BW Extra 7.1

Later (7.1)

Ning Xiu honestly stayed in closed-door cultivation for half a month, then attended classes for another half a month. As usual, he returned home during the monthly vacation, but right after stepping out of Wanxuan Academy’s gates, he encountered his second great fate tribulation.

This fate tribulation was truly absurd. After parting ways with Xie Chang’an and the others at Wanxuan Academy’s entrance, each preparing to return to their respective homes, he flew his sword to the swamp wasteland when suddenly hundreds of tribulation lightning bolts came crashing down on him without warning.

So capricious and sudden, he didn’t even have time to curse before both he and his sword were smashed into the swamp below.

He couldn’t tell whether the refreshing stench of the swamp made him more miserable or being struck raw by the tribulation lightning was more painful. Using all his strength, he turned himself over so his head faced up, preventing himself from being suffocated by the mud.

Years ago, when his father Ning Buwei was sixteen, he had encountered tribulation in this same swamp wasteland on his way back from Wanxuan Academy to Ning City. His other father Chu Jun had also nearly died twice in this swamp wasteland… Ning Xiu closed his eyes in pain, reasonably deducing that the swamp wasteland probably held a grudge against their family.

As the saying goes, “misfortunes never come singly.” While he lay dazed in the mud, not yet having time to review his brief life, rumbling thunder approached from afar. Just as he tensed up expecting another barrage of hundreds of lightning strikes, torrential rain began falling from the sky.

Ning Xiu immediately relaxed. Being drenched by rain was better than being struck by lightning.

As soon as this thought occurred, a lightning bolt suddenly struck the ground next to his ear without warning.

Ning Xiu felt his head buzz, as if his entire body had been stuffed with cotton. He turned his head with difficulty, and after seeing that only his location was being drenched by torrential rain while the rest of the area basked in bright sunshine, a mouthful of old blood immediately got stuck in his throat.

This was too obvious! It was clearly here just to torment him!

Ning Xiu struggled to climb out of the swamp, swayed forward two steps, then his legs gave out and he tumbled back into the mud.

Two lightning bolts crackled down on the spot where he had just been standing, splitting his robes until they were charred black.

Ning Xiu listlessly turned his head and casually grabbed some nearby tree branches, wanting to divine his fortune.

His divination skills were personally taught by Chu Jun. If not entirely accurate, they were right eight or nine times out of ten. Usually Chu Jun and Ning Buwei wouldn’t let him divine, but now facing mortal danger, he felt he could try once.

He had just tremblingly cast the branches when crack! – a lightning bolt struck right beside his hand, pulverizing those few dead branches to powder.

“…” Ning Xiu stared blankly, struggling to lift his head toward the tribulation clouds in the sky, angrily shouting, “Are you doing this on purpose?!”

Rumble! Crack! Pop!

More than ten lightning bolts circled around striking him, with an attitude of “if I can’t kill you, I lose.”

Ning Xiu immediately felt rage rise from his heart and evil thoughts grow in his mind. Using his last bit of spiritual power, he controlled his sword and charged toward the tribulation clouds, ready to hack at them. In that instant, the tribulation lightning transformed into a thunderstorm, causing the entire wasteland swamp to tremble momentarily.

Blinded by the dazzling lightning flashes, Ning Xiu could no longer see clearly, but still gathered his strength to strike fiercely at the tribulation lightning. Under the intense pain, he had lost all sensation. He felt as if he was wrapped in something large and soft, then disdainfully thrown back into the swamp.

Even while unconscious, Ning Xiu vaguely remembered that the petty tribulation lightning had finally sent down a hail of ice stones, pelting him with lumps all over his head.

“Disciple, are you still alive?” When his consciousness was unclear, someone seemed to be shaking him.

Ning Xiu struggled to open his eyes and saw Cang Gui’s figure flash before him.

“‘In three months when your great fate tribulation arrives, if you get hurt by even a single hair, I’ll call you master‘…” Ning Xiu struggled to utter a sentence. “I almost… got struck to death… call me master…”

He couldn’t quite remember the expression on Cang Gui’s face at that moment. If he had to describe it, it was probably anger somewhere between personally strangling him and summoning lightning to kill him.

But soon he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he was already in his home in Chen City.

Jiang Yizheng was touching his forehead with tearful eyes, saying with a sob in her voice: “Xiao Shan, you’re awake?”

“Second sister…” As soon as he spoke, he realized his voice was terribly hoarse.

Jiang Yizheng’s heart ached so much she kept shedding tears. Yang Lingzhu breathed a sigh of relief, “I’ll go call father and dad over.”

“Second sister, don’t cry. I’m fine.” Ning Xiu pulled the corner of his mouth into a smile for her.

“What do you mean fine? You were completely charred. If father hadn’t received the message and gone to find you, you would have drowned in that swamp with no one caring.” Jiang Yizheng stared at him with red eyes. “That bastard Shen San doesn’t need you to handle – I can deal with him myself. If you really had something happen to you…”

Jiang Yizheng couldn’t continue speaking halfway through, gripping his hand and not letting go.

From before he was even a month old, Jiang Yizheng had carried him around with her. At Wanxuan Academy they lived close by, and she visited Ning Xiu most frequently. Being a girl, she was much more attentive than Ning Buwei and the other men, arranging everything for Ning Xiu meticulously. From childhood, Ning Xiu loved staying close to her, and the two were closer than actual siblings. When she first saw Ning Xiu all blackened being brought back by Chu Jun, Jiang Yizheng nearly fainted.

Ning Xiu smiled at her weakly and obediently, “Second sister, I’m really fine.”

“Sooner or later I’ll be scared to death by you.” Jiang Yizheng was angry enough to hit him, but couldn’t bear to in the end, only hitting the bed board heavily instead.

Ning Xiu clearly heard the sound of the bed board cracking and became even more obedient.

“I told him not to release that contract beast’s bond when he had nothing better to do! Look what happened – something goes wrong and neither Little Black nor I knew about it!” Big Yellow pushed through the door aggressively. He had been in closed-door cultivation in the Dark Domain for years, probably sensing something and coming out early. Sure enough, as soon as he arrived in Chen City he heard that Ning Xiu had had an accident.

He came up and grabbed Ning Xiu’s ear, roaring, “Re-establish the contract properly for this master! At least when I sense danger I can quickly fish you out of that mud! Do you hear me!”

Ning Xiu just smiled without speaking.

The contract beast bond was one-sided – if the contract beast died the master would be unharmed, but if the master died, the contract beast would die along with them. When Ning Xiu was six and finished learning this lesson, understanding what life and death meant, he cried and shouted to release his contracts with Big Yellow and Little Black.

Big Yellow and Little Black were indispensable family members to him – furry Uncle Yellow and Fifth Brother who was always causing him trouble.

They weren’t some spiritual beasts to be exploited and used as shields.

“Uncle Yellow, slow down with the pulling, he just woke up!” Jiang Yizheng hurriedly grabbed his hand, afraid he would hurt Ning Xiu, urgently saying, “Big Yellow, let go!”

Big Yellow huffily let go, “He’s thick-skinned and tough – even thunderstorms couldn’t kill him. Pulling him a bit won’t make him lose any flesh. In my opinion, Chengfeng and Chu Jun just didn’t beat him enough, so he doesn’t know his limits and causes trouble every day!”

Ning Xiu didn’t dare talk back, only staring at the two furry dog ears that Big Yellow had revealed in his anger, quietly reaching out to touch them, only to be slapped away by Big Yellow. “Don’t touch this master’s ears. I never should have agreed to release that contract with you.”

Little Black and Cui Yuanbai arrived and saw Big Yellow was angry. Little Black pinched Ning Xiu’s cheeks, and after confirming he was awake, disdainfully let go. “Idiot, even I know to run away from tribulation lightning.”

“Always doing unreliable things. This time if it weren’t for your cheap master sending word, you would have been in grave danger.” Cui Yuanbai kept a stern face while checking his injuries, firmly placing blame. “It must have been those two Xie brothers egging you on again.”

“…This time it really wasn’t.” Ning Xiu said helplessly.

He had just been struck into a rage and impulsively wanted to fight the tribulation lightning. Now that he had calmed down, he didn’t know what kind of miraculous thinking he’d had at the time.

He was probably struck stupid by the lightning.

After the commotion ended, Cui Yuanbai and Little Black helped him sit up from the bed. He must have slept for a very long time – even his bones felt soft from sleeping.

While they were talking, Yang Lingzhu pushed the door open, and Feng Zizhang, who had been out training, ran in. He picked up Ning Xiu and examined him inside and out, then sighed in relief. “Father said you were struck into a piece of charcoal, and if I didn’t come back soon he’d stuff you in the furnace and burn you.”

Ning Xiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Big brother, I’m really fine.”

Feng Zizhang patted his head, “If something happened it would be too late!”

A group of brothers and sisters surrounded him asking after his wellbeing. Ning Xiu couldn’t handle it and repeatedly promised he would absolutely never act impulsively again, but no one believed him at all.

“Looks mature and steady, but actually causes the most trouble.”

“You’ve been the most mischievous since childhood!”

“No way, when I think about how he almost plucked my heart-protecting scales I get angry. I’m going to beat him to death!”

“Little Black, forget it. He was only five then and didn’t understand anything.”

“Oh he understood plenty. At four he dared to crawl into my medicine cauldron, wanting to refine himself back into a Linglong Bone.”

“I was wrong, I was wrong! Fourth brother don’t fan my head! Third sister my leg… Fifth brother!”

Jiang Yizheng obviously couldn’t stop so many people. In the end she pulled her pitiful little brother out, patted his head, and said gently, “Serves you right.”

Having been given a beating, Ning Xiu sullenly shrank into a corner of the bed while the rest was occupied by Cui Yuanbai and Little Black. Even Da Bao, who had come back with Feng Zizhang, took the opportunity to step on his face.

Ning Xiu lifted it by its cap and said indignantly, “Now that’s going too far. What have I ever done to wrong you?”

The palm-sized little mushroom chattered away at length.

Feng Zizhang twitched his mouth corner and briefly translated, “Da Bao says you’ve tried to cut it up for mushroom soup several times, you’ve been craving it for a long time – don’t think it doesn’t know.”

“…” Ning Xiu guiltily protested, swallowing. “But you can’t deny that you really do look delicious.”

Da Bao angrily sprayed some spores at him.

Feng Zizhang hadn’t been back for a long time, so naturally his younger brothers and sisters pestered him with questions.

“A few days ago a Gu cultivator ran to the mortal realm, so we chased after him there and fixed some damaged restrictions in the mortal realm while we were at it… The Kan Prefecture area hasn’t been peaceful lately – a heaven-ranked demon beast appeared and apparently has taken human form… No no, unlike Big Yellow and Little Black, it seems its spiritual intelligence hasn’t awakened yet. You should be careful when traveling and don’t go north…

Ah, she’s doing well. She originally planned to come back to Chen City with me, but Xuantian Sect had urgent business, so she went back to handle it. She’ll come visit father and dad in a couple days… She doesn’t want to get engaged yet. Oh, these are talismans and some small items she asked me to bring for you all…”

“Big brother, help us thank big sister-in-law!” Cui Yuanbai said.

“We’re not engaged yet, call her sister.” Feng Zizhang corrected him. “She’s thin-skinned. When she comes in a couple days, don’t tease her.”

“Okay okay, we know.” Jiang Yizheng and Yang Lingzhu received two sets of exquisite peach blossom robes from the latest collection of Brocade Clothes Pavilion and were overjoyed.

Little Black held a box of golden pearls and teased, “Should we call her Yaoyao, right, Zi-zhang-ge-ge!”

Feng Zizhang’s face reddened as he made to hit him, “I knew those people sneakily following us that day were you guys!”

Everyone laughed and played around together.

Big Yellow looked at the big bone in his hand with a complex expression, puzzled. “How did you describe me to her?”

“Probably said there’s an uncle at home who especially loves gnawing on big bones.” Ning Xiu said seriously. “Couldn’t very well say he’s a dog spirit—mmph!”

Big Yellow knocked Ning Xiu on the head with the bone.

Everyone made noise for a long time before Ning Buwei and Chu Jun unhurriedly pushed through the door.

“Father!”

“Dad!”

Chattering like they’d entered a duck pen.