Chapter 65: Relying on Each Other
Lin Jiang agreed to Zhang Ruifang's request. He didn't bring Cao Ying along and quickly cleaned up the battlefield. Then, he led Zhang Ruifang deep into the forest and set up a defensive formation. He brought a basin of clean water and gently wiped Zhang Ruifang's face.
"Taoist Friend Lin, I'm about to die. I have something I want to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Were you Jiang Lin from South City Market back then?"
"No, I wasn't."
"Don't lie to me. Cao Yang has a strong intuition and talent for this. He saw you several times before, and the first time he saw you in West City, he concluded that you were Jiang Lin."
"And just then, it was confirmed. You used the Explosive Element Technique from the Overlord Scroll. To fully unleash the power of the Qi Refining Period on the Building Foundation Period, you must sacrifice a hundred years of life span. Just now, you've consumed at least three hundred years of life span."
"I didn't mean to look for your secrets. Everyone has their own secrets. It's just that, before dying, I wanted to ask you."
"You guessed right, I am Jiang Lin. I'm sorry, but I have a necessary secret, so I kept it from you."
Lin Jiang said, since Zhang Ruifang had already figured it out, he didn't hide it anymore. Besides, Zhang Ruifang's condition was getting weaker, she couldn't live much longer.
"That's great, I envy you for being able to live this long."
Zhang Ruifang said, she knew Lin Jiang had been in South City Market for over twenty years, and then almost thirty years had passed. He should be almost a hundred years old, but still looked so young.
"Living a long time also comes with worries."
Lin Jiang said, his worry was always changing his identity, afraid of being recognized. Cao Yang does have that darn intuition, so he'll have to be even more careful in the future.
"It's a envy-inducing worry, Taoist Friend Lin, can I ask you for one more thing?"
"You said."
"Take care of Cao Ying for me, she no longer has any family. She has really liked you for over a year now."
"Why not give her to Cao Yang or your family?"
"No, Cao Yang doesn't have any close family left. The remaining ones are all ambitious and untrustworthy. If we give Cao Ying to them, it will end badly for her, just like it would in my family."
"Okay, I promise."
Lin Jiang said he needed to change his identity when he returned. He had always been alone, and this new role, with a little girl by his side, would make his character more rounded and realistic.
"Thank you, Taoist Friend Lin, you are a good person."
"No, in my hometown, calling someone a good person is an insult."
Lin Jiang waved his hand, saying not to give him a 'good person' card. It sounded like an insult to him.
Zhang Ruifang didn't understand the meaning and continued, "After I die, just bury me anywhere, don't tell Cao Ying. Let her have fewer worries in this world. In my storage bag, there is information about the Dark Night Organization, a list that Cao Yang and I compiled, secret codes for meetings, and some locations. But all of these may no longer be valid, I don't know."
You take these, be careful of the Dark Night Organization in the future. The Dark Night Organization is very powerful, we have encountered many powerful people. I don't know who is behind it, but if your secret is exposed, the Dark Night Organization will not let you go…
Zhang Ruifang talked a lot, her voice getting smaller and smaller, until finally there was no breath left. Lin Jiang let out a long sigh, found a beautiful hilltop, and buried Zhang Ruifang there.
Afterward, Lin Jiang went to pick up Cao Ying. Without waking her up, he flew away on a Small Shadiao. He didn't care about the rented house under Ruiyang Mountain anymore.
Along the way, Lin Jiang checked Big Shadiao's injuries. Its wings were injured and broken by Chen Jianhong. Lin Jiang helped mend its bones and wrapped them in bandages. It would need some time to heal.
Back in Yunzhong City, Lin Jiang secluded himself, closing his doors and not going out. He planned to hide for a while longer.
Lin Jiang spent a day counting his gains from this time. He obtained a total of ten storage bags, nine belonged to Dark Night Organization assassins, and one belonged to Zhang Ruifang.
The assassins in the Qi Refining Period were poor. They only had less than nine thousand spirit stones in five storage bags, along with some flying swords and such. The total value was just over twenty thousand.
The storage bags of the Building Foundation Period were much more abundant. Chen Jianhong's storage bag alone had over thirty thousand spirit stones. In total, the spirit stone count exceeded seventy thousand, and with other items, the value exceeded one hundred and twenty thousand.
Zhang Ruifang's storage bag didn't have much money, less than two thousand spirit stones. However, it had many miscellaneous items, especially the daggers they used, which were of extremely high quality, all top-grade spirit weapons.
"Eighty thousand spirit stones, a pile of things, there are more than ten spiritual tools just for the Building Foundation Period."
Lin Jiang looked at the pile of items and felt worried. He couldn't use these things himself right now. But if he sold them in the black market, Lin Jiang also felt it wouldn't be safe.
He, who was in the Qi Refining Period, could explain selling one or two spiritual tools, like saying they were passed down from his ancestors. But with more than ten, even a fool could see that there was a problem.
These things were destined to gather dust in Lin Jiang's storage bag. Until he was completely out of money, Lin Jiang wouldn't sell them. He sighed in regret.
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"Big bird, big bird, do you know where my mom is?"
"Big bird, you must know, right? Please tell me where my mom is, okay?"
One month later, Cao Ying tugged at Big Shadiao's feathers and softly asked by its ear. Big Shadiao ignored it, lying on the ground sunbathing alone. It had almost healed from its injury, and after that, it just wanted to soar in the sky.
Lin Jiang looked at Cao Ying inside the house, his face full of heartache. In the first ten days after coming back, Cao Ying was noisy and restless, crying with tears on her face every day. Lin Jiang tried his best, but couldn't comfort her.
Tired from crying and being noisy, she fell asleep. But then she woke up again, crying and being noisy. Lin Jiang also followed her, he had no choice.
Having lived two lifetimes and nearly two hundred years, he never had children and had no experience of taking care of them. Luckily, Cao Ying was almost four years old, so he didn't have to deal with changing diapers and cleaning up after her. Otherwise, Lin Jiang would go crazy himself.
"Little Ying, come and have your meal."
Lin Jiang watched for a while and called Cao Ying to come and eat.
When he was alone, it was simple. He either ate out or had some jerky or even took the occasional Inedia Pill. He only cooked when he felt like it.
But Cao Ying was too young. Lin Jiang couldn't bear to let her take Inedia Pills. Jerky and other dry food were fine as snacks, but not to be eaten regularly. So Lin Jiang found ways to cook for her.
The delicious food somewhat comforted Cao Ying's young heart.
"Uncle, when are you going to take me to find my mother?"
"When you grow as tall as Uncle, then I will take you to find your mother. She is far away, working. She needs to earn money to buy you meat to eat and beautiful clothes to wear."
"Then I won't eat meat anymore, I won't wear pretty clothes anymore, can Mommy come back immediately?"
"No, Little Ying must behave, eat a full meal every day, stop crying, only then can you grow tall. When you grow tall, your mom will come back."
Lin Jiang continued his good-intentioned lies. It was too cruel for her to accept the concept of her parents' death at such a young age, so Lin Jiang decided to deceive her.
Cao Ying couldn't accept this explanation, but she had no choice. No matter how much she cried or how much she complained, her mother wouldn't appear. She was helpless.
After finishing their meal, Lin Jiang told her to go play with Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao. Lin Jiang had something to do himself; he had to draw symbols and show the life of an ordinary independent cultivator.
The only difference was that Lin Jiang no longer set up a stall, but sold spiritual talismans to small shops. Not just one shop, but he changed his identity and sold to three different shops so that people wouldn't get suspicious of his production.
"For now, I have enough spirit stones and my identity is temporarily secure. Next, I will advance to the Qi Refining stage and then find a way to build a foundation. In the cultivation world, if you don't build a foundation, there won't be any rights."
When he had free time, Lin Jiang planned his life again. The Qi Refining Period was really difficult, the lowest level of the cultivation society. If he could build a foundation, it wouldn't be so troublesome.
The Building Foundation Period could last for two hundred years. He could lie and say he was a genius who built a foundation in his thirties or forties, so he wouldn't have to change his identity for over a hundred years.
Furthermore, when the Building Foundation Period becomes stronger, it will not be so passive anymore. Most places in Yun State can be explored, without always staying in Yunzhong City. Even though Yunzhong City is big, after living there for decades Lin Jiang also wanted to go out and see other places.
