The white fluffball was Wen Jiu’s distraction?
This fluffball wasn’t a spirit pet, but Wen Jiu?
Yu Sheng looked down and couldn’t help but squeeze the fluffball in his arms again.
It felt incredibly good—soft and warm. When he needed it, it would even become fluffier. Because it wasn’t an ordinary animal, he didn’t have to worry about holding it incorrectly or accidentally hurting it.
The round, bright eyes sparkled and glistened, staring back at Yu Sheng.
After a few moments, Yu Sheng grinned, “It doesn’t look anything like Wen Jiu. It can’t even do many basic things.”
Yin Wangzhi noticed his disbelief and, disinterested, coldly huffed in disdain. “Naive.”
He always thought the person in front of him was too naive, lacking caution toward everything, seeing things too optimistically. He didn’t seem like someone with deep, unfathomable cultivation.
Yet, even though he knew the other person wouldn’t believe him, Yin Wangzhi still wanted to express his thoughts. Even if it only planted a seed of doubt, that would be enough.
As for whether Yu Yangzi would think he was trying to frame him out of personal grudges—that was entirely outside of Yin Wangzhi's consideration. After all, he was the Ghost King and didn’t carry such burdens of reputation.
Yu Sheng appeared to take the idea that “this fluffball is Wen Jiu” lightly, treating it as a joke to forget about, smiling and petting the fluffball. Yin Wangzhi felt a twinge of disappointment in his heart. Just as he was about to turn away, wanting to leave and avoid being bothered, he noticed Yu Yangzi looking at him, his gaze still clear and sincere.
Yin Wangzhi was a bit confused. Clearly, Yu Yangzi didn't believe the "joke" he had just made, so why was he unresponsive to the "slander" he had directed at himself? Logically, someone like Yu Yangzi, who didn’t believe those words, should have reflected on his motives for saying such things. After some reflection, he should have had a different view of himself...
Yin Wangzhi had already prepared himself to be misunderstood, even to be persuaded, just as he had been earlier today, urging them to "turn hostility into friendship."
Yu Sheng noticed that Yin Wangzhi seemed indecisive about leaving and winked at him, "Feeling better?"
Feeling better?
Yin Wangzhi visibly froze, taking a moment to process, and after his surprise, his expression changed slightly.
A gentle medicinal power flowed through him, unknowingly soothing his restless inner demons. The power of the Ghost King became stable, and his Yin energy had not leaked unexpectedly due to emotional fluctuations for quite some time.
He only became aware of it after being prompted.
Yu Sheng was also a bit surprised. He had secretly added something to the wine, thinking that Yin Wangzhi would notice it quickly. Afraid that Yin Wangzhi wouldn’t appreciate it, he hesitated to leave and observed Yin Wangzhi's reactions.
As a result, he realized far too late that it took much longer than he had anticipated.
Yu Sheng studied his face for a few moments, confirming that the slightly awkward expression was likely Yin Wangzhi's characteristic shyness. Typically, in such situations, he would prefer to be alone for a while and wouldn’t easily follow anyone else.
Yu Sheng let out a sigh of relief, choosing not to bring it up further, and strolled away at ease. He hadn't asked Wen Jiu to cook today, so he figured he would go look for something else to do, perhaps tidying up the overgrown vegetable and flower gardens and forests.
Holding the white ball in his arms, Yu Sheng strolled out of Yin Wangzhi’s sight, and the alcohol-induced haze in his eyes gradually faded, leaving him clear-headed.
In his mind, he kept recalling the past decades spent together with the white ball, day and night.
His memories were quite blurry, lacking many details. Having lived for so long, he had grown indifferent to many things; after all, a decade was like a day, with nothing new to experience.
When he finally found Wen Jiu in the vegetable garden, a faint smile returned to Yu Sheng's face.
The weeds had been mostly cleared away, and everything was rapidly returning to its former appearance.
Yu Sheng quietly stood by, waiting for Wen Jiu to finish his last bit of work before greeting him.
"Is there anywhere I can help?"
Wen Jiu was taken aback and shook his head, "I can finish this quickly on my own, senior, no need to worry."
In this regard, Yu Sheng truly believed in Wen Jiu’s abilities. Out of curiosity, he wandered around the vegetable garden and noticed that some spiritual fruits were already bearing fruit. These were common spiritual fruits with relatively short growth cycles; while they weren’t medicinal, they had better taste and effects than ordinary fruits.
Thanks to Wen Jiu’s nurturing, they were ready to eat in less than a day. Yu Sheng spotted a particularly plump, red one that looked almost like a balloon, its translucent flesh resembling jade.
Wen Jiu followed his gaze, plucked the fruit, carefully cleaned it, removed the leaves and stem, split it in half, and handed it to Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng smiled with crescent-shaped eyes, gratefully accepting it. He released the white ball and held the fruit with both hands to bite into it. Despite having just eaten a big meal and consumed quite a bit of wine, the uniquely sweet and tangy flavor of the spiritual fruit made it easy to eat more. This red jade spiritual fruit was his favorite dessert after a meal. He had a habit of eating the seeds along with the fruit, unlike others who preferred to remove them.
He didn’t say anything, but Wen Jiu seemed to understand everything.
He understood his habits, preferences, and tastes, taking care of all the little details.
With both hands still holding the fruit, Yu Sheng chatted a bit with Wen Jiu, advising him not to work too hard or tire himself out, then continued his leisurely post-meal stroll, moving away.
After a few steps, he noticed that the white ball hadn’t followed. Yu Sheng paused, turned back, and clicked his tongue, making a sound to entice the white ball to come play with him, just like he had done before.
Wen Jiu was taken aback again, and the white ball suddenly stood up on its hind legs, looking around like a curious rabbit. Wen Jiu hesitantly asked,
"Does the senior still want it to accompany you?"
"Of course!" Yu Sheng’s eyes were filled with confusion, as if he genuinely didn’t understand what Wen Jiu was asking, or why he was asking, "What’s wrong? If you need help, just let me do it. This one is silly, so it’s best to pamper it."
“Nothing.” Wen Jiu shook his head and raised his hand, and the white ball hopped back to Yu Sheng’s feet.
It wasn't until Yu Sheng's figure disappeared around the corner that Wen Jiu withdrew his gaze, falling into deep thought.
Did the Master guess it...?
Meanwhile, the gaze from the white ball lingered for a while longer, unable to be pulled away.
When Yu Sheng returned to his room, the fruit in his hand was already eaten. His fingers and mouth were sticky with sweet juice as he searched for water to wash his hands.
In the past, he might have squatted down without a care, letting his spiritual pet lick his fingers clean. Now, he insisted on finding the water storage tank and scooping some water to wash up.
At this point, he truly felt tired and wanted to rest properly and take a nap.
In the center of the courtyard stood a rocking chair, basking in the warm sunlight at the best time of day. Despite being at the bottom of a cliff, he could enjoy a cozy nap, sheltered from the sun by the dense leaves of the nearby trees.
Yu Sheng lay back in the chair, closed his eyes in the tranquility, and soon began to emit soft snoring sounds.
Outwardly calm and peaceful, his mind was a turbulent sea.
Yu Sheng: System, are you there? Hello? Okay, you’re not here.
System: …
Yu Sheng: My mind is a bit chaotic.
System: Want to talk it out? Sort it through?
Yu Sheng: A formula.
White ball = Wen Jiu.
The white ball has been accompanying me day and night for decades = Wen Jiu has been accompanying me day and night for decades.
If the white ball has intelligence, it must know that I am Yu Yangzi, the white-haired old man.
So Wen Jiu knows who I am.
System: Nice equation.
Yu Sheng continued analyzing: Wen Jiu knows I am Yu Yangzi, his master; he knew from the start but didn’t say anything.
Then I just realized he knows my alias but pretended not to, and I’m pretending not to know.
System: … Yeah, why are you playing dumb?
Yu Sheng: Intuition.
If Wen Jiu knows my alias and is pretending not to, it means he is considering my feelings.
Now that I know Wen Jiu knows my alias but is pretending not to, and I’m also pretending not to know, this way, the balance won’t suddenly be disrupted, and Yin Wangzhi won’t make any moves.
So if Wen Jiu knows I know he knows my alias and is pretending not to, and he’s following suit...
System: … If you keep this up, I’m going to crash.
Yu Sheng ignored him and continued to sort through his thoughts: But does Yin Wangzhi know that Wen Jiu knows my alias and is pretending not to? If he doesn’t know, then he certainly wouldn’t know I already know Wen Jiu knows my alias and is pretending not to, so he wouldn’t be pretending not to. If he does know, then does he know...
System: [Please wait, busy.jpg]
Yu Sheng was startled: Ah! I just thought of something. Earlier, Yin Wangzhi and Wen Jiu secretly met at midnight... Wait, it’s not that I’m confused. They met in the middle of the night, and Yin Wangzhi dug up my grave. He clearly knew there was no one in the grave! Wen Jiu seemed very calm and unfazed, so does that mean Yin Wangzhi knows my alias and is pretending not to? Did Wen Jiu tell him, or did he figure it out himself...?
Wait a minute, I seemed to have dreamt about Yin Wangzhi before. If the previous dream was his doing, then I would have been exposed long ago. The reason I have no memory after waking up could be because Yin Wangzhi knows my alias but wants to pretend he doesn’t, or maybe Wen Jiu didn’t want him to expose it. Another possibility is that Wen Jiu is hiding it from Yin Wangzhi, deceiving him with another explanation so that he believes the master’s remains are missing and came here to investigate...
System: [Please wait, busy.jpg]
Yu Sheng: Then I just need to verify whether Yin Wangzhi knows I’m his master? Hiss... Good thing I trusted my intuition and played dumb earlier.
Given his previous performance, Wen Jiu probably can’t confirm for the time being. So he doesn’t know I already know he knows my alias and is pretending not to, so he’s going along with the act, because this matter is directly related to the white ball’s alias!
That means Wen Jiu also doesn’t know I already know the white ball is him and is still pretending not to!
System: …
Yu Sheng yawned, shifted his arm, and hugged the white ball like a pillow, optimistically concluding—he could still play with the white ball for now, touching it as much as he liked. As long as he didn’t admit it, he could buy more time to think of a strategy and could still enjoy the indulgence.
Yu Sheng: After all, Wen Jiu doesn’t know I already know—
System: Ah ah ah stop talking!!!
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