After experiencing the joy of spending money to have fun, Xie Shuci felt inexplicably much lighter and was no longer as sentimental as before.
Sikong Xin had probably never done such a thing before, and his face remained dark for a long time.
On the contrary, Liu Dazhuang, that simpleton, turned around and held the fruit with smug satisfaction, looking at Xie Shuci as if he were a close brother, finding him particularly pleasing to the eye.
Xie Shuci fed all the fruit he had picked to the cranes and chatted casually with the little blind man. The topics were light and pleasant, mostly about interesting things that had happened in his hometown.
The atmosphere between the two seemed to have returned to what it was not long ago.
At night, five people were enjoying the breeze by a pond.
There were a lot of mosquitoes and flies around the pond, and Xie Shuci wasn't used to using his spiritual power to defend himself all the time. Before long, he had several large welts on his body from being bitten.
He looked around and said indignantly, "Why do mosquitoes only bite me and not you?"
“You’re so fair and delicate, unlike me with my thick skin. Who else would mosquitoes bite if not you?” Liu Dazhuang said smugly.
Xie Shuci was speechless, wondering whether he was praising him or insulting him.
"No way!" Xie Shuci sat up abruptly. "A dead mosquito bit my palm, I fucking have to kill it!"
At this moment, Xie An spoke calmly: "Didn't you say that just because you hate something doesn't mean you want it to die?"
To everyone's surprise, Xie Shuci said in a serious tone, "All things in the world have a spirit, except for mosquitoes, cockroaches and rats."
After Xie Shuci had finished swatting mosquitoes and was exhausted, he sat back down next to Xie An, panting. Xie An took out a bright red fruit from his sleeve and handed it to Xie Shuci.
"Huh? You're not eating?" Xie Shuci asked in surprise.
"Um."
Sure enough, Xie Shuci was a little thirsty, so he simply took it.
Liu Dazhuang barely noticed it and said, "Give me half."
The ones he picked during the day weren't even enough to fill his teeth; they were all gone long ago.
"Oh." Xie Shuci nodded, and was about to break the fruit in half when Xie An stopped her.
The little blind man frowned slightly, seemingly a little reluctant, and took out another one from his sleeve, tossing it to Liu Dazhuang.
Liu Dazhuang took it with one hand, "Hey! Thanks."
Xie Shuci paused, looked at the little blind man beside her with his lips tightly pressed together, and asked softly, "Xie An, did you save this especially for me?"
Xie An lowered his eyes and said, "Mm."
Xie Shuci's breath hitched, his heart tingling as if struck by a small hammer. He lowered his head, holding the fruit, his nose stinging with a bittersweet feeling. "Thank you."
"He ate one of them," Xie An said in a low voice, sounding somewhat annoyed.
Xie Shuci couldn't help but chuckle, "It's alright."
As she spoke, Xie Shuci broke the fruit in her hand in half and stuffed one half into Xie An's hand, saying, "You should try it too, this fruit is quite sweet."
Feeling the weight in his hand, Xie An was taken aback.
He nodded hesitantly, put half of the fruit to his lips, and took a bite.
Xie Shuci looked at him expectantly and asked, "Is it sweet?"
Xie An turned to look at him, a smile playing on his lips, nodded, and said, "Yes, sweet."
Hearing this, Xie Shuci was finally satisfied and began to eat the half of the fruit in his palm.
Oh dear, what should I do? The little blind man is so kind, what should I do?
The group traveled on and off for half a month, finally arriving in Huaizhou in early August.
Huaizhou is known as a water town, with most houses built on water. Waterways far outnumber land routes. The local people are mostly gentle and hospitable, especially the young girls, who are beautiful and speak in a soft, gentle local dialect. Even when they scold someone, it sounds like they are being coquettish.
"How far is it from here to the village?" Xie Shuci asked.
Sikong Xin shook his head and said, "I don't know. If we keep heading south, we might encounter someone who knows the inside story. Besides, the village is not far from the Banxia clan's tribe. We might be able to find them through the remaining spiritual energy."
Upon hearing this, Xie Shuci asked in surprise, "Residual spiritual power? The Banxia clan has been dead for tens of thousands of years, and their spiritual power hasn't disappeared yet?"
"Yes, the Water God Clan does not cultivate spiritual energy on land, but rather spiritual energy in water. Their spiritual energy is mostly light blue, very gentle, and very easy to distinguish. Even after tens of thousands of years, it will definitely leave traces."
Xie Shuci nodded. He had witnessed the Water God's spiritual power before; it was clean and gentle, containing immense new life force.
The five of them hadn't had a proper rest for several days. At Xie Shuci's suggestion, they decided to find an inn to stay in first and also to scout out the situation in the city.
They called for a boatman to take them to the best inn in town.
Their group was so eye-catching—a charming young man, a cold and aloof young woman, a burly and strong man, an adorable dog, and a majestic white horse—it was hard not to attract attention.
The boat moved slowly on the river, and there were all sorts of vendors on both sides of the waterway selling all sorts of strange and wonderful things.
"Young master, would you like to try our fruit? It's absolutely fresh, picked just half an hour ago."
"Freshly baked buns! Freshly baked buns!"
"Candied hawthorn berries, candied hawthorn berries!"
Vendors hawked their wares on the riverbank, and countless small boats were moored in the river. A window in a riverside pavilion was half-open, and a woman was dressing up in front of a mirror, fiddling with her hair. A man carrying a jar of wine on the bank fell into the water with a "plop," gulped down several mouthfuls of water, and climbed ashore amidst the laughter of the crowd. He wiped the water off his face, finally sobering up completely.
The city was bustling with activity. Xie Shuci and the King leaned over the gunwale of the ship, curiously watching the endless stream of people around them.
Sikong Xin sat lazily on the ground, while Zixi dutifully peeled grapes for him. The way he enjoyed it made several young men on the shore itch with envy.
Liu Dazhuang looked around the shore and finally sighed, "My goodness, such a big city, and there isn't a single person who's worthy of my attention."
Upon hearing this, Xie Shuci rolled her eyes at him.
"thump--"
Suddenly, a sound was heard, as if someone had thrown something onto the boat, so everyone turned to look.
Xie An was seen leaning against the outside of the cabin with his arms crossed, when a white purse, which seemed to have flown from nowhere, landed at his feet.
He himself was a little confused.
"What is this?" Xie Shuci walked forward suspiciously, bent down and picked up the purse on the ground.
The purse was embroidered with delicate mandarin ducks, and it seemed to contain something else. Xie Shuci opened it and found a letter. After reading the few words on the paper, he blushed and immediately stuffed it back into the purse.
Xie An and the others, unaware of the letter's contents, asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"nothing……"
No sooner had Xie Shuci finished speaking than another purse landed in Xie An's arms.
Seeing this, Xie Shuci tried to snatch it away, but Xie An picked it up first and raised it above his head. Xie Shuci was not as tall as him and could not reach it at all.
"What did it say?" Liu Dazhuang curiously stepped forward, took the purse from Xie An's hand, took out the letter inside, glanced at it, and exclaimed in shock, "My goodness!"
Xie Shuci clenched his teeth.
"My name is Xu Huilan, I am sixteen years old, unmarried, and live at..."
"Shut up!" Xie Shuci jumped up, snatched the letter from his hand, and quickly stuffed it back in. "You're not allowed to read it anymore."
Xie An raised an eyebrow, seemingly unconcerned.
Seeing this, the boatman smiled and said, "Is this your first time visiting Huaizhou, gentlemen?"
"Yeah," Xie Shuci said sullenly, "What's this purse for?"
The boatman explained, "In Huaizhou, the people are open-minded. Since ancient times, there has been a custom that if a woman takes a fancy to a young man, she will put her birth date and time in a purse and throw it to him. If the young man is also interested in her, he can go directly to her door to propose marriage."
Even Xie Shuci, a modern person, couldn't help but exclaim, "This is too open-minded!"
The boatman laughed and said, "You are all so good-looking, you're probably going to steal the hearts of countless women in Huaizhou."
Xie Shuci: "..."
Before the two could finish speaking, a man in the pavilion on the shore...
The woman leaned half her body out of the window, waving her handkerchief in the air, and called out, "Young master!"
Everyone looked up and saw a purse land steadily in Xie An's arms.
Xie Shuci: "..."
I don't know why, but I'm so angry.
Xie An remained calm. In front of Xie Shuci, he picked up the purse, slowly opened it, and took out the letter inside.
Xie Shuci grew angrier the more he looked at the purse, and even wanted to snatch it from the man's hand. But then he thought, the little blind man is blind, he can't see, so why is he so nervous?
So Xie Shuci breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, the little blind man can't see, why is he so nervous?
Just as he was thinking this, a purse suddenly flew from the shore and crashed into Xie Shuci's arms.
Xie Shuci and Xie An were both taken aback.
Xie Shuci looked up at the shore and saw a shy-looking girl looking at him. When she saw him looking at her, her face turned red to the roots of her nose, and she quickly lowered her head, not daring to look at Xie Shuci again.
Xie Shuci looked at the purse in his hand. Damn! This was the first time he had been so openly pursued, and he immediately became a little smug.
He leaned over the gunwale and waved to the girl, "Thank you, miss!"
The girl probably didn't do this kind of thing often, and upon hearing Xie Shuci's words, her face immediately turned even redder. She stamped her foot and ran shyly into an alley.
Xie Shuci held the fragrant purse in his hand, feeling incredibly proud. As he watched the girl's retreating figure, he felt a pang of reluctance.
It's all Liu Dazhuang's fault. He keeps calling Xie Shuci ugly, which has made Xie Shuci lose confidence.
"You seem quite reluctant to part with her?" Xie An, who had appeared behind him at some point, suddenly blurted out.
"Huh?" Xie Shuci shook her head. "No, it's just... it turns out... I'm actually quite popular."
Xie An pursed his lips and snatched the purse from his hand.
Xie Shuci snapped out of her daze and chased after him, "What are you doing? You already have so many, why are you still trying to take mine!"
Seeing that he wanted to snatch it back, Xie An took a few steps back, raised the purse above his head, and said, "You want to keep it?"
"yes."
"You're planning to go see her?"
Xie Shuci jumped up and tried to snatch the purse, but Xie An wouldn't let him touch it.
"Can't I keep it as a souvenir? Besides, I need to know the person's name, right?"
"No need," Xie An said.
"Why should you say it's unnecessary? You still have so many wallets!" Xie Shuci said, her eyes wide.
As soon as he finished speaking, two more purses were thrown down from the shore and landed next to Xie An. Xie Shuci became even angrier when she saw this. She grabbed one of his arms, stood on tiptoe, and tried to take the purses from his hand.
Xie An tightened his lips and followed his movements, retreating into the cabin to keep everyone's view out of sight.
Sikong Xin was sitting next to Zixi, and several girls threw him purses.
Liu Dazhuang raised his chin smugly, bracing himself for the "rain of purses" about to rain down on him. However, after a while, there was no movement. A woman on the upper floor met his gaze. Liu Dazhuang looked at the purses in her hand that she hadn't thrown yet and gestured with his eyes, "Throw them over here!"
The woman was startled by his fierce gaze and quickly stepped back, closing the window behind her.
Liu Dazhuang: "..."
After watching the excitement from the ship's side for a while, the king was about to turn around to look for Xie Shuci when he discovered that Xie Shuci and Xie An were no longer on the deck.
"Huh?"
Where are they?
The king followed the scent to the cabin, only to find the door tightly closed. He tilted his head in confusion.
What are you doing?
Inside the cabin, Xie Shuci pinned Xie An against the wall and threatened, "Give it to me now, or I'll get rough with you!"
Xie An pursed his lips. "You said yourself that you're not allowed to look."
Xie Shuci said, "Am I like you? How old are you? Of course you can't look at these things."
"I can't look, and neither can you."
"Hey! I want to see it!"
"Don't look."
Xie Shuci's breathing became heavy. He had been holding back his anger for a long time, and the more they forbade him to see it, the more he wanted to see it.
But he was no match for Xie Angao, and he tried several times without success. Xie Shuci wasn't initially in a position to absolutely have to see it, but now, he just had to! He absolutely had to see it!
"Give me!"
"No."
Xie Shuci was furious, his movements became increasingly violent and his blows increasingly heavy. The little blind boy was blocked by him and kept retreating to the side. Xie Shuci was so angry that he lunged at the little blind boy.
There was a soft couch in the cabin. Xie An was knocked backward by the lunge and fell onto the couch. With a "bang", the back of Xie An's head hit the cabin wall.
"Hiss..." Xie An gasped sharply, and Xie Shuci's body pressed against him. "Ugh!"
The moment he fell, Xie Shuci regretted it.
Especially upon hearing the sound of Xie An's head hitting the wall, Xie Shuci was filled with remorse.
But he was already in mid-air and couldn't avoid it, so he fell directly onto Xie An.
The solid impact of the two bodies, along with Xie An's muffled groan from above, left Xie Shuci's mind blank for a moment.
He abruptly rolled off Xie An, and seeing him frowning and clutching the back of his head, his heart skipped a beat. He asked in a panic, "Are you...are you alright? Did you hit your head?"
Xie An covered the back of his head with one hand, his lips moved slightly, but he said nothing.
In Xie Shuci's eyes, he was in so much pain that he couldn't speak.
"How is it? Let me see..."
Xie An didn't say anything, but simply tossed the purse in his hand to Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci was heartbroken and had no energy left to care about other people's money. He tried to pull the little blind boy's arm, but was silently pushed away.
"Let me see! Is there any bleeding?" Xie Shuci was genuinely anxious now. "I didn't mean to, I... I was just angry, and so were you! What's wrong with letting me see? Will it kill you?"
Xie An stubbornly pursed his lips, his face turning pale, probably from the impact.
Hearing Xie Shuci's words, he did not respond, but lowered his eyes and made a sad expression.
"What happened? Tell me!" Xie Shuci said anxiously.
Xie An shifted his body, trying to sit up from the soft couch, but as soon as he made the movement, he gasped in pain.
"Don't move, don't move! Let me take a look!"
Xie An took a breath and said in a deep voice, "He won't die."
"Pah! Pah! Pah! What do you mean 'die'? Don't talk nonsense, I'm warning you!"
Xie An immediately lost his temper when Xie Shuci was still so fierce.
Seeing him turn his head away, his lips pursed tightly, Xie Shuci felt a little helpless. In her heart, she cursed herself for being soft-hearted, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
He sat down next to the little blind man, took his arm, and said earnestly, "Alright, I won't look anymore, don't be angry."
Xie An replied, "Why not look at it? Aren't you going to keep it as a souvenir?"
Xie Shuci: "..."
Xie Shuci sighed. Xie Shuci, you deserve to be so easy to manipulate!
"I won't keep it. I'll throw it away in a bit, okay?" Xie Shuci sighed.
Upon hearing this, Xie An's expression softened slightly. "Really?"
Xie Shuci muttered, "It really is, even more real than pearls."
“Those…” Xie An glanced at the several purses that had fallen to the ground beside him, “I won’t look at them either.”
Upon hearing his words, Xie Shuci's eyes lit up, but then he lowered his gaze again and muttered softly, "If you want to see it, then see it. I'm not stopping you from seeing it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie An made a move to get up.
Xie Shuci thought he was going to pick up the purse and warned, "I'm telling you, you can look, but you're not allowed to go looking for them! You, you're still so young..."
"Young?" Xie An said with a half-smile, "In the cultivation world, there are quite a few people who get married at this age."
Xie Shuci's throat tightened; for some reason, the thought of the little blind boy...
When his son wanted to marry someone else, he felt a sudden pang of anxiety. "I don't care, you're my brother now, and if I say no, then no!"
Xie An sighed almost imperceptibly, "Alright, I'll do whatever you say."
"only……"
"Just what?" Xie Shuci asked.
"I am blind, I can't see."
"..."
Oh right...
It's all because the little blind boy can move around freely even though he's blind; Xie Shuci almost forgot about it.
Xie An chuckled lightly, "I just wanted to get up, you don't need to be so nervous."
Xie Shuci lowered his head and stammered, "I wasn't nervous at all."
Xie An sat up, and Xie Shuci immediately went to check the injury on his head.
"I'm fine." Xie An pressed his hand back down.
"You were in so much pain your face turned pale, how can you be alright!"
Xie An replied nonchalantly, "I was faking it."
Xie Shuci: "..."
Xie An couldn't see his expression, so he straightened his clothes and sat down on the soft couch.
After realizing what had happened, Xie Shuci was immediately enraged. "Little blind man, you're so mean!"
Xie An said calmly, "It's not like this is the first time you've found out."
Xie Shuci's eyes widened, "..."
Damn! What he said makes so much sense, I can't even argue with it!
Yeah! This isn't the first time he's been this bad. You still believe him and worry about him. Didn't you bring Xie Shuci on yourself?
You're so soft-hearted, you deserve to be scammed!
Even so, Xie Shuci became angrier the more he thought about it.
"If I made you unhappy..."
I'm unhappy! Very unhappy!
"sorry."
Xie Shuci: "..."
Although I was very angry, he apologized!
Seeing Xie An's serious expression, Xie Shuci shamefully softened again, "From now on, you are not allowed to lie to me about your own safety again, understand?"
"Okay, I understand."
Seeing that Xie An had a good attitude in admitting his mistake, Xie Shuci reluctantly forgave him.
Just as the two were about to leave the cabin, there was a loud knocking on the door.
"Hey Xie Shuci, what are you whispering with your brother? Come out here right now, we're here."
"Coming, coming," Xie Shuci replied twice, and then went out with Xie An.
The king squatted outside for a long time before finally bringing Diedie out. Just as it was about to climb onto Xie Shuci with its hands and feet, a large hand lifted it up by the scruff of its neck.
"Aww!"
Ugh, so annoying!
Xie An embraced the king, and the three of them, Xie Shuci, went ashore.
Upon arriving at an inn, the crane was taken to the stable as usual. Before leaving, it passed by Xie Shuci, raised its proud head, and gave Xie Shuci a contemptuous look.
Xie Shuci pretended not to see it. He felt that the crane seemed to be more intelligent than the king, and he wondered what breed of horse it was.
Before entering the inn, Zixi transformed into a small snake and coiled around Sikong Xin's wrist before the four people and the dog entered the inn.
The shopkeeper looked up and saw Liu Dazhuang, and his face turned pale with fright. He thought Liu Dazhuang had come to cause trouble.
Liu Dazhuang slapped his hand on the counter, causing the shopkeeper's mouth and the counter to tremble. "Gentlemen, what brings you to our humble shop?"
"We need four superior rooms."
Xie Shuci hurriedly said, "Three rooms will do. Xie An and I will share one room."
"You two are sleeping in the same room?" Liu Dazhuang asked suspiciously.
Xie Shuci rolled her eyes at him. "Is that not allowed?"
Liu Dazhuang pursed his lips, "Fine, then I'll take three superior rooms."
The innkeeper nodded hurriedly in agreement, knowing at a glance that these people were no ordinary individuals, and had them respectfully escorted back to their rooms.
The four returned to their respective rooms, and Xie Shuci's first action was to ask the waiter to boil water so he could take a bath.
After taking a comfortable bath in his room, Xie Shuci left the little blind man and the king behind and went out for a stroll alone.
Of course, the reason he left the little blind boy behind was because he was taking a bath in the room.
Upon arriving at the inn's lobby, there were quite a few guests waiting for a meal, and judging from their attire, they seemed to have come from all over.
Xie Shuci casually found a table to sit down and asked the waiter to bring him a bowl of beef noodles.
While waiting, he glanced around listlessly.
At a table not far from him sat several men dressed in brown robes with swords at their waists. Perhaps because they were becoming more adept at using spiritual power, Xie Shuci could sense the spiritual power subtly emanating from their bodies.
These people are cultivators, and their cultivation levels seem to be much higher than Xie Shuci's.
They were discussing something in hushed tones. Xie Shuci, worried about getting into trouble, was about to look away when one of the men suddenly raised his eyes and met Xie Shuci's gaze.
Xie Shuci felt it would be too guilty to look away now, so she forced a smile at the man before naturally looking away.
Nevertheless, Xie Shuci could still feel that the man's gaze would occasionally fall on Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci could only pretend not to see it. After the food arrived, he buried his head and wolfed it down, not daring to look in that direction.
After finishing his noodles, Xie Shuci slurped up a couple of mouthfuls of broth, hastily wiped his mouth, and prepared to get up and leave.
You can't blame Xie Shuci for being too cowardly; this messed-up world is just too messed up. One wrong move and you could be in for a fatal disaster.
Xie Shuci walked forward with his head down, but unfortunately he would have to pass by several people on his way back, so he had to quicken his pace.
But when they reached the table for several people, one of them called out to Xie Shuci.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait."
Xie Shuci paused in his steps.
Damn it—he knew it! He knew it! With that kind of personality, there's absolutely no way he'll have a peaceful life!
Xie Shuci really wanted to slap himself. "You think you can look all that time? You think you're the only one with eyes?!"
Xie Shuci turned to the man with a forced smile and asked, "May I ask what brings you here?"
The man stood up, clasped his hands in greeting to Xie Shuci, and asked, "May I ask which school you studied under, my friend?"
Seeing his polite demeanor, Xie Shuci lowered her guard a bit, but she was still a little puzzled as to why he was asking people if they lived in the same house right away.
Xie Shuci paused for a moment, then said, "I am just a rogue cultivator."
"That's wonderful!" the man exclaimed happily. "May I ask if you are married, sir?"
Xie Shuci: "..."
Are you being polite?
Xie Shuci laughed, "So, you're planning to introduce someone to me?"
As luck would have it, Xie Shuci caught a glimpse of Xie An slowly walking towards him.
Upon hearing this, he paused in his steps.
Xie Shuci, in a moment of madness, shouted loudly, "But I don't want to!"
Everyone: "..."
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