Bai Li was trying his best, but he still didn’t know how to look after anyone.
He’d managed to bandage Shi Wuduan’s injury, but his technique was sloppy. He’d wrapped the bandages all over his torso like he was wrapping a dumpling, trying not to cover up every inch of his pale white chest. He’d bandaged him to the point that he could hardly breathe.
Both of them ignored where the injury had come from. As if observing some kind of taboo, Bai Li did everything he could to avoid touching him. His clumsy hands shirked back from his skin like he was a shy maiden forced to do something indecent. His face was both murderous and embarrassed.
Shi Wuduan didn’t know what to say either, and could only let the atmosphere get stranger and stranger.
Not long ago, they’d been at each other’s throats as if one had killed the other’s father or stolen their wife. They hadn’t instantly become closer or more affectionate. It was more like they were commiserating over their insanely terrible luck, barely maintaining a cold facade of politeness. And yet they still somehow had a kind of unspoken coordination.
Shi Wuduan figured he might as well close his eyes, pretend he was too exhausted, and rest a while. Who knew that as he rested and rested, he fell asleep. Bai Li waited till his breath evened out and he was in deep sleep before he raised his eyes again and looked at his face. He couldn’t resist lightly touching his cheek. But his hand flinched back as if he’d pricked a needle. He turned and left the cave.
Shi Wuduan was awoken by the scent of something burning. He cracked open an eye and saw Bai Li frowning at a very lopsided shish-kebab in his hand as he roasted it over the fire. Yet who knew where his mind had wandered off to.
Shi Wuduan could only quietly remind him, “You know, you should at least flip it once in a while.”
Bai Li startled as he came back to his senses. The flames were almost licking at his hands. He quickly glanced at Shi Wuduan, then awkwardly averted his gaze. Apparently the contents of his daydreaming had involved him.
It took some effort for Shi Wuduan to sit up. He leaned against the walls of the cave and watched him for a while. He could only sigh that though Bai Li had focus in spades, he was severely lacking the talent. He’d been avoiding talking to Bai Li because he really didn’t know what to say. But he was afraid that the mangled thing in Bai Li’s hand was the only thing he’d be able to eat. A moment later, all he could do was point out for him, “Move it a bit higher, the fire’s not as hot there.”
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.
Djl Ol vlvc’a fnfc iloa tlr tfjv, rb obmerfv kjr tf bc mbbxlcu atja rjmgfv rtlrt-xfyjy atja cbatlcu firf lc atf kbgiv fnfc fzlrafv. Dea tf vlv ja ifjra wbnf atf rtlrt-xfyjy eq j yla.
Pa kjr bcis j qlas atja tf kjr eaafgis miefifrr. Fqbc tfjglcu atja atf mfcafg bo atf oijwf kjrc’a tba, tf atbeuta wjaafg-bo-ojmais atja atf bearlvf bo atf oijwf wera yf tba, rb tf gjlrfv atf xfyjy abb tlut. C ktlif ijafg, Vtl Qevejc qlqfv eq jujlc, “Prc’a… lrc’a sbeg jgw rbgf? Snfc lo sbe kfgf agslcu ab wjxf rwbxfv wfja, atja’r cba tbk sbe vb la.”
Bai Li finally spared him a glance. He’d intended to say that it only needed to be edible, why fuss so much about the details. But when he saw Shi Wuduan, unable to sit up straight, curling one of his legs to his chest, looking exhausted yet relaxed, that hateful mask of his gone, he seemed especially pleasing to the eye.
So, on account of how pleasing to the eye he was, Bai Li moved the kebab down a bit in a rare show of patience and slowly flipped the kebab back and forth.
But who knew that not a minute later, Shi Wuduan would again say, “You don’t need to flip it continuously, otherwise it’ll turn out too tough.”
Perhaps because of his bloodline, or maybe something else, it’d been many years since anyone even dared raise their voice to him. His temperament had only gotten much more explosive, he’d already lost his patience. He said coldly, “If you’re so good at it, then you do it!”
Shi Wuduan sighed and used the wall’s support to stand up. His chest felt tight and he started coughing again. His hair had been swept loose by the flood, his outer robes were ragged and torn. There wasn’t even any extra material to make bandages out of, much less a hair tie.
When he lowered his head like that, loose strands of hair fell by the side of his face; the swaying shadows they cast made his face look even more pallid.
Bai Li regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. He frowned and said stiffly, “Are you trying to die? What’re you standing up for? If you die here, no one’s burying you.”
Shi Wuduan was busy catching his breath and ignored him for a while. He arduously managed to inch his way over, taking heaving breaths with each step, and sat down next to Bai Li, taking the appalling shish-kebab from his hands. He said, “Just settle down, Demon Lord. We’ve already fallen to this extent, who do you think you’re impressing? Unless you really want to go hungry?”
The two were barely a handspan’s distance apart. It seemed that it’d been years since they sat next to each other so calmly. For a moment, Bai Li was lost in thought. He opened his mouth, about to make some scathing retort out of habit, but once the words reached his tongue, he found he couldn’t speak. So he closed his mouth and remained silent.
Shi Wuduan didn’t have much strength in his hands, Bai Li was useless, and the skewer was too heavy. A few moments later and his hand was already starting to tremble. He thought somewhat resentfully, how did I not know he was so stupid before? Even bears know how to get honey from a beehive. But he’s this old already and doesn’t even know how to cook meat. How’d he even grow up to get so big.
Bai Li noticed, and snatched the kebab from his hands, saying, “Alright, you can stop messing around, go sit by the side.”
Shi Wuduan observed for a while and saw that he seemed to have gotten the hang of it. So he readily shuffled to the side, away from the fire and smoke. He leaned against the wall of the cave that Bai Li had found, and stared at the sky outside.
There were no stars, no moon, no sun, no morning or evening. If one stayed there long enough, they’d lose track of time. The plants here looked extremely strange. The leaves were very thick and very wide. There wasn’t much light from the sky, so one could hardly tell what they looked like other than a mass of black. It seemed rather oppressive. There was water too, and weird fish swimming in it. There was a patch of grass by the river, and if one looked closely, they’d see little pairs of shining eyes. Perhaps they’d been lured by the scent of meat. They waited outside, peering at them greedily, yet didn’t dare take a single step forward.
Suddenly, a small gust of wind blew by. Shi Wuduan startled, not knowing where the wind had come from. Even though the sky was dark red, like fire, the winds were rather cool. The crisp sound of a bell rang from not far away. He couldn’t help lifting his head and trying to take a look. He saw a tree whose leaves seemed to be curled. Who knew what they were made of, but they were extremely hard. When the wind blew, those curly leaves would knock into each other and ring like metal bells.
As Shi Wuduan watched, he gradually fell into a daze. As if he’d been feverish too long, his act of being slow to react had become reality. He kept feeling like he was dreaming, not knowing where and when he was.
Suddenly, he was tapped lightly on the shoulder. Shi Wuduan, startled, instantly woke up. He heard Bai Li casually say, “That’s the ‘soul-snaring tree.’ Careful not to be confused by it. Though, it’s not all that difficult to deal with either.”
Shi Wuduan looked down, and saw that the oil from the meat was already dripping along the skewer. Bai Li, that clumsy oaf, hadn’t noticed yet, so without even thinking, Shi Wuduan reached out and lifted his hand higher, saying “Watch it.”
Bai Li startled. The light touch of his fingers on his palm was like the brush of a feather. An indescribable feeling welled up in his heart. Yet Shi Wuduan merely took the skewer from his hand and said, “It’s just about done.”
He poked the meat then licked his finger. He smiled, “It’s not bad.“
Bai Li stared openly at Shi Wuduan’s smile for a long while. His chest felt hollow and empty. He carefully examined the sensation and felt he was rather pitiful. No matter how ruthless his words or actions, no matter how much he hated that person, his heart would melt into a puddle as soon as he smiled at him.
He kept feeling like he had two souls; one watched, one acted. The one that acted acted according to all his impulses, whether that was murder or arson, without a care in the world. But the one that watched was always fluctuating, feeling all sorts of emotions, and yet… he wanted to speak but didn’t have the words. He didn’t have anyone to speak to either.
Some time passed before Shi Wuduan, seemingly bored, tried to make conversation, “It seems like you’ve been here before, Demon Lord?”
Bai Li stilled. To him it seemed more like he was looking for a fight than looking for a conversation. He said chillingly, “Shi Wuduan, there is no one else here, so you’d best not provoke me.”
Not afraid of him in the least, Shi Wuduan picked out a bone and threw it aside. The things hiding in the bushes finally came out. It was no bigger than a dog, yet it was terribly vicious and had a jaw full of fangs. Even the sound they made was like a low roar, but upon glimpsing Bai Li, they didn’t dare attempt anything rash. It roared for a while before it picked up the bone and scurried away with its tail between its legs.
Shi Wuduan unconcernedly kept tearing at the thigh meat of the mysterious creature, musing that it was rather chewy, and more delicious than any wild game he’d had before.
Perhaps no mortal could control their gluttony. For some reason, Shi Wuduan thought that even if it was Yan Zhen or Zou Lanlai sitting across the fire from him, he could banter and exchange pleasantries without a ripple in his expression. Everyone would politely keep their distance and perhaps chat about the weather or their neighbors. They’d whole-heartedly work together to get out before trying to strangle each other to death again.
And yet that person was Bai Li.
The moment he saw Bai Li, it was like he was filled with the courage of a dead pig that didn’t fear boiling water. He was too lazy to even pretend to act nice to him.
Who knew, that after a moment, Bai Li would softly exhale and say quietly, “Back then… I had indeed been here before.”
Shi Wuduan startled, and looked at him. Only when he examined him closely did he find that the gloomy darkness that usually hung about Bai Li’s face was gone.
Bai Li lightly lowered his lashes. The flower mark on his forehead seemed to flicker in the firelight, “Thousands of years ago, when the Hall of Demons was connected to the mortal realm, there were three strange boundary worlds between them. They were called the Inferno Realm, the Desolate Realm, and the Drowned Realm. At that time, when I was fighting against my… father, of course I wasn’t his match. I was darting around all over the place, hiding here and there, and entered the boundary realms several times. The yin qi in these places is very heavy. Some say that these realms are the result of demonic qi corrupting the mortal realm. I cultivated in these places alone for a long time. Later, it was here that I killed my father.”
I’m at the end of my rope… Omg. Thank you, TL halfdeadhulijing.. I think I’m half dead now too. Thank goodness it’s Saturday. The cliffies are making me nuts. I cried last night when I read 55… 😭😭😭.. and my brain’s about to explode from thinking about the rabbit and the mirror. Agdgdgagah.. Save me, please!!😭😭😭😭
Bai Li’s life. …….🥺
Thank you so much. Your words are truly beautiful 🤩
💙💙💙