In the following days, Xue Huai followed Yun Cuo to the Yunjian Peak to meditate.
Yun Cuo continued to practice his mind-viewing technique, but each time it’s still the same as the last one. He paused in front of all the colors he could see and identified them along with Xue Huai’s voice.
He gradually followed Xue Huai to learn painting. Xue Huai is painting with black as the main color, supplemented by cinnabar and azurite blue. But Yun Cuo somehow poured in all kinds of colors—the reddish and gold borrowed from the phoenix, purple obtained from the peacock—and so on and so forth in a wide variety of bold colors. He waved his hand according to his memories and imagination, he could easily draw a number of paintings that Xue Huai thought were good.
There are too many colorful things in the Immortal Realm, and the immortals value reputation. Therefore, like ordinary people, they only love two-tone painting, they do not like such mishmash.
On a whim, Xue Huai took him with the scroll of paintings to sell in the Mortal Realm. He packed his and Yun Cuo’s scrolls, then called on his junior sister and her fiancé, and then the group secretly slipped down the Mortal Realm.
While they both sell paintings, the junior sister and her Daoist partner are performing art, one playing the zither and the other playing the flute. Yun Cuo and Xue Huai squatted side by side, listening while leisurely calling out for sale—most of the time it was Xue Huai who called out for sale. Yun Cuo did not open his mouth, but he always rushed to keep the account, blocking Xue Huai’s head in front of him, afraid that he would bump into him.
This group of them is truly extraordinary. Despite wearing masks and dressed in the plainest of cranes’ brocades, they still had to be suspected of being some wealthy noblemen who came to seek pleasure.
It was a sunny day on the streets of a region of rivers and lakes where there was a small bridge flowing water and the warm wind. The scenery is great when there’s a charming young man and woman sitting there. The little junior sister has an open-minded personality, and she doesn’t get angry when she encounters those who come to flirt with her with good intentions; instead, she even talks to them with a smile, chatting from all directions. immortals don’t know what’s going on in the Mortal Realm, so they can’t talk about it directly. The few of them that are left desperately try to round it up. Before others could understand what was going on, they themselves laughed until they couldn’t breathe.
Yun Cuo also laughed along. He didn’t follow the joke, he just saw Xue Huai bend his eyes, so he followed suit. When he saw the customer coming, he tried to learn to smile.
In the final count, it was their beautiful and clever little junior sister that earned the most money, followed by Xue Huai.
Only Yun Cuo didn’t sell anything—he is responsible for helping Xue Huai collect money and roll paintings. He’s got no takers for his own colorful, strange paintings, or when someone comes over to look at them, they cringe and shake their heads.
The little junior sister and the two of them decided to use the money they earned to have fun in the mortal world for a few days and months, while Xue Huai and Yun Cuo considered hitting the road and going back to cultivate.
Xue Huai was preparing to close the stall, but Yun Cuo glanced at the empty scroll tube in front of him with a puzzled expression. “Xue Huai, if you’re short on money, you can sell the painting to me. Mortal’s silver is not worth much.”
Xue Huai raised his eyebrows and said, “It’s not about making money, it’s about a good number of people liking it, and isn’t that fun? Think about it: our calligraphy and paintings from the Immortal Realm will be hung up by people at home, perhaps for young children to copy and learn how to draw, and perhaps they will be hung in front of the bed for a lifetime……Of course, it could be used to set a fire or to cushion a table corner…..Isn’t it interesting that maybe a painting or calligraphy can lead to someone else’s love when we don’t even know it?”
Yun Cuo thought for a moment and then lowered his head to look at his pile of paintings. “You shouldn’t have displayed my paintings, no one would buy them.” He said.
“Who said that?” He didn’t know where Xue Huai got two of the mortal’s coins. He walked around the stall seriously and called him, “Hey, boss, who made these paintings? Are they the scholars who are taking the exams this year? With such talent, you can definitely pass the imperial examination at the top of the list! If you become famous someday, I’ll wait for you to rise to the top, and the paintings in your hand will also be worth a large amount of gold!”
When he put on an act, he was really cute and lively. Yun Cuo looked at him and couldn’t help but want to laugh: “These sayings are so cheesy, Xue Huai.”
Xue Huai looked at him, “And where did you hear that it wasn’t cheesy?”
“There are also storytellers in the underground tea house of the Demon Realm. I used to go there behind my mother’s back.” Yun Cuo said.
Xue Huai bent down to pick up his painting and said, “Then you have to take me to play in the future.”
He solemnly handed his two coins to Yun Cuo and said, “Keep them well. These coins were earned by me while working in the Mortal Realm. I only earned these.”
Yun Cuo was flattered and took it.
The two of them squatted down together to tidy up the rest of Yun Cuo’s paintings. Unexpectedly, someone came at that moment and hesitatingly asked, “Boss, are you closing? Are you still selling?”
Yun Cuo and Xue Huai exchanged glances. Yun Cuo was stunned, but Xue Huai quickly replied, “Still selling, still selling.”
That person’s face showed joy, and he came over to take a look. He was pleasantly surprised and took away Yun Cuo’s three paintings. “I’ve just seen these paintings. They’re very interesting! Alright, how much does it cost in total?”
Yun Cuo was somewhat surprised and instinctively glanced at Xue Huai.
Xue Huai was very polite. “All the paintings and calligraphy in our store are 10 wen each. These are the latest paintings by Bai Fengyun’s family, which are their first attempt to blend various genres. However, there are still shortcomings. If they can be appreciated by destined people, it will naturally be a good thing.”
That person was a bit surprised. “What……what’s that? It sounds like it’s very interesting. Is it from a family in which a special skill has been handed down from generation to generation somewhere?”
Xue Huai looked serious and said, “Yes, yes.”
After he gave the money, he carried it and left.
Xue Huai happily accepted the money and stuffed it into his hand.
Yun Cuo didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. “Where would anyone be willing to buy my paintings? Xue Huai, are you lying—”
“You said that I was a little liar.” Xue Huai tiptoed and hooked his hands around his neck, causing him to lean forward slightly and look down at his face.
Xue Huai lowered his voice and murmured softly and wearily, “Aren’t people buying now?”
He acted spoiled with him. He has become more and more adept lately.
Yun Cuo, this person has an inferiority complex by nature, he can see through it. Whether in a relationship, on the battlefield, or other matters, the part he thinks is blank has been covered up by him with all his hostility, but then again, he has no resistance when facing him.
Yun Cuo’s mouth moved like he wanted to say something.
Xue Huai looked at the surroundings and quickly licked his lips before retracting and saying, “This is not someone I hired, Little Young Master Yun. I wanted to buy your painting, but someone else took the lead. You’ll have to compensate me for three of them.”
Yun Cuo clasped his waist, almost unable to suppress his suppressed emotions, just like him, he inclined his head to his soft lips and gave them a gentle print.
After they had their meal in the Mortal Realm, they went back to the Immortal Mountain on time and embarked to cultivate on Yunjian Peak together.
Xue Huai had recently stopped being so afraid of this pure white mist. No matter when and where he cultivated, he always knew that Yun Cuo was by his side, and he felt somewhat reassured as he reached out and could touch him.
Murong Mountain Manor is like spring all year round. Recently, it happened to be continuous spring rain, which was sweet and sticky, and the fog never dispersed. They haven’t seen the sun for several days already.
Yun Cuo told him, “Xue Huai, don’t be afraid. In a few days, when the weather clears and the sun shines through, you’ll see the mist disperse.”
Xue Huai asked him, “What will happen after it disperses?”
After thinking for a while, Yun Cuo told him, “There are white rivers, green trees, and……mountains of every color, sky and houses, and people below.”
He is now like a child who first learned about Hongmeng1Literally the Vast Mist, a character in the Daoist text Zhuangzi and a metaphor for the “primordial world, primeval chaos” in Chinese creation myths., learning to do as Xue Huai told him and no longer following the example of anyone else. When he was a child, he had never seen the blue sky at all, but he knew how to tell others about the blue sky, the clear blue sea, mountains, rivers, and scenery. And only now has he just begun to learn about them clumsily.
He said, “And there’s also you.”
Xue Huai had recently developed a certain immunity to his various words of love and whispered to him, “Don’t talk anymore! I’m going to start cultivating. I think you don’t need to accompany me today.”
Yun Cuo didn’t say anything, and through the mist, Xue Huai didn’t hear the sound of him getting up, so he just patiently coaxed him, “I’ll be fine on my own. You’ve got to get me through this, don’t you? There won’t be a big problem.”
Yun Cuo said, “Then I’ll be waiting for you on the other side, Xue Huai. Don’t wander around when you’re afraid. Take the sword with you. I’m afraid you’ll walk out if you’re not paying attention. The ground is a 10,000-foot river, so be careful.”
Xue Huai agreed, and only then did he hear Yun Cuo move away from him a bit, his footsteps slowly fading around him.
He breathed and began to practice.
The feeling of being alone only became apparent after Yun Cuo left, and his heart beat faster and faster. Xue Huai tried his best to recall the events of the past few days. Forcing himself to calm down. He goes deep into the silence and feels like he quenches his thirst by drinking poison.
He has always been this kind of person. When eating spicy food, he must sip hot water to suppress it; when his wounds are rotting, he will scrape his bones to cure the poison. He is afraid of pure white mist; thus, he must come here to practice every day.
Sometimes he couldn’t help but think that, with his own qualifications, even if he’s not smart and his spiritual roots are not outstanding, he can still be called kind-hearted by his grandfather. It was just that he had this inexplicable loneliness and ruthlessness, and he didn’t know if it was good or bad.
He didn’t calculate the time, he couldn’t tell how long he had stayed in this mist today. The spasms of fear caused him a soreness from his shoulders to his spine, as in a person who had huddled all night in the cold wind, accompanied by real and fake illusions, such as fragmented scenes and voices from his previous life. For example, Heibai Wuchang2Heibai Wuchang are two deities in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting spirits of the dead to the underworld. has come out to hang around again.
He doesn’t know when, but he has started to slowly relax, like a flower swaying in the wind, slowly stretching its stem and leaves, straightening to restore calmness.
Xue Huai opened his eyes, rubbed his shoulders, and stood up.
He thought, “But that’s all.”
But just as he stood up, there suddenly came a tingling sound of wind in the white mist—the sound of an arrow.
It was as if a venomous snake was behind him, spitting out a message. Xue Huai jerked to the side and barely avoided it. The mist grew thicker, and he didn’t even know if it was true, but the coldness hidden in the wind made his scalp almost explode—
“Yun Cuo!” Xue Huai only realized that his voice was hoarse when he spoke up. He tried to make his voice sound a bit calmer: “Yun Cuo, come and get me.”
The sound of hurried footsteps came, followed closely by Yun Cuo’s voice: “Xue Huai, where are you?”
“I’m here.” Xue Huai said.
There was fog everywhere, almost nowhere to get off the ground, and if any idle person were to take a few steps, they would fall on the potholed road. Although Yun Cuo has been familiar with the terrain of this place for months, he panicked the moment he heard Xue Huai’s voice—
He drew a spell from his fingertips, bringing the flame of the Demon Realm. The intense flame compressed and rapidly expanded, illuminating the entire vast mountaintop in an instant!
The white mist rapidly dissipated, and hundreds of flowers and grasses scorched and withered. In this light, he saw Xue Huai, and Xue Huai also saw him. Without saying a word, he rushed over and threw himself into his arms.
He had never seen such an expression on Xue Huai’s face before—solemn, uneasy, with a slight afterlife tremor.
Scared, but as if he were thinking about some other great things.
He rushed to hold him, patting him on the back and pulling his robe off to put it around him, “What’s wrong, Xue Huai? We won’t come here to practice anymore, not even in the future.”
Xue Huai shook his head and said, “No, it’s not this.”
He forced out a smile. “What’s wrong with you? I was just calling out to you, and you almost burned down the mountain. You’re in deep sh*t this time. You’ll even lose your pants. Our old man’s very stingy with his plants, he planted every tree on this mountain himself.”
Yun Cuo kissed his forehead and said, “It’s okay. Xue Huai, what’s wrong with you?”
Xue Huai looked at him quietly and said, “I fell asleep while practicing and had a nightmare.”
Instead of getting mad at him for making a big deal over a dream, Yun Cuo patted him on the back earnestly. “Alright, it’s okay, we won’t come anymore, there’s also no more dreams.”
He lowered his eyes and said, “How about you stop cultivating? Xue Huai, after you marry me in the future, I will keep you at home and give you everything you want, okay?”
Xue Huai was amused by him. “Then you’re a bit unreasonable. Don’t worry, I’m fine, Yun Shidi.”
He regained composure.
There was a voice in the distance, and it was Sha Hua who came over and called Xue Huai’s name from afar: “Xue Huai!”
He walked up to the top and saw a patch of dry grass and scorched wood. The misty clouds that were still lingered in the air had gone forever. He opened his mouth wide.
Xue Huai asked, “Shixiong, what’s wrong?”
Sha Hua quickly reacted and told him, “Your Faithful Crows have returned.”
After hesitating for a moment, he dug out another letter and said, “Also… a letter from your father happened to come with them, so I’ll give it to you.”
The underworld’s faithful crows can determine all the good and evil right and wrong in the world, the export is never false, and it is the most just and strict incarnation of the system of justice in heaven and on earth.
The room is silent.
The leading letter crow crouched on top of the gluttonous ghost and chuckled, “Young Lord Xue, we have brought back what you want. The price of 200 faithful crows is not low. Do you have any other questions before we tell you?”
The black and smoky crow is about to merge with the shadow under the lamp. It laughed, and the gluttonous ghost shook along.
The quiet, cold young man before it had casually set up a barrier to isolate the sound, and the sound had calmed down completely.
“I have.”
“Young Lord Xue, just say it.” The faithful crow’s laughter sounded more and more sinister. “We are always patient with those who have entered and exited the underworld, we won’t add money, and we also tell anyone else.”
Xue Huai was stunned for a moment.
The faithful crow patted its wings, indicating that he didn’t need to ask any more questions. “Don’t worry, the underworld will keep a secret for you. You can continue.”
Xue Huai whispered, “Since you can see that I have been to the underworld, then tell me that in my previous life, I was not shot dead by a shooting arrow, but someone got behind my back, isn’t it?”
Today’s experience reminded him of the scene before he died, which he forced himself to forget…there was no need to borrow the technique of mind-viewing, this was something he remembers by himself. He didn’t get separated from the army, there were no other accidents, he just died on the battlefield.
The arrow hit him squarely in the back of the head. It was not from the enemy but from behind him.
The faithful crow flapped its wings and said in a waveless voice, “Yes.”
