They lived on Gongyang Street at the time, with a river behind the house and a courtyard in front.

It was a late spring evening, with peach blossoms in the courtyard blooming perfectly, misty and enchanting. However, they couldn't withstand even the slightest breeze, occasionally shedding a few petals.

Yin Wushu lazily sat by the stone table under the tree, drinking wine. He was always particular, even when it came to drinking. After filling a cup, he would insist on casually picking a peach blossom petal to adorn the wine, quite stylish. Not content with being stylish alone, he also liked to drag Xie Bai, who was just over ten years old, along.

He didn't allow Xie Bai, at such a young age, to drink alcohol, so he brewed a pot of spring tea for him, poured it into a porcelain cup, which was a shallow green color, and also pretended to add a peach blossom petal.

Xie Bai was reading a book he had brought from his room at the time, glanced at the peach blossom petals, but didn't speak. It wasn't until he saw Yin Wushu drink the wine that he turned a page and said, "I saw bugs on the flowers this morning."

Yin Wushu almost spat out the wine he had just swallowed. "..."

Xie Bai looked up at his greenish complexion and smiled slightly, continuing to read the book without saying a word.

Yin Wushu, feeling annoyed, poured himself another glass of wine, this time without any antics, and drank it in one gulp, probably trying to cover up the shadow of the bug. Then he lightly patted Xie Bai's head and said, "If you have something to say in the future, don't deliberately keep it to yourself. You're already playing tricks at such a young age. Who did you learn that from?"

Xie Bai didn't lift his head. "You."

Yin Wushu thought about it and found the argument very reasonable and couldn't refute it, so he just laughed it off.

"What does it feel like to have your soul bound?" Xie Bai flipped through the book and unexpectedly threw a question at him.

"What are you looking at?" Yin Wushu was taken aback by the question.

Xie Bai held up the book in front of him and said, "Soul Binding Technique."

Yin Wushu gave a light "Oh" and then poured himself another drink, took a few sips, and then calmly answered, "I'm not sure, but it definitely isn't pleasant, after all, this is the foundation of life. The boss Luo of Taowu Pawnshop across the street, who always cheats you with exotic things, was tricked a while ago. His soul was bound, and he vomited for three whole days, dizzy, ringing in his ears. It's just a bit better these days, and that's considered light... you can imagine how much worse it could be if it's more severe."

(NT: Taowu: mythological beast symbolizing ignorance. It has a human face, a tiger body  and pig feet).

*

Yin Wushu's description at that time was exactly the same as Xie Bai's current feeling.

Regardless of what the white fragments were, it was somewhat ridiculous that they had reached his foundation so easily. Considering the increasingly abnormal state of his body recently... he frowned, feeling suspicious.

Suppressing the nausea, he sat up straight, and then reached out to open a carved wooden box on the square table. Inside the box were several old copper coins.

Xie Bai grabbed six coins, neither more nor less, and then scattered them on the table. He straightened his slender index and middle fingers, skillfully flicked them a few times, arranging the coins into a divination according to their heads and tails, and then stared at them for a few seconds.

The little black cat in his arms had been released from the spiritual bind and was now straightening its neck to look at the copper coin hexagram (NT: for divination). Just as it looked at it for a moment, Xie Bai covered its eyes with his hand and said, "What are you looking at?"

The little black cat protested with a growl from its throat, using both its paws and mouth to pry Xie Bai's hand away. By the time it looked back at the table, Xie Bai had already put the six coins back into the wooden box and closed the lid.

The little black cat seemed unwilling and looked up at him.

Xie Bai glanced down at it and said, "Alright, I didn't figure it out, and you won't either."

Divination with copper coins was something he learned from Yin Wushu when he was young. He only learned the basics, and it worked for simple things, but when it came to complicated matters, it was useless. Xie Bai had once suspected that Yin Wushu had never properly taught him, or perhaps he himself was not proficient in divination and the like. Because Xie Bai hardly saw him perform any divination, good or bad, often responding only when things came to a head.

Xie Bai wasn't as lazy as him, and besides, if he didn't investigate the root cause of his condition and let it develop, he might have to change his position as a Yin Guest soon.

Regarding divination, there was one person he knew who was truly proficient in it, named Lou Xianyue. She used to live on Gongyang Street just like them, running a tavern. All the wine Yin Wushu often drank was bought from her.

Gongyang Street had now become Gongyang Avenue in the west of Jiangwu City, with changing times and people. He had moved out long ago, but the boss of Taowu Pawnshop and Lou Xianyue from the tavern still lived there...

Of course, there was also Yin Wushu's Tai Xuan Dao.

Xie Bai had planned to rest for a night, let the dizziness and nausea subside a bit, and then go to Gongyang Avenue again the next day to ask Lou Xianyue to help him divine whether someone was really plotting against him. If he could roughly determine the position, it would be even better.

However, this feeling not only didn't improve, but it became even more severe the next day. Other than that, there was no other effect. The only problem was that Xie Bai couldn't open the Yin Door anymore.

He locked himself in the room with the Ten Thousand Soul tree for nearly a week to recuperate, and finally managed to suppress that feeling for the most part. Except for a slight dizziness in his head, almost all other symptoms disappeared.

This time he didn't delay anymore. Early in the morning, after settling the little black cat in the room, he hastily wrapped a scarf around himself and hurried downstairs. Taking advantage of the empty alley, he waved his hand to release a patch of black mist, opening the Yin Door that led directly to the Guyang Avenue in Jiangwu City.

He hadn't been there for many years, so he only had a rough idea of where to go based on memory.

The Guyang Avenue wasn't in the bustling downtown of Jiangwu City; instead, it was closer to the outskirts, near a prominent high school. When Xie Bai landed, the thin winter sunlight was just piercing through the morning mist. The entire  Guyang Avenue was quiet, with no vehicles or pedestrians passing by, except for some activity coming from the distant high school.

As Xie Bai squinted his eyes to adjust to the light, he turned his head and found himself standing in front of a slightly antique-looking standalone building. This building matched the style of most shops on the street and seemed quite harmonious, except for one difference: it didn't have a signboard.

However, the absence of a signboard didn't mean there were no markings at all. Like many courtyard entrances, there were two stone beasts squatting at the entrance of the building. Each stone beast had a circular mark engraved on its forehead. At first glance, ordinary people would definitely mistake it for a ghost symbol, without paying attention to the content, let alone understanding it.

But Xie Bai could recognize the two characters contained in those two marks at a glance—Tai Xuan.

It was indeed too early in the morning, as his mind seemed foggy. Opening the Yin Door had directly brought him to the entrance of the Tai Xuan Dao. Xie Bai didn't know what expression he should show: "..."

What made him even more speechless was that he saw the gate of the building tightly closed, as if saying, "It's too early, and nobody's up yet." He was about to leave and find where Lou Xianyue currently resided. However, just as he turned around, he saw someone coming out from the Taowu Pawnshop across the street, striding towards him.

It was none other than Yin Wushu.

 

Translator : DarNan