TRYMBPIETM 17: The Ancient Tree’s Deep Shade(11)

Chi Qingzhou pursed his lips, and his expression was hard to describe.

When Ah Lai was buried, he had been invited to attend the ceremony, which allowed him to learn about the customs of the Puluo tribe and the specifics of their territory.

The Puluo tribe worships nature and the moon. Their land is surrounded by mountains and lush trees, with most nights throughout the year bathed in moonlight.

Sometimes, if it rains too much, they activate a special formation within their land to “borrow” moonlight.

In addition, there are over thirty ancient formations within the tribe’s territory, most of which are in an activated state, constantly guarding against outsiders.

According to the tribe’s rules, entering their land requires selecting the proper time and being guided by the Puluo tribe’s high priest, or else one will be attacked by the formations.

Zhu Yantong is a genuine ghost-tamer , but he is not a Puluo high priest, so ordinarily, he wouldn’t be able to enter their land.

Chi Qingzhou had no doubt about Xing Shuangzhan’s statement, and he worriedly asked, “What is going on with him?”

Xing Shuangzhan patted his back, his blood-red eyes carrying a smile, exuding a mischievous air as if he was eager to stir up trouble.

“Since you’re worried, do you want to visit the Puluo tribe’s land and check it out? When you get serious, even I have to give you some space. The formations there would be like paper in front of you.”

Chi Qingzhou rolled his eyes at Xing Shuangzhan, raising his chin. “No way, Ah Lai still has to cultivate.”

It wouldn’t be hard to break in, but it would certainly ruin the entire territory.

He was still hoping that Ah Lai would regain his strength and reach the level of a ghostly divinity soon, giving him a new kind of friend.

Xing Shuangzhan sighed in regret.

Chi Qingzhou ignored him, thinking for a moment. “It’s not too urgent. Although Ah Lai’s aura is weak, it’s stable. I can wait for the right opportunity.”

This was also one of the peculiarities of the Puluo tribe’s land.

People who had a special fate with the tribe could enter freely, and they could even bring others along.

In the tribe’s history, there had been many cases of such individuals bringing great benefits to those who were cultivating.

At this point, Chi Qingzhou suddenly paused.

He turned his head, looking at the side of Xing Shuangzhan’s face, which was close at hand. “Were you trying to remind me of this? Could that ghost-tamer be fated with someone from the Puluo tribe?”

Xing Shuangzhan smiled.

He wrapped his arms around Chi Qingzhou’s waist, effortlessly lifting him off the window frame.

“It’s late. Qingzhou, you should rest now.” He changed the subject with a carefree tone, “If you don’t sleep properly, you’ll have dark circles under your eyes tomorrow.”

Chi Qingzhou instinctively wrapped his arms around Xing Shuangzhan’s neck, squinting his eyes. “Brother Xu, don’t change the subject. You just mentioned the Xuanxu Sect. Do you know something about it?”

Xing Shuangzhan smiled again.

He placed Chi Qingzhou back on the bed, pulled the blanket up for him, and gently stroked his eyes, his tone soft.

“Sleep.”

…

Chi Qingzhou went to bed early and woke up early the next morning.

While the other guests were still asleep, he took the opportunity to stroll through the village, looking for the Puluo tribe’s high priest in Yinping Village.

At first, Village Chief Li was a bit wary of Chi Qingzhou, but his son was the one who escorted people during funerals in the tribe’s land, and immediately recognized Chi Qingzhou as the important guest who had visited five years ago, his attitude changed instantly.

He took a puff of dry tobacco, leaned against the doorframe, and pointed towards the westernmost part of the village. “We used to have two great priests in our village. Fifteen years ago, there was an accident, and one died while the other went mad, leaving only Xiao Zhu.”

Chi Qingzhou blinked.

The ghost-tamer’s mother(Nuo Qi) was one of the great priests?

Perhaps the other great priest was the mom’s father?

Village Chief Li chuckled, “It seems the guest is quite familiar with our Puluo customs. The great priests are both talented junior. The other great priest was Nuo Qi’s younger brother, Nuo Xin.”

“That name sounds familiar.” Chi Qingzhou recalled, “These two great priests were the disciples of Great Priest Geng, who guards the tribe’s land?”

Village Chief Li was genuinely surprised. “You’ve met Great Priest Geng?!”

Chi Qingzhou replied, “We met briefly five years ago.” He vaguely sensed the deeper meaning behind Xing Shuangzhan’s actions and asked, “I remember that Great Priest Geng had an apprentice who wasn’t from the Puluo tribe, right?”

Village Chief Li said, “The Great Jin Dynasty is no more, and we stopped following those old ways decades ago. Nuo Qi and Xiao Qu, were in a free love relationship. Oh, Xiao Qu is Zhu’s master.”

Chi Qingzhou softly asked, “The surname ‘Qu’ is quite rare. Did something happen to him fifteen years ago?”

Village Chief Li sighed. “Yes. He tried to save Great Priest Nuo Xin but failed, and ended up losing his life.”

To save the great priest?

It seems that the one with the surname Qu was also a practitioner of mystical arts. Perhaps Zhu Yantong’s ghost taming techniques were learned from him.

Chi Qingzhou talked with Village Chief Li for a while to gather more information, then thanked him and returned to his place.

Xing Shuangzhan, taking advantage of the fact that no one could see him, stepped out of the shadows and casually placed his hand on Chi Qingzhou’s shoulder.

“Why reveal your identity suddenly? Aren’t you worried that the ghost-tamer might find out and have bad intentions?”

Chi Qingzhou looked innocently at Xing Shuangzhan. “Isn’t that even better? He was running away too fast. I actually wanted to use him to help you replenish your energy.”

Xing Shuangzhan’s aura visibly softened. “It’s fine. He carries my ghost energy, so he won’t be able to run away.”

Chi Qingzhou asked, “Is he still in the tribe?”

Xing Shuangzhan answered, “He hasn’t moved.”

Chi Qingzhou squinted slightly and saw Tang Qichen and Xu Xinxin heading out for their morning exercise. He lifted the corners of his lips into a pleasant smile.

…

At 9:30 a.m., the livestream started again.

Because of the incident with Tang Qichen, the production team urgently removed a few dangerous segments, and today’s livestream location was changed to the only farmhouse restaurant in Yinping Village.

Once the guests finished interacting with the livestream audience, a phone call from the special guests came in.

As per the tradition of Scenery Along the Way, the special guest’s dish selection is a reserved segment and often used to promote the local specialty dishes.

Award-winning actor Song Yuzhi and popular young actress Ling Jiao each ordered two dishes.

Song Yuzhi ordered the special dish, steam pot chicken, and stir-fried chicken mushrooms. Ling Jiao ordered home-style steamed fish and hand-torn cabbage.

When Liang Jiting heard the menu, he cried out: “Teacher Song,I see that what you ordered is not a specialty dish, it’s an attempt to kill us!”

Zhong Lingshu rubbed his temples. “How do you make steam pot chicken? Who can cook it?”

Tang Qichen looked numb. “I can’t cook. Can Teacher Chi cook?”

Chi Qingning thought Tang Qichen was asking him, and was surprised as he looked over, but found that Tang Qichen was actually looking at Chi Qingzhou, and his gaze darkened slightly.

Chi Qingzhou smiled, his eyes curved. “I can only cook some simple dishes.”

Xu Xinxin also shook her head. “I can only cook noodles.”

The guests were weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Song Yuzhi laughed helplessly on the other end of the phone. “This can’t be blamed on us, it was Director Hu’s decision.”

The guests groaned.

They had gathered quite a few mushrooms yesterday, fish could be caught at the riverbank, but the other ingredients could only be obtained through tasks.

With little time left before the guests arrived, they didn’t know if they’d be able to gather all the ingredients in time.

Sighing, they borrowed fishing tools from the locals. The guests scrambled around for a while, finally catching a grass carp and few crucian carp.

When they returned to the farmhouse, they found that the two guests had already arrived.

The two were sitting on small stools, washing the chicken mushrooms. Zhong Lingshu pushed open the door and greeted them first.

Song Yuzhi and Ling Jiao quickly stood up to respond to the senior.

Other guests entered one after another, and Chi Qingning, upon seeing Song Yuzhi, rarely showed a warm and happy smile on camera.

Song Yuzhi immediately spotted Chi Qingning and was delighted.

He opened his arms to embrace Chi Qingning and gave him a hearty hug.

“It’s been so long, Qingning, you’ve lost weight again. Have you taken on a role lately and been asked by the director to lose weight?” Song Yuzhi released Chi Qingning and his eyes showed a hint of concern. “Actually, you’re already very slim, no need to lose more.”

Chi Qingning smiled faintly. “I’m an actor; getting closer to the role is part of my professional ethics. Brother Yuzhi, you do the same, so don’t talk about me.”

Song Yuzhi laughed helplessly, patted Chi Qingning’s back, and didn’t say more, though his expression held a bit of pride.

The live chat was filled with shocked comments.

【Mr. Song actually knows Chi Qingning?】

【Our brother is really dedicated! Protect the best brother!】

【Huh, have these two worked together? I always thought someone like Mr. Song wouldn’t work with a traffic idol.】

【Our brother is an actor, thank you. Please don’t tag him randomly.】

【Chi Qingning is an actor?? Don’t tell me all those second-line idols’ press releases are sent out by the other side.】

Zhong Lingshu was also a bit surprised. She glanced between the two and asked on behalf of the audience.

“Mr. Song, do you know each other? Did you work together?”

Song Yuzhi nodded, a hint of admiration for Chi Qingning showing on his face.

“Qingning did a cameo in Wanxiang, we met back then.”

Unlike Ling Jiao, who became popular only in the last two years, Song Yuzhi became an instant sensation at 21 with a villainous mercenary role. He won Best Newcomer at the Qingqu Award and went on to star in many classic films, winning multiple awards including the Golden Crane Award for Best Actor twice.

His new film, Spring Breeze Returns with Rain, was recently submitted for the Chang Kong Award, and there were rumors that he had been nominated for Best Actor.

He mentioned Wàngxiàng , a film he worked on last year, which involved elements of feng shui and religion and was delayed due to editing and review issues, only releasing this year.

He and Ling Jiao participated in Scenery Along the Way to promote Wàngxiàng.

Zhong Lingshu raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked at Chi Qingning. “Qingning was also in Wàngxiàng ? I didn’t hear you mention that.”

Chi Qingning humbly replied, “It was just a small role, not worth mentioning.”

Ling Jiao smiled and added, “It was actually the director’s request to keep it secret. The character Qingning played was quite special.”

Song Yuzhi also said, “Qingning is one of the director’s secret weapons.”

Zhong Lingshu smiled knowingly. “Then I’ll definitely pay close attention to Wàngxiàng when it’s released. Everyone, remember to buy tickets and support it!”

The three thanked Zhong Lingshu for the promotion.

Zhong Lingshu waved her hand and went to the back kitchen to put down the seasonings.

The other guests came over to greet, and Ling Jiao responded warmly, at least maintaining a pleasant appearance despite her inner thoughts.

As for Song Yuzhi, he was polite to everyone, but when it came to Chi Qingzhou, his expression immediately cooled, and his tone became distant.

Chi Qingzhou wasn’t bothered by it, while the system silently sneered, somewhat pleased.

Song Yuzhi, feeling a bit uncomfortable, glanced at Chi Qingzhou and awkwardly moved aside.

This gesture was captured by the livestream camera. Unseen by most, a dark energy spread, causing some viewers to get overly excited.

【Our brother is so humble, he never promoted his role in a famous director’s film. Unlike some people who want to shout their achievements to the world.】

【It’s really funny. Didn’t CQZ save TQC once? Who knows if it was just luck, yet some fans are causing a stir. The main person even stepped on his previous friend, really amusing.】

【My brother is just a small actor, not worthy of being friends with such big stars.】

【It’s okay. My brother is closer to Mr. Song. Mr. Song is an actor, much better than some others.】

【We didn’t know that our brother and Mr. Song were good friends.】

【Sigh, our brother doesn’t like marketing or hyping up. He’s different from some people.】

【Looks like CQZ has been exposed. Mr. Song is a man of integrity, carefully choosing his friends. The fact that he’s close to CQN but distant from CQZ speaks volumes.】

【A lot of people were hyping up CQZ before, but now it’s clear he’s not that great!】

【Let’s bury this eye-sore already. It’s time to get rid of it.】

【I’ll quietly light a candle and some incense.】