Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 33 Father
Anuo’s matter is indeed the top priority at the moment.

The four of them returned to Shen's Trading Company, and Master Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice hid in the west wing courtyard again and did not come out.

Lu Xingzhou ignored An Nuo's struggles and forced her onto the bed, examining her from head to toe. "Why are you struggling? You're just a piece of glutinous rice ball. I've been the one bathing you since you were little!"

Ah Nuo felt aggrieved, wanting to say that she was ten years old now, not six as she looked... This master was smart in every way, but was always blinded by appearances. Just like Sister Yu, you knew she was more than fourteen or fifteen, maybe even an old woman, but you still couldn't help but admire her.

Silly.

Forget it, there seems to be no difference between ten years old and six years old.

Lu Xingzhou had no idea what the little brat was thinking. He checked it seriously with a stern face, but his brows furrowed even deeper.

He still couldn't find any problems. He wondered if the so-called congenital disease had been cured by the elixir just now, or if it was so hidden that his level of skill couldn't detect it.

I hope it's the former. If it's the latter, it's still a huge hidden danger.

Lu Xingzhou has always known that Anuo is very special. Not to mention that she has memories since she was in swaddling clothes, what child doesn't grow up by eating normal food, but has to take pills to start growing rapidly?

There is only one reason for this phenomenon, that is, the energy contained in ordinary food is insignificant to An Nuo and cannot provide what she needs for growth. Only high-energy pills can do that.

In other words, Annuo's innate bloodline is extremely special and he is most likely not human.

But no matter how Lu Xingzhou and the old Taoist priest investigated, and even Yuan Muyu had investigated, they still concluded that she was human, not a demon. Furthermore, there was no obstacle for Anuo to practice human cultivation techniques, and there was no difference in cultivation between demons and humans.

After all, this is a world of cultivating immortals, and it is possible that immortals exist in the world. It is entirely possible to assume that Anuo is of immortal bloodline, and all her peculiarities can be explained. Lu Xingzhou has not been bothered by this matter over the years.

He did secretly investigate Anuo's biological parents, but unfortunately he found nothing after many years and finally gave up.

In short, she will have problems. Although it is unexpected, it will not feel strange when it really happens.

Over the past few years, An Nuo has participated in many battles in Yama Palace. It's not because Yama Palace is short of manpower, but mainly for her combat experience. Yuan Muyu believes that actual combat is always the most important part of cultivation, and Lu Xingzhou agrees with her.

So not only An Nuo, but also Lu Xingzhou secretly participated in many actual battles. However, Lu Xingzhou was mainly the planner, and most people had never seen him. But An Nuo was often sent out to do the dirty work, earning her the nickname "Ghost Boy" that she hated.

There have been battles against demons, and there has been quite a bit of demon blood and demonic energy on Anuo's body, but there has never been any problem.

So why did something go wrong today?
Or maybe this problem has nothing to do with the demon blood, and it just happened to happen at that time, which was an accident... But the demon's attitude doesn't seem to be unrelated...

Is that because Anuo has never encountered a demon above the fourth level before?
But what was so special about the fourth rank? After all, the fourth rank was only the middle third rank, not even breaking through the watershed of the upper third rank, not even qualified to be included in the Demon Suppression Bureau's "Heroes List" or "Demon List"... Was there any qualitative difference between it and the fifth and sixth ranks that An Nuo had encountered before?

Or was it... the fourth-grade demon blood suppressing An Nuo's current fifth-grade? Thinking back carefully, it seemed that An Nuo had never jumped levels in his previous fights against demons.

The demon who was suppressed by the level could also feel Anuo's peculiarity, so the demon showed surprise.

This is the only explanation that can be thought of at the moment, but it may not be correct and needs to be verified.

Ah Nuo opened her bright eyes and looked at Lu Xingzhou sitting beside the bed, frowning and thinking. Suddenly, she whispered, "Master..."

Lu Xingzhou came to his senses and said "hmm".

"I'm sorry, I made it so you still can't stand up."

"Why are you talking about this again?" Lu Xingzhou rubbed her head. "If it weren't for you, Master alone wouldn't be able to get this thing. This is ours. Does it make any difference whether you use it or I use it?"

"Master has other helpers now, so we can make do without An Nuo."

"Don't be ridiculous. How can others compare to you?"

"But...A Nuo wants Master to stand up."

Lu Xingzhou leaned over and pecked her on the cheek, saying softly, "Master will stand up... You've fought a lot today, and something went wrong. Pills only treat illnesses, not your fatigue. Get some sleep first, and don't overthink it. Maybe when you open your eyes, Master will have stood up."

"...You're using the same rhetoric from a few years ago to coax me."

"In my eyes, you will always be that little ball that I need to coax to sleep."

Ah Nuo looked at him with sparkling eyes. After a long while, she bit her lower lip and said, "You fed me medicine in public, aren't you afraid of being exposed?"

"There is indeed a problem... Huo Yu died here, and the elixir disappeared. I just happened to take out the elixir to cure you. If the Huo family came here one after another, it would be inappropriate. But at that time, the only thing in Master's mind was how to cure you, and he couldn't think about all these other things at all..." Lu Xingzhou touched her face: "So, little thing, don't get hurt. If you get hurt, Master will be in trouble too."

Master is not only in trouble, he almost doesn't look like the same person anymore.

Ah Nuo had only seen Lu Xingzhou act so foolishly once in his life, and that was when he completely overestimated his own abilities and attempted to assassinate the old Taoist priest. He succeeded, but if Yuan Muyu hadn't arrived, the blood splatter would have killed Lu Xingzhou. He hadn't considered the possibility of being killed in return.

This was the second time he had lost his mind, and both times it was for her.

Ah Nuo felt very uncomfortable and whispered, "Master...this will cause trouble..."

"It's nothing serious... If you talk to us about your illness, bystanders from a distance won't understand. Only Shen Tang, Dugu Qingli and Chen Zhangsi will know. Shen Tang and the others are not a problem, I will try to get compensation from Chen Zhangsi... If it doesn't work, we'll just run away." An Nuo couldn't help but smile.

In fact, he had originally planned to leave. All his previous plans were to lure the Huo family over. Now that Huo Yu's entire army was annihilated here, the Huo family would have to be fools to line up to send him away like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather. If the Huo family came to investigate Huo Yu's death again, they would definitely be a high-level force, and there would be no way to plan it.

If Lu Xingzhou still wants to ask the Huo family for medicine, he must set up another plan and start from scratch. It is impossible to continue to choose Xiazhou.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll handle it. It's none of your business." Lu Xingzhou helped her pull up the quilt. "This time, I've thought about it and it might be due to the demon's level suppression. From now on, when you see a demon with a higher level of cultivation than you, you should retreat and stay away from it. As for whether this is the specific reason, I will try to find out."

"Am I a demon then?"

"You are an immortal." Lu Xingzhou rubbed her face again: "It is not surprising that immortals and demons confront each other and some of them counteract each other."

Ah Nuo's round face finally revealed a relieved smile: "Then I'll go to sleep!"

Seeing An Nuo fall asleep relaxedly, Lu Xingzhou straightened her quilt again and sat beside the bed, watching over her motionlessly.

He was afraid that something might go wrong again in the middle of the night, so he didn't dare leave.

Until the dawn broke, and the faint crowing of roosters could be heard in the distance. Seeing An Nuo smacking her lips as if she was about to wake up, Lu Xingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, and then carefully pushed the wheelchair away, not letting the little girl know that he had stayed there all night.

As soon as I left Anuo's little house, Anuo on the bed opened her eyes. The little girl sniffed, turned her head and lay on the pillow, sobbing.

No matter what, the master's leg medicine was gone, and there were more complications, all because of her. An Nuo had never hated herself so much, and she didn't make any mistakes at the last minute.

But the master didn't even have the thought of blaming her. Instead, he protected her gently, which made Anuo want to cry even more.

The master is never a master, he is a father.

Lu Xingzhou didn't know the little girl was crying secretly. In his opinion, this girl was very strong and well-behaved, and she had never cried before...

He walked out the door and headed straight for the Alchemy Department.

Sure enough, the lights in the Alchemy Department were on, and Chen Jinnian had not slept all night, performing an autopsy and writing a report.

Chen Jinnian was not surprised to hear that Lu Xingzhou was coming to visit: "Let him in."

A subordinate brought Lu Xingzhou in. Chen Jinnian dismissed his attendants, looked at Lu Xingzhou for a while, and sighed: "I know what you want to say... Is Dan from the Huo family?"

Lu Xingzhou nodded readily: "Yes."

Chen Jinnian twirled his beard absentmindedly, stunned for a long time before saying, "Strange! This kind of pill that can snatch a life from the hands of the King of Hell has never appeared in the world. Where did the Huo family get it... If this thing were to be known by the royal family and the Holy Land..."

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "So now that Director Chen knows about this, he should be careful not to let it slip, otherwise the Huo family will probably kill him."

Chen Jinnian was speechless: "So you are sure I wouldn't dare to spread it, so you dare to use it in front of me?"

"No, I was really confused. I really didn't have the mind to think about anything else at that time. But thinking about it later, I think it would be best to tell Chen Zhangshi openly."

Chen Jinnian hesitated for a while, then sighed and said, "It seems that you are really Huo Shang. You know all the secrets of the Huo family."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Chen Jinnian couldn't help himself after all, and lowered his voice and said, "I don't care about your family's affairs, but can I have the recipe for the pill..."

"Let alone Huo Shang, Huo Yu wouldn't know the recipe either. But I've handled it before... Although I can't analyze it specifically, the main ingredients should be these..." Lu Xingzhou wrote down a few herbs on paper very straightforwardly. He knew that for an alchemist like Chen Jinnian, this was the only thing he really cared about.

But unfortunately, no matter how much Chen Jinnian studies, he can only improve his understanding of medicine preparation a little bit, and it is impossible for him to truly achieve the effect of the Huo family's elixir.

After all, the real focus of the elixir lies in the furnace, not the recipe itself.

Chen Jinnian had no idea about this. He was satisfied with just a few main ingredients. This meant that if he tried more, he might be able to make the perfect combination.

The old man stared intently at the note in his hand, his mind already wandering. "Alright, I won't tell you about this... If anyone asks about the details, I'll say your apprentice was attacked by demonic energy and became ill. You're an alchemist yourself, and with my guidance, you'll naturally handle it easily."

Lu Xingzhou sighed and bowed, "Thank you very much, Director Chen."

"No need to thank me." Chen Jinnian looked away from the paper, sized him up, and sighed, "Who wouldn't feel the love a mother feels for her child?... My little granddaughter is about the same age as your disciple."

----

PS: I'm tired of seeing the noise, I'll update sooner. Can you please stop making noise every time something happens in a serialized article? Of course Lu made a mistake in this matter, but it was just to show how he lost his composure and his usual composure when faced with the life and death of his "daughter", highlighting his extreme care and affection for An Nuo.

Honestly, if anything happened to my family, I would react more severely.

(End of this chapter)