Chapter 134: Let Me Tell You a Story

"What exactly do you mean? If you’re going to give it to me, then give it; if not, I don’t want it." I felt a bit annoyed, biting my lip and looking away in displeasure.

He smiled, drawing a red ribbon from his sleeve. Yes, a red ribbon. With slow, deliberate movements, he wound it around one end of the bamboo pipe, then held it out to me. "Turn around first."

"Turn around?" I asked, puzzled, not understanding what he was up to now.

"Yes," he nodded. "Rest assured, I wouldn't do anything to you."

"Fine, then!"

I turned my back to him and felt his hand reach over from behind my head. He placed the bamboo pipe against my chest and chuckled softly, "In the mortal realm, children often wear a bamboo pipe around their necks. Whenever they wander too far while playing and can't find their way home, they blow into the pipe hanging on their chest so their families can find them."

"Then this bamboo pipe should have been saved for your own child." I teased him, laughing. "The way you say these things and give this pipe to me, it really makes me feel like I’m your child."

After saying this, I couldn't help but burst into laughter myself.

Once the pipe was tied, he reached out and brushed my hair gently, sighing, "If I had a child, they would likely be as grown as you are by now."

"Nonsense." I retorted. "Looking at you, you aren't that old yourself! How could you have a child my age? You should know, I’m not as young as I look! I am actually nearly three thousand years old."

Mentioning that I was older than him filled me with a small, secret sense of triumph.

He didn't say anything more, just pursed his lips into a smile. He walked from behind me to my front, lowered his head, and looked at me. "Now that you’ve blown the pipe, may I ask what it is that Lady Yuge needs of me?"

"Eh?"

I pursed my lips, weighing my words in my heart, before finally speaking. "To tell you the truth, Yuge called you here because I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?" he asked with a light, easy smile. "What might that be?"

"Can you help me establish contact with the Demon Realm?" I looked up at him, my eyes full of expectation.

"Establish contact with the Demon Realm?" Hearing this, his brows furrowed slightly, his expression one of confusion. "You went through so much trouble to escape the Demon Realm, came here to Lingyun Mountain to meet the Immortal Lord Zilian, and have now become his disciple—why would you want to reach out to the Demon Realm again?"

"Because… because of someone." I lowered my head and replied softly, hesitating over whether or not to tell him the story of Fengshiliuying and Fengqiaoyexue.

"Does this person have a story?"

"Yes!"

I nodded slowly. Thinking that if I wanted his help, it would be unreasonable not to explain the whole story, I turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Slowly, I recounted the tale of Fengqiaoyexue and Fengshiliuying to him.

Upon hearing my words, he showed no particular expression, simply standing to the side and listening quietly. He didn't interrupt to ask why I wanted to help them.

"Do you think she’s pitiful too?" I asked, looking up at him once I finished the story. If he felt even a sliver of the same sympathy for Fengshiliuying’s plight as I did, then there was a chance he would help me. If he felt differently, then I had truly sought help from the wrong person.

He listened, smiled faintly, and then slowly shook his head. "I don't know why, but I feel nothing in my heart after hearing that."

"Ah?" I gasped, looking at him in disbelief. "Such a moving story, and you don’t feel a thing?"

"Indeed, I do not." He nodded. "Even so, I will still find a way to help Lady Yuge establish contact with the Demon Realm."

I hadn't expected Putai to be so agreeable. I had prepared myself to do some bargaining or perhaps try to bribe him with something precious. I never imagined he would agree to help me even without being moved by the story.

Deeply touched, I said to him, "Putai, for this kindness today, if there is ever an opportunity in the future, Yuge will certainly repay you."

I didn't know what else to say to express my gratitude to someone I had only met a few times.