Chapter 426: 426: True and False

Feng Jing has a strong inner self—or at least, a seemingly strong one.

She completely ignored the latter half of Feng Jun’s sentence, latching onto the first part to ask, “Is there really a surprise?”

Feng Jun felt her intentions; she was truly unable to resist his charm and was simply looking for a solid reason to come.

So he answered straightforwardly, “Of course there is a surprise, a very big one… You’ll regret it if you don’t come.”

However, Feng Jing playfully feigned reservation, saying, “I do like surprises, but… I’m more afraid of Sister Hong hitting me.”

Feng Jun wrote back decisively with three words that exuded confidence, “She wouldn’t dare!”

Feng Jing was also quick to respond this time, almost instantaneously replying, “Alright, I trust you, I’ll go have some afternoon tea first.”

“Come to Luohua for it, having afternoon tea in the Bamboo Forest is truly wonderful beyond words,” he said.

But Feng Jing still arrived late, reaching Luohua Manor two hours later.

Just after four o’clock in the afternoon, it was the hottest time of the day.

Sister Hong had already woken up, fresh from washing up, dressed in a silver-grey tank top, with a denim miniskirt just long enough to cover her hips, her long legs… not to mention bare without stockings, she wasn’t even wearing shoes.

She wore a pair of white cotton socks and was sitting on the sofa in the main hall of the front building, munching on a chilled slice of watermelon.

Seeing Feng Jing walk in, she was first taken aback, a strange expression crossing her face, but then she nodded her head, pointing to the watermelon on the coffee table, “You’re here? Have a slice of watermelon… It’s ice-cold from the well water here, which is really good.”

Feng Jing didn’t have the same aggressive demeanor as Sister Hong, but being a director in the system surely meant she wasn’t short on tactics. She smiled and said, “Thanks, I’m not that afraid of the heat. Where’s Feng Jun? He promised to have tea with me in the Bamboo Forest.”

“Oh, he’s here,” Feng Jun emerged from around the corner. The weather was scorching, and the back building was not as spacious as the front and was positioned higher, making the front building relatively cooler. Without the air conditioning on, it didn’t feel hot, unlike the back building which became somewhat unbearable without it.

Thus, in this kind of weather, everyone gathered in the front building; the back building… that was a place for nighttime, given that the artificial cooling from the air conditioning couldn’t match the natural coolness.

He grinned at Feng Jing, “Shall we go to the Bamboo Forest now? Or… wait for the sun to set a little more?”

“Let’s go,” Feng Jing didn’t really mind the heat and, moreover, she didn’t particularly enjoy facing Sister Hong head-on. Feng Jun’s attitude pleased her, but… why bother confronting someone she didn’t want to see?

“Sister Hong, you stay here where it’s cool,” Feng Jun flashed a smile at Sister Hong and turned to leave with Feng Jing.

Watching their retreating figures, Sister Hong pondered for a while but ultimately didn’t chase after them. However, she couldn’t help but curse under her breath: little wretch.

At the mention of “Bamboo Forest,” she couldn’t suppress the urge to follow them. It was a realm she had never ventured into, yet the other party was quite familiar with it. She had always felt resentful about this and longed to go there to assert her dominance.

However, she really couldn’t stand the heat and was worried about darkening her skin, and she didn’t believe those two could do anything in the Bamboo Forest, especially with others around in this scorching weather, which wasn’t suitable for vigorous activities.

Most importantly, she had thoroughly drained him that morning.

Even if your battle desire is strong, what good is a gun without bullets?

Feng Jun was not as coarse as she had thought. He drove an all-terrain vehicle with a canopy to the edge of the valley and then led Feng Jing down the steps by hand, “It’s just this short stretch that’s sunny; below it’s quite cool…”

As expected, the Bamboo Forest was indeed cooler, even more so than the hall in the front building of the villa.

But Sister Hong wasn’t wrong either, someone was cultivating in the Bamboo Forest at that moment—none other than Fatty Xu, the disciple who was most averse to heat.

The three disciples took turns cultivating in the Bamboo Forest every twelve hours. Xu Leigang, having plentiful duties in society, cherished the opportunity to cultivate and didn’t want to waste a single second.

So he was mostly unaffected by external matters—in this sweltering weather, even if there was something to attend to, he wouldn’t be in a hurry to leave the Bamboo Forest.

Xu Leigang noticed Feng Jing and Feng Jun’s arrival but showed no reaction, adhering to the rule Feng Jun set: when cultivating, one could ignore most external distractions.

Feng Jun had brought tea, dried fruits, and fresh fruits in his vehicle, which they both took down and enjoyed the coolness in the Bamboo Forest.

Since he didn’t tangle with Sister Hong and followed her immediately, Feng Jing was in a good mood. She even picked two bamboo leaves and started blowing on them.

After sitting quietly for a while and just when she felt a bit bored, a rustle of the bamboo leaves signaled a crow diving from above, aiming for a bamboo branch—a green bamboo snake.

Startled by the scene, Feng Jing jumped, “There are such things in the Bamboo Forest?”

This green bamboo snake was not small; it was over forty centimeters long and very alert, hissing as it confronted the crow.

The crow wasn’t afraid of such a small snake, but the dense Bamboo Forest severely limited its agility, and the two creatures fought quite a spectacle.

Xu Leigang remained reactionless, sitting in meditation—such sights were all too common for them.

Feng Jun smiled casually and replied, “No worries, they don’t dare to come onto this concrete area.”@@novelbin@@

Feng Jing did recognize the crow, she had fed it more than once and was somewhat concerned about it, “Eh, it looks like the crow is going to be at a disadvantage.”

King Crow seemed to understand her meaning and flew to the side, perching on a bamboo branch and cawing loudly at Feng Jun.

I’m almost at my limit here, don’t you know to help?

Feng Jun raised his hand, and a gust of finger wind shot out, causing the Bamboo Green Viper to shudder, its body sagging as it wrapped around the bamboo branch, its tail slowly loosening.

The crow had been ready for this and immediately took flight, seizing the Bamboo Green Viper’s vital seven-inch section and flew away.

Feng Jun turned his head and smiled at Feng Jing, “This snake is also a part of this little ecosystem, if Xiao Wu hadn’t sought help, I wouldn’t even bother with it.”

Indeed, the Bamboo Forest had become a miniature ecosystem, with little bugs, larger insects, frogs and birds, and snakes, where the crow was at the top of the food chain.

The presence of snakes actually lightens the burden on the crow, especially poisonous ones like the Bamboo Green Viper, capable of killing the larger animals that even crows can’t defeat.

In the beginning, Feng Jun was quite annoyed by these snakes, but then he realized that they also helped maintain order. After all, as long as the Spirit Gathering Array was active, they couldn’t get into the cemented area, so there wasn’t much of an issue, mostly they were just a bit creepy to look at.

However, since the crow had asked for help, he didn’t mind lending a hand.

Of course, the main reason was that he hoped Feng Jing would notice that he was different from ordinary people.

Feng Jing was afraid of snakes, which was inevitable, but she was stronger than most women—after all, she was a woman who traveled alone. After the shock, she glanced at Feng Jun and made a snapping finger gesture, “The cultivation you’ve always talked about… is it this?”

She had actually heard that Gazi and the others had been learning cultivation from him.

“This is just a part of it,” Feng Jun answered with a smile, “I had no intention of hiding it from you, it’s just that there was no need to act before. I didn’t want you to think I was shallow, so I didn’t show off.”

He was thankful for the Bamboo Green Viper for giving him a justified opportunity to act.

What surprised him was how easily Feng Jing accepted this extraordinary thing. Looking at him with interest, she inquired, “Is this the surprise you prepared for me?”

Feng Jun slightly shook his head, “Not entirely… what I really want to know is, are you interested in learning this?”

“Oh,” Feng Jing drew out her words, it was evident she was somewhat interested.

But her interest was just that, a bit, “The cultivation they do seems very boring… Is it hard?”

“It’s a bit hard for them, but you probably won’t have to struggle as they do, at least not as much.”

“I’m past the age of enduring hardship,” Feng Jing was a bit self-deprecating, “What else can I do besides beating snakes after I’m good at cultivating?”

“You can also beat up perverts,” Feng Jun looked at her and chuckled, “Who says you’re old? You’re not old at all.”

“I’m truly a simple hedonist,” Feng Jing seemed to remember something, her expression visibly darkening, “My life is foreseeable, so why not indulge in eating, drinking, and enjoying life to the fullest in this limited lifetime, instead of suffering?”

Not yet thirty and already seeing the end of life, it was indeed a bit dull for a beauty.

Of course, if not for her terrible marital status, she could at least consider having a child and enjoy the pleasure of watching life grow.

Feng Jun wasn’t particularly keen on insisting she practice cultivation, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but feel compassion and whispered with a smile, “It can help you lose weight, you know.”

“I’m not interested in losing weight,” Feng Jing quickly readjusted her mood, showing off casually, “I don’t get fat no matter what I eat.”

“Uh, okay,” Feng Jun realized he’d missed the point, “Actually, it… can beautify you.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Jing quickly turned her head, puzzled, and then asked, “You’re not going to tell me that doing Yoga… is cultivation, right?”

“That’s… not entirely it,” Feng Jun smiled sincerely, “Of course, if you’re not interested, I won’t force you. To anyone else, I wouldn’t be interested in teaching unless they offered three to five hundred million.”

Feng Jing blinked thoughtfully, then after a while asked, “Is Sister Hong practicing cultivation with you?”

Feng Jun shook his head decisively, “No, not up to now… not yet.”

“Then I might consider practicing cultivation,” Feng Jing made up her mind, but she really wasn’t used to making definitive statements, “I hope I can endure the hardship… After learning, may I teach others?”

“Teach others? That’s definitely not okay,” Feng Jun shook his head, then looked at her warily, “Are you planning on teaching Yoga to someone else?”

“Of course not,” Feng Jing covered her mouth and giggled lightly, her eyes narrowing into a line, “I was just thinking, if it’s worth three to five hundred million, I could teach others. You may be a wealthy man who doesn’t need more money, but I wouldn’t mind having more.”

Feng Jun spoke earnestly, “Let’s be serious, if you can’t promise not to share it with others, then forget it.”

(Updated to here, calling for monthly tickets.)