Xie Lin asked in confusion, “Why would that hypocrite Su Zezhou care about you?”
I couldn’t stand him vilifying Immortal Lord Zezhou and immediately refuted, “Immortal Lord Zezhou is not a hypocrite. He’s magnanimous and extremely kind-hearted!”
Xie Lin sneered and drawled, “Magnanimous indeed.”
I let go of the shell in my hand and thought to myself. I won’t give a single shell to him.
“Looks like you’ve grown gutsier?” Xie Lin cast me a glance, “Fine. Let’s not bring up your Immortal Lord Zezhou anymore.”
****
The sea was gradually engulfed by darkness.
I was hungry.
But I had just provoked Xie Lin’s anger so he definitely wouldn’t pay attention to me.
I hugged my knees and sat on the sand, staring at waves, sadness washing over me.
If I knew that I was gonna get hungry early on, I would have let him off for cursing Immortal Lord Zezhou.
In any case, the person himself wouldn’t be able to hear it anyways.
****
By the time I took my fifth peek at Xie Lin, he finally said, “What are you looking at?”
Just as I was debating whether to tell him or not, I heard him speak again, “If you’re hungry, go catch some fish in the sea. I don’t want to help an white-eyed wolf(1) like you.”
(1) White-eyed wolf: An ingrate or thankless wretch
After hearing his words, I felt a little ashamed and stood up, walking towards the sea.
Even though I was human right now, my habit of approaching the sea hadn’t changed at all.
****
After taking a few steps, Xie Lin pulled me back.
“With those little arms and legs of yours, you’ll drown once you step into the sea. Wait here.” He pushed me back to the sands and asked before leaving, “What kind of fish do you want to eat?”
I stammered, “One with a little more meat and less bones.”
Xie Lin chuckled, “Your mouth is quite picky too.”
****
Xie Lin hadn’t even approached the sea when he carried out magic. The fishes in the water were leaping onto the sands, trying to outdo each other. He picked out a few and with a fling of his sleeves, he sent the rest back to sea.
The crystal rock ignited with a bright flame. Xie Lin slowly turned the fish over and after a while, a roasting smell wafted out.
I couldn’t help but take a gulp.
“Does it smell good?” Xie Lin asked.
I hurriedly nodded and asked him, “Can I eat it now?”
****
I finished 3 pieces of fish. Xie Lin watched me eat, his hand propped on top of the sand and his body leaning back. A smile hung on his face as he said, “You sure eat a lot more than the poor. Your appetite is voracious and you scarf down food like a wolf.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
I burped and my movements began to slow.
Imitating Immortal Lord Zezhou’s appearance, I straightened my back and elegantly began to tear pieces of fish meat.
Xie Lin then called me out for putting on an act and said that my earlier appearance was much more soothing to the eye.
Freed from any scruples, I began to wolf down the food again.
****
At the hour of zi[1], Xie Lin was training and because I had nothing to do, I eventually fell into slumber leaning against him.
When I fell into the snake pit, the wriggling group of snakes mutually twined around each other, their cold triangle shaped eyes were opened wide, the cold air stilled and their tongues were as bright as blood.
A long snake coiled around me, squeezing me tight as if I was a pole, the rest of the snakes slithered towards me, baring their bloody and smelly smouths.
I was soaked in cold sweat from fear and just before I crossed the Yellow River, Xie Lin appeared. With a swing of his sword, he took their life, rescuing me. He gestured a fire chant and burnt all the snakes in the snake pit into ashes.
My legs continued to quiver as I wailed loudly, throwing myself into his arms, saying that I was afraid, the snake’s bites terribly painful.
Xie Lin wiped away my tears and said gently, “There’s nothing to be afraid of, you were just having a nightmare. Now that you’ve woken up, it’s gonna be fine.”
Just as his words fell, his figure disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes and saw bright stars and a white moon twinkling in the vast blue sky.
As it turns out, I was just having a dream. Fortunately, it was only a dream.
****
I felt iciness struck my face and when I went to touch it, I felt tears.
Xie Lin reached out a hand to wipe my tears, taking the wetness away.
This time, it was not a dream, it was real.
Xie Lin teased me, ”Why do you dream such realistic things?”
I didn’t give a retort and silently acknowledged it.
****
When Xie Lin pulled me from the nightmare of being engulfed by the snake for the third time, he realized that something was wrong and asked me the cause of my nightmare.
I narrated the whole sequence of events to him from start to end.
Xie Lin looked at me like I was a lost cause, “How foolish are you?”
“If that disciple wasn’t backed by anyone, why would he provoke you for no reason? What’s the name of that bastard, the head of the group bullying you.”
I responded, “Lu Yan.”
Xie Lin: “You were bullied to this degree but Su Zezhou only punished the scapegoat and didn’t look further into it and you even feel endlessly grateful to him.”
“Those who have eyes can see that there’s someone pulling the strings behind the scenes.”
I naturally knew, I wasn’t blind.
But my life wasn’t worth much. To be able to find a place to live wasn’t that easy and who could tell what lengths those pampered sons would be willing to go to?
****
I laid on the jade countertop in the garden and stared at the sun blankly.
On the second day of our arrival on the island, Xie Lin created a miniature demon realm palace from a covered space and placed it in the center of the island. It was several times smaller than the demon realm palace but the things it contained were comprehensive.
The garden was blooming with the same yellow flowers and were extremely beautiful under the rays of the sun.
Xie Lin carried over a jar of wine and twisted the sword in his hand, cutting down the flowers that were blooming marvelously, the petals of the flower sticking to the edge.
Xie Lin handed over the sword in front of me and the sword no longer looked like a sword, but a string of flowers, it was very captivating.
Xie Lin said, “I don’t have candy but these flowers are edible, their stamens have honey.”
The petals carried dew and it rolled around with his every movement.
I asked, “How did you know…”
Xie Lin replied complacently, “There is nothing my royal self doesn’t know.”
****
The nectar was even sweeter than candy, its sweet taste travelling from my mouth to my heart.
I ate and ate and suddenly I couldn’t hold back my tears. They trickled down continuously, wetting my front lapels.
Xie Lin was stunned for a moment before promptly saying, “What are you crying for? The flowers are in full bloom, even if you eat to death, you won’t be able to finish eating them.”
I used the back of my hand to wipe away my tears and raised my head to look at him.
Xie Lin looked at me and after a while, he shifted his head away to avoid my gaze.
His voice sounded a bit fierce, “Don’t cry. You look ugly!”
****
I held the flower petals and tried to hold back my tears but the more I tried, the more they fell. In the end, I lost control and they came pouring down.
Xie Lin assumed that he had frightened me and picked out a big bouquet of flowers, gave it to me, asking me to hurry up and eat them and to stop crying.
I buried my face into the bouquet of flowers and asked Xie Lin why he was giving me flower nectar to eat.
Xie Lin: “What kind of weird question are you asking? You wanted to eat candy and I didn’t have any so I plucked out some flower nectar for you. Why do you have so many questions?”
From that moment on, I felt that Xie Lin was the second person in this world who treated me the best. The first was my mother and the third was Immortal Lord Zezhou.
****
I no longer cried and held the flowers, picking out the best looking flower and tearing the petals off, sending them to Xie Lin’s lips.
The nectar staining the orange-yellow petals, stained Xie Lin’s lips.
Xie Lin gave me a glance and silently ate it.
After a while, I asked, “Are we going to die here?”
Xie Lin rubbed my head in a good mood and said, “You won’t die. Wait till I find the exit and then we can go back.”
[1] Zi hour is in between 11pm-1am