Chapter 196 – Resting Before Fighting (1/2)

The sun had fallen, and the moon had risen. Moonlight flooded the hole, illuminating the two people drinking together. One was bald with a pink cloak, while the other was like a tower.

Alcohol was the best item for bringing people closer, but it required a lot of it.

Li Qingshan drank a lot of it. As he sat in the grain and smelled the natural fragrance of it, he dropped his guard.

Drinking with the simple-minded Milliped was much more satisfying than any of the banquets he had attended in the past. There was no scheming, no disputes over interests. They ate for the sake of eating and drank for the sake of drinking.

With over a hundred jars of alcohol down, both of their bellies bulged up, while their eyes became hazy from the influence of alcohol.

Milliped’s shiny, bald head became even more dazzling under the moonlight. Li Qingshan could not help but extend his hand over and rub it. “You’re not bad. You have no bad intentions, no, you don’t have any intentions at all.”

Milliped smiled foolishly. “You’re very good too. You coming underground?”

Li Qingshan shook his head in an exaggerated manner. “Nah, nah. I still have things to do. If you want to eat, feel free to look for me. I welcome you to!”

Milliped was originally rather disappointed by his reply, but after hearing Li Qingshan’s words, he agreed profusely. Suddenly, his vision grew hazy, and he fell backwards, producing a thunderous snore.

Li Qingshan cursed jokingly, “All you do is eat and sleep. Nothing else bothers you. What an envious life.” He raised his head and yawned. He settled himself into the golden millet, and the pile collapsed, covering most of his body like a great big blanket. He fell asleep as well.

Xiao An came down and tidied up the leftovers. She crouched at the entrance of the hole to watch the night.

Before he knew it, Li Qingshan discovered that he had turned back into a child. He had a pair of small hands and feet. He wore a garment that had been patched up several times as he ran through the boundless plains, chasing the sun in the sky.

His sweat poured down, but he did not wipe it away. His feet were pierced by sharp stones, but he ignored them. Stumbling, he rolled on the ground before climbing back to his feet. He did not stop. He stared straight at the sun in the sky.

A great green mountain blocked his path. He did not stop, charging right into the mountain, but it was not as tough as he imagined it to be. An extremely large ox’s head extended over from one side of the mountain. It looked at him with its moist, ox eyes and said with a grand voice, “What’re you hurrying for? It’s not like the sun will run away.”

The moon was replaced by the sun. The warm sun of noon hung in the sky lazily, casting its warm gaze into the hole.

Li Qingshan opened his eyes and yawned. He discovered that Milliped was still sleeping. Who knows when he would wake up. He leapt out of the hole and felt that his mind was particularly clear. The autumn colours of the distant mountains were pleasant. It was a refreshing sight.

He felt like it had been a very long time since he had been so relaxed. Ever since he arrived in the dangerous place of Jiaping, there were enemies and danger around every corner. All he could do was constantly cultivate and breakthrough. Even when he slept, he was thinking about how he could increase his cultivation and deal with his enemies.

His heart had always been tense. Even he himself had failed to realise just how much fatigue it had accumulated. Only after a hearty session of drinking and a good dream did his heart finally loosen up.

He thought about the dream from the night before and smiled. He muttered to himself, “Yeah, what am I hurrying for?” He reached into the depths of his hundred treasures pouch and pulled out his forgotten flute.

The sound of the flute echoed through the autumn mountains. Milliped opened his eyes, while Xiao An listened on quietly.

From that day onwards, Xiao An discovered that Li Qingshan smiled much more, and he played the flute much more. He would even get her to teach him penmanship a lot of the time, or he would take her around on idle strolls in the forests of fallen leaves.

As he strolled, he would suddenly stop and look at Xiao An solemnly. Xiao An would immediately grow nervous. She would ball her fists and think, Here it comes!

Li Qingshan’s lips rapidly opened and closed, “Eating grape without spitting out grape skin. But spitting out grape skin without eating grapes1.”

Xiao An stammered in a hurry, “Eat- not eat grapes without eating grape skin. Spitting out grape skin… without eating grapes.”

This was what Li Qingshan came up with to teach her how to talk. He called it the home education of ‘Qingshan teaches you fluent speech’. But right now, Li Qingshan was completely absorbed by how cute she was with her bright red face as she struggled with the tongue twister.

He extended his hand to pinch her cheek. “Why don’t you keep laughing over my horrible penmanship?”

Xiao An turned her head in a fuming manner, dodging his hand, but she was in an extremely good mood. Although she did not want to interfere with his cultivation, she also desired his care. She did not want him to be distant from her.

In reality, Li Qingshan had never stopped cultivating. He continued to eat pills everyday, but he lost most of his tension. No matter what he did, he focused on staying relaxed. If he spent every single day on the edge, then it would be easy for him to spiral once something actually important came up. It would make him inflexible.

And, his responsibility was not just to protect her.

Unknowingly, over a month had passed.

All of his Qi Gathering pills were gone now, while Li Qingshan’s daemon qi had reached an unprecedented level, but Qian Rongzhi had yet to contact him. However, he was not worried. He began to eat the Hundred Grasses pills.

The first snow of the year arrived very early. When the first flake of snow fell onto Li Qingshan’s nose, he was staring greedily at Milliped, while Milliped stared nervously at Xiao An, or should you say, the dice jar in Xiao An’s hands.

A few alcohol jars were turned upside down, forming a table with bowls of alcohol atop it.

Li Qingshan and Milliped sat facing each other, while Xiao An sat to the side as the dealer.

Xiao An rolled up her sleeves and revealed her slender arms, lifting the dice jar while smiling.

Li Qingshan smiled. “Fifteen! That’s big! Drink!” He grabbed a handful of peanuts from the piles of food beside him, peeled their shells, and tossed them into his mouth.

Milliped chuckled. He lifted up a bowl and drank it all. Compared to when Li Qingshan first saw him, he was much livelier and slightly plumper.