novelraw Chapter 890 754: San
Chapter 890 754: San
The monster originally thought having a fast ride was an advantage, so it performed all sorts of fancy displays, racing at top speed. It turned out to be a disadvantage, leaving it completely dumbfounded.
It felt just like shooting itself in the foot.
It even started to feel a bit useless, but in order to get out, it definitely had to defend itself, "Great Immortal, I swear I will never betray or run away…"
"Swear?" Shi Chun chuckled, then said earnestly, "Alright, we have some other matters to attend to, you go back first. I swear, when it's time to leave, I'll definitely take you out."
The monster didn't even have time to be happy. The joy that had just started to show in its eyes was suppressed by the word 'swear' from the other person.
The person didn't refuse it and even agreed to it, yet made it keenly aware of how unreliable verbal promises could be.
Everything was understood without needing words.
Zhu Xiangxin even forgot about picking herbs, wrapping her lips as she quietly watched this scene, seemingly understanding something and noticing that the Master was using tricks to entice, watching as the monster voluntarily walked into the trap.
If swearing doesn't work, she was curious about what other tricks the Master had up his sleeve, did Cultivation have some kind of controlling skill?
The monster truly had no other choice and finally could only plead, "I beg to know how I can get the Great Immortal to take me out?"
Shi Chun crossed his arms, stroking his masked chin, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, then asked, "The outside world is not peaceful. Do you really want to go out?"
The monster replied, "Having enjoyed peace for too long, it's nothing special. I'm willing to exchange this peace for the outside world's unrest."
Shi Chun continued, "Are you really willing to acknowledge me as your master and become my ride?"
The monster hurriedly said, "Swear by my life!"
At this point, Shi Chun finally relented with a sigh, "Since you belong to the noble lineage of the Qilin, I assume you would not go back on your word to disgrace your ancestors. Given your sincerity, I can take you out, but you must agree to one condition of mine."
The monster was extremely delighted, "Don't mention just one condition, even if there were thousands, as long as the Great Immortal says it, it's no problem."
Shi Chun murmured in agreement, "Your Qilin clan has truly been exterminated, and the murderer might still be alive. If he finds out there's a survivor, he might eliminate you completely. As my ride, you might drag me down with you in disaster. Therefore, when we go out, you can no longer say you're from the Qilin lineage. Moreover, your current loose skin doesn't look like a Qilin either, so you might as well say something else. People outside haven't seen a Qilin for a long time and probably won't recognize you."
The monster kept nodding, "Understood, the Great Immortal's consideration is thorough, I'll do exactly as you say. Then, what should I be called?"
This, Shi Chun also didn't know what to say it looked like, so he turned to Zhu Xiangxin and asked, "What do you think?"
Zhu Xiangxin eyes the monster's size, pondering, "Ao, the unruly Ao, how about calling it 'Ao Long'? Just say it's an Ancient Beast, nobody will recognize the origin, those who hear of it will just think they lack knowledge."
"The unruly Ao, Ao Long…" Shi Chun pondered and nodded, thinking the name sounded nice, while inwardly wondering, why couldn't I come up with such a pleasing name after reading so many books at Chao Yue Hall? Then he agreed, "No way to verify, so truth and falsehood becomes indistinguishable. Good, it's Ao Long then."
The monster also nodded, "Great! I'll listen to the Great Immortal… listen to my master. From now on, if someone asks, I'll say I'm 'Ao Long'."
Shi Chun asked, "So what's your real name?"
The monster replied, "My surname is 'Mo' and according to clan rules, my formal name was to be decided upon reaching adulthood by the clan elders, meaning it would be given after reaching adulthood. So, at home, family members call me by my nickname 'Sanlang'."
Shi Chun tried saying, "Mo Sanlang?"
The monster nodded, "Yes."
Shi Chun shook his head, "This surname is not good; it easily makes people associate you with the Mo Qilin."
The monster said, "Then please, Master, give me a name?"
A name? Shi Chun pondered, thinking 'Hei Sanlang' sounded terrible too. He couldn't come up with anything grand, his brain hurting from trying to outdo Zhu Xiangxin's suggestion. Asking Zhu Xiangxin again might make him seem uneducated. Then he thought, forget being grand, why give a ride such a high and mighty name? Trying to outshine the master, are we?
So he blurted out, "Since it's Sanlang, let's not forget our roots, you can be called 'San'."
Zhu Xiangxin's mouth twitched a little, realizing the Master's name was indeed easy to understand.
"San?" The monster also tasted it a bit.
Shi Chun knew the name wasn't great, but he had an excuse, asking knowingly, "Isn't this name low-key?"
The monster suddenly had an epiphany, realizing it was to cover its Qilin identity, immediately nodding repeatedly, "Master put much thought into it, truly a low-key great name. Alright, from now on, I'm 'San'!"
It hopped around in joy.
So that was that, Shi Chun signaled to Zhu Xiangxin, "Don't just stand there, you don't have much time left."
Is it settled? Zhu Xiangxin was indeed momentarily absent-minded, it took her a while to appreciate the Master's recruiting trick this time, waking up to find the Master's methods were surprisingly simple and crude.
She could already imagine what the Master would have the Qilin do once they're out.
Oh well, she couldn't be bothered to think too much, she was more concerned about those rare Spirit Grass, turning back to continue with her own tasks.
The monster, now San, was already jumping about excitedly, but dared not run far, fearing the master would leave it behind and sneak away.
Unable to contain his joy for a moment, he calmed himself slightly and, seeing Zhu Xiangxin busy, felt it improper to just watch. Eagerly, he approached and integrated himself, saying, "Fairy, is there anything I can assist you with?"
Zhu Xiangxin glanced at its hooves, unsure how this untrained creature could be of help.
San understood and immediately ran over to the side, biting hard and pulling out any Spirit Grass he saw. In no time, he brought over a small bunch.
Checking the Spirit Grass, Zhu Xiangxin felt a pang of distress. Using fangs to pull them out certainly wasn't useful; some that needed roots had their stems snapped off. She immediately waved her hand, saying, "Alright, alright, you don't understand the herbs. I'll handle it myself."
San felt secretly discouraged, realizing that he truly was a useless creature that knew nothing. Fortunately, his master was kind and still agreed to take him out.
Although the task wasn't done well, he still managed to maintain a close relationship. Seeing Zhu Xiangxin place the harvested Spirit Grass into the Qiankun Bag, he immediately spoke warmly, "Is this a Qiankun Bag? I haven't seen one in many years. I remember when I was a child, I often crawled inside to play hide and seek."
"..."
Crawling inside the Qiankun Bag to play hide and seek? Both Shi Chun and Zhu Xiangxin turned their heads in unison to stare at San, both showing eyes full of doubt, suspecting that this fellow was spouting nothing but lies.
Inside the Qiankun Bag, the inability to breathe was secondary; the most important consequence was the stability it maintained.
Once something was placed in the bag, no matter how much it fought or tumbled about, the contents would remain stable, unaffected by anything, and nothing you put in would end up damaged from being jostled around.
And the price of this stability was death, as it would suppress the motions of living beings inside, including stopping their heartbeat and other such functions. In short, living things placed inside the Qiankun Bag would be killed.
Of course, there were advantages and disadvantages; items placed inside wouldn't spoil easily.
How could the two not doubt San's words? If it really were so unreliable, Shi Chun would seriously have to reconsider taking it out of here.
Thus, Shi Chun asked, "San, you say you can enter the Qiankun Bag?"
San initially nodded. Then, reading something from the skeptical looks of the two, he hurriedly explained, "Master, ordinary living beings might be killed upon entering the Qiankun Bag. However, our Qilin tribe does not belong to the Yin Yang Five Elements, so we aren't subject to this rule. Therefore, I can safely enter and exit the Qiankun Bag."
Upon hearing this, the surprised Zhu Xiangxin immediately patted the Qiankun Bag hanging at her waist and asked, "Then dare you try it?"
Seeing that the two had never witnessed it before, San made a loud sneeze, showing off by saying, "Why wouldn't I dare? Come on!"
Zhu Xiangxin looked towards Shi Chun, the meaning clear: if it dies, don't blame me.
Shi Chun nodded in approval, thinking that if it really did die, it would have been this creature's own fault.
Zhu Xiangxin took a deep breath and was unceremonious. She cast a skill with a sweep of her sleeve, directly sucking San into the Qiankun Bag.
After a brief internal check, she looked up in amazement, exclaiming, "Master, it's indeed unharmed."
Curious, Shi Chun naturally wanted to see it for himself and immediately signaled to release it.
Quickly, San was released and then was again directly sucked into the Qiankun Bag by Shi Chun.
Seeing it inside the Qiankun Bag, acting as if nothing was wrong, and leisurely wandering around, Shi Chun clicked his tongue in wonder and waved his hand to summon him out once more.
Before San could get smug, he was waved back into the Qiankun Bracelet for a test, the result being the same as in the Qiankun Bag, where he was already getting close to the items inside.
From the looks of it, he seemed to be sniffing around or perhaps just had a penchant for nosing into private matters.
Shi Chun clicked his tongue in amazement once more, his eyes gleaming. He was increasingly convinced that he truly had picked up a Qilin, and a rare one at that, thinking it could fetch quite a sum of money.
Importantly, it had even become his mount.
After San was released, noticing he had found something to excite his master, he finally raised his head and chest formally.
And Shi Chun was indeed overjoyed. To be able to run so fast and still fit inside the Qiankun Bag to be carried around—it truly was incredibly convenient. This time, he had indeed found a treasure!
Unable to resist, he went over to stroke San's mane, feeling somewhat reluctant to let go, his face smiling with wrinkles that just wouldn't smooth out.
San felt his goodwill and grinned, showing a mouthful of fangs in response.
The man and his mount in this picturesque place were quite harmonious.
After letting go, Shi Chun immediately turned to Zhu Xiangxin and said, "Alright, let's go back."
He was eager to leave, anxious to take San out, afraid that if they delayed, something might happen, like encountering the Demon Path.
Previously, San was the one in a hurry to leave, but now it was him who was in a rush.
Zhu Xiangxin naturally didn't want to leave so soon, but with the Master's authority here, she couldn't make the decisions and could only obediently comply.
Before leaving, Shi Chun patted San's scaly belly, saying, "We're about to head out; we might face some danger. Are you sure you won't regret it?"
San enthusiastically pawed the ground, saying, "I am willing to follow my master into any danger, with no regrets at all!"
Slap! Shi Chun gave another strong pat, "Good, just for those words, if I ever find out who destroyed your entire clan, I'll definitely help you avenge them!"