PDLP Chapter 234 The Pulse of the Earth
Chapter 234 The Pulse of the Earth
As soon as Li Jun finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent.
The old Taoist priest's smile froze.
He stared at Li Jun, his gaze shifting from kind to confused, from confused to speechless, and finally to a look of disdain that seemed to say, "Are you stupid?"
"Is it illegal?"
The old Taoist priest stood up, walked up to Li Jun, and flicked his forehead with a sharp rap.
"What are you thinking about all day?!"
"What do you mean by 'breaking the law'?! I've lived for over eighty years, when have I ever done anything illegal?!"
Li Jun covered his head and looked at his master with an innocent expression.
He knew that what he had just said was a bit outrageous, but given the current situation, anyone who saw it would think twice.
An elderly Taoist priest, over eighty years old, suddenly brought home a little girl who was three or four years old...
If this happened to anyone, the first thought that would pop into their head wouldn't be anything serious.
"Master, I was wrong, I was wrong," Li Jun quickly admitted. "I was just joking."
The old Taoist snorted and withdrew his hand, but still glared at him irritably.
"Are you kidding? Who jokes about something like this?"
Li Jun chuckled awkwardly, his gaze falling on the little girl still kneeling on the ground.
The little girl looked up at him timidly with her big golden eyes, her face showing a mix of nervousness and...grievance.
That look in his eyes was like that of a kitten that had done something wrong, wanting to get closer but not daring to.
Li Jun looked at those golden eyes and suddenly felt that they looked somewhat familiar.
Every time he passed by the water tank with his rice bowl in his hand, the dragonfish would poke its head out of the water and stare at him longingly.
Moreover, the aura emanating from this little girl was remarkably similar to the dragon skeleton he had seen in the oasis that day.
But it is purer and more vibrant.
Li Jun paused for a moment, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
He raised his head and looked at his master, his expression somewhat strange.
"Master, this... this isn't the dragonfish we keep in the tank, is it?"
The old Taoist priest looked at Li Jun, a smirk playing on his lips, and said in a sarcastic tone:
"Oh my, Master Li truly has discerning eyes!"
Li Jun: "…………"
He said he thought it looked familiar!
So, the dragonfish that performed "leaping over the dragon gate" for him every day has actually become a dragon?!
Not only did it become a dragon, it even took human form?!
Li Jun looked down at the little one still kneeling on the ground, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
The little girl seemed to sense his gaze, her body shrank slightly, her head lowered even further, and her voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum:
"master……"
Li Jun's lips twitched.
This title makes me feel really uncomfortable.
He was about to tell the little girl to get up when the old Taoist priest stepped forward first, bent down, and helped her up.
"Little girl, get up quickly, the ground is cold."
As the old Taoist priest spoke, he patted non-existent dust off the little girl's knees, then turned and glared at Li Jun.
"Look at you! Our little girl is so small, and you're letting her kneel here like this. What if she gets hurt?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jun subconsciously glanced at the bluestone pavement.
Upon seeing this, his eye twitched involuntarily.
Two shallow marks were clearly visible on the bluestone slab where the little girl had been kneeling.
That was caused by the knee pressing down.
Bluestone slabs.
The knee left a mark.
Li Jun then looked at the little girl who was being led by the old Taoist priest, who looked timid and frail.
Are you injured?
How could this little guy get hurt just from kneeling for a short while?
But seeing his master's protective manner, Li Jun wisely refrained from arguing.
Trying to reason with your master now is just asking for trouble.
He immediately changed the subject, squatted down, and looked at the little girl.
"What's your name?"
The little girl shrank behind the old Taoist priest, only showing half of her face.
"My little girl..."
The voice was soft and sweet, like a glutinous rice ball.
Li Jun smiled.
He reached out to touch Nannan's head, but Nannan suddenly took a step back and hid behind the old Taoist priest.
"Master, please don't eat me!"
Her voice was trembling with tears.
"This doesn't taste good at all!"
Li Jun was stunned.
Eat her?
When did I ever say I wanted to eat her?
He thought for a moment, and then suddenly remembered something.
Once, while feeding the animals, he jokingly said, "There's dragon meat in the sky and donkey meat on the ground. I wonder if dragon meat tastes good."
He just said it casually, but the little guy has remembered it ever since.
Li Jun was both amused and exasperated.
He was about to tease the little girl when he suddenly noticed that his master had already rolled up his sleeves.
The way they were acting clearly meant to teach him a lesson for being a "bully of a child."
Li Jun quickly waved his hand:
"No, no, I was just joking!"
Seeing this, the old Taoist priest snorted coldly, then pulled Nannan to sit down at the stone table and poured her a cup of water.
"Darling, are you thirsty? Have some water."
Nannan took the cup, held it in her little hands, lowered her head and took a sip, then secretly glanced at Li Jun.
That look in her eyes seemed to be observing his reaction.
Li Jun found the scene somewhat amusing.
He sat down at the stone table, looked at his master, and asked, "Master, when did Nannan take human form?"
The old Taoist priest put down his teacup and recounted everything that had happened the previous night.
The old Taoist priest put down his teacup and recounted everything that had happened the previous night.
The tribulation of lightning, the vortex of spiritual energy swallowed the thunderclouds, five-colored light flowed, and the little dragon transformed into a little girl...
"Oh, right," the old Taoist priest continued, "there's one more thing."
He pointed to a corner of the yard.
"The gourd you planted has sprouted in the last couple of days."
Li Jun was taken aback and turned to look.
In the corner of the yard, a gourd vine was climbing on a bamboo pole.
The vines are lush and green, the leaves are thick, and the plant is growing very well.
Li Jun stared at the gourd vine for a long time.
He got it.
The dragonfish transformed into human form, and the gourd vine grew...
All of this is probably related to my seclusion these past few days.
Thinking of this, Li Jun turned to look at his master.
His eyes looked a little strange.
The dragonfish and the gourd vine have both undergone such significant changes, so why is Master still only at the Qi Refining Realm and hasn't improved at all?
The old Taoist priest felt a little uneasy under his gaze.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at this old Taoist priest like that?"
Li Jun quickly shook his head.
"It's nothing."
He looked away and then looked at Nannan.
My master spent his whole life guarding the Taoist temple, all alone.
Although he doesn't say it, he must be lonely inside.
Now that there's this little one, at least I have a companion.
Having a dragon as a pet at home may sound absurd, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.
"Oh, right, Master," Li Jun suddenly remembered something, "you just said you found me a little apprentice?"
The old Taoist priest nodded.
"That's right, from now on, Nannan will be your apprentice, you will be the master, and I will be the grandmaster."
He paused, looked at Li Jun, and said with a smile, "What? You don't want to?"
Li Jun glanced at the little girl who was holding a cup and looking at him expectantly, and shook his head.
"There's nothing I'm unwilling to do."
He thought for a moment and then said, "However, there's no rush for cultivation; she's still too young."
The old Taoist priest nodded.
"That's true. What kind of cultivation could such a small child possibly have?"
Upon hearing this, the little girl suddenly raised her head and said in a childish voice:
"My little girl isn't little anymore! She's alive... alive..."
She counted on her fingers for a long time, and finally lowered her head in frustration.
"The little girl doesn't even know how long she's lived..."
The old Taoist priest was amused and burst into laughter.
"Alright, alright, little girl, you're not little anymore, you're a big girl now."
The little girl cheered up, tilted her head back, and smiled sweetly at the old Taoist priest.
Seeing this scene, Li Jun couldn't help but smile.
But soon, he remembered something else.
"Master, will she be called Nannan from now on?"
The old Taoist priest nodded.
"Okay, let's call it that for now, we'll change it once we've decided on a proper name."
He paused, looked at Li Jun, and his eyes held a hint of expectation.
"Jun'er, you're a college student, why don't you suggest a name?"
Li Jun thought for a moment and then said, "She was originally a dragon-fish in human form, so how about we call her... Little Dragon Fish?"
The old Taoist priest: "..."
Nannan: "..."
There was a three-second silence.
The old Taoist priest said expressionlessly, "You'd better shut up."
Li Jun: "..."
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing his master's expression that said, "If you dare to say another word, I will expel you from the sect," he wisely kept his mouth shut.
The old Taoist priest snorted, looked down at Nannan, and his kind smile returned to his face.
"Nannan, don't listen to your master. His naming skills are not as good as mine."
The little girl nodded, then secretly glanced at Li Jun again.
That look in his eyes clearly said—
The name the old man chose doesn't seem to sound very good.
Li Jun's lips twitched, and he decided to stop worrying about the name.
Just then, he suddenly sensed something and looked up at the sky.
The sky was still the same sky, but he could sense that something was slowly descending from beyond the heavens.
At the same time, the concentration of spiritual energy in the world began to rise.
The ground beneath my feet seemed to pulsate faintly.
The pulse was very slight, but rhythmic, beating like the heart of the earth.