Stars were dotted across the sky, the moon slanting westward.
Several piranhas swam up from the water, circled a few times without finding food, and then departed in disappointment.
"Scoundrel! Bastard son of a bitch! I'll kill you one day!"
"Say that when you have the strength."
Lin Fan jumped off the small boat. His feet, enveloped in a faint purple spiritual energy, stepped on the water, and he quickly disappeared into the darkness.
"Ah!!!"
Ling'er cried out in anger. If she hadn't gone berserk and lost her mind, how could she have… with this scoundrel…
"Lin! Fan!"
She gritted her teeth in hatred. The slightest exertion sent a throbbing ache through her entire body.
It was a full five hours later when the eastern sky began to show a hint of dawn.
Ling'er finally regained her strength and rowed the small boat back the way she came.
"Why weren't you back all night? Did something happen?"
Ye Qingcheng asked with concern, seeing her pale face.
Ling'er's gaze darted away. She absolutely couldn't let her mistress know about what happened with Lin Fan, or she'd lose her life!
She knelt on the ground, "Mistress, I'm sorry, I let that scoundrel escape."
Ye Qingcheng seemed to have expected this outcome. She reached out and helped her up, "Although we didn't get any useful information from Lin Fan, he's likely not an ordinary person. It's good that you're safe."
Ling'er's face grew even more grim, wishing she could tear Lin Fan to pieces.
"Look at your clothes, so dirty and tattered. Go wash them quickly, change into something else, and tidy yourself up. We should head back to the city."
"Yes, Mistress."
Ye Qingcheng watched Ling'er's strange way of walking and fell into thought.
Lin Fan sped all the way back and returned to the village as dawn broke.
His speed was astonishing. Fortunately, it was dark, and no one noticed him.
Otherwise, they would have thought it was a ghost.
"Widow Zhang, up so early, where are you off to?"
"Hmph! You ungrateful brat, who are you calling a widow?"
"My apologies, Sister Zhang."
Lin Fan walked along the country dirt road, feeling incredibly refreshed.
No place like home, not even a golden or silver one!
Jin Hu Island was good, but he still preferred Luofeng Village.
Everything here was irreplaceable by any other place.
"Xiao Fan, you're back!"
"Sister-in-law, why are you up so early too?"
Xia Xue, holding a hoe and a bamboo basket, said, "I'm going to check on the ancestral house. The Tongtian Bamboo has been planted for a few days, and it needs watering and fertilizing."
"Oh, I'll go with you."
The two soon arrived at the ancestral house and were stunned by the scene before them.
The entire courtyard was filled with lush green young bamboo shoots!
"Do they grow this fast?"
Just a few days ago, they had planted root segments directly into the soil. Now, these bamboos had not only broken through the earth but had also grown over a meter tall.
A vast expanse of green met the eye, incredibly beautiful.
Xia Xue was dumbfounded. "This… I remember people saying these things grow slowly. It takes half a month from planting to sprouting?"
"To grow this tall would take at least two months!"
Lin Fan walked around the courtyard and quickly found the reason.
Beneath the vigorously growing Tongtian Bamboo, *di shen* had been planted previously.
Beneath a few Tongtian Bamboo plants in the corner, no *di shen* had been planted. Now, they were just breaking through the soil, their tips showing.
"Could the nutrients from the *di shen* have remained in the soil, causing these Tongtian Bamboo to grow so well?"
Lin Fan crouched down to study it closely and quickly dismissed his own guess.
Because half a section of *di shen* roots was still buried underground.
If it were truly due to the *di shen*, then the Tongtian Bamboo above this half-buried root should have grown the best. However, it wasn't much different from the others.
Suddenly, Lin Fan's gaze fell on a spot.
No *di shen* had been planted here, yet the Tongtian Bamboo above it was growing vigorously.
"What's going on here?"
Lin Fan stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Chirp chirp."
From a broken pot, the Golden Silkworm Gu poked its little head out, sniffing the air with its neck craned.
"Chirp chirp!"
Suddenly, as if it had smelled something precious, the Golden Silkworm Gu's spirits lifted, and it flew out.
Lin Fan was quick-handed, catching it in his palm.
This little guy must want to eat that half-buried *di shen*.
*Di shen* was a good thing, capable of curing all diseases. It absolutely couldn't be given to it carelessly. They would wait until there was more.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
The Golden Silkworm Gu chirped in dissatisfaction, clearly complaining about Lin Fan's stinginess.
Its appearance gave Lin Fan a new idea.
"I left it here for a few days before. It seems to have dug through this soil. Could it be that…"
Lin Fan's eyes sparkled as he glanced sideways at the Golden Silkworm Gu.
The Golden Silkworm Gu seemed to guess Lin Fan's thoughts and shook its head desperately. "Chirp, chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!"
It struggled to escape but was forcefully thrown to the corner by Lin Fan.
"If you don't dig up this entire plot of land today, you're not eating."
Lin Fan stood with his hands on his hips, laughing heartily. How could he have not thought of such a simple solution!
"Xiao Fan, what are you grinning about over there?"
Xia Xue wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking at Lin Fan strangely.
Lin Fan waved his hand and smiled, "It's nothing, nothing. Sister-in-law, take a break if you're tired. I'll give you a massage."
"You've only worked for a few minutes and you're already complaining about being tired. You're getting lazier and lazier," Xia Xue chided.
Then she bent down again to water the bamboo plants one by one.
"Chirp chirp!"
The Golden Silkworm Gu poked its little head out of the ground, protesting to Lin Fan.
"Hurry up, don't delay us going home for lunch."
Lin Fan was unceremonious and stomped down with his foot.
"Chirp!"
The Golden Silkworm Gu was startled and immediately burrowed into the ground.
It was resentful and unwilling to work.
Before, it had just been digging around out of boredom.
Now, it couldn't disobey its master, Lin Fan.
Helpless, the Golden Silkworm Gu had no choice but to stick its butt out and roll wildly in the soil.
Lin Fan activated his Purple Extreme Spirit Eyes, and a purple light flashed in his eyes.
The next second, the Golden Silkworm Gu's activities in the soil appeared before him.
Wherever the Golden Silkworm Gu had dug, a thin layer of golden silk remained.
Lin Fan could see through his divine eyes that these silks contained rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which was gradually absorbed by the soil. The soil then became different from the surrounding soil.
It was fertile and moist, and every drop of water within it was formed from spiritual energy.
Plants nourished by this soil not only grew rapidly but were also of a different class in terms of quality compared to ordinary plants, much like the green liquid in the Tongtian Pot, it was incredibly magical.
Seeing the Golden Silkworm Gu working diligently, Lin Fan stopped paying attention to it and went over to Xia Xue, gently embracing her from behind.
"I've missed you so much these past few days."
Lin Fan's hands became restless.
Xia Xue's beautiful eyes became hazy, and her breathing grew somewhat rapid.
She forcefully pried Lin Fan's hands away, "Xiao Fan, don't be like this. Can we go home…"
"What are you afraid of? This ancestral house is also our home."
"That won't do either!"
Xia Xue adopted a firm stance, making Lin Fan back down.
After all, this was outside, and villagers came and went. If they were seen, their reputation would be ruined.
Home was safer.