Chapter 568 Contact Disappears

After losing the Nine-Section Staff, especially after leaving Guangzong City, Wei Yuan could faintly feel that a certain special connection was gradually fading away, gradually slipping out of his grasp, until it finally dissipated completely.

Only a portion of his true spirit from the end of the Han Dynasty had returned. It was clear that Guangzong City and the Nine-Section Staff had briefly elevated his position, allowing him to intervene and respond to a certain extent as the 'Deputy Celestial Master of the Taiping Department'.

Moreover, it only had meaning if a Taiping Dao cultivator uttered a prayer like, "By the decree of the Deputy Celestial Master of the Taiping Dao." The general process would probably be: the other side burns incense and prays, performs rituals, saying that the ancestral master is showing off, and we are ready to go, then our ancestral master replies with a 'scram'.

Wei Yuan didn't feel too regretful.

That power belonged to the Nine-Section Staff, not to him.

It was the blessing left behind by the lingering obsession of Guangzong City.

What was giving him a headache now was whether to find Wu Zhiqi first or return to the museum. After thinking it over, he realized that the problem had to be faced. An early pain was better than a late one. The most important thing was that he had no way to escape. Even if he was at the ends of the earth, he couldn't seem to stop that monkey from forcing his way into his dreams.

Anyway, there wasn't anything urgent waiting for him back at the museum.

Wei Yuan pondered and made a decision: first, he would go to the Huai River to see Wu Zhiqi, and then return to his museum to exchange the merits he had earned from eliminating the Taiping Dao heretics for the next level of the *Wohu Jue* (Crouching Tiger Art). After all, the returning true spirit was only what came with the Nine-Section Staff, and in the end, he was only thirteen or fourteen years old, Yuan, whose innate foundation was deficient.

That wisp of Daoist cultivation was pure, but not strong.

Moreover, judging from the innate foundation of that life, he had developed a chronic illness as a child, and it would probably be difficult for him to achieve anything in his life.

Thoughts surged in Wei Yuan's mind. Because of the thunder technique he had just used, he also felt mentally fatigued. He fell into a deep sleep on the train. Afterward, he still took the high-speed rail back. Wei Yuan politely declined everyone's invitation to go to the Celestial Master's Mansion and got off the train in Quanshi after transferring.

Lin Shouyi stroked the metal box containing the Nine-Section Staff, his expression thoughtful.

This time, returning to the mountain, there would probably be a dispute over whether this object should belong to the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion or the Lingbao Altar. After all, the *Dongxuan* (Mysterious Cave) Department's true teachings were the Lingbao scriptures of the Ge Celestial Master's lineage, and the Taiping Department and the Lingbao scriptures complemented each other. The Lingbao scriptures without the Taiping Department could not reach the highest level.

They would inevitably have some desire for the Nine-Section Staff.

But Lin Shouyi's thoughts churned as he considered a third option.

To send this treasure to that museum.

He thought of the earth-shattering, violent thunder.

Perhaps, this was returning the object to its original owner.

...

To appease Wu Zhiqi, Wei Yuan carefully prepared a lot of wine and meat, and also prepared a full five high-capacity power banks, all fully charged. Only then did he hesitate and wander by the Luo River several times, finally sighing and stepping into the water with these things, using his water manipulation technique to part the waves and head to where Wu Zhiqi was.

Wu Zhiqi was the master of the Huai River and had already sensed Wei Yuan's arrival.

He had not expected Wei Yuan to return in less than five days.

After being without internet for a full two days, he actually felt a trace of unexpected joy at this guy's early arrival. Even his anger instantly disappeared, leaving only a desire to touch the screen with his fingers and access a large amount of information.

Immediately, Wu Zhiqi suppressed this joy and ease.

He sat upright within the seal of the ancient Huai River, his eyes closed. Around him were chains strong enough to lock up a god. His aura was gentle and deep, his expression indifferent and calm, as if he were completely unmoved. It wasn't until Wei Yuan appeared with a box and a case, saying, "Water Lord, long time no see,"

After a few breaths, Wu Zhiqi slowly opened his eyes.

His golden, indifferent pupils stared at Wei Yuan, and he slowly said:

"You really aren't afraid of death."

Wei Yuan helplessly cupped his fist in salute and said, "I was indeed disrespectful earlier, but that was also out of necessity. Now, in the human world, information is complicated and chaotic. I am a member of the human race, so naturally, I worry that someone might say something that would anger the Water Lord, leading to a situation that no one wants to face."

Wei Yuan racked his brains, trying to express his concerns vaguely within the limits of not angering this ancient god, Wu Zhiqi. Then, without changing his expression, he added, "As for the last time, it was indeed a problem with my phone."

Wu Zhiqi opened and closed his golden eyes, his voice calm:

"Do you think I would be as petty as a mortal?"

He said, "I have experienced many things in ancient times, and I also know that human beings like to speculate about everything from their own standpoint. And I once told you that if I attacked ordinary humans, even Yu would laugh at me..."

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, then smiled self-deprecatingly, "I judged the Water Lord's heart with my own petty mind."

A god, even a god of calamity, is still a god.

After exchanging a few more perfunctory greetings, still maintaining a certain distance, Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and took the initiative to bid farewell and leave. Wu Zhiqi didn't say anything and let him go, as if he really didn't care about what happened earlier, which made Wei Yuan feel both emotional and strange.

This seemed somewhat different from that monkey remembering the pottery for five thousand years.

With a slight sense of surprise, Wei Yuan left, pondering.

After Wei Yuan left, Wu Zhiqi still sat cross-legged in the water with his eyes closed, maintaining the demeanor of a god, until—

One,

Two,

Three.

After silently counting to three seconds in his heart and confirming that Wei Yuan had left, Wu Zhiqi suddenly opened his eyes. A pair of golden pupils, like burning flames, locked onto the case that Wei Yuan had brought. He impatiently raised his hand, and those things flew toward him. With a joy that had been absent for five thousand years, he opened the box.

He saw bottles and bottles of transparent liquid with a pungent smell of alcohol.

He saw a full five fully charged power banks.

The power level of the power banks seemed like a perfect mockery.

The joy on Wu Zhiqi's face gradually solidified. His eyes slowly widened, and he raised his arms and roared: "Wei Yuan!!!"

"Get back here!"

With a wave of his hand, the Water Lord of Huai stirred the water violently, and the torrent turned into a visible azure dragon, twisting out. Wei Yuan was pondering whether to catch a fish on the way back when he reached out to a fish. His movements froze as he saw a water dragon appear and directly wrap around his legs.

Wei Yuan: "............"

Because the scene was too coincidental, a sense of innocence and bewilderment even flashed through his mind.

Damn it, I was just catching a fish.

Was that really necessary...?

His thoughts slightly froze, and the water dragon directly took him back to the bottom of the Huai River where Wu Zhiqi was at a speed far exceeding his departure. Wei Yuan almost felt dizzy, and then he saw Wu Zhiqi pointing his finger at the five stacked power banks and shouting loudly:

"What I want is a phone, a phone!!"

Wei Yuan was dragged back so rudely and was also a little annoyed. His eyes widened in anger, and he slapped his palm against the void, saying:

"But you didn't tell me!"

Wu Zhiqi was even more furious and shook his chains, saying:

"From so far away, how could I tell you that I wanted a phone without a phone?!"

Wei Yuan retorted angrily: "How would I know you didn't have a phone if you didn't tell me?!"

"Then you have to give me a phone first so I can tell you!"

"You..."

Wei Yuan paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and rubbed his forehead, stopping this extremely familiar behavior. Then, he silently warned himself not to be like a monkey, otherwise, his brain would be pulled down to the monkey's level, and then he would be directly crushed by this monkey with muscle and force.

He calmly and restrainedly waved his hand and said, "Alright, a phone, right? I'll bring it to you."

Wu Zhiqi pointed to a box of strong liquor next to him and said:

"Also, you said this is wine?!"

Wei Yuan was stunned: "This is wine."

Wu Zhiqi said: "This is not wine!"

Wei Yuan was silent. He organized his thoughts and words and said, "Excuse me, Water Lord, is the wine you're talking about the black, sweet, and pungent stuff that I brought you before?" When he saw Wu Zhiqi nodding seriously, Wei Yuan opened his mouth, feeling lost.

Screw this damn god...

...

At this time, a new guest arrived in Quanshi.

In the museum, the water ghost had one hand on the seat, his eyes bright, and was ranting wildly, his red embroidered shoes dancing quickly, in high spirits. Suddenly, he heard a rhythmic and restrained knock on the door outside. In an instant, all the ghosts thought Wei Yuan had returned, and they all froze.

The water ghost's words got stuck in his throat, and the red embroidered shoes paused, then ran back to the wooden box with a swoosh, also sticking the talisman on the box. It was like a whirlwind, leaving only the water ghost, dumbfounded. The knocking sound was still ringing, so he had no choice but to put on a bitter face and reluctantly go over.

Then he took a look outside and was stunned.

The one who had returned outside was not Wei Yuan, but a young woman, wearing a red dress as bright and blooming as a poppy, her black hair hanging down, her expression quiet but hiding heroism, with a not-so-large box on her back.

A guest?

The water ghost hesitated, and at this moment, he heard the sound of wind chimes ringing, and was stunned.

His gaze unconsciously followed the sound and saw that the flower shop across from the museum, which had been closed for some time, opened from the inside, and a young girl wearing elegant and light clothing, with a pure temperament, walked out.

...

Tian Nv Jue woke up from her not-so-long sleep.

Then, wearing the fluffy panda pajamas that Wei Yuan didn't know she had secretly bought online, she lay on the modern, soft bed and spaced out for a full hour before reluctantly sighing and getting up.

She opened her phone, saw the messages she had sent before, saw the newly created group chat, but didn't scroll up to browse the history, only propped her chin up with one hand and flipped through emoticons, searching for one that could appropriately express goodwill.

She originally made a choice.

Then she flipped through all the emoticons twice.

In the end, she cautiously chose the first one and clicked send.

"(o*･w･)ﾉ Welcome."

Originally planning to bask in the sun and also see how Wei Yuan was doing, the girl changed her clothes with magic.

She chose a more elegant style, opened the door, and saw that the museum door opposite was closed, saw that the lazy black cat-like creature was not basking in the sun on the roof, and saw a woman wearing red clothes with both softness and heroic temperament standing at the museum door.

Tian Nv Jue said in surprise, "You are..."

The woman wearing red clothes, like a blooming poppy, turned around, looked at Jue, and said concisely:

"I've come here to find an old friend."

ps: Today's second update... Thanks to Zui Mu A for the ten thousand reward, thank you~

A slightly gentler chapter, continue to forcibly control the schedule~