Chapter 27:
Foundation Establishment
THE TIGER STOOD before the bed and silently bared his fangs at the approaching Mo Tianliao. The audacity! How dare he try to take liberties with Shizun! He’s got a death wish!
Mo Tianliao snapped back to his senses and retracted his hand. Silently watching the captivating man sleeping on the bed, he slowly clenched his fists under his sleeves until the veins bulged, before just as slowly releasing them. Then he turned and left, dragging the tiger along with him, as if nothing had happened.
✦ ✦ ✦
While the Three Mulberry Soul-Condensing Fruit envelops a divine soul, the damaged soul will be difficult to control, and the afflicted may fall asleep for many days.
Mo Tianliao removed the jade slip on heaven-grade spiritual fruits from his forehead and lowered his gaze. Hard to control, huh?
Mo Tianliao didn’t disturb his master’s “seclusion.” Instead he focused on cultivating on the back mountain.
He chopped down a Fruitscent Tree. Bending the wood, he drilled holes in it with his wood energy and burned through it with his woodfire like he was threading a needle, releasing the fruity aroma to its fullest extent. He caught a spiritual rock sheep, then slaughtered and skinned it before setting it up to grill over the fire.
Rock sheep often frequented the mountain cliffs, where they consumed only spiritual herbs with spiritual energy. As such, their meat was fresh and delicious, with no gamey smell. The tender meat had a layer of fat on the outside which melted and dripped onto the fire, sizzling as it grilled.
Mo Tianliao slowly brushed on a layer of sauce. Looking at the white horn in his hand, he took out a small carving knife and chiseled out a beautiful face with delicate eyebrows, thinly pursed lips, and eyes that were barely closed. The carving knife paused over the eyelids, and he wondered if the cold eyes underneath were as black as ink or as light as glass.
“Hey, Shidi! Grilling meat, are we?” An enthusiastic voice from behind him pulled him back from his daydreams.
Menghu had been training nearby, but the aroma of grilled meat kept distracting him from it. He’d given up and come looking for the source of this temptation, only to find his junior spacing out by the fire.
“Shixiong.” Mo Tianliao greeted him and put away the horn in his hand.
“Nice cooking skills.” Menghu squeezed in beside Mo Tianliao and looked at the grilling meat, slick with dripping oil. “Looks like you’ve been diligently practicing with the cultivation manual that Shizun gave you.”
“Did you have to do the same thing?” Mo Tianliao looked at him, remembering that the juniors had said that Menghu also chopped trees and built fires when he first joined the sect.
Menghu gave a dry cough. “My elemental attribute is purely fire, so Shizun had me burn things as part of my training. I figured…since I was burning things anyway, I might as well grill something edible…” His voice grew smaller and smaller as he spoke. Their master had soon discovered his grilling escapades and forced him to deliver a portion of the cooked food to him every day, to “elevate his training progress.” He’d clearly enjoyed this cultivation method enough to add the clause for grilling meat into the manual before he gave it to his junior.
Mo Tianliao raised an eyebrow. Menghu didn’t admit it in so many words, but he could guess what had happened. Shaking his head with a wry smile, he sliced some of the grilled meat onto a leaf.
“Oh, no need to stand on ceremony with me. I’m not Shizun.” Menghu glanced at the meat slices. They were thinner than he preferred.
Ignoring him, Mo Tianliao wrapped the meat in the leaf and set it aside. He then handed his senior a cleaver, his message clear: They aren’t for you; if you want some, slice it yourself. Resigned, Menghu took it and hacked off a leg to gnaw on.
Mo Tianliao ate a few slices and watched his senior wolfing down the meat, his mouth covered in grease. “Shixiong, how was Shizun’s divine soul damaged?” he asked casually.
“Hm?” Menghu looked up and blinked, then swallowed the meat and wiped his greasy lips. “Uh, I don’t know either. It was already damaged when I joined the sect. The sect leader has sought all sorts of precious cures for him, but none have ever worked.” Menghu’s head drooped in dejection.
“Take your time eating, Shixiong. I’ll take this to Shizun.” Mo Tianliao stood up and patted his senior on the head. “If you’re free any time soon, could you come to the back mountain to give me some pointers?”
Menghu nodded. “Sure. Wait for me here tomorrow. Same time.” It was his responsibility to guide his junior, after all.
After Mo Tianliao had left him to gnaw on the mutton leg for a while, Menghu belatedly realized that his junior had patted him on his head earlier! Such disrespect! He chomped down hard on the meat. He’d have to teach him a lesson tomorrow.
Arriving at Qingning Palace, Mo Tianliao found his master sitting in the courtyard basking in the sun. His long hair had reverted to its normal inky black color.
Feigning ignorance, Mo Tianliao sat by the rocking chair with a smile and opened the leaf. He’d been channeling fire energy from his palm, so the meat was still hot and crispy.
“I grilled some mutton earlier. Please try it, Shizun,” Mo Tianliao said gently as he offered the leaf to Qingtong.
The beautiful, narrowed eyes opened to look at the appetizing meat. “I’m long past the need for food.”
Mo Tianliao smiled and didn’t push him further. He took out a handful of glass beads. “I carved these the other day for practice. I hope you like them.”
“What is this supposed to mean?” His long, slender fingers brushed those crystalline beads, then paused. Who in the world gave their shizun glass beads?
“No particular meaning. I just thought they were pretty, and I didn’t know who else to give them to.” He played with the beads in his palm for a moment, then picked one up and flicked it, sending it rolling around the bamboo pavilion with a series of crisp clinking sounds.
Qingtong’s slender hands, resting on his lap, instantly gripped his robe. He averted his gaze, but his hands remained clenched in response to the sound the bead was making. Mo Tianliao’s heart ached at the sight. He picked up the bead, wiped it off, and placed all of them into Qingtong’s palm.
“I’m going to cultivate now.” Mo Tianliao said nothing more and left.
Once he was out of sight, Qingtong opened his hand. The beads clinked gently in his palm. He pushed them around with a slender finger and pursed his lips. “I don’t like the gamey smell of mutton…”