nyslfriends Chapter 683 Still a Refusal! Are You Leaving?
Chapter 683 Still a Refusal! Are You Leaving?
Chen Fan took the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and after a moment looked up at the Gu woman with a questioning look in his eyes.
"You don't need to overthink it." The Gu woman waved her hand, her tone tinged with self-mockery. "This Soul-Devouring Gu inheritance wasn't given to you by the Gu King. Although the Gu King appreciates you, he wouldn't give the complete inheritance of one of the three great secret Gu of the grasslands to someone who refuses to submit. This was my personal decision."
Chen Fan was silent for a moment, then bowed deeply and said, "I will remember this kindness from the Gu Nu."
The Gu woman looked at him, a complex smile flashing in her dark green eyes.
She suddenly realized that she had recruited countless talented people for the Gu King in her life and had never failed, except for this eunuch, who had rebuffed her three times.
Strangely enough, she didn't dislike this person.
"Master Chen, since you are unwilling to stay on the grassland, where do you plan to go next? Back to Zhao? Back to Dayu? Or continue to stay here and herd sheep?" The Gu woman glanced at the sheepskin tents around her, a half-smile appearing on her lips.
"Return to Zhao." Chen Fan put the jade slip into his sleeve, his tone calm. "I haven't finished what I promised the Crown Prince."
The Gu woman nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
She turned around, lightly touched the grass with her bare feet, and transformed into a streak of dark green light, flying towards the distant horizon.
Chen Fan stood there, watching the streak of light disappear into the horizon, then turned and walked back to his tent.
He sat cross-legged on the sheepskin rug, took out the dark green jade slip given to him by the Gu woman, and carefully read through it with his divine sense.
The records about the Soul-Devouring Gu in the Notes of the True Immortal Zhuomo only go up to the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage and then become vague. However, the jade slip that Gu Nu gave him contains a detailed record of the complete cultivation method of the Soul-Devouring Gu from egg to deity, which also includes three extremely rare variant cultivation methods.
Chen Fan read through the contents of the jade slip word by word, and now he had a complete understanding of how to cultivate the Spirit Devouring Gu.
Jin Chan is now at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage, only one step away from the Divine Transformation stage. With the method in this jade slip, breaking through to the Divine Transformation stage will not be difficult.
He put the jade slip back into his storage bag, then took out the unfinished stone statue from his bosom and picked up the chisel.
The chisel struck the stone, making a very faint sound.
……
That evening, Batu came to find him again, carrying a wine jug.
This time, Batu stood at the tent entrance for a long time until Chen Fan looked up at him, then he cautiously walked in and sat down opposite the low table.
He didn't pour the wine down his throat as usual, nor did he slam his fist on the table and shout or laugh. He simply placed the wine jug on the table and rubbed his hands together, as if he had a thousand words stuck in his throat but didn't know where to begin.
Chen Fan didn't say anything, but put down his chisel and poured him a bowl of wine.
Batu picked up the wine bowl, took a sip, then put it down, picked it up again, and put it down again, repeating this three or four times before finally speaking, "Chen Fan, are you leaving?"
This is not a question, it is a statement.
Although Batu was just a mortal, he wasn't stupid. Two groups of cultivators had come today, both targeting Chen Fan.
The woman who fell from the sky was clearly no ordinary person. Although Chen Fan didn't say much after she arrived, Batu could tell that this peaceful period was over.
Chen Fan didn't lie to him and nodded slightly.
Batu picked up his wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "When are you leaving?"
"Soon." Chen Fan's tone was calm. "There are still some things to take care of. I'll set off as soon as I'm done."
Batu nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
He poured himself a bowl of wine, then filled Chen Fan's bowl, and raised the bowl, saying, "Chen Fan, whether you are a cultivator or a mortal, in my heart, you will always be the Chen Fan who named Qiqige, the Chen Fan who taught my son how to raise horses, and the Chen Fan who saved my life."
Chen Fan also picked up his wine bowl and clinked it against his.
Two rough earthenware bowls collided in mid-air, producing a dull, crisp sound.
Batu drank until very late that night before going home.
He wasn't as drunk as before, just slightly tipsy.
As he left, he paused at the tent entrance, glanced back at Chen Fan, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately said nothing, just grinned, lifted the tent flap, and left.
Chen Fan sat at the low table, picked up the wine bowl, took a sip of the cold wine, and turned to look at the vast grassland outside the tent.
The moonlight spilled onto the grass, bathing everything in a cold, silvery white. In the distance, the small lake shimmered in the moonlight, occasionally punctuated by the low calls of night birds.
He knew he had to go.
……
In the following days, Chen Fan did not rush to set off.
He continued his daily routine of herding sheep, feeding horses, and carving stones, as if nothing had happened. But the herders in the tribe all had a vague feeling that this outsider was about to leave.
Every time Batu's wife saw him, she would stuff a few extra pieces of dried mutton into his mouth, muttering that he should take more food with him on the road.
Batel spoke even less than usual. Every evening when he led his horse around in circles, he would stand a little longer in front of Chen Fan's tent without saying a word, just standing there watching Chen Fan carve stones.
Qiqige seemed to sense something, and these past few days she has been unusually clingy to Chen Fan. Every time she sees him, she stretches out her two little hands and babbles. When Batel takes her away, she cries loudly.
During this period, Chen Fan spent three more days carving five stone statues.
The first statue is a horse.
The horse's posture was exactly the same as the gray-maned horse, but its eyes held a spiritedness that the gray-maned horse lacked. When Chen Fan placed the stone horse at the entrance of Batu's tent, Batu was stunned for a long time, his rough hands stroking the stone horse back and forth, his eyes slightly reddening.
"This stone horse looks just like it's alive," Batu said in a hoarse voice. "Looking at it, I feel like it might take off running at any moment."
Chen Fan did not explain.
He infused this stone horse with a lingering sense of cause and effect. If Batu's family were ever in danger, the meaning within the stone horse would be triggered, transforming into a barrier to protect the entire tent.
Even a cultivator in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm might not be able to break through this barrier with a full-force attack.
The second statue is of a sheep. The sheep is in a gentle and peaceful posture, lying on the grass as if it is ruminating.
He placed it at the entrance of Batel's tent. Batel held Qiqige and looked at it for a long time, saying, "This sheep looks more real than the one I raised."
The third one is Qiqige.
The palm-sized stone statue depicts Qiqige on the day of the full moon, with a small face, a wrinkled nose, and a slightly open mouth as if she is smiling.
Chen Fan placed the stone statue in Batu's hands. When Batu took it, her hands were trembling, and tears fell onto the statue.
The fourth one is Morigen.
It wasn't the seated statue they had carved before, but a standing one. The old man held a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other, slightly bowing towards the stone, just like his usual posture when carving stones.
The artistic conception incorporated into the stone statue is more profound than that of the previous three, carrying a sense of composure and calmness that comes with the passage of time.
The fifth one is Gray Mane.
This horse had been with him for nearly two years. He had taken care of it from an old and weak horse to one with a glossy coat. Although its legs were still not very nimble, it was in much better spirits than when it first came.
When Chen Fan placed the stone horse on the wooden fence of the stable, Gray Mane came over, sniffed it, snorted, rubbed its nose against the stone horse's ear, and then looked up at Chen Fan. Its cloudy eyes seemed to understand something.
Chen Fan patted Gray Mane's neck without saying a word.