Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 70 Little Fox Gets Beaten Up
In the afternoon, neither Zhang Chengdao nor Chang Ping'an went to the martial arts tournament. After learning that her senior brother had achieved Foundation Establishment, Murong Ruyan only ate a few bites at noon before going to cultivate. Xu Wen was busy preparing lessons—Zhang Chengdao specifically asked him to compile a set of "teaching materials" and gave him many suggestions...

Therefore, Xu Ying himself had to represent the White Stone Immortal Sect to make an appearance.

The Anche siblings also remained at Baishi Mountain.

However, since the herb garden on Lingyao Peak didn't require much maintenance—just clearing weeds—there wasn't much work to do. So, the Anche siblings went there early in the morning, returned at noon, and attended scripture classes with Chang Ping'an and Murong Ruyan in the afternoon. As for the evenings...

In the evening, Chang Ping'an would impart his cultivation experience during the Qi Refining stage to everyone.

Murong Ruyan, the Anche siblings, Xu Ying, and Xu Wen all sat at the table in the study, listening with great interest.

Even the little raccoon was nestled obediently in Anche Hexiang's arms, listening attentively to the lesson... Given that it probably couldn't understand human speech, it was most likely just dozing off.

Xiao Li is the little fox that An Che and her brother rescued when they asked Zhang Chengdao for medicine. An Che He Xiang named it Xiao Li.

Little Tanuki was very well-behaved. On the day it recovered from its illness, it followed Anche and her brother to Lingyao Peak during the day and slept curled up next to Anche Hexiang at night. It even knew how to hunt when it was hungry, but its failure rate was relatively high. Apart from a few rotten and wrinkled fruits that it had dug out from somewhere, it didn't hunt anything.

Zhang Chengdao, however, worried that the little fox wouldn't be able to support itself, so he instructed Xu Ying to give Anche and his sister a piece of raw meat every day to feed the fox.

However, Murong Ruyan was very fond of this fluffy little fox, so she volunteered to take on the task. When feeding the fox at night, she chopped up the meat and fed it to it. She even specially fed it a peach—she had seen the fox eat the fruit until it was rotten and felt very sorry for it.

The peaches are "Immortal Peaches," which Zhang Chengdao specially piled up in bamboo baskets in the courtyard for everyone to eat at any time. This is because the peach orchard produces a large batch of peaches every few days, so many that there is almost nowhere to put them. In fact, in Zhang Chengdao's own golden finger backpack, the largest quantity besides building materials such as stones and wood is thousands of "Immortal Peaches."

With so many Immortal Peaches, I'm reluctant to sell them, so I can only hoard them for now and hold some kind of "Immortal Peach Gathering" later. Maybe I can even take the opportunity to find a few more apprentices with gold quality.

As dusk fell, the bluestone lamp, made of bluestone and wax, emitted a soft light at the entrance of the courtyard.

Seeing Chang Ping'an, with his still-childish face, earnestly "lecturing" everyone, Zhang Chengdao felt very gratified.

This is the correct way to use an apprentice!

"Ping An, from now on you will be responsible for imparting cultivation insights within the sect. As for the time... let's schedule it in the afternoon. The scripture study class will be moved to the morning at 9:00 AM, each lasting one hour, and will be held in the [Study Room]."

Zhang Chengdao gave the instructions.

With only four hours of classes a day, it's quite easy. We still need to leave them time for meditation and self-cultivation.

"The disciple understands."

Chang Ping'an responded, feeling somewhat excited.

My master trusts me so much, I must not let him down!

……

The next day, Murong Ruyan had just stepped out and was about to continue staking out the mulberry grove for thieves when she saw Xiao Li running back, looking disheveled, flustered, and aggrieved.

Master was probably still cultivating in the house, Steward Xu was going to make an appearance at the Sword Forging Manor, and the eldest brother was nowhere to be found. Murong Ruyan was thinking of getting some food for Xiao Li when she saw the furry creature bump its head into her, rubbing against her feet and barking.

The little fox first rubbed against Murong Ruyan vigorously, then ran into the mountains while barking. Seeing that Murong Ruyan didn't move, it anxiously turned around and bit her skirt, pulling hard.

Murong Ruyan then realized that Xiao Li wanted to take her somewhere. She was a little puzzled and wanted to ask An Che and his sister, but at this time, the two siblings should be at the herb garden, which was not close to here, and Xiao Li seemed to be in a great hurry.

How did Xiaoli get back? Could something have happened to the Anche siblings?
Murong Ruyan was startled. Without thinking too much, she hurriedly followed Xiao Li into the mountains.

But soon, she realized something was wrong, because Xiao Li was leading her not in the direction of the Spirit Medicine Peak, but in a place that seemed increasingly familiar the further they walked... It seemed to be the road to the Mulberry Forest!
Before long, the man and the fox arrived at the mulberry grove.

"Whoa-"

The mulberry garden was already enclosed by bamboo fences, but the fences only kept people out, not animals. So the little fox quickly darted into the mulberry garden, pounced on one of the mulberry trees, and frantically scratched at the trunk.

"Oh dear, you can't scratch the tree!"

Murong Ruyan quickly squatted down, picked up the little fox, gently patted its little black paws a few times, and scolded, "These mulberry trees are very precious!"

Unexpectedly, the little fox struggled to jump down from Murong Ruyan's arms and circled the tree, whimpering as if trying to remind Murong Ruyan of something.

Murong Ruyan naturally realized what was going on.

Could it be that the little thief was hiding in the mulberry grove all along, and even in this mulberry tree?
Thinking this, she picked up a stick, circulated her spiritual energy, and carefully looked up at the top of the tree canopy.

Nothing.

Murong Ruyan was filled with doubt.

Seeing that Murong Ruyan made no move, the little fox became more and more anxious. It simply used its front paws to hook tightly onto the tree trunk, pushed off with its hind legs, and then swooped up to the entrance of a tree hole hidden behind the branches and leaves.

"What's this!?"

Murong Ruyan, who had been vigilantly observing the tree canopy, only then discovered the tree hole and was startled. Just as she was about to take a closer look, she saw Little Fox fly several meters away as if it had been hit by something, and land on the grass.

Then, it wobbled to its feet, shook its head, and returned to Murong Ruyan's side with a pitiful expression. It seemed to be alright, but it kept whimpering and complaining.

Murong Ruyan stared at the tree hole, pondering how to dig it out.

When Xiao Li was knocked away, she didn't see what it was at all. She only vaguely caught a glimpse of something brownish-red, which looked furry.

Another fox?
But the hole is too small for a fox to squeeze through!

If you cut down the tree, or even strike it with lightning, there might be a way to pull the thing out of the tree hole...

But mulberry trees are so precious, even if her master doesn't care, she still does!

If you reach out and grab it directly...

That thing could send Little Fox flying in one hit. With that much force, even if you weren't injured, you'd still feel terrible! What if it was a poisonous snake and you got poisoned?
For a moment, Murong Ruyan, who had no good ideas, fell into deep thought.

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(End of this chapter)