Chapter 496: People mustn’t be judged by their appearances

Translator: G.o.dBrandy Editor: Kurisu

Did Li Yinzhu approach me due to the ancient bronze ring I'm wearing? After all, there should be Daoist Priest Li Tiansu's aura on it...

Song Shuhang gently patted Li Yinzhu and said softly, "You don't need to be afraid. Those two elder sisters will just help you change your clothes."

After hearing his words, Li Yinzhu nodded while still trembling. Then, she cautiously headed toward the two female disciples of the Chu Family in front of her.

The female disciples of the Chu Family smiled and picked Li Yinzhu up, bringing her to a nearby room to bathe her and change her clothes.

Song Shuhang heaved a sigh of relief. He felt that Li Yinzhu's state of mind was quite strange at this time.

From what he remembered, Li Yinzhu should already be a grown-up girl.

The first time her strange disease manifested, she was already over twenty years old. Afterward, Li Tiansu sold all his property while trying to find a cure for her disease, and this likewise happened over the span of several years.

But now, no matter if we were talking about her outward appearance or behavior, they weren't any different from those of a three or four years old girl.

Was it possible that her mental age had also regressed to that of a child alongside her body?

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"Haha, little friend Shuhang, you seem very good at dealing with kids," the ancestor of the Chu Family, Chu Kangbo, said with a smile. Then, he shot a glance at the small monk that was closely following behind Song Shuhang.

After returning to China, Guoguo didn't return to the Faraway Wandering Temple but decided to keep following Song Shuhang and wait for Senior Brother Three Realms to come over to pick him up.

After seeing that the ancestor of the Chu Family was looking at him, Guoguo joined his palms together and politely greeted him.

Chu Kangbo smiled and returned the courtesy.

Song Shuhang forced a smile… he was good at dealing with kids? Was it possible that he was innately popular with kids? And that the small monk Guoguo, the pekingese Doudou, Soft Feather, Sixteen, and Yu Jiaojiao were attracted to him due to this innate ability of his?

While they were chatting, the two female disciples of the Chu Family had already brought Li Yinzhu out.

They washed her up and combed her hair. At this time, she was wearing her hair down. Her long, thick, silvery-white hair was scattered behind her back, looking very beautiful.

What ruined this state of perfection was the fact that she was wearing an emerald-green kasaya over her heavy sweater, looking quite strange.

When she saw Song Shuhang, Li Yinzhu quickly ran toward him. Afterward, she took her small hands out of the kasaya and tightly grabbed Song Shuhang's clothes, not willing to let go.

When his body came in contact with the kasaya Li Yinzhu was wearing, Song Shuhang exclaimed, "So hot?"

The emerald-green kasaya had the ability to adjust its temperature automatically. Therefore, when it discovered that the temperature of Li Yinzhu's body was too low, it continuously increased its temperature. At this time, it was scalding hot just like those heaters used in the cold winters to warm oneself up.

After hearing Song Shuhang mumbling to himself, Li Yinzhu looked at him in puzzlement.

"It's nothing." Song Shuhang gently patted her head. Such a temperature wasn't really a problem for the current Song Shuhang.

Right at this time, the ancestor of the Chu Family, Chu Kangbo, said, "Little friend, please follow me."

Chu Kangbo showed the way while Song Shuhang and Guoguo closely followed behind.

Guoguo often glanced at Li Yinzhu. He was rather curious about this girl that had suddenly come out of a chunk of ice. He was told that children were born from rocks, but it was his first time witnessing someone born from ice.

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In the territory of the Chu Family.

Song Shuhang was sitting on a sofa. Guoguo was sitting on his left, Li Yinzhu on his right, and Yu Jiaojiao on his shoulder.

The emerald-green kasaya that Li Yinzhu was wearing had already been returned to Song Shuhang. The ancestor of the Chu Family had prepared some small and exquisite magical clothes for women for her.

In the end, the ancestor of the Chu Family was still a Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor. When he was young, he explored a lot of ruins together with Li Tiansu and gathered a lot of treasures. These small magical clothes were nothing for him.

Afterward, Chu Kangbo recorded the map of the forbidden area—as well as the information about the area he and Li Tiansu explored back then—on a long scroll, giving it to Song Shuhang.

Chu Kangbo didn't really want to step inside that forbidden area again.

He wasn't even able to see the front gate of the forbidden area when he was heavily injured and had to nurse his wounds for several years. As if that wasn't enough, his friend Li Tiansu also lost his life in there. From this alone, it was pretty clear that a Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor wasn't strong enough to explore those ancient ruins.

"Little friend, here is the position of the forbidden area, as well as the position of the formations located on the periphery of the area. However, many years have pa.s.sed, and I'm unsure what kind of changes took place on the periphery of the forbidden area. Therefore, you can only use the information about the area that Fellow Daoist Li and I explored as a reference and nothing more," Chu Kangbo said.

"Thank you, Senior," Song Shuhang said and rea.s.sured him, "Moreover, you can be at ease. If we find the cure to Li Yinzhu's disease inside the forbidden area, we'll try our best to retrieve it."

After hearing these words, Chu Kangbo felt relieved.

Afterward, the two still discussed for a while.

Hearing about Chu Kangbo's experiences from when he was young and taking risks outside benefitted Song Shuhang quite a lot.

Afterward, the two exchanged phone numbers. If Song Shuhang's trip to the forbidden area were to produce good results, he could now contact Chu Kangbo directly.

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"Senior Chu, I have still some matters to deal with, so I'll head home first. Let's hope to meet each other again!" Song Shuhang said to Chu Kangbo after cupping his hands.

"Let's hope to meet each other again." Chu Kangbo got up and prepared to see Song Shuhang off.

After reaching the open s.p.a.ce outside, Song Shuhang took out the 'silver dragon puppet' from his size-reducing purse.

When Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman gave him the silver dragon puppet, there was already a spirit stone of the Third Stage loaded inside. The spirit stone was enough to let the silvery dragon puppet fly for a long time.

Song Shuhang was pretty lucky that there was already a spirit stone loaded inside the puppet. Otherwise, a poor wretch like him that didn't even have half a spirit stone would only have been able to use the use silver dragon puppet as a mere ornamental object.

When he saw the silver dragon puppet, Guoguo exclaimed in surprise and immediately jumped on its back. Although he was usually trying to act all serious, he was unable to restrain his childish nature after seeing something he truly liked.

Song Shuhang gently patted the head of Li Yinzhu, who was pulling still his clothes, and said, "Be a good girl and go back with Senior Chu. After a little while, I'll come to see you again, alright?"

Li Yinzhu blinked her eyes, and a confused expression appeared on her face. Her hands were still tightly holding onto Song Shuhang's clothes, unwilling to let go.

Yu Jiaojiao, who was sitting on Song Shuhang's shoulder, said with a smile, "Hehe, she is really attached to you, Shuhang."

"The reason should be this ring I'm wearing on my finger. It has an aura that she finds familiar," Song Shuhang said as he stroked the ancient bronze ring on his finger.

The Flaming Saber Technique, a healing spell, and a spirit gathering formation of the Third Stage were engraved on this ring… for the current Song Shuhang, it was a hard-to-come-by treasure.

The Flaming Saber Technique attached to this ring had saved Song Shuhang's life several times when he was in danger. The healing spell was even more valuable. After all, it was something that could literally save one's life.

But after pondering for a moment, Song Shuhang decided to take the ring off his finger.

Then, he squatted down and grabbed Li Yinzhu's small hand, putting the ring in her palm. It was something that belonged to her father, and it was better to return it to her both from an emotional and logical point of view. It was the same as returning the ring to the rightful owner.

"Goodbye, and take care of yourself," Song Shuhang said to her in a gentle tone.

Li Yinzhu's silver eyes closely stared at the ring in her palm. She stood in place and didn't move in the slightest.

Chu Kangbo moved forward and gently patted Li Yinzhu's head, picking her up and holding her in his arms.

"Senior Chu, goodbye." Song Shuhang jumped on the back of the silver dragon puppet and cupped his hands. The eyes of the silver dragon emitted a golden radiance. Afterward, it gently flapped its huge wings and soared into the sky...

The disciples of the Chu Family looked at the puppet with envious expressions. They found the flying puppet rather cool. Unfortunately, let alone this puppet that could fly in the sky, even a puppet that could only run on land was too expensive for them. If they had enough money to purchase such a puppet, they'd better use it to buy cultivation resources instead.

"Let's go back," Chu Kangbo said.

In his embrace, Li Yinzhu was still staring at the ring. It was unknown what she was thinking.

Chu Kangbo gently patted the daughter of his deceased friend and said, "From today onward, we'll live together."

He would treat Li Yinzhu as his own daughter and diligently teach and train her.

If they were to get rid of the cold in her body someday in the future, he would finally be able to repay the debt he owed to his deceased friend.

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Just as Chu Kangbo took five or six steps with Li Yinzhu in his embrace, the latter suddenly opened her mouth and said one word, "Out."

Soon after, a small spherical object flew out of her mouth.

It was a sword orb!

A sword orb was an object made of thin, thread-like sharp blades entwined into a small sphere. As long as one poured their true qi or spiritual energy inside, the sword orb would change into a sharp and long sword. Alternatively, it could attack the enemy in the shape of an orb as well.

It was very difficult to forge a sword orb. For this reason, the value of a sword orb was from five to ten times higher than an ordinary flying sword of the same rank.

After the sword orb flew out of Li Yinzhu's mouth, it swelled while midair, turning into a sword light.

Chu Kangbo was dumbfounded and exclaimed, "A sword riding technique!"

Then, Li Yinzhu broke free from his embrace and lightly jumped, landing on the sword light. Next, her small body cautiously lay down on the sword light, just like a lovely little animal.

"Whizz!"

The sword light flew away and quickly disappeared at the horizon… from the direction, it seemed she was headed toward Song Shuhang.

"Fourth Stage Innate Realm…" Chu Kangbo forced a smile.

He had judged the situation incorrectly! The daughter of his old friend was actually a cultivator of the Fourth Stage Innate Realm!

She was so young, but she already had the strength of the Fourth Stage rank!

But after carefully thinking about it, it wasn't this strange. Li Tiansu sold his whole property to find a cure for the disease of his daughter, ending up with a heavy debt. Moreover, he risked his life to explore innumerable secret realms and ruins, and all the resources he obtained were dumped on Li Yinzhu's body.

The number of natural resources was huge, and although most of them were used to resist the cold inside her body, the effect of the remaining small part was enough to push Li Yinzhu's strength to the Fourth Stage Innate Realm.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Kangbo took out his mobile phone and called Song Shuhang.

Very soon, Song Shuhang picked up the phone.

"Eh? Senior Chu, is something the matter?" Song Shuhang asked in puzzlement. Did he forget something in the Chu Family?

Somewhat embarra.s.sed, Chu Kangbo said, "Little friend Song, Yinzhu is flying toward your position."

"What? She is flying over here? How is she flying exactly?" Song Shuhang asked.

Chu Kangbo replied, "With a flying sword."

"Fourth Stage Innate Realm...?" Song Shuhang was dumbstruck.

Chu Kangbo replied, "Indeed, Fourth Stage Innate Realm…"

"..." Song Shuhang.

Is everyone so talented nowadays? It took the seniors hundreds of years to advance to the Fourth Stage Innate Realm!