Shi Wuduan stilled, the smile on his face stiffened. He couldn’t resist asking, “What did you say?”
Bai Li repeated, “I came here just to find you. I’ve been searching for you for half a year already. Wuduan, come with me.”
Shi Wuduan was so used to pretending to be dim-witted that when he was actually caught off guard, he seemed especially lost and clueless. After a pause, he asked, “Go with you? Go where with you?
Bai Li replied, “Right now, I’m living in Pingyang City.”
Shi Wuduan recovered his wits, his mind racing. He asked very slowly, “What’re you doing that’s taken you all the way to the emperor’s city?”
As far as he knew, Bai Li didn’t like crowds. When they were young, he was the only person that Bai Li was comfortable around. If any of the other yao in Cangyun Valley were nearby, Bai Li would diminish his presence, the sound of his voice and footsteps almost disappearing. Shi Wuduan questioned dubiously, “Pingyang is a rather bustling city; it’s busier than a market, even on a normal day. Since when did you… ever like such lively places?”
Bai Li’s eyes softened at his words, he answered, “I do indeed dislike crowdedness, there’s just a few matters I must settle… if you don’t like Pingyang, we can leave once it’s over. We could go to Nanying or Shuzhong, anywhere’s fine, is that okay?”
Shi Wuduan was extremely weirded out. He laughed, “Why’s it sound like you want to elope with me?”
Bai Li said, without the slightest change in expression, “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Shi Wuduan’s mouthful of wine was sprayed all over the rabbit’s fur; he choked and coughed uncontrollably.
Bai Li stood up and gently patted his back, chuckling, “No need to drink so hastily, I won’t steal it from you.”
Shi Wuduan couldn’t speak; he felt tearfully old somehow.
After finally catching his breath, Shi Wuduan waved him off and leaned slightly away from Bai Li’s hand, saying, “Little Li-zi, sit down. There’s a few things I need to say to you.”
Bai Li primly sat down right next to him. Instantly, Shi Wuduan felt awkward and uncomfortable again. Since when was it normal for two grown men to squeeze onto the same bench while eating?
Even if they were in a private room, meaning that no one else could see them, he still felt the situation was too strange. He eyed the empty seat across from him, tried to hold it in, failed, and finally said, “Little Li-zi, how about you sit across from me.”
Bai Li’s expression fell. He was a sensitive soul, he’d noticed Shi Wuduan trying to subtly distance himself.
Those days in the mountains when they’d been joined at the hip seemed to be lost forever. Even sitting together with him was too much for him? He silently returned to the opposite seat and said, “Speak then.”
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.
Shi Wuduan’s smile faded off his face. He slowly filled his cup with wine and considered his words, “Little Li-zi, you’re no outsider, so I won’t beat around the bush with you.”
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Bai Li didn’t make a sound. He stared at Shi Wuduan as if he’d never be able to look his fill. Who knew whether he’d been listening or not. Shi Wuduan continued, “I won’t ask what you’re doing in Pingyang City, I’m just saying that times aren’t peaceful right now, and you have to be prepared. Look out for yourself, don’t stay too long in the capital.”
For a moment, Bai Li didn’t say anything. The two sat in strained silence. After a while, Bai Li softly said, “Everything you said, I already know. It’s just…. what you’re saying is, you don’t want to come with me?”
Shi Wuduan raised his cup and took a small sip, barely tasting it at all. He thought, I’ve yet to repay my gratitude, yet to finish my revenge, how could I leave? There’s still thousands upon thousands of threads of karma tying me to the mortal realm, everywhere I go, chaos will follow. Where could I even hide?
Otherwise, what was it that caused shifu’s death? And what was it that caused Jiang Hua’s death?
Bai Li frowned slightly at Shi Wuduan’s lengthy silence. Unwilling to give up, he asked, “Then, what would it take for you to be willing to go with me?”
Shi Wuduan couldn’t resist laughing bitterly, “What’re you even saying? Why is it that you so strongly insist on dragging me to Pingyang City?”
There were words in Bai Li’s heart that wanted to burst from his mouth, but he pushed down the urge. His eyes darkened as he slowly said, “I owe you a debt of karma.”
“You saved my life when you threw me out of the cave, count it repaid.”
“That doesn’t count, you were there to save me in the first place. If it wasn’t for you, I would be dead, nailed to that post by Bai Ziyi,” Bai Li said. He paused, then said haltingly, “The ties between us can’t ever be settled cleanly.”
Those last words almost sounded like they were spoken through gritted teeth. An ominous feeling came over Shi Wuduan; as expected, Bai Li’s next words were, “Even a lifetime wouldn’t be enough to settle it.”
His smile was nowhere to be seen. There was a cold light in his eyes, and like a feral beast’s, they were filled to the brim with grim determination and ruthlessness, as well as a kind of obsessiveness that would not be gainsaid.
In his heart, Shi Wuduan was shaken, but yet his words were unaffected and jocular, “Really? Are you planning on fattening me up so you can kill me and eat my flesh? Well, I’ll bet that before you even manage to get me fat, I’ll have already eaten you out of house and home.”
But this time, Bai Li didn’t play along. He kept staring that icy stare at Shi Wuduan, whose laughter gradually petered out until all he could do was awkwardly lower his head and stuff his face with food.
“You’re mine.” Bai Li, who apparently wasn’t going to be satisfied until he shocked someone to death, declared. “Now that I’ve found you, there will be a day, sooner or later, when you leave with me.”
This time, Shi Wuduan was somewhat prepared and didn’t do another spit-take. He put down his chopsticks, feeling a migraine coming up. He asked stiffly, “Bai Li, just what nonsense are you spouting?”
Bai Li replied expressionlessly, “I never spout nonsense. Before, you were young, so I never said these words to you. But now, you understand everything you ought to already, so I’m saying it directly.”
Shi Wuduan glanced at Bai Li incredulously, wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. But he didn’t dare laugh, afraid this large in height but lacking in maturity half-yao might become enraged from embarrassment.
He thought for a moment before suddenly reaching out a hand and holding Bai Li’s hand from across the table. Bai Li startled, his cold, fierce expression smoothened out at once. Shi Wuduan asked, “Is my hand rough?”
Bai Li was a bit confused — the shape of Shi Wuduan’s hand was pleasing to the eye, but his skin wasn’t soft. He wasn’t exactly living a life of luxury and comfort, living amongst a bunch of bandits and refugees, committing murder and arson and treason. Though his hand was clean, the joints were prominent, and the palms and fingers were covered in calluses. A closer inspection would reveal the faint trace of old scars.
Shi Wuduan took the time to teach patiently, “You see, men are coarse and stinky all over. They’re tall and stocky; even two men will make a room feel too small and the ceiling feel too low. But women? Women aren’t the same. Even a room full of women won’t seem crowded. They’re all pretty and kind, warm and soft, and they smell nice. They’ll speak sweetly and gently to you. Just spending time with one will soothe your troubles and pains. Also, women can bear children for you. At night, if you sleep in the embrace of a beautiful woman, even your dreams will be beautiful.”
Bai Li’s face darkened, he gripped Shi Wuduan’s hand tightly, and asked through clenched teeth, “So it sounds like you’ve tried it before?”
Shi Wuduan lurched and answered somewhat awkwardly, “Eh…. well, no, I haven’t.”
He quickly brought the conversation back on track and continued, “Ever since the beginning of time, the balance of yin and yang has been the natural order. Back in Cangyun Valley, you probably didn’t know, but men are meant to be together with women. If your father hadn’t gotten with your mother, you wouldn’t exist.”
Bai Li said, “I’d rather they’d never brought me into existence.”
Shi Wuduan choked on his words again. After a brief pause, he sighed, “Don’t talk like that. I think they did something of no small merit, otherwise, how would I have ever met you?”
Bai Li lit up with happiness as he asked, “Does that mean that you like me?”
“I like you — of course I like you.” Shi Wuduan considered his words carefully, “You’re the best brother I could’ve ever asked for — just my brother, it’s… different from those people who spend their lifetimes together.”
He felt Bai Li’s grip on his hand slacken, so he persisted with even more vigor, “A brother is someone willing to walk through fire for you; for example, if you were nailed to a column again, if I knew about it, even if I had to do it alone, I’d rescue you or die trying. If something good happened to you, I’d stay up all night drinking a jar of wine or two with you on a rooftop somewhere. If something bad happened to you, I’d help you face an army without second thought.”
As Bai Li’s expression unwound, Shi Wuduan began to slowly pull his hand away as he went on, “But even that kind of brother can’t be together with you for a lifetime. No brother can live all their days with you, glued to your side; and no brother would mend your clothes and raise your children — only your woman could live with you this way.”
“Is that so?”
Seeing the lost expression on Bai Li’s face, Shi Wuduan knew that he’d understood his words, so he said, “But of course. There’s countless people in this vast world, countless beautiful ladies. There is surely someone amongst them who will hold your hand and follow you to the ends of the earth. If you ever meet the woman who’s destined to marry you, parting for a single day would seem like parting for three years. She’ll make you know the feeling of yearning, again and again, making your heart race when you meet, making you feel like you’re wasting away when you part. That kind of feeling when you’re staying up all night longing for them, tossing and turning, is practically torture. But you see, you and I haven’t seen each other in ten years already, but we’re each carrying along just fine aren’t we?”
Bai Li frowned, “So….”
“So, I’m just a good brother of yours, you see.” Shi Wuduan laughed, “You spent so many years in the valley and then fell into the hall of demons, so you haven’t had much contact with outside people, and so you don’t have many friends. Once you get used to the human realm, you’ll understand this all.”
Bai Li lowered his head. Though he remained silent, that overbearing aura had receded.
Shi Wuduan set down payment for the meal and, carrying a rabbit with one hand, pulling him up with the other, said, “Come on let’s go. You’ve come all this way, so you don’t need to be in such a rush to leave. Stay at my place for a few days.”
Naturally, Bai Li didn’t refuse. He followed Shi Wuduan, staring at his back, and narrowed his eyes, thinking, does this brat take me for an ignorant fool? Using this rambling bullshit to mock me. It looks like he won’t change his mind anytime soon. Pressuring him too much will be inconvenient too. Well, it’s not like I don’t have the time to make him come around. If in the end, it doesn’t work, I’ll use force then.
He settled on his course of action and finally seemed to be a bit more “normal” to Shi Wuduan. At least he wasn’t still making a fuss about eloping with him.
As the sun was nearly sinking below the mountains, Shi Wuduan brought Bai Li back to the barracks — it used to be the King of Guji’s manor, and before that, it used to be the city lord’s mansion.
Guji City wasn’t big, but the city lord’s house was very grand. There were a few antique-style ponds and fountains in the courtyard, as well as small pavilions and fake mountains. Even though it looked quite artificial, it had a thin veneer of class and elegance, more than enough to fool hillbilly refugees like Meng Zhongyong.
They’d moved into the place a few groups at a time and after a bit of remodeling, they settled into the rooms that’d once belonged to one of the city lord’s concubines.
When Shi Wuduan returned with the rabbit, the Cuibing bird flew over. It seemed to remember the rabbit. Shi Wuduan let go of the rabbit and the pair of animals went off to play. Meng Zhongyong and Li Si-niang were just exiting. Meng Zhongyong saw it and asked in confusion, “Why’s this dog got such long ears? Where’d it come from?”
Li Si-niang laughed, “It looks more like a rabbit to me. Little monkey, why’d you buy such a fat rabbit? Is it dinner?”
Shi Wuduan said, “No, not at all. No matter how fat the rabbit is, it’s still only a lump of dumb meat, it’s not even as good as the overnight leftovers of Si-niang’s cooking.”
Li Si-niang poked his head and teased, “Little monkey, you’re such a sweet talker.”
Shi Wuduan quipped, “Cause only sweet mouths get fed.”
Li Si-niang’s gaze landed on Bai Li. Her eyes lit up instantly in wonder upon seeing him, amazed that there existed such a perfect person in the world. She patted Shi Wuduan’s shoulder, “Alright now, you’re too old to be forgetting your manners, blathering on like that. You didn’t even introduce your guest there.”
Shi Wuduan loped Bai Li over by the shoulder, “Little Li-zi, this is my sworn fourth sister, Li Rushuang, that’s fifth brother Meng Zhongyong. Later I’ll introduce you to eldest brother and third brother. Si-niang, this is my childhood friend, we’d lost contact for many years and happened to bump into each other in town today, if that isn’t fate, what is?”
They exchanged greetings, and Bai Li was friendly enough on his account, though he wasn’t very affable, he was unfailingly polite. He looked coldly at Li Si-niang as she arranged a room in Shi Wuduan’s courtyard for him, not even feeling a bit of gratitude. He was wary of her, as he unwillingly recalled Shi Wuduan’s incoherent drivel about women. He thought, could this be that woman?
But when Shi Wuduan inadvertently looked his way again, he immediately changed his expression to one of shy nervousness at meeting strangers; his façade was so flawless it could almost count as a magical skill.
Thanks for the chapter<3
Oh Bali 🤣
The jealous king Bai 😂
Shi seems to have forgotten his debt with Bai when he “rescued” Bai from the heavens lightening. Bai failure to marry him would make him lose his cultivation.
Oh my Bai li – scary jar of vinegar 😟 😳🤣
😂
💙💙💙
Bai Li, don’t you dare hurt Li Si-niang, okay? Calm down first, my dear.
Oh my god a fully developed yandere 😂 Go Bai Li!!!!
Thank u for the chapter!!!
Feel so soy for Bai Li. Wuduan Wuduan sighhhh
Bai Li: I owe you a karmic debt. I will pay it back to you whether you want to or not
SWD: Women are great, they are wonderful and kind and lovely! has never been with a woman, ever
Bai gege, just tell him what you mean, or he’s going to think you’re naive for waay too long 😅 Xiao Liu needs help in this department, he’s only 20.