After Forcibly Taking The Beautiful, Powerful, And Tragic Demon Lord As A Concubine - Chapter 6

“Mother, are you distressed over the spirit stones?”

“Qing’er, there was a reason why I insisted back then that you should not marry him.” Lin Meimei sighed, her eyes filled with helplessness and a look of pained affection as she gazed at Lin Xueqing. “Spirit stones are a minor matter, not even worth mentioning.”

“Mother—”

“I know, you like him because he is beautiful.” Lin Meimei said, “But do you know what kind of person he is?”

Lin Xueqing replied, “The Mingjing Sword Sovereign’s reputation is illustrious; naturally, your son knows.”

Lin Meimei’s lips twitched, and her glamorous face was practically written with one sentence: You know nothing!

“That man was the God of Slaughter back in the day; who knows how many demonic cultivators’ lives he has taken. He is essentially a hot potato. If it weren’t for the three life-saving restrictions his master left him before departing, he would have likely died many times over. There are countless demonic cultivators who wish they could skin him alive, break his bones, and kill him to satisfy their hatred.”

Lin Xueqing countered, “That’s exactly why we must help him return to his peak!”

Lin Meimei was so angry she put her hands on her hips and stomped her feet. “You are truly stubborn! I told you he is a hot potato. If we save him, do you think those people from the Sword Sect—not just the demonic cultivators—will let us off?”

“The Sword Sect? They would also…?”

“Heh, they are all just hypocrites with human faces and beastly hearts.” Lin Meimei sneered coldly. In front of her son, she didn’t want to elaborate too much. “In short, you just need to know one thing: it is best, and safest, for Ye Mingjing to remain in his current state.”

Lin Xueqing’s eyes darkened, and he asked, “Then what if I insist on curing him?”

Lin Meimei cursed loudly, “Then you’ve lost your mind!”

“Mother.”

Lin Xueqing was not discouraged by his mother’s words. On the contrary, he was incredibly firm. “I am going to cure him no matter what, regardless of how much resistance there is from the outside world.”

“Mother, can you really bear to watch him live like this for the rest of his life? Don’t forget, back then, it was he who killed the invading demonic cultivators and protected the Chengtian Valley, protecting the entire Alchemy Sect. Without him, would we have lived until now? Would I have even been born?”

Lin Meimei’s thick, long eyelashes trembled. She turned her head, her gaze dodging slightly. “That… that is all in the past.”

“Yes, it is in the past. But justice resides in the hearts of the people.”

“Besides, Mother, for so many years, the Sword Sect and the Daoist Sect have relied on their Void Refinement cultivators to bully and oppress us, forcing us to pay tribute with pills. Have you never thought about resisting? Don’t forget, Ye Mingjing is a supreme genius who became a Sword Sovereign at the age of twenty-one—a Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivator! If we can help him return to his peak, will anyone ever dare to bully our family again?”

After a long silence.

Perhaps it was because Lin Xueqing’s attitude was too resolute that a mother could not override her son, or perhaps the future Lin Xueqing promised was too tempting.

Lin Meimei sighed helplessly. “In this world, if there is one person who can cure Ye Mingjing, it is likely only him.”

“Who?”

“The Ghost Doctor, Feng Ruyu.” Lin Meimei uttered the name.

Lin Xueqing was stunned!

Feng Ruyu.

It really was him!

In fact, before going to sleep last night, Lin Xueqing had racked his brain to recall the original plot, trying to find a doctor who could possibly cure Ye Mingjing. The person he had found was indeed this man known as the Ghost Doctor, Feng Ruyu.

Ye Mingjing’s injuries were too heavy and too peculiar. Ordinary medical cultivators simply could not help him. This was also why, even after a hundred years had passed, the Sword Sect had procrastinated on finding a doctor for him.

Whether they wanted to find one was one thing. The fact that they simply couldn’t find one was another major reason.

But Feng Ruyu was different from ordinary medical cultivators. He held the title of Ghost Doctor. His actions were eccentric, his personality strange, and even his methods of treating people were different from the norm. It was rumored that he had once successfully helped a cultivator with a shattered Golden Core reshape it… Wasn’t that exactly Ye Mingjing’s primary symptom?

Lin Meimei’s words further confirmed Lin Xueqing’s view.

Lin Xueqing decided immediately: He’s the one!

Within three days, he would definitely find Feng Ruyu. But where was Feng Ruyu?

Fortunately, Lin Meimei knew this as well.

“Feng Ruyu is currently practicing medicine on Mount Taihang. If you want to find him, let Lin Feng and Lin Hai pilot the flying boat and accompany you.”

“That’s great! Thank you, Mother!”

Lin Xueqing’s eyes instantly erupted with an unprecedented light of pleasant surprise.

“You really are…”

Before sending her jubilant, “silly” son away, Lin Meimei gave Lin Xueqing a meaningful look. “I only hope you won’t regret this in the future.”

Lin Xueqing thought to himself: I won’t regret it. Mother, if you knew that this is the only way to protect our entire family, you would also agree with my actions wholeheartedly.

After bidding farewell to Lin Meimei, Lin Xueqing returned to his quarters without stopping.

Lin Feng and Lin Hai were members of a side branch of the Lin family. They could be considered Lin Xueqing’s two older cousins, and both possessed cultivation at the Golden Core stage. With the two of them present, traveling would naturally be more secure.

Of course, it was impossible for Lin Xueqing to go out with only his two cousins. Since they were taking a flying boat, he might as well bring a few more servants just in case.

Servants, the flying boat, and travel expenses—Lin Xueqing needed to go back and prepare all of these. He also needed to send a disciple to inform his two cousins. Therefore, after learning of Feng Ruyu’s location, Lin Xueqing was not in a hurry to leave immediately. He planned to return to his residence first, prepare carefully, and then set off.

At the very least, he had to change out of these wedding clothes, right?

Lin Xueqing looked at the bright red wedding robes he was wearing, which had become wrinkled and messy, and couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile. He had been busy from last night until now and hadn’t even had a chance to change his clothes.

However, things didn’t go as smoothly as imagined.

Shortly after returning to his residence, Lin Xueqing saw several servants walking out of Ye Mingjing’s room with dejected faces. The servants were carrying several food boxes. It looked like breakfast. Judging by the quantity, there were quite a few varieties, but since these people looked so miserable, could it be that Ye Mingjing didn’t like it?

“Stop.” Lin Xueqing called out to the servants.

The leader of the group, upon seeing Lin Xueqing, looked as if he had finally seen a savior. “Young Master, you’re finally back!”

“What’s wrong? Didn’t I tell you to use the standards for hosting the Sect Leader to serve the Mingjing Sword Sovereign?”

The servant looked troubled. “Young Master, we are using the ingredients meant for the Sect Leader to serve the Sword Sovereign! But he… he won’t eat!”

“Let me see.” Lin Xueqing frowned.

He reached out and randomly opened one of the food box lids. Once it was open—whoa—it was bright red. What was this?

“Why is it a fruit?”

The servant replied, “This is the Saint Spirit Fruit, which blossoms once every hundred years and bears fruit once every hundred years. It is very expensive. Every time the Sect Leader comes to Chengtian Valley, he loves this most.”

Lin Xueqing: “…”

He decisively opened another lid. This time it wasn’t a fruit, but a vegetable root.

Lin Xueqing felt numb. He pointed at the green vegetable root and said, “Don’t tell me this is also some kind of rare species.”

“Indeed, it is called the Green Root Vegetable. It has the effect of nourishing the soul. It is the second favorite food of the Sect Leader, and it is also very expensive.”

No wonder Ye Mingjing didn’t want to eat it. First thing in the morning, with nothing but roots and fruit—who could eat that?

Lin Xueqing asked, “Can’t the kitchen make some hot porridge to drink?”

The servant stared at him blankly. “Huh? Porridge?”

“Yes, some porridge, some refreshing side dishes, and pastries.” Lin Xueqing said earnestly, “And then just pair it with a few pieces of fruit.”

The servants looked at each other. “This…”

“Young Master, those are things only mortals eat.”

“Yes, Young Master. Even we have Bigū (fasting) pills to eat every day now. Who still eats that stuff from mortals? It’s so dirty.”

Lin Xueqing was stunned. “Are you saying there is no food for mortals in the valley?”

The leading servant answered honestly, “There is, but… it’s all for feeding the pigs.”

Lin Xueqing discovered he now suffered from “pig phobia.” The specific symptom was that he felt dizzy the moment he heard the word “pig,” and seeing a pig was even worse—he might just faint entirely.

Thus, he immediately announced the second prohibition of Chengtian Valley: “From today onwards, not a single pig is allowed to be raised in Chengtian Valley.”

“Ah, this…”

“I don’t care how you do it—give them away or slaughter them—just deal with those pigs immediately. If I see another pig in the valley, I’ll throw all of you out!” The “playboy” Lin Xueqing threatened, gnashing his teeth.

“Yes! Young Master!”

“As for the Sword Sovereign’s side…” Lin Xueqing looked down at the untouched items in the food box, his heart softening a bit after all.

Ye Mingjing was an arrogant man. Naturally, he wouldn’t proactively ask for what to eat or drink. When unappetizing things like these were brought up, he would, at most, just tell them to take them away.

The servant just said: Who still eats mortal food?

However, Ye Mingjing was now a thorough mortal. In fact, because his body was injured and he couldn’t move, he was even worse off than an ordinary mortal.

Although, because of the restrictions, he wouldn’t die even if he starved, the feeling of hunger was real, and the feeling of pain was real.

It had been a full hundred years. Had he… had he really been hungry for a hundred years?

Thinking of this, an inexplicable ache gripped Lin Xueqing’s heart.

After a long while, he let out a long breath. Even though he knew he didn’t have much time to waste, Lin Xueqing still decided: “Forget it, forget it. Today, this Young Master will personally go to the kitchen and let the Sword Sovereign taste my craftsmanship.”

“?”

For the ten-thousandth time, he felt lucky that the Lin family was indeed wealthy and powerful. Although there were no mortals in the valley and they didn’t usually eat mortal ingredients, once Lin Xueqing decided to do it, his subordinates quickly gathered all the ingredients.

Initially, those servants couldn’t believe Lin Xueqing would cook. It wasn’t until they saw him expertly washing rice, putting it in the pot, and then slicing vegetables and meat that they realized he actually knew what he was doing.

“Young Master, you are so amazing!” The servants couldn’t help but look at him with admiration. After staying in a cultivation sect for so long, knowing how to cook mortal food had become an extraordinary skill.

But in reality, these things were a piece of cake for Lin Xueqing, who had started taking on the responsibility of being the head of a household at the age of sixteen.

“It’s nothing; it’s too simple.”

As Lin Xueqing spoke, he nimbly finished the first side dish: Smashed Cucumber Salad.

Of course, cucumbers in the cultivation world were a bit different from ordinary ones. According to the servants, these cucumbers were called “Green Melons” here and contained spiritual energy. But in Lin Xueqing’s eyes, weren’t these just slightly smaller cucumbers? Green, crisp, and refreshing—when paired with a bit of millet chili and garlic, it was the best accompaniment for porridge.

As for the second dish, Lin Xueqing originally wanted to steam a basket of buns. But time was limited, and the kitchen didn’t have any ready-made fillings, so he used flour to make some simple small mantou (steamed buns).

They weren’t ordinary small buns either. Instead, he used various ingredients to dye the dough and molded them into the shapes of little animals. Kneading, shaping, and putting them into the steamer—Lin Xueqing’s actions were smooth and continuous.

After the buns were in the steamer, the rice in the pot had also boiled over, which was the perfect time to add the minced meat. There were no preserved eggs (century eggs) in the valley, so Lin Xueqing made a Minced Pork and Lettuce Porridge.

The smoothness of the white porridge, the savory aroma of the minced pork, and the crispness of the lettuce blended together, creating a mouth-watering fragrance. The group of servants huddled outside the kitchen watched with wide eyes, their mouths practically watering.

After all, although they said things like “who still eats mortal food,” mortal food was just so fragrant! Especially for those used to the tasteless Bigū pills, the pot of pork porridge in Lin Xueqing’s hands was like a delicacy from the heavens.

Seeing this scene, Lin Xueqing found it amusing. “Alright, after I take the portion for the Sword Sovereign, you guys can eat the rest.”

“This… Young Master, this wouldn’t be right!”

“Yes, how can we do that?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it.” Lin Xueqing said succinctly, “As long as you listen to me, I have always been fair with rewards and punishments.”

The servants were suddenly overwhelmed by the favor. Lin Xueqing, seeing this, only smiled faintly, not feeling that his actions were particularly noble.

Originally, he himself came from a background of a working-class person; he wasn’t some natural-born capitalist or member of the privileged class. Although he was now in the cultivation world, having transmigrated into a profligate young master, Lin Xueqing never felt he was anything special.

The reason he had lectured everyone last night and kicked people out of the sect was, in the end, for self-preservation and for the sake of their lives. After all, in the original book, not a single person in Chengtian Valley survived. Having offended Ye Mingjing, being kicked out of the sect was already a good outcome.

As for other minor daily matters… anyway, Lin Xueqing had only one principle: as long as they didn’t offend Ye Mingjing, everything else was negotiable.

“Eat up. I’m going to personally deliver the food to the Sword Sovereign.” Lin Xueqing said.

He used one of the food boxes from earlier to pack the prepared food. The first layer held the pork porridge, the second held the animal-shaped buns, the third was the smashed cucumber, and the fourth was the pre-cut fruit.

With these dishes packed inside, the food box was suddenly filled to the brim, emitting an enticing aroma.

Before setting off, Lin Xueqing even tasted a small bun to confirm that today’s breakfast was perfect. Then, he hurried along, arriving at Ye Mingjing’s door just before the sun had fully risen.