The Farce Ends

Yan Chixia's pupils shrank suddenly. He tried to draw his sword and turn around, but the flying sword remained motionless in the dragon's claw. When the demon-slaying rune touched the dragon scale, not even a spark was generated. All of it was completely annihilated by the water and fire power flowing on the scale.

His heart skipped a beat, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning: This evil spirit is likely to perish here today.

Ning Caichen rushed to the three children's side as Yan Chixia shouted. He grabbed Li Zhitui's wrist, who was closest to him, and pulled him towards the courtyard gate with all his might, but he couldn't budge him on the first try.

Li Zhitui's feet seemed rooted to the spot on the bluestone ground. He glanced back at him, his eyes showing no anger, no fear, only confusion.

Ning Caichen refused to believe it and pulled a second time, this time even harder. As a result, not only did he not move it, but the recoil made him stagger and land on his butt on the wet bluestone ground.

He looked up at the three children with disbelief. A faint golden moonlight flowed around the three of them, the accumulated fire essence gathered from the moonlight over many days. Although it hadn't been cultivated to the point of being able to release it to harm others, it was more than enough to enhance their own strength.

Li Zhiruo looked down at Ning Caichen sitting on the ground, blinked twice, and asked with concern, "Young Master Ning, are you alright?"

Li Zhitui was more pragmatic and reached out to help Ning Caichen up.

The youngest, Li Zhiwei, stepped forward, stood on tiptoe, and gently touched Ning Caichen's forehead with her little hand. Then she turned to her older siblings and said earnestly, "He doesn't have a fever, so why can't he stand steadily?"

Yan Chixia's hand, which was forming a sword incantation, was still frozen in mid-air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the commotion around Ning Caichen. The three children were surrounded by a faint golden light, and the youngest one was standing on tiptoe touching Ning Caichen's forehead, muttering, "He doesn't have a fever."

He felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, chilled to the bone. How could a child whose mind had been bewitched by demons possess such pure and righteous moon-like cultivation?

Zhao Fengnian retracted the dragon wings, restored the dragon claws to human hands, and slowly retracted the scales under his skin. He picked up the bowl of porridge from the stove again, leaned against the doorframe, and his tone returned to its usual cheeky manner: "Master Yan, do you understand now? What kind of 'bravely venturing into the demon's lair to save a child' act is this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a hand reached out from behind and lightly patted him on the back of the head. Zhao Fengnian staggered forward half a step while holding the bowl of porridge, then turned around to look.

Liu Jin had emerged from the meditation room at some point, his gauze robe fluttering slightly in the morning breeze, a faint, helpless smile on his face: "Why don't you explain things properly to people?"

Zhao Fengnian rubbed the back of his head, looking completely innocent: "Brother, how can you blame me? I've wanted to go to the city to clarify the rumors for a long time, but you said you didn't need to care. You said 'let them spread it' and 'I'm too lazy to care,' so I didn't go. Now look what's happened, even the chivalrous Yan has come to our doorstep to uphold justice."

Liu Jin shook his head helplessly, indicating that he should return the sword to Yan Chixia.

Zhao Fengnian picked up the flying sword that had been locked up for half a day from the stove, wiped the blade with his palm, and completely withdrew the remaining water and fire power. The flying sword returned to its original state, and the demon-slaying runes on the blade once again glowed with a faint golden light.

He shoved the sword into Yan Chixia's hand, adding, "Don't use the Demon-Slaying Sword to kill dragons next time. Dragons and demons are two different things. Just turn left and ask any local temple."

Yan Chixia took the sword, his expression changing from ashen to flushed, then to purplish-red. Liu Jin casually waved his hand, and a gentle surge of reversal energy flowed out, gently lifting Ning Caichen, who was still sitting on the ground, and shaking off the mud and water clinging to his clothes. Then he turned to Yan Chixia and began to explain slowly and deliberately.

"Sanyi Temple doesn't issue ordination certificates because I don't understand the rules here and I'm too lazy to go to the government office to get one. We don't worship gods, we only worship Heaven and Earth because the Taoist tradition I've followed only worships Heaven and Earth. As for taking demons as disciples, that crow was introduced by the ghost messengers from the City God Temple, and that deer passed the three tests on its own to get in. They are all proper registered disciples who have knocked on the temple gate. As for what I'm wearing."

He raised his hand and twirled the cuff of his Yin-Yang gauze robe. "This is a magical artifact I've cultivated, not demonic energy. You say you can't see through me because my cultivation system is quite different from yours. It's understandable that you see me as a thousand-year-old demon."

The three little ones figured out what had happened and started laughing. Li Zhi smiled the loudest, clutching his stomach and yelling at Ning Caichen, "You tried to pull my brother but couldn't, so you fell down! My brother has roots!" Li Zhiruo corrected him from the side, "That's called standing firmly, not having roots. Our brother isn't a tree."

Li Zhitui was rather kind; he just smiled and didn't say anything. After helping Ning Caichen steady, he even patted the mud off his back. A crow poked its head out from under the eaves and yelled "Idiot!" at the top of its lungs, though it was unclear whether it was cursing Yan Chixia or laughing at Ning Caichen.

Xinlu the deer slowly ran back from the back mountain. Its dark eyes glanced at the scene in the yard, and it flicked its tail. It had long sensed that Yan Chixia's aura was not right, so it hid in the back mountain before dawn. It only showed itself now that the atmosphere had eased.

Upon hearing this, Yan Chixia's face turned several shades redder than before, from a deep purple to a deep crimson. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. Having lived this long and never failed in his demon-slaying adventures, he had been defeated today by a "demon's lair" he had imagined.

......

Yan Chixia: Monster, take this! Crow: I'm just having a drink of water. Yan Chixia: You evil scoundrel! Zhao Fengnian: I'm just having a bowl of porridge. Yan Chixia: Acting on behalf of Heaven! Liu Jin: I'm just taking a nap. Yan Chixia: ...I am ashamed.

"The end of the series, Yan Chixia's face can be used as a red light."

"The three little ones gave him the nickname 'Hero Yan,' and from now on, the list of unofficial staff of the Sanyi Temple is: Yan Chixia, whose position is the atmosphere team."

"Ning Caichen was the most pitiful. He was shaken awake by Yan Chixia in the middle of the night and bombarded with a whole set of theories about the demon cave, which terrified him so much that his face turned pale. In the morning, he rushed over to save people, but he couldn't even lift an eleven-year-old child and was even patted on the head."

"I laugh every time I watch the scene where Li Zhiwei touches his forehead. Ning Caichen is being touched on the head by a five-year-old child, and the child turns around and says, 'He doesn't have a fever, so why can't he stand up straight?' Ning Caichen: 'My dignity as a scholar has been completely tarnished today.'"

......

Ning Caichen snapped out of his reverie, glanced at Yan Chixia with a hint of resentment, then turned to look curiously at the people, deer, and crows in the courtyard. Finally, his gaze fell on Liu Jin, as if he were looking at a deity who had stepped out of a book.

Zhao Fengnian clapped his hands and beckoned everyone to go to the kitchen to get breakfast. At the table, Liu Jin, unusually, poured Yan Chixia a cup of tea, saying that this cup of tea was a welcome feast for Yan Chixia prepared by the Sanyi Temple, although the way of welcoming him was a bit special.

Yan Chixia took the teacup and finally managed to utter, "I am ashamed." A crow poked its head in from the windowsill and cried out "Idiot!" This time everyone laughed, even Yan Chixia himself couldn't help but grin.

Ning Caichen, holding his bowl of porridge, secretly glanced at him several times, as if afraid that this Brother Yan would suddenly slam the table and shout, "Monster, take this!"