Red Furnace Lights Snow
The next morning, a thick white fog swirled throughout the valley, growing heavier and denser until the path ahead was obscured.
As You Youju and his companion prepared to descend the mountain, they hesitated to take a single step, their steps filled with uncertainty.
“This fog is strange.” You Youju stopped, and Zhu Xun behind her did not dare to make any rash moves. Seeing the future demon relying on her like this, You Youju felt a pang of pity.
In the blink of an eye, with two "whoosh" sounds, something sprang out from the overwhelming fog. You Youju turned his head and dodged, and the two objects that looked like fruit pits stuck straight into the big tree next to him.
It was inevitably the first time experiencing such a scene, and Youyouju also became nervous, tightly protecting Zhuxun behind her.
The thick white fog seemed to be deliberately clinging to You Youju, with droplets of mist clinging to her skin and clothes.
You Youju closed her eyes and calmed her mind. She made a hand seal with one hand, and a strong wind suddenly rose around her, blowing away the white mist and opening her vision. Only then did she discover that three ape-like beast demons were swinging along the vines hidden in the mist. They had unusually long limbs, brightly colored faces, sharp teeth, and were squeaking and yelling.
Seeing that there was no cover, they sped up and charged straight at their target.
"Ugh, so ugly, it's disgusting." You Youju couldn't help but shudder, exclaiming in disbelief. He swung his hand and charged forward bare-handed, using his spiritual power to knock away the nearest one. Without hesitation, a small whirlwind swirled in his palm, then flew towards the other two beast demons. The two demons immediately became dizzy and spun around in circles. Their bodies were completely sliced apart by the wind blades.
You Youju really wanted to burst out laughing; she hadn't expected the monsters to be so easy to defeat.
But he knew he couldn't stay there long; that's a trope in novels.
He picked up Zhu Xun and ran out without pausing for breath. Zhu Xun was then pressed against You Youju's neck, feeling the rise and fall of You Youju's pulse.
"Wait! Beast cores! I remember beast cores can be exchanged for money."
Yu Youju felt ashamed, turned around, and ran back. Looking at the two still unconscious ape demons, she muttered, "How much are these little demons worth?"
You Youju pouted, thinking that even a small fly is still meat, and went to retrieve the beast core of the ape demon that had been swatted away.
A loud "Ouch!!" came from not far away, almost shattering You Youju's eardrums. Zhu Xun in her arms had already wrinkled her little face and painfully covered her ears.
"Just as I thought, this is not a safe place to stay..."
The giant "King Kong" rushing towards them from afar—isn't that their leader?
You Youju put Zhu Xun down, cast a protective barrier around him, covered his ears while chanting a spell, and then pulled off a hairband to blindfold Zhu Xun.
Zhu Xun's eyes were blindfolded, so he couldn't hear anything, but his ears no longer hurt. He felt that he was in a very safe place.
Yu Youju wondered uncertainly, "I used so much spiritual power just now to show off my skills, the skill cooldown time hasn't gone off yet, right? Can I beat that gorilla...?"
"Let's give it our all."
You Youju leaped away from Zhu Xun, less than five zhang away from the Great Vajra. The Great Vajra swung his long arm, and the palm wind sent You Youju flying into a tree trunk.
If it weren't for the spiritual power protecting me, I would have been finished.
You Youju flipped his hands into a hand seal, and the vines around him rustled over and wrapped around the Vajra. The Vajra exerted its strength, broke free of the vines, and with a roar, it slammed into You Youju, sending him tumbling several times in the forest. The shock made You Youju dizzy and disoriented. He had just been so self-assured, but now he felt like his internal organs and eardrums were about to explode.
He took a deep breath and wove a large net behind him with vines. Learning from his previous mistake, he stretched a vine from left to right in front of him, just waiting for King Kong to trip him up.
"Isn't being clever enough?" You Youju shook his head: "Don't blame me for being uncivilized."
The big, strong-willed but physically weak King Kong probably never expected that the person he was facing was so cunning, and he was completely tripped up in the trap.
You Youju's true energy seemed unable to withstand the continuous use of spiritual power. Immense fatigue weighed on him. He spat out a mouthful of blood and tightened the slightly loosened vines again until the ferocious Vajra stopped moving. Only then did he reach out to take the beast core.
He struggled to walk towards Zhu Xun and released the restrictions and protections. But he didn't remove the hair ribbon.
"Is the immortal injured?" Zhu Xun asked cautiously, as a gust of wind howled in his ears.
The immortal must have just cast a spell on him. Although he couldn't hear anything, he could still smell a faint scent of blood, which he was very familiar with.
You Youju rushed off to exchange money, casually remarking, "It's just a minor scratch."
The child tightened his grip on his neck and buried his soft face in his neck.
You Youju smiled. Raising a little devil isn't so bad.
After finding an inn, You Youju's physical strength was exhausted. He was cold all over and sweating profusely, and urgently needed to recuperate.
He gave all the money to Zhu Xun and used his last bit of spiritual power to cover the color of Zhu Xun's eyes.
As his upper and lower eyelids collided for the last time, he finally finished giving his last words, drew the bed curtains, and sat cross-legged into a deep sleep.
"I need to meditate for the next two days, and my true energy will be depleted. If you need anything, just use the money in your silver pouch."
Zhu Xun pulled down the hairband covering her hair, looked at the bed curtains, and said nothing more. She sat down on another bed, like a wooden doll.
"Knock knock knock".
When the waiter saw that it was a fair-faced little boy who opened the door, he spoke much more politely: "Young sir, where are your parents? I've come to ask if you need hot water or food here."
Zhu Xun stared intently at the waiter, his eyes unmoving. The waiter found it strange and gave a sheepish chuckle. He wondered if the little boy was mute.
"I need hot water. And two steamed buns every day," he said earnestly.
The waiter asked in confusion, "Only two steamed buns? Every day?"
Zhu Xun nodded. Although the waiter was confused, he did as he was told, muttering, "Such a poor fellow, and he still gets to stay in a superior room?"
After the waiter left, Zhu Xun quickly ran to the bronze mirror to examine his face. Sure enough, the immortal had restored his eyes to normal. A warm feeling welled up in his heart, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curved upwards.
He first wolfed down a steamed bun, then asked the immortal who was in meditation, and when the immortal did not answer, he ate another steamed bun.
Then, he carefully washed his hands and face. He then gently lifted the bed curtain, took the fairy's jade-like hands in his little hands, and wiped them clean little by little with a damp cotton towel before obediently climbing into another bed and falling asleep.
You Youju took a deep breath and woke up to a stark white hospital room and a doctor drawing his blood. He looked around and, realizing that everything had just happened was indeed a dream, sighed dejectedly.
"Patient You, you're awake? Your temperature dropped so rapidly just now, it gave us quite a fright," his attending physician said.
You Youju: "Haha, even if the King of Hell wants me to die at midnight, Dr. Xu can keep me alive until dawn!"
Dr. Xu: "Don't talk nonsense. I've changed your dressing. Stop reading those novels."
You Youju watched the doctors and nurses leave with that carefree smile, then idly reached out and found that her phone was gone from the bedside table.
"Dr. Xu is really dedicated to his duties."
The scene of fighting the ferocious beast is still vivid in my mind. The feeling of using wind magic is wonderful. It's like sticking your hand out of the window of a moving car. The wind gathers and dissipates according to the shape of your fingers. You just need to hold that wind tightly in your hand and make it your own.
You Youju was extremely excited, her whole body screaming with the desire to go back, so that she could properly fill the emptiness brought on by so many years of illness.
On the third day, when Youju remained motionless like a statue, Zhu Xun carefully lifted the bed curtains and examined the immortal closely.
The immortal's eyebrows were not sharp, but slightly curved like a crescent moon. With his eyes closed, they resembled the mist on a clear spring in the early morning, as if the spring breeze in March had dispersed the mist. The dark color between his eyebrows still resembled green mountains, and there was a small red mole between his eyebrows, which looked like the rising sun.
Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelashes were long like feathers, her skin was fair, and you could see streaks of blood on her eyelids;
The immortal had a high and straight nose with prominent bone structure, but his facial features were not particularly striking.
Her lips were the color of a spring peach, full and sharp like willow leaves, giving her a cold and indifferent look.
He sat there upright, like a god sitting quietly in a shrine, untouched by the world, unstained by dust, still standing in the bright hall.
Zhu Xun stared blankly, then recalled the way the immortal opened his eyes; the immortal's eyes were like peach petals.
Immortals love to laugh. When an immortal laughs, his eyebrows resemble spring water, filling the mountains with spring colors and carrying the sun, moon, and the seasons, clearly distinguished by black and white.
He smiled foolishly. Immortals only appear aloof when they are silent. An immortal who speaks is more like a young chivalrous cultivator, with outstanding demeanor, yet also tainted by the mortal world.
Zhu Xun recalled a night a year ago when he was starving and Wang Po was bedridden and unable to attend to him.
He often heard Wang Po say that he should go to the temple to pray to Buddha, and that the gods would grant his requests.
So Zhu Xun once knelt between heaven and earth when he was starving and freezing, begging the Buddha and gods to give him a bowl of thick porridge to fill his stomach.
But he didn't get to eat a single grain of rice. He had heard that worshipping gods required piety, and he thought that he might not be pious, but he didn't quite understand the meaning of piety.
Unable to reach the legendary temple where miracles were said to occur, he would instead visit a dilapidated, isolated temple in the mountains that he had stumbled upon by chance.
It was such a small temple that it crammed together a god and two guardians.
The statues were faded and covered in moss, making their faces unrecognizable.
A few wishing ribbons fluttering in the wind, their colors barely discernible. But perhaps this unknown god will grant their wishes.
Occasionally, he would bring a peach branch or two, hoping to please the gods.
Could this be considered a divine intervention? He thought about it carefully, and realized that his unprovoked help to me might indeed be so.
He is my god, the god I prayed to.
So Zhu Xun prostrated himself on the ground and bowed three times to You Youju, who was sitting upright on the bed. He thought that this time, he was sincere enough.
On the fifth day that You Youju did not wake up, fine beads of sweat appeared on You Youju's forehead.
Zhu Xun washed his hands with running water and carefully wiped away the sweat with a cotton handkerchief, changing the water again and again until late at night. When You Youju's complexion improved, Zhu Xun leaned against the table and fell asleep.
He thought, "So even immortals get sick."
On the seventh day after You Youju woke up, Zhu Xun went to bed, having already taken a bath beforehand.
He carefully combed You Youju's hair with a fine-toothed comb, only to discover that there were still a few pieces of leaves in the immortal's hair.
He rewound the strip of cloth that had been used to cover his eyes into You Youju's hair.
The immortal's jade crown is missing. Did it fall off?
On the eighth day, he put two steamed buns in his pocket and thought about going back to the mountain to find the jade crown.
Unfortunately, he overestimated himself and got lost in the middle of the night. After a night of wandering, he finally found his way back to the inn. Afraid of offending the immortal, he turned back to the river to wash himself before rushing back, by which time it was already dawn.
Leaning against the immortal's bed, he felt drowsy and wondered if he was too useless.
After Youyou fell asleep again, he understood that he had indeed come to another world, but falling asleep was the medium.
Because he has returned to this world of bamboo.
He nudged the child in front of him and called softly, "Zhu Xun? Zhu Xun? Why are you sleeping here?" When Zhu Xun did not answer, he tiptoed up, carried Zhu Xun to the bed, and went downstairs to order some dishes from the waiter.
When the waiter saw him come down, he said, "Young master, how many more days will you be staying? The money you prepaid is only enough for ten days. You'll have to pay for tomorrow's room and board, and we also need to pay for the food in advance."
Perhaps after observing for so many days, and seeing that the two people in the room only ordered two steamed buns and a bucket of hot water a day, they were afraid they couldn't afford the room fees for the rest of the time. They looked You Youju up and down again, and she didn't seem like someone who was short of money.
You Youju was surprised; she hadn't expected that ten days had already passed. Was the time span really that long?
Seeing the waiter's strange expression, he asked doubtfully, "Would I possibly run a debt? I'll order a few more dishes and send them to my room. We'll set off tomorrow. We'll pay for the meals these next few days as well."
The waiter nodded: "Alright, ten buckets of hot water, eighteen steamed buns, and this squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, braised pork... Okay, five taels of silver."
You Youju was dumbfounded.
Seeing his reaction, the waiter added, "Shall we instruct the kitchen to prepare it now? We paid after..."
"Wait!" You Youju interrupted the waiter. The waiter immediately pouted and prepared to recalculate the bill.
"You mean that kid has only been eating steamed buns for so many days?" Didn't I give him the money? He's still reluctant to spend it. What a silly child! He should at least eat three steamed buns a day...
The waiter asked suspiciously, "That child? Aren't there just the two of you in the room?"
You Youju had no intention of arguing further: "Add two more soups and send them over together. I'll pay for them now."
Looking at the table full of delicious food and You Youju's eager eyes, Zhu Xun was at a loss.
You Youju poured him a bowl of soup and then added another piece of food to his already full bowl: "Eat up, look how thin you are, eat up, Zhuxun."
Zhu Xun held his chopsticks, staring blankly at the "small mountain" in front of him, without touching the food.
Seeing that Zhu Xun still didn't put the food in his mouth, You Youju put down her chopsticks as well: "What's wrong? Zhu Xun?"
The little devil looked at You Youju with a struggling expression, stammering. Without his red pupils, he looked even more obedient and adorable, like a pitiful little animal.
Seeing his appearance, You Youju's heart tightened: "Zhu Xun, tell me honestly, were you bullied while I was away?"
Zhu Xun shook his head, his eyes resolute, as if he had made an important decision: "Immortal, are you leaving? You can't leave me behind."
You Youju was speechless for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief.
With a wry smile, he raised his hand and patted Zhu Xun's head: "What are you thinking, child? Do you have any other way to go but to follow me? If you want to follow me, you'd better eat your fill and get chubby. Skinny kids don't have good fortune."
After being reassured, Zhu Xun happily started shoveling rice into his bowl, still eating ravenously.
"Wow, such a delicate-looking child, but when he eats, it's like he has a second personality."
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