Chapter 36

Holding a small bowl of lotus seed porridge, Tang Jie placed it on the grass and then stepped back a few paces, saying, "Alright, don't be angry with me anymore. It's just that I don't know how to speak. I forgot that you are already a spirit, how could you still be the same as those mindless plants? Since you are a spirit, you should naturally eat cooked food. I brought you some raw food, and you ignored it. This lotus seed porridge, I stole it from the kitchen; we servants don't even have the right to eat it. Consider it my apology."

The green calyx spirit appeared from behind a rock, placed her hands on her hips, and huffed, turning her head away to ignore him.

Tang Jie laughed, "Still angry? Don't be so petty, it was just a few wrong words. Alright, alright, if you don't want to eat this, just say so. If you can't speak, just shake your head. I'll return it to the kitchen early. If you want to eat, don't be shy."

The green calyx spirit flew over and plunged her head into the bowl, slurping the lotus seed porridge with gusto. In a blink, the small bowl of porridge was completely gone. Although the porridge wasn't much, she wasn't big either. After drinking so much, her little belly swelled up, making her look like a woman nine months pregnant. She plopped down in the bowl and couldn't even sit up.

Tang Jie laughed and reached out to pick her up. The little creature was startled and wanted to run away, but she had eaten too much and couldn't move.

Tang Jie placed her in his palm and stroked her head, smiling, "Alright, alright, no need to be nervous, I won't hurt you."

The little creature trembled a few times but eventually accepted Tang Jie's caress. Her big eyes darted around, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

Seeing how cute she was, Tang Jie lifted her to his face, "Are you not angry anymore?"

The little creature placed her hand on her face, stuck out her tongue, and made a face, making a clear and pleasant sound.

Tang Jie was taken aback and laughed, "It seems you really can't speak. Maybe you've been a spirit for too short a time. Well, I've apologized, and you've accepted the gift. There should be no problem now, right?"

To his surprise, the little creature shook her head repeatedly.

Tang Jie was at a loss, "Still not satisfied? What else do you want?"

The little creature looked at Tang Jie, suddenly grabbed his finger, and bit down hard.

This bite made Tang Jie cry out in pain, and he instinctively shook his hand. The little creature was flung away, disappearing into the grass.

Tang Jie looked down and saw that his finger was bitten and bleeding profusely.

This made Tang Jie angry. He thought the little creature was ungrateful. Just as he was about to teach her a lesson, he noticed that her previously round belly had deflated significantly.

"What's going on?" Tang Jie was very curious.

The little creature had already gotten up from the grass, standing in the tall grass, glaring at Tang Jie angrily. She stomped her foot, placed her left hand on her hip, and pointed at Tang Jie's nose, making incomprehensible sounds.

Tang Jie saw her lick the blood from her lips as the last drop of blood entered her stomach, and her slightly swollen belly became completely flat.

Seeing this, Tang Jie was stunned, "Blood... So you wanted to drink blood!"

Tang Jie hurried to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of chicken blood for the little creature, but she only took a sip and then put it down, refusing to drink any more.

Tang Jie thought she couldn't drink more, but the little creature pointed at Tang Jie and made more incomprehensible sounds.

This time, Tang Jie understood and was shocked, "You don't like chicken blood, do you?"

To his surprise, the little creature nodded and licked her lips, looking as if she wanted more. The meaning was clear: your blood is much better than chicken blood.

Tang Jie was speechless and could only extend his finger, saying, "Take it easy, don't drink too much."

The little creature grabbed Tang Jie's finger and bit down, causing him to gasp in pain. He felt that this little creature's bite was particularly painful. Normally, with his physical condition, such a minor injury wouldn't be a big deal, but the pain from her bite felt like it was piercing his heart.

Fortunately, the little creature knew her limits. After taking a big sip, she let go on her own. She looked as if she was savoring the taste, clearly reluctant to stop.

"Finally, you know to take it slow," Tang Jie said, shaking his finger. Strangely, once she stopped biting, the pain in his finger disappeared. Tang Jie asked curiously, "So, do you like human blood, or just my blood?"

The little creature pointed at Tang Jie and made a sound.

"Is it my blood you like?" Tang Jie was stunned.

He had just asked out of curiosity, but the answer was unexpected.

Tang Jie looked at the wound again. A drop of blood glistened in the sunlight, clear and translucent like a ruby, emitting a faint spiritual light.

"Spiritual blood!" Tang Jie realized.

Grass and tree spirits, being born from the essence of heaven and earth, are not true life forms. Therefore, they usually need to supplement their growth with the essence of blood and flesh.

This is the opposite of humans, who use their physical bodies to supplement their spiritual energy. Spirits use their innate spiritual bodies to supplement their blood and flesh.

In this sense, spirits and cultivators are mutually attractive and beneficial to each other.

This is why there are many stories in the countryside about spirits and ghosts harming people. While some of these stories are exaggerated, they are not entirely baseless. Most spirits are bloodthirsty, but they usually feed on wild animals and livestock. Occasionally, some aggressive spirits may harm people but not kill them. On the contrary, humans often use the pretext of slaying demons to hunt and kill spirits, using them to make spiritual materials.

For spirits, ordinary blood and flesh can only provide limited benefits. The best is spiritual blood. However, to reach the level of spiritual blood, one must at least be at the Transcendent Realm, which is far beyond the reach of ordinary spirits. Therefore, under normal circumstances, weak spirits like the green calyx spirit can only hunt wild animals to absorb the tiny bit of spiritual blood within them. Biting Tang Jie once is equivalent to eating a hundred wild animals.

For this little creature, the blood in Tang Jie's body was a great tonic. It was like a spiritual medicine for spirits, milk for a baby, and a treasure for cultivators.

At this moment, the little creature looked at Tang Jie with eager eyes. Tang Jie guessed her thoughts and said, "If you behave, I'll feed you again."

The little creature didn't drink much blood, and as long as it wasn't a regular meal, Tang Jie could afford to feed her. When he said this, the little creature was so excited that she did a somersault in the air and climbed onto Tang Jie's shoulder, licking him enthusiastically.

"Alright, alright, here, this is for you, no more biting, okay?" Tang Jie offered the drop of blood on his finger. The little creature sucked it up and felt dizzy, swaying a few times before collapsing.

Tang Jie was alarmed and quickly caught her. She lay in his palm, already fast asleep, with a silver thread of sweet liquid flowing from her mouth.

"This... Damn, she's drunk!" Tang Jie was both amused and exasperated.

He had heard of people getting drunk from alcohol or tobacco, but never from blood.

——

Subduing the green calyx spirit was unexpectedly easy.

Spirits are actually very cautious beings. Centuries of being hunted by humans have made every spirit wary of humans.

This little creature was probably just born, so her caution hadn't fully developed. Add to that the allure of spiritual blood, and Tang Jie easily convinced her.

However, while the little creature was subdued, how to handle her was a problem. She was still young and didn't understand the dangers of the human world. If she stayed in the garden, she would eventually be discovered.

The problem was that there were only twenty green calyx plants, and if one disappeared, it would be noticed, and Tang Jie would be blamed for negligence.

"Looks like I'll have to find a way to make the young master step on one. Hey, can you handle being stepped on?"

Tang Jie asked the little creature after she woke up.

At the mention of being stepped on by the young master, the little creature shook her head vigorously, refusing.

Tang Jie, helpless, tried to explain the dangers of staying in the garden.

When he mentioned moving her to a new location, the little creature blinked a few times and pointed at a nearby water lily grass. The grass transformed into a green calyx, leaving Tang Jie speechless.

Grass and tree spirits are born with innate abilities.

Tang Jie thought the little creature could only use basic illusions, but she could also transform plants. However, it made sense since she was a green calyx spirit, and transforming a plant into a green calyx wasn't strange.

Tang Jie picked up the green calyx transformed from the water lily grass, examined it carefully, and confirmed it wasn't an illusion. He was relieved and said, "This is great. A green calyx is worth one tael of silver. You can transform more, and we won't lack money."

To his surprise, the little creature shook her head when he mentioned using her to make money. She pointed at her belly, indicating that transforming the green calyx was costly, and she needed to be fed first.

From her demeanor, it was clear that she needed to drink more blood this time.

Tang Jie sighed, "So, it's still about selling blood... Forget it."

Regardless, with this green calyx, the little creature could be taken away, saving her from any further trouble.

However...

Something still felt off.

Tang Jie thought carefully and realized, "Damn, what about the missing water lily grass? That's also valuable."

The little creature was stunned, then giggled and transformed herself into a water lily grass.

Tang Jie was almost in tears, "If you transform into a water lily grass, won't you still be stepped on?"

The little creature was completely at a loss. She looked at the water lily grass she had transformed into a green calyx and then at Tang Jie, her big eyes blinking, clearly unsure what to do.

Tang Jie pointed at a blade of grass on the ground, "Can you transform this weed into a green calyx?"

The little creature shrugged, indicating it was impossible.

After much effort, Tang Jie finally understood. The little creature could transform herself into any flower and transform any flower into a green calyx and back, but she couldn't transform one flower into another. She could only transform plants with similar properties, and transforming a weed into a flower was not possible.

"Alright," Tang Jie reluctantly offered his finger for her to drink, "Transform this green calyx back, and then transform a cheap one... Wait, wait, that one is also expensive... Find a cheap one, you idiot... Alright, you don't know which one is cheap... Be gentle, it hurts, I know I'm wrong, I'm the idiot..."

After much trouble, the problem was finally solved. In the evening, Tang Jie bought a flower pot, filled it with soil, and planted the little creature in it, taking her to his room.

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