Sunset Warrior Chant - Chapter 28 - Alixin of the Tiny Kingdom

Fu Qiruo sheathed his Spirit Sword and descended from the restaurant. The first floor was empty, not a soul in sight, yet outside the inn, a crowd had gathered, buzzing with curiosity. Lu Xiner approached him, circling around him with a flurry of questions.

Xiao Gang remarked from the side, “Master told us not to go up, otherwise we would have gone earlier and defeated them completely.”

Fu Feng added, “Master knew about the situation in the restaurant beforehand. He didn’t let us go up because he wanted junior brother to gain more practical experience. If it were truly dangerous, he would have saved you.”

The four returned to the backyard to Fu Wenjun’s room. Fu Wenjun looked at Fu Qiruo’s complexion and touched his face, asking, “You were poisoned by the Red Spider, how do you feel now?”

“That Red Spider looked frightening, but I’ve taken the antidote and I’m fine now. Fortunately, she didn’t destroy the antidote.”

“The poison of the Red Spider is formidable, but it’s not as miraculous as she claimed. There are many extraordinary pills and medicines that can neutralize it, and the Essence Pill you have is one of them.”

“That Emily actually deceived me, claiming she was the only one with the antidote. She’s really full of tricks.”

“Experience is a hard teacher; this is just a minor incident, nothing serious.”

“I don’t know where those people came from; they’re incredibly cunning.”

“They are from the Edmund Empire, a powerful empire in the northeast of the continent. It borders the Manleiden Empire to the west and the Star Moon Kingdom to the south, located directly northeast of Roland. Its territory is even larger than Manleiden’s, and it is the birthplace of dark magic and wind magic.”

“Such a coincidence, it seems I have quite a connection with them! Dark magic and wind magic are exactly what I specialize in. Maybe it’s time to visit our ancestors’ homeland to pay my respects?”

Later that evening, with nothing urgent to attend to, Fu Qiruo had his dinner and returned to his room for cultivation. The next afternoon, he went up to the second floor of the inn out of curiosity to see the previously damaged floorboards. To his surprise, he found the large hole had been perfectly repaired, and the entire second floor’s walls were freshly painted white, looking as if newly constructed. He marveled at the swift action of the Eight Directions Inn. Observing Li Changshun walking unsteadily, Fu Qiruo thought to himself that he had indeed misjudged him all these days.

Fu Qiruo surveyed the inn’s business again. The first floor was packed with diners, and there was even a line outside. The second floor was almost fully seated as well, among them many familiar faces. The Nameless Elder sat upstairs, sipping tea with glasses perched on his nose, still clutching an arcane book. Fu Qiruo sat across from him and remarked, “The business at the inn is really impressive. Just yesterday, some outsiders caused a disturbance, and today, it’s this crowded.”

The Nameless Elder, without changing his expression, kept his eyes on the book and said, “Have you ever thought about it? The Eight Directions Inn has been around for many years. For young people like you, causing trouble after a full meal is as common as eating here-what’s so special about that?”

“Aren’t you worried that a sword might accidentally strike your neck?” Fu Qiruo asked.

“Let me tell you a secret,” the elder continued, “Every time someone causes trouble here, the restaurant declares the next day’s food and drink on the house. Did you know that? People like me, when Li Changshun invites me over, he even reimburses my travel expenses. Do you know that the inn has three contingency plans? If tables and chairs are destroyed, they replace them with new ones and tidy everything up; that’s the first plan. If walls or floors are damaged, the inn will repair them overnight and redecorate; that’s the second plan. The next day, diners are hosted for free; that’s the third plan.”

“No wonder there are so many people here today,” Fu Qiruo exclaimed. “Doesn’t Li Changshun lose money then?”

“Li Changshun is shrewd,” the elder answered. “Has he ever asked you for compensation? That magic core wasn’t cheap. With the inn always full, how could the business possibly lose money?”

“You really are a wise man, knowing even about the magic core,” Fu Qiruo said admiringly.

“What do you think I wear four eyes for? To drink the northwestern wind? Eh, today’s Black Snake Meat is genuine. Want to try two Jin? It won’t be this authentic in a few days.”

Seeing someone nearby enjoying the Black Snake Meat, and having only ever tasted real Black Snake Meat at the Eight Directions Inn, Fu Qiruo’s mouth watered and he asked an attendant passing by for two Jin.

Shortly after the attendant left, Fu Qiruo suddenly felt something moving on his foot, as if a grasshopper had hopped across. Curious, he looked down but saw nothing under the table. The weather was oppressively hot, and he was wearing loose trousers since his shorts had piled up unwashed. Reluctantly wearing the long pants, he shook his trouser leg, feeling nothing unusual. When the attendant brought the Black Snake Meat, he focused on his meal.

A little while later, he felt movement on his leg again. Fu Qiruo suspected that some insect had crawled up his trouser leg. Standing up cautiously, he lifted his pants halfway and to his shock, a tiny head peeked out from the inner side of the leg. He jumped back in alarm.

The tiny head, seeing Fu Qiruo’s much larger head staring down, swiftly jumped toward the center of Fu Qiruo’s trousers, its movements incredibly agile, revealing a small body behind the head.

Fu Qiruo exclaimed, “What kind of strange creature is this?” He slapped at his trousers frantically as the creature scurried around inside. Panicked and ignoring the stares of everyone in the restaurant, he quickly unbuckled his belt and pulled down his trousers.

“Young lad, have you no manners? How old are you to be undressing in public without blushing? Just yesterday, you wielded a sword and fought like a pro,” the Nameless Elder scolded him as the first to notice.

From the second floor, a chorus of voices joined in: “Why is this kid undressing here? What kind of behavior is this?”

“What a shameless fellow, what has the world come to?”

“People are trying to eat, and he undresses?”

“Where’s this little rascal’s mother? Why isn’t she teaching him any manners?”

“Oh, my God, his soul is no longer pure.”

Fu Qiruo, clad only in his underpants, was flustered and ashamed as he listened to the voices around him. Unable to locate the small creature in his panic, he remembered the private rooms on the second floor and dashed to the nearest one. Bursting through the door, he saw a young couple embracing, their activities unclear. A large block of ice sat under the table, cooling the room significantly. The woman, moaning, turned her head upon hearing the door open and said, “Hold on, young man, I’m attending to this gentleman. Just wait outside, we’ll be done in two minutes.”

Fu Qiruo didn’t quite understand, thinking to himself: What are these two up to? It’s beyond me. How does this woman act as though she knows me? When have I ever spoken to her? He couldn’t afford to think further, hurriedly closing the door behind him and rushing to the next private room.

Upon opening the door, he saw a little girl peeking out. The sight of Fu Qiruo holding up his pants startled her too, and she quickly slammed the door shouting, “Oh no! It’s that country bumpkin from the inn’s backyard again, flaunting his bare bottom around the restaurant. These country folks have no sense of elegance at all!”

The girl looked oddly familiar to Fu Qiruo, reminding him of the little girl who had scolded Xiao Gang at the entrance of the backyard on his first day at the inn. Embarrassed and ridiculed by the surrounding diners, he wished he could just disappear. Remembering the solid walls of the Eight Directions Inn, he knew escaping wouldn’t be easy, so he hurriedly pushed open another private room, finally finding an empty one.

He quickly shut the door behind him and placed his pants on the table for a closer inspection. As he shook the pants, the small creature leaped out and, in a flash, jumped off the table and hid behind a chair. Fu Qiruo exclaimed, “Nowhere to run now!”

He chased the creature around the table several times. The creature was incredibly fast, running as if flying, and Fu Qiruo couldn’t catch it no matter how hard he tried. Out of breath, he finally stopped and sat down on a chair to rest.

The creature peeked out from behind a chair leg, its round eyes looking up. Seeing Fu Qiruo motionless, it cautiously stepped forward, revealing its entire body.

Fu Qiruo hadn’t gotten a good look at it during the chase, initially thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. Now seeing the creature clearly, he calmed down and observed it intently. It was about the size of his palm, resembling a person from the Tiny Kingdom, with pink skin and a large, bald head that nearly half its body size. It had a cute face with big, black eyes, and its long eyelashes fluttered occasionally.

Just as Fu Qiruo was about to scare it, the creature opened its mouth and surprisingly spoke, “Shh! Don’t tell anyone I’m here, they’ll eat me.”

“Where are you from?” Fu Qiruo asked, startled.

“I come from the Tiny Kingdom. My name is Alixin. What’s yours?”

“Oh, Alixin? Then I’m called Big Shot.”

“You’re called Big Shot?”

“Haha, actually, my name is Fu Qiruo, not Big Shot.”

“Why did you lie to me? What was the purpose of your deception?”

“Sorry, it was just a joke. How did you end up here?”

“If you lie to me again, I won’t speak to you.”

“Alright, I won’t lie. Please, tell me everything.”

“I encountered a huge black snake and accidentally got swallowed by it. It was about to digest me, but I used magic and struggled desperately, getting stuck in its throat. It tried to use its stomach acid to kill me, but the pain made it unable to move. Yet, I couldn’t dare escape from its mouth. So, I remained stuck in the snake’s throat for several days. The snake later fainted from hunger and was caught by a hunter, who was even more formidable than the snake, so I didn’t dare come out. The snake was taken to a restaurant, and that’s how I ended up in the kitchen. I stayed there for a few days, got bored, and followed an attendant upstairs.”

“How did you end up in my pants?”

“The attendant moved too quickly, and I accidentally got thrown out, rolling under your table. Please, don’t let anyone know about me.”

Finding Alixin’s manner of speaking cute and endearing, Fu Qiruo grew fond of him and said, “I won’t chase you anymore, nor will I mention you to others. Can we be friends?”

“You have to keep your promise. Let’s make a pinky promise!”

“Okay, let’s make a pinky promise.”

“But I have one condition.”

“What’s the condition?”

“Help me get a piece of cooked Black Snake Meat. I was tormented in the snake’s throat for days. I want to eat its meat.”

“That’s an easy task!”

Fu Qiruo, delighted, fixed his pants and left the private room. Half of the two Jin of Black Snake Meat on the table had been eaten by the Nameless Elder, but fortunately, there was still a large piece left. He grabbed a knife and fork, cut half of it, and placed it on an empty plate, ready to go back to the room when the Nameless Elder suddenly said, “This fellow is quite a catch, where did you find him?”

Upon seeing this, Fu Qiruo was startled to find the Nameless Elder holding his Spirit Sword, recalling that he had forgotten his belt on the table in his haste to undress earlier. The Spirit Sword, originally concealed in his belt, was now in the Nameless Elder’s hands. Fu Qiruo, alarmed, snatched the belt and sword back, exclaiming, “What are you doing? You can’t just take other people’s belongings.”

“This is my table, but I wouldn’t dare claim such a valuable item. Would you like to know its origin?” the Nameless Elder asked softly.

“I don’t need you to worry about whether I know its origin or not,” Fu Qiruo responded as he picked up some Black Snake Meat and entered the private room to look for Alixin. Surprisingly, the room was empty, and Alixin was nowhere to be seen. After calling out softly a couple of times and receiving no reply, Fu Qiruo thought Alixin had left. Just as he was about to leave the room, he heard a voice from under the dining table: “I’m here.”

Turning around, Fu Qiruo saw Alixin perform a graceful somersault from under the table to its top, the movement crisp and clean. Delighted to see Alixin hadn’t left, he found it increasingly adorable. He cut the Black Snake Meat into small pieces with a knife and fork, and gently placed them into its mouth piece by piece.

“It smells so good; cooked is definitely better than raw.”

“Let’s make a pinky promise. How can I with your hands so small?”

“If my hands are too small, then I’ll use my foot; it’s about the right size.”

Alixin stretched out its right foot, which Fu Qiruo gently touched, feeling its softness, reminiscent of a baby’s toes. After Alixin had eaten its fill and stretched its arms in a lazy yawn, belching, it said, “I’d like some soup now.”

“What else would you like to eat or drink? Just tell me, it’s all free in the inn today, I’m just playing the generous host.”

“I never have to pay for food; I can’t think of anything else I want right now.”

After tightening his belt, Fu Qiruo made some soup for Alixin, who seemed satisfied. He then tucked Alixin into his chest pocket and returned to the backyard, where he heard Fu Wenjun calling him for dinner. He replied, “I’ve already eaten out front, I’ll skip dinner.”

The backyard had several vacant rooms: Fu Wenjun occupied one, Lu Wei another, Uncle Liu another, Lu Xiner another, and Fu Feng, Fu Qiruo, and Xiao Gang shared one, leaving two spare. Now with Alixin, Fu Qiruo considered this a great secret. He notified Fu Feng that he would focus on his cultivation and went alone into an empty guest room.

In the following days, he and Alixin enjoyed their time immensely alone in the guest room. Fu Feng noticed that Fu Qiruo kept to himself and wondered why he was suddenly so diligent in practicing magic. Perhaps it was because he had been disciplined by a Red Spider, or maybe he had heeded some divine instructions?

Alixin possessed some wonderful magic that made Fu Qiruo marvel at the vast and diverse world. Though Alixin lacked powerful magical attacks, its compact and intricate variety of tricks gradually made it Fu Qiruo’s beloved pet. From then on, Fu Qiruo seldom visited the restaurant alone; if he needed to go out, he would either hide Alixin in his pocket or leave it in the guest room.