The morning sky was clear as fruit stalls began to appear sporadically on the streets of Shuoxia City. Crude tents were erected, and sturdy young men unloaded boxes of freshly picked fruits from carts brought in from the orchards outside the city. They gently splashed them with water, instantly filling the air with the fresh fragrance of fruits in every corner of the streets and alleys.
A figure in snow-white robes wandered aimlessly through the streets, lonely and aloof. Clad simply with a sword at his waist, he stood tall and composed.
Having left the Shen family, Yu Ce had been wandering aimlessly through Shuoxia City for quite some time now. He walked from dusk till dawn, just to get a better look at this city that had once barred his entry.
At this hour, the city’s residents were already awake. Shuoxia City was as prosperous as he had imagined. As the wealthiest city among the Five Cities, its gates welcomed countless carts and wagons throughout the year, carrying goods for trade.
Yet, it was all built with the support and management of the Shen family.
Yu Ce narrowed his eyes and released the thing called the system. Last night, he had muted its voice. He hadn’t yet informed the system that he had no intention of eliminating Shen Tanqi and the two children from this world.
As soon as the system got a chance to speak, it launched into a relentless outburst against Yu Ce’s soft-heartedness from the previous day. “I have never seen a host as idle as you! You had a perfect opportunity yesterday. That child was right beside you, and yet you didn’t act! How can you let a few words from a child soften your resolve? If you continue like this, the mission will fail, and you will disappear completely!”
No host ever dared to defy its threats. No one wanted to disappear.
The system glared at him with frustration and said, “This is your world, your life. Are you going to hand it over to Shen Tanqi, whom you detest?”
Yu Ce pursed his lips and replied indifferently, “He isn’t the Shen Tanqi I know. You knew that but didn’t tell me.”
Taro Ball and Goldfish appeared to be only about three years old. Yu Ce could sense the genuine affection and reliance these children showed towards Shen Tanqi. In this world, Shen Tanqi seemed to be a very gentle person.
The system’s voice stuttered for a moment, seeming embarrassed as if its bubble had been burst. It hesitated and muttered, “Well, you will… disappear.”
Yu Ce shook his head and said, “If this world only needs one protagonist, then the me in this world would be more suitable than I am now.”
He looked out over the bustling streets, observing the lively lives of the common people. What he sought was for these unarmed people to live in peace and happiness. Since the Yu Ce here could achieve that, then he had no reason to exist.
The system was shaken by his logic, froze for three seconds, and then struggled to find a reason. “But Shen Tanqi is going to marry Yu Ce. Do you really want to see them together?”
“Their affair is their own business. What more can I do? I am not the Yu Ce of this world, and Shen Tanqi is not the Shen Tanqi I know,” he replied calmly.
The system fretted, “Why do you lack any ambition at all…”
Before the system could finish, Yu Ce was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by a vendor at a nearby stall.
Lost in thought over the system’s words, he had let his guard down against these unarmed commoners on the street, momentarily forgetting to avoid them.
Yu Ce’s heart tightened. He remembered when he was ten years old, arriving in Shuoxia City for the first time and being surrounded by these people, armed with sticks and leftover rotten vegetables, shouting for the daemons to leave Shuoxia City.
Just as he was about to pull away, he heard the vendor’s voice filled with joy, “It’s really you! It’s really you!”
Frowning slightly in confusion, Yu Ce looked at him. It was an old man with gray-white hair, weather-beaten and rough, tears of excitement hanging on his rugged face. He held onto Yu Ce’s arm tightly, as if afraid that he would leave in the next moment.
“Do… do you recognize me?”
It wasn’t uncommon for him to be recognized by villagers due to his frequent travels in demon hunting. However, Shuoxia City was the only place he had deliberately avoided during his travels, because the people here were not welcoming towards daemons.
The old man nodded heavily, freeing one hand to wipe tears from his eyes. His voice choked with emotion as he said, “Sir, you may have forgotten, but three years ago, you came to the city to buy bayberries. That detestable young master from the Shen family—”
Here, the old man lowered his voice and continued, “That detestable young master, Shen Zhiguo. His concubine was pregnant and wanted to eat bayberries. He swept away all the bayberries from my stall without paying a single penny, and even ordered his servants to nearly beat me half to death.”
Yu Ce was momentarily stunned, not because he remembered, but because he understood that these were deeds done not by him, but by the Yu Ce of this world.
“Later, you came back with the bronze coins of the Shen family’s young master, saying that from now on, the Shen family must stop bullying the people, pay honestly, and not cause trouble in the city. If it weren’t for you, I would probably have been beaten to death that year, without even getting a coffin money!” Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes as he tightly held onto Yu Ce. “Thank you so much, sir, thank you so much. It’s been three years, and although my illness hasn’t completely healed, thanks to the money from the Shen family that you returned, all three of my children have survived.”
With that, the old man quickly shouted towards the ox cart behind him, “Da Miao, Er Niu, Yao Niu, come out and kowtow to the sir!”
Three little heads popped out from the ox cart, running over and kneeling in front of Yu Ce, kowtowing to him.
Yu Ce quickly helped them up. “No, there’s no need…”
These were not his deeds. He couldn’t take credit for what he hadn’t done.
Neighbors and villagers on the street had all noticed the commotion and gathered around, saying, “This is the immortal who saved Old Yang’s family!”
“Yes, the immortal is so handsome, I remember it clearly, it’s him!”
“The immortal not only saved Old Yang, but who among us townsfolk hasn’t suffered from the Shen family’s bullying? Ever since the immortal made those two young wastrels kneel and apologize, we haven’t been bullied by the Shen family again!”
“Yes, the immortal is also our benefactor!”
The crowd turned back to their small stalls, bringing out fruits and vegetables grown in their own homes, eager to give them to Yu Ce.
Yu Ce looked at them in a daze, feeling somewhat overwhelmed as he stood in the center of the crowd, his arms filled with various things given by the enthusiastic villagers.
Twelve years ago, when he came here, the villagers had greeted him with rotten eggs and spoiled vegetable soup.
At this moment, he suddenly wondered what the Yu Ce and Shen Tanqi of this world had done, and…
Would Shuoxia City really change gradually because of the two of them?
Would the conflict between daemons and humans slowly resolve because of them?
He felt like he was seeing some hope. Despite his journey to become stronger, reaching a point where the Shen family dared not provoke him, the situation in Shuoxia City had not changed because of his strength.
Human prejudice against daemons had never been eliminated. No matter how powerful he became, in the eyes of humans, he was still just a powerful daemon.
To eliminate such prejudice, his own strength alone was far from enough. Only when humans stood up alongside him was there a possibility of gradual change.
“Immortal, why didn’t you go participate in that big competition at the west gate?” a middle-aged woman holding a child in her arms asked Yu Ce with a smile. “I heard that immortals are competing in that area. Why don’t you go give it a try? I heard there are rewards too.”
Yu Ce lowered his gaze, about to refuse, when he heard the system shouting in his mind, “Go!!! Go now and stop Shen Tanqi from getting the top spot in the trial, or your mission will really fail!”
The system’s voice was causing Yu Ce a headache. He frowned and blocked out the system, whispering to the middle-aged woman, “I understand, thank you for reminding me.”
The woman smiled kindly and picked up a few pieces of egg cake from a plate behind her pastry shop, stuffing them into Yu Ce’s hand. “Go quickly, have something to eat on the way!”
Yu Ce hesitated, then paused, looking at the three children who had bowed to him. They were licking their fingers, thin and pitiful, clearly living in poverty.
After a moment’s thought, before leaving, he cast a spell to store all the fruits and vegetables given by the villagers into the ox cart, leaving only the warm egg cakes in his storage ring.
He thought that returning these three egg cakes to the Yu Ce of this world would convey the villagers’ gratitude.
Reciting a teleportation spell, Yu Ce appeared at the trial ground on the western outskirts of Shuoxia City in the blink of an eye.
According to his memories of the sect’s grand competition, Yu Ce vaguely recalled that the second round of the demon-slaying trial should be in the morning, with yesterday’s disciples continuing to compete to determine the top ten in total points. In the afternoon, the location would shift to the alchemy trial grounds in Wenqiu City for the alchemy trial.
Taking out a veil hat from his storage ring, Yu Ce silently walked through the crowd, heading towards the north of the trial grounds where the disciples of Rongyun Sect were gathered.
Sure enough, he saw a figure standing on the platform, identical to himself.
The competition had already begun.
Yu Ce casually glanced at his own figure on the platform. He didn’t need to watch; he knew exactly which techniques he would use. If everything went as expected, he would resolve it in less than half an incense stick’s time.
He was more interested in seeing Shen Tanqi. His gaze swept across the platform, but he couldn’t spot Shen Tanqi anywhere.
According to the system, Shen Tanqi took the top spot in yesterday’s first round of competition. He wondered what kind of progress Shen Tanqi had made in this world.
However, from what he saw yesterday, it seemed like Shen Tanqi had only advanced to the Nascent Soul stage. Achieving first place must have required a lot of effort.
Yu Ce was pondering this when he suddenly sensed someone approaching him. His eyes narrowed slightly, pretending not to notice.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist. Yu Ce instinctively reached for his sword, but the person in front of him pressed a finger to his lips and whispered softly, “Shh…”
He paused, meeting the gaze of someone wearing an identical veil hat to his own.
“Are you here to supervise the battle too?”
The person smiled knowingly. Behind him, a short distance away, Fang Wenxun was holding two children who were waving and cheering for the real Yu Ce on the platform.
Yu Ce wasn’t accustomed to his touch, frowned, and pushed his hand away, saying, “Don’t touch me.”
Last night, he had said those things with such intensity, but Shen Tanqi seemed unfazed, smiling as he approached.
“Alright, I won’t touch you.” Shen Tanqi stood proudly beside him, introducing the real Yu Ce on the platform. “See, isn’t he amazing? I’ve been practicing with him every day, taking beatings to help him improve.”
Yu Ce followed his finger to look at his ‘self’ on stage, silent for a moment. He seemed no different from his current self.
He whispered, “He beats you?”
“Rarely,” Shen Tanqi wrinkled his nose. “He really goes at it during training sessions, so I’m planning to feign illness and skip the sword training where we have to fight each other.”
Yu Ce imagined the ‘himself’ on the trial platform disciplining Shen Tanqi, a slight smile unconsciously lifting his lips. But quickly, he suppressed it and asked, “Why aren’t you participating in the second round of the competition?”
Shen Tanqi glanced at him and replied, “I accidentally took first place in the first round yesterday. Isn’t that why the main system sent you to eliminate us immediately?”
“You… knew?” Yu Ce looked at him incredulously. “Since you know I’m here to kill you all, why aren’t you… afraid at all?”
Shen Tanqi seemed to find something amusing, his slender, jade-like finger tapping lightly on Yu Ce’s chest. He stifled a laugh and said, “I know it’s you who came, so I’m not afraid.”
Yu Ce didn’t understand.
It wasn’t until Shen Tanqi approached quietly, whispering softly by his ear, “Because as long as it’s you, you would never harm me or the children.”
His ear tingled with the breath, and Yu Ce instinctively took half a step back, murmuring softly, “You’re being presumptuous.”
Shen Tanqi stretched lazily, unfazed by Yu Ce’s stubbornness, and heard the pitiful cry of Goldfish not far away, “I’m hungry.”
The Shen family lived in the easternmost part of Shuoxia City, while the trial platform was on the western outskirts. They had woken up too early, and the two children hadn’t eaten yet.
Shen Tanqi adjusted his hat and said, “I won’t talk to you anymore. I’m going to buy breakfast for the children.”
At his words, Yu Ce suddenly remembered something and reached out to grab Shen Tanqi’s sleeve.
This action was almost instinctive, and Yu Ce immediately regretted it.
“I…” Yu Ce lowered his gaze, retrieving the warm egg cakes wrapped in oil paper from his storage ring, his voice barely audible. “I have this.”
Would the Shen family eat such things? He didn’t mind it himself, but Shen Tanqi and the two children were raised with utmost care, probably not accustomed to it.
Not only would they not eat it, they might even secretly disdain him for offering something not up to their standards, wouldn’t that be disrespectful to the lady’s intentions?
Thinking this, Yu Ce immediately put away the egg cakes again, his gaze dimming. “Forget it, you go ahead and buy.”
Shen Tanqi lowered his head to meet his eyes, noticing Yu Ce’s awkward embarrassment and couldn’t help but smile.
Whichever Yu Ce it was, they always liked to dwell on peculiar details.
Seeing his hesitation, Shen Tanqi snatched the egg cakes from his hand and casually popped one into his mouth, mumbling unclearly, “Why bother with that? You’re practically half a father to the kids, so I’ll take it without ceremony. Thanks for the treat.”
Yu Ce stared blankly as Shen Tanqi held the package of egg cakes and hurried over to the children, stuffing one into each of their hands, who were eagerly waiting to be fed.
“Be careful, it’s hot. Goldfish, eat slowly…”
“It’s delicious, yummy…”
“Is it enough to eat? If not, Daddy will go buy more…”
Longing filled his heart.
In that moment, only these four words remained in his mind.
Yu Ce had never felt this way before, but as he looked at them, seeing the smiles on their faces, he wanted nothing more than to stay, to remain by their side.
But it was all just wishful thinking.
Yu Ce silently watched for a while, imprinting Shen Tanqi’s smile deep into his memory. As he turned to leave, lifting his foot, he almost stepped on a chick rushing past his feet.
A… chick?
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
