I Outworked the Entire Cultivation World

Chapter 245: Chapter 215: (Revised) Dream

Jiang Yuebai cornered Xie Jingshan in a deserted alley. Xie Jingshan covered his face with one hand, lifted a leg, and crouched defensively, his blush extending all the way to his ears.

”You you you... Don’t come any closer... I I I... I didn’t do anything...”

Xie Jingshan stammered incoherently, and Jiang Yuebai squinted in confusion.

”What did you do?”

”I didn’t do anything, if I did, may the heavens strike me with five thunders!”

Xie Jingshan raised a hand to swear, his reaction overly intense.

”Can’t you be normal? We haven’t seen each other for almost eight years, I can’t understand your reaction!”

Xie Jingshan lowered his leg, sneaked a peek at Jiang Yuebai through his fingers, swallowed a few times, his face still flushed red.

”You... you go a bit further away first, don’t stay so close to me.”

Jiang Yuebai frowned, hands on hips, ”Could I eat you or something?”

As soon as she finished speaking, two lines of nosebleed suddenly ran from Xie Jingshan’s nose. He quickly covered it and squatted down, turning his back to Jiang Yuebai.

Jiang Yuebai sniffed and caught a whiff of a medicinal scent on Xie Jingshan.

”Ah! I got it...”

As soon as she shouted, Xie Jingshan’s whole body trembled.

”I really didn’t do anything!”

”Did you overdose on Elixirs?”

Both of them spoke simultaneously, Xie Jingshan sneaked a peek, Jiang Yuebai squinted, the atmosphere was awkward.

”Ah right, I did take too many Elixirs!”

”What exactly did you do?”

Again simultaneously, Xie Jingshan froze.

Jiang Yuebai scratched her head in frustration, ”You’re really annoying! I’m going to find Anan, I don’t care if you live or die!”

Jiang Yuebai turned her head and walked off, Xie Jingshan wiped his nosebleed clean and got up to follow.

”Wait for me, I’m coming too!”

Finding the small courtyard where Lu Nanzhi was renting in Buquan Lane, Jiang Yuebai turned back to glare at Xie Jingshan who was trailing far behind.

Xie Jingshan scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh, still looking like the silly kid from back then.

Knock knock knock!

”Anan, are you there? I’m here to see you～”

Just as the knocking stopped, the courtyard door was pulled open from within. Lu Nanzhi, her black hair loose, dressed in plain clothes, looked haggard. When she saw Jiang Yuebai clearly, her eyes began to mist over, as if she had suffered a lot of grievances.

”Anan, I’m sorry I came late.”

”No, you’re not late, come in first.” Lu Nanzhi shook her head to suppress her tears, her voice hoarse.

Jiang Yuebai felt a pang of heartache as she held her hand. She regretted believing what Lu Nanzhi had written in her letter, thinking she was really okay and could handle everything on her own.

Seeing her today, Jiang Yuebai realized she was just trying to tough it out, not wanting to cause trouble.

”Aren’t you coming in too?”

Jiang Yuebai called out to Xie Jingshan, who lowered his head and sheepishly followed into the courtyard, helping to lock the door and activate the array on the courtyard wall.

The yard was small and simply furnished. Jiang Yuebai went to sit in the main hall, watching Lu Nanzhi take the laid-out letter and temporarily retreat to freshen up.

Jiang Yuebai guessed that Lu Nanzhi’s earlier state might be related to that letter. ℯℯ𝘭.

Xie Jingshan sat at a distance, and when Jiang Yuebai glanced over, he accidentally knocked over the teacup, fumbling to tidy up.

Jiang Yuebai ignored his odd behavior and asked, ”Isn’t Anan having trouble breaking off the engagement?”

Xie Jingshan’s eyes flickered, not daring to look directly at Jiang Yuebai, he replied with his head lowered, ”How could it be smooth? She’s just a pawn in the marriage alliance between the Lu Family and the Fang Family, the marriage can’t be called off.”

”The Lu Family was counting on her to establish ties with the Fang Family, to elevate their status among all the cultivation families. The Fang Family also wants to ally with the Lu Family to suppress the arrogance of the Kong Family. Moreover, the Fang Family’s direct lineage has only produced a bunch of misfits in the past hundred years, with hardly any dual spirit roots talent. Now they are pinning their hopes on Lu Nanzhi to provide them with better spirit root descendants.”

”How unreasonable!”

Jiang Yuebai crushed the tea cup in his hand, furious.

”How can they decide Anan’s life like that?”

Xie Jingshan’s eyes were dim, he sighed deeply, ”Family and sects are different, families rely on bloodlines to be maintained. Ensuring a large family’s long-lasting prosperity isn’t that easy.”

”Xie Jingshan! Whose side are you on exactly?” Jiang Yuebai asked angrily.

Xie Jingshan shrunk his neck, ”Of course, I’m on Lu Nanzhi’s side.”

”Little Bai,” Lu Nanzhi walked out from the back hall, ”Don’t make it difficult for him. He’s under the same pressure as Fang Mingyi to reproduce for the family.”

Jiang Yuebai looked at Lu Nanzhi. She had tidied up her appearance; her hair was partly down and partly up. At first glance, her brows and eyes appeared gentle like water, but upon closer inspection, they were firm like gold and stone.

She seemed as mature as before, yet somehow more complex than before.

In just seven or eight years, Lu Nanzhi seemed to have experienced a century of vicissitudes, with a cold indifference that saw through everything, more so than before, which made Jiang Yuebai feel distressed.

Lu Nanzhi sat beside Jiang Yuebai, poured her a cup of tea again, and instead of talking about herself, she started talking about Xie Jingshan.

”The Kong Family and Fang Family have deep roots, thousand generations of heritage, and thriving numbers. But Xie Jingshan’s family only has his grandfather, his father, and him for three generations. Even if the Mountain and Sea Building is renowned worldwide and financially rich, in the eyes of the Kong Family and Fang Family, it’s still a small, insignificant household.”

Xie Jingshan nodded while covering his face, agreeing with this logic. In the eyes of people from prominent families like Fang Mingyi, he was just a lucky bumpkin with nothing but money.

Lu Nanzhi continued, ”Xie Jingshan’s grandfather and father were both known to be devoted men. His grandmother only had his father as an only child, and after she passed away unexpectedly, his grandfather built the foundation of the Mountain and Sea Building alone, which was then passed to his father.”

Xie Jingshan took over the conversation, ”Then, my father fell in love with my mother. They originally didn’t plan to have children, but couldn’t resist my grandfather’s begging and drama. That’s why they had me and left me with him. My mother stayed with me until I turned four, then ran away to avoid being urged to have more children, and she’s been a wanderer ever since.”

”Now that I’ve grown up, my grandfather sees no hope with my parents and started pestering me, feeding me various Ten-Complete Replenishing Pills daily, demanding I at least give him 81 great-grandchildren, causing me to have dreams every night...”

Xie Jingshan suddenly covered his mouth, feeling guilty and fearful, glancing at Jiang Yuebai.

An embarrassing childhood memory involving dreams and Ye Shiming flashed through Jiang Yuebai’s mind, and she instantly widened her eyes!

”Xie Jingshan! You!”

Xie Jingshan jumped up in shock and swiftly explained.

”Listen to my explanation first, I really didn’t do anything! What I dreamt of wasn’t about you, but since my Foundation Establishment triggered a strange phenomenon, I’ve been dreaming of a woman who’s feeling familiar but facing away from me.”

”Every time I dream of her, the red mole in my palm heats up, my heart races, and I feel something indescribable. I thought she must be my past life’s bond, I’m not a promiscuous man, I originally didn’t plan to find a Daoist companion.”

”But, if I can’t avoid it, I’ll definitely be like my father, loyal to one person all my life. So I tried to get closer to the woman in the dream, wanting to see who she really was. I dreamed for three years, the more I resisted the affectionate feeling in the dream, the farther I was from her.”

”I was just curious about who she was, so I let the feeling of attraction take over, and only then did I get close to her. When she turned around, heavens! She looked like you, scared me half to death, as if my three souls departed and seven spirits soared! I’d rather see a ghost with a rotten face, wouldn’t be so terrifying!”

Jiang Yuebai jumped up, ”I’d rather a ghost with a rotten face than you. Anan, don’t pull me, I’m tearing this bastard to pieces today!”

Upon hearing this, Lu Nanzhi released Jiang Yuebai’s clothing hem, Jiang Yuebai froze mid-action, and sat down angrily.

”Since you saw me and were scared half to death, why are you blushing?” Jiang Yuebai pressed.

Xie Jingshan looked embarrassed, uncomfortably scratching his face.

”Wasn’t it the three years I hadn’t seen clearly... Anyway, I swear, I really have no improper thoughts about you, I’m very very clear on this, after all, when you were little, the way you looked so dark and ugly...”

”Who are you calling dark and ugly? Anan, don’t pull me, I’m going to kill him today!”

Jiang Yuebai furiously rolled up her sleeves, Lu Nanzhi raised her eyebrow, sipping tea.

Jiang Yuebai: ......

”Speak! Why do you keep having strange dreams, claiming you were a Sword Immortal in your past life, what nonsense Sword Immortal looks like you?”

Xie Jingshan weakly said, ”I don’t know either, it’s all based on the divination of the Supreme Elder. However, I suddenly feel there’s a huge conspiracy here.”

Jiang Yuebai and Lu Nanzhi both looked up.

Xie Jingshan looked serious, ”I must have been someone even more powerful than a Sword Immortal in my past life, someone is trying to use these low-level, uninspiring dreams to ruin my Dao heart and destroy my Immortal Path! I absolutely will not give in!”

Upon his words, Jiang Yuebai and Lu Nanzhi simultaneously rolled their eyes.

But Xie Jingshan’s words suddenly made the Little Ganoderma on Jiang Yuebai’s head tremble.

It felt like a pair of eyes were looking at her through Xie Jingshan.

”Xie Jingshan, if you want to prove you won’t give in, why not become a monk? I just happen to have a copy of the ’Prajna Sutra’, and if you shave your head, I’ll pass it to you for free, along with a complete set of Buddhist Body Refining Divine Skills...”