The Immortal Venerable Went Mad After My Faked Death [Transmigration] - Chapter 4

“Senior is… joking with me?”

As Yan Fulang spoke, he subconsciously took a deep breath, only to be choked by the sudden, sharp pain in his chest.

This breath remained caught, as if stuck between his injured ribs; he couldn’t speak again for a long time.

“No way, are you that excited to hear about taking me as your master?” Ji Yunzhao was quite surprised. “If I’d known, I would have asked you sooner.”

Yan Fulang almost failed to recover his breath again: “No…”

The fractured ribs were actually only minor injuries, not fatal, and hadn’t reached the level of a total break, but the pain was still very difficult to endure. Especially when speaking loudly or taking deep breaths, it required a long time to ease the pain.

Yan Fulang’s voice was too low; Ji Yunzhao didn’t hear him clearly.

If Yan Fulang didn’t look in such a bad state and unable to speak for a while, he would have liked to establish their master-disciple relationship right then and there.

In just three days, the task had progressed so smoothly; it was cause for celebration, and the System would soon be able to start charging.

With sufficient power, the daily loading of data for switching accounts at midnight could also become faster.

Unfortunately, it was already past midnight, and he couldn’t switch to the “Little Fat Bird” persona to cuddle with Yan Fulang and complete the task. Ji Yunzhao didn’t want to make the System switch manually—it consumed too much power.

With no experience bar to increase for the time being, Ji Yunzhao lost interest, stuffed a few painkillers into Yan Fulang’s hand, and went back to sleep in his bedding.

Early the next morning.

When Yan Fulang woke up, Ji Yunzhao and the System were still sound asleep.

One was rolled up in the majority of the quilt, with most of his face buried in the soft pillow; the other was sleeping in two sections, his head buried inside the quilt with only his bottom and tail exposed.

Yan Fulang stood up very slowly, looking down at the person and the cat for a long while before—taking advantage of Ji Yunzhao being asleep—he walked to the corner and retrieved his old clothes.

Along with the old clothes, there was a jade pendant.

It wasn’t until last night, when Yan Fulang saw this jade pendant among the tattered clothing, that he finally set his heart at ease.

If he hadn’t come for the jade pendant, and it wasn’t because of another, somewhat unspeakable reason, then why save him?

It couldn’t really be that he was just a good person.

Good people were too rare here.

Yan Fulang put the jade pendant away and threw all of his old clothes, which were nearly torn into rags, into the campfire.

Half an hour after Yan Fulang “destroyed the evidence,” Ji Yunzhao woke up.

To be precise, he was woken up by hunger.

The nutrient solution was all gone, and Yan Fulang had woken up twice yesterday, plus there were various arrangements for his new job… In short, Ji Yunzhao felt he couldn’t be blamed for being too lazy to go find food; he simply hadn’t had the time to spare, and had stayed hungry until now.

Although he wouldn’t starve to death, it was truly uncomfortable.

Especially after he discovered that Yan Fulang was missing, it was even worse.

The male lead ran away?!

After he’d put in so much effort to save him, he actually ran away???

“A-Tong, I should have tied him up.”

Ji Yunzhao, with a head of slightly messy long hair and draped in a quilt, spoke in a sinister tone.

“The kind of binding where you put a burlap sack over his head, seal his mouth, tie his hands and feet together, and throw him face-down on the ground.”

System: “…”

The System felt lingering fear hearing this: “It’s a good thing the Main God didn’t kick us to a modern or future world this time, or you would be getting invited to have tea with the police, Host…”

Ji Yunzhao didn’t say anything.

He was thinking about where to go to catch the male lead back.

The young man had no sportsmanship; he had known all along that this little brat was just acting!

Just as Ji Yunzhao started pulling a bundle of hemp rope out of the System space, a series of footsteps sounded outside the cave.

Light, unmasked, and accompanied by a series of strange, rustling noises.

The black-clad youth appeared at the cave entrance, his arms cradling a pile of bright red fruits, poking his head in.

“Senior, you’re awake.”

He raised the fruits in his arms slightly to show Ji Yunzhao, “I went to find something to eat.”

As a patient with fractured ribs, he wasn’t well-suited for lifting his arms, and Yan Fulang frowned uncomfortably, his footsteps into the cave becoming increasingly sluggish.

Ji Yunzhao: “…”

Ji Yunzhao quietly retracted the bundle of hemp rope back into his space.

“You’re up so early.” He felt awkward and scrambled for a topic, “These, uh, these fruits, where did you pick them? They actually look quite nice.”

He tossed aside the quilt and scrambled up. Not caring about the messiness of his clothes, he yawned and wandered in front of Yan Fulang.

Each of the fruits in the youth’s arms was the size of a hawthorn berry, but apart from being red, they looked nothing like hawthorn. The surface was smooth, and when held up to the light, one could see the skin was actually semi-transparent, wrapping around flesh that seemed to be glowing.

“So flamboyant,” Ji Yunzhao muttered to himself, “It’s too obvious in the sunlight; isn’t this like holding up a sign telling others ‘come and eat me’?”

They were either poisonous, or they grew in incredibly tricky, hard-to-reach places.

Yan Fulang was silent for a moment, as if he knew what Ji Yunzhao was thinking, and replied in a low voice: “Senior, these fruits aren’t poisonous. I tested them before picking them.”

Ji Yunzhao was deeply suspicious: “…How did you test them?”

Yan Fulang: “I fed them to a bird, and it didn’t die after eating.”

Not only did it not die, it went crazy for the food; one fruit wasn’t enough, it chased him and snatched another five or six before it stopped.

Ji Yunzhao, who also had the identity of a bird: “…”

He truly is the Dragon-Pride male lead.

The two sat by the fire and divided the fruits.

Ji Yunzhao wasn’t a heartless person; breakfast was brought back by Yan Fulang, so he wouldn’t make the little patient go pick more, so he tapped the System’s head to give a hint.

The System dragged a pocket of fruits and walked to the wooden bucket, grumbling.

[Making a cat wash fruit, are you even human?!]

[I’m not.] Ji Yunzhao was righteous. [And you aren’t really a little kitten either. Alright, stop bleeping; I’ll switch to my side account tonight to sleep with Yan Fulang. I’ll cuddle with him longer so I can charge you more.]

As for whether it would be strange for a black cat to wash fruit in Yan Fulang’s eyes, that was not within Ji Yunzhao’s consideration.

If asked, he’d say it’s a cultivator’s spirit pet, number one at doing chores.

The System was fast; saying it was washing them was actually just stirring the water with its back turned to the bucket, just for show. It was disinfecting them in its own way.

Ji Yunzhao was respectful of the young and old; only after Yan Fulang had eaten did he pick up one and throw it into his mouth.

The sweet juice exploded in his mouth, so full of juice that it was like drinking a big gulp of water. As the flesh was swallowed into his throat, a warm current immediately surged through his abdomen.

It could even replenish spiritual energy; good stuff.

Ji Yunzhao’s eyes lit up, and after eating two more, he tilted his head to watch Yan Fulang eat, even picking out the two largest and reddest ones for him.

[Although these spiritual fruits only exert their maximum effect when eaten by cultivators, it should also be quite nourishing for a mortal, right?] Ji Yunzhao said in his mind to the System, [Maybe if he eats more, the male lead’s injuries will heal faster.]

The System nodded: [Once the injuries are healed, he can start cultivating. As the male lead’s progress bar grows, my battery and your points will grow too. Hooray!]

Ji Yunzhao: [Er, actually, I wanted him to continue being responsible for lunch and dinner… forget it, this isn’t important.]

After a pause, he couldn’t help but sigh to the System: [As expected of the book’s male lead, the darling of heaven; he can pick up good things just by wandering around outside. A-Tong, these fruits must be very expensive to buy outside, right?]

The System was uncertain: […Maybe?]

The script he received only stated the general direction of the book’s plot; details were not explained, and he didn’t know the name of this fruit.

Ji Yunzhao ate some fruit to fill his stomach, but once people are full, they either get sleepy or bored and want to find something to do.

Ji Yunzhao started dragging Yan Fulang into a conversation.

“Where did you find these fruits?” he asked curiously, “On a cliffside or behind a giant rock?”

Yan Fulang: “After leaving the cave, go left, and walk a short distance to see them.”

Ji Yunzhao: “Just walking and you saw them? Without anything shielding them, the location isn’t hidden, and there were no demon beasts guarding them?”

Yan Fulang was also curious, “Has Senior never seen fruits like these? I thought you had been living at the bottom of the cliff for some time.”

Oh, right. Before going to sleep last night, he had hinted to Yan Fulang that his “main account” identity was a loose cultivator living in seclusion at the bottom of the cliff.

Ji Yunzhao set his expression straight and said earnestly: “I am introverted by nature and don’t like going out.”

Yan Fulang: “…”

Most of the fruits went into Yan Fulang’s stomach. Ji Yunzhao sat glued to Yan Fulang for the entire morning, like a researcher staring at experimental data, observing his injuries to see if the healing speed had accelerated.

Fortunately, the healing speed of his external wounds had indeed accelerated. To prove this, Ji Yunzhao changed Yan Fulang’s bandages three times in a row.

But every time Ji Yunzhao reached out to Yan Fulang’s chest to feel the condition of his ribs, Yan Fulang would always act as if he couldn’t sit still, swaying his body back and forth, and Ji Yunzhao could never find the right spot.

The countless times he slapped his hand onto the youth’s pectoral muscles but couldn’t touch the two injured ribs, Ji Yunzhao pulled his hand back, speechless.

Is it that painful? Is it untouchable?

“Alright, alright, I won’t look. Tsk, your injury is weird; it’s just a bone fracture, how come these fruits have no effect?” Ji Yunzhao said, puzzled. “Could it be that the dosage isn’t enough?”

Yan Fulang, who would vomit if he ate any more:

After waking up today, it was a rare moment of leisure. After checking Yan Fulang’s injuries, Ji Yunzhao felt sluggish all over. After finishing some fruits at noon, he even ran to the cave entrance to sunbathe for a while.

In the mountains in spring, it was cold in the morning and evening, but once the sun rose, especially at noon, the sunlight on his body was so warm that he wanted to fall asleep on the spot.

I don’t know how much time passed, but the System eventually disturbed Ji Yunzhao’s infant-like sleep.

The System walked up to Ji Yunzhao and swept its thick, black tail across his arm: [Host, stop sleeping; if you want to sleep, sleep tomorrow.]

Ji Yunzhao kept his eyes closed and didn’t move: [What, are you sending me a villa, a quadrangle courtyard, or a mountain cottage tomorrow?]

System: […]

System: [Host, did you forget that you set it up to switch to the “Chirp” form at midnight? Starting today, you will automatically switch back to the main account after sunrise. If you are still living in the cave with the male lead, it will be very easy to reveal your identity!]

[Didn’t forget.]

He hadn’t forgotten most of what the System said; he just accidentally forgot the small detail that the sun rising would switch him back to his main account.

Sigh, there’s no helping it; he can’t be blamed. There was just too much going on, and a “salt-fish” needs to take it slowly to straighten itself out.

Ji Yunzhao climbed up, unwillingly.

He had to find a new home for himself and the little patient.

Yan Fulang was sitting not far away, closing his eyes to rest.

Separated by a campfire, Ji Yunzhao couldn’t see his expression clearly, but thinking that sleeping in the cave wasn’t comfortable and it was impossible to be fully rested, he walked over without any psychological burden and called him up.

The little “Dragon-Pride” protagonist, who hadn’t woken up yet, looked dazed and quite obedient. Ji Yunzhao’s grip on his face became much lighter.

With those perfectly shaped peach-blossom eyes looking over with confusion, Ji Yunzhao coughed: “You’re awake? It’s time to go home.”

In the two days of staying temporarily in the cave, not much was left behind, and most items had been put back into the space by the System. Ji Yunzhao tidied up the two floor beds.

He looked around and found a bamboo basket in the space, filling it with the small red fruits.

“Hey, where are your old clothes?”

Ji Yunzhao suddenly noticed something missing in the corner and said strangely, “I had them placed here before.”

“There wasn’t enough firewood, and the clothes were too tattered; I wouldn’t wear them again, so I threw them into the campfire and burned them.”

Yan Fulang said, the slight curve of his lips and his drooping peach-blossom eyes looking honest and innocent. “Senior, is there a problem?”

You act fast.

Ji Yunzhao waved his hand: “No, it’s just that when I helped you take off your clothes, I saw a jade pendant on you.”

As soon as he spoke, Yan Fulang’s gaze darkened abruptly.

“There were too many things going on before, and I forgot to ask you.” Ji Yunzhao poked at a dry twig, asking casually as if he didn’t notice anything. “The jade pendant isn’t lost, right? Did you get it back?”

The youth behind him was silent for a long time before replying in a low voice: “I got it back. Thank you for your help in keeping it safe, Senior.”

“You’re so polite.”

Ji Yunzhao smiled and walked out of the cave first.

“You don’t need to be so polite with me in the future.”

The sunlight outside the cave was beautiful, so bright that it was a bit blinding. It fell on his body, and even his corpse felt warm.

Ji Yunzhao raised his hand to block it for a while before finding it tiring. He looked through his space, rummaging back and forth, and found a red umbrella.

[Isn’t it beautiful?] Ji Yunzhao held the red umbrella, triumphantly shaking the handle, [See, A-Tong, white robes must be paired with a red umbrella.]

[Mmm, mmm, yes, it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful.] The System glanced at him, perfunctory, and jumped onto his shoulder to hide from the sun.

That now-offline cultivation world master had property at the bottom of the cliff, but its specific location…

The script didn’t say, and Ji Yunzhao wasn’t very clear about where the house was hidden. The System’s uselessness was fully manifested at this time.

[Meow~ The kitty really doesn’t know where that master’s house is~]

The System stood on Ji Yunzhao’s shoulder, narrowing its voice, disgusting, [Host, why don’t you look for a few more places.]

[If you make that disgusting cat noise again, I’ll buy you a monkey skin.]

Ji Yunzhao threatened it: [I think you have enough power to detect the energy fluctuations at the bottom of the cliff, right? Since he is a master of the cultivation world, his house is also a magic treasure. Look at your radar; we go wherever it lights up.]

System: [Consumes… power…]

Between detecting energy value fluctuations and calling up maps to record data, they searched for an entire afternoon, finding nothing until now. The sun was about to set, and it was truly about to run out of power!

Ji Yunzhao was furious: [I’ll just cuddle with you all night and recharge you; why is there so much chatter?]

The wide red umbrella completely covered the movements of the person and the cat. Ji Yunzhao was busy arguing with the System, walking with his head down, only stopping when he was called by Yan Fulang, avoiding walking into a tree.

“Senior?” Yan Fulang’s confused whisper came from behind, “Is this truly the road we should be taking?”

Ji Yunzhao couldn’t answer.

Where they were going depended entirely on blind guessing; in any case, the System couldn’t scan the house’s location.

The forest fell into an eerie silence. Ji Yunzhao paused and said dryly, “I have no sense of direction.”

When Ji Yunzhao walked out of the cave, he had told Yan Fulang that he was taking him home.

Although where this “home” was, it wasn’t clear for the time being…

The two people and one cat walked in the forest for a while longer.

Just as Ji Yunzhao was about to give up, thinking about whether to just find a random place and have a thunderbolt crash down, and then tell Yan Fulang it was a natural disaster and there was no house left, so why don’t they build one, Yan Fulang suddenly stopped.

The youth looked ahead with some surprise: “Senior, look.”

His hands weren’t very convenient to lift, so Ji Yunzhao simply leaned in closer, looking in the direction of his gaze.

Deep in the bamboo forest, amidst the emerald green, a corner of a roof was revealed.

“Ah, found it.”

Ji Yunzhao’s eyes flickered, his almond eyes bending, “Go, home!”

This was a small courtyard hidden in the bamboo forest.

“Creak”

Ji Yunzhao pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in.

The courtyard was neither too big nor too small, and a peach tree was planted there.

It was spring, and the buds on the branches were in full bloom; the pale pink petals were blown by the breeze and fell all over the courtyard.

Half of the courtyard was a vegetable garden growing some green onions, and the other half was empty, perfect for practicing swordsmanship.

The bamboo house had three rooms and a very large kitchen.

Not bad, not bad; he has a kitchen, this loose cultivator and I get along very well.

Although cultivators don’t eat grains and won’t starve, they can eat spirit-cleansing pills if they aren’t used to it, and after getting used to it, they don’t even need those anymore. But Ji Yunzhao couldn’t accept that.

He had also carried out missions in the cultivation world before; the meat quality of chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep was different from that of the ordinary world—it was impossibly fresh and tender. Only a fool would go on a hunger strike.

Ji Yunzhao wandered around the kitchen with satisfaction before going to randomly pick a lucky room.

He placed both hands on the door and began to act.

“The place is big; there is more than enough room for you.” He said, pushing the door open, “For example, this room, it would be just right for you to sleep in…”

The half-finished sentence was forced to stop. Ji Yunzhao looked at the appearance inside the room and stalled.

This was a utility room.

From floor to ceiling, it was completely packed, leaving not even a place to step.

“Uh, I remembered wrong; it’s not this room.”

Ji Yunzhao calmly closed the door.

He led Yan Fulang to the second lucky room and opened it again: “You could also…”

This time he opened it to the master bedroom.

Bypassing the screen with the ink-wash painting, what entered his eyes was a comfortable, soft large bed that could accommodate three people.

This loose cultivator really knows how to enjoy himself.

The bed is quite good; now it’s his.

Ji Yunzhao thought to himself while quickly changing his tune, pretending to invite: “This room is the main house; however, if you want to sleep with me, it’s not impossible.”

Yan Fulang: “…Thank you for your kindness, Senior, but I don’t sleep well. I won’t disturb Senior at night.”

Ji Yunzhao chirped like a little bird: “Hmm, hmm, alright.”

Looking around, there was only one room left.

Ji Yunzhao had high hopes for it, but he hadn’t expected that of the three rooms, only one had a bed, the other two were all utility rooms, and the third was even more excessive—the clutter was piled up outside the door.

Ji Yunzhao looked at the pile of dusty, unrecognizable, and seemingly inexpensive clutter, and hesitated: [A-Tong, that loose cultivator won’t appear again, right?]

The System checked and affirmed: [No, the Main God said he accidentally stepped into a spatial rift and should have fallen into the interstellar world by now.]

Ji Yunzhao: […Fine.]

He rolled up his sleeves and dealt with the “legacy” of the loose cultivator.

Useless things were thrown away directly, while spirit stones and magical treasures were kept.

Busy until nightfall, the house was finally cleaned up.

The clutter in the room adjacent to the main house had been cleared, and Ji Yunzhao bought a wooden bed from the System Mall and put it inside.

It was just a bit simple; it didn’t really look like the style of the cultivation world.

“Make do for now; when your injuries heal, I’ll take you to buy a new bed, as well as a cabinet, desk, and so on.”

Ji Yunzhao clapped his hands and threw the floor bedding Yan Fulang had slept on in the cave directly onto it.

Washing it with spiritual energy and smoothing it out, it was just right for a bed.

I’ve heard that children should sleep on hard beds, it’s good for the spine.

“Senior?” Yan Fulang looked dazed at the simple but strangely cozy-feeling room. “Are you… wanting me to live here long-term?”

Ji Yunzhao hummed very softly, laughing like a villain: “Yeah, did you think I would let you go after your injuries healed? Have you forgotten that you still need to repay your debt of gratitude?”

“Haven’t forgotten.” Yan Fulang lowered his long eyelashes, his voice very low. “It’s just, Senior, how do you want me to repay my debt? And why… be so good to me.”

The youth in front of him was shy and timid, with peach-blossom eyes that were easy to make people let down their guard. If it were someone else from the cultivation world standing here, they would likely have been fished in by him, answering whatever he asked and giving whatever he wanted.

Unfortunately, the person who picked him up was Ji Yunzhao.

Little brat, quite good at acting.

Ji Yunzhao sneered inwardly, walked over leisurely, and raised one hand, tightly circling Yan Fulang’s neck.

“I already told you, take me as your master.”

Yan Fulang in his youth had already grown very tall; Ji Yunzhao had to tiptoe slightly to pull him completely to his side.

The fractured area was suddenly shaken by external force, and Yan Fulang groaned, subconsciously stroking his chest.

“Oh my, I’m truly sorry.” Ji Yunzhao apologized repeatedly, but there was not much sincerity in his tone. “Last night I already told you, if you had started cultivating with me earlier, your wounds would have been healed sooner.”

Yan Fulang endured the dull pain in his chest and slowly stood up straight.

He didn’t shake off Ji Yunzhao’s hand, tilted his head, and asked: “What the Senior spoke of, is it formal cultivation?”

The two were extremely close, their hair tangled, and their noses almost touched.

“What else could it be?” Ji Yunzhao didn’t dodge, his tone soft and drawn out. “At such a young age, you really dare to imagine things.”