"I can never go back again."
Sun Xiang gazed at his reflection in the teacup, his eyes filled with melancholy, reminiscence and feeling, but devoid of any grief, pain or sadness.
"Is... is that so!"
Du ke opened his mouth, then closed it, as he fully understood what Sun Xiang meant. It wasn't that he could not go back, but that he could not go back alive.
One had to know that back when Sun Xiang was teaching Du ke the Tiger Leopard Stake in his own courtyard, what Sun Xiang said to Yun Shan had already crossed the line.
As a subordinate, plotting against a superior.
It could already be considered extremely disrespectful.
Yet even so, Sun Xiang still took a gamble, and the stakes were enormous. Fortunately he won the bet.
But even if Sun Xiang won the bet, would Su Xiuming let him take back his bargaining chips?
Impossible!
Therefore, from the moment Sun Xiang was promised that he could leave the residence to retrieve the elixir formula, his fate had already been sealed.
He would go and not return.
He could never again set foot alive into the Su family residence.
And all that he exchanged for this, the ultimate beneficiary other than the Su family, was his disciple Yue Yun.
Thinking of this, Du ke slapped his chest and laughed, "Who said you can never go back? At worst I'll beg my little lass to go plead with the family head to allow you to return."
"Your disciple can't do without you!"
"General, your suggestions are excellent, but sometimes, once certain things have been entrusted, they are no longer yours!"
Sun Xiang shook his head. He also drained the tea in his cup.
"Alas, why speak such demoralizing words!"
Du ke slapped the table and called out, "Come, bring wine and dishes!"
"Coming!"
Hearing the voice from the private room, the yellow dog demon immediately opened the door, and a group of little monsters came in carrying dishes of food and placing them on the table, along with several jugs of aged wine.
"Esteemed guests, your dishes have all arrived!"
The yellow dog demon bowed and scraped to Du ke, who casually tossed out a handful of gold coins.
"A tip for you. Wait outside the door."
"Oh, thank you for your generous tip!"
The yellow dog demon and little monsters all exited the private room, leaving only Du ke, Thirteen, and Sun Xiang inside.
"Professor, fine wine and delicacies are laid out before us. Let's not speak any more of those depressing things. Eat, drink!"
"Let's first appease our hungry bellies. We can talk about other matters later."
As Du ke spoke, Sun Xiang looked at the cat with a smile, his eyes filled with emotion.
That cat who had nearly exploded its body from taking the wrong elixir, now truly exerted the dignity and aura of a general.
To be able to see this scene in his final days was truly excellent.
As these thoughts circulated in his mind, Sun Xiang also lifted up a wine jug and poured out a cup.
"General," Sun Xiang respectfully said, "thank you!"
"No need to say such things. Eat! Drink!"
Du ke waved his paw. Sun Xiang drained the wine cup, also laughing, "Very well, then let's eat and drink!"
Picking up his chopsticks, Sun Xiang heartily ate the dishes and drank down the wine cups.
Seeing Sun Xiang like this, Du ke also silently let out a sigh of relief in his heart.
As long as he could eat and drink, that was good enough. At least he was no longer like before.
Having unexpectedly run into an old acquaintance out here, he truly did not wish to see anything happen to him.
Eat, drink, cast aside all worries.
Perhaps tomorrow would bring a different state of mind, different ideas.
...
After three rounds of wine, the table of dishes had been cleaned out. Thirteen had his head stuck in a wine jug, making glug glug sounds as he drank.
Du ke leaned against the chair behind him. In his left paw he held a tobacco pipe, puffing out smoke rings, while slanting a look at the dog.
Ever since that banquet with the Rat King, when did Thirteen learn how to drink alcohol?
Hearing the glug glug sounds from within the jug, Du ke shook his head slightly but didn't stop him.
If he wanted to drink, then drink. In the end he would learn to be more sensible, and realize that alcohol was no fun thing.
Du ke brought his gaze back and looked towards Sun Xiang opposite him. Sun Xiang's cheeks were flushed bright red, his eyes bleary.
Grasping a wine jug in his left hand, he slapped his thigh in rhythm with his right, mumbling some incomprehensible tune.
"Professor, you're drunk."
Du ke blew out some smoke and chuckled.
"This old man is just happy, just happy!"
Sun Xiang shook his head with a laugh. At the same time he tossed over to Du ke the scroll of human skin he had rubbed out.
"General, your Tiger Leopard Stake originates from the Yin Character True Method. The external tempering is complete, now you can proceed with internal cultivation."
"With your talent, I suppose explanation won't be needed for you to gain entry."
"After all, I am a student taught by Professor Sun. Of course I should be so." Du ke picked up the human skin scroll and glanced over the Yin Character True Method written upon it, raising his brows.
What amazing talent the patriarch of the Ganzhi Beast Control Sect had!
Not only did he deduce the external martial art techniques for beasts to cultivate, he even created accompanying internal cultivation methods.
As the saying goes, to practice martial arts without internal cultivation leads nowhere.
Merely externally strengthening muscles, bones and skin without cultivating inner breath would truly make one no more than a brute fighter!
Du ke had previously been vexed by lacking internal cultivation methods. Now, a chance encounter had delivered it into his grasp.
Additionally, there was also the Xu Character True Method for Thirteen's cultivation, which also trained both internal and external.
However, the sequence was to first cultivate externally, then transition internally.
Of course, aside from the cultivation methods, the most important thing was the remaining two supreme-grade elixir formulas.
Du ke needed them, and his little lass needed them too.
Thinking of this, Du ke glanced at Sun Xiang, who was currently leaning against his chair, fast asleep.
Sun Xiang said he couldn't return, but that didn't necessarily mean completely so.
Later, Du ke would find his little lass and properly discuss this matter with her, to get her to return home and coax her old dad, and then perhaps Sun Xiang's issue could be smoothed over too.
Knock knock knock.....
The knocking interrupted Du ke's train of thought. "Come in," Du ke said.
The door to the private room immediately opened, and a small rabbit timidly said, "Sir, the doctor you asked for has arrived...."
"Where is he?"
"Waiting outside."
"Please ask the doctor to wait a while longer. Also, go find an inn for lodging, and get some spirits to carry my teacher to rest at the inn, and treat him there."
"Yes!"
"Let that yellow dog come in to tally the bill!"
"Yes!"
The little rabbit left, and soon the yellow dog demon came in with a large brown cat wearing palace robes. Each of the cat's ears had a tuft of curled fur, looking rather adorable.
"Esteemed guest," the cat slightly bowed. Du ke tossed out a box filled with spirit stones. "Take what is owed."
Seeing the box brimming with spirit stones, the cat was quite shocked inwardly.
He had encountered a truly generous customer this time. Such open-handed generosity!
Hmm, and quite a handsome one too!
If I were a few decades younger, who knows, I might try to court him.
Unfortunately, in my old age all withered and faded, I lack such intentions now.
"Very well," the cat nodded, immediately recounting the prices of the dishes and menu to Du ke, who impatiently waved his hand. "I already said to take what's owed, no need to chant scriptures."
The cat gave a wry laugh, and could only walk over to take two spirit stones from the box.
"This will be sufficient."
"Mm," Du ke nodded, tossing out a few porcelain bottles containing Blood Vitality Pills. "A tip for you all."
"Alright, take my teacher to the inn. A doctor still needs to diagnose him!"
Speaking to here, Du ke also glanced at Thirteen, whose head was drooping limply into the wine jug, and helplessly sighed, "And take along my brother here too!"
"Yes, sir."
........
Half an hour later, Du ke, Thirteen, and Sun Xiang went to the inn opened together with the Flavor Residence.
Thirteen was thrown into the guest room by Du ke to let him sleep by himself, while he squatted on the chair outside Sun Xiang's guest room, biting the pipe, waiting for the diagnosis from the doctor.
Du ke clicked his pipe, exhaled a wisp of white smoke, and the smoke bombs in the tobacco pot also disappeared without a trace.
"Sir," a monkey spirit dressed and dressed exactly like an ordinary doctor walked out of the inner room of the guest room and came to the outer room.
"How is it?"
Du ke put down his tobacco pot and looked at the monkey doctor. After a moment of silence, the doctor uttered a few words, "The oil is exhausted and the lamp is withered."
"If it wasn't for his own uncommon martial arts accomplishments, I'm afraid he would have ridden a crane to the west long ago."
"He can still be alive now, just because there is a breath in his heart holding him up."
"Although it is a little offensive to say this, please consider his afterlife affairs!"
Hearing what the doctor said, Du ke also fell silent.
He could hardly imagine what Sun Xiang had experienced before meeting him.
"Thank you for your effort."
Du ke bowed his hand to the doctor, then said to the little bunny: "Little bunny, send the doctor back, make it clear how much the medical expenses are, and come back to ask me for it."
"I know, sir!"
The little bunny bowed his paws to the monkey doctor, "Please, doctor."
"Well."
After the doctor left, the bunny also left together. Seeing the two leaving, Du ke also entered the inner room and looked at Dr. Sun Xiang, who was sleeping soundly in a pile of beast skins.
After watching Dr. Sun Xiang for a moment, Du ke also sighed, "No matter what, I will still let you go back."
Dr. Sun Xiang was still fast asleep, only Du ke was talking to himself.
"After all, that little black fatty cries annoyingly."
"You, as a master, should discipline that little black fatty more!"
"Otherwise, I don't know how many people will bully your apprentice."
When Du ke said this, he sighed again. After tucking Dr. Sun Xiang in, he turned and left the room.
The room was silent, with only the even breathing of Dr. Sun Xiang.
.......
That evening.
"I have troubled you today, come and find me again tomorrow, and I will have to trouble you for another day."
Du ke stood in front of his own room door and spoke to the little bunny. The little bunny was also holding a bulging money bag and nodding hard.
"Sir, don't worry, I will definitely come early tomorrow."
"Okay, go, pay attention to safety on the road."
"Yeah!"
The little bunny turned and left, and Du ke closed the door. He gained a lot today, so he should take a good inventory.
The cat who returned to the room looked at Thirteen who was snoring in the beast skin, and shook his head. He squatted on the outer room chair, took out the smoke bombs and the tobacco pot, lit it, and then directly sank his mind into the black cauldron space.
"Dr. Sun Xiang is already exhausted. In order to persist until he returns home, he needs to replenish a lot of primordial energy."
"Since this is the case, it's time to put this thing back into the cauldron!"
When Du ke said this, he also looked at the section of unknown bone that he had refined once in the black cauldron, but had not completely refined.
"This time, I don't believe I can't refine you!"
...........
The next morning, in the guest room.
Thirteen yawned and got up from the beast skin. As soon as he turned over, he patted his head hard with his paws.
That thing called wine was quite tasty and very intoxicating.
It's just that after drinking too much and falling asleep, the headache is terrible when waking up again.
As Thirteen pulled himself out of the beast skin, he also staggered towards Du ke.
At this moment, Du ke was squatting at the table with the breakfast that had just been delivered in front of him.
"Awake?"
Du ke, who was holding the tobacco pot, spewed out a puff of smoke and raised his eyebrows at Thirteen.
"Aowu!"
Thirteen shook his head vigorously, his headache was terrible!
"Then why did you drink so much yesterday!"
Du ke pretended to hit him, and Thirteen immediately shrank his head, but Du ke didn't hit him in the end.
"Today there is no refining Sun Essence Pill, you will have to suffer it yourself for the time being, and it will also teach you a lesson!"
"No matter how good the wine tastes, you can't be greedy."
"I'm going to call Dr. Sun to come and have breakfast, and then we should prepare to go to Yunzhou."
When Du ke said this, he also got off the chair and walked out of the room to Dr. Sun Xiang's guest room door next door.
Knock knock knock!
Du ke, holding the tobacco pot, knocked on the door and said softly: "Dr. Sun, it's time for breakfast!"
There was no response from the room, and Du ke frowned, knocking on the door in front of him again.
"Dr. Sun?"
There was still no response behind the door. Du ke immediately kicked out his foot and kicked the door open.
"Dr. Sun!!"
When Du ke rushed into the room, his pupils shrank.
The white cat only saw Dr. Sun sitting cross-legged on the couch with his head slightly lowered, holding a letter in each hand, smiling at the corners of his mouth, but his breath was already gone.
"Dr...Sun?"
Du ke subconsciously called out and approached Dr. Sun two steps. He noticed that the two letters he was holding were written: General's letter, Disciple's letter.
Du ke curled the tobacco pot with his tail and took the letter left to him by Dr. Sun.
Opening the envelope and looking at Sun Xiang's last words on it.
"General's letter, forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye."
"There is a common saying: people have joys and sorrows of parting and reunion, the moon has shades and clearness, rounds and lacks, this is an ancient and incomplete matter."
"I know that I am exhausted, and my days are numbered, so I choose to end my life, which also saves me from continuing to trouble General."
"I know that I have disappointed General's enthusiasm. I am really sinful. I hope General can forgive me."
"Su Residence, I can no longer go back. From the moment I walked out the door of Su Residence, I was already at the point of no return."
"Everything today is just yesterday's cause."
"Alas, all people suffer in the world, few can redeem themselves."
"If I can use my life to rebuild Ganzhi Beast Control Sect's gate, I will die without regret."
"It's just a pity that I couldn't see my disciple again, it was regrettable."
"Please pass on three words of the true meaning of Gan Zhi Twelve Characters True Methods to my disciple, and give General the rest. I hope General won't look down on them."
"Please help me give the owner of the Extreme Pill recipe and tell him that Sun Xiang has fulfilled the agreement and hope he can fulfill his promise."
"Although General is not human, his temperament and state of mind are far better than human's."
"I have confided my innermost feelings to General. I wish to use grass rings to repay him in the next life."
"Among worldly things, springtime is the best. I use my life to protect new flowers!"
"I wish General smooth journey ahead. Farewell, Sun Xiang."
After reading the whole letter, Du ke looked at the lifeless Sun Xiang and sighed helplessly. The cat who took the tobacco pot from his tail sat down beside Sun Xiang.
Du ke, who bit the pipe and took a sip, leaned against Sun Xiang's corpse, raised his head and spewed out a puff of smoke.
"Old Sun, you really left me a big problem!"
"What hurdle can't be crossed, what new road can't be seen?"
Among the dissipating white smoke, it also rose upwards. Sun Xiang still had a smile at the corner of his mouth, as if yesterday's fallen flowers and scattered petals still nourished new flowers in the spring mud.