Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 76 - 67: The Shameless Little Dwarf Who Deceives Innocent Boys

Chapter 76: Chapter 67: The Shameless Little Dwarf Who Deceives Innocent Boys

Evening of August 10, 2017

Looking at the table full of greens and radishes, Wang Jiu felt a deep sense of confusion.

Especially seeing the petite girl in an apron, holding a spatula, with an excited expression as if seeking praise, Wang Jiu’s confusion grew even deeper.

"Is this a game of hide and seek?"

Shen Qingming was taken aback: "What hide and seek?"

Wang Jiu said, "Before dinner, you said to celebrate the first batch of painting albums and talismans selling out and receiving bonus dividends, you wanted to personally cook a feast to thank me. However, I don’t see any feast, so I’m asking if this is some kind of hide-and-seek game, where I need to find the hidden feast in the house."

Shen Qingming pursed her lips, let her shoulders slump powerlessly: "Come on, at least give it a try. Even if you don’t eat carrots, there’s garlic steamed cabbage and stir-fried potato shreds... Although there aren’t any expensive ingredients, I really put my heart into it."

Wang Jiu said, "So you’re hinting that the clues to the feast are hidden in these dishes on the table?"

Shen Qingming got angry: "Are you done? A grown man fussier than a little girl! You’re clearly a Sword Spirit and still picky! Hurry up and eat, this is all we have tonight, if you don’t eat, you’ll go hungry!"

After saying that, the girl sat down in a huff, grabbing a bun with one hand and picking up a piece of bok choy with chopsticks in the other.

Wang Jiu sat next to her, somewhat puzzled. Not having a physical body, he naturally didn’t need to actually eat, but after Shen Qingming ate half, he said, "According to the sensory sharing result of the Master-Servant Contract, you don’t really find these things that tasty, and you’re regretting not buying at least two pieces of meat."

Shen Qingming’s face turned red: "I, I just wanted to reminisce a bit, so I only bought some home-cooked dishes from a few years ago, thinking I’d make a memorable feast, but my cooking skills are limited... However, at least the quality of the ingredients is genuinely good, much better than the salad from the other day, right!?"

Wang Jiu said, "Premium farm-supplied vegetables, of course the quality is good."

Shen Qingming said, "There’s no such thing as premium farm-supplied, just some farmhouse produce sold by the market aunt."

"Hmm, so what you’re saying is, the market aunt’s farm might have the Five Elements Soil and Spirit Gathering Array of a premium farm?"

"Huh?"

Wang Jiu asked, "Didn’t you notice? These vegetables, aside from being nutritious, are clearly nourished by Spiritual Qi. Although they can’t be called Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, eating them can at least improve one’s constitution and prolong life, especially nourishing for cultivators below the Wind-Rising Realm... Otherwise, why do you think I indulge you in eating greens and radishes?"

Shen Qingming’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the vegetables on her plate, then at Wang Jiu.

"Really?"

Wang Jiu said, "If you don’t believe me, you can conduct a detailed component analysis to determine the Spiritual Qi content."

"Well, that’s not necessary, I believe what you say. It’s just..." Shen Qingming frowned, "It seems that there really are hidden experts among the common folk. I always thought she was just an ordinary wealthy farmwoman, didn’t expect she had such vegetable-growing skills. But it’s a pity, having the quality of premium supply yet selling so cheap with no one buying."

Saying this, Shen Qingming sighed again: "And conversely, they’re just mass-printed pictures, but just by signing my name or drawing a cat paw, they can sell for a Spirit Stone each, an unreasonable price. And for those live-action painting albums and dance talismans, by adding a ’limited edition’ title and numbering them, some auspicious numbers even sell for one to two hundred Spirit Stones, it’s practically daylight robbery, this business is truly unfathomable."

——

After dinner, Wang Jiu went back to continue refining the Sword World, while Shen Qingming rarely got a half-day off, neither worrying about idol work nor training the Immovable Tyrant Body. With nothing to do and in a good mood, she borrowed Wang Jiu’s Communication Spirit Stone, intending to tease Lu Xin a bit.

Over the past days, their every conversation ended unpleasantly, no matter the topic, it always resulted in a deadlock: "You’re really unreasonable, woman!", "I must have been out of my mind to talk to Shen Yue’e’s daughter!"...

Honestly, Shen Qingming still couldn’t bring herself to like Lu Xin, but after so many conversations, she couldn’t muster much resentment either. Occasionally recalling their talks would bring a faint smile—while arguing, tempers flared greatly, but in retrospect, Lu Xin’s wordless and unreasonable demeanor was quite amusing.

This time, she planned to come up with a good topic to poke fun at that woman as an after-dinner dessert.

However, after calling with the Spirit Stone for a while, there was no response, indicating the stone wasn’t with its owner... Just when Shen Qingming was about to put down the stone, it suddenly flashed, projecting an image. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

In the image, instead of Lu Xin’s intentionally aloof face, there was a young boy with a tiger-head haircut, looking curiously at the Communication Spirit Stone.

Shen Qingming was startled and softly exclaimed: "Wushuang!? How come it’s you?"

This boy with short hair, thick eyebrows, and big eyes is none other than the son of Lu Xin and Li Fengyun, the 10-year-old Li Wushuang.

Seeing Shen Qingming in the projection of the Spirit Stone, Li Wushuang was also surprised, his eyes widened, and a smile involuntarily spread across his face: "Sister Qingming?! Are you looking for Mother? She went to make some snacks for Father. I came to find her to play, and happened to see you! It’s been a while, where have you been?!"

Faced with this bright and sincere smile, Shen Qingming found it difficult to look directly at him for a moment.

In the Li Family Mansion, she and Lu Xin were always like water and fire, but Lu Xin’s son, this straightforward little fellow, was exceptionally adorable, and she got along quite well with him.

Before he was 10, when Shen Qingming was still in the Inner Sect, this little guy had just finished his childhood medicinal bath baptism and started formally practicing external skills. He followed Shen Qingming all day, calling her ’Sister Qingming, Sister Qingming,’ and regarded this diligent and hardworking Inner Sect Chief sister as an idol. Despite his prestigious background, his character was sincere and straightforward, without any hidden motives, making him a well-behaved child that no one could dislike.

Unable to meet the other’s gaze, Shen Qingming had to slightly turn her head and softly said, "I’ve been in Shen Garden."

Li Wushuang raised his head and thought: "Is it the Shen Garden in East City Lvliu Lane? Mother often mentions it. Is it fun there?"

As he spoke, the little fellow excitedly asked, "I heard from Ah Ping that the illusions at Shen Garden are particularly powerful. Are there Thousand Spirit Illusion Realm and Cave Profound Secret Mansion phenomena?"

Shen Qingming explained helplessly, "How could there be? Shen Garden is just an ordinary residence without anything fun."

Perplexed, Li Wushuang asked, "Then why don’t you come back to live, Sister Qingming? We all miss you very much."

Shen Qingming almost instinctively said, "Lu Xin wouldn’t miss me," but looking at Li Wushuang’s sincere and innocent gaze in the Spirit Jade projection, she found it impossible to say anything hurtful and could only sigh in resignation, "In the future, I have some things to handle in Shen Garden; once I finish, I’ll come back to visit."

"Alright!" Li Wushuang happily jumped up, his face practically overflowing with anticipation, "Sister Qingming, I’ve recently just mastered the Gale Sword!"

"That’s amazing." Shen Qingming sincerely admired him. Although the Gale Sword is only Mortal Swordsmanship and ranked lower than the Windchasing Sword, it is the top swordsmanship in the mortal world. Mastering it at the tender age of ten was indeed commendable and touching.

But Li Wushuang was a little embarrassed: "It’s not that amazing. I’m still a bit worse than you, Sister, and much more so compared to Father."

Shen Qingming shook her head: "I started practicing two years earlier than you and since girls mature earlier, mastering the Gale Sword at 9 isn’t much. It doesn’t mean I’m better than you. As for Fengyun...Father, his talent is unmatched, especially in Sword Dao on the entire Xiangzhou Continent. Who in the Li Family Mansion can compare to him?"

Li Wushuang still felt a little down: "Mother says I’m Father’s son, and I can’t bring shame to his name."

Shen Qingming, somewhat annoyed, said: "You’re also Lu Xin’s son, aren’t you? How old was she when she mastered the Golden Silkworm Sword, the Lu Family’s entry-level technique?"

Li Wushuang thought for a moment: "I don’t know, Mother said she mastered it at 7, but one night when Father was guiding her swordsmanship, he said, ’You mastered the Golden Silkworm Sword at 11, your talent in Sword Dao need not be mentioned...’"

"Pfft!" Shen Qingming almost choked on her saliva.

Li Wushuang asked sheepishly: "Did I say something wrong, Sister?"

"No, no!" Shen Qingming shook her head repeatedly, "Wushuang, remember, as long as you’ve put your heart into cultivation, used your strength, you won’t bring shame to anyone. Cultivation is a long road, being a little ahead or behind in the first few steps doesn’t matter. Look at me, stuck before the Wind Barrier since I was 10, with no progress for 4 years, and now I’m in the mid-stage of the Wind-Rising Realm, isn’t it?"

Li Wushuang said admiringly, "Sister Qingming is really amazing!"

"Uh, you will definitely become even more amazing than me." Shen Qingming comforted him briefly, intending to wrap up the conversation. However, at this moment, Li Wushuang remembered something and asked.

"Sister, will you come to Father’s birthday banquet?"

Shen Qingming was stunned for a moment, only to remember that Li Fengyun’s birthday is August 17, 1967, just about a week away.

years old is like the sun at eight or nine o’clock in the morning for a cultivator at the peak of the Mountain-Overturning Realm. The term "birthday banquet" is somewhat out of place. But for the head of the Li Family Mansion, it is indeed a milestone worth celebrating.

"I..."

Seeing Li Wushuang’s hopeful eyes, Shen Qingming was momentarily at a loss for words. Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a uniquely styled money bag placed on the bed in Lu Xin’s bedroom.

The material was ordinary, and it didn’t have any divine techniques or magic.

But on the surface, it was embroidered with two cat ears and a cat tail...