Ch34 - What exactly is Tian Jia Xin?

June 4th, Friday.

If the road conditions were good, it would take approximately seven hours to drive from Fèng Xīngchéng city to Xuanmen Village.

Bei Quan had only allowed Wei Fuyuan to sleep in his room for around five hours when he pushed open the storage door just after 6:30 and removed the befuddled Young Master Wei’s quilt. He urged him to get up, bathe and get ready to leave.

Wei Fuyuan hadn’t gotten enough sleep and felt irritated when he woke up. The entire person was withering and emitting a gloomy aura. 

He kept trying to find solace in reminding himself that this was how “migrant” workers lived. He would undoubtedly be exploited if he wanted to be compensated by the evil capitalists. He cleaned up quickly and packed his clothing and toiletries into a backpack in preparation for an overnight stay.

When he went downstairs, Bei Quan was already sitting at the table and eating breakfast. Seeing Wei Fuyuan, he urged, “Come on, eat quickly. Let’s set off when you are finished.”

Wei Fuyuan noticed that only the little Tian Jia Xin, wore clothing suitable for going out. He was sitting at the table with a canvas bag, holding a thermos cup between  his hands. He looked listless and even more depressed than Wei Fuyuan himself.

Wei Fuyuan pointed to Tian Jia Xin and stared at Bei Quan in shock.

“Don’t tell me you want to bring Tian Jia Xin with us!”

Bei Quan was still eating. When he heard Wei Fuyuan’s question, he only gave an “um” in response.

Wei Fuyuan: “!”

He’s going crazy—— 

——What rational person would bring a three-year-old baby to accompany him when he goes out to catch ghosts!?

Wei Fuyuan sat down across from Bei Quan and prepared to argue with him to make him reconsider.

But Bei Quan seemed to have known what he wanted to say, and raised his hand to stop him.

“This mission may be complicated.” Bei Quan said bluntly, “It’ll be too dangerous to solely rely on you.” 

Wei Fuyuan was going crazy, “And it wouldn’t be dangerous if we take a child!!?”

Bei Quan lifted his cup and took a few sips of soybean milk, “At least, Jia Xin knows more than you do.”

In the end, no matter how much Wei Fuyuan objected, Tian Jia Xin got in the car with his canvas bag and sat in the back seat.

Wei Fuyuan was responsible for driving, while Bei Quan sat in the front passenger seat. 

He drove the car east in accordance with the navigation guidance.

As he drove, Wei Fuyuan mulled over how he was going to protect Tian Jia Xin when they arrived at their destination.

He didn’t feel it’d be sensible to allow a three-year-old child to leave their guardian’s sight—— let alone risk a child of this age’s safety by bringing him along to catch ghosts in barren mountains and forests.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

With these worries in mind, he continued to try persuading Bei Quan to find a reliable friend to look after Tian Jia Xin for a few days and then pick him up when they returned from solving the case. 

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When he glanced back with the corner of his eye, he suddenly felt his anger rising, “Do you have any common sense? Don’t you know that children of his age should take child safety seats when riding in cars?

Bei Quan was finally tired of his nagging. 

“Shut up.”

He frowned.

“Tian Jia Xin is not an ordinary child.”

Wei Fuyuan felt that this was indeed true. 

Although Tian Jia Xin was very cute and small, he was indeed much more precocious than ordinary children.

Based on his observations, Tian Jia Xin was truly very different from other three-year-old children. He didn’t like playing with toys or watching cartoons. His daily hobbies were making tea, planting flowers and raising fish. He even took care of the greenhouse on the balcony alone, and he would make some snacks and dishes when he was free.

If it hadn’t been for his pair of small arms and short legs, and less than one meter height, Wei Fuyuan would have thought he was a retired veteran cadre.

But even if the child’s intelligence quotient was high and his character was precocious, he still couldn’t justify taking a child to dangerous places! 

Wei Fuyuan opened his mouth and wanted to say more, but Bei Quan raised his hand and made a “stop” gesture.

“Forget it, anyway… It doesn’t matter if you know.”

Bei Quan gave a low click of his tongue, turned his head and said to Jia Xin behind him,

“Come on, let Xiaowei see what you can do.” 

Tian Jia Xin gave an “Oh” and raised his fleshy little fat hands, “Is that so?”

Wei Fuyuan: “?”

He turned to look, and then he was shocked all over.

He saw a thin line extending from Tian Jia Xin’s hand, growing larger and longer, resembling a miniature meandering snake. After stretching out about half a meter, just before reaching Wei Fuyuan’s ear. A brilliant red tiny fruit, resembling a snake’s head, trembled around the tip of his nose at the top. 

Wei Fuyuan: “!”

He was so stunned that he couldn’t utter a word.

Before he could gather himself, the gas station’s little brother interrupted as he stowed the oil gun and reminded the customers to pay.

The vines next to Wei Fuyuan’s cheeks “swished” back, leaving just a hint of afterimages. 

Young Master Wei’s expression was stiff and he barely maintained his composure. He got out of the car and paid the gas bill. When he returned to the driver’s seat, his face was still white.

He started the car, swallowed hard, and asked hoarsely, “Tian Jia Xin… Who is…?”

He wanted to ask ‘what is it’ but he caught himself before the words left his mouth. He thought it would be too impolite and hurriedly changed it to “who.”

“Well, since we’ve gotten to this point, let me tell you.” Bei Quan replied, miming an exasperated tone as if to say, ‘It can’t be helped since it was discovered by you’. 

“Tian Jia Xin’s original form is a Tianqi.”

Wei Fuyuan: “!?”

Bei Quan turned and smiled at him, “Have you heard of ginseng dolls?”

Wei Fuyuan, “Listen… I’ve heard of it. It’s said that consuming a lot of it will have good benefits?” 

“Bah, bad habits!”

Tian Jia Xin, sitting in the back seat, muttered discontentedly, “Everyone just wants to eat everything!”

Wei Fuyuan was aware of his gaffe and quickly apologized.

Bei Quan smiled and explained, “Some ginsengs are born with a spirit. They are created by heaven and earth. When the ginseng grows during the ninth leaf, the root will change into a ginseng doll and it will become sentient—— coming out of the soil able to walk, run and jump like a human. They also have some magic power.” 

Wei Fuyuan, “So what you mean is that ginseng can develop consciousness, right?”

Bei Quan smiled and did not deny this statement.

He pointed to Tian Jia Xin, who was sitting in the back seat, “It’s just that they have to cultivate to a certain stage where they can turn into a human shape. This is a hundred times harder than taking the shape of a ginseng doll, and the world rarely hears about it.”

After a pause, Bei Quan said again, “So, although he looks like a three-year-old, he has been living and practicing magic for hundreds of years.” 

Wei Fuyuan nodded.

It all dawned on him.

No wonder Tian Jia Xia sleeps in the greenhouse on the roof every night and seems to prefer the company of flowers and other plants. It turned out that was the living environment he was most comfortable in!

“But I think…” 

Wei Fuyuan pondered for a time, but he still felt that he couldn’t figure out several things.

“Like ginseng, Tianqi… Er, fairies, if they want to practice magic, shouldn’t they absorb the spiritual vitality of the sun and the moon? So shouldn’t he stay in the mountains and forests? Why did he come to Fengxing city? ”

Wei Fuyuan quickly turned his head and looked at Bei Quan. “So why stay in Sāntúchuān?”

After all, Sāntúchuān looked like a dangerous building from all angles. It wasn’t even suitable for repair! 

“Hahaha.”

Bei Quan laughed when he heard the words.

“He stayed with me to take refuge.”

Wei Fuyuan, “What?” 

Bei Quan looked back and motioned for Tian Jia Xin to speak up.

Tian Jia Xin replied bitterly with a flat mouth, “I came to Fengxing by chance last year and wanted to find part-time work here. The result was not very smooth. I accidentally offended people, so I had to hide with Bei Quan…”

Wei Fuyuan: “…”

——Is socializing in your fairy circle so complicated!? 

After listening to Tian Jia Xin’s narration, Bei Quan couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“Ha ha ha!”

He finally stopped laughing and finished elaborating on Tian’s abbreviated self-report.

It turned out that Tian Jia Xin was a Tianqi doll who had been practicing asceticism for 800 years. 

Last year, he conscientiously achieved success in his cultivation. He followed a certain master down the mountain and walked through Fengxing City. He assumed that this place was both a millennium-old capital and the site of Dragon Veins. The Feng Shui of the place was also quite good so he decided to stay without authorization and find a territory to be a landlord. He could do good deeds and help others accumulate merit. In addition, he could also receive incense to improve his cultivation.

However, the naive Tianqi doll did not know the dangers of the world.

Since Dragon Veins had a good Feng Shui for cultivation, how could there be no local snakes?

As soon as the foolish Tianqi doll, who has been practicing Taoist abilities for only a few hundred years, said that he wanted to be the owner of that territory, Chenghuang, the gods who guard the city in Taoism, of eight townships from ten miles, could not sit still. They surrounded Tian Jia Xin and beat him with sticks, forcing him to realize the unfortunate truth that a strong dragon cannot repress a snake, not to mention he could hardly call himself a dragon and was likely more akin to a worm than a dragon. 

The poor Tianqi doll was beaten and left with bumps all over his head. The master who brought him there had also run away. Thus, he, a little child who couldn’t even use a mobile phone, could only cry and hide himself everywhere. By mistake, he fled to the “Santuchuan” broadcasting company, which was not officially opened at that time and was rescued by Bei Quan, with whom he has stayed with since then, as a life assistant.

“Alas, my old name used to be Tian Shengguan…”

After Bei Quan helped him recollect his traumatic past, Tian Jia Xin had smashed a cracked pot.

“As a result, if you can’t get promoted now, you can only hope to get rich…” 

As he spoke, he looked pitifully at Bei Quan with his puppy-like eyes, “Boss, when will you pay me a salary?”

Bei Quan sneered.

“You’ve been eating and drinking for free in my place for a year. Even the tea leaves you drink so casually are of the best quality Dahongpao which costs tens of thousands of yuan a kilogram.”

He replied coldly, “I’ll wait until you pay back the tea money!” 

Tian Jia Xin withered under Bei Quan’s words. He hugged his teacup aggrievedly and didn’t dare to make any more noise.

However, Wei Fuyuan’s attention had been completely diverted by another thing.

——Since Tian Jia Xin was not human.

——Then, Zhu Ling, who sleeps in Bei Quan’s study every night… 

Wei Fuyuan turned his head at the red light and looked at Bei Quan on the front passenger seat with bright eyes.

“What about Zhu Ling? Zhu Ling, isn’t she human?”