Chapter 242- The Black-Bellied Demon Cultivator’s Senior Brother VS The Righteous Young Junior Brother (7)
Ning Yizhou savored the food that Mu Jin had carefully prepared for him, feeling thoroughly satisfied. He thought that receiving this delicious roast as a token of gratitude was quite nice, though he did wonder if the little guy could make other kinds of delicacies as well.
Indeed, saving this person had been the right decision—otherwise, where else would he have had the chance to enjoy such exquisite roasted meat? However, if Mu Jin truly intended to ascend the Zongyun Ladder, Ning Yizhou wondered if his current physical condition might be too weak for the task.
With that thought, the white tiger glanced Mu Jin up and down, noticing his thin arms and legs, and frowned slightly. After finishing the roast in just a few bites, the white tiger stood up and headed toward the nearby cave. But this time, instead of lounging in the entrance to sunbathe, he actually went inside the cave.
Ning Yizhou’s swift eating left Mu Jin a bit puzzled. He had wanted to chat with his beloved for a bit longer, hoping to leave a stronger impression, but after exchanging just a few words, his beloved had devoured the food in no time and walked away.
Mu Jin glanced at the piece of snake meat in his hand, which he had only taken a couple of bites from, feeling a bit disappointed. He had hoped to spend more time with him.
However, a short while later, the white tiger reappeared from the cave. This time, the tiger was carrying a branch in its mouth. Approaching Mu Jin, the tiger placed the branch beside him, and only then did Mu Jin notice a small green fruit hanging from it.
“Is this for me?”
Mu Jin looked at the white tiger beside him in surprise. The tiger simply twitched its ears and lay down next to him, glancing at him without responding.
Though the tiger didn’t react much, Mu Jin was still delighted. After all, this was a gift from his beloved. Even though the fruit was green and looked like it might be sour, it was plump and quite appealing.
He trusted that his beloved would never harm him, so he quickly picked the fruit off the branch and took a big bite.
To his surprise, the fruit wasn’t sour at all—instead, it was incredibly sweet. As he ate, a rich surge of spiritual energy flowed into his body, making him feel revitalized.
Mu Jin’s eyes widened in astonishment, and he looked at the white tiger beside him. For some reason, he felt as if he could see a hint of pride in the tiger’s expression.
This fruit was clearly something special. While the forest was vast and Qingyun Mountain did have its share of wild fruits, a fruit with such abundant spiritual energy could be considered a spirit fruit. He doubted that such a fruit could be easily found in an ordinary forest.
Realizing that his beloved had gone out of his way to bring him this fruit, Mu Jin’s joy grew even more, and he quickly finished eating it with a contented smile.
After consuming the entire green fruit, Mu Jin felt the spiritual energy within it nourishing his body, especially his wood spirit root. Though he still didn’t have much spiritual power, the fruit had clearly strengthened his body, which would be beneficial even for an ordinary person.
Thinking this, Mu Jin beamed at the white tiger beside him and said, “Thank you for the fruit!”
After speaking, Mu Jin bravely reached out to touch the fur on the tiger’s back. But it was just a brief touch; at this stage, Mu Jin didn’t dare to be too bold.
Ning Yizhou, in his tiger form, didn’t feel offended by Mu Jin touching his fur. He had always been confident in his beast form and thought it was perfectly normal for the little guy beside him to like it. After all, he was so majestic and imposing—it made sense that the other had been eyeing his fur for a while.
Hearing Mu Jin’s words of gratitude, the white tiger licked its lips, savoring the taste of the roasted meat it had just eaten. Ning Yizhou thought to himself that accepting this thanks was perfectly justified.
After all, the fruit he had just given the little guy was a mid-grade spirit fruit. Although such a fruit didn’t significantly benefit someone of his Nascent Soul stage cultivation, it would be immensely helpful for an ordinary person like Mu Jin.
For someone with a cultivation level below the Foundation Establishment stage, eating this spirit fruit could stabilize their cultivation. Considering the little guy had been his cook these past few days, Ning Yizhou figured it was a fair trade.
Seeing how happy Mu Jin was, Ning Yizhou felt that his gesture had been worth it. After eating his fill, he didn’t linger in the forest. Remembering that his master was likely to return tonight, he stretched lazily and left the area.
After the white tiger departed, Mu Jin took out the basket he had brought with him. He carefully placed the shed snake skin, the harvested gallbladder, and the leftover snake meat into the basket, and then happily headed back home.
However, as he neared the vegetable garden where he lived, he unexpectedly encountered a village woman who also lived nearby. Mu Jin had seen this woman before; she had a reputation for being somewhat sharp-tongued and was known for always trying to take advantage of others.
Since the woman hadn’t bothered him before, Mu Jin usually wouldn’t pay any attention to such ordinary people. However, it was strange that today this village woman seemed unusually enthusiastic upon seeing him.
The village woman had indeed come here specifically to wait for Mu Jin. She had heard that Uncle Li, who often took care of Mu Jin, had received quite a few valuable animal pelts from him and was quite surprised.
Seeing Mu Jin’s small, thin frame, she never imagined that he could hunt such large prey. She was extremely envious of Uncle Li’s good fortune.
Noticing that Mu Jin had been going into the forest these past few days, the woman decided to linger around this area today to see if she could run into him. To her luck, she did, so she immediately tried to probe whether Mu Jin would be easy to take advantage of.
As soon as the woman saw Mu Jin approaching, she hurried over with a smile and said, “Xiao Jin, you’ve been out hunting again, haven’t you? I had no idea you were so skilled at hunting—who would have thought!”
Mu Jin greeted her briefly, not intending to say much more. However, the village woman suddenly tiptoed to peer into his basket. When she spotted the snake skin and gallbladder, her eyes immediately lit up, and she reached out, trying to grab the snake gallbladder from his basket.
Mu Jin quickly turned his waist to the side, dodging her hand, and frowned at the woman in front of him.
Seeing this, the village woman quickly plastered a smile on her face and said, “Xiao Jin, Auntie noticed that your basket has quite a few snake skins and a snake gallbladder. You’re so capable; surely you won’t miss just a little bit of these things. You know, eating snake gallbladder is good for your eyesight.”
“My grandson studies hard every day and his health is a bit weak. This snake gallbladder would be perfect to help nourish him. Since you don’t really need it, why not just give it to me?”
The snake gallbladder in Mu Jin’s basket was quite large. Even a smaller one would fetch a good price at the herbal shop in town, but this one, clearly from a spiritual beast, was worth much more.
The fact that the woman thought she could casually ask for such a valuable item amused Mu Jin. Not wanting to waste words on someone he had no real connection with, he simply lifted his foot to walk away.
But to his surprise, the woman blocked his path, her face full of reproach. “You just moved to the foot of Qingyun Mountain, and you’ll need the care of neighbors like us. I’m only asking for a snake gallbladder—how can you be so stingy?”
Mu Jin looked at the woman expressionlessly and said, “Why should I?”
The woman was momentarily stunned by his response but quickly replied, “What do you mean, ‘why’? Neighbors are supposed to look out for each other, aren’t they?”
Mu Jin nodded seriously, “You’re right.”
But before the woman could show any sign of satisfaction, he continued, “But you haven’t taken care of me at all. I don’t want to give you this snake gallbladder, so please don’t block my way.”
After speaking, Mu Jin strode away without a second glance at the woman’s sour expression. His approach was straightforward and blunt—he had always intended to give the snake gallbladder to Uncle Li and had no interest in wasting time arguing with someone irrelevant.
But the main reason he handled it this way was because the original owner’s personality was exactly like this.
Even though Mu Jin had experienced many different worlds, he truly appreciated this kind of temperament. He also enjoyed befriending people with such straightforward personalities.
The original owner was known for being direct, which often led others to label him as naive. But in reality, he wasn’t naive at all—he simply didn’t care for meddling in others’ affairs and held firm to his principles.
Once he set his mind on something, he wouldn’t easily change it. This was why, even when everyone else believed that Ning Yizhou was a spy sent by the demon cultivators, the original owner remained convinced that Ning Yizhou was a good person. Even if he were a demon cultivator, the senior disciple was still a good person in his eyes.
Mu Jin’s own personality was more lively and occasionally mischievous, but he deeply admired those who were straightforward, principled, and unafraid to express their thoughts. Handling situations this way made him feel relaxed at times.
Mu Jin walked quickly, his pace swift despite his small stature. He was young and strong, and thanks to the spiritual fruit, his body now held a bit of spiritual energy, making it hard for an ordinary person to keep up with him.
The woman initially tried to chase after him to argue some more, but she soon found herself falling behind after just a few steps. She could only watch as Mu Jin’s figure disappeared from sight.
Frustrated, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, stamped her foot twice in anger, and spat on the ground before leaving in defeat, upset that she had spent the hot day wandering around for nothing, with no benefits to show for it.
Afterward, Mu Jin went straight to Uncle Li’s place to deliver the snake skin and gallbladder. Just as he was about to leave, Uncle Li called out to him.