Chapter 294 - 141: Accidentally Splashed with Muddy Water

Chapter 294: Chapter 141: Accidentally Splashed with Muddy Water

Jiang Mu quickly averted his gaze and composed himself.

’I shouldn’t be looking.’

Staring at the rabbit roasting over the fire, an idea suddenly occurred to him. He said,

"Aunt Shui, do you think that Wolf Demon could have dug a very deep burrow and is hiding deep underground?"

Shui Miaozheng turned the roasting meat, pondering.

"That’s certainly possible. If it really has carved out a lair deep underground and is intentionally concealing its aura, it would be very difficult for us to find it this way."

"Unless... we could get help from a ’Mine Demon.’"

"Mine Demon?"

It was the first time Jiang Mu had heard of this type of Demon.

"Mm,"

Shui Miaozheng carefully adjusted the roasting rabbit’s angle for more even cooking as she explained,

"Mine Demons are a very special type of Demon. Most are of a low grade, with limited intelligence, and are basically harmless to humans."

"They’re usually born in mines and ore veins rich in Spiritual Qi. They are innately sensitive to rock, soil structure, and underground caverns, able to easily find the hidden Earth Caves or mining tunnels of other Demons."

"Are Mine Demons easy to find?" Jiang Mu asked.

Shui Miaozheng shook her head, her tone tinged with resignation.

"Mine Demons are very difficult to track down. For one, they are rare and elusive. For another, they are one of the favorite foods of a Demon called the ’Earth Ghost Demon.’"

"Earth Ghost Demons often feed on Mine Demons to reproduce or enhance their own earth-elemental abilities."

"So, if we can find an Earth Ghost Demon’s nest, there’s a high probability we could find a captive Mine Demon inside."

"Earth Ghost Demon?"

Hearing this name, Jiang Mu’s heart stirred, and his eyes lit up slightly.

’What a coincidence.’

’When Xu Fu and that Yan Zixiao fellow were trapped, they were surrounded by a group of Earth Ghost Demons.’

’Back then, I even used Buddha Lamp Oil to burn a few of the caves.’

’In other words, there must be Mine Demons in that place!’

Jiang Mu poked his head out to look at the rain. The sheet of rain was as dense as a beaded curtain, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

He pulled his head back, deciding he would go and try to find them once the rain stopped.

A short while later, the rabbit meat roasting over the fire was ready.

The skin was golden brown and crispy, sizzling as it glistened with fat. A rich, meaty aroma mingled with the scent of spices, filling the cave and stoking their appetites.

"It’s ready."

Using a small knife she carried, Shui Miaozheng carved off the plumpest, most evenly cooked hind leg and handed it to Jiang Mu. "Try it. Careful, it’s hot."

Jiang Mu took it, blew on the steaming meat, and took a bite.

"This is delicious!"

Jiang Mu praised sincerely, blurting out, "Much better than your other cooking."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake and quickly tried to recover.

"Ahem... I mean, Aunt Shui, your cooking is already delicious, but your skill with roasted meat is just incredible. You could open your own tavern."

Shui Miaozheng was amused by his clumsy, transparent praise. Covering her mouth with her hand, she let out a soft laugh, not at all offended.

"Alright, you don’t have to lay it on so thick. I’m well aware of my own limits when it comes to cooking."

"To be honest, I never used to cook at all. I was the type whose hands never touched dirty water. It was Gui Xin who taught me later. She said that a woman should know her way around a kitchen, even if she doesn’t cook often."

"Back then, when we went on missions together, we often camped in the wild. She was always the one taking care of me."

At the mention of Tang Guixin, Jiang Mu’s expression also softened. He nodded and said,

"Aunt Tang cooked for me, too. She was an amazing cook; her home-style dishes were particularly delicious."

With the mention of Tang Guixin, the lighthearted atmosphere that had just settled in the cave was tinged with a faint melancholy.

The fire crackled and popped.

It illuminated their somewhat somber faces.

Shui Miaozheng poked the fire and suddenly asked, "After things in Yan City are over, do you plan to go to the Celestial Blade Sect?"

Jiang Mu let out a soft "mm" as he watched the dancing flames.

"I want to deliver her belongings, and the letter she left for her child. It’s the least I can do for her."

"After all, when Aunt Tang was alive, she always wanted to return to the Celestial Blade Sect. It was her home, and her biggest regret."

Shui Miaozheng looked at Jiang Mu, and the image from that day in the great hall resurfaced in her mind: the young man walking in alone, pulling the bloodstained scrap of cloth from his robes, and the fleeting tenderness and sorrow in his eyes.

’That was for Tang Guixin.’

’The woman who fell from a cliff to her death.’

Shui Miaozheng suddenly understood why the young man had acted so frantically that day, killing the traitor without a second thought, right in front of Yan City’s administrator.

’Because some people, once they die, can never come back.’

’And she was someone who had been very good to him.’

Unbidden, the image of her own father surfaced in her mind.

The man who had once been her entire world, who had sheltered her from every storm, had also left, never to return, becoming an eternal ache in her heart.

The woman lowered her eyelids, her long, thick lashes closing like two small fans, casting a soft shadow on her fair, delicate cheeks.

A thin mist had unknowingly gathered in her already glistening eyes, blurring the emotions deep within them until they were hazy and moist, like vapor suddenly rising from a spring pond.

’Some people’s tenderness is hidden within a blade’s edge.’

’Some people’s sorrow is hidden in silence.’

"If one day, I die too, will anyone care about me like this?"

Shui Miaozheng murmured.

Her voice was so soft it was almost drowned out by the crackling of the firewood.

"What?"

Jiang Mu, who was focused on gnawing on the rabbit leg, hadn’t heard clearly. He looked up at her in confusion.

Shui Miaozheng snapped back to her senses, quickly blinking away the untimely wetness in her eyes. A gentle smile returned to her lips.

"It’s nothing. Speaking of which, have you ever thought about moving to a different place?"