Liu Zhuang Xian

Gradually, the sound of tides roared into his ears. Lu Xiaochan let go of Shu Wuxi and turned to knock on his own head.

“Ouch! Ouch! It’s happening again! It’s deafeningly loud!”

“If I cure your ears, will you obediently listen to me in the future?” Shu Wuxi finally spoke.

“I will! I will! Please make the noise in my ears stop quickly!”

“Will you still watch the commotion in the future?”

“I won’t!”

Lu Xiaochan spoke decisively, but in his mind, he thought – Goodness, how can one not watch when there’s a commotion?

“Turn to the side.”

Lu Xiaochan immediately turned to the side. Shu Wuxi dripped something unknown into his ear. A cool sensation fell into the boiling sea in Lu Xiaochan’s ear, instantly returning it to tranquility.

Lu Xiaochan fell asleep almost at that very moment.

In his dream, he saw again that youth with bottles and jars hanging all over his body, and a wine gourd hanging at his waist.

On the cloud peaks, the ebb and flow of spiritual energy from all things undulated with the moonlight, and the Wuyi Sword Sea breathed as gently as an infant.

The exquisite cold jade, purified by millions of years of heavenly spiritual energy, piled up layer by layer, mercilessly suppressing all evil spirits and desires that attempted to climb up.

Only the laughter and running sounds of a youth echoed continuously.

“Look! Look! The flower I planted in your Wuyi Jingtian has sprouted! Didn’t they all say that no grass grows here due to the pressure of all the sword auras in the world? It seems there are no absolutes in this world!”

The youth appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old, with large eyes and two faintly visible dimples when he smiled.

He was holding a small white jade pot, eagerly running towards a silhouette with an expectant face.

The other person didn’t turn around, only raised his hand slightly. The white jade pot cracked, and the tender sprout fell to the ground, visibly about to wither and die.

“If you have free time, you should study more of the medical classics in Tailing Pavilion and break through the realm of ‘borrowing power’ as soon as possible.”

That voice was extremely cold and clear, and because it lacked emotion, it had an indescribable ethereal purity.

“But I am studying!” The youth’s eyes reddened as he carefully cradled the tender sprout in his palm. “You don’t know what desire is, so you can’t say you’re without desire. You haven’t experienced separation and death, so you can’t say you’ve seen through life and death. You haven’t experienced the rise and fall of a flower as a world, a leaf as glory and decline. Without picking up, how can there be putting down?”

“As long as there’s no intention, there’s no thought. No thought, then no desire.”

“I can’t believe your nonsense! You’re deceiving yourself and others! In these three thousand worlds, there must be something that will arouse your intention! Trigger your obsession! The more you suppress it, the harder it will be to fill that void of desire!”

“Insolent.”

The youth’s eyes lit up. Holding the tender sprout in his hands, he wanted to move around to face the other person, but that person kept turning to the other side, never allowing his face to be seen.

“You think I’m insolent? I think I’m extremely insolent too! Hurry up and use your thousand-mile voice transmission to call that old trickster to take me home!”

“Dream on.”

The person lightly flicked his sleeve, and the ink-like night was about to give way to a streak of satin white.

The youth felt a strong burst of spiritual energy coming towards him, like the heavens falling from the nine skies.

He gasped, his hands grasping wildly, feeling the soft blanket.

Only then did he realize he had been dreaming.

Now he was awake.

“Are you thirsty?” Shu Wuxi’s voice sounded.

Lu Xiaochan’s fingers tightened. His voice was so similar to the person in the dream, yet different.

The person in the dream had a voice so cold it was devoid of anything.

But Shu Wuxi’s voice, though seemingly emotionless, had an all-encompassing tolerance.

“Yes, I’m thirsty!”

A teacup was brought over.

Lu Xiaochan picked it up and drank it all in one go, eager as a monkey.

“More, more!”

The cup was filled with water again.

Lu Xiaochan gulped it down in two swallows.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“One day.”

“What? So it’s the second night now?”

“Mm.”

“I can sleep that much? I’ve been sleeping on the couch, where did you sleep?”

“I don’t need to sleep,” Shu Wuxi took the teacup from Lu Xiaochan’s hand.

At that moment, Lu Xiaochan knew his fingertips were less than an inch from his own fingers. If he just raised his finger a bit, he could touch him. But it was as if Shu Wuxi knew his little thought, and his hand moved away particularly quickly.

“You don’t need to sleep… then what did you do alone?”

Was he cultivating?

“Nothing.”

“So you were just spacing out?”

Shu Wuxi didn’t answer this question.

Lu Xiaochan rubbed his chin, muttering to himself, “You surely didn’t… just watch me all night, did you?”

“Mm.” Shu Wuxi’s voice was so light, it was just covered by the shouting outside the window.

Lu Xiaochan turned his face, trying to discern what the townspeople were discussing.

It seemed like someone had died in some family?

Lu Xiaochan lifted the blanket and was about to step barefoot on the ground when his sole was immediately supported by a bamboo branch.

“Wear shoes.”

Lu Xiaochan twisted his mouth. He had never worn a complete pair of shoes in his life. The innkeeper had taken Shu Wuxi’s silver and prepared the best soft-soled shoes in town for Lu Xiaochan, but unfortunately, Lu Xiaochan… was used to roughing it, and that feeling of not being in direct contact with the ground made him uncomfortable.

Having finally put on the shoes, Lu Xiaochan fumbled his way to the window and stuck his head out to listen.

“What sin did the Chen family commit? The old master just passed, and now the young master is gone too!”

“Indeed! The seventh day of mourning for the Chen family’s old master hasn’t even passed yet!”

Lu Xiaochan’s ears twitched, and he heard two women passing under the window, gossiping.

“What did you say? That unchaste woman Ren Erniang has disappeared?”

“It must be because the town head said he would bind her and take her to the county to see the officials!”

“Of course, she’s a criminal who poisoned her own husband! If it wasn’t for her causing Wang Dayong to be filled with resentment, how could it have attracted evil spirits?”

“But I remember, she had one of her arms chopped off by Wang Dayong in the tavern. With such a severe injury, where could she have run to?”

Lu Xiaochan had just rubbed his nose when he heard Shu Wuxi’s voice from behind.

“You promised me you wouldn’t watch the commotion anymore.”

“I’m just listening to the commotion,” Lu Xiaochan pointed to his ear, immediately showing a placating smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be good. Who died in the Chen family has nothing to do with me, right? If they had ever given me a meal, I would have gone to offer incense out of courtesy. But alas, they didn’t!”

Lu Xiaochan spread his hands.

“Mm.”

“But I’m hungry,” Lu Xiaochan rubbed his belly.

After all, last night he had thrown up everything, it would be strange if he wasn’t hungry.

“Then go eat something.”

“Are we setting off today?”

“No, it’s too late.”

Being able to stay another night, Lu Xiaochan of course wanted to eat and drink heartily at the Wusi Tavern.

But he forgot that on that day, “Chongyuan” had possessed Wang Dayong’s body, not only smashing tables and chairs in the tavern, but even eating Hutu on the spot. Who would dare to drink there now?

The once bustling place was now so quiet that only the innkeeper’s sighs could be heard.

When Lu Xiaochan and Shu Wuxi arrived, the innkeeper personally received them.

“Alas, I can’t keep this tavern open anymore. The whole town is saying this place is cursed. What a pity for all this wine!”

Lu Xiaochan felt sad hearing this.

“So will no one drink this wine in the future?”

“If no one comes, how can anyone drink? Our Wusi Tavern’s sign has been hanging for over a thousand years. It’s said that even the Medical Sage Liche praised our wine endlessly, and there was once a saying ‘Drunk for three days, laughing at the floating life’…”

Although Lu Xiaochan hadn’t wished for the tavern to close down before due to the innkeeper’s stinginess, now that it was really closing, he felt upset.

“Innkeeper, how many jars of ‘Drunken Life Dream Death’ do you still have in your cellar?”

“Over a hundred jars!” The innkeeper raised his hand. “I think I can’t go on in this Lushu Town. I’ve decided that being stuck in Lushu Town all my life leads nowhere. I might as well leave here and sell wine elsewhere!”

“You’re leaving here! Ah, if only I could take all these hundreds of jars of wine with me!”

“Hundreds of jars of wine are too heavy, I’ll have to leave them here!”

At this moment, Shu Wuxi, who had been silent, spoke up. “Boss, I’ll buy all your wine.”

Lu Xiaochan was amazed when he heard this.

Over the past few days of interaction, Lu Xiaochan had come to know that Shu Wuxi was indifferent to money and didn’t lack funds to spend.

But even if one doesn’t lack money, one shouldn’t burn it recklessly, right?

“We’re leaving here tomorrow! You’re buying hundreds of jars of wine, I can’t finish drinking all that!”

Shu Wuxi took out a small white bottle from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

“Pour all the wine into this. We’ll take it with us.”

Lu Xiaochan was stunned for a moment, then immediately clapped his hands in approval. “So you’ve been hiding a treasure! Why didn’t you bring it out earlier! Quick, quick! Innkeeper, bring out all your wine! We’ll take it all!”

The innkeeper looked at the two of them as if they were fools. “Such a small bottle? It can’t even hold a bowl of wine!”

Shu Wuxi didn’t explain, he just placed a gold nugget on the table.

The innkeeper’s eyes lit up. Whether it could hold the wine or not, the customer was paying, so he would do the job.

He huffed and puffed as he brought a jar of wine from the cellar. As soon as he opened it, the wine from the jar swirled out, turning into a thin stream and entering the bottle.

The innkeeper was stunned and immediately kowtowed to Shu Wuxi. “This lowly one didn’t recognize Mount Tai, so it turns out you’re an Immortal Lord!”

Shu Wuxi only responded with two words. “Continue.”

The innkeeper immediately got up and returned to the cellar.

This went on for four or five times, and all the wine entered the small bottle, but the innkeeper was panting and couldn’t walk anymore.

“Innkeeper! Where did the waiter go? Why don’t you ask him to help you?” Lu Xiaochan asked while slurping noodles cooked with braised beef when he had a moment.

“Don’t mention the waiter! After Wang Dayong came here possessed that night, he never came back!”

“Oh…” Lu Xiaochan said to Shu Wuxi in front of him, “Why don’t we go down to the innkeeper’s wine cellar, let him open the wine jars, and directly collect the wine?”

“That’s a good idea! A great idea! Otherwise, I couldn’t finish moving them even in a day and night!”

As they walked to the wine cellar, Lu Xiaochan chatted casually with the innkeeper.

“Innkeeper, I have a question I want to ask you.”

“Young master, feel free to ask! I’ll tell you everything I know without holding back!”

“I can’t see, so I don’t know what my elder brother looks like. Can you describe him to me?”