“I have already troubled you for quite some time, Miss. Please accept these spirit stones as compensation, and I hope you will not take offense.” Shen Shu produced two mid-grade spirit stones and offered them to the peach demon.
These two stones could easily be exchanged for ten taels of silver in the mortal realm. How could the peach demon dare to accept such a generous gift? She hastily waved her hands in refusal. “You flatter me too much, Immortal. I truly cannot accept these.”
Shen Shu’s eyes were bright and clear as he smiled warmly. “Although you are a flower demon, your spiritual foundation is exceptionally strong. Shedding your demonic form to attain immortality is only a matter of time. Since we are both cultivators, I hope you will forgive my earlier intrusion.”
When someone spoke with such sincerity, it became impossible to refuse. The peach demon was a clever creature; she curtsied to Shen Shu and replied, “I am a flower demon from the foot of Mount Jinqing. You may simply call me Xiaotao, Immortal. I manage a small inn courtyard nearby. If you do not find it too crude, you are welcome to stay at my place tonight.”
Mount Jinqing was located not far north of Sifang Pavilion, making Xiaotao practically a half-compatriot. Shen Shu raised no objections. After noting down the address, he set off to track down Pei Zizhuo, who had stormed off in a huff.
In the blink of an eye, Pei Zizhuo had slipped into the crowd and vanished from sight.
Shen Shu had left no tracking mark on Pei Zizhuo, and it was improper to employ celestial arts just to hunt someone down. He had no choice but to resort to the most basic method: asking people as he went.
With his youthful appearance, upright posture, and clear, guileless gaze, Shen Shu naturally drew favorable attention simply by standing around. He had initially intended to ask for directions, but by the end, he found himself surrounded by a circle of onlookers who stared at him intently and hung on his every word.
Having shared the same bed for days, he held his hands high above his head, gesturing according to Pei Zizhuo’s broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted silhouette as he described the man in meticulous detail.
Most of the onlookers were merely watching the excitement, assuming this was one of those tragic tales of someone selling themselves to bury a parent with a straw marker stuck in their hair. When they caught sight of Shen Shu’s striking looks, their eyes lit up instantly. A few clueless bystanders even tried to elbow their way to the front to place a bid.
Only when they reached his side did they realize he was simply searching for someone. Upon discovering that their greasy trade had fallen through, a group of local ruffians squatted directly on the ground. They cast leering, malicious glances at Shen Shu and teased him with unmasked vulgarity, “Little公子, is the person you are looking for quite handsome?”
Seeing someone finally engage in conversation, Shen Shu bared his white teeth and beamed. “Handsome. Tall and slender, exceptionally handsome.”
“Is he your brother, or some other relative? How could he just leave you behind like this?”
Shen Shu waved his hands rapidly and explained, “He is a friend who traveled here with me. He did not abandon me; I made him angry, so he left first.”
“A friend?” The ruffians exchanged glances. Whatever crossed their minds prompted them to lean forward collectively and ask, “How long have you known this friend?”
“Four days.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the ruffians exchanged knowing looks and let out a synchronized “Oh.”
From those few brief sentences, everyone assumed Shen Shu was some naive young master from a wealthy household who had run away from home. In times like these, the world was hardly safe, and Shen Shu possessed such delicate, exquisite beauty. After a moment’s thought, they all concluded that the youth had boarded a pirate ship and was now foolishly seeking out the scoundrel who was about to sell him off.
The four ruffians were well-accustomed to such scenarios involving down-and-out beauties tricked out of both body and soul. Exchanging a few silent signals, two of the burlier men stepped forward to disperse the crowd of onlookers. The remaining two put on friendly facades, sidled up to Shen Shu, and spun a deceitful tale. “We have not seen the person you described, but we know a place in the city dedicated to finding people. Since the person you are looking for sounds quite striking, he should be easier to locate. Of course, finding people costs money. Did you bring any coin?”
Aside from that small pouch of spirit stones, Shen Shu’s sleeves were entirely bare of mortal wealth. He shook his head honestly.
“Then did the person you are looking for bring money?”
Recalling that Pei Zizhuo’s only valuable set of clothes had been discarded by him, leaving the man poorer than himself overall, Shen Shu shook his head once more.
The ringleader of the ruffians put on a troubled expression. “Without money, how can you expect to find anyone? Ah, seeing that you are genuinely pitiful, this brother of ours will do a good deed today and cover that expense for you.”
Shen Shu was touched, thinking that the divine land truly was full of good people. However, as an immortal, he could not simply let mortals pay and exert effort on his behalf, so he politely declined. “Thank you for your kindness, brave warriors. Just pointing me in the right direction will be enough; there is no need for you to spend your own money.”
The ruffian refused to take no for an answer. Figuring he would have to trick the youth away regardless, he went along with it. “We are heading that way too. Let us walk together.”
Shen Shu broke into a radiant smile and chimed cheerfully, “Thank you so much!”
Dozens of meters away atop a nearby rooftop, Pei Zizhuo witnessed the entire exchange with a face full of dark vertical lines. He lowered his gaze to watch Shen Shu happily trotting along behind those men with a goofy grin, utterly speechless.
He wondered what kind of mystical geomancy in the divine land could nurture such an utterly clueless creature, someone who would express profuse gratitude and thanks even as he was being sold off. If he ever had the time, he was determined to spend a hefty sum to erect a monument commemorating this extraordinary sanctuary.
Pei Zizhuo had originally intended to slip away in the chaos. Since he already knew the spiritual spring was located inside the Guishui Hall, he could simply inquire about the way himself; why bother entangling himself with Danxiao any longer?
Remaining here a moment longer was purely due to his suspicions regarding Danxiao. No matter how flawlessly the man had acted over the past few days, Pei Zizhuo refused to believe that Danxiao had not left some sort of contingency measure on him.
If Danxiao found him missing and wanted to force him out into the open, he could easily trigger the Gu poison planted within his body or manipulate his cold poison to flare up. That way, he would see right through the man’s elaborate facade, and he would not hold back when striking back.
Yet despite all his calculations, he never expected that Danxiao would not only remain completely inactive, but also allow himself to be duped and led away by a bunch of ordinary mortals.
Utterly disgraceful. What a massive embarrassment.
What good was having stunning looks and high cultivation if one was nothing more than an absolute airhead? Pei Zizhuo felt his master’s sect should be blushing for Danxiao’s sake.
He flicked his sleeves and stood up, turning his back to Danxiao with a sudden, comforting sense of returning to unblemished nature.
Just as he lifted his foot to leave, the whispered chatter of the figures behind him drifted clearly into his ears.
“What is that in your bundle?” the ruffian asked.
“New clothes I bought for a friend.”
“Did you not say you had no money?”
“I traded them for white silk.” The owner of the tailor shop happened to possess a touch of spiritual roots; he cared nothing for spirit stones and only accepted Myriad-Affairs Silk as collateral.
“Is a strip of white silk really that valuable?” the ruffian muttered in confusion.
Unable to explain the mystical properties of magical artifacts directly, Shen Shu translated it into mortal terms for comparison. “It is equivalent to a bolt of brocaded white silk.”
He clutched the bundle tightly to his chest, lowering his head as he murmured, “It is the only thing of value I have left.”
The ruffian curled his lip, thinking that wealthy folks were truly something else, even their white silk was heavy, high-grade fabric.
Noticing that Shen Shu had delicate skin and tender flesh, looking like someone incapable of heavy labor, the ruffian decided against dragging him through too many winding alleys. He shot a glance at his accomplices behind him, signaling them to subdue Shen Shu right here and now.
Before the hemp sack in his hands could even be fully opened, a sudden, fierce rush of wind sliced through the air from behind. With a sharp crack, several grey roof tiles came crashing down from above, landing heavily right on top of the ruffians’ heads.
“Ouch!” The men cried out in pain as they clutched their heads.
Hearing the commotion, Shen Shu raised his head and caught sight of that familiar figure standing against the light. His brows smoothed out into a smile as he waved. “Zizhuo!”
In two or three bounds, he scrambled up onto the rooftop and sat down beside Pei Zizhuo, tilting his head to study him. “Why did you not wait for me?”
Pei Zizhuo avoided the question, pointing down at the four men below. “Do you know where they were taking you?”
“To find you,” Shen Shu said defensively, lowering his voice even while uttering a complaint. “They were good people. Why did you hit them?”
“Are they?” Pei Zizhuo let out a cold, sarcastic hum, then flicked his foot to send four grey roof tiles flying. The tiles rapidly condensed into ice mid-air, becoming as razor-sharp as knife blades in an instant.
The four ruffians had barely recovered their senses when they saw sharp blades lunging straight at them. Their hearts leaped into their throats, and they forgot how to dodge entirely.
The tiles hovered right before their eyes, gleaming with a silver light sharp enough to cleave a hair.
The ruffians stared with eyes as wide as oxen, their upper and lower jaws chattering uncontrollably. Their calves trembled violently, and the most cowardly one actually pissed himself, crying out tearfully for mercy. “Immortals spare my life! Immortals spare my life.”
With a stern expression, Pei Zizhuo demanded, “Tell the truth and you will not die. Where were they taking you?”
The ringleader blurted out the truth without waiting for further threat, “To the Chuzhou Pavilion, to fetch a good price!”
The others chimed in hurriedly, not wanting to be left behind. “He looks top-notch, even better-looking than courtesans.” “And he does not seem very bright. Super easy to trick.”
Shen Shu, who was good-looking, not very bright, and super easy to trick, remained speechless.
Seeing Shen Shu knit his small brow into an expression that seemed to say, I trusted you so much, yet you treat me like this, Pei Zizhuo burst out into loud laughter, clutching his sides and slapping his palms together in sheer amusement.
Shen Shu was already agonizing over his own foolishness, and the sound of laughter ringing in his ears was practically uninhibited. He turned his head to glare at Pei Zizhuo, though it was his first time seeing the man look so relaxed and carefree.
Pei Zizhuo’s brows were unfurled, and he smiled with the warmth of a spring breeze. It was as if a permafrost-locked wasteland had finally welcomed the return of spring, completely devoid of his usual melancholy and gloom.
The pale sunlight spilled over Pei Zizhuo, casting a dazzling, radiant glow within his amber pupils. Shen Shu felt his cheeks grow quietly warm. He thrust the bundle out in front of Pei Zizhuo and softened his voice. “Are you still mad at me?”
Having missed a prime opportunity to escape from Danxiao, Pei Zizhuo should have been angry. He ought to have maintained a cold expression and a frigid heart, leaving nothing behind for Danxiao but the emotional detachment of the back of his head.
Yet after trying to muster that anger for quite a while, it had flared up briefly before fading away, and no matter how hard he tried, he simply could not gather it again anymore.
“I am not mad anymore.” Pei Zizhuo took the bundle, thinking to himself that he would let the youth off the hook for today.