" What's the name ? " Xie Bai asked .

The stork demon replied: " It's called "Xi Chuang Suo Yu". (NT: 西窗琐语 xī chuāng suǒ yǔ  - trivial talk by the western window)

He continued; “Actually, if you ask me about something else, I may not necessarily remember, after all, it's a book from over two hundred years ago. I remember this one because it was written by a friend of the shopkeeper back then. He wrote one, made a copy. There were only two copies. Later, when that friend passed away, the written one was burned with him, and the copied one was left on the stand to be sold as per his wish for anyone destined for it. But it didn't sell for a long time, so during that time, I always put it on top."

It was not sure if it was because his expression just now was really cold, freezing the stork demon for a moment. When he finished saying this long string of words, he still hadn't completely thawed, and his tone seemed somewhat stiff.

Xie Bai glanced at the books on the stall, not seeing any with that name, and his heart sank: "Was the book sold?"

The stork demon waved his hand: "No, no. Later, the shopkeeper had a dream where he saw his friend. His friend said since it's for someone destined, there's no need to put it in the most conspicuous place on the bookstand, just like ordinary books. Later, the shopkeeper ordered that, leaving it up to me. Sometimes I put it out, sometimes I don't. After all, it's not good to leave paper and ink out all the time."

Hearing that the book wasn’t sold, Xie Bai felt relieved and asked, "So where is the book now?"

"In the bookstore, I didn't set up the stall today." The stork demon looked back at his shop and added, "Sir, do you need it urgently?"

"Yeah, there are some important things mentioned in the book, so the sooner, the better." Xie Bai replied.

The stork demon muttered in confusion, "It's just an ordinary travelogue..." He hesitated slightly with a somewhat embarrassed expression, then carefully consulted Xie Bai, "Our shop's bookstore has a vast collection of books, not something that can be found in a short time, and I can't leave the stall temporarily, otherwise, the shopkeeper will come to discipline me. Sir, what do you think? Can I go find someone to watch the stall while I go look? You can wander around for a bit and I'll bring it to you when I find it."

Xie Bai didn't hesitate much, nodding, "You go find it, I'll wait here."

The stork demon hesitated, "..."

Seeing the stork demon hesitating again, Yin Wushu embraced Xie Bai, not saying a word as he took a few steps to the side, chuckling, "What are you waiting for? You're standing here like a refrigerator, cooling the bookstall. Are you going to sell any books?"

Xie Bai: "..."

Seeing Xie Bai unable to retort, Yin Wushu turned his head and casually tapped his fingers on the book stall, saying to the stork demon, "Let's take a walk around. We'll go back to our lodging in a while. You keep looking, and when you find it, bring it over, and also bring over any other interesting travelogues. We're staying at Jia's Inn."

As he spoke, he stared darkly at the stork demon, not missing a beat. After saying that, he tapped the book stall again, then turned and patted Xie Bai on the back, saying, "Let's go, what are you standing here with a straight face for? Let's see if there are any glass flower lamps available—"

Before the word "available" could be uttered, Xie Bai had already narrowed his eyes and walked away quickly.

Yin Wushu followed his pace without missing a step, walking alongside him, pretending to sigh with a very worried look, "Oh... tastes have changed as you grow older, no longer satisfied with a few lanterns."

Xie Bai walked even faster with a sullen face, and Yin Wushu narrowed his eyes, perhaps for a moment, feeling like he was back in the past. He raised his hand habitually to rub Xie Bai's head, but found that Xie Bai had grown taller and he couldn't reach him at the usual height anymore.

He remained unchanged, withdrew his hand, slowed his pace slightly, and didn't immediately catch up with Xie Bai, but fell a step behind.

He glanced back in the direction of Canghai Bookstore, the faint smile in his eyes slightly receding, and his expression became somewhat complex. But this was just a momentary thing. After blinking, his gaze regained some smile, and he turned his head to catch up with Xie Bai.

The mood was different, and the surroundings felt different too. Xie Bai walked side by side with Yin Wushu on the long street of this demon market, where the sounds of people laughing and talking never ceased, and the lights swayed gently, creating a mix of brightness and dimness. Various stalls offering food emitted steam, and the white mist under the lights carried the scent of food...

It seemed like this long street had returned to a hundred years ago, bustling yet not noisy, filled with the scent of fireworks yet not vulgar.

"Are you cold?" Yin Wushu touched Xie Bai's cheek with the back of his hand, feeling the temperature dissipate upon contact.

Xie Bai's brows moved slightly, and he raised the scarf a bit, covering the lower half of his face, and whispered, "Not cold."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he was patted on the chest by the little black cat on his chest, and couldn't help but cough twice.

Xie Bai: "..." Truly a master of disruption.

He pinched the tail of the little black cat, circled it around his finger, and then patted its round head, gesturing for it to behave.

Yin Wushu glanced at the cat in his arms, then scanned the surrounding stalls and asked Xie Bai, "Can you eat normal food now?"

Initially, he had estimated for Xie Bai that after two hundred years of continuous major repairs, his physique should slowly be able to adapt to the state of a normal person. From the beginning of refining Yin Corpse Qi to now, it had been over two hundred years, so he should be able to eat normal things by now.

Xie Bai responded with an "Hmm."

Yin Wushu raised his eyebrows. "That's good. We can try all the street food along the way."

Xie Bai: "..."

With a long street stretching for miles, there was almost a food stall every ten meters, not to mention the standalone eateries...

"If you try everything, you'll end up dead on the street, not even floating corpses in the sea, just sinking straight to the bottom!" Li Dong once again popped up from the crowd, leaned next to Yin Wushu, said a sentence, and quickly retreated back.

Xie Bai: "Indeed."

Yin Wushu: "..."

Actually, it couldn't be blamed that Li Dong was everywhere. After all, when you receive a Tai Xuan Dao salary, you have to do Tai Xuan Dao things. If something happened while he was away, it wouldn't be good for Yin Wushu to not have any subordinates by his side.

Even though as Yin Wushu was there, having subordinates or not didn't make much of a difference...

But Li Dong still felt that he shouldn't go too far away. So he basically circled around these two people, keeping them within his sight, occasionally eavesdropping for some gossip, which was more cost-effective.

Yin Wushu pointed to a stall on the right and motioned to Xie Bai, "Come, this one looks good."

Then, without any hesitation, he pulled Xie Bai over.

It was a dim sum stall, and the steamed cakes it produced were snowy white and soft. One small plate contained only two pieces, just enough to fit a small round plate. When the miniature steamer lid was lifted, hot steam enveloped the air, carrying a sweet scent of osmanthus and sesame...

In fact, Xie Bai couldn't smell anything, but he could recall the sweet fragrance from memory. Coupled with the warm air rushing towards him, his body, accustomed to the cold, relaxed considerably.

When he was a child, every time he passed by this stall, he couldn't help but take a few more glances at the aroma, but because he couldn't eat, he would quickly turn his head and look at other stalls, then imagine what it would feel like to eat such fragrant cakes.

The taste of the osmanthus sesame cake was just as he imagined, the frosting was thick yet not sticky, and it slowly melted upon entry, slightly warm, warming up the entire stomach.

When Xie Bai ate seriously, he ate slowly, a habit passed down from Yin Wushu. However, these cakes were very small, only enough for one person. Even if he savored each bite, he couldn't eat much, at most, just padding his stomach a bit, not occupying much space.

This seemed to suit Yin Wushu's intentions perfectly. Just after finishing the plate of white cakes, he dragged Xie Bai to the next stall.

"We have to pay," Xie Bai tried to pull his hand back.

But Yin Wushu's grip didn't loosen at all. He coaxed while walking forward, "I've already paid, youngster."

Xie Bai was puzzled, "When did you pay?"

"Just now, it's just a matter of reaching out." Yin Wushu replied casually, then added, "Come on, this place is also good."

Xie Bai: "..."

As he was pressed by Yin Wushu to seat and eat crab roe white tofu, he still couldn't come to his senses completely—wasn't he here in the demon market for official business? How did it turn into this in the blink of an eye?

The tofu came in small cups, and Xie Bai held the sides of the bowl, absorbing the hot steam bit by bit.

Yin Wushu put down the porcelain spoon, touched Xie Bai's hand back, then furrowed his brows slightly.

When Xie Bai was a child, his physique was as cold as frost and snow. But when Yin Wushu held him in his lap and wrapped him in a fox fur for a while, he would feel better. At that time, the first thing Yin Wushu did every day when he entered the house was to bend down and touch Xie Bai's hand for its warmth, then hold Xie Bai's thin, pale hand in his palm, warm it for a while before patting his head and asking how his Yin Corpse Qi practice went that day.

Whether wrapped in fox fur or held in his hands, Xie Bai's body would still retain some warmth back then, unlike now, when he held the bowl and absorbed the last bit of warmth, his hands still cold as ice.

Yin Wushu didn't say anything, released his hand, adjusted his expression again, and wanted to continue pulling Xie Bai to the next stall.

But then he saw Xie Bai getting up and patting the owner of the food stall, wanting to settle the bill.

This time, he kept his eyes on Yin Wushu's every move, and he could confirm that Yin Wushu didn't pay the bill casually.

"It's been settled," the owner said, looking confused.

Xie Bai was puzzled, pointing to himself and Yin Wushu, "Are you sure? We haven't paid."

The owner nodded, "That's right, it's been paid, specifically for your table, sir."

Still puzzled, Xie Bai was dragged away by Yin Wushu again.

Not far from the stall, Li Dong was holding a note that read "Double Reimbursement" and ordered a grilled honey deer leg, feeling a bit uneasy. When he saw Yin Wushu, he casually gave it to him.

Li Dong felt something was off as he gnawed on the meat—this behavior of his boss didn't seem like reuniting with a long-lost "adopted son" to express affection and make him happy; it seemed more like...

His mind wandered, and Li Dong choked half to death as he didn't disappoint. He felt his twisted thoughts...were a bit scary.

"That's not right..." Li Dong, who finally caught his breath, patted his chest, helped the piece of meat down, and muttered, "Recently, the boss's condition hasn't been very good, it's better in front of Lord Yin Guest, but privately, I always feel something's off. It couldn't be that he still has this kind of intention, right? I must be overthinking it..."

Putting aside Li Dong's internal drama, throughout that night, Xie Bai was indeed dragged by Yin Wushu to eat one stall after another. Each time, the portion was small, enough to satisfy but not to fill the stomach, just right.

At first, Xie Bai didn't realize what was happening. After changing several stalls, he finally noticed—every food stall Yin Wushu brought him to was one he had glanced at more than once when he was a child, thinking the aroma was enticing, wanting to eat but never asking for it.

Even when he was still a snow doll back then, Xie Bai was still a child after all. He couldn't suppress all his emotions and thoughts deep inside like he could now, showing no change in expression on his face. But because of his naturally cold and introverted nature, even if he had reactions, they were very subtle and barely noticeable.

Xie Bai remembered that back then, he would just glance briefly, maybe twice, and wouldn't even turn his head...

He didn't expect Yin Wushu to remember all of them...

It's impossible to say that Xie Bai wasn't touched, but beyond being touched, he was more bewildered and confused. Unsure if it was an illusion, he felt that Yin Wushu's actions tonight were unusually enthusiastic. He had always been calm and unhurried, never in a rush for anything, but now, it seemed like he intended to take Xie Bai to eat everything he had ever wanted to eat in one night.

The night had deepened, and they had almost reached the end of the demon market. The stall specializing in ink-spotted white jade was still there, unchanged for two hundred years, even the appearance of the boss and his wife remained exactly the same as before.

Xie Bai sat by the table, sipping the thick milky white fish soup in the misty steam, then looked up at Yin Wushu. Under the steaming heat, his features appeared slightly blurred, softer than usual.

"What's wrong with you?" Xie Bai finally couldn't help but ask.

Yin Wushu looked up, "Hmm?"

Xie Bai didn't know how to describe that feeling. After considering his words for a long time, he couldn't find the right ones, so he simply said, "Why did you take me to eat so much food?"

Yin Wushu responded with an "Oh", smiled with his eyes bent, then lowered his gaze, stirring the thick fish soup in the bowl, and said, "Every time you walked this street when you were a child, you were always craving. Have you forgotten?"

Xie Bai: "..."

He probably never knew what it felt like to be "craving", but unfortunately, he met Yin Wushu, who loved to exaggerate everything, and couldn't refute him no matter what.

"I wasn't asking about that," Xie Bai said softly.

"Hmm? Not about that?" Yin Wushu suddenly realized, "Oh," again, "I think with your lazy nature, over the years, you must have just bought what you needed in the demon market and went back to your room. You wouldn't have bothered to try all the things along the street."

Xie Bai: "..."

Yin Wushu continued, "Since we're just waiting for that book anyway, why not make up for regrets? Besides, it's been a long time since we sat at the same table and ate together."

Xie Bai glanced at him, his voice stiff, "We never ate together before. It was always you eating while I watched." How thick-skinned.

Yin Wushu smiled.

The little black cat was lying on Xie Bai's shoulder, watching the two of them eat this and that until they drank the fish soup. Finally, it couldn't resist anymore. It jumped onto the table and directly licked Xie Bai and Yin Wushu's bowls. However, when it tasted the fish soup, it didn't seem satisfied. It looked around for a long time, until the moment Xie Bai finished the soup.

Then, this little thing jumped down again from Xie Bai's shoulder, onto the table, bounced back, agilely raised its paw to grip, and then stretched out its tongue to lick the corner of Xie Bai's mouth.

Xie Bai: "..."

Yin Wushu: "..."

The little black cat seemed to have satisfied its curiosity with the taste. It smacked its lips and then jumped back onto the table, feeling at ease.

Perhaps it was the good atmosphere just now, or the steaming fish soup that muddled his mind, Xie Bai absentmindedly touched the little black cat's head, then directly turned to Yin Wushu and asked, "What's the relationship between you and this cat?"

 

Translator : DarNan