Chapter 131: Mixed Doubles

Yun Jiao slept straight until the next afternoon before waking up. Perhaps it was because she had entered the Netherworld, but her body felt unusually exhausted. Fortunately, Wen Qing and Yuan Jiang’s injuries had been stabilized earlier with acupuncture, so they hadn’t worsened.

“How is it, girl?” As soon as Yun Jiao finished applying the needles again, Bai Yu was the first to ask anxiously, “Are the two Martial Uncles all right?”

Yun Jiao was stunned for a moment and gave him a surprised look. How long had it been, and this old man was already getting along so well with them? But she didn’t think too much about it and simply answered, “The needles and formation can only repair the damage to their meridians. As for the recovery of immortal energy and Uncle Yuan’s damaged golden body, acupuncture alone won’t be enough.”

As soon as she said that, both men’s expressions darkened, especially Wen Qing. The little bit of immortal energy he had painstakingly recovered over the past two days seemed to fade instantly. He looked guiltily at Yuan Jiang. “Second Senior Brother, it’s all my—”

“Enough.” Yuan Jiang didn’t seem to mind. Before he could finish, Yuan Jiang shook his head and said, “We are brothers. There’s no need for such words. It’s only a golden body. I’ll just cultivate it back again.”

But that only made Wen Qing feel worse, nearly wanting to bury himself into the ground. The golden body wasn’t something that could be easily restored. Among their brothers, who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, only the eldest and second senior brothers had managed to achieve it.

“You don’t need to worry too much.” Yun Jiao spoke again. “Uncle Yuan can’t use his golden body right now only because it’s damaged and dormant, not gone. There’s no need to rebuild it entirely—there’s still a chance it can be repaired and awakened.”

“Really?” Wen Qing’s expression brightened immediately, his eyes lighting up. Even Yuan Jiang’s face regained some color.

“Mm.” Yun Jiao nodded. “But your injuries still need rest. Since you two are immortals, if you want to recover faster, you’ll likely need to return to—”

“Cough, cough!” She had just started to say “return to the Immortal Realm to recuperate” when the old man beside her suddenly coughed loudly, frantically winking at her. Yun Jiao immediately changed her words mid-sentence. “—you’ll likely need the help of… some spiritual herbs.”

“What kind of spiritual herbs?” Yuan Jiang asked seriously.

“I’ll write you a list.” Yun Jiao glanced at the old man, who instantly scurried off to fetch brush and ink. Yun Jiao quickly wrote out a long list of rare immortal herbs and handed it over. “If you can gather all of these, I can refine a pill for Uncle Yuan. It might help restore his golden body.”

The two men looked down at the list. Sure enough, it was filled with precious herbs—many of which were rare even in the Immortal Realm. But since they were disciples whose sect’s branches spread across the realm, it wouldn’t be too hard for them to collect them all.

“Thank you, Little Martial Niece Yun.” Yuan Jiang carefully put the list away and said solemnly, “I’ll send word back to the Immortal Realm immediately to gather these materials.”

Yun Jiao nodded and stood up. “Then I’ll go cook. I won’t disturb you two uncles while you rest.”

After speaking, she grabbed the old man and left the guest room, heading toward the kitchen.

Once they were out of the backyard, Yun Jiao turned to him. “All right, what’s the deal this time? You know perfectly well what our Ancestor Master’s temper is like—he might smack them into the wall again at dinner! He’s such a pain to deal with, and then I’ll have to fix the wall. The class leader’s already been sent back, so why keep them here?”

“Come on, girl, let’s go inside first.” Bai Yu glanced around warily, grinning slyly as he pulled her into the kitchen. He even shut the door carefully and stuck a soundproofing talisman on it before proudly taking out a storage pouch and handing it to her, his eyes crinkling with excitement. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Yun Jiao instinctively took it and opened it. A blinding white light shone out, mixed with an intense surge of immortal energy. She squinted and looked closer. “This is… immortal artifacts?”

Inside were more than a dozen various immortal tools, along with pills, spirit fruits, and other rare items that were almost impossible to find in the mortal world.

“Mm-hmm!” The old man nodded vigorously, thrilled as he took things out one by one, explaining eagerly, “Girl, aren’t you about to start cultivating? This one’s for formation practice, this one’s for alchemy, this one can be your life-bound weapon, and this one—you can just throw for fun. And these pills—these are real immortal-grade! I heard a single one can be worth ten years of cultivation!”

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, dumping everything into her hands.

“Where did all this come from?” Yun Jiao was dumbfounded. Even setting aside the pills, she wasn’t exactly a weapon specialist, so apart from the medical tools her Ancestor Master had given her, she didn’t have many magic artifacts at all.

“Those two idiots—uh, I mean, those two immortal uncles gave them to me!” He then launched into a dramatic retelling of how, since last night, because they hadn’t eaten dinner, those two had been sending disciples over with all kinds of excuses—looking for biscuits, pickles, dried fruits, and the like. Their shamelessness had reached new heights. But being the clever man he was, he turned the situation around and “bartered” all these immortal artifacts from them. In short, he and the Ancestor Master had pulled off a perfect foodie-level mixed doubles match.

“Although they emptied all the storage jars in my room, getting these in return still makes it a fair trade.” His face radiated smugness, as if saying: “See? The old man didn’t embarrass you!”

“…” So that’s why he’d kept hinting for her to let them stay—just so he could scam more immortal artifacts from them?

Truly, when it came to scamming people, former charlatan Bai Yu was a professional.

“Oh, right!” He suddenly remembered something and pulled two slips of paper from his robes. “They even wrote me IOUs!”

Yun Jiao: “…”

She felt a bit sorry for the two injured immortals… but still—

“Good job!”

╭()

———————

Yuan Jiang and Wen Qing’s injuries were quite severe; they could barely move, so they had no choice but to rest in the guest rooms at the back hall. Fortunately, they were immortal bodies. After two days, their wounds had mostly healed. They could move freely again, and even use their immortal powers.

Yuan Jiang found it quite miraculous. His little martial niece truly had great skill. Not only were there no side effects, but he actually felt lighter than before. Among their brothers, they all knew some healing techniques, but none had ever specialized in spiritual medicine. The Immortal Realm did have a Medicine King, but their healing methods were entirely different. It was hard to tell which was superior. Still, since this little niece was personally taught by their Master, he had no doubts in choosing to believe in her.

Most importantly, after tens of thousands of years, he had finally seen his Master again. …Though the outcome had been somewhat painful, being able to meet again was still a blessing. Yuan Jiang felt that these past few days were the most peaceful ones they’d had in millennia.

Until… that excellent little martial niece laid out a neat stack of IOUs before them, her expression serious as she said earnestly, “Since you two uncles are already recovered, please settle the medical fees. Thank you.”

Wen Qing: “…”

Yuan Jiang: “…”

(End of Chapter)