Ch 109: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

Zong Yu froze on the spot.

Jiang Lin also looked at the man in front of him with a strange expression. He had changed his appearance again. No longer the delicate six- or seven-year-old boy, nor the spirited and handsome youth. Now, he had truly become a mature, towering man. His features were more defined, and his presence more imposing. Just standing there, he exuded the pressure of a mountain.

“Have you come of age?” Jiang Lin asked.

Zong Yu, feeling uncertain, looked at Jiang Lin, torn between wanting to run away and staying to talk. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, and finally just nodded silently.

“And what’s this?” Jiang Lin pointed at the cold essence on the ground.

“A small gift,” Zong Yu replied.

“For me?” Jiang Lin asked.

Zong Yu nodded again.

He was actually very afraid. He had promised Jiang Lin that once he fully matured and inherited all the memories of his bloodline, he would have to dissolve the bond between them. He hadn’t expected this moment to come so quickly.

His uncharacteristic silence made Jiang Lin curious. After all, the Zong Yu he remembered was always proud and spirited. Could growing up really change someone’s personality?

Jiang Lin continued, “If it’s a gift for me, why are you being so secretive about it?”

Zong Yu was still struggling internally. He wondered if Jiang Lin had forgotten about their agreement, about his ability to dissolve the bond, or if perhaps…

He held onto a faint hope. In the previous world, Jiang Lin had told him to come find him. He had regretted his harsh words soon after saying them. But by then, Jiang Lin had already left, and the words had been spoken—he had declared that he wouldn’t seek Jiang Lin out.

After enduring for a long time, he finally came up with a clever plan: he created a small accident, sealing away his memories and part of his power, then left the choice to his memoryless self. If, even without memories, he still sought out Jiang Lin, then so be it.

As it turned out, even without his memories, he was still instinctively drawn to Jiang Lin.

“What if you don’t want it?” he whispered.

Jiang Lin chuckled, “Do you think I’d accept a gift from a stranger?”

Zong Yu remained silent. He thought, “Not accepting it without knowing who sent it is better than rejecting it outright if you knew it was from me.”

Besides, what if there was something in there that Jiang Lin actually liked?

Jiang Lin then asked, “Why are you suddenly giving me gifts?”

Zong Yu glanced at him, just about to speak when Jiang Lin added, “And I want the truth.”

Zong Yu answered honestly, “I want to win your favor.” Then he added, “And to apologize.”

This straightforward confession came so unexpectedly that Jiang Lin was both surprised and yet felt that it was just like Zong Yu to be so direct. He skipped over the first part and asked in surprise, “Why apologize?”

Zong Yu, still direct, replied, “Because I broke my promise.”

“I said I wouldn’t bother you, but I couldn’t keep that promise. Even without my memory, I couldn’t do it.”

He stared at Jiang Lin without blinking and asked, “When you told me to follow my feelings and come find you in the last world, what did you mean by that?”

There was no avoiding this direct question. Jiang Lin felt a moment of discomfort but quickly suppressed it. After all, it wasn’t unusual for people to develop feelings, was it?

He looked Zong Yu in the eye and responded calmly, “I meant exactly what I said. Was I not clear enough?”

Zong Yu didn’t think he was stupid, and Jiang Lin’s hints were pretty obvious. However, since this was about Jiang Lin, and something he had longed for over thousands of years, he had to be extremely careful, not daring to hope for too much.

He was scared. The more he cared, the more scared he became. Even with his fearless personality, he worried that he might just be imagining things. The thought of getting his hopes up only to have them crushed was unbearable.

He shook his head and mumbled, “It wasn’t clear enough. I didn’t dare to hope.”

He stepped closer, his intense gaze fixed on Jiang Lin. “Why don’t you make it a bit more obvious?”

Has he actually become more daring? Jiang Lin thought, half-amused, and suddenly reached up, swiftly knocking Zong Yu on the head before turning around and walking away without another word.

“If you can’t figure it out, then take your time. Come find me when you’ve figured it out!”

Watching Jiang Lin’s retreating figure, Zong Yu’s eyes lit up. He quickly caught up to Jiang Lin, his familiar smugness and confidence returning to his expression. “I won’t think about it anymore. I’ll just stick with you, and I’ll figure it all out eventually!”

Jiang Lin smirked, then pointed to the corner where the Tai Sui and the crying ginseng doll that Zong Yu had previously brought were still lying. “Those are yours; you deal with them.”

The ginseng doll, which had been crying frequently over the past few days, now looked at the two of them with tear-filled eyes, its nose red, ready to burst into tears again.

Zong Yu pondered aloud, “Ginseng is very nourishing. How about we stew it in a pot…?”

Ginseng doll: Waaah!

It understood what Zong Yu was saying, and upon hearing it, it burst into loud sobs again.

Jiang Lin, growing frustrated with the noise, rubbed his temples. “You’d better stop crying, or we really will stew you.”

The ginseng doll hiccupped and dared not cry anymore, though its eyes were still brimming with tears.

Jiang Lin sighed, “Achieving the Dao through cultivation is not easy. Let him go.”

Zong Yu, always following Jiang Lin’s lead, nodded in agreement, though he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. “Are you sure we shouldn’t stew it? Even just plucking a bit of its hair would be nice.”

Ginseng doll: …

Its mouth quivered, and more tears welled up in its eyes.

Unable to bear it, Jiang Lin waved his hand to remove the red rope binding it and said, “Go on, and be more careful in the future. Don’t let yourself get caught so easily again.”

The ginseng doll, overjoyed at its newfound freedom, bowed from a distance to Jiang Lin before quickly burrowing into the ground and disappearing.

Xiao Qing, who had been watching the commotion from the doorway, poked her head out and curiously yet cautiously looked at Zong Yu. “Brother Jiang Lin, is this the demon who was sending you gifts? Who is he?”

Zong Yu, who had been around for a while now, was aware that Jiang Lin lived with two yet-to-be-formed snake demons. He introduced himself, “I am Jiang Lin’s Dao companion.”

He said this while closely watching Jiang Lin’s reaction.

Jiang Lin seemed to be a bit surprised, glancing at Zong Yu, but ultimately, he did not refute it.

He accepted it!

Zong Yu was overjoyed.

Meanwhile, Xiao Qing was confused. “Dao companion?”

She suddenly realized, Dao companion!

Without making a sound, Brother Jiang Lin had not only transformed but also found himself a Dao companion!