The next morning.
With no reason to go out, Ji Yuan started eating eggs at home early. Unlike the previous three, today's meal was going to be bigger.
Six spirit eggs a day—even absorbing and digesting them is a challenge.
But just as he finished absorbing two spirit eggs, someone knocked on his courtyard gate.
He instinctively touched the Thunder Strike Talisman at his chest. Once assured, he went to open the door.
The one knocking was, again, Old Man Huang.
But unlike before, today he greeted Ji Yuan with a hint of a smile. "Brother Ji, cultivating again, eh?"
Ji Boy had become Brother Ji.
"Yes. Is there something you need, Elder Huang?"
Ji Yuan still maintained his previous calm and composure.
"Nothing much, really..." Seeing Ji Yuan didn't intend to let him in, Old Man Huang added, "It's just... something related to your parents."
"My father and mother?"
Ji Yuan's expression showed a fleeting trace of surprise, but it vanished instantly as his voice changed. "What—my parents?!"
Old Man Huang entered the house, and immediately began looking around.
Ji Yuan, meanwhile, operated the panel in advance, temporarily turning off the [Fish Pond] effect.
Thankfully, the panel came with an "on/off switch"—otherwise, if an outsider was here and a spirit fish suddenly evolved, it'd be hard to explain.
As for the [Chicken Cage], it didn't matter. Today's six spirit eggs had already been put away by Ji Yuan.
He didn't expect, though, that the six green-and-yellow chickens still caught Old Man Huang's attention.
"You raise quite a few chickens here."
"Yes, my master loves roasted green-yellow chicken. The meat is tasty and tender, so I raised a few extra."
Since he'd already wrapped himself in his master's reputation, Ji Yuan didn't mind going bigger with the lie.
"Oh, is that so... Brother Ji, may I ask, who is your master?"
Old Man Huang couldn't help but inquire again.
"Didn't you say you had news about my parents, Elder Huang?"
Ji Yuan didn't answer, throwing the question back instead.
"Oh, right. Look at me, getting old and forgetful."
Old Man Huang chuckled awkwardly, returned to the inner room, sat down, and after pondering a bit, finally said, "I saw the Willow Leaf Boat."
The magical fishing boat owned by the original Ji Qingyun—Ji Yuan's father—was called Willow Leaf Boat.
"Where?!"
"In Luo Tong's hands. He says he bought it from Liu Laizi."
Luo Tong made a living selling spirit pigs in Zengtou City—in short, he was a pig dealer. If Ji Yuan wanted to buy spirit pigs, he'd have to go to him.
And as far as Ji Yuan recalled, Luo Tong and the original host's father got along quite well.
Whenever Ji Yuan saw him, he'd have to call him Uncle Luo.
But how could the Willow Leaf Boat, lost in the Cloud Rain Marsh, end up in Liu Laizi's hands?
Either he stumbled upon it by chance, or... he killed and robbed!
Seeming to notice the shift in Ji Yuan's expression, Old Man Huang waved his hand quickly and explained: "I was just passing by and saw it, that's all, Brother Ji, don't read too much into it."
"Don't worry. I know. Thank you, Elder Huang."
Ji Yuan nodded at him with a calm face.
"Alright then. You focus on your cultivation at home. I've still got things to do in Zengtou City, so I'll be going."
Ji Yuan walked Old Man Huang to the door and watched him head toward Zengtou City.
Once home, the first thing he did was activate the [Fish Pond] effect.
As for questioning Liu Laizi for the truth—honestly, Ji Yuan didn't plan on it for now.
First, Liu Laizi was already at mid-stage Qi Cultivation. Secondly, his connections in Zengtou City were a messy web—even rumored to be entangled with the Qin Family.
Even if Ji Yuan wanted revenge now, he simply didn't have the strength.
Far better to focus on improving his own power first.
So for now, he just kept what Old Man Huang said in mind and didn't think too much else.
...
After arriving in Zengtou City, Old Man Huang expertly navigated the twisting alleys, finally stopping before a courtyard with white walls and blue tiles. He knocked on the door.
A rather impatient voice came from inside the courtyard.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Lao Huang."
The door opened. The one answering was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair and a face covered in pockmarks. "Old Man Huang? What brings you here?"
"Come inside, let's talk."
Some time later, in the main hall, Old Man Huang picked up his teacup, drained it in one gulp, and finally let out a long sigh:
"Something's happened about Ji Qingyun."
"Ji Qingyun? What, that bastard could crawl back from the grave?"
Liu Laizi snorted with laughter.
He'd personally shattered Ji Qingyun's skull with a Water Arrow Technique—he didn't believe anyone could come back from that.
"Not Ji Qingyun, but his surviving son, Ji Yuan!"
Old Man Huang lowered his voice. "The other day, he was about to be kicked out of Zengtou City, but then he just so happened to find a spirit fish."
"Lucky guy." Liu Laizi nodded.
"Just yesterday, he sold another Stone Armor Spot to the fish cage... and not a single stone armor scale was damaged."
"He's that skilled?!"
This finally made Liu Laizi sit up.
"No, I had to ask around a lot to figure out what's going on."
"What did you find? C'mon old fool, don't forget, you're the one who sold me Ji Qingyun's location and took my spirit stones for it."
Liu Laizi said impatiently.
A flicker of regret flashed in Old Man Huang's eyes, but he stubbornly said, "Ji Yuan... has taken a master. And at the very least, the other side has to be a mid- or late-stage Qi Cultivation expert."
Hearing this, Liu Laizi instantly calmed down. After a moment's silence, he suddenly looked up at Old Man Huang and sneered:
"You just want to get rid of him once and for all, but you're too scared to offend anyone. So you want me to do your dirty work and kill Ji Yuan for you."
"Uh..."
Caught, Old Man Huang couldn't help but look embarrassed, but he definitely couldn't admit it.
"How could that be? I... I'm just worried Ji Yuan will discover something, and if he brings in that master of his, we'll be in trouble."
As for Ji Yuan's master, Old Man Huang had no doubts.
If there was no master backing him, where did he get those spirit fish?
"What we did was clean. He won't find anything out."
Liu Laizi shook his head. "Besides, something big's about to go down around Northeast Maple Island. I need to grab a piece of the pie over there first."
"As for that Ji brat... let's wait until things at Maple Island blow over."
"Maple Island? What's happening over there? I've seen loads of fishermen heading that way, a few even died and still more keep going."
Old Man Huang hurriedly pressed for details.
Liu Laizi glanced at him. "It'll be public in a couple days anyway, so I might as well tell you first."
"There's an Immortal Mansion on Maple Island... the immortal mansion of a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"What?!"
Old Man Huang blurted out in shock. The immortal mansion of a Foundation Establishment cultivator—if you could get some treasures from that, you'd have nothing to worry about for years.
Maybe, it could even be a chance to break through in cultivation.
"Well, I'll be heading back."
Seeing Old Man Huang about to leave, Liu Laizi stared at his back and suddenly said, "Hey, Old Man Huang, you didn't go and tell Ji Yuan about the Ji Qingyun thing, did you?"
Old Man Huang didn't dare to look back.
"Of course not."
"Yeah? Don't forget, you came to me first, and you got your share of benefits too," Liu Laizi warned him.
"Don't worry, I know."
Only after Old Man Huang had fully left did Liu Laizi sneer, "Useless old fool, think he can outplay me at 'let my fellow die but not myself'?"
Old Man Huang, making his way home, was also weighed down by dark thoughts.
He'd hoped to push Liu Laizi into being the scapegoat, but who would have thought he'd be so hard to manipulate... Sure enough, in Zengtou City, anyone who's made a name for themselves isn't an idiot.
Well, if Liu Laizi isn't in a rush, neither am I.
Now, the only thing on Old Man Huang's mind was... that Foundation Establishment Immortal Mansion!