Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 238: Chapter 145: Zhang Fan’s Reward! A Package from Zhenwu Mountain

Late at night, the lone moon hung high, pale and taut like a bowstring.

In the dim room, Zhang Fan stared at the empty box in his hand, pulled out his phone casually, and dialed Li Yishan’s number.

”Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable...”

A mechanical voice rang out, immediately followed by the grating, urgent busy tone.

”Hmm!?”

Zhang Fan’s eyelids drooped as he glanced at the time—it was already past eleven.

”Already asleep?”

Li Yishan has a strange habit—generally, once midnight passes eleven o’clock, you can hardly ever reach him.

According to Li Yishan, midnight eleven o’clock was the ancient hour of Zi Shi, when the world’s Yang Qi is at its weakest and Yin Qi most rampant...

It’s the time for ordinary folks to sleep and for Ghost Gods to roam—good families should be in bed by then.

Zhang Fan had thought at the time that Li Yishan must have studied folklore so much that he’d gone a little mad.

”No one’s picking up—I should probably go to sleep too.”

Zhang Fan curled his lip and dialed Li Yishan again.

At that moment, the rooftop of Golden Peak Building.

”Mouse, mouse, squeak squeak squeak; old cow, old cow, moo moo moo; tiger, tiger...”

A series of sweet, nursery rhyme-like phone ringtones chimed through the lonely, cold rooftop, echoing through the night.

In the corner, a phone lay on the ground, its screen glowing in the darkness. On the display: Incoming call—Zhang Fan!

The faint light illuminated a nearby silhouette. Under the chilling moonlight, the figure stood by the rooftop’s edge, arms spread wide, like a bird longing for freedom, letting the night wind howl past their ears.

Suddenly, the figure leapt, actually plunging from the thirty-seventh floor of the rooftop.

Whoosh...

The midnight wind grew even wilder, like a beast howling and roaring—fierce and terrifying, driving black clouds across the sky and forcing the bow-shaped moon into hiding.

Bang...

In the end, amid a deafening crash, it was as if someone just added a closing bar of silence to everything.

The wind ceased, the clouds drifted away.

That sweet nursery rhyme ringtone was abruptly cut off, its echo lingering, scattering over the rooftop now returned to cold clarity.

...

The next morning, at dawn.

The first light crept in, sunlight shone through the window into Zhang Fan’s room.

He looked like an owl, eyes wide open, hair a mess, as if he hadn’t slept a wink all night.

”My mind’s so full I can’t sleep... Shit, I haven’t even gotten through my tribulation yet.”

Zhang Fan squinted and scratched his head.

”Dad’s dad is a demon, dad’s mom is a demon, mom’s...”

Just then, a sweet ringtone shattered the morning stillness, snapping Zhang Fan out of his thoughts.

He groped around with drooping eyes, finally found his phone on the bed, and when he checked the caller display, it was Li Yishan.

”Hello...”

”Why were you looking for me last night?”

Li Yishan’s voice drifted through the speaker, sounding weak and listless.

”Why do you sound like that?”

”Shit, don’t even mention it—I got a stiff neck last night...”

As he spoke, Li Yishan sucked in air through his teeth, hissing with pain.

”Did you sleep alone last night?” Zhang Fan couldn’t help blurting out.

”Huh? You sound weird—really weird. What do you mean by that?”

”I’m just asking casually. You always sleep like a saint anyway.” Zhang Fan grinned.

”Had a crappy night—fell off the bed. When I got up, my neck was all jammed.”

On the other end of the line, Li Yishan’s voice strained as if he was trying to stretch out his aching neck.

”So what did you want last night?”

”Oh, nothing much... Just wanted to ask if you remember, when I first brought you to my house as a kid, did you see a box...” Zhang Fan asked offhand.

”Box? What box?”

”Sort of like the ones they use for An Gong Niu Huang Pills.”

”Oh oh oh—I remember! The box you thought was for those yellow discs, right!?” Li Yishan suddenly got excited.

”...”

Zhang Fan was speechless, but it made sense—there was a seal sticker on that box that said, ’Minors please open with parental supervision...’

From Li Yishan’s point of view, it was easy to get the wrong idea.

”What about it?” Li Yishan’s voice snapped Zhang Fan back to reality.

”Do you remember what was inside the box?” Zhang Fan asked absently.

”Inside? What inside? When we opened it, it was empty.”

Li Yishan’s voice drifted through the phone, echoing in Zhang Fan’s ear.

”Empty!?” Zhang Fan froze.

”Did your folks hide it ages ago, keeping it to sneak a look?”

”Screw off!” Zhang Fan squinted and spat.

”Come on... it’s been ages. You really called just for this?” Li Yishan sounded baffled.

”What else would it be?”

”I thought you were calling about Xu Zhixia.”

Li Yishan’s voice carried a hint of mischievous laughter.

”What could possibly be up between me and her?” Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

Ever since that incident at the Zhang Family’s Old Mansion, he hadn’t seen Xu Zhixia again.

”She came to see me,” Li Yishan suddenly said.

”Why’d she find you?” Zhang Fan asked, surprised.

”She wanted to ask you out for a meal, but you never answered.” Li Yishan chuckled.

Zhang Fan said nothing. Xu Zhixia really had tried to reach him lately, but time had changed things, and he no longer had the heart to deal with it. Some things, once past, are better left behind.

Better not to meet at all.

”Tsk tsk, look at you now—like a toad high on pop rocks, can’t stop shaking.”

Li Yishan’s laughter came through the phone: ”You’re nothing like that half-dead mess you used to be. Damn, I should’ve filmed it then—could’ve blackmailed you for life.”

”That wasn’t me. You got the wrong guy.”

Saying that, Zhang Fan was about to hang up.

”Wait—Xu Zhixia left yesterday. Did you know?”