A light breakfast was eaten once morning rolled around and their entourage continued on their journey.
On the fourth day, Langxia gave Gui Yin another update on Qin Siyi and Shan Yu.
“They’re very close,” Langxia said. “They’ve managed to evacuate the city and they’re beginning to fix the arrays. The enemy is getting a little antsy.”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia. “Stop spying on them.”
“You can admit that you’re worried.”
“Right now, I’m more worried about you. If you suddenly collapse while we’re facing the Void Saint, what am I going to do? Just die?” Gui Yin said. “Save your powers. You said it yourself—they’re already grown. We don’t need to watch them so closely.”
Langxia glanced at Gui Yin as he felt relief flood through his chest. He smirked slightly.
Gui Yin glared at him. “What?”
The words “say it; I dare you” were basically shining above Gui Yin’s head. Langxia shrugged innocently and shook his head.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. I just feel relieved that you think so,” Langxia said.
In the next second, Gui Yin’s folding fan left his hand. Langxia ducked just in time. Fenghua lodged into the tree behind him, making A-Qi and the rest fall silent. The fan dislodged itself from the tree and flew back into Gui Yin’s hand at his command. Gui Yin narrowed his eyes and glared at Langxia.
Langxia chuckled and straightened again. “Thank you for going easy on me, Qinle.”
Gui Yin harrumphed. “My pleasure.”
A-Qi drifted towards Wu Feng again. “…Why…?”
Su Wen sighed and rolled his eyes. “You don’t understand.”
“It’s because I don’t understand that I’m asking!”
Su Wen shook his head and pulled past them. A-Qi glared at Su Wen and was about to chase after him when Wu Feng tugged her back.
“We’re almost to town.”
A-Qi’s eyes brightened. She rode past Su Wen and stopped near Langxia. “Master.”
Langxia heard the cutesy call and glanced over with a raised brow. “Hm?”
“Master, we’re almost to town,” A-Qi said.
“And?”
“We should stock up on supplies. We don’t know how long we’ll be around Yinfeng Valley,” A-Qi reasoned. “How about we rest in town for the night?”
Gui Yin glanced at the skies.
They had been traveling for an entire day already. The sun was already beginning to set. He thought that it was reasonable and felt that Langxia would have already agreed. But when silence followed A-Qi’s words, he finally glanced over.
“What?”
“What do you think?” Langxia asked.
“I…think it’s a fine idea,” Gui Yin said. He smiled at A-Qi. “Let’s do that then.”
A-Qi happily agreed, but she couldn’t help but feel a little bit odd in her heart. She had clearly asked her master, so why did her master have to look to Gui Yin for an answer?
Unfortunately for A-Qi, there were some questions that were meant to be figured out on one’s own.
Soon, their entourage made it into town.
The town was rather quaint, but it was clearly prosperous. After so many years after the war, this town finally had a chance to pick itself back up. The people were clearly merry and there even seemed to be a mini festival going on.
Luckily, since it was a local festival, there was still room at the inns. Once a room was booked and dinner was eaten, A-Qi quickly dragged Su Wen and Wu Feng out on the excuse of “stocking up for the remainder of their trip”.
“Do you really think they’re stocking anything up?” Gui Yin sighed.
“Most likely not,” Langxia said. “I doubt we’ll even be at Yinfeng Valley for more than a few hours.”
Gui Yin couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. “We’re clearly on our way to save a person, but they’re acting as if we’re on vacation.”
“My people rarely have a sense of urgency,” Langxia said. “I would say it’s their only flaw.”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia. “I say they take after you.”
“Me?” Langxia echoed. He looked aghast. “I beg to differ.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Tbe mjc yfu jii sbe kjca, yea la’r ralii agef,” Xel Tlc rjlv. Lf oibeglrtfv tlr ojc jcv uijcmfv bearlvf. “Ktf cluta lr ralii fjgis.”
Ojcuzlj rwlifv. “Gb sbe kjca ab mtfmx bea atf ofralnlalfr?”
Xel Tlc gjlrfv j ygbk jcv ribkis aegcfv ab ibbx ja Ojcuzlj. “Qf rtbeiv, rtbeivc’a kf? Qf mjc mtfmx bc tbk atf Obkfg Efjiwr tjnf yffc gfmbnfglcu abb.”
Langxia chuckled. “You’re right. Then, shall we go?”
The festival was a small celebration for the start of spring and for future prosperity. According to the locals, it had just been on a whim. After seeing the way the crops flourished and how their trading had been reestablished, they couldn’t help but want to throw a small celebration.
However, despite how casually everyone put it, it was definitely a sight to behold.
This small town’s main exports were actually their lanterns. For this small celebration, beautiful lanterns were strung up all over town and children ran around with lanterns in all shapes and sizes.
It was most likely the first celebration the entire town had had since the war ended.
Gui Yin sidestepped as a group of children ran past them. His eyes were trained on the lanterns as they passed by—utter awe filling his expression.
“Do you want one?” Langxia softly asked.
Gui Yin glanced back at him and laughed. “Do I look like I would play with lanterns?”
“Perhaps,” Langxia said. He tilted his chin towards a nearby stall. “Perhaps something like a fox.”
Gui Yin raised a brow. “Then, you take that snake.”
Langxia chuckled. “Shall we?”
“I was joking,” Gui Yin said. He pressed his fan to Langxia’s chest to stop him from progressing further. He retrieved his hand and flourished it with a small sigh. “I was just thinking that Huo’er and them would have loved a scene like this when they were younger.”
Longing mixed with guilt passed through Langxia’s chest. It was fleeting, but it was almost like a punch in the gut.
Langxia fell silent for a moment as he processed Gui Yin’s complicated emotions. His gaze flickered up to Gui Yin, but then slowly drifted towards a stall not too far away.
“Maybe I should buy a few lanterns,” Gui Yin muttered. “I think the kids would like it. What do you thi—Erlang?”
Gui Yin stopped. He looked around the crowd and searched for the tall man that had just been walking behind him. His eyes narrowed and his chest tightened for a brief second. But then, slowly, he saw the back of the familiar head rise. He huffed and stalked over.
“What are you doing?” Gui Yin scolded. “Why did you just suddenly run off?”
Langxia glanced back at him. He turned and held up two turquoise tassels.
“Between these two, which one do you like best?” Langxia asked.
The two tassels were the same color, but the trinket and the knots were different. Gui Yin’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked between the two. Eventually, he pointed to the one with a white jade and a few darker and clear beads.
“This one’s nice,” Gui Yin said. He watched Langxia curiously as he paid for the tassel and bought a few things of rouge. “What’s this? Do you have a woman back at home?”
Langxia glanced at him as he tucked the rouge away. “The rouge is for A-Qi. She may not act like it, but she likes makeup. She’s just too embarrassed to buy it.”
“Then, the tassel?” Gui Yin asked. He looked around Langxia’s waist. “You don’t even carry your swords.”
Langxia smiled softly. He lifted it and dangled it in front of Gui Yin. “It’s for you.”
Gui Yin stared at him.
The two men slowed to a stop. Langxia tilted his chin towards Gui Yin’s hand. “For Fenghua. Your previous tassel fell off, did it not? Use this to replace it.”
“My previous…” Gui Yin’s voice trailed off.
Indeed, he had had a tassel on Fenghua before, but when he had been forced to abandon it at the center of a protection array, the tassel had been singed off. When Qin Siyi handed it back, the tassel was already gone. Gui Yin hadn’t even given it a second thought until Langxia presented him with a new one.
Gui Yin’s fingers lightly brushed against Langxia’s as he took the tassel. He lowered his head and carefully tied it to Fenghua.
“Thank you,” Gui Yin muttered.
Langxia fell into a silent contemplation as Gui Yin fixed the tassel properly.
He straightened and flourished his fan with a smile. “How is it? Does it look good?”
Langxia nodded. “It suits you.”
“It’s definitely much better than the previous one,” Gui Yin laughed. He touched the light turquoise tassel with a small smile. “Who knows why I had chosen that gaudy purple color?”
Langxia’s gaze darkened. “Perhaps it was a gift from someone.”
“Was it?” Gui Yin wondered. He sighed. “What a shame that I lost it then.”
“If old things don’t go, new things won’t come,” Langxia comforted. “Maybe it was just fate that you lost it.”
Gui Yin raised a brow. He lightly tapped Langxia with the guard of his folding fan again. “There you go again with fate.”
Langxia chuckled. He gently nudged the fan from his chest and followed Gui Yin. “Since I gave you a gift, can you answer a question of mine?”
Gui Yin glanced back. “Sure, go ahead.”
“Just now, what kind of emotion was that?” Langxia asked.
Gui Yin nearly tripped over himself. “Huh? What?”
“Just now. As you were tying the tassel,” Langxia said. He seemed a bit hesitant. “I couldn’t quite decipher it.”
Gui Yin’s lips pursed into a straight line. “You shouldn’t be reading my emotions anyway. Now you want me to decipher them for you?”
“You said you would answer me,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin looked at his innocent expression and scoffed. “I can’t tell if you’re pretending to be naïve or if you really are.”
Langxia raised a brow. “I’m just curious.”
As someone who had a defective emotional root, he hadn’t experienced such complicated feelings in a long time.
“I’m not answering,” Gui Yin said with another light scoff.
“Would answering be unfavorable to you?” Langxia asked.
“I said I’m not answering,” Gui Yin repeated.
Langxia fell silent as anxiety tickled his chest. He glanced at Gui Yin curiously. “Is it that bad?”
“It isn’t,” Gui Yin snapped. He sighed. “I was just wondering about that purple tassel.”
Langxia’s smile faded slightly. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I just feel a little attached. Even if it didn’t look good, it was with me for a while. That’s all,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at Langxia. “Are you satisfied?”
Langxia hummed. He lowered his gaze for a moment before walking around Gui Yin.
Gui Yin remained where he was, a little baffled. Only a second later did he realize that Langxia had just left him behind. He quickly followed after the other man and glanced at him cautiously.
“What…what’s wrong?” Gui Yin asked.
“Nothing,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin frowned slightly. He poked Langxia’s shoulder with the edge of the fan guard. “Is it because of the purple tassel?”
“That wouldn’t concern me,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin pursed his lips. He touched the turquoise tassel. “Wow, you know, this tassel is actually a lot better quality. It’s much softer. I’m sure it wouldn’t combust in flames so easily either. As long as I add a few spells, it’ll definitely last a while.”
Langxia looked ahead and hummed indifferently.
Gui Yin snapped his fan open loudly. “Gosh, I wonder who the person who bought me that purple tassel was! They were so inconsiderate. Even when I was a disciple, I clearly only wore yellows and turquoises—how could they get a color that stood out so much, right? Good thing I lost that thing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten this new one. This pastel turquoise clearly suits me better. That other person doesn’t have any taste at all.”
Gui Yin’s walking pace became a bit brisk as he got in front of Langxia. He smiled brightly as he extended his fan to block Langxia’s way. “They probably only did what pleased them. Not like you at all—you at least know my aesthetic.”
Langxia glanced at the fan and then up at Gui Yin.
Gui Yin smiled sheepishly. He retrieved his hand and snapped his fan shut. “Erlang…I only missed it briefly because it was with me for so long. I don’t actually want it back. This one is clearly better.”
Gui Yin’s soft voice tickled Langxia in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He couldn’t help but glance at Gui Yin. The irritation of having someone intrude on his territory slowly faded.
Seeing that Langxia’s expression had cleared up, Gui Yin breathed an internal sigh of relief. A small part of his heart squeezed with excitement he refused to acknowledge.
“Shall we buy some lanterns?” Gui Yin suggested. “I’m sure the kids will be happy to see something like this once we get back.”
Langxia nodded. “Alright.”
Gui Yin’s smile brightened. He excitedly took Langxia’s hand and tugged him towards the stalls selling lanterns.
The set of lanterns were bought and carefully stuffed into one of Gui Yin’s spare Qiankun bags. He tossed it up and down as they walked back to the inn.
“I should hand this to A-Qi or Su Wen before we go in,” Gui Yin said. “That way, I won’t accidentally lose it.”
The fear of losing all his belongings had heightened since his last major battle. He was just lucky that he left most of his valuables at the camp.
Langxia chuckled. “Shall I ask them to run it back to Huigu Palace?”
“That would be too much,” Gui Yin chided. He carefully tucked it away and turned back to Langxia. “Right, do you have any game plan?”
“Game plan?”
“You know,” Gui Yin said with a slight raise of his brows.
Langxia let out a long hum. “Charge in. If we can’t fight, then we escape.”
Langxia met Gui Yin’s gaze and slowly smiled. He tilted his head. “Is it not good?”
Gui Yin clicked his tongue. He swept back Langxia’s fringe and looked around his forehead. “Did you hit your head earlier? How come I didn’t notice?”
Langxia grasped Gui Yin’s hand and tugged it back down. His touch lingered for a second before he released him. “Well, what other plan could there be?”
“You don’t have like…a map or something?” Gui Yin asked.
“I do,” Langxia said. He tilted his chin towards the inn. “Let’s go back in first before we talk.”
Langxia and Gui Yin were sharing the same room again.
The doors opened and Gui Yin stepped in. He sat down on the divan as Langxia sat at the tea table. Two cups of tea were poured. When one landed in Gui Yin’s hands, he took a sip, and waited somewhat impatiently for Langxia to speak.
Langxia unfolded a piece of paper and held it up for Gui Yin to see. “This is the surface level of Yinfeng Valley.”
Wrapped around a warped mountain, Yinfeng Valley rested at the lip of a large split called Scattered Souls Ridge.
It was said that this ridge contained the most concentrated amount of dark and Yin energy in the world. In the past, this split had been the centerpiece of the Great Celestial and Demon War. It was the final resting place of many great demons and old gods. It is said that, even to this day, the souls of the deceased continued to fight each other, causing the resentful energy to grow stronger and stronger.
The Celestials had attempted to patch it up in the old age but like a festering wound, the earth could never heal.
Now, there were many legends about Scattered Souls Ridge.
Some said that falling into it would cause your soul to be trapped; an eternity of suffering and nightmares would await you. Others said that Scattered Souls Ridge would devour your soul whole, leaving only your consciousness that would slowly be integrated into the mournful souls beneath. There were even some legends that said that Scattered Souls Ridge led directly into the Eighteen Levels of Hell. No matter if you had accumulated fifty lives of merit or if you were a god, there was no escaping the punishment that happened once you fell in.
Because of this, although Scattered Souls Ridge was an attractive cultivation area for many devil cultivators, there were few crazy enough to settle there. Ghost cultivators, who were no longer human but also not quite the dead, found this place to be the perfect breeding ground.
“Half Moon Cult is said to be located around here,” Langxia gestured vaguely.
Gui Yin’s eyes narrowed. “Isn’t that close to Scattered Souls Ridge?”
“It is,” Langxia nodded. “However, it’s much farther than shown on the map, so we shouldn’t have to worry about it.”
Gui Yin fell silent. He lightly touched his chin as he observed the map. “The insider information said that high profile criminals are kept in the Shadow Prison.”
“Yes, however, they also mentioned that they didn’t see the young saint—who, I’m assuming, is Yankui,” Langxia said. He turned slightly so he could properly point to the location he needed. “They said he was last seen around this building.”
Gui Yin leaned forward on the edge of his seat.
“There is only one thing located here—it’s the Water Prison,” Langxia said. “Apparently Yankui is a frequent guest there.”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed. He met Langxia’s gaze. “Frequent?”
Langxia hummed. “The Void Saint doesn’t seem to care too much about his relationship with his child.”
Gui Yin’s expression grew even more severe. He took a deep breath and sighed. “What a pitiful child.”
“Pitiful indeed,” Langxia said. He set the map down. “I heard the Water Prison is a long circular room dug underground. The prisoner is chained to a dais at the very bottom. Every five hours, water will slowly flow in and submerge the prisoner for a whole minute. Little time is given for them to eat. Though, the food given to them probably isn’t anything nutritional anyway.”
“How do we get in?” Gui Yin asked.
Langxia smiled. “Very sneakily.”
Gui Yin stared at him blankly.
“Don’t worry,” Langxia said. He folded the map up again. “If I’m bringing you into a dangerous place like this, I naturally have my ways of getting us all out safely. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Trust,” Gui Yin said. He sighed and slumped back against the divan. “If it’s you, I trust that you can even break out of Li Jing’s Golden Pagoda.”
Langxia chuckled. He tucked the map away and sat down beside Gui Yin. “I didn’t know you thought so highly of me, Qinle.”
Gui Yin nudged Langxia back with a touch of his fan to his chest. “It’s getting late. We still have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow.”
Langxia hummed. He watched as Gui Yin stood and went off to get ready for bed. His smile faded slightly as he pressed a hand to his chest.
What did this sour feeling in his heart mean?
all the FLIRTING this chapter i am THRIVING!!!!!!!
and ahhh naming emotions…. it’s difficult 😔
one of my favorite chapters of them flirting tbh– thanks for read!
I love watching these 2 figure each other out.
it’s a nice little dance they do uwu thanks for reading!!
Oop… what is the sour feeling?
👀…thanks for reading
is-is our Erlang baby feeling jealous..? ><hehe
The purple tassel 100% has something to do with the person in his missing memory.