Little Ling'er Secretly Applying Fertilizer

Before nightfall, Chen Ping'an hurriedly went to the market to buy enough vegetables for several days.

He discovered that for some unknown reason, many cultivators had come to Qingyuan Town. Although the townspeople usually treated cultivators with courtesy and reverence, having so many arrive all at once still made them somewhat afraid.

After all, where there are many people, there are bound to be all sorts. With more cultivators around, the same would apply. Even children had heard stories of some cultivators killing people on a whim.

So after noticing more and more cultivators in town, the residents began shutting their doors to outside guests. Chen Ping'an did the same.

For safety, it was better to keep the doors closed to avoid any potential major troubles.

At the same time, he bought extra vegetables and froze them, so he wouldn't need to go to the market for a while. Just a short while ago, he had seen many unfamiliar faces.

Chen Ping'an returned to the courtyard carrying a bag of vegetables. After putting them down, he changed out of the plain dirty clothes he had worn earlier and put his regular clothes back on.

He had changed into different attire to go buy fish earlier while also carrying the bag of vegetables. Putting his favorite clothes back on now, he immediately felt much more comfortable.

He knew these clothes didn't get soiled or stained, but he loved them so much that he was afraid of dirtying them somehow, so he always took them off for heavy labor or chores.

After putting the food into the ice box with celestial ice crystals, Chen Ping'an finally exhaled.

"I don't know what's going on, but so many cultivators have come to this town."

Chen Ping'an had wondered if it was because of the establishment of the Ping'an Sect that had attracted so many people.

That night, Chen Ping'an was still sleeping soundly as usual. 

However, Su Ling snuck out from another room and went to the newly cultivated vegetable patch.

She glanced at the bag of fertilizer under the eaves, then looked at the holes where the watermelons were planted.

"Heheh!"

Su Ling couldn't wait to eat the watermelons she had planted herself. She also noticed this fertilizer was special, so maybe the watermelons it produced would taste a little different too.

The peach trees were currently watching Su Ling, feeling a bit speechless about this.

Su Ling picked up the fertilizer and vigorously scattered it over the watermelon planting area.

After finishing, she stared at the seedlings that had already sprouted under the bright moonlight. Seeing them begin to squirm, grow longer, and spread outwards, a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes once more.

She picked up the fertilizer again and threw handful after handful onto the soil.

Soon after, the watermelon vines had occupied half the area of that small plot.

With her keen eyes, Su Ling noticed that some nodes on the vines had yellow flowers growing, with small watermelon fruits inside the flowers.

Su Ling grinned widely, then kept working hard to apply more fertilizer.

The peach trees watched Su Ling's diligent efforts, utterly speechless.

The next day, just as the sky was barely brightening, the morning was cooler than usual without the sweltering heat.

Chen Ping'an felt something soft and tender grabbing and gently shaking his right hand. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look.

What he saw was a tender little face, the two dimples irresistibly cute and tempting him to lean over for a taste, as if they contained something delicious.

"Little Ling'er, what's going on?" Chen Ping'an smiled, now fully awake.

Su Ling grinned widely, revealing her small fangs, "Big brother, I don't know what happened, but the watermelons have all grown so big! I think we can eat them now!"

Hearing this, Chen Ping'an was stunned for a moment. He quickly got out of bed, not even bothering with whether he was wearing pajamas, and threw on a robe before heading outside. Su Ling grinned and followed behind him.

Chen Ping'an looked towards the cultivated area. At first glance, everything seemed fine.

But upon seeing that area, his mouth involuntarily fell open.

Good heavens!

Half of the land was covered by thick green watermelon vines and lush leaves.

And amidst all that, over a dozen watermelons as big as buckets were lying on the ground, flattening the leaves underneath their weight.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ping'an was utterly shocked. Just overnight, how did this happen?!

His first thought was the fertilizer he had applied yesterday. But he had only used a little, so how could the effects already be this incredible the very next day?

If it was really related to the fertilizer, then that fertilizer was way too potent! After all, he hadn't used that much!

Chen Ping'an looked towards the bag of fertilizer under the eaves.

However, upon seeing it, he was dumbfounded once more.

Huh...how did it lose a third of its contents?!

Chen Ping'an stared blankly for a good while. Then, his brows furrowed as he turned his head, eyes narrowing skeptically at Su Ling.

"Little Ling'er?"

His tone vividly conveyed the meaning of doubt.

Su Ling also looked at the bag of fertilizer, realizing her actions had been discovered. She twisted her two index fingers in front of her body, giggling awkwardly but not impolitely.

Chen Ping'an didn't need Su Ling to answer. The answer was already quite obvious.

This little girl must have gone crazy wanting to eat watermelon! Seeing that the fertilizer could accelerate the watermelon growth, she must have sneakily come here while he was asleep and frantically applied it.

Chen Ping'an was utterly speechless. However, he didn't blame Su Ling.

He had originally had the same idea, wondering if applying a lot of fertilizer would make the watermelons grow right away. But he had also considered that it might backfire, so he didn't do it.

Now Su Ling had helped him test it out.

It seemed this forced growth by heavy fertilizing was viable after all.

"Eat breakfast first before the watermelon." Seeing Su Ling eyeing the watermelons hungrily, Chen Ping'an said flatly.

It was best not to eat them on an empty stomach, and he also didn't know if these watermelons were even edible yet.

Hearing there would be watermelons to eat, Su Ling's eyes lit up as she hurried to make breakfast.

After breakfast, Su Ling swiftly went out and picked a watermelon. Although the watermelons were as big as buckets, Su Ling still managed to hustle back quickly while carrying one.

This caused Chen Ping'an to space out for a moment. "The children of cultivators really are different."

Ever since Su Ling had beaten him up last time, he realized her strength was extraordinary. This moment only further confirmed it for him.

And looking at these huge watermelons, Chen Ping'an still felt rather curious. What would they taste like? Plus, these watermelons had grown overnight - what would happen if they ate them?

Su Ling carried the watermelon into the kitchen and put it in the large ice box to freeze.

Just then, there was suddenly a knock at the main gate.

Chen Ping'an thought it might be Murong Palace. After all, Murong Palace had said the Sect Opening would happen in the next few days to recruit disciples, so this was likely them coming to inform him about recruiting disciples.

Chen Ping'an swiftly went to go answer. But just to be cautious, he peeked through a small door crack first.

Standing outside was a young child with a furrowed brow, seeming distracted and rather anxious.

"He looks maybe just a year or two older than Little Ling'er, and I haven't seen him around town before..."

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to open the door. 

Upon seeing the door open, the young boy's anxious demeanor seemed to explode as his hands unconsciously fidgeted.

"Little friend, who are you looking for?" Chen Ping'an smiled after opening the door.

But the young boy didn't respond, having fallen into a stupor of confusion.