Cultivation Retirement Plan (BL)

40. Dusk at Su Manor

a/n: i finished the CRP MV i was working on for the lolz and linked it in this chapter! it features mo yixuan, nan wuyue, and shi feng in a wuxia-styled setting (because i couldn't find enough xianxia clips) and the song "longevity tactic" by 西瓜JUN. it's a very amateur work so don't take it too seriously as i did it for stress relief. :9

original YT link here (it's unlisted so you won't be able to find it otherwise): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB_OyRstQRA

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Su Shimeng, Mo Yixuan, and Nan Wuyue landed in quiet succession inside the courtyard of Su Manor. Lanterns had been lit and the windows were a welcoming hue of golden light. Before the trio could step forward, they saw a figure hurry to greet them with brisk steps.

"There you are at last!" Once again, Bai Tingyao was the first to meet them, Ting'er following dutifully by her side. "It was getting dark so I was worried—why Mengmeng, what's happened to your robes?" Her eyes picked out his grimy clothes with some concern before sweeping past Mo Yixuan and Nan Wuyue, who looked dusty as well. "Did you all get into a fight?"

Before leaving, Su Shimeng had carefully transferred his hat and bundle of bones into a spatial ring, leaving his hands free. They clenched at his sides now until he clasped them firmly behind his back.

"Nothing, sis. I'm going to go change," he mumbled and walked past her.

"Daoist Su, wait!" Abruptly, Nan Wuyue chased after him. When Su Shimeng instinctively turned, Nan Wuyue suddenly tripped and crashed into the man, one hand clapping him on the shoulder while the other smacked into his arm.

"What's the matter with you?" Su Shimeng grumbled as he helped Nan Wuyue upright. "Did you lose your footing after flying that little way?"

"Sorry," Nan Wuyue mumbled quickly. His left hand brushed casually past the handle of Su Shimeng's sword before withdrawing into his sleeves. "There was something in your hair, so I thought it best to take it out."

His other hand drew back from Su Shimeng's shoulder and opened up to reveal a clod of earth that he dropped onto the ground.

"How did that get there?" Su Shimeng muttered as he started combing through his hair.

"Probably from the digging," Nan Wuyue said innocently. "Considering where we came from...it'd be best if Daoist Su doesn't bring that into the house."

Finding the remains of a dead body was bad enough, but one that had been left without a proper burial in the wilderness until it turned into a ghost would naturally absorb high amounts of yin energy until the surrounding air and soil were affected. Thinking of this, Su Shimeng quickly pulled out a cleaning talisman and dusted himself from head to foot to get rid of the surface grime.

"Thanks," he gave Nan Wuyue a grudging look before stalking off.

Nan Wuyue only stared after him—specifically, at the tendril of ghostly qi he'd wrapped around the handle of Su Shimeng's sword. Without other high-level cultivators present besides his master, it should be undetectable through normal means. Although he regretted slipping the very same tendril into Mo Yixuan's heart in the past to blackmail him, he had no qualms about monitoring Su Shimeng with the same methods.

Su Shimeng wasn't quite at the level where he could recall his weapon from qi without a trace, so he'd definitely keep it close at hand while he changed. That way, if anything threatened him to draw out his sword, he'd come in contact with the tendril of qi and by extension, alert Nan Wuyue as well. This was the best precaution he could come up with on such short notice.