Chapter 127: The Lovers' Bath

"Who are you talking to, brother?" Liu Yue asked, her face full of curiosity. Just moments ago, Liu Ping had truly seemed to be speaking with someone, and the way he looked, it certainly wasn't just him playing around.

"Just someone," Liu Ping replied casually.

Liu Yue wasn't concerned with who he was talking to; she was focused on the conch. Could it actually be used to talk to others? This was simply too novel! Though she hadn't seen much of the world, she understood that such an item belonged in the realm of legends.

Listening to her brother's nonchalant tone, Liu Yue pressed him, "Why can you talk to others with it? What on earth is this, and how can it be so magical?"

"It is indeed a bit magical," Liu Ping said, "but the principle isn't complicated. In fact, with the right technology, this kind of thing could be mass-produced. Even video calls wouldn't be impossible... it's just that the technology of this era is a bit too primitive."

"Technology? Primitive?" Liu Yue was still completely bewildered. After a long pause, she said, "I don't understand a word you're saying. Can't you say something I can actually grasp?"

Liu Ping lowered his head, pondering for a moment to organize his thoughts, then said, "In short, this is a magical artifact. It might be hard for you to understand, but to put it simply: there are special formations installed inside. When I speak, the formation turns my voice into a specific frequency, which is then received by another conch. The formation in that conch then converts the received frequency back into the sound of speech... Does that make sense?"

"Still don't understand."

"Ugh... let's put it this way: 'speaking'—the reason we humans can hear sound comes from..." Even though Liu Ping tried his best, Liu Yue remained half-confused, though she at least had a vague idea of what was going on.

Liu Yue's eyes lit up. "Brother, do you have any more conches like this?"

"No," Liu Ping said.

"Aww..." Liu Yue, unwilling to give up, sat down beside him, grabbed his arm, and shook it, pleading, "Give me one too, brother. I want to be able to talk to you anytime, anywhere in the future."

This display of affection made Liu Ping's heart tremble. He nearly swore to move mountains and drain seas just to get his sister a conch, but it truly wasn't possible; Ao Jinyu seemingly only had two. He forced himself to calm down and gave a wry smile. "I’d love to hear from you often too, but I don't have another one. Someone else gave this to me. If I get one in the future, I'll give it to you first, okay?"

"Not okay."

"Be good."

"Fine..."

He spent the entire Dragon Boat Festival with Liu Yue. When night fell, Liu Ping mounted a fast horse and rode toward Zhang County. Explaining things to his parents and sister had been a bit of a hassle, but it was nothing serious; he wasn't leaving for good—on the contrary, he would be back in four or five days at most.

Traveling by horse was truly exhausting. Liu Ping longed to simply fly using his magic, but the spiritual energy within him wasn't enough to sustain flight for long. If he could only break through to the Earth Immortal realm, he wouldn't be in such an awkward position.

Regarding spiritual energy, demonic cultivators actually held an advantage over human cultivators, especially the Mountain God Wood clan he had seen in the Ancient Primordial God Realm. Even as Earth Immortals, they possessed immense, towering bodies, and their internal spiritual energy vastly outmatched ninety-nine point nine percent of human Earth Immortal cultivators. Even if Liu Ping were to ascend to the Earth Immortal realm now, he wouldn't be able to catch up to them.

Pushing the horse to its limit, he finally reached the Zhang County capital before nightfall the following day. The black horse was so exhausted that it was foaming at the mouth, collapsing to the ground and trembling; if Liu Ping hadn't infused it with a bit of spiritual energy, it likely would have dropped dead on the spot.

On his way, Liu Ping had kept an eye out for the village where Yingning lived, but he couldn't find it, which left him somewhat surprised. After a careful search yielded nothing, he had to let it be for the time being.

Upon arriving at the county seat, he checked into an inn. His travel-worn appearance kept the waiter from chattering unnecessarily. After taking the silver, the waiter quickly arranged a room, hot water, and a meal. His efficiency satisfied Liu Ping, who tossed him half a tael of broken silver. The waiter accepted it with delight, becoming even more attentive.

He had considered resting at the Zhang River Water Mansion, but although he could breathe there, it was ultimately underwater, and he felt uncomfortable. As a human, he was naturally repelled by such an environment.

Walking into the dry, clean room, he nodded with satisfaction; the silver was well spent. Before long, the waiter brought up roast chicken, braised fish, soy-sauce beef, two vegetable dishes, and a bowl of soup. On top of that, there were two slices of watermelon and a small dish of mulberries—a truly thoughtful service.

After dismissing the waiter and closing the door, he stripped off his clothes and soaked in a wooden tub filled with cool water.

He let out a long sigh, the heat dissipating immediately. The constant traveling and the scorching sun had been too much even for him.

"If I had known it would be this miserable... I certainly wouldn't have had a momentary lapse in judgment and decided to act cool by riding a horse," he muttered weakly. With one hand, he reached out, and a slice of watermelon from the table flew into his grasp.

He took a bite of the icy watermelon, feeling the sweetness and coolness explode in his mouth, and couldn't help but exclaim how refreshing it was.

Suddenly, Liu Ping raised an eyebrow. He looked down at the yellow jade on his wrist. A flash of red light flickered across it. He froze, then felt a surge of joy.

Bai Zhi was here?

As his cultivation deepened, he had gradually learned that this plain, unassuming piece of jade was not as simple as it appeared.

Sure enough, the waiter soon knocked on the door, calling out, "Young Master, someone is here to see you."

"Let her in," Liu Ping said.

The waiter pushed against the door, but it was locked. Just as he was about to say something, the door creaked open on its own, giving him a start. Bai Zhi, ignoring everything else, ran straight inside.

Liu Ping, who was in the inner room, called out, "Bai Zhi, close the door."

"Oh." Bai Zhi obeyed, quickly turning back to shut the door. She then scampered into the inner room, bypassed the screen, and saw Liu Ping bathing. Not feeling the least bit embarrassed, she giggled, "Little Husband!"

"Hmm," Liu Ping nodded slightly. Seeing her, his weary mood lifted instantly. Truly, his little Bai Zhi was a healing artifact.

Bai Zhi trotted over, resting her small hands on the edge of the wooden tub. Liu Ping held out the half-eaten slice of watermelon, and she leaned forward, taking a huge bite.

After swallowing the watermelon, Bai Zhi looked up and said, "Little Husband, I want to wash too."

The statement made Liu Ping, who had just taken another bite of watermelon, spray it out, nearly choking.

"Cough, cough... you... what did you say?"

Bai Zhi said, "It's so hot, I want to wash too. Isn't that allowed?"

"Allowed... of course it's allowed..." Liu Ping thought to himself, *You little demon, if you take a mandarin duck bath with me like this, how am I supposed to keep my composure? I'm no saint devoid of desire! I'm a young man of fourteen, in the prime of my youth and impulses! Even though I have the soul of someone in their late twenties or nearly thirty, the surging hormones and the temptations of desire haven't diminished one bit!*

"I've just finished, you can go ahead..." Just as Liu Ping managed to force the words out, the whimsical, half-grown little girl hopped