A Guide to Raising the Straight Long Aotian - Chapter 7

Yun Qi was jolted awake.

The environment felt as though he had stepped into a wet market at five o’clock in the morning. The air was thick with a cacophony of noise that made his eardrums ache.

The little snake silently poked his head out from Wen Zui’s collar. He realized he had been brought to an unfamiliar place, while his “sacrifice” was currently staring at a phone with rapt, excited attention.

With a quick glance, Yun Qi saw the screen was filled with titles such as: “What to Note When Flying for the First Time,” “Never Bring These Things on a Plane!” and “XX Airport Boarding Guide.”

Yun Qi thought to himself that he recalled Wen Zui’s ticket was for 1:00 PM, yet it was currently only 5:00 AM.

Just as he was about to speak, Wen Zui’s thumb slipped, clicking into a thread titled: “A Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Snakes.”

“Hmm, buying a terrarium would be a waste of money.”

“A corn snake? It does not look like it. He must be a venomous snake!”

“Should I buy some mice for Yun Qi to eat?”

“The snake you are raising does not eat mice,” a voice interjected.

“Nonsense! Netizens all say snakes eat mice!” Wen Zui retorted reflexively. He whipped his head around, eyes wide, only to find no one beside him. When he looked down, he met a pair of golden, bead-like eyes. Only then did he realize it was Yun Qi who had spoken.

“Uh,” Wen Zui stammered.

Yun Qi’s slightly rough scales slid across Wen Zui’s collarbone. He flicked his tongue out for a quick taste and spoke into Wen Zui’s mind: “I am hungry. May I have a sip of my disciple’s blood?”

“Uh, Master, is it possible you are a snake demon and not a bat demon? Argh!”

Protesting was useless; Yun Qi was merely informing him, not asking. His snow-white fangs easily pierced the skin to help himself to a meal.

On the Plane

Wen Zui had specifically spent extra money to pick a window seat. He was as excited as a child, snapping endless photos of the dense clouds outside until the turbulence of the air currents finally forced him to put his phone down.

“Master? What exactly are we looking for?”

“Host! You are not seriously taking the protagonist to find that spiritual object, are you? The current protagonist cannot handle it at all!”

The big trouble and the little trouble asked their questions simultaneously. Yun Qi gave a faint smile, intending to answer neither.

“You will know in a moment.”

Hearing this, Wen Zui could not help but roll his eyes at the window. He gave a sullen grunt and simply closed his eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, a sharp sting flared at his collarbone. Wen Zui frowned and opened his eyes, only to hear a chilling voice echo in his mind.

“We have arrived.”

“Arrived?”

Wen Zui glanced outside. The clear blue sky from before he slept was now thick with dark clouds. Although visibility had dropped significantly, he was certain they were still in the air.

In the next heartbeat, the entire plane vanished. A massive sensation of weightlessness instantly took hold.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! HELP!!”

“YUN QI!!!! YUN QI!!!!”

“MASTER!!!!”

The speed of the freefall was enough to shatter Wen Zui’s psyche. He wailed and screamed, tears and snot flowing freely as he frantically shrieked Yun Qi’s name.

Suddenly, the whistling wind vanished and everything around them turned still. Wen Zui landed steadily atop the head of a giant blue snake.

For a moment, he felt like Nezha riding atop Ao Bing. A vast, magnificent landscape rushed toward him. The golden sunlight spilled across his face, plating him in a brilliant glow. For a moment, he forgot to breathe.

“Is it fun?” Yun Qi remarked, thinking this was likely much more interesting than riding a plane.

“It is fun! It will be even better when you can teach me!” Wen Zui squinted happily, his hands gripping the scales on Yun Qi’s head with a look of longing.

His heart was pounding and his hands were trembling, yet he forced his eyes wide to soak in the beautiful scenery.

“Soon. The thing we seek is down there,” Yun Qi said. He dove downward immediately, and shortly after, the two landed within a dense forest.

“So, where do we go now?” Wen Zui asked impatiently the moment he found his footing.

Yun Qi transformed back into a small snake and coiled around Wen Zui’s wrist. He flicked his tongue rapidly as if tasting something in the air. After a long pause, he spoke: “Head east.”

The man and the snake wandered the dense forest for a long time but failed to find an exit. Just as Wen Zui was becoming tired and hungry, a blurry ball of light flickered ahead. He hurriedly ran forward a few steps and shouted, “Is anyone there?!”

The light seemed to pause for a moment before flickering rapidly. Soon, an old man who looked to be in his seventies or eighties appeared before Wen Zui.

“Young lad, what are you doing out here all alone?”

Despite his age, the old man seemed sturdy. He pulled Wen Zui up from the slope and asked with a smile.

“I am out traveling and got lost, hehe,” Wen Zui scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his face flushing slightly. “Grandpa, can you lead me out?”

“You cannot be this careless next time, young man! This is deep in the mountains; there is no cell signal. What would you do if you ran into danger? It is a good thing you ran into this old man.”

As they chatted along the way, Wen Zui gradually learned more about him.

The old man’s surname was Wu. Two years ago, his son and daughter-in-law died in a car accident while working in the city, leaving behind a three-year-old granddaughter. Their family was poor, and since he and his wife were elderly, they survived by growing vegetables. He had spent the day selling radishes at the market and had only now found the time to collect pine resin to take to the small workshop in town tomorrow.

“Young Wen, it is so dark that the path down the mountain will be treacherous. Why do you not stay at my house for the night?”

Wen Zui was about to shake his head and decline when Yun Qi’s voice rang in his mind.

“Agree to it. I sense the aura of ‘that thing’ on him.”

“Alright! Thank you, Grandpa Wu.” Wen Zui quickly swapped his head-shake for a nod, revealing neat, white teeth that shimmered like shells in the moonlight.

“It is no trouble, no trouble,” Old Man Wu laughed, thinking the city folks’ teeth were incredibly white, unlike his granddaughter, whose teeth were ruined from eating too much candy.

“I will have to give her a good talking-to when I get home,” he thought.

The two walked for about an hour until a dim, swaying yellow light appeared on the hillside.

It was a two-story wooden house that looked to be fifty or sixty years old. The exterior walls had been weathered by time into a deep brown. A fence surrounded the house, and as they approached, the chickens and ducks in the yard let out a few startled squawks.

They climbed the creaking stairs. A silver-haired grandmother walked out, her body hunched. She put a finger to her lips, signaling for silence, before whispering: “Old man, you are back? Xiaoyue is already asleep; let us keep it down.”

Wen Zui whispered a greeting to the grandmother and explained his situation. He was warmly pulled into the kitchen to eat his fill. Afterward, the grandmother brought a bucket of water for him to wash up, her hospitality knowing no bounds.

“Master, where is ‘that thing’?” Wen Zui asked Yun Qi privately in his mind while watching the busy elderly couple.

“The scent of ‘it’ is very strong here, but ‘it’ is not physically present. Tomorrow, go and ask that old man for information.”

“Understood! But Master, what exactly is ‘that thing’?”

Yun Qi did not answer directly. Instead, he asked something else.

“A-Zui, do you know at what age people usually began their cultivation in my era?”

After pouring out his foot-washing water, Wen Zui followed the grandmother to the guest room while putting the wooden basin away. “Based on novels, it seems like they start at three? Master, you are not calling me old, are you?!”

System: “Pfft.”

Yun Qi also curled his lips into a smile. His sharp, white little teeth grazed Wen Zui’s wrist as he spoke: “You certainly have self-awareness. The spiritual energy here is far too thin; ordinary techniques will not allow you to enter the gate. We must take a heterodox path and use a massive amount of spiritual power to break the shackles within your body. Only then will you have a chance.”

“That thing is an ancient pill. With it, you can take your first step onto the path of cultivation.”

Of course, seventy to eighty percent of that speech was made up by Yun Qi. As a “Dragon-Awe-Heaven” protagonist, Wen Zui’s natural talent was terrifyingly good; even the current Yun Qi could have guided him into the Qi-Refining stage.

“Then I will ask Grandpa Wu first thing tomorrow morning!”