Chapter 4: The Little One and the Little Bean Sprout

“Hey, you're back there, hurry up and make a sound.”

Jiang Xie called over his shoulder.

After a long moment, there was no response.

He stopped walking and was just about to turn around.

Smack!

Someone suddenly slammed into his back.

Oh?

Had this little girl really thrown herself into his arms?

Jiang Xie laughed inwardly.

She had been so haughty just a moment ago, and now she had already softened up.

But sorry, that would not work.

Was Young Master Jiang really so easy to win over?

With that thought in mind, Jiang Xie curled his lips into a grin, spun around, and without even looking, lifted the chin of the person behind him.

With a wicked smile, he said, “Little one, trying to seduce me? Not a chance.”

“Young Master, it is me.”

Old Wu looked at Jiang Xie with a face full of admiration, while Jiang Xie still had one hand under his chin.

The two of them stared at each other with wide eyes.

Damn it!

Jiang Xie’s face darkened, and his whole body went stiff.

The moment he came back to himself, he snatched his hand back with lightning speed, then even took out a handkerchief and wiped it.

His face was full of disgust.

“My apologies. Old Wu leaned his head over on his own just now. I was only reaching out to scratch my hair.”

Jiang Xie was absolutely not going to admit that this was his own mistake.

He had to preserve his image.

If word got out, people who did not know better might think he was into men.

“Young Master, but you were clearly the one—”

“What about me? I did not do anything just now.” Jiang Xie shot him a vicious glare.

“Oh...” Old Wu looked deeply aggrieved, as though he had been wronged beyond measure.

“Really now, how did you even manage to run into me?” Jiang Xie asked with a puzzled expression.

How could anyone lose focus that badly?

Old Wu might not have been among the absolute strongest, but he was unquestionably a true expert and yet he had somehow walked straight into Jiang Xie.

That was far too unreasonable.

Old Wu gave an awkward grin. “Well... I was just wondering when this month’s spirit stones would be handed out...”

Jiang Xie raised a brow in surprise.

“Only a few days of the month have passed. All right, tell me. What is your excuse this time?

“Were you injured internally while fighting a powerful enemy? Or did you rescue a fallen girl while carrying out a mission? Or perhaps your child at home needs to buy pills for cultivation?”

With Jiang Xie exposing him on the spot, Old Wu’s face flushed in embarrassment.

“No, no, none of those...”

He waved his hands frantically, trying to show that he was not that kind of person.

Then he added, “I just want a drink...”

“A drink? Then why not just rob someone? You are part of the demonic path, are you not?”

“Uh... that wine is from the Brewing Manor... you cannot just rob them...”

The Brewing Manor?

Jiang Xie searched through his memories for the relevant information.

A moment later, he finally understood.

The Brewing Manor was also a major power, with many experts among them.

Its disciples all pursued the Dao through wine.

Because of that, they were highly accomplished in the art of brewing, and the wine they produced was entirely different from ordinary liquor.

It was said that their wine could increase one’s cultivation, and that drinking it even gave one a chance to enter a state of enlightenment.

The rumors made it sound almost miraculous.

And it was precisely because they had so many experts that no faction dared rob them.

That included the demonic factions as well.

Of course, that was not to say they feared the Brewing Manor.

It was simply because the Brewing Manor treated the righteous path and the demonic path equally alike.

As a result, the demonic factions did not particularly target them either.

“Is their wine really as incredible as the rumors claim?” Jiang Xie could not help asking.

“Of course it is!” The moment wine was mentioned, Old Wu’s eyes lit up.

He immediately launched into an endless stream of words. “Young Master, you have no idea. The wine from the Brewing Manor has real power to it! Even a Skyborne Realm expert like me would sleep for three days and three nights after a single mouthful!”

“And that is not even all it does... it also has...”

Jiang Xie felt as though his ears were about to grow calluses.

He did not like drinking, so he had never had much interest in wine.

One of them was utterly bored, while the other rambled on without end.

Ji Wuyue, meanwhile, had been forgotten at the side.

But Ji Wuyue did not know what they were talking about anyway.

She was still drowning in self-doubt.

When she looked ahead, all she could see in her future was darkness.

In such a state, how could she possibly be in the mood to listen to what anyone else was saying?

Old Wu also noticed Jiang Xie’s lack of interest, and only then remembered that his young master did not drink.

He only liked tea, and Old Wu’s gaze drifted unconsciously toward the small gourd hanging at Jiang Xie’s waist.

Although Jiang Xie wore a gourd at his side, it was not an ornament.

Naturally, there was no wine inside either.

There was only tea.

Old Wu had always been curious as to why Jiang Xie disliked alcohol.

Wasn't wine so much better than tea?

With that thought, he asked, “Young Master, there is one more thing I do not understand.”

“Go ahead.”

“Why is it that the Young Master does not like drinking?”

Jiang Xie glanced at him oddly.

He simply did not like drinking.

What reason did there need to be?

But since Old Wu had already asked...

Jiang Xie curled his lips and said with a smile, “Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Drink too much, and you lose your mind’?”

“Drink too much, and you lose your mind?” Old Wu frowned.

He did not understand.

“Drink too much, and you lose your mind... drink too much, and you lose your mind...”

Old Wu’s eyes suddenly lit up, as though he had understood something profound.

He sighed inwardly.

As expected of the Young Master.

Even when he spoke, he always spoke in circles.

“Here, take it. Your spirit stones. This is already within the Jiang Family’s territory, so you do not need to accompany me any further.”

Old Wu reached out, caught the heavy bag of spirit stones, and tucked it into his robes.

His face was full of excitement, and he could not help muttering, “This much is more than enough for a jug of wine. I can even rescue a few fallen girls as well. Wonderful, truly wonderful.”

Naturally, the phrase “fallen girls” had been taught to him by Jiang Xie...

Jiang Xie raised a brow.

Well, of course! Drinking was nothing but a pretext!!

But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

Old Wu had long since vanished without a trace...

“Damn, I almost forgot!”

Jiang Xie smacked his forehead, only now remembering that he still had a person in hand.

But why had that spoiled young lady, who had been so overbearing just a moment ago, suddenly gone silent?

That was not right.

When he turned to look, he found that the little girl had already put on an expression of utter lifeless despair...

That would not do!

He had not yet obtained the power of the second statue!

If this little girl killed herself while he was not paying attention, there would be nowhere for him to cry his regrets.

“Hey, little one, are you already this frightened by me?”

Jiang Xie leaned in with a wicked grin.

Ji Wuyue, who had already fallen into despair, took one look at his ugly mask and immediately shuddered.

Whether Jiang Xie’s words had provoked her, or whether she simply wanted to vent, her dejected look vanished in an instant.

With a face full of disdain, she shouted back, “Little bean sprout, you are the one who is frightened! If my cultivation were not sealed, I could take on ten little bean sprouts like you!”

Little bean sprouts???

Jiang Xie’s face twitched.

This was the first time in his life anyone had looked down on him like that.

At once, he started untying his belt and moved to take off his trousers, intending to show her clearly whether he was really a little bean sprout or not.

He got halfway through before it dawned on him that he was only thirteen years old right now.

He really was a little bean sprout...

For a moment, he did not know whether he should keep going or stop...

Fortunately, Ji Wuyue’s reaction was even stronger than his.

The moment she saw what Jiang Xie was doing, her face flushed scarlet with shame.

She quickly covered her eyes and cried out angrily, “You lecher! You hooligan! Shameless! At your age, and already so depraved! You are hopeless! Little bean sprout, little bean sprout, little bean sprout! You are a little bean sprout!!”

Jiang Xie took the chance to pull his trousers back up and said with a mischievous grin, “Were you not the one who called me a little bean sprout? I was only letting you verify it for yourself.”

“Who wants to verify anything?! If I say you are a little bean sprout, then you are a little bean sprout!!”

“You say that at my age I should not be acting like this? Little one, you had better remember this: I am from the demonic path, and I have always done as I please.

“So you would do well to behave. Otherwise, I cannot say what I might do to you.”