord. Why are you jealous of kids?”
Hu Qing moved to the front of the skiff and ignored him.
Shui Xin called out again. “Learn Buddhist teachings with me.”
Hu Qing snorted. “You dirt monk. If I’m learning, I’m learning immortal realm Buddhism.”
Oh? One trip out and she looked down on hometown folks now?
Shui Xin said, “Come here. Let me check you. Don’t bring any filth back.”
Hu Qing ignored him. Before, she might have struggled with evil things, but with Scorching Sun Blaze, anything filthy that came near her was courting death.
Shui Xin raised a brow as if a hunch had been confirmed. He couldn’t help a small, amused smile.
Juan Bu sighed. “He guessed what kind of opportunity yours is.”
Hu Qing wasn’t even surprised. “Bald thief. Ignore him.”
“So unfair,” Juan Bu said. “You really don’t want to know his opportunity?”
“When the time comes, he’ll definitely come show off,” Hu Qing said.
Right. Those two understood each other too well.
Shui Xin sat down and cultivated, sparks occasionally crackling over his body. Hu Qing pulled out her forging furnaces and started thinking about how to raise them to immortal artifact grade.
These four furnaces had been gifts from other ancestors, given out of respect for Chan Ming. They were already top-tier, but that limit wasn’t the materials. It was the skill of the artifact refiners who’d made them.
A top-tier furnace used the best materials in Little Li Realm. Even in the immortal realm, it wouldn’t be bad. If an immortal artifact smith handled them, they could surely reach immortal grade.
She’d once planned to shape them into spring, summer, autumn, and winter and nurture them in her dantian, but she had no insight into the cycle of seasons, so she’d taken them back out.
Insight was rare. Who knew when it would come? She decided to use Scorching Sun Blaze first and force the quality higher.
If the Gold-Devouring Divine Beast had left behind anything suitable in its leftovers, she could add that too.
The four small furnaces were colored jade-yellow, deep green, persimmon red, and dark sandalwood. Some were delicate, some elegant, some ancient and rough, some grand. In the hands of a great expert, you could stuff elephant beasts inside, then shrink the furnaces down until they could be worn like bracelets.
Hu Qing rolled them around in her left palm. Ding, ding, dang, dang—pleasant as wind chimes.
She poured her divine sense into them and studied the techniques of the four artifact refiners, learning from their experience.
The more she studied, the more differences she saw.
They were all top-level masters of Little Li Realm. Their methods had their own strengths, and none of them matched Hu Qing’s style.
She attacked with fierce flame, hammered and tempered again and again, and felt her work was good. It sold well too.
But once she had true peers to compare to, she realized just how rough she was.
She said to Juan Bu in her heart, “I used to be arrogant. You gave me immortal realm refining techniques. Being stronger than others doesn’t mean much.
They used lower realm techniques and still forged artifacts this good. That’s real skill.”
In the end, she’d been standing on a giant’s shoulders. The name didn’t quite match the truth.