Even if it's just small cats or dogs, after raising them for over a hundred years, you'd still feel a bit reluctant to part with them, right...  Why didn’t you just say, you suddenly did not want me anymore...

But the latter sentence was too humble in demeanor, and Xie Bai couldn't bring himself to say it.

Even the first sentence, when spoken, was extremely low, almost rolling from the depths of his throat, clear to no one but himself, especially amidst the bustling streets below where Yin Wushu was standing.

Yin Wushu saw his lips move but couldn't make out the words clearly, just paused for a moment and said, "What?"

Xie Bai stood straight, his beautiful eyes half-closed due to the angle, trapped in the curved shadow cast by his eyelashes. From below looking up, his appearance was no different from usual, cold and calm.

Only Xie Bai himself knew how stiff his body was.

He stared at Yin Wushu's face, silent for a moment, then furrowed his brows slightly, took a deep breath, and said in a normal voice, "Nothing, I'm going down now."

Yin Wushu responded with a "Hmm" from below, still maintaining his upward gaze, watching Xie Bai turn around. In that instant, his eyes suddenly flickered, and he raised his hand with the palm facing upward, stretched it forward, then quickly retracted it.

He lightly rubbed his thumb and forefinger twice, feeling the dampness on the tips of his fingers - that was what he had just swiftly caught. Yin Wushu raised his head again in surprise, the window was pitch black, and Xie Bai's figure was no longer there.

After a while, Xie Bai and Li Dong came out of the shop one after the other.

"Let's go, what are you waiting for?" Xie Bai said coldly and indifferently, then strode off down the street.

When he was younger and came to this side of the demonic market, he was always led by Yin Wushu, looking left and right at whatever interesting stalls they passed by. Even if he couldn't eat normal food, he wouldn't actually play with those little things, but simply found it interesting to look at.

But in recent years when he came to this side of the demonic market alone, there was nothing interesting to see, so he usually just went straight to a stall to buy what he needed and then returned to his room.

As a result, he developed a habit.

Because he had some business to do, the other two didn't stop him.

Yin Wushu did say to Li Dong, "If you want to go shopping, go ahead, I'll follow him to take a look."

Li Dong was taken aback for a moment. "Huh? I didn't say I wanted to go shopping. I've been to the demonic market many times, so it's okay to skip it for a year."

Yin Wushu glanced at him. "You want to."

Li Dong blinked. "No need."

Yin Wushu glanced at Xie Bai in front of him. "He wants to."

Li Dong: "...Okay, I understand."

Hurrying a few steps, he walked up to Xie Bai and bowed, "My lord, I haven't been to the demonic market in eight hundred years, and I really want to go shopping. My liver hurts from the longing, and I can't calm the chaos in my body without a stroll. If I hold it in for too long, I'll explode. I'm sorry, my lord, but I'll have to leave you for a while."

Xie Bai: "..."

Yin Wushu: "...Why are you so dramatic?"

Seeing Yin Wushu's face full of anger, as if he wanted to slap him, Li Dong quickly turned and ran away, disappearing like smoke into the crowd without any trace.

Xie Bai had an expression that was difficult to describe in words, turning his head to look at Yin Wushu, who was walking alongside him, and asked, "Why did you force him to go shopping?"

Yin Wushu responded with an "Oh" and said, "I'm not used to going shopping with three people together."

Xie Bai listened without saying a word, took a few steps, and then saw a large old bookstore. A sign hung above the bookstore, with the words "Canghai Bookstore" written on it. (NT: Canghai 沧海 means vast sea)

In front of the bookstore, there was also a temporary wooden stall, and a familiar face was busy laying out books and some good-quality stationery. It was none other than the stork demon that appeared in Xie Bai's dream.

Xie Bai turned towards there, and as he stepped forward, he muttered under his breath, "I'm not used to shopping with two people either."

Yin Wushu: "..."

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha,"  Li Dong passed by with a maniacal laughter, a sense of "revenge fulfilled" apparent.

"Why are you here again?" Yin Wushu's mouth twitched, his steps paused, and he turned around.

Li Dong continued to snake his way into the crowd, "I'm just passing by, bumped into you guys, I'll go ahead first, bye, boss."

He was probably afraid that Yin Wushu would really come to hit him. He finished all his words without taking a breath and then disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Xie Bai: "..."

No matter how unhappy he was, it couldn't hold up for long in such an atmosphere. It must be said that seeing Yin Wushu looking so frustrated, Xie Bai inexplicably felt a bit relieved.

As soon as he stood in front of the stork demon's stall, the stork demon was taken aback, then smiled and said, "My lord, long time no see!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yin Wushu also followed, standing in front of his stall. The stork demon was taken aback again, "My lord! It's been years since you've been here. It's been a long time. What books are you interested in today? Or perhaps the stationery on this stall has just arrived, freshly made by the Jade Hall Ink Workshop, aged for over sixty years."

"Don't rush to pick something now," Yin Wushu waved his hand. "Later, pack up all the interesting miscellaneous notes and travel notes on this stall for me. We're here mainly to ask you something."

Most of the demons who came to this side of the market in human form, and these small merchants at the stalls also couldn't easily determine who was who. So, in general, all the customers were referred to as "my lord."

As for Xie Bai and Yin Wushu, because Xie Bai always covered his eyes with black bandages whenever he did official business, only revealing the lower half of his face, most people, except those from the Tai Xuan Dao, had only heard of him and didn't recognize him by sight. So the stork demon had no idea who he was.

But it was different for Yin Wushu. He was always casual, going wherever with this face, neither concealing nor disguising himself, so quite a few people in the demon world knew what he looked like, especially on this side of the market, including the stork demon.

So, unexpectedly hearing Yin Wushu say this, the stork demon's first reaction was to tremble, then cautiously ask, "Have... Have I violated any rules, my lord?"

Yin Wushu chuckled. "Of course not, I just came to ask you for a favor. Relax, don't be nervous."

The stork demon: "...My lord, please don't laugh so lightly, I'm a little scared."

Xie Bai: "..."

"Do you want to help or not?" Yin Wushu's smile grew lighter.

The stork demon: "Help! Help! Please tell me what to do."

"Do you remember all the books that have been sold on the book stall?" Xie Bai asked.

The stork demon's eyes turned, saying, "Some I remember, some I don't. It depends on how long ago it was and the content. For example, if it's a very ordinary book without any special features, I might not remember it well, but for something more special, I'll definitely remember..."

As he spoke, he felt that what he said seemed to have some problems, then added, "My lord, surely you're not concerned about this kind of thing? I swear to the heavens, my store has never sold anything like erotic books or the like."

Xie Bai: "..."

Seeing him becoming more and more unreasonable, Yin Wushu raised his hand and tapped on the book stall with his knuckles, saying, "Alright, stop, I'm not interested in what you sell or don't sell. I just came to ask about a book that was once seen on your stall."

Upon hearing this, the stork demon finally relaxed and said, "Oh, okay, tell me, I'll see if I remember, what's the name of the book?"

Xie Bai replied, "I don't remember it very clearly, I only remember it was four characters, and the last two characters were 'Suo Yu.'" (NT: 琐语 trivial talk)

The stork: "..."

Xie Bai: "..."

The stork forced a smile and continued, "It's okay if you don't remember the title, that's normal. If you remember, why come to ask me? Do you remember who wrote it, sir?"

Xie Bai: "..."

The stork: "..."

"Then... when did you see it on my book stall?" The stork's face was stiff with smiling.

Yin Wushu answered for him, "About two hundred years ago, let me think... in the first month of the Renzi year, on the fifteenth day, you set up a stall at the Lantern Festival in the mortal realm."

The stork slapped his thigh, "I remember now, the Renzi year Lantern Festival! Yes, yes, yes! I saw you at the Lantern Festival! I still remember that time I let you take whatever you liked, but you wouldn't take it for free. Later, you even bought all the glass lanterns on my stall to take back and play with the children."

Xie Bai: "..."

"At that time, you had a young friend with you, a young man in white clothes, a great beauty, oops, I used the wrong adjective, very handsome! Just like this—"

The stork couldn't stop himself from reminiscing, halfway through, he looked at Xie Bai with surprise, "Eh?! It's you, sir!"

Xie Bai: "..."

Yin Wushu curved his eyes, seeming to find him quite interesting.

The stork slapped his own head, "Look at my brain, I can't recognize you when you change your clothes. Sir, it's been so many years since we last met, you're even more distinguished than before."

The atmosphere went colder and even more uncomfortable.

The stork demon didn't know if he was trying to ease the atmosphere to avoid awkwardness or what, he asked Yin Wushu again, "When the sir took those glass lanterns back to play with the child, how was it? Not to brag, but the lanterns in our shop are beautifully crafted, with a mechanism attached, and it's no problem to perform a shadow play."

Yin Wushu replied without changing his expression, "Happy, obedient for several days in a row, didn't even dare to talk back, very well-behaved."

The "child" who was entertained back then, Xie Bai: "..."

The stork laughed, "That's good, that's good! How about having some more this year?"

Xie Bai finally couldn't help but narrow his eyes, and said coldly to the two who were chatting endlessly, "Is the old reminiscence over?"

His tone was extremely cold, and the stork felt a chill running down his spine, feeling a sudden urge to urinate, "It's over."

"In the first month of the Renzi year, on the fifteenth day, you had a stall set up at the southwest corner of the Lantern Festival, with a few books scattered, and the top one was the one I mentioned, with the last two characters of the name being 'Suo Yu.' Do you remember?" Xie Bai asked.

The stork thought seriously for a moment, then said, "Yes, I know which one you're talking about."

 

Translator : DarNan