Chapter Forty-Seven: The Human Touch
After entrusting the political affairs to several dukes, Jiu Ya, now free of worries, took Bai Yu and Li Yue to the mortal realm.
Before heading to the human world, Jiu Ya disguised herself. The black demonic markings on her forehead were a symbol of royal blood in the demon realm, but in the common understanding of the human world, tattoos on the face were considered a mark of sin. How could someone with such a mark walk freely on the street?
So, the clever Comrade Jiuya used a vermilion brush to trace over the magic mark on her forehead, turning the black into red, like a floral decoration.
The three demons, traveling light, swaggered onto the streets of the human world.
Teahouses, taverns, and various workshops line both sides of the street, while many vendors sell sachets, candied hawthorns, snacks, cosmetics, hairpins, and other items in the open spaces on both sides of the street. Their calls and shouts fill the air, creating a lively atmosphere.
"It's still quite lively here! Bai Yu, I told you you didn't need to worry." Jiu Ya walked ahead, stopping every now and then to look at what the vendors were selling.
"Your Excellency—"
Bai Yu was about to reply when Jiu Ya interrupted her, "Bai Yu, have you forgotten what I told you before we came out?"
When traveling incognito, one must naturally keep a low profile.
"Miss—" Bai Yu's tongue twisted around, and she finally managed to utter the title, still feeling awkward. "This place is indeed very different from what I imagined."
Along the way, the human realm was quite prosperous, far from the desolate place the demons imagined.
“It’s normal, you’ve never seen this place before.” Jiu Ya paused, this is the consequence of never leaving the “home”, the impression of the human world being extremely desolate, this is probably a saying passed down by several generations of demons, but how many years have passed? Do you know how quickly things have changed?
While speaking, Jiu Ya didn't forget to look at the things sold by the street vendors. This was an ancient version of a main street! She definitely had to browse around and couldn't miss anything. Bai Yu and Li Yue followed behind her closely, like two bodyguards. To outsiders, it was clearly a wealthy young lady taking her servants out for a stroll.
"Hey!" Jiu Ya suddenly stopped in her tracks. "This clay figure is quite lifelike."
Jiuya's eyes were drawn to the clay figurines on a vendor's stall. The small stall displayed several clay figurines, each about half the size of a palm, which were quite interesting. She looked at them over and over again several times.
The vendor became nervous when he saw a well-dressed woman stop in front of his stall. Behind her, Li Yue followed expressionlessly, carrying a sword, which looked quite frightening.
The vendor swallowed hard and asked nervously, "Miss, have you taken a fancy to any of the clay figurines?"
Life is tough, but for the sake of business, we still have to grit our teeth and keep going.
"How much is this?" Jiu Ya stared longingly at the several dolls before finally pointing to one of them, a little doll riding a white tiger with pigtails.
"This is only twenty copper coins." The vendor saw that Jiu Ya's clothes were made of expensive fabric, which was definitely not something an ordinary family could afford. He also saw the hairpins and ornaments in her hair, which made her look like a rich young lady who was unaware of the hardships of life. Such a person would not care about the price of things. However, he did not dare to quote too high a price, mainly because Li Yue looked rather frightening. "As for the other things that Miss is looking at, this one is thirty-five coins, and that one is twenty-eight coins."
Jiu Ya raised an eyebrow. Did this uncle think she'd never bought anything before? "Twenty copper coins?"
The vendor wiped his sweat. He had thought Jiu Ya was easy to talk to with her smiling face, but what did that meaningful look mean? Then, when Li Yue glared at him expressionlessly, the vendor felt his legs tremble and his lips quiver. "If Miss really wants to buy, ten copper coins will do."
Jiu Ya was quite satisfied, having already cut the price in half. Haha, she finally enjoyed the thrill of haggling! Jiu Ya slightly raised her chin and looked at Bai Yu, "Bai Yu, pay!"
When they first arrived in the human world, Jiu Ya took Bai Yu to a money exchange and exchanged silver and copper coins. Although they did not have human currency, they had hard currency—gold.
"Yes." Bai Yu took out ten copper coins from his wallet and handed them to the vendor.
Jiuya happily ran towards her next destination with the little clay figure in hand. How was her mentality any different from someone who was out for a trip to relax?
The vendor stared blankly at the ten copper coins spread out in his palm. Those three people looked very rich, so why were they so stingy? They only wanted to buy one?
The three demons walked and stopped, and Jiu Ya quickly took a fancy to candied hawthorns. The bright red hawthorns were arranged in different sizes on bamboo sticks and coated with crystal clear sugar syrup, making them even more tempting in the sunlight.
"Uncle, three skewers, please!"
Bai Yu knew exactly where to step forward and pay.
The old man selling candied hawthorns took three skewers off the straw mat and handed them to Jiu Ya, saying, "Miss, please take these."
"Thank you." Jiu Ya smiled and stuffed a skewer into Bai Yu's and Li Yue's hands, then crunched off the top half of the hawthorn for herself.
"Miss!" Li Yue was forced to eat a candied hawthorn, and his expressionless face almost cracked. He was holding a sword in one hand and a candied hawthorn in the other? Wasn't that a little strange?
Jiuya pointed to a child happily eating candied hawthorns on the street, "These look pretty good, why don't you two try some?"
"Miss, isn't this for children?" Bai Yu's face was also stiff. Although the Demon Realm didn't have candied hawthorns, weren't the people her master was referring to all children? Was it appropriate for them to eat this?
Beneath the sugar coating, the hawthorn berries were completely unprocessed, both sweet and sour—delicious! Jiu Ya chewed on a hawthorn berry with an innocent expression, "It's just food, why does it have to be age-specific?"
Well, if even our esteemed master is enjoying his meal, what obstacles could they possibly have?
Bai Yu took a small bite, and the taste of hawthorn and sugar coating combined made her eyes light up. "Miss, this is quite delicious!"
"Right?" Jiu Ya proudly took another bite of a hawthorn. Her teeth were so good now; biting into candy was so satisfying. She used to love candied hawthorn, but she couldn't eat it often because she needed to maintain her figure and also because she ate too many sweets. Now she didn't have that worry anymore and could eat as much as she wanted.
Bai Yu nodded in agreement and ate with great enjoyment, after all, sweets are delightful! Seeing that the candied hawthorn in Li Yue's hand was still intact, Bai Yu patted Li Yue, "Li Yue, this is delicious, you should try some!"
"Oh, okay." Li Yue decisively bit off a whole hawthorn, quickly crushing it and swallowing it. It was indeed both sour and sweet. However, for someone who didn't like sweets, it was a bit too sweet. To be honest, there aren't many boys who like candied hawthorns, and it was clear that Li Yue was definitely not among them.
However, Li Yue's aura of "keep away" was greatly reduced when he was eating candied hawthorn.
These three walked and stopped frequently, either to sell trinkets or to buy snacks. By the time they reached the end of the street, Li Yue and Bai Yu were carrying a lot of things.
Bai Yu asked, somewhat puzzled, "Miss, where are we going next?"
Is my esteemed master here to find my maternal grandmother's relatives, or is he here to have fun with them?
"To Linzi City! Aren't we heading to Linzi City?" Jiu Ya's destination was Linzi City—the former capital of the Qi Kingdom. However, when they arrived in the human world from the demon realm, they were quite a distance from Linzi. Once in the human world, Jiu Ya didn't really want to use her magic, and wouldn't it be better to just travel and have fun along the way?
Upon hearing Jiu Ya's words, Bai Yu couldn't help but tug at her hair. Seeing her Venerable One eating, drinking, and having fun every day, she had almost forgotten what Venerable One actually did when he came out.
"But Miss, Jimo City doesn't seem to be that far from Linzi City, does it?"
As subordinates, Bai Yu and Li Yue had already inquired about the distribution of nearby cities when they first arrived in the human world from the demon realm. Now that they heard about Linzi City, Bai Yu immediately realized the distance between the city they were currently in and Linzi.
Jiu Ya remained expressionless. "Bai Yu, look how prosperous Ji Mo City is, isn't it? How long has it been since we went out for a stroll?"
This is absolutely the truth. During her decades in the Demon Realm, she lived in constant fear. She had no time to appreciate the scenery around her. She was either constantly on guard against others harming her or thinking about how to improve her strength. The Demon Lord was a mediocre and useless person who not only couldn't command respect but also didn't know when he would lose his life.
"Although Jimo City can't compare to our place, it's still pretty good." Bai Yu's impression of the human world has changed drastically, but she is a good girl who loves the demon realm. No matter how good the human world is, the demon realm will always be the best in her heart.
Jiu Ya smiled faintly and said, "Ji Mo City is just an ordinary city in the human world." Ji Mo City is not the capital of the country, so how can an ordinary city in the human world be compared with the capital of the demon realm?
"The demonic energy here is very thin, it can't compare to the Demon Realm," Li Yue said in a low voice. In fact, he was already being generous to the human world; it was far more than just thin!
"Stop! You can't think about this like that. This is the human world!" Jiu Ya said helplessly. Okay, okay, I know you're patriotic. But can't we compare demonic energy to the human world? If demonic energy were rampant in the human world, what would happen? Could ordinary people survive?
"We know!" Bai Yu and Li Yue both looked at Jiu Ya with innocent expressions. So the human world is still desolate. No wonder many demons don't come to the human world.
The expressions on these two's faces are easy to understand. Jiu Ya sighed, "That's enough!" That's because the environmental conditions in each realm must be adapted to the survival of the species in that realm! If the human world were to adapt to the demons' treatment, would it still be called the human world?
Jiu Ya didn't want to explain, so she simply gave up and changed the subject, "Bai Yu, at our current pace, how long will it take to get to Linzi City?"
At this pace? Bai Yu understood; that meant they would finish eating as they went. "It will probably take another two days."
“Two days,” Jiu Ya calculated the time, then clapped her hands. “The timing is perfect.”
What time? What's the perfect time? Bai Yu and Li Yue were very puzzled.
Jiu Ya didn't bother to explain, but continued to ask, "Bai Yu, have you inquired about Linzi City? Isn't there some kind of festival on the third day of the third lunar month?"
“Miss, Linzi City holds a Peach Blossom Festival every year on the third day of the third lunar month. If we go there, we should be able to catch it,” Bai Yu replied, still a little doubtful. Did her master overhear her when she went to inquire?
Jiu Ya sighed, "The timing is perfect! Rong Jiang arrived in Linzi City just in time for the Peach Blossom Festival. The narrator even mentioned that the Peach Blossom Festival was a very famous festival in the former Qi Kingdom. On this day, if two people were interested in each other, the girl could give a handmade sachet, and the boy would give her peach blossoms in return. In her opinion, it was no different from Valentine's Day."
"Miss, should we speed up our journey?" Li Yue asked.
According to the human calendar, it should be the 29th of the second month now, and the Peach Blossom Festival will be in three days.
Jiuya remained calm and composed. "It's alright, there's no rush."
Although I said I wasn't in a hurry, I still sped up the trip. After all, I had already seen everything I wanted to see in Jimo City, and there was no point in staying any longer.
Although the three demons traveled in the manner of mortals, it took them less than a day to reach Linzi City. Unlike in Jimo City, the first thing Jiu Ya did upon arriving in Linzi City was to have Li Yue find an inn to settle down, because while she was just playing around in Jimo City, she intended to stay in Linzi City for a while.
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