Chapter 371
Chapter 371
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 371
>Chapter Title: Bai Family
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 371: Bai Family
>
> Hearing Gouwa's shout, the door creaked open with a "ga zhi" sound.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian, bare from the waist up, frowned at him. It was a freezing cold day, but steaming sweat poured down his body in rivers.
>>
>
> "Can you smell it? Yang Kid and his big wife are steaming buns today! Pork and scallion!"
>>
>
> Seeing Gouwa's sleazy grin, Gao Zhijian slammed the door shut with a bang.
>>
>
> Through the door, Gao Zhijian listened as Gouwa's grumbling voice faded away. "Sigh, so boring. Lv Xiucai was way more fun. Who knows where that kid ran off to. Been gone so long, I actually kinda miss him."
>>
>
> Once the voice was completely gone, Gao Zhijian turned around. He steadily gripped the heavy halberd shaft with both hands. With a low roar, he yanked it up.
>>
>
> This giant halberd was made for Peng Longteng. In Gao Zhijian's hands, it looked utterly mismatched, like a kid riding a giant horse.
>>
>
> He swung it clumsily a few times. With a tremor that shook the ground, the halberd smashed the stone floor into shattered fragments.
>>
>
> Panting heavily, Gao Zhijian looked down at his trembling hands. Blood was seeping faintly from the bulging veins.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian walked to the front of the room and picked up a book with both hands. It was the military treatise he'd found on Peng Longteng's dead body.
>>
>
> As he smeared blood from his hands onto it, entirely different contents appeared before his eyes in an instant. This was a military cultivation manual!
>>
>
> Eyes wide, he sat cross-legged and followed the book's instructions. He focused his mind and body on gathering killing intent, condensing it together and circulating his energy through the full heavenly cycle as described.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian cycled it round and round. Sitting there, he resembled a glaring arhat statue from a temple, impossible to look at directly. Strands of faint, ethereal blood qi rose from his body, and his frame seemed to swell slightly.
>>
>
> A bug happened to fly by. His eyes snapped toward it, and the bug stiffened midair before dropping dead to the ground.
>>
>
> "Food's ready! Food's ready!!" Yang Kid's shout made Gao Zhijian slowly close his eyes.
>>
>
> When he opened them again, he was back to the honest, simple Gao Zhijian from before.
>>
>
> Seeing Peng Longteng's state had made him think this thing was dangerous, so he wanted to test it himself first. If it worked well, then he'd tell the others.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian went to the well in the courtyard, hoisted up a bucket of icy well water, and poured it over his head. After rinsing off the sweat and putting on his clothes, he opened the door and headed to the kitchen.
>>
>
> By the time he arrived, the others were slurping hot porridge and devouring steaming meat buns.
>>
>
> No one minded them; they were all very casual. Men and women alike sat without decorum, eating and chatting.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian grabbed a basin and piled it with fifty buns using his chopsticks, then sat alone and started eating. He didn't touch the porridge in the pot but poured himself a bowl of dark, murky old vinegar instead.
>>
>
> He took a bite first, then dipped the opening of the bun into the vinegar to soak it full before stuffing it back in his mouth. He ate slowly, occasionally glancing toward the door.
>>
>
> As people gradually dispersed, Yang Kid scratched his head in confusion. "Isn't Shijie Xiaoman eating again?"
>>
>
> After a moment's thought, he covered a bowl of buns with a plate and started scrubbing the steamer with the round-faced woman.
>>
>
> Seeing this, Gao Zhijian popped the last bun from his basin into his mouth, drained the remaining vinegar in one gulp, picked up the bowl of buns, and headed outside.
>>
>
> His target was clear: the Bai family ancestral hall. As he twisted the three monkeys aligned side by side, a hidden door appeared before him.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian stooped and entered. The oil lamps on the walls all around had been filled, making the previously dim stairs much brighter.
>>
>
> When he reached the grand hall again, he saw Chun Xiaoman murmuring something under her breath. "The disciple looks up to the azure sky. Fellow masters at my side. The twenty-four flavored heavenly ones aid the disciple with ruler and dragging saber. Dragging saber turns to goose feather. Iron ruler to lamp wick. Coiled heart stone to water bubble."
>>
>
> Hearing footsteps, Chun Xiaoman turned around. Spotting Gao Zhijian, her eyes lit up. "Zhijian, come look quick. Did I recite it wrong? Why no reaction?"
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian took the book from her hands and studied it for a bit before handing over the bowl of buns. "Eat."
>>
>
> Ever since last time, Chun Xiaoman had noticed Gao Zhijian seemed back to his old self. From then on, one word from him was enough—as long as the others got the meaning.
>>
>
> "I'm not eating. Check the book for me first." Chun Xiaoman was impatient and pushed the bowl away with her hand.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian thought otherwise and handed the bowl back again. "Eat." He had the attitude of not explaining unless she ate.
>>
>
> Xiaoman helplessly took it and started nibbling the buns hurriedly in small bites. While eating, she asked, "Has Miao-miao come back?"
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian, examining the book in his hands, shook his head.
>>
>
> "Where the hell did that damn girl go? Not even a message." Chun Xiaoman, who had just been complaining, suddenly thought of something. Her heart skipped a beat. "You think she might..."
>>
>
> She quickly reassured herself. "No, she won't do anything stupid again."
>>
>
> Eating hastily while her mind wandered to all sorts of nonsense, Chun Xiaoman unsurprisingly choked. She clutched her throat and hiccuped.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian set the book down and gently patted Chun Xiaoman's back with his broad palm to help her along.
>>
>
> Once she caught her breath, Chun Xiaoman turned to Gao Zhijian. "If it doesn't work, let's gather everyone and search again where Miao-miao vanished. No news at all—I'm really worried."
>>
>
> "Mm." Gao Zhijian nodded.
>>
>
> As Chun Xiaoman continued eating her buns, Gouwa burst in from outside, clutching a letter, all excited. "Hey! Letter from Bai Shimei!"
>>
>
> Chun Xiaoman jumped to her feet tensely. "Where is she now? What does it say?"
>>
>
> "What kinda question is that? I can't read." Gouwa handed the letter to Gao Zhijian nearby.
>>
>
> Through Gao Zhijian's interpretation, Chun Xiaoman understood: Bai Lingmiao was fine. She was in the capital handling some trifles and would return once done.
>>
>
> "Good, good, as long as she's okay." Chun Xiaoman, who'd been on edge for so long, finally let out a long breath. Without Bai Lingmiao these days, she'd had nightmares every night.
>>
>
> Gao Zhijian brought the letter close and scrutinized it carefully for a good while before stammering, "Th-this... this is... Li Shixiong's handwriting!" Only Li Shixiong wrote in that square, blocky style with charcoal.
>>
>
> "Haha." Gouwa pointed at Chun Xiaoman and mocked, "What'd I say? That little couple's just fighting. You outsiders stay out of it. Maybe you even helped her curse her husband, and the next day they're making up in bed. See? I called it."
>>
>
> (End of chapter)