Chapter 62 - A Licking Dog!
Li Nianfan led Yao Mengji and Qin Manyun back to his four-part architecture.
Outside the door, Yao Mengji stared at the couplet for quite a while, as if he was caught into it. His mouth was letting out sighs and exclamations of awe from time to time which boosted Li Nianfan’s superficial ego greatly!
Although this old man seemed sloppy and unruly, he knew what a good piece of art was!
Meanwhile, Xiao Bai had already opened the door. “Master, welcome home.”
Yao Mengji jumped in shock, but he covered it up by stroking his white beard. “Mr. Li, I’ve heard about this from Manyun. This Spiritual Machine is called Xiao Bai?”
‘Whatever, call it a Spiritual Machine as you please!’
Li Nianfan was not bothered to explain. He simply nodded. “Yeah, it’s called Xiao Bai. He can open the door and do some house chores.”
Do some house chores?
Yao Mengji’s eyes twitched slightly.
‘If you ever give it to me, I’d worship it like my Grandma!’
Li Nianfan walked into the four-part architecture and smiled. “Please, come on in.”
Yao Mengji took a deep breath, preparing himself before stepping inside. Even so, the moment he stepped into the yard, his breathing grew rapid as his eyes sparkled!
It was just like Qin Manyun had described it—filled with treasure! Most importantly, these treasures were all over the place! It was a painful sight! How painful!
However, he raised one of his brows as a strange feeling grew within him. The Tianxin Zither that was placed in his Space Ring started vibrating as if it felt the existence of something terrifying. The strings started vibrating vigorously, almost like a person trembling!
The Zither was an Immortal item. Although it was not as great as the Spiritual Machine, it had developed some wisdom and it was apparent that it was terrified by one of the items in here.
Yao Mengji quickly comforted the Tianxin Zither. He glanced around and an item caught his sight.
Inside the yard, there was a long stone bench. On top of it was a Guqin.
The body of the Guqin was made of some unknown dried wood, seemingly uneven but twisted like snakes. The effect of time was clear on its body and it had seven different-colored strings on it. It was magical!
Yao Mengji gulped involuntarily. He had played the Zither for thousands of years, so he could tell right away that this instrument was not ordinary!
The entire yard was filled with treasures—even the rubbish! How could a Guqin be ordinary? Perhaps calling it a Spiritual Machine would not even do it justice!
No wonder his Tianxin Zither had such a big reaction. The gap between the two instruments was way too huge! It was like an ordinary man meeting an Immortal—of course, one would be terrified.
Taking a closer look, he could feel a breeze on his face, like a beast trying to engulf his soul!
The Spiritual Item should not be offended!
Yao Mengji looked away at once, unafraid to take another look at it.
He flashed a humble smile on his face. “Mr. Li, my student mentioned you like a snack called jello. I brought you some today.”
Yao Mengji remained cautious of the rules here, so he did not mention that it was called the Thousand-Year Black Ice. And if he said ‘jello’, perhaps he could seem friendlier to the expert.
“Oh?” Li Ninfan was slightly shocked. He said, “You’re all too kind!”
So kind! So very kind!
He mentioned it briefly the other day. Who would have thought that they took it to heart! They even brought it in a few days! So kind! This old cultivator must be a very resourceful man in this realm.
Yao Mengji could see that Li Nianfan was pleased. Excitedly, he waved his hand and a mini rockery appeared in the middle of the yard. Complimented by the flowing river by its side, it was very picturesque—almost like a painting or a poem.
The rockery was emerald. It glowed beautifully under the sunlight.
Li Nianfan asked, “This is…”
Yao Mengji explained, “Mr. Li, the jello is produced by this.”
“Oh, I see!” Li Nianfan exclaimed. He was surprised! He could not believe that they even brought over the machine! This gesture was very touching!
He stared at the rockery. The top of it was in the shape of an inverted cone. Half a jello drop was hanging from the inverted tip but its formation had yet to be completed.
The items in this Immortal Realm were interesting! He wondered what raw material the rockery needed to produce unlimited jello!
After looking at it curiously, Li Nianfan smiled. “This seems interesting! I’ll keep it!”
He had tasted the jello the other day and realized the taste was not bad. He did not notice any reaction in his body either, so he assumed this jelly was nothing special to the cultivators.
After all, he was only an ordinary man. If it was a treasure, his body would surely react to it. On the other hand, he had no way of cultivating, so the cultivators would not be that stupid to bring him treasures, right? He would not be able to use them anyway!
On that note, Li Nianfan did not reject the gift and accepted it. Yao Mengji meant well anyway.
Yao Mengji and Qin Manyun gave each other the ‘I knew it’ look. This exquisite treasure was merely a small toy in the eyes of the expert. If it was not because he liked to eat jello, perhaps he would not have accepted it.
Yao Mengji exclaimed happily, “I’m so glad Mr. Li likes it.”
Li Nianfan nodded. He asked curiously, “But why isn’t the jello dropping? I’d like to taste it.”
Yao Mengji hastily explained, “I’m sure you haven’t heard of it, but it takes ten years…”
However, before he could finish his sentence, the rockery started shaking a little as ten or so jello drops started dripping off its tip.
Yao Mengji and Qin Manyun stared at it blankly. Their lips parted as their heads buzzed loudly.
What just happened?
‘Thousand-Year Black Ice, you’ve changed! You were never like this!’
Li Nianfan’s eyes sparkled as he laughed. “Interesting! Yet another voice-controlled device! Not bad, not bad!”
He thought of the bulb and the lighter. Both of them were voice-controlled devices, too! Very convenient!
He continued instructing the rockery, “Make me ten more!”
Drip! Drip! Drip!
Ten more drops of jello dripped out without hesitation.
Yao Mengji felt as if his head had just been hammered. His eyes reddened as if he had been insulted. He had the urge to break down in tears.
‘How dare you, Thousand-Year Black Ice!
‘I worshipped you for over a thousand years, and you stingily made me a small drop of black ice once every ten years! Look at you now. You’ve just met the expert and now you’re his dog!
‘Where did your dignity go!?’
Li Nianfan looked at Yao Mengji. “Oh right, what were you saying earlier?”
Yao Mengji smiled awkwardly. “No—nothing! I was just trying to tell you that this toy is voice…voice-controlled!”