Ever since Ji Yunlang returned from the back street, his face had been dark, and he had not uttered a single word.
Husheng sat down in front of him, holding a stack of books, and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Ji Yunlang did not answer. Instead, he asked him a question, “Where did those books come from?”
Husheng’s eyes lit up. “That big sister’s husband! He is so well-educated and has so many books. He told me I could pick whatever I liked.”
Ji Yunlang snatched one of the books and tapped him on the head with it. “I told you to stay here and not run around. You actually followed him all the way to his house?”
“He fainted at the door, and that big sister wanted to take him to get his injuries treated but couldn’t lift him, so I just followed them to help.”
Husheng patted his stomach and let out a full burp. “Then they invited me to sit inside their house for a bit.”
Ji Yunlang asked, “Are you full?”
Husheng nodded. “Exceedingly full!” Remembering something, he nudged Ji Yunlang’s arm. “So your name used to be Ji Bao. That is so cute.”
Ji Yunlang gave a soft snort. “Go ahead and keep laughing.”
Husheng said, “I won’t laugh anymore.”
Ji Yunlang stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
Husheng was very reluctant. Hugging his books, he asked, “Are we going back?”
Ji Yunlang glanced outside at Xiao Bao, who was peeking at the two of them through a crack in the door while holding his breath in fear, and said, “We are not going back. Let’s leave this place first.”
On the street, Husheng walked on his left side. Accidentally looking up, he noticed the side of Ji Yunlang’s neck and asked in confusion, “What is that on your neck?”
Hearing this, Ji Yunlang raised his hand to touch it. The skin there was already broken, and it felt slightly stinging to the touch.
“I was bitten.”
“Bitten by what? A bug?”
“A person.”
Husheng was greatly shocked. “Do you look that delicious!”
“I am puzzled too,” Ji Yunlang said, keeping his eyes on the passing scenery. “What kind of person do you think would bite me for no reason at all?”
Husheng had never been bitten before, so he did not know.
As they passed by a pharmacy, Husheng stuffed the books into Ji Yunlang’s hands and said, “Wait for me a moment.”
He then ran inside and quickly ran back out holding a small medicine bottle. He made Ji Yunlang lean down, sprinkled some medicine onto the bite mark, and placed a small medical patch over it. Finally, he reached out his hand toward Ji Yunlang for money and went back inside to pay.
Ji Yunlang watched this continuous sequence of smooth actions. Once Husheng came out, he asked, “Having not seen you for half a day, have you completely integrated into the Immortal Region?”
“Of course,” Husheng raised his head proudly. “I followed that big sister running around all afternoon and learned a lot. I am just too amazing! I can already live in the Immortal Region by myself.”
Realizing what he was saying, he urgently shut his mouth, fearing that Ji Yunlang would be unhappy upon hearing it.
Ji Yunlang, however, followed up on his words, “How old are you even? How could you live by yourself? Do you see any children your age living alone on the streets?”
“I understand now,” Husheng lowered his head. “I should still live together with the Bone Dragon in the Bafang Region.”
Ji Yunlang said, “Or you could live with me.”
“We were already living together anyway, wait, no, you are in the Immortal Region, living with your wife.” Husheng stared at the ground as he walked. “The home of the Bone Dragon and me is not your home.”
Ji Yunlang said, “If you are obedient and can get along well with him, I will bring you to live in the Immortal Region.”
Husheng shook his head. “I will never get along well with your wife for the rest of my life!”
Ji Yunlang wanted to say something more, but the moment he raised his head, he saw a figure entering a tavern not far away.
“Husheng,” he asked, “are you hungry?”
Husheng patted his stomach. “A little bit.”
Ji Yunlang led him toward that tavern.
After they took their seats, he took a chopstick, dipped it in some tea, and used spiritual light to turn it into ink. He sketched a few strokes on the empty tabletop. “Do you still remember what your eldest brother looks like?”
This was the first time Ji Yunlang had proactively brought up the eldest brother. Husheng was overjoyed. Even if he could not remember very clearly, he quickly dug into his brain for memories and replied, “Of course! Eldest brother is mighty, domineering, dignified, elegant, with a robust stride, walking as fast as the wind, flying, ah!”
Ji Yunlang drew a face on the table. Hearing this reaction, he turned his head to ask a question, only to find that Husheng was not looking at the table at all.
Husheng was sitting blankly in his chair, his eyes wide and unblinking, staring intently at a person who had just come down from the stairs ahead.
Now there was no need to ask.
Ji Yunlang waved his hand to erase the drawing on the table and drank his tea as if nothing had happened.
In the next instant, an object flew straight toward him. With a splash, it dropped right into his teacup, splashing the liquid all over his face.
His movements froze. He set down the cup and raised his hand to wipe his face.
Soaking at the bottom of the tea was a fresh eyeball, with blood vessels gradually diffusing in the water.
After throwing the eyeball, Jiang Zhou walked straight toward Ji Yunlang’s table.
He was still thinking about that handkerchief, so his gaze naturally fell upon the side of Ji Yunlang’s neck, wanting to see if the bite mark was prominent enough.
However, he did not expect that Ji Yunlang would actually cover it up.
What kind of thing did he stick on it? It was so ugly.
Ji Yunlang saw the eyeball at the bottom of the cup clearly. He took a chopstick and poked around inside. He lowered his eyes and focused intently on stabbing the eyeball, showing no reaction whatsoever even when someone sat down right across from him.
It was Husheng who spoke first, “Eldest brother?”
Jiang Zhou looked toward him. He did not recognize him. A child, and he did not look like the type who would embroider a handkerchief either.
He withdrew his gaze, poured a cup of fresh tea, and pushed it in front of Ji Yunlang.
The waiter came over to ask if they wanted to order. Husheng’s gaze darted back and forth between the two of them, a few hints of excited redness appearing on his face. He jumped off his chair, grabbed the waiter, and said, “Let’s go, let’s go. I will change tables. Come to my table first to take the order.”
Ji Yunlang mashed the eyeball into a complete pulp, which made him feel much better inside. Returning the favor, he pushed both the chopstick and the teacup to the opposite side, then picked up the clean cup of tea in front of him to drink.
After drinking the tea, he looked at the person opposite him who had remained silent the whole time and asked, “Do you know me?”
He had asked this not long ago, and the answer he received at that time was a harsh bite on his neck.
Jiang Zhou did not deny it and nodded.
“Fine then,” Ji Yunlang rubbed his neck and said casually, “I was just saying, apart from Husheng’s perverted eldest brother, an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to pull off this kind of stunt. How do you know me?”
Jiang Zhou said, “An old friend.”
Ji Yunlang said, “I certainly didn’t know you in the past.”
Jiang Zhou completed his sentence, “…’s son.”
Ji Yunlang stared at him for a moment, a smile curling up at the corners of his lips as he asked, “Ji Xing and Wei Mingxia, which one is your old friend?”
Jiang Zhou thought about it, dipped his finger in water, and wrote a single character on the table, “Jiang”.
The smile on Ji Yunlang’s face froze, and his expression became strange. “The son of an old friend, and the old friend’s surname is Jiang?”
Jiang Zhou nodded, but then paused.
Wait, that was not right!
What did that look mean? What are you thinking?
It’s not like your Master is the only person in the world surnamed Jiang!
Seeing that Ji Yunlang remained silent and was letting his thoughts wander further and further, Jiang Zhou also felt a bit of panic rising in his heart.
He suddenly stood up and went upstairs. Before long, he dragged Lin Xiao down by force and made him sit across from Ji Yunlang together with him.
Lin Xiao covered his wildly beating heart, lowered his head, and quietly sighed to him, “Eldest brother, you are really too impulsive, too crazy.”
Jiang Zhou urged him with a look.
Lin Xiao tightened his grip on the paper in his hand and raised his head with an expression of one facing death. “My… my eldest brother says that he had a very deep relationship with your parents. Now that they have passed away, you are the only flesh and blood they left behind, so he wants to get to know you. Al… also, your parents’ names both consist of three characters.”
He lowered his head again and quietly asked Jiang Zhou, “What does this last sentence mean, eldest brother?”
Jiang Zhou said, “Never mind that.”
Lin Xiao said, “Alright.”
Even without him saying it, Ji Yunlang could figure it out himself; no matter who his father was, Jiang Zhou could not possibly be his father.
Seeing Lin Xiao, he narrowed his eyes slightly. “It’s you?”
Lin Xiao’s face turned white instantly. For the third time, he poked his head under the table and whispered urgently to Jiang Zhou, “He really remembers me, eldest brother. What should we do? What should we do?”
Ji Yunlang tapped on the table from above. “Since we are all fellow disciples, isn’t it better to raise your head to speak?”
Lin Xiao immediately popped his head out. “Of course it is better.”
“This fellow disciple,” Ji Yunlang spoke first, “you belong to the Qingxiao Sect, while this senior next to you comes from the Bafang Region. Why are you traveling together?”
Lin Xiao was truly terrified. Even though he had straightened his back, his mind was still completely blank. Repeating the question, he said, “I belong to the Qingxiao Sect, while this senior next to me comes from the Bafang Region. Why are we traveling together? That is because we… we… the Ba… Bafang Region?!”
Lin Xiao’s voice pitched up, and he jumped up with a start, staring at Jiang Zhou in horror.
Because his voice was too loud, the people dining in the tavern all looked over at him. Lin Xiao did not dare to sit back down at that table. Looking left and right, he found an empty seat at random. Patting his chest, he said to the young boy opposite him who looked quite well-behaved, “Excuse me, little brother. I’ll sit here with you for a bit. Right now I am a little…”
The little brother grinned at him, revealing two sharp little canine teeth. “Are you very curious about our Bafang Region?”
“…”
Lin Xiao said, “Not at all.”
Compared to an unfamiliar person from the Bafang Region, Lin Xiao ultimately chose to sit with the person from the Bafang Region whom he was familiar with.
After he returned, Ji Yunlang ignored him completely and actively struck up a conversation with Jiang Zhou instead.
“Senior, my kid talks about you to me every single day, saying that back then in the Bafang Region, if you hadn’t stepped in to help, the two of us would have died there.”
As he spoke, he called the waiter to bring some wine. With utmost attentiveness, he personally poured a cup and pushed it in front of Jiang Zhou, smiling as he said, “Consider this cup my toast to you. Will Senior do me the honor?”
Hearing these words, Jiang Zhou looked back at Husheng, feeling surprised in his heart.
The child from back then—Ji Yunlang had actually raised him to be this big?
Noticing his gaze, Husheng immediately stood up from his chair, looking back at him with absolute obedience.
Jiang Zhou withdrew his gaze and picked up the cup of wine Ji Yunlang had poured.
It was not spiked. Jiang Zhou was somewhat surprised. Looking again at Ji Yunlang’s slightly curled lips, he could not help but wonder: during those five years he had spent in the residence, had Ji Yunlang been smiling at people like this on the outside as well?
No wonder someone had handed him a handkerchief.
Seeing that he held the wine without drinking it, Ji Yunlang leaned his body forward, bringing his face a bit closer as he called out, “Senior?”
Jiang Zhou’s hand holding the wine cup tightened, his fingertips turning slightly white.
When speaking to other people, why did he have to bring his face so close?
He still did not drink. Ji Yunlang lowered his eyes, a trace of displeasure flashing through them, though he said, “To express my gratitude for Senior’s life-saving grace, a single cup of wine is indeed insignificant. But since Senior mentioned wanting to get to know me, isn’t a cup of wine precisely a very good start?”
What answered him was the sound of the wine cup being placed heavily back onto the table.
Ji Yunlang sat up straight, glanced at the cup of wine that had not been touched by a single drop, and secretly sighed.
He doesn’t fall for this approach.
Jiang Zhou did fall for it; he liked it most when Ji Yunlang smiled at him.
With their faces very close and lips slightly curled, those purple eyes would also carry a hint of a smile. Usually at a time like this, they would be kissing in the next moment.
But he had not expected that Ji Yunlang was like this at home, and also like this outside.
In the past, Ji Yunlang would always hold him in his arms, nuzzling and rubbing against his entire body, gently kissing his face as he said, “With Master looking like this, I don’t know how many people you would seduce if you went out. You should just go nowhere and stay at home with me forever.”
Sometimes when Jiang Zhou could speak, he would reply with an “Mhm”. Sometimes when he could not, he would just stare intently at that face, waiting somewhat anxiously for him to lean in and kiss him.
His taking the initiative to kiss Ji Yunlang felt different from Ji Yunlang coming to kiss him.
Ji Yunlang would then claim that others did not know how attractive they looked, that they looked beautiful when they smiled, and that the person best at seducing others was actually him.
Jiang Zhou pushed the cup of wine aside and said, “No need to thank me.”
Since he would not drink it, Ji Yunlang did not force the matter any further. He lowered his head to pour himself some wine and asked, “For Senior to suddenly want to get to know me, I suppose there must be some reason?”
“Yes,” Jiang Zhou said. “You look good.”
Ji Yunlang: “?”
“And you smell good.”
“You are soft to bite, too.”
He stood up, pressed one hand on the table, and leaned forward to stare expressionlessly into Ji Yunlang’s face. “I took one look and liked you.”
Ji Yunlang: “…”
Lin Xiao, who had been keeping quiet on the side the entire time: “…”
Impulsiveness is always Eldest Brother’s greatest virtue.