ch 56.1 – Assigning Pets to the Family
“Master, the instructors and students from School of Divine Condor are here!”
“Young master, the instructors and students from School of Divine Condor are here!”
Everybody inside the Ning’s house started scrambling around with the announcements from the servants. The entire family rushed to greet their special guests.
The welcomed the eleven guests hospitably, especially Ning Xunzong. He was practically dancing up and down in joy, along with his two scholar brothers.
Of course, even though old man Ning and Ko Yang were smiling, their smile was mixed with a hint of helplessness. These individuals had arrived before the ones they were anticipating.
This time the School of Condor sent out their D-level instructors. Instructors were divided into levels A, B, C, and D. Even though they are only sending their level-D instructors this time, he is still a martial spiritualist, still very respectable.
In Dafeng, even a martial spiritualist was well-respected. That’s why Mu Qingtong, the instructor from School of Divine Condor, exude this air of superiority when he listened to the Ning’s recounting the incident to him. His arrogance made old man Ning wanted to storm out of the room.
Even though he was disgruntled, old man Ning kept his temper under control. He didn’t say anything, as though he was mulling over something.
After Mu Qingtong finished listening to all three students’ reports, he frowned. He felt that the Cheng’s was too arrogant. There was no need to injure others even if they didn’t want to sell their land.
He had no idea of his students’ attitude. Regardless, School of Divine Condor was more concerned about whether their students got the short end of the stick. They don’t look into who was at fault.
“Mr. Ning, was what they said true?” Mu Qingtong looked to the side at the old man who hadn’t said a word.
Old man Ning had no idea what he was asking. Looking up, he said, “Yes, the Cheng’s have a mythical spring, that is true.”
“Oh….” Mu Qingtong was a bit surprised. He was not a stupid person, from old man Ning’s respond, he gathered that the incident might not be exactly how his students had presented.
He didn’t care about what had happened, he only need to confirm that the mythical spring was real. He gave his order, “Let’s take a rest and head to Willow Village tomorrow.”
“Yes, Sir!” Replied the students happily, this was not a wasted trip.
The Ning’s held banquets for their VIP guests to welcome them. The entire Ning’s house was bustling with liveliness.
Cheng’s resident!
Cheng Biyuan looked at the azure wolf king and was dumbfounded. He asked in disbelief, “Xiao Xiao, you can even transfer your mythical animals for others as pets?”
In this dimension, beast tamers could only order the beasts to obey them. It was much harder to get their trained beasts to serve others. Definitely not something a normal beast tamer could accomplish.
Everybody knew that, which was why Cheng Biyuan was so shocked when he found out that his daughter could gave the azure wolf king to his son as a gift. But now that he saw the azure wolf king sitting submissively next to his son, he had to believe that was true.
“Sure, why not?” Answered Cheng Xiao Xiao matter of factly. All the mythical beasts in her dimension obey her. If she wanted to gave them away, they had no choice but to obey her commands.
Looking at how surprised and happy her father was, Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled, “Dad, what kind of beasts do you like? Tell me, I’ll give you one as a pet too!”
“You can?” Cheng Biyuan looked pleasantly surprised. Seeing his daughter had nodded at him, he started pondering what kind of pet was the best fit for himself.
ch 56.2 – Assigning Pets to Family
Mrs. Cheng, who was sitting next to them, recovered from the shock, thought for a second and asked tenderly, “Xiao Xiao, do you have snakies? I like snakies!”
“Mom, you like snakes?” Cheng Xiao Xiao was fairly surprised, most women were afraid of snakes. She didn’t expect her mother to like them. Smiling, she said, “Mom, of course I have snakes. Why don’t I give you a silver jade snake for your pet?”
Soon as she was done saying that, a pure white, jade-like snake appeared around her wrists. Mrs. Cheng was ecstatic.
Cheng Xiao Xiao handed over the snakes to her mother with a smile, “Mom, here you go. It will obey you going forward.”
“Really? That’s great!” Mrs. Cheng accepted happily. This was the first time she had a bright smile on her face. One could tell she was truly happy and in love with the silver jade snake.
“Big sister, what about me?”
“Big sister, I want one too!”
The two younger ones wanted pets also. Cheng Xiao Xiao thought for a second and said, “Okay, Zheng Bin, Lan Lan. Tell me what you want. If I have them, I will let you have them!”
“Big sister, I want a small monkey!” Shouted little Lan Lan loudly.
Monkey?
That was another surprise. She thought all kids like bunnies, kittens, or puppies. Why an ugly-looking monkey? She couldn’t help but to ask, “Lan Lan, you really want a monkey?”
“That’s right, big sister. I like monkeys! They are smart, and they will play with me. So I want a monkey!”
Looking at her sister’s limpid eyes, and the happy and enchanted look, Cheng Xiao Xiao had no choice but to say yes.
The dimension would need to be at level 38 for her to be able to release an in-app monkey. Luckily Yuteng got three last time they were up in the mountain. Cheng Xiao Xiao released the smallest one of the three.
“Hoo hoo hoo….”
The little monkey followed order and leaped obediently into little Lan Lan’s arms and squeaked. It was very unfortunate that little Lan Lan couldn’t understand at word it said.
Yet that didn’t stop little Lan Lan from loving it. With the golden monkey in her arms, little Lan Lan squealed in joy.
Now that Cheng Lan Lan’s pet was settled, Cheng Xiao Xiao turned and asked her younger brother, “Zheng Bin, have you figured out what kind of a pet you want yet?”
“Big sister, I can’t think of anything right away. Lions and tigers are too big. I would like something smaller, but I’m not sure what will be a good fit!” Cheng Zheng Bin scratched his head and smiled with slight embarrassment.
“That’s easy if you want something small. Why don’t I give you a white tiger king? It’s not that big and will accompany you well!” suggested Cheng Xiao Xiao, and a white tiger king, size of the wolf king, appeared in a flash.
Cheng Zheng Bin was instantly happy when he saw his “dinky” tiger king. He nodded at his sister, “Big sister, thank you so much. I love it!”
“I am glad you like it. It will be your pet from now no!” said Cheng Xiao Xiao with a smile. She then turned to her father who had yet to say anything, “Dad, have you decided what you’d like as a pet?”
“Xiao Xiao, don’t tell me lions are all you have left!” answered Cheng Biyuan with a question.
“Of course not, dad. A lion wouldn’t be a bad choice. Otherwise, a king kong bear is not bad either. I also have a mammoth python1. Which do you like better?”
“Lion, king kong bear, or mammoth python?” Cheng Biyuan thought for a second and said, “Let’s stick with the lion, I will be able to ride on it!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao chuckled and said, “If your criteria is to ride on your pet, the mammoth python can evolve into dragon. AND it can already fly.”
___
Note:
To be honest, at this point I could no longer tell what’s mythical and what’s real animals, so just translating as best I could. LOL
ch 57.1 – Big Deal (1)
Cheng Biyuan picked the mammoth python per Cheng Xiao Xiao’e recommendation. Under little Yuteng’s training inside the dimension, this python had already evolved once. It wasn’t exactly a dragon or a water dragon just yet, but it was still no match for your regular mammoth pythons.
Cheng Xiao Xiao felt much better after each and every single family member received a pet. Afterall, they were expected quite a few visitors to show up in the days to come. The pets would play a vital role in protecting them.
In addition, Cheng Xiao Xiao had little Yuteng distribute their several hundreds of small snakes in Willow Village’s surrounding area to track any unusual movements.
Of course, that alone would not be enough. In addition to these, Cheng Xiao Xiao also had little Yuteng collected several different species of birds and cloned several thousands of them to surveil Willow Village from high above.
Cheng Xiao Xiao did not share these particular details with her family. Everything seemed normal around the Cheng’s. Even the few helper villagers were still show up as usual. But they were surprised by the changes they have been noticing around the Cheng’s.
They couldn’t figure out where all the beasts came from. There were wolf, tiger, and snakes. They were shocked but they didn’t ask. After all, they figured these are personal matters and the Cheng’s wouldn’t share with them anyway.
The Cheng’s and the Willow Village seemed to be calm, but in an abnormal way. Even the dogs in the village seemed to be barking less lately but just laid on the ground quietly in front of their respective houses.
In town!
A cavalry made up of several dozen of individuals appeared in front of the Ning’s and departed quickly.
Shortly after their departure. A lot of other strangers followed, as though some major event had happened..
Words spread quickly to Innkeeper Zhu and Deacon Bai. Innkeeper Zhu was worried, “Deacon Bai, Deacon Lin, should we head to the Cheng’s also? Just in case they need extra help or something?”
Deacon Lin rolled his eyes after he heard that. Deacon Bai didn’t comment right away but continued to sip away at his tea. After a while, he finally said, “We don’t have to go there ourselves, we just have to send something to check it out quietly.”
“But why, Deacon Bai? If we can join force with the Cheng’s, it will make our transactions in the future much easier!” Innkeeper Zhu believed that helping others when they were most needed would make the most lastly impression.
That’s the principle that he abide by both they way he did business and in his personal life. He thought that applying the same principle and going to support the Cheng’s, it’d go a long way.
“You looked at it in a too simplistic kind of way, and you have underestimated the Cheng’s.” said Deacon Bai nonchalantly. “No matter how many went there, the Cheng’s will be able to handle on their own. Us joining us will just muddle things up, and might even offend them!”
“That’s impossible!” said Innkeeper Zhu dubiously.
Deacon Bai casted him glance and laughed coldly, “You don’t believe me? Why don’t you analyze the situation yourself using that brain of yours?”
“I don’t get it!” Innkeeper Zhu was not a stupid person, but he couldn’t figure out the Deacon Bai’s meaning.
“You couldn’t figure it out because you are not aware of how scary the Cheng’s really are.” Deacon Bai laughed again, coldly. Deacon Lin and he had experienced it first hand. He continued, “As long as Cheng Xiao Xiao was there, they won’t have any problems. I am not sure about those who are heading their way though. On the other hand, if we join in and advocate that we are there for them, they might thought we were on the other side. They don’t have very good impression of us already. There’s no reason to make them to dislike us even more!”
___
Note:
You will see the next 7 subchapters all have the same title. That’s because the original novel broke this up into 4 chapters, chapters 57 – 60. Not a mistake on my part. J
According to Chinese legends, snakes can cultivate for 500 years and turn into water dragon. They live in large bodies of water. Sea dragon can cultivate for 1,000 years and turn into the traditional flying dragons that you have seen.
Pictures of alleged real life water dragon. I am not saying they are real, but the pictures are still pretty cool too look at
ch 57.2 – Big Deal (1)
“Well, I really didn’t think about it that way,” said Innkeeper Zhu with a bitter smile.
“Regardless of what’s going on at the Cheng’s, Chief Shao will arrive in the next couple of days. We should focus on thinking how best to bring Chief Shao to the Cheng’s and make the introduction!”
“That wouldn’t be an easy task. The Cheng’s aren’t exactly a friendly bunch!”
“That’s why I am asking you to come up with some ideas!”
Deacon Lin never once chimed in to this conversation; it was as though he wasn’t there at all.
Willow Village!
“Young mistress, the birds sent us a message. There are about 70-80 people heading our way and they aren’t looking very friendly. We need to be prepared!” said Little Yuteng to Cheng Xiao Xiao, who was picking vegetables!
Here they come!
“That’s fine!” Cheng Xiao Xiao place the Napa cabbage into her basket. Then, a smile, and a cold look, she said, “Send message to the snakies. If any of them dare hurt any our of Willow villagers or any life forms, tell the snakes to just bite and kill them!”
“Okay!” replied little Yuteng happily.
Standing in the middle of the vegetable garden, Cheng Xiao Xiao looked far away and smiled nonchalantly, “I’m glad we have visitors. It’s start to get boring around here, wouldn’t you say?”
“Exactly, young mistress! Oh, by the way, can you not sure your fan this time?” asked little Yuteng.
“Why is that?”
“Young mistress, if you use the fan, I wouldn’t have a chance to have fun!”
“Don’t worry, we got plenty of visitors this time for you to have fun. Granted, we’ve got to play it by the ear and only kill those deserving ones and spare those who aren’t.”
“Young mistress, those are all greedy people coming here to rob what’s ours, why do we need to spare anyone?”
“I said, we will play it by the ear!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao understand the principals of showing who’s the strongest here, but deep down inside, she didn’t want to kill anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary. As long as the opposing party didn’t cross the line too much, she did want to spare them. Like what she had done with the Ning’s. She gave them a chance, instead of just smashing them to death.
Otherwise, the fly swatter from the dimension could smash a person into ground meat in one swat. No way Ning Xunzong could have survived that. She only intended to teach them a lesson.
Now that there were more coming to cause trouble, and Cheng Xiao Xiao had gotten words from Innkeeper Zhu and his lot that it was the Ning family that leaked the news and causing them more heartache. No matter what the reasons, they have already been blacklisted.
“Young mistress, don’t be too soft now. You need to make an example out of them, to avoid more problems in the future!” advised little Yuteng sat on the handle of the vegetable basket, while shaking her little legs back and forth.
Cheng Xiao Xiao, who was squatting in the field harvesting cabbage, replied, “I don’t think that will be very effective. Once the news got out, troubles will keep coming. But that’s fine too, the more trouble the better!”
“Why do you say that, young mistress?”
“Simple, the more idiots come to pick on us, the more practices Zheng Yuan and Zheng Bin will have. Otherwise, they won’t have much opportunities to practice!”
“Oh, so that was your plan!”
“Why not? I think it’s a great idea. Some challenges will be good for both Zheng Yuan and Zheng Bin!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao tossed one more cabbage into her basket before she heard someone running toward her. Before she even stood up, little Yuteng reported, “Young mistress, it’s young master Zheng Yuan!”
ch 58.1 – Big Deal (2)
“Big sister, big sister!!” Running back, Cheng Zheng Yuan found his sister in the vegetable field. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead, he said, “Big sister, there are a lot of people coming our way. Over 100! And they are about to enter the village!”
“Oh…” Cheng Xiao Xiao slowly stood up, looking nonchalant. She had already knew about that and didn’t care. Looking at her younger brother, she smiled, “No rush, so they came. We have nothing to be afraid of!”
“Ugh….” Cheng Zheng Yuan paused for a second, then smiled and nodded, “I get it. Big sister, what do we do now?”
“Nothing, the usual!” Cheng Xiao Xiao picked up the basket full of cabbages and told her brother, “Zheng Yuan, why don’t you go to the back of the house. Dad can take care of the Willow Village. He won’t need your help, go to the back of the house!”
“Back of the house? Big sister, you mean the few villagers who were here to help out?” Cheng Zheng Yuan read his sister’s mind.
Cheng Xiao Xiao nodded, “Exactly, go check out quickly. We don’t want anything to happen to them. That wouldn’t be very good!”
“Yes, big sister, on my way!” Cheng Zheng Yuan understood the seriousness of it, he turned around and ran toward the back of the house.
Cheng Xiao Xiao stood there elegantly with her vegetable basket. She took a look toward the entrance of the village. She gathered the folks would arrive within a couple of hours. With a leisurely pace, she walked toward her own house.
Back in the courtyard, Mrs. Cheng, Zheng Bin, and Lan Lan were all reading quietly and didn’t let the arrival of others disturb them.
“You are back, Xiao Xiao?” called Mrs. Cheng tenderly at the one returning with the basket full of vegetables.
Cheng Xiao Xiao nodded slightly and smiled. Lightly she said to her mother, “Mom, you keep reading with Zheng Bin and Lan Lan, I’ll go into the kitchen and make some steam buns for you all.”
She made a fair amount of white flour from the wheat grown in the dimension. She had always had an interest in buns and all and very happy to make buns in the kitchen, and the family quite enjoyed the food that she made.
“Need some help?” asked Mrs. Cheng as she put down her book.
Cheng Zheng Bin put his book down as well, looking at her sister with his gleaming eyes, he smiled, “Big sister, you want me to start the fire for you?”
“Big sister, I know how to start a fire too!” smiled little Lan Lan.
Cheng Xiao Xiao shook her head and declined their offer, “No need. I need to knead the dough first, no need for the fire just yet!”
People were almost here. She wouldn’t really have time to steam any buns, but she wasn’t going to explain herself. She went into the kitchen with her basket of vegetables.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop….
You could hear horses approaching. Cheng Xiao Xiao, who was adding flour to a wooden tub, didn’t need to be notified by little Yuteng. She looked out the kitchen window and saw a group of people on the little dirt path leading to her house.
ch 58.2 – Big Deal (2)
A troop of horses approached with great speed and leaving a trail of dusts behind them. Through the window, she could tell the one at the very front was Ning Xunzong!
Seeing him all lively again, Cheng Xiao Xiao lifted the corner of her mouth and a cold look flashed past her eyes.
The noises outside startled those inside the courtyard. The mother and the sibling screamed. Cheng Xiao Xiao ran outside with flours all over her hand.
“Xiao Xiao, many have came!” Mrs. Cheng was nervous, “Your dad went to the village and hasn’t returned yet. What should we do?”
The two young ones didn’t make a noise but looked at their older sister wisely. Their older sister called all the shots at home.
Cheng Xiao Xiao walked over and comforted them with a smile, “Mom, what you worry about? Have you forgotten that we have pets now? Nobody can hurt us. Anyone break in here, just release your pets on the. Don’t worry, nothing will happen. I will go check it out outside!”
“Xiao Xiao, be careful!” Mrs. Cheng was a bit flustered and never occurred to her to take care of the newcomers herself, just telling Cheng Xiao Xiao to be careful.
The young Cheng Zheng Bin stood up, puffed his chest and said loudly, “Big sister, don’t worry, I will project mom and little sister!”
“Good, you do that!” Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled at her brother, “Don’t be afraid to hurt any of the intruders. And don’t let your mom and little sister be frightened or get hurt!”
“Okay, big sister, I will fulfill my duty!”
“I trust you!”
After encouraging her young brother and comforted her mom and younger sister, Cheng Xiao Xiao walked outside nonchalantly. She walked over to the vegetable field and nonchalantly watched arrival of the quickly approaching horses and people.
Seeing her appearing, all the riders stopped the horses and dismounted one by one and walked toward her.
The girl in front of them, unadorned and refreshing looking, everybody figured she was the maiden of the Cheng’s – Cheng Xiao Xiao.
Mu Qingtong, the instructor, was a bit surprised while looking at the Cheng’s maiden. She wasn’t exactly a beauty, but she certainly possessed a kind of out-of-this-world elegance that made even those who had seen all sort of beautiful women knew that she’s a fair lady.
Of course, what surprised him even more was her careless and nonchalant mannerism, as though she has been expecting their arrival. She didn’t seem a bit surprised at all.
What was going on?
He pondered about this. All the others who followed him here also couldn’t help but to looked her up and down. Her elegance and her mannerism definitely was not that belonging to a common village girl. She could rival any girls from their school.
Cheng Xiao Xiao was indifferent to all the looks. She focused her attention on only one individual. The marital spiritualist was the strongest rival she had seen thus far.
“Cheng Xiao Xiao, you nasty little girl, I am back!” The arrogant Ning Xunzong shouted at her even though his instructor was right there.
A jerk would always be a jerk. Cheng Xiao Xiao didn’t even bother looking at him. She looked only at one person – Mu Xingtong, the instructor from School of Divine Condor
ch 59.1 – Big Deal (3)
He wanted the attention, but he didn’t expect that his opponent wouldn’t even pay him any attention. He looked pissed off, but before he could say anything, his instructor shot him a look and he knew better and swallowed his words.
“So you are the Cheng’s maiden – Cheng Xiao Xiao!” said Mu Qingtong as he gave her a long, meaningful look.
“You knew I am, why ask?” said Cheng Xiao Xiao coldly, “So what’s with coming here with all these people?”
“Aren’t you an interesting one?” laughed Mu Qingtong as he approached her slowly while staring at her intensely. “You know what this is about, why do you ask?”
“Nonsense!” shouted Cheng Xiao Xiao blatantly, “You want to show off, go somewhere else. We don’t like strangers here!”
“Miss Cheng, the old saying had it that anyone that come to your house is a guest…”
Cheng Xiao Xiao cut him off right away, “We don’t welcome unfriendly guests, please leave!”
“You…” Now Mu Qingtong was mad. Nobody had ever talked to him like that before, especially in front of his students. But he managed to keep his temper under control, with a mild tone, he said, “Miss Cheng. We are here to ask for a favor, you don’t need to be so standoffish. Is that how you were raised?”
“You mean I should be raised to offer you fine wine and fine dining right about now?” said Cheng Xiao Xiao sarcastically, “Surely you knew about my confrontable with Ning Xunzong previously.”
“Ugh, yes!” Mu Qingtong had no idea why she brought that up, but had no intention to cover that up.
Looking even more sarcastic, Cheng Xiao Xiao said, “Well, if that’s the case, why should we welcome you? You are right. I knew why you guys are here. You want us to submissively hand over our mythical animals and the mythical well, and my family to become your servants. Should we kneel down now and greet our masters?”
“What?” A hint of annoyance flashed through Mu Qingtong’s face. Sternly he turned and looked at Ning Xunzong. Ning Xunzong was too scared to meet his gaze.
Mu Qingtong wasn’t an idiot. The few sentences from Cheng Xiao Xiao and judging by the reaction from Ning Xunzong, he could put two and two together and now the reaction from the Cheng’s made sense. Apparently, the Ning’s went too overboard previously, leading to the consequences today.
“Greetings, Miss Cheng, I am Long Yuze of the Long’s of Emperor City!” Suddenly a middle-age man wearing a brocade robe appeared out of nowhere and greeted Cheng Xiao Xiao with cupped hands.
“Greetings, Mr. Long!” Cheng Xiao Xiao bowed slightly. Of course she knew all these people came with the same purpose in mind, but since they were still amicable, she had no reason to be rude to him.
Right then, another middle-age man stood out and greeted her with cupped hands, “Miss Cheng, I am Xue Xingchen of the Xue’s of Emperor City!”
“Miss Cheng, I am Su Yiyang of the Su’s of City of Huang!” said another middle-age man.
The presence of these three surprised everyone from School of Divine Condor. These were all very powerful families. One could hear the crowd started discussing among themselves.
Mu Qingtong looked extremely displeased that others had the upper hand. He was even more mad that idiot Ning Xunzong and his two idiot friends. They discovered the mythical beasts and mythical spring, not only were they not able to secure a deal, but they had offended the Cheng’s, putting them in an awkward position.
ch 59.2 – Big Deal (3)
I checked, not once, but TWICE and the texts are white!! If they turn black again by tomorrow… it just wasn’t meant to be… or it was meant to be black…
Train had mechanical error this AM so I had to drive to work… that took away my precious translation time. :'( Then went out to yummy dinner with a friend… that didn’t help with translation time either. =D
***
TWQQF ch 59.2
“Greetings, Mr. Xue, Mr. Su!” Cheng Xiao Xiao bowed slightly again. She had never heard of them before in the past, nor did she care particularly.
“Hoho, Miss Cheng. Sorry to come unannounced!” Her standoffish manner did not deter Xue Xingchen.
“Yes, Miss Cheng, we apologize in advance for disturbing your home!” said Su Yiyang with a smile.
Long Yuze looked at her, then nonchalantly he said, “Miss Cheng, pardon our intrusion. I have brought a gift that I hope you’d accept!”
As he was saying that, two servant carrying the present walked in front of her.
Xue Xingchen followed suit, “I have also brought something with me as well. I hope you’d enjoy my gift!” The four servants of the Xue’s appeared with the gifts.
“So have I. I sincerely hope you wouldn’t turn it down.”
Six more servants appeared after Su Yiyang finished saying that and a total of twelve servants with gifts waited for Cheng Xiao Xiao to accept them.
As the saying goes, you get more bees with honey. The newcomers were polite so there were no reasons for Cheng Xiao Xiao to be rude and throw them out. He nodded slightly and said to them, “Anyone passing by are guests. No matter what your purpose, c’mon in and we can chat!”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
The three of them replied at the same time. Cheng Xiao Xiao didn’t say more before taking them back to the courtyard.
The representative from the School of Divine Condor were completely ignored. Ning Xunzong shouted angrily, “Cheng Xiao Xiao is such an infuriating nasty girl!”
“Shut up!” The foul-mood Mu Qingtong wanted to give him a swift kick. He was too angry at him.
Looking at all the others being welcomed inside, one of the student of Divine Condor walked up to Mu Qingtong and asked softly, “Instructor Mu, what do we do now?”
“You all wait right here!” said Mu Qingtong to his dozen of students, then to the one next to him, “Zhengyang, you come with me!”
“Yes, instructor Mu!” Xu Zhengyang tried not to let his excitement shown and followed.
Cheng Xiao Xiao took the guests into the courtyard; Mrs. Cheng and the two kids had already retired inside the house. The guests could tell there were people inside, but they didn’t pay it too much attention.
The twelve servants put all the gifts on top of the square table and left immediately. Cheng Xiao Xiao hosted the three remaining guests and offered them seats. Right after they were seated, Mu Qingtong entered with his student. With cupped hands he greeted Cheng Xiao Xiao, “Miss Cheng, we were a bit imprudent earlier, we hope you’d forgive us!”
“….” Cheng Xiao Xiao, who was preparing tea, casted him a glance but didn’t respond. She merely walked inside the kitchen to bring the hot water out for tea.
Looking at her backside, Mu Qingtong’s look was full of malice. When Cheng Xiao Xiao returned from the kitchen, none of the four were talking, and they all had a different look on them.
Quickly, Cheng Xiao Xiao finished preparing tea. She handed one out to each person and said nonchalantly, “Mythical tea made with mythical water. They are somewhat decent, I hope none of them will go to waste!”
“We will certainly enjoy the good tea!”
“I can’t wait!”
“What an honor to be able to try the tea made with water from the mythical spring!”
ch 60.1 – Big Deal (4)
Those in the courtyard enjoyed the tea leisurely. Just as Cheng Xiao Xiao had said, this tea was made with the mythical spring water and was therefore mythical. They were definitely better than any expensive tea one could get on the market. The tea quelled everyone’s irritation and vexation.
The visitors were no longer anxious; Cheng Xiao Xiao definitely was not anxious; Mrs. Cheng inside the house was tormented by anxiousness. She had no idea what her oldest daughter had in mind.
Time of an incense had passed before Long Yuze put down the cup in his hand. A hint of approval could be seen in Cheng Xiao Xiao’s eyes.
“Miss Cheng, I have a request. Is it possible for us to take a look at this mythical spring of yours?” asked Long Yuze.
After his words, everybody looked at Cheng Xiao Xiao with anticipation.
“Why not?” Cheng Xiao Xiao cast them a glance. Placing her tea cup down, she stood up, “Let’s go!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao took them out of the courtyard and headed toward the back of the house.
As soon as they have arrived at the back of the house, everybody saw the villagers drawing water from the well. They were a little surprised. Xu Zhengyang, who was standing next to Mu Qingtong, blurted out, “What are they drawing mythical water for?”
The same question that everybody had in mind, but since he was with Ning Xunzong, Cheng Xiao Xiao ignored him and kept on walking.
Her ignoring Xu Zhengyang had upset Mu Qingtong even more. Xu Zhengyang was a bit embarrassed, as one of the oldest students at Divine Condor, he was always well respected. He was angry at being ignored by one village maiden, but dare not let his feeling shown.
The other three were well aware of the animosity between Cheng Xiao Xiao and Divine Condor. They were secretly happy that the usually arrogant Divine Condor was being taken down a notch, but they dare not let their enjoyment shown.
“Miss Cheng, are they irrigating the bamboo forest with the mythical water?” Xue Xingchen had an idea already.
Needless to say, the others always saw it clearly. They saw the three villagers taking turns drawing water and watering the bamboos. Everybody could clearly see the villagers actions.
Before Cheng Xiao Xiao could respond to him, Cheng Zheng Yuan stopped drawing water and ran toward his older sister, “Big sister, you are here!” Then looked at all the visitors alarmingly.
The others did not pay particular attention to him. They figured out he was Cheng Xiao Xiao’s brother from his words. Certainly it was an accomplishment to be martial scholar at his age, but no where close to being a genius.
“Come and take a look!” Cheng Xiao Xiao nodded and said to the villagers, “Liu dashu1, Liu dabo2, Danhuang, why don’t you take a break?”
“Okay!”
The villagers weren’t sure what was going on, but seeing Cheng Xiao Xiao bringing her “special guests”, they retired to their break.
As soon as the villagers stepped away, all the “special guests” rushed forward and surrounded the mythical well and examined it skeptically. The thick feel of mythicalness had already confirmed what they wanted to know – The Cheng’s, indeed, has in their possession a mythical well. The rumor had been confirmed.
ch 60.2 – Big Deal (4)
While they were observing over there, the several dozens of students from School of Divine Condor standing next to the vegetable field were causing ruckus again. They have discovered the Cheng’s ranch and saw the hundreds of mythical animals including chicken, ducks, geese, rabbits, cows, sika deers, cats, peacocks2, squirrels, etc. All sorts of cute and pretty animals that made everyone happy.
Especially Ning Xunzong. He dived in happily and grabbed a squirrel. Laughing happily he said, “Oh, this little guy is so cute! He’s mine now!”
“I like rabbits! I want one too!” Another girl jumped in a grabbed a cute, white rabbit.
“I like sika deer, I will get one too!”
“I want a cat! It’s so cute!”
All of a sudden, everybody was helping themselves to their favorite mythical animals, totally treating the Cheng’s properties as their own. The Cheng’s didn’t even cross their minds, let along getting their permission.
Even though Cheng Xiao Xiao wasn’t there herself, but she has been informed by little Yuteng. Little Yuteng shouted furiously, “Young mistress, they are audacious!”
“Don’t worry. Let them play for a while. They will regret later.” Replied Cheng Xiao Xiao calmly.
When Ning Xunzong first jumped in, Cheng Xiao Xiao had already told Yuteng to hold off any actions and let them grab the animals.
“But, the little bunnies are reluctant!”
“Didn’t you say you want to teach them a lesson? They are giving you a chance to teach them a lesson. No need to rush.”
“Okay, I will listen to you, young mistress!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao was never that fond of those from Divine Condor. Now she was just happy that they had made their first move!
Cheng Zheng Yuan, standing nearby, watched attentively at the few visitors in front of him. He knew they all outranked him in skills by a few levels, but he was not afraid.
Xue Xingchen turned and looked at Cheng Xiao Xiao and her brother and asked, “Miss Cheng, why are you irrigating the bamboo forest with spiritual water?”
He had raised this question previously but it was left unanswered. Xue Zhengyang watched on with heartache, “This is so entirely wasteful, using the spiritual water to irrigate the bamboo forest!”
Certainly, they all felt that it was a big waste. Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled indifferently and told the person standing next to her, “Zheng Yuan, why don’t you tell them?”
“Yes, big sister!” Cheng Zheng Yuan looked straight at them and said loudly, “You guys care so much about these well water, we don’t. We practice martial arts in this bamboo forest. My big sister said, we are going to turn these bamboos into spiritual bamboos, we will benefit greatly when we practice here in the future.”
“What? Just to turn the bamboos into spiritual bamboos?”
“Spiritual bamboos?”
“Transform the bamboo forest?”
___
Notes:
1. “uncle” – usually someone around one’s father’s age but younger.
2. “uncle” – usually someone around one’s father’s age but older.
Random Translator’s Note:
1. I have been using “mythical” and “spiritual” interchangeably. Technically the character in the original language translate into “spiritual”, but I had a hard time with them eating “spiritual animals” so I switched it to “mythical” instead. It thus, however, make more sense to use spiritual well, spring, and air. So please pardon me for using the two terms interchangeably. J
2. Peacocks and squirrels are not edible animals, what was she keeping them for? =.=