Along both sides of the bluestone-paved road, small vendors were calling out to sell their wares. When some of them saw Xiaohua and Xiaoyu, they greeted them enthusiastically.
When they noticed Xi Yu and the others behind them, however, they looked rather intrigued.
A burly, broad-shouldered man holding a rose hair flower walked up to Xiaoyu and asked, “Hey, there are newcomers in the village.”
As he spoke, the burly man rubbed his hands together, looking at the group. A sharp glint flashed through his narrowed eyes, as though he were looking at food.
Luo Cheng’an shuddered under that gaze and shrank behind Xi Yu.
Xi Yu’s eyes flickered. What he saw was different from what Luo Cheng’an saw.
He could see the pitch-black fur covering the burly man’s face and his sharp fangs.
Xi Yu swept his gaze over the other vendors. The gazes they directed at them were equally intense.
So many demons.
There were actually both humans and demons living side by side in Wutong Village.
No.
They weren’t humans either. The vendors who weren’t demons were all surrounded by spiritual power, just like Xiaohua and Xiaoyu.
Neither human nor god.
They had no breathing, no heartbeat, yet they could laugh, curse, joke, and get angry. They were nothing like puppets.
This Wutong Village really was strange.
“Bro,” Luo Cheng’an tugged at Xi Yu’s clothes. “I’m scared.”
Lu Zhixing glanced sideways at him, the corners of his lips pressing down slightly.
Xiaoyu was happily admiring the rose hair flower in his hands. Hearing this, he raised his head and sweetly said to the burly man,
“Uncle Bear, these are the Holy Son’s honored guests. You can’t eat them.”
Xiaoyu’s voice was clear and bright, yet he was saying something that was difficult to accept in such a childish voice.
The burly man sounded a little disappointed.
“Oh. Okay, then.”
With that, he returned to his stall.
Luo Cheng’an’s eyes widened.
“Can’t eat what? Me?”
Lu Zhixing sneered inwardly.
Where Xi Yu couldn’t see, he slowly mouthed a few words:
Putting on an act.
“It means you,” Xiaoyu said with a giggle. “When living people enter the village, they get eaten~”
Luo Cheng’an stared at him in horror.
Xiaohua frowned and covered Xiaoyu’s mouth.
“Don’t listen to his nonsense. Living people who enter the village are only driven out. They don’t eat human flesh.”
Luo Cheng’an breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh, oh. You scared me to death.”
Xi Yu tilted his head, his gaze falling on a red pear-blossom branch in front of the bear demon’s stall.
Red pear blossoms were extremely rare. They were like clouds and rosy skies, blazing like fire.
There was a red pear-blossom tree in his Lanxing Hall as well, and it was even more brilliant than this one.
Xi Yu slowly walked to the stall and picked up a hair tie woven from red pear blossoms.
“How much is this?”
The burly man held up ten fingers.
“Ten years of cultivation.”
Cultivation…
That made sense. Everyone here was a demon, so money was useless to them.
“Ten years of cultivation for a few flowers?” Xi Yu said lazily. “That’s quite a rip-off.”
A hundred years of cultivation for ten hair ties.
Xiaoyu immediately ran over and stamped his foot.
“Uncle Bear, you’re overcharging again! I told you, you can’t sell them like this. Six months! Six months of cultivation!”
The burly man complained bitterly.
“These are red pear blossoms. It took decades of cultivation before they finally produced a sparse hundred blossoms. They’re very precious.”
Xiaoyu put his hands on his hips and stared at the man, his big, dark eyes filled with disapproval.
Under his gaze, the burly man began to feel guilty.
“How about three years? Three years of cultivation. I really can’t go any lower. These flowers are precious. I can’t sell them any cheaper.”
Xi Yu glanced at the seven or eight hair ties displayed on the stall. Judging by the amount, an entire tree had probably only produced enough flowers to make these few, and even then they were sparse enough to have lost some of their beauty.
Xi Yu thought for a moment, then ran his hand over several of the hair ties.
The pear-blossom hair ornaments immediately merged together, becoming a single hair tie covered in a lush cluster of flowers.
Xi Yu was satisfied.
Before the burly man could say anything, Xi Yu flipped his hand over and produced a snow-white spirit stone from his palm.
“No need to give me change.”
The burly man had initially frowned, unhappy that Xi Yu had combined his hair ties into one. It was certainly prettier, but now it would be harder for him to sell.
But the moment he saw the spirit stone, his face immediately split into a huge grin.
Xiaoyu’s gaze swept over the spirit stone.
A spirit stone capable of increasing one’s cultivation by a hundred years was rare even here.
“Big brother,” Xiaoyu suddenly wrapped his arms around Xi Yu’s waist. “Do you want to buy a cute and well-behaved little brother and take him home?”
Luo Cheng’an, who had been listening, immediately objected.
“No, no! He’s my brother.”
Standing behind Xi Yu, Lu Zhixing’s gaze fell on the pear-blossom hair tie in his hand. His long, narrow phoenix eyes held an almost imperceptible trace of anticipation.
But when he saw Xi Yu put the hair tie into his ring, that anticipation disappeared.
He gave a bitter smile, not knowing what he had been expecting.
Back at Lanxing Hall, whenever the red pear blossoms bloomed, Shizun would weave a hair tie like this for him and put it on his head.
But he wasn’t Zhi Yue anymore.
Lu Zhixing felt somewhat disappointed, yet also secretly pleased.
Disappointed that the hair tie that should have belonged to him could no longer be placed on his head.
Pleased because he knew that when Shizun held the hair tie, he must have thought of those years in Lanxing Hall just as he had.
Those things that had belonged to him—Shizun had never given them to anyone else.
Not even “Lu Zhixing.”
Xi Yu patted Xiaoyu’s soft little cheek.
“No, thank you.”
He had once raised the cutest little one in the entire world. He certainly wasn’t going to be fooled by Xiaoyu’s feigned innocence.
Xiaoyu pouted, looking as though he was about to cry again.
Xiaohua finally lost patience and grabbed him by the collar.
“Come on, you. You’re seriously ridiculous.”
Xiaohua dragged Xiaoyu along and said to Xi Yu,
“If you’ve finished buying things, let’s go.”
Xi Yu didn’t linger any longer, and the group continued walking.
Wutong Village was completely different from what they had imagined.
Besides all kinds of little stalls, there were actually teahouses, restaurants, academies, and even… a brothel.
“So fragrant…” Luo Cheng’an’s eyes became somewhat unfocused, and he started walking toward the brothel.
Xi Yu smacked him on the head and used spiritual power to clear his mind.
“Keep walking.”
After saying that, he looked at Lu Zhixing as well.
Seeing that Lu Zhixing was also staring straight toward it, Xi Yu’s lips pressed into a thin line, and he felt somewhat displeased.
He knew perfectly well that Lu Zhixing, just like Luo Cheng’an, had been bewitched by the enchantress inside.
Even so, he still felt a tightness in his chest. Threads of murderous energy began to spread, and all he wanted was to bind the little one’s eyes with a ribbon so he couldn’t see anything.
“Is it pretty?”
Xi Yu leaned closer to Lu Zhixing and asked beside his ear.
As he spoke, a strand of spiritual power entered Lu Zhixing’s body, instantly clearing his mind.
Warm breath brushed against his earlobe.
Lu Zhixing lowered his eyes and saw the somewhat cold expression in Xi Yu’s eyes. His heartbeat suddenly stopped for a moment.
Lu Zhixing didn’t understand why Xi Yu was looking at him like this.
He had merely pretended to be bewitched just like Luo Cheng’an.
The two of them were supposed to be “mortals.” It was impossible for them not to be bewitched by demons. To prevent their identities from being exposed, this was an act he had to put on.
But why didn’t Xi Yu blame Luo Cheng’an?
Why was he looking at him with displeasure instead?
By the time Xi Yu saw that Lu Zhixing had regained consciousness, he was no longer looking at him. He simply continued walking forward.
But Lu Zhixing’s chest felt terribly heavy.
He couldn’t help wondering—
Was it because he was no longer Zhi Yue that he wasn’t as good as Luo Cheng’an now?
Lu Zhixing followed behind Xi Yu, his half-lowered eyes carrying a faintly sinister darkness, along with a tiny trace of grievance hidden extremely deep within.
Xi Yu didn’t look back at Lu Zhixing either.
He was sulking too.
Actually, he wasn’t angry.
He was just jealous.
He felt that his jealousy was completely unreasonable. The little one being bewitched by a demon was perfectly normal. He felt that he shouldn’t be so petty.
Thinking this, Xi Yu was just about to turn around and speak to Lu Zhixing.
Xiaoyu called out brightly,
“We’re here!”
……………………
Xi Yu stopped and looked at the residence in front of them.
Its green-tiled roof and vermilion eaves gave it an ancient elegance. The vermilion-red gate seemed to sense their arrival, opening with a creaking sound.
Luo Cheng’an stepped forward, wanting to take Xi Yu’s hand.
Lu Zhixing was quick enough to grab him first. He pressed his lips together in a faint smile.
“Little Brother Cheng’an, if you’re scared, you can hold onto me.”
Luo Cheng’an glanced at him, the corners of his lips curling into a mocking smile.
Xi Yu turned around and saw the two of them with their arms linked.
His brows furrowed slightly, but ultimately he said nothing and followed Xiaohua and Xiaoyu into the ancient-looking residence.
“This is the Holy Son’s residence. These three rooms have been prepared for you. He went up the mountain to cultivate in seclusion a few days ago. He should be back tonight or tomorrow night, so just wait here patiently.”
Xiaoyu paused, then continued,
“The cook will bring you some food later. My brother and I still have things to do, so we’ll be going first.”
After saying this, Xiaoyu pulled Xiaohua along and hopped away happily, the silver ornament around his neck making pleasant, crisp sounds.
“That’s strange,” Luo Cheng’an said. “They seem to have known we were coming.”
A strange look flashed through Luo Cheng’an’s eyes.
He had come to Wutong Village a thousand years ago. He had secretly infiltrated the village, but left after failing to obtain Zhuohua.
However, he had always kept an eye on this place.
So when Sang Biao ran out, he had secretly led him to leave clues on Xiaoman and Shen Linchuan.
For the past nine hundred years or so, he had not entered Wutong Village again. He had remained in the heavens, waiting for Lanxing to be resurrected.
He had always thought this was merely a mysterious village.
But now, it seemed he had underestimated it.
That Holy Son could actually know they were coming.
It seemed obtaining Zhuohua would be somewhat more difficult than he had imagined.
As Luo Cheng’an thought this, Lu Zhixing wasn’t doing much better.
He couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of demonic energy right now.
That was extremely bad.
The only good thing was that Xi Yu apparently couldn’t sense Zhuohua either.
The two of them each had their own thoughts, while Xi Yu was in a perfectly calm, we’re already here, so let’s deal with it state of mind.
He pushed open the middle room of the three and stepped inside, looking around.
The room had everything they needed: a bed, shelves, cabinets, tables, and chairs. The furnishings were simple, the colors elegant, and the overall atmosphere dignified and spacious.
A faint fragrance drifted from the bronze incense burner, intoxicating the senses.
Luo Cheng’an exclaimed,
“Wow. It’s like we’re filming a historical drama.”
Lu Zhixing lifted the bed curtains and touched the pillow.
Very soft.
Shizun shouldn’t be uncomfortable sleeping on it.
“You two go back to your rooms,” Xi Yu said. “I’m going to rest for a while.”
“Okay.”
Lu Zhixing answered, then, before Luo Cheng’an could respond, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the room.