translator: baumkuchenย editor: ellabells
The two then continued up the mountain. They didnโt dare to go touch any of the flowers or grass by the side of the road again. Anyways, Lu Qingjiu found that he and Yin Xun were basically the species at the very bottom of the food chain hereโฆ
Soon, Lu Qingjiu saw the stone tablet he saw the last time he was here. On the stone tablet was written the two words โShuifu Villageโ in large, blood red letters. The stone table was very tall, who knew what kind of person had erected it here.
โIs this place Bai Yuehuโs soul?โ Lu Qingjiu asked Yin Xun.
โOhโฆ How do I put this,โ Yin Xun said, โThis place is probably influenced by Bai Yuehu, but itโs not his soul.โ
Lu Qingjiu was confused upon hearing this. In short, he truly knew too little about Yin Xun and Bai Yuehuโs world. Following the trail, they walked up to the platform Bai Yuehu had brought Lu Qingjiu to before. This platform hadnโt changed much since the last time he had been here. Below was still the rolling sea of clouds and within it were still the wenyao fish swimming along back and forth.ย
Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun were a little tired from the hike so they sat down by the side of the platform to rest for a while. As they rested, Lu Qingjiu spotted another trail by the side of the platform, seemingly headed towards an even deeper part of the mountain.
Lu Qingjiu said, โSay, why do you think Bai Yuehu brought us here?โ
Yin Xun was currently engrossed in fighting with a weed from the side of the path. He wanted to pluck out the weed but the weed didnโt move at all even when he used all of his strength. Hearing Lu Qingjiuโs question, he replied without even turning his head, โI donโt know, maybe he wants to do something he doesnโt want us to know about.โ
Lu Qingjiu, โSuch as?โ
Yin Xun, โ…Sneakily eating Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua?โ
Lu Qingjiuโs expression twisted for a moment. To tell the truth, he was truly a little afraid that after he went back, Bai Yuehu would tell him Xiao Hei, Xiao Hua and the little fox had all gone missing.
โYou can stay here, I want to go up to the peak and look around.โ Lu Qingjiu was done resting. He stood up and brushed off his butt.
Yin Xun finally gave up on fighting with that poor little weed. He said, โHey, wait for me, letโs go together.โ
The path became narrower past the platform and there was no longer lush vegetation by the sides like before, all of it turning into short ferns.
The path beyond was hidden in dense fog. Fortunately, there was only one path here so they wouldnโt need to fear getting lost.
Lu Qingjiu continued to climb up the mountain.ย But Yin Xun, who followed behind him, felt a little uneasy. He asked, โQingjiu, ah, do we still need to go up?โ
โWhatโs wrong?โ Lu Qingjiu asked.
โIโmโฆ just feeling a little uncomfortable,โ Yin Xun said, โThe fog here is too thick.โ
Lu Qingjiu said, โIt should be fine.โ
Yin Xun breathed in through his nose and went silent.
Lu Qingjiu continued heading onwards. He usually wasnโt such a curious person, but for some reason, he especially wanted to go up and take a look today to see what exactly was at the end of the fog.
Yin Xun, seeing that Lu Qingjiuโs attitude was firm, didnโt continue to advise him. He just hugged his shoulders and quietly followed behind Lu Qingjiu.
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.
After walking for about ten or so minutes, the fog lessened.
Oe Hlcuple kjr bcmf jujlc jyif ab wjxf bea tlr reggbecvlcur. Fcilxf atf yfjealoei rmfcfgs yfibk atf qijaobgw, atflg meggfca reggbecvlcur mbeiv bcis yf vfrmglyfv jr vfrbijaf. Ktf rbli bglulcjiis bc atf ugbecv tjv yffc gfqijmfv ys yijmx gbmx, jcv atfgf kjrcโa j rlcuif ilnlcu atlcu bc atf yijmx gbmx, bcis olcf rjcv.
A towering mountain appeared before Lu Qingjiuโs eyes. This mountain rose into the clouds, its peak unable to be seen. The mountain was black and there wasnโt a single trace of vegetation on it. The mountain was also covered in the smooth, black rocks, as if the surface of a mirror, making it impossible for one to imagine how to climb it.
Halfway up the mountain, there was a ring of dense clouds and mist. When Lu Qingjiuโs gaze landed on the clouds, he was lost in thought for a moment, until Yin Xun asked softly, โWhat are you looking at?โ
โThere seems to be something in the clouds,โ Lu Qingjiu said, โCan you see it?โ
โNo.โ Yin Xun stared for a while, before shaking his head. โThereโs nothing there.โ
Lu Qingjiu said, โMaybe I saw wronglyโฆโ
Yin Xun remained silent.
The weather over here was different from what it was like over at the platform. The sky was dark with the occasional flash of lighting and roar of thunder. That tall, towering mountain, was separated from the land around it by the sea of clouds like a lonely island.
Yin Xun sat on the ground and stared at the bottomless sea of clouds. His hand itched to do something so he found a rock and casually threw it into the sea. But who knew that when the rock entered the sea of clouds, they heard a splash, deep and far into the sea โ deep in the sea of clouds, there was actually water.
โThereโs water below?โ Yin Xun said, โThereโs actually water.โ
Lu Qingjiu said, โIs it strange that there’s water?โ
Yin Xun said, โItโs not ah.โ He smiled, showing his cute tiger tooth. โHow would there being water in Shuifu village be strange?โ
Hearing this, Lu Qingjiu glanced at Yin Xun.
Having been sent here by Bai Yuehu for some inexplicable reason, Lu Qingjiu couldnโt understand what Bai Yuehu was thinking. He could guess what that heavy rain outside might mean, but for the time being, he couldnโt understand why.
There was another deep roar of thunder. This time, Lu Qingjiu finally got a good look at what was circling the faraway black mountain. It was actually a long dragon.
Even though he didnโt see it too clearly, Lu Qingjiu could already confirm that he hadnโt imagined it. The dragon circled around the black mountain, its head brushing past its tail. Its body was extremely long. As it roamed through the clouds, it looked as elegant as a picture scroll. But in the next moment, it vanished into the thick clouds again. Lu Qingjiu was practically stunned silly.
This time, Yin Xun also saw it. His reaction was about the same as Lu Qingjiuโs, but there was a bit of shock within his awe.
โHow could there be a dragon here?โ Yin Xun said, โShouldnโt dragons have already gone extinct?โ
Lu Qingjiu said, โExtinct? But there are even mountain gods, why would dragons have gone extinct?โ
Yin Xun said, โAfter I became a mountain god, I also inherited a portion of their memories.โ He answered, โThe dragon race was different from other races, they had a reason behind their existence, usually to protect something. Since we entered modern society, faith has become more and more sparse. Itโs said that the last dragon died out more than a thousand years agoโฆโ
Lu Qingjiu, โWhat does modern society have to do with this?โ
Yin Xun became aggrieved. โHow could it not? Say, nowadays if you were to find ten yuan by the side of the road, would you think that itโs because youโre lucky, or would you thank the gods for their protection?โ
Lu Qingjiu said, โ…โ Thinking about it like that, it really did seem true.
Yin Xun said, โWithout faith, gods naturally cannot continue to exist, so these kinds of things also became fewer and fewer in number.โ
The matter of gods and ghosts, had always been that with faith, they existed, and without, they didnโt.
Lu Qingjiu nodded, acknowledging Yin Xunโs statement.
Lu Qingjiu had only gotten a single look at the dragon and didnโt see its figure again. This world didnโt have day and night and the sun and moon didnโt change positions.
Without realising it, Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun had already been here for more than eight hours. Just as Lu Qingjiu was wondering when they would get to go home, a familiar figure appeared from the fog behind him.
Bai Yuehu was back.
His appearance had changed drastically since their separation. His originally short hair had become waist-length. He was wearing a long, black robe, on it embroidered a giant dragon in flight with gold thread. Red jewels formed its eyes. Its appearance was full of life, as if it would fly out of the robe at any moment. The bottom of the robe was a little damaged, looking as if it had been burned by something. Seeing them look over, Bai Yuehu didnโt say anything, simply raising his arm and lightly beckoning them over.
Yin Xun stood in place, unmoving, but Lu Qingjiu smiled calmly and walked forward. โYuehu, back so soon?โ
โEn,โ Bai Yuehu said, โLetโs go back home.โ
Only after he came closer, did Lu Qingjiu realised that there were three very obvious wounds on the side of Bai Yuehuโs face. These wounds looked like they had been gouged out by something, especially attention-grabbing on Bai Yuehuโs fair face. The wounds were incredibly deep. Even though they had stopped bleeding, they were a mess of blood and broken flesh. It looked like they were likely to leave scars.
โYouโre hurt.โ Seeing the wounds, Lu Qingjiu gasped.
Bai Yuehu turned his head slightly, raising a hand and touching it to his cheek. Seeing the fresh blood on the back of his hand, he raised his eyebrows, as if he hadnโt actually noticed the wounds on his face. He said, โItโs just a small wound, itโs not of any importance.โ
Lu Qingjiu said, โDid you go and get in a fight with somebody?โ
Bai Yuehu, โEn.โ His gaze fell on the blood staining the back of his hand.
Lu Qingjiu miraculously understood what he meant. He couldnโt help but laugh, then got out a clean handkerchief from his pocket, took Bai Yuehuโs hand, and carefully wiped off the bloodstains for him.
Only then did Bai Yuehu let out a satisfied expression. His gaze also softened a little.
โThen did you win?โ Lu Qingjiu asked another question.
Bai Yuehu looked at Lu Qingjiu. โWin?โ
Lu Qingjiu thought for a moment, then changed his phrasing. โDid it taste good?โ
Hearing this, Bai Yuehu let out a disgusted expression. โAbsolutely terrible, tasted like stagnant water. Disgusting.โ
Lu Qingjiu couldnโt help but laugh. He noticed that Bai Yuehu was wet, and even covered in a thick scent of blood. At first, he thought Bai Yuehu had accidentally got soaked by the rain, but after walking a little closer to Bai Yuehu, he noticed that what was dripping off of Bai Yuehuโs robe wasnโt water, but blood.
Bai Yuehuโs black robe was soaked through with blood. From his words and current state, this blood clearly came from another creature.
The three men began heading down the mountain. Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu made idle conversation on the way down. He asked what had happened to his hair, Bai Yuehu lifted up his hair, then said itโd be fine if he cut it after getting off the mountain, it was a bit of a side effect.
Lu Qingjiu jokingly said that he actually looked really good with long hair.
โItโs troublesome,โ Bai Yuehu expressed in response to that, โWhen I eat, I have to tie it up.โ
Lu Qingjiu burst into loud laughter.
Just, for some unknown reason, after Yin Xun saw Bai Yuehuโs appearance, his face hadnโt looked so good. The usually talkative him didnโt speak a single word on the way down, as quiet as a frightened quail. Lu Qingjiu gave Yin Xun a meaningful glance, but didnโt ask him what was wrong.
They followed the trail off of Shuifu villageโs mountain. The rain had already stopped. White puffs of clouds hung in the sky. The fresh air after a spell of rain made people feel especially refreshed.
Lu Qingjiu initially thought that Bai Yuehu would directly shift back to his original appearance, but unexpectedly, he walked into the house with this appearance, took a bath, and changed into his usual clothes, more like something an ordinary person would wear. Then, Lu Qingjiu saw him take a pair of scissors, walk into the courtyard and mangle his head of beautiful black hair with a few neat snips of his scissors.
Lu Qingjiu, โ…You cut your own hair?โ
Bai Yuehu said, โYep.โ
Lu Qingjiu, โArenโt you scared of messing it up?โ
Bai Yuehu said, โIf that happens I can just grow it again.โ
Lu Qingjiu, โ…Why not use magic to change it?โ
Bai Yuehu, โBecause itโs troublesome.โ
Lu Qingjiu swallowed his saliva. โThenโฆ why not go to a hairdresser?โ
Upon hearing this question, Bai Yuehuโs movements paused. Then, from his mouth came out two words: โNo money.โ
Lu Qingjiuโs mind went dizzy. It was as if he could see the first time he saw Bai Yuehu, standing outside the xiaolongbao shop, seriously staring at him โ at the time, he had really wanted to ask why Bai Yuehu had needed to bum off his dumplings, and now, he finally understood the reason which made his heart ache.
His familyโs fox spirit, was a poor fox, the kind that was poor to the point that he couldnโt even afford to eat xiaolongbaoโฆ
ย
The author has something to say:
Lu Qingjiu: What is it that makes you disdain the food of the mortal world?
Bai Yuehu: Poverty.
Lu Qingjiu: โฆ
Obrigada pela atualizaรงรฃo ( ห ยณห)โฅ
Even supernatural folks have to suffer through this economy. Now we know.
Thank you very much for your hard work!
HEโs A DRAHON.
DRAGON
despite being away for so long, and becoming half an outsider, lqj still embodies that good olโ shuifu attitude of forceful ignorance
I donโt know if he is a dragon… he might have ATE the dragon though, and made a robe of it’s skin. ๐ฒ
he just hacked his hair off so im having trouble seeing him carefully tailoring robes.
Man I don’t know why but this comment just made me giggle for a good four minutes
So, YX knows now that BYH is a dragon and not a fox? Hoho~
Thx for the ch (ใ หใ ห)
A dragon, he is a chinese dragon right? What a fox, you sly old dragon !
Thanks for the hard work love the story ^_^
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
Thank you for the chapter!
LQJ please, there’s literally a dragon on his robe, lol. Thanks for the chapter!
Eats priceless delicacies. Canโt afford a haircut ๐
Thanks for the great translation โฅ๏ธโฅ๏ธ
POVERTY! Man that line killed me
10/10 novel , I just wish that the author gave the character slightly more detailed descriptions. Thanks for the chapter!
Why was Yuehu so insistent to say he’s a fox to Lu Qingjiu? Hahaha A dragon is so majestic I didn’t think that this “fox lord” was one~
Thanks for the update ๐
Okay after this chapter and a lot of past chapters of YX being kinda off beat around BYH, Iโm pretty sure (and hope so tbh) heโs a dragon~
Poor… ?
LQJ should give his family’s “fox” pocket money. ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
Djl Tefte ujnf Tlc Wec j mbbi uijcmf, jcv rjlv, โP jirb mibrfv sbegr. Rb cffv ab atjcx wf.โ
Tlc Wec, โโฆโ
Oe Hlcuple rlutfv, โLbk vlv P qgbvemf remt j erfifrr rbcโฆโ
Yin Xun bawled.
Why rely on your son when you have a husband? ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (lol it rhymed ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐)
Maybe that Shuaifu Village isn’t YB soul but LQ soul instead.
And if we backtrack when LQ ask YX if that Shuaifu village is YB soul but YX answered it’s not but YB had some “Influence”
If we read back the earlier chapter.. YB is the one who open the door of supernatural world to LQ through that packet with the Gecko’s tail.
And one explanation why LQ is so accepting of this supernatural matter is because he is a part supernatural too?!?! Ee Hahahaha don’t mind me. Hahahaha
Thatโs actually are really fleshed out idea. I think you may be onto something. (And Iโm so sorry, but my grammar Nazi is coming out today. Itโs Shuifu Village, not Shuaifu Village.)
Thanks for the chapter!
The chemestry is getting good~ so its quite obvious that Yuehu seems to be a dragon
That author’s note… -covers mouth, silently laughing-
Lmao, he can afford to eat a rare 1 in a lifetime chance of eating a dragon but is still way to broke to buy Xiao long Bao..
Thanks for the chapter! ๐
even spirits are slaves to capitalism huh
definitely a Dragon and wants it to be inconspicuously conspicuous(?
I mean.. the door he fixed had dragons… his robe has dragons…
haha kinda like leaving clues… or loving his dragon self too much and gotta have his stuff marked w dragons ๐ง
I thought he was a dragon in first chapters, but later everyone start assume that his is taotie, and I started to believe that and even wanted to be like that, buuuuuut, he’s just a dragon like everyone in chinese novels they are either dragons or qilins, and foxex of course
Disappointed that this novel is not an exception ๐
1st time hearing BYH got no money๐ ๐ ๐
If I remember correctly, Taotie is one of the dragon God’s sons. So him having a dragon in his whatever inner world that was kind of makes sense. Just one of his subordinates ๐
YX probably realised BYH’s identity from his reaction. He did mention he gets to inherit some memories as a mountain god.
Hmm is he a dragon or possibly a Taotie? His appetite suggests Taotie but who can tell..๐ค